Chapter One: A New Hope

The room was cold and devoid of emotion. It was a laboratory in which the low buzzing of machines was deafening. The lights were dim and the only other device that could offer any sort of illumination was the computer monitors as they revealed data concerning the newest experiment. This new experiment was a boy who looked no older than 15 years of age. He appeared to be floating in a tube full of some sort of liquid; however, his features were still visible. His skin was overall light with a hint of a tan. His eyes were open and the iris was a brilliant viridian. His hair was cut low and was a dirty blond color. His overall body structure seemed to have that of a swimmer build and average height. There were wires connected to both of his temples, his chest, arms, and legs. There was also a gas mask covering the lower half of his face. The lab doors open with a whispering whoosh as two men dressed in lab coats appear. One of the men is a short, heavyset brunette, while the other is a tall, lanky blond. The brunette walks over to the computer and begins typing while the blond walks over to the tube.

"Dr. Robertson, is the subject conscious?" The blond man inquired.

"No Dr. Reece, he is still being lightly sedated." Dr. Robertson replied. "That is why his eyes are still slightly dilated."

"We need to stop the sedation of the subject." Dr Reece said. "He has to be conscious in order for the next phase of the plan to happen."
"What about his powers?" Dr. Robertson said. "Won't they alert the X-men to our location?"

"That is exactly what I want." A woman said as she entered the lab.

The woman appeared in a lab coat as well with sleek long black hair draped down her back. Her skin had an unnatural pale hue and her presence cause both of the doctors to shudder.

"Dr. Renko, I thought we wanted to keep him sedated so we won't alert anyone to his whereabouts." Dr Reece said.

"The first phase of the experiment is over, Dr. Reece." Dr Renko said as she walked over to the tube. "We have his DNA mapped out entirely. We know his genetic potential and all possible scenarios of power that he currently does, will and could possibly have. He is the perfect host but he needs someone nurture his powers while they develop and the X-men are good for that."

"Showing compassion at this stage of the experiment?" Dr. Robertson said.

"Don't be stupid, you pathetic twit." Dr. Renko said scathingly as she turned toward the doctors. "Does it look like we have the time to train some new mutant in how to use his powers? There are much bigger things that we have to do. Also, the X-men will embrace him and not even know that one of their greatest enemies is resting comfortably on their team.

On those words, she turned back to the tube and placed her hand on it. She closed her eyes as a red diamond appeared on her forehead. It glowed deeply as the boy's eyes began to flutter and blink. Slowly, his pupils became less and less dilated and his face took on an expression of confusion, shock, and fear.

"Time to get up..." Dr. Renko said telepathically. "But before I let you go, there is a simple matter of completely erasing your memory. Prepare to feel true agony…"

With that, Dr. Renko begins rummaging through the boy's mind; ripping the memories from it. The boy began to scream in agony as his mind is literally being torn apart. The screams are muffled due to the mask, but the affect is still effective. The two other doctors appear sick to their stomachs and quickly leave the room. After five minutes, the boy's eyes begin to glow a bright green. Dr. Renko smiles when she sees this and presses even harder on the fragments of the boy's mind.

'That's it; use your powers to save you.' Dr. Renko thought. 'Bring the X-men here…'

The intensity of glow increased as the boy experienced unimaginable pain. While this is happening, things are quiet at the Graymalkin Estate in California. Most of the mutants that reside in the new base of the X-men have long since gone to bed. This holds true in the room of Scott Summers and Emma Frost. Both are resting comfortably in each other's arms as a picture perfect couple. Emma has a smile on her face as her dreams seemed to be giving her a reality of happiness. She rolled over and her face changed to a more serious expression. She suddenly snapped awake and sat upright.

"Scott…" She whispered as she grabbed her head.

"…" Scott replied.

"Scott…" She said louder as she rubbed her temples.
"What's the matter honey?" Scott said sleepily.

"I don't know; something feels wrong." Emma said as she tried to concentrate. "It feels as if some…"

At that moment, Emma grabbed her head and screamed at the top of her lungs. It sounded as if she were in utter pain and agony. Scott began to panic, not knowing what was wrong with his lover.

"Emma, honey, what's wrong?" Scott said as he grabbed her. "Emma…"

Emma stopped screaming after his question and fell onto the bed. Her eyes were closed and her nose was bleeding profusely.

"Emma, you're scaring me." Scott said. "Please tell me you're alright."

"Well that is something I never want to experience again." Emma said weakly.

"Emms, you're alright." Scott said happily as he brought her into his arms.

"Yes, but someone is not." Emma said as she grabbed a tissue. "A mutant has just sent out a psychic emotion of pain that was powerful enough to rip through my shields as if they were tissue paper. We're going to need the team."

"I was afraid you were going to say that." Scott said. "Alright, I will round them up and bring them to the hanger."

"I will go to Cerebra and see if I can get a lock on the where the origin of that psychic wave came from." Emma said.

"Are you sure you are strong enough to do that right now?" Scott said grabbing her arm.

"Darling, we have to find this mutant. Its mind was screaming in agony and I don't know how long it can take anymore." Emma said. "Besides, this is the only other mutant activity that we have had since they sent Hope into the future with Cable. This is something we can't turn away from."

"You're right sweetheart. I love ya Emms." Scott said as she left.

"Love you too darling…" Emma said.

Emma immediately ran to the room that housed the newest version of Cerebra. She took a seat at the device and placed the head piece atop her head and began to concentrate as the machine hummed to life. She looked around for residual psychic energy and found a trail which led her to the middle of Arizona. When she concentrated further, she discovered there were two minds which were psychically active. One appeared to be a telepath that was caught off guard as much as she and the other mind was a bit more complex. She attempted to extract more information but the other telepath was quick to recover and blocked her.

'Empathic perhaps…' Emma thought to herself as she took off the cerebra helmet. 'If that was an empath, it had powers that could rival that of my sister. We need to get this mutant.'

Emma quickly contacted Scott and headed over to the hanger. When she arrived there, she saw Colossus, Storm, Wolverine, Beast and Scott waiting for her.

"Hey Emma, I was just gathering this team to go retrieve the mutant." Scott said.

"Is it really true Emma, a new mutant detected after so long?" Henry asked.

"Yes Henry, it is." Emma said. "It appears as though this mutant was there with another telepath; one that seemed familiar but different in a very fundamental way. Nevertheless the other telepath seemed just as surprised about the attack as I. I managed to discover the location of the mutant, but we should expect resistance."

"Alright, you heard Emma; we need to be prepared for anything." Scott ordered. "Our mission is to get in, find the mutant and bring it back safely. Understood?"

The team nodded in agreement.

"Be extremely careful. This mutant has been through incredible torture and its mind is exceedingly fragile." Emma stated as she and the team boarded the X-Jet.

The team of X-men streaked across the late night sky rushing towards the location of this "new mutant". Meanwhile at the laboratory, Dr. Renko was grabbing her head and trying to concentrate as blood poured from her nose. She looked up at the tube to find the mutant in a panicked state. His eyes were glowing brightly as the liquid in the tube seemed to suddenly evaporate. She was about to subdue him until she felt the sensation of telepathic probe. She recognized it as an X-man and focused her efforts into blocking the probe. This gave the mutant enough time to continue using his powers. Suddenly the glass tube began to crack and shatter. The mutant pulled with all of his strength and managed to rip all of the wires off of his body and disconnect himself. He leapt out of the tube and fell to the floor. He legs were weak and he was very confused. He saw a woman approach with a red diamond in her forehead.

"You have been a naughty boy." Dr. Renko said.

"Nnnooo!" The boy struggled to say as he held up his hands in cover.

"I have to fini…" Dr. Renko began to say until a blast hit her in the chest.

She flew back into the computer console which sparked electricity on impact. The mutant looked down at his hands in fear. He managed to finally scramble to his feet and started to run. Meanwhile the X-team has arrived at the compound. The building appeared to be very new looking, high-tech laboratory. As the jet landed, the X-men split off into smaller groups with Colossus and Storm going one way, Cyclops and Emma another and Beast and Wolverine survey the first floor. Wolverine starts by sniffing around.

"Have you picked a scent Logan?" Beast said.

"I've picked up a bunch Beast, but I am not really sure of what I am looking for." Wolverine said.

"Perphaps there are scents here which would indicate someone who has been imprisoned." Beast said. "Emma said that could have been a possibility."

"Maybe…" Wolverine said as he sniffed. "Wait, there is someone here."

As soon as Wolverine says this, four armed guards come crashing though the windows. The guards were dressed in all black and were wearing weird white masks. Wolverine reacted quickly by unsheathing his claws and leapt at the guy closest to him. The guard tried shooting at Wolverine, but Wolverine seemed unfazed by bullets. He slices through the gun the guard is holding and knocks him to the floor. He sheathes his claws and rams the guard's head against the floor very hard and knocks him out. Beast on the other hand is narrowly dodging shots by three of the guards. He manages to jump forward and quickly disarm the three guards in a series of flips and cartwheels. After doing so, he curls into a ball in mid-air and knocks the three guards to the floor. Unfortunately, in the process he did not see the fourth guard preparing a shot from behind and gets shot multiple times. Wolverine roars in fury as he hears Beast howl in pain and launches himself at the fourth guard. He unsheathes his claws and plunges them deep into the chest of the guard. The guard falls to the floor as Wolverine gets up. He hears footsteps running towards the scene quickly. He turns around and runs towards the footsteps. He turns the corner at the end of the hallway and prepares to strike at the assailant. His claws are centimeters away from the face of a scared 15 boy breathing heavily. His eyes were glowing bright green as Wolverine discovered he could not move.

"Listen kid, I ain't gonna hurt ya." Wolverine said as he sheathed his claws.

"Ahhhh!" The kid yelled as he ran in the other direction.

"You always did have a way of connecting with children Logan." Beast said as he stumbled over to his companion. "However, I think it is best that we pursue our young friend."

"I can't. The kid did something to me and now I can't move." Wolverine said as he struggled to move. "And you are too injured to go anywhere. It is up to the others now."

"Well, I will try and postulate a solution to reverse the mutant's stunning effect on you." Beast said as he got out some equipment.

"Very funny blue boy…" Wolverine snarled. "…just get to work."

Beast put together his equipment and began to work. On the second floor, Storm and Colossus are making their way through the area.

"Could it be possible Storm?" Colossus asked. "Could this really be another mutant?"

"I hope so Colossus, our race is dying and our other chance is currently in the future with Cable." Storm said. "The one thing that I wonder is, why it took so long for this one to appear."
"What do you mean?" Colossus asked.

"According to Emma when she looked in the mutant's mind for that brief moment, it appeared as though it was person who was mid teens." Storm said.

"Well, that is common for mutant powers to emerge isn't it?" Colossus said.

"I guess since the birth of Hope, I expected that another powerful mutant would've been perhaps another infant to care for." Storm replied.
"Do you think the X-men are ready to take care of such a young child?" Colossus asked.

"I think that… wait…" Storm whispered as her eyes begin to glow white. "Something is interrupting the flow of air in this hallway."

"What does that mean?" Colossus whispered back as his skin began to look steel-like.

"It means our enemy has made it so they cannot be seen." Storm said. "Good, but not good enough..."

Suddenly the air crackled electricity as Storm released an EMP. Suddenly two muscular figures appear in front of and behind Storm and Colossus. Colossus turned around as the two of them are back to back facing their

"Clever weather witch…" The man in front said as he lunged at Storm and the other man ran at Colossus prepared to tackle him.

Colossus pulled back and punched the guard in the face. He went flying back into a wall and fell to the floor. Storm moved out of the way of lunging man who fell on Colossus. Storm turned toward them quickly and launched a lightning bolt at the fallen man. He man moved out of the way, and Colossus took the brunt of it.

"Oh goodness, Peter!!" Storm yelled.

The man turned to her and launched a beam of energy at her. This beam caught her off guard and hit her in the chest as she fell to the floor. The man was about to finish her off until a green eyed boy ran into the hallway. He looked absolutely frightened at the scene. The man looked at the boy and prepared to fire another blast until he got it in the back of the head. Suddenly a man of steel appeared as the man fell to the floor.

"Stay back…" The frantic boy yelled.

"I do not wish to harm you." Colossus said calmly as he slowly approached the boy.

"No… Don't take me back to them!" The boy yelled as his eyes started to glow.

"We only wish to…" Colossus said as he couldn't move. "Wait, I cannot move… I can't shift back…"

"What is happening?" The boy said to himself as he ran away.

"Wait…" Storm said weakly.

"Storm… are you okay?" Colossus asked.

"I think so, why are you standing there?" Storm asked.

"The boy did something, I cannot move or shift back to my human form." Colossus said.

"By the goddess, that is an exceptionally powerful child." Storm said. "I hope Scott and Emma are able to get him."

Storm continued to think of a solution to try and help Colossus. On the third floor, Emma and Scott are searching the area. They walk through a hallway where there is a light on in a room at the end.

"Are you picking up anything Emma?" Scott whispered.

"…No, not even from the others." Emma said after a few seconds of concentration.

"That doesn't sound good." Scott said. "Could it be possible that this was a trap? Maybe it was actually Empath luring us here?"
"No, I know the psychic energy exuded from that twit and this was far too powerful to be him." Emma said. "No, I have never felt anything like this before."

"I still can't believe that there is another mutant out there that we have had no idea about." Scott said.

"Well… wait I am sensing something coming from that room." Emma said as they approached the room.

The two X-men stealthily approach the room. When they get to the room, Emma suddenly feels the presence of another in her mind. She reacts instantly to the intrusion and pulls the stranger into the astral plane. Emma displays the astral plane as a white medieval castle in the background. The stranger appears as a woman dressed in black armor suiting of the time period while Emma is dressed in white armor.

"Well… well… well…" The stranger says. "The infamous White Queen."

"So to whom do I give the pleasure of defeating this fine night?" Emma asks confidently.

"Oh dear, just call me Dr. Renko." Dr. Renko said as she runs at Emma with a lance.

"Oh you must be new to this; let me show you how it's done." Emma said as she side stepped to avoid the lance and punches Dr. Renko in the face.

Dr. Renko is knocked to the floor and recovers quickly as Emma summons a lance of her own. The two women run at each other and clash; each trying to gain more ground. Meanwhile, Scott enters the room to find two armed guards, two doctors and a mysterious female doctor. The two guards begin to shoot at Cyclops as he dodges out of the way. He lets loose a couple of optic blasts which ricochet off of two separate consoles and hits each of the guards guns out of their hands. They pulled out metal bats and ran at Cyclops. He ducked under the first guard swinging at him and sweep kicked the second. The first guard turned around and raised his bat over his head. Cyclops turned and kicked the guard in the chest causing his bat to fly out of his hands and fall to the floor. Cyclops launched an optic blast at the two of them which slid them into the computer console and knocked them out. At that moment, a boy 15 years of age with green eyes runs past and drops to the floor grabbing his head. Cyclops turns around and notices the scene.

"No! Too much anger… too much hatred… I can't…" The boy yelled as he dropped to the ground trembling.

"Son, it's alright." Cyclops said approaching the boy. "We can help you."

"Stay away!" The boy yelled as his eyes glowed once more.

"What's wr…" Cyclops said as his movement was stopped. "What's going on?"

"I can't handle this!" The boy yelled. "It's all too much. Just stop!"

Suddenly the glow from his eyes became really intense. In the astral plane, Emma and Dr. Renko were fighting tooth and nail; each trying to get an advantage. Until both suddenly felt a powerful surge of Psionic energy pull them from the astral plane and back into their bodies. Dr. Renko, using the distraction, turned into dove and flew out of the room. Meanwhile, Emma is recovering from the sudden disconnection from the astral plane.

"Scott, are you okay?" Emma said as she tried to get her bearings.

"I'm fine, our mutant is over there and needs some help." Scott said.

"Why me…" The mutant cried. "Why would someone do this?"

"It's alright. You are safe now." Emma said as she slowly approached the boy.
"Stay back. You're going to put me back in there." The boy say frightened. "I won't go back! I won't!"

"Calm down, we won't take you anywhere that you don't want to." Emma said sincerely.

"Calm… I don't know what calm is." The boy said rocking slowly on the floor. "I feel everything. There are just so many emotions. I can't keep them out; they're drowning me."

"Then focus on me." Emma said calmly as she shifted her body to a sleek organic diamond. "Just focus on the sound of my voice; block everything else out."

"I can'… wait… why do I feel nothing from you." The boy asked.

"There is nothing to feel." Emma said simply as she reached out to the boy. "There is no emotion for me in this form. Now I am going to shift back, just focus on the absence of emotions."

"I can't, there is too much!" The boy said as she shifted back.

"Feel the calmness of sleep overcome you." Emma said telepathically. "Let go of consciousness and fall asleep."

Suddenly, the boy's eyes started to droop and soon he fell into a deep slumber.

"Wow Emma, you were great." Scott said as he regained the ability to move.

"Thanks darling, unfortunately whatever they did to him here seems to have traumatized him." Emma said looking at the peacefully sleeping boy. "It infuriates me to think that people could be so cruel to someone so young and innocent."

Suddenly, as she said that, he face took on a struggling expression and he started moaning in his sleep as if from a nightmare.

"Do you think that he can still feel emotions in his sleep?" Scott said.

"I think so; we need to keep ourselves under control until we get back to the jet." Emma said as she calmed down. "Can you hoist him onto you back and carry him?"

"Sure thing Emms." Scott said as he picked the peaceful boy and put him on his back. "Alright, let's meet up with the others."

Scott and Emma quickly made their way downstairs and met up with Storm and Colossus. They travelled down to the first floor and rounded out their team again with addition of Wolverine and Beast.

"Well it's nice to be able to move again." Wolverine said as they boarded the jet. "Kid packs quite a punch."

"You have no idea Logan." Emma said. "This young man was able to pull mine and another powerful telepaths' astral forms from the astral plane. Scott, put him on this bed."

"Really Emma?" Storm asked.

"Yes, this is why I need to put power inhibitors in his mind." Emma said as she placed her hands on his head.

"Fascinating…" Hank said.

"What's that Hank?" Scott asked as he started the jet.

"I've gotten the preliminary results from the scan that I did on Logan when he was paralyzed." Hank began. "It appears that our young friend here has the ability to manipulate the weak nuclear Van Der Waal forces of attraction and the London dispersal forces."

"In english doc…" Wolverine said impatiently.

"In terminology for impatient compatriot, he can change the orientation of molecules so that they attract or repel." Hank said. "Which explains why you guys weren't able to move; you were bonded on a molecular level to surfaces and other molecules surrounding you. It truly is a fascinating ability. Once we have done more tests, I will be able to determine the full extent of this."

"I cannot believe that we have not known of a mutant who has such power." Ororo said.

"Yes, which means that we need to take extra care with how we nurture his powers." Scott said. "We do not know the full extent of what they did to him back at the lab and how it has affected him."

"Well, I have just probed his mind and placed psychic barriers on the upper limits of his powers." Emma said as she returned from the med area of the plane. "Whoever was in there first did a hell of a job of stripping his memories. There is not much in there with the exception of the name Ryan."

"Could that be his name?" Peter asked.

"Perhaps, but the only thing we can do right now is wait and see." Emma said as the jet streaked through the night sky back to the compound.