By Cynder

Welcome to a new dawn for BD Nostalgia. Ever since I have start-ed this venture in the world of comic books, manga and european Bédé, I was always wondering what could be? and what if? For a

couple of months I was extremely busy with my work, my family and all that surrounds me and I started to wonder...

What if I could give the oportunity for people to print out their works in the mag-azine. Then I realized that Fanfics are big and I couldn’t do a magazine with 300 pages, even though alot of people would say WOW!

First I resized the magazine, which is coming out in two weeks, then I made a new logo, after 3 years of the same logo, I wanted to refresh it, then I started to make a selection,... for one Fan Fiction to come out every month and let us not forget our magazine. Which I find is a winning success for everyone. So in the beginning of the month we see the magazine and two weeks later we see a new FanFic. Which some of them are really good. So now the problem starts.

Which will come out?

I am someone that reads alot and so I already chose a couple of them to come out. Later on for those that wants to publish directly, they can send the documents (Word), to news@bdnostalgia.com, and I will gladly publish their stories in this outgoing venture.

Let us not forget, this is for our fans, we are not making a dime, we just want ev-eryone to have the best from the best. The stories will from comics, manga and anime. so our readers can have a good variety of stories. The first story is “A New Beginning” by Cynder, a story about the X-MEN.

I hope you will like it.

Thank You

Sylvio MartinsEditor of BD Nostalgia

EDITORIAL

Chapter 1The First Night

The girl had just arrived at the mansion. No one knew who she was or what she could do.

Although there were many newcomers to the Xavier Institute that same day, she was the one everyone stared at. For the men, it was because of how good she looked, and for the girls, it was because she didn’t look like any of them.

Her hair was a dark brown, with a white streak on the left side.

As she entered the mansion, the founder and owner of the institute greeted her with a large smile.

“Hello,” he greeted. “It is nice to meet you again, Rogue. I was hoping you’d take my advice.” He handed her a few papers that explained her classes and who her teachers were.

“Yes, thank you,” she said with a faint Mississippi accent. “Do you have the number for the room I’ll be staying in?”

“Yes. But you must wait until I am able to find two other people. In this institute, the rooms are filled with three people.” As he smiled, she returned it and then walked away.

She came to a stop by a boy around her age with blondish-brown hair wearing an overgrown blue jacket.

“Hello,” Rogue said to him. “My name’s Rogue. What’s yours?”

“Bobby Drake,” he replied with a small smile. “I’m sorry if it’s a little chilly around me right now.”

“Why are you saying that?”

“Because my special power is controlling ice,” he said. “I do my best not to make people cold, but it never helps, because they usually get scared, thinking that I’ll freeze them.”

Rogue thought of the main reason she was there. It was because of an incident with her boyfriend, where she’d kissed him, and suddenly almost all of his life had been taken right out of him. That was the day she’d found out her worst secret: she was a mutant.

That was what the Xavier Institute was actually for: it was to teach mutants and help them with their powers.

Xavier himself was a telepathic mutant who had wanted to find some sort of a sanc-tuary for mutants, as they were discriminated against by humans.

Rogue looked over to the line of mutants who were waiting. Out of them all, she no-ticed a small girl with bright blue eyes and long brown hair. There was then a tall girl with bright medium-length blond hair, and a man with dark black hair, taller than all the others.

The small girl received the papers, as did the tall blond girl, and once that had hap-pened, both came near Rogue.

“Hello,” greeted the small girl with a bright smile. “My name’s Kitty Pryde. What’s yours?”

“I’m Rogue,” Rogue told her. “Nice to meet you.”

“And my name’s Alison,” the blond girl said. “Allison Blaire. I hope to be friends with the both of you.”

“What are you guys able to do?” Rogue asked them.

But before they could answer, a beautiful African-American woman with long all-white hair came over to them.

“My name is Storm, and I am one of your teachers,” she said nicely. “I see that you three are together, and I was wondering, would you like to be sharing a room?”

The three girls looked at one another, thinking of how strange a question it was. But finally, they’d made their decision.

“Sure,” Kitty said.

“Sure,” said Alison.

And finally, “Sure,” said Rogue.

Storm began leading them to their room. As she left, Rogue looked back to where Bobby was standing and smiled at him. He returned the smile, and for a moment Rogue thought he had a loving look in his eyes.

“So what class will you be teaching us?” Kitty asked.

“Mutant evolution,” Storm told her. “I believe it might be your fifth period, just after lunch.” They walked in silence for another couple of minutes as they traveled up the stairs. Finally they stopped near a door made of maple wood, glossed up and shiny. “Alright, here we are.” Storm smiled at the three girls. “If you need anyone, just come find me. I’m right down the hall.”

“Why are you right down the hall?” Allison asked.

“I’m the head of the girls’ dormitory, along with Jean Grey. Just come find us if some-thing’s wrong, or if you just need us.”

She handed Kitty the key.

As she opened the door, the girls’ mouths dropped open: the room had two bunk beds,

as well as three normal beds. There were two dressers in the room, as well as a small refrigerator. The floors were made of the same wood as the door.

While the girls unpacked, they began talking of what they’d done before arriving at the mansion.

“I was born in Gardendale, New York back in 1996,” Alison began. “I never learned of my powers until two months ago. I wanted to be a professional singer, and while I was singing at our school dance, my abilities appeared to everyone. I’m not sure how many still remember, but it was scary. I think everyone believed it to be a technolog-ically-generated special effect. Now I’m just scared of what’ll happen when I return home.” She looked over to Kitty. “What’s your story, Kitty?”

“I was born in Deerfield, Illinois the same year you were. I never learned of my pow-ers until I was 13. I started having these weird headaches, and it scared me so much! I learned of this place once my powers truly showed themselves, and as far as my parents know, I’m off at boarding school.”

“Wow,” said Rogue.

“What’s your backstory, Rogue?” Kitty finally asked her. She was smiling at Rogue brightly, which caused Rogue to have a small hint of a smile, but only faintly.

“Well, you both know I’m from Mississippi. My accent doesn’t come out as much anymore, but you can hear it sometimes. Anyway, I fell in love with a boy named Cody. One day, he and I kissed, and suddenly, all of his life was sucked out of him. He went into a permanent coma, and afterward, I ran away from home. I was found by the Pro-fessor, and now I’m here.”

Silence followed her words. Kitty’s smile had faded, with sadness having taken its place. And then finally, the girls began speaking again.

“Well, Rogue, I’m happy to have you here,” Kitty said. “I’m sure you’ll be an amaz-ing friend.”

“Hey, I have an idea before bed!” Alison told them. “Wanna show off what we can do?”

“Well, I don’t,” Rogue said. “My powers can kill you.”

“True. How about you, Kitty?”

“Sure!”

“Alright then. You might wanna be careful, because this can get really bright.”

Alison began concentrating, and suddenly, many different-colored sparkles of light appeared all around her.

Kitty and Rogue just stared, seeing how beautiful she looked with the sparkling col-

ors around her.

Then the colors faded. Alison was smiling very brightly at them. “So what did you think? Amazing, huh?”

“Wow,” Rogue whispered. “That would help to blind people if you ever need to. Es-pecially if you get into a fight at all, you know?”

Alison nodded, and then turned to Kitty.

“Your turn,” she said.

Kitty looked around the room. She went over to the bunk beds and suddenly, just as Rogue thought she was going to run into the metal bars, Kitty passed right through them. This was an amazing ability, or so thought Rogue and Alison. All three of them knew their powers made them very talented.

“I’m glad to know the both of you,” Kitty said.

Both Rogue and Alison agreed.

“Wait, what class do you two have tomorrow?” Alison asked.

“I have mutant evolution with Storm first thing,” Kitty said. “What do you have?”

“Same thing. Rogue?”

“I have Storm as well.”

All three of them smiled, and although Rogue’s wasn’t a big smile like the ones she’d used before learning she was a mutant, she meant it, believing it was the start of a great friendship.

They all put on their nightclothes, and as Kitty turned out the lights, Rogue whispered to them, “Good night.”

Chapter 2Destiny

As Kitty woke the next morning, she noticed that Alison was already gone, but Rogue hadn’t woken.

After dressing in her normal white shirt and leather jacket, she went over to her dresser and looked at the schedule. She noticed that the classes didn’t begin until 10:30. Checking her clock, she saw that it was 8:48.

Knowing it was time for breakfast, she shook Rogue.

“Hey Rogue,” she whispered. “Time to get up.”

Rogue groaned and opened her eyes. She smiled once she saw that it was Kitty.

“What time is it?” Rogue asked.

“Almost 9. I think they serve breakfast here, so I was gonna go down and see if Alison is there,” Kitty said. “Want to come?”

“Sure.” Rogue got out of bed a little slowly and put on a plain black shirt and a green jean jacket.

Kitty noticed that both of them wore black boots. But the one thing that was a little different was that Rogue was forced to wear a single black glove because of her mutant ability.

“Kitty,” Rogue said.

“Yes?” Kitty asked.

“I’m scared.”

“What are you scared of? Me, you, and Alison have the same first class together! No one will think of you as a freak. And besides, even if they do, they’re not only really idiotic, because they all have powers of their own, but you’ve got me to help you.” Kitty gave Rogue a very warm smile, which helped Rogue to know how great a friend Kitty was.

They found Alison in the large living room, holding a plate with pancakes and sau-sage. Kitty could see that there had been eggs, but they’d already been eaten.

“Morning!” greeted Alison. “The food’s in the kitchen. Wow, I’m excited to start class!”

Both Kitty and Rogue looked at each other awkwardly, neither having ever been ex-cited about a school class.

“Well, everyone’s different,” Rogue said as they plopped the pancakes, waffles, and sausage onto their plates.

“True,” said Kitty. “But for right now, let’s just try to talk to her about what plans she might have this weekend. I wouldn’t mind going out somewhere.”

“I hate shopping.”

“I do, too, but we can still do something else. Maybe the movies or a bookstore?”

Rogue only shrugged, her mind still on the fact that she was there at the school, a school for mutants, where nobody would call her a freak.

Just as they sat down by Alison, Kitty saw Professor X coming over to them.

“Good morning, Kitty,” he greeted. “And to you, Rogue and Alison. How did you sleep last night?”

“Well,” all three girls said, although Alison’s voice was muffled by the large amount of pancake in her mouth.

“Good. When you three are done with your first class, please come to my office. We need to talk.”

As he rolled away in his electric wheelchair, Kitty turned to Rogue.

“What do you think that was about?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Rogue said. “I guess it’s because we’re new. I wonder if anyone else will be there.”

The three friends stayed silent for another 30 minutes until the bell rang, and so they began making their way to their first class, mutant evolution.

As they entered the room, Rogue noticed the boy with the jacket who’d said he had the power of making ice.

“Hiya,” she greeted him. “Nice to meet you again.” She saw the empty seat next to him and sat down. Rogue then realized that Kitty and Alison had sat down in front of her and were looking back to see what she was doing.

But before she could say anything, Storm walked into the classroom with large books in her arms.

“Don’t worry, none of these books are meant for this class,” she told the class. “We will be learning more about each other today. You will need a partner for this. If you cannot find one, then I will help you.” She finished with a bright smile. “Oh, and it can’t be someone you already know,” she added.

Rogue looked over to the boy. “Bobby, would you like to be my partner?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said.

They saw Storm hand out papers, and on the paper were 3 questions. They were:

1. What is your partner’s name?

2. Where were they born and how old are they?

What kinds of powers are they capable of? Have they used these powers before?

“So what’s your name again?” Bobby asked.

“Rogue,” she answered. Her mind was suddenly on that question, and could only think of what she’d done to her boyfriend, to Cody. “W-What’s yours again? Bobby Drake?”

“Yes. Now, when were you born?”

“In 1996. Now, um...”

Just as he opened his mouth, Kitty turned around and saw how much she was sweat-ing, how bad the fear was in her eyes.

Suddenly Rogue jumped up out of her chair and rushed to the front of the room.

“Um...Professor?” she asked.

“Please, call me Storm,” Storm told her.

“Okay. Um...could I please go to the bathroom? Please?”

“Sure...Are you okay?”

But Rogue had run out of the room already. She ran down the hallway, looking for the bathroom. She saw a closet, and threw herself inside, not wanting anybody to see her. She was too ashamed, too scared.

As tears streamed down her face, Rogue thought of how she wished she could cause the past to be erased.

She closed her eyes while still crying, alone in the dark of the closet.

Then came the sudden knocking on the door. Rogue opened her eyes.

“Rogue! Rogue, come on out, you’re worrying me!” It was Kitty’s voice. Rogue opened the door and saw her friend with a very worried expression. Alison stood be-hind her. “What happened?”

“I-It was-”

They heard the sounds of an electric wheelchair behind them. The friends turned to see Professor X coming towards them.

“Ah, there you are,” he said with a smile. “You were a little late for our meeting, so I wanted to come find you three.” He was smiling up to the point where he saw Rogue. “Why, Rogue, what’s wrong? Have you been crying?” She nodded slowly. “Why, my

poor dear, please come with me. You two should come as well.”

The girls followed him to his private office, what looked to be the largest room in the entire mansion other than the living room.

It was lit up, but there was someone over in the corner of the room, smoke trailing from the cigar that they were chomping on.

“Logan, please!” Professor X exclaimed. “We have young girls in here! You don’t need to be smoking during this meeting.”

“Sorry about that,” the man named Logan said from the shadows. He finally came out into the sunlight. His dark brown hair was crazy. His skin was tanned, and he wore a plain white shirt and blue jeans.

He looked happily at the three girls. “Hi there,” he greeted with a smile. “I’ll be glad to know you all.”

“Ladies, this is Logan,” Professor X explained. “He is also known as the Wolverine. He will be your mentor from now on.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” asked Kitty.

“I know of the powers you three are capable of,” he answered. “You didn’t realize there are cameras in these rooms just in case, now did you?”

“No, not at all,” Alison said. “Why are they there?”

“In case something gets out of hand and you need help,” Logan told them.

“So we won’t be having normal classes anymore?” Rogue asked.

“You will have some, yes, but you will have something new that will take up more time,” Professor X explained simply. “I believe you three are ready to become mem-bers of the X-Men. It is an honor, because you three will be the youngest X-Men, so long as we completely accept you. Now, before I go on, please explain to Logan what your powers are. Kitty, please be the first one.”

Kitty gulped, and then started explaining. “I can phase through almost anything. It does sometimes take concentration, but I’m able to do it now real easily. If someone holds on to me, I can even take them through the walls or floors I go through.”

“Interesting,” Logan said.

“Alison, you next,” Professor X said.

“I’m able to convert sonic vibrations from one form into another, which cause all these kinds of lights to be around me,” she said. “When it first happened, people thought it was all technology.”

And then, “Rogue, it’s your turn.”

Rogue didn’t know what to do. She thought of what she had done, and what had hap-

pened when Bobby had asked her the question, how she’d run off.

“Okay,” she said softly. “I can take the life force from humans. That’s my guess, be-cause it happened when I kissed my boyfriend.”

Professor X nodded simply at her, seeing what her emotions were. He knew she was ready to leave.

“Rogue, you, Kitty, and Alison may go. I want to think these things through. We will get back to you three by tomorrow.” He gave them a smile.

As the girls left the room, Kitty patted Rogue’s back. “It’s alright,” she comforted. “You don’t need to worry about what’s coming. You have friends to help you.”

“I know,” said Rogue. “But it’s still hard for me to go through everything. They all probably think I’m a freak in that class. I ran off to a cleaning closet and left myself in. I’m nothing but a freak now.”

“You’re not a freak!” Alison exclaimed. “We’re all different, that’s what you need to remember! Me and Kitty are on your side no matter what, and if you think we’re going to leave you alone, then stop right there!”

“Rogue,” Kitty began, “you’re like a sister to me already. My own sister hates me, and that’s only because she wanted to be an only child, and I was born 6 years after her. You don’t need to doubt yourself in what you’re capable of. You may have these powers, but that doesn’t mean you’re any different than the rest of us.”

She hugged Rogue tightly, to which Rogue smiled and hugged her back.

“What should we do now?” Alison asked. “I’m pretty sure it’s not the best idea to go back to class for right now, you know?”

“Let’s get back to our room. I’ll be able to think a little better in there,” Kitty said. “I just need some sleep.”

When they finally arrived at their room, Rogue looked at Kitty. She saw that the small girl was battling against something in her mind, but didn’t know what it was.

“What’s the matter, Kitty?” Rogue asked, a little concerned.

“I’m having a headache right now,” she answered. “I get them a lot, although it’s less frequent now. There’s no need to worry about me.”

Rogue nodded, and then began thinking to herself.

I wonder what Professor X and Wolverine are talking about, she thought. Maybe they’re saying how different I am from all the others, how unlike I am from Kitty and Alison. I just hope they don’t think of me as a freak...No, don’t think that! Just remem-ber Kitty’s words: You’re not different from any of the rest of the mutants here at this school! Just keep a clear mind right now, because that’s what will be helping you most, Rogue. You need to keep your mind clean, and keep your friends close. Kitty is the best friend I’ve had, and mostly one of the first I’ve had, and I don’t want to push her and

Alison away from me. I need them to stay my friends for as long as I can, because it’ll help with everything else I must face in this world.

There was a sudden knock at the door. Kitty opened it and saw Logan standing there, Professor X next to him.

“We’ve made our decision,” Professor X told them. “You three will now be part of the X-Men. Your powers are amazing, and you will do well during it all. Tomorrow I will give you your code-names. Every member here needs one so that the public will not know our true names. The last thing I must say before I leave is that Wolverine here will be mentoring only Kitty. For you, Rogue, we will have Jean Grey, and Storm will be your mentor, Alison. I am glad to have you three as part of the team. I hope you all have a great rest of the day, and I also hope to see you at dinner.”

With one last large smile, he left them there, with only Logan remaining. He was looking at all three of the girls.

“Well, one thing is for sure, none of you are ugly,” he said. “Now Kitty, since I’m your mentor, you will do as I say. Of course, that’ll probably real easy for you. To-morrow we will begin training. Once you pass every test, you will go out on your first mission. Meet me at the bottom of the stairs at around noon tomorrow, and I will take you to where we train everyone.”

Logan left them to their selves.

“Wow,” Kitty said. “This is all a big surprise right now. I never thought this would be coming true!”

“It doesn’t surprise me about you guys. But I am surprised that I was chosen for this,” Rogue said. “I know I shouldn’t be saying this, but-” A smile came across her face. “Ah, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just be happy for the rest of today!”

Kitty gave her another hug, which Rogue returned and which Alison joined in on. They knew that this was their destiny, and that with every destiny, there was a journey that came along with it. The girls were ready for their journey towards their destiny, and nothing could stand in the way of it.

Chapter 3The Brotherhood

The strange man made his way to the front of the warehouse, a woman wearing a fur cloak by his side.

The main difference between the two of them were their powers. They were both mutants, not humans. The only reason they’d never shown their powers in public was due to the fact that mutants were being hunted now, thanks to new machines that were being built by the scientists.

“Are you ready for this?” asked the man in a heavy British accent. “I don’t know how they will be reacting tonight. Of course, they should listen. If not...then that’s their problem.” He finished with an evil smile.

The woman looked over to him. Her skin was blue, with scales covering some of her face. She was very beautiful despite the scales.

As they opened the doors to the inside of the warehouse, they saw more than ten other mutants sitting there, waiting on them.

“Hello, my friends,” said the man. “My name is Magneto. I have called you here to-day to help me with one thing: to join the Brotherhood and join my side as we defeat our enemies.”

“What will that include?” asked a large, muscular man wearing a type of orange metal armor on his body, a helmet resembling half an egg right next to him, in an Australian accent.

“This will include both humans and other mutants,” the woman said. “My name is Mystique, and I am Magneto’s second-in-command. While many of the humans have decided to kill us, there is a group of mutants who are attempting to overthrow us. They believe that all are created equally.”

“Now ain’t that a piece of crap,” a blond-haired boy said in the front row. “None of us are created equal. Sure, I never learned of my powers until I was 15, but still...”

“Thank you,” Mystique said. “Now, our only problem is that this place for mutants is also a school for them, with kids being taught there.”

“Yes, but there’s also their secret team there,” Magneto reminded her. “They are called the X-Men, and they have attempted to stop the Brotherhood ever since I left.”

“Wait, they’re only little kids?” the Australian man asked.

“What is your name?” Magneto asked him.

“Flint Marko. But now, many call me the Juggernaut.”

Magneto nodded, and then returned to his speech.

“These are not children. The youngest of them are at least 24. They have many differ-ent powers and are very different from each other, but one thing they all have the same is that they are lead by the same man!” Magneto explained. “His name is Charles Xavi-er. He owns the mansion in which the institute is based, and he is the main professor. They are our only true antagonists, other than humans, of course. I need to know your names so that you can be initiated into the Brotherhood. Mystique shall help you with that. But for now, tell us your names for later.” He gave the attendees a smile, although it was untrue.

“You already know mine,” Juggernaut said. “I’ll be crushing these little idiots before anything will happen to my leader.”

“Name’s Pyro,” said the blond-haired boy. “I can control and create fire, and as you can guess, ice will melt very easily under my touch.” A small smirk appeared on his face.

As the others gave Mystique their names, Magneto went over to a part of the ware-house in the shadows. “Are you ready for this, Emma?” he asked the woman standing there.

“Yes, I am,” she said. “Just to be sure, what must I do again?”

“You must make sure that these mutants understand the importance of why we must be in hiding for now. Do you our...special guest?”

“I do. He’s been trying to escape, but it’s not working well for him, because all he can do is waddle, and as you know, that wouldn’t help a human.”

Magneto laughed a little, and then his face went back to normal. He was not one to have many showing emotions, only because of the torture he’d received in concentra-tion camps in the 1940’s.

Magneto finally saw Mystique coming over to him, walking in a seductive way.

“I’ve got all the names,” she said. “Here’s a list of them.” She handed a small notepad to him. “They’re all ready for this. Not one of them decided to leave.”

“Even if they did, they would be tracked down very easily,” Magneto reminded her. “Because of what we have, there’s no point in running.”

“Now, how about we go ahead and tell them about this? The surprise we have for them, I mean.”

As they returned to the front, Magneto looked at them with a small bit of glee in his eyes.

“We do have a small surprise for all of you,” he told them. “Just to help you all, if you feel any sort of anger towards this, hold it in until the end. Now, here is one of my generals here in the Brotherhood. Her name is Emma Frost.”

The woman came out of the shadows, wearing a white strapless top and a light blue cloth skirt. Her hair was platinum-blond, and her lips were icy-blue.

She was dragging a small little man, a dwarf, to the front. He was wearing a torn suit and dress pants. He had a large mustache and thick brown hair. Glasses were upon his face. Chains stopped him from escaping.

He doesn’t have much of a chance, anyway, thought Mystique before speaking.

“This is Bolivar Trask,” Mystique announced to the new Brotherhood members. “He and another man created these robot-type things known as the Sentinels to help kill us all. It is because of them that our race could be wiped out. We were lucky enough to capture Mr. Trask here as he was having lunch with a friend; our only problem now is that he was able to hide a device from us somehow that allowed him to send out a distress call.”

“Yes,” Magneto said, taking over from her. “We destroyed the device, and so the sig-nals will be scrambled, but we are now on the run even more than usual. We must leave as soon as this meeting is over. Wherever we travel to, do not get too used to the place. It will only lead to your deaths.”

“Please, help me!” Trask yelled out. “I don’t belong here! I don’t want to be here!”

“TOO BAD!” exclaimed Mystique, laughing ruthlessly.

“Anyhow, this is the creature they have created to kill us all,” Magneto said. He be-gan concentrating, and suddenly a purple-silver machine with yellow eyes was floating towards them.

“What in the heck?” Pyro yelled out. “How are you doing that?”

“Must be his power,” said a very fat man behind him. “He must be able to control metal. That’s what I would think, at least.”

“Yes,” Magneto assured them. “That is my ability. Now, this machine-” He struggled in putting the Sentinel down. “This machine is meant to hunt us. He may be defeated and restrained by us, but the government is now making them to stop us. We must stop them so that this production will not destroy our entire race!”

“You cannot win, old man!” snapped Trask. “These Sentinels are indestructible! I made them this way, and no one can stop the entire production! Only one man has that kind of power!”

“Is that so?” asked Magneto. “Hm...”

Trask seemed even more frightened. He realized he’d just let them know of the man who had helped him...the man who hated his own son for becoming a mutant...

“Please, just stop this madness!” Trask pleaded. “I will let you all go and live, without the Sentinels to find you! Just leave me alone! I don’t deserve any of this!”

“Oh, you do,” Mystique hissed to him. “Don’t you realize what you’ve done to all the

mutants? You’ve caused many of us to go into hiding because of these things!”

“But I never meant to make you mad...I just wanted to be recognized for once...to make money and not be made fun of any longer!”

“So what you did is put the lives of people in danger just because we were all differ-ent?” the Juggernaut snapped at him. “What a sickening little piece of-”

“STOP!” ordered Magneto angrily. “Do you not see what you’re doing? Do you not see that you’re fueling his ideas? He will use all that you say against you now!”

“Then that means we need to kill him,” Emma said. “Is anybody else with me there?”

“I am!” Pyro volunteered. “I’ve really been wanting to kill a normal human for a while!” An evil smile crossed his lips. “Cooked human, anyone?”

Magneto smiled faintly once more, seeing that his Brotherhood had a true hatred to-wards humans, exactly what he was wishing for.

“Fine,” he said commandingly. “We won’t kill you, Trask. We will let you live so long as you tell us who this other person is...who the other creator of the Sentinels is.”

Pyro and the Juggernaut, as well as the fat man, looked at him as if he were complete-ly insane. But Mystique and Emma both knew his true intentions for Trask.

“Fine. I will tell you, but you must let me know that you shall not kill either him or his son!”

Trask realized he’d let something slip. Due to his chains, he could not cover his mouth, but wanted to so very badly.

“So he has a son?” Emma said. “Good. We might be able to help him. Is his son...normal?”

“Wait a moment, Emma,” Magneto commanded. “Let me check into his mind.”

The old man concentrated deeply, and suddenly was able to read every single thought of the man.

He found exactly what he wanted to know. And he was about to share it with the Brotherhood.

“His son is not normal,” Magneto announced to them. “His son is a mutant.”

“PLEASE! DON’T DO THIS! I’LL DO ANYTHING FOR YOU, JUST DON’T DO ANYTHING TO THEM! PLEASE!” Trask screamed at the top of his lungs.

Magneto could only stare at him, a faint smile tugging at his lips. Mystique realized this was the most he’d ever almost smiled.

“I won’t; you do not have to worry at all, my friend.” Magneto then looked to Mys-tique and nodded. “And could you answer me one more question, Mr. Trask?”

“What?”

“Please tell all those here the name of the man, and his son.”

“His name is Stryker, William Stryker. His son is Jason. But please, just don’t hurt them, and don’t hurt me! I’m innocent!”

“You are not!” Pyro exclaimed at him. “You’re trying to eradicate us all, just so you humans can live your lives in peace!”

“Easy now, my boy. There is no need to be angry,” Magneto told him.

Trask could feel all the tension inside of him, and he could no longer keep everything inside. He had to let the secret loose.

“You’ll all die,” he told them. “Some of the Sentinels will be set loose onto you, and there’s nothing that can be done about it! You’re a villain; villains always lose. Some-one will rise up to stop you, no matter how small or how powerful they are. You will lose.”

“Thank you, Mr. Trask. That is all we needed.”

Mystique put her arms around Trask’s neck, and suddenly-SNAP!

Bolivar Trask was now dead, his neck broken. And it had all been at the hands of a mutant.

“So what do we do now?” asked the fat man.

“Since we have this Sentinel right here with us, I say we keep it for now,” Magneto answered.

“Why?” Pyro asked. “It’s meant to kill us.”

“Yes, but I believe I know someone fast enough to get it all on, and then disappear before they are killed.” He looked at Mystique. “It will be you, my dear.”

She nodded, ready for it.

“What will we do then?” Juggernaut asked.

“We will pay this Stryker man a visit, and tell him to do something I’ve wished to do for a while. But first, we will release this Sentinel in a few days.”

“Why in a few days?” Mystique asked. “Why not now?”

“Because something tells me we will have a member of the X-Men out in the open in a few days.”

For the first time in many years, Mystique saw Magneto truly smile, although this one was a smile of true evil.

Chapter 4Danger Room

Rogue, Kitty, and Alison knew that the day was coming for when they would truly be initiated. But Kitty still had mixed feelings towards it all. She wondered what her parents would be thinking of it if they truly found out what she was

able to do.

But there was also the fact that she’d be in constant danger, as Logan had told her one day when they’d gone out to lunch in the city.

“Now Kitty,” he said, “you need to know that some of this crap is serious and danger-ous, and you need to make sure you concentrate when you’re fighting against enemies. That includes mutants.”

“What do you mean?” she asked. “There are mutants who are trying to kill us? Or are against us?”

“Yes,” he answered. “They are known as the Brotherhood. They are led by a man known as Magneto. He and Professor X used to be good friends, but then there was an incident, and so we’ve become bitter enemies. The X-Men against the Brotherhood.”

“How many times have you guys battled together?”

“A lot. The last few times these little battles have happened, we’ve lost. No casualties, just losses. We need to make sure we show them that the X-Men aren’t just a delusional team of mutants who care for the species that’s trying to kill us. That’s why we’ve re-cruited you three girls. We thought it’d be good, because you all have abilities that we can use against the Brotherhood. You have more of a chance with not getting injured.”

“The only problem there is that if I’m surprised or something like that, I can’t phase as easily,” Kitty admitted honestly. “I learned that after a boy surprised me at my nor-mal school. I went running for my life, and when I tried going into one of the unused classrooms, I couldn’t go through it until I had calmed down.”

“Interesting.” Logan scratched at the stubble on his chin. “Well, don’t worry a thing. Usually, when we have others join the X-Men, we start them off with something real easy.” He smiled. “Now, about your friends, what have you learned of them? Other than just their powers and backgrounds, I mean.”

“I don’t know if I should say anything. They might not like it if I tell a person we don’t completely trust. I trust you as my mentor, but not as a friend. I just don’t know you enough for that.”

“What about them? Are you able to trust them? It’s been only about a week since you first met Rogue and Alison. How much can you trust them? Actually, hold on a minute, let’s rephrase that. Out of the two girls, which one do you trust most?”

Kitty was forced to think for a moment, and then found her answer about a minute later.

“As much as I love Alison, I trust Rogue most,” she answered. “I see a lot of myself in her. She seems like the one I can call to come and help me most. I just don’t want to have to tell all this to Alison. She’s such a good friend; it’s just that she’s...”

“Different?” suggested Logan. “I understand what you mean, and I’ll make sure that I don’t tell Alison of this.” He smiled at her. “Now, you need to finish lunch and be ready for what’s to come next. You have a heck of a lot of training coming up, and it all starts tomorrow. You have three days of this training, and if you’re able to get all the way through at least two of these days, then you will be a true member of the X-Men.”

“What if I don’t get through two of them?”

“Well, you’ll still be a member, but you won’t do as much. Understand?” Kitty nod-ded. “Good, now eat up so we can get back. Being out here in the open is scary enough to me already.”

Later that day, Kitty found herself going through the most simple tests, such as stealth and speed. Stealth was the best for her, as she was able to hide in the shadows very easily, and when one of the fake robot enemies came at her, she attacked like a cat.

But as for speed, although she was good, she had trouble getting away from the robots as they came after her. At the end of the day, exhausted and tired, Kitty went to Logan. She was sweating more than ever and panting heavily.

“Want to know how you did?” he asked her.

“Yes,” she said.

“I give you an A for all this,” he told her. “You did real well, kid. You’re a natural when it comes to stealth, and although you could have done better in speed, I can’t blame you for not doing as well. Go get some rest, Kitty. You’re gonna need it for to-morrow. Be here at 9 A.M. sharp!”

Kitty nodded and walked away from the room.

Her whole body was sore due to the training. She looked at the clock at the top of the stairs and realized how long she’d been training. When she’d started, it had been 3 P.M., and presently it was almost 7.

Once she entered her room and closed the door, she collapsed on her bed, waiting for the other girls to come back from their training.

Rogue was the first to arrive. When she saw Kitty on her bed, breathing heavily, she

frowned.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

“I spent nearly 4 hours training with Logan,” she said. “I’m so exhausted, I could go to sleep right now.”

“Well, I don’t blame you on the exhaustion part. But I haven’t had to deal with the rigorous training.”

“Lucky you.”

“It’s because of the way my mutant ability is. Jean says that I’ll be in that simulation training thing tomorrow with you and Alison, though. Are you ready for it?”

“Once I start sleeping, I will be,” Kitty said. “How much more has Jean been helping you?”

“The funny thing is, whenever I have some of that other mutant’s power, I can read their mind. Jean’s been helping me with that and how to deal with it if it ever happens again.”

Alison finally showed up right then, looking less exhausted than Kitty, but exhausted all the same.

“Can someone please turn out the lights for me?” she asked wearily. “I need my sleep. As much as I want to help the X-Men out, this training isn’t helping!”

“This must be like preparing for war or something,” Kitty said. “How was your day, Alison?”

“It was good. Storm helped me with controlling my emotions, which have to do with the exact intensity of my power,” she explained. “Then I went through some training. I did well with speed, but failed on stealth.”

“I did well on stealth, and although I did well with speed, it wasn’t as good. Logan gave me an A for my grade today, though, which pleases me.” Kitty yawned, unable to take it anymore. She didn’t want to skip dinner, but she was too exhausted.

She finally gave in to going, but had to deal with almost falling asleep, as did Alison and Rogue.

“I’m off to bed,” Kitty finally announced to Rogue. “Tell Alison where I am. I just can’t stand this anymore. It’s too hard to stay awake.”

She stumbled up the stairs, and instead of opening the door and closing it, she phased right through the wall and collapsed onto her bed, hoping for peaceful sleep.

The next thing she knew, she was being shaken awake.

“Kitty, come on, it’s time to get up,” came Rogue’s voice.

Kitty opened her eyes, fully rested, not tired at all, although she was still sore from

the first bit of training.

“What’ll you be wearing today?” Rogue asked her.

“Probably just my usual. White shirt, black jacket, blue jeans, and black boots,” Kitty explained. “I’m ready for this to be done. I’m ready to become the next member of the X-Men.”

Kitty made her way as fast as she could to where she’d last seen Logan. She found him there, standing and waiting on her.

“Ah, there you are. Glad to see you’re all rested up,” he said. “How do you feel?”

“Well, I’m sore, but I’m ready to prove myself for you,” she said. “I’m ready for the X-Men.”

“Well then, come on.”

They passed Storm and Jean Grey, both waiting on their students.

“They should be coming,” Kitty told them. At this the two teachers merely nodded.

“Don’t worry about them. They don’t talk too much to newcomers who want to be a part of the X-Men,” Logan told her. “Once you are a member, they’ll accept you even more.”

Kitty smiled at such a prospect.

The two finally arrived in a room that seemed to be made entirely of chrome. Profes-sor X was waiting on him.

“Hello, Kitty,” he greeted. “I’m glad you could make it. Now, before we begin, I must tell you that in there, it can be brutal. But don’t worry if you ‘die,’ because you won’t truly die. It’s all a simulation in there. This is called the Danger Room, and it’s helped with training every member of the X-Men that are still there now. Logan has a different story, but that’s because he’d already proved himself.”

“So what should I do once I’m caught?” Kitty asked.

“You will try again. I do not know how many times you will try this, but it’s best to know how well you can perform. But where are Alison and Rogue?”

“I last saw them getting ready,” Kitty told him. “I’m not too sure if they’re here or not.”

“We are,” said Rogue, appearing from behind them with Jean. Alison was near them with Storm. “Are we ready for this, girls?”

“Yes,” said Kitty.

“You bet!” Alison exclaimed.

“Alright then. Logan will be in there with you, but you may not go to him. He is only

meant to watch you,” Professor X told them. “I wish you luck.” He smiled at them, pressed a button on a control panel, and watched as the doors to the Danger Room opened.

The girls entered slowly and carefully.

Suddenly there was a whole new world around them. Fires blazed around on the ground. Kitty saw Logan standing there and watching them.

Robotic enemies appeared around them, and it was right then and there that Kitty, Rogue, and Alison had no idea what they could do. Kitty knew she had the strength and courage, though, and started on the enemies.

They began attacking her, although she was quicker than they were, and whenever they almost touched her, she phased right through and destroyed their central controls.

Meanwhile Rogue let herself become encircled by the machines. She let out a large attack that destroyed most of them. Having once been trained in martial arts by a friend, she was able to take them down one by one.

But one was able to land a hit, tearing through her shirt. Rogue destroyed the machine quickly and easily, but knew that there would be a problem with her shirt being torn.

Alison fought hard against the robots, but her powers weren’t as good against them. She was hit four times by the machines before finally taking each one down. She sighed, knowing it would count against her.

The girls came together, trying to see if there were anymore enemies for them to face. Rogue noticed Kitty had not been touched, although she was sweating profusely, and her hands were shaking.

The three heard a deep rumble, and right at that moment, they saw a huge robot twice the others’ sizes appear seemingly right out of the ground.

“Oh crap,” Kitty said.

“You’re right on that one,” Rogue replied.

But they went after the machine anyway. Kitty saw a huge metal hand attempt to come down on her. She phased through, jumped, and landed on it.

Rogue started climbing onto it, doing her best to not fall off.

“Rogue, I’ll handle this!” Kitty yelled to her. “Go back down there!”

“I’m not leaving!” Rogue told her. “We need to finish this together!”

“Alright then. We’re going to need Alison to blind this thing, but first I’ll need to make it come closer to the ground. Only then can we stop it for good.” She then yelled down, “Alison, make sure to blind it as soon as its head comes closer to the ground!” She saw a thumbs up from Alison, signaling that it was the right moment. “You need to keep this thing distracted while I’m inside,” Kitty then told Rogue. “I’m going in.”

Phasing right through the metal of the robot, Kitty searched for the main control. She noticed what seemed to be a computer-shaped device in the middle of it.

Hurrying over to it through the wires, Kitty kicked it, causing the robot to lunge downward. Knowing what was about to happen, Kitty closed her eyes. Opening them again, she saw that it was time for it to end it.

Phasing her right hand right into the device, she found what she believed to be the main wire. Solidifying her hand, she disconnected the wire, and then phased her hand right back through.

She realized the robot was beginning to lean sideways, letting her know that she’d finished the job.

Kitty concentrated on the ground, and phased herself out of the robot and to a safe place. As she opened her eyes, she saw that she was back on the ground.

As the robot fell over, defeated, Rogue and Alison came over to her.

The simulation suddenly ended. Logan came over to them with a shocked expression on his face.

Professor X, Storm and Jean Grey came over too, also with the shocked expressions.

“Well, well,” Professor X said happily. “You three truly are extraordinary. I’ve nev-er seen anyone do what you did today. And you did it all in a window of less than 45 minutes. Well done!”

Rogue looked over to Kitty, a bright smile on her face.

“It was all thanks to Kitty,” she said. “We wouldn’t have done so well if it hadn’t been for her.”

“I’m more shocked than ever,” Storm said. “It normally takes a very long time for the robot to be overcome, and it was more with brute strength than it was with brains and planning.”

“If anyone deserves to become a member of the X-Men, it’s Kitty,” Alison said. “She’s the one with the most brains, while Rogue and I both were hit.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Logan told her. “Kitty had a little bit of an advantage there. Phasing through is something she does naturally; don’t take it the wrong way, Alison.”

“You three may leave the room for now,” Professor X told them. “But stay until we call you back in. We need to talk this over.”

Kitty led her friends out of the room. She bent over, breathing harder than ever.

“You alright?” Rogue asked.

“Yeah, it’s just that I’ve never done anything like that before,” Kitty explained. “Thanks for all your help back in there, guys.”

“Well, you deserved it,” Alison told her. “You were better than either me or Rogue. You were able to lead us through it all and you didn’t give up.”

“That, and you didn’t get a scratch on you,” Rogue added.

“Look, I know how well I did, but I don’t exactly know if I’m ready for the X-Men or not.”

“Kitty, don’t say that!” Rogue exclaimed. “You’re amazing! You think quicker than any of us, and you barely get hurt by anything! I don’t understand why you’re telling us that you’re not good enough for the X-Men.”

Before Kitty could say something, the door opened again.

“You can come in now,” said Logan with a faint smile.

The girls entered. Professor X sat there with a large smile on his face.

“Girls, I have great news for you,” he said. “All three of you are ready to join the X-Men! This is a proud moment, mostly because no one has ever finished the last ro-bot off so quickly! Tomorrow you three shall be given your codenames, and tomorrow night you will have your chance for your first patrol.” He left the room, leaving the girls smiling and happy.

“Well, this one was unexpected,” Jean said. “I think I know of a better way in which we can fight Magneto. These three know more about tactics than we sometimes do.”

“Well, I just go in there and go crazy,” Logan joked, chuckling. “Kitty, you’re truly amazing. You were being trained by me for only a day before we put you into the Dan-ger Room, and already you’ve become an X-Men. I’ll see you at dinner tonight.”

After he’d left, Storm and Jean were the only two still there with the girls.

“So, you’re Kitty,” Jean said. “I looked through your files, and as it so turns out, you’re the youngest member of the X-Men now. Congratulations on that.”

“Thank you,” said Kitty. “I just don’t know what to say. It’s kind of hard for me to think right now.”

“You girls may go now,” Storm said. “We’ve kept you here long enough.” As the girls exited, she flashed them a large, bright smile.

Kitty was thinking of all that had happened in the past two weeks. She’d arrived, met Rogue and Alison, and then they’d been told that they would become the newest mem-bers of the X-Men. It was unreal. And now she was the youngest of them all.

“Hey, I’m going down to the living room,” Alison told them. “See you guys in a bit.”

Once she was gone, Rogue turned to Kitty.

“Look, Kitty,” Rogue began. “You’re an amazing friend, and I trust you more than anyone. You are a natural-born leader, and I’m definitely going to make sure that noth-ing happens to you, because you’re my friend. Friends should stick up for one another,

and that’s what I’ll do for you.”

The two hugged each other. Kitty was happier than ever.

“Rogue, I know you’re destined for greatness,” Kitty told her. “You’re more amazing than anyone I know. I’m glad to think of you as a sister. But there is one problem.”

“What’s that?”

“Getting enough sleep. I need to do something, because I’m exhausted again.”

“Alright then. I guess I’ll see you at dinner.”

“See you at dinner!”

As the two friends left each other, they knew for sure that everything would be just right.

Chapter 5True Power

Two nights later the girls found themselves in their rooms, waiting for dinner. While Alison slept, Kitty and Rogue began talking.

“What do you think the professor will say about it?” Kitty asked.

“I don’t know. Are you scared?” Rogue asked back.

“Yes. I’ve never gotten this kind of an opportunity to do such a thing,” Kitty ex-plained. “I’ve always been the outcast in school. I’ve just always been different.”

“Hey, you’re not alone, at least,” Rogue told her. “I’m the same way. You and I were meant to be friends together. But I worry about most is what my codname’s going to be.”

Before they could say anything else, an alarm on Kitty’s phone went off, signaling that it was time for dinner.

“Alright, I’m going down there,” Rogue told her. “Wake up Alison and meet me at the bottom of the stairs.”

Kitty nodded. As Rogue left, Kitty went over to Alison and shook her awake. Alison only covered herself up more.

“Alison, it’s time for dinner,” Kitty said softly in her ear.

At those words Alison jumped up out of bed and raced to get ready. Kitty followed as she bounded out of the room.

As Kitty turned the corner, she accidentally ran into a very tall and muscular boy, close to twice her size. He had dark hair and gray eyes.

“Oh, uh, sorry,” Kitty apologized. “I didn’t see you there.”

“Not to worry, my dear,” he said in a thick Russian accent. “My name is Piotr Ras-putin.”

“I’m Kitty Pryde,” she explained. “Sorry about running into you like that. I’m just on my way to dinner.”

“I will be there soon,” he said. He then left.

Kitty was left just standing there, not knowing what to do. She suddenly remembered dinner, and hurried back down the stairs to make it, running into a wall in the process.

“Phasing could have really come in handy right there,” she said.

When she arrived and had taken her place by Rogue at the dinner table, Rogue leaned

over.

“What took you so long?” she asked.

“I ran into this boy,” Kitty said. “His name’s Piotr Rasputin. Let’s just say, he’s a whole lot taller than me.”

“Well then, nice job,” Rogue teased. Kitty only rolled her eyes.

Kitty saw that Alison was sitting on the other side of the table by Storm, conversing with her.

They heard the sounds of an electric wheelchair, signaling Professor X’s arrival.

“Hello, students,” he greeted warmly, smiling. “I am very glad you are here, and now, because I have arrived, you may eat. Tonight is more of a celebration, and I will explain that later.”

As everyone got up, Kitty, Rogue, and Alison were left frozen at the table. They re-alized that he would be telling the rest of the school of their initiation that night, which scared them, although it scared Kitty and Rogue most of all.

“What should we do when he tells them our names?” Kitty asked as soft as she could.

“I don’t know,” Rogue said honestly. “Just eat right now, and we’ll worry about that a little later.”

“A little later is when he’ll tell them, Rogue!” Kitty hissed.

“Hey, I feel what you’re going through. Me and you are pretty much the same. Just act normal for now.”

After 30 minutes, Professor X tapped his glass of water to signal that it was time for him to talk.

“Students, settle down, settle down,” he said. “I have great news for all of you. This week we have trained three new students to become members of the X-Men team, and with great pride I announce these three, along with the names they shall use while out in the open while conversing with one another during missions. First, we have Alison Blaire, who, during the Danger Room simulation, blinded the largest attacker there was.” Alison made her way happily to the professor, smiling brightly. “Alison, during missions in the field, you will be known as Dazzler.” Alison shook his hand, and then went to sit next to Rogue. “Then we have Kitty Pryde. She will become the youngest member of the X-Men. Using her abilities to phase through almost any object there is, she succeeded in phasing through the robot enemy, and then remove its main power source. Come on up here, Kitty.” Rogue gave Kitty a little push, as she had frozen in place. Kitty made her way to the professor, scared, nervous, and shy. “Kitty, from now on in the field, you shall be known as Shadowcat.” After shaking the professor’s hand, she hurried back to her spot. She knew what was coming next. “And now, Rogue, please come up here.” This time it was Kitty who pushed Rogue. “Rogue, from now on, you shall be known as Raven in the field.” Rogue shook his hand, and then ran back

to Kitty. “You three are the youngest members of the X-Men now, and during missions in the field, you will be closest to one another. I believe in all of you, and I know you shall use your powers the best way you possibly can.” He smiled at them. “Now, let us celebrate in the initiation of these three!”

Every student in the dining hall cheered for them, and while Alison was taking it the best, Kitty and Rogue had no idea what to do. Then they saw Logan coming over to them.

“I need to show you three something,” he said.

The girls followed him to another part of the mansion. There was a stairwell leading down.

“What is this?” Kitty asked.

“It leads down to where we X-Men meet,” Logan answered. “I noticed how you’re different than Alison, you two,” he added to Kitty and Rogue.

“Me and Rogue are sort of different, I guess you can say,” Kitty told him.

Logan realized how much he felt for Kitty. He realized that he was seemingly a fa-ther-figure for her.

Rogue put her arm around Kitty. “We might be different, but what matters most is that we’re together as friends and teammates. And you’re like my little sister.”

“Alright, enough family crap,” Logan said. “We have arrived.”

The girls looked around and saw three leather costumes hanging on the walls.

“What or who are these for?” Rogue asked. “Are they for us?”

“Yes, they’re for you. Pick whichever one you want.”

Kitty saw one that had a light blue color around it. She decided that she would be wearing it for her missions.

“You guys won’t be wearing these for your first missions, though,” Logan admitted to them.

“What? Why?” Rogue asked him, holding one with white surrounding the black.

“We need to see how you do normally out in the open. Once we know that, then we’ll allow you to wear these.”

“Sounds good to me!” Alison said.

Kitty and Rogue looked at one another, not surprised that Alison had said yes, but sur-prised that their normal clothes would be worn instead of the costumes made for them.

“Alright then, you girls may go,” Logan finally told them. “Hope you sleep well. And Kitty...” She stopped as he said her name and turned back. “Nice job. I knew I could

count on you.” He smiled.

As soon as they were out of the chamber, Alison said, “Coming back to the party?”

“I’m too tired for a party,” Kitty told her. “I’m sorry.”

“Same here,” Rogue admitted.

“Well, I’m off to party, guys! See you two later!”

Kitty and Rogue watched her go, and then went back upstairs to their room.

“I think I’ll be turning out the lights now,” Kitty said once she’d gotten comfortable. “Do you mind?”

“No. Night, Kitty.”

“Night, Rogue.”

Rogue hoped for the peaceful sleep, but there were still problems in her mind, just as there were for Kitty.

“You have no control on what is to come, Rogue. You will carry out the plans that your true destiny has set out for you! And it all starts once you come back to us. But the last thing you must know is that you must do it once you finish the job!”

There was a sudden vision of Kitty lying on the ground, bloody and beaten, her eyes wide open, her body unmoving, not breathing...

Rogue jumped up in bed, frightened by her vision. She looked around the room and saw that there was now a thunderstorm going on outside.

Alison had returned to the room. She realized that it was late.

She heard someone sniffling, as if they were crying. She looked over to Kitty’s bed and saw that she was sitting up, knees up to her chest, shaking with what seemed to be fear.

“Kitty?” Rogue said softly. She got up and made her way over. “Are you alright?”

“No,” Kitty told her, still crying. “I’m scared.”

“Why? What’s the matter?”

“I have a fear of thunderstorms. When they come, all I want to do is hide. They just scare me so much.”

“It’s alright. I can see where you’re coming from. I’ll help you get through this one, okay?” She got into Kitty’s bed and hugged her. “You’re okay, Kitty. Nothing’s going to happen to you. You’re such an amazing person. Once I met you, I knew something good would be coming of it all. And now it’s been proved. You did so well during the Danger Room simulation; you were able to keep a cool head, while me and Alison were all scared.”

“I didn’t have a cool head, Rogue,” Kitty sobbed. “That was just a last-minute thought. It worked, but I know that it won’t always work, for me or for anyone. I’m nothing but a failure, Rogue.”

“You are not a failure! You’re better than I’ll ever be! Kitty, you don’t know how much I trust you! I trust you more than my parents! Especially my dad, because he was a little abusive when I was a child.”

“Rogue, no matter what happens, there are times when I can’t concentrate hard enough, and I can’t use my powers. I know that one of these days, I might die because of a mistake like that.”

“No, you won’t!” snapped Rogue, doing her best to keep her mind off the vision. “Kitty, I promise you that if anyone attempts to kill you, I’ll stop them. They won’t be able to get anywhere near you. You’re not just like a sister. You are my little sister, and I’ll make sure to always take care of you, no matter what happens, no matter the consequences.” Rogue hugged her, which Kitty returned happily. “Tomorrow I’ll make sure to stay close to you, because it’ll be storming like this again at that time. You’ll be alright. You don’t have to worry about a thing, because I vow that I’ll never leave your side. Now, I’m going back to bed now. Try to get some as well. Just close your eyes. Everything’s safe and sound.” As Rogue got back into bed, she saw Kitty go to sleep. She smiled at that.

Rogue was ready for what was to come, and she would be going through that with Kitty. They were sisters, and that meant that they were more powerful than anything else.

Chapter 6The First Mission

Kitty felt truly free as she bounded over the rooftops of the city, searching for any sort of trouble. Her mission was to help anyone she could find that needed help. She was able to communicate with Rogue through an earpiece, while Alison

had decided to go solo without anyone’s help.

“Hey, Raven, how’s it feel out there?” she asked.

“You know you can just call me Rogue, right?” Rogue replied. “It’s not a normal name anyway, you know?”

“True. Still wanna call me Shadowcat, or would you rather just calling me Kitty?”

“Kitty’s still the name that I’m used to calling you. We just need to be careful with what we call each other in public. Anyway, how do you feel right now?” She was refer-ring to the rain and lightning.

“Thanks to you, I feel a whole lot better. Thanks for the help last night. I really needed it.”

“You’re welcome, little sis. Now get out there and make sure you make the professor very proud. I actually noticed a couple of people planning to mug a young woman over in your area a couple of minutes ago. They’re heading for an alley. I’m leaving it all to you to finish things.”

“Got it!”

Kitty made her way, looking through the alleys to find the woman and her muggers. She finally came across them. They were starting to corner her right an the end against a wall.

She noticed that there were only four of them, and knew it wouldn’t be too hard, es-pecially not with her phasing abilities.

“I’ve found the muggers, and I’m ready to get them. Wanna help me, or are you just gonna go on your own way?” Kitty teased.

“I’m not far from you, so if you get into trouble, then just call for me, and I’ll come over there,” Rogue told her.

Kitty jumped down into the alley, knocking one of the muggers onto his butt in the process.

“Hiya,” she greeted. “Wanna fight me, or are ya too scared?” She wanted to make them feel intimidated, but she’d made sure she wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t take it from a small 18-year old girl who they thought was normal.

“Get outta here, ya little shrimp!” one of the men growled at her in a deep, menacing voice; but it didn’t phase Kitty.

“Now wait just a minute,” the man who’d been knocked on his butt said. “We could use the little shrimp. We might as well go ahead and mug her, too.”

Kitty was ready for their attacks, and too surprise them. “Bring it,” she said with a smile.

The largest of them all was the first to attack her. Using her gymnastics skills, Kitty dodged out of the way. The man attempted to hit her with a pipe, but Kitty let it phase right through her.

The man stared at her in horror, allowing Kitty the upper hand. She kicked him in the chest and then in the head, knocking him out.

The next man to attack her was the smallest of them all. He held a knife in his left hand. Kitty realized he was possibly the most dangerous. He leapt at her, hooting and howling.

Kitty succeeded in getting out of the way, and the man landed on the ground hard. As he got back up, grunting and growling, still hooting and howling at her, he actually threw the knife. Kitty concentrated once more, and the knife phased right through.

“You really want to fight me?” Kitty said to him. “It’s not going to be much easier for you.” She heard the sounds of someone running at her, but she was still intangible, causing them to fail at their attempt to hit her.

The man that had held the knife suddenly became all too scared, and ran away scream-ing for his life.

“You may have gotten two of us, but you still have two more!” one of them said. “Now get your hot butt over here and let me kill ya!” He looked over to the girl they’d originally attempted to mug. “And you’ll be next, my sweet.”

Kitty jumped at him and succeeded in a kick between the legs, causing him extreme pain. She finished him off with a kick right in the face.

She turned around to see only one man left, who seemed to be the leader of them all. Kitty turned to the woman.

“Everything’s going to be alright,” she said. “You can leave now.”

The woman nodded thankfully. “Thank you so much!” she said, and then ran off.

The last man could only stare at Kitty. “You’re one of them!” he exclaimed. “You’re a mutant! I need to get out of here!”

He started running for his life and went around the corner. He saw the open door of one of the buildings and ran inside, hoping he’d lost the mutant girl.

With his back turned to one wall, he began laughing, knowing for sure he’d lost her. Or so he hoped...

“Going somewhere?” said a voice.

The man turned around and saw the girl there once more. She only stood there, staring at him with cold blue eyes.

“What are you going to do to me? I swear, I’ll report you to William Stryker if you don’t let me go! Please!”

Kitty turned back around, seeming to the man as if she were to leave, but then she whirled right back around and knocked him unconscious with a hard kick.

She smiled at his body as she left, phasing through the wall and coming out on the other side.

“Hey Rogue, it’s all over,” Kitty told her through the earpiece. “I knocked every one of the muggers out without a scratch on me.”

“Nice job, Kitty,” Rogue replied back. “I haven’t found a thing over here. I think that in about an hour I’ll come back over to you, and then get out of here. What do you say about that?”

“Good idea. What about Alison?”

“She can handle herself for right now. We shouldn’t have to worry about her, because she can blind her enemies.”

“Alright. Hey, Rogue?”

“Yes?”

“I know this might not be the right time for this, but do you have any fears of your own? I’m sorry if that question is uncomfortable, but I just need something to talk about.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m not sure about my fears right now. One thing I do know is that I don’t want to keep thinking of my past. Now there’s something that scares me.”

Kitty stayed silent for a few minutes. She didn’t know what she could say afterward.

“Okay,” she finally said. “Anyway, I think that maybe coming to get me in thirty min-utes is a better idea. It’s cold out here, and I don’t do well when it’s cold.”

“I understand,” Rogue said. “I’ll make sure to come to you then. You deserve it any-way.”

Kitty smiled. She looked up and saw a ledge that she was able to climb up onto. Using the fire escape, she made her way up and sat there.

She noticed how wet her hair was, and how cold she had suddenly become, and how badly she was shivering.

Looking for a place where she could take shelter from the rain, and saw such a place over by the docks.

Kitty hurried as fast as she could to the place before she could become any colder. As she sat there, attempting to warm herself up, she noticed a human-like shadow down right on the dock. She wondered what it was.

Curiosity began to bite at her, and after awhile, she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Hey Kitty,” came Rogue’s voice. “I’m coming over to get you in about 10 minutes, okay?”

“Alright. I’m over by the d-docks, trying to w-warm m-myself up right n-n-now,” Kitty told her. Her teeth were beginning to chatter.

As Kitty jumped down to the ground, she noticed that the shadow was not moving. While on the dock, she noticed it was much taller than a normal human, causing her curiosity to peak even more.

She came closer, and right as she was just behind it, she noticed that it was metal, meaning that it was a robot. The name of the makers were on the back: TRASK IN-DUSTRIES, INC..

Kitty reached out her hand to touch it. Right at that moment, the machine suddenly came to life. It whirled around quickly and saw Kitty, who was mesmerized by it.

A red light came out of its red eyes and went up and down Kitty, as if it was checking to see if she was dangerous or not. On its chest was a computer-type device. Words appeared on its screen, saying “Mutant Alert! Mutant Alert!”

“Alert!” said the robot. “Alert! Mutant!”

“Oh c-crap,” Kitty said. The robot swung at her, but she dodged. She turned back around and began running for her own life. “Rogue!” she called into her earpiece.

“Kitty? What is it?”

“I-I n-need you t-to c-c-come right n-now!” Kitty said, her teeth still chattering from the cold. “Hurry!”

She ran to a small flight of stairs that allowed her to be closer to the water. She wondered why she’d done that, as it didn’t work very well for her. The robot was still following her.

Oh please come soon, Rogue! Kitty thought to herself.

The robot closed in on her. It was about to hit her across the face with its metal arm, which Kitty knew would hurt, and that it could possibly kill her.

“Stop it right there!” The robot turned around, and Kitty saw Rogue standing there behind them. “Leave her alone, you worthless piece of scrap metal!”

The robot scanned her as well and learned that she was a mutant.

Rogue noticed how badly Kitty was shivering, which made her want to get through the robot even quicker and leave with Kitty.

“Kitty, run! I’ll meet up with you later! Try contacting Logan or someone!” Rogue called to her.

Kitty nodded, and attempted to phase through the robot and get out of there, but just as she was about to do so, the robot swung its arm right back at her.

She was hit hard up into the air. She caught onto a pole, but her hands slipped on the wet metal and fell to the ground.

“No!” Rogue yelled.

When Kitty landed, there was a snap, as well as a cry of pain from her, and then she fell backwards into the river.

Rogue suddenly became very angry at the robot and hit it with as much force as she could in its metal head. Although it was painful, Rogue watched as the head came right off and plunged into the water.

She ran to the river and plunged her hand down into the water, searching for Kitty. She felt her hand and pulled her up.

Kitty was shaking with cold, her teeth chattering hard.

“C-Can w-we g-g-go home n-now?” she asked. Rogue nodded and helped her up. But as soon as Kitty put weight on her right foot, she cried out in pain and nearly fell.

“Kitty, I think your ankle might be broken,” Rogue told her. “But I can’t carry you. Just hold on to me. I’ll get you out of here.”

Kitty nodded and held on as hard as they could up the steps.

“Th-thanks f-for that, Rogue,” Kitty said.

“No problem. Like I said last night, I’ll always take care of you, no matter what hap-pens, no matter the consequences. Now here, take my jacket. You must be freezing.”

“You ladies need help?” said a deep, gruff voice. The girls looked up the steps and saw Logan. “What happened down there?”

“I came over here because Kitty told me to. I found her cornered by this robot thing. As soon as she tried to run, it hit her, and when she fell, she broke her ankle and fell into the river. She’s freezing.”

Logan came down nearer to them. “Give her to me. I’ll help her up the steps,” he said to Rogue. “I know an easy way out of here. Where’s Alison?”

“She’s probably still out there. She’s in a less dangerous part of the town. But what matters is that we get Kitty back to the mansion before she freezes.”

“Got it. Come on, Kitty. You’re gonna be alright,” he told her. He held her close to

him, trying to warm her up.

“W-What was that th-thing?” Kitty asked.

“I don’t know,” Logan admitted. “Whatever it was, it wasn’t very friendly.”

“I-I know th-that. After a-all, it t-tried to k-kill me! On it, it s-said that it w-was p-property of T-Trask In-industries.”

“Oh crap,” Logan said. “That’s not good.”

“What do you mean?” Rogue inquired. She put an arm around Kitty and got closer, hoping to warm her.

“I’ll explain it later. But right now, we need to get to the mansion and help Kitty with her ankle.” He pulled out a remote control-type device and pressed the only button in the middle of it.

A small plane came out of it.

“This is called the Blackbird,” Logan explained. “It travels really fast, so we’ll get back to the mansion very soon. Unluckily, we don’t have any blankets in there, so you’ll need to keep Kitty as warm as you possibly can, Rogue. Do you understand?”

“I do,” Rogue told him.

After helping Kitty up onto the Blackbird, Rogue climbed in and did her best to keep her warm.

Once Logan was inside, he closed the top of the Blackbird. “Professor, we’re coming back,” he said into a radio.

“Good,” came Professor X’s voice. “Were the girls’ missions successful?”

“We can talk about that later. I have urgent news for you when we return. Alison’s still out, but she’s in a less dangerous part of the city, so we shouldn’t have to worry about her as much.”

“Is there anything else wrong?”

“Kitty and Rogue got into a fight with a large robot. Kitty’s ankle was broken during the fight, and she fell into the river, so she’s all wet and shivering.”

“Come back as soon as possible!” Professor X’s voice had suddenly become much more commanding and urgent.

Once they’d taken off, Rogue hugged Kitty. “Are you alright?” she asked.

“Well, I-I’m s-still sh-shivering right n-now,” Kitty said. “I’ve n-never been this c-cold b-before.”

“It’s alright, Kitty. You’re alright,” Rogue comforted.

“Be happy that thing didn’t hit you with full force. It probably thought that since

you’re smaller, it takes less to kill you,” Logan told them.

“I g-guess it had it wr-wrong,” Kitty laughed.

“Kitty, aren’t you from Illinois?” Logan asked.

“Y-yes.”

“Shouldn’t you be more adapted to the cold?”

“W-well, I s-see where y-you’re c-coming from, but I j-just n-never d-did.”

“Well, all I can say is that you should get used to this kind of a thing. When you’re a member of the X-Men, things can really get dangerous.”

“Th-thanks f-for the t-t-tip.”

“And don’t worry about falling into the river. After all, not all cats can swim that well.”

Although Kitty liked Logan’s joke, she was a little angered by it.

“Y-you know, L-Logan, if I w-wasn’t f-freezing to d-death and m-my ankle w-wasn’t b-broken, I’d k-kick y-you right in the h-head right about n-now.”

Chapter 7Problems Arising

The three of them finally returned to the X-Mansion. Kitty was shivering terribly, her teeth chattering harder than ever.

“Are w-we there y-yet?” she asked.

“We are,” Logan told her.

Rogue put Kitty’s arm around her neck to help her with the broken ankle. “Come on, I got you,” she said.

“I’ll be parking this thing,” Logan told the girls. “You know where the infirmary is, right, Rogue?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Good. Take her there and I’ll meet you guys. Xavier should be there by now.”

As he piloted the Blackbird away from them, Kitty turned to Rogue. “I-I’m so c-c-cold,” she told her.

“I know. Come on, I got you. Just hold on to me as we get up the steps here.” Al-though it was a little painful for the both of them, they finally made it.

As they entered the foyer, some of the students looked at them strangely, wondering what was going on.

“Are you guys okay?” Bobby asked.

“Yes, we are,” Rogue told him. “Kitty doesn’t do well in the cold, so she’s freezing up right now. That’s all.”

Rogue and Kitty finally reached the infirmary, where Professor X, Storm, and Jean were waiting for them.

“There they are,” Professor X said. “Oh dear, Kitty, you’re turning blue! What hap-pened?”

“I’ll explain once we get Kitty warm and Logan returns,” Rogue said to him. “Please, just hurry!”

“Jean, go get a warm blanket!” Professor X commanded. She ran over to a cabinet and took one out.

As Jean draped it around Kitty, Rogue laid her down on one of the infirmary beds. At the same time as she did so, Logan appeared in one of the entranceways.

“Now tell me, what happened?” Professor X asked.

It was Rogue who began explaining the events.

“After Kitty took out four muggers to save a woman, she and I decided that I’d come and get her in about 30 minutes, and by then, her teeth had already started chattering. I guess she saw this robot on the dock, and when she went to check it out, it came to life and realized somehow that she was a mutant. She asked me to come and help, and when I arrived, it realized that I, too, was a mutant. I told Kitty to run, but the robot hit her. When she landed on the ground, her ankle broke and she fell down into the river.”

“Where is this robot now?” Jean asked her.

“I took its head off. I got Kitty out of the river, met up with Logan, and now we’re back over here.”

“Did either of you see a name on the robot?” Storm asked.

“Y-yes,” Kitty said. “It s-said T-Trask In-Industries. I d-don’t know w-what that m-means, though.”

“I know what it means,” Logan said. “It means that they’re at it again.”

“Who?” asked Rogue.

“Bolivar Trask and William Stryker. Both of them made me into the Wolverine. They gave me these claws.”

“I know what this creature is!” Professor X gasped. “It’s a Sentinel! It’s meant to at-tack mutants! But they shouldn’t have been released already! Whoever put it out there tonight must have known one of us would be around the docks.”

“Well, th-they s-succeeded there, d-didn’t they?” Kitty said. “Of c-course, it had t-to be m-me.”

“I understand how you’re not very happy about this, Kitty,” Logan said. “I think we all do. But Rogue would probably understand most of all.”

“I think I have something that might help with your ankle,” Storm said. She went over to a medicine cabinet and took out a small gray bottle that seemed to be made out of metal. “This is Elixir. It is a very powerful substance, and it heals almost anything as soon as it is drunk.” She handed it to Kitty.

Kitty took off the cap and sipped a little bit of it. She felt a small amount of pain sud-denly and realized that her ankle was back in its right place. It was no longer broken.

“Thank y-you,” she said to Storm. “ACHOO!”

After Kitty’s sneeze, Rogue smiled at her.

“Of course, while it does not help with a cold, it is said that this Elixir can even bring people back from the dead,” Professor X explained. “Let us just hope we never have to use it for that purpose.”

“And remember, this is the only time you must drink it,” Jean told them seriously.

“We might need it for others.”

“Thanks, g-guys,” Kitty told them again.

“Now, we must go make sure the children are in their beds for curfew,” Xavier said to Jean, Storm, and Logan. “Last night they stayed up and partied. Of course, only Alison was there with them out of you three. Did you two go to bed that early?”

“Yeah, we didn’t feel like partying,” Rogue admitted. “As soon as we got into our beds and turned out the lights, we were both out of it. I guess Alison returned while we were both still asleep.”

“Alright, then. That’s very much understandable. You two may go to your room now. Make sure you stay warm, Kitty.”

As Rogue and Kitty walked up the stairs, Rogue held Kitty close. “You alright?” she asked. “It must’ve been scary when the robot was chasing you.”

“Y-yeah, it w-was,” Kitty told her. “I’m g-glad you were th-there for me, Rogue.” She noticed that her teeth were not chattering as much anymore.

“Well, if you ever have something like this happen to you ever again, just remember last night. That’s all you need to do. I’ll say it one last time: I won’t leave you, no matter what happens, no matter the consequences. Since you’re my little sister, I need to take care of you.”

“ACHOO!” Kitty sneezed again. “Sorry. When I fell into the river and started freez-ing, I must have caught a cold.” She sniffled. “I hate it when this crap happens. If only I could phase out of this.”

Rogue laughed.

They reached their room’s door. When they entered, they saw Alison on her bed, typ-ing away a message to her parents on her computer.

“Hey guys!” she greeted. “How’s it-” She saw Kitty. “What happened to you?”

“I fell into the river,” Kitty told her. “I caught a cold after Rogue helped me out.”

“Well, that must’ve really sucked,” Alison blurted out. “Luckily, before leaving, I got to take out a guy planning to rob a jewelry store. What did you guys get to do?”

“I stopped four muggers from mugging a woman,” Kitty explained. “The last one got really scared of me when I phased through the wall and appeared where he’d gone to escape. Pretty much every one of them was either knocked out or on the ground.”

“I helped a pretty little Kitty out of water,” Rogue joked.

“Really?” Kitty said, frowning. “You’re lucky I don’t feel the best, because I would seriously kick you right now. You’d really deserve it.”

“Hey, lighten up. Hopefully you’ll be back on your feet by the time tomorrow rolls around, you know?”

Kitty sighed, confused on what was happening in the world around her. She just hoped that she could actually get a good night’s sleep without waking up in fear like she had the night before. Although she’d appreciated Rogue helping her through it, she didn’t want to make Rogue do anything else for her.

“Hey Kitty,” Rogue said from her bed. “What is it that your parents do?”

“My dad is a clerk, and my mom helps teach kids with mental disabilities. I don’t know what’s happening with them right now, because I haven’t seen them in so long.”

“It seems that way, doesn’t it? I think it’s only been less than 2 weeks, though.”

“Huh? Are you sure? Wow, it definitely feels longer.”

“So are you going to bed right now?”

“Yeah. ACHOO!” Kitty shook her head, finding it so hard to believe that she’d gotten sick. “I just hope I don’t do that for the rest of the night. Sorry if it keeps anyone up.”

“No problem,” Alison told her. “I’ve had to deal with those kinds of things myself. I just hope you feel better tomorrow, because I was planning for us to hang outside with the both of you. How’s that sound?”

“We can’t, Alison,” Kitty told her. “It’ll be raining again tomorrow. I hope that doesn’t dampen your spirits way too much.”

She saw Alison look as if she’d been defeated and knew how much she wanted to spend with her friends. Kitty smiled and promised herself that she’d help Alison have a great day.

“Alright, I’m off to bed,” Rogue finally told them. “I’m wiped after today. What about you, Kitty?”

“What do you think?”

“I’m tired, but probably not as much as you two,” Alison explained.

Rogue turned off the lights for them. As Kitty closed her eyes and fell asleep...

“AH-AH-ACHOO!”

“Really, Kitty? Really?” came Rogue’s voice in the dark. “Try to not be so loud!”

“Sorry.” Kitty finally drifted off to sleep, although she was still scared from the fight with the Sentinel and how easily it had hurt her. She just hoped it never happened again, to her or to anybody she loved.

Chapter 8New Plans

William Stryker stood over his plans for the Sentinels. The production for them was almost complete, although he had just learned that one had been stolen and activated, and then somehow destroyed.

How did this happen? he thought. How could someone have stolen one of my Senti-nels and get away with it? It’s too impossible! Of course...unless they’re not normal...

“Hello, William,” said a voice behind him. “I was hoping I’d find you here.”

Stryker whirled around to find the one man he’d feared his entire life: Magneto. But he was not a man, or so William believed. He was a mutant.

“So, it was you, wasn’t it?” Stryker asked him. “I’m not surprised now that I think about it. After all, the Sentinels are metal, a mistake I shouldn’t have made. But now it’s all done. But do you know that it was destroyed? It’s central system was taken offline, but in a way that could only mean its head was taken off.”

“Strange,” Magneto said. “But then again, maybe not so strange. We never know in this world. I believe another mutant is the reason for this.”

“I have a recording of whatever happened out there, but I don’t know if I can trust you with this footage. Will you destroy it once it’s all over with?” Stryker looked at him with a very serious expression.

“I won’t, but I will want to talk to you afterward once that’s all done. So, will you show it to me now, Stryker, or must I force you to do so?”

“Who can you get to force me into showing it to you?”

“Mystique is one of them. I suppose you still remember her?”

Stryker gulped, suddenly scared. Mystique was another mutant he was scared of, mostly due to the fact she could become anyone without a person knowing, and then use it to get information for the group of mutants known as the Brotherhood.

“Alright then. Let me find the footage, and then once it’s over, tell me what I should do next. Understand me?”

Magneto nodded.

William searched through files of his and found one that had just recently been filmed. He pressed a red button in the middle of his control panel, which caused the file to open and the footage to start.

It started with a shot of the docks and the river, and then it turned around, landing its focus on a small beautiful girl. She started running, talking to someone. The footage

continued as the Sentinel followed her down, closer to the river’s edge.

Both Magneto and Stryker realized how badly the girl was shivering. There was a shout, and the Sentinel turned around. A taller girl with brown hair that had a white streak down one side was now there. She ordered the younger girl to run, calling her “Kitty.”

But as the Sentinel turned back around, it hit the other girl, sending her flying. As she landed, there was the noise of a snap, signifying a broken ankle, and the girl fell into the river. But right at that time the Sentinel’s vision went out.

The file stopped playing.

“Well, now,” Stryker said to himself. “Do you know who either of these two girls actually are?”

“I don’t know the young one, but I know the other.”

“And who is she?”

“When I went hunting for another mutant to join the Brotherhood, my sights locked onto her. This girl’s name is Marie. That’s all I knew there. But I believe that now she calls herself ‘Rogue.’ Charles Xavier got to her before I could, meaning that these two aren’t normal mutants. They’re both members of the X-Men.”

“Holy crap,” Stryker whispered to himself underneath his breath. “What in the heck should I do now?”

“That’s what I wish to talk about. Xavier believes that humans and mutants are all equal, and I believe that he is truly wrong.”

“You’re telling me...”

“We must teach him how wrong he is. But before we do that, I want you to meet some friends of mine.” Magneto looked over to the door, which suddenly opened, revealing Mystique, as well as Juggernaut. Behind them stood Pyro and the fat man, who was now called “Blob.”

“This isn’t all of the Brotherhood. There are many more,” Magneto explained to Stryker. “I have made this team to battle against the X-Men. And now that they have new recruits, we must learn more of them.”

“So, Xavier’s gotten himself two new recruits, eh?” Mystique chimed in. “Who are they?”

“One of them you know already,” Magneto told her. “It’s Rogue.”

Mystique froze right then and there, her mouth wide open, the expression of shocked on her face. She finally regained herself and started talking again.

“She’s part of the X-Men now?” Mystique exclaimed. “NO! She was supposed to become a member of the Brotherhood, not Xavier’s idiots!”

“She’s obviously liked where she is now,” Stryker said. “If she hadn’t, wouldn’t she have come to you by now?”

“She would have, yes,” Magneto said. “That girl on the video must be her friend. If she returns to us, she must not have that little girl! Quick! Show Mystique the girl I am talking about!”

Stryker quickly rewound the file, and then paused on the image of the small girl. Mystique smiled.

“So, they’ve got a youngster on their team now? She wouldn’t be out there if she was just a normal student.”

“Exactly,” Magneto said. “If Rogue has become friends with that girl, then we must act! We need to make sure that Xavier is never able to win this battle between the X-Men and the Brotherhood! He and the rest of those unwilling to join our cause must die!”

“What do you think this girl’s power is, boss?” Pyro asked. “I wouldn’t mind frying her up for ya.” He gave Magneto a wink.

“I don’t know her power, and if you meet her anytime soon, don’t lay a darn finger on her! Do you understand me?”

Pyro sighed. He wanted so badly to blow something up.

“There is someone I know you have a score to settle with on the team. But the best thing to do now is wait until we have information on these two girls. That young girl thought she was capable of escaping through the Sentinel...that might mean she can phase.”

“Phase? You mean go through almost anything there is?” Stryker asked. “Well, she would be hard to kill, then.”

“Your robot nearly did. For all we know, she is dead.”

“That’s unlikely,” Mystique said. “I heard a snap when she landed back on the ground, just before she fell into the river. She must have broken her ankle, but was then saved by Rogue. It’d be the only thing that’d make sense. She didn’t seem injured in any other way than that.”

“She’s got a point,” Stryker admitted. “I would love to experiment on these two girls and see what they can truly do with those powers of theirs.”

“Maybe soon, but we must find a way to capture them. I know the X-Men too well; they’d never allow two young members to be out there on their own. One of their teach-ers must have been close,” Magneto explained to both Stryker and the Brotherhood. “Tell me, if you capture any of the mutants in Charles Xavier’s school, where could you possibly take them?”

“I know an island off the coast that they could be taken to. We’d have to transport

them by boat, and they would have to be closely watched so that none of them can escape. But if I take them, I want to make sure they’ll never escape until I’ve experi-mented on them, they’ve lost their powers, are they’re dead.”

“I never said anything about killing them!” Magneto exclaimed. “If you do such a thing, then how will I know that I can trust you?”

“When it comes to young kids who have forced their parents to believe that they’re normal, then I’ll make sure to kidnap and kill a thousand of them, and then kill those who might get in my way! The X-Men are included there!”

“Very well,” Magneto finally said. “I will trust you in this, but I will still be very care-ful around you. You never know what can happen to those who you believe to be your friends.” He was referring to his past friendship with Xavier.

“So what should I do to get these children, as well as these girls?” Stryker asked him. “I don’t know how powerful they actually are.”

“Raid the mansion. Once you do that, it’ll all be over. The children will not be expect-ing it, and I’m sure these two girls won’t know it.”

“What will you be doing while I raid the mansion?”

“I’ll help. The Brotherhood and I will take care of those who might escape from your grasp. Once this is all over, I will end this with you, and it is all up to you for whatever you want. I might not like the fact that you’ll kill them, but you never have a choice in this war both humans and mutants.”

“Oh, everyone has a choice. And that choice is killed or be killed. It’s survival of the fittest, my friend, and that won’t be stopping for a very long time.”

“As much as you want the X-Men and all other mutants dead, we’re not as easy to kill as you might think. Everyone of us have different powers, and if we combine them, then we could kill you very easily.”

“Like I don’t know that already,” Stryker said under his breath. “Now, when would it be a good time to start the raid?”

“When all the children are asleep. That is the best. They will not be expecting it, and once you capture whoever you wish to capture, we will go to your island. It shall be there we will end this partnership. Do not think I shall reconsider anything once it is all done. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Good. Now, in case you don’t, there is something you should probably know. Do you remember the man who helped you build the Sentinels?”

“Bolivar Trask? Yes, I do. What of him? Where is he?”

“He is dead.” The three words caught Stryker completely off-guard.

Realizing that his mouth was hanging open, he closed it as quickly as he could.

“What did you do to him?” Stryker asked when he could finally speak again.

“I did nothing,” Magneto told him. “It was Mystique who killed him. She snapped his neck.”

“Oh my God. What is the matter with you all? You say I can trust you when you killed the very man I trusted most of all! How could you do such a thing?”

“He was threatening the Brotherhood. I cannot just stand somewhere and watch that. It had to happen, I am sorry to say. But it is over now, and nothing can be done to re-verse time. Unless you truly do threaten us, we will not kill you, William. You must make sure that you will not make any attempts on us, and then we will keep you alive.”

“So what will I be doing during the raid?” Pyro asked Magneto. “Should I just stand outside and watch you guys have all the fun capturing those who have betrayed us?”

“No. What is the name of the boy you have quarreled with for many years?”

“Bobby Drake. He joined the X-Men only about two weeks ago. I haven’t seen him since both our powers showed themselves. He was able to make ice with just his bare hands. I threatened him when he told me he’d rather fight for equal rights among the mutants and humans,” Pyro explained. “I want so badly to fight him. If you give me the chance, then I’ll promise it won’t take me too long.”

“Fine. When we go, if you’re able to find him, kill him. But be careful with your pow-ers,” Magneto warned. “If they go out of control, you could possibly burn the whole mansion down.”

Pyro smiled maliciously, not caring what happened, so long as he could kill his rival.

“So now that this is all over, what will you do?” Stryker asked the Brotherhood. “Will you just go off into an alley and sleep there, or do you have some sort of a home?”

“We have a home, Stryker,” Juggernaut snapped at him. “Now stop asking us ques-tions, or I will make sure that-”

“Stop it, Cain!” Magneto ordered him. “We’re not here to make more enemies! We’ve only just come together to kill the X-Men! Do you want Stryker to become our enemy this soon in our plan?”

Stryker smiled at Juggernaut.

“Well, we’d best be off, William. We need our rest if we are to help you against the X-Men. I wish you luck on your plans!”

“Wait,” Stryker said. “I will have Sentinels there with me. Is that too dangerous for the Brotherhood? Should I decide against it and only have my men be raiding?”

“Bring the Sentinels. The Brotherhood can deal with them.” Magneto left the room with the rest of his team, leaving William standing there, happy and mischievous. He

was ready for the raid, and not even the X-Men had enough power to stop him!

Chapter 9Serious Business

Kitty opened her eyes, noticing that it was very early in the morning. She got on her feet, the feeling seeping back into her body. She saw that while Alison was still sleeping, Rogue’s bed was empty.

She smiled at the fact that she didn’t have to open the loud, squeaky door. She phased right through, looking for the bathroom where she could wash the sleep out of her eyes.

When she made it to the bathroom, her eyes still half closed, she phased right through the door, and then found herself staring right at Rogue, a towel around her body.

“AHH!” Rogue screamed. “Kitty, what the heck are you doing here? Didn’t you no-tice the sign on the outside of the door? It said ‘occupied.’”

“Sorry!” Kitty apologized. “I’m half-asleep, and it also doesn’t help when you can just phase through everything.”

“It’s alright. Just make sure before you do that again. We might be sisters, but you don’t need to see everything.”

“Got it. Meet you at breakfast.”

Once Kitty had gotten to the kitchen, she noticed the tall boy, Piotr, standing not far from her. She wanted to talk to him, but knew she’d become very shy in the middle of the conversation.

But before she could continue thinking on what she’d do, Bobby appeared in front of her, smiling brightly. “Morning,” he greeted.

“Hey. I’m surprised that so many of us are up right now. Usually everyone’s still asleep, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. Where’s Rogue, by the way?”

“She’s getting done with a shower right now. I accidentally walked in on her, too. She should be down here soon.”

“I’m right here,” came Rogue’s voice. Kitty looked around Bobby and saw her stand-ing there. “What’s going on, Bobby?”

“Well, did you hear?” Bobby asked her.

“Hear what?”

“The Professor’s holding some sort of a banquet or dance for us. He’s doing it to help us learn more about the other students. Since there’s also a dance, I wanted to ask you if you’d like to come with me?”

Rogue stood there, mesmerized, staring far off. Finally she said, “Yes. I’d love to go with you to the dance.”

“Great! I can’t wait!”

“Hey, there’s one more thing, Bobby. I need to tell you this before we dance.”

“What’s that?”

“You can’t kiss me.” Rogue bowed her head, sad. “The last boy who kissed me-”

Bobby put his hand on her shoulder. “Hey, no need to tell me. I understand,” he told her. “We all have our powers. After the dance, I wouldn’t mind talking about it. You wanna go for a walk outside?”

“Sure!” Rogue smiled at Kitty as she walked away. “See ya later, Kitty!”

But Bobby turned his head over to Kitty. “Hey, do you need someone to have as a date, Kitty? I might be able to get someone for you, if you want.”

“Sure,” Kitty said. “But not many people know me.”

“Are you kidding? Everyone knows you now! Especially since Professor X told the whole school about you guys becoming members of the X-Men. Anyway, let me see if I have a friend around here.” Bobby looked around the kitchen and the living room to find one of his friends. Another smile crept across his face. “Hey, Piotr, come over here!”

As soon as Bobby called his friend’s name, Kitty froze. She stayed that way as the tall boy came over.

“Yes?” he asked.

“Have you met Kitty?” Bobby asked him. “She’s looking for someone to go dance with at the banquet tomorrow night. Would you like to have her as your date?”

Piotr looked over at Kitty, who was doing her best to smile, despite the fact that she was nervous enough to start shaking. She felt as if her knees were about to buckle un-derneath her.

“Yes, I would,” he said. “Would you like to go with me, my lady?”

“Y-yes,” Kitty answered. “I would love to, Piotr.”

“Good. I shall meet you at the bottom of the stairs tomorrow night, my dear. I hope to see you, soon.” He took her hand and kissed it, then walked away.

Kitty’s smile became bigger and happier. “Hey, Rogue, I’ll see you later. I’m gonna go find the right dress for tomorrow night! Woohoo!” Kitty ran off to their room, shout-ing out in happiness.

“I guess she’s really happy,” Bobby said, staring off at her. “Is she always that way?”

“Yep, that’s Kitty for ya,” Rogue explained, smiling at the fact that Kitty had gotten the chance to have the boy she was in love with.

As Kitty ran up the stairs, she ran into Alison, who was staring at her strangely.

“Why’re you so happy, Kitty?” Alison asked.

“Well, it turns out we’re having a banquet tomorrow night, and there’ll be a dance,” Kitty said. “Anyway, I got asked out by that tall boy I ran into, and now I’m going to find the perfect dress!”

As Kitty ran up the stairs, Alison was left there to wonder what she would do for the party, and who she’d be going with.

When Kitty reached the room, she found Logan standing there. “Hey, Logan!” she greeted. “What’s up with you?”

“Nothing much. You hear about the party, Kitty?” he asked. “You seem as excited as a girl would be.”

“Yeah! I’ve already got a date, too!”

“What’s this date’s name?”

“Piotr Rasputin. He’s Russian, and I think he’s the tallest guy in the school. Do you know him?”

“Yes. He’s about two years older than you are. He’s definitely a good kid, too. Have you met him before?”

“The last time I met him, I got really nervous, and when he’d left, I ran into a wall by accident.”

Her last few words left Logan standing there with his mouth half-open.

“Okay then. Anyway, the next time I go on a patrol, would you like to come with me? I think Xavier said you, Alison, and Rogue can wear your costumes the next time you go.”

“Sure. But at this moment, I need to get a dress ready for tomorrow night! It’s now or never, ya know?”

Kitty phased right through him and into their room. As Logan looked at the bedroom door, he shook his head and muttered, “Kids these days.”

Rogue was excited for Kitty, knowing how much she deserved it. But one thing that was stuck in her mind was their first mission, how Kitty had been injured by the Senti-nel. She hoped that for their next mission, that never happened to either of them again, and that it would never happen to Alison.

She turned to Bobby, who was surveying the garden around him.

“When do you think you’ll become one of the X-Men?” she asked.

“What?” He stared at her strangely. “I don’t know. I would love it, but I’m not sure right now.”

“Well, that’s quite alright, I guess. It’s different, with me, Kitty, and Alison being the only teenagers on the team. And of course, Kitty’s the youngest of us all, so I’m sure she feels the weirdest. I just want more of those who are around our age. Understand?”

“I do,” he said. “I’m not really ready for this kind of a question. I need to think on it a little more.” He laughed a little, and then went back to staying silent.

“I understand. So what’s your story, Bobby?”

For a minute, Bobby didn’t know what to say. It was hard for him, as this moment was the longest he’d spent with a girl, other than his own mother.

But before he could say anything, both he and Rogue saw Kitty coming over with the tall boy.

“Hey Kitty,” Rogue greeted with a smile. “Is this the boy you’ve been talking about?”

“Yes,” she answered. “This is Piotr.” She looked over to Bobby. “Do you two know each other at all?”

“Yeah, me and Pete are roommates,” Bobby said. “I’m glad to see he’s finally gotten himself a date.” He smiled at them both. He, Rogue, Kitty, and Piotr laughed.

And then they saw Logan coming over, Alison next to him. He was actually smiling, though.

“Hey Logan,” Bobby said. “What’s up?”

“I need to talk with the girls,” he said. “I’m sorry if I’m coming in the middle of something. It’s just that the Professor needs to speak with them, and then they can come back to you two.”

“Does it have to be now?” Kitty complained. “I’m having too much fun!”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Alison answered. Both Kitty and Rogue looked at her with a strange expression. “I’m just going off what Logan’s saying.” She gave them a smile.

“Yes, anyway, just come with me, and then you can come back to being with your boys,” Logan said, going back to being a little gruff.

The girls followed him, with Kitty and Rogue looking back at their dates, who were still smiling.

When the girls were gone, Bobby just said to Piotr, “Does Logan always have to spoil the fun?”

Piotr just shrugged.

The girls and Logan made their ways to Professor X’s office. He sat there at his desk, seeming unhappy to the four of them.

“Is something wrong, Professor?” Alison asked.

“Yes,” he answered. “The President has just recently announced that all mutants in the United States must present themselves to screenings in their areas to be classified.”

“What?” Kitty exclaimed.

“That’s insane!” Rogue said. “What if the mutant who has these powers is not trying to be dangerous, but has powers that actually are?”

“Unfortunately, here at the school, there are many mutants such as that,” said a voice behind the girls.

They turned around to see Logan standing by Storm, Jean Grey, and the men they knew as Scott Summers and Hank McCoy.

“Who do you mean specifically?” Alison inquired.

“Almost all of us,” Professor X continued. “But out of what I know, it seems the most dangerous mutant here would be you, Rogue.”

“Me?” Rogue said. “How am I the most dangerous? How is that even possible? I can’t be!”

“You can take the powers of other mutants by touching their bare skin,” said Scott. “We’re not coming against you, but it’s true.”

“And there’s the possibility of you killing others,” Jean said. “Scott’s right. We are trying to help you, but it’s hard to keep trusting other sometimes. We used to have a student who went to Magneto when something went wrong. Now he is known as Pyro.”

Kitty put her hand on Rogue’s shoulder, trying to comfort her friend.

“What do we do, Professor?” Kitty asked. “We’re not subjecting all of the students here, are we?”

“No, we’re not, but we wanted to tell you in the case of them coming here and trying to see what we mean by ‘A School for the Gifted.’ Now, you girls can return to the cel-ebration if you so wish to. I just needed to explain this so that you will be ready when something like this comes up.”

The girls got up, unable to believe it. Kitty still had her hand on Rogue’s shoulder, refusing to believe that she was the most dangerous mutant in the school.

She was the one mutant there that she trusted most, and she wouldn’t allow others to label her as someone who could kill others!

“Don’t worry about what they say, Rogue,” Kitty said. “I’ll keep trusting you no mat-ter what happens.”

Rogue looked over to Kitty and smiled happily, and then hugged her. She loved Kitty like a sister and loved that she was still seeing the good part of her, while the others seemed to only see the worst side.

As they returned to the celebration, they saw most of the mutants had left, either too tired or bored to continue. But the girls returned to their dates and tried to see what they could do.

One of the last things Kitty remembered before falling asleep at one of the tables was that she had kissed Piotr intensely, with Rogue, Bobby, and Alison watching and cheering them on.

Chapter 10Something Wrong

She was walking down the hallway. As she turned the corner, she heard someone talking. Despite the fact she knew who the voice belonged to, she still wanted to go inside the room. She saw the metal door.

As she opened it, she saw the small girl with brown hair. She was tired-looking, and the expression of shock crossed her face. Tears came to her eyes, and yet Rogue didn’t understand. There was a flash of light, and suddenly, the girl was there on the ground, bleeding from the mouth and the head.

But Rogue didn’t feel remorse. She kept beating her. And then Rogue decided it was time to take off the glove. As she reached her ungloved hand towards the girl, she did her best to crawl away, despite being in what seemed to be extreme pain. But Rogue was too quick and she put her ungloved hand on the girl’s forehead. Suddenly she felt extreme power coursing through her body. She closed her eyes to fathom how amazing it was, and when she opened her eyes, the girl was laying there in front of her.

Her eyes were wide open and she was not moving. Rogue checked her pulse. She found there was no pulse, and that was when she realized the girl was dead, just as she had been told to do. What she had been made to do...

Rogue’s head snapped up off the table. She realized she was still in her dress. Tears were dripping off her face. Looking around, she saw no one.

And then she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Kitty, who had changed into her pajamas, staring at her with concern.

“Is something wrong, Rogue?” Kitty asked. “I brought your pajamas down from our room if you wanted to change at all.” She smiled, placed Rogue’s pajamas on the table and then sat down in the chair next to her.

Rogue looked around and realized they were still in the ballroom. She smiled and took the pajamas. She then left for the bathroom, and when she returned, she saw Kitty still sitting there.

“Where’s Alison?” Rogue asked.

“She’s upstairs, asleep,” Kitty answered. “But I want to know if you’re okay. I saw you going through something. Was it a dream?”

Rogue sighed, knowing she couldn’t keep it away from Kitty. Her little sister was someone she could trust with her secret.

“It was a nightmare,” Rogue answered. “It would the second time I’ve had a night-mare like this. I just don’t know if I want to explain all that it was about just yet, though.

I’m sorry if you wanted to know, but I can’t. Not right now.”

“I understand,” Kitty said. “I understand well, because you’ve helped me through something like this. Of course, that was a fear, not a nightmare, but aren’t they sort of the same? Both your worst fear and nightmares have something that you’re scared of, right?”

Rogue smiled and nodded.

They hugged. Then Kitty said, “Let’s go to the kitchen and see if there’s something for us to eat. I’m not too tired, so I’ll stay awake for a small while more. Besides, you need something as a snack to help you forget the nightmare.”

She got Rogue up out of her chair. Rogue realized the ballroom had been cleaned, all except for the tables. She guessed they would be soon, before school started later.

Then she realized that it was Saturday, and that yesterday had been Friday. She smiled, knowing that none of them were expected to wake up at 7:30 to get to one of their classes.

When she and Kitty entered the kitchen, they saw that Bobby was sitting at the main table, a bowl of ice cream in front of him. He smiled as he saw the two girls.

And then he saw the tear marks left on Rogue’s face. He wondered why she’d been crying.

“Good early morning,” he greeted, speaking softly so as to not wake up anyone else in the house. “I’m surprised the two of you are up right now. What’s going on?”

“Just finished having some dreams,” Kitty explained, saving Rogue from having to give the true version. “She and I just wanted to see if we could get something to eat before we went back to bed.”

“Ah. I’m not the best when it comes to sleeping at night,” he said. “You see, my parents only believe I’m at boarding school. They don’t even know that I’m a mutant, and so I’m a little scared to know what would happen if I actually told them. It’s hard, having to go to sleep every night, wondering if they would either accept and love you, or hate and ridicule you for your secret.”

“My parents both know what I am,” Rogue said. “My boyfriend Cody and I went upstairs into my room, and we shared our first kiss, and then it ended with me taking most of his life-force out of him. When I left, he was still in a coma. Now I’m careful when I’m around my friends. I want to make sure I don’t hurt them or anything else.”

“I can see where you’re coming from,” Bobby told her. “Being a mutant isn’t the most fun job in the world.”

“It’s definitely not,” Rogue agreed, wiping a tear from her left eye.

“What about you, Kitty?” Bobby asked. “Do your parents know that you’re a mutant, or do they just think you’re at a school for the gifted?”

“They know, and fortunately, they accept me for it,” she said. “It’s helped when I’ve lost the key to my house or if we’ve locked ourselves out of the car. But I’m scared of what my power could be used for if someone is able to take it away from me. Would they use it in the right way, or would they abuse it? That’s my main question. After all, phasing is an ability that some criminals would love to have, I’m sure.”

“But at least you’re careful around those who might want to exploit your power,” Rogue said to her. “Kitty’s one of the best people I know. I even count her as my lit-tle sister now. You should’ve seen her taking out our enemy in the Danger Room. Of course, that wasn’t real, but it was still really cool.”

“Speaking of that, since you guys are now X-Men, what happened that one night when it was raining?” Bobby inquired. “I saw you guys come in, and Kitty seemed to be limping. Her teeth were also really chattering.”

Kitty and Rogue were at first reluctant to say anything about the mission, but decided to give in and tell Bobby finally. After all, he was a friend, and he was someone they believed they could trust.

“Well, just keep it a secret, okay?” Kitty said. Bobby nodded. “While I was out there in the rain, I was able to take down a group of criminals planning to mug a girl around our age, and when I finished that up, I went to the docks. By then, I was already shiver-ing, and it was hard for me to keep myself warm. But while I was there at the docks, I saw this thing down there, and it was much larger than a normal human should or would be. When I investigated, it turned out to be this huge robot. It realized I was a mutant, and then it attacked me. Rogue came just in time, but I was hit by the thing while trying to escape. I broke my ankle when I landed and then fell into the river. Rogue succeeded in taking the thing down, and then she was able to fish me out. Fortunately Logan was there, and so we got back here just before I froze to death.”

Silence fell over them for a couple of moments. None of them knew what to say af-terward. It was hard to follow up with something else.

But finally Rogue cleared her throat.

“What’s your power, Bobby?” she asked. “What can you do?”

“Watch this,” he said. He touched the table, and suddenly ice covered the place where he was touching. It would have spread more, but he took his hand off before it could.

“Wow,” Kitty whispered underneath her breath. “That’s amazing. It could come in handy for some situations.”

“I don’t think so,” he admitted. “Maybe if someone is on fire or if someone needs their drink to be colder. But otherwise, I don’t think it’s that great of an ability. It’s not as great as some of the others’ abilities. I mean, Piotr, can become pure iron or something, and if anyone tries to punch him, their hand will automatically break. Or so I think. I’m not completely sure when it comes to that, because I won’t be trying it anytime soon.”

“Hey, it beats the fact I can take someone’s life out of them,” Rogue said. “It’s hard

for me to think of hurting one of my friends like that. Kitty’s power is definitely cool, though. She can phase through almost anything.”

“Really?” Bobby’s face seemed to light up. “Could I see?”

Kitty was about to reply when Logan suddenly entered the kitchen. He didn’t seem to be as tired as they would have thought him to be.

“Nice to see you here,” he said. “Happy it’s Saturday, aren’t you? No classes, sleeping in...”

“You’re not angry that we’re here at this time of the morning?” Kitty asked. “My parents would have started yelling at me if I did this.”

Logan laughed. “Your parents strict, Kitty? If so, I could always help them to not be. Want me to?”

“Nah. They’re good the way they are, but sometimes I can’t blame them. It could be worse,” she explained. “There have been worse parents in the world, I’m pretty sure.”

The four of them laughed a little. Logan looked over at the kitchen clock and saw it was 4 in the morning, earlier than he’d thought.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but then he heard a strange sound coming from somewhere in the living room. But then the sound came also from the back of the man-sion. He had no idea what the sounds belonged to, but decided it would be good if he went to check.

“What’s wrong?” Kitty asked.

“Something’s making these really weird noises around the house,” he told her. “I need to know what it is. I need to make sure it’s not something that could be serious.”

As he left the kitchen, Kitty, Bobby, and Rogue followed him. As they peeked around one of the corners of the living room and into the main foyer, they saw mean running across the grounds, speaking quietly, causing their words to be inaudible. They still hadn’t seen the four who were watching them.

“What in the heck is going on?” Bobby asked quietly. “Who are these guys? What are they doing here?”

“It’s worse than I could have thought,” Logan said to them.

“What is it?” Kitty asked. Logan and Rogue saw the fear in her blue eyes.

“It’s a raid,” he said. “Someone’s sent these guys after us. They’ve learned that this is a school for mutants. It’s time to suit up and fight back. If they’re here, they’re going to try and capture some of us.”

He concentrated, and the metal claws of his shot out from the middle of his knuckles.

“Does that hurt?” Rogue asked.

“All the time,” he replied. He smiled grimly at the girls and Bobby. “This is where things get serious. No more kid stuff. Welcome to real life, unfortunately. It’s time we showed these guys who’s better.”

Chapter 11The Raid

Kitty and Rogue looked at one another. Both of them were scared very much, but they knew that with Logan near them they would be fine. He was the mutant they knew they could trust most with their lives, other than Professor X.

“What should we do, Logan?” Kitty asked him.

“I’m not sure,” Logan told her. “Just be careful. These guys mean business. Your phasing ability will help you get away from them. Rogue, I know you don’t want to use your ability, but you might have to. It’s the only way you can get out of this. Please listen to me.”

Logan went away, leaving the girls and Bobby.

“I’m scared, Kitty,” Rogue told her.

“I am too,” Kitty admitted. “But we need to move on. We need to help Logan out and wake everyone up here. Come on!”

“Wait, how will we be waking everyone up?” Bobby asked them. “Just by screaming, or something else?”

But then, before either of the girls could answer, they heard the sound of the front door opening and Logan saying, “Hello, all you pieces of crap! It’s so great that you’re here! I hope you all have a terrible time dying!”

Kitty, Rogue and Bobby laughed at the joke. They realized Logan was trying to buy them time. But suddenly they heard a gunshot. Kitty jumped when she heard it.

“What was that?” she asked Rogue and Bobby.

Rogue peeked out from their hiding place, being as careful as she could. She saw Logan on the ground, unmoving. Her eyes widened as she realized what had happened.

Turning back to Kitty and Bobby, she whispered, “They shot Logan! We need to get out of here before we’re next! Come on!”

Kitty and Bobby followed her as quickly as they could and as silently as they could through the living room and up the stairs. Kitty hurried to her room and phased through the door. Alison was sleeping, and as much as she hated it, Kitty shook her awake.

“Alison, you need to wake up now!” Kitty hissed at her.

“Why?” Alison mumbled, half-asleep.

“There are people in the house that are trying to kill us!” Kitty explained as quickly as she could. She didn’t know an easier way to say it.

It was then that Alison shot right up. Despite being so tired, she was ready to get out of there. Alison tried not to think of being shot at.

“What do we do?” Alison asked. “Where’s Logan?”

“He was shot by the men,” Kitty told her solemnly. “I know it’s hard to think of, but he’s gone now. We need to get out of here before we suffer the same fate.”

Alison nodded. Tears were in her eyes, and the same went for Kitty. Both of them hugged each other.

Suddenly they heard footsteps behind them. Whirling around, Kitty saw the men who had shot Logan there in the doorway. She froze for a moment, but when they raised their guns, she took Alison’s hand and concentrated. One of the men pulled the trigger, but all of the men were surprised when the dart whizzed right through Kitty and Alison and ended up embedded in the wall. Kitty looked back and saw that it was only a sleep-ing dart. One that would knock someone unconscious, not kill them.

But despite that, Kitty took Alison and ran through the wall. They needed to get out of there before something bad really did happen.

“Can you go any quicker, Kitty?” Alison asked her.

“It’s hard, only because I’m so tired,” Kitty told her. “I’m sorry, Alison. I’m doing my best, though. They can’t get us as long as you hold on to me. We can get through this. We just need to find Rogue and Bobby, and then we’ll be fine.”

As they hurried, Kitty noticed some of the children in the rooms staring at them with scared expressions.

Going right through one of the walls, Kitty found herself running into Bobby and Rogue. Piotr was there too.

“Oh thank God,” said Rogue. “I was hoping you hadn’t been caught yet.”

“We nearly were, but Kitty was able to phase us out,” Alison told her. “Helps to have really good friends.”

“Nice, job, Kitty,” Rogue complimented. “But before we start complimentin’ one an-other, we need to get out of here. We need to find some way to escape before something really bad can happen.”

They heard a grunt outside, as well as a few screams. Fearful, they all jumped when the door was broken, but all their fears went away when they found Logan standing there, sweat rolling down his face.

“Logan, you’re alive!” Bobby exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Logan said. “If anyone shoots me, I’ll come back, no matter what happens. But for now, we need to leave. We need to find the Professor and the other teachers, including Storm, Jean, and Cyclops, and get our butts out of here before something terrible can happen. And along the way, we have to save these kids and get them to a

safe location. I’m not sure who’s behind this, but that doesn’t matter. We just need to get the heck out of here.”

Kitty, Rogue, Alison, Bobby, and Piotr all nodded.

Suddenly something came crashing through a window. It was blue. But then Kitty realized they were a person. Or so she thought. Scales covered their entire body. They wore only a white leotard. Kitty saw Logan’s eyes widen. Logan obviously knew them.

“Mystique,” he said.

The mutant looked at them with a smile. “Hello, Logan,” they said with a female’s voice. “It’s nice to see you again. Who are these children you have with you?”

Mystique’s eyes traveled over them, and soon her eyes widened when they came to lay upon Kitty and Rogue.

“Oh, hello,” she said. “I’m glad to meet you both. I haven’t seen either of you before in person. But I have seen you both on a monitor. In the video you both fought against a Sentinel. Congratulations on the defeat.”

“It was you,” Kitty said. “You were the one who put that robot out there on that dock! You are the reason I almost died!”

Mystique laughed. “Yes, that was somewhat unfortunate. But the good news is, you’re alive and well, and we can get on to what’s next. Don’t you think so? That, and I’ve come for Rogue. I want her now.”

Rogue felt a pang of fear. “What do you mean?” she exclaimed. She and the others heard much commotion outside and knew the raid was still going on.

“I want you to come home,” Mystique told her. “I want you both. You are the reason the Brotherhood has gone through some pain. You see, we’ve been trying to get some powerful mutants inducted, but you have not complied with what we want. We want you to come and join us!”

“No.” The word came out of Rogue’s mouth so quick she didn’t even remember say-ing it. But when she realized it, she smiled in a sort of mischievous way.

Mystique was now trembling with rage. “What did you just say?” she hissed. “What did you just say to me?”

“She said no,” Kitty told her. “Are you that deaf?”

“Why you little-”

Logan ran at her and kicked her through the wall, sending her to the hard ground below.

“Will that kill her?” Piotr asked.

“No,” Logan said. “She can shape-shift. She’ll be back before you know it. It’s quite unfortunate, as annoying as she is.”

But then a fireball came flying into the room. It hit the floor in front of them and ex-ploded. Kitty took hold of Rogue. She couldn’t get Bobby, Logan or Piotr.

However Piotr turned into a metal form and Logan, despite being burnt, just stood there. Kitty, Alison and Rogue were unhurt, thanks once more to Kitty’s phasing ability.

But Bobby took some of the blast. Pushing Alison and Rogue out of the way, Kitty took Bobby’s hand.

“I’ve got you, Bobby,” she said. “I’ve got you. Now we need to get out of here,” she added to the others.

“Too bad,” came a male voice. It sounded a little like Bobby’s, but it was a little dif-ferent. A little deeper.

A boy suddenly appeared, resembling Bobby but with more golden hair. He was smiling in a dangerous way. He looked right at Bobby, roared out, and tackled him. Somehow the floor was destroyed.

“What in the heck was that?” Alison exclaimed.

“Is Bobby okay?” Rogue asked. She ran to the open hole and found Bobby and the other boy going at each other.

“It’s over, Bobby!” the boy yelled. He was unharmed by the fall.

“No,” Bobby told him. He was bleeding from a cut on the right side of his head. “Please, I don’t wish to fight you!”

“It’s too late for that crap!” the boy exclaimed. “It no longer matters! All I care for is Magneto becoming the strongest mutant there is!”

Logan jumped down to meet them.

“So you’re supporting that idiot now?” Logan asked. “I feel sorry for you. I wish you could be with us. You have a lot of potential. But now it seems we’ll be fighting you for a long time.”

“Please, John, let us help you! We want you to be on our side! Let us help you!” Bob-by said. He saw Piotr coming their way, having jumped down silently.

“What are you talking about? I know where my true loyalties lie, Bobby! You and your stupid X-Men won’t be able to defeat Magneto soon enough! He has much more strength than any one of you ever shall!”

“Is that so?” Piotr said. John whirled around to see him, but it was already too late.

Piotr punched him right in the face. Blood dripped from John’s nose. However, just

as he went unconscious, he sent a fireball at a generator over in one corner. It was what was powering the entire mansion. And now it had been ignited. It would explode.

Seeing what was about to happen, Kitty jumped down to them. She phased through the floor and jumped right back up.

“Kitty, get out of here!” Logan cried. “I will get Bobby out of here! You don’t need to be a part of this! Now run!”

“No!” Kitty yelled. She saw Rogue and Alison jump down. “Get close to me! Now!”

Kitty felt Rogue and Alison hang on to her. She looked for Bobby, and found him hugging Piotr, who had become his metal form. She knew now Bobby would be safe.

Closing her eyes, she thought, Everything is going to be all right. Everything will be fine. I just have to…

She was cut off from her thoughts as she saw the wall of fire coming at her and her friends. She concentrated as well as she could. And then suddenly…all went black.

Chapter 12Those Who Remain

Rogue opened her eyes. She didn’t know what was happening around her. She still remembered the raid and wondered if she had been shot with one of the darts and taken away. She hoped not.

But then, as she sat up and surveyed her surroundings, she realized that the mansion was in shambles. She suddenly was able to remember the fight with John, how he had blown up a generator just before going unconscious, how Kitty had attempted to save her and Alison. Now Rogue wondered where Kitty and Alison were.

Oh God, please let them be safe, she thought to herself. Please don’t let either of them be dead! Please!

Rogue slowly got up and found Alison not far from her. She was unconscious, but she seemed to be mostly unharmed. Ash covered her face and it was in her hair, however. Rogue went to her and slowly shook her awake.

“Alison,” she whispered. “It’s me. It’s me. It’s Rogue. Please wake up.”

Alison opened her eyes and started coughing. When she had finished, she looked up at Rogue. “Rogue?” she said. “What happened? After the explosion, I mean? Where are the others? Kitty, Logan, Bobby, and Piotr? Where are they?”

“I don’t know,” Rogue admitted. “I seriously don’t know. But I’m really scared. We need to find Kitty and then the others. Come on.” She hlped Alison to her feet.

They began searching for others, especially Kitty. They both hoped (and in Rogue’s case, somehow knew) she was around here. Rogue knew they would find her.

Rogue heard someone groaning. Looking quickly around her, she saw a hand coming up through the rubble. Rogue felt relief washing over her, but it was still mixed with a little fear. She ran to that spot to see if it was Kitty, and to her great relief, it was. But she seemed to be groaning in pain. A support beam was lying on top of her.

“Kitty!” Rogue said. “Are you okay?”

Kitty looked up at her. Her blue eyes seemed to start sparkling. “I think so,” she said. “I think a nail might have gone into my side. I need you to help me!” She attempted to move the support beam off herself, but it was no use. “I think I lost all concentration when I went unconscious. I’m glad you weren’t hurt after that.”

“Yeah, so am I,” Rogue agreed. “Thanks for helping us.” She got her fingers under the support beam and groaned as she tried moving it. “Kitty, please help me if you can!” She turned her head and said behind her, “Alison, come quick! I’ve found Kitty! We need your help! She’s stuck under a support beam!”

Alison came as quick as she could. When she saw Kitty, she automatically did what she could to move the beam. It was a success, and soon Kitty was able to get our from under it. Rogue helped her up and looked her over to see if she might have been injured. She was alarmed when she saw the splotch of blood seeping through the right side of her white pajama shirt.

“Does that hurt?” Alison asked.

“A little,” Kitty admitted. “Just a little. I think it’s best if I get it patched up soon. Where are all the others? I know there was the explosion, but I was sure that we would be okay. I guess I lost concentration and went unconscious. I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s all right, Kitty,” Rogue assured her in a soft voice. “It was probably the strain of the concentration. But what matters is that we can find the others and get the heck out of here.”

Kitty put her hand on her wound, and she, Rogue, and Alison made their way through the shambles of the mansion. Much of it had been burnt away. But they hoped it would be able to be rebuilt soon.

The three of them suddenly heard footsteps behind them. They all froze, and then whirled around. Bobby, Piotr, and Logan stood there, watching them. A smile crossed Logan’s face when he saw them, but then he frowned when he saw Kitty covering her wound with her hand.

“Kitty, you okay?” he asked. “It’s good to see you guys, by the way. How much does that hurt, Kitty?” He sounded concerned for her.

“It could be worse,” Kitty said. “I mean, I’ve never felt worse, and I’ve never felt this either, but I guess I could be feeling worse, you know?”

Logan chuckled. “I guess you’re right. All right, let’s get out of here and see who else we might be able to find. We need to get that patched up before it gets any worse.”

“What do you mean, ‘gets any worse?’” Rogue asked. “How do you know if her wound is that bad? How can you be so sure?”

“I was just saying,” Logan told her. “And I have felt a lot of pain in my lifetime. So just remember that. Got it?”

Rogue slowly nodded.

“Kitty, let’s take a look at that wound before my nerves get the best of me,” Logan finally said. “I’m trying to help you girls, and every single time I see you clutching your side like that, it makes me cringe. So let’s see it.”

Kitty took her hand off the wound. Logan looked at it and then said, “Looks like a nail went in there. It’s not too bad. We’re going to get it patched up quickly, and then…” He became lost in thought for a moment, and his voice trailed off. When he returned, he looked to Rogue. “Could you take some of my power and give it to her? I have a good healing factor that she can use. Just take off your gloves and touch me, then transfer it

to Kitty. You’ve done that kind of thing before, haven’t you?”

Rogue shook her head. “I’ve never tried doing that. What if I accidentally hurt her while transferring the power? I don’t want to hurt my best friend, Logan. Please.”

“It’s the only way, Rogue,” Alison told her. “Just have faith in yourself. It’s the best thing to do when it comes to a situation like this.” She smiled tiredly at both her and Kitty.

Rogue sighed, took off the glove on her right hand, and then touched Logan’s bare skin. He yelped out for a minute. Then Rogue turned to Kitty and touched her bare arm. Kitty groaned when she felt the pain of the connection. Looking down at her wound, she saw it had begun healing. She looked at Rogue and smiled.

After Rogue had put her glove back on, Kitty hugged her. “Will that be permanent?” Kitty asked Logan. “The transfer of your powers, I mean.”

“No,” he replied. “It’ll wear off in about an hour. Or so I think. I mean, that’s my best guess. Anyway, let’s get over there—” He pointed north of them “—and see if we can find someone. I really need to know if the Professor is around here or not.”

They continued making their way to where Logan had pointed to. When they reached the spot, they found three others standing there and looking around. Kitty realized two of them were Storm and Jean. She tried to learn who the third person was, but she was unable to do so.

“Logan!” Jean yelled to him. “My God, the children! Are they all okay?”

“Yes,” Logan replied. “Kitty was injured, but her injury is gone now. She’s good for now.”

“Oh thank Heaven!” came Storm’s voice. “Scott is over here with us, as are Bobby Drake and Piotr Rasputin! But no one else is over here, Logan!”

When Logan and the others had reached the spot where the others stood, Logan sur-veyed them all. Bobby and Rogue noticed each other, as did Piotr and Kitty. The two couples embraced.

Piotr looked down at Kitty and noticed the splotch of blood on her shirt. “Are you hurt?” he asked.

Storm, Jean, Cyclops, and Bobby all looked over to them and saw the splotch too.

“It’s okay,” she assured them. “Thanks to Logan and Rogue, it’s no longer bleeding.”

They nodded and then went back to speaking with Logan.

“Where’s the Professor?” asked Jean. “I hope he hasn’t been taken.”

“I hope that, too,” Logan said. “I’m not sure about anything, however. Jean, can you sense anymore mutants around this area besides us?”

“No,” she replied. “My mind is cluttered, however. That might be the main reason.”

“No, your mind is fine,” said Scott. “You don’t make mistakes, so don’t say that.”

“Good point,” Logan said. “But we need to make sure, remember?” Scott nodded. “Good. Now, is there any possible way we can contact the Professor or anybody else? Heck, I’d even take the furball! I’d even take Beast! I guess he got taken, as well.”

Silence fell over them. Kitty finally broke it.

“If the Professor was taken, then the best thing to do is go after whoever took him!” she said. “I’m not going to leave him or any of the people in this school behind! I may not have been here for a whole school year, but I’ve still gotten to know a lot of people real well. I love all of them. I won’t dare to leave anyone I love just because I don’t know where the heck they are!”

“We didn’t say anything about leaving them behind,” Logan told her.

“Then what?” she snapped back at him.

“We were about to say we’re going to get them,” Logan said.

Kitty’s expression softened and a peculiar expression crossed her face. “Oh,” she said. “Nevermind.”

“But how are going to know where we need to go? How in the name of God are we going to get there?” Bobby asked.

“We have the Blackbird,” Storm explained. “You see, after Kitty, Alison, and Rogue become members of the X-Men, we put their costumes in there, and we also have ones for you and Piotr.”

“How do you have some for us?” Bobby asked.

“We were planning to make you guys part of the X-Men,” Scott said. “We just never got around to it. The girls seemed a little more special at the time, and they revealed their powers to us before the teachers knew of yours.”

“So where is this Blackbird?” Rogue said. “Isn’t that what we came back in that one day?” she asked to Kitty and Logan.

“It is,” Logan said. “Now come on. We need to get there. Let’s hurry, because I’m not sure how much time we have left to do this.”

“And how are we to find them?” Piotr asked in his Russian accent. He got closer to Kitty.

“There is a tracker with the Professor,” Storm said. “He always has one on the suits he wears. And they’re always on our X-Men suits. That is how we are supposed to find one another when we have to.”

Kitty and the others just nodded, unsure of what she would be doing next. She looked over to Rogue and Alison, who looked at her with some concern.

“Okay,” Logan said. “Follow me, guys. We need to get to the basketball court.”

As they walked that way, Kitty looked to Rogue.

“I’m so scared,” Kitty admitted to her.

“I am too,” Rogue said. She put her arm around Kitty’s shoulder. “But we’re going to be okay. “We’ll be okay as long as we keep believing.”

Alison saw this and placed her hand on Rogue’s shoulder. “I know that as long as I remain with you guys, I’ll be fine,” she said. “You guys are my greatest friends, and I’m going to keep you as my friends until the end.”

Hearing this made both Kitty and Rogue feel much better.

Looking over to Bobby, Rogue noticed something was wrong. “Bobby, are you okay?” she asked.

“Yes,” he replied sharply.

“I know when you’re lying,” Rogue said. “I can tell real well. It’s something that runs in my family.”

Bobby smiled at her and finally admitted the truth. “All right, you’ve got me,” he said. “You see, John was an old friend of mine. We knew we were mutants a long time ago. In my neighborhood, there were four of us. Piotr and I were two of them. John and another guy—I forget his name—were the last two. The Brotherhood were very much known in that neighborhood. The other guy whose name I forget was killed in a car crash—his ability was to slow down time, ironically, but he was drunk that night, if I remember correctly—and so John decided to go with Magneto—he actually called himself that. So I remember John, Magneto, and the Brotherhood. I refused to join them, because Magneto told me of his plans to eradicate humanity and make us the perfect species. It was disgusting, if you ask me. So when the Professor came to me, I said yes, and that was before this school year.”

Hearing this sent chills down Rogue, Kitty, and Alison’s spines. They couldn’t be-lieve it.

“When I learned of my ability, I was asleep, and suddenly I found myself in what I now know was a dreamworld. I was flying, and then suddenly I began falling. When I woke up, I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I was in the basement, and I realized I’d fallen through the floor. My parents found me and soon we realized what I was. But all I care about is the fact they accept me. And so do you guys. That’s why you’re all my friends. I’ll make sure I never leave your sides.”

“I learned of my ability when I was helping Bobby in our neighborhood once. He was being beaten upon by some of the gang members there, and I attempted to stop them, and though they tried to punch me back, the places they punched were those I wished there was protection. I was suddenly encased in metal. The gang members believed they were just intoxicated—I know that because I heard them say so the next day. But they all had broken fingers and hands for a small while. It was because of that incident that the Professor found me. And now I am here.” He looked down and smiled at Kitty.

She smiled back and got closer to him. Rogue and Alison smiled at this.

They reached the basketball courts and found Logan pressing buttons on some sort of device that had been hidden under the metal of a basketball hoop. When he’d finished, the middle of the basketball court opened up. The Blackbird suddenly appeared.

“All right,” Logan said. “It’s time we get in there and begin changing. Jean, you have the trackers in place?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Let me just get everything on and ready.”

Logan nodded.

“The men will be changing in one corner of the Blackbird, the ladies in the other,” Logan explained, though he seemed to be rolling his eyes at the same time. Seeing this made Kitty giggle a little.

As they got on to the Blackbird, Kitty and Rogue thought the same exact thing: Here we come, Professor.

Chapter 13Imprisoned

He could hear sounds all around him. But that wasn’t the only thing. He could hear their thoughts. So many thoughts…It wasn’t the most pleasant experience.

Professor X opened his eyes and found himself in what looked to be a cell. He took a look around and saw the cell was protected by an electric fence.

The area around him resembled a lab. He knew it was all real. He remembered be-ing knocked unconscious, but he could not remember being brought to this place. He wondered what had happened to the children. He was scared for them all, as well as the teachers. He wanted to know what had happened to them so very badly.

“How does it feel, Professor?” asked a voice. “Do you like your living quarters? I did the best to make you feel comfortable. Of course, it was a little hard, as I can’t just read your mind.”

The Professor looked around, and then the man came into view. He was older and stocky. His brown hair was short and graying, as was his beard. His green eyes seemed to flash like warning signs behind thick glasses. He was smiling in a very dangerous way, with his teeth being a combination of white and yellow.

“William Stryker,” Professor X said. “So you’re behind all this! What was the mean-ing of it? You could have killed innocent children!”

“Innocent?” Stryker asked. “You call those things innocent! How stupid are you? You say you’re smart, and I believe that, but to question the fact those things are dangerous is such a terrible and idiotic move. I feel so very sorry for what has happened to you.”

“William, tell me where the children are! Please!” pleaded the Professor. “I need to know if they are safe!”

“Just take a look,” Stryker said, pointing to something behind Professor X.

The Professor turned his wheelchair around to see many monitors. They seemed to be monitoring the facility he was now imprisoned in, as well as the area surrounding it, which seemed to be some sort of island. On at least four of the monitors, he saw cells containing the children. In the fourth cell, he looked closer and found Hank McCoy, AKA Beast. He wondered if any of the other teachers were around there.

“I have a list of students and teachers in the school,” Stryker explained. “We have them all…”

Hearing this caused the Professor to sigh deeply. Stryker could have sworn he saw tears coming to his eyes. But Stryker sighed himself, as he knew his tome to gloat was now over, as unfortunate as it was. But then again, it had never come in the first place.

“…All but nine,” he finished. He saw the Professor look at him strangely. “Would you like me to tell you their names? I’m sure you would. You want to know which members of your little team are safe. It’s cute, but it’s just not right in some ways. Any-way…their names are Alison Blaire, Ororo Munroe, Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Robert ‘Bobby’ Drake, Piotr Rasputin, Katherine ‘Kitty’ Pryde, James Howlett—that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time—and my personal favorite, a girl named only here as ‘Rogue.’ Or, as you’ve put next to their names: Dazzler, Storm, Cyclops, Phoenix, Ice-man, Colossus, Shadowcat, and Wolverine. Rogue here wasn’t touched up with another name—I’m not very surprised, to be honest. Tell me, are these members of your little ‘X-Men?’”

Professor X sighed. “Yes,” he said. “I beg you, William, please do not hurt these chil-dren! Do not hurt those you’ve taken, and do not hurt those who are not here! All of them are amazing in their own right!”

“Well said, Charles,” came a voice from behind Stryker. The Professor peered behind him and saw Magneto. “It’s been a long time, old friend.”

“Erik, what is the meaning of this?” Professor X asked. “Did you have a hand in the raid? Please tell me you did not do such a thing!”

“I’m sorry, Charles, but it was too hard to pass up,” Magneto explained. “You see, we were the ones who put the Sentinel out on the docks that night. We are responsible for one of your little X-Men being injured. Tell me, how well did she recover?”

“Her ankle snapped back that night,” Professor X said. “She heals quickly, Kitty does. But that is beside the point! Why would you dare to be a part of this? This is madness!”

“I assure you, Charles, I wouldn’t have done this if it hadn’t been for the threat the Sentinels posed to us,” Magneto explained again. “If the Sentinels had not been creat-ed, then most of this would have never happened. But now they will no longer go into production. We are safe for the time being, so long as we stay with Stryker here.”

The Professor knew something else was there, but he didn’t wish to push into it with Magneto any longer. He turned his attention back to Stryker, who was staring at him with a strange expression upon his face.

“There is something I must show you, Xavier,” Stryker told him. “I meant to show you a long time ago, but it slipped my mind. I shall be right back.” He went away, leav-ing only Xavier and Magneto.

“Please, don’t do anything terrible!” Xavier begged Magneto. “I’ll do anything so long as you do not hurt any of the children in those cells or those who come to this island! I am begging you, Erik!”

Magneto just smiled at him. “It’s funny, Charles. I remember looking out through bars as a child while in an internment camp, and now it seems the tables have turned,” he said. “I’ll do as I please, old friend. I believe there is another friend you haven’t seen just yet, and it is quite unfortunate. I hope you remember our young Raven.”

Xavier saw Mystique walk in front of the cell and smile at him. “Hello, Charles,” she greeted seductively. Her yellow eyes glowed luteously in the dark light near them. “It’s been a while. Some of your precious X-Men hit me, you know. Why couldn’t you tell them that I’m one of your old friends? I just wanted to say hello, but instead, I get the crap beaten out of me by a girl who can phase through walls, a girl with a white streak in her hair, and Wolverine.”

“Kitty, Rogue,” Xavier said. “You didn’t hurt them, did you?”

“I tried, but Wolverine stopped me and threw me out a window,” Mystique explained. “I shapeshifted into a bird and flew away. But we did not completely lose. You see, your mansion is almost completely destroyed. Our young Pyro was knocked unconscious, but he released some of his power, which hit the generator in the basement and caused an explosion. I’m not sure if anyone died, but much to my anger, I don’t think anyone did.”

There was suddenly a loud alarm that went off. Mystique smiled. “That might be them, Charles,” she said. “Now let’s go—”

“It’s not what you think it is,” came Stryker’s voice suddenly. No one could see him. “One of your kids escaped, Xavier.” He suddenly appeared from a hallway. Someone was behind him, but everyone kept their attention on Stryker himself. “A boy named Kurt Wagner. I saw in your notes that you planned to make him a member of the X-Men soon. How amazing.” Stryker just smiled. Then his smile became that of true anger. “I hate how you mutants think you’re so much better than anyone else. How can you live with yourself, Xavier, with knowing how you’re endangering this entire planet?”

Xavier couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He attempted to look behind Stryker, but he was unable to. Stryker saw what he was trying to do and moved in that direc-tion, blocking his line of vision. Xavier attempted to read his mind, but it was blocked. Xavier looked around and realized it was Magneto who was stopping the link from happening. Xavier sighed, not surprised. He knew it was something Magneto would be expecting, although it was something Xavier never wanted to do unless the circum-stances truly demanded.

“It’s not the most courteous thing to do, Charles,” Magneto said to him. “You once said you would never do such a thing. But it seems you’re pushing boundaries. Con-gratulations.”

Xavier looked over to Stryker once more and saw how much more he was smiling. It made him begin to wonder.

“What makes you so happy, William?” Xavier asked. “Is it the fact you’ve taken us here to torture us? I cannot understand why you would do such a thing. It’s barbaric.”

“We’ll see about that,” Stryker said. “Do you by chance remember my son Jason?”

“Yes,” Xavier replied. “Where is he?”

Stryker moved away from his spot, revealing a young man in a wheelchair using a

breathing device. His eyes were two different colors, blue and green, which indicated heterochromia, the difference of the colors in the iris.

“Jason,” Xavier whispered to him. He noticed the young man was staring at him a very strange way. He was wearing a hospital gown. He had most certainly been loboto-mized. It disgusted Xavier so very much. He looked back up to Stryker. “William, this is your son! What in God’s name have you done to your own son?”

“This is not my son!” Stryker blurted out. “MY SON IS DEAD, XAVIER!”

Xavier couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples to help with some of the stress.

Just as he opened his eyes, he realized he was no longer imprisoned in the cell. He was in an office, it seemed. It also seemed the office was in the X-Mansion. He looked around. Beautiful sunlight streamed through the glass windows, illuminating the entire room. He felt warm all throughout his body. He took a step closer to the desk…and then realized something was different. Looking down, he found he was standing. He was able to move his legs all of a sudden. He couldn’t believe it. A single tear streamed down his right cheek. He smiled to himself, amazed that he could now use his legs once more.

And then the illusion ended.

Xavier found himself in the cell once more. He swallowed deeply, finding his throat dry. He looked in front of him once more, finding Magneto, Stryker, Mystique, and Jason standing there again.

“What happened?” Xavier asked them.

“You see, after lobotomizing Jason, I found he could send you into an illusion very easily. I have a serum that stops you from falling for it, however,” Stryker explained. “But you won’t be getting any of it. I have a plan in place, and once it succeeds…well, I’ll get to that later. Now, if you excuse me, I need to get back to finding that missing mutant. By chance, when you were going to name Kurt Wagner with his codename,’ what would his have been?”

“Why should I tell you?” Xavier asked. “I don’t find the need to tell you anything anymore.”

Xavier realized the words he’d just spoken. He didn’t know where they’d come from. He looked to Jason, who had no expression or, seemingly, any type of feeling on his face.

“Jason seems to have you all figured out, Xavier,” Stryker said to him. “How very sad. I believe you thought you could get through life without being figured out. But back to the boy. What did you plan to name him?”

“Nightcrawler,” Xavier finally said. “I was going to call him Nightcrawler.”

“And why is that?”

“It is a very special reason.”

Stryker smiled. He looked over to Magneto and Mystique. “I think we’re done here,” he said.

As he left, Magneto and Mystique spoke to Xavier.

“I am sorry for this, Charles,” Magneto said. “I wish something could be done, but this is the only way.” He then left before Xavier could say anything to him.

Mystique smiled. “You know, there is a way for you to be able to meet your little X-Men again. You would just have to wait for a few hours. Just…go to Hell.”

Mystique laughed and walked away, leaving only Xavier and Jason.

“I am sorry for this, Jason,” Xavier said. Jason just stared back. Xavier thought, There must be a way out of here.

Chapter 14The Calm

Kitty, Rogue, and Alison were in the changing room with Jean and Storm. They’d already put the black leather suits on. Kitty’s had blue surrounding the black, while Rogue’s had white, and Alison’s had pink. Jean and Storm’s had red and

gray, respectively.

“How far are we exactly?” Kitty asked.

“I’m not sure,” Jean said to her. “You may have to ask Wolverine for that. I’m not sure if they’re done changing yet, however.”

“Oh, we’re done!” called Logan from the other side of the jet. “You girls need to come out here! You might want to see this!”

Rogue looked strangely at Kitty, as did Alison. “What do you think it could be?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” Kitty replied. “I hope it’s a lead on the Professor. I really want to find him soon and get back to the school. It needs to be rebuilt.”

They went into the cockpit of the jet. Logan, Scott, Piotr, and Bobby were waiting on them. Logan’s costume had yellow surrounding the black, while Scott’s had navy, Piotr’s had the same light blue as Kitty’s, and Bobby’s had white, like Rogue’s.

“I’ve got the jet on autopilot,” Logan explained to the girls. “We need to talk about our plan to save the Professor and the other kids. Do you have any ideas?”

“Well, I was just wondering where you think the Professor might be?” Kitty asked. “In a facility?” She saw Logan nod. “Well, then, it seems I’d be the best person to go inside. I can phase through every wall and door until I find him and the other children. I won’t have to deal with being attacked or hit by any soldiers or any of the Brother-hood.”

“I would love for you to do something like that, Kitty,” Logan began, “but we’ll need you to help us deal with all those who will be attacking us as soon as we arrive. Is there the possibility you can phase us through all that in the jet?”

“No,” Kitty told him. “I may be able to phase some of us, but I’d need a lot of strength to phase something as big as this jet. Frankly, I don’t know how much strength I have left for anything since the mansion exploded. I still feel a little pain since that.”

“Well, the good thing is, everyone here will protect with everything they’ve got,” Logan said.

“Well, maybe not with everything we’ve got, but I’ll definitely protect my sister until the day I die,” Rogue said, patting Kitty on the back. “She’s helped me before, and now

it’s time I return the favor.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be saying that,” Kitty told her. “After all, you saved me from the Sentinel and you helped me get through my worst fear that one night.”

“Kitty, you’ve helped us get through an explosion,” Alison told her. “Just take it, okay?”

While Jean, Storm, Piotr, and Bobby were smiling at the girls, Scott and Logan were rolling their eyes. “All right, enough of that,” Logan finally growled. “Let’s go back to our planning. We’re probably going to end up fighting the Brotherhood. There will be three big problems with that. The first is that Bobby will be going up going up against Pyro. The second will be with you, Piotr. Magneto can control metal. If you see him, then you need to get far away from him. He could easily defeat in a fight. And last but not least, Rogue.”

“What about me?” she asked.

“The Brotherhood will be coming after you,” he said. “I know you don’t know too much about this, and the Professor had a reason for that, but it’s time I tell you the whole truth. You deserve to know it. You see, some of the Brotherhood actually lived in your neighborhood when you were growing up there in Mississippi. Did you, by chance, know much of your school principal? And do you remember their name?”

“Yes,” Rogue said. “Principal Darkholme. Her first name was Raven, but I don’t know what that has to do with me, other than the fact that he gave me ‘Raven’ as my codename.”

“Yes, I’ll get to that a little later. Well, it turns out, Principal Darkholme wasn’t nor-mal. She is a mutant. One of the worst ones out there.”

“’Is?’” Kitty exclaimed. “What in the heck are you talking about? You mean she’s still out there?”

“Yes, and you all met her earlier,” Jean said. “She is Mystique.” She saw the horrified expression on Rogue and Kitty’s faces, with Alison, Bobby, and Piotr having awed expressions.

“She learned of your abilities after hearing that your boyfriend, Cody, had been hos-pitalized,” Storm explained. “She looked into it, as she was attempting to bring in new mutants for the Brotherhood at that time.”

“Oh my God,” Rogue whispered to herself. Kitty placed a hand on her shoulder and patted her back.

“To be honest, we never knew much of this until we found out more about you, which was only last year. We weren’t trying to hide anything. We planned to tell you soon, but we couldn’t find the right time,” Logan defended. “I definitely wished to tell you much sooner than we were planning.”

“I understand, Logan, and I’m not blaming you or anyone else. But right now, I am so

badly horrified,” Rogue told him. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say right now. I just want to get back to saving the Professor for now. I have a really weird theory, and I don’t know where it came from. I remember when we were talking about the Sentinel, after we came back from the city and while we were helping Kitty. You mentioned they were made by William Stryker. But Mystique revealed to Kitty that she put the Senti-nel out on the docks. That leads me to believe there’s the possibility the Brotherhood and William Stryker are working together. It’d make a lot of sense, if you think about it, Logan, especially since all those men were in the mansion that night along with the Brotherhood. But that also means we’re in a crapload of trouble now. It means we’re going to have to fight even more when we arrive at wherever the Professor’s been tak-en. So, do you agree with my theory?”

Rogue saw Kitty and Alison were nodding, with Kitty smiling as brightly as she could manage. Jean and Storm were blinking, as it seemed both were surprised that she’d come up with it all. Scott seemed to be thinking everything through, whil Bobby and Piotr had their jaws open, staring stupidly. Finally Logan was nodding.

“You’re right,” he said. “You’re definitely right. There’s no other explanation other than that. I would have never thought of something in such a way, and I wouldn’t have put everything together the way you did. Great job, Rogue. Now we have the expla-nation for the Professor, although there’s the possibility he’s put everything together now. Speaking of which, do we have a lead on where he might be right at this moment, Jean?”

Jean and Storm hurried over to a monitor, obviously having forgotten about such a thing after hearing Rogue’s theory. They clicked a few keys there. A map suddenly ap-peared on the screen. There was a small red dot. It seemed the signal from the tracker was coming from an island. There was another dot closing in on the island, which the Rogue, Kitty, and Alison took to be the jet. The name of the island was highlighted, they saw: Solvitoes.

“Where the heck did that island come from?” Kitty asked. “I’ve never seen that on any of the maps of areas around the United States.”

“That’s because that island never existed until a few months ago,” Scott told her. “It was just recently created, and I know who might have done it. Hank McCoy and I were actually talking about this before he was taken. We found that area of the seabed—which, of course, is now the island—had a reserve of iron ore deep below. And do you know what that means?”

“Magneto,” Bobby said. “I know he can control metal. So you’re saying he created the island a few months ago? That’s insane!”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Logan said. “This is deep crap. It seems we’re going into a Hell that the Brotherhood created for us! They’re probably waiting for us! And it won’t surprise me if there are more Sentinels there. Holy crap, this isn’t good!”

“Calm down, Logan,” Scott said. “We’re going to be getting through this. We’ve almost arrived at the island, and so it’s all going to be cleared up for us. And there’s

someone we’ve forgotten to mention. Do you remember Bolivar Trask? We’ve read he’s the man responsible for the creation of the Sentinels.”

“Good point.” Logan growled and slapped himself in the head. “Kitty mentioned that the night she and Rogue had the confrontation with one. She was injured because of it, too. Kitty, just how strong was that Sentinel?”

“I don’t know,” Kitty admitted. “It was Rogue who went up against the darn thing. I had been knocked into the river before she went up against it. You might want to ask her, but one thing I know for sure is that seemed to know what my powers were. When I attempted to phase through it, it was able to hit me. But it could have also been my fear. That’s happened to me before. If I am too scared, or surprised, then I won’t be able to phase. I had both feelings in me at the time. I was also really cold and shivering. I’m not sure what it was.”

“It might have been one of those, but it most likely wasn’t,” Storm explained. “The Sentinel scanned both you and Rogue, and it learned your powers, your strengths, and your weaknesses. It went into a form that didn’t allow you to pass through. We know they can do this because Hank McCoy, you see, went to the factory where they were being made so we could find out more about them. There is some sort of a material that can change in such a way, Kitty. But what makes me wonder is how Rogue was able to defeat the Sentinel with only one kick to the head.”

“I think I might know how,” Jean said. “I was teaching her, remember? I looked into your mind, Rogue, and I found that due to her ability, if she has anyone’s abilities in her, no one will be able to fathom the infinite possibilities of what she can do with them in her possession. But that’s just what I think. I don’t completely know how she had all that extra strength in her, and we can only have theories on how that is possible, such as mine, but there will be explanations for that soon enough. For now, we need to go to what we will be doing with Mystique and Magneto when we arrive.”

“I’ll go after Mystique,” Rogue volunteered. “I want to get even with her. She’s done a lot to me, and I didn’t even have to know her how I do now. She’s nothing more than a bully. When I was there at school, which was closed down not long after she left and just before I did so, she persecuted me for things I didn’t even do. Now I see that she might have been testing me. I guess I bursted her bubble a little.”

“I’ll go with her,” Kitty said. “She’s my sister, and I definitely will not leave her be-hind. I’ll be there at her side no matter what happens.” She looked to Rogue and smiled.

“I’ll most likely be going after John, because I’m sure he’s still alive,” Bobby ex-plained. “An explosion like that wouldn’t have killed someone who can control fire like him.”

“I’ll go with you, Bobby,” Alison said. “I know I have a good power, but it’s not as good as Kitty or Rogue’s. I’ll help to blind John if he attempts to hurt you. It might help you to defeat him.” Bobby nodded as she finished and smiled.

“During the raid, I saw the Juggernaut,” Jean said. “We’ve been going after Cain Mar-ko for a long while. It seems he’s joined the Brotherhood, which I am not the least bit

surprised at. I can possibly send him into unconsciousness if I can get into his mind.”

“I’ll provide cover for you all,” Storm said. “You’ll need it, because once we start fighting, helicopters might come and attempt to film us. If they see that we’re attacking those who raided us, they might think we’re just as bad as the Brotherhood, which isn’t true. They don’t understand sometimes, unfortunately, but sometimes we must deal with such things. I might help against Magneto, though.”

“I’ll just beat the crap out of whoever gets in my way,” Wolverine told them.

“What could I do?” Piotr asked Jean and Storm.

“It wouldn’t be good for you to go up against Magneto, since he can control metal,” Jean explained. “Mystique might not help either, as she can shapeshift into Magneto, but Juggernaut might be the perfect match against you. Let’s hope there aren’t any other mutants like you there on the side of the Brotherhood. It most certainly wouldn’t help.”

Everyone looked over to Scott. “I’ll help in whatever way I possibly can,” he told them. “I wasn’t expecting to go forward with this, however. I was hoping we wouldn’t be having to fight anytime soon. After all, these are some inexperienced kids, Jean. I love you, but we need to be careful when it comes to this. You understand me, right?”

“I know what you mean, and everyone else knows, too,” Jean told him.

“I don’t,” Logan commented.

“We must keep our heads up,” Storm told everyone in there. “We are X-Men. We can do this. We will win, I am telling you. I have faith, and I pray you all join with me in that faith.”

“I definitely do,” Kitty said.

“So do I,” Rogue agreed.

“And I,” Alison said.

Logan, Jean, and finally Scott merely gave nods, but Storm knew they believed her and trusted in what she had just said.

There was a beeping sound suddenly. Jean and Storm turned to the monitors and clicked a few buttons. Jean turned to them with a solemn expression.

“We’re over the island now,” she announced. “It’s time we get ourselves ready for what ever is about to come our way.”

“Yeah, because all Hell is about to break loose,” Logan growled. “You’d best make sure you say your last farewells to everyone.” He smiled and winked at Kitty, Alison, and Rogue.

Rogue looked to Bobby. He held her hand and smiled. He finally sighed and said to her, “I know what you’re capable of, and I’m not scared,” he admitted lovingly. “I want to kiss you. I think it might bring me good luck when I’m down there and fighting.”

Rogue was very apprehensive about this, and Bobby most assuredly couldn’t blame her. He looked over to Piotr, who nodded, which let him know he wanted to see Bobby kiss her. Rogue looked over to Kitty and Alison, who smiled and urged her on. And finally, despite being apprehensive, kissed him. They did not stay in the embrace for long, as Bobby gasped in pain a little. When she and Bobby broke apart, Rogue sighed again, and realized she could now see her breath in the air. She now knew she’d taken some of his power. But he wasn’t in a coma, she found. He was still sitting upright in the same position, smiling at her.

“And there we go,” Bobby said. He then looked up at Piotr. “I think it’s safe to say you should do it now, just to be even with me.”

“What are you talking about?” Kitty asked. Then her eyes widened and the smile disappeared from her face. “Oh.”

Piotr went to her and took her hand in his own hands. Her small hands weren’t even half the size of his hands. “Kitty, I love you so very much,” he said. “And if I die to-night in the battle, which I still very much hope against—,” this brought a small, cute laugh from Kitty that made Piotr smile even more— “then I wish to know the girl of my dreams loves me back.”

Kitty got to her feet. She looked to Rogue and Alison, who now urged her on. Her conscience told Kitty she was doing the right thing, and she had much confidence there in front of her.

“Piotr, you are the love of my life, and my love for you is unfathomable,” she said. “I would be delighted to be your girlfriend.”

Piotr literally had to pick her up off her feet to bring her up to his level. They kissed one another very passionately. As Rogue, Alison, and Bobby looked on, Kitty felt as if she were in Heaven. Rogue looked over to see Logan, Jean, Storm, and Scott. Storm and Logan had confused expressions on their faces, while Jean and Scott were smiling at them.

When Kitty and Piotr broke apart, they looked to Bobby and Rogue, as well as Alison. They all contined smiling at one another until Jean and Storm broke the silence.

“When we are in the right position, we will be jumping from this,” Jean explained. “I’ll be going with Scott. I can use my mind to levitate us down.”

“Find someone to jump with,” Storm said to the others. “I will be able to fly down, however.”

“I’ll go with Bobby,” Rogue said. She looked to him. “You can get down to ground level without us getting hurt, right?”

“Yes,” he said. “I can create this ice bridge we can ride down on. It’ll be like a roller-coaster, sort of, if you know what I mean.”

Kitty was up next. “I’ll be going with Alison,” she explained to Piotr. “She’ll need someone to go with, because everyone else has some sort of a way. Your metal form will

protect you from getting hurt when you hit the ground, right?” Piotr nodded. “Okay, well, Alison doesn’t have a way to get down there, so I’ll be jumping down there with her.” She looked to Alison. “We’ll be phasing through the ground and come right back up, do you understand?” Alison nodded.

That left Logan. He told them, “I have an adamantium skeleton. Even if I am sup-posedly injured, I will heal seconds later, just like I did when I was shot that one time. There’s no need to be worrying about me.”

With everything set, Jean and Storm nodded. “Then we’re ready,” Jean said. Then she and Storm turned to the monitors again.

Kitty hugged Rogue. “I’m scared,” she admitted.

Rogue smiled at her and returned the hug. “I know, and so am I,” she said softly. “But I’m going to stay by your side. As I said before, I’m not leaving you. You’re my sister, and I’ll never let anything happen to you.”

With their fears mostly subsided, all they could do then was wait for the perfect mo-ment.

Chapter 15Makeshift

Xavier found himself on that accursed beach. He never thought he would see such a place ever again. It was that one day he and his first team of X-Men had averted a crisis. He found Erik Lensherr in front of him, with Raven Dark-

holme/Mystique and Hank McCoy behind him. A dead body lay on the ground. Xavier recognized it as Sebastian Shaw. He saw a bullet speed toward Erik, but he deflected it. There was the sound of a gun going off twice more. Erik deflected the first harmlessly, but then, when he deflected the second, Xavier felt all feeling leave his legs. He cried out in pain. He had no idea what he was supposed to do.

And then he was back in the real world. Xavier looked in front of him and found Jason Stryker there once more, staring at him. Xavier looked him over again and wondered how his father could have done such a terrible to his child. To see Jason in a wheelchair was something that made Xavier come close to crying. It disgusted him almost.

Then he heard voices outside the cell. He couldn’t tell who they belonged to. It seemed that his mind was no longer clear, which was a surprise. But then he realized it had to do with Jason. Xavier wondered how his father was making him do this. It didn’t seem like anything normal.

Xavier saw Magneto and Stryker move around the corner. They were both staring at Xavier with discern. Stryker, then again, seemed to never look at a mutant with any-thing but that and deep disgust.

“Hello, Charles,” said Magneto. “How are things going with you? I hope this is all to your liking. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be somewhere half as comfortable.”

“Erik, I beg you to stop this madness!” Xavier cried. He turned to Stryker. “William, you must stop all you’re doing! This won’t end well for either side! Please listen to me!”

“Professor, I don’t give the slightest amount of crap when it comes to hearing your words,” Stryker told him. “There are times when I want to tell you to shut up, but then you wouldn’t be in a good mood, and I want you to be when I show you what I’ve made for you. Once you see it, you won’t want to leave.” He looked over to his son. The son he very much said was dead to him.

“What would this be?” Xavier asked. “I wish to remain in this cell while I wait for something else. I am sure you understand, William.”

“I don’t, Xavier,” Stryker said, “but let me tell you something. When everything goes the wrong way with your X-Men, then you have my utmost permission to finally die. How does that sound to you? Because it sounds pretty darn good to me!” Stryker laughed sadistically. He turned to Magneto, who was staring at him with a strange ex-

pression. “What is it you want?”

“What are you hiding it from me?” Magneto asked. He took off his helmet and looked to Xavier, who caught on to what he was doing.

Xavier attempted to look into Stryker’s mind, but Jason prevented him from doing so. However, Stryker put his hand on his son’s shoulder, which took all defense away from Stryker’s mind. Xavier finally took a look inside and found what he was looking for. When he realized what was going to happen, his eyes widened. He sent the information into Magneto’s mind, whose eyes suddenly became enraged.

“You plan to kill us all using some sort of device,” Magneto accused Stryker. “How dare you? I gave you a chance for help against the X-Men, but you decide to dou-ble-cross us? What kind of a man are you?”

Stryker became very much enraged. “I’m only doing what I must,” he explained. “I believe all mutants must be destroyed, my friend. And as of now, I don’t care what happens to you or to Xavier’s precious X-Men. You’re all the same to me! However, I would like to observe your dead bodies and dissect them. It would most certainly help our cause.”

“What kind of man are you, William?” Xavier asked. “How could you dare to do such a thing?”

“I can do whatever I darn well please, Xavier!” protested Stryker. “And I have a way to prove that I want all of you dead! It may not last long, but I know how to remove your abilities!” He took out a gun and aimed it at him. “If you don’t shut up, I’ll kill you right here and right now! How does that sound?”

Xavier said nothing. He believed he was too wise for such a thing. But no one can be too wise, he thought. Everyone makes mistakes, and I am a prime example of such a person, that much is clear. I want the rest of the X-Men to appear soon. They must save everyone but myself. I have messed up all that I believe in, mostly because I believed I could keep this many mutant children safe for so long. Oh how I was wrong…And now I am paying the ultimate price for my stupidity.

“What more shall you do to me with your son?” Xavier asked.

“Haven’t you been listening, Xavier?” Stryker exclaimed. “My son is dead! Just like the rest of you! None of you will ever mean anything to me!”

Xavier thought of something he could do, but he decided not to. He wanted to get into Stryker’s brain and see what was truly in there, but he believed it would not do well to do such a thing.

“And just to show how much I don’t care about any

of you freaks…” Stryker took a gun out of his pocket and aimed it at Magneto, who obviously attempted to take it out of his hand, but failed. Xavier wondered why. But then Stryker pulled the trigger, and a dart went flying into Magneto’s chest.

Magneto looked down and took the dart out of himself slowly. He tried to control metal, and then realized what the dart had done to him: it had taken away his powers.

“My God,” Stryker said under his breath. “It worked.” He then pulled back his arm and punched Magneto straight in the face, causing the older man to fall to the floor, unconscious.

Xavier didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He could only stare at his old friend-turned-enemy. The fact that a mutant’s powers could be taken away so easily was something that caused Xavier to wonder suddenly.

“How is that possible?” Xavier asked.

“There was a young boy we took from a mental institution. He was known as Leech to many of the doctors, and they knew he was a mutant. But they didn’t seem to care. They kept him alive. But I was able to sneak him out of that mental institution and take his DNA from his body. He’s dead now, fortunately. I no longer have to deal with that kind of crap. Now, it’s time I show you something amazing. I’ve been working on it for a long while.”

He called a name, and soon a beautiful young woman appeared. She was dressed all in white. Xavier recognized her. “Emma Frost,” he said. “You haven’t seemed to have aged a day.”

“I know, Charles,” she replied. “And you know what else? I’ve betrayed Magneto for a reason. And now I work for Stryker.”

Xavier couldn’t help but think. Emma wheeled him along a path, with Stryker wheel-ing Jason. They continued along the path, and soon Xavier couldn’t help but think where they might be going. But then he saw two metal double doors. They opened up, and Stryker allowed Emma to wheel Xavier in first.

As soon as Xavier entered the room, his mouth dropped open. Though it was not an exact replica, he recognized the place as the room he used for Cerebro.

“My God,” he said to himself. “How is this possible?”

“I had someone give me some information, Xavier,” Stryker explained to him. “And thanks to them, I was able to make this whole thing. I have a plan for you, Xavier. I have a plan for your precious X-Men, as well. But as for you, I’ll force you to kill all the mutants in the world.”

Xavier and Emma’s eyes widened.

“What?” Emma exclaimed.

“Yes. Didn’t you know read my mind while I was forcing you to do such a thing?” Stryker sadistically replied.

Xavier couldn’t believe what Stryker was saying. He’d forced Emma to do such a ter-rible thing, and he could see she hadn’t meant to do it. He wondered how Stryker could

have forced one of the strongest telepathic mutants to have ever done such a thing. It was bewildering.

“You can’t do this!” Emma exclaimed at Stryker. “I will stop you! And even if I don’t, the X-Men will stop you!”

“Well, you were right about you not being able to stop me,” Stryker told her. He pulled out a gun and shot her in the leg. “The bullet there is coated in the substance I used for the cure. Good-bye, Xavier.” He turned to Jason. “Make him kill all mutants.”

And then Stryker left the three mutants in there. Once he was gone, Emma looked at Xavier. He saw tears in her baby-blue eyes. “I’m very sorry for this, Charles.”

Xavier sighed and knew it was best for them to hope and wait to be rescued.

The End...

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