X-Men: Reimagined

bored

bored

One Sexy Lemur
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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.
 
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.
 
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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
"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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 ****e shows herself," he yelled, just loud enough for her to hear him. "Or, I guess, you'd be the blue ****e, 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.
 
excellent. I know how to spell Erik Lensherr now.

Keep it up.
 
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.
 
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. you will know what bored does in his spare time. i am actually evil! mwahaha!
 
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."
 
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.
 
nightcrawler and toad.

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


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

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


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

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...?"


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

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


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

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.
 
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