Heya, look who it is! I know I promised a Naruto crossover sequel first but I just didn't feel like it. Writer's block is such an ass. Anywho, this chapter is really to see if anyone likes this idea - is the response is good I'll continue. I'm a real fan of Jumper and I think a crossover would be awesome. This is only the tip of my imagined iceberg!

Sorry that its unbeta'd but I couldn't find anyone to do it for me - if this fic continues then I'd really liek some help with betaing it. Anyone insterested? lol

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

The sun was high, it cast benevolent rays over the park far below. The grass seemed to literally grow with a healthy, vibrant green. The shade below the branches of the trees was gentle as well as cool. The park was a large expanse with many lawns and trees. Children laughed, playing in the sunlight. Many families had come for picnics in the summer perfection. The day, on a whole was beautiful.

In a more secluded lawn at the rear of the park a strange group of individuals were also enjoying the sunshine. A large blanket had been laid out and three adults sat upon its expanse. One was an older gentleman, bald and formally dressed. He sat comfortably in an electric wheel chair, smiling as he talked amicable to a redheaded woman seated on the blanket next to him. On his other side was a woman with much darker skin and an African cast to her features. She had long white hair, oddly enough, and was speaking to a young teenager of similar appearance who had jogged up to her.

The teenagers that darted around in front of the blanket were varied but all were quiet young. They also appeared quite normal, playing and laughing as friends should. That was until one particular individual, a short, pale-skinned boy with dark hair that carried an odd bluish tint, vanished in a plume of smoke when pursued by the darker skinned boy. He reappeared just behind him and jabbed him in the side before running away once more.

"No fair, Kurt!" Spike bellowed after him, "no powers!" His face was still plastered with a devil-may-care grin, so no major harm was done.

"It is not my fault that you cannot catch me on equal grounds," Kurt called back, laughing.

He ceased laughing when a body connected with him solidly, pushing him to the ground with a thud. "Got you" said Scott smugly to the smaller boy. He hit the ground with and 'oof' as Kurt, yet again, teleported away.

Jean merely rolled her eyes, looking to the professor with exasperation. He chuckled, "boys will be boys, Jean," he told her gently.

"Professor I doubt you were ever like that, they act like muscle-headed idiots sometimes," Jean complained with a huff.

"Oh I assure you I could be arrogant in my youth, one cannot escape the revenge of Mother Nature after all." Charles Xavier turned his chair slightly so he could better see the children play. He had arranged this outing for those in the institute not going home for the summer. He felt it was good for them to spend time outdoors as a group and, due to the concealed nature of this section of the park, play somewhere other than the manor grounds with full use of their powers.

He was half way through a conversation with Ororo on ideas for new installations within the institute when he felt the abrupt appearance of another presence directly behind them. It was as if someone had flicked on a light, suddenly there was someone where that had been no one before. Three someones, he amended himself. He turned his head to see them but the presences vanished once more, instantaneously appearing somewhere to his left. If happened twice more, each time they appeared in a slightly different location. Upon the last reappearance there was only one presence, the other two had mysteriously vanished.

"What's wrong, professor?"

Xavier turned to Jean but had no time to voice this curious mystery as there was suddenly an eruption activity behind him. He heard the crackling of what sounded like thunder behind them. Every head turned to see what looked like a crack in the very air being wrenched open. Air was sucked into it like a vortex. They had only a moment to blink in wonderment before a man in an odd light grey suit was propelled through it, he stumbled to keep his balance as another arrived behind him.

The two cast a cursory look at the assembly of people before their eyes began to wander over the surrounding foliage. As one they pulled out an odd set of goggles with misty white lenses and a can of spray. After spraying it in the air they donned the goggles and looked around once more.

"I can see five jump-scars including this one," said the first with an air of authority. He reached to a long holster at his side, pulling out a long black rod capped with silver.

"Little shits are getting better, can't tell which one is most recent from here…" grunted the other in reply.

"That's because you're new, fool. See these four-" the man indicated something in the air that the stunned X-men couldn't see, "- these are large scars, more than one person has been jumped through them. At a push I would say three people maybe? But that one over there-" here the man pointed to a tree three meters from where they stood on his left, "- is small and clearly has only had one person jump through it. And, since there are no other scars to say that the person has left…"

"He's still here," finished the other strange man. Abruptly the pair began to look around wildly, "do you have visual?"

"No, I can't see him," replied the first. He moved his hand to the mouth piece of a headset on his right ear. "Sir, group two reporting. We have lost visual on the targets. I repeat: we have lost visual." There was a moment's pause, "yes, sir. I understand, sir."

Scott moved to say something but an arm barred his way, "Professor?" he questioned.

The older man shook his head slowly, "we do not understand what is going on here, Scott. It would not be wise to act now."

There was a whining noise as the other man pulled out a similar stick to the first and pressed a button on its side. The stick sparked with electricity. Behind them the crack in the air abruptly closed, drawing in upon itself. The first swivelled, "Shit! We didn't time the entry! The bastard was waiting for this!" he growled angrily.

"Damn straight!" The voice was confident and mature. They all turned to see a tall man standing five meters away, on the other side of the X-men so they were between him and the two unknown men. He had crystal blue eyes and sandy blond hair that lay in a blustered mess. He wore ripped blue jeans and a faded red shirt; the ensemble looked like it had been put on with haste. On his left cheek there was a bleeding cut. Strangest of all, he wasn't wearing any shoes. In his right hand he held a baseball bat. "I don't suppose we could solve this in a friendly way?"

There was a crackle and electricity visibly jumped around the baton. The two began tot advance in a pincer movement around the picnicking X-men. "That's a 'no' then?" said the stranger wryly.

What shocked the X-men was that, as the first man raised his baton and launched what can only be described as an electrified grappling hook at the stranger, the man simply vanished. It wasn't like when Kurt teleported, there was no characteristic puff of smoke. He was simply gone leaving a strange white ripple in the air behind him.

"That was close and distinctly unfriendly!" They looked to see him, once more, five metres from where he had previously stood. "I see we're going to have to get violent." The man began to run forward, disappearing only to reappear slightly ahead of himself but with even greater momentum. He was a blur to all who watched. He took no longer than two seconds to reach the man who had fired the grappler at him.

The force of the blow was phenomenal. The man was thrown backward, over the X-men, to land in a crumpled heap. The man vanished again as another grappling hook flew at him. The second man's head snapped to the side as a baseball bat impacted on the side of his skull with an awful crack. He fell to the ground lifeless.

"This is g-group t-two," croaked the man on the floor. The taller of the two.

"I don't think so, pal," came the grim response. Suddenly the headset was on the ground in pieces and the stranger was holding the man by the throat. "Now, my lovely, you are going to tell me all you know," the man whispered in a deadly tone.

"I'll never tell scum like you!" the man managed to wheeze.

"Heh, insult me all you like but you've met the dead end. It can be quick or slow. I know a nice bay of sharks off Cuba, nice cold Atlantic sea. Your choice if you wan-" the man's head snapped up as he suddenly turned to look at the gawping individuals. "Ah, kinda forgot we had company…"

He dropped the man unceremoniously back into a heap. He scratched the back of his head and smiled in an earnestly embarrassed kind of manner. "Sorry, guys" was all he said before reaching inside the back pocket of his baggy jeans and dropping the bat with his left hand. It happened so fast that none of the X-men could have prevented it. A gunshot cracked the sky and the wheezing man stopped moving. There was an eerie silence in its wake.

The stranger replaced the gun in his back pocket as Spike managed to stutter out "y-you killed him…" For, though all the younger students were X-men, he had never seen anyone kill another in such cold blood. The elder X-men however, the likes of Scott, Jean, Xavier, Ororo and a newly-arrive Logan, merely narrowed their eyes and mentally prepared themselves.

"That I did. That I did," the man mused to himself. "Well, it is them or us." He spoke as if he were talking to a very small child. "See you round."

Sensing the man was about to vanish Xavier spoke up at last, "what manner of person are you, young man?"

The man turned to him, "young? Hardly, I'm twenty nine!" He chuckled to himself, "best to forget what you saw here. Say anything and they'll find you." He checked his watch and grunted quietly in annoyance, "now I must be going."

"I do not think you will," Xavier commented with a smile and watched the stranger's eyes widen in horror as he realised he could not vanish as before. "As a telepath a great many powers are open to me, if I convince your mind you are unable to teleport then you are unable to do so," he continued jovially. "Now, what manner of mutant are you? Never have I seen one of us so skilled nor in such a deep battle with those weaker than ourselves," Xavier gestured to the fallen humans.

The man was quiet for a moment. Then he started to laugh and could not stop. "Mutant? Me? Oh that's rich!" he managed to stammer out amidst his laughter. He finally managed to stem his laughter somewhat, "I am no 'mutant', old man. Nor do their troubles concern me," he told Xavier, voice thick with amusement.

"You are able to teleport, young man. Not so different to my ward Kurt Wagner," Xavier replied, gesturing to the German boy. "If you are not a mutant as we are then what manner of creature are you?" Xavier's eyes narrowed as the outline of the man began to shimmer uncontrollably, almost like he was having some sort of fit at high speed. His mind struggled to hold onto the man's. One thing was certain, this stranger had an incredibly stubborn will.

"We account for over eighty per cent of the missing children in America, sixty per cent in the world overall. Their authority is strongest here. Want to know what I am? I suggest start reading missing children's reports, old man. It won't tell you much, but the beginning maybe…" Then the man was gone. No sound, no ripple, just a slight huff on the wind. It was as if he'd never been there.

"What now, professor?" asked Ororo, walking to his side.

"I believe it is best we leave this place, this is no scene for the children," the man turned his wheelchair and gazed sadly at the corpses. "Logan?"

"Chuck?" The rough, short man was dressed in a leather jacket, a cigar hanging loosely from his lips.

"I trust you are still good friends with a certain Nicolas Fury?" Xavier did not look at him.

"You'll have the five hundred most recent missing child's reports on your desk by this evening, bub. No need to ask," Logan replied gruffly.

"Thank you, my friend."

"Professor, why are we pursuing them, why not leave them to the Shield-mob?" asked Kurt as he appeared in a slight puff of smoke.

"That young man is dangerous, young master Wagner, it wouldn't do for him to worsen the relations between ourselves and the humans. Also…I am curious as to why he would deny mutant genetics while displaying such obvious symptoms of an X-gene," the professor gazed away in thought.

"Perhaps it is a denial out of prejudice?" mused Jean as they began to walk away.

"No, if it were so simple laughter would not have been his reaction. Missing children is also a serious business, if there is any truth in what he says then he may be a very real link for hundreds of worried parents."

Little more was said as the group journeyed home.

--

Miles away a pair of twins felt a slight ripple as a man appeared just behind them in a dark underground basement. It was only lit by a small hanging lamp that through harsh shadows all around them. There were a number sleeping bags by the wall and a manner of other survival items scattered across the floor. The children were no older than seven and, at the appearance of the older man, they immediately proceeded to jump upon the newcomer, not put off by his sudden strange appearance. "Davey! Davey! You're back!" the one of the left cried. He had a Spanish lilt to his words.

"That I am, Turo, that I am. Are you two alright? Hurt?" David asked them concernedly.

"We're fine, see?" Cristian raised his arms, showing not a bruise or scratch.

"Glad to see that, little monsters. I was worried, we did jump in quite a hurry after all," David scratched the back of his head and yawned. "Now," he continued, turning to the two identical dark-haired boys, "what did we learn today?"

"Always jump more than once! Makes you harder to find!" Cristian piped up.

"Don't let the Paladins catch you!" interjected Turo eagerly.

David smiled as they both looked up at him with earnest eyes. "We'll have to stay here for a few days and then I'll call Griffin okay? I'm sure he and the others are fine but I'm not sure if our stuff was tampered with." The blonde man stretched out on the floor and the other two lay beside him. He'd like to take them back to the city for something to eat tomorrow but what with that strange old man there he was unsure if it was safe.

Mutants were trouble for Jumpers. His kind had existed for centuries with only one enemy, with mutants enticing hatred left, right and centre it now meant they had to contend with other enemies. He and Griff had checked them the minute the mutant thing had blown wide open, donated samples of their blood to a scientist Jumper they knew (the guy had been lucky, he wasn't overly gifted with Jumping – only having done it four times in his whole life. The Paladins had never taken any notice of him). There was no correlation between Jumper blood and mutant blood. The gene structures were completely different. Mutants were humans unlocking their own abilities already present in the average human genome using a newly developed gene – the X-gene as some called it. Jumpers, in comparison, might as well be an entirely different species.

Well, there was no use worrying about it now. They'd got the children away safely from their most recent 'lair' – as Griffin liked to call them. It was only a temporary one anyway, nowhere as secure of Griffin's old one. They still needed to refurbish a lot of the new one and so they, and the children, had been stuck using an older 'lair' in the Grand Canyon. It was secure enough that when Roland did show his ugly, distinctly unfriendly, mug they were able to get away with the children fairly quickly. Fairly. It had been a close call.

Well, there was no use worrying about it now. He would check out the area tomorrow, if it proved too unsafe they would wait for Griffin's call for three days. If Griffin failed to call he would move to another safe house and begin the process again. If Griffin had still not called by the end of a month he would relocate directly to the new 'lair', check for danger and move the children in. He had learned long ago that, though this process was very, very boring, safe was definitely better than sorry.

After all, it was reckless behaviour that had got Millie killed in the first place.

So so so! What did you guys think? Worth continuing? I'll buzz it along a chapter or so just to get the full initial idea out to peeps, see the reaction and whatnot. Please read and review so I can see what everyone thinks and whether this is worth having a serious crack at. I've got all summer and, well, this might just be fun.

R&R for cooookies (the cybernetic kind!)

- D