Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men. Ilehana Xavier belongs to Corrinth and is used with permission. Blaze, Shockwave and Iona belong to Lamby and should not be used without my permission.

A/N: Okay, this story has three purposes. Most importantly, I've been alluding to Apocalypse being about for a while now in Corrinth's and mine shared timeline. I'll freely admit I had no idea where I was going with it until this brainwave struck.

Secondly my rather demanding second OC Shockwave has decreed that since her first story went down so well, she's not playing second fiddle anymore, and especially not to my first OC Blaze. So this time she's the star, which actually suits my third purpose, Blaze herself, down to the ground…

Blaze has had enough of the world on her shoulders, forcing her to make big decisions when she'd never yet made a good one. And having her heart, mind or health smashed to smithereens every five minutes. She just wants to have fun for a change! I don't usually like to give OCs an easy ride, but she has got me feeling guilty now. So in true three-birds-with-one-stone style, here goes! Enjoy! Set a year after 'L'Ange de Morte' and about three weeks after the epilogue of 'All or Nothing'.

Scene 01

Nighttime hung over the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters like a comfort blanket splattered with holes through which the stars could shine. Neither late nor early, most of the children were abed, though their teachers, the X-Men, were still awake and active. In the danger room Scott Summers, known as Cyclops, and Kurt Wagner, Nightcrawler, were training with fury for no particular reason. There hadn't been any missions for the team in a month, not since their colleague Colossus had been wrenched from them, may he rest in peace…

The mansion's kitchen was inhabited by Jubilation Lee, dressed in her nightgown and with a fluffy towel turban around her hair; she searched for something to nibble on. In his office, Charles Xavier relaxed by the fire with a good book he'd long been meaning to reread. And down in the hangar, the mutant called Logan made Xavier's daughter laugh with his terrible chat up lines. As if he needed them, Ilehana thought smugly, twirling a spanner around her finger and shaking her blonde head softly…

But upstairs in one girl's dorm, the relative calm of the rest of the house was being disturbed by an argument conducted in above-frantic stage whispers. One mutant teenager stared down her friends, and truly believed she had never known such a spineless, unadventurous, goody-two-shoes bunch of kids in all her life.

"C'mon guys!" The mutant daughter of Senator Michael Hawley stood with her hands on her hips, pouting as only she knew how. Sam, or Shockwave, did not take no for an answer. "I mean, you were up for it enough when we swiped all Scott's shades from his room that night…"

"Yeah…" The white-haired, violet-eyed Vertigo agreed cautiously. Taller than Sam, though a few months younger, she was usually the only one of the three that would stand up to Shockwave. She'd been at the school longest, a runaway with the power to make anyone she blasted dizzy and weak. Usually even meeting the fifteen-year-old's eyes took some courage, but Sam had bags of that to spare. "But we spent the next month on cleaning duty because of it…"

"It was worth it just for the funnies." Wolfsbane was a delicate brunette with highlights of red in her hair and deep brown eyes. A year younger than the other two, she'd been happy to play the baby of the bunch until their latest recruit showed up. But all the same, there was a dark streak to the metamorph, and she didn't much like to talk about her past. "What with Cyc screaming for help and Logan stormin' in with his claws out looking for a fight, just to find a blind guy looking for his glasses…"

"Totally." Vertigo couldn't disagree with Wolfsbane, they had rolled around the corridor laughing so much, that they'd barely noticed Storm standing over them. "But think about it Sam, we got a month for having a sense of humour. You're talking about leaving here, without permission and after curfew, and going to a bar?" There was a touch of the incredulous in Vertigo's tone by the time she'd finished speaking, but it would take much more than that to get Sam to give up on a brainwave.

"You talk about it like you've never been to one…" Sam droned, acting all grown up all of a sudden. It irritated Vertigo no end that this spoilt little senator's daughter would act so much older than the rest of them. If she didn't know Sam was a die-hard friend…

"I haven't, I'm only just fifteen, and you're not much older than me so don't talking down at me."

"I didn't say we had to go to a bar…" Sam tried lying blatantly as a different tack. "I'm just so bored. Nothing ever happens around here…"

"You are so melodramatic!" Wolfsbane had to laugh. "Nothing ever happens? What ridiculous planet are you from Shockwave?"

"Not to us." Shockwave was adamant. "Sure the X-Men are all over the show saving the world, but what do we ever do?" Vertigo folded her arms and even Wolfsbane looked a little offended at that statement. Sighing, Sam gave up on them and turned to her final partner-in-crime. "You're awfully quite Iona, what are you thinking about?"

Thirteen and a half year old Iona was the newest pupil at the Xavier School, never mind the newest addition to their little gang. Nightcrawler had put responsible Vertigo in charge of the newby until she settled in, and the four of them had been inseparable since. A thoughtful and even mildly disturbed child, Iona looked typically Celtic, with strawberry blonde frizzy hair and freckles, but despite her name and appearance, she was from Iceman's home city of Boston. Her powers were unusual; her touch could reverse polarities in magnets, electrics, even in biological cells. What started as an acid burn could quickly lead to dehydration, ionic imbalances and even death. For everyone's sakes, the X-Men were hoping she could learn control fairly quickly… Her reply to her friend's searching question was typically abrupt. "Nothin'."

"Liar!" Wolfsbane teased, eyes sparkling with mischief. "See, you're even blushing! The thought of Cyclops in bed too much for you?"

"He didn't even have a shirt on…" Iona pointed out, blushing deeper red as the other three howled their laughter at her.

"Oh please!" Sam exclaimed, throwing her shockwave-causing hands wide in knowing indignation. "If you're gonna have a crush on one of the X-Men, at least pick one who's not such a goody-goody and might even notice you back!"

"Here we go again…" Vertigo rolled her eyes and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"We all know about the time you supposedly pulled Gambit, Sam. Nobody believes you." Wolfsbane cut Sam off short as Iona glanced from one older girl to the next. She didn't know the story…

"It so did! I told you, I didn't know who he was, or that I was a mutant, or anything! Didn't get very far though, no thanks to Blaze, the bitch…"

"What's wrong with Blaze?" Iona asked, the fiery redheaded X-Man being her tutor, the staff member in charge of helping Iona control her powers. Or at least, she would be if she weren't away on a mission with Storm. But Iona couldn't see what Sam could have against the young woman who'd once been a thief.

"Don't get her started, Iona." Vertigo cautioned. "You'll understand better when Blaze starts loading you with extra credit work in French like she has been doing with us all term."

"Anyway," Shockwave continued almost as if Vertigo and Iona had never opened their mouths. "Like I was saying, Gambit is so last century…"

"Yeah?" At least Wolfsbane was still listening to her, Sam thought. "So who's flavour of the month this month Sam?"

"I'm thinking Iceman is definitely the way forward…" Sam grinned, eyes glazing over comically. "But enough of this, we're going out, and there's not a thing anyone can do to stop us!"