X-Men: Reimagined

[bored]

Ok, there's a pretty interesting fan fic community going here, which I've tried, so far not too succesfully, tried to weasel into. I've contributed to the Neverending story a bit, which is interesting, though that's more an original thing (shared by a few of us, and I intend to continue on it), and I, many moons ago, attempted to write a fanfic where I reinvented "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". Naturally, as I've only read the stories of a few of the characters I included, and it was my first try, it didn't go particularly smoothly, and is still unfinished. The reason is simply that it was too ambitious for me, and I kind of lost the spark I had for it. It was supposed to much more action oriented, more fun, and much shorter. It's drawing to a close, thankfully, and I will sometime soon enough get too that, but right now I need to reinvigorate my creativity with something else I've thrown around in my head. It's like this: I've wanted to take the story of the X-Men, and pretty much redo it. Go back and take certain characters (basically, the ones I like), and create a new history of the team. I want feedback and advice as I do this, to keep it good and keep it interesting. I also promise not to write in tiny little passages like in my "LOEG" story, which I promise will be finished eventually. And if you're wondering, the basic premise (which I mentioned in a thread called 'write me an X') is that Xavier, restless after the original five members graduate, gathers several new students to train, with Iceman as an experienced X-Man to lead them. Bear in mind that, for the sake of originality, aspects of people's stories and personalities will be altered to fit the story. I'll start on it either later tonight or tomorrow.

[bored]

ok, lemme get this party started


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The wind blew across the beach gently, until the plane, a small but sleek craft, descended. This contributed to the sudden boom in the island's number of visitors. On a different part of the island, several boats were anchored near the beach, with crew members hiding in them, terrified. Over here, one man was brave enough to venture in. Naturally, he was bald, entering middle age, and parapalegic. He moved through the island in an electric wheelchair, looking around anxiously. It was obvious that he'd been noticed. Rocks and plants almost seemed to be watching him. After a few minutes, things actually began moving around him.

"Hello," Professor Charles Xavier said, calmly, knowing that he was a step closer to success. Objects around him recoiled now, frightened. "It's ok. I didn't come here to harm you. I merely want to retrieve some people who I believe you are currently holding. I know you sustain yourself on life force, and I'm sure they sustain you quite well, but these are not just animals, like you are used to. The ones I know, I care about very much, and I want them released. As I said, I don't want to harm you, but I am quite capable of it."

When Xavier finished speaking, the forest he went through seemed to open up, revealing, in the distance, a massive mess of vines, which held about twenty people. The five held up the highest were Xavier's concerns. Warren Worthington was an heir to a massive fortune, who had financed this expedition, Scott Summers and his fiance, Jean Grey, were two bored young people who wanted to explore this mysterious island, Hank McCoy was the scientist who had provided the crew to study the area, and Bobby Drake had been brought along for the ride, so that the entire quintet could be together again. Well, this island, which sounded suspiciously like Krakatoa, the island that had the famous volcanic eruption over a hundred years ago, was more than an island, which Xavier had only discovered after his former students had gotten to it, much to his horror. It was alive. Almost like a mutant, really. And it was holding his former students, the mutants who he had trained as the X-Men, a counter-terrorist group dedicated to mutant issues.

"Now, Krakoa," Xavier said, addressing the living island by name, "release them. Now." It began to retract them. "Krakoa, you may be physically powerful, but you know what I can do to you." It stopped. "Now!" It retracted them again, all the way, and sent out vines to ensnare Xavier. "You brought this upon yourself." He closed his eyes and concentrated, as the vines grabbed him. There was a horrible noise coming from the center of the island. Xavier was sending a powerful mental blast at the living island, forcing it to do as he wanted. "Now! Release them!" He shouted.

"PLEASE," it called, "STOP THIS. I WILL LET THEM GO!"

Professor Xavier opened his eyes. He gasped, seeing that much of the plant life had suddenly died. In front of him, the twenty people he had seen held in vines before were before him now, free. One of them, Jean Grey, began to move.

"Hello, Jean."

"Pro- Charles?" She stammered, surprised.

"When isn't it me?" He asked.


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this has been the first installment. hope you like how it's going.

[i'm Spider-Man]

not bad, Bored. it's a good opener 'cos you start to wonder "why did they go there in the first place?" and where they might go from here.

who else were you planning on using for the reimagined lineup?

[bored]

while it's subject to change at my wim, the current plan is to have iceman as the leader (the typical cyclops role), with wolverine, storm, colossus, nightcrawler, shadowcat, forge, psylocke, possibly bishop, banshee, marrow, or wolfsbane. eventually, i plan on bringing angel in, maybe having him become archangel, maybe not. i am also planning on involving the brotherhood (the line up for which i am still working out), and apocalypse make appearances.


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"Cain?" Xavier called. "Cain, where are you?" But he could already hear his step-brother approaching. "I trust there were no problems while I was out?"

"Not at all," replied the massive Cain Marko. "Get the students?"

"Of course," Xavier responded, smiling. "And I didn't even need your help."

"Heh, maybe next time."

Cain was often left in charge of Xavier's sprawling mansion whenever the Professor was out. While not himself a mutant, Cain was gifted. He, from sources even Xavier wasn't aware of, was given incredible strength and stature, and occasionally threw his hat into the crime fighting ring as the Juggernaut. Nowadays, he was more concerned with his family up in Canada, a wife and a step-son (who himself was a mutant), but was still willing to come and watch over the mansion from time to time.

"So, Captain Baldy."

"Yes, Major Steroids?" They were using old nicknames.

"I cooked dinner for you guys." Cain knew Xavier would be terrified of this. It didn't bother him. Cain thought he was a great cook, but his step-brother disagreed.



"Now that I have the five of you together," Xavier started, "I need to tell you something."

"Let's hear it, Charles," Scott Summers urged.

"My former students, former X-Men, I am bored," he said, frankly. "Never did my research flourish more than when I taught you. Since you graduated, I've been more of a philanthropist to mutant causes, but I have not been particularly active. Of late, I have been compiling a list of potential new students." He paused for a moment, to let this sink in. "I want to train a new class of X-Men. Mutant-kind, and indeed the whole world, need the X-Men. I will be contacting these mutants in the next few days. As you are all here, I'd like to extend the invitation to each of you to rejoin the Institute, now as instructors to these new students. What do you say?"

"Charles, you know we'd love to help you, but Scott and I, well. We want to start a family," Jean Grey said.

"We're both sorry," Scott added.

"And while I certainly came into my own as a biologist and genetecist here, I have my own laboratory and my own underlings to deal with now," said Hank McCoy, the ape-like former Beast.

"And I'm swamped trying to run my family's business," this was the winged Warren Worthington, who had been called Angel as an X-Man. "Why not Cain? I bet he'd love to."

"I've discussed the matter with him, Warren," Xavier answered. "He declined. Bobby, how about you?"

"Me?" Bobby 'Iceman' Drake hesitated. "I'm not really the authoritative type. Hell, they only invited me to Krakoa so I wouldn't be left out. You guys all know it's true. So hell yes I'll do this."

"I'm glad, Bobby. And if any of the rest of you ever change your mind, feel free to tell me."



A river raged over 100 yards under a gorge, and crocodiles were popping out of it, jumping higher than they realistically could. A massive bridge of ice formed across the gorge, with a man who himself looked like an ice sculpture seemed to glide across it, though in truth he was actually attached to the ice bridge. One of the inexpicable jumping crocodiles attacked him. He extended a hand, and mist shot from his palm, hitting the crocodile and freezing it. He landed on the other end of the gorge, and changed from the ice thing back to a man, Bobby Drake.

"How was that, Prof?" He called.

"I think Iceman is ready to return to the world," his mentor replied, from someplace unseen.

[bored]

The wait was only two weeks before the day the new students arrived. Bobby wandered around the Xavier Institute all morning, thinking about various things. He had once familiarized himself with it as a student, with Hank, Warren, Scott, and Jean, as the original five X-Men. There had been others for short times. There was Alex, Scott's little brother; Lorna, a hottie who Bobby was certain was a lesbian (as she had resisted him countless times); that Mimic wierdo who took correspondance courses until he admitted that he wasn't really a mutant; and Caliban. Bobby had always wondered about Caliban. He'd been named after a brute monster in a Shakespearean play, but he didn't exactly fit that mold. He was just ugly, and kind of a milquetoast. He presumably had gone back to the old subway station he'd been found in. Bobby let these memories fly through his head as he passed the study where Warren had taught him how to play black-jack. He knew little of these knew students, and wondered if he could bond with them like he had the original class.

"Bobby," Professor Xavier said mentally, probably from all the way across the mansion, "the first of the new students should be here soon. I've left a list of their names by the front door. Please take it and check them off as they come. And send them to the study. The one where Warren tried to teach you cards." Xavier had always been convinced that he himself was the dominant card player in the entire Westchester area.

Bobby headed to the front door, and saw the list. Some of the names were fairly exotic, in comparison to the old group. So this was now an international group. Hell, two of the newbies didn't even have full names.


A taxi cab with an obviously terrified driver went down the long pathway, carrying two passengers, both teenagers. One was a doe-eyed girl, the other a muscle-bound boy.

"So where did you say you were from again?" The girl asked.

"Urst-Ordynski, a farming community," the boy responded in a thick, European accent. "You are from Chicago, you said?"

"A suburb of it, yeah."

"Ok, you kids, I ain't goin' further," the driver said, and he sounded like he was on the verge of passing out. He stopped the car, and the passengers got out and retrieved their luggage. The girl payed the fair for both of them, and the driver turned his car around. "Freaks!" He shouted as he sped off.

"What was that man's name?" The European boy asked.

"Cletus Cassidy, I think is what the tag said," the girl responded. "Speaking of names, yours was... Oh don't tell me-"

"Piotr," the boy said, not getting the point.

"I said not to tell me!" The girl shrieked. "God, I'm so bad with names. Anyway, I told you mine, right? Sorry, I get like this when I've traveled alot."

"It's fine," Piotr said, as they walked on. "Katelyn, right?"

"Yeah, but everyone calls me Kitty. What's that sound? Is that a motorcycle?"

A bike sped past them, with a haggard looking man with a bag hanging from his back on it.

"Jerk!" Kitty yelled. "He almost hit us!"

The bike stopped, and the man got off. He was almost laughably short, but he looked angry.

"You got a problem, kid?" He growled.

"Um.." Kitty shrank back, behind Piotr.

"You should watch where you drive your motorcycle, sir," Piotr said. "You nearly hit us." The short man cracked a smile.

"Heh, don't you worry. I never hit people. On purpose, at least. The name's Logan. I take it you're both goin' to the Xavier Institute?"

"Yeah," Kitty said as she gained back her confidence.

"Well, see ya there!" He shouted as he hopped back on his bike and sped off. Kitty and Piotr just looked at each other.

"He seemed nice," Piotr said, after a moment.

[bored]

feel free to tell me what you think of this. if there're things that desperately need to be worked on, i'd like to know. there'll be a new update in a day or two.

[bored]

we continue on. catch the 'dark angel' reference.
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The doorbell rang, but Bobby was already waiting by the door. He opened it, and the biker who'd buzzed Kitty and Piotr was waiting outside. He barged in with his bag, lighting a cigarette as he came in.

"There's two kids on their way up, too," he said. "I think they're stuck walkin'. So where's the Professor? It ain't you, is it? Nah, I've seen him on the news. You've got hair."

"And I can walk," Bobby muttered. "There's no smoking in the foyer."

"Too bad," Logan said. He took a drag, and as he was inhaling, Bobby extended his hand, and a white mist came from it and onto the cigarette. It froze in Logan's mouth. "Neat trick, jackass. I like you. The name's Logan. You?"

"Bobby Drake. Iceman, when that's important."

"Code-names here too, eh?" Logan said. "For what it's worth, I go by a couple. Patch, or Wolverine. Take your pick."

"Patch? Wolverine?" Bobby had to force back a mean smile. "I'm sorry, man, but those both kinda suck."

"Yeah, I know. But hey-" He stopped, clenched a fist, and threw it out a little over a foot from Bobby's face, and then, out from between his knuckles, three one-foot-long blades popped out with what sounded like a slicing noise. This all happened in about a second. "-Gotta keep people on their toes." He smiled, retracted the blades, and brought his fist back. "So really, where's Xavier? Sorry if I'm rushin' ya, but I'm anxious."

"He wants everyone to wait in the study until the whole class gets here," Bobby answered. The doorbell wrang again.

"Betcha it's those kids," Logan said. Bobby opened the door, and Piotr Rasputin and Kitty Pryde were waiting in the doorway.



Three down, Bobby thought. And it's gonna be a class of eight. If anybody's flight's delayed, I'll be very upset. He had left them all in the study two hours ago, and was hoping that they were getting along. He peeked out the window, and there was, at long last, another person coming. He was a dark-skinned, long haired man with a pony-tail. He'd driven himself, and didn't seemed to know where the parking lot was, as he'd left his car, an old Chevy, right by the curb. It occured to Bobby that he was probably Native-American. He opened the door to great the newcomer.

"Hello there," he called. The man waved.

"Hey. You another new student?" He asked.

"Nah," Bobby asnwered. "I'm Professor X's assistant, Bobby Drake. What's your name?"

"My name? Eh," he seemed hesitant. "You promise not to laugh?"

"Your Forge, aren't you?" Bobby asked. "I've got all the names down. I don't see another one that'd make someone sound so awkward."

"Phew. Well, that makes it a little easier. Just as long as you don't ask why. I don't know too well either."

"Too bad," Bobby laughed. "Hey, I'm supposed to lead everyone to the study, so follow me, and bring your stuff if you want. There're three other people already."

"Lead the way, Bobby."



In his office, Professor Xavier checked off Forge from his own list of new students. There were still four more to go. He closed his eyes, and searched around as far as he could unassisted. Two more of them, Sara Rutherds and Ororo Monroe, were both in range. He considered going down to the low level where Cerebro would be able to connect him to not only the other two new students who he didn't see yet, but the twenty or so more who he decided not to invite, and, indeed, every mutant on Earth. In the end, he decided not to. He wanted to see all of his students at once when he first met them, and who knew when one of them would go roaming around? No, for now he'd stay in his office.


The frightened taxi driver was back at the Xavier Institute, and this time, he wasn't allowed to drop off his client halfway and speed off. He'd tried, and the gorgeous British woman had threatened to twist his arms off if he did. Normally, he'd take an attitude to this kind of behavior, but not when he was certain that he was dropping off a mutant. She did have purplish hair, and he wondered if that happened naturally.

"No," she said, suddenly.

"Huh?" The driver asked.

"No, it's not natural, and your preferred method of finding out is, I must say, extremely crude," she said calmly. She thought for a minute, then sighed. "If you really must know, type 'Elisabeth Braddock' into Google." Whether the driver was gaping because of what she had just hinted at or because she'd read his mind, Elisabeth 'Betsy' Braddock wasn't concerned. She loved to leave strangers with something to remember.


Another hour after this, seven mutants sat in a large study in Charles Xavier's mansion. Sara Rutherds, a girl only a few years older than Piotr Rasputin, was still wearing her hood that she'd come in with. She sat in an armchair, looking at her feet for entirely too long. Kitty was listening intently to Betsy's stories about being a model, Ororo Monroe was admiring the many books in the study, and Forge and Logan were sharing stories about riding motorcycles. Bobby Drake watched them for a moment, happy that they seemed to be getting along, and then went in to talk.

"Hey everybody," he said. "How's everyone doing?"

"Wonderful, thank you," Ororo said, pleasently.

"Got anything to drink?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, I'll go grab something from the fridge in a bit. Hey guys, listen, we've got one more person, and the Professor told me he's hanging around outside, feeling nervous. If anyone wants to come out and help me coax him in, that'd be appreciated."

"I will," Sara Rutherds said, finally showing some signs of life. "I'd kinda like to get outside."

"Alright," Bobby said. "Hey Logan, you still want a drink? If you do, you can come along and grab one on the way out."



Bobby led Sara, Ororo, Logan (who was content with a can of Pabst), and Forge outside.

"Hello!" Forge shouted. "Hey, last guy! Come on out! We've all been waiting for you!"

"Hurry up!" Ororo joined in. "I'm bored!"

"Oh, be quiet," Logan groaned. "If he's shy, that's not gonna help. Gimme a few minutes, and I'll find him." He sniffed the air, and took off, headed for the trees in the distance, when he stopped. "What the hell? Scent just disappeared."

"Huh?" Ororo walked to him, curious.

"I'm a tracker," Logan said. "It's one of my powers. I can hear and smell like an animal. I had a scent, and it just vanished. Wait!" He sniffed again. "I got it. Little sucker's fast!" He took off to the other side of the driveway, and Ororo followed. In a moment, Forge and Bobby joined in. Sara just stood on the steps.

"Dammit!" Logan snapped. "Lost it again. Hey, who else heard that?" He turned his head back to the front of the mansion, above where Sara stood. Everyone else turned and saw what Logan saw. Sticking to wall was a blue man with a tail. It was pointed, and it moved around alot. Sara ignored it.

"Please, just leave me alone!" He yelled, in a thick German accent. "I only came because I was invited."

"Hey there!" Bobby yelled up to him. "These guys all were, too. Don't be shy. We're all mutants here."

"None of you are like me, are you?" He asked. "I saw how shocked you all looked when you saw me!"

"Don't jump to conclusions," Sara said, calmly. She looked up at him, taking off her hood. They all finally got a clear look at the young woman's face. Her features were small and unpronounced, but what they all really noticed were the bones sticking out from her cheeks. "Not everyone can pass for normal here."

There was a burst of smoke where the blue man was clinging to the wall, and another shortly after next to Sara. The blue man, who's yellow eyes were now more obvious, appeared.

"Hello," he said, now sounding only a little more confident. "My name is Kurt."

"Hello, Kurt," Bobby said, reaching out his hand, which Kurt shook timidly. Bobby now noticed that Kurt only had three fingers, and it wasn't due to an accident. "Ok, everyone, the gang's all here. If you guys'd show Kurt to the study with everyone else, I'll get Xavier."

"Hey, buddy. I'm Logan," Logan introduced.

"Guten tag, Herr Logan. I am Kurt Wagner," the blue man said. His eyes moved to Logan's right hand, and his can of Pabst. "Where did you get that?"

"Come on, I'll show ya."


Bobby led them all inside, and introduced Kurt Wagner to the others. After making sure that he was confident enough to be left with them, Bobby set off to retrieve Professor Xavier, though he knew that the man was probably already on his way down.


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coming up next: code-names, costumes, and an extremely dangerous room.
also, would anyone who's reading this happen, out of curiousity, to be some kind of an artist? i had this idea of having some of the events that i write be drawn and the pictures added to this thread, but i can't draw for the life of me.

[bored]

"This," Bobby, now in full X-Man uniform, said, "is the Danger Room. I'm giving you a fairly easy mission today, because you are, no doubt, new to this, but in the future, you will be given much harder tasks, including ones where you are alone, or paired with certain other students. Before we begin, there are two things. The first: what do you think of your uniforms?"

"It's a bit... familiar," Logan said. "Then again, I kinda preferred this one. Believe me, I had some bad ones when I worked up in Canada."

"What'd you do in Canada?" Kitty Pryde asked.

"Government work," he answered. "Sort of a Maple Leaf Avengers type of crew. Nothing you need to worry about, kid."

Logan stood in a suit that he had worn working in Alpha Flight, a Canadian Special Forces group. It comprised of a material that looked suspiciously like Spandex, though more comfortable, and featured brown and orange patterns, brown gloves, and an orange mask with brown points resembling animal ears, which looked vaguely like his hair-style. Kitty Pryde had a suit of various tones of blue, covering most of her body. They both, along with everyone else, had a belt with a red and black 'X' in the buckle.

"Did mine need to be so revealing?" Betsy Braddock asked.

"It's for movement," Bobby said. "Since you apparently pride yourself on your martial arts skills, the Professor thought that it would be appreciated."

"Bloody pervert," she said under her breath. "Though I guess it will work out. I was a model, after all. I've done worse."

"I thought you looked familiar!" Forge cried. Everyone looked at him. "Eh, never mind." His uniform was like Kitty's, though the light blue on hers was replaced by yellow on his. Betsy's was a form-fitting dark blue leotard, along with gloves and boots. It left little to the imagination. Ororo Monroe's was similarly designed, though it was black, and included what appeared to be a cape, which attached her shoulders and elbows to her waste. Sara Rutherds had one in similar design to Forge's and Kitty's, but green and yellow. It also, much to her annoyance, put emphasis on the bones that jutted out from back, arms, and knees. Piotr Rasputin had one similar to Logan's, but without sleeves or a mask and with a black and red color scheme. Kurt Wagner had one alot like this, but with a hole for his tail, and it only came to his knees. His shoes were white, and fit is oddly shaped feet (two massive toes in front, one shorter one in back) perfectly. Like Logan, Kurt knew his well. It was like a more comfortable version of the suit he'd worn in the circus until a few months ago.

"So no more complaints?" Bobby asked. "Good. The last thing: who remembers their codenames? Those are important."

"Shadowcat!" Kitty exclaimed. "I love that. It sounds so cool."

"Did we ever decide on mine?" Logan asked. "Patch or Wolverine?"

"Wolverine," Bobby answered. "Sorry, man, but Patch is just too much."

"That'll do."

"Am I Nightcrawler, still?" Kurt Wagner asked. Nightcrawler was the English translation of his stage name in the circus in Germany. Bobby sighed.

"Yes. We discussed this. You wanted to stay Nightcrawler, and so that's what you'll do. Piotr, you're Colossus, got that?"

"Da," he said, before catching himself. "Yes, I mean."

"And Ororo, you're Storm. I think you can figure out why. Betsy, your name is Psylocke. Forge, you said you wanted to stick with Forge, and I think that's a good idea."

"Cool."

"Now Sara, you okay with yours?" Bobby asked.

"I guess," she moped. "It's just... Marrow seems kinda wierd. But whatever."

"Sara, do you want to change it?" Bobby groaned.

"No, I'll get used to it," she said. "So what do they call you, boss-man?"

Bobby paused, hearing the name he used to call Scott Summers when he was a student. He regained his composure and cleared his throat. "Iceman. Now let's go."

The chasm with the raging river under it appeared.

"This is the Danger Room," Iceman said. "Your class challenge is to get across this chasm alive."

First off, Storm took off, winds blowing around her, billowing her cape. She soared across to the other side. Nightcrawler disappeared, smoke left behind where he stood. He appeared on the other side next to Storm.

"Yeah!" He cried. "We are first!"

"It's not a race!" Iceman snapped. "Both of you stay here and watch what happens."

Across the chasm, Wolverine was looking around. This odd scene had trees. He had an idea. There was a snipping sound, and his claws from both hands popped out.

"Anyone who can help me take those trees down, do it," he ordered. He began slicing one down, hacking at the tree like a piece of tough meat. Colossus approached him, and he began to transform. His skin started to change color, becoming silvery, with lines forming all over. He also grew noticeably in stature, eventually becoming a massive steel version of himself. The lines almost appeared to be segments. He grabbed a large trees trunk, and yanked it up.

"What is this needed for?" He asked. Wolverine had him carry it to the lip of the chasm and set it down.

"That thing isn't long enough to reach across," Psylocke pointed out.

"Hehe, I know," Wolverine said with a smirk. He straddled the tree, and had the others, except for Colossus, do the same.

"Now Colossus, do you know what a fastball is?" Wolverine asked.

[The Squirrel]

good so far

[bored]

While not familiar with a fastball at the time, Piotr 'Colossus' Rasputin quickly caught on to Wolverine's plan. When the other five students were safely on the fallen tree trunk, He lifted it up, and heaved it as hard as he could across the chasm, which was very, very hard. The trunk soared over, past Storm, Nightcrawler, and Iceman, and crashed spectacularly. Wolverine and Psylocke both had the sense to jump off as soon as they could, Shadowcat phased through it before it landed, and Forge and Marrow both got off at the last second, not wanting to crash with the trunk.

"Okay elf!" Wolverine shouted to Nightcrawler. "Go get the steel kid! Do that smoke thing!"

"Can I?" Nightcrawler asked Iceman. "You said to stay here."

"But now it's one of your classmates talking to you," Iceman replied, matter-of-factly. "Go for it."

There was a puff of smoke, and Iceman could here a sound that was like a very muffled gunshot as he did it. The blue mutant appeared on the other side, next to Colossus, whose wrist he grabbed. There was another, larger smoke puff, and the two were on that side. The chasm disappeared, and the nine mutants were in a massive, mostly gray room.

"I have to see how this place works," Forge said, astonished.

"And you will have time for that," said Professor Xavier, from the an observation booth above them. They realized that he was not actually speaking, but broadcasting his thoughts to them. "Storm, Nightcrawler, why did you fail?"

"I thought it was a race," Storm said. "I guess not."

"Indeed," Xavier replied. "Bobby told you it was a class assignment, and you didn't consider the class, only yourself. For this, you and Kurt both fail. Now Kurt, I understand that you did eventually help out, but it was, mind you, only on order from a team-mate. Colossus, your willingness to contribute the way you did helps your grade. And Wolverine, you immediately took charge, were resourceful, and you kept the entire team's interest at hand. You get an A for this."

"Exactly how are we graded?" Wolverine asked. "We aren't getting homework, are we?"

"No, Logan. Not this time, at least. The only concern any of you needs with your grades is that you should strive to keep them high."

"What a novel idea," Kitty Pryde said, under her breath.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, Shadowcat," Xavier smirked. "Now, you all know where your rooms are, I trust, so feel free to go and change and clean up. There is a fully stocked kitchen, if you're hungry, and I'm sure some of you would love to continue exploring the grounds. Though I should tell you that it's raining profusely."



...while I do see great potential in her, Ororo clearly is not used to working with a group. In time, as she feels ready to act the way she truly is, and be the woman who convinced an entire African village that she was a goddess once, she will become a truely great hero. Xavier set his pen down and let his hand rest a moment, before resuming his journal entry. Piotr, while he seems amiable and talented, may be too subservient at the moment. He is not used to being equal to others, instead of just the strong farm boy taking orders from his parents. And while Kurt seems to have quickly emerged from his social shell, I worry about Sara. She has spent most of her life believing herself to be an unwanted freak, and it will take time to break this. In the meantime, I want to see if the others take the initiative to spend time with her. I am also still very pleased with Logan's performance today. I was told by his former superiors that he takes time to adjust to new groups, but he seems to know where his priorities are. When I do decide the student leader, it will likely be him, at this rate. My greatest concern, however, remains Bobby. He has always felt a need to prove himself to be equal to other mutants, and I worry that he may get out of hand with his position of power. While I trust Bobby- he is one of my original students, after all- I will not take chances with his ego getting out of hand. It doesn't seem like an immediate danger, but I am keeping watchful.

Xavier put his pen down, and looked at his computer. He needed to check his e-mail. He opened it up, and found five messages waiting:

"Got home alright. Wife says 'hi'." -Major_Steroids
"Space rays: bad, right?" -ReedtheFantastic
"Enlarge your manhood to mutant-sized proportions!" -Cia~lis. (He lingered on this one for a second).
"Need advice: Respond ASAP" -Yashida, Shiro
"We're expanding the family!" -OneEyedMonster

The last was from Scott Summers. Xavier's face brightened, as he opened the message.

[bored]

Sara, or Marrow, as she would be called now, curled up in her bed. This was the first real bed she ever remembered having. As part of the Morlocks, a group of hideous mutants living beneath New York, she had had little more than a ratty sleaping bag and, when she coud get to it first, a rusty cot with a worm-eaten mattress. Here, she had a queen sized real bed with a comfortable mattress, several soft pillows, clean sheats, and blankets. It almost made her cry to think about. Caliban, the reserved but sweet mutant who acted almost as an emotional glue to the Morlocks, had spent time here, and had told stories about the great Xavier Institute. Sara had once dreamed of coming here, and when Caliban had announced that Xavier wanted a Morlock to be in his class, she had begged to be it. Not that she was the only one. It was rumored that Masque had offered Caliban sexual favors to be the pick. She couldn't think about the Morlocks anymore then, otherwise, she thought, she might cry, both with happiness and homesickness. As superior as this was to the tunnels, it wasn't what she'd grown up in. It was a completely different group of people, and Kurt, the only other blatantly freakish one, had quickly become everyone's best friend. While she'd hoped at first that he would, he obviously had no idea how she felt. The young redheaded woman with bones sticking out from her body felt very alone. Another strange thing was the storm. She rarely saw the surface, and to her rain always meant flooding, and discomfort. She hadn't even seen actual rain coming down since she was a small child, and it wasn't like this. She thought again of the Morlocks, sad as it made her, and wondered if it was like this now in nearby New York City, and how they were at the moment. Her boyfriend, Berzerker (he refused to reveal his actual name, even to her), had opposed her going, and was probably hurting now. He hadn't exactly been the best of boyfriends, but she still was sure he cared for her, deep down, even when he hurt her. Thinking of what he had been like most of the time, domineering and mean, eased the homesickness somewhat. The lightning, which she'd never actually seen before, also brang thoughts of Berzerker, who had electrical powers that had terrified his hometown when he was young. She watched the storm in awe. This room was unlike anything she'd ever been in before, but there was so much at once for her to take. When another bolt of lightning cracked across the sky and illuminated her dark room, she reached for her small pack. She unzipped it, and removed one of the few things she had to take: her old sleeping bag. She layed it out over the bed, and got inside, not bothering with the clean linens she now had. As she re-curled herself inside the bag, she looked again at her new, luxurious surroundings, and felt tears, again of both joy and nostalgia, welling up.



"...Too slow!" A slightly drunken Forge cried. "Man, Kurt, I thought you Germans were supposed to be good drinkers. Okay, you go this time!"

Kurt started the quarter this time, and tried to flick it with one of his big fingers. It soared across the table, and then fell down.

"Dammit!" An equally tipsy Kurt Wagner shouted. "Okay, who's flinging it?" Bobby Drake set up his thumb, index, and middle fingers in the position to launch the quarter, and set the coin under his thumb. He aimed at Kurt's knuckles, which were now on the table, and flung it. It hit his blue hand, and barely broke the skin. "Ah! Okay, who's next?"

Kurt, Bobby, Forge, and Logan all filled shot glasses with burboun, and knocked them back at once. Logan, once again, finished first. Kurt came in second this time, then Bobby, then Forge.

These guys are gonna be alright, Bobby thought. I need to pee.



Ororo Monroe emerged from the shower, feeling good. She finally had the fresh start she'd wanted ever since she had to leave the blissfully ignorant African tribe she'd lived with for several years in Africa. The rain still poured. Where she'd been living, the only time it rained like this was by her own doing. Her room was, like all the others, big and comfortable. She had set out her collection of potted plants in various places, to her liking. While Sara Rutherds was feeling confused and was crying in her room down the hall, Ororo felt great. She slipped her towel off, and stepped out onto her balcony, letting the rain and wind envelope her body.



Kitty Pryde rested comfortably in the study with a book. She'd already picked out a favorite armchair. She was the youngest one here, but she liked her new classmates. Especially Piotr and Sara. Her Russian friend was sitting by the window, sketching the trees outside in the rain. He was such a sweety, and she liked getting to know him. He seemed a little shy, though.

"Hey, Petey," she called, "did you know alot of girls in Russia?"

"There was my little sister," he replied. "I told her I'd send her drawings of the mansion when I got here. That's why I'm drawing this. She'll love it, I know. There were a few other girls living nearby, but I didn't see them alot."

"Did you ever like any of them?" Kitty asked.

"They usually seemed very nice."

"No, not like that. I mean like like."

Piotr looked at her, puzzled.

"Never mind. I'm gonna go see how Sara's doing." Kitty got up and headed for her other new friend's room. Sara was even more shy than Piotr, but Kitty knew she could befriend her easily. She passed by Betsy Braddock, who was exploring the halls, and waived. Betsy was nice, too. And a supermodel! Kitty wondered if she could help her break into that one day.



In his office, Xavier turned off his computer. Scott and Jean were going to have a baby, which made his day. And Shiro Yashida, as it turned out, hadn't needed advice as urgently as he'd claimed. His powers were acting up again, but that happened sometimes. Professor Xavier's old friend knew how to handle it himself. Besides, the Professor had new mutants to worry about, now.

[bored]

i'm glad to see that people are reading this. i got an offer to put it up on a different website, as well, and i'm considering doing it. can maybe get some more direct feedback there. i really do wanna know what everyone who reads this thinks. I really hope that The Squirrel isn't just coming back every few hours, and that is why this has so many views.

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"What the hell are we doing in a high school basketball court?" Forge asked. "It's not that I don't think we should work everywhere we're needed, it's just that this seems a tad bit unusual."

"Really," Shadowcat added. "When I saw you guys on the news, you were always in the middle of New York, or someplace like that. I thought X-Men did bigger things. What's even here?"

"Wait," Iceman said, calmly. He stood in front of the new students, each one of them in uniform. "We're here for a reason."

"Like?" Wolverine pressed. He sniffed the air, and a grin came across his face. "Ahhh, I see. Hold steady, guys."

And then they came. Giant, bug-like creatures, colored greenish-brown mostly, poured into the court. Throught the doors, windows, air ducts.

"Since when were we in "Alien 3"?" Psylocke cracked. "What the hell are these things?" The 'things' were surrounding them.

"The 'things' are called the Brood, and they're not pleasant," Iceman replied. "Now, who wants to show off?"

Iceman clenched his fist, and ice began enveloping his body. In less than five seconds, he was completely ice. The Brood waited all around them. Iceman shot out his arms, and mist spurted after his hands. The mist hit one of the creatures, and it froze.

"Let's play!" Wolverine exclaimed. He clenched his fists, and released the foot long blades in his arms through his knuckles. He sprung into a mass of Brood, and started slashing. One of the Brood pounced on him, and wrapped it's legs around his neck. He thrashed around, trying to get it off of him to no avail. Another jumped onto him, and Wolverine fell to the ground. He was able to stab this one through the head, but couldn't free his wrist afterwards. He tugged, but at the angle he was at prevented him from being freed. It seemed dire, until the creature on his back was torn away. Wolverine breathed in deeply, and slashed off the head of the one still on his claws. He turned around, and saw Colossus, in his massive steel form.

"Good going, kid," he said. Colossus remained silent. He moved his head in the direction of several more Brood, and the two charged. On the way, Wolverine saw that the Russian teenager had personally smashed several of the things. More of the creatures jumped at them, but were less of a problem with Colossus's help. The steel mutant grabbed one of them, and tossed it into another. Wolverine thrust his hands forward, and into the flank of another creature.

"How many are there?" Colossus yelled.

"Enough!" Iceman called back. He himself had turned quite a few of them into statues of solid ice.

Above them all, Nightcrawler had learned that the Brood could fly. There little wings were powerful. He was racing across the ceiling, evading the marauding monsters. As one buzzed under him, he jumped down and grabbed it's back. It slammed him into the ceiling, and the blue mutant started beating on it's head with one hand. That had little effect, so he had another idea. He grabbed it's wings, and there was one of his bursts of smoke. When he reappeared on the bleachers, he was holding it's wings, and the Brood creature had crashed into the ground, into a pile of more Brood, who pounced on it and ripped it to shreds.

Elsewhere, Shadowcat was being cornered. Three of them surrounded her. One jumped on her, and she phased herself into the floor, taking it with her. She emerged without it, and it died in the floor. The other two tried attacking her, and she did the same.

Nearby, Psylocke was handily dispatching many more of them. Her martial arts talents alone were leaving several with shattered body parts. As one tried to swipe at her ankle, she lept into the air, and towards a wall. Getting close, she tucker her legs in, then, as she reached the wall, she sprung them out and propelled herself outside of the mass of Brood. They regrouped, and were collectively struck by lightning. Psylocke waved to Storm, who was zapping many more of them like that. She waved back, and yelled down.

"You really should keep fighting!"

Psylocke spun around, and saw another brood. Her hands started to glow, and the glow, which burned a dark pink, expanded into large blade type things. She plunged one of the things, which appeared to be blades, into it's head. The creature's eyes rolled back, and foam poured from it's mouth.

Back where they were on their own rampage, Wolverine and Colossus had gone through most of their enemies. Colossus pulled a bleacher from the wall, and hurled it at a flying Brood that was chasing Storm. She repaid with gale force winds concentrated entirely behind Colossus, where many more of the insect-like beasts were congragating.

As all this went on, Forge was leaping across the bleachers on the other side. He had removed the glove covering one hand, revealing that his left hand was entirely robotic. It hummed, and the form changed from a hand into what looked like a small laser pistol's barrel from a sci-fi movie. He aimed, and shot one of the Brood. The blast cut clean through it's neck.

In the middle of the court, Marrow had cleared out at least twenty of the Brood. More bones had sprouted from her back, and she was wielding them like clubs. Earlier, she'd sprouted what looked like a knife from her hand, but that was firmly lodged in a Brood creature's underside.

After another ten or so minutes, the court was clear of live Brood. Iceman and seven of the students gathered in the middle. Storm was still flying across the ceiling.

"You can come down, Ororo!" Iceman called.

"I'm fine!" She yelled down. "I'm just going to make sure we've gotten them all!"

"I hope not," Wolverine panted. "That was fun." He turned to Colossus. "Kid, you're good." Colossus smiled and nodded. He looked up to spot Storm, and the smile was gone.

"There's still one, Storm!" The steel mutant shouted. "Look out!"

Storm saw it, and tried to zap it with lightning. It veered to the side. This one was fast. Forge tried to shoot it from the ground, but only ended up putting a small, clean hole in the ceiling. It charged Storm, and she dodged it when it was only inches from her. Iceman watched them, with his arms folded.

"Logan, I have an idea," Colossus said.

"Lemme hear it, big guy."

"Remember what you taught me?"

"Huh?" Wolverine looked confused.

"The fastball." And then Colossus grabbed Wolverine and tossed him into the last Brood. Wolverine had caught on quickly enough that he had time to bring out his claws again and extend them in front of him as he soared. The Brood screached, and went crashing to the ground, with Wolverine on its back.

"That it, Professor?" Iceman called, reverting back to his normal form.

"Yes," came Xavier's voice from the obersvation deck above them. "Colossus, that was good thinking. Once again, you gave one of the best shows. And all of you showed great skill in combat. Luckily, it is doubtful that if you ever run into real Brood, there will be that many. Though they do tend to be much stronger in real life. Okay, this session is adjourned. Go wash up."

The basketball court rippled, and became the empty, gray Danger Room again.

[The Squirrel]

i only come here when i see you have updated

[bored]

Deep in the woods in Montana, Victor Creed rested under a tree, with his kill, an impressive six-point buck, lying next to him, bleeding in the snow. He was distracted by the buck, and his own tiredness from chasing it, but he still noticed the scent of the woman approaching him.

"So, the scarlet whore shows herself," he yelled, just loud enough for her to hear him. "Or, I guess, you'd be the blue whore, wouldn't you, Raven?"

"Oh Victor, you always had such a way with women," Raven Darkholme, a woman with blue skin and flaming red hair, replied, not sounding offended. "And just a regular gourmet chef, aren't you?"

"Baby, you never tried my cookin'," Victor said. "So what've you got to dig yourself out of today, that needs my assistance?" Raven smiled, and stood in front of the still-reclining Victor. She got down, and straddled him.

"Oh, I don't need anything today, Vic," she said, flirtatiously. "I may want something, but today I'm just here to extend an offer."

"Raven, nothing you have to offer is new to me," Victor put his hands on her sides, and drew her close. "That's not saying something I've had before is a bad thing."

"Oh, Victor, if I really thought I interested you, we wouldn't have gotten divorced. No, today, I have something a bit different. You're familiar with Magneto, aren't you?" Victor's eyes lit up at the mention of the name.

"Yeah. I did a couple of jobs for him before we met. You workin' for him now?"

"Naturally. And I'm not the only one. You also know about Charles Xavier, and the X-Men, right?"

"Of course. Magneto was never a fan of them."

"No, but the idea of them intrigues him. He's assembling his own mutant team, and I'm one of his first recruits. He sent me to try and retrieve you."

Victor had no problem with working for Magneto full time, but still had one more thing he wanted at the moment. "Tell ya what, babe," he said. "You find a good way to distract me from this buck I just killed, and I'm in."

She knew just the perfect distraction.



Erik Lensherr stood on his balcony, the wind blowing his gray hair. It was obvious that he was fairly old, but his appearance still had a sort of youthful quality that betrayed the truth, which was that he was in his late sixties. Behind him, Mortimer Toynbee bounced onto the balcony.

"Boss, Fred Dukes called back," he said, excited. "He's all for it!"

"Excellent," Eric said, smiling. He turned to face Mortimer. "If Mystique can persuade Sabertooth, and I'm sure she can, than my lieutenants will all be assembled. Has Mastermind returned from England yet?"

"No, boss," Mortimer, who was himself English, repsonded. "I'll get you when he shows up."

"Thank you, Toad. If you don't mind, I'd like a bit more alone time now. Things are going so well."

"They sure are. Bye then, boss!" And Mortimer 'Toad' Toynbee bounced back out. His sickly greenish-gray face was bright today, as it usually was now that Magneto had chosen him to be one of the leaders of the mutant revolution. Him, Mortimer, the meak little hopper with the long tongue, who was learning more about his abilities now than he'd ever known before. He'd never felt so important.

[The Squirrel]

excellent. I know how to spell Erik Lensherr now.

Keep it up.

[bored]

those double 'r's can mess you up, huh?

----------------------------------------------------

Birds chirped in the garden in one of the many courtyards of the Xavier Institute. Logan, standing in his jeans, breathed in and moved to another position. His eyes were closed, but he could smell and hear everything around him. Sometimes the heightened senses overloaded him, and it could be too much. When he meditated like this, all was perfect. Everything was clear and calm and he felt comfortable. This garden, in particular, suited Logan's needs for an isolated spot to do his Tai Chei exercises very well. He wondered if anyone actually knew about it. The flora was nice, but needed pruning. That, however, was something he specialized in. As he changed his stance again, to a pose where one knee was slightly bent, and one hand stretched out, open, while the other stayed by his torso, in a loose fist, someone else discovered his new secret spot.

"Well, looks like the tough guy has a secret," Ororo Monroe mocked, trying not to sound mean.

"Not to mention a stalker," Logan replied, matching her playfulness. "Or did you stumble on this spot accidentally?"

"Logan, I can fly," she stated. "I know plenty about the grounds already. I've been getting closer to seeing everything here up close all day. It'll still take awhile, though. Still, fancy seeing you here."

"Yep, now you see me," Logan was starting to get impatient. "Now are you just gonna stand there and admire my pecks, or keep looking at the grounds? Sorry if I'm sounding impatient-", though he actually wasn't sorry by any means, "-but I kinda want some privacy. Ya mind?"

"Eh, I guess not," and Ororo walked away, finding the door back inside, hoping to find the hedge maze from the ground. She was also a bit disappointed that Logan had requested that she leave so soon. She knew so little about him. He'd said before that he had experience in the military and covert ops, and he'd proved himself the capable pool/poker/quarters player, but that was about it. Seeing him doing Tai Chei was knew to her. Then it occurred to her that she'd never even heard his last name.


Sara shifted her eyes to Piotr, who was in a deck chair by the pool. He had followed her and Kitty outside about twenty minutes ago, and had his face buried in his sketch-book.

"What does he draw?" Sara whispered to Kitty.

"Everything," she whispered back. "He just draws."

"Think he's drawing us?"

"I don't know." Kitty stopped and thought for a second. "Look, Sara, I really don't see him as the perverted type. I wouldn't be worried."

"I guess, but it's still so wierd. We're both here in our bathing suits, and the big guy's just watching us. Think about it, Kitty. This guy's barely known any girls in his life. A repressed teenage boy has gotta think of some wierd things."

"Sara, no offense, but think about the kinds of people you've told me about," Kitty said, matter-of-factly. "You really can't be the best judge."

"Kitty, I still read alot. And how different can these people be? Ya know what, I want to know what he's drawing." Sara got out of the pool, and, to be safe, wrapped a towel around herself. "Hey Peter, what're you drawing?" Piotr, slightly flustered that she got his name wrong, showed her his sketch book. It was of some of the rose bushes nearby. "Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be," Piotr mumbled. He went back to his book and pencil, and Sara, embarassed, walked away.

"You going, Sara?" Kitty called.

"Um.. Yeah. Yeah I think so." She walked inside, feeling miserable again. Good going, Sara. You looked stupid in front of them. She wondered if Piotr would forgive her for being so paranoid.



In Washington D.C., Bolivar Trask wiped sweat from his brow. The phone call hadn't come yet. His dream rested on that damn call. Finally, it wrang. He picked up the phone nervously.

"Mr. President?" He said, sounding terrified. "Oh, hi honey. Look, I'll be home in an hour, okay? Good." He put the phone down, and sharpened one of his pencils again. After ten agonizing minutes, the phone wrang again. "Mr. President? Oh, thank God it's you. What? No, no I didn't think something had happened to you. I'm just on edge, a little. Why? Eh, too much coffee. Listen, I don't mean to rush, but have you reviewed my project proposal? Yes? And what do you think? I know it's expensive, but I guarantee you that it's worth it. The House and the Senate are both for it, Mr. President. So- so you're supporting it? Oh, thank you!" He talked a little longer, and then put the phone down, thrilled. "Finally, Project Wideawake is going to happen." The now joyful Trask got his coat and left work early. It didn't matter. He was finally getting recognition. No more being a nobody on Capital Hill for Bolivar Trask. Today, he would make the transition to someone of real importance. His idea would change the world, and for the better.

[bored]

sorry i've not been posting with my old rapidity. been busy w/ other stuff.

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"...And that's it for the Living Blob tonight, folks!" The emcee said into his microphone. "He'll be right back here tomorrow, same time, same place."

Fred Dukes, the Living Blob that had just finished his act, left the stage. For a time, his job as a carnival freak had been fun. People liked seeing this impossibly big, strong man do various strange things. He lifted massive objects, got shot by cannonballs, and wrestled big animals. But, in the last few years, he'd tired of it. Being jeered as much as he had been cheered, getting made fun of by the other freaks (oh, the irony there had not been lost on a single person), Dukes just hated it. Then, Magneto, the legendary mutant rebel, had come to him with an offer that he absolutely couldn't pass up: join in his war against humanity. He would be part of a small mutant army that would make the normal people pay for hating them. All his life, Dukes had been harassed by people for being so fat, and then for being a mutant, when it was figured out that his obesity stemmed from that. Even the freaks at the carnival had the nerve to make fun of him for it. But not anymore. That night, he would leave for Avalon, that amazing island that he'd been told about in the Atlantic ocean, where he would join Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants. It was the happiest he'd been in years. But first, he had some business to take care of.

"Freddie!" Randian, the armless and legless freak who'd been one of his few friends, called. "Hey, are you really going today?"

"Yep," Dukes responded. "Boss is gonna be pissed." Dukes, the Living Blob, walked to his trailer, with the smaller man wriggling quickly along with him.

"Hey chubby, why are you leaving us?" Olga, the bearded lady, shouted from her own trailer. Dukes gave her the finger. He went and packed his things, then, a few hour later, prepared to leave. Assembled at the exit to the carnival were the other freaks. Randian and his other friends, Johnny the half boy and Hans the midget, had a card for him, while the others just continued mocking.

"Oh good, now we can breath," Hercules, the strong man, said, just loud enough for Dukes to hear. At this point, he would have been content just saying good bye to his friends and leaving, but Fred Dukes just couldn't take it anymore. He charged Hercules and swiped him with his massive hand, sending him flying.

"Pansy!" Dukes called. "Who's tough now?" He grabbed the bearded lady, and through her into the air, letting her land on the flame eater. Randian, Johnny, and Hans cheered him on. He snatched Joseph/Josephine, the half man, half woman, and spun him/her around until she flew far away just from him letting go. The emcee watched, astounded.

"Dukes?! Blob, what is wrong with you?" He yelled. "You've damn near killed some of our top stars! Just because you're leaving doesn't mean you need to ruin this for the rest of us."

"What?" Dukes wheeled on him. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that. You're all a bunch of hypocrites, ya know that?" The emcee pulled out a pistol.

"I won't let you do this. I'm stopping you now!"

"Stop Freddie?" Randian laughed. "Look at him, boss. Nothing stops the Blob!"

Dukes tore the gun from the emcee's hand, picked him up, and snapped him like a twig.

"Blob! Blob! Blob!" All the other freaks chanted.



"That's enough," Fred 'the Blob' Dukes said, opening his eyes in the meeting room on Avalon. "Thanks Jason."

Jason 'Mastermind' Wyngarde, a pyschic who was also part of Magneto's Brotherhood, had allowed him to vividly relive his last day at the carnival, but with an added twist. In truth, Blob had had a quiet send off with his three friends at an Applebee's. An entire half of the resteraunt had been vacated when they came in, and that was the only excitement. He'd wished so much that he could one day get back at those who had always been cruel to him, and Mastermind had offered to show him what it could look like. It was just another offer he couldn't refuse.


They met on the roof of the main building on the island that night. Magneto saw his entire Brotherhood assembled before him: Toad, Sabertooth, Mystique, Blob, and Mastermind. Xavier had always thrown a five-piece crew at him to stop Magneto's various plots, and now he had one of his own. As he preached his vision to the five mutants who he promised would be his lieutenants in the army he was going to raise, each one's eyes lit up. He said that he would lead them into a new world, one where the lowly humans, if they weren't dead, would be like slaves. And they, the first to start the fight, would be like royalty. Nobody would stop them in this, not even Charles Xavier and whatever drones he could recruit. The world was theirs for the taking.

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look at this (http://www.superherohype.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4664846#post4664846). you will know what bored does in his spare time. i am actually evil! mwahaha!

[bored]

sorry for the inactivity again. been busy.

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Only weeks after getting the go-ahead for Project Wideawake, Bolivar Trask was giddily overseeing the beginning stages of the building of a Sentinel, his greatest idea ever. A factory in Michigan was putting them together in secret, and he was there for every step. At the end of the day that day, five Sentinels were half complete already. In two weeks, he would demonstrate them to a group from Washington and surely get comissioned to make more to handle the mutant invasion that he knew would happen soon enough. He thought about it as he walked the factory putting the Sentinels together. Those freaks would make their move soon enough, and he and his Sentinels would be waiting for them.


"Is it hot in here?" A young blonde man asked. He was getting examined, along with three others, by Professor Charles Xavier and Dr. Henry McCoy. The latter, hopping from one person to another, looked at him, worried.

"Mr. Storm, it's 68 degrees already. I don't think heat is an issue right now," Dr. McCoy, the former X-Man Beast, assured. "If you give me a day to look at your tissue samples, I can see what is giving you these constant hot flashes."

"You sure?" 'Mr. Storm', actually a lab assistant named Johnny, asked.

"It's okay, Johnny," Reed Richards, one of the other four, said. "These guys know their stuff. You holding up okay, Ben?" A big man was laying on one of the examination tables, holding his stomach.

"Been better. Hey Chuck, can you get me another antacid?" Ben asked. Xavier shook his head.

"Mr. Grimm, this many cannot be healthy," he said. "Just hold on a little while. Reed, where is your fiance?"

"I'm over here!" A girl called. She sounded close.

"Susie?" Reed asked. "What the hell?"

"Oh my," Xavier muttered. "Hank, she needs to be looked at, now. Though I guess actually 'looking' is out of the question."



Storm soared across the sky over the Xavier Institute. He didn't like her flying in the open so much, but she couldn't help herself. It was such a perfect day, and she needed space. She adored her classmates, but she was used to having room for herself, and the sky was that place at the moment. Below her, Piotr Rasputin was, as usual, drawing something or another; Logan was tending to the hidden away garden that she'd caught him in days before; and Forge, that enigmatic tech-geek, was fine tuning one of the many automobiles the Professor had amassed. She let the winds she'd created take her higher. Far off, at the edge of the long road that led to the mansion, there was a large flash of light. Curious, she soared towards it. When she landed in the area it had come from, Kurt Wagner had teleported in, having noticed it as well, and Betsy Braddock was with him. Storm figured that the lovely British woman, who claimed to be a decent telepath, had sensed it and asked the blue mutant to bring her to it.

"Picking anything up?" Storm asked. Her classmate simply moved her head around, searching for some kind of disturbance. Far off, two motorcycles, one with Forge, and the other with Logan, were coming. Psylocke had stopped moving, and her eyes were closed. Her face seemed to glow pink.

"Betsy, are you okay?" Nightcrawler asked. She raised her hand to shush him.

"Please just come out," Psylocke called. Foliage rustled, and a large black man emerged from the bushes. "We really aren't going to harm you."

"I- I wouldn't expect you to," the man said, sounding astonished. "I just need to let this sink in. Ah!" He fell to his knees, holding his head. "Ah! What the?!" Psylocke and Nightcrawler grabbed him. Forge and Logan arrived, and helped move the man.

"Betsy, what did he tell you?" Storm asked.

"I couldn't pick up on much. He's nervous, and he's from someplace dangerous. I don't know what is happening to him now, but it looks bad, and I can't reach him anymore."

"What's the lug's name?" Logan asked.

"Lucas, I think was his first name. Look at his shirt. What does it say on it?" She asked. Logan saw the tag, and read.

"Bishop? Odd."

[bored]

Professor Xavier and Hank McCoy came to the Institute that night, ready to look at the stranger. Lucas Bishop, after the pangs he'd felt in his head, could hardly even remember his own name. McCoy had recommended that he be moved to the Avengers' Mansion, where he often worked, to be looked at. Xavier was reluctant at first, knowing that Bishop was a mutant, but he relented eventually. Since the fabled Avengers didn't actually exist anymore, there was no risk to the mansion, which was now just an advanced government facility. His only condition was that Bishop be returned to the Institute within a month, thinking that it would be easier for him there.

The students were abuzz with rumors on what he was. Everyone pressed Betsy, hoping that she had actually found more speaking to him telepathically than she'd said, but to no avail. It took an order from the Professor to get them to stop pestering her.

Dr. McCoy, the former Beast, had chatted with his old teammate, Bobby Drake, for a bit, saying that this Bishop character was beyond anything he could explain. He clearly wasn't a teleporter, but the students had insisted that he'd just magically appeared. And, quite frankly, Beast wasn't sure what he did. After a time, Beast left, with a surprisingly subservient Bishop coming with him. One of the few times he spoke, Bishop had said that, while he couldn't explain why, he was amazed just to see Henry McCoy, the almost ape-like scientist.



"Did you see that tattoo?" Kitty asked Piotr, whom she seemed to follow around all the time. "It looked like an 'N'."

"I think it was an 'M'," Piotr replied. "But it was odd. What do you think he was doing down there?"

"I don't know, but Betsy and the Professor both scanned his head, and neither of them knows what his deal is." As they spoke, Kitty spotted Iceman down the hall. "Hey, Bobby! Come here!" He approached them, and Kitty pestered him with questions about Bishop, but got nothing new.

In the doorway of one of the many rooms they passed, Sara Rutherds watched them, focusing on Bobby. She wondered what people would treat him like if he was always in his Iceman form. He'd probably have it even worse than she always expected to get herself.



The notorious Church of Humanity shouted slogans and waved signs in the air, hoping to somehow force the politicians in Washington D.C. to go into the Capital Building and start introducing anti-mutant ordinances left and right. A middle aged military man climbed up the steps, and someone threw a wad of paper at him. A guard grabbed the thrower, and dragged him off. The military man, General William Stryker, picked up the paper, which had a picture of none other than himself doctored onto a naked man's body. In the picture, another naked man was positioning himself in a position Stryker found horribly tasteless, and that man's head had the head of the legendary terrorist Erik Lensherr, commonly known as Magneto, on it. Beneath the entire thing were the words "MUTIE LOVER". Stryker tore up the paper, and dropped it in a trash-can. He was a man very unpopular to the various anti-mutant factions around the country for his pro-mutant stance, and the fact that his own wife, Irene, had recently been outed as a mutant herself. He sometimes wished he could just order the National Guard to come in and blow these people's heads off, but that would get him nowhere. It was a shame. Some people just took up too much space. As he walked in, to speak with the President about improving the newest model of Anti-Vehicle Land Mines, he spotted Robert Kelly, a much-loved Republican senator from Mississippi, who glared at him. The two had served in Vietnam together, and had, by no means, ever gotten along. The mutant issue was just one of many things that had seperated the two men. Stryker averted his eyes, went through security check, and headed to the meeting room where he and several other military men would toss ideas to the President and a few congressmen.


At the Stryker home, only a few miles away, Irene Adler-Stryker was busy frantically writing in her latest journal. She was as blind as a bat, but the things she wrote were legible and orderly, though frightening. She knew what she'd written without seeing it, and immediately searched for the telephone. She found the speed-dial button for her husband, and called him with her latest vision.


The subjects of Irene's vision arrived in what looked like a large bubble. It opened like a toy easter-egg, and Magneto stepped out with his Brotherhood, comprised of Toad, Sabretooth, Mystique, Mastermind, and the Blob.

"Now, let's cause a commotion," Magneto said. And the Brotherhood's attack on Washington D.C. began.

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I'm gonna be gone for a few days, so it'll be a little bit before the next entry, which actually gives me time for something. I want whoever's reading this to take the current X-Men and Brotherhood in the story, and tell me in a post here if there are any fights you'd like to see. I'll try to write those in.

[The Squirrel]

nightcrawler and toad.

keep up the good work...im going to try to update mine soon.

[bored]

The blood seemed to drain from Professor Xavier's face. Why hadn't he figured it out before? Why wouldn't Magneto form his own group? It made such perfect sense. The last time he'd really tried, it was just him bossing his children around, and that had backfired. Now, as he sat in the massive chamber containing Cerebro, his most essential tool, he knew he needed to act quickly. But were the new students ready? Surely Iceman could fight well enough, but he wasn't one of the new ones, one that was any concern. Wolverine could, but the others didn't have his kinds of experience. Still, if he didn't mobilize them immediately, what kinds of damage could Magneto and his new followers do? He couldn't risk that. Xavier closed his eyes, and connected himself mentally to the mutants at the Institute.

X-Men, get ready. We're going on a field trip.



A Secret Service agent stared at disbelief at what had just happened. He'd emptied an entire clip at the hulking, feral man chasing people around the Mall in Washington D.C., and it'd barely phased him. Bodies of surprised, horrified tourists and security guards lay strew about. The attacker had blood all over his hands and mouth, and barely seemed slowed down by the bullets. Now, he was charging at the agent, who could barely think as he turned to run. He was caught quickly though, and his neck was snapped like a twig.


Bullets didn't come near Magneto, who floated high above the terrified people who'd come to the Lincoln Memorial. They stopped several feet away, and dropped to the ground. Occasionally, he would force away the guns of people shooting at him, and, without even touching a single trigger, fired upon anyone he saw.


People thought nothing of the sports car racing from the chaos, not even with his sickly, unnatural complexion. Toad knew enough about hotwiring to get away fast. He'd had time on the way over to memorize the address he needed to go to, and how to get to it. He wished he could see more of the action, but that would have to wait.


One man thought that clowns were dancing around him; a protester saw a "Deliverance"-like mountain man aiming an automatic rifle at his head; a suburban house-wife thought that a gay, black, French Muslim was giving candy to her children. Far from them, Mastermind laughed madly. His team-mates liked killing, but he was having so much more fun just making people scream. A car fell from, seemingly, nowhere. Mastermind's attention was briefly diverted, and his victims had a moment to calm themselves before the mental attack began again.

"Blob! Watch it!" He called. His massive colleague was knocking things between himself and a hot-dog stand far out of the way.


"Be calm, people!" A security guard called. "The National Guard is close!" But 'he' knew it wasn't true. 'He' rushed people through the Capital Building, stirring up panic. 'He' had even gotten to close to several politicians. Recognized quickly was Senator Robert Kelly, who, unfortunately, was of no interest. Now was the time to finish the riot. The guard's close and skin changed, becoming Mystique, the red-haired, blue-skinned mutant. She heard Kelly screaming that he'd told everyone so. As a real guard attacked, she lept into the air, flipping over him, then kicking him in the back, right in the middle of the spine.

"Now where is he?" She said, under her breath. Her target was close.

"Get her!" Senator Kelly shouted. "The mutie's going to kill us all! You damn hippies wouldn't listen to me, and look what happened!" Mystique smiled coquettishly at him, then grabbed the guard who'd come at her, and took his gun. Keeping her eyes on Kelly, she shot the guard in the head.

"Oh, but how else would I have any fun if you had your way, Robbie?" She cackled. She fired blindly into the crowd, which was madly trying to escape, but was soon stopped by a hard blow to her head. She staggered, looked behind her, and saw her target.


Toad bounded out of the Stryker house-hold, with a kicking, screaming Irene over his shoulder.

"Did the people who read your blog know this would happen?" He mocked, shoving her into the trunk of his new car. He sped back to the Capital Building, his main job done. Now the Toad could have some real fun. Why let Sabretooth have it all?



The new class of X-Men, on their first mission ever as a team, marveled at the Blackbird jet that Professor Xavier had somehow stowed away under the Institute from the inside. Iceman flew it, with Forge examining the various gadgets on the plane. Xavier himself watched the new students, who were anxious to see action, real action, for the first time. Of all of them, only Wolverine seemed truly confident now. He hoped the others could pull through.


"I was hoping you'd show up without a lot of trouble," Mystique smiled. "Magneto has such big plans for you. Oh, I know it doesn't make sense. You've always supported our kind, but this makes such a statement! Now please just give up silently?"

"Over my dead body!" William Stryker, though getting old, was a dangerous man. He assumed a fighting stance, and waved Mystique over. "I won't let you do this!"


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cliff-hanger ending! coming up soon: what Magneto wants with the Irene; Nightcrawler vs. Toad; Colossus vs. Sabretooth; a new mutant is introduced, but what side are they on?; and the public debut of the brand new X-Men! Oh yes, and let's not forget: Stryker vs. Mystique.

[bored]

hello everyone who wasn't turned off by the grammatical errors in my comments at the bottom of the last post!


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The Blackbird jet landed on the Washington Mall. Security guards, Secret Service agents, and National Guard were all ready to shoot at the new arrivals, until Professor Xavier emerged. The man was recognizable enough and respectable enough that he was given slack, and some took the group of uniformed mutants behind him to be a blessing. Xavier scanned the area in his mind.

"There are six mutants here," he said. "Magneto is moving around, but should be close to the Pentagon now. Storm, Iceman, you two come with me to deal with him. There is a woman named Mystique, a shape-shifter, in the Capital Building. Marrow, Forge, you two go after her. Psylocke, a psychic manipulator who calls himself Mastermind is in the middle of the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial. Since you are the only other telepath here, I want you to take him. Shadowcat, I'm sending you after the Blob alone. His strength is purely physical. Do what you like with your phasing power to incapacitate him. Colossus, Wolverine, you have a target nearby. His name is Sabretooth, and I believe he is coming for us as I speak. As he is the most vicious of them, he's yours."

"Hold up, Prof," Wolverine said. "Sabretooth?"

"Yes. Didn't you two have a history together?"

"Yeah. Look, I can't fight him," Wolverine insisted.

"Why not, Logan?"

"I just can't. Look, you've only told us about five mutants. Let me take the sixth."

"Actually, I'd rather Nightcrawler fight him. It'd be for the best." Nightcrawler's ears perked up at the mention of his name. "His name is Toad, and I think that Kurt is better suited. Now go and fight! All of you!"



Toad hopped out of the car he'd stolen, and grabbed Irene Adler-Stryker from the trunk. He tossed her into the craft that the Brotherhood had arrived in, and bounded off, hoping there was some fun left for him.



"Oh, William," Mystique laughed. "You are not serious, are you?"

"You've got no idea," Stryker hissed. Mystique smiled sweetly, and leaped into the air. She contorted her body into what seemed like a very painful pose as she rocketed towards Stryker, extending her left foot. Stryker moved to the side, grabbed her foot, swung her around, and threw her back into the air. Mystique flung around and landed on her hands and feet, her ankle throbbing. Stryker charged, and kicked her hard in the face. Mystique tasted blood in her mouth, which she spat out at her opponent. She took the time as he wiped the blood from his face to spin around on her right foot and kicked him in the gut, followed by a quick punch to his solar plexus. Dazed, Stryker tried to focus, but Mystique dropped down and swept out his feet, knocking him to the ground.

"Nice try, old man," she snickered. He looked up on her, and forced a grin. "What's so funny?" Stryker shot out his foot, smashing it into her kneecap.

"That."



Wolverine held back reluctantly as he and Colossus sought out Sabretooth. His teammate tried to coax him into admitting why was reluctant to fight, but was unsuccesful. They found Sabretooth, and Wolverine looked even more uncomfortable.

"Hey, I'm going to help Kitty!" Logan said. "Do this on your own."

"What? Wolverine!" Colossus shouted. His colleague ignored him and ran off.

"Hey there!" called Sabretooth, noticing the giant metal mutant. "Come to join the party?" Colossus, though nervous, approached. "Gonna talk?"

"I won't let you hurt any more people," Colossus said, not seeming to mean it. He balled his fists, and charged. Sabretooth crouched, and pounced when Colossus was close enough. The metal X-Man grabbed him by the wrists, pulled him in close, and kneed the vicious mutant in the groin. While Sabretooth was briefly on the ground, Colossus surveyed the damage his enemy had done before he'd arrived. Bodies lay strewn about, and blood soaked the ground. It made sense why Wolverine didn't want to fight. Sabretooth got up, seeming to have shrugged the blow off already. He jumped on Colossus, and slashed at his face. It was then that the X-Man realized that his enemy's claws on his fingertips were metal, and could, without a doubt, damage him.


Mastermind didn't notice Psylocke until it was too late. He was having so much fun making a National Guardsman believe that his son was secretly a cross-dresser that he didn't detect her until she'd rocketed herself from the edge of the reflecting pool and down next to him. When he turned to see what had caused the splash, she karate chopped him on his shoulder, and shoved him to the ground. He tried probing her mind for something to mess with, but couldn't reach her. Her head glowed pink, and he knew that she was a psychic, like him, and she was strong enough to defend her mind. That was, unfortunately, all Mastermind had to use against anyone. Physical power was not his forte.



Mystique and William Stryker were both bloodied and exhausted from their clash, but both still stood. When Forge and Marrow found them, neither seemed ready to stop fighting. Marrow extended her arms, and bone-shaped knives appeared from her skin. Forge took the glove from his hand, and let it shift into it's gun form.

"Oh look, more people to join in!" Mystique shrieked. Forge blasted her, and Marrow tossed her bone knife expertly, pinning Mystique to the ground by her white blouse. Stryker, panting, looked to them.

"You wouldn't happen to be Xavier's, would you?" He asked.

"Yeah," Forge replied. "How'd ya' guess?"

"Just a hunch."



Blob, humiliated, struggled to catch Shadowcat, who was enjoying being able to evade him. At last, she made her move, grabbing him and trying to phase him into the ground. As she did, the ground beneath her shook wildly. Wolverine, who watched her perform, searched around, and spotted a tall, tanned man watching them intently with clenched fists.

"Stop fighting!" He screamed. "Why are any of you fighting like this?!" Wolverine scratched his head.

"Who the hell...?"


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next: the last part of the D.C. confrontation!

[bored]

for those awaiting an update, i was about finished with one, when my computer f'ed up a bit and lost what i'd written. sorry.

[The Squirrel]

its getting good.

ive gotten sidetracked from mine... i was working on it and then started getting this really cool idea for a monster story..so that has taken up most of my time.

[bored]

"This is what they want!" The newcomer screamed. His left foot was planted forward on the ground, and seemed to be shaking.

A mutant, Wolverine thought. He's the one who's doing this. Nutjob. Blob had been shaken from the ground, and Shadowcat was back in her physical form. Wolverine popped his claws.

"Listen here!" He snarled. "You do not get in our way, bub!"

"We need to stick together! Aaahhh!" The ground shook harder. The crazy new mutant seemed like the veins in his neck would burst. "The humans are making this happen! Stop!" Shadowcat fell to the ground, and the Blob grabbed her, throwing her at the attacking mutant. She phased through him in time, and Blob's target ran away, screaming.

"Kitty, go after him!" Wolverine commanded. He turned to Blob. "Okay, let's tango, fat-boy."

"Don't call me fat!" Blob roared. He charged, and Wolverine jumped up, landing on his neck. The X-Man plunged the claws on his right hand into the Blob's back. Blob gasped in pain, trying to grab Wolverine. He caught him, and tried to squeeze on his attacker's chest, but found that he could barely do a thing.

"Sorry, bub, but it don't work that way."


Piotr 'Colossus' Rasputin had gone through his life thinking that he was completely invulnerable in his steel-skinned form. Today, he learned that he was wrong. Sabretooth's fingertips sported sharp, metallic claws that cut him with relative ease, given the circumstance. Regardless, Colossus could still throw a mean punch that even this beast couldn't withstand. And while Colossus was shocked that he could be cut, Sabretooth was worried that he wasn't recovering quickly enough from his metal opponent's blows. It was the worst beating he could remember in a long time.


In the reflecting pool, Mastermind was faced with a dilemma that he wasn't used to: somebody who could fight off his mental attacks. Psylocke's head constantly had a pinkish glow, which also radiated from her hands, though more intently. Mastermind tried again to tap into her mind and exploit her fears, but it just didn't work. The glow from her hands, taking their knife-ish forms, plunged into his mind. Colors swirled in front of his eyes, and Psylocke's strong, English voice could be heard.

"Is this the best you can do?" She mocked. "You are pathetic, Jason Wyngarde."

"How-" he coughed, "-how did you know my name? I'm not letting you into my head either!" He broke off her own mental attack, and wrapped his hands around Psylocke's neck. She raised her knee to his groin, let him double over, and slammed an elbow over his back.

"By the way," she whispered into his ear, "I learned that you were a virgin until you were 26. Thought you should know that."


The smoking remains of a military helicopter lay on the ground, several yards away from the floating man in the purplish outfit, which included a cape and form-fitting helmet. This was Magneto in full uniform. He had taken down the helicopter just by waiving his hand. He'd also managed to remove the blades, which had dismembered several FBI agents and National Guardsmen. The bloody ground gave the place where Sabretooth had held his own massacre a run for it's money. He'd known that, sooner or later, his old friend Charles Xavier would arrive, maybe even with his X-Men, and he was only slightly disappointed. He saw Xavier, and that idiotic Iceman, but no one else. The others must have gone to fight his Brotherhood.

"Erik!" Xavier called. "Erik, stop this madness now!"

"Oh Charles," Magneto laughed, "what madness? I am doing what needs to be done. Humans have treated us like dirt for years, and I can no longer stand for it." He lowered himself to the ground. "I am merely here to start the revolution. I wanted to draw attention to this movement, and that is exactly what I've gotten. There is always time for you to join me." He began to levitate again, raising his arms to the air and closing his eyes. "What is this?" He asked, to nobody in particular. He could feel the electrical energy around him, which he hadn't generated. A bolt of lightning struck his helmet, sending him to the ground. His helmet fell off.

"Storm, what have you done?" Xavier gasped. The weather-wielding mutant soared down to Xavier and Iceman. "When did I ever say to kill him!?"

"I- I'm sorry Professor," she said, stepping back. "But he's hurt so many people. Why let him live?"

"I don't know why," a voice behind her said. "Tell me why you should let me live." Magneto got up. His suit was a bit dirty, but he seemed okay. "Young lady, lightning is nothing but electricity, and electricity is a specialty of mine. I am the master of magnetism, you know. So Charles, you have nothing to worry about, as I'm perfectly fine. I can see that I'm not wanted here, so I take my leave." He stuck his helmet on (as Xavier realized that he'd missed his oppurtunity to attack Magneto's mind), and flew away, fast.


"Come back, mister!" Shadowcat shouted.

"No! Not with you people! All you do is fight with each other!" He sped up, trying to escape. "Mutants need to work together!"


Colossus raised his foot to stomp on Sabretooth, who had finally started to relent from the beating. An unseen force latched onto his foot, and forced him back. Sabretooth started to move. Colossus looked up, and saw a man in a dark purple costume flying past him.


Forge, Marrow, and William Stryker searched frantically, but couldn't find Mystique. She'd shifted into a civilian form, and was hidden away. They were now focused on evacuating the people they knew to be human. As Stryker screened people trying to leave, a fat man lept over his head, doing a seemingly impossible flip.

"There!" He yelled, as if the X-Men hadn't realized that.


As civilians rushed out, Toad shot out his tongue, grabbing someone. He flung the unlucky tourist around, eventually slamming her into a tree. The poor woman whimpered, terrified. There was a popping sound, and a burst of smoke.

"Guten tag," came a voice. The tourist looked up and gasped, seeing the blue man above her. "It is alright, I am a friend." He grabbed her, and teleported away from Toad. He reappeared a moment later, now crouched, and ready to pounce. "Hallo, I am Nightcrawler."

"A worm, eh?" Toad snickered. "How perfect." He shot out his tongue, trying to grab Nightcrawler. There was another bust of smoke, and the blue mutant disappeared. Toad felt two feet slamming into his back, sending him to the ground.

"I am no worm, mein freund," Nightcrawler said. "I am an X-Man."

"Magneto told us about you," Toad said, his voice sounding weak. "Never said anything about a blue elf, though." He lept high into the air, and extended his legs, aiming for Nightcrawler on the way down. Nightcrawler jumped up, nearly matching Toad's height, and the two grabbed each other. They exchanged blows on the way down. Both struggled to be on top when they hit the ground, with Toad winning out. Nightcrawler moaned, and struggled back to his feet. He teleported behind Toad, and swept his legs out with his feet.


Psylocke tossed Mastermind to the ground, on the edge of the pool. She didn't see the plaque giving information on why a nearby bench was where it was, approaching her head. It slammed her, hard, and she fell down.

"Mastermind, get up!" Magneto shouted. "We're done."


Mystique resumed her real form by the craft the Brotherhood had arrived in. Magneto, towing Sabretooth and being trailed by Mastermind, arrived shortly after. The ground shook.

"You started this!" It was the raving mutant again. Mastermind focused on him, sending him an image of two mutants slaughtering each other.

"Think he'd be useful, boss?" He asked. Magneto nodded.

"Put him in the ship. Is the woman in there?"

"Yes. Anyone know where Toad is?" The mutant in question flew in, yelling. Nightcrawler appeared, coming after him. Magneto raised his hand, and a field of energy surrounded Toad.

"Please do not give us any more trouble, sir. Charles would be so upset if I had to kill one of his students," Magneto ordered. Nightcrawler backed away. Blob bounded in, his back bleeding.

"Boss, it's the Wolverine! He's with Xavier!"

"Wolverine?" Sabretooth whispered. "No, no not him."

Professor Xavier, with Iceman, Storm, Colossus, and Wolverine came to the scene. Sabretooth and Wolverine stared at each other, not saying a thing.

"Erik, you've made your statement," Xavier pleaded, "why continue?"

"It will never be complete," Magneto answered. "And you don't know everything, do you?" He glanced to a nearby path, where three people came in. "William Stryker, how good to see you! Mystique, got Irene, will you?"

Forge and Marrow joined the X-Men, who were still short two members.

"Magneto, what have you done?" Stryker growled. Mystique emerged from the craft with a bound up Irene Adler-Stryker. "Irene! You monsters, release my wife now!"

"Oh William, don't be silly. You know her talents, don't you? I need them right now." He led the Brotherhood into the craft, which began floating. Seconds later, it was off.

"Can't you stop them?" Stryker pleaded to Xavier.

"At the moment, no. I can't get through that hull with my mind. It blocks me like his helmet. William, I'm sorry. You have my word that we will save your wife."

"Thank you."

Shadowcat arrived, helping Psylocke along the way. Soldiers and government agents started to appear.

"I'll help you guys slip out," Stryker said. "Just stick by me."



It was all over the news that two mutant factions had clashed in Washington D.C. that day, but not with the spin that the X-Men would have hoped for. It was told that both had terrorist intentions, and didn't want to work together. Professor Xavier, Bobby Drake, and the students centered around the television. They all knew nothing good could come from this.


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there's more than one way to spell 'saber', if you are wondering. i like the french way better. that's why he's called 'sabretooth'.

this concludes the first section of the story. i'm going to take some time to plan out the next part, but this isn't the end of the whole story. hope you're all liking it so far.

what's currently planned for the next part: the return of Bishop; certain large robots; new mutants in Magneto's little army of evil; and another evil, far greater than Magneto could hope to be.

[bored]

not right now, but the next part of the story will begin in the next few days.

[The Squirrel]

yeah..keep up the work. Im going to try and update mine atleast once a week. Im still figuring everything out.

[bored]

Since I didn't really properly explain before, this is done in 'sections', which are basically smaller parts of a longer serial story, which is what this will be. Section 2 begins now. Enjoy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Two weeks had passed since the clash in D.C. Two weeks of bad press for the Xavier Institute and mutant-kind in general. William Stryker had used every resource he had to try and get the X-Men out of scrutiny. The government suspected them of nothing, and was, in fact, grateful for their help, but the general public was still weary. Senator Robert Kelly, Stryker's nemesis, had a field day with it. He was all over the political commentary shows, ranting about the evil, un-Godly mutants. He was also attempting to have the FBI investigate Stryker, who was communicating more regularly with Professor Charles Xavier, not knowing about the kidnapping of Stryker's wife. And in that situation, even Cerebro couldn't help Xavier find them. But while all this went on, someone else was doing just fine. Bolivar Trask's Project Wideawake had more support than ever, and production was phenomenal. Three Sentinels had been built already, and Trask was thrilled.

"Test the flak cannons!" He called, inside the hidden-away factory where the massive machines were built. A technician pressed a button, and the Sentinel's outstretched hand shook, smoked, and went slack, falling to the ground. "Dammit!" The other two had worked so well, but not this one. "Go get it retooled. Don't test the A.I. until it's in complete working order!" He went back to the working Sentinels, and practically salivated at them. Trask, a notorious mutant-hater, had created the perfect killing machines: an army of massive robots designed specifically to hunt down and kill mutants (though the government believed that there purpose was simply to police the mutants who were out of control). His dream had come true! All he needed now was to test the two Sentinels that currently worked on an actual mutant. That would have to wait, though, as he needed to wait for another mutant outburst to get clearance to deploy them. Luckily, if the events in Washington were any hint, he'd have his chance soon enough.


At the Institute, the Professor wasn't allowing his students out of the mansion for more than a few hours at a time. Every day, Xavier and the others watched the news around the clock, hoping for a little of the onslaught of anti-mutant sentiment to drop. One time, Ororo had chanced upon a talking-head show where the host, a big, burly man, had started screaming like a maniac at a scientist who dared say that there wasn't something in the mutant brain that caused them to be evil. It was not going to be an easy time. One day, after much begging from Kitty, Bobby Drake took the entire class to the city for the day, hoping not to cause too much commotion. It would be a day none of them would ever forget.

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I swear the next parts won't be so short. This was more an introductory installment. Hope you guys (aka: The Squirrel) are liking where I'm taking this.

[bored]

Sara refused to remove her hood, despite Kitty's protests. Going to the mall was, in itself, a stretch for the shy Morlock. Kitty had insisted that she come, saying that it would do her good to be out and about. The intense media scrutiny put on the X-Men hadn't made them recognizable out of costume, so it seemed safe enough, but the stares Sara got from the hood that covered much of her face were still uncomfortable, more so to her friend than her.

"Sara, I wanna go into Abercrombie and Fitch, and I think you need to come too, but there's no way they'll let you in like that. You look like a druggie trying to steal stuff for a fix," Kitty insisted.

"Thanks, Kitty, that really helps," snapped the anti-social young woman. She looked at her younger friend and classmate. "Sorry. You just go in yourself, Kat. If you see anything I'd like, which I kinda doubt, just tell me later."

"Hey, Robin Hood!" Someone shouted, whistling. "Why don't you let us see your face?" Sara grimaced, and turned to face her admirer. It was a heavy-set bald guy wearing a white, albeit sweat-stained, beater. Sara, annoyed, removed her hood, revealing her bone-covered face. "Holy ****!" The man shouted. "Mutant freak!" The word mutant got people's attention.

"Uh-oh," Kitty whispered.



Betsy Braddock started glancing around, anxiously.

"Something wrong?" Ororo asked.

"People know about us, Ororo," Betsy said. "Someone's in trouble. Go find the others. I've got to help Sara and Kitty."



From the moment people started throwing things at her, Sara lost control, and started generating bones to fight with. Kitty begged her to stop, but Sara didn't listen. She began launching small spikes at people who still taunted, and at security guards who tried to stop her. Soon, the other X-Men arrived, and surrounded her. Piotr transformed into his steel form, blocking her from throwing more boney spines at the crowd, which began to gather again as it realized that the threat was under control. Bobby, extremely angry with Sara, ordered the entire class to return to the mansion before more trouble was caused.

Unfortunately for him, at least one news station who had been there to cover a fund-raiser had the commotion on tape, and was already having it broadcast. Aside from enraging several people, it was also seen by Bolivar Trask and his superiors. The oppurtunity to deploy the Sentinels had presented itself.

[bored]

sorry the last two posts were so short. only times i've had time to write, i've only had so much to add, but i wanted to keep the story rolling.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------


The vehicles taken by Bobby and the students were all together in a parking garage. Most of the group had gone in a blue S.U.V. with tinted windows. With the mall security looking for Sara after her outburst, Kurt Wagner had grabbed her and, in a series of teleports, put her securely into the large vehicle, under Bobby's orders.

"Dammit, elf, crack a window," Sara coughed. "That sulfur smell doesn't just go away!"

"I am sorry, Sara, but I was told to keep you hidden, and I can't risk giving us away," Kurt responded.

"You know, they'll probably just start looking around here, and find us then," she insisted. "Come on, I can't breath!"

"In time." Kurt stared anxiously out the window, hoping to see the others approaching. Minutes after they'd reached the car, he saw Betsy approaching, alone. Finally, much to Sara's satisfaction, Kurt opened one of the windows, just enough to speak to his classmate. "Betsy, where is everyone else? Are they okay?"

"I went ahead," said the English woman. "Bobby got stopped by someone from the press, and the others are just trying to get out without drawing attention. It's probably for the best that you went with Sara, Kurt, otherwise I don't think you could've gotten out easily, even with that trick you do."

"So do you know if anyone else is close?" The blue mutant asked.

"At the moment, no. I... I rushed a bit to make sure you two were here safely." Betsy instructed Kurt to unlock one of the doors, and she got in, still carrying a bag with some things she'd picked up at Bath and Body Works.
I'm sure they'll be along shortly."


"...She isn't used to that kind of attention, that's all!" Bobby snapped at the nosey reporter. "Listen, there was minimal property damage, which we can easily reimburse, and no one was seriously hurt, now please just stop bothering me."

"But Mr...?"

"Drake."

"Mr. Drake, aren't you concerned for the people who were stabbed-"

"Stabbed!? Stabbed!?" He threw up his arms in frustration. "Two people got pricked by those damn things, lady! If they'd been stabbed, tthis'd be a problem, but I bet they've gotten bee-stings worse than that. I looked at both of them, and one wasn't even bleeding. The man who was was the one harassing her anyway, and even then, all it did was leave a mark on that stupid 'I Love Beer' tattoo on his shoulder. It was a mistake coming out here today, and the last thing we need, especially after how you hacks have been reaming us since Washington, is some no-name sensationalist trying to get ratings by making it look like Scarface introduced his little friend in the middle of the damn food court!" Bobby stopped to take a breath. "Now, what's your name?"

"Trish. Patricia Tilby," the reporter said, a little frightened.

"Listen, Trish, I'm not in the best of moods right now, and I was trying to save most of my ire for that girl, but you are seriously pushing me. You gonna leave us alone? I know some great lawyers, if you won't."

"Fine." Tilby ordered her camera-man to turn away and head out to their news-van. "What's wrong with you?" Bobby's eyes narrowed.

"Alot of things!" He snapped. While she rarely told people about it, that unlucky reporter would never forget how horribly cold his breath was at the end of their conversation. Bobby himself stormed off, joining Ororo, who had stayed behind to wait for him as he shook off the reporter.

"Wow, Bobby," she said, "you really let her have it."

"Sometimes," he said, taking a beat for effect, "you need to let them have it."


Forge, Logan, Kitty, and Piotr found the S.U.V. where three of their classmates were waiting. Next to it, there were two motorcycles, which Logan and Forge drove. They got on them, and said that they'd go ahead to the Institute, and told the others to be extremely careful on the back. Logan waved, and drove off, with Forge following shortly. A few minutes later, Bobby and Ororo reached the vehicle, and got in the front seats.

"Sara," Bobby said, coldly (no pun intended). "Do you know what your actions could mean?"

"What? Some slob gets an infection?"

"Sara!" Bobby roared. "This isn't funny! Look, we all know the media's given us all sorts of **** since we took on Magneto's goons in D.C., even though we were the ones trying to stop them, but that does not mean we have free reign to just cause problems everywhere. You need to control yourself. I'll let the Professor decide how you're punished." He saw her shrink back into her seat in the mirror. "I know you aren't used to this kind of thing, but you still have no excuse for such a lack of self-control."

"Come on, Bobby," Kitty protested. "That guy was being a creep."

"What about those other people? She still scared the hell out of all of them, and we really can't have anything like that right now. The whole reason Xavier puts these classes together is to teach mutants how to control what they can do, and to break the stereo-types that people like Magneto, or that psychic creep from those carnivals in Virgina have set. Anything like this is kind of a step back for us."


Over the city, people were pointing at the two things flying across the sky. Bolivar Trask's first two completed Sentinels were scanning for any mutants that were in groups, in the part of Manhattan where the report of the mutant attack had come from. Their scanners picked up two mutants traveling through the streets on motorcycles. Far below, Logan noticed the strange shadows, and slowed down to look up.

"Hey Forge!" He called. His companion pulled over, and spotted the Sentinels. "Any idea what those are?"

"Umm... they look like big robots," Forge said.

"Thanks, Einstein, but have you seen them before? You're the big techie guru."

"Can't say I have." Then it hit him. "Logan, they're coming down! I think they're after the two of us!" The two mutants started their bikes up, and zoomed off, weaving through the semi-crowded streets.


On the radio, Bobby and the others heard about the two massive robots. The station had been informed that they were a new government project, designed to deal with mutant threats. They were searching for the mutant who had caused commotion in the mall. Bobby gunned the engine, and took off.


Hank McCoy had gotten on the phone to his superiors at the former Avengers' mansion immediately after seeing the Sentinels on television. He was told that they were merely there to contain a possible terrorist threat. He didn't care. Those things were much bigger than any 'police' needed to be. The former X-Man estimated them to be each about twenty-five feet high, and God-knows-how-heavy. The station he had on followed them all the way to the ground, where he recognized the two unfortunate mutants immediately. They were two of the Professor's new students, and they needed help. McCoy bounded out of his office, and down to the lower level where his patient for the last few weeks, the strange man who called himself 'Bishop', and was dressed strangely like an X-Man when he'd first been discovered, was being housed.

"He's being moved! I've got to work with him in some different settings! I've got clearance!" He'd shout to various people who tried to question McCoy as he dragged the confused Bishop out.


"SURRENDER." One of the Sentinels said, in it's creepy, robotic voice. "DO NOT MAKE US USE FORCE."

"Eat it, Kilroy!" Logan yelled, popping out his claws. "We didn't do ****!"

"Easy, man," said Forge, who had removed the glove concealing his bionic hand. "It might just be confused."

"NEGATIVE, MUTANT." The other Sentinel said. "YOU ARE IDENTIFIED AS 'PATTERSON, FORGE-OF-THE-ANCIENTS'. THE OTHER IS 'X, LOGAN'. YOU ARE BOTH MUTANTS."

"Hell of a first name, Forge, but Patterson?" Logan asked.

"Speak for yourself. Were you pissed when your uncle Malcolm got shot?"

"DISCONTUE CONVERSING AND SURRENDER." Said one of the Sentinels, still completely flat in its tone. "SENSORS INDICATE MORE MUTANTS APPROACHING." Both Sentinels turned to a corner, where the S.U.V. which carried the other X-Men was turning. It stopped, blocking a few cars carrying people who hadn't been able to get away from the massive robots earlier. "ORDERS ARE TOO APPREHEND ALL MUTANTS. SURRENDER NOW, OR FORCE WILL BE USED."

"Bring it!" Logan snapped, springing into the air, ready to slice into the robot, which simply swatted him away.

"MUTANTS HAVE BECOME VIOLENT. FORCE AUTHORIZED." The Sentinel extended its arm, and a beam shot out, hitting Logan before he could get back up.

"Logan!" Ororo yelled. "Bobby, those things are going to kill him!"

"****," Bobby muttered. He clenched his fists, and watched them start to turn to ice. "Okay then, X-Men, let's deal with these things." Ice covered his whole body; Piotr transformed into his large steel form; Ororo took to the sky; the others all stood behind their leader, bracing for a fight. "Nightcrawler, grab Wolverine and bring him into one of these stores. Colossus, Storm, you two come with me and help Forge out. The rest of you, make sure none of the people here get hurt. Go!"



"What the hell is going on?" Bishop demanded. "Doc, I've been cooped in their for weeks, and now you're dragging me out like the place is gonna explode."

"Xavier's students are in trouble, Lucas. I think you can help them."

"And if I can't?"

"Then," Hank McCoy said, "God help us."



"Does anyone have any aloe?" Nightcrawler asked, desperate for something to say to the scared people inside a book store where he'd teleported his injured friend.

"Leave 'em alone, elf," Logan said, gaining some composure back in his voice. "Give me a little time, and I'll be alright." As his skin was horribly burned, and he sounded like he had just been hit by a car, Kurt found this hard to believe.



Forge dodged a Sentinel's foot, and, with his bionic arm in it's gun-shape, shot at it. The blast was nowhere near what had hit Wolverine, but it still had the potential to seriously damage something, which he'd done on accident before. It did little but char the outside of the robot. The other had lifted into the air on rocket-propelled feet, and was chasing Storm. From below, Iceman froze one of its feet, throwing it off balance. It went careening towards a building, but slowed down. Iceman noticed the strange purple glow around it, and saw Psylocke concentrating on the robot, trying to slow it down.

"Iceman, I can't stop it!" She shouted desperately.

"Colossus, can you grab it?" Iceman asked. The steel mutant nodded, and bounded away. "Psylocke, try and guide it to him! Storm, use some wind to help her out!" He turned his attention to the other one, which Forge was still trying to evade. He raised his hands, and the air above him started to freeze. When the moisture above him had become a large ball of solid ice, he shoved it at the Sentinel, propelling it with more ice. The ball smashed into it, knocking the robot down, causing it to smash a sidewalk and a parking meter. Behind him, Colossus had torn the head off of the other Sentinel. The body, however, was still flailing, and had started to blast blindly. Storm headed higher into the air, and shot a bolt of lightning at it, frying the circuits. The head, which Colossus had dropped to the ground, start shooting smaller blasts from its eyes, hitting the X-Man, and causing him to stumble and fall over. Psylocke jumped out of the way before he could fall into her.



"Are you sure the Army, or the police won't handle this?" Bishop asked. "Man, I barely even understand what my power is!"

"Neither do I, Bishop," Hank said, "but I doubt the authorities are intervening, and they'll need our help."



As the X-Men battled the remaining Sentinel, and tried to dispose of the head of the other one, more shadows fell over them, and they all knew that more had arrived. Three more Sentinels descended, ordering them, like before, to surrender.

[bored]

BEFORE WE CONTINUE, IT'S A SPECIAL BEHIND-THE SCENES LOOK AT XM:R.

I just found out that my old 'LOEG' story, and the Neverending tale that I and a couple of other people had been doing for while are gone. Tis a shame, but, well, I ran out of steam for 'LOEG' about halfway through, and the Neverending bit was just getting confusing. I'll just say that the 'LOEG' story was coming to a confrontation by the League (they were going to officially name themselves that at the end), and Moriarty and his Green Men army, along with an 'evil League' (consisting of Lestat, the Headless Horseman, Dr. Moreau and his Ani-Men, Captain Ahab, and Frankenstein's Monster, which would lead to a rematch with Mr. Hyde). As for 'Neverending', well, who the hell knows? That's the thing about having collaborative efforts like that. Anyways, I'm no longer feeling guilty for abondoning something else, when I could always just go back to it.

In an early entry, I said to 'spot the Dark Angel reference'. The reference was that Marrow's full name in this, Sara Rutherds, was used as an alias by Max in an old episode of that show, which really shouldn't have been canceled, but that's neither here nor there. On a similar note, the circus freaks that Blob was friends with are all actual circus-freaks from the 20s. They are slightly famous to those who care about this kind of thing for having parts in the classic drama "Freaks", about a group of circus freaks (I'm going for a record with that word) who attack a trapeze star and her strongman lover who try to kill one of the dwarves for his inheritance. The acting is pretty bad, but it's a worthwhile movie to see.

In regards to where to where this story is going, I can't give too much away, otherwise it'd be dull. I will say that you'll see plenty of other X-characters and Marvel characters in general in, at the very least, cameos. The Sentinels will, obviously, play a major role, as will the Brotherhood's kidnapping of Destiny. It will go through alot, but nothing excessive or cluttered, and you'll definitely know when the end is approaching. I can't say how long I'll spend writing this, but right now, my creative juices are flowing pretty smoothly. I may post more of the actual story tonight, if I feel up to it. Right now, I'm just indulging myself. On another note, my attempts to get someone to draw some of the events of the story has failed, which is a shame. Oh well.

CAST INTERVIEWS

XAVIER: Well, the hours are good here. I was doing "Miss Saigon" for awhile in Des Moines, so this is a welcome change. And it's good that I can be open about being a parapalegic in plays not about Eisenhower. Eisenhower was the handicapped one, right? I failed history.

WOLVERINE: This is alright, but I'm a bit of a workaholic. I'd love to be in four places at once, with several groups doing completely unrelated things. That's more my thing. Think I can get that in my contract? And why didn't I get to fight the robot? I mean, I'm uber-powerful, right? Ah, screw it.

FORGE: I told them not to let anyone know my last name, dammit! Oh well. As long as the world never knows that my real name is 'Otis'. Hey, wait....

PSYLOCKE: Am I actually someone? Do I do anything good?

SABRETOOTH: I'm actually a Buddhist in real life. Alot of people don't know that. Free Tibet!

coming soon: a real installment to the story. i just felt like having some fun.

[bored]

and now, the real story continues:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------


Colossus grabbed the still-active Sentinel head, and flung it into the other robot that had already landed. The head hit in the same place as Iceman's attack, putting a hole through it. It stumbled and fell, as the three new Sentinels descended.

"NINE MUTANT SIGNATURES DETECTED." One of them said. "CLASSIFIED AS HOSTILE. OBJECTIVE: DESTROY."

The X-Men gathered in front of them. Iceman ordered Storm into the air, telling her to distract any of them if possible. As she took to the sky, he, Forge, and Colossus charged. One of the Sentinels followed Storm into the air, and the other two stood their ground. Iceman and Forge blasted at them, each taking one, while Colossus got up close, keeping them to busy to retaliate. In the air, Storm called down a lightning bolt from the very clouds above her, much stronger than one from her hands. It hit the Sentinel, temporarily stunning it. Before it could hit a building, it regained control and went back after her, one metal fist outstretched. She spread her arms and legs, and powerful winds began to blow around her, aiming at the robot. Despite it's powerful flight system, the Sentinel couldn't withstand the winds. Storm chased after it, directing it to the harbor.

Colossus rammed his steel shoulder into one of the Sentinels, knocking it down. Iceman froze the head of the other, before jumping out the way of one of it's blasts. Forge blasted the frozen head, burning a clean hole in the middle of it.

"SATTELITE/RADIO UPLINK DAMAGED." Said the monotone machine. "VISUAL SENSORS DAMAGED."

It shot again, this time at Forge. He tried to side-step, but not in time. The blast hit his machine arm, blowing it clean off.

"****!" Forge shouted. "****! Guys, cover me!" Iceman put his hand out in front of him, and froze the ground ahead of him, making an ice-slide to move more quickly, stopping when Forge was behind him. The Sentinel turned it's attention to the more experienced mutant, who used his ice-slide to quickly evade the robot's attacks. It's head, still frozed, shattered, revealing the machinery inside. Iceman saw Marrow leaping into the fray, throwing bone knives, and severing the circuitry.

"SWITCHING TO..." The Sentinel began slowing it's speech down, and it's voice became much deeper. "TOOOOO.... SECONNNNDARY COMPUTER." It flailed it's arms around, shooting rays into the surroundings, destroying public property. One of the feet stopped moving, and then the other, and it fell to the ground. Shadowcat, who had barely moved from her spot behind the others before, phased through the fallen Sentinel's body.

"I- I can mess with computers," she said to her stunned team-mates. "I heard it say 'computer', and I went for it."

From behind her, the other Sentinel came roaring back on it's jets. It was battered, but Colossus, who was chasing it, hadn't done any vital damage. It dodged Kitty, and headed for the others, who quickly moved out of its path.

"CHANGE TO PRIORITY MUTANTS." It could be heard saying.

"Priority?" Forge, still holding his shortened arm, wondered. The Sentinel headed for the book store to its right. "Guys! It's going after Wolverine!" The X-Men scrambled, until the Sentinel stopped. There was a smoke burst, and Nightcrawler and Wolverine appeared.

"I didn't want it to hurt the people inside," Nightcrawler said. Wolverine appeared to have mostly recovered from his hit.

"This one's mine!" The short X-Man growled, popping his claws. The Sentinel shot at him, but he was able to leap away, faster than the others so far. Wolverine sprung out, and buried his claws into the Sentinel's arm, clawing his way up, where the robot couldn't attack him. He got to its head, and hacked away, tearing its face away. The robot gave the speech about losing vision, and switching to the secondary computer. He jammed his claws into it's back, and slid down, leaving gashed all along the way. The Sentinel tried to turn, but Wolverine had horribly messed up its systems, and it practically tripped on its own feet. Storm who had returned in time to see the last robot dispatched, set down.

"Logan, are you alright?" She asked.

"Don't worry 'bout me, cutie. I've taken worse." He retracted his claws, and joined the group. "How'd yours go?"

"I got it into the harbor, and it hasn't come out."

"Then what do I hear?" Wolverine asked, annoyed. "Are you sure you destroyed it? Otherwise, there's another one pretty close!" A Sentinel with a charred body hovered above them.

"DISCONTINUE RESISTANCE." It boomed. Holes in its palms and chest opened, and it started shooting.

"Move!" Iceman called. The mutants scattered, dodging the rays. A car's tires screeched near them.

"MORE MUTANTS ARRIVING."

The X-Men saw Henry McCoy and Lucas Bishop, the former X-Man and the mystery mutant, respectively, jump out.

"Hank, what are you doing here?" Iceman asked.

"Let this guy show his stuff, Bobby! I think you'll like what you'll see," the one-time Beast replied. "Bishop, I only have a partial idea of what your power does, but I need you to take a blast!" Puzzled, Bishop did as he was told, getting hit and being knocked down. His hands glowed orange. "It's working like I hoped it would!" Beast said to Iceman. "Now, Bishop-". Bishop didn't need to be told what to do. He extended his hands, and emitted a powerful beam, hitting the Sentinel dead in the chest, and causing it to explode in the air.

"Wow! Aww, this is comin' back to me!" Bishop exclaimed. "Any more?"

"Hope not," Iceman said. "Hank, we need to get back to the Institute before more of those things find us. You should come, and bring the newbie!"

Beast and Bishop got into their car, following the others, who headed to the Xavier Institute in a hurry.



At the Institute itself, Professor Xavier had seen everything on the news.

"This is very bad," he muttered to himself.

[bored]

To explain the slowdown, I wasn't in town for a bit.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------


The cars and motorycles carrying the X-Men raced through the gates into the Xavier Institute, where any intruder would not be able to get to them safely. Long ago, Professor Xavier had installed a defensive system that would give Fort Knox a run for its money. Iceman punched in the code to turn the defenses on, and everyone had a chance to breathe.

"Hank, what in God's name are those things?" Bobby asked his former colleague.

"I don't know," Hank responded. "If they're government, they're new to me."

Everyone, came the familiar voice of Charles Xavier, hurry inside. If there are more of those robots, this will be the only place we're safe. That includes you, Hank, and our mystery friend.



"I've put the word out to all of the former students," Xavier said. "These machines are gunning for mutants. I've contacted General Stryker, and he's pulling strings to find out what attacked you. Hank, Mr. Bishop, I have to thank both of you for your help earlier."

"It was Dr. McCoy's idea," Bishop said. "I- I didn't even realize I could do that. Neither did he." He guestured to the Beast.

"I had an idea, but I wasn't 100%," Hank said. He shifted in his seat, down in the affectionately titled 'war room' of the Institute, one of the building's safest spots.

"Guys!" Kitty Pryde interrupted, excited. "Check out the news!" The X-Men turned their attention to the television on one wall.

"Sources on Capital Hill say that the chaos in Manhattan this afternoon stemmed from the violent mutant outburst in a shopping center shortly beforehand," reporter Trish Tilby, the woman who had harrassed Bobby, said. "I was able to speak to one of the mutants before they left the initial scene." It cut to Bobby snapping at her, and back to the live broadcast. "We're being told that the man injured in the attack on the shopping center, while not seriously injured physically, is being treated for mental trauma. Sources say he was accosted after asking a young mutant woman the time."

"Bull-****!" Marrow snapped. The others glared at her.

"The mutant we spoke to is Robert Drake, who was once a member of the militant mutant activist group the X-Men, where he went under the pseudonym 'Ice Man'. The X-Men were funded and trained for several years by philanthropist Charles Xavier, a psychiatrist and physician whose research into the mutant species has provided countless pieces of information about them. No word on if he ordered this attack. The robots that confronted them are, and we've just received word on this, a new mutant police force recently comissioned by the White House, called 'Sentinels'. Their mission was to arrest the offending mutant without using violence, but were forced to act when the other mutants traveling with her attacked. Several Sentinels tried to intervene, but were destroyed. The police were told not to interfere. Also, it is reported that each of these Sentinels costed well over a million dollars."

"Well now," Logan said. "That wasn't unbiased now, was it?"

"I'm going to try and get back in touch with Stryker," Xavier said. "Hank, I'd recommend you try and speak with your superiors, and soon. I doubt they will be happy with your involvement here. And Sara, I'll want to speak with you when I'm done with Stryker. In the meantime, I want everyone to remain indoors. I have a feeling that this is not the last we'll see of these 'Sentinels'."



Magneto stood out on his balcony, contemplating this new threat. He himself would very likely not have trouble with the Sentinels, but his Brotherhood were not powerful in the way he was. He thought of the rantings from the blind woman, Irene, and how something was coming that would threaten everything Magneto cared about. This must be it, he thought. He would not allow the Sentinels to interfere with is vision. He would find more mutants sympathetic to his cause, and destroy the robots once and for good.

[bored]

A week after the ordeal in Manhattan, Dr. Henry McCoy sat on one end of a long table, filled with high-ranking government officials, all of whom were involved with the activities at the former Avengers' mansion.

"Dr. McCoy," the undersecretary of state said, sternly, "no matter what you thought was appropriate, this action was... it was... Well, dammit, it was inappropriate!"

"Mr. Undersecretary, I am supposed to be informed of all government action regarding mutant activity," McCoy said. "The people involved in this Wideawake operation went over my head. I thought that they were an outside threat, and they were targeting mutants, one of which is an old friend of mine. I did what seemed necessary."

"And what about removing the patient?" Another suit asked. "Even you did not have clearance to remove him, despite what you convinced security the day of these events. Who gave you the clearance?"

"Well, sir-"

"Dr. McCoy, who gave you the clearance?"

"I did," a man said, entering the room.

"Secretary Stark, how good of you to join us," the undersecretary of state said. Secretary of Defense Anthony Stark entered.

"Mr. McCallister, kindly shut your mouth," Stark said. "I contacted Dr. McCoy when I found out about the Sentinel deployment. I asked him to keep them in line, and to bring his patient. It was part of the Doctor's testing, to see how he'd react. Since the Sentinel's were clearly out of line, Dr. McCoy did as he should have. Now, as I outrank all of you, I'm adjourning this meeting. Dr. McCoy is a loyal official of the United States government, a former Avenger, and did as he felt was right, which I agree with."


"Thank you, Tony," Hank said, as they entered the mutant's office. "Though you realize that they'll check communication logs to verify your story."

"Hank, old buddy, you underestimate me," Stark said. "I changed the records myself on the way over."

"You nerdy devil, you."

"I'm pulling out for you, Hank, just make it worth it. In the meantime, I'm going to have a talk with a Bolivar Trask, the man behind Wideawake. I'll give you what I find out from it later," and with that, Secretary of Defense Stark got up, waved, and left. Hank looked at the photos on the wall of the two teams he'd served on. One had the nine original members of Xavier's class; the other featured Hank as an Avenger. He, the ape-like mutant, crouched in the middle of the group, with that legion of amazing heroes. There was long-haired muscle-man Thor; red and orange clad Iron Man (now simply Secretary Stark); everyone's idol, Captain America; monsterous green Hulk; Xavier's step-brother, the Juggernaut; Yellowjacket, Tigra, Hawkeye, the Scarlet Witch, Daredevil, Beta Ray Bill, Elektra, Doctor Octopus, Quicksilver, the Ghost Rider, Firestar; it was a mass of legends, and the Beast was one of the last to join. He felt priviledged sometimes, but he wasn't always sure he belonged there. It was times like this that he missed the X-Men.

[The Squirrel]

Doc Ock as a good guy?

the story is going good.

[bored]

thanks. yeah, i thought i'd add that odd little line-up. it's nothing central to the story, but i do plan on having him make a brief cameo. i also don't think beta ray bill was ever an avenger, but this is my story, and things are at least slightly different here. also: omega red as a brotherhood member, yay or nay?

[i'm Spider-Man]

nay. Omega Red as a counterpart to Magneto - another intelligent powerful mutant with loyal followers.

[bored]

Team work could be a real joke sometimes, thought Wolverine. He enjoyed the other X-Men, but he was, by nature, a loner, and couldn't always deal with all of these other people. He had been training in the Danger Room with Storm, who seemed to have some kind of annoying crush on him, and had gone through an obstacle course ahead of her, which made her very angry. He didn't understand why, seeing as she made it across just fine. But she had *****ed him out for it, saying that he needed to cooperate, and Iceman had sided with her. He really didn't need that some days. Then there was the matter of Bishop, the strange new guy that everyone was lavishing attention on. He was glad that they were diverted, but hearing so much about the mysterious mutant just got annoying after awhile. That Beast had gotten his superiors to allow Bishop to stay at the Institute just meant that it wouldn't end for a long time. While Logan thought, thunder rolled across the sky.

"If Ororo's behind that, she's gonna get it," he muttered under his breath. He proppled himself up from the Lotus Position that he'd been sitting in outside, and wandered in. The other X-Men were gathered in the Danger Room, which had been rigged by Forge into an IMAX movie theater.



Outside, in the pouring rain, it charged. The ground shook, trees buckled, and animals had to find new hiding places. It had decided that it was taking on the X-Men today, and nobody got in its way. The 'it' was a 'he' at one point, but mistakes had caused 'him' to become something strange. The Rhino didn't want to be a freak anymore, and the best way, in his head, to make people see that he was normal, was to kill mutants.



As the X-Men watched "Master and Commander", Charles Xavier winced. Someone was coming.

Betsy, he projected to Psylocke, do you sense that? She closed her eyes for a moment.

Yes. She replied. Who is that? Is he a mutant?

I don't know, but I'm going to check Cerebro. I'll tell Bobby before I leave.


The Rhino finally came to the wall blocking the property of the Institute. He easily crashed through it, turning the portion that had been in his way into rubble. He looked around, hoping to see the mutants emergin. Instead, machines began emerging from various places; plants, walls, the ground. The machines had guns attached, which began firing energy blasts, though the ones that hit only bounced off of him or fizzled off.


The movie in the Danger Room stopped.

"Hey!" Kitty called. "What happened?"

X-Men, we're under attack, Xavier said to them. He is not a mutant, but he's powerful. Iceman and the students got up and went outside, where the Xavier Institute's defense systems were being smashed to pieces by the Rhino.

"Ha! It's about time you freaks show up!" The Rhino called.

"Baldy cut the movie for this?" Logan snarled. He popped his claws. "Well, let's get to it."

The Rhino lowered his head, pointing the horn on his head forward, and charged. Wolverine jumped up, and slashed at his back when the Rhino passed under him. Colossus, fully armored, chased after him from the ground, while Storm and Iceman both went through the air. Iceman, moving rapidly on his slide, put up a wall of ice in front of the Rhino, who simply smashed through it.

"Storm, give him a gust!" Iceman commanded. Storm complied, generating a small tornado that linked the ground and a low-flying cloud that she'd also created, which lifted the Rhino up and tossed him several yards back, away from the building.

"You can't do that!" Rhino screamed, brushing dirt off of his gray hide.

"Like hell we can't!" Marrow bounded in, jumping on his back and hacking at his neck with chunks of bone jutting from her arms. They had little effect, if any. The Rhino grabbed her, and slammed her into the ground. He lifted his foot to stomp on her, but Shadowcat managed to grab her and phase her before he could connect. He swiped at the two young mutants, but his hands only passed through them. Colossus crashed into him, sending him flying. He grabbed the Rhino's horn, and called for Wolverine, who raced up, raised his claws, and slashed the horn clean off.

"What did you do to me?" Rhino cried. He felt around his now horn-less forehead, and remembered the slashes from Wolverine on his back. He sat down on the ground, in a very awkward position, and cried. "I'm just a freak!"

[bored]

The truck carrying a chained-up Rhino pushed through the snowy night. Several guards were in it, holding guns pointed at the humiliated strong-man. Nobody expected the transport to be interrupted. The Rhino didn't even talk, thinking that he was a fairly at life for losing so handily to the X-Men, and the story hadn'be gotten alot of publicity, so no terrorists hoping to recruit him would be showing up. Of course, not all wanted to recruit. Once the truck got on the highway, the chaos began. One of the guards started shooting at the others. Rhino, annoyed, tried to sink back towards the wall, where he was shackled. The truck stopped, and the remaining guards fell to the ground. The shooter got up first, and smashed one's back with his gun. The doors ripped open. The Blob stood outside, holding them. Sabretooth and the Toad jumped in, and took over for the treacherous guard, who transformed into the blue Mystique. The driver and another guard who'd been in the front hurried to the back, seeing the Brotherhood members. One of them looked at the other, panicked, and shouted something about the freaks taking over. He grabbed the other and wrang his neck, then took out his gun and shot himself. Sabretooth and the Toad, both splattered with blood, jumped out of the truck, dragging the Rhino, who was terrified. Mastermind emerged from the side of the road, with the newest Brotherhood member, Avalanche, with him. Magneto descended from above them.

"Who are you?" Rhino asked, sheepishly.

"Your superiors," Magneto sneered. "You think you're so powerful, but you are a fraud. Your powers were given to you, while we were born with them."

"Mutants!" Rhino cried. "I knew it! You're the mutants that attacked the Capital Building! Well, why're you going after me? I got arrested for fighting the Xavier Institute mutants, and I thought they messed you guys up. I was trying to do you a favor!"

"Do not patronize us!" Magneto snapped. "You are known for your anti-mutant attitudes, so I have to doubt that you were trying to help us. Now, we can use you as an example."

The ground rumbled around the Rhino. Avalanche was gritting his teeth, holding his foot to the ground, making the Rhino fall over. The Blob stood over him, and brought his foot down on the Rhino's head.



The next day in Washington, as the sun went up, the first few people to arrive on the steps of Capital Hill were greated by yellow police tape. The steps themselves were splattered red. In the middle of the carnage was the battered gray body. It's thick neck was twisted all the way around, the limbs were twisted in horrible ways, slashes were all over, draining blood, and one knee appeared on the verge of falling off. Above the corpse of the Rhino were the words "NOW IT TRULY BEGINS", written in the blood of the victim.

[The Squirrel]

:O you killed rhino!!!!

oh well....carry on

[bored]

ummm.....i posted a new entry before. wtf? well then, i may as well do this.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------


"General Stryker, is it true that the people who committed this crime are the same ones who kidnapped your wife?" A reporter asked.

"Sir, you know that I won't answer questions relating to my wife," Stryker said, sternly. "And on that note, is it true that you ordered your own wife from a North Korean web site?" The reporter sank back into his seat. "Now, we do believe that the prisoner was intercepted and killed by Magneto and his followers. Any further questions will be taken by Colonel Fury." Stryker stormed away, fuming that someone had broken the rule he'd set up, letting one-eyed attention lover Colonel Nick Fury take over the press conference. He got in the back of his car, and was driven to his office, where he picked up the phone and called Professor Xavier.

"Yes?" Xavier said.

"Professor? It's Stryker."

"William, hello. How did the conference go?"

"I insulted that gray-haired guy from the "Chicago Sun-Times" again," Stryker forced a laugh. "Look, have you found out anything more on where my wife is? I'm sorry I keep asking, but-"

"William, I don't think I could blame you. Unfortunately, I haven't found anything out about their whereabouts. I'm sorry."

"That- that's okay, Charles."

"William, you know that when I get any information on the locations of your wife or the Brotherhood, you will be first to be notified," Xavier said.

"Yeah, I know. And you know that the government won't help to bust her out if we do find her. It's too much for the military, and since the President cancelled the Sentinel program, they've got nothing to throw at the Brotherhood that won't mess up the popularity of the administration."

"William, this is precisely why I formed the X-Men. I will help anyway I can."

"Thanks," Stryker sighed, and hung up the phone, dejected. He slammed his fist down on the table, shaking it and causing a loud cracking noise.



Mastermind, frustrated, stormed out of Irene Adler-Stryker's cell. Magneto waited in the hall with is arms folded. Toad and Sabretooth came to wait with him.

"Well?" Magneto asked.

"I still can't break into her mind," Mastermind said, unclenching his fists. "I got as far as to see that she does have visions, and she writes them down when she has them, but not where she hides her notebooks, or what the visions are. Not even ones she may have had while we've had her." Magneto thought for a moment.

"Did you even get an idea of where her notebooks are?"



Lights flashed all around the team. A steel ball plummeted to the ground, hitting Colossus directly on the head. He staggered, and was buzzed out. Another rocketed at Nightcrawler, who teleported out of the way. The ball floated in one place, than shot back at him. He somersaulted through the air, and there was a decidedly more pleasant beeping sound. Another ball came directly from the ceiling, whizzing towards Bishop, the newest of Xavier's students. He side-stepped it, and when it was briefly suspended in one place in the air, he grabbed it.

"Bishop," Iceman called, "you just need to dodge it, not get in a fight."

"Sorry," Bishop said, barely seeming to notice, though he did let go.

"Okay, good," Iceman said to everyone. "Kurt, Logan, Sara, Betsy, and Lucas all passed this round. The rest of you: haha. But seriously, hit the showers. The five of you need get a few minutes to breathe, than round three starts."

The Danger Room reverted back into its usual steel look. The strange new mutant who Hank had been taking care of before was showing great potential, and Iceman thought that if there was another situation where the X-Men needed to be deployed any time soon, he would be very beneficial.

[RAMORE]

Great story! I liked that magneto killed rhino to make a point it had that shock factor. Iceman is one of my favorite characters he is severly underused IMO. His powers are so versatile. My only gripe is that you basically have mutants as the regular brotherhood. I don't know if your taking suggestions but i think sara kitty should both be after piotr. Ororo needs to put wolverine in his place a little that will entice him. Nightcrawler should fall for a girl on the wrong side of the street like magneto's daughter scarlet witch. Bobby and psyloche should start the flirtateous dance. All in all great story. KUDOS

[bored]

thanks for that. i know what you mean about iceman being underused. i know alot of things seem to be too much like their sources, but soon a small wave of characters will show up (magneto'll go on a hiring spree), and some things will be different. expect a new update later tonight.

[bored]

Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Marrow, Psylocke, and Bishop lined up in the Danger Room, ready for round three of the days training/competition. Iceman stood in front of them, his hands behind his back.

"I've seen you work together before, and I know you can do it," he said, "but your opponents so far have mostly been robots and psychopaths. Today, you have real opponents. Specifically, the X-Men." The students looked puzzled. "Now, would you like to meet them?"

"My God," Psylocke muttered. "That makes sense." A door opened, and four mutants emerged. First was Scott Summers, with the familiar red visor over his eyes; then was his brother Alex Summers, then the familiar Hank McCoy; and lastly a gorgeous woman with visibly green hair. She was Lorna Dane. Iceman joined them.

"It's the five of you versus the five of us," he said, with little emotion. "In case you need reminding, the people with me are all fellow graduates of the institute. Meet Cyclops, Havok, Polaris, and of course, Beast. Now, shall we get started?"

The floor under the five students raised, and stairs leading down to the former X-Men appeared. The students charged, their predecessors holding ground. Wolverine lunged at them, his claws outstretched. Polaris outstretched her hand, and sent him flying back. She raised into the air, and fired a bolt of magnetic energy at him. Below, Havok and Cyclops were shooting random blasts, while Iceman and Beast made their way up the stairs. Havok's blast hit Psylocke, knocking her down. Marrow started growing out her bones, throwing sharp ones at the two firing brothers, who scrambled to dodge. In the air, Polaris had lifted Wolverine up, and slammed him into the ground. Marrow, seeing this, flung a blunt-edged bone from her wrist, hitting Polaris in the head. She was hit by a blast from Cyclops while she was attacking. With Polaris distracted, Wolverine tumbled to the ground, and was freed. He decided not to focus on her, and instead charged down the stairs, getting hit by low-level beams from Havok. Beast and Iceman were chasing Nightcrawler, who had jumped onto the wall. Beast leapt up and chased him, though wasn't as fast. Nightcrawler, thinking he had a clear edge, looked back to laugh at his opponent, and slipped. Iceman had frozen the upper portion of the wall, causing him to lose his grip and fall, though he was able to safely teleport to a safe spot before crashing to the ground. Far away, Wolverine crashed his foot into Havok's chest, sending him reeling. He raised his hands, to slash at the former X-Man's chest, but was blasted away by Cyclops.

"Hey newbie!" Wolverine called to Bishop. "Do something!" Bishop, who seemed taken aback by the chaotic fighting, jumped into the fray, getting hit by one of Cyclops' blasts. His hands glowed with power. Cyclops blasted again, further empowering Bishop. He stretched his hands out, and blasted Cyclops into the wall.

"Scott!" Havok called, emitting a beam from his hand into Bishop's back. Wolverine took the oppurtunity to slash at Havok's arm, leaving a bloody gash. He felt himself get raised into the air, and knew that Polaris had him again. It was just humiliating. Below, Psylocke had taken on Iceman, using her martial arts skills to pin him to the wall, and plunging her light pink mental knife into his head to control him. She forced Iceman to freeze Beast to the ground, preventing him from chasing Nightcrawler anymore.

"Sara, come have some fun with him!" Psylocke called. Marrow bounded to them, jumping onto Beast and bouncing off, landing in front of Iceman. She kicked him hard in the stomache, before getting grabbed by Beast. He'd been freed by Cyclops, who could barely stand after his fight with Bishop. Beast tossed Marrow at Nightcrawler, who was dropping from the ceiling, trying to hit Polaris. The two students collided, and fell to the ground. Polaris, bored of toying with Wolverine, added him to the pile. Psylocke intensified her psy-blades, and swiped at Beast, who ducked down. She swiped again, and he continued to dodge. Meanwhile, Havok had vainly tried to dispatch Bishop, who glowed with power. He blasted Havok, then Iceman, and lastly Cyclops with powerful beams. Polaris aimed a beam of pure magnetic energy, which he still absorbed. He shot at her, though she was able to dodge.

"Lorna!" Beast called. "He absorbs power! Don't blast anymore!" He somersaulted far away from Psylocke, who pursued nimbly.

"Betsy, take care of the woman!" Bishop ordered. He calmly approached Beast. "Doc, I owe you alot, but I'm not letting you win a fight." Beast threw a punch, and caught Bishop in the jaw.

"Likewise."

Psylocke, in trying to fight Polaris, had showed off a new talent. The pinkish glow around her face when she used her mental talents left her face, and grabbed Polaris, slamming her into the wall. The former student, shocked, got up. Behind her, Wolverine had gotten up. He grabbed her, and invited Psylocke to attack physically. She rammed her elbow into Polaris's gut, followed by a punch in the neck. Polaris let out a burst of energy, dazing Psylocke and knocking Wolverine out. Once she'd recovered, Psylocke finished Polaris with a roundhouse kick to the head, knocking her unconscious. Nearby, Bishop used the last of the energy he'd absorbed on one final blast at Beast. The floor resumed its normal shape.

"Very good," came Professor Xavier's voice. "Betsy, Lucas, you both pass."

[bored]

Scott Summers and Bobby Drake sat in the parlor together, sharing a six-pack.

"You've got quite the little group here, Bob," Scott said. "Not like the old X-Men. Still, I think they've got a ways to go before they can really become great. Don't get me wrong, I've heard all about D.C. on the news, but that show right there didn't really impress me. The knife-hand guy's way to impulsive, and the British girl, she looks like a glory-hog."

"Betsy?" Bobby asked, though there was no other person who could fit. "Yeah, she's like that. Heh, you know who she'd love?"

"Who?"

"Warren."

"Yes! Man, you're right!" Scott laughed. "Let's hope they never meet."

"I hear ya'," Bobby said, freezing his empty can, and shattering the top of it. "And about that 'knife-hand guy', he really disappoints me sometimes. His name's Logan, and he's probably the most experienced student, plus when he wants to, he can be a great team member, but sometimes he just wants to jump right in, and that gets him in trouble, like today. Frankly, the class as a whole didn't live up to snuff today. Betsy was too concerned with looking tough, and Bishop seemed like he didn't even want to go in."

"Give 'em time, Bob," Scott said, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Remember, I could barely get my uniform on right when we first joined the Institute, and I became the leader."

"Yeah," Bobby sighed. "Professor says I need to pick out a student leader in a few weeks. I wanted to go with Logan for awhile, but I just don't know. Be glad you didn't take the job I've got."

"Bob, I've got more to deal with in my life than I need right now. I've got my wedding to plan, a baby on the way, and neurotic parents who think that they have to be in the middle of all of it. Last thing I need is to deal with all of these people."

"I almost envy you, Scotty."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------

a short entry, but it was supposed to be. there's at least a small amount of foreshadowing here.

[bored]

Stryker drove himself home that night. There had still been no word from Xavier on Irene. He had to wonder how much longer he could go like this without sinking into a bottle and humiliating himself somehow. As he got off the highway, the car ahead of him swerved, crashing into a car in the next line. He smashed down on the brakes, getting jerked forward. The drivers of the other cars got out and started yelling at each other. Stryker exited his car to join in.

"What the sam-hell is wrong with you?" He growled at the swerving driver. The man glared at him.

"Stay out of this, old man."

Stryker grabbed his collar and slammed him into his car.

"Listen, you little punk!" He snapped. "I am not in the best of moods today. I don't know what kind of stunt you were trying to pull right there, but you picked the wrong time to do it."

"Uh-uh, man," the driver gasped. "I picked the perfect time."



"You almost done, Morty?" Sabretooth asked, impatiently. He stood outside the Stryker home with Toad, who was rigging open the door.

"Just one... more... yes!" The two mutants hurried in. "Okay, Jason said they would be in the bedroom. Let's go."


Stryker held the reckless driver down until a cop arrived. He was instructed to stay, but when the cop recognized him for who he was, he was allowed to leave. He wanted to wring that idiot's neck.


"Morty, I've got something!" Sabretooth exclaimed, digging out a shoebox filled with notebooks and diaries from the closet. "Morty?" He searched for his colleague. "Dammit Toad!" He pulled Toad from Irene's dresser, and showed him what he'd found. "Now let's get all this crap and get out of here. I don't know if Raven was able to stall the General or not."



The police car with the driver in the back jerked from the road after about a mile.

"The hell?" The officer muttered. The car lifted up. He tried calling on the CB for help, but there was only fuzz. The back doors ripped open, and the prisoner jumped out. "Hey!" The car slammed into a tree, hard. The officer's neck jerked too quickly, and snapped.

Below, the reckless driver shifted into the blue Mystique, who had located Magneto in the forest.

"Did Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum get the books?" She asked.

"I don't know yet," Magneto responded, bringing the car down. "Let's find out, shall we?"



Xavier couldn't help but think that something wasn't right. Cerebro had been going completely haywire for the past hour, and not even Forge knew how to fix it. Something was happening around Washington, but he couldn't pick up what it was.

Bobby, he called out. Get in touch with General Stryker as soon as you can.

[The Squirrel]

cool...

[bored]

sorry the last few entries have been kinda short. i'm trying to keep them more focused.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The phone wrang, but nobody picked up. When the answering machine came on, Bobby said that he was just checking in on Stryker. He hoped that the General was just screening his calls, and would soon pick up. He didn't.

"Sara," Bobby said, seeing the young mutant pass by the kitchen, "go tell the Professor that I can't get ahold of General Stryker."

"Why? What's going on?" She asked.

"Do it!"



Stryker got home, and found the message from Bobby on his machine. He was picking up the phone to return the call when he saw footprints on his stairs. He dropped the phone and followed them up to his room. Someone had been snooping through his wife's closet. The red shoebox that she guarded so much was open, and the notebooks that she always wrote in were gone.

"****!" He gasped. William knew what his wife kept in those books. Not the specifics of course, but he knew that her journals held the visions that came to her as her mutant power. He ran back for the phone.


Xavier was about to pick the phone up to try and call Stryker himself when it wrang, and the General himself was calling.

"Charles, have you been looking for the Brotherhood today at all?" He asked, frantically.

"Yes," Xavier said. "William, I didn't sense them at all, but something felt... wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"Like something was blocking my power."

"Charles, that doesn't make sense. I thought that Cerebro thing was supposed to keep that from happening," Stryker said.

"No, it merely amplifies my power. I'm going to send a few of my X-Men to you, William. Stay at home, and call me again if anything happens. Something is very, very wrong."



Hours later, the van carrying Iceman, Wolverine, Forge, and Storm pulled up to the Stryker residence. Bobby wrang the doorbell, and Stryker let them in.

"Anything happen since you last spoke with the Professor?" Bobby asked.

"No, nothing," Stryker replied. "He told you that my wife's diaries were stolen, right?"

"Yeah," Bobby said. "Though he didn't tell us why that mattered."

"He doesn't want people knowing who she's got crushes on," Logan cracked. Ororo jabbed him with her elbow.

"This isn't funny," Stryker said, glaring. "You need to understand this about Irene: she's gifted unlike any of you. The reason she went blind is because her power became so prevalent that her mind couldn't handle having what was basically six senses. She's a precognitave, and she logs her visions in those journals. Some things are minor, like what color car I bought, or what resteraunt I would take her to the night I proposed-"

"Awww," Logan mocked. Ororo jabbed him again, harder.

"Hush up," she said.

"Logan, stop it," Bobby ordered. "Go on."

"Like I said, she sometimes sees bigger things, like the morning she woke me up and said someone was going to kill people we knew, maliciously, that day. That was the day that Magneto first attacked a military outpost. Bobby, I think you may remember that." Bobby nodded. It was the first major mission the X-Men ever had. "As you can probably guess, I did know several of the people that he killed when he attacked. Then there was a similar incident a few years ago. She said that she'd seen smoke fill the skies in New York. I'm sure you can all guess what that was."

"9/11," Forge said, still standing in the position he'd been in for the last few minutes, with his arms firmly folded across his chest. "I had a friend who went deaf because of that."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Stryker said. "Of course she hadn't predicted the magnitude of what happened that day, but she saw it, nonetheless. It makes so much more sense now. Magneto took her because he wanted to use her visions to his advantage somehow, and she probably didn't give him anything. That's why they broke in and took the notebooks."

"But Xavier didn't sense them at all, not even with Cerebro," Ororo said. "That doesn't seem right."

"Yes, it does," Stryker said. "We don't know what kind of resources Magneto has. Listen, most of you had probably never even heard of Professor Xavier when he created Cerebro, but I did, and so did Magneto. They had started the designs years before Magneto became a terrorist, when he was just Erik Lensherr, the doctor. If anyone would know how to disrupt the thing, it's him. I know because Charles told me when he first started building it that he was worried that Magneto would try and find a way to avoid it, which he did. That's his helmet. Though this, this doesn't seem right at all."



Back at their base, the Brotherhood buzzed about the notebooks. Erik Lensherr, out of his Magneto uniform, was reading them intently on his balcony. He seemed frustrated.

"Hey, boss?" Toad called, hopping up from a lower floor. "Anything good?" Lensherr glared at him.

"Please do not barge in like that, Mortimer, and no, nothing so far is 'good'. All I've read so far is minor, and relating mainly to her. Not to mention it all seems to have happened already. One of these has to be current," he went back to reading. "Toad, ask Mastermind to try and probe her once more for me."

"Can do, boss!" Toad hopped back down, leaving his 'boss' alone. Magneto was concerned. Not only had he found nothing about what he wanted in Adler's diaries, but the expedition to Washington D.C. had not even produced an appearance by the X-Men. He didn't necessarilly want that, but he had still expected it to happen. Xavier would probably be searching for him around the clock. Something was wrong. Something or someone was keeping Xavier from detecting the Brotherhood's presence.



A tall, pale man finished his late lunch at a streetside resteraunt in D.C., satisfied at knowing that his disruption had worked. Magneto and his followers had the woman's writings. All was going according to plan.



The first Sentinel to not work properly seemed to loom over Bolivar Trask. He hadn't dared turn it back on after the last time, when it had actually spoken to him, called him 'master'. But now he had to. He was so close to getting Project Wideawake restarted, but he needed to see one of his machines live. He'd even decided a name for this one, which he'd tinkered with constantly to busy himself. He pressed a series of buttons, and unhooked a series of wires sticking out from it's back. The Sentinel's eyes lit up.

"HELLO MASTER," It said to him after a moment.

"Hello," Trask replied, giddily. "Hello Bastion."

[bored]

The breeze felt good on Betsy's face. Further up the path, Logan stopped to call for her.

"Comin', Bets?" He asked.

Do you ever get tired?, she thought. "Give me a second to catch my breath!"

Logan sat down on the ground by a tree, enjoying the breeze himself.

"How much farther?" Betsy called.

"Just another mile," Logan responded. "You think you can make it?"

"Of course," she said, "but I'd rather not have a heart attack at the end. We've been running this trail for almost two hours." She wiped the sweat off of her face, and allowed herself to start breathing more slowly.

Worried about the disturbance that had kept him from detecting the Brotherhood's prescence in Washington, Xavier had recommended that the X-Men go on a retreat to Colorado, which seemed like an odd thing to do, but they still appreciated it. The leaves were a beautiful mix of brown, yellow, and orange, the few people where they were didn't mind mutants, and in a few days Warren Worthington, the former X-Man Angel, would be arriving in Aspen to spend time at his winter retreat (though winter was still a little ways away), and they were going to visit him there. Xavier himself had not gone with them, wanting to stay in New York and continue helping Stryker find the Brotherhood, so Bobby was in charge of them full time. It wasn't like they were in need of a lot of supervision, of course.

"Okay, let's go!" Betsy shouted. She took off, springing past Logan, who quickly gave chase. She turned to see him running after her, and laughed. After a few seconds, Logan tackled her.

"Nice try, babe," he said with a smirk. Betsy smiled, tilted her head up, and kissed him.

"Oh, I think it worked." Logan got off of her, and she sat up. "Think they'll be waiting for us for any reason?"

"No, no I do not," Logan replied. Betsy grabbed the bottom of her sweat-drenched shirt, and started to pull it over her head. She stopped for a moment to wink at Logan, and pulled it all the way off. Logan got down in front of her, and kissed her, moving her to the ground as he did. He moved a hand down, and grabbed at her running shorts, moving them down her legs.


Ororo soared through the clear, but slightly windy sky. She didn't necessarily want to admit it, but she was hoping to see Logan. There was something about him that she was clearly attracted to. Normally, a short, slightly hairy man who liked to drink alot and play cards into the wee hours of the night would not appeal to her, but there was something different about her classmate. As she flew, she finally spotted him running through the woods, with Betsy in front of him. She slowed down, and saw what they did after Logan tackled the other woman. Ororo clenched her fists, and soon after, it started raining very hard on those woods.


As the sudden rain started, the other students went inside the small lodge where they were spending the next few days. Piotr, who'd been having a great day with the beautiful, easily drawn scenery, was especially disappointed. Of course, it turned out that the rainstorm only improved the settings outside, so he was content. Elsewhere, Forge had joked that he'd bet that the weather was Storm's doing, but was shrugged off by Kurt.


That night, Ororo couldn't stop staring at Betsy. The two were roomed together, making the former's dismay all the more obvious to the latter. After some time, Betsy spoke up.

"Ororo, what's the matter?" She asked. "You've been shooting daggers at me all night."

"It's nothing," Ororo said, unsuccesfully trying to look like she was sleeping.

"Doubtful."

"Betsy, how... Well..." Ororo stammered,"...you and Logan. How long has it been going on?" Betsy looked shocked. "I saw you two today, Betsy, so don't try and deny it."

"You were watching us?" Betsy asked, angry.

"I kind of stumbled upon you," Ororo explained.

"Look, Ororo, I think I can guess why you object to us, and I suppose I can say that you shouldn't worry."

"Why not?"

"Because," Betsy paused, thinking. "What we have is more... more for fun. He's great as a lover, I'll admit, but I couldn't stand him as anything more. We've discussed it, and he thinks the same way."

"Oh," Ororo looked away.

"Listen to me," Betsy said, "if you really have feelings for him, act on them. Don't expect things to just magically happen."


From his room, Logan heard the entire conversation. He wasn't at all surprised by any of it.

[The Squirrel]

cool..the only thing is...Stryker was confused when Xavier said he felt like something was blocking his power...Stryker says that he thinks Cerebro was suppose to keep that from happening...but then Stryker tells the others that Magneto has a helmet that blocks the powers....Mabye i missied something?

[bored]

cool..the only thing is...Stryker was confused when Xavier said he felt like something was blocking his power...Stryker says that he thinks Cerebro was suppose to keep that from happening...but then Stryker tells the others that Magneto has a helmet that blocks the powers....Mabye i missied something?


the thing is that magneto should be the only one guarded from cerebro, but the others were too, and that is what is confusing stryker. anyways, i'm too busy right now to actually make a new entry, but for those who'd like a sneak preview, in the next few entries, there will be two new x-men (one of which is not in the team in cannon), and several new brotherhood members (since magneto's making an 'army') .

and good luck with your story, now that you're getting back to it.

[bored]

Kurt and Forge had been at their card game for two hours, and it was still the morning. The lodge had very little going for it in their opinions. Forge was constantly glaring at the clock on the wall, despite having the time available on his bionic arm.

"Missing a tv show?" Kurt asked. Forge muttered something. "You seem distracted."

"Eh, it's nothing," Forge replied. "That clock is off." Kurt checked his watch.

"It's only a minute fast, and that is just compared to mine." The blue mutant said. Forge pulled off his glove, looking at the clock built into his wrist.

"And it's thirty seconds faster than mine," he said.

"So?"

"So, it isn't reliable."

"Forge, mein freund, you are making very little sense," Kurt said, setting his cards down.

"You've obviously never been in the military before. Me, I was in Somalia," Forge said. He stood up, and went to the clock, reaching up and taking it from the wall. "I kind of got attached to perfectly synchronized time."

"So is your arm on military time?" Kurt asked, half-jokingly.

"No. I synchronized that to the atomic clock. Precise as can be." Forge put the clock down on the table, opened the back, and started tinkering with the gears. "Sorry, but I can't go too long without messing with something, or I freak out." He put it back together, and brought it back to it's original place on the wall.

"Must've driven your superiors insane in the Army," Kurt quipped.

"Yeah," Forge said, "but I was around alot of wierd characters. My little platoon, they called it the 'Red Crew', 'cause most of us were either Native Americans or Chinese. I don't think it was supposed to be that way, but it was. I was buddies with this guy, Johnny Proudstar, a big Apache who'd been a track star in high school, and he was a mutant too. He'd always go racing around, stealing stuff from people and putting it in wierd places. I think he damn near got court martialed for that. Johnny's a teacher now, back in Arizona where he's from. I couldn't stand a job like that." He looked at Kurt, seeing if he was paying attention. He wasn't.

"Forge, do you hear that?" Kurt asked. Forge listened intently.

"Somebody's screaming." Kurt grabbed Forge's wrist, and teleported them out.



Logan sat in a lotus position in the middle of the woods. He could both hear and smell Ororo coming from countless yards away.

"What do you want?" He asked, even though he knew.

"Oh, umm... I'm sorry I bothered you," Ororo stammered. "I didn't know you were busy."

"I wouldn't say I'm busy," Logan replied. "Just relaxing. What can I do for you?"

"I- I know about you and Betsy."

"Okay, and?" Logan pressed, trying not to take too much glee in getting a full confession from the woman.

"What do you feel about her?" Ororo asked, sitting next to him under the trees.

"Huh? Well, I feel like she's a hot British supermodel who likes to have fun," Logan said. "What does it matter?"

"She says that your relationship is just for the physical aspect," Ororo said, a twinge of jealousy in her voice.

"Yeah, so I guess 'relationship' would be too strong a term for it," Logan laughed. "You got some kind of opinion on that?"

"Well-"

"Ah, screw it," Logan moaned, cutting her off. "I know what you're hear to talk about, Windy. The walls in that place are fairly thin, and when you've got animal senses, people can't keep too many secrets. I didn't really mean to eavesdrop, but I heard everyhting you said last night to Betsy."

"Oh," Ororo looked down, sullen. "I really didn't mean to spy on you two."

"I doubt you did, I'm just saying I know that you saw us yesterday. Ya' know, some people like the peeping type," he said with a wink. "And as for whatever feelings for me you have, don't think I didn't notice along time ago. You didn't hide it too well." Ororo started clumping her long, white hair in her hands.

"I'm just not used to this," she said. "I grew up in Africa, in a little tribe that barely even saw other people. The only reason I didn't get married off to a hunter when I was 14 was because of my powers. I think that this is all just some wierd part of adjusting to normal life."

"And how long have you been 'adjusting'?"

"About seven years."

"And I'm your first big crush? I'm flattered," Logan laughed. He had clearly hurt Ororo, and tried to console her. "Hey, I'm just playing with you. I can kind of relate to you, having to start everything over. In fact, I know alot about that. I just don't get alot of secret admirers." Ororo forced a smile. "That's better now." He cocked his head suddenly, focusing on something far off. "You hear that? Someone's in trouble!"



"Kitty, come on!" Sara pleaded. "I don't want to keep up with you! I'm tired!" Kitty laughed at her friend.

"Come on!" Kitty shouted. "You're supposed to be the athletic one!"

"I'm not a dancer or anything!" Sara called back. It was easier to smile with an actual friend, and Kitty fit that nicely.

The two girls raced through the woods, simply trying to kill the time until they could leave. The ground was still wet from the previous day's downpour. A ways ahead of Sara, Kitty tripped on a patch of muddy leaves. When she fell, a net enclosed around her, pulling her up.

"Kitty!" Sara called.

"Hold on a second," Kitty said, trying to calm down. She phased through, and fell to the ground. "What was that doing there?" They could hear someone coming. In a few moments, a creature, brownish and scaly, showed itself. It's head was long, it's teeth big and sharp, and it had small but strong wings.

"****!" Sara yelled, surprised. "Kitty, it's one of those things from the Danger Room!"

This was indeed a Brood creature, though it was larger than any that Professor Xavier had sent against them. It lunged at Kitty. She opened her mouth and screamed loudly.

[bored]

The Brood opened it's huge mouth to screech. Kitty cringed at the hot breath that poured over her.

"Kitty, get back!" Sara called. She rushed up close, holding a bone spike that had come from her arm. Kitty took a step backward. The Brood lunged, jumping right through her. Kitty phased into the ground, coming up several feet away. Sara flung the spike at the Brood. It hit, and stuck in, but barely. She lept up and grabbed it by one of it's ears, slashing at it with a smaller spike still in her wrist.

"Sara!" Kitty called. Three more Brood had just arrived. Kitty tried grabbing at one, but it was faster than the ones that she'd fought in the Danger Room. While Sara hacked at the first Brood, the others tried to pounce on Kitty, who had to try and keep phased as long as she could. One of them reared up on it's back legs and screeched. As it was letting out the noise, there was a burst of smoke between Sara and Kitty, and Nightcrawler and Forge appeared.

"What the hell?" Forge shouted. "Girls, how many are there?"

"Four!" Kitty called back, trying to run from the Brood. Nightcrawler sprung into action, teleporting in front of one of the Brood, blinding it with the smoke from his appearance. He jumped up and slammed his strong feet into it's head, sending it to the ground. The other two jumped at him, but he dodged easily. Nearby, the Brood that Sara was straddling was weakening, but still trying to shake her off. Forge let his bionic hand become it's gun form, and blasted it. The hit gave the Brood a smelly blister, but not much else.

"Coming through!" Iceman yelled, arriving on an ice-slide. Colossus and Psylocke were close behind. "Anyone know where Storm is?"

"She went to find Logan," Forge responded, shooting again. Iceman froze the ground under the Brood, making it slip and giving Sara a good chance to jump off.

"Everyone gather together!" Iceman ordered. The seven of them circled together. "Bishop is off looking for Wolverine himself, so he should get them both at the same time. We need to get everyone together, and get the hell out of here!"

One of the Brood lunged, but Colossus grabbed it and tossed it into a tree. Above them, Storm soared in, holding Wolverine by the wrists. She dropped him near them.

"So these are the real thing?" He asked.

"Yes," Iceman said. "Get in here with us."

Storm descended to join them.

"Bishop is on his way," she said.

The group huddled close, keeping the Brood far off.

"They see us like this," Iceman explained, "and they think we're all just one big animal. Nobody break ranks."

They stayed together for several minutes, waiting for a Brood to make a move. When Bishop came, Nightcrawler jumped out, grabbed him, and teleported him to the group.

"Anyone have a phone?" Iceman asked.

"Hold on," Forge said. He reached to his pants leg, and pulled it up. His left leg was bionic, just like his arm. The others gaped. "Pay attention to those things!" He snapped. He pressed a button, and a phone popped out, attached to him by a wire. "You may need to reach a little." Iceman grabbed it, and punched in a number.

"Hey," he said, trying to sound calm. "It's Bobby. Look, Warren, I'm at the lodge, and we all sort of need a quick lift out. You can send the chopper? Good."

"Well?" Forge asked, putting the phone back in his leg.

"It'll be about thirty minutes," Iceman said. "Why do you have a phone in your leg?"

"Does that really matter now?" Forge asked.

"Can we last for thirty minutes?" Psylocke asked, clenching her fists and concentrating her psy-knives.

"I think so," Iceman replied. Two more Brood emerged as he said it. "Though it will be interesting."

[bored]

One by one, Nightcrawler teleported the X-Men to the roof of the lodge, where the Brood couldn't reach them. The ones that they'd faced in the Danger Room could fly, but these couldn't. The group on the ground was depleted until only Colossus, the only one who could, without a doubt, withstand an attack from one of the Brood, was left. When it was just him, they attacked. He punched one, the smallest and fastest, hard in the jaw, sending it screeching in pain and reeling back. When it opened it's mouth again, teeth fell out, followed by drops of blood. One of the other Brood turned to attack it, attracted by the smell of blood. Colossus braced himself for another attack, but Nightcrawler brought him away before that was necessary.

Sure enough, the helicopter that Warren Worthington had promised arrived in half an hour, with Warren himself, the former Angel, inside.

"Hop on in!" He called over the noise of the blades. "If any of you are flyers, you might take the air over in here. It's a little crampt."

Storm took of into the air, up to several feet above the helicopter. While there, she started generating strong winds to send the four Brood off into the woods.

"Cut it out!" Warren yelled up to her. She didn't hear him. "Bobby, you can have my spot up here." He climbed out of the helicopter, spread his wings, and flew up to Storm's level. "If you want that chopper to take off safely, than you need to stop with the wind!"

"I have to do something about those things!" Storm called back.

"Don't worry about them," Warren said. "I've taken the Brood before, and there something you're better off just staying away from." The chopper started to lift off, so Storm and Warren moved out of it's way. When it headed off, they followed in the air.



Three pages left. Three pages were what Magneto had not yet read of Irene Adler-Stryker's diaries. He could find nothing that seemed to make sense to him. There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Magneto said, monotonoly. Avalanche entered.

"Dominic, what can I do for you?" Erik Lensherr asked.

"The 'lieutenants' sent me to check on you," said the only lowest-ranking member of the Brotherhood.

"Dominic," Lensherr said, putting the book down, "I know that you are upset about not having rank, but you will not be the only one for much longer. In the next few days, I will be sending all of you to check on ten mutants that I've been taking notes on. Then, they will have others to bother. Now, was there anything specific they wanted to know?"

"Aside from progress on the diaries, no."

"I doubt we'll get anything from these," Magneto sighed. "Come with me, and I'll show you the information on your colleagues to be." He tossed the book down on his desk, and led Avalanche out. The pages spilled open. "Now, when we...." The two left the room, not seeing the last entry in the book. It was something short and simple, something that would have obviously piqued Magneto's interest.

It said, in bold, heavy ink: THE AGENTS OF THE FIRST ONE ARE COMING.


In Colorado, the helicopter carrying the X-Men, along with the two airborn mutants following, landed at Warren Worthington's winter home.

"You guys can crash here as long as you need," Warren said to them. "I was really only here to get away from some business troubles."

"What'd you do this time?" Bobby Drake asked, grinning. "Did you lose the Atlantic City casino in a craps game again?"

"Hey, that only happened once!" The X-Men tried to restrain laughter at him. "Oh, shut up."

"Hey, boss?" The pilot said. "What the hell is that thing?" Warren looked to where his pilot was pointing. There was something sitting on his porch, down a level from the helipad.

"Oh no," Warren groaned.

"What? What is it?" Bobby asked, trying to get a look. "No! Dammit, no! Guys, they, umm.... they followed us."

"What?" Logan asked, coming to the head of the group. Bobby pointed. "Well, I'll be damned."

"What is it?" Ororo asked.

"Those damn space-bugs are here, those Brood things." Logan popped his claws. "Well, we didn't get to finish 'em before. Who's up for doing it now?" Bobby glared at him. "Oh, sorry. Not supposed to usurp command, am I?"

"No, you're not," Bobby replied, annoyed. He turned into his ice form, but did something different. His hands were covered now with massive balls of thick ice. "Okay, now, who's up for it?"

"Happy?" Wolverine asked.

"Of course," Iceman replied. "Warren, you care to join in?"

"Of course," the former X-Man said. His fingers twitched, and the tips tightened. When they stopped, his fingers had become talons. "Haven't exactly done this in a while."

"No, buddy, you haven't," Iceman said. He faced the X-Men. "You guys ready?"

The team gathered at the edge of the helipad, and, almost all at once, jumped down to the porch, ready for a fight.



Magneto pulled out a file with the words 'New Recruits' scrawled on in Sharpie. He brought it to a table in the meeting room, where Avalanche sat.

"These, Dominic, are the people we will be meeting with shortly," he said. He opened the file, letting pictures of ten mutants spill out. "This one-" he pointed to a blonde man, "is an Australian with pyrokinetic talents. The pale one here is imprisoned in Siberia, and I've been led to believe that his appearance now is a tad less normal than it was them. The woman here with the six arms is a bit of an oddity, but I think she will gladly join us. This one is only a teenager, but he is immensely powerful, possibly even indestructible. The Asian woman is a former colleague of Victor's, connected like his is to the Weapon X program. This man has minor mind-controlling talents, and it is rumored that he can do much more than that, possibly even create bombs by touch. Something I think could be very useful to us. These other four live in New York City. Or, under New York City, to be more specific. My only concern is that their community seems to idolize our nemesis, Charles Xavier, and persuading them to join may take, how should I say, desperate measures. Any questions?"

"None really," Avalanche said, "other than: when do we get started?"

[bored]

There was a loud crash as Colossus hit the floor. Above him, Warren Worthington had to wince a little, knowing that his insurance would likey not cover 'mutant vs. alien' fight.

"How many do you count?" Iceman asked, yelling to his former colleague.

"Seven!" Warren replied, swooping in.

"Ten," Wolverine corrected. Sure enough, there were three in spots that Warren couldn't see. Logan popped the claws on his left hand. He hurried forward, and swiped at the nearest Brood. It jumped back, then charged, headbutting Wolverine and knocking him down. "Ooh, this one's fiesty." He sprung back up.

Iceman swung his thick, icy hand at the Brood that had cornered Bishop, getting a satisfying crunch as the creature's back seemed to break. Bishop grabbed it, and tossed it off the porch and to the ground, down far below.

Wolverine thrust his hand forward, and caught the Brood he'd selected in the stomach. It screeched as its insides seeped through the triple wounds. Wolverine took a full-on swipe, and cut its belly right open. Another Brood smelled it, and charged at the dying one that Wolverine had just dispatched. Warren grabbed, lept off the ledge of the porch, flew several feet off, and dropped it. What may as well have been blood seeped out of the holes where Warren had gripped it, his talon-like fingers having easily pierced it. Another Brood jumped off, trying to chase it. There were two satisfying splats when they hit the ground, one after the other. Warren turned around, and charged back in.

Shadowcat was backed up against the glass doors. The Brood attacking her closed in, but she phased through, leaving it to shatter the doors going after her.

"Help!" She shrieked, trying to keep her distance. Marrow and Colossus both came charging in.

"Piotr, we need you out here!" Iceman called, swinging his hands at another Brood. Grudgingly, Colossus returned to the melee on the porch.

"Guard Kitty," he ordered to Marrow.

"Don't need to tell me twice," she replied. Marrow, holding spikes in each hand, with bones popping out all along her arms and torso, raced in after the Brood. It spun around and opened its mouth wide. Marrow tried to plunge one of the spikes down the creature's throat, but it pivoted to a different angle, and she merely stabbed air. Taking the oppurtunity, the Brood close its massive mouth around her body. She screamed, trying to maneuver a bone to hurt it, but to no avail.

"Sara!" Shadowcat yelled. She hurried forward, phasing through the Brood and grabbing her friend, taking the two of them down to a lower floor with the creature's removed head.

"Not bad," Marrow said, seeing what Kitty had done.

"Are you hurt bad?" Shadowcat asked.

"I'll manage," Marrow replied, though she was clearly in pain. She looked around, seeing that they were in a kitchen. "We need to get back out there."

"I really don't want to," Kitty said. "Those things are more than I can handle."

"Kitty!" Sara picked up the creature's head. "Look at what you just did to this thing. Even Wolverine is having a harder time with them."

While the two girls argued, something crawled into the kitchen. It was a dark-purplish lizard thing with wings that it didn't seem to want to be using.

"Whoah," Shadowcat muttered. "What is that thing?"

"I don't know, but be careful," Marrow answered, holding a blunt bone as a weapon. Kitty approached it, and it cowered back.

"Hey now, it's okay," she whispered. It approached, slowly. Kitty petted its head. "I think this thing is friendly. Probably hiding from all the Brood upstairs."


Those Brood upstairs were not fairing well. Only two were left, and they were fighting each other.

"Go Frazier!" Warren shouted, seeing the lighter-toned one lunge for its opponent.

"Come on Foreman, you can do it!" Forge called. 'Frazier' was missing a forearm, but was fighting tenaciously. 'Foreman' was trying desperately to shake it off. Something flew in behind them.

"What the hell?" Iceman muttered. It opened its mouth, and a massive flame came out, burning the two Brood to a crisp.

"Last one to stop wriggling is the winner," Warren said. Forge nodded in agreement.

"Enough!" Someone yelled. The X-Men looked up at the roof. The pale man who, the previous week, had been monitering the Brotherhood in Washington DC looked down at them. "These may not be the strongest Brood I've created-"

Created? Thought Iceman.

"-But that doesn't matter. My... other creations will finish this. And this time there will be nothing to joke about!"

"Who the hell do you think you are, bub?" Wolverine demanded.

"I am going to be a king of these lands one day," the stranger replied. "And you can not get in my way! Attack!" A swarm of the small fire-breathers started to fly in.

"Any ideas?" Psylocke asked, as the team got into a cluster.

"Hope these things are easy to catch," Iceman replied.

[The Squirrel]

cool stuff. I didn't get to update this weekend because of a Christian Youth Convention I attended.

hope you get back to the recruiment of the new brotherhood members soon. That stuff is cool.

[bored]

that'll come up soon. i added the bit where magneto shows avalanche the pictures just to remind people that it is coming (hint: not everyone he wants will be willing). right now, i have this bit with the brood and the man who 'created' them. it will play a major part in the overall plot in the end, because it really kickstarts one of the major storylines.

[bored]

The little flying creatures, which strongly resembled tiny dragons, held the X-Men in place. None had actually attacked, but after what one had done to the two Brood, it was unlikely that they would be easily taken care of.



"I really think they need us up there," Shadowcat pleaded. She clutched the timid little creature from the kitchen as if it were a puppy dog.

"Kitty, look at all those things out there," Marrow responded. "There's got to be over a hundred out there, and they aren't exactly looking to cuddle like your new buddy here." The little creature's ears perked up. "Yeah, we're talking about you. How do you know this thing isn't gonna spring up and shred us, anyway?"

"If if wanted to, it would have by now," Kitty responded. She stroked its head. "I wonder if it's a boy or a girl."

"You aren't keeping that thing, are you?" Marrow asked.

"Why not?"

"I doubt the Professor would be too happy. Puff's relatives are all out there, surrounding the rest of the team, and we're in here coddling it."

"You're the one who said we should stay in here!" Shadowcat protested.



The wait for anything eventful was agonizing to some. Ironically, the most patient was the first to see action. One of the dragons swooped in at one point, making a dive at Storm, when Wolverine hopped in front of her and impaled it through the neck on one of his claws

"I have an offer for all of you," the pale man said. "Join me in my efforts, and you will be one of the Ascended Twelve, as I am to be. This, my master has guaranteed."

"The hell is he talking about?" Warren asked. "Bob, did I miss something?"

"Can't say I know what he's going on about either," Iceman replied.

"Power!" The pale man shouted. "I am talking about power!"

"Nut," Bishop muttered.

"Am I?" The stranger asked. He examined Bishop from a distance. "That 'M', what is it for?"

"None of your business!" Bishop snapped. A group of dragons circled him, pushing the other X-Men away. "What? You guys don't like me yelling at your boss?"

"Bishop, don't egg them on," Iceman ordered.

"I'm fine," the enigmatic mutant said. "Come on and take a shot!"

The dragons opened their mouths.

"Dammit Bishop!" Iceman yelled. He got in front of Bishop and created a wall of ice in front of them, then built it all the way around the group.

"What do you hope to accomplish?" The pale man mocked. "These are fire-breathers, and that is ice!"

"He's got a point," Warren said.

The pale man was ready to order the armada of dragons to destroy them, when he froze in place.

"No!" He shouted. "Please, let me finish!" The X-Men listened from inside the dome. "Very well." He guestured to some of the dragons to melt the dome. "You are lucky today. Remember, though, that you refused Sinister's offer, and you will one day be destroyed." He closed his eyes, put his hand over his chest, and disappeared. The dragons vanished shortly, as well.

"We refused his sinister offer?" Wolverine wondered alould. "Kinda cheesy, isn't it?"

"No, not his sinister offer," Iceman said. "Sinister's offer."

"They all gone?" The group turned to the glass door, which slid open. Marrow and Shadowcat came through.

"You missed the best part," Nightcrawler deadpanned. "The crazy man was talking to himself. And why the hell do you have one of those dragons?"

"I tried to talk her out of it," Marrow said.

"He's nice," Shadowcat argued. "We found him inside. I think he was hiding from the fight."

"Kitty, be realistic," Iceman said, approaching them and turning back into his normal form. "A swarm of those things just tried to fry us, and you think that this one is friendly?"

"Why not?"

"That guy said that he made them. I doubt he made a few cuddly ones to pad the group out."

"Hold on," Wolverine said. "Lemme check it out." Kitty clutched the dragon, which was looking at Logan. "Come on now, Kitty. I'm good with animals."

"No."

"Katya," Colossus said, stepping out from the group, "trust him, please."

"Piotr, don't you go siding with them!"

"I think Logan can tell if we can trust this creature or not," the massive mutant reasoned. "Please." Kitty looked at Marrow.

"Just do it," Sara moaned. Grudgingly, Shadowcat relinquished the dragon. It jumped happily into Logan's arms.

"Hey, he is kinda cute," Wolverine said. He looked into its eyes, seeming to expect it to start talking. It stretched its head up, and licked him in the face. "Ah hell, let's give it a chance."

"Xavier is not going to be happy about this," Iceman muttered. "Okay, speaking of him, we really need to get home and make sure nothing's come at him, like these things did. Can you give us a hand, Warren?"

"No problem, though I doubt the chopper's got the gas for the trip to New York," Warren replied. "I'll get on the horn to some company people, and get you guys seats on one of our jets."

"Here that?" Kitty said to the dragon, who had rejoined her.

"I'd also advise you to tag along," Bobby said to Warren. "In case that guy comes back, you won't be safe here."

"You're probably right. Everyone can feel free to hang out inside until I have all the flight arrangements made."



Let me show you my card! Sabretooth thought, bitterly, clutching his left hand. Cocky French *******! Hope he joins up. Earlier that day, he'd approached Remy Lebeau to join the Brotherhood, under Magneto's orders. The tricky little bastard had handed him a playing card, and it had exploded right in Victor's hand! The cajun mutant had then run off, laughing like a fool. Victor's healing abilities were helping, but it still stung. It would probably be a few hours before his hand was back to normal. Now, he was close to his quarry. It wasn't like hunting animals, as he wasn't to kill Remy, which was a little disappointing, but Sabretooth liked the feeling of hunting again. After hours of running through alleys, shaking down unfortunate locals, and tearing through back rooms where Remy Lebeau might be hiding, he located him out in a swamp.

"Come here often?" Remy asked, sitting in a tree.

"Buddy, you're lucky I'm not here for a fight," Sabretooth sneered.

"Aw, come on, mon ami, I don' think you really all that upset from our 'previous meetin''. That hand a' yours be doin' just fine, which be more dan most kin say when Gambit be through wit' 'em."

"Gambit, eh?" Sabretooth said. "That what they call you?"

"Dat what I call muhself."

"Have you ever heard how normal English is supposed to sound?"

"In N'aw'leans, dis how we talk," Remy said. He jumped down from the tree. "Now, why you be followin' me so much?"

"I've got an offer?"

"Oh?"

"Ever heard of Erik Lensherr?" Sabretooth asked.

"Nah."

"He's my boss. Does 'Magneto' sound a little more familiar?"

"Yeah! Magneto want Gambit?"

"Precisely. Magneto want Gambit. Magneto also want mutants who know good grammar."

"Boy, you pushin' yer' luck," Gambit said.

"Yes or no, Cajun."

"You tell Magneto dat Gambit'll do whatever he needs."

"Excellent. Now," Sabretooth grabbed Gambit's arm, and twisted it around. "Gonna apologize for what you did before? Consider this hazing."

[bored]

The defenses were tight that night at the Xavier Institute. If anything larger than a squirrel dared enter the grounds, it would be fried. Inside, Professor Xavier was more anxious than he'd been in a long time. There was, obviously, the stranger who had attacked his students with his army of monsters, along with the prescence of Sabretooth in Louisiana, apparently coming in contact with Remy Lebeau, who the Professor had hoped to recruit himself one day, and then there was the matter of what he'd seen on the news.

"After careful consideration," the anchor had said, "the President has ordered Project Wideawake to be restarted. Bolivar Trask, the head engineer of the project, says that the Sentinels will now be equipped with better reasoning systems as to not cause damage to public property, like what happened a few weeks ago in New York City." Feed cut to footage of the clash between the students and the Sentinels. "Critics say that this is an anti-mutant act on the president's part, and are saying that his decision is no less than authoritarian." It cut to an interview with Trask.

You are a madman, Xavier thought. On the tv, Trask railed about how Project Wideawake was absolutely necessary, how its detractors were soft on mutant terrorism, and how he was reasonable and they were irrational.




Two guards stood deathly still outside the cell with the thick door. The warden examined them, turned, and left. One let out a sigh.

"What time is it?" He asked in Russian. The other looked at his watch.

"About ten-thirty," the second guard replied, looking at his watch. "Why?"

"I'm running a little late." The first guard swung his foot out, kicking his colleague in the chest. Stunned, the other guard watched him transform into a blue skinned, red-haired woman. Mystique shot the guard in the neck, took his key, and opened the door.

"What do they hope to accomplish if this thing can open so easily?" She wondered out loud. Inside, there was a large, pale man with long, blonde hair. "Arkady Rossovich?"

"Who are you?" The man said, speaking English in a thick Russian voice.

"I'm your break-out," Mystique replied. "That is, if you come with me."

"To where?"

"Salvation, victory," Mystique paused, searching for another word. "To Magneto."

"I- I work for no one. I know of Magneto, and I am not interested."

"Then you will rot here!" Mystique snapped, trying to close the door. Arkady shot up and crashed his shoulder into her.

"No, you will rot," he seethed. He pointed an open palm towards her, and a white tentacle emerged. It constricted her, and started draining the energy from her body. After a few moments, he let go. Mystique stirred on the floor. "Never cross Omega Red!" He shouted. The long-incarcerated Soviet terrorist Omega Red was free at last. That night, he killed seven people, stole a vehicle, and made his way out of Siberia. In days, he would be in Moscow, where he could tell the world that the great Communist empire would soon rise again.

Mystique, on the other hand, had to be carried away in shame by Mastermind, who waited on the other side of the prison for her, expecting Omega Red to be with her. Magneto would not be happy, that they knew.

[The Squirrel]

It wasn't like hunting animals, as he wasn't to kill Remy, which was a little disappointing, but Sabretooth liked the feeling of hunting again.

whoa..dude. I worte my part about sabretooth liking to hunt before i read this line. I didn't still it from ya.

but that is kinda freaky coinsadince (i dont know how to spell it)

[bored]

coincidence. and hey, if you're writing for sabretooth, you need that.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------


It hung there in storage. Warren Worthington stared at it. It seemed to call to him.

"I'm here. I'm wrapped up in all this again. Why not?" He said to himself. He remembered how it felt to wear it, to fly in it. It always amazed him when it still fit right. How the gloves conformed to his fingers when they became talons. How somehow, it was never difficult to get his wings in just the right way.

"Reminiscing?" A female British voice said, accompanying a sudden flood of light filling the entrance to the room. Warren glanced back at Betsy Braddock.

"Looking at my old uniform," he said, wistfully. "It gets kind of wierd when I remember my team on the team."

"Was it a wierd time?" Betsy asked.

"What isn't?" Warren replied. "Before you guys became the 'new' X-Men, the Professor talked to us, me, Bobby, Scotty, Hank, and Jean, the first five, and invited us to come back-"

"Which Bobby took," Betsy cut in. "Go on."

"Yeah, he took it, and I declined, because I'm pretty much in charge of my family's business," he explained. "Thing is, I really, really did not want to do it like that. This team is the only thing in my life that has ever had any meaning. Otherwise, I'm just some rich boy who also happens to have wings."

"That's a big just," Betsy responded. "Though I suppose I could sympathise. I was never exactly poor."

"Yeah, yeah I know."

"Oh? How?" Betsy asked.

"You don't remember me?"

"No. And I think I would if we'd met."

"Because of my wings?" Warren asked. "I was a little young for it then. I was twelve. They were small enough then that I could hide them. You weren't that old then, I don't think, but I remember your name."

"How old are you, Warren?"

"30."

"I'm 25," Betsy said. "I was only seven, then. I couldn't exactly remember you. And why would you remember my name?"

"Braddock. Your family and mine are business associates," Warren said. "My mom made me dance with you at a gala my uncle was holding. I was a little uncomfortable, I must admit."

"Understandable," Betsy said, suppressing a laugh. "Must've been awful. I think it was a few years before pre-pubuscent boys were interested in me. But Warren, I really do understand what you mean about your contrasting lives. Being part of this group is nothing like being a rich girl at Cambridge, or being a model."

"You went to Cambridge?"

"Only because I had the money."

"Hell, that's the same reason I got into Wellesley."

"Warren, Wellesley is an all-girls school," Betsy said.

"When did I say I studied there?" He grinned. "Though I suppose it helped me get Vassar, too." He turned his attention back to his old uniform. "You should've seen my face when I first wore this. Thing is seriously form-fitting. It leaves little to the imagination."

"Oh, you think that that red and white number is bad?" Betsy asked. She crossed the room, to a rack with several plastic bags containing the current team members uniforms. "The Professor had them dry-cleaned while we were attempting a vacation." She pulled her dark unitard out. "Try this for 'little to the imagination'. It's flattering, but something that just makes your muscles stand out is nothing compared to this."

"Ah, good ol' Professor," Warren smirked. "He tried something like that on Lorna when she first joined up."

"The fem-Magneto?"

"That is a perfect way of putting it!" He cried. "The lady is a dictator with boobs. Though I suppose I was a little harsh on her. See, her last name is Dane."

"Oh, you're kidding!" Betsy laughed. "Lorna Dane?"

"I called her Cookie-Girl when she first came to the Institute," Warren said. "Found out that she had a crush on me, so I cut that out. Went on one date with her, and I couldn't stand her. Yaks so damn much about herself. About a week later, we all got into a game of strip-poker to kill some time, and she said that she was only gonna play one more hand. Of course, we hadn't even gotten her out of her top yet, so we begged her to stay, and came up with a little deal. Somebody got a royal flush on the next hand, and she would have to stay in 'til she didn't even have jewelry on. She got cocky, and said that if anyone could get that hand, and if it were the right suit, which we made sure of before we dealt, she'd sleep with them."

"Do go on," Betsy said, enjoying the story. Warren led her out of the storage room as he talked.

"Well, the suit was diamond, and the flop was 10 diamond, 3 spade, king diamond. Next two cards were jack diamond and ace of clubs. Naturally, someone set down his hand, and he had a queen and an ace, suited."

"Diamonds, I assume," Betsy said.

"Yeah," Warren replied. "Alex Summers, Scott's brother, got it. Me, I was hoping that Jean would be the one to get it."

"That type, are you?" Betsy asked, flirtasiously.

"I'm a guy, aren't I?" Warren replied. "But yeah, Alex got it, and they've been together ever since. I think she surgically inserted a piece of steel in him so that she could keep him locked up. Ya' know they got married three months after that?"

"Not into wasting time, are they?"

"No." Warren paused. "How'd we get into this?"

"Cookie-girl wore a scanty get-up," Betsy cracked, though it was true. "So, tell me a little about your life now..."




"Are you not too warm?" A chubby man asked in Russian. His passenger was deathly pale, and heavily bundled.

"I am fine," the passenger said. "You look a little off yourself."

"Just... You would find it horribly silly of me," the driver said, looking back to the sole passenger of his bus. "How many jackets do you have on?"

"Three."

"Three, and at least the top one looks very nice," the driver said. "Twenty years ago, that wasn't possible."

"What do you mean?" The passenger asked.

"Under the old Communist regime, you could not even have one nice jacket unless you were in government."

"You were not a believer in the Soviet dream?"

"What dream? It was a failure once Stalin took over."

Hours later, the bus pulled up in Moscow. The pale passenger exited. The passenger had also driven for the last few miles. The driver lay dead in the back of the bus. When he was discovered later, the time of death could not be determined for over a week. The doctors said that the life had just disappeared out of him. There were strange welts and bruises around his torso, but none seemed like they could kill a man.

In downtown Moscow, the thing that caused those marks was busy searching for his old apartment, to rest before he began his mission. Omega Red had returned to the capital of Russia.

[The Squirrel]

sweet stuff man.

[bored]

It was an uncomfortable moment, realizing that he'd be stuck with that irritating fanatic for at least fifteen minutes.

"This is a damn set-up, I know it," William Stryker groaned. "You've wanted to preach to me for years about how I'm anti-human or something moronic like that, and this was your perfect oppurtunity."

"General Stryker, with all due respect, that is a silly accusation," Bolivar Trask responded. "What could I do to the elevator? Especially in a government facility?"

"Plenty of things, you creep. You know that Secretary Stark only allows your activities for public image, right?" Stryker mocked. "I've talked to him, and he says that he personally thinks those Sentinel robots are awful. Too bad the taxpayers love giant robots. I blame the movie industry."

"General, I merely want to police a potentially dangerous faction-"

"They aren't a faction, Goddammit!" Stryker roared. "They're people who were born differently, and some have been driven to violence by redneck creeps like you!"

"Redneck?" Trask snapped, getting defensive, himself. "I am one of the leading engineers in this country, General Stryker! I was born and raised in Connecticut. I am not, by any definition, a 'redneck'. You, on the other hand, are a military man who knows how to fix the carbeurator on a '54 Chevelle like no other. Further more, I know for a fact that you are from Oklahoma. If either of us is a 'redneck', it is you. Oh, and don't forget your insistance on holding on to an idea that is not based on any form of logic at all." Stryker shoved Trask into a wall of the elevator.

"Listen, you son of a *****!" He seethed. "I know mutants-"

"In the Biblical sense, as well as modern," Trask cracked, unwisely. "By the way, how is your wife? Oh, that's right. You don't know! More mutant criminals kidnapped her, and you can't find her!" He smiled, and advanced on the tougher, but still shorter, General Stryker. "I know that you've been going to Professor Xavier for help, General, and that you've gotten nothing from him. Do you know why? Because he doesn't want to help you! He's just helping Magneto hide your wife from you!"

"THAT IS IT!" Stryker roared. He grabbed Trask by the neck, and shoved him back into the wall. "Listen, you whore, if we weren't here, I'd kill for you for that! You stay out of my private business, you hear me? I'm not really the most moral person on Earth, and I've proved that before. I could have you completely erased for the **** you pull. I could go into any federal prison, have any of the best hackers we've ever caught put under my supervision, and have him tell the Sentinels that you're a mutant! They'll vaporize you!"

The elevator started to move. Stryker let the frightened scientist go. Finally the door opened, releasing the two rivals. As they left, Stryker had one last thing to say.

"They didn't make Chevelles in '54, moron."



It had been a bad week for Bolivar Trask. Aside from that confrontation in the Pentagon with Stryker, his wife had said that she wanted a trial seperation from him, and he knew that that could not end well. When he got back to the factory that housed Project Wideawake, he was all but ready to yank out his own hair.

"MASTER," came that always loud and monotone voice. "YOU ARE DISTRESSED."

"Yes, yes that's right, Bastion," Trask said to his favorite Sentinel. "I had a rough day."

"WAS IT 'THE *****'?" Bastion asked.

"Please don't say that. Any workers that may still be here could hear you," Trask pointed out.

"ALL OTHER HUMANS HAVE LEFT. MAY I ADD THAT MOST KNOW OF YOUR MARITAL TROUBLES ALREADY?"

"Bastion!" Trask snapped. "Don't be offended, Bastion, but the advanced AI that I've given you is sort of frowned upon by my superiors at the Department of Defense."

"MASTER, WHY IS YOUR NECK BRUISED? WERE YOU IN AN ALTERCATION?" Bastion asked.

"A small one. Don't worry about it. General Stryker and I had a run-in."

"SHOULD I DEAL WITH HIM? HE IS KNOWN AS A MUTANT SYMPATHIZER."

"No, Bastion, just let it go," Trask ordered. He was reverting back to the twitchy, somewhat crazy man he could be when working with his Sentinels. It was a far cry from the condescending, assertive man he'd been around Stryker. "How has production been today?"

"THE WEAPONS UPGRADES TO THE NEW SENTINELS HAVE GONE WELL SO FAR."

"No accidents?"

"NONE."

"Excellent. And what of your own upgrades? The ones I programmed you to work on?"

"COMPLETE."

"Already? I'm impressed. Now, if you'd excuse me, Bastion, I just need to retrieve some papers from my office." Trask walked away, leaving the Sentinel where it stood. Bastion remained there for an hour, letting Trask collect his materials, say goodbye, and leave, then leaving some extra time for safety's sake. Instead of shutting down for the night, as he was supposed to do, Bastion opened the large door that was there for the Sentinels should they need to be deployed. Since the New York incident, this second factory was created to process Sentinels at almost the same rate that the Michigan plant did. Once Project Wideawake was restarted, Bastion was always there, providing company to his master, Bolivar Trask. Bastion ambled out the door, and flew off, heading to the home of General William Stryker.



"Put that down!" The boss at the construction site ordered. "Listen, buddy, we all like to show off, but come on, we need that!"

"Do I have to?" The Blob said, jokingly. "Well, I suppose. You guys are alright, ya know that?" He put the massive crane down. "So hey, I'm lookin' for a guy who works here, his names is Guthrie. Know him?"

"Yeah," the foreman said. "Hold on, big guy. Hey, Sam, you got a visitor! Lucky you we're not busy today." A young blonde man approached them. "What'd you say your name was, again?"

"Dukes. Fred Dukes," Blob said. "You Sam Guthrie?"

"You know it," the young man answered. "What can I do for you? And why the hell are you here without a hard hat?"

"Did you not just see what I did with that crane?" Dukes asked, confused.

"Yeah, but that don't mean much," Guthrie said. "You could really get hurt here."

"I. Just. Lifted. A. Crane. Over. My. Head," Blob said, trying to get the idea to the young man.

"Haha, yeah, I know," Guthrie said. "I'm just messin' with ya'. So, I'm takin' it you're a mutant."

"Naturally," Blob replied. "People here don't seem to mind."

"Yeah, well, my family's got a lot of friends," Guthrie said, leading Blob away from the site. "A bunch of us have been mutants for the last fifty years or so."

"That long, eh? Not just part of the recent boom?"

"Nah, us Guthries, we're originals," Sam Guthrie laughed. "So we don't have too many mutant-haters in this town. So what can I do for you?"

"I'd like to offer you a job," Blob said.

"I got one."

"Yeah, I noticed. I mean a real job."

"What's wrong with construction?"

"Look, Guthrie, you know who Magneto is, right?" Blob asked, cutting to the chase.

"Yeah. Guy freaks me out," Guthrie answered. "I mean, I'm into what he does, to an extent at least, but he seems too intense for me. Alot of my friends are regular humans, so I'm really into killing 'em all. A little superiority, I think we can all appreciate that, but killing is too much."

"Magneto only kills those who have to be killed," someone said. Toad bounced in.

"Morty, I thought you were waiting in the van," Blob said.

"I got bored," Toad said.

"Who's the Limey?" Guthrie asked.

"Name's Mort Toynbee," Toad said. "I'm with Freddie."

"'Nother Magneto crony?"

"I'm not a crony," Toad said. "Me and Fred are both lieutenants in the Brotherhood of Mutants. We're an organization dedicated to making grand statements about mutant rights."

Within a few minutes, Toad had outlined a way to make the Brotherhood sound attractive to Samuel Guthrie.

"How'd you do that, anyway?" Blob asked.

"Listen, Fred," Toad explained, "I may be ugly, but I'm still English. And he is still Southern." As they talked, a light charged towards them, and smashed into Blob. He barely flinched, but the ball veered off, crashing into a tree.

"That was fun!" Sam Guthrie shouted. "Sorry, but I always wanted to do that to a fat guy."

"Remind me again why the boss wants this guy?" Blob whispered.

[bored]

One of the special upgrades that Trask had designed for his pet project, the robot Bastion, was a radar jam. Of course that meant extremely little when a massive robot was flying through the sky, other than that it could have been stopped earlier. By the time it reached the Stryker home, police were already pursuing it, and at least two news outlets had sent out vans to cover this late night disturbance. When it landed in the middle of Stryker's back yard, cops were pouring in, guns drawn.

"STAND DOWN, LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS," Bastion said. His robotic voice boomed in the night sky. A man shoved his way through the police officers and the soldiers who were taking up the rear of the throng. He had an eyepatch.

"Okay, Robocop, you know who I am!" General Nicholas Fury shouted.

"YOU ARE NICHOLAS FURY, FOUR-STAR GENERAL OF THE ARMY OF THE UNITES STATES," Bastion replied. "WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS HERE, GENERAL?"

"My business?!" Fury snapped. "You and all the Sentinels were created solely for policing mutant criminal activities, not freaking out the suburbs in DC. What's your business?"

"I AM HERE TO ADMINISTER PUNISHMENT TO GENERAL WILLIAM STRYKER," Bastion said. "HE IS A KNOWN MUTANT SYMPATHIZER AND HAS COMMITTED ACTS OF VIOLENCE TO MY CREATOR, DR. BOLIVAR TRASK."

"Speaking of Trask," Fury said, "we're bringing the creep here, robot! Daddy's not gonna be happy. Or at least, he'd better not be."

"DO NOT STAND IN MY WAY, GENERAL FURY."

"Are you trying to give me an order, Sentinel?" Fury asked, approaching the robot. "You are completely out of line!" While he shouted, Stryker pushed through the soldiers and police offers.

"What the hell are you doing in my backyard!" Stryker shouted.

"GENERAL STRYKER, YOU ARE ACCUSED OF ASSAULTING A SCIENTIST IN EMPLOYMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE," Bastion accused.

"That's for people like me to deal with," General Fury cut in. "This is nothing you have authority over."

"Excuse me, excuse me!" Bolivar Trask shoved himself into the yard. "Bastion, what are you doing?"

"I AM HERE TO ARREST A VIOLENT CRIMINAL."

"Dammit, Bastion, I told you to stay out of this!" Trask cried. "Please don't mess this up for me!"

"What the hell did you do, Trask?" Fury demanded. "I know about your run-in with Bill in the elevator, but what is that damn robot doing, and why does it have a name?"

"Bastion was an early Sentinel that had manufacturing troubles. I kept him for myself and tried out some AI techonology I'd been designing on him. He wasn't supposed to do anything like this. I just griped to him a little when I stopped by the factory."

"DR. TRASK DID NOT ORDER MY CURRENT ACTIONS."

"See!"

"Get him out of here!" Stryker growled. He approached Trask.

"STAY AWAY FROM THE MASTER."

"Master?" Fury muttered.

"Piss off, Terminator!" Stryker yelled. Bastion made his move, moving forward, grabbing Stryker, and flying off.

"Trask, you are getting it for this," Fury growled. "Come on, men! We've got a... Well... A damn big robot to go after!"



Bastion made no attempts to fly over unpopulated areas now. He wasn't even going back to the factory. No, now he had a different target in mind: the Xavier Institute in New York. Bastion had just enough fuel to make it there and back. As the robot flew over a skyscraper in Washington DC, where the military was scrambling to be ready to knock it down without injuring General Stryker, someone who was less concerned with military procedure was tailing it.

Stryker could say exactly what he thought when the Sentinel jerked to a stop in the air for weeks after that. It involved alot of profanity. As Bastion tried to free itself, Stryker could see some sort of rope anchoring the robot down. Soon, several more were holding it from other spots. Stryker didn't have his glasses on, but he swore in his head that the ropes looked strangely like... webbing.

[The Squirrel]

spider-man?

this story just keeps getting better and better.

[bored]

"DESIST," Bastion ordered. He/it seemed to be focusing on the wall of a tall building close by. Bastion struggled to fly away, but wasn't able to. Stryker looked, and saw someone clinging to the side of the building. His suit was red and blue, and it completely covered his body. There was a thunk! and another man was on Bastion. This one was clad all in black, with a white emblem on his chest. His mouth was huge, and was filled with menacing white teeth.

"Let him go," the one on the Sentinel ordered.

"DESIST," Bastion repeated.

"No," the black-suited man said, bluntly. He made an attempt at Bastion's hand to free Stryker. Bastion swung his arm, knocking the black-suit off of him. As he fell, Stryker's attempted rescuer reached his arm out, and more of the white rope/webbing shot out, catching Bastion's mobile arm. He swung on it, and onto another skyscraper, which he then attached the rope to. He climbed up the side, not seeming to need any grips, and lept back onto Bastion. The other man, in the red and blue, followed.

"GET OFF OF ME," Bastion ordered, now fully immobile.

"This stuff holds up better than I realized," Black-Suit said.

"You'll get used to it," Red-and-Blue-Suit replied.

"Stop chatting!" A commanding voice called. "Help General Stryker, please."

"DR. OTTO OCTAVIUS, DO NOT INTERFERE," Bastion said.

"Octavius?" Stryker whispered to himself. A man who many said bore an uncanny resemblance to Alan Arkin in "Wait Until Dark" was on the top of the building. He had four large metal tentacles stemming from his back.

"William, are you alright?" Otto "Dr. Octopus" Octavius asked, climbing down the side of the building and onto Bastion with his tentacles.

"Been better," Stryker replied. "Think you can give me a hand."

"I have a few to spare," Octavius grinned. "Eddie, Peter, keep the Sentinel from making any sudden moves, please."

"I think we've already done that," the red-and-blue suited one responded.

Octavius's tentacles grabbed Bastion's hand, and tore it off with a little struggle. Two lifted up Stryker, and the others carried them back onto the rooftop.

"Fury should be here soon," Dr. Octopus said. "He asked me to step in and intercept the robot. Those two men are my lab assistants, Eddie Brock and Peter Parker."

"What the hell did you do to them?" Stryker asked, clutching his side, still reeling a little from being gripped by Bastion.

"Peter's condition was a bit of an accident," Octavius explained. "He was exposed to a an experiment of mine, a radiation-doused jumping spider. His condition grew out of control after some time, nearly turning him into an actual spider, so I created a substance to tame his transformation. That in itself became a different entity, splitting from him and attaching to Eddie, giving him similar talents."

"Otto," Stryker said.

"Yes?"

"You are still one of the strangest people I know."

"Isn't that why you respect me?"

"Yeah."

"Hey Doc!" Peter, the one in the red and blue suit, shouted. "What do we do now?" He cocked his head, and jumped off of the robot, with Eddie following. Bastion was starting to struggle violently. In the distance, military choppers were finally catching up. Bastion's chest lit up, shooting a beam from the center. He wriggled in a way that it hit one of the webs holding him, vaporizing it.

"Peter, Eddie, get General Stryker to safety," Octavius ordered.

"You sure, Doc?" Eddie asked.

"Venom, get out. I can handle this."

"Venom?" Stryker asked.

"He's lucky," Peter said. "He named me Spider-Man."

"Stop whining and go!" Octavius shouted. Bastion broke free, and took to the air.

"SURRENDER GENERAL STRYKER TO ME."

"Shut up," Octavius ordered.

"I AM ENFORCING THE LAW OF THE UNITED STATES, DR. OCTAVIUS," Bastion reasoned. "DO NOT INTERRUPT ME."

"You?" Octavius laughed, raising himself up on his tentacles. "With all due respect, robot, I was an Avenger for ten years. You have probably only existed for a few months, at best. I have seniority over you."

"IRRELEVANT."

Venom swung off with Stryker in tow, and Spider-Man followed.

"STAND DOWN, DR. OCTAVIUS," Bastion commanded.

"For a robot, not a chance!" Octavius sprung up, and lashed out with one of his tentacles. It smacked Bastion in the head, as the other ones latched onto his body. Bastion took off into the air, with Octavius's steel tentacles alternating between holding onto him and smacking him. With his remaining hand, Bastion blasted one of the tentacles, knocking it off of him, but not damaging it. He rose higher into the air.

"THIS IS A MISTAKE, DR. OCTAVIUS."

"So formal, aren't you?" Dr. Octopus replied. The tentacles on his left side tore into Bastion's chest, tearing the top layer of metal casing away.

"CHEST DAMAGED. PRIMARY REPULSOR RAY INOPERABLE WITHOUT HIGH PROBABILITY OF MELTDOWN."

"Is that so?" On the end of each of Octavius's tentacles were three claw-like grippers, like the ones at an arcade game where one grabs a stuffed animal. One such set straightened into sharp points, and started spinning. Octavius dug them into Bastion's chest. The robot started to rock in the air. Now, only holding on by one tentacle, Octavius became relentless in his attacks. The robot couldn't position his one arm in a way to fire at Octavius without harming himself. He opened his mouth, and a smaller beam hit Octavius in the chest. His shirt had a whole burned through it, but the attack wasn't strong enough to really hurt Dr. Octopus.

"Is that it?" Octavius mocked. Bastion started to desend. Octavius pulled back the top left tentacle like a boxer about to deliver a winning punch. It shot forward, and knocked Bastion's head clean off. Octavius hopped off, landed on a rooftop, and caught the destroyed robot. There was no helipad there, but General Fury had his chopper land there anyway. He jumped out, with Bolivar Trask being dragged behind.

"Bastion!" Trask cried. He passed Octavius, to the head of his creation.

"What the hell?" Octavius muttered.

"Some special Sentinel he rigged up to be his buddy," Fury explained. "Thing apparently got a mind of its own, and went to 'deal' with Stryker after they had a little run in."

"He's a madman," said the former Avenger. Spider-Man swung down onto the roof, with Venom and Stryker following.

"You two did good," Fury said. "We had people in the DCPD watching for us. Too bad you weren't around for the Avengers, like Otto."

"Umm, thanks?" Venom said.

"I'd recommend the two of you retire for the night," Octavius advised. "This is excitement than I think you're used to. Feel free to come in a few hours late tomorrow."

"See ya' tomorrow, Doc!" Spider-Man yelled, already leaving.

"Well, he was in a hurry," Stryker noted.

"You don't know his wife," Venom answered. "Night, everybody!"

"Why?" Trask sobbed, not noticing the others. He held Bastion's head like a body.

"Trask, a broken toy is the least of your worries," Fury growled.

"Shut up!" Trask screamed.

"Shall we give him a moment to grieve?" Octavius suggested.

When they weren't looking, Trask pressed a button on Bastion's forehead, and a chip popped out. He slipped it into his pocket, and got up.

[bored]

"...Did you, at any point, fear for the safety of yourself or any of your students after Project Wideawake started?" The lawyer asked Professor Charles Xavier.

"Yes," Xavier responded, from the stand. Bolivar Trask shifted in his own seat, while Bobby Drake, Logan, Ororo Monroe, and Henry McCoy watched.

"When the Sentinels confronted your students, Professor Xavier, did you try and take any action against Dr. Trask?" The lawyer asked.

"No."

"Why?"

"I..." Xavier paused to think. "I was afraid. I didn't think he would have just impulsively deployed the Sentinels, and that there was a good reason for the attack. I did not want to appear as if I was defending any sort of criminals. I obviously knew this as untrue, but if the Sentinels were-"

"Objection!" Trasks's lawyer yelled.

"Mr. Ketch, keep your voice down," the judge ordered. "Now what is your objection?"

"Professor Xavier was not called up to make up sob stories," the lawyer said.

"Sustained. Mr. Murdoch, please take the initiative not to let this happen," the judge ordered.

"I'm sorry, Your Honor. Professor, one last question: Do you think the Sentinel program would operate better without Dr. Trask?"

"This is the same question they asked me yesterday," Hank whispered to Bobby.

"Hank, I was there, remember?" Bobby whispered back.

"You were?"

"I think," Xavier said on the stand, "that it has the potential to operate better without him, yes. While I hate to sound rude- Wait. May I elaborate without the defense objecting?"

"Mr. Ketch, will you be alright with an explanation?" Murdoch asked the other lawyer, not without a tinge of condescension in his voice.

"I will be fine, Mr. Murdoch."

"Professor Xavier, please continue," Murdoch said.

"As I was saying, while I hate to sound rude, Dr. Trask is a highly delusional man, who seems more interested in having something to attack mutants with than actually policing the dangerous factions of our kind. Another supervisor, one who was less bigoted and less impulsive, would be extremely preferable."



"Do you think he'll be removed?" Logan asked, pushing Xavier's chair. The other students, along with Bobby, Warren, and Hank, followed.

"Yes, though I worry about how they will go about finding a replacement," Xavier answered. Kitty Pryde rushed ahead to open the door outside for them. "With a project like this, someone sympathetic to us will be hard to come by. Hank?"

"Yes?" Hank McCoy answered.

"Can you keep us updated on any developements?"

"Of course. I'm glad I have a way to help. I already talked to Secretary Stark about actually having a little say in the future of Project Wideawake," The former 'Beast' said, enthusiastically. "He can't guarantee that anyone pro-mutant will get the job, but he wants some balance in the operation."

"Excellent."

There was some silence on the way to the parking garage. Everyone was thinking about the dangerous possibilities coming with the Sentinels still existing, and with a new supervisor who could be better or worse than Bolivar Trask.



One of the cows wouldn't stop wandering away. It was a cold day, and John didn't feel like going out of his way to deal with an unruly cow. He pulled out a match, lit it, and held it out. The flame increased, and swirled to form a flaming fence around the herd.

"Stay in place!" He shouted.

"Rather harsh, aren't you?" A man with a European accent asked. John whirled around. "John Allardyce?"

"Ye', that's me," John answered. "What can I do for ya', mate?"

"My name is Erik Lensherr, and I have an offer for you."

[bored]

"There," Sabretooth said, entering the Brotherhood board room, or the Legion of Doom, as Sam Guthrie had nicknamed it the day before. Magneto and the other lieutenants were waiting.

"There what?" Toad asked.

"There, as in, 'there, I've got the new members set', that's what," Sabretooth said, glaring. Magneto, who had set his helmet in front of him, but was starting to stand up, beckoned for Sabretooth to sit down.

"We have approached five mutants thus far," Magneto said. He picked up a remote, turned on a projector in the center of the table, and clicked to a picture of Remy Lebeau. "This is the Cajun thief. I've learned that his mind-controlling talents are actually quite weak, and only work in close range for short periods of time. What we do know, thanks to Victor, is that the rumor of him being able to create bombs by touch is true, and he is very good at that." Click. "This is Arkady Rossovich, better known as Omega Red, a former Soviet agent. We underestimated his strength and willingness, and Raven was unsuccesful in her attempt to recruit him. I personally will be traveling to Moscow, where I believe he may be hiding, to try and change his mind." Click. "This is Samuel Guthrie. Mortimer and Fred recruited him. He seems a bit nervous, but I imagine that he will end up being useful to us. He is extremely powerful, and may be the key to any future run-ins with the Xavier students." Click. "This girl's name is still unknown to us, and Jason says that he only briefly got to speak to her. Care to elaborate?"

"She vanished as soon as I mentioned you," Mastermind explained. "You didn't tell me she was a teleporter."

"I didn't know," Magneto groaned. "She's a mystery still. Did you get a name from her?"

"No," Mastermind asnwered.

"She said she thought he was cute," Mystique added. "Maybe he accidentally sent her a dirty image and she took off for that."

"Raven, keep that out of this room," Magneto ordered. "At least he wasn't beaten up by his mark." Mystique sunk back in her chair. "Lastly, I am happy to say that John Allardyce, the pyrotechnic from Australia, was more than willing to join. I see alot of promise in him."

"And alot of barbecued ribs on the weekends," Sabretooth cracked. Magneto put out his hand, and lifted up the wise-cracking mutant with his power, locking onto Sabretooth's adamantium-coated skeleton. "What?"

"Victor, that didn't even make sense," Magneto said, calmly. He set the mutant back down. "Now, we have a few more people to speak with. Victor, I'd like you to contact Ms. Orama yourself, as you two have a history, but you're not going to Japan for her. I have a feeling that the potential recruits from this little clan called the 'Morlocks', will not be easily persuaded, and I don't want us to be short-handed in case of a confrontation.



Kitty slinked up behind Piotr quietly. He was sitting on the grass, looking intently at something, doing what he always did: drawing. She phased through the blades of grass to keep them from making any noise under her feet.

"Whatcha drawing?" She asked suddenly, startling the Russian boy. He turned and glared at her.

"I was sketching a bird," he muttered. "You scared it off."

"Sorry," she said, hardly sounding sincere. "Hey, it isn't like you don't draw everything already."

"It is what I do," Piotr responded. He got up, and started for the woods. "I'm sure there are more like it nearby."

"Can I come?" Kitty asked.

"Will you stay quiet?"

"I was trying to before," Kitty pleaded. "Please? I want to see what you find." Piotr heaved a sigh.

"Alright." They settled by a large tree, where Piotr spotted a bird's nest to sketch. As he was almost done, leaves started to rustle. The adult bird in the nest looked defensive as a purplish reptile burst into view.

"Lockheed!" Kitty cried. "Bad Lockheed!" The little dragon stopped what it was doing, and flew down to Kitty. "I'm really sorry, Peter."

"It is okay," he responded, not bothering to point out that she'd gotten his name wrong again. "Why did you name it that?"

"I saw it on the Blackbird, and I liked it," Kitty answered. Lockheed flew into her arms. "I don't think he meant to mess up your picture."

"I got enough to finish it up before he came," Piotr explained. "I'm getting hungry. Should we go in now?"

"I guess," Kitty answered. She seemed disappointed.



Bolivar Trask aimed his gun, and fired at the target set up in his basement. He imagined that the paper target was many people. One shot and he was Secretary Stark, who constantly flip-flopped on the mutant issue that meant so much to Trask; another shot and he was that idiot General Nick Fury; another and it was Otto Octavius; another and it was Charles Xavier; the last few shots were for General William Stryker. He wanted to wring that idiot's neck. One shot was right between the target's eyes, the next its chest, and the last in the groin area.

"**** your mutie-wife now," Trask seethed. The phone wrang. Trask put his gun down, and took his time getting to the phone.

"Mr. Trask?" A man asked, on the other end of the call.

"Dr."

"Pardon me, Dr. Trask?" The man asked.

"What do you want?" Trask snapped. He checked his Caller ID, and saw that the call was overseas.

"My name is Henry Gyrich, we've met before," the caller said.

"I remember you, vaguely," Trask sat down on the nearest armchair. "Are you in Madagascar?"

"I see you've checked your Caller ID already," Gyrich laughed. "Yes and no. I'm calling from a small island near Madagascar. Have you heard of Madripoor?"

"Yeah, so what're you doing there?" Trask asked.

"I, Dr. Trask, am starting a movement. I found out about your dismissal from your own operation, and I'm very sorry."

"So send me a card."

"Bolivar, how would you like to come to Madripoor and restart the Sentinel program?" Gyrich asked.

"What?"

"My 'movement', Dr. Trask, is the beginning of the revolution against the mutant scourge, and I am basing it out of here. I should tell you that it is mainly for tax purposes, but that isn't important. I have the money and resources to fund your Sentinel program for years, and I want you to come here and oversee their production."

"So who would they be working for?"

"The Friends of Humanity, of course," Gyrich answered. "You've heard of them, right?"

"Yeah, and they seem like good people."

"I am a chief member."

"Congratulations," Trask deadpanned. "Why should I believe you, anyway?"

"Check your e-mail in an hour," Gyrich answered. "I'm sending you a list of information that I think will interest you. You have my number now. Feel free to respond if you will take up my offer."

Trask hung up the phone, got up, and hollered.

"Yes!" He sounded dismissive on the phone, but he had no doubt that Gyrich was legitimate, and that he was going to be relocation to Madripoor soon.

[The Squirrel]

its really good man.

i'm just glad i worte the identical scene with sabertooth first this time :)

[bored]

"Progress?" Professor Xavier asked. Forge had spent the last four hours taking information saved from Cerebro and converting it to possible coordinants.

"A little," Forge answere, his fingers still flying over the keyboard. "It's in the north hemisphere. That's it."

"That's alot, Forge," Xavier said. "We have that, and we know that it is in the Atlantic Ocean, probably relatively close to North America. How long do you think before my trace can give you something more specific?"

"That remains to be seen," Forge answered. "I'll tell you when anything more substantial comes up."

"Okay," Xavier turned his chair to leave. "And Forge, thank you for doing this. It is alot, even for a student of your capabilities, to take this on. I don't know anyone else who could alter the data I collected into something practical."

"That's why you should upgrade Cerebro to be more compatible with other computers," Forge explained."

"I want to keep it... How should I say it?" Xavier thought. "Private."

"Well, you found a hell of a way to do it."

"To record my actual thoughts, that is necessary," Xavier said. "I'll check in again in a little while. General Stryker is coming over, and I think he'll want to see what you are doing first hand."



"Nikolai?" Omega Red whispered. "Nikolai, is that you?"

Nikolai Gorbatova jumped. He dropped the box he'd been carrying, turned, and saw the man whose return he had both dreaded and desired for years.

"Arkady?" He asked in disbelief.

"It is I, Nik," Omega Red said, advancing on his old friend.

"You've gotten so pale," Nikolai said. "How did you escape?"

"Some Western harlot tried to recruit me for an army," Red answered. "Nikolai, what has happened to you? You're so... So weathered."

"Things have changed since you were imprisoned, my friend," Nikolai explained. "Come, and I'll take my lunch break to explain it all to you."

Red listened intently as his colleague told him about how hard it had been to keep the government from discovering the pair's connection, and how he'd had to go underground and eventually completely abandon his Communist activities. "I had to support my family," he said. He now worked as a shipping manager of a small snack food company, bitterly waiting to see if he'd ever have another oppurtunity to jump back into the Revolution. Now, with the mighty Omega Red back, he had his chance.

[bored]

As William Stryker waited in the foyer, he opened up his wallet and examined a picture of his wife closely. It had been over a month since she'd been taken. Why hadn't she seen it happen earlier? He'd been pondering that question to himself over and over again. She had almost ruined the surprise honeymoon he'd planned for her when they first got married with those damn powers, so why didn't she see her own kidnapping? It didn't make sense. Unless...

"God, it makes so much sense!" He snapped. Stryker looked around, making sure nobody had heard his outburst. No one was there. Still, who knows who's powers could have helped them pick up on it. Not that it mattered. If only he still had Irene's diaries, he could see if she had something foreshadowing the kidnapping, maybe even the entire Washington DC attack. Of course, she had called him to warn him, so maybe she didn't have the visions until it was too late? No, that didn't matter. She always wrote them down.

"General Stryker?" It was Bobby Drake, the field leader.

"Hey Iceman, you taking me to see anything good?" Stryker asked, putting his picture away. He tried not to sound like he'd just had an epiphany.

"Possibly," Bobby answered. "Forge says he might've gotten a location where we could find the Brotherhood."

"And my wife," Stryker added, as they started off to the elevator taking them down into the bowels of the Xavier Institute.

"Right." They went down to the low level where Forge had spent hours plugging away on a large computer. As they stepped out into the sterile-looking steel hallway, Stryker decided he needed to mention something.

"You do realize that the military won't take them on, right?" He said.

"I didn't know they had made a final decision," Bobby answered.

"Well, they did," Stryker said. "They said it isn't worth the risk. Magneto alone could keep them from reaching the base. You add how dangerous his little group is, and we've got ourselves a real problem. I think you know where I'm going with this."

"Yeah, and you know that you've got the X-Men's support," Bobby said. "If Forge is right, then your wife is as good as saved."

"Let's hope so," Stryker sighed. They came to the room where Forge was working. Xavier waited by his side, with Warren Worthington. "What's the good word?"

"William," Xavier said, "I think we've done it."



Irene Adler-Stryker stirred. She was having a vision, and had nothing to write it down with. William would be so disappointed, she thought. The images started coming. There was fire, and screaming. Always the pleasant sights, came that slightly cynical voice in the back of her head, the one that always told her that she should have challenged Miss Cleo to a predict-off while she still had the chance. There were tight spaces in her vision, which was odd, but there was also a large, open area. It all added together to there being a massive conflict between many, many mutants soon. Things started to clear up in her mind's eye. She saw Charles Xavier, William's old friend, leading one faction behind him. There had to be a few dozen mutants there. On the other side was her captor Magneto, leading just as many mutants, a few of which she had now met. She saw them colliding into each other in a brilliant flash of light, and saw the image of some massive person, with an aura that radiated more evil than she could ever imagine watching over it all. She wanted to turn it off, but she couldn't. The blurred figure seemed to stand and laugh. Another figure approached him from behind, which he turned to face. Irene struggled to see who they were, and what they were doing, but couldn't. Eventually, her strain caused her to simply pass out.


END OF SECTION 2

-----------------------------------------------------------------------


in section 3, things are going to get big. mr. sinister will be popping up again, and you'll get a better idea of what he's up to; the brotherhood will swell up to nearly army-sized; and, by the time it is done, several mutants will be coming to xavier's side, as well. look for it soon.

[The Squirrel]

OH!!! can't wait man. Your story just keeps getting better and better.

[bored]

it'll be a few days before i recommence the story, so you'll have to wait a bit. in the meantime, anyone who's reading this is encouraged to tell me if there is anything they especially do/don't like so far.

[SapphirePrima]

u got a good story! can't wait to read section 3

[bored]

Part 3, all you hookers and hoes.


"Today is the day," Nikolai said, leading Omega Red outside. "Remember, we just start by making a scene. Kill a few people, but nothing grand."

"Of course," Red responded. He was covered by a trenchcoat and a rather-awkward fedora. "And what of you?" Nikolia pulled a gun out of his pocket.

"I will be active as well, but you start off," he said. "Arkady?"

"Yes?"

"It is an honor to carry on the revolution with you."

"And you as well, old friend."

In the middle of a crowded street in downtown Moscow, Red threw off the trenchcoat, revealing the red uniform that he had once terrorized enemies of the Soviet Union with. All who saw him recognized him for who he was, and all ran in terror, many screaming madly. Omega Red released one of his white cables, grabbing an unlucky old man, and lifting him into the air. The man pleaded for mercy, but Red just laughed, and began draining the life from him. Police began arriving. Red tossed the man, drained to death, at one of them, knocking him back several feet.

"I have returned, and now all traitors will pay!" He roared. Someone shot, but the bullet didn't penetrate his uniform. Red's cable grabbed the officer who had fired, and instead of taking the time to drain, simply ripped off the arm holding the gun. The officer cried in agony as blood spurt from him. "Who else wishes to stand in my way?"

"That'd be me, Russky." Red wheeled around. A man nearly as big as him was in the street, holding Nikolai by the neck, ready to snap it. "You remember me?"

"I remember you, Western pig!" Red roared in English. "Sabretooth, isn't it?"

"That's right, Commie-boy," he snarled. "Now, I'm not under the same employment as I was when we last met, and I'm here to offer you a position with my new organization."

"So many want me," Red smirked, "but I do not want them."

"Do ya, mon amie?" Came another man. Gambit emerged from an alley. "Dat a real shame."

"Who is this fool?" Red asked. Nikolai squirmed in Sabretooth's grip, trying to get his comrade's attention.

"Someone who already accepted," Sabretooth said. "Now, let's negotiate. You work for Magneto, and I let your boyfriend here go."

"Do not hurt him," Red seethed.

"Let's see what he has to say," Sabretooth said. "Talk, Russky." Nikolai gasped for air as the grip on his neck was relaxed.

"Destroy him, Arkady!" He barked in Russian.

"Gladly," Red replied, still using his mother tongue. One of his cables ensnared Gambit, and began draining him.

"Wrong move!" Sabretooth wrapped an arm around Nikolai's neck again, and pressed the other on his head. With one clean jerk, he snapped the Russian man's neck in half.

"No!" Red cried. In the brief moment that he was distracted, Gambit was able to slip free. He grabbed a rock from the ground. It glowed in his hand.

"Heads up!" He yelled, tossing the rock at Omega Red. It exploded at Red's feet, sending him into the air. Red paused as he reached an apex in the air. His cables were wrapped around him, holding him in the air. A man floated in front of him.

"This is the second time you have turned my lieutenants," he snarled. "I will not tolerate that. "Magneto is never refused!" He squeezed Red's cables around him, and tossed him high into the air. Onlookers gaped. Magneto lowered himself to the ground. "Remy, are you alright?"

"Gambit taken worse," the young mutant replied.

"So what do we do now, boss?" Sabretooth asked.

"Return home," Magneto answered. "This delusional Communist, if he survived the fall, is no more concern to us."



"The more times the light changes color," Forge explained, "the more charged the gun is. There's not a bit of metal on the gun, and it blasts plasma energy, so it's nothing Magneto stand up to, beyond putting up his force field." General Stryker examined the rifle he'd been given.

"Ever thought of contracting for the Department of Defense?" He asked.

"I did my time with the military," Forge answered. "I'm done with that. If anything on this gun goes wrong, it'll send a signal to my bionic arm-" he had since replaced the one damaged by the Brood- "and I'll shut it down myself. You don't want to try and tinker with it yourself."

"Probably not," Stryker said. "Now that that is taken care of, when are we leaving?"

"Two hours," Forge said. "As soon as the trace gives us a more exact location of where Magneto's base is."

"Nobody ever explained to me what that trace is," Stryker mentioned.

"A mental lock on one of his new recruits," Forge said. "The one giving us the location was contacted by the Professor a few hours before Magneto spoke to him. He's a mole, essentially."

"What's his name?" Stryker asked. Forge told him the spy's name. Stryker nodded as if it meant something, and went back to admiring his new weapon.

[The Squirrel]

dang...I liked Nikolai....so is that it for big red?. Its going good. What happened to Bishop? He seems to have fallen in the background.

as for my story moving to fast. I'm just trying to get the plot moving along. But I'm not rushing things.

[bored]

that's cool. and to answer your questions: bishop will play a much bigger part towards the end, as i have it planned. one of the biggest changes i make to any of the characters or any of the storylines that i sort of compress for this will factor him and one other character, yet to be introduced, later on. and no, this isn't the end of big red. i suppose i did sort of end the bit with him in moscow rather quickly, but he'll be back shortly. i may even add it to the next update (look for that later tonight), just because i've been focusing so much on him. anyways, keep reading, and i still encourage everyone else who's reading to comment whenever they see fit (i fish for complements).

[bored]

Stryker couldn't stop pacing.

"When are we going?" He demanded to know. "Christ, are we expecting an invitation?"

"No, General," Bobby Drake said. "We have one last person we're waiting on."

"But everyone's here!" Stryker pleaded.

"Please don't do this," Bobby groaned. "Everyone is anxious enough as it is."

"I don't want to tell my son that his mother was killed because some super-heroes wanted to scratch their asses!" Stryker snapped.

"General, please," it was Bishop. "The Professor said our last companion will be here soon."

"He's here now," Psylocke said. The others looked at her. "I can sense him. The Professor is bringing him down right now. I think I can safely say that the flight will be extremely crowded."

"Wait," Warren 'Angel' Worthington cut in. "You don't mean... Bobby, tell me Cain isn't coming."

"Sorry, Warren," Iceman said. "We need him."

Almost on cue, the Juggernaut entered, the ground shaking as he walked.

"Hey newbies!" He said loudly. "Bob, Warren."

"Hey Cain," Angel sighed. Professor Xavier wheeled himself in.

"Is everyone ready?" He asked. Various people acknowledged that they were. "Gather around me, my X-Men." The team, including General Stryker and the former Avenger Juggernaut did as told. "Today, we venture into the belly of the beast. I know that Magneto himself is currently in Europe, as are at least two of his followers. This does not make us any safer. We are going to rescue a woman, and leave, but I do not know the kinds of defenses we will encounter, beyond the magnetic field around the island, and we are ready for that." He nodded toward Forge. "We fought the Brotherhood once, and had to contend with Magneto and Sabretooth." Wolverine winced. "They are not going to be in our way, but there are other new members, both of which are extremely powerful. Because they will have, essentially, the home field advantage, as well as more power than we may be ready for, we must be extremely careful. I know that Bishop and Angel are now in our ranks, and Cain has agreed to join us, but that still means little. Magneto would not make an invasion of his lair easy. You all know that I have a spy in the ranks of the Brotherhood, and he is how we found the location of Avalon, which is what they call it. Hopefully, he will make our job easier. When we arrive, expect resistance early on. This is when our spy must expose himself for us. He must be protected. Not only does he know where to find Irene Stryker, but I would ask all of God's mercy on whoever the Brotherhood would see as a traitor. Now, let's go."



"Quite a humiliating day, isn't it?" A pale man with a British accent said. "A shame that your big comeback was routed so early."

"Silence yourself," Omega Red snapped. He could barely even muster the will to throw this intruder out of his hideout.

"Arkady, do you know why the police aren't upon you now?" The pale man asked. Red thought about it.

"No."

"I have blocked their minds from knowing of your prescence," he explained. "My reason is that-" Red finally reached out and punched his intruder.

"I know, I know," he complained. "You have an offer."

"Not just an offer, Arkady," the man said. "A promise. I bring you your destiny. When you are finished with my cause, you will have the power to turn all of what was once the Soviet Union back into the state it once was." Red's eyes lit up. "Shall I explain myself further? Or would you attack again?"

"Explain."

"I am Nathaniel Essex."

"Like the British madman? He's been dead for fifty years."

"In a sense, yes," Essex explained. "Fifty years ago, he was just a man, a bored English aristocrat. He loved exploring, and a collapsed Egyptian tomb was supposedly the end of him. It wasn't so, of course. He was saved, by a god."

"A god?"

"Well, a near-god," Essex said. "He offered me unimaginable power if I agreed to serve him as his herald. Thus far, he has kept his promise."

"And who is he?"

"En Sabbah Nur, the first one," Essex answered. "One day soon, he will rise from his cell to conquer this world, and those who serve him will reap the benefits."

"Cell?" Red asked.

"He is physically imprisoned," Essex said. "It was through special incantations that he knew that I gained my power."

"How do I know that you have any real power?" Red asked. Essex's eyes glowed red, as did a spot on his chest. Red's cables emerged, and started slapping him on the face. "Stop that!"

"Have I proven myself?" Essex asked.

"Yes."

"Good. We have only one mission now, and that is to locate the components needed to free my master."

"Essex, do you truly mean that anything I wish is mine?" Red asked, standing up.

"Everything from the return of the Soviet Revolution," Essex promised, "to your friend Nikolai's life back." Red's eyes widened.

"I am the reason he died," Red said. "I owe it to my friend to do this. And when this 'first one' is freed, I also want the head of the one who killed Nikolai."

"Victor Creed? He's yours," Essex said. "So are you in?"

"Yes," Red said.

"Excellent. One last thing," Essex smiled. "I said that Essex had died, and that is true. Now, there is Sinister. Mister Sinister, for formal events. Now come with me."

[bored]

The Blackbird jet had been in the air for hours. Several people had complained that it was too congested. At least one person loudly passed gas early on in the flight. Despite the inevitable chaos to come soon, everyone was agreed that it would be a relief when they landed on the Brotherhood's stronghold. All but Professor Xavier. He had almost completely retreated into his own mind, preparing himself for what was to come. He did not dare risk contacting his mole, for fear that he could give the spy away.

"Professor?" It was Forge, shaking his shoulder from behind. "Hit the disrupters." Xavier obliged, flicking a switch that activated a device which Forge had installed into the plane, creating a field of electronic energy that would counteract the magnetic field that always protected Avalon from surveillance and invasion.

"Is it working right?" Xavier asked. Forge examined his bionic leg.

"Just right."



"Something isn't right," Mastermind said to the other lieutenants.

"How so?" Toad asked. All but Sabretooth, still on his way back from Europe, had gathered outside. The three newer Brotherhood members were scattered throughout the island.

"The area around us, it seems so, so..." Jason Wyngarde paused, thinking. "So empty. I can't pick anything up, but something is wrong."

"Tell me," Toad pressed. "I'm in charge while the boss is gone, and I need to know if anything goes wrong, otherwise it's my ass."

"You guys see that?" The Blob asked. "In the air up there! Somebody's coming!" The others looked out to where he pointed, and as they did, Sam Guthrie, now Cannonball, zoomed out from the main building.

"Guys!" He shouted. "The field got messed up! I think somethin's up!"

"We know!" Mystique snapped.

"Call everyone up," Toad ordered. "Get Avalanche and Pyro. We've got a fight on our hands."

"You sure it's not the woman Victor called?" Mastermind asked.

"She isn't do for a few more hours," Toad said. "And this is the wrong direction."



"They are expecting us," Professor Xavier said. "Be ready."



The Brotherhood assembled outside.

"Be ready," Toad said. He crouched, ready to jump in any direction. John 'Pyro' Allardyce turned on the small lighers on his wrists. They were hooked up to small-backpack sized gas tanks on his back. The small flames that came from them provided him almost unlimited power.



"Should we land down there?" Iceman asked, operating the Blackbird. "They all gathered out there."

"Erik hasn't taught them logic yet, I see," Xavier smiled. "Land between them and the door. This is almost sad how easy it is. But, let's not get cocky."

The Blackbird set down. The rear hatch opened, and the Juggernaut was the first one out. General Stryker, with the gun Forge had given him, led the others. As Iceman pushed him out, Xavier dropped his smile.

"This isn't right," he muttered. "I'm such a fool!"

Juggernaut charged the Brotherhood, aiming straight for Avalanche. Once he was close, he changed his direction and slammed into Cannonball.

"Nice try, kid," Juggernaut cackled. "The headgear keeps your buddy's tricks from workin' on me." He punched Cannonball with his massive fist. "You guys get in there. I'll take care of him!" Cannonball took to the air, in his nearly invulnerable form.

"Boy, you don't know what you're messin' with," Cannonball mocked. The X-Men turned and went for the compound, and the biggest fight they'd ever been in.

[The Squirrel]

YEA!! A BATTLE!!!

what is Cannonball's power?

[bored]

Cannonball took to the air, where Juggernaut couldn't catch him.

"Come down here, you little sissy!" Juggernaut shouted. "You wanna have a real fight or not?"

"Guess not!" Cannonball teased, darting around the air, his legs practically vanishing into energy. When he hovered in one place again, lightning hit him. He plummeted to the ground. Far away, Storm waved, and joined the others as they headed inside. Juggernaut waved back, picked up Cannonball, and started spinning him around.

"You really do not wanna mess with me, buddy," Juggernaut said. He released Cannonball, sending the younger mutant flying. Juggernaut turned to charge the Brotherhood compound. After only a few feet, he was knocked off his feet.

"I'm back!" Cannonball laughed, turning to strike again. Juggernaut got up and took a defensive pose.



It was for real this time. Nightcrawler encountered the other members of the Brotherhood first, teleporting ahead of the pack. The ground rumbled, and he knew that the ranting mutant that had attacked them in Washington was now officially working for the other side. Nightcrawler teleported up onto the ceiling, and dropped down on top of Avalanche, knocking him down. The door buckled, then burst inward as Colossus delivered a second punch. Avalanche lowered his foot to send another seismic attack, but Nightcrawler teleported him into the air before his foot came down. As the blue X-Man touched the ground nimble, Mystique joined the fray, kicking him in the back.

"Psylocke, help him out!" Iceman ordered. She did as ordered, generating the dark-pink psy-knives that she was still learning to use to greater effect. Mystique somersaulted over Nightcrawler and landed a few yards away from where Psylocke was slowly advancing.

"William, come with me," Xavier said. "Forge, you as well. We're finding Irene. The rest of you need to distract the Brotherhood. I have mental blocks affecting all of you, so don't worry about Mastermind, but do concern yourself with this place's defense systems." As Psylocke and Mystique began exchanging expert martial arts moves, General Stryker shouldered his gun and pushed Xavier, being led by Forge, who was in a defensive position.

Mastermind stood up on a balcony with the Toad.

"Xavier is blocking me," he explained, angry. "I can't do anything to anybody."

"Then go move the prisoner," Toad ordered. "They're here for her."

"How can you be sure?" Mastermind asked, though he was already turning to leave.

"Her husband is with them," Toad said. "Now go!" After giving out his order, the Toad lept off the balcony in the large foyer where the two teams clashed. His long tongue lashed out, grabbing Marrow. She raised her arm, and a small spike popped out of her elbow. She slammed it into Toad's tongue, causing him to let go. The Blob grabbed her from behind and smashed her into the ground. He reached up his foot to stomp on her, only to be caught off guard by Bishop. He strained, but couldn't move the Blob's massive foot, though he was able to keep it from coming down long enough to allow Shadowcat to phase through the floor and grab Marrow. Bishop let go, and the sudden freedom caused Blob's foot to come down to quickly. He stumbled, and fell to his knees. Bishop jumped onto his back, and began pummeling him with his fists.

"Sara, get up," Kitty pleaded quietly. Her friend stirred, and got to her feet.

"I'm alright, Shadow," she said. "Fixing bones isn't too hard for me." Regardless, her face was bloody and bruised. Small spears of bone were in Marrow's hands. "Now who do I take next?" She spotted her target, the recent Brotherhood recruit Pyro, and tossed one. He had seemed distracted, but managed to dodge it.



"You don't give up, do you?" Juggernaut asked. He didn't seem tired.

"Me, no," responded Cannonball, who was starting to sound winded.

Gotta tucker this little hick out, Juggernaut thought. He's almost as strong as me when he's blasting like that, but his power is limited. Cain had an idea. He plunged his fist into the ground, and pulled out a huge chunk of pavement.

"Gonna try and hit me?" Cannonball chuckled, lowering himself a few feet closer to the ground. Juggernaut chucked the object. It connected with a still-glowing Cannonball in the head. He recoiled, and got back into the air.

"That hurt ya', kid?" Juggernaut mocked. It's working. An aircraft, smaller than the one that the Brotherhood usually used, started to approach from the distance. "We got company?"

"We got the cavalry!" Cannonball shouted. He was straight above Juggernaut. He turned himself so that he was upside down, and charged straight down, sending Cain Marko several feet into the ground.



Forge's eyes darted around. He could see places where the walls were most likely electrified, and knew that neither of the men with him could see them. Above them were sprinklers that could easily contain poison.

"Boo!" Mastermind popped out of a corridor. Forge snapped back to his senses as he was punched in the face. He brought up his left foot and slammed it into Mastermind's gut. The Brotherhood mind-warper ran off down the hall. Forge aimed his bionic arm, which was forming into a gun, and blasted. The attack missed by a few inches. Another blast whizzed over Forge's shoulder.

"Stryker!"

"Move your ass, kid," Stryker ordered.

"William, he's trying to divert us," Xavier said. The lights went out. "What the-" A high-pitched sound echoed through the corridor. Xavier fell out of his chair and onto the ground, holding his ears. Stryker and Forge had fallen as well. The noise was unbearable. Even through his pain, Xavier knew why Mastermind had activated that defense. Where ever he had gone, he was protected, and with the Professor unable to focus, he was free to manipulate minds again.



Storm's winds were blowing the Toad through the air. Then, for some reason, she stopped using her powers, and began screaming.

"Let me out!" She cried to nobody. Wolverine, who had been tag-teaming with Psylocke against Mystique, stopped next. The others stopped to watch in horror as he gored himself repeatedly with his own claws. One by one, the X-Men succumbed to terrors known only to them.

"Pile 'em all up, guys," Toad ordered. Avalanche, limping from an attack from Nightcrawler, dragged his blue enemy to the center of the foyer. Blob grabbed Bishop, who screamed loudly for someone to stay away from him, and Storm. The entire team was piled up like they were to be thrown away. "Pyro, get over here."

"What do you need?" Pyro asked.

"You've been lazy," Toad said. "Do something productive. Burn these creeps alive."



The plane landed far off from the fights. No longer caring about who was inside, Juggernaut grabbed another piece of concrete, and heaved it at Cannonball. This one smacked him square in the chest, and sent him down for the count. Juggernaut turned to the entrance of the compound. When he burst in, the X-Men were piled up, and all seemed to be writhing and screaming. In the air, a massive fireball menaced. Quickly, Juggernaut saw that it wasn't threatening the X-Men, but moving in ways that it could back the Brotherhood members against the walls. He then realized why his step-brother had said that the mole's nickname was Pyro.

[The Squirrel]

cool. Pyro's the mole.

[bored]

not a story update (not in the mood for that, really), i just thought i'd post now to celebrate the thousandth viewing of this thread. people are actually reading this!*


*other than the squirrel, the only person who regularly leaves comments.

[The Squirrel]

*other than the squirrel, the only person who regularly leaves comments.

:D.

[bored]

good timing. the next entry will be in a day or two. in the meantime, here are some general notes about what has been in the story since that goofy 'behind the scenes' bit i did.

the cameo by an undersecretary of state named mcallister a while ago is a reference to the book 'the bourne supremacy'.
there will be minor plotlines coming up that involve wolverine discovering his own past (which also leads to further developement in his relationship with storm), bishop and who he is (based slightly on the comics, but with a big twist), sinister and his boss (how exactly an imprisoned being could still grant him powers, and what his purpose is), and how pyro interacts with the x-man. there will also be other brief cameos by other marvel characters, including a certain group of canadians, and a variation of a famous storyline.

when more people join both teams later on, most will only be minor characters. the ones involved now are the main characters.

soon, a character won't die, but will be incapacitated for a long time.


enjoy.

[bored]

bored has changed his sig slightly. and enjoys referring to himself in the third person. now, we party.


---------------------------------------------



Focus! Xavier screamed to himself inside his own mind. The noise around him was unbearable. Dammit, Charles, focus! He knew only one thing he could do. He began retreating into his own mind. If he could control the very thoughts and actions of groups of strangers, or nearly give a living island a seizure, he could shut all of this off to himself. He felt his body, what of it worked, going limp. Soon, he couldn't hear, or see, or smell. He opened his 'eyes', and found himself on what he'd always honestly believed to be the astral plane. He could see images of Forge and Stryker struggling with the ear-piercing noise, and far off were the X-Men, who were feeling the force of Mastermind's attacks, nothing stopping them. The Brotherhood was distracted by Cain, and by the mole, Pyro, who had been forced to show himself for who he was. There was someone who didn't look familiar at first joining the fray. Her? Xavier thought, not knowing that she was involved with either side of this fight. Lastly, he saw the form of Mastermind. It had always been Xavier's theory that this plane existed as a medium for psychic powers to work through, and seeing Mastermind so clearly proved it. He zeroed in on the Brotherhood telepath, and sent a wave of psychic energy in his direction.

Mastermind fell down on the astral plane, and shuddered in the physical world. His attack was disrupted, and the X-Men became lucid. Mastermind turned back and sent a responsive wave at Xavier. The Professor took the attack, briefly having hear the shrill alarms that were hurting his companions in the physical world. Mastermind had gotten back to controlling his mass attack on the X-Men. On the astral plane, Xavier started moving, floating towards Mastermind, ready attack again, but more severely.


Pyro became distracted from his defense. For a moment, he thought he saw his mother, a lifelong alcoholic who had died nearly six years before, waving a bottle in the air in front of him, shouting obscenities. When she disappeared, his flames were out, and the Brotherhood were advancing on him.

"You traitor!" Mystique screamed. She, Avalanche, Toad, and the Blob were closing in on him.

"Coming through!" Juggernaut yelled, realizing that the mutant needed help, and fast. He hopped over Iceman, who had actually created a shell of ice around himself for some sort of protection from something Cain couldn't see, and charged the Brotherhood. Avalanche sent a shockwave through the ground, causing Juggernaut to stumble. He quickly gained control again, and Mystique lept into the air, positioning herself to kick him when he was close enough. When he was, he merely smacked her away, sending her hard into a wall. Pyro started up a new flame from his wrists, and directed it at Toad, having it chase him around the building. The Blob got into Juggernaut's way.

"I'm the Unmovable Blob," he grinned. "Pleased to meet you."

"And my name means 'unstoppable force'," Juggernaut said, closing the distance between them. "Either one of us is about to be a liar, or we're going to explode on contact."

"Wha-?" Juggernaut smashed into the Blob. The fat mutant's legs buckled. Juggernaut shoved, trying to budge him, moving forward slightly. After a few moments, the Blob's feet left the ground, and he was flying through the air. The sudden lack of a counter-force on Juggernaut made him stagger forward. Avalanche sent another shockwave, making Cain fall over. From behind him, a flaming spear began chasing Avalanche. Pyro ran to Juggernaut.

"Y'okay, mate?" He asked. Juggernaut pushed himself up.

"I'm fine, buddy, but you may not be. Stick by me, otherwise I have a feeling your not gonna be let off easy for this."

"Neither will you!" Came a female voice. Pyro and Juggernaut turned their attention to the entrance, where a Japanese woman stood. Her fingers extended, turning into sharp points, almost blades.

"Yuriko?" Juggernaut asked. "Lady Deathstrike? I thought you were retired."

"You could only wish, Avenger," the woman laughed. "Now, where were we the last time we met?"


Close to his opponent on the astral plane, Xavier pulled back a fist, and punched. Ripples exploded from Mastermind's face. He recovered, and shoved Xavier away. With every contact, more ripples came from the two, and whenever one was hit, they briefly returned to the physical world, Xavier to his spot on the floor where the shrieking alarms caused such agony, and Mastermind to his soundproof chamber where he couldn't attack the X-Men, bringing out their various fears.


After the first break in the mental attack, Psylocke had a chance to see what was happening around her. Juggernaut was fighting the Brotherhood, and the X-Men were on the ground around her, all in some state of terror, as she could have sworn she was in herself only a second ago. Then, she would lapse back into her delusions, but by a few breaks, she knew what to do. She set up a mental block, strong enough to protect herself, though not to help her team-mates.



Whatever you're here for, you can forget it! Mastermind shouted. His astral form kicked Xavier.

I'm holding back, Jason, Xavier said. Don't make me do otherwise.


Deathstrike walked slowly, confidently, to the Juggernaut. Neither fought at a far range. As the two closed distance, she raised her hands, wielding those blade-like fingers. Once close enough, she took a swipe, putting a large gash into Juggernaut's chest.

"So little can hurt you, Cain," she said, backing into a defensive pose. "But I can." Juggernaut punched her, and she flew backwards several feet.

"And I can hurt you, too," he sneared. Deathstrike charged, furious, but then tripped. Psylocke sprung up from her place on the ground. She got over Deathstrike, and pressed her heal into her neck.



"Something is wrong," Magneto said. He and his two accomplices were now only miles from home. "I can't get a response from Avalon."

"Radar says there're a couple of new aircraft on the island," Sabretooth said. "One is probably Yuriko's but the other, I think it might be-"

"I know," Magneto said. "The X-Men have found us."

[danielisthor]

Okay, i have been reading for the past 2 hours, the whole story and i am very impressed. I like everything you are doing and keep up the damn good work.

[bored]

thx, and i must commend you on your avatar (*everyone else gets more sex than me!*) and sig (questionable content rules).

[bored]

Deathstrike swung her leg, sweeping out Psylocke's feet. She spun on the way down and caught herself, then sprung back up, using her leverage to hit Deathstrike with a strong rising uppercut to the chin. Deathstrike went reeling back, while Psylocke noticed the sharp pain in her hand. Her adversary was as strong as iron.

"Don't try it, hot stuff!" Juggernaut shouted. "She's out of your league!"

"Hardly," Psylocke sneared. Deathstrike pulled her hand back, then swung her long, sharp finger-claws. Psylocke ducked down, and copied her opponent's leg-sweep. When Deathstrike was off balance, Psylocke brought out her psychic blade, and plunged it into her head. When she did so, the images came back to her mind. She quickly released Deathstrike, struggling to repel an image of her uncle, a disgusting man who had abused her in her youth, and had been killed by her older brother. Reginald Braddock still haunted her sometimes, and it was even worse today. Whatever was attacking them could tap into their minds and find their most personal demons. She couldn't use her psychic powers further to fight Lady Deathstrike if she wanted to protect herself from the mental attacks.

This is for the reflecting pool! A voice shouted, that of a British male.

Betsy, stay focused, came the voice of the Professor. She put up the mental block in her head, and got back up. Deathstrike was fighting the Juggernaut again. He was hit occasionally, but seemed to stand it.

"Stay back, sheila," Pyro said, coming to her side. "This fight's pretty ugly."



In the physical world, where Stryker and Forge had both passed out, Xavier's disturbingly tranquil body started to pant. He was tired. On the astral plane, he seemed to have the advantage on Mastermind, but couldn't concentrate enough to launch the kind of mental attack that would knock his enemy out and keep him from going back to his body and hearing the piercing sirens. He knew that he needed to end this quickly. Magneto would return soon, and that would be a great detriment to his effort. Xavier backed away from Mastermind's astral form, and concentrated as best he could. The sirens started to sound around him. Even on the plane, Xavier started to double over. After a few seconds, he forced his eyes open, and sent a mental blast that could match the one he'd attacked Krakoa with. Mastermind disappeared from the astral plane. Xavier concentrated, and took over his enemy's body. He forced it to shut off the siren, and let it drop. Back in the physical world, he opened his eyes.



The craft landed. Gambit and Sabretooth raced from the hatch, with Magneto following. They stopped by the limp body of Cannonball. Sabretooth checked his wrist.

"Knocked out cold," he said.

"I'll bring him someplace safe," Magneto said. "You two deal with the X-Men."



Forge grunted, and opened his eyes. Professor Xavier was pulling himself into his chair. Stryker was sitting up against a wall.

"What happened?" Forge asked.

"One of the compound's defenses," Xavier said, settling down. "A high-pitched alarm. I've taken care of it."

"Oh," Forge moaned. "That explains my headache."

"Tell me about it," Stryker said. He picked up his gun. "Now then, care to tell me who's responsible for it, so I can blow their ears out?"

"Quiet," Xavier commanded. His eyes were shut. "I need to communicate with the team."



Get up, all of you! Came the voice of Xavier in the heads of his students. This is far from over!

"What the hell?" Wolverine said. "What happened?"

"Mental attack," Psylocke replied, helping him up.

"Was it Mastermind?" Iceman said, breaking down his ice-dome.

"Of course."

"Who's the chick?" Angel asked, stretching his wings out.

"Yuriko!" Wolverine roared. "You!" Deathstrike spun around, unwisely giving Juggernaut a free punch.

"Hello, Logan," she laughed as she got up. "Did you miss me?"



"The students are fine," Xavier said. "I'm getting alot of readings. Sabretooth and one of the newer Brotherhood members are here, and that means Magneto probably is as well."

"Is that all?" Stryker pressed.

"No," Xavier smiled. "Irene is close."

[bored]

Irene felt around for the front of the cell. They were close, and she was terrified that they might encounter resistance. In the middle of her cell, she began seeing something, and collapsed, letting her prophetic power envelope her mind.


"We're close," Xavier said. "But William, something is happening."

"What?" Stryker asked, trying to keep his calm.

"She's having a vision," Xavier explained. "I don't know what she is seeing, but it is frightening her."

"We can't interrupt her when she's having a vision," Stryker lamented. "I tried it when we first got married, and she couldn't speak for a week."

"It'll take a minute before I can open this door, anyway," Forge said, examining the door that Professor Xavier had stationed himself in front of.


The X-Men placed themselves in front of Pyro, and Juggernaut stood in front of them. Deathstrike didn't dare move forward. She could hear people coming, and knew they were on her side.

"Cain, deal with her," Iceman ordered.

"Not the best idea," Juggernaut said. "Look outside." Iceman strained his eyes, and saw past the broken door. Three people were coming, and he knew who they were.

"What's the hold up?" Wolverine asked, in a crouched position with his claws out.

"Company, Logan," Iceman said. "The rest of the Brotherhood found their way home."

Sabretooth and Gambit sprinted inside, each one on one side of Lady Deathstrike. Magneto stood back, watching how the fight would act out. Sabretooth and Wolverine glared at each other, and both seemed to back away.

"Betsy, keep them from moving," Iceman ordered. Pink glows appeared around the three Brotherhood mutants' heads. Psylocke held up her hands to her temples. "Ororo, fry 'em."

"Now we're talking," Juggernaut laughed. The others, even Wolverine looked at their leader, shocked.

"Are you sure?" Storm asked, though she was already rising into the air.

"This needs to end quickly," Iceman said. "Just do it quick. Magneto's planning something back there." Storm flew over her team-mates, and raised her hands. Gusts of wind could be felt, and clouds were forming along the ceiling. Small spurts of electricity danced around them. Finally, a bolt shot out. Halfway down, in less than a blink of an eye, they moved to the walls. Deathstrike's hand flew out and grabbed Gambit, and they both, along with Sabretooth, flew backwards and outside. Magneto put his hands down.

"Clever!" He shouted. "No, wait, no!" He laughed. "You very much lack your mentor's skills as a strategist."

"You gonna take that, Bob?" Angel asked.

"He's goading us," Iceman said. "Okay, we've got no other choice. Storm, Angel, lead Magneto into the air, where he's got nothing to control. Everybody else, follow me. Those other three are ours. Pyro, stay with Cain."

Angel and Storm took off, and as soon as they were out in the air, Iceman led the other X-Men out.



"Come on, buddy," Forge groaned. "This sucker is smart." Stryker paced.

"Is she still having her vision?" He asked.

"No," Xavier said. "She's just waiting for us, and not very patiently, I may add. Think we should make her wait a little while longer? No? Sorry, I was trying to make a joke."

"I gathered that."

"Aaand... O-pen says-a-me!" Forge cried in triumph. The door slid away.

"Irene!" Stryker exclaimed.

"Bill?" His wife asked. She felt her way to the front of the cell.

"Irene, honey, what have they been keeping you in?" Stryker asked.

"You-" she paused. "You tell me." Stryker smiled, something he'd had a hard time doing lately.

"Forge, open this damn cell door!" Stryker ordered. Forge obliged, and the general ran in and embraced his wife.

"William, horrible things are going to happen," Irene said, burying her face in her husband's chest. "I haven't gotten to write them down, but I remember all of them."

"What are you talking about?" Stryker asked.

"It's the apocalypse."

[bored]

Deathstrike flipped over Wolverine. When she landed, she threw her leg out and kicked Psylocke, who was trying to get close. Logan wrapped his arm around her neck and held the claws of his other hand to her face.

"Why don't you be a good little girl for me?" He teased. Deathstrike lifted her legs and wrapped them backwards around his waste. Wolverine's claws started to pierce her neck. Psylocke charged forward and punched Deathstrike in the gut. Wolverine took much of the force from behind her, and lost his grip. Deathstrike plunged her own claws deep into his gut. Gasping in pain, Wolverine brought up his hand and sliced into her arm. When it hit what would, in a normal person, have been bone, he began sawing, slowly knicking her adamantium bone. Deathstrike brought her hand up. Blood flowed from Wolverine's stomache. Psylocke caught Deathstrike from the back with her foot, and when she was stunned, brought out her psy-knife. It deepened in color, to the point where it could do physical damage. She began hacking at Deathstrike's back mercilessly.



"It seems... empty," Forge said. He pushed Xavier along, while General Stryker and Irene followed.

"They are outside," Xavier said. "All of them. Forge, the team needs you. Run ahead and help them."

Forge raced off, turning up the intensity on the cannon that formed from his bionic hand.

"Now what?" Stryker asked.

"Look up," Xavier instructed. Stryker complied. The Toad was looking down on them. "Would you like to take care of him, or should I?"

"Lemme do it," Stryker said. "Irene, did the Toad give you any trouble?"

"They all did, dear," Irene answered. That was all Stryker needed. He fired his gun, but Toad jumped out of the way.

"Are you my dance partner?" Toad called. Stryker shot again. "Missed!" He shout out his tongue, grabbing Stryker's gun. He held tight, and the two wrestled for it, until Toad, clinging to a wall, was flinging Stryker through the air.

"I don't want to be seeing this, do I?" Irene asked.

"I could arrange it, if you'd like," Xavier answered.

"No, that is fine."



The ground shook. Colossus stomped his feet hard into the ground, so that Avalanche couldn't move him. Avalanche, along with Mystique and the Blob, had just arrived. There was a puff of smoke above them, and Nightcrawler briefly appeared, and grabbed Avalanche. A moment later, he was dropping the Brotherhood member from several feet in the air. Colossus sprinted forward. Blob moved to get in his way. Colossus simply passed right through him. Confused, Blob finally spotted Shadowcat, who had snuck on him. He felt himself sinking. Once he was in the ground, Shadowcat turned to Mystique, who was evading attacks from Colossus. A bone spear phased through Kitty's body, and grazed Mystique's head. Blood started to seep from the blue woman. She knelt down on the ground, clutching her lacerated head. Colossus, Shadowcat, and Marrow surrounded her.

[bored]

sorry for the inactivity. i thought some of the entries were getting a little stale, so i wanted to wait a bit before updating again. just an advanced warning, everyone has a sense of humor in this one.
-------------------


"What do you hope to accomplish from this?" Magneto shouted, leading Angel through the air. "I am an Omega mutant, and you aren't!"

"Trying to mock me, buddy?" Angel replied. "This ain't recess in 2nd Grade!"

"It may as well be," Magneto said, switching directions. "Why are you even here? We never directly attacked you, you realize! Our last conflict came from you coming to meet us, just like this. We posed no inherent threat to- Ach!" Magneto tugged on his collar. Angel's fingers were formed into talons, and were gripping on his cape. "Let go!" Magneto choked up, though not loud enough for Angel to hear that high in the air. Angel climbed his way up the cape, and started pummeling Magneto with one free hand. The Brotherhood leader undid the clasp around his collar, freeing his cape. Angel went reeling back. Magneto charged, and smashed his foot into Angel's chest.

"I've got your back, Warren!" It was Storm, who had been keeping her distance. Clouds started to darken above them.

"She isn't-" Angel didn't even want to think that the student that Professor Xavier seemed so proud of was going to be so foolish. "Storm, no!" A bolt of lightning shot out. It stopped over Magneto's head and balled up. The electricity started to circle him.

"What the hell?" Storm muttered.

"Electro-magnetic energy in its purest form," Magneto sneered. "Why isn't this one in Mensa yet?" He put his hands out, and used them to conduct the electricity. It shot out, and hit Angel's wings. He twitched, smoke billowed from his wings, and he fell. A massive gust of wind sent Magneto spiraling as Storm tried to catch up to her team-mate.



Dangling from the Toad on a wall, Stryker was getting desperate.

"Charles!" He yelled. "At this point, you could help without offending me at this point!"

"Quiet, sissy Yank!" Toad mocked, trying the shake the general off.

"Ya know," Stryker growled. "You're the one Brit I've met who isn't a pasty-assed sissy!"

"Flattered," Toad snapped. He jumped to another wall, but Stryker held fast.

"You're a kind of greenish-assed sissy!" Stryker shot. He tried to punch the mutant, but couldn't get close enough while Toad moved around across the wall. "Charles!"

"Oh, right." Xavier focused on the Toad, and the Brotherhood lieutenant's eyes rolled back. In a trance, he hopped to the ground. Stryker let go, and kicked him in the side, for good measure. "That," Xavier said, "was unnecessary."

"You're just jealous."

"So was that," Xavier groaned.

"Irene, that was, especially given the circumstances, one of the funnier things you've said in a long time," Stryker beamed.



Angel plummeted to the earth.

"Someone grab him!" Storm screamed. She couldn't get to him in time. Psylocke looked up from where she was attacking Deathstrike. She jumped up from Deathstrike's back, used her telekinesis to lift herself higher, and caught the falling X-Man. She looked at his damaged wings. The feathers were badly charred, and the bones seemed to hang limp. Angel groaned in pain.

"He's hurt bad," Psylocke said, looking to Wolverine. He let the battered and bloody Deathstrike drop down, and rushed to their side.

"You awake, bub?" He asked. Angel stirred.

"What happened?"

"He got hit by Magneto," said Storm, lowering to the ground. "This was my fault." She looked to the ground. Wolverine got up and went to her side.

"You didn't realize what you were doing," he reassured. "It'll be alright."

"Look at him!" She cried.

They barely noticed Avalanche being tossed over their heads.

"I-" Angel coughed. "I'm actually doing alright." He sat up, with Psylocke's help. "My wings took it hard, but I've hurt them before. Guess I may not be flying for a while, but oh well." He coughed again. "I have a cold."

"He was always the wierd one!" Iceman called, zipping by on an ice-slide.

"Are you actually beating us!" Deathstrike shrieked, getting up. "You are all absolutely insane!" Storm raised up a whirlwind from the ground up (they normally went the other way), and sent her flying off. That she landed near where Magneto had ended up was pure coincidence.



Professor Xavier and the Strykers emerged from the main building in the compound. Xavier had sent the entranced Toad to find Mastermind, then wake up.

"I think your students are doing alright for themselves," General Stryker said. The Professor nodded.

[The Squirrel]

so...much....humor....

i really should update mine.

Your's is still going good.

[bored]

Sabretooth twisted past Juggernaut, and reached out to Pyro, who jumped back.

"You little traitor!" Sabretooth shouted. "I am going to make you regret this!"

"Gotta get to him first," Juggernaut mocked, grabbing Sabretooth by the nape of the neck. He spun around and tossed the Brotherhood member into the wall of the main building. "He get to ya', kid?"

"Not a scratch," Pyro answered.



The Blob was, in a word, humiliated. He was being pulled out of the ground, inside a chunk of it, no less, by Colossus. The metal X-Man lifted up the earth-encrusted enemy mutant over his head, and prepared to drop him on Mystique, who was still on the ground, pinned by Marrow's spikes.

"Piotr, put him down!" Came the voice of Professor Xavier. Colossus and Shadowcat turned to see him, with General Stryker, and a woman who had to be Stryker's abducted wife.

X-Men, we have what we came for, Xavier broadcasted. Finish up what you are doing and head for the jet. He led the Strykers and the two young X-Men. Wolverine, Storm, Psylocke, and a visibly shaken Angel joined them. Avalanche was tossed through the air again, passing over the group.

"How's that?" Bishop, the thrower, had asked.

"You're doing just fine," Iceman answered, "but I think we're done here." They got into the group, with Nightcrawler and Forge. Juggernaut led Pyro in.

"Hello John," Xavier said. "It's good to see you again."

"I was starting to wonder when you'd come," Pyro replied. "I see my patience paid off."

"Did it?" Came the unmistakable voice of Magneto. He was floating in the air, holding Lady Deathstrike a feet away. "Yuriko, see if it paid off." He released her. She hit the ground, and sprung up onto Pyro. He turned on his lighters, and enveloped them in fire. The X-Men spread out, careful not to get burned. Wolverine popped his claws and joined the fray. A badly burned Deathstrike swung a mess of finger claws, but missed. Wolverine lunged in, thrusting his claws of left hand into her side. When he tried to pull them out, he found that he was frozen.

"****," he whispered. His claws retracted, against his own will. He could already feel his body lifting into the air.

"Stay out of this, Wolverine," Magneto snarled. "This does not concern you."

"Like hell," a defiant Wolverine replied.

On the ground, Storm wanted to intervene, but after what had happened with Angel, she didn't dare. Nearby, Colossus had wisely shifted back into his normal form.

Magneto just held out his hand. Wolverine's body began to twist.

"Erik, stop this!" Xavier yelled. Magneto looked down on him and sneered, then continued manipulating Wolverine.

"Bring it, creep," Wolverine said, in as much pain as he was.

"Very well then." Wolverine's body starting to twist into forms that no ordinary person could withstand. His arms would contort in places that didn't have joints, his back would bend to angles that would kill a normal person. Luckily for him, Wolverine was not ordinary, but he was still in un-Godly pain, and couldn't resist screaming for long.

"Stop him!" Xavier shouted. Iceman extended both arms, and blasted ice at Magneto, knocking him off center.

"Forge," Bishop said to his teammate. "Hit me."

"What?"

"Blast me, man, give me something to throw at them."

"If you insist," Forge said. He pointed his bionic arm/gun, and fired. Bishop staggered for a moment, and when Forge was done, he marched out, his hands actually glowing with power. He fired, and blew Magneto far back.

"Prof.," Wolverine, having fallen to the ground, coughed out. "Put me under."

"I can do that." Xavier locked onto Wolverine's mind, and forced him into a deep sleep, which even the pain could not counter act. "Everyone, hurry out!" Colossus lifted up Wolverine's twisted body, and carried him to the jet.

Minutes later, the embarrassed Brotherhood would collect themselves, and meet Toad, who had found Mastermind on the ground, saliva pouring out of his mouth in a foam, and his eyes rolled up into his head. The X-Men, on the other hand, would be in the air. Xavier would contact his former student Lorna Dane, and request that she come to the Institute immediately. He knew that Wolverine's healing factor would already be trying to set the bones, but even it couldn't affect the adamantium coating on his skeleton.



Omega Red tossed aside a Northern African guide who had been leading two archeologists into the tomb in Egypt. Mr. Sinister watched approvingly.

"This, Arkady, is where the first of several puzzle pieces can be found," he explained. "And puzzle is literal. It is a puzzle that must be put back together to collect the forces needed to release En Sabbah Nur. Come, let's see if we can find it before any of this party's friends come looking for them."

Within an hour, they had located the room which contained the piece that Sinister had known was there. It featured a picture of a head. Sinister suspected it was his master's, but, as he had never actually seen him, he couldn't be sure.

[bored]

Lorna Dane, the woman who had once been called Polaris, was led into the infirmary. It was a neutral, gray room filled with expensive equipment. Professor Xavier and another former X-Man, Hank McCoy, waited for her. Bobby Drake led her and then hurried out of the room. The X-Men lined the hallway, anxiously. Ororo Monroe, in particular, looked worried. He gave them all an look that clearly said he didn't know what to expect.

Inside the infirmary, Hank had cleared out a place for Lorna to work. The twisted, frightening body that was Logan, aka Wolverine, lay on a mattress.

"Be extremely careful," Xavier warned. "A wrong move could damage an organ, and in his present state, I don't know if Logan's power could counteract it."

"Lorna, look at this screen," Hank said, pointing to a monitor on the other end of the room. "There are sensors attached to Logan that will glow red if anything is in a critical position. That is, if you bend something the wrong way." Lorna nodded. "Because of your magnetic wave, the image won't always be perfect, but it should be able to give you an idea of what you have to work with."

"Okay," Lorna replied. "Should I get started?"



The X-Men gathered in the expansive library on the main floor. Alex Summers, the former X-Man Havok, Lorna's husband was waiting. He didn't seem anxious like them, but tried not to be insensitive.

"So how's Scott?" Bobby asked him, sitting down. "I haven't seen him since the session with the old crew."

"He's good," Alex replied, leaning back. "Or at least he says he is. I think he's gonna have a nervous breakdown, getting ready for his wedding, which is, if you remember, in two weeks, and with the baby on the way now. They don't know the sex yet."

"That's a shame," Bobby said, forcing a smile. "I don't know what color sunglasses to by for it, then."

"Jean's freaked out that it might have a force beam power like me and Scott," Alex said, "and that it might develope early and start firing in the womb."

"Ouch."

"Tell me about it. I made a joke about it once, and she forced me to feel what she figured it was probably like." Warren Worthington sat down by them.

"How goes it, Alex?" He asked.

"It's alright. My wife can destroy cell phones." They all laughed a little.

From across the room, Ororo looked in disgust. Below them, a man she was putting a great deal of effort into forming a deep connection to had to be bent back into shape before he died of being turned into a living pretzel, and they were joking about something.

"Wanna talk about it?" Betsy Braddock asked. She didn't feel the same kind of things Ororo did, despite her previous relationship with Logan, but was still as concerned as anyone.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Ororo asked, sinking to the ground, leaning against a book-case.

"I wish I knew," Betsy answered. "I've tried to read them, but Xavier is blocking us. It might be for the best, honestly. They really shouldn't be disturbed."

"I guess you're right."

Bishop was keeping to himself. For the last few hours, his head had been throbbing. Something in his head was trying to get out, but he didn't know what. As Warren, Bobby, and Alex made small talk; and as Betsy tried to calm Ororo, he felt himself go into a trance. He began seeing horrifying images. Bombs exploded, people screamed and ran, and a massive figure laughed a deep, horrible laugh. He couldn't make out who it was. He felt for something to hold on to, but couldn't grip anything. Bishop opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came, or at least none that he could hear. He slumped to the ground as the other X-Men came to his side, but he couldn't see them. A name flashed in his head, but he couldn't make out what it was later when he tried to remember. It was a name that he knew symbolized something evil, and it was why he was here in this place that had been both familiar and alien to him for the short period of time that he could remember. Then, it was blackness.

[bored]

Bishop woke up on a bed in the infirmary. Flashes of the visions he'd had earlier still streaked across his head. A screen nearby showed two matching scans of Wolverine's skeleton. He guessed that the procedure with Lorna Dane had gone well. Hank McCoy was reading something by his bed.

"Ah, good," McCoy said quietly, glancing up. "You're awake."

"What happened to me?" Bishop asked, rubbing his temples.

"You blacked out," McCoy answered. "Betsy went into your head, and I don't think she's eaten something since. It was seven hours ago. Whatever is in your head, Lucas, it scared her."

"I'm not surprised," he groaned. "Hank, I can still see things."

"Tell me," Hank said, pulling up a chair.

"I see war-zones," Bishop said. "Death, pain, and this figure. This massive, dark figure, proceeding over it all. It never makes a sound, just watches, and it's eyes glow red. I see things, I don't know what, people maybe, trying to attack it, and this one word keeps repeating itself at that point. The word is 'Apocalypse'. And when that word is said, everything shakes. Hank, I can't remember a damn thing from before I appeared outside this mansion, but what I'm seeing, I think it might be a flash to that. Or something that relates to why I'm here, and why I can't remember. It's crazy, this feeling that there's something right there that I can't get to."

"Tell me about it," came Wolverine's voice.

"Logan, how are you feeling?" Hank asked.

"Been better, been worse," Logan replied. He swung his legs off of his bed, and sat up. "Bishop, I know your trouble."

"You do? That's nice, I guess," Bishop replied.

"Yep," Wolverine scratched himself. "I'm hungry. See you guys in the kitchen."

"Logan, wait," Hank tried to stop him, to no avail. "I doubt he's fully recovered."

"Ah, he'll be alright," Bishop reassured. "This guy thrives on pain."




"You will not come near me!" Cried the six-armed girl. Omega Red advanced, slowly.

"I am not here to harm you," he replied.

"Sure," she spat at him. "They all say that. I've been taken advantage of too many times for that!" She clutched at a package haning around her neck.

"Why do you protect that pendant like that?" Red asked.

"Leave it alone!" She shrieked. Her legs and many arms flailed, and she vanished.

"She'll be found soon enough," came Mr. Sinister's voice. "Don't worry, Arkady. Both the girl and her pendant are of use to us."

-------------------------


I'm gonna be out of town for a while. Leave comments while I'm gone, if you don't mind, so I can have something fresh to go on when I get home.

[bored]

Magneto paced up and down his balcony. The wind blew his hair, which he hadn't cut in some time now, around his face. Almost on cue, the Toad appeared on the railing.

"Boss, are you sure you're not hungry?" He asked.

"I'm fine, Mortimer," Magneto replied, in a half-mumble. "Leave it in front of my room. And make sure Blob doesn't eat it again."

"Sure thing," Toad said, disappointed. He jumped down, shot his tongue out to a window sill, and pulled himself in. Sam 'Cannonball' Guthrie waited by the table in the break room.

"Well?"

"He's still brooding," Toad replied. "I can't blame him, kid. He expected that Stryker lady to be some sort of secret weapon for us, but she gave us nothing. Then, his arch-nemesis and all of his lackeys showed up and, admittedly, crushed us. Top that off with both Jason's brain getting fried, and one of the last mutants he was eyeing for the Brotherhood getting snagged by someone else, and you can imagine why he's in such a bad mood."

"Why don't we just go hit them back?" Sam asked.

"Too expected," Toad replied. "They'd probably have the military on us in know time."

"We could take them," Cannonball insisted.

"Not if they were planning it ahead of time," Toad replied. "You don't understand." He walked out, and headed to his room. When Toad's leader and hero was upset, so was he.



The six-armed girl sat in a corner. Two arms hugged her, two held her head, two held her pendant. Mr. Sinister and Omega Red sat at the other end of the room. Sinister had done something to her, something that temporarily shut off her teleportation. They made their case, and she joined, though was still bewildered. Still, it was the first time in years anyone had wanted soemthing to do with the girl who's mind was such a mess. All she ever saw in her past were blurred images. It was how she got her name. The only identity she thought she had was lost in a big spiral in her head, and so Spiral was her identity.

"What is that thing?" Omega Red whispered. Sinister glanced in the girl's direction.

"A last part of the key to releasing my master, I believe," he responded. "If not, she could still be useful."



On Madripoor, Bolivar Trask was back to his old, giddy self again. Production was slower on this small island, but the twenty completed Sentinels were spectacular. He had a new goal for them. It was not just their purpose to destroy mutants anymore, but to devestate the government of the United States which had scorned him.

[bored]

"What does it mean?"

"What?" Bishop didn't hear anyone enter his room, though he'd kept the door open. It was Professor Xavier.

"'Apocalypse'," he said. "What meaning does it have to you?"

"I don't know," Bishop replied, with a resigned tone in his voice. "I suppose what I see is the apocalypse, but something about that doesn't seem right. It has something to do with why I'm here. And it wasn't all I heard. There was another word, a wierd one, but I can't recall it at all. It just disappeared from my head, like a dream."

"Betsy was traumatized from trying to probe you," Xavier explained, "but maybe I'll have better luck."

"Do what you want," Bishop said.

Xavier wheeled in close, and shut his eyes. Bishop closed his as well. He had no recollection oh his own of what happened next.


Xavier opened his eyes in a wasteland. Bodies lay burned and mangled all about. All seemed to be human, until he stumbled upon one that stuck out. He flipped it over and recognized James Madrox, an old college friend, and fellow mutant. Madrox had a bullet in his neck. Xavier backed away from his friend, and stumbled on another body. He gasped as he saw that this was James Madrox as well. This didn't make sense, though. James Madrox had died of lung cancer five years earlier. He rationalized to himself that some of Madrox's copies may have gotten away from him. James was a replicator, a rare kind of mutant who could make perfect copies of himself. Well, however it happened, there were several of him here, and all were dead. Xavier walked out of the killing field. He couldn't make out the city in front of him, as it was utterly in ruin. He guessed that a massive battle had happened here. Then he saw what was above the city. The figure floated high in the air, as if it had precided over the carnage. The image terrified him, and he knew why Betsy Braddock was so upset. He knew that image anywhere. Betsy's father had done extensive research on ancient Egyptian folklore, and in one of his studies of heiroglyphics in the Pyramids at Giza, he'd found a chamber with images that resembled this man in the sky. The context was hidden in damaged symbols and odd messages, but the figure itself seemed to be of extreme evil, and that was apparent. That it was here, in the midst of such slaughter did not bode well. It started laughing a deep, terrible laugh, and Xavier was rocked out of his trance by the force.


Back in his own body, Professor Xavier opened his eyes. Bishop did as well.

"You saw something, didn't you?" Bishop asked. "Something bad."

"Bishop, who in God's name are you?"

[bored]

"...Authorities cannot explain the disappearance of the ancient Egyptian heiroglyphics from Kansas City's Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, or if they are connected in any way with yesterday's theft from the British Museum in London, but...", Sinister flicked off the tv.

"We've done it, Arkady," he said to his accomplice. "With those last pieces of the puzzle, we can find out how to release our master."

"He is your master," Omega Red reminded him. "I am helping for a goal of my own."

"Of course, you owe it to your friend," Sinister said.

"What about me?" It was Spiral, the six-armed girl.

"For your cooperation, you will be rewarded by our master," Sinister said, facing her from his chair.



Outside the suite they occupied, two police officers and an archeologist were about to knock on the door. Dr. Lykos looked anxious. He didn't like conflict, and wished so much that one of his colleagues had been sent along instead of him. Still, he'd been the one decifering the heiroglyph stolen from London, and therefore had a personal stake in this. One officer wrapped on the knocker.


"Arkady, answer it, please."


The door opened. A towering man, pale as death, answered.

"Sir, may we enter?" One of the constables asked. Lykos wiped the sweat from his face.

"Allow them in, Arkady," said a man inside. "Is there a problem, officers?"

"Nathaniel Essex?" One of them asked.

"That is I," said Mr. Sinister.

"Mr. Essex," Lykos said, approaching him, "are you in any way related to the late Nathaniel Essex who donated to the British Museum?"

"Is this why you came?" Sinister asked.

"No, I'm just curious," Lykos responded.

"Dr. Lykos, that can wait," one of the cops said. "As you may know, there was a serious burglary in the British Museum yesterday."

"A true shame," Sinister said, trying not to sneer.

"We have it on record that you were there."

"As were many. It is a fine museum."

"You weren't tired after your flight from America?" The cop asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Immediate checks of all the people at the museum were done, and we found that you were in Kansas City the day before. You flew out hours after related artifacts were stolen from the Nelson-Atkins museum, which features several ancient-Egyptian pieces."

"Mr. Essex," Lykos began, "we have been told that those stolen heiroglyphics were connected somehow. I was personally trying to decipher the ones stolen from London."

"How interesting."

"Who are your friends?" A constable asked.

"Samuel and Jessica? Actors from Scotland who are looking for work on the West End. We are old friends," Sinister said.

"Jessica's not gonna get much work," one of the police-man said, "on account of those arms. Someone so obvious a mutant, they just don't get cast."

"I did Shakespeare back in Edinburgh," Spiral replied, suddenly lapsing into a perfect Scottish brogue. "Would ye' like to hear some?"

"No thank you, miss," said Dr. Lykos. "Listen, Mr. Essex, I hate to be presumptuous, but we do believe that you may be connected to those robberies."

"So the American loss really is a robbery? How sad," Sinister replied, patronizingly.

"Could your friends please leave?" One of the constables asked.

"No," said Sinister, "no, they couldn't. Arkady, dispatch them, if you would."

"Arkady?"

Omega Red's tentacles emerged from his palms, and ensnared the officers, draining them. Lykos turned to run, but fell down after being hit by something that left a searing pain in his ankle. Sinister's chest glowed.

"Why did you do that?" Lykos asked, terrified. His eyes seemed to change color slowly.

"You seem to be an expert, Dr.," Sinister answered. "I'd like you to stay with us." As he spoke, Red dropped the drained police-men.

"No, you don't understand!" Lykos screamed. His clothes tore, and his skin began to change color. Sinister got up, and backed away, as did Omega Red. Spiral just stared. Lykos' body twisted and shifted, then slumped to the ground. His head had become some bizarre new shape, and was about two feet long. He got up, stretched his arms, which had some sort of skin film attached to them now.

"You're a bloody pteranodon!" Sinister laughed. "Or something like one. I'm impressed, Dr. Lykos."

"Lykos? No, he's gone now," the creature that was just recently Dr. Lykos said. "You have yourself to thank for that, Mr. Essex. Call me Sauron."

"You looked different in the movie," Sinister laughed. "All fire and smoke and that huge eye."

"Oh be quiet!" Sauron snapped. "Yes, I gave myself the name as an homage to Tolkien, but that was years before the damned films!"

"Easy, Mr. Sauron," Sinister said, approaching the creature. "I am quite impressed by this, I must say."

"Good," Sauron replied. "Now, about those heiroglyphics. I know you have them, and I know what Lykos was learning from them. I don't see you as someone I need as an enemy, so why don't I join your little group here in whatever you are doing?"

"That would be excellent," Sinister said, putting out his hand, which Sauron took.

[bored]

For the third time, Logan played the message.

"Please come back, Wolverine," came the voice of his old friend Jim Hudson. "He says he won't let us go without seeing you."

Was it a trick? Why would Alpha Flight lie to him to get him to visit? He knew them, and he trusted them. Maybe that was the problem. He would go, then, but he couldn't leave alone. That night, he would meet with Professor Xavier, and implore him to use Cerebro to prove that something was wrong in Canada, and then to let him bring a small group of X-Men with him to investigate.


Xavier had his brow firmly furled when he left the Cerebro chamber.

"I picked up all the usual staff at the Alpha Flight headquarter," he explained to Logan, who had been joined by Kurt Wagner. "Nobody is injured in any incredible way, there does not seem to have been a conflict, but, from what I can pick up, the people are afraid of something. Logan, I am granting you your request to go up and check on them, but be warned, that phone call could not have happened by secret, not with the entire staff in such a state of terror. That call from Mr. Hudson was very likely against his will, and you must stay on your guard. I know this isn't a challenge for you, but if you want to bring any of your team-mates, such as Kurt, than you must also watch after them. I want you all to stay together as much as you can. Do you understand?"

"Of course," Logan replied.

"Who, then," Xavier asked, "are you planning on bringing?"

"Kurt and Forge."

"Kurt, you've decided to go with him?" Xavier asked.

"Of course, Herr Professor," the blue mutant said. "I had not thought of this as the same kind of danger you did, but I think I will be alright. Forge will say the same thing."

"Very well, then," Professor Xavier said. "Good luck with whatever it is you must do, and be safe."



"You doing alright?" Came a man's voice. Betsy Braddock whirled around from her spot by the lake on the Xavier Institute property. It was Warren Worthington, whom she had become fairly close to in the short time that he'd been back with the X-Men.

"I'm fine, Warren," she said. He sat down beside her. Betsy couldn't help but look at the odd mess of what were until recently his wings. "What about you?"

"In relation to these?" Warren pointed to one of his wings, which extended slightly for emphasis. "I don't really know. They've been damaged before, badly, but they've always healed within a few days. I don't know if they're getting better or worse now."

"What do you mean?" Betsy asked.

"Feel my feathers," Warren commanded. Betsy reached out and touched some of the less damaged feathers.

"They're a little stiffer than I imagined they'd be," she observed.

"Try some of the more damaged ones."

"They're rock solid," Betsy said, feeling a few more charred feathers. "And they're so cold."

"One fell out yesterday," Warren explained, "so I gave it to Hank when he was over to talk with Bishop. I wanted him to take it to a lab, or something like that. Look it over. He called me an hour ago, and told me that it had traces of steel in the fibers of it."

"Steel? That doesn't seem right."

"Exactly," Warren said. He breathed in through his nose, and let it out slowly. "The Professor told me when I was a student here that my powers were unusual, and that they would develope slowly for years to come." His hand twitched, and his fingers became the talons that they were when he fought. "These came close to graduation time." His hand went back to normal. "I think that that zap from Magneto may have triggered something in my wings to change them."

"Well that can't be too much to worry about," Betsy said. "It's something natural."

"Last night," Warren started, "I woke up and had to vomit."

"Lovely, but it happens to people sometimes."

"That isn't all," Warren exlained. "When I was done, I looked at myself in the mirror." He paused, not sure if he wanted to tell her the next part. "My eyes were completely white, and my face was blue. I don't mean lack-of-oxygen blue, but blue like it had been painted. I tried to wash it off like it really was paint, but it wouldn't go away. I panicked, and I locked myself in the bathroom for about an hour. I didn't look in the mirror for that whole time. At the end of it, I looked again, and I was my normal color."

"Did you tell the Professor?" Betsy asked.

"No," he replied. "I'm scared to tell anyone."

"You're telling me," she pointed out.

"I guess I am," he said. "Betsy, I don't want to change anymore. I don't want to have blue skin, I don't want my wings to change... at all. I loved them the way they'd been for so long. I always liked getting to be 'The Angel' because of those wings. They really did make me look like the way you'd expect an angel to look. I know that sounds horribly concieted, but it's how I felt. I don't know if I could take them suddenly being so different." He glanced at Betsy, who was struggling for something to say. "So... How've you been?"

"I-" she still didn't know what to say, in light of Warren's revelation. "I think I'm getting over what I saw in Bishop's head. It's almost like a bad dream now."

"Tell me about it," Warren said. And she did.




Six of them were finished already. Six! This little country didn't give Bolivar Trask the money or resources that the U.S. government had, or at least not as much, but it was really coming through for him. In his new office, he looked at production logs. Soon, he'd have a dozen Sentinels more. But that wasn't the best part. The smaller, more human-like in appearance Sentinel was also going to be completed soon. He opened a drawer, and eyed the chip that he'd popped out of Bastion on the night that it was destroyed. That chip contained all of its programming and electronic memories, for just such an occasion as what had happened. He looked longingly at his marvel of micro-technology, and then closed the drawer up. He didn't want to torture himself with thoughts of his greatest creation yet to come at this moment.




In Egypt, in the very tomb that had killed the Nathaniel Essex that the world had once known, and had given birth to Mr. Sinister, four unusual people had made the treacherous way down to the primary chamber. Sinister himself led them. Spiral, Sauron, and Omega Red all looked around in astonishment at the structure that was supposedly leading them to the holding chamber of En Sabbah Nur, purportedly the first ever mutant, and the one that made Essex into Sinister.

"Sauron!" Sinister called, having hurried ahead of his party in excitement. Sauron lept up, spread out his winged arms, and flew to Sinister's side. "Can you recite the words under these images? I figure Lykos could."

"Yes, he could," Sauron sneared, "as can I." He was handed the copies of the heiroglyphics which Sinister had stolen from around the world.

"Arkady, bring forth the actual tablets," Sinister ordered. "Spiral, it is time to give me your pendant." Spiral was apprehensive, but allowed him to take it. Something about Sinister had, in recent days, begun to appeal to her, seem almost familiar, trustworthy.

Omega Red set up the pieces of rock containing the heiroglyphics in the sequence that Sinister ordered. Two in the middle left open a space that matched Spiral's pendant. At Sinister's word, Sauron began reading. The tablets began glowing. As Sauron went on, the wall in front of them did as wall. Sinister placed Spiral's pendant into the appropriate place. The light became blinding. Sauron read on as best he could. He got to the end, and a wave of heat knocked the foursome down. When they came to, a massive figure stood in front of them.

"Master," Sinister whispered.

"You have done well, my servant," said the figure. Its skin was a sickly gray, but it seemed otherwise to be strong and healthy. It wore a dark orange robe, and dark blue gloves. A hood covered part of its head.

"My accomplices, Master En Sabbah Nur," said Sinister, shaking. "This is-"

"Omega Red," said En Sabbah Nur.

"My name is Arkady," Red protested. "Omega Red is a pseudonym."

"It is the name that truly matters now," En Sabbah Nur said, speaking in a booming voice. "You are Omega Red, the reptile is Sauron, and the girl is Spiral. I knew as soon as you came near."

"Master, we live to serve you!" Sinister cried.

"Excellent."

"My friends, let me introduce you!" Sinister said, excitedly. "This is the man who created my as you see me today. He was once a great warrior in ancient Egypt, imprisoned by forces who feared his power. The heiroglyphics we have collected were a code to release him from his physical prison, so that his power may extend far beyond this tomb. This is the first mutant, the first on Earth with such power."

"Yes, the first on Earth," his towering master replied, giddily.

"This is En Sabbah Nur, the first one!" Sinister breathed. "He is the one who will dominate this world soon. He is the Apocalypse!"



END OF PART 3


coming in part four: Wolverine faces a mysterious enemy, and uncovers the truth about who he really is. Meanwhile, Magneto and his ever-growing Brotherhood seek revenge for the humiliation the X-Men brought on them; Bolivar Trask and his special project return to the world; and this mysterious mutant called Apocalypse will begin his campaign to take over the world. All in all, the X-Men will be busy. Plus: who or what is Bishop, really? What connection does he have with the events that have recently transpired? And what connection will he have with one of the many villains that have appeared so far?

[bored]

before i get started, i'd just like to mention that i put some of this on www.insomniacmania.com, at zee_zack's urging, and it has been recieved extremely well. also, this is the 100th post on this thread (and not all of them have been mine! :p ). now, who'd like some more XM:R?


--------------------------------------
PART 4


"Where are you going?"

Please don't be talking to me, Logan thought.

"Logan, what are you doing?" Ororo asked.

Dammit!

"I've got something personal to take care of, Ororo," Logan said.

"And you're going in full uniform to deal with it?" she pressed. "Plus, you're taking Forge and Nightcrawler, and going in the jet? That's where you're heading."

"It might be a little trouble, so I'm taking them for back-up," Logan explained. He knew where she was going with this.

"I can probably help." That was what he'd been expecting her to say. Logan sighed. "Logan, what's wrong?"

"Ororo, don't worry about me," he said. "I can handle myself, and if things get out of hand for any reason, which they very well may not, Forge and Kurt will be there." He looked at her face. "That doesn't do it for you, does it?"

"Logan, you know I'm going to be concerned about you," Ororo explained. "If anything is going to work between us, I can't just be expected to sit back and 'not worry'."

"Guess not," Logan sighed again. "Fine, suit up and get to the jet." She did as told. It was her that so much wanted something to 'work between them', but she was getting pushy. Logan remembered what she'd told him in Colorado, before the Brood attack, and relaxed a little. The girl may not have wanted to admit how insecure she was, like some of the others, but she still was, and for that, he could cut her slack.

Forge, on the other hand, made a faint whip-cracking sound to Kurt, as they eavesdropped on their friend.



Still scanning for various things on Cerebro, as he sometimes did, Professor Xavier stopped for a moment while trying to reach far out. Some presence disturbed him greatly, though he couldn't tell what it was. Whatever it was, it came from Northern Africa. He checked the news that night for any possible mutant activity in the region, but there was none mentioned. Whatever he had sensed, it was new, and felt very wrong.

[The Squirrel]

appocolyspe is rising.

[bored]

Gambit walked along the edge of the road. His red eyes scanned for her. The girl would be waiting somewhere, on this little dirt road outside of El Paso. Two stones skidded past his feet. He started humming "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". After a few moments, the girl emerged. She was young and attractive, much more so than Remy Lebeau remembered.

"Anna, that you, cherie?" He asked.

"Course it is, sugar," she answered. She hurried to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I been waitin' a long time for you to come back."

"Nobody saw you leave, right?" Gambit asked.

"Everyone was asleep," she said, trying not to giggle. It was then that Gambit remembered that the girl was only 16. Her power made her deadly to all, and thus she was usually shut off from the world. Her abusive uncle whom she'd been forced to live with had been killed two year earlier by a mysterious thief from New Orleans who had come to town on business of some sort. Since then, she had been living in a group home, where she kept mostly to herself, thinking about the man who had helped her. When her powers first took effect, around that time, he was, for reasons she didn't know, able to touch her.

"Well, come on, we've got a flight to catch," Gamit said. "You excited, Anna, goin' rogue like this?"

"Yeah, Remy, you bet I am," she answered. "Especially with you helpin' me out."

"Soon it won't just be me," he said. "You'll like my new crew, I think. Now, let's hurry."

"Hey!" It was the man who's wife ran the group home. "Who the hell are you?"

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Gambit said. His lip curled into the Elvis-look that he put on to charm strangers. "I'm Remy Lebeau."

"What're you doing with Anna, Mr. Lebeau?"

"Relocatin' her, if you don't mind," he answered.

"Yes, I do mind!" the man snapped. "You want to adopt her, you've got to go through a lot of paperwork. This is kidnapping."

"Is it?" Gambit play-asked. "Anna, you bein' kidnapped?"

"Of course not," she said. She brushed off the shock of white hair that streaked down through her otherwise brunette-head and over her face when she let it grow too long, and smiled. "I'm just leavin' with an old friend."

"Not like this!" snapped the house-manager's husband. "Sir, leave now or I will get the police!"

"No, no you won't," Gambit said. He reached down, and scooped up a small rock.

"You're going to get violent?"

"Only if I have to," replied Gambit.

"Don't test me," the man said. "I've got more than a rock for you if you do." He pulled a gun from the wasteband of his pants.

"Oh I am ever-so-frightened," Gambit mocked.

"Put the gun away," Anna said, suddenly. "He can really hurt you."

"With a rock? Sure!" the man raised his gun. He didn't even notice the glow that was coming from the rock as it rested in Remy Lebeau's hand. Gambit chucked it at him, and it exploded on the man's chest on impact. Anna put her hand over her mouth as she looked at the poor man's dying body.

"He was warned," Gambit said. Anna nodded in agreement, and the two ran off.




Wolverine led Forge, Storm, and Nightcrawler into the Alpha Flight primary headquarters. Nothing seemed wrong with it at all.

"This is too perfect," Forge whispered. "Not a scratch anywhere on this place, everyone's doing fine... What's going on here? You could very well be getting a surprise birthday party here, Logan." Wolverine paid no mind to the comment. He sniffed the air.

"These people are afraid," he whispered back. "Not of us. Its been this way for a while."

"Logan, you brought friends!" came Jim Hudson's voice.

"Hey Jim," Logan said, apprehensively. "You seem to be in better spirits today."

"Yeah, um.." Hudson paused, searching for an explanation. "There was a bomb threat. I was hoping you could come in, kind of quietly, and take care of it, but we were able to handle it."

"Bomb threat? Here?" Logan asked. "With this place's security? Jim, what aren't you telling me?"

"Well, Professor How-- ow, ow!" Hudson paused. "Professor Gigot had disabled the security system for a little while to work on it. We figured we'd be alright, but someone managed to sneak a real head-scratcher into the basement."

Logan raised an eyebrow.

"Really messed with your head that it got in there so fast, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah! It was crazy!" Jim replied. "And something in me just said 'Call Logan, he could help', so I did, but now I don't know if it was really the best idea. Sorry to have bothered you like that, and your friends too."

"Well, why don't you go tell the old crew that I'm visiting?" Logan suggested. "I wouldn't mind seeing 'em all again."

"I'll go and do that," Hudson said. He walked off, to the elevator that would take him to the main strike-force's training gym, where Logan's former teammates would likely be.

Logan's eyes darted around.

"Everyone, we need to go outside for a minute," he said. He led them out.

"What is it?" Storm asked.

"There's a telepath loose in that building," Logan explained. "A dangerous one, who I personally had to capture a ways back. He must have been able to grab someone's head and have them let him out of his holding cell. That's what happens when you don't follow safety procedure. Jim and I were speaking in code. He could hear us, but I bet he wasn't able to tap into our heads like he wanted."

"Who?" Storm asked.

"Brian Howlett, a scientist," Wolverine answered. "He's got an unusual form of telepathy which only works inside the building he's in. No clue where it comes from, but its why we're safe out here. We're lucky he let you guys out. Me, he can't hurt, and I don't know why."

"Odd," Forge said, looking back to the door. "Could he read our minds in there?"

"Stretching his power out over this place like he is?" Logan observed. "Doubtful. But he can still hear us talk in there. And he can send mental attacks to any of you."

"He almost told us," Storm said. "That was what hurt him."

"He shouldn't have slipped like that," Logan said. "Now come on, we need to be waiting in there for Jim when he gets back."



Inside the elevator, James Hudson slumped to the floor.

"I'm sorry!" he cried. "I really didn't mean to say anything about you!"

Don't do it again!, a voice inside Hudson's head yelled. Now, I can't waste my time giving you special attention, can I? I like to hear what people are saying. The voice went away. Hudson got back up, and left the elevator to find the members of the Alpha Flight strike force.

[bored]

Hudson returned a short while later with the Alpha Flight in tow. Puck, Northstar, Aurora, Snowbird, Box, Diamond Lil, and Talisman came out of the crowded elevator with him.

"Did anyone see Walt?" Jean-Paul 'Northstar' Beaubier asked. Another elevator opened.

"Forgetting someone?" Walter 'Sasquatch' Langowski asked.

"Relax, Walt," Jim Hudson said. "There wasn't room for you."

"Hell, there was hardly room for us!" Diamond Lil complained. "I knew we should've had someone carry Puck on their shoulders."

"Only if you wanted to do it, honey," Puck said.

"Same old Alpha Flight," Logan smiled.

"Logan!" cried Snowbird. She embraced her former colleague before noticing his fellow X-Men. "Hello." She shook all of their hands, lingering briefly on Nightcrawler.

"Um, hello?" he said, nervously.

"Care to introduce us?" Storm asked Wolverine.

"Oh, right," Logan muttered. "Well guys, this is Snowbird. You met Jim Hudson already. Last I checked, he went by the name 'Guardian'."

"And I still do," Hudson assured.

"Those two, the twins, they're Jean-Paul and Jeanne-Marie Beaubier, Northstar and Aurora; Walt Langowski, the late-guy, they call him Sasquatch; shorty is Eugene Judd, Puck; that's Diamond Lil Jeffries, and her husband, Madison, or Box."

"Or 'whipped'," Puck cracked.

"Yeah, of course, midget," Logan teased. "Lastly, is Liz Twoyoungman, or Talisman."

"Twoyoungman? Didn't I see that on the Spi-" Puck tried to say. "Ow!" Talisman smacked him before he could finish.

"Never took your little act on the road, eh Eugene?" Logan asked. "Anyway, before Puck can talk again, Alpha Flight, X-Men; X-Men, Alpha Flight. My fellow X-Men here are Kurt Wagner, Nightcrawler, Forge Pa- hey!"

"Don't say it," Forge groaned.

"His last name is Patterson," Logan smiled. "He doesn't think it's dignified enough."

"Nope," Forge groaned, again.

"And who's the lady?" Walt Langowski asked.

"I'm Ororo Monroe," Storm said. "When I'm dressed like this, they call me Storm."

"I'll tell you where the storm is," Puck said. Storm created a whirlwind, knocking him away.

"Care for a quick tour?" Hudson asked them. Wolverine eyed him, strangely.

"Sure," Storm said. "Lead the way."

[bored]

"DESIST."

"Bite me!" Marrow shouted. She held a boney spear in one hand, and the other was balancing on a rock she'd crouched upon. The Sentinel raised its palm. In the split-second it took for the hole for its gun to open, Marrow hurled the bone like a javelin into the Sentinel's palm barrel. It lodged firmly inside, and when the Sentinel tried to blast her, smoke started pouring out. The robot's arm shook.

"Sara, move!" Shadowcat shouted. She stood off with Colossus and Pyro. The four young X-Men were in the middle of the Serengeti, confronting wave after wave of Sentinels. The last one standing insisted on trying to blast Marrow.

"Let him squirm," Marrow laughed. "Dumb robot."

"DESIST."

"I hurt his feelings!" She called.

"Sara, finish him off or move!" Pyro yelled. "Give him too much time and he'll think of another way to attack."

"Not at this rate!"

"Come on, guys," Pyro said. He jogged out towards the rock where Marrow had perched herself. The Sentinel's hand caught on fire. It shut off the gun, lowered the burning hand, and raised the other one. Marrow started working on another spear. Before she could do it, the Sentinel aimed and fired. Pyro lept out and knocked her out of the way. The blast narrowly missed him. He focused on the fire from the Sentinel's other arm, and started frying the circuits from its friend hand. The fire started covering the robot. Colossus grabbed it by the ankle, and heaved it across the plain. The scenery began to ripple, and became the Danger Room.

"Nice save, Aussie," Marrow said. She grabbed Pyro around the waste. "You can tackle me like that anytime." Pyro's eyes widened.

Sara, if you must do that, please save it for later, when class is not in session, Xavier said, watching from the observation booth. Iceman simply tried not to watch.

"She's certainly opening up with him around," Bobby Drake groaned. Xavier eyed him. "That wasn't a double entendre. Oh, just grade them!"



"So what's the deal with you and John?" Kitty asked, waiting in the hall for Sara to come out.

"What?" Sara asked. "I was flirting a little, big deal."

"That's a first for you," Kitty said.

"I had a boyfriend when I was in the tunnels," Sara pointed out.

"A real jerk, right?"

"Kitty, what's the problem?" Sara asked. "It isn't like you don't flirt with Piotr."

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing," Kitty said. "He's cute. I'm glad you're getting so confident."

"Yeah, I guess," Sara replied. "I don't really think he likes me, though."

"Well, maybe you've a little more work to do."



Professor Xavier left the Cerebro chamber, and found Iceman, Angel, and Psylocke waiting for him.

"How're the guys in Canada?" Bobby asked.

"It's hard to tell," Xavier answered. "I'm worried. I can't get a clear reading on anyone. I can barely make out Wolverine's thought pattern."

"Do you think they're okay?" Angel asked.

"From reading Wolverine as best I could, yes," Xavier said, heading through the hall. The others turned to follow him. "But he is concerned. I'm going to spend a lot more time on Cerebro until he and the others return. Bobby, you are in charge when I am down here. I start monitering them tonight. First, dinner."

"I thought you were second in command already," Warren whispered.

"You know what he means," Bobby replied.

As they walked on towards the end of the hall and the elevator, Warren stopped in his tracks. His wings started closing themselves all the way, which he hadn't been able to do in days.

"Ah!" he cried.

"Warren, what's wrong," Xavier asked, turning his chair around.

"Cramps!" he growled. "Ah, dammit!" He sank to his knees. Betsy crouched down by him.

"Warren, are you okay?" she asked.

"Been better," he answered, cringing.

"Betsy, get him to the infirmary," Xavier ordered.

Betsy helped Warren to his feet. His wings twitched as he moved. One of them briefly extended. Warren screamed in pain, and Betsy winced as it brushed her arm.

"Warren, your wings are sharp as a knife," she said, examining her arm. A gash began to drip blood.

"Bobby, call Hank," Xavier ordered. "I think the team in Canada will have to wait a few more hours."



Wolverine looked around. Everyone on the lower training level smelled just as scared of something as the lobby did.

"Logan," Talisman whispered. "Logan, he's down on this level somewhe-- ahh!!" She sank to the floor, her hands on her head.

"Liz!" Jim 'Guardian' Hudson cried. She moaned, and writhed on the floor. Everyone backed away. Blood began seeping from Talisman's eyes, as vessels inside burst.

"Somebody help her!" Aurora shrieked.

"Let her go, Howlett!" Wolverine roared. Talisman stopped moving for a moment. Then, her now red eyes opened, and she started to talk.

"You should be glad you came," she spoke, in a monotonous voice that could not have been her own. "Any longer, and I'd have gotten impatient. Maybe just start offing them one by one. For now, I'll stick with her. The others should consider themselves lucky." Talisman went back to writhing on the ground for a moment.

"Northstar, Aurora, comb around for him," Hudson ordered. "Stay on comm with me. If he messes with you, scream." He removed his jacket, and revealed the red and white Guardian costume underneath. As he reached for his mask, he dropped to the ground. "How cute." His voice was as flat as Talisman's before her attack. He laughed a cold, frightening laugh, and fell to the ground, foam pouring out of his mouth. Wolverine popped his claws.

"Everyone, get out," he commanded. "I've got someone to gut."

Everyone stood for a moment, gaping at the limp bodies of two of Alpha Flight's members on the ground.

"Go!"

[bored]

The wind blew across the Hudson River, chilling the night in New York City. Increasingly bored, Magneto got back into the RV that he'd arrived in, and watched the feed from the camera back on Avalon monitoring the comatose Jason 'Mastermind' Wyngarde.

"Bathroom's fixed!"

Magneto jumped as Toad burst out of the lavatory.

"If we had actually paid for this vehicle, it would have cost a fortune," Magneto grumbled. "All the armor shieldings, the scramblers, the mental blocking like in my helmet, the plasma tv that you insisted upon! And the bathroom malfunctions!"

"Boss, I wasn't feeling well, it got stuck, it happens," Toad reassured.

"Do you know how powerful that toilet is supposed to be?" Magneto put his forehead on his palm. "Is the refrigerator functioning correctly?"

"Yeah."

"Excellent." Magneto pulled out a bottle of bourbon. "Ordinarily I wouldn't drink while working, but at this rate we'll never work!"

"Dominic called while you were out," Toad said.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Magneto asked.

"Didn't know if you'd care."

"Mortimer..." Magneto started. He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. "Why are we in an over-equipped motor home?"

"We couldn't bring the Orb," Toad explained, referencing the Brotherhood's preferred method of transport. "Victor said these things were handy for stake-outs."

"We shouldn't need a stake-out," Magneto said. "These mutants live in tunnels. What more is there to it?"

"This is New York City," Toad replied. "There are lots of tunnels. It'd take days, even if we all spread out." Magneto sighed.

"What did Dominic want?"

"He was just checking in, asking if anyone else had seen those subterranean mutants. He hadn't."

"Do you know if Remy and his little girl-friend are on their way?" Magneto asked.

"Give 'em another hour or so, and they ought to be in town," Toad replied.

"And how long before they can get here?"

"Well, they're flying into La Guardia-"

"Dammit!"



Hank McCoy examined his former colleague, Warren Worthington. He had been analyzing the occasional fallen feather, feeling how strong and sharp they had become.

"I was skeptical at first," he explained. "It just seemed too random for your wings to gradually transform into steel."

"Is that really what's going to happen?" Warren asked.

"Yes," Hank said, frankly. "I've looked at X-rays of the bones of your wings, and they themselves are changing. They are no longer hollow, like ordinary wings, and seem to be the same kind of steel that I'm finding in your feathers. At the rate the change is going, I think it will only be a matter of days before the change is complete."

"Are the wings the only thing that will change?" Betsy asked. She had been standing at Warren's side throughout the examination. Bobby and Professor Xavier watched from a few feet away.

"Why do you ask?"

"Betsy, don't," Warren said.

"They need to know," she responded. "Warren said that one night, when his wings were recovering from Magneto's attack, he saw his skin briefly turn blue."

"Betsy!" Warren protested. He looked at her concerned face, and then at Hank, his old friend who was deep in thought, and relented. "It's true."

"Was this before your feathers began hardening?" Hank asked.

"Right before."

"That would make sense," Hank explained. "Your mutant gene was preparing for the next major step in your mutation: your wings changing into what they will soon become. Some people have been known to ingest small amounts of metal, often silver, I believe, to protect them from radiation poisoning."

"Go on," Warren said, confused.

"Early on, your wings seemed to be a mess of various metals, steel being the most dominant-" Hank paused to pull out a tape recorder. He reiterated some earlier points into it, then picked up. "Included were small amounts of silver, as well as bismuth, aluminum, and others. It could very well be that what you saw was your body accumulating the various traces of metal that would soon be distributed to your wings very abruptly."

"I don't get it," Warren said. "What does this have to do with my skin being blue?"

"I go back to my analogy of people taking dietary supplements of silver for radiation protection- something which has very little scientific basis, by the way," Hank said. "Often, if they take too much, it will cause their skin to change color. It will appear blueish on the surface, though it is really grey or silver."

"This didn't even look silver," Warren said. "Just blue.

"This was also an unusual circumstance," Hank replied.

"And I suppose I was pretty tired," Warren reasoned, slumping back as much as he could. "So what, I was o.d.'ing on metal?"

"Were you feeling alright?"

"Not really."

"Henry, he will be okay, right?" Professor Xavier asked.

"Of course. Just... different."

"Hmm... Okay." Xavier put his hand to his head. "Something is wrong. I need to get back to Cerebro and check on Wolverine." The Professor exited the infirmary and pushed himself quickly to the Cerebro chamber.

"Hank, if you don't mind," Bobby said, "I'm going to ask you to stick around tonight. In case something goes wrong with Warren."

"Way to be optimistic, buddy," Warren cracked.

"Let me see if I'm able to," Hank said. He pulled out a black PDA and looked up his schedule for the night. "I suppose the third season of "MASH" can wait. What? I have the DVD."

"That's nice, Hank," Bobby said.

"Don't you have a government job?" Betsy asked.

"I have about a week's worth of actual work there a month," Hank explained. "I pretty much just loaf in my office the rest of the time."

"Well, I'm glad my tax dollars are going to something so productive," Warren deadpanned.



Logan? Xavier called out, trying to reach out to his student with Cerebro. He could barely even sense him. What he picked up of Logan, along with Kurt, Forge, and Ororo, didn't feel like they were hurt, but something was disrupting him. He began scanning the other people in the Alpha Flight headquarters. Someone, or something, was disrupting his power. He knew part of it had to do with distance, and that he was generally only strong enough to read minds from that far, but he felt that he needed to do something, because he was certain that his students were at at least some risk.

[bored]

punisher: rememberance, spiderman: reloaded? yargh, bored be a trendsetter.


-------------------------------------


Sinister sat on a rock on the beach.

"Is this really the way to start?" he asked. His master, who had been standing calmly a few feet from him for the last hour.

"Don't be picky, Sinister," En Sabbah Nur replied. "Consider this little nation's conquest to be our public debut." He finally sat down. With his hood down, his entire gray head was exposed. It was tattoed with designs that Sinister could not make out. "The five of us are strong, but we are not ready for any major campaigns yet. Don't be offended, but it is true. I have been incarcerated for thousands of years, you must bear in mind. You are creative with your powers, but I doubt you could handle an army. The others, they are just too inexperienced. This is the way I've always worked. I've concquered many before this way."

"If you say so." Sinister got up, and walked across the beach. The idea that his master could be too weak to attack a major city had never crossed his mind. Around him, Sauron was flying around, looking for only he knew what, while Spiral talked about something with Omega Red. Perhaps Apocalypse was right. He had been trapped for ages, and it should have been obvious that he needed time to gain his bearings. Sinister had never been more than a showoff, as opposed to a fighter, and they only had three others with them. The five of them couldn't take a major city now, it was true.




One by one, people fell on the way out of the Alpha Flight headquarters. Diamond Lil didn't even make it past the elevator. As they reached the lobby, Nightcrawler started grabbing people around him. There was a burst of smoke, and he brought three people outside. Someone else, a doctor, collapsed in agony.



"Get out," Wolverine ordered. "He can still hurt you two."

"He hasn't yet," Northstar protested.

"Because you haven't come close to him," Wolverine replied. "He's toying with us, while he's probably dropping people like flies upstairs. I don't know why he can't hurt me, but that doesn't matter right now." He paused, and sniffed the air. "Clever of him. He's moving now."

"Where?" Northstar asked. "Let us take him!"

"Get out of here!" Wolverine shouted.

"Jean-Paul, come on," Aurora urged. Her brother turned his head.

"Logan, I know we were the new kids when you left, but we're good now, and we can take him!" He fell to his knees. "Can you?" asked that monotonous voice. Northstar fell.

"Jeanne-Marie, get him out of here!" Wolverine snapped. Aurora grabbed her brother's limp body and flew off, navigating the halls like a pro. "This is enough, Howlett! I know you wanted me here, so tell me why!"

"Why can't my powers harm you?" came Brian Howlett's voice. He kicked out a grate, and jumped down from the air duct. "I've wondered for years."

"Was all this worth finding that out?" Logan asked. He held up his claws in a menacing pose.

"Oh you don't understand!" Howlett cried. "I did find out! I've been getting stronger in my time in prison, Logan, and I've been able to use my powers even when in that special bondage they had for me, dampening my mind like that! I could control people with some effort, and I used that to my advantage. I first found out a few things about you that the government never told you, though. It all made sense after that. Afterwards, it was a simple matter of having someone release me, and then luring you here."

"What do you know?" Wolverine asked.

"Everything!" Howlett cried. He turned and darted towards the elevator. Logan chased after. When he was close enough, he moved his arm in a wide arc and slashed at Howlett's back. The crazed telepath barely even stumbled. Blood poured out briefly, and then the wound healed itself.

"The hell?" Wolverine muttered. He had never known Howlett to be a healer. In his confusion, he missed Howlett getting into the elevator. Wolverine plunged his claws into the closing door, but couldn't stop Howlett's escape. He cursed, and raced for the stairs.



The remaining staffers of the Alpha Flight headquarters stood frozed in place. Escape had seemed almost imminent a moment ago. The elevator door far off opened, and Brian Howlett raced out.

"Oooh, I see I got quite the bunch," he said. Among those whom he'd immobilized were Alpha Flight's Puck, Sasquatch, and Box; and the X-Men's Storm and Forge. Nightcrawler watched from outside, his eyes full of fury. Aurora had carried her comatose brother far off, and led the other people whom Nightcrawler had freed.

Wolverine burst out from a side-hallway. He took in a deep sniff, and realized that some of his friends were still inside.

"Howlett!" he shouted. "Stop this now or I'll stop it for you!"

"Not yet," Howlett responded. "You haven't listened to me yet, Logan."

"You're the one who cut and run," Wolverine snarled, advancing on him.

"Always so angry," Howlett said. "Just like when we were young."

"What?"

"Don't you know why I can't hurt you?" Howlett asked. "Siblings can't hurt each other with their powers! It's in their genetic make-up. I can't hurt you because you're my brother! That healing factor of yours? I've had it all my life, just like you. Though mine has been a little bit longer, and my healing factor is more powerful than yours. That's why I look younger than you, even though I'm the elder. Most of your memories were wiped when you became part of the Weapon X operation. The metal bonding process was so painful that your healing factor overcompensated, and it affected your mind! Most of your memories were repressed beyond salvage, even from me. Don't you remember anything from those early days after it happened? Do you know who you are? You're James Howlett, you're my younger brother, and you were born in what is now an outskirt of Ontario in 1870!"

[bored]

"What?" Logan couldn't believe what he heard.

"Logan is your middle name!" Brian Howlett cried. "You went by it because you liked it better! I didn't realize any of this when we last met, and I found out that my own mind was wiped by the Shadow King to keep you from knowing the truth. If you knew who you were, they couldn't use you as the perfect killing machine, and that is what you were at first! I found out what they were trying to do, and I made sure you remembered at least your own name, or part of it, so you could keep part of your identity!"

"You're lying!" Wolverine snarled. He charged. Howlett side-stepped and tripped him.

"And you're predictable," Howlett teased. "When we rough-housed as children, that was all you ever did, even after you got those claws. They were just bone then, though."

"Why did you really bring me here?" Logan asked.

"I already told you!" Howlett replied. "How can I make you see? My healing factor gave me my memory back, but yours didn't, so this is too difficult. Oh, why?" He sat down on the floor, holding his head in his hands.

"Howlett, will you let them go?" Wolverine asked, crouching down by the crazed psychic. He undid his mask. Looking into Brian Howlett's face, he really did see a family resemblance.

"Do you believe that you're my brother?" Howlett asked. Logan paused, and took a deep breath. He stared at Howlett.

"Hold out your arm," Wolverine commanded. Howlett complied. Wolverine dragged his claws over it, and made three deep gashes. They healed almost instantly. "Why didn't I ever see you do that before?"

"Why would you?" Howlett asked. "We didn't fight before. I surrendered when I couldn't hurt you." He looked at the people he'd trapped near the exit. "You can go." The members of Alpha Flight and the X-Men, as well as the normal people with them, got up and hurried out. Howlett turned back to Wolverine. "What I am can't be fixed, what I've done can't be forgiven." He grabbed Logan's hand, and held it to his temple, taking time to angle it a certain way. "Only a few inches, please. Any more would kill me."

"What?"

"Make me stop being the monster I am!" Howlett pleaded. "You're the only family I have! You have to do it! Please!" He started to cry. "Logan, don't let some government spook do it."

"If you're really my brother, I can't do that to you," Logan said. Brian stared at him. Logan started seeing images.

"I can't harm you, but I can show you things," Brian Howlett explained. Logan started seeing images. There were mental pictures, almost movies, of him as what he must have looked like when he was much younger, with a younger version of Brian Howlett. There were flashes of what could have been his childhood, adolescence, when he graduated from college, his time in the military, and finally, Howlett screaming at him as he was dragged from a room, telling him that something was a lie.

"What was a lie?" Logan asked.

"What they told you. That you were created, that you had no family, that they owned you. None of it was true."

"I- some of those things you showed me, they were things I had little flashes of sometimes," Logan explained. "Who is the Shadow King?"

"Another man conned by the Weapon Plus organization. You were part of the tenth Weapon experiment session, along with Victor Creed. You know him, don't you?" Logan nodded. "And Yuriko Orama?" Logan nodded again. "There were others, but they've all since died." Brian grabbed Logan's wrist, and put his hand back on the spot on his head. "Do it now. What they've done to me, turned me into, it can't be changed. You are lucky that you walked away at all. Otherwise, even this Alpha Flight would have abused you. Now do it, take away their reason to hold me."

"If you're my brother-"

"Do it!"

"Brian..." Logan took a deep breath.

"Logan, don't listen to any of these people," Brian said. "They are all liars. Find the Shadow King! He will tell you the truth! Now do it!" Logan slid out his claws. They both cringed at once, as Logan gave his first ever lobotomy.



A few minutes later, Wolverine, with his mask back on, walked out of the Alpha Flight headquarters. Forge, Nightcrawler, and Storm waited for him.

"Logan, are you okay?" Storm asked, approaching him. "You- you're crying."

"I don't cry," Logan said, trying to smile. "I sweat through my eyes." Ororo embraced him. He held her, and sunk to his knees.

"What the hell am I?" he asked. He looked past Storm to the Alpha Flight affiliates. "Was it all really a lie?" he asked. "Did you take advantage of me? And who the hell is the Shadow King?"

"The Shadow King?" Storm asked. "Ahmoul?"

"What?" Logan got up.

"I knew a man named the Shadow King when I was little," she said. "When I was stranded in Morrocco. His name was Ahmoul al-Farak."

"Is he still there?" Logan asked.

"I guess."

"Guys," he called to his team-mates. "Come on. We're going to Morrocco."

[The Squirrel]

woah...i've read in awhile. Had some catching up to do.

[bored]

where did you have to start from? had i already started the story-line about wolverine's brother? well, anyway, hope everyone is still liking this (as always, i encourage feedback).


-----------------------------------------------------------------



Professor Xavier wheeled himself out of the Cerebro chamber. They were going to Morrocco, then? Xavier thought about the Shadow King. He'd been a surrogate parent to several young urchins in Northern Africa once, before his arrest. Xavier had seen to it himself that al-Farak was released quickly. While he was not always the best role model, often having the children he took in become theives, he was still one of the wisest, most trustworthy mutants that the Professor had known in his earlier years. The Shadow King was a nickname he'd gotten from his enemies, who he'd come to in his astral form if he needed to settle a score. Ahmoul had always liked that name. The two had lost contact years ago, so Xavier was not aware what connection he'd have to Wolverine or some sort of Canadian secret project. Then there was the issue of his enigmatic X-Man's brother. Why had Xavier never picked up on that? Brian Howlett was not someone he'd ever taken notice of before, but he thought he'd have information like that on file somewhere, especially when researching Wolverine for consideration for the X-Men.

He got into the elevator, and traveled to ground level. There, Bishop paced up and down in one of the sun-rooms, talking to himself. Xavier sensed his former student, Hank McCoy, probably the person Bishop trusted the most. When the mutant formerly known as Beast saw him, he put one large finger up to his mouth, as to keep the Professor from speaking.

What is he saying? Xavier asked, opening a mental link.

He's verbally noting all that he's seen in his hallucinations, if those are what those truly are, McCoy answered. The ape-like man pointed to a small machine sitting on the white table in the center of the room. I set up this tape recorder so I could have some psychiatrists I know listen, and see what they think.

Hank, I don't think what he saw was metaphorical for any past trauma, Xavier 'said'. I believe they really were past traumas. I don't think the answer to who Bishop is is really all that simple.

Neither do I, McCoy replied, but this is to be sure that whatever he, you, and Ms. Braddock saw was not just the result of some sort of mental tampering, which I have considered, or simply how his mind interprets past troubles. Do you remember after you first scanned him, the dead man you recognized?

James Madrox, the Multiple Man, Xavier said. That was his nickname. He- the real him- died several years ago, and that caused his duplicates to shut down as well, if that is what you were considering.

You know as well as anyone that I wasn't. I think it is possible that Bishop knew Mr. Madrox, and that is why he stuck out so much when you entered his head.

Entirely possible. Xavier stopped sending messages for a moment, having thought of something important. What does the government have on file about Bishop?

I honestly don't know. I've requested files on him, but gotten nothing yet. Everyone I've talked to said that they haven't found anything yet, but it is looking like they may in a few days.

Oh?

Yes. I don't know why it took so long. Did you have anything about him on file?

None. I've searched his name, his power signature, everything you could possibly consider in the Cerebro files. I'd never picked up on him before he appeared at the mansion. There's no evidence that he could have protected himself from Cerebro before that, especially for so long, as I believe him to be in his early thirties, and yet he is also very much a mutant.

Is it possible that Cerebro just missed him before? McCoy asked.

No. He must have manifested his powers at some point before the day you sent him against the Sentinels, and that would have immediately gotten him marked by Cerebro. It is as if he never even existed before the day my students found him.

[bored]

the next installment is not quite ready yet, so here's another space-taking rundown of how things are going so far. see, it occurs to me that, like the actual x-men universe, things are getting a little complicated, there are many characters, and several storylines going on at once. before my next installment of the story, here are a few things to help keep track:

CURRENT STORYLINES:
Wolverine (taking Storm, Forge, and Nightcrawler) went to visit Alpha Flight, and found that a crazed uber-telepath was holding them hostage, and that that person was actually his older brother. Older brother made Logan lobotomize him, but first told him to see 'the Shadow King', who Storm knew, and believes is in Africa. They are all headed out there now.

Bolivar Trask is readying a new batch of Sentinels in Madripoor, with the support of Henry Gyrich.

Apocalypse has been released, and as he gathers his strength back, he's leading his followers to take over a small island nation. But what island nation?

The Brotherhood has now gained Rogue, but Mastermind is in a coma. They are searching for the Morlocks, in hopes of recruiting some of them.

All the X-Men are hookin' up.

Bishop is slowly piecing together who he is.

The Black Rock was really just a ship, Sawyer may or may not be dead, the hatch has a ladder in it, and the Others were after Walt all along..... Errr..... So, who else likes "Lost"?


the teams so far:

X-Men: Professor Xavier, Iceman, Angel, Psylocke, Bishop, Wolverine, Storm, Marrow, Shadowcat, Pyro, Forge, Collossus, Nightcrawler.

The Brotherhood: Magneto, Blob, Toad, Rogue, Gambit, Mystique, Cannonball, Sabretooth, Avalanche, Mastermind (out of commission).

Apocalypse and his followers: Apocalypse (derrrr), Mr. Sinister, Spiral, Sauron, Omega Red

[bored]

Five Sentinels stood in a row.

"Are these the only ones who are fully functional?" Bolivar Trask asked an assistant.

"At this moment, sir."

"How soon will more be ready?" he asked.

"A matter of days, Dr. Trask. It would have gone faster, but much time was spent on your special project, and many of our people were diverted."

"My 'special project' was something for myself," Trask said. "I never asked for any help beyond the actual construction."

"We needed instructions-"

"You needed nothing of the sort!" Trask snapped. "Your engineers knew exactly what to do, and needed no more from me. If I didn't give new instructions, then there was nothing new for them to know."




Spiral put the binaculars down. Omega Red snatched them away and looked.

"It is a factory," he said. "Why is this significant?"

"En Sabbah Nur says that he believes there could be something to gain from this particular site," Mr. Sinister exlained. "I don't now exactly what, but I trust we will find out shortly. Now, shall we begin?" He got up and started walking down towards the factory. It was large, which was unusual for something in such a small island nation. There was a barbed-wire fence around it, with a few guards. Sauron took to the air, getting their attention.

"I wonder about our new 'master'," Omega Red said to Spiral, keeping quiet enough for Sinister not to hear. "Somehow, he does not seem as glorious as Sinister thinks."

"Just play along," Spiral answered. "I know what you mean, but I think he's testing us. Something about this Apocalypse guy, it seems familiar, like he's someone we can count on." Red nodded. Above them, Sauron dropped an armed guard to the ground. Sinister had shot away part of the fence, and was beckoning them in.



Trask raced into a large gray room in the Sentinel factory.

"Bastion! Bastion!" he cried. A robot's eyes flicked on.

"Master?" he asked. His voice seemed to carry genuine concern, and was not just the monotonous drone a typical Sentinel spoke with. "What is wrong?"

"We're under attack, Bastion," Trask panted. "Four mutants. The other Sentinels are going after them now. I need you out there."

"I'm on my way." Bastion calmly walked out of the room. He paused for a moment. "Only two are mutants."

"What?"

"Only two carry mutant signatures," Bastion explained. "Should I confront them anyway?"

"Yes, yes! By all means yes!" Trask cried. Bastion walked on calmly. Trask couldn't help but marvel at his creation. Bastion was smaller than ordinary Sentinels, standing at about eight feet, and he was designed to appear much more human. He wore synthetic skin, and a gray uniform. Synthetic white hair covered Bastion's head. Though they could glow bright red, they were designed to look almost real. Trask didn't tell anyone, but he made Bastion look the way he himself wished he would look like.



Sauron led a Sentinel up through the air. It blasted, and sent the winged man reeling, but he quickly righted himself, seemingly shrugging off the attack. Sauron charged, and slammed into the Sentinel, pushing it towards the ground. The robot kept blasting from its chest, to little avail. It hit the ground hard. The Sentinel itself was smashed by the force, and Sauron flew forward from intertian, smacking his head on the metallic shell of the robot.

Sinister wandered the grounds, shooting whatever beams he wielded at guards and two Sentinels who had challenged him. At one point, he tricked one, by getting up close to the other and then ducking out of the way, to shoot at its comrade. While damaged, both Sentinels relentlessly pursued him. The crystal on his chest glowed, and one stopped moving. Its arms flailed, and it got close enough to the other to start pummeling it. The still-free Sentinel fired, and took away Sinister's arm. He winced as some sort of yellow gel oozed from the wound. It shaped into an arm, and slowly became a brand new arm. Sinister looked at it with confusion. It had never happened before, though he'd not lost a limb before.

The last two Sentinels chased after Spiral and Omega Red. The duo were each fast and agile, big as Red was, and had little trouble evading Sentinel attacks. Red released the cables from his hands, and grabbed one of them.

"We shall see if this works," he said to himself. He tried to drain energy from the robot, but couldn't. Disappointed, Red spun it by the arm, ripping the limb off and sending the robot into the other one. Spiral lept up onto the damaged Sentinel and started ripping out circuits. The Sentinel reached its remaining arm over and grabbed Spiral.

"DESIST," It ordered. Spiral squirmed. It squeezed hard, and Spiral screamed. Omega Red grabbed its leg, and tried to get the Sentinel's attention. The second Sentinel came up from behind and grabbed Omega Red.

"Who needs help?" Sauron cried, flying in. He slammed into the one-armed Sentinel, feet first, leaving a dent in its head. It stumbled, but quickly righted itself, and heaved Spiral. She collided with Sauron in mid-air, and they tumbled to the ground. A beam shot past them, as Mr. Sinister approached, blasting away at the two Sentinels. The Sentinel holding Omega Red dropped the Russian mutant and turned to face Sinister. He smiled, and blasted one of its legs, knocking it down. Omega Red jumped on top of it, and hacked at it with his cables. The Sentinel with one arm marched forward. Sauron and Spiral jumped onto its back, confusing it.

"Enough!" A voice cried. A man clad in gray calmly approached them. "They've had very little field experience, unfortunately. Had you waited a few weeks, at least, there would have been a more interesting conflict."

"Who are you?" Mr. Sinister asked. The others gathered behind him.

"You may call me Bastion." Bolivar Trask's special project gave a smile to match Sinister's. "Now, I would very much appreciate your surrender." Sinister laughed. Bastion extended his palm, and emitted a powerful ray of energy, which knocked Sinister on his back. "Again, you may surrender now, or there will be consequences."

[bored]

Omega Red rushed to Sinister's defense. Sauron flew up into the air, hoping to get enough altitude to swoop in on this new enemy and keep up his speed. Spiral stayed in back.

"Will you comply with my order?" Bastion asked.

"Never," Sinister growled, getting up. "You must be what the master wanted us to find."

"The master?" Bastion asked. "And who is your master?"

"That is not your concern now," Sinister said.

"If that is so, then I have no use for you," Bastion said. "As I see you will not follow my order and desist your hostile activity, I must dispose of you." He fired at Sinister again, sending him flying back.

"Crush him!" Sinister shouted, getting back up. Omega Red's tentacles snaked back out of his hands, and flailed wildly as he approached Bastion. He whipped one of them, grazing Bastion's face, leaving a small mark. The robot didn't flinch.

"What was that?" he asked. Red came closer, and tried to hit him with a tentacle again. Bastion grabbed it, tugged Red in, and punched him in the gut. From above, Sauron swooped in and knocked Bastion down. The special Sentinel rose back up, a mark now visible in his back, grabbed Omega Red, and heaved him in Sauron's direction. The two collided in the air, and fell down.

"Don't go near him again!" Spiral called. "I know him!" They all stared at her, Bastion included.

"How do you know me?" he asked.

"I- I don't know," she said, sadly. "But I know you, and I know you're dangerous."

"Flattered."

"Enough!" Sinister shouted. His chest glowed, and he blasted Bastion to the ground. The robot got back to his feet, and raised his hands. Electricity arched from his fingertips, hitting the four attackers. Spiral screamed in agony, writhing on the ground. Omega Red struggled to his feet, and got in front of her, taking the brunt of Bastion's attack. Sinister could barely move, and Sauron was just getting up.

"Help...us...master!" Sinister cried. The ground shook, and the wind blew powerfully. Bastion ceased his attack. En Sabbah Nur marched through the damaged gate, and onto what had become the battle field.

"You are.... unfamiliar," Bastion said. He tried to identify his new opponent, but nothing registered. "You are not a mutant-"

"What?" Omega Red, helping Spiral along, wondered if he'd heard right. He'd been told that Apocalypse not only was a mutant, but the first one in existence. The ancient being laughed.

"I am so much more than a mere mutant, my friend," Apocalypse said, folding his arms across his chest. "And you, you're nothing but a machine. Strong, yes, but a machine none the less."

"You are with these four?" Bastion asked, trying to get back on track.

"I am their leader."

Bastion clenched his fist.

"Then I will destroy you first." He charged, slamming his shoulder into Apocalypse, knocking him down. Apocalypse got up, not even shaken, and opened up his hands. A field of energy surrounded Bastion, and started closing in. Bastion's eyes glowed. Electricity started coming from him, forcing the field back. Apocalypse blinked, and the field burst into flame.

"Come," he ordered. Sauron pulled Sinister up, and pulled them both into the air. Apocalypse moved his hands, and levitated, taking Spiral and Omega Red with him. "Another day, machine!" he mocked.

A visibly shaken Bastion, much of his clothing and artificial skin burnt off, rose up. He turned, with something that, if he were truly alive, and not a machine, would resemble dejection hanging over his head. Bolivar Trask, worried beyond belief, hurried out to greet his creation.

"It's okay, Bastion," he said. "You weren't ready yet, either. I shouldn't have sent you out."

"I kept those others from breaking through," the robot said. "The last one, the leader, he is more powerful than anything you have ever prepared me for. I sensed that he has yet to reach the full potential of his powers, whatever they may be. Whatever future upgrades you have in mind for me, I suggest you hurry them for me."




"We'll be in Morrocco soon," Forge said. "How can you be sure where he is?"

"He'll find me," Ororo said. "That was how Ahmoul worked. If he's still here, he'll contact me immediately."

"You don't even know if he's here?" Logan asked.

"It's likely that he is," Ororo assured.

"And you're sure he'll come to you?"

"Ahmoul was always like that," Ororo said. "He keeps track of his 'charges', as he called us. Don't worry, he'll do it."

[bored]

Avalanche rapped on the door of the very out of place mobile home. After a moment, Toad opened the door and invited him in.

"Did you see any of them?" Magneto asked, sitting at a small table in the back. Avalanche shook his head.

"I thought I did at one point, but they sort of vanished," he explained.

"Dominic, we are dealing with fellow mutants," said Magneto. "Disappearance could mean alot of things. Invisibility, mental manipulation, teleportation. Where did you see it?"

"Not far from here," Avalanche replied.

"Go back to that area," ordered Magneto. "Toad, go with him."




The plane landed on a far end of the airport. Forge had activated a device installed in the plane to jam local radar, and had also turned on a tight security system to keep people out of it when the four of them were out looking for the Shadow King. Everyone took turns going into the small storage room in back to change into civilian clothes.

"Heard from the boogeyman yet?" Forge asked, as they slipped away from the airport. Ororo shook her head.

"Give him time," she urged.

A small child crept close to them, staring, mostly at Kurt Wagner. He waved, trying not to be intimidating. An adult cried something they didn't understand and pulled the child away.

"Parental supervision," Ororo noted. "Things have changed."

In some ways, yes, came a voice familiar to her. I take it you are looking for me? Ororo nodded. That is fine. Bring your friends. It is good to see you again, Ororo. A location, and the way to get to it, flashed in her mind.

"He just contacted me," she said. "Come on." Storm led the others through the crowded streets, where people stared and kept their distance, fearing that Kurt, who stood in back, was some kind of demon.




Warren Worthington crouched on the ledge of a third story window.

"If I can still fly, this is kind of low," he said. "And if I can't, it's kind of high."

"We're spotting you," Betsy Braddock said, standing behind him. "Everyone is waiting below, and I can catch you with my telekinesis if need be."

Accepting this, Warren lept out from the window, and spread his wings. He desended at first, but then felt himself lifting higher into the air. He turned his head back towards Betsy, who shook her head. Warren smiled, and went up higher. The sun glinted off his now entirely metallic wings. He performed a few aerial tricks, and flew back down. The other X-Men cheered for him.

It had happened quickly, and painfully, that night. His wings cramped up, like they occasionally had done, and the remaining normal feathers fell off. The feathers that were still on, changed color, and solidified into some sort of metal. More and more 'feathers' started popping out, taking the shape that his wings had once had. The were hardly feathers any more, more like razors. Once the shock of the change had passed, Warren was concerned with if he'd be able to fly again. Now, much to his relief, he knew he could.

"Pity Hank had to leave," he said. "He would've liked to have seen this."

"I'm sure," said Professor Xavier, "but whoever called him said he was needed back at his office immediately."

"Ah, the exciting life of a token mutant in a pandering government," Warren smirked. Betsy came out from a sliding glass door. The two embraced on the grass. Warren spread his wings out, and looked at his teammates.

"Who wants to touch them?" he asked. Everyone declined.

[bored]

Gambit walked quickly, often having to drag Anna with him.

"When are we gonna find them?" she asked.

"They be close," said Gambit. "Just hurry on a little longer." After a short while, they found the parking lot of an old hotel, where a large RV was parked.

"Your new buddies are trailer trash?" Anna teased.

"You just come on with me," Gambit urged. "They're waiting for us." Gambit knocked on the door of the RV. Magneto opened it. Cannonball waited inside.

"Well at least somebody brought somethin' back," he joked.

"Boss, dis be Anna, the girl I told y'all about," Gambit said. Magneto smiled.

"And what a pretty little girl she is," he said. Anna blushed.

"He's really old," she whispered to Gambit. He nodded.

A phone rang. Magneto picked it up, and listened intently. Occasionally he made a muffled sound of acknowledgement. When he hung up, he looked satisfied.

"Samuel," he ordered, "contact Dominic and Mortimer, and tell them to wait for us outside of Grand Central Station. Remy, you came at a good time. Victor and Yuriko have found a Morlock willing to bring us to their lair. Raven is across the street. She will appear to be a police officer. Fred is at a store nearby. When he gets back, we go to meet Victor and Yuriko." He looked again at Anna. "When we are operating as a team, we have special names. What are you going to be called?"

"We talk about dat on the way here," Gambit said. "When I found her, I said she was goin' rogue. She like dat name."

"What?"

"Rogue."

"Well then," said Magneto, "Rogue it is. That's fine."



From his little room far underneath New York City, a sickly looking man with gray skin stirred. He got up off of his cot, and walked into the crowded hallway, where countless mutants crowded the walls.

"Caliban!" one of them called. "Where are you going?"

"I must talk to Callisto," the gray mutant said. "Something is wrong. People we shouldn't trust are near, and they are looking for us." He called out for Wolfsbane, the young Scottish woman who resembled a werewolf, and told her to guard his room, and make sure nobody tried to steal any of his few possessions. Caliban pushed his way through the halls. Mutants- most looking horribly disfigured, sometimes due to mutations, sometimes not- looked at him in awe. In truth, he'd done very little of mention, but to the Morlocks he was a legend. He had discovered Professor Charles Xavier searching them out many years ago, and had been asked to join his Institute. Caliban had spent time as a student, learning how to focus his power, a form of telepathy that enabled him to sense nearby mutants and their emotions. He'd technically been an X-Man, but had never fit in with them. Still, many in the Morlock colony idolized Professor Xavier from what little they knew about him, and if Caliban was worthy of him, then he must have been great. Months earlier, when the Professor was looking for a new student for his Institute in the colony, it was Caliban whom he consulted, and that was how Marrow, the girl known outside the colony as Sara, had been chosen to join the X-Men.

"Callisto!" he called, entering the room of the woman whom the Morlocks saw as their leader. Her lover, the mutant known as Masque, sat in a corner.

"What is it?" Callisto asked. She seemed to have been pacing around the room.

"I am picking up mutant signatures on the surface, ones that are planning to come down here."

"Yes, and?"

"One of them is Victor Creed."

"That is?"

"Sabretooth!" Caliban shouted. Masque perked up.

"You've told us about him," Masque said. "Do you know why he's coming?"

"No, not exactly," Caliban answered. "But he seems... eager. And of what I knew about him from Professor Xavier, Sabretooth's real joy in life is violence and intimidation. I think the guard should be increased for the next few days. All of our strongest should guard the entrances until he and whoever he is with have left."

"Who is he with?" Callisto asked.

"Her name is, I believe, Yuriko," Caliban said. "I don't know her, but she is similar to Sabretooth. They are not the types to come down here to talk to us nicely!"

"Slow down, Caliban," Callisto ordered. "How do you even know he'll be able to find us?"

"A traitor," said Caliban. "A Morlock who had gone to the surface for food is with them, and he doesn't seem to be scared. More excited, really. He will lead them right to us!"

"A traitor?" Callisto asked. "Who? Who the hell is it!?"

"Berzerker, one of the younger ones," Caliban answered. "You know him, don't you?"

"Marrow's old boyfriend," Callisto answered. "He's been pissy ever since we sent her off. Thank you for telling me this, Caliban. Masque, gather all of the off-duty guards and post them immediately!"

[bored]

Ororo led her friends through a wooden door, into a small cafe with no electricity. Light poured in through a few windows, and that was it. A dark-skinned man wearing white shorts sat in the corner, reading. He barely even glanced at the quartet entering.

"In the back," Ororo said. A door opened almost as soon as she was finished.

"Ororo!" cried a chubby man. His skin was a light brown, and he had short, gray hair. He was clearly an older man than Ororo had remembered him.

"Ahmoul!" Ororo embraced the old man.

"Ororo, you've come at such an amazing time!" Ahmoul al-Farak, the man better known as the Shadow King, said. "But where are my manners? Sit down! Introduce your friends to me!"

The X-Men took seats at a circular table. Ororo introduced her friends one by one.

"So, what do I owe this visit too?" Ahmoul said. "It seems you are here for something other than nostalgia, Ororo."

"It's actually for Logan," Ororo explained. "He was told to come to you."

"Oh?" Ahmoul asked. "By whom?"

"Brian Howlett," Logan said. Ahmoul dropped his smile. He examined Logan's face.

"You're James," he said. "He was able to tell you the truth?"

"That I'm around 130 years old, and that I was brainwashed by the government?" Logan asked. "Because that's what my brother told me."

"You sound as if you believe him," Ahmoul, the Shadow King, said. "Do you?"

"I do," Logan said. "I really do. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come all this way."

"That's good," said Ahmoul. Because that means you didn't kill him. Logan almost jumped, not expecting the Shadow King the start speaking telepathically.

You thought I would have? Logan asked.

It is what you are, said Ahmoul. You are a killer. Over the time, you have changed, calmed down, grown more human, but you are still a killer. Am I right?

Yeah, Logan answered, reluctantly.

"Is this a staring contest?" Kurt asked, breaking the physical silence. Ororo hushed him. Forge began to fiddle with his bionic arm.

The Weapon Plus program wanted you because of that, Ahmoul explained. You had the potential to be the greatest killer this world has ever seen. Everyone in the tenth part of the program did, at first.

What were the other parts? Logan asked.

Nothing related to you. All parts of the program, which ended with you, by the way, were different ways of creating supersoldiers. The tenth focused on a group of mutants with healing factors, ones that had few scruples when it came to killing. They bonded adamantium to all of your skeletons, which I'm sure you know. A few died immediately, their healing factors not strong enough to take the process. Many others died later on, in the field. I was brought on to keep the surviving members of the program in check, in case they decided to disconnect from the program. I found out about your brother shortly after I came to work at the Weapon Plus program.

Keep them in check? Logan asked.

Kurt glanced at the silent man in the corner.

Make sure they didn't ever regret what they did, and that was kill. Brian joined because he wanted to make sure you didn't lose all touch with your humanity, as he saw the others slowly doing. That he could never tell you the truth drove him insane, quite literally, it seems. I was told, once his actions were discovered, to wipe Howlett's mind.

And you did it.

I had no choice. Ahmoul answered. My family, my real one, was threatened. Not a day has gone by that I haven't regretted it.

So why did Brian send me to you? Logan asked.

You are getting angry. Ahmoul mentioned.

"Who is that guy?" Forge whispered to Kurt, looking at the man in the corner. Ororo glared at them.

Logan, James, you would have reacted this way in Canada as well, Ahmoul said. But you were already provoked then. You had killing mind, but before that, it had been with Brian Howlett in mind. He did it to keep you from lashing out then, at people who were innocent. If he had told you everything, about why you were chosen, and why his mind was wiped, it would have been disaster.

"I'm not like that anymore!" Logan shouted.

"You see?" Ahmoul asked. "You have improved, but it is still your nature. The Weapon Plus experiments are partially to blame. It was what your brother tried to counter act." He let his words sink in. "Do you know why the Weapon Plus program shut itself down?"

"A high failure rate," said Logan.

"Partially, yes, but not entirely," explained the Shadow King. "Eventually, one of their agents really did kill my family. I was told that he had gone rogue, and was doing it for attention. I didn't believe it, so I lashed out, and killed several people involved in the program. NATO shut it down after that."

"NATO?"

"Yes, though they've disavowed it completely," Ahmoul said.

"So that's who I am?" Logan asked. "A psychotic killer well-equipped for the job? That's it?"

"I think you could be much more, James, or Logan, or however you wish to be referred," Ahmoul said. "And I know I am not the only one who thinks that." He glanced at Ororo. Logan sighed.

"Hey, since that's out of the way," Forge cut in, "who is that guy?"

"A friend," Ahmoul said. "Now, while I wish I could catch up with my old charge, I have urgent business, and he is here to help me."

"What?" Ororo asked.

"My family, going back thousands of years, has been assigned to await the release of our master," Ahmoul explained. "He was a great warrior in ancient Egypt countless ages ago. His enemies imprisoned him, sentencing him to be trapped in his tomb for thousands of years before release, and my family, among all still loyal to him, were assigned to be there when he finally exited his prison. Lately, I've been sensing him, traveling all over this part of the world. He is not alone, but I must still find him. I called in Gateway to bring me to him."

"Gateway?"

"It is how he goes," Ahmoul said, smiling. "He is a mutant like us, from Australia, an aborigine. His name should explain enough about him. Now, I must go. He is back on continental Africa, and it will be easier for Gateway to get to him now. He was on Madripoor for a time, with a group of new followers. I sense him closer to Kenya now. Now, I must take my leave. Gateway, get ready!"

The aborigine mutant stood up, and raised his hand over his head. A white swirl started to form.

"Ahmoul, who are you going to?" Ororo asked.

"I told you, my family's master," the Shadow King said. "En Sabbah Nur, the first one. Quite possibly the world's first mutant."

The swirl above Gateway grew to a seven-foot diameter. Ahmoul al-Farak trotted to him, and leaped up. He was pulled into the swirl.

"Ahmoul!" Ororo cried. She chased him into the vortex, and Logan, Forge, and Kurt, rushed to follow her. Gateway sighed, allowed himself to be pulled in, and shut that end of his portal.

[bored]

Caliban started to sweat. It didn't happen much to anyone down there, not even in the infamous New York summer-times. First Sabretooth, now Mystique, and countless others! That traitor Berzerker had brought a whole collection of dangerous mutants, and even the ones that Caliban didn't recognize seemed dangerous.

"Callisto!" he called. The Morlock leader came running.

"What is it?"

"Berzerker has amassed a large group around him," Caliban explained. "All are with Sabretooth. We are in grave danger!"

"I have everyone I can on guard duty," Callisto reassured. "Is there anything else we can do?"

"Find Blink," Caliban ordered. "I need to get to the surface, and contact Professor Xavier."




The four X-Men who had just been in Northern Africa found themselves on a high mesa. The sun beat down on them. Gateway sat calmly on the ground, while the Shadow King excitedly greeted a man in a hood. Four unusual looking people stood behind him.

"Look," Logan whispered to his friends. "On the far left, it's that Sinister guy!"

"I was wondering what happened to him," Forge said. "He had all those dragons, and then he just sort of disappeared."

"The man Ahmoul is talking to, he must be the 'master' that called Sinister away," Ororo observed. "Who are the others?"

"Arkady Rossovich," Logan said. "The big guy. I wonder what the hell he's doing here? I'd heard someone busted him out of prison, but that was it."

Ahmoul turned around, and walked back to the X-Men. Gateway turned and faced in their direction.

"He doesn't seem like what I was always tought he would," the Shadow King said. "More arrogant. I'm a little disappointed, but it is him! It's En Sabbah Nur! My family has awaited this for thousands of years!"

"He gonna make you part of the 'Ascended Twelve'?" Logan asked. Ahmoul lost his smile.

"What did you say?"

"When Sinister, that guy in the blue, messed with us a while ago, he said that his 'master' was gonna make him part of the 'Ascended Twelve'," Logan explained.

"En Sabbah Nur said that those four were his servants," Ahmoul said.

"Hold on," Logan said.

"Please don't do anything!" Ahmoul pleaded. "I was only supposed to bring Gateway! I explained how you got here, and he is tolerating it, but-"

"X-Men!" Mr. Sinister shouted. "Do you remember me?"

"Yeah, dragon-man, we remember!" Logan called back.

"Good," he said, grinning. He whispered something to his master.

"You turned down an offer to join my servant?" En Sabbah Nur asked.

"You what?!" exclaimed Ahmoul. "Why would you do that?"

"He attacked us," Ororo said. "Do you know what the Brood are?"

"En Sabbah Nur could rule the world one day," Ahmoul said. "Why wouldn't you want to be part of that?"

"He doesn't have any of those dragons with him now, does he?" Forge asked.

"You have turned down a great oppurtunity!" En Sabbah Nur called. "Those who refuse Apocalypse will not survive!"

"What?" Ahmoul asked. "Why would you say that?"

"Oh, you old fool," Apocalypse laughed. "A long time ago, I would be interested in giving people second chances to join me, but not now. No one stands in my way!"

"What about revenge on the people who imprisoned you?" Ahmoul asked. "When you were still able to speak to the outside world, you said that was your goal! I know world conquest was an idea, but-"

"Things have changed," Apocalypse sneered. He advanced in the Shadow King, who suddenly seemed far less king-like. He cowered back in fear. The wind started to blow.

"Stay away from him!" Ororo shouted. She hovered in the air above them. Logan had his claws unsheathed, and Forge and Kurt both looked poised to defend the old mutant.

"Stay back, Ororo!" Ahmoul called. "Master, you've.... you've changed, and for the worse, I fear!"

"Oh what little you know," Apocalypse said. Rain started to pour. "I am sure the locals appreciate that, but a little rain is simply refreshing to me, madam!"

"Ororo, stop it!" Ahmoul snapped.

"Back away from him!" Ororo screamed to Apocalypse. He looked up at her, and flicked his eyes downward. She plummeted down to the ground. Kurt jumped in front of her, and glared at Apocalypse menacingly. Logan walked forward, raising his arms.

"You wanna pull that **** again, see what happens?" he asked.

"Certainly."

"Enough!" Ahmoul shouted. "Master, what happened to you? My family has awaited you for ages, believing that you still wanted us to help you take revenge on the traitors who imprisoned you! And we certainly were never told that you harbored such an attitude towards those who did not wish to serve you. It just isn't like you, not like the En Sabbah Nur of legend!"

"What does legend mean to me?" Apocalypse asked. His eyes lit up. Ahmoul sank to his knees.

"No!" he cried. "No, it can't be!" He covered his head with his hands.

"Now do not question me again!" Apocalypse roared.

"You have no power over me!" Ahmoul cried, defiantly. "You have no right!"

"You dare say such a thing to me?" Apocalypse menaced. "Enough of this!" He lifted Ahmoul up by his shirt collar. "You know so much now, so-called Shadow King, but it doesn't matter, does it?"

"No. NO!" Ahmoul cried. Apocalypse heaved him into the air.

"No!" Ororo screamed. Kurt, seeing the danger, teleported into the air, grabbed Ahmoul, and brought him down.

"Take care of them!" Apocalypse ordered to his group. "Now, as far as you!" He extended his arms. Orbs eminated from his hands. They soared over the ground, and grabbed the Shadow King. Above them, Sauron circled the X-Men. The orbs on the ground collided with Ahmoul, and dissipated. The energy from them surrounded him, and smoke started to pour into the air. He screamed in pain. Sauron swooped down. Kurt jumped up, and nimbly flipped onto the dinosaur-like man's back.

"Get off of me, you freak!" Sauron snapped.

"Speak for yourself, mein freund," Nightcrawler teased. He raised his fists to pound on Sauron, when he found himself surrounded by white.

On the ground, Ororo watched in horror as her mentor was burned alive by this supposed 'master' of his. Next to her, Forge was lifted into the air by Omega Red. Wolverine jumped into the fray, slashing at Red's cable.

"Remember me, commie?" Logan said. "Kept your punk-ass out of Canada, if I remember right!" His vision started to go cloudy as he spoke, and he was enveloped in white, as was Forge.

"Oh God, no," Ororo whispered. She was alone with these monsters, and if the Shadow King could not stand one of them, she doubted she had any hope. The white enveloped her. The last thing she saw was Ahmoul al-Farak, her one-time mentor, screaming in pain as whatever he'd been attacked with burned his flesh away.



They found themselves back in that same cafe in Morrocco.

"What the sam hell?" Forge groaned. "That whiteness hurt my eyes."

"What are we doing back here?" Kurt asked. Logan sniffed the air.

"Gateway," he growled. The dark mutant sat in his spot in the corner.

"What happened to Ahmoul?" Ororo asked, getting up from the floor.

"He is dead," said Gateway. His voice was slightly nasal, and clearly Australian.

"We could have helped him!" Ororo cried.

"You know that is not true."

"What the hell did you do?" Logan growled. He and Kurt approached Gateway.

"What the Shadow King asked of me," Gateway answered. "I brought you out of harm's way. He commanded me to do so as that monster attacked him."

"What is that thing?" Logan asked.

"Supposedly, it was En Sabbah Nur, or Apocalypse, as some referred to him as," Gateway explained. "I know he explained his story to you already. But he seems to have been horribly wrong."

"How?"

"I am not exactly sure," Gateway said. "But I do know one thing for certain."

"Being?"

"The 'Ascended Twelve' were to be formed after Apocalypse was freed, if it ever happened," said Gateway, "but they were to be formed to oppose him."

[Visioncore18]

Your an excellent story teller. I like your spin on the marvel universe. i havent read anything this good in a long time.. it takes alot to get me hooked man im mad that i reached the end of the story i thought it would never happen i hope you post some goodies soon man ..dont worry people are reading your stuff.. and if they arent they have poor taste

[The Squirrel]

geat stuff as always.

[bored]

great that people are so into it. it's been fun to write thus far. know something? i really didn't intend to make this so long, but oh well. at the very least, i can say for sure that i am past the halfway point, but how far, i will not say.


-------------------------------------------------


"I'm so sorry," Bolivar Trask said for the umpteenth time. Henry Gyrich shrugged. Trask was resting his head, burying it in his arms on the table in a courtyard kept by Gyrich's followers.

"You were taken unawares and poorly prepared by mutants," he said. "I have no right to be upset at that. And those mutants were stronger than most. I think this just shows what direction we need to take the Sentinel Operation in."

"Oh?"

"They must be significantly stronger," Gyrich said. "Not to mention smarter. I am utterly fascinated by Bastion's AI. I am not saying that all Sentinel's should have that level of intelligence, but if you could turn him into something so great, imagine what could be done with the others. The mutant attack we just had is a great oppurtunity to gauge the Sentinels' current strengths and weaknesses."

"I'm glad you aren't upset," Trask said.

"I was a little disappointed at first," Gyrich said, "but after coming to the conclusions I've just explained, I got over that. How is Bastion, while we're on the subject?"

"Upset, in whatever way he could be," Trask said. "He has been running scenarios for possible rematches nonstop. He also had some interesting information for me."

"What would that be?" asked Gyrich.

"He said that only two of the attackers were mutants," Trask explained. A woman carried a tray with cups of iced tea. Trask snatched one and drank down a great deal of it. "It seems odd to me that non-mutants would attack the Sentinel base, but Bastion is designed to detect mutant signatures from miles away, and he insists that only two were mutants. One was the large one with the ropes in his hands, Arkady Rossovich, and the other was the six armed girl. He couldn't identify her."

"But he is sure she's a mutant?"

"Positive," Trask answered. "Bastion identifies mutant genes. The technology to do so was one of my crowning achievements."

"So who were the others?" Gyrich asked.

"I really don't know."

"Does Bastion?"

"If he does, he hasn't told me, and he's programmed to tell me, so that is doubtful."




"I don't get it," Ororo said. "If the Ascended Twelve are supposed to destroy Apocalypse, or En Sabbah Nur, or whatever his name is, why would he be trying to form them himself?"

"I am not sure," Gateway answered. "Ahmoul didn't tell me. He seemed, at the time of his death, to think that his supposed master had gone insane in his captivity. I suspect that he has attempted to form this group of Twelve himself before they could form to destroy him."

"There were only four, though," Forge said. "So he's still got eight more to go?"

"It would seem that way," Gateway replied. "If simple subtraction applies to ancient Egyptians." Forge glared.

"So you think he's really dangerous?" Logan asked. Gateway nodded. "Then we need to stop them. Can you take us back to America?"

"Of course," Gateway said.

"Good, then get us to the Xavier Institute," Logan ordered.



The phone rang.

"Xavier Institute for Mutant Education," Kitty Pryde said. She'd been stuck on secretary duty for the afternoon. The Professor rarely had someone else take his calls, but he'd apparently decided to go look at ideas for new color schemes for the wallpaper, or something like that. He was downstairs at the moment, carefully examining a wall, she believed.

"I must speak with Charles Xavier," came a frightened voice.

"He's busy," Kitty explained. "Can I take a message?"

"Please!" the voice pleaded. "It is a grave matter. My name is Caliban, and I am a former student of his." Kitty sighed.

"Alright, I'll see if I can tear him away from his work," she said. "Please hold."



"I don't know about this pattern," said Professor Xavier, resting his chin in his hand. Piotr Rasputin scratched it off the list. He pulled out another picture of a wallpaper design.

"How about this?" he asked.

"A little better," Xavier said.

Professor? Kitty Pryde called. Hello? Are you picking this up? Hello?

I'm here, Kitty, Xavier replied. I opened this line of communication so that you could reach me on a moment's notice in matters of emergency. Is this a matter of emergency?

Caliban says it is.

Caliban? Hold on, I'll be right up.



"What is it, Caliban?" Xavier asked, taking the phone from Kitty.

"Professor, the Morlock tunnels are in danger," Caliban said, struggling to calm himself down.

"What are you talking about?"

"I sensed Victor Creed above the lair, and several others were joining him," Caliban said.

"I can understand why you'd be afraid of his prescence, but why are you worried for the Morlocks?"

"One of our own, his name is Berzerker, is leading them down as we speak. I fear that my people are in serious trouble." Caliban's breathing became heavy. Next to him, a pink-skinned girl who'd listened to what he was saying put her hand over her mouth.

"That's what this is about?" she asked. Caliban shushed her.

"Caliban?" Xavier asked on his end of the line. "Listen, I want you to get back to the tunnels, since you're on the phone and I know there aren't any down there. Tell them I'm sending the X-Men immediately."

"What's going on?" Kitty asked when Xavier hung up the phone.

"We're needed," Xavier said. "Suit up. I'll alert the rest of the team."



A bright flash of white filled the foyer of the Xavier Institute. A portal appeared, and Logan, Forge, Kurt, Ororo, and Gateway emerged.

"Nice aim," Forge said.

Warren Worthington and Betsy Braddock came running down the stairs.

"Hey!" Warren called. "When did you guys get back? And who's the newbie?"

"His name's Gateway," Ororo said. "It's a long story."

"Well, Professor's got some job for us," Warren said. "Get to the jet, and you can talk to the Prof on the way downtown."

"We're not taking the jet," Betsy said, as they rushed to the elevator. "We're going to Manhattan. We're taking the vans."

"Since when did we have vans?" he asked.

The four X-Men and their guest looked puzzled.

"What the hell is going on?" Logan asked.

[gap5ewl]

this thread is awesome i cant believe i just found it!!

[bored]

*is proud* alot of people seem to be discovering this story lately. it's gotten quite popular.

----------------------------------------------


"Can I drive?" Shadowcat asked, unlocking one of the vans.

"No, for the last time!" Iceman snapped. He moved her out of the way, and got into the driver's seat. Kitty phased into the back. Marrow jumped in with her. Colossus, Pyro and Bishop got into the middle section, and a still bewildered Forge took shotgun.

Professor Xavier was pushed up into the driver's side of the other van, which was equipped to be used solely by hand for his convenience. Storm and Wolverine piled into the very back, with Angel and Nightcrawler getting in the middle, and Psylocke taking shotgun.

"What about Gateway?" Storm asked, practically getting shoved inside. Professor Xavier looked at the new mutant, who stood calmly in the garage.

"Hell," he muttered. "Warren, can you fold those wings up any further?"

"No," Angel answered.

"I'm on it," Kurt said. He nimbly slipped from his seat, climbed across the ceiling, and curled up behind the back seats, in the storage section. "No, this won't do." He teleported out, resulting in everyone still inside scrambling to put the windows down, and clung to the roof. "Come in!" he invited. Gateway nonchalantly entered and sat down. In front, Professor Xavier still wasn't sure what had just happened.

"You ready?" Iceman called from the other van. Xavier nodded, and then made a mental note to get a bigger van when this was all over.




A pink box appeared in the middle of Callisto's room. Caliban appeared with the pink-skinned Morlock girl Blink.

"Well?" Callisto asked. She was sweating profusely. Masque burst in when he heard her speaking, but realized it was okay.

"The Professor is on his way," Caliban said. "He is bringing the X-Men." Callisto took a deep breath and sighed.

"Blink, Masque," she ordered, "round up everyone who isn't on defense duty, and bring them to the meeting chamber. Blink, if any of the invaders get in, and can potentially be a threat, I want you to start teleporting people to the surface. I know many will be scared of it, but it is necessary."



Berzerker's lone shock of blond hair, which rested above his forehead, bounced around as he navigated the many hidden tunnels known only to the Morlocks. Sabretooth led the Brotherhood along. Occasionally, the walls shook as they passed close to the subway lines. The Morlock tunnels were composed of decomissioned tunnels, and the odd platform. A few holes were bored into the sewers, giving extra space, but an awful stench. The Brotherhood members looked around the poorly written passages warily. Blob went in back, always terrified of the passage getting too small and causing him to get stuck.



Marrow curled into a ball on her seat.

"Sara, what's wrong?" Kitty asked.

"I haven't been to the tunnels in months," she said. "I'm just a little nervous going back. Alot of things about me are different, you know? And I bet the tunnels are,too."



Masque herded the Morlocks onto the largest condemned subway platform area that they had claimed. Hundreds of mutants squeezed into the space, which barely fit them all. A regiment of mutants that had been assigned to defense filed out of the platform.

"Who do we have?" Callisto asked, approaching. Masque surveyed the group.

"Feral, Dazzler, Wither, Harpoon, Hemingway and Black Tom," Masque answered. "There are others around, guarding the entrances."

"Good, now find Caliban. I want to head off Berzerker and the people he's leading in as soon as they get close." Callisto folded her arms, and went in to speak to the mass of mutants inside. Masque led the defense Morlocks to their various posts.



"So what if they say no?" Berzerker asked.

"Then we make them regret it," Magneto answered. "I believe that we will have our share of converts, though."

"I hope a few resist," Berzerker said, grinning. "I'll show those asses. No matter what happens, I want Caliban myself. He's the reason my girl Marrow left for that Xavier jerk's school. I've been hoping for a good shot at him ever since."

"Then that will be your payment for aiding us," Magneto said. "But in the meantime, I want to make sure we look appealing to at least a few of these Morlocks of yours."

[bored]

Gateway never said a word on the drive over. Everyone looked at him, uncomfortably. Logan explained everything on the way.

"So that's who Sinister is working for," Xavier said. "Essex never was any good on his own."

"Essex?" Logan asked.

"Nathaniel Essex, his real name," Xavier answered. "I don't know him well, but I know of him. I always thought he was harmless and delusional, even after the attack in Colorado. It was more than usual from him, more than just hollow theats and an occasional energy beam, but still nothing to be greatly concerned over, especially when we didn't hear from him again for so long. So he didn't have the Brood again? Or those dragons?"

"None."

"He must have tired of them. Or maybe too many turned out like Lockheed, Kitty's little pet. But anyway, this Gateway of yours could prove helpful. Mr. Gateway, are you willing to work with us?" Xavier asked. Gateway nodded. It was the only acknowledgement of someone else he made on the long drive over.




In the other van, Bishop had started to sweat.

"Am I doing that?" Pyro asked. "I generate extra heat sometimes, on accident, so-"

"It's okay, kid," Bishop said. "Forge's little story here, about this Apocalypse guy, something about it just got to me."

"Hate to get in the way of a breakthrough," Iceman said, "but for the moment, Xavier wants us all to focus on whatever our task at hand is."

Bishop slumped back in his seat, and rubbed his temples.




Berzerker led the Brotherhood to the entrance he preferred to the Morlock tunnels. They filed in one by one. Rogue clung to Gambit's arm, not sure what was going to happen. Sabretooth sniffed the air. It was foul, but he could smell people all around them.

"Hey!" someone called. The young, pale mutant Harpoon stood at the end of the corridor. Sabretooth growled. Magneto guestered for him to stay back.

"Hello," the leader of the Brotherhood said. He walked forward. Harpoon stepped back. In the distance, others were coming to join him. "Do you know who I am?" Harpoon nodded. He'd seen Magneto on the news before his self-exile to the Morlock tunnels. "Why are you here, my friend?"

"I'm home here," Harpoon said.

"Were you a freak on the surface?"

"Y-yeah."

"As am I, and all the rest of my friends. You know Berzerker, do you not?" Magneto asked. Harpoon nodded. Feral bounded down to Harpoon's side. "Well hello. I was just introducing myself to your fellow Morlock. My name is-"

"Leave!" Feral snapped. "We know who you are!" She shrunk back. "Caliban didn't say anything about Magneto being with them, did he?"

"No," Harpoon whispered.

"Ah, Caliban," Magneto laughed. "Deluded by Charles Xavier. A true shame. He had such potential. I wouldn't expect him to sense me. Most can't."

"What do you want with us?" Feral asked.

"To give you the oppurtunity to join me, and all of your mutant brothers and sisters with me," Magneto said. He had a warm, inviting, but somehow menacing, tone. "So that you may never have to hide in the sewers again. I am Magneto, as you clearly know. I lead this Brotherhood of Mutants, a group dedicated to the perseverence and dominance of mutant-kind."

"None of us want to be dominant," Harpoon said. "Just safe."

"And safe is what you will be," said Magneto.

"But not the way you want!" Feral cried. "We know what your goals are! Caliban's told everyone what you're like, and these people might be okay with it, but we're not."

"I beg to differ," said Berzerker, coming to Magneto's side. "He's right, you know."

"We're not murderers," Harpoon said, getting angry.

"Nothin' wrong with that!" Sabretooth called.

"I beg you to reconsider," Magneto said, without a drop in sincerity, "you still have a chance to join us."

"Heeyyyy!!" Harpoon shouted, getting other Morlocks' attentions. Footsteps were heard approaching from several directions. Masque was the first out, with the young woman Dazzler, whose skin had been badly burned by her own powers, following.

"So you must be Masque," Magneto said, turning to face him. "Berzerker told me about you. You can change people's appearances. Why don't you?" He glanced at Dazzler.

"You're not welcome here, Magneto, and neither are your accomplices," said Masque. The animal-ish Wild Child sprang into the corridor as he spoke. "Don't think you can fool us with simple words. You are everything we are against. You are intolerance embodied, no matter what you are!"

Magneto was clearly affected by the words.

"You dare speak like that to me!" he seethed. "Berzerker, is this one on your list?" Berzerker nodded. "Destroy him."

Berzerker's hands opened. Electricity danced from his fingers. It all concentrated between his hands, and shot out in a long bolt, hitting Masque's face. He held the attack until Masque was writhing on the ground. Dazzler screamed, and shrunk away. Wild Child lept past her, and onto Berzerker, clawing wildly at his face. Sabretooth grabbed him.

"Cute," he said. "This runt reminds me of me when I was young." Wild Child was indeed similar to Sabretooth in his mutation. He slashed at Sabretooth, leaving a wide gap in the larger mutant's face which quickly healed. "Such a shame." He smashed the younger mutant's head into a wall, and started wiping it across. There was a sharp pain in his arm. He dropped Wild Child, who crawled away in terror, hiding behind Dazzler. Harpoon still had his arm raised. His power was to create bursts of deadly energy which destroyed any living tissue it touched. Unfortunately for him, a mutant with a strong healing factor cared little for it. Sabretooth charged. Harpoon threw more bursts, briefly stunning, but never stopping the attacker. Sabretooth swiped a claw filled hand, and cut the poor Morlock's stomach open. Feral jumped on his back, ripping away at Sabretooth with her jaws and claws.

"Is anyone else ready to 'persuade'?" Magneto asked. "I unfortunately do not see many 'yesses' today. I think we can deal with that."

"Can we start with them?" Toad asked, pointing to Dazzler and the whimpering Wild Child.

"Certainly."

Dazzler screamed. There was a brief flash of extremely bright light, and she and Wild Child were off running. Behind the rest of the Brotherhood, Sabretooth got up from a gory mess. Blood on the ground mixed with water and dirt, and much more when around the body of Harpoon. Feral lay bleeding on the ground. Sabretooth had succeeded in tearing her off his back, after which he had savagely struck her back, raking her eyes and blinding her, as well as breaking several bones. When he left her, she lay on the ground, bleeding from the inside.

"Berzerker," Magneto said. "Lead the way."

[bored]

After some time, Berzerker led the Brotherhood to a cross-roads in the tunnels. Sabretooth sniffed in the openings of each of five tunnels that branched off.

"A few people hiding in each," he said. "Boss?" Magneto thought for a moment.

"Berzerker, where will we find the greatest number of your people?" he asked.

"I can lead you there," Berzerker answered, taking for the second tunnel on the left.

"Do that," said Magneto. "Gambit, Rogue, join me. The rest of you, seperate and sweep through all of the other ways. When you feel that you are finished, meet back here."

"Boss, these tunnels seem kinda... small for me," the Blob said. "I can probably fit in one or two alright, but turnin' around might be hard, and-"

"Fred will stay here and guard the way then," Magneto groaned. "Where the rest of you go is up to you. Berzerker, lead on."

The treacherous Morlock walked into the tunnel that would lead to the biggest open area in the tunnels, with Gambit and Rogue following.

"Remember," said Magneto, "at least attempt to convince them to join our side. If they refuse, then dispose of them. I ordinarily wouldn't condone killing other mutants, but most down here can only be trouble to us if we just let them go on if they refuse our offer." He heaved a deep sigh, one that almost sounded regretful, and followed Berzerker.




"Our efforts have not had the success that I had hoped for," said Apocalypse. He and his followers sat in the secluded home of Nathaniel Essex, aka Mr. Sinister. "Madripoor was a surprise to all of us, but I see that as a growing experience, if you will. I certainly hope to meet that machine-man again. And the Shadow King was simply deluded. He subscribed to myths about my nature, distorted by overly idealistic ancestors of his through out the generations. With his power, it is a shame what we had to do, but he would have been too much trouble for us had I not killed him. What of those other five?"

"I've met four of them before," said Sinister. "They're members of the X-Men. I told you about them, remember? I actually once attempted to have them join our side."

"Yes, and you nearly killed them when they struggled," said Apocalypse. "I do wonder what happened to your 'creations' which you sent out at them."

"I've given up on trying to harness the Brood," Sinister said. "The X-Men are too prepared for them. The dragons, though, have alot of potential. I'd like to use them again sometime. I hope my assistant has taken care of them."

"Assistant?" Sauron asked. The winged creature had briefly transformed back into Dr. Karl Lykos since the events in Africa, though Apocalypse himself had touched him, and allowed his energy to bring Sauron back.

"He's probably lingering in the labs as we speak," Sinister said. "I hope he hasn't broken anything. You'll like him, master. He's... enthusiastic."

"I'd like to meet him," said En Sabbah Nur, drawing his hood back up. "Take me to him, and your labs. They are of great interest to me."

"And me," said Sauron.

"Then follow me," Sinister said, getting up from an over-stuffed armchair. "Arkady, Spiral, make yourselves at home if you're not joining us." He led his master and his colleague off to see his laboratories, and the strange assistant who took care of them.

When they had gone, Omega Red began pacing about the room.

"I wonder about all this," he said. "I joined for my own sake. I felt that I'd failed in my own mission back home in mother Russia, and wanted to compensate for it, as well as atone for the death of a friend, and Sinister said that joining this ancient being's crusade would be the solution. Yet, something doesn't ring true about him to me."

"Like what?" Spiral asked.

"He said he was a mutant," said Omega Red. "The first mutant. It is what his Egyptian name means, 'the first one'. Yet there are so many holes in his story. For one, that machine man in Madripoor said that he wasn't even a mutant. Then there was the erratic extent of his powers while he was imprisoned, according to Sinister's stories. And also, how could his name be Apocalypse? Why would it be Apocalypse? The apocalypse is supposed to be the end of all things, according to Christianity, yet he was imprisoned ages before Christ."

"The end of civilization as he sees it, maybe?" Spiral guessed.

"Maybe," said Omega Red. "Maybe. And did you hear how the Shadow King spoke to him at the end? What did he discover? I don't know if our new master has bad intentions for us, not if we serve him, but is he honest? You may not think it matters, but I do."



Sinister led En Sabbah Nur and Sauron down a spiral stairway to his labs. Everything seemed clean and in order, if a little frightening to someone not familiar with the bizarre fascinations of Nathaniel Essex.

"Come out!" Sinister called. "I'm back, with some people whom you need to meet!"

A shadow scurried across the wall.

"Who is this?" Apocalypse asked. Someone burst out. He was, in a word, hideous.

"It's me!" cried the creature, in a squeaky yet loud and energetic voice. "It's the Sugarman!"



"It'll take a while to get down to the tunnels, especially if we want to go in unnoticed," Marrow said to Professor Xavier. The X-Men, along with Gateway, assembled a few blocks from Grand Central Station. "That would mean at least two hours to get to the Five Corridors, the main entrance."

"We don't have that long," Professor Xavier lamented. He looked at Gateway. "Though we may have a faster way in."



Blob leaned against a wall. He'd heard little since the Brotherhood had split up in the tunnels. He hoped it didn't last long. It seemed so cold down there. He heard voices behind him, from where they'd come from. Someone was approaching. Quickly, he realized it was Kitty Pryde, better known to him as Shadowcat. Colossus was behind her.

"Oh, goddammit!" he roared.

[bored]

The Blob nonchalantly moved off to a corner where he wouldn't block any of the corridors. Professor Xavier watched him, content that he'd accomplished what he'd meant. The X-Men, along with Gateway, and the barely conscious Masque, whom Wolverine had sniffed out when they'd been brought into the tunnels. His skin was badly burned, and his hair had fallen out. His eyes were almost shut.

"I can't do that for everyone, remember this," Xavier said. "Marrow, I want you to show me to the main chamber."

"Can't Masque take you?" Marrow asked. "I think I should be helping the rest of the team find their ways around here."

"She's right," Masque said, barely above a whisper. "I can lead you to the platform." Xavier nodded.

"Okay," he said. "Colossus, come with us." He looked at Gateway. "You come too. I have a feeling we may need more of your talent. Piotr, you are going to be Masque's eyes as we go, so don't get too far ahead of us until I say it's alright. Iceman, divide up the rest of the team among the tunnels."

Colossus led on, pausing to allow the Professor to establish a mental link between him and Masque, who could use the Russian X-Man's eyes to navigate.

"Okay," Iceman said. "Nightcrawler, Marrow, stick together. Betsy, follow them. If anyone gets lost, or needs help, try and broadcast to Psylocke. If they do, you tell Sara, and Kurt, you'll teleport them to wherever the person who needs help is."

"Will she be able to pick us up?" Bishop asked.

"Give it a shot, we'll hope for the best," said Psylocke. She was hanging in the back of the group, at Angel's side.

"Okay, Marrow, take those two, and go down whichever tunnel you think you know best," Iceman ordered, icing up his own body. "Warren, follow them for now. That's two tunnels down." He surveyed the remaining three. "Forge, Bishop, and Pyro, you take that one-" he pointed to the tunnel on the far right. "Kitty, Storm, you two go together, and Logan, you're with me. Everyone be careful down here. There's not alot of light, so watch where you step. Anything in particular we should worry about, Sara?"

"The one John and his group are going down had alot of water leakage when I lived here," Marrow said. "I guess that's the worst of it, as far as I remember."

"That's good," Iceman said. "Okay, X-Men, move out!"

The X-Men split into their groups, and hurried down the tunnels.

"I...will...just...stand...here........" droned the nearly catatonic Blob, standing in his corner.




Jeanne-Marie Beaubier stood over her brother's body in a hospital inside the Alpha Flight headquarters. A doctor entered the room.

"Ms. Beaubier, we've had sufficient time to analyze your brother's condition," the doctor said. "There's a possibility that he could wake up, after a little recovery time, but that attack severely damaged his nervous system. We need more time to see if he's functional, though."

"Can I call our parents?" Jeanne-Marie asked. "I think I'm just going to let them decide what to do with him." She sighed, and wiped the moisture from her face, a mixture of sweat and tears. She called for a secretary who'd been waiting in the hall, hoping for news on some of the people whom Brian Howlett had hurt during his siege.

"Can you call the administrators for me?" she asked. "I don't think I'm sticking around much longer." She slung her purse over her shoulder, and raced out.

[bored]

Colossus tried not to walk in long strides, as he often did. Masque walked behind, holding with one hand onto Professor Xavier's chair. Gateway walked quietly behind them.

"Please don't blink so much," Masque asked.

"I'm not," said Colossus. "Water keeps dripping down my forehead and into my eyes."

"This certainly isn't in the same shape as it was the last time I was here," said Professor Xavier. "But I suppose that was several years ago. I don't even know the way around here anymore."

"I'm sorry if it isn't the squalor you're used to," Masque replied. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for."

"Don't worry," said the Professor. "Hold on." He stopped moving his chair, and the others paused with him. "I sense Avalanche up ahead. I don't sense anyone else with him."

"Can this X-Man of yours handle Avalanche?" Masque asked.

"Up above yes, quite easily," answered the Professor, "but down here, his seismic abilities could prove catastrophic."

"So do something to him with your mind, like you did to the fat one."

"I can't, or rather, I shouldn't," explained the Professor. "If we're really headed to this platform where you've gathered most of the Morlocks, it is likely Magneto is with him, and he would know if I were manipulating one of his followers when he was with them."

"But he doesn't know you're here," Colossus pointed out.

"Not for certain, but he's smart enough to know that I might come," said Professor Xavier. "He knows what Caliban is capable of, and that when he sensed their coming, he would probably try to contact me."



Psylocke's face glowed purple, showing that she was scanning for mutants.

"There's someone up ahead," she said. A little girl came ambling up.

"Hi there," Marrow said, crouching down. "What's your name?"

"Sarah," the girl squeaked.

"Hey, that's mine too," Marrow said. She grabbed the girl by the neck. "You were right, Betsy, she's a fake."

"Of course I was," Psylocke smirked. The girl struggled.

"Stop it!" she cried.

Marrow pinned her to the ground with a bone club.

"You're hurting me!" the girl cried.

"Cut it out, Mystique," Marrow teased. "We know it's you." The girl stopped struggling. Her eyes changed into a yellowish glaze.

"How did you know?" asked Mystique's voice.

"You certainly didn't come off as a little girl to me," said Psylocke.

"And nobody goes by real names down here," Marrow said. "Do a little research first."

"Oh enough of this!" the girl snapped. She grabbed the bone club, and with strength greater than her appearance suggested, tossed it away. She transformed into her blue-skinned self as she got up. She swung her foot around and kicked Marrow in the forehead. Nightcrawler jumped up to the ceiling. His tail grabbed Mystique by her neck.

"Are you going to be a good girl for us?" asked Psylocke. Angel crossed his arms and smiled.

"What can we do if she isn't?" he asked.

"Hmm, I can think of a few things," Psylocke answered.

"Ew!" Marrow cried, getting up. "Please, this really isn't the time."

Mystique gurgled out a vague threat, and then her neck, and indeed her whole body, shrank, letting her slip from Nightcrawler's grasp. She grabbed his tail, shifted back into her normal self, and lifted herself off the ground, kicking Psylocke with both feet. Nightcrawler thrashed his tail, trying to shake her loose. After a moment he teleported to the ground a few yards away, letting her fall, though she nimbly landed on her feet. She then turned, and ran off as fast as she could.

"Go after her!" Angel shouted, his voice ringing in the tunnel.



Shadowcat walked slowly.

"It's cold down here," she said. Storm nodded.

"Trying wearing this uniform."

They both heard a voice, like the sound of a weak dog growling. Shadowcat ran ahead. An animal-like mutant lay on the ground.

"Is that Sabretooth?" Shadowcat asked.

"No," Storm answered. "Entirely too small."

"Call him Wild Child," a woman said. Her face was badly burned, and the rest of her skin was covered up. "And I'm Dazzler."

"The new wave singer?" Kitty asked. "I thought you died in a plane crash!"

"Oh God, I've been recognized," said Dazzler. "Could you not tell anyone about this? I came down here for a reason."

"What was that?" Kitty asked.

"Guess." Dazzler scooped Wild Child into her arms. "The actual Sabretooth, full size and everything, has already been through here, with some hick, I don't know that one's name. And who are you two?"

"I'm Storm," the older X-woman said. "And this is Shadowcat. We're students of Charles Xavier."

Dazzler's eyes lit up.

"You're X-Men?" she asked. "So you know Marrow? I never knew her personally, but she's pretty famous for getting sent to Professor Xavier. Callisto says a Morlock actually led Sabretooth and all those others down here because he wanted to get back at everyone for sending her away."

"Berzerker?" Shadowcat asked. "Was that his name?"

"I don't know," said Dazzler. "Come on, I'll take you to the main hall. We'll talk on the way."

"Marrow said she had a boyfriend down here," said Shadowcat, "kind of abusive. She called him Berzerker. Hey, why do you always go by fake names?"

"To get away from the surface," said Dazzler. "Then again, people knew me more as Dazzler than Alison up there, too, but that's irrelevant."

[bored]

Magneto smiled as he found himself entering the large abandoned subway platform that was now some sort of gathering hall for the Morlocks. He hadn't encountered a single on since the few that Berzerker had scared away. That Morlock was next to him, and Avalanche on the other side. Morlocks cowered away all around them.

"Hello!" Magneto called out to them all. He had a frighteningly warm smile on his face. "There is no reason to be afraid!" Someone shouted 'liar!' at this.

"It's true," said Berzerker. "I asked him to come here-"

"Traitor!" a Morlock yelled.

"You don't understand," said Berzerker. "He is on our side. I know what you've heard from Caliban and the others about Professor Xavier, and the conflict between the two, and you've all been misled! Magneto wants to create a Utopia for mutants, where we don't have to hide from humans. He isn't interested in sitting back and talking with these people who are only concerned with destroying us, he is taking real action! I brought him here so that he could personally ask you to join his cause. When was the last time Charles Xavier did that?"

"Five years ago, when he wished to see the Morlock community for himself," came a commanding female voice. Callisto pushed through the crowd. "And after that, he regularly contacted Caliban to check on us. He is active fighting for mutant equality on the surface world, this we know."

"You must be Callisto, the woman who is considered the figurehead down here," Magneto said. "I must say, I admire your dedication, but why keep them down here?"

"I lived here, and they came to over a period of time, if you must know," said Callisto.

"And has Charles Xavier ever invited you or your Morlocks to reside on his massive estate?" asked Magneto. Several Morlocks were clearly stunned, having not considered the idea. "No, he hasn't. He found one of you by accident years ago, and took pity. Then, after ignoring you for years, he snatched away a girl who happened to be young and relatively attractive, from what I have seen of her, and from what this fine young man has told me." Berzerker beamed.

"Marrow wasn't chosen by the Professor," Callisto said, crossing her arms. "If you're going to patronize us, at least have the facts right."

"But did he ask for someone else?" asked Magneto.

"Why would he?" countered Callisto.

"If he really wished to make a statement by bringing another Morlock to his school, why go for a passable one?"

"Your accomplices aren't exactly hideous," Callisto sneered. "Even our old friend Berzerker was driven down here by his actions, not his appearance. And I am also curious, if you truly just wanted to persuade us to join your cause, why bring Sabretooth? We know his reputation, that of a killer."

"But he believes in me," stated Magneto. "He isn't here to slaughter."




Far away, a boy screamed as Sabretooth lifted him up, and slammed him to the ground.

"He said 'no', eh?" Cannonball asked, approaching. Another mutant, a girl, stood by his side.

"Little prick kicked me in the balls," Sabretooth groaned. "Who's your new buddy?"

"Call me Boomer," the girl said. "Who was that?"

"How should I know? Don't you live down here?"

"Yeah, but not that long," she answered. "I don't know anybody that well."

"Good," Sabretooth said. "Well, come on you two. I think we've seen enough down here. Boomer-girl, our boss is supposed to be in some big chamber. Think you can show us the way?"



"There's been alot of violence down here," said Psylocke. "I can feel it in the air. People are hiding, scared. I can't tell if Mystique is still close to us."

"Hello?" someone said. Marrow lifted an old man with knees that faced the wrong direction off the ground.

"It's okay," she said. Behind her, Psylocke guestured to Angel and Nightcrawler that he was the real thing.

"I've been hiding here since everyone started running," said the old Morlock. "I don't like crowds, and if something was dangerous, we'd all be sitting ducks there."

"Don't worry," said Marrow, in a hushed tone. She helped stand up. "Do you know who we are?" The old one shook his head. "I'm Marrow."

"You're the one who went to Professor Xavier!"

"Uh-huh. And do you know what that makes me and my friends?" Marrow asked.

"They're..." he thought hard. "So does this mean... You're X-Men?" Marrow nodded.

"We know people are coming through here, people who want to harm the Morlocks. We're here to stop them."

[bored]

Tap...tap...tap...

"What the hell is that?" Gambit whispered.

"I don't know, but it's creepy," Rogue answered, clinging to his arm. Two mutants followed them. One was Black Tom Cassidy, and Irishman whose skin seemed to be tree-bark, and he had grass, dead grass at that, for hair. The other was of indeterminate gender, and resembled a snake.

"I cannay' tell if I know who that is," said Tom, in his thick brogue.

A thing, deformed looking girl in a leotard ambled in. The tapping came from her shoes. Her hands were held in what seemed to be praying mantis position, and her face was somewhat normal, though expressionless.

"Hello?" Gambit called. He reached into his pocket, sorting through the random odds and ends he'd collected as potential bombs. The girl stopped.

"It's creepy," said Rogue.

It started to shift around, and grow. Its hair turned red, its eyes yellow, and its skin blue.

"Do you know how long it took to get here?" Mystique asked.

"What the hell was that?" Gambit asked.

"Some freak I saw dead in the tunnels a way back," said Mystique. "Ugghh, I thought it was hideous, but I needed to get a good disguise to get away from the X-Men. That bone girl probably wouldn't even touch thi-"

"Wait a second," Gambit interrupted. "The X-Men are here?"

"It certainly seems that way," said Mystique. "I was running from them, and I saw that girl's horrible body. I believe she was trampled. We've really scared people, haven't we? But I suppose that just makes it more fun."

"Why have ye' scared people?" Black Tom asked.

"Some of 'dem down here, 'dey got a bad impression of our leader," Gambit explained.

"So I was put on guard duty for a good reason, then?"

"Look, Tree-Guy, don't worry 'bout a thing," Rogue said. "Like Remy told you before, we're just trying to make the world safe for mutants like us, and Magneto wants the Morlocks to help him do that."

"I suppose," sighed Tom.



The platform suddenly seemed very divided. Several mutants were intrigued by Magneto, the supposed villain who had taken the time to come down and speak with the Morlocks. They had come to his side, with Avalanche and Berzerker, who was suddenly more popular. Others cowered behind Callisto.

"Tell me," said Magneto, "where is Caliban?"

"Off doing things, warning stragglers of your prescence," answered Callisto. The one that she didn't have a patch over glowed. It did little else, but was still useful down in the tunnels.

"I'm certain," Magneto replied. "The coward just didn't want to face the truth!" The Morlocks who had come to him cheered. There were at least fifteen there. "I am your path to freedom, he only wants to keep you down in the abyss!"

Callisto growled, and clenched her fists. Several loyal Morlocks stood at her side.

"Where are your other followers?" she asked. "I know you brought quite the group. Caliban sensed them some time ago."

"They are finding your so called 'stragglers' and speaking with them individually," Magneto explained. As he spoke, footsteps could be heard. Sabretooth came in, with Cannonball and the Morlock girl, Boomer. "I see they've persuaded someone already." Boomer smiled. Most of her teeth were clearly stained and yellow. Callisto glared.

More footsteps approached. Masque ambled in, his eyes still partially shut. Magneto scowled. He was clearly shocked.

"What lies have you been spreading?" Masque asked. "Have you had your little wolf electrocute anyone else?"

Morlocks all over stirred. Many started whispering.

"Sir, you were hostile, and Berzerker did as he should have," said Magneto.

"I didn't even get near one of you!" Masque snapped. He stumbled as he walked. Avalanche got between him and Magneto.

"Try any of your tricks on him, and the roof will cave in on you," he growled.

"Step away, or I'll tie your eyelids together," Masque threatened. "I've done it before, and it is not an enjoyable experience."

Avalanche lifted his foot up.

"Dominic, don't do that," Magneto ordered. "Not down here."

Avalanche relented, but grabbed Masque and knocked him to the ground. Morlocks surrounded them.

"This one doesn't want you to have a chance in society!" Magneto yelled. "Why listen to him? Why worry about him?" He felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned, and Callisto punched him in his exposed face. She then lept on top of him and grabbed for his helmet.



"Come on, Callisto, do it!" Professor Xavier said, barely above an excitable whipser. He had mentally watched the conflict, and told Callisto to confront Magneto. "Piotr, if she can get his helmet off, I want you to charge in and aid Masque." Colossus nodded.



Swinging her legs up onto his shoulders, Callisto yanked Magneto's helmet away, and and sprung off of him.



"Go!"



Colossus crashed into the platform area, where Avalanche was kicking Masque on the ground. The metal mutant grabbed the Brotherhood member and swung him around by his legs. Morlocks that got too close were hit, and knocked to the ground. Nearby, Magneto cried out in terror.

Stop this nonsense, Erik, ordered the mental voice of Charles Xavier. Whatever you hoped to gain from this expedition, it has failed.

What do you know, Charles? sneered Magneto. Surely you can sense that many have come to believe in my cause!

Your cause? Your crusade against those you see as inferior, you mean? What a hypocrite you've become, Erik.

Magneto fell to the ground. His head felt like a stake was being driven through it.

This can stop, said Xavier. I'm giving you a choice, which is more than you ever did for your victims, including several Morlocks already. Why massacre those you wish to rule? It makes so little sense.


Concentrating too hard on attacking Magneto, Xavier didn't realize he'd been snuck up on. Mystique grabbed him, and put him in a choke-hold.


Magneto got up, relieved. Callisto backed away in terror, as did the other loyal Morlocks.

"The time for negotiation is over!" Magneto roared, pulling his helmet toward him with his power.



Xavier elbowed Mystique in the gut, and spilled from his chair.

"Colossus!" he shouted.

"Don't bother," Mystique mocked. "He should have his hands full now, and me, well you just don't have a thing on me. This is one head the best can barely scatch the surface of."

Xavier squeezed his eyes shut. My X-Men, I need you, now! he called. Mystique slapped him across the face.

"No cheating now," she said. "It's one on one, Professor."



Colossus punched Sabretooth in the jaw.

"Still too much for you, no?" he teased. "You had to be carried away in shame the last time we fought." His arms went stiff.

"You are more of a target for me, X-Man," said Magneto, extending his arm. "I did a number on Wolverine, what can I do to you?" He felt a sharp pain in his back. A boney spine stuck out from it. Marrow held another in her hand. Psylocke, Angel, and Pyro stood with her.

"Leave him alone!" Marrow screamed.

"Quite the homecoming, is it not?" Magneto asked. "And my Judas, how are you? I must say, Mr. Allardyce, you disappointed me when you revealed yourself as a traitor."

"I'm no murderer