A/N:

Greetings, everyone, Danielle, aka DC-MarvelGirl 1997 here with another X-men fan fiction for you! I am proud to say that this story is just me without the help of my editor for Peace in Our Time, MarvelMaster 616. Now, this story will be taking a much darker turn than most would expect, borrowing a lot from the comic arch of Age of Apocalypse. Here's my summary:

Nathanial Essex – Mr. Sinister – is a scientific genius and a world-renowned doctor who promises to "awaken" the world by bringing advancements in medicine and science to the entire world. However, in order to jumpstart his project, he, his Acolytes and his lover, Cassandra Nova – second cousin of Professor Charles Xavier, sought out four potential mutants whom he thinks could help aid him in his dream: Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Warren Worthington III, and Rogue. Together, these four mutants act as a team under "Project Evolution," operating together to prepare for what Dr. Essex calls "the most important, enlightening day of their lives."

'This here means thoughts and psychic communication.'

Additionally, I just want to give a huge thank-you to my favorite fanfiction author, MarvelMaster 616, who has inspired me to write for X-men ever since I came across his previous account slickboy 444. You've purely inspired me to write for the X-men universe, especially after I read X-men Supreme for the first time, so, this one is dedicated to you, one-hundred percent. Thank you for mentoring me and working with me on Peace in Our Time; I don't think I can ever thank you enough for your kindness and support. You've been so sweet and helpful and truthfully, you've given me the confidence to feel as though I can write this on my own.

Be sure to follow, favorite, and most importantly of all, REVIEW! I highly value reviews and constructive criticism for everything that I do, so be sure to leave a comment when you come across this story. Also, be sure to check out my series I am co-authoring with MarvelMaster 616 titled Peace in Our Time! Alright, I hope that you all enjoy The Evolution Project!

Chapter 1: The Project

Essex Laboratories – Nathaniel Essex's Room

The shadowy, deep night skies of Antarctica howled with the December winds. It was the coldest winter to be expected in the continent just above North America. However, it proved to be warm in the bedroom of Dr. Nathaniel Essex in more ways than one.

Nathaniel Essex was sprawled out, naked under the covers lying beside his lover, Cassandra Nova, whose life and beauty were as ethereal as she was. Her long, flowing blonde hair and pale complexion, as well as her ability to read others' thoughts made her desired deeply by Essex, who found it a blessing to be in bed alongside her. Both were covered in sweat after having just gotten through a round of sex, staring deeply into one another's eyes with smiles on their faces. Essex's fingers entangled in Cassandra's hair as he gave her a deep, passionate kiss as he ran his hands down her breasts.

"My beautiful Cassandra," he whispered; his voice deep with infatuation, hunger and desire. He brushed his fingers against her face, her beauty making this moment seem all the more intoxicating.

"Mmm, whenever you call me that, it never gets old, my love," Cassandra whispered as she wrapped her arms around her lover.

"Indeed. However, I wish to speak to you about our plans that we have been looking to act on," Essex told her softly, kissing her forehead.

"Ah, yes, Project Evolution." Cassandra smiled coyly, running her fingers through Essex's semi-thick black hair and then along his beard.

"Project Evolution, indeed." Essex sat up, the sheets falling from his body as he made his way over to his clothes which had been strewn across the floor careless. He pulled on a pair of boxers, followed by his shirt. He tossed Cassandra her shirt, and she put it on after having strapped her bra back on. "I think that it's time that we act on it. You know what was promised to us if we do. Full enlightenment . . . advancements in sciences and medicine. Now is the time, my darling."

"Well, you do know for a fact that finding at least four people, in addition to our acolytes whom we already have in our arsenal, will be quite the bit of a challenge. I mean, how will we sought out four mutants who could potentially be worthy of joining a cause such as ours?" Cassandra's voice was laced with curiosity as she put her clothes back on her womanly body.

"Read my mind . . . you're the telepath here, after all, my dear," Essex dared her, a seductive smile on his lips.

Cassandra smiled in return just as seductively, going over to her lover and placing a single hand on his temple. Through their opened love bond, she was exposed to all of her lover's thoughts that were running through his mind. He let his shields completely down so that she could hear every thought. Cassandra closed her eyes, relishing in the feeling of having her lover let his shields down completely. Finally, when she finished reading his thoughts, her smile grew upon her face.

"Ahh . . . I see exactly what it is that you are planning, my dear. But, how do you plan on achieving this one-hundred percent? We're talking about four mutants here who are so young, so impressionable. How will we convince them to join us; to be a part of this?" Cassandra mused, even though she already knew what Essex was thinking at that moment in time. She stared into his red – almost glowing – eyes in infatuation.

"You already know what I am thinking, darling." Essex wrapped his arm gently around his love, pulling her closely to him as they walked out of their bedroom together. "Since we've already got approval from the government who believe that we are a pharmaceutical company based here, it shouldn't be too much of an issue, dear."

Cassandra smiled seductively again, her eyes boring into Essex as he kissed her on the forehead lightly. They walked down to his lab together, hand in hand. Walking into the laboratory, the couple walked into the sounds of beeping of machines and different computers. However, what made the laboratory all the more interesting and fascinating was the technology that would make even the likes of Tony Stark – Iron Man, envious.

"We've been hard at work for the past three years to get this laboratory started, and here we are," Cassandra said in pride.

"Indeed, Cassandra, we did it." Essex had as much pride in his tone as his lover did. "But, we should begin. I do not want to waste another minute. Now, time to get to our first location . . ."

Anchorage, Alaska – Claremont Air Force Base

The high, intense, wintery winds of Anchorage Alaska whipped through the hair of seven-year-old Scott Summers and his eleven-year-old brother, Alex. The snow and wind whipped across their faces, but, the two boys could care less. When their father and mother had announced to them that they were going to be taking them away for Christmas vacation to spend some time with relatives in Hawaii, the boys were ecstatic.

Christopher and Katherine Summers looked at their two boys with nothing but pride. Christopher grabbed his youngest son in a hug, suddenly missing being able to lift his son up on his shoulders like he used to when Scott was four or five. Scott had inherited his father's looks, but, his eyes were a crystal clear blue, just like his mother's.

"You boys ready to see your aunts and uncles?" Christopher asked, ruffling Alex's blonde hair affectionately.

"Yeah!" Scott grinned, his eyes wide with enthusiasm. He held himself like a soldier, and had a maturity to him that shocked his parents. Scott was so focused and driven for a seven-year-old boy, determined to be part of the military just like his father.

Katherine kissed her son's forehead lovingly as she grabbed Scott's hand. Christopher wrapped an arm around Alex's shoulders.

"You've already grown so tall, Alex. Soon enough, you'll be joining the Army," Christopher said as they approached their aircraft that was awaiting them. Boarding the plane, the two boys proceeded to fight over who got the window seat on the plane while Christopher got into the pilot's chair after exchanging a few words with the mechanic, who had been fixing up the plane for them. The mechanic had told them to have a safe trip; with Christopher's skills as a pilot, he was confident that he would be able to get his wife and sons to Hawaii just fine.

Once they were in the air, Scott and Alex entertained their selves however they could, reading books and listening to music. Looking back at their two sons, Christopher and Katherine couldn't help but smile.

"Well, I am glad to see that they are looking forward to this vacation," said Katherine.

"Yes; well, we're overdo to see our family down in Hawaii, especially for Christmas. Plan is, have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my mom and dad and my brothers. After that, we come back here for New Year's," said Christopher as he piloted the plane. "I've been working like crazy, Kath. But I promise you, once I am done with my obligations at the airport and with the service, I will have nothing but time for the three of you. Who knows? Maybe we can get working on that third baby we've been thinking about for quite some time."

Katherine smiled in return at the idea of bringing another child into the world. Together, her and Christopher had created two, healthy, beautiful boys, something that they were extremely proud of. But, the idea of a third baby was appealing to them. It couldn't hurt to have another child and possibly try for a girl like Katherine had always wanted to do for the longest time.

As Christopher continued to pilot the plane towards their destination, the whole entire trip going smoothly for the small family that was the moment it happened . . .

The small plane was suddenly hit with a massive jolt that rocked the whole entire aircraft. And before they knew it, the heavy smell of smoke started filling the air.

"Daddy . . . what's going on?" coughed out Scott.

Then, there was another jolt, and the smoke started to get heavier as the sounds of a loud bang filled the air, causing Christopher to jump up and put the plane on autopilot in the effort to see what was happening.

"Dad . . . is there something burning?" Alex coughed as Christopher looked out to observe what had happened to the wings of the plane. The wings were surrounding with a burning combustion, filling the air with a noxious smell. The smoke proceeded to fill the interior of the small plane, the fire only continuing to grow and grow.

Christopher turned to look towards his wife. "Kath . . . Kath, go get the chutes!"

Katherine nodded, her eyes growing wide with fear as she grabbed the emergency stash of parachutes that were stored away on the plane. As they strapped their sons into the parachutes, the couple knelt to look at their two children.

"Boys, listen to me," whispered Christopher. The man had tears in his eyes as he held his eldest son's face in the palms of his hands. "I-I'm going to need you both to be very brave, and jump, okay?"

"B-But what about you and Mom?" Alex asked, heavily confused by what was going on.

"You two will have to go on without us, Alex," Katherine said. "Daddy and I will be fine? Okay? You two need to look after each other."

"No! No we wanna stay with you!" cried Scott as he gripped onto his father's hands for dear life.

"Scott, listen to me, Scooter," his father said. "Mommy and I both love you, so very much." That was when another harsh jolt rocked the plane. "You both need to go! Go!" Kissing their sons' foreheads, a final time, Katherine and Christopher pushed for Scott and Alex to jump out of the plane.

Once they were falling through the air, Scott and Alex desperately attempted to grab onto one another's hands as the wind whipped through their hair. However, that was when a piece of burning metal that had fallen from the wings of the plane hit Scott's parachute, and his hand slipped from Alex's as he began to fall towards a tree.

"SCOTT!" Alex screamed as he watched his little brother falling toward the treetop.

"ALEX!" Scott cried, before he went crashing into the branches of the tree. Feeling the pine needles scratching at his skin and the hard bark of the tree trunk smacking into his head, Scott could feel he was beginning to lose consciousness. He could feel blood running down the side of his face as he fell out of the tree, and he hit his head hard against a rock, knocking him out cold.

In the distance, a pair of mysterious red eyes watched the scene.

Grey Family Home – Paramus, New Jersey

Stepping up the front porch of her house, seven-year-old Jean Grey took deep breaths to try and calm herself. She was beautiful, with long, flaming red hair and striking green eyes. However, she wished that she did not have to enter this house . . . the place she had to call her home.

Slowly opening the front door, she tried to creep inside so she could get up to her bedroom. However, the strong, acid smell of alcohol burned her nostrils.

'Oh no,' she thought as she passed her twelve-year-old sister, Sara, who was sitting on the couch wide awake.

"Jean, Jean, where were you?" Sara asked. "Mom and Dad have been wondering where you were!"

"Why?" Jean asked. "It's not like they care!"

Sara pressed her finger against her lips to signal for Jean to be quiet. However, it was no use. Stumbling down the stairs, drunk, were their parents, John and Elaine.

John and Elaine were both swaying on their feet, holding bottles of vodka in their hands. However, they both had dark, angry glares plastered on their faces as they noticed their youngest daughter.

"What the hell are you doing home so late?" Elaine asked angrily.

"I-I was playing soccer at school," Jean said meekly.

Elaine and John both barked out drunken laughter, before John said, "Soccer? In that weather outside? We're not stupid, Jeannie!" His voice rose in volume as he smashed the vodka bottle down on the wood-paneled floor.

"D-Daddy, y-you've been drinking again, weren't you?" Jean whimpered, trying to back away to cower behind her older sister.

This seemed to be the life Jean and her older sister were stuck living in. Both their parents being raging alcoholics, Jean and Sara couldn't understand why their parents had decided to have children in the first place. Sara got the brunt of physical abuse, often going to school with dirty clothes and bruises on her body. However, she protected Jean from the physical abuse. Jean received the worst of the verbal abuse, however. Both girls had to suffer at the hands of these monsters who were their parents. Sara got harassed in school for having alcoholic parents. She was known to her seventh-grade class as "the girl with the drunk mom and dad." As a result, both girls found they were bullied harshly by their peers.

"We ask the questions around here!" shouted Elaine, her voice slurred from the alcohol. "Where were you, really?"

"I-I promise!" Jean cried. "I-I was t-telling the truth!"

"Lies!" shouted John, and in his drunken rage, angrily slapped his youngest across the face with the back of his hand. The ring he was wearing cut into Jean's cheek, causing her to bleed.

"NO!" screamed Sara. "Please, please don't hit her! Please don't hurt her!" Never once had their parents laid a hand on Jean. Sara could take being beaten by her parents. But she couldn't take the idea of her baby sister being physically abused.

"DON'T TELL US WHAT TO DO, SARA!" John shouted. He shoved Jean down to the ground and walked over to Sara, kicking her off the sofa with his foot, before he began to whip her with his belt.

Sara's screams and cries could be heard throughout the house as her father picked her up by her throat and slammed her against the wall. For Jean, this was all too much to bear as she started to cry, watching the scene unfold.

Sara continued to take the beating from both her parents. She didn't care if she was beaten. Her sister, however; she couldn't bear the idea of her sister getting physically harmed. It was bad enough with the verbal abuse Jean received from their parents for "being a freak."

The previous year, when Jean was six years old, something had happened. Jean had been sitting in her classroom when suddenly, she had gotten a severe headache. She had been complaining about having headaches for a while, but due to the neglect of their drunken parents, there wasn't much that could be done. It all burst when Jean began making things move throughout the classroom. That had been the day her parents had been forced to pick her up. But before they could beat her for what she had done, Sara had taken it, begging her parents to beat her instead.

As Jean watched her father brutally attack her sister, her head started to hurt. Tears poured down her face as she watched Sara begin to cough up blood, her complexion growing chalky as Jean cried harder. That was when Jean could hear something. It sounded like Sara's weakened voice in her mind.

'Oh . . . Oh . . . it hurts, it hurts!'

Jean screamed loudly as she watched her father grab her sister and throw her against another wall, kicking her in the throat. Suddenly, that was when objects began moving. Chairs, knives, forks, the sofa, the television . . . everything. Jean watched with wide eyes as a chef's knife went flying and stabbed her father through the eye, and her mother's neck snapped from an invisible force. Screaming, Jean shakily moved toward her sister, who was spluttering and having a seizure of sorts.

"S-Sara!" she whimpered. She grabbed her sister's hand to try and comfort her.

Sara weakly coughed, blood pouring from her mouth as her eyes rolled in the back of her head, and she stopped breathing. Sobbing, Jean reached for the phone in the corner of the room, calling 9-1-1.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

"I-I . . ." Jean sobbed out. "I-I think I k-killed m-my m-mommy and-and d-daddy!"

Over an hour later, little Jean Grey found she was sitting on the front porch of her home, wrapped in a thick, heavy blanket as she shook and cried. An ambulance and the police were at her house. A female officer was questioning her, talking to her in a gentle voice.

"Do you mind telling me what happened?" the officer, Officer Joan Simonsen, asked her.

"I-I d-don't know," Jean sobbed. "I-I c-came home l-late because-because I d-didn't wanna come home! Mommy and D-Daddy w-were s-so mean to-to m-me and-and my-my sister!" Jean violently broke as she burrowed her face into her hands. "T-They w-would y-yell at me, and h-hurt my sister. M-My daddy hit m-me, but my sister – she-she b-begged to-to be beaten in-instead. S-Suddenly, I-I m-made things move I don't know how I don't know how! And-and then . . . S-Sara, m-my sister, she-she died a-after I k-killed our parents b-by m-making things move."

Jean sobbed harshly as the officer hugged her soothingly, rubbing her hair. "Shhhh . . . there now, sweetie. We'll take care of it and make it all better. I promise."

Jean shook her head as she just bawled in the arms of the cop who was holding her. Her eyes were red and bloodshot.

Meanwhile, in the distance, watching the scene, a pale pair of blue eyes witnessed what was before her. Hearing the thoughts of Jean Grey, the mysterious figure smiled slightly.

'Another potential to change the world. That girl is without a doubt a class-five.'

A/N:

Well, let me know what you think? Like it? Hate it? I always appreciate reviews and constructive criticism of any kind, so be sure to let me know your thoughts! Excelsior! –

DC-MarvelGirl 1997