Bishop looked over the situation. The street was empty save for six mutants one of which was Sean Cassidy. Then there was the Sentinel Nimrod which was repairing itself from the damage it took from Shard's and his attack.

Cassidy came up beside him the blonde woman he had been carrying. Setting her down, the he eyed Bishop's costume. "Ye with Xavier?"

"Yes and no," Bishop responded lifting his gun and pointing towards Nimrod. "I will explain after we destroy Nimrod. You have a choice help or stay out of the way."

"I will help ye of course," Banshee said facing towards the Everett and the two girls. "Children go check on the lass that that thing attacked."

There was a distant blink and the three vanished. They reappeared the near the unconscious Monet St. Croix. Nimrod arose and immediately began to head towards the children. Bishop lifted his weapons and nodded to Banshee and Shard. Emma looked at him and asked, "What shall I do? My telepathy isn't effective against that thing but if you have a weapon I can use I can help."

Bishop pulled a small laser pistol from his belt and tossed it to her. He faced Nimrod, "Let's scrap that piece of junk."

Bishop and Emma opened fire with their weapons as Banshee unleashed a steal shattering scream and Shard fired off bolts of photonic energy. Nimrod's attention turned from the children and towards his attackers opening his deadly fire. Bishop suddenly realized that with each repair Nimrod went through the more powerful he was becoming. The four of them alone wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

Banshee was the first fall when a stray blast knocked over a telephone pole and a wire whipped around striking the mutant across the chest giving him a large shock. He fell to the ground unconscious. In his fall he landed on top of Emma putting her out of commission also. Bishop and Shard advanced on Nimrod. Nimrods blasts either phased through Shard or were absorbed by Bishop allowing him to put one gun away to charge while he fired Nimrod's own ammo back at him with one hand. Then Nimrod wised up and fired two specialized beams at the two standing mutants. The beams hit and took effect instantly. Both screamed as energy attacked their mutant chromosomes temporally relieving them of their powers and consciousness.





Everett looked on in horror as he and the others watched Nimrod take out his four attackers. Realizing that the machine was moving in for the kill the young man did something he hoped he wouldn't regret. Looked down at Monet who was coming to slowly and focused his mutant aurora and began to synch it up to her own. He felt her strength, speed, and other powers flow into himself. Lifting himself into the air he charged towards Nimrod and began lay into him a barrage of punches in a blur of speed. Nimrod was trying and failing to regain balance while the mutant boy attacked him.

Monet fully regained her senses and without a word flew to aid Everett. Paige watched the two as they attacked and decided she wasn't going to stand there and watch. A small tear formed on the skin in the back of her neck and began to grow down her back. Taking her hands she pulled at the tear completely ripping her skin from her body. Underneath a metallic body glimmered. She ran towards Nimrod striking him with her own blows.

Nimrod was unable to counterattack as he fell victim to three mutant teens. Clarice looked at Nimrod and smiled brightly and began her own attack. With numerous blinks she teleported pieces of the machine beast away, continuing to sever any piece that regenerated. The four mutants began to tire but didn't let up until Nimrod became nothing but a pile of scrap metal incapable of repairing.

* * *



A little while later the eight mutants found a secluded area away from the news cameras that arrived minutes after Nimrod was defeated. Introductions were made and Bishop told them of his mission. Banshee agreed to help even though he was on shaky terms with Xavier. Emma announced that she would like to join them not saying her reason was protection from her pursuers.



The discussion turned to getting the children back to their parents but Paige loudly protested, "I want to help save the X-Men! My brother is there so I have a reason! I am going to join whether you like it or not!"

"Me too I am helping too." Everett spoke up. "Today was the first time my powers felt useful. Back in St. Louis I had only one mutant to synch up with and he moved away. This gives me a chance to see how far my powers can really go."

"I guess I want in too." Clarice said. "It felt good to cut loose like that and use my powers."

All eyes turned to Monet who was standing with an amused look on her face. "My, my, aren't all of you noble. Banding together to fight for a future only two of you will be alive in, the two that came from there. Though reason tells me that such mission will result in a temporal paradox that could destroy reality as we know it, I am intrigued enough to join you and see where this will go."



Bishop decided not to argue. He couldn't tell them they were too young because Shard was about the same age as all of them. With some training these kids would be perfect to help complete the mission. He just hoped that he wasn't making a mistake. Of course as of now he couldn't predict the future but he knew that as of now that future wasn't cast in stone.



On a New York roof top

Another ball of green appeared revealing a man roughly the same height as Bishop. He was dressed in head to toe with futuristic battle armor. He looked out over the city removing his clear helmet letting the wind blow his green hair. "Nimrod may be gone but Trevor Fitzroy won't fall as easily to children. Your days are numbered agent Bishop."



Elsewhere in New York

In a room that looked like something out of the colonial era a man stood donned in clothing from the same era. His face was cast into a scowl looking into the flames of the fire burning in the fireplace. He had just received news that his former White Queen, Emma Frost had joined up with a band of mutants. But he wasn't too angry because Sebastian Shaw knew he would soon control the two things that would draw her back.



(I hope you enjoyed this story and I look forward to writing the next installment called "What You Leave Behind" which for fans of the Gen X characters Chamber Skin and Mondo will be their premiere along with a new made up member. And sadly a member won't last until the end. Fans of the comic you will already know who that is. See you next time.)