Chapter Two
Unstoppable Quakes
A few moments later, the quaking at Bayville High had come to a stop. A state of panic and confusion appeared to be shared with everyone in the school. Though he wasn't sure what was going on with him, Andrew found himself in a most unusual place for him: The Principle's Office. Facing him from behind her desk was a woman with short dark hair and dark brown eyes covered with a pair of glasses. She wore a blue blouse and skirt, a black a jacket and a pair of black high heels. The nameplate on her desk read "Raven Darkholme".
Andrew appeared lost for words. He wasn't sure what was about to happen to him and Principle Darkholme seemed to notice this. "Relax Mr. Grey. You aren't in any trouble. After all … it's not like you could have been the cause for this earthquake. Could you?" This thought had been running through Andrew's mind from the moment the quake started. After all … his sister was a mutant. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility that he could be one as well.
It was just all so crazy. This was his final year of high school. He was about to graduate with honors. Now he risked being expelled due to a circumstance beyond his control. He sighed and shook his head. "No ma'am." The principle narrowed her eyes. "Then why did you become so defensive when your classmate Mr. Smith spoke out against Mutants?"
"Because ma'am …" Andrew stated, trying to word himself carefully. "…I don't think it's fair to speak out towards Mutants so cruelly when we know next to nothing about them." The principle stood from her desk and walked over toward a nearby window. "I believe you're leaving out something very important young man. Are you not related to Jean Grey?"
Andrew was rather shocked that his principle would even bring this up. Did she know? How could she? "Yes ma'am. But what does my sister have to do with this?"
The principle turned around to face him. "I know much about your sister. In fact, my whole company does. And believe me young man, IF you are a mutant, you have no reason to be upset. You are the next step of human evolution. You're destined to rule these pathetic people."
Andrew was starting to get a little freaked out. She was acting like some kind of nut job. "Ma'am … I'm a little uncomfortable talking like this. First of all, you're wrong about my sister and secondly … can you just give me my punishment for starting an argument so I can get out of here."
At that moment, the school began to shake once more. Only this time, it was not as frequent. Once every couple of seconds, the ground would send vibrations through the school, causing it to shake. It was almost as if, some massive creature was stampeding it's way toward the school. Andrew was even more concerned than he was before. "This can't be me! I'm not doing this!"
The principle looked out her window to see a massive behemoth of a man bursting through the front doors of the school. This giant stood over nine feet tall. His muscle span was incredibly massive, the veins in his arms looked like jump ropes. His head was protected by a brown helmet with two golden latches on the front and back to keep it in place. His blue eyes and mouth were visible through the mask. The rest of his outfit consisted of a one piece brown bodysuit, a pair of massive arm guards and a pair of brown boots. "What the hell are you doing Juggernaut?" The principle thought to herself. She spun around toward Andrew who was no longer in her office. "Damn kids!"
Andrew was tearing through the halls, no longer concerned about his school reputation. He had to get out of there so he could figure out what was going on. As he turned a hall, a bunch of students ran past him screaming in fear. Thinking it was because of him, Andrew kept running only to run head first into the Juggernaut. He fell backwards and into a locker, hitting his head. "Shhh** … that hurt!"
"Well, well, well. Looks like I found the kid." Juggernaut said pounding his fists together. Andrew jumped to his feet. "Wha… what do you want with me?!" Juggernaut merely smirked. "Relax kid. I won't have to hurt you if you decide to come with me peacefully. And let me warn you." He said as he pointed one of his giant fingers toward him. "You won't like the option of fighting back."
"Hey bub! Why dontchu pick on someone your own size?! Juggernaut turned to see a somewhat short man wearing a yellow mask that covered the colors of his eyes and also contained large black, bat like wings at the sides of the head, a blue and yellow bodysuit with two tiger like stripes across his midsection and one across each shoulder, a red belt with a square yellow buckle tied at the waist, a pair of blue gloves with special slots in between his knuckles and a pair of blue boots that had similar bat like wings at the top.
Juggernaut could only laugh. "Wolverine? You! You think you can stop me?! I'm the Unstoppable Juggernaut!" Wolverine's claws popped out between his knuckles. "Why dontchu try me?" He said as he launched himself toward the behemoth of a mutant, attempting to remove one of the locks from his helmet.
However, Juggernaut simply grabbed a hold of him around his midsection and tossed him over his head like a rag doll, sending him crashing into a locker near Andrew. Andrew panicked and jumped away. "Just leave me alone!" Andrew said as he stomped a foot onto the ground, causing numerous shards of the Earth to raise up through the floor and crash into the Juggernaut, which sent him skidding backwards.
Juggernaut cracked his knuckles. "Looks like the little runt wants to play hard after all." Juggernaut then started to charge toward Andrew and just as he was about to land a punch toward his gut, he found himself levitating in the air, punching through and destroying a locker instead. Andrew turned to see a red haired woman wearing blue headgear with a purple gem in the center of the forehead area, a yellow and blue bodysuit, blue shoulder pads, blue armguards, blue leg guards and yellow boots. She was holding one hand toward her head, while the other was outstretched toward the Juggernaut. "Jean!" Andrew said as he rushed toward her side.
"I'm glad you're okay." Jean said as she suddenly lost her concentration, freeing the Juggernaut. "That's it, you punks are DEAD!" The Juggernaut started to charged toward them as Jean screamed to her brother to move out of the way. She grabbed him and the two dived out of the way just as a massive lightning bolt flew through the open gap where the main doors to the school used to be and crashed into the Juggernaut, loosening one of the latches of his helmet.
The Juggernaut turned to see the sky had blackened and a well toned black woman with pure white eyes and long white hair floating in the air. She wore a silver/white one piece body suit with two red circular each containing a red "X" in the center on her top half, a yellow belt tied at her waist, a pair of silver/white gloves, a white cape with yellow trimming and a pair of silver/white boots. "Power of lightning, strike again!" Storm cried as another lightning bolt him head on.
Wolverine took this moment of distraction to leap on to the Juggernaut's shoulders and removed another of the latches from the back of his helmet. Juggernaut screamed in frustration as he reached up, grabbed Wolverine and tossed him toward Storm knocking them both to the ground. He then turned his attention back toward Andrew and Jean. The two started to run as he gave chase.
Jean used her telekinetic abilities to throw numerous lockers his way in an attempt to slow him but he'd just burst right through them. Once they turned a corner, they ran into a tall, well toned man with short wavy brown hair standing by one of the school's side exits. His eyes were covered with a visor lined with ruby quartz crystal. He wore a one piece blue body suit, a yellow utility belt with a red buckle and a black "X" in the center and a yellow strap that splits into a second strap half way up and wraps around his shoulders. There was also a red button on the right strap with a black X in the center that acts as a communication device. He also wore a pair of yellow shorts, yellow gloves, yellow leg guards and a pair of yellow boots.
"Now!" Jean yelled toward him as he reached a hand toward his visor and pressed a button on the left side. A massive red optic blast shot from his eyes and hit the Juggernaut hard, causing him to slide backward and lose yet another latch from his helmet. Another beam was fired, but this time, the Juggernaut was ready. He braced himself by placing his hands in front of him and continued to move forward through the pressure of the blast. After a moment, he was able to punch hard enough to send the blast right back knocking out it's sender. "Scott!" Jean yelled.
"Now you're mine!" Juggernaut said as he charged forward. "No!!!!" Andrew screamed just as the ground below Juggernaut suddenly started to morph into quicksand. It quickly encased around Juggernaut's feet and pulled him down until just his upper half was visible. Jean looked with amazement toward her brother. "We have to get the last latch on his helmet!"
Losing all common sense, Andrew nodded and ran toward the Juggernaut, just as he was starting to pull himself back up. Andrew rushed behind him and would have been caught if it weren't for Jean tossing three lockers toward Juggernaut, knocking his arm aside. Andrew made a final jump toward the final latch on the back of his helmet and pulled it up.
At that moment, Juggernaut broke free of his restraints as the ground returned to normal. "Forget Magneto! You're dead kid!" As Juggernaut went to chase after Andrew, Jean used her telekinetic power to lift his helmet off his head and was suddenly stopped in his tracks. The voice of Professor Xavier echoed in his brain. "Cain, you no longer wish to be here. You are to return to Magneto and the others. Andrew does not belong with the Brotherhood." The Juggernaut nodded, dropped what he was doing, turned and started to leave the school.
At that moment, a holographic image of Professor Xavier appeared before Andrew and Jean. "That was a very brave action you took Andrew." Andrew nodded nervously. "Um… thanks."
Professor Xavier smiled. "I'm sure you have many questions about what is happening to you. Your sister had similar inquires when her powers were activated as well. If you come with us, we can help you get the answers to those questions."
Andrew thought for a moment. If Jean trusted these people, there was no reason for him to not trust them. After all … there was no way he could continue attending this school now. "Okay. I don't think I have much choice in the matter anyway." Professor Xavier shook his head. "You always have a choice. If you wish to continue attending this school, I can make that happen. However, there's always the chance that your power could activate again. You need to learn control of this ability. We can teach you that control. But only if you wish for it."
Andrew looked toward his sister who smiled. "Trust me, you'll love it at the X-Mansion." Andrew nodded and looked back toward the Professor. "Okay. I guess I'm in." Professor Xavier smiled. "Very well … follow Jean and the others to our vehicle. I'll wrap things up here."
Andrew nodded and he followed his sister as they went to regroup with the other X-Men. The Professor then attempted to reach the minds of the school's faculty and students to make up an explanation for what had happened that day.
(To Be Continued)…
