X-Men Forged: To Be Human

by Jason de L'Epee

Jason has arrived at the Institute, and his hopes of a rather peaceful training are quickly forgotten. It seems that he has not been forgotten by those he faced, and Jason will face temptations old and new. Will he come out strong, or be crushed?

10. Chapter 9: Grudges

CHAPTER 9: Grudges

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Xavier Institute for Gifted Children – Monday, November 7th, 2011 – 8:08 PM

In his study, the Professor sat near the fireplace, its flames sharing its warmth as they danced upon their kindling. It had been an eventful past few days, more or less. After successfully wiping Sabretooth's mind of any trace of the Institute and its location, the Professor began considering possible options providing a similar incident might occur. Despite being easily the most powerful telepath encountered so far, his reluctance to dominate his will on anyone kept him from using it too much. He found rewriting or erasing memories of anyone, no matter who they were, to be unethical if not immoral. While he had the power to do that and much more, who was he to decide who should remember what or what not?

Idealism aside, he had to face realism. There were people out there who would seek harm to his students, and Sabretooth was certainly among them. Despite his moral objections, he found himself having to commit to the act if only to preserve the safety of his charges. A terrible choice, but how horrendous would he be if he allowed his morals to jeopardize the safety of innocents? The world was a great many shades of grey, and it took an adept artist to distinguish them all. When each hellish choice comes his way, all he could do was hope he would see as much as he could before acting. In decisions like the ones he has had to make in the past, one mistake was catastrophic. Most were against enemies of peace, but there was one very perilous choice he had to make for one of his students.

Jean Grey was the second he sought after upon opening the Institute—Scott Summers being the first—and her mutation had gotten the better of her. The Professor had found her in a padded room in a mental institute. Her telepathy was so intense that she could not distinguish real voices from the telepathic ones. Moreover, she was continually haunted by visions of a raptor bird completely made up of flame.

When hearing about this, the Professor instantly remembered his conversation with the Majestrix of the Shi'ar Empire, Lilandra Neramani. Years ago, she had come to see what was believed to be the resting place of the Phoenix, a great force of the universe that the Shi'ar revered. Before leaving to return to the Empire, she left Charles a warning in the form of a prophecy:

"From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A child of her nest shall bear her flame,
Renewed shall be wings long broken,
The Phoenix shall soon mark her claim…"

From this verse, the Professor reasoned that if the Phoenix does in fact resurrect, it will be through the body of a son or daughter of the Earth. According to Lilandra, the Phoenix got her form from those she created. When her creations died, their sparks returned to her, setting ablaze her token corporeal form. Now, she sleeps and according to the Shi'ar, within the planet itself…but her sleep was not everlasting. Ever since then, he kept a weather eye out for any hint of the Phoenix, even though he really had no idea what to look for.

When the image of what might be a phoenix appeared in Jean's nightmarish hallucinations, his attention focused on her. He had to work hard to get access to Jean in her cell. What he saw was heartbreaking. Jean had been bound completely in a straightjacket, her auburn locks completely shaven to the root and there was evidence of self-inflicted injuries. Over months of sessions, Jean slowly grew more and more stable, and through these sessions, the Professor had discovered that her mutation had rooted itself in the subconscious part of her brain. This indicated that her telepathy would be instinctual, and that she would have to work hard to keep it from reaching out. The Professor also learned that the mutation had awakened violently at the very early age of six, after having witnessed a close childhood friend being hit by a car, killing her. Presumably, it was a combination of grief, trauma and her awakening powers that sent her into insanity. After several months, Jean was cleared to leave and had since lived with the Professor, yet she has reclaimed contact with her parents, rather joyously as well.

Ever since then, the Professor kept a watch over her, just in case the visions ever returned. If they did not, then more than likely the Phoenix was little more than legend, no matter how earnest Lilandra was about it. Jean Grey was probably the first true Omega-class mutant he had encountered, easily possessing a telepathic potential surpassing his, perhaps limitless. He wasn't threatened, but he couldn't help but be concerned. Such raw power tended to be animalistic in its own nature. It's how Jean ended up in her former state. Their sessions involved tempering the powers so they could regrow as Jean grew older and in more control of them. So far, so good, he surmised.

Omega-level mutants were extremely rare, and he doubted a cosmic entity like the Phoenix would be interested in any "lesser being" as being flawed, however juvenile it sounded. However, in recent months, mutants of greater power were becoming more commonplace. One in particular stood out to him: Jason Downs, also known as the Alchemist. He had arrived at the Institute only a few months prior, but has already shown an impressive prowess. Coupled with a near-collegiate level knowledge in the sciences, he became more and more versatile. Despite nearly been killed more than once, his ability to rebound was extraordinary. As his talents bloomed, the Professor couldn't help but consider that Jason might be an Omega-level as well. There was no real guarantee: the line between Alpha and Omega levels was blurry at best. The ratings for mutants depended more on how flawed their abilities were or more accurately whether their powers hampered as well as helped.

Most housed at the Institute were Beta-class or higher, although there were many Alphas. The Professor tried to expand his Institute to the "less-fortunate" mutants rated Gamma or lower, but only succeeded with one: Rogue. Despite her potential, her powers hindered her ability to live more than any others. Most shunned any help and often disappeared off the radar. The Professor could only guess why. Jason's power has yet shown hindrance, but that didn't make him an Omega-class automatically. There was one more piece that needed to be seen before he could "earn" that rank.

A soft knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Looking up, the Professor gave a quick mental scan to see who was at the door. It was Jason. His curiosity piqued, he answered, "It's open, Jason."

At once the door opened, permitting the lithe form of Jason in. A ghost of a smile etched across his face. "You know, no matter how many times you do that, it still spooks me a little bit."

The Professor folded his hands in his lap. "Forgive me, Jason, but I always suspect that many people do not wish to waste time with lengthy introductions or salutations. Therefore, I feel obliged to help things along."

Jason shrugged. "I'm not complaining, really. It's just a little jarring, s'all." Jason seemed to sober up. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything…"

The Professor's brow furrowed. "Jason, it is my priority to make time for my students if something ails them, both physically and mentally alike. I get the feeling you are deeply troubled."

Jason pursed his lips. "Yeah, I am."

A brief but uneasy silence passed between the student and his teacher. The Professor finally motioned to a chair. "Please, sit down."

"Thank you." Jason sat down in a vacant chair as the Professor positioned his wheelchair to be perpendicular with Jason.

The Professor folded his hands again in front of him. "Now, what seems to be the trouble?"

Jason sighed, as if considering his words. "This is going to be a really weird question…but it's been building up for a long time." Jason rubbed his chin nervously. "How can a guy…well…let go of his feelings?"

The Professor leaned back in his chair. "That is a most unusual question. I assume there is a pretense to this question."

Jason swallowed before continuing. "I just…I feel like I can't let go of my feelings. I get these…sensations like I can't stop blaming myself, like everything is my fault…you know?"

The Professor indeed had noticed this particular pendulum swing of Jason's moods in the past few months, and had marked the arc of the swing to begin around the time Jason began his feud with Pietro at school. Before that even, Jason always had problems letting go of anger. Now having an outlet, however unintentional, his psyche seems to have found a new substance to bottle. "Are you speaking of particular incidents, or just in general?"

Jason lowered his head. "Both."

The Professor considered the ambiguity of this answer. "Is there an example you're willing to share of either?"

Jason raised his head back, leaning back in the chair. "Well, it was the same day I ran into Mystique in the Tapoe Caves. Before that, I had gotten into a huge argument with a friend of mine, Jean-Paul Beaubier. In the heat of things, I completely unglued and called him a—" Jason cut himself off; even thinking the term made him cringe. "—I really hurt him, nearly making him cry. Ever since that time, I've felt lower than pond scum. I didn't even have the courage to look him in the eye. It wasn't until he interceded against Pietro until I finally got to talk to him again…but I didn't want to. I was too afraid. I wanted him to yell at me, curse me, call me the worst thing he could think of." Jason sighed morosely. "He didn't. He forgave me and I didn't even apologize."

While Jason allowed himself to recollect his thoughts before continuing, the Professor took the opportunity to say. "That was quite mature of him to do so. You should be thankful."

Jason sighed again. "I know…but even now, I still feel crap. The feelings are still there, and even though I know I'm forgiven for the stupid shit I did, I still feel this way. It got so bad that just a few days ago, Piotr practically lectured me about it…and then let me cry." Jason looked away. "I still feel bad about it..."

The Professor took this account and dissected it in his mind. An inciting incident provoked a stupor of depression that plagued Jason's psyche for the past month. Despite assurances from more than one friend that he was forgiven, he still felt haunted by his mistake. The center of all this was that Jason seemed to lack the ability to forgive himself. "I'm a little surprised, Jason. I'm surprised you did not come to see me sooner when your depression began fermenting…but perhaps in that lies the problem."

Jason looked back at the Professor, his eyes expectant.

"You don't trust your friends or those close to you…not fully." The Professor could see in Jason's eyes that he was shocked…and hurt. No telepathy required verification. "But even more prevalent, you don't trust yourself."

That forced Jason to look away clearly stung.

"You have seen yourself fail so many times that you feel you cannot trust yourself to succeed when it matters. This self-distrust has begun to bleed into your relationships to the point that no reassurance soothes you. In essence, you don't believe it when people say everything is all right. You've always had difficulty in confiding in your friends with your feelings, but the truth is, you've never confided in your feelings yourself. When others ask, you make excuses, push away or worse lash out. This is a vicious cycle Jason, and the only person who can break that is you."

Jason finally spoke, turning back to face the Professor. "But I've tried! Jean herself has told me that I had a hard time confiding in people, and I've tried to, I really did!"

The Professor met Jason's gaze. "But when you started feeling exposed and could feel what you thought were judgmental glances, you stepped right back. Correct?"

Jason made as if to speak, but checked himself. The Professor could tell that he had hit the nail on the head in his presumptions. Granted, it was a rather educated guess given Jason's lack of improvement in team trust and confidence. After a few moments, Jason looked sadly away. "I can't help it," he replied weakly.

The Professor laid a hand on Jason's shoulder. "Jason, you are trapped in a web of your own making, and your fears embody your spider. You've been cutting at the webbing for so long that you've failed to notice that the spider has repaired each cut. If you don't act soon, your fears will devour you."

Jason heaved a sigh. "I'm guessing this goes way beyond my dread of storms."

The Professor shook his head. "Jason, you are confusing your fears with your phobia. While related, they are two very different things. Your clinical astraphobia is a byproduct of your traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress. It is hardwired into your brain, so no amount of temperament can alter your hatred for storms. Phobias are biological with psychological origins, and panic is its offspring.

"What I am talking about is your fears, the things within your mind that create fear within you. It began with your doubts in yourself and your friends. Doubt begets fear, fear begets distrust, distrust begets anger, anger begets hate, and hate ends in suffering. Your fears exist only in your mind. They have no place in your body or your heart. Fear is an emotion and nothing more…and is often grossly exaggerated. There is no fear in the complete existence of the human mind that cannot be conquered. The first step is to recognize you have them." The Professor folded his hands again. "Do you recognize you have fears, Jason?"

Jason looked back at the Professor, quickly answering. "I'd be a liar if I said I didn't."

"Jason, do not give me a textbook answer; that comes from your mind. I want an answer straight from your heart."

Jason leaned back as if he felt the Professor's words bounce off of him. The Professor waited patiently as he observed Jason look away again as his eyes danced. He didn't need to use telepathy to know that Jason was looking for another answer. Jason had built walks of brick and stone around his heart to prevent anyone from getting too close to him. The Professor was all too familiar with the architecture; Jason had started building them nearly seven months ago. The only reason Jason was able to accept the offer to come to the Institute at all was because the Professor had managed to squeeze the seed in before the walls were complete. He was afraid that Magneto had also succeeded in planting his own, and this fear had been realized in the Tapoe Caves when Mystique successfully watered the seeds with doubts. Magneto's seed was growing as well, and its roots had started strangling Jason's resolve, and he could see it. They manifested as Jason's fears of confidence, and to the Professor's silent alarm, they were healthy.

Jason heaved a long sigh. His head moved unsteadily as he slowly replied, "I'm scared."

Those two words stopped the Professor's musings dead in their tracks, but a small look of relief briefly flashed on his face. "I know."

Jason blinked firmly. "I…I am really scared. I always have been."

"Yes, but don't lose heart, Jason. Fear is something every man, woman and child feels, and is not something to be ashamed of. It's our response to our fears that is paramount, and I do not intend to be condescending, but I'm afraid your reactions to your fears have been…less than satisfactory. Would you agree?"

To his surprise, Jason agreed rather quickly. "Yeah. I let myself snap at friends and blame myself overmuch…" Jason then shook his head. "Yet I still feel the shame. It's still there."

"That is because for two months, that is all you have known. You have not known the joy of absolving yourself of your guilt. Remember when I had the opportunity to meet your parents? You admitted that you felt that you could not confide in your parents with your powers, because you believed it was something they could not understand. What you failed to understand then was that you didn't need understanding; you needed love, and they gave that to you. Do you remember?"

Jason's eyes went distant as the memories of that May evening flashed before his eyes. A lot was said and exchanged that evening, and it ended in a very crucial choice for Jason. With the support of his parents, he accepted the invitation to attend the Institute. A ghost of a smile etched across Jason's face as he recollected it all. "Yeah, I remember. Some things never change, do they?"

"You are still growing, Jason, both physically and mentally. You've had a trying year, and if I must say, you have done well so far. I knew that soon enough you would approach me regarding your more private troubles, so all I did was give you the space you needed until you mustered the courage to speak to me. And here you are."

Jason nodded as he repeated. "Here I am…but how do I get rid of this guilt since I've felt it for so long?"

"You've already begun the process by speaking to me: you confided in me. That is the key to building trust, Jason: to learn to expose yourself to the people you have chosen to trust. It can be frightening, rattling, risky…but if you have chosen wisely, it is rewarding."

Jason nodded, yet looked apprehensive. "Like I've said before, I've tried opening up to others here…"

"I know, Jason, but like with your parents, how about instead of seeking for understanding, seek for their care." Jason's eyes darted aside as he thought about this; the Professor decided to follow it up. "If I could speak for many of the students here, many of them wish to be your friend and are trustworthy if you let them. While I could give you more iconic examples, I have a feeling you have already discovered a couple already."

Jason's eyes shot to the Professor, but a smile appeared on his face. "Yeah, I suppose I did."

"And you have already begun to open up to those whom you have chosen." "One in particular, I dare say…"

Jason conceded this observation with a subtle nod, although he was oblivious to the Professor's private thoughts regarding one choice. Still, something bothered him. "I need to be honest. Even though you make it sound rather...easy." Jason lowered his head once again. "But I still feel scared to do it. I feel so…unprotected."

The Professor folded his hands. "That is precisely what friends are for, Jason."

Jason looked back at the Professor, shocked at the simplicity of the answer.

"Friends will be among the greatest treasures any man or woman can grasp, for true friends will gladly bear each other's burdens. After all, Jason, you can only discover your true friends through adversity, as well your capacity to trust."

Jason looked away, mentally digesting what he had just heard. "I want to confide in my friends…I really do." Looking back, he said. "What can I do?"

The Professor leaned back in his wheelchair. "I have an assignment for you, Jason. In a couple of days, the members of the X-Men, your peers, will be leaving for survival training at Camp Ironback upstate. Originally, it was exclusive only to the senior members of the Institute, but I'm placing both you and Bobby Drake along with them. Along with the assigned survival training, I have a special task just for you."

Jason leaned forward. "What is it?"

The Professor leaned forward himself. "Be the better man."

Jason's brow instantly furrowed. "I'm…not sure I follow."

"It all starts with what we talked about, Jason. You cannot mature as an adult until you take the initiative to become a better man. When you return, I expect an account of your transpirations. Understood?"

Jason looked away briefly, and then looked back at the Professor. "Yes, sir."

"Good. May I assist you any further?"

Jason shook his head, standing up. "No, I think I'm done."

The Professor nodded, his countenance softening. "I know what I am saying is a bitter pill to swallow, but that is the nature of things that are designed to purge. The healing process is often trying, but if you persevere, you will come out better than you have before. Know that if whatever troubles you grows unbearable that there is always help in reach."

Jason nodded. "Thank you, Professor. I'll try my best."

The Professor nodded in return. "Now I'm fairly certain you still have some homework to do before bed. Off you go!"

Jason smiled a bit before walking past the Professor to leave. Watching him go, the Professor considered what he had just set into motion. Jason had been quickly rising in the ranks among the newer students, and was right now in consideration to become a senior member of the Institute, to join the X-Men. The only thing that was holding Jason back right now was that Jason's resolve was still shaky, mainly because of his tendency to be self-defeating. Jason was skilled and resourceful, but that meant nothing if his resolve was poor. Hopefully Jason would not waste this opportunity to step up to the plate.

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Stokes County Maximum Security Facility, Upstate New York – Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 – 2:09 AM

As a mid-autumn fog rolled in through the Catskill Ranges, an isolated prison facility stood as a monument to society's dark side. Stokes County Max-Sec was home to some of the most dangerous criminals in the state, sometimes used by S.H.I.E.L.D. to house some of the more dangerous criminals they happen to snag if the Triskelion didn't have proper facilities to accommodate the criminal in question. Security was among the strongest in the state, and the prison population was kept under tight control in all six stories of its building.

The facility did have a secret, however. While the population was held above ground, there was one area deep beneath the compound that was kept away from the rest of the populace. Some of the guards didn't even know how to access it, and those that did were very few in number. Inspections of the area were frequent and were often done by the same person every time. While rumors among the population were numerous, none knew the truth about what they all called "the hole." The prudent ones dared not ask, and the more cavalier were often punished for their curiosity. Thus the hole remained the darkest secret of Stokes County Max-Sec.

One guard knew that his round into the hole was upon him, and he strode slowly but determinedly towards the entrance. The entrance itself looked like a bank vault, a large circular galvanized steel door at least a foot thick yet still protected with two sets of barred gates, also made of galvanized steel. The gates were simple enough, each one had its unique key to open it, and the guard had everything he needed. Upon reaching the vault-like door, he withdrew a rather peculiar rod-shaped key and inserted it into the keyhole beside the door. The guard turns it rather mechanically in different directions until a green light shows up just above the keyhole, permitting entry. The door slowly works itself open allowing the guard to access the hallway.

The long metal hallway was rather unremarkable, and smelled strongly of the material it was made. The guard wasted no time travelling towards the only other structure in the room: an elevator door that led to the belly of the facility: the hole. The ride was uneventful, and for some the silence could be deafening. The guard however was used to the silence, and silence in this part of the facility was a good thing. It was silence on the upper floors that was disturbing. Once the elevator cab reached the bottom floor, the doors slid open, introducing the guard to a door guarded with motion-sensing lasers. Not deterred in the slightest, the guard reached for a nearby panel and laid down a hand on a hand-shaped pad. A series of beeps and lights flashing rose from the panel, only moments before all the lights turned green followed by the lasers evaporating.

The next obstacle in the guard's path was an access room that sat above a more-than-respectable drop. Ignoring the drop only a few meters to his left and right, the guard walked confidently across the narrow walkway towards the middle of the chamber, where sat an indented area featuring a retinal scanner device. Stooping down to the device, the guard looked straight into the slot. A green paper-thin beam of light shot through the guard's pupils, meticulously scanning every rod, cone and capillary as it did. After several still seconds, the GUI interface in the scanner displayed "ACCESS GRANTED," immediately followed by the entire room turning around. The guard stood still as the hallway he came from slowly slipped out of view. Eventually, a new room came into view; a circular room with no exit. The walls were heavily and ominously paneled, hiding who knew what. The only other thing in the room was a large device that looked like a glorified piston stopper, accompanied by a comparatively unremarkable control panel.

The guard walked right up to the control panel and studied it briefly, making sense of the featureless buttons and switches. Finally, the guard pressed different ones sequentially, ending with a large red one. A hiss of hydraulics greeted the guard, and the piston slowly began to rise. As it did, it pulled up a chamber, filled with a greenish fluid. Contained therein was an even more interesting prospect: a hulking giant of a man, over nine feet of muscle and covered with brick-red armor. His arms were bare but as thick as a full-grown oak tree trunk. His hands were covered in reinforced gloves that looked solid enough to punch through steel effortlessly. Chains wrapped around his arms and body as if he was ready to escape at any time.

The guard looked as this giant rose in front of his eyes with a smile on his face. When the piston reached its full height, the guard pressed one more button on the control panel. The green fluid began to bubble, slowly draining through the vents of the chamber floor. Slowly, the giant's head rose from the water, sleeking his fire-red hair. The fluid continued to drain and while it did, the guard's form changed, shrinking and melting into a slender form of a blue-skinned woman, dressed in a white tight-fitting outfit while bearing red locks of hair of her own. Her yellow serpentine eyes studied every inch of the giant, amazed at how something so rudimentary seemed to keep the giant at bay.

When the fluid drained away completely, the woman pressed another button, lifting the chamber containment from around the giant. An odious smell greeted the stale air of the room, but the woman didn't seem to notice.

"Hmm," she said with a low voice. "Cellular neuroparalytic bio-fluid: amazing that something so simple could stop the unstoppable, albeit in large amounts." Looking up to the giant, who had not stirred, she cooed. "Wake up, Cain. You've been asleep for a long time, but now we need you. It will be a bit before you move, but it won't be long."

The giant blinked very slowly, making a sound like a groaning growl.

"Once you do, I can sneak you out of here so you can…settle things with your step-brother." She looked thoughtful. "Now, what was his name again? Oh, yes…" Her eyes narrowed as her lips curled cruelly. "Charles Xavier."

Cain's eyes flashed open, his ice-blue eyes dilating at the name. Growling, he tried to move, only to find that the effects of the bio-fluid had not worn off yet. Chafing, he contented to growl his disapproval.

"Oh, sore subject?" The woman turned away. "Well, I can arrange something to make things a little easier."

Experimentally, Cain flexed his jaw, ignoring the ligaments in his jaw groaning like cold rubber. "Who…are you?" he managed to say in a deep rough voice.

"You may call me Mystique," the woman said. "I hear you have a more formidable name of your own, Cain: Juggernaut, the unstoppable. I can't imagine why." Looking at a panel near the door, she pulled it open to reveal a dome-like device with three slots placed strategically on one side of it. "Ah, here it is. You'll need this if you want to give Charles a piece of your mind…as it were."

Slowly bending his massive arms, Cain—Juggernaut—asked further. "Why…are you helping me?"

"Let's say I'm a deal maker:" Picking up the dome, she carried it towards Juggernaut as she continued, "I get you out of here, and you will help me get something Charles prizes above anything: his mutant-detection computer called Cerebro."

His eyes not leaving Mystique's, Juggernaut asked. "And…my brother?"

Mystique smiled as she slipped the dome over Juggernaut's head, the slots revealing his eyes and mouth. "I think I can trust him to you, can I?" Clipping on four locks around the circumference of the helmet, she stepped back. "After all, it's not like he needs Cerebro after you have your say, am I wrong?"

Juggernaut wordlessly flexed his arms and legs. They groaned after so long a period of disuse, but they were just as strong as ever. As the stiffness faded, a fire awoke inside of him: fury and a lust for carnage. Everything that happened to him was his fault, and he was going to be torn apart for it. He had been dreaming of it. "Good," he said.

"Good, indeed," Mystique turned. "I have transportation ready. We will be there in—"

Juggernaut cut her off with a swipe to the side, knocking her into the wall. "No one takes me anywhere. No one tells me what to do. No one gets in my way!" Yelling, he ran towards the door, barreling through it with a crash.

Picking herself up, Mystique dusted herself off as she looked at the mess Juggernaut left behind so far. Ruefully, she crossed her arms. "Men."

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Ironback Survival Camp Site, Catskill Ranges – 9:01 AM

"You will not be making baskets, wood carvings or necklaces!" A stout and gruff man, groomed by the army, paced back and forth in front of a single line of young men and women, barking out expectations. "You will not be engaging in potato sack races, water balloon fights or pony rides! You will be taking twenty-mile hikes, rappelling two-hundred-foot cliffs and crossing treacherous water with nothing but a rope and all the courage you can muster! Do you read me?!"

"Yes, Sergeant Hawke, sir!" chorused the group, standing at attention.

"I said, 'do you read me'?!" the man barked louder.

"YES, SERGEANT HAWKE, SIR!"

"That's more like it." The sergeant crossed his thick arms. "Welcome to Ironback Survival Camp, a name you won't be forgetting until you're old enough to have great-grandkids. For the next week, you all are mine until I teach you how to survive in the wild like every damn soldier in the marines can! Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sergeant Hawke, sir!"

"I said, 'do you read me'?!"

"YES, SERGEANT HAWKE, SIR!"

"Good." He scrutinizingly studied each and every one of the twenty or so students here from Bayville High. Picking one out—one wearing red-shaded glasses—he marched up to him. "Now, we have here Mr. Scott Sumner—"

"Summers, sir," Scott automatically corrected.

"Whose scholastic achievements at Bayville High have earned him the rank as junior commanding officer. You will pay attention to him. You will follow his head. You will listen to everything he says. Am I clear, soldiers?!"

"YES, SERGEANT HAWKE, SIR!" chorused the group.

"Now stow your bags to the barracks and report to the mess hall at 0930 hours! Dismissed!" Sergeant Hawke turned around on his heads and strode away.

There was a collective moan from the student body as they picked up their gear and made their way towards the barracks. Among them were many of the Xavier Institute students: Scott—their new commander—along with Jean, Kurt, Kitty, Rogue, Piotr, Jason and Bobby, the last two very recently added. All had come out to the Catskill Ranges to undergo survival training under the recommendation of their Professor, Charles Xavier. Despite the gorgeous sunny backdrop, the outlook of the team was overcast.

Kitty slumped on her bag as she sat. "I'm going to be like dead in two days…"

Bobby looked dismal. "You? I'm a Boston kid and a computer tech whiz, not a trooper!"

Jason sighed. "I think the only one of us with any real experience is Peter, and he's a farm boy." Jason peered at Piotr beside him. "No offense."

"It all right," Piotr said kindly.

"What did we do to deserve this?" Kurt asked.

"Maybe he thought those Burger Bombs are beginning to catch up to you, Kurt," Bobby joked.

Rogue heaved up her bag. "I don't know about you, but I'm going AWOL. Anybody know how to hotwire a school bus?"

"Whoa, slow down, everybody!" Scott said. "Come on, we just got here; no washing out in front of the whole school. Professor Xavier endorses survival training and this place, so let's not let him down because it looks like it would be too hard."

Jean joined in with the encouragement. "Yeah, besides it's not like he didn't give us a choice: survival training at Ironback or with Wolverine…"

Rogue scoffed. "Some choice."

Jason smiled. "Scylla or Charybdis? You decide."

"What is Jason and Bobby doing here, anyway?" Kurt asked. "I thought the Professor kept this to the X-Men."

Jason sneered. "Because I'm taller."

"Knock it off, Jason," Scott said. "The Professor wanted both Bobby and Jason with us because of their scores in recent Danger Room sessions."

"Yeah, we lived…" Bobby said. "High five, Jason!"

Jason held up a hand with his thumb tucked. "How 'bout four?"

"Well, at least someone's going to have a good time," Rogue said, rolling her eyes.

"I'll get back to you on that, Rogue," Jason said, standing up. "Another reason is that the Professor has a very special assignment for me after my last talk with him."

"Ooh, can I ask what kind of assignment?" Kurt asked.

"No, you may not…and it doesn't involve the Brotherhood jerks over there." Jason motioned with his head to a group of unruly-looking teens. "At least, I hope."

"Man, what a gyp that we have to deal with them too…" Rogue said.

"It is about survival," Kurt said.

"Come on, guys," Scott said. "We can do this. Now we'd better get our stuff to the barracks before things get crowded."

"At least it's not just us and the Brotherhood," Jason said as he stood up. "Did you guys see who else is here?"

"Now that you mention it," Kitty said. "Didn't I like see Alison Blaire over there?"

Jason smiled a bit. "I would hope so, or else I might be going crazy. I have to admit though; I didn't expect her to be here."

"Me neither," Kurt said. "What is she going to do, sing to us when we die out here?"

Jason elbowed Kurt in the ribs. "At least if that happened, it would sound so good. I mean, geez, y'all heard her at the musical? Didn't she sound great? Tell me she didn't!"

Kitty smiled. "I think you're in love, Jason…"

Jason looked annoyed, but a grin shot across his face. "Oh, stuff it, Kitty." He turned to leave.

As Kurt and Kitty followed him, singing off-key songs of love to him, Piotr looked after them briefly, his brow weighing heavily over his eyes before following them himself. The rest of the group picked up their respective belongings and made their way towards the barracks, all the while voicing their opinions regarding a week-long excursion in the mountains. Meanwhile, on the far side of the gathering, the four previously-mentioned Brotherhood boys scowled as they watched the Institute group meander away. Leading the pack was Lance; behind him were Todd, Pietro and Fred.

Fred crossed his massive arms. "Junior Commander? Scholastic achievements? Ha, that should have been me!"

One of Pietro's silver eyebrows shot up. "You can't even spell scholastic achievement, Blob!"

"Yeah? Well, I can spell doomed, which is what that goody-good gang is once they get out in the woods." Fred punctuated his threat with a pound of his fist into the palm of his hand.

Todd joined in. "Oh yeah, big man. I can see it now." Holding up an imaginary microphone to his mouth, he continued overdramatically. "Search has been called off for missing school kids in the mountains. No traces found; believed to have been eaten by a pig."

Fred looked livid at the insult, but Lance stepped in. "Knock it off! Besides, we'll stick it to them in the way it hurts most: here on the ground, in public, in front of everyone."

Pietro scoffed. "Yeah, it'd be hard to do it in public when no one's around to see…"

Lance ignored the speedster. "Remember, we're here to make sure they don't go anywhere. Now let's rock this place!"

The Brotherhood boys cheered and made their way towards the barracks.

---

Juggernaut tromped his way down the road, his armor-plated boots pounding the pavement with each step. He was days from reaching the old mansion where he and his step-brother lived, especially on foot, but it didn't matter to him. It was just give his little step-brother the time he needed to prepare for him. He could prepare all he wanted; he wasn't going to stop the unstoppable Juggernaut this time.

The wail of sirens reached his ears through his helmet. Looking ahead, he could see what appeared to be a police barricade right in his path. No doubt word had gotten out about his messy escape from the prison, and he was now the prize of a statewide manhunt. Not slowing in the least, he marched towards the barricade. If they wanted to be tossed aside, who was he to argue?

As the police bullhorns blared for him to freeze and surrender himself, he marched right up to the first police car and reached under it. Tossing it aside like a pebble, he moved to the next one and tossed it aside the same way. One by one, the police cruisers were tossed aside, leaving the officers shocked and surprised at the lumbering giant bulldozed through them all. No stern order seemed to threaten the giant, so some more cavalier officers fired Tasers. When the prongs latched onto Juggernaut's bear arms, he froze. Despite the fact that nearly two joules of electricity latched itself on his flesh, Juggernaut looked at the prongs as if they were houseflies. Grabbing the wires, he pulled the Tasers out of the cops' hands and smashed them into the ground, shattering them. Angered, he ran at the back of the barricade, barreling through officer and vehicle in his charge, sending all scattering. After bursting through the last barricade, he continued his trek southwards. Nothing will stand in his way, and if it does, it will be trashed.

The police, stunned by how easily this mammoth of an escaped convict was able to bisect their barricade, put a call through the radio. "Unit 252 requesting back-up! Suspect has cut through our barricades and is heading south!"

The dispatcher replied. "All units in your vicinity are currently occupied, 252. Alerts have already been sent to units in neighboring counties southwards."

The officer growled in frustration. "Well, send up the national guard or something like it to help them! This guy is nothing we've ever faced before!"

The sound of helicopter blades chopping the air soon began to override the officer. All the dumbstruck officers looked up to see a helicopter descending on them. It was jet black and featureless, save for an obnoxiously large emblem of an eagle circumscribed with the words Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. By all appearances, this helicopter was top of the line, reserved for the highest members of enforcement or government agencies.

The helicopter landed on the road nearby but far enough to not upset the scene. After a few tense minutes, the door slid open and several armed men in black and dark blue came out and stood in ranks between the doors. Following them out was a dark-skinned man, dressed in dark blue with a black overcoat. An eye-patch dominated the left side of his face but it didn't damper his glower in the slightest. Following him was a slim woman with long golden locks but bearing a cold gaze.

The man looked at the police. "Whoever's in charge here, pull your men back. We're taking over."

One officer stood up, looking affronted. "And just who the hell are you?"

The man glowered at the man with his good eye. "Colonel Nick Fury, son. This is a S.H.I.E.L.D. matter now. Take your men and find some other lowlife to snatch up."

Realizing they were outgunned in regards to authority, the police broke off and began working to clean up the damage, flipping the cars back over and what not to break off pursuit. Colonel Fury looked on as they did with his thoughts quieted.

"Eloquently put, sir," remarked the woman behind him.

"Your opinion was not requested, Captain Danvers," replied Fury, turning his head south. Juggernaut was now out of visual range, but Fury stared after him as if he did. "Marko, you son of a bitch. You picked a bad day to break out, Mystique be damned." Not looking away, he barked. "Danvers, status on locating Mystique?"

"Negative. All feeds that captured her in the forms we are aware of do not point how she got in or out of Stokes. We questioned the officer she was impersonating, but he claims to have no memory of how she had gotten access to his personal files and passcodes. However, there have been reports of her original name being used in the Long Island area. If—"

"Mystique will have to wait for another day, Danvers," Fury interrupted. "We have a literally bigger fish to fry." Fury weighed his options, considering what resources he should throw against such a force as Juggernaut. Times like this bring the reason why he was pushing the Avengers Initiative forwards, but so far without success so far. Currently, their numbers for such a proposal were too small. More accurately, their numbers for specialized agents of the demanded caliber were a trace select. Aside from the best archer in the world, a former Russian agent and a doctor with a love for things big and small in a manner of speaking, there was no one within S.H.I.E.L.D. good enough to fit the bill. Reluctantly, Fury had to reach out. When he did, he caught one of the most unlikely people to be a hero.

"Danvers, get me Stark Tower."

---

Stark Tower; Manhattan, New York – Same day, 12:02 PM

One of the most prominent buildings in New York, Stark Tower stood among the tallest buildings of the Manhattan skyline. It was headquarters of Stark Industries, one of the largest financial empires of the nation and the pioneer of weapons and defense technology. Self-described as "ninety-three stories of heaven on earth" by the eccentric and illustrious Anthony "Tony" Stark, the CEO of Stark Industries was anything but humble. His vanity was not unmerited; Stark Industries buoyed the United States Armed Forces to the superpower it is today. While his father, Howard Stark, and grandfather before him were industrial giants in their time, it was Tony's intellect and adaptability in regards to new and improved weapon systems that made Stark Industries the sole supplier for the United States Armed Forces.

Tony Stark, however, had something else to offer. After escaping capture while in Afghanistan demonstrating his latest weapons, Tony began working on a new invention, something unlike anything he had ever made: a combat exoskeleton, equipped with weapon and defensive systems designed for everything between crowd control and warfare. Powered by an implanted miniaturized arc reactor—a larger version powered the Tower—the exoskeleton gave Tony a new name:

Iron Man.

Becoming Iron Man gave Stark a new reason to live: not only as a merchant of weapons, but as a guardian against technological irresponsibility. It was a lesson he needed to learn himself, as he discovered his weapons being used against his own country. In captivity, he had seen how his irresponsibility as CEO nearly jeopardized America's security. Just as relevant, he had received a traumatic heart injury from his own weapon, forcing him to implant an electromagnetic pacemaker over his own heart. In captivity, he was able to miniaturize an arc reactor to keep the magnet powered...along with whatever battle-suit he wished to construct without his captors' knowledge. Upon escape, he returned to America to reorganize Stark Industries to prevent unethical sales of weaponry, along with taking up the mantle of Iron Man.

Much like Tony Stark himself, Iron Man was no secret to the country, or the world. What remained secret were the schematics for the Iron Man exoskeleton, even from the government—much to their chagrin. In response, S.H.I.E.L.D. began keeping an eye on Tony Stark and his adventures as Iron Man. At first, Tony was rather repulsed by the idea of being under the scrutinizing eye of the biggest intelligence agencies in the western hemisphere, but there wasn't much he could do about it aside from behind cheeky about it. That was something the great Tony Stark was great at, among more colorful things.

Inside his workshop, Tony sat bent over a workbench replacing a dented pieces of his armor, all the while surrounded by his earlier builds of his armor, all the way back to the Mark II—the Mark I being in a million pieces somewhere in Afghanistan. Upon removal of the plate, he looked at any damage underneath with a scowl. "JARVIS, take a look at this plate."

A hologram of an elderly butler appeared on the desk. "It appears the titanium-gold alloy plate has suffered structural damage."

Tony looked at the hologram. "I can see that. I mean take a look and see why bullets were able to pierce it so efficiently."

"I assumed as much, sir, and my answer remains the same. The alloy appears to have suffered brittleness in the forging process. It's possible that the ore the titanium or gold was refined from was of poor quality. Rest assured; I have already inventoried the alloy we currently have in stock and have not traced the flaw in any of it. Ergo, this is likely an isolated event."

"Well, glad to know." Tony artlessly tossed the flawed plate away. "Just one more thing we can kiss goodbye once the Extremis Armor is done."

"As I have inquired on numerous occasions, sir, do you truly believe such a schematically-radical design exhibited by the Extremis Armor schematics dictate is truly wise?"

"If I can pull this off, it will put me at a considerable advantage in case I get another friendly chat from my more rambunctious acquaintances."

"I'm more expressing my concerns over possible biological consequences. If you truly desire to transcend organic and synthetic forms of existence, I would be more than happy to recommend a good novelist."

Tony ignored the shot. "Anything else I need to know about regarding this armor?"

"Beyond some possible foreign agents building up in the joints that can easily be rectified with thorough cleaning, everything is optimal."

"Do it. Anything else?"

"Ms. Potts wishes to inform you that you have a meeting with the board of directors tomorrow and to remind you that bringing one of the Maxim models would be most unwise."

"Do it once and you never live it down," Tony mumbled.

"And I appear to have been mistaken; feel free to write this down in the annals of history as you have promised to do. I have just received a transmission from a classified source, requesting your immediate answer."

Tony was instantly curious, although his face didn't register it. He had mastered his poker face after repeated engagements of the fairer sex. "Accept." A holographic interface pulled up in front of him at his desk. "Stark."

"Tony…we have a job for you…"

---

Jason gritted his teeth as his feet shot in and out of tires as he ran down the obstacle course. He thanked his commitment to aerobic and gymnastic training to keep his balance and precision. One trip on this course spelled disaster. After clearing the tires, he darted towards a rope climb where many of his peers have already started climbing. Scott led the pack, followed by Lance of the Brotherhood. Kurt and Piotr were close behind with Jason heading up the rear.

Just as he was beginning to climb, Fred's pyknic form caught up and grabbed the ropes himself. As he hoisted himself up, the whole apparatus began to sag underneath his weight. Jason was half-way up when he felt a sinking sensation. He, along with other climbers, looked towards the ground. Jason's eyes dilated. "Oh, no…"

Fred's rope snapped at that moment, sending him to the ground. The bar at the top of the apparatus snapped back up like a branch, lashing the ropes violently. Jason lost his grip and fell to the ground, along with some others.

Piotr looked down. "Jason! Are you all right?"

Jason waved. "I'm okay! Just go, I'll catch up!"

Fred looked annoyed. "Easy for you to say, Scarhead."

Jason cast a mild glare at Fred as he stood up. "You can always try jumping up to the zip-line to catch up. Let me know how that turns out."

On the sidelines, the girls—awaiting their turn on the course—had watched all that had befallen the guys at the ropes. Rogue smirked. "Who did not see that coming?"

"Guess they ran out of the heavy-duty rope at the hardware store," Kitty said.

"Come on, girls," Jean said. "Just because we're not friends with Fred, that doesn't give us the right to make fun of him."

"You would totally say that, Jean," Kitty said.

Taryn, standing next to Jean, added, "Yeah, we all heard about what that loser tried to do to you, Jean. I'm surprised you didn't call the police on him."

Jean replied, "It was just a misunderstanding, Taryn. After I made my point, he stopped bothering me."

Alison flecked a stray lock of her golden hair from her face. "Yeah, I can't believe that happened during the auditions…or even at the school!"

Jean looked at Alison. "We really shouldn't be surprised anymore, Alison. Schools aren't exactly all that safe anymore."

Taryn shivered a bit. "Don't remind me, Jean. I've been watching the news too and it's freaky."

Alison agreed. "You don't have to tell me twice. It could have gotten a lot worse, but you did great in my books, Jean."

Rogue and Kitty looked at each other, a knowing look in their eye. The story that ran around the school regarding what happened between Jean and Fred back in September was quite interesting. Everyone simply believed that Fred and Jean had an argument after Jean refused Fred's less than subtle offer to go out. The details were mainly lost, but the result was clear: Jean gave Fred her refusal in the form of a kick in the cajones and walked on. Rogue and Kitty along with the rest of the Institute knew the truth, but thanks to some mental encouragement from the Professor, they covered up what happened that day.

Meanwhile, Scott and Lance had reached the top of the climbing ropes where the zip-lines were attached and zipped away. Lance took an early lead, but Scott crawled ahead as he strategically angled his dangling body to heighten his momentum and lessen his air resistance. Quickly, they reached the end of the line and dropped down to the ground, only several a small run towards a large nearby pond. On the banks sat a line of inflatable rafts, ready for use. Scott reached on a half-second before Lance did. While he undid the lines, Lance leered at Scott. "You swim, Summers?"

One of Scott's eyebrows shot up in confusion. "Why?"

"No reason." Lance held out a hand.

Scott suddenly felt the earth underneath him shake violently, and then slide into the lake taking him with it. Lance took the opportunity to hop into the raft and row himself away. "Look like you can!" he called back behind him. "Total bummer!"

As Scott struggled to get back to shore, Jason and Piotr was the next to reach the boats. Jason had seen Scott slide into the lake, and guessed what happened. "That son of a bitch!"

Even Piotr looked upset. "Etot proklyatyy moshennik!"

"You said a mouthful, Peter," Jason replied.

By then the girls caught up. Jean saw Scott floundering in the water trying to get back to shore. "What just happened?"

Jason shot a hand towards Lance's raft, now half-way across. "Lance happened! The damn cheater just slid Scott into the drink!"

Jean's olive eyes narrowed in frustration, but she kept a level head. "Well, Scott is our leader and he can handle it."

"I do not mean to interrupt, but Scott should be in raft by now, da?"

While Jean looked strangely at Piotr, Jason looked back at the water, a growling look of perplexity growing on his scarred face. "More importantly, shouldn't his head be above water?"

Meanwhile, Lance was taking full advantage of the lead he stole from Scott after his little rockslide. Paddling as hard as he could, he could see the finish line right head on the far shore. Lance allowed himself the luxury of a smile; this was going to chap Summers' hide more than a tanner ever could.

At that moment, something blasted the raft from behind, sending the raft and Lance into the lake. Just before his head hit the water though, Lance glimpsed a reddish glow.

Back on the shore, Jean, Jason, Piotr as well as some of the others saw Lance's raft flip, as well as what caused it.

"You were saying, Jean?" Jason asked.

Jean sighed resignedly.

While this happened, Scott boarded his own raft and paddled as hard as he could. As he passed by an adrift Lance, he couldn't help but call, "Kind of stinks being in the water, doesn't it? That must really chap your hide."

Lance looked absolutely livid, but Scott was right. His powers had no effect in the water because of its shock-absorbent properties. All he could do was float and sputter. Scott reached the other shore, leaping out of his raft and took off for the finish line at a sprint. He could hear his peers cheering him on as he did. What he didn't see was the condescending glare aimed for his back from Jean's narrowed eyes. Jason, standing beside her, could tell that the only thing stopping a telekinetic kick on the butt was the mutually agreed pact to use no powers. On the other hand, Scott did just break it himself, so…

His thoughts were interrupted as Fred lumbered up to them. "That loser Scott cheated to win that race and you know it!"

Pietro joined in. "Yeah, just because he slipped into the bath, he goes all ballistic! So much for the Junior Commander."

Kurt shot a glare at Pietro. "Slipped? More like 'avalanched!'"

Jason nearly laughed at Pietro's argument. "Puh-leeze, Pietro! You of all people are complaining about fair play? You wouldn't know a fair play if it hit you in the teeth!"

Todd shot off his own retort. "He stole that first place spot and you know it!"

Kitty shot back. "He did not!"

"What do you want, Stinkpot, a ribbon?" Rogue pointed at Todd. "How 'bout I find one and pin it to your forehead?"

The two rivaling factions descended into a full-fledged argument. As the arguments and insults flew, Sgt. Hawke was on his way back from the other side of the lake when he caught sight of the argument from afar. "There's always a few…" he thought annoyed. He popped his whistle into his mouth and blew its shrill note.

---

A few moments later…

"Fifty-eight…fifty-nine…sixty!" the students chanted as they rose and fell on their hands.

Upon reaching the goal, many of the students collapsed as their arms felt like jelly about enduring five dozen push-ups. Sgt. Hawke made all the arguing students—along with Scott—do so many pushups as retribution for arguing. Satisfied, he barked. "On your feet, troopers! Stand at attention!"

Groaning as the lactic acid began burning their biceps and triceps, the students climbed rather stiffly to their feet. Once they all stood erect, Sgt. Hawke looked scrutinizingly at the lot of them. "Here at Ironback Survival Camp, we have ways to weed out the loud-mouths from the tough-guys. We fight it out in the wilderness against the wilderness." Leaning in towards Scott, he continued. "You all want to prove how tough you really are, fine! You get to run the final course of the training as you all seem so eager to try."

Turning around, he pointed to a lone mountain only a few kilometers away. They had all been training in its shadow. "Up on top of Frost Mountain is a flag. You will divide into two teams and will race each other to the top of the mountain."

Pietro stepped out of line. "Cool! My team can take a sauna. I'll get it myself!"

"Not if I beat you there!" Kurt replied.

Jason's brow furrowed incredulously. "Are these two really serious about this?"

"Back in line, you two, or it's another sixty for all of you!" Sgt. Hawke snapped. "It's the whole team or no one! As proof, you must bring back a snapshot of the entire team on the top of Frost Mountain. If there is one single missing teammate, it's invalid! Am I clear?!"

"Sir, yes sir!" All of them barked back.

"You will disembark in two hours. Be ready! Dismissed!"

While some of the members of both teams began to disperse, Lance shot Scott a warning. "You heard him, Sumner. Be ready…because you ain't coming back."

Scott spun back to face Lance. "Is that a threat, rock-tumbler? Because I have one of my own!" Scott reached for his shades.

"Scott!" Jean cried. "What are you doing?!"

"Yeah, what the hell, man?" Jason said, crossing his arms.

"What?" Scott said obliviously. "It's nothing! I'm just fed up with these delinquents getting away with everything while we're stuck playing by the rules!"

Jean opened her mouth to speak, but Lance interrupted her. "Oh yeah? We don't need out powers to beat you guys!"

"Oh, fine then! We'll all play it straight and then we'll wave to you from the top!" Scott said, leaving the group, as did Lance.

"Good!" Jean said, relieved. "That's the deal then; we'll all play fairly! No powers whatsoever! And I have to say I'm very proud of you—"

"Uh, Jean?" Jason cut in. "They left already."

Jean looked around and saw that Scott and Lance had indeed parted ways. "Oh…well that was rude."

Jason let his head fall back, a bemused smile on his face.

Jean noticed. "What?"

"Oh, just thinking." Jason looked back at Jean. "So now you'll play fair?"

"Oh, shut up, Jason."

---

Xavier Institute for Gifted Children – 3:06 PM

Deep inside the Institute was a globular room with a single pathway reaching into its center. In this center sat Professor Xavier, wearing a peculiar device on his head. To anyone else had they be in the room, they would have seen nothing but the paneling of the globular room. To the Professor however, he was seeing the world in hues of blue and red. Every time he used Cerebro to look upon the world, he could see the dots of red growing more and more numerous, almost like a rash, but he would never use that comparison. Mutants were multiplying, their numbers getting close to the millions.

Mutant existence around the world was making the government in America very nervous. While nothing was ever decided, paranoia about the idea that there were mutants in hiding on American soil was almost too much for some politicians. Despite that, no official action has ever been made, and with S.H.I.E.L.D. ever watching the country and whatever threatened it, nothing could gain steam enough in the government regarding mutants. For that, the Professor was truly thankful.

Yet he knew he was clinging onto a fragile hope. One day, very soon, mutants in the country would be exposed, and the reaction would be explosive. That was one reason why he created this Institute, both as a means of education and as a shelter. For now, it was mainly barren of students, but when the time came, it would be brimming with them. Before that happened, there was a matter of creating a team of peacekeepers that would double as role-models for future students. He had already brought Logan and Storm into the fold, but they were brought in to be teachers. What he needed were peers, someone others would relate to but also look up to.

The first was Scott Summers, whom when he found him, he was sitting in a ruined home with a blindfold tightly bound over his eyes. Next was Jean, so scared and so confused inside the walls of a mental institute.

One by one, the team grew with Kurt—cloaked in both fabric and shame from his appearance—and then Kitty and Rogue, each one bearing heartache of his or her own. Under his tutelage, they assembled to become the X-Men. And that number was due to grow. There was just a matter of smoothing out some rough edges.

The doors slid open behind the Professor, permitting the entry of the short but stocky Logan. Logan was carrying one of his trademark cigars as he walked on in, raising it into his mouth.

"Logan, my tolerance for smoking those things in the mansion notwithstanding, if you attempt to smoke that in here, you will spend the rest of your days thinking you are a six-year-old girl."

Logan froze, and then lowered the cigar from his mouth. "You'd do that, Chuck?"

The Professor removed the device from his head. "I'm sure Jean and some others would love to braid your hair."

"Hmph," Logan replied, and then looked at the readouts made by Cerebro. "Find anyone new we can reach?"

"Just our students up at Ironback. They seem to be a bit active."

Logan's brow sank. "Didn't you tell them not to use their powers?"

"I have not actually," the Professor turned to face Logan. "I had left that decision to them, and I hear they mutually agreed to not use them. I'm guessing something happened to rescind that, but I don't know what as of yet."

"I still think you should have let me train them in survival." Logan crossed his arms.

"I gave them the choice Logan: with you or at Ironback." A bemused expression etched across his face. "They seemed to believe they had better odds surviving the camp."

Logan didn't answer, but the look on his face spelled everything.

A light began blinking on the controls, attracting the attention of both men. The Professor seemed the most interested. "That's odd. That's a high priority channel. Only our students and a few others know that frequency."

"That sounds bad," Logan growled.

"Yes, it does." Pressing a button on the control board, he responded. "This is Professor Charles Xavier."

"You should already know who this is, Professor. I expect you would, anyway."

Logan's eyes narrowed in recognition. "Fury…"

The Professor raised a hand towards Logan, and answered. "Colonel Fury, I shouldn't have to remind you that I do not infiltrate people's minds, as you put it, without consent."

"And I shouldn't have to remind you that I believe that as much as I believe anything else that comes my way."

"In other words, he doesn't…entirely," Logan said, crossing his arms.

"But that's not why I'm calling. You have a big problem heading your way, Professor."

The Professor was instantly concerned. "What happened?"

"There was an escape from Stokes Max-Sec up state. I don't think you need to read my mind on whom I'm talking about."

The Professor froze. He knew exactly whom Colonel Fury was referring to. "My step-brother."

Logan, who was content to listen in silence, had to ask, "Who's that?"

The Professor didn't answer Logan, but merely responded to Fury. "How did he get out?"

"We're still trying to figure that out, but it was no accident, Charles. It was someone who knew where he was and knew how to get him out. I know you have enemies, Charles, and how many are close at hand. Don't think I don't know about a certain mutant running the local high school."

The Professor was familiar with this game. Colonel Fury often had enough leverage to push him into an uncomfortable situation. It was a lot like playing chess with an old friend. Logan on the other hand was seething; he knew enough about the Colonel to know when he just made a veiled threat. He would have to remember to ask about how much Logan knew the Colonel later. "I never thought otherwise, Colonel. I also realize that you know that you also assume she is responsible for the escape of my half-brother, a suspicion I will not be quick to refute. I also hope that you realize that if you intended to storm the school to arrest her, you would not only alert her, but risk the revelation of mutant-kind in New York City. That is something you and I both do not want."

There was a pause on the line. The Professor had just made his retaliatory move against him and patiently waited Fury's next move.

Finally, he responded. "We have one man on the field attempting to delay him. Do what you need to, Professor and fast."

The line was severed and the Professor relaxed. Logan sighed. "He never changes." Looking at the Professor, he asked. "So, who's your half-brother and why is it going to be a problem?"

The Professor began typing on the keyboard. "His name is Cain Marko, the son of my step-father. He is also a mutant." Pressing ENTER, he pulled up an archived file.

Name: Cain Marko
Age: 59
Height: 9'5"
Weight: 1900 lbs.

Enhanced genetic anomaly confirmed

Logan seemed passive in the face of the stats, yet he noticed something. "What's an 'enhanced genetic anomaly'?"

The Professor folded his hands. "My brother was born with the X-Gene like the rest of us, but it remained dormant for much of his life. After he left the family, he went on an expedition and discovered an ancient artifact. He used it to awaken his powers through mysticism."

Logan looked at the profile again. "Looks like quite a handful, Chuck. What kind of powers are we talking about here?"

"His size is the precursor to them. He is a juggernaut; invulnerable, unstoppable. Coupled with an already violent temper, he is one of the most dangerous men to walk the earth."

Logan's eyes narrowed. "And what does he have to do with you, besides being your step-brother?"

The Professor folded his hands. "He has always been very resentful of me, almost from the very beginning. My step-father married my mother, and ever since then he favored me since I was the heir to the family estate, this Institute. I was hoping it wasn't so, but all he really wanted was the fortune and little else. My mother was wise enough to keep him from it, but just the same, my step-father would stop at nothing to gain her favor, mainly through me."

The Professor turned to leave and Logan followed him. "Cain and I rarely got along, but the fault—to my step-father—would always land on Cain. I never saw anything, but I was so sure that my step-father abused Cain behind closed doors. That transformed into a hatred for me that lasted even into adulthood. When he found that artifact, his hatred had transformed into unspeakable rage.

"There was nothing we could say to dissuade him. Ultimately, I had to make a terrible choice. Cain needed to be…restrained. With the help of Dr. Reed Richards from the Baxter Building, we were able to produce a paralyzing chemical that would hold even the likes of Cain. Combined with a specialized holding cell, we were finally able to contain him." The Professor's countenance turned mournful. "My greatest regret is that I feel that there was some other way."

Logan's eyes grew distant, as he tried to come up with a plan to try to take this Cain Marko down. "You said he was unstoppable."

"Yes, I did. As it turns out, he has two weaknesses: he is vulnerable to all psychic and mystical energies. That's how I was able to stop him before to contain him. With enough psychic blasts, I can immobilize him…unless he is wearing his helmet."

"Well, if he is, then I'll just have to rip it off."

The Professor regarded Logan. "Logan, you will need help. I'm not even sure your adamantium claws can challenge him."

Logan began walking away. "Yeah? Well, I've always been a gambling man." Turning back, he said, "I'm going after him. If anything, I plan to make him work for every step here." With that, he took off.

The Professor watched him go with a growing apprehension. Logan barely had a glimmer of an idea of what he was up against. Cain was the living embodiment of rage and strength; it would take more than claws to take him down. He needed help.

He needed the X-Men.

Placing his fingers on his temples, he called. "Storm, prep the X-Jet. We must head north."

He could hear her gentle mental voice. "Right away, Professor."

The Professor let his hands down and made his way for the hanger. Logan would need reinforcements, and there was only one place to get them.

---

"Come on, let's pick it up!" Scott shouted, turning back towards those following him. "We're almost at the base, and we should have been there by now!"

"We're hurrying, Scott!" came Kitty's response.

Scott turned back towards the mountain and began to sprint for it. They were only a half-hour into this venture and Scott had been pushing them to run all the way.

Rogue could feel the muscles in her ribs tighten and smart. "What's with Mr. Marathon?" she panted as she ran. "He's worse than Sergeant Hawke!"

Kitty was only a few meters behind her. "All he cares about is winning this thing, even if we're like half-dead when we get there, you know." Looking beside her, she espied Kurt keeping pace with her. "Hey, Kurt! Why don't you make yourself useful and like teleport us to the top?"

"This trip is of the power-free variety, I'm told," Kurt panted. "But I am considering proposing an amendment to that rule."

Jean ran up between them. "Come on, guys, we'll be fine. Let's just follow Scott's lead on this and we'll make it. You'll see."

Further behind was Bobby, who had been warring with a group of mosquitoes that seem hell-bent on sucking him dry. Swatting at them, he complained, "These mosquitoes are like seagulls, and just as pesky! There weren't any bugs like this back in my home in Boston!"

Jason ran up from behind, making his way past him. "That's why God invented bug repellant, Bobby. Now come on! Stop swatting at the bugs and run! They can't keep up unless you let them!"

Piotr was the last of the group, panting himself. He might have been strong, but his endurance in running was not up to par. "Chert vozʹmi, how far is mountain?"

Jason, looking back and noticing Piotr falling behind, slowed his pace to allow Piotr to catch up. "Another two-hundred yards to the base, I think. Come on, once we're there we can breathe a bit."

"I hope so…I cannot run that far. How can you?"

Jason panted, "I exercise back at the gym back at the Institute, but mainly in aerobics and flexibility. That builds my endurance; you have to have good endurance if you're going to be as nimble as I am. You mainly lift weights, and while that builds strength, it doesn't do much for stamina. Maybe when we get back, I'll show you a few exercises you can try."

"But you still must be tired," Piotr reasoned.

"Oh, trust me. I'm going to feel this tomorrow," Jason said, wincing at the thought of lactic acid searing his muscles as he slept. "And I know I'm going to think that if I didn't talk to the Professor about my issues, I wouldn't be here…"

Piotr looked strangely at Jason as he made that statement, but kept his silence beyond his panting. Was this training exercise really going to make Jason regret sharing his feelings to the Professor?

Jason continued, "…and a little bit after that, I'll kick myself for even thinking that."

Unnoticed by Jason, Piotr sighed in relief in between his gasps.

Jason moaned, "But I'm definitely not looking forward to tomorrow. You might have to carry me, Peter."

Piotr smiled. "Oh, I will not mind…" Instantly reddening, he realized what that sounded like and noticed Jason looking at him with a strange look. "Uh—I mean—"

Jason interrupted. "We'll talk later; right now, let's catch up before Scott decides to run back and push us himself."

Piotr nodded quickly, "Yes." Swallowing, he refocused his mind back on the trail, all the while kicking himself for saying something stupid.

---

Toad flung himself up each cranny that would hold him on the cliff-side. Rock climbing was a piece of cake for someone who had an adhesive-like grip and a spectacular leaping ability. He was thankful he had it; the path they took to get to the mountain lead to a cliff with no visible pathways to get around and up it. If they were going to stay in the game, they needed to surmount this cliff and fast. Needless to say, the only way they could do that was using their powers.

Toad was over half-way up when he looked down and saw Blob lagging behind. "What's taken you guys so long?" he called down.

Lance, keeping a firm hold of the rope wrapped around his waist, called back. "Shut up, Toad, and keep going! If you see the X-Losers, tell us!"

Pietro, hanging right beside Lance to a different rope of the same configuration, quipped. "Dude, this is probably the best and worst idea you ever had!" Looking up—although he couldn't help but do that—he remarked. "If he slips and falls, we are history! Death by blubber-bomb, I'm telling you!""

Just above Lance and Pietro was Fred, slowly and meticulously, climbing the cliff by making footholds with his hands and feet as he climbed. A thick rope was tied around his waist and on either end of that rope dangled Lance and Pietro. Considering that the cliff slope was nearly perfectly perpendicular with the ground, Pietro felt his fears were well-merited.

"Fastest way to the top is a straight line, Pietro," Lance said matter-of-factly. "We aren't going to lose to the X-Losers this time. We are winning this thing, make no mistake!"

"Geez, the things we have to do for the Boss-Lady. Whatever she's doing better be good or else I might give her a supersonic kick in the butt!"

Lance smirked. "I'd pay to see you try, Pietro. And pay attention! All we have to do is keep the X-Men here occupied long enough for her to do whatever the hell she's doing. This race is the perfect thing!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Pietro quipped. "Let's just make sure we win this thing so we can rub it into those proud faces of theirs."

"Don't you worry; we're going to win!"

---

The air was clear and crisp as the sun slowly traveled west to rest, seemingly but blissfully unaware of the brewing strife approaching the boiling point. The Hudson River Valley that connected the Catskills to the megalopolis to its southeast was peaceful as the trees had long since changed colors and now were shedding them for the approaching winter winds.

Overhead, Iron Man seared across the near cloudless day, the sun's rays harshly reflecting his red-and-gold armor. The blue-lit eyes of the armor scanned the area up and down looking for his target. Finding nothing, Iron Man said, his voice distorted by a synthesized buzz, "You'd think finding a guy with his description would be easy. Booking the twins last December was easier than this."

"A most charming choice of metaphor, if I dare say so, sir," replied the computer voice of JARVIS. "Scanners do not depict the individual provided by S.H.I.E.L.D. within the vicinity. It is too difficult to pinpoint a particular individual as the area is still relatively populated."

Despite the helmet being unable to depict emotion, it was clear Tony was concerned. "This guy can't be that hard to find. He moves fast and is bigger than Iron Monger. Keep scanning."

"Without a proper genetic profile of the subject, my readings will be identical to the last several attempts unless by pure happenstance the subject ventures within the inner 33.3 repeating percentage of my scanning domain."

Iron Man was well aware of this fact already. "JARVIS, in this line of work, luck is a bigger factor than even I'm comfortable with."

"And I shall forever question the infatuation with such an abstract concept."

"It's a human thing, JARVIS."

"Which to many is analogous to foolhardy."

Tony bit his tongue. When you're right…

JARVIS spoke up. "Alert! Unknown meteorological anomaly detected!"

That surprised Iron Man. "Explain."

"Anomaly developed 25.6 kilometers bearing 211 degrees, accelerating at a heading of 12 degrees at an estimated 326 kilometers per hour."

Iron Man barely had time to look towards the southwest when he saw a black dot on the horizon searing through the air very quickly, leaving behind what looked like a building thickening cloud behind it. That was odd; if there was residue left behind by whatever aircraft passing by, it would soon dissipate as the gas molecules scattered. Whatever cloud this jet was leaving behind, it was doing the very opposite.

"JARVIS, identify the bogie."

"Already done, sir. Preliminary readings suggest the subject is a supersonic jet of a similar design of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird aircraft, a design retired thirteen years ago."

"What do other readings say?"

"This particular model has seen extensive design overhaul, including but not limited to expanded cabin, removal of weapon systems, reorganization of primary engine systems, et cetera. I could not receive any IFF transponder. It is possible the aircraft wishes to remain undetected."

"Too late for that. I'm initiating pursuit. You keep scanning for our primary target and get me a line for this bogey. I want to know what exactly it is doing and what it is seeding."

"Acknowledged."

Iron Man twisted around, his flight stabilizers flashing as he shot away to intercept, shattering the sound barrier in a manner of seconds.

---

A few moments earlier…

The Professor and Storm raced towards the survival campgrounds in the Blackbird. Both of them knew that Juggernaut was stomping his way south, hundreds of feet beneath them. It was a race against time; the closer Juggernaut got closer to the metropolis, the harder and more desperate the battle to take him down would be. The Professor wasn't going to risk Juggernaut entering the city. Not only would he do an immense amount of damage, but his actions would easily implicate mutants for the world to see. Juggernaut needed to be stopped and now.

"We're approaching the first set of coordinates, Professor," Storm reported.

"Excellent," the Professor replied. "Do it."

Storm nodded, and pressed a button on the console. "Autopilot engaged."

Unbuckling the harness, Storm rose up from her seat and strode for a panel on the floor. The Professor looked back to watch Storm buckle herself into a support beam. "I'm ready, Professor."

The Professor nodded. "Raising the platform in three…two…one…" The Professor pulled a lever on the board.

Storm rose upwards, just as a door on the ceiling slid open with a hydraulic hiss. In moments, Storm stood tall on the surface of the Blackbird. Any other person would have been ripped to shreds from the wind chop, but not Storm. Being a maestro of meteorological phenomena had its perks. Closing her eyes, she held out her arms, summoning the clouds to gather around her. Instantly, a wave of fog splashed over the countryside like the waves on the beach, casting the land in a nebula of mist. The X-Jet made a few passes over the landscape, casting more opacity upon the mist as it passed by.

Storm descended back into the cockpit, satisfied that the fog she just conjured would be sufficient. The Professor said to her, "Excellent work, Storm. While this won't deter Cain, it should hamper any effort by the authorities to capture him."

"We should hurry," Storm replied. "Your brother is progressing all too quickly towards the city. Wolverine won't be able to delay him for long." Storm suddenly looked worried. "Charles, are you sure about this?"

The Professor's face mirrored Storm's. "I believe you already know the answer to that question, and I share your concerns…but I feel we have no choice."

"They are only children, Charles. Yes, we have trained them, but they have never faced anything like this before. Charles…they could die."

"I know, Storm. This weighs heavily on me, but this is a responsibility to willfully shouldered when I organized the X-Men for the first time. They are my students; I am responsible for whatever befalls them. I only trust they knew the same when they agreed."

"I believe Scott, Logan and Jean do, and perhaps Rogue and Piotr, but I'm not so sure about Kitty and Kurt. Moreover, Jason and Bobby are with them. They will want to help, regardless of the danger. Professor, Jason has only been here three months and Bobby a couple more than that. They are not ready."

The Professor folded his hands together. "Can anyone for this?"

A beeping on the console interrupted both of them, both pairs of eyes locked onto the offending console. Storm brought up the readouts. "We have someone coming to intercept us…and fast…and small."

The Professor checked the readouts. "We're in stealth mode. Nothing should be able to track us."

"We can tell it that when it catches us. It's almost on top of us."

Suddenly, the comms buzzed to life. "Listen, I'm no flight coordinator but I don't recall any SR-71 Blackbirds still in service. How about you do us a favor and tell me who you are?"

The Professor and Storm looked at each other, their minds digesting the complete lack of propriety coming from their interceptor. The Professor cautiously pressed comm-link button. "I'm Professor Charles Xavier of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Children. Might I ask who you are?"

"Professor Xavier? Oh, yes, I've heard about you; didn't hear about a jet though. Oh, well, I have my own ride."

Before the Professor and Storm could get even more perplexed, something flew in front of them, leaving its own vapor trail. The Professor caught a glimpse of it. It appeared to be a humanoid robot, red and gold, flying using thrusters in the feet and stabilizers in the hands. The red and gold design was the tip-off. The Professor smiled and responded. "And I see it's quite one of a kind, Mr. Stark…or should I say 'Iron Man'?"

"What can I say? I never go for the mass-produced model." A pause. "As much as I'm enjoying this conversation by air, any chance I can board?"

"There's a hatch on the top of the fuselage. It's safe to open during flight."

Soon enough, Iron Man descended through the hatch and joined the Professor and Storm inside the X-Jet. The mask retracted, revealing Tony's face, his mouth framed by a thin goatee.

The Professor turned to address Tony. "Greetings, Mr. Stark. I must admit, this isn't how I usually welcome guests."

Tony grinned ever so slightly. "Never been one for traditionalism either."

"It's a pleasure, Mr. Stark," greeted Storm.

There was the slightest of pauses coupled with the slightest of twinkles in Stark's eyes as he acknowledged Storm. "The pleasure is all mine, Miss…"

"Munroe, but you may call me Storm."

Tony blinked. "That's a rather violent name, don't you think? Could you have gone with something softer?"

The corners of Storm's mouth twitched in amusement. "It tells of my nature."

The Professor looked bemused. He was aware that Mr. Stark possessed a particular proclivity involving the female sex, a fact he telepathically shared with Storm. "I'm aware of your connections to S.H.I.E.L.D., Mr. Stark, and it doesn't take much of a stretch of the imagination to surmise that you are searching for my step-brother."

Tony looked back at the Professor, as if distracted. "You'd be right, and haven't had much luck. You'd think someone like him would stick out like a mole on a French model."

The Professor's brow sank. "Cain is not secretive by any stretch of the imagination. If something is in his way, he will simply remove it, not wait for it to pass by. He will leave a trail of destruction that is easy to follow."

"Undoubtedly; Fury told me about the police barricade. I've seen worse, but still…"

"I wish it weren't so, but his hatred of me is far too rooted into his mind to be considerate of innocent bystanders."

"Don't worry, Professor. I'm not about to let him get too far. Finding him is the hard part, the rest should be simpler."

"Mr. Stark, Cain is probably the strongest man on the planet that we know of. Don't take him lightly."

"Can he fly?" Tony asked simply.

The Professor was taken mildly aback at this question. "Well…no…"

The helmet slapped shut over Tony's face. "That's something. I'll let myself out. Have a safe flight." He turned to Storm one last time. "I hope we meet again." Tony lifted off through the hatch and blasted away, a sonic boom heralding his departure.

"He's awfully confident," Storm said.

"He is," the Professor agreed. "I hope his confidence is on par with his resourcefulness."

---

"Hey!" Lance called up, dangling from the end of his rope. "A little help here?"

"Yeah, like now!" Pietro added.

As if on command, both felt themselves yanked up quite sorely up the face of the cliff. Both belted out grunts and groans as they found themselves dragged along the rock, skinning any part of the flesh unfortunate to meet the rock. Finally, they emerged on the cliff-top, and saw Fred pulling them up roughly. Frantically, both Lance and Pietro began untying the ropes that dragged them up here to begin with.

"Ok, I made up my mind," Pietro quipped. "That was the worst idea you came up with."

Lance's eyes narrowed crossly. "It got us up here, didn't it? Now shut up and get ready for the next part." Looking at Fred, he said. "Now where's Toad?"

"In there," Fred said as he pointed.

Pietro and Lance looked to see an opening in the mountain just in front of them. From the appearance of wooden support beams, it used to be some kind of mine. "A mine?" Pietro exclaimed. "What a stupid place to put one!"

Lance rolled his eyes. "What's he doing in there?"

"Checking for a shortcut," Fred said.

Lance sniffed. "Finally, he's doing something worthwhile. I always wondered what Mystique saw in him."

"Who cares?" Pietro said. "Let's go without him! Those X-Geeks are probably half-way up the mountain already! He's just slowing us down!"

"Chill, Pietro!" Lance said. "You heard the Sarge: the whole team or no one. We're not losing to the X-Geeks because we decided to leave the dumb one behind."

"Who are you calling 'the dumb one'?" came a voice from the abandoned mine.

All snapped their gazes around to see Todd leaping into site from the darkness of the mine. Fred spoke up. "Did you find anything?"

"Yep! Found a nice little ladder that goes straight up to an opening, just like that."

Lance grinned. "Now you're talking! Let's go, guys! That flag is officially ours!"

With a cheer, all of the Brotherhood boys charged into the mines. Had they stopped or slowed their charge, they might have seen a broken sign lying nearby that spelled "DANGER: KEEP OUT."

---

The light reflected red off of Scott's shades as he squinted in the mid-afternoon light. They had come to the end of their mountain trail and Scott was gazing up the mountainside, trying to find any hint of the flag. However, the sun was making it very difficult to see anything, let alone a flag.

"See the flag?" Kurt said.

Scott shook his head. "No, the sun's too bright. Pop up top and then back down and tell me."

Kurt looked hesitant, biting his lip. "Oh, I don't know." Looking back, he saw the rest working their tired way towards them, heading by Jean. "What about Jean? We did promise that we—"

"Hey, do you want to win this thing or not?" Scott interrupted.

Kurt bit his lip harder as his conscious and his junior commander's urging warred. Looking back at Jean one more time, he sighed. "Ok, fine. But she's not going to like this, I warn you." In a flash of smoke, Kurt disappeared.

Scott turned to look at the others about to join them. All looked beat from the long run to this part of the trail. Scott knew he was pushing them really hard, but maybe they'll forgive him once they won this race. As he thought about it, a rock settled in on his stomach as he remembered Jean confronting him earlier about the use—or rather abuse—of power at the lake. Perhaps she didn't see Kurt port just yet.

Kurt reappeared in a flash of smoke. "It's there. We're very close…and no sign of the enemy." Kurt said the last part as if he was a bit surprised about it.

"Forget the details." Espying Jason towards the back, he called. "Hey, Jason! Come here a sec?"

Jason looked up, surprised that Scott would call to him. Looking at Piotr briefly, he made his way towards Scott. "What is it?"

"Need a favor. Transmute a spike so we can throw it up so we can climb."

Jason's shoulders sagged as his brow furrowed. "Are you kidding me?"

"What?"

"We said we wouldn't use our powers!"

Thinking since it worked last time, Scott tried the same tactic with Jason. "Come on, don't you want to win?"

Jason's brow sunk. "That's not my point!" He removed the small backpack he bore. "Not that you're going to listen to me, but I'm not going to help you cheat."

"It's not…cheating!" Scott automatically protested, but he didn't sound convinced of it himself.

Jason made a knowing but annoyed look, but didn't answer Scott as he removed a rappelling rope with a hook from his bag. "Jean, have any ideas how to climb this cliff?"

Scott chafed as Jason and Jean began talking about how to safely scale the cliff. Leave it to Jason to be the Boy Scout when it comes to doing things properly. As soon as he thought that, a voice in his head reprimanded him for even thinking that. He himself was often anal for following procedure; it was Logan that would play fast and loose with accepted strategy. Why should he be scornful of Jason for just holding up to his promises? Why wasn't he himself holding up to his promises?

As he looked at Jason and Jean, he spotted Jean looking at him with a very knowing look. Scott kicked himself; he wasn't going to hear the end of this one anytime soon.

---

The land was drowning in the opaque veils of fog, so thick that even light becomes lost in the white folds. The fog seemed to also dampen the very sounds of the world as one lone traveler stormed off on a path; unseen to all but him for it was his warpath. Juggernaut chafed as he had to slow himself down because he couldn't see where he was going. The fog came in so thick and fast that it had to be unnatural, not to mention that the sun had been high in the sky for quite some time now. Any normal fog would have long since dissipated, he reasoned. There was only one explanation: his brother had allied himself with someone who could control the weather. Ha! Was his brother so desperate that he had to resort to fog to stop the Juggernaut? What a laugh.

A rustle in the brush caught in his attention. Snapping his head to meet it, it quieted as soon as his eyes locked onto it. Stopping in his tracks, Juggernaut took in his surroundings. For a while now, he'd been getting a growing feeling that someone or something was tracking him, but it was doing well to stay out of sight. Juggernaut scowled; something else wanted to get in his way. He was sure he could easily swat it aside, but it still annoyed him. A lot of things did.

Suddenly from his side sprung a man, yelling savagely with claws. Juggernaut spun around and swatted him aside. The man rebounded to his feet, teeth bared and three long metal claws protruding from his fists. He was dressed in a black-and-orange suit, coupled with a cowl that made him look like a wildcat. Juggernaut glowered down at him; the guy wasn't even half his size. "You're making the worst mistake in your life, small fry!"

"No," the man—Wolverine—growled. "You're making the mistake that you can just swipe me aside like that!"

"You can't stop the Juggernaut!"

"Forgive me for trying, bub!" With a yell, Wolverine charged.

Juggernaut ducked down, and charged himself. Wolverine's body met inertia personified, and was sent flying like a bowling pin. Wolverine slammed into a tree, all the wind knocked out of him. As he struggled to pick himself up, Juggernaut came up and picked him up himself. Twisting around, Juggernaut hurled Wolverine back across the ground, tumbling all the way.

"You have no idea who you are dealing with!" yelled Juggernaut.

Wolverine could feel his skin knit itself together as he picked himself up, ignoring the pain as his bruising organs healed. Working his way up to a crouch, he snarled. "Do you, bub?"

Juggernaut glared savagely. "I'll pound you into paste!" Yelling, he charged like a freight train.

Wolverine bared his claws like the animal's name he bore, and stood firm. Like a bull, Juggernaut ran at him. When he was on top of him, Wolverine leaped aside in a tornado of claws. They sliced across Juggernaut's arm like rakes, but they didn't cut. Despite that, Juggernaut felt it, and swatted his arm aside, but Wolverine had bounded away.

Wolverine looked annoyed. The Professor wasn't kidding; he was hard to hurt. How was he going to take this guy down?

Before he had a chance to contemplate, Juggernaut spun around and charged at him. Wolverine braced for another attack. Suddenly, a blast of energy smashed into Juggernaut's face, causing him to stumble. Wolverine's gaze followed to the source of the blast, just as what looked like a robot descended into view.

"Sorry I'm late; hard to find a good chardonnay this far north."

Wolverine sniffed. "Yeah, well I've always been one for a beer, plain and simple, Stark."

"Not to mention your love for cheap tobacco." Iron Man peered at Juggernaut, who was climbing to his feet. "Friend of yours?"

"Whatever you say, bub."

Juggernaut's eyes narrowed fiercely as he saw Iron Man hover there. "Don't think that fancy armor of yours will stop me! I'm the Juggernaut!" Rounding to a nearby tree, he grabbed it and pulled it out of the ground. He twisted around and threw it towards the two.

Iron Man fired up his flight stabilizers and fired at the tree, shattering it into a flurry of lumber and leaves. Lowering his hands, he said, "He seems nice."

Juggernaut charged with a roar. Iron Man flashed away while Wolverine weaved around him and leaped on his back. At once, he saw two latches on his shoulders that kept his dome-like helmet attached. Suddenly, he felt his arm snatched up by a massive hand and the next thing he knew, he was flying head-over-heels into a tree.

Juggernaut barely recovered as Iron Man came roaring in at neck-breaking speeds, smashing into them with the force of a freight train. Juggernaut smashed into a nearby tree as Iron Man hovered a safe distance away, his eyes combing the massive brawler. The tree was shattered, but Juggernaut was completely unscathed. Roaring in rage, he sprang to his feet, grabbed the tree and heaved it at Iron Man, who effortlessly blasted it into mulch.

"You know, the forest service is going to have kittens after they see this."

"You talk big for a guy in armor! How about you come down and I'll show you how big you really are?!"

"And miss this amazing view?" Iron Man quipped as he motioned to the fog.

Juggernaut may have been a brute, but he was not an idiot. Before he could move, he felt something leap onto his back once again. Snarling, he reached behind him and grabbed the offending pest and held it up high. "You think you can hurt me with those can openers of yours? I'm invincible!"

Iron Man landed on the ground. "Put him down, Marko!"

Juggernaut snarled. "You wanna make me?!"

Iron Man clenched his fist. "As a matter of fact…JARVIS, reroute power to chest lens."

"Rerouting…" the AI responded.

The arc reactor in Iron Man's chest brightening severely, and fired a blast right into Juggernaut's face. Juggernaut fell backwards, sending Wolverine tumbling through the air and to the ground. Wolverine picked himself up and then shot a look at Iron Man. "Don't do that again."

"You're welcome."

Juggernaut threw himself back onto his feet almost instantly, none the worse for wear. "Try and try, but you can't stop me! I'm the Juggernaut!"

"So I've heard."

"Game for double-play, Stark?"

"I prefer the fairer sex myself."

The joke was not lost on Juggernaut's part. "You little pipsqueeks!" He roared and charged at him.

Iron Man instantly took the air just as Wolverine bounded to the side. Juggernaut charged past and rounded back around. Wolverine ducked underneath one swing, retaliating with clawed swipes at his exposed underarms. Invincible metal glided across unpierceable flesh but left no mark. Juggernaut swung his other fist, smashing into Wolverine and sending him flying. Suddenly, a stabilizer blast flashed right into Juggernaut's eyes, blinding him. Iron Man flew in and pummeled strength-enhanced fists into Juggernaut's gut.

Doubling over, Juggernaut felt the wind rush out of his lungs, despite not feeling pain. Following up on his advantage, Iron Man fired up his leg thrusters and shot into the sky, whipped around and then smashed into Juggernaut's back, knocking him off his feet.

Hovering back to the ground, Iron Man turned to see Wolverine getting back on his feet. The latter looked at him. "You make it look so easy, Stark…"

"Perhaps if you played smart instead of mad, we'd get somewhere."

Juggernaut clambered back to his feet and spun around. "Enough games! I will not be stopped! I CANNOT BE STOPPED!"

"You were saying?" Wolverine said.

"I was about to ask when backup was coming."

Wolverine shot his claws back out to brace for another round. "I was hoping yesterday." Wolverine didn't turn his glare away from Juggernaut, but his thoughts were shooting northwards. "Any day now, Chuck…"

---

Toad led the charge through the mine, followed by Lance, Pietro and Fred. Stumbling through the darkness of the mine, they determinedly pressed on. However, they weren't without complaint.

"Whose idea was this again?" Pietro said. "Oh, right. Frog-boy."

"I heard that, Pietro!" said Toad.

"Well, that's good. That's because I wanted you to hear it."

"Knock it off and keep going!" Lance barked.

"Who was the wise guy that forgot the flashlight?"

"Pietro, did you ever bite your tongue from talking too much?" Lance asked.

"Nope, my tongue is faster than my feet!"

The other three groaned.

"What?"

"Pietro, that's just…just…ah!" Lance cried out. "Never mind! Toad, are we getting closer?"

"It should be just around the next corner, now keep up or we'll lose for sure!" Toad reported.

After several more minutes of stumbling through the torn up earth of the mine tunnel floors, the Brotherhood soon espied light ahead. Mustering new energy, the four ran for the source and soon came upon the ladder Toad previously mentioned outside the mine. Lance looked up the shaft, and saw something wrong. The shaft mouth was nearly completely covered by rock.

"You slimy idiot!" Lance rounded on Toad, grabbing him by the collar and pinning him against the wall. "Did you think we could all fit through there? How stupid are you?!"

Toad looked sheepish. "Well, I—?"

"We probably lost the race because of you!" Lance kept going.

"Well…I was thinking…maybe you can shake it loose a bit? Maybe?" Toad shrugged.

Pietro interceded. "Yeah, come on, Lance. Drop the frog and shake things up a bit so it unclogs! No big deal, right?"

Lance glared at Pietro, but dropped Toad. "Fine, step back!" Looking up the shaft again, he reached out for it, and gritted his teeth. Nothing happened briefly, but all could hear the stones rattle under their feet as a deep rumble began to grow around them. Lance shut his eyes tightly, and the tremors grew.

Fred, who had been content to be silent at the moment, suddenly heard something else, louder than the rumble of the earth. Looking around, he tried to identify it. It sounded like creaking, only louder. He looked upwards to the ceiling, supported by thick wooden beams. There was a crack of wood and stone, and a crack slithered across the ceiling towards them.

"Ahh!" Fred cried out. "It's coming down!"

The others spun around, just in time to see dirt and rock rain from the ceiling. "Lance, what did you do?!" Pietro blurted out.

Suddenly, the ceiling collapsed on top of them as the mountain came down upon them. Their screams were drowned out by the cave-in burying them alive. Finally, it was over. Coughing, Toad looked around. "Wow, that was close. Man, we gotta get out of here."

The silence was his answer. Looking around, he couldn't see anybody. "Hey, Lance? Pietro? Fred?" Nothing. "Hey, this isn't funny. Stop playing around and let's get out of here." Still nothing. "Guys?"

A dreadful thought began permeating the gangly kid's mind. Could the cave-in have crushed the other guys? What would he do if he was alone now? Mystique would kill him, for sure. Where would be go?

Suddenly, the earth burst nearby. Shrieking like a girl, he jumped aside and spun around. "Fred!" he said. Before he could stop himself, he leaped towards the pyknic form of Fred Dukes and wrapped himself around Fred's thick neck. "Fred! You're alive!"

Fred grabbed Toad and pulled him off. "Get off my face, Toad!" Now relieved of the embarrassing embrace, he dug himself out of the rubble. "That's the last time any of us listen to your bright ideas, Toad."

Toad had rebounded himself after being thrown away by Fred, and then he realized there was more light in the shaft. Looking up, he saw the shaft was now clear. "Hey, it worked!"

"No thanks to you," came another voice. It was Lance. "Now get us out of here!"

Fred and Toad looked to see that Pietro was nearby as well. Despite being half-buried, they seemed to be unhurt. "Hey, you were the one that dropped a mountain on us!" Toad said.

"It was your idea!" Lance barked back.

"Will you two shut up?" Pietro snapped. "Fred, what are you waiting for, a sale for a hundred pounds of steak? Get us out of here!"

Fred dusted himself off. "Why is it always me that has to do the work? I'd like to see you do something yourself for a change."

Toad felt more obliged to stay back and out of the way. "Hey, maybe we were lucky and we buried the X-Geeks in an avalanche. That should make things easier."

"Finally," Pietro sighed. "Toad says something we can all agree on."

---

Scott clambered up onto the ledge, ignoring the burning ache his arms bore from pulling himself up a rope half-way up the mountain. He had to admit: despite the others not using their powers, they didn't do too bad getting a rope up the mountain. Kurt had volunteered to take the lead—being the best climber—all the while protecting Jason's rappelling rope while Piotr belayed him from below. Kurt himself was now sitting quietly away from the cliff's edge, waiting for them.

Scott glanced below to check on his teammates, all the while ignoring the dizzying height of the mountain. Jean was next in line, followed by Kitty, Rogue, Bobby, Piotr, and heading up the rear was Jason. For some reason, that struck him as odd. Jason was one of the most lumber of them all. Why be last?

Just as Jean clambered up onto the ledge herself, the mountainside began to shake. Surprised gasps of alarm floated up from below as loose rocks rolled down the mountain side.

Scott looked around, but knew what was going on. "Avalanche," he whispered to himself. He pulled Jean away from the ledge and shouted. "Hold on! Avalanche is trying to shake us loose!"

The five still on the rope clung onto the rope for dear life, eyes scoping the mountain for falling rocks or debris that threatened to knock them off. Kitty was only a few inches away from the top and was trying slowly to reach it, when the unthinkable happened. An outcrop she was using as support broke loose from underneath her. The fall nearly broke her grip, but she held on. Rogue managed to swing herself to the side to avoid it.

"Hey, careful!" Bobby shouted in protest, feeling the rope lurch in his grip.

Piotr looked up and saw the immense rock barreling towards him. His flesh turned into solid metal instantly, just as it smashed into his head, shattering. Jason several feet below him saw the rocks plummet towards him. He dodged one to his left, but overdid it. He swung right and his side smashed into the cliff. His grip failed, and the rope flew out of his hands. Jason could only watch as the rope swung out of reach as he fell.

Piotr heard Jason cry out when he swung against the rock, and look down, just in time to see him fall. "JASON!" he cried out in cold terror.

Jean above heard Piotr's scream, just as a blast of panic burst through her telepathy. Thinking fast, she reached over the ledge and towards the falling form of Jason.

Jason tumbled around in the air, hollering as the ground zoomed to catch him. At one point, he could see the ground beneath him and his heart nearly burst with panic. He threw his arms in front of him to protect his face.

Suddenly, he stopped with a lurch. The muscles in his back groaned as inertia punched his spine, legs and neck. Jason's eyes snapped open and he looked down. Only a few feet from his face was the ground, but he was floating above it. Gasping, he reached down, his fingertips caressing the dirt and tiny rocks. His other hands felt his face as his senses were racing to catch up to him to tell him he was alive.

He then felt himself begin to rise up the mountain, pulled by an invisible force. As he gyrated around until his feet were once again underneath him, his glassy eyes gazed up to see Jean reaching down to him, concentrating very strongly. The air stuck in his lungs as he flew up the mountainside.

Finally, he rose up onto the ledge where Scott, Jean, Kurt and Kitty were now watching him rise up. Jean maneuvered her hands so intricately that it reminded Jason of clay molders. Finally, Jean felt the ground caress the bottom of his shoes. Jean still looked very focused. "Jason, I need you to keep your balance when I let go. Can you do it?"

For some reason, words failed Jason as his throat clamped shut. Thankfully, his neck muscles still worked and he nodded sharply as his lips pursed.

Jean lowered her hands very slowly, and Jason felt himself lurched forward as the invisible force let go of him. To his credit, he remained standing, but his legs shook and his insides tingled as the epinephrine was slowly being washed away from his muscles.

Kitty led him away from the cliff's edge and sat him down, just as Rogue climbed up. "What just happened? Is Jason ok?"

Jean looked compassionately as Jason, who seemed to be gasping for air. Kitty was trying to get him to talk, but wasn't successful. "He's rattled, but he'll be fine. Come on up before another earthquake happens."

Bobby followed behind hastily, not wishing to be on the ropes any more. "Screw this! That's the last time I'm going mountain climbing!"

Piotr soon himself clambered up onto the ledge, his skin since returning to flesh. Instantly, he was by Jason's side. "Jason! Are you ok?"

Jason slowly looked at Piotr, his eyes very glassy but clear. "I…" Jason tried, but speaking was difficult. "I-I-I think s-so."

Piotr himself was gasping. "I thought…I thought…"

Jean came by Piotr's side. "It's ok, Piotr. He's fine; he just needs a breather."

Piotr lowered his head. "Thank you, Jean. Thank you."

Kitty was feeling more vocal. "Like the heck? Can anyone tell me why we're doing this again?"

Rogue crossed her arms. "Yeah, if we never came out here, this wouldn't have happened."

Jean interceded. "Hey, now, it was just a freak accident. It wasn't something we could have prepared for."

Scott was looking up the mountain, seeing the flag less than a hundred meters above them. "Freak-nothing. That was Avalanche, which means he and the Brotherhood has to be nearby. We have to move. Jean, levitate us all to the top so we can finally end this."

"What?!" exclaimed most of the others. Jean was particularly vocal. "No way!"

Scott spun to face Jean. "Come on, what's the big deal? You just used your powers just a little bit ago!"

"That was life and death, Scott! If I didn't, Jason would have died!" Jean crossed her arms. "We promised not to use our powers out here, Scott, but I'm sure the Professor can forgive me for using them in an emergency."

"Ok, fine," Scott said. "You don't want to use them." Scott turned to Kurt. "Kurt?"

Jean's eyes flashed angrily, her hair stirring from her telekinesis. "Scott Summers!" she barked. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Scott nearly jumped from the force of Jean's question, but he recomposed himself. "Hey, I just want to win this thing so we don't hear it for months from them!"

"Scott, are you listening to yourself?" Jean placed a hand on her head. "You're so obsessed over this silly race that you've completely forgot what's important!" She motioned towards Jason, where a consoling Piotr was still by his side. "Winning his race isn't important, Scott. So what if they win this race? It's not the end of the world, and it doesn't mean a thing anyway."

Scott sighed sharply. "We're supposed to keep the Brotherhood from winning, right?"

"No, Scott!" Jean said, her tone softening. "It's never been about that. Scott, we're the X-Men. The Professor's been training us to use our powers responsibly, so when the time comes, we can be ready. It's so we can be better men and women when the time arises."

Jason was half-listening to Jean, when something that she said got his attention. "Better men and women…" he repeated slowly.

Piotr heard him. "Jason?"

Jason looked at Piotr briefly, but Jean continued on, grabbing his attention again. "Scott, you know this as much as the rest of us do. Sure, we are all tired of getting harassed by the Brotherhood, and sure, it would feel good to put them in their place, but that's not what we are here for. It never has been."

Scott sighed again, but didn't answer. His mind was screaming at him to move to the flag, but there was something else pulling him back. Deep down, he knew Jean was right, and he knew he had been bull-headed about this whole thing ever since camp started.

"Listen to her, Scott…"

The others, including Scott and Jean, looked to see Jason, looking rather imploringly at their leader. "She's completely right. I know it." Jason swallowed a bit. "I didn't tell you guys this, but before I signed up for this trip, I talked to the Professor…"

Piotr suddenly had a feeling what this was about. "Jason…are you sure?"

Jason looked at Piotr, and nodded. "More than sure." Looking back at Scott, he said. "One thing I always have a hard time with is confiding in people, and even though you all have proven to be my friends, I still couldn't bring myself to confide in you all. I'm a complete bonehead about it, really. You all were eager to help me adjust to the Institute and just be there when I needed it, even when I was a complete asshole."

Jason looked around at the others in turn. "Kurt, you taught me to feel sorry for those who don't understand us. Rogue, you were there with me during the hurricane and telling me I wasn't alone, and you were right." He looked at Piotr. "You were right."

Piotr smiled a little bit at that. Jason was talking about that night he came down to sleep on the floor with Jason so he wouldn't be alone.

Jason looked at Jean. "Jean, you always tell me to share my feelings with others, especially when I'm close to stressing out. Peter, you told me to trust the people in charge above me, because they often see something we don't; also, those same people are human like us and make mistakes. We just need to move on."

Finally, Jason looked at Scott. "All these things are my lessons to grow as both a mutant and a person, and I know I have a long ways to go. I still struggle with opening up to people, and sometimes I still feel alone with my feelings because of what happened here." Jason tapped his scar. "But I can trust you, Scott, to make the right decision. You're our leader; we follow your lead. So be the better man so we all can."

The others regarded Jason briefly, and then turned to Scott who seemed lost in his thoughts. He had not been aware of the conditions Jason had come on this trip; the Professor only told him to plan on two extra bodies on the trip and to watch them closely. He had assumed it was just step-up training to become X-Men, but Jason's testimony blasted that assumption out of the water. It was humbling and chastising to hear Jason plead for him to stick to his promise to the Professor and at least try to win this thing cleanly. Jean's lecture was also chipping away at his misplaced resolve. Now he was wondering how in the world did he allow himself to get here?

"Hello!"

Everyone's head snapped up as they heard a very weak voice on the air. "Did anyone else hear that or was that just me?" Bobby said.

"Shh!" Jean and Scott hushed in unison.

"Hello!" came the call again.

After a few seconds, Kitty said, "Call me crazy…but that sounds like Toad!"

"It does…," Scott said. His gut was right; the Brotherhood was close.

Rogue was trying to locate where it was coming from as her eyes combed the mountainside. Suddenly, her eyes fell on a crevice only a few meters away. Walking towards it, she soon found it contained a mine shaft pointing straight down. "Hello?" she called down it.

"Rogue? Is that you?" came the voice.

"It is Toad!" her mind screamed. "Hey!" called Rogue to the others. "It's them! They're down here!"

The others scrambled towards Rogue, and surrounded the shaft mouth. Scott called down. "Toad? Is that you?"

"Yeah…" Toad said pained.

Jean caught the tone. "Are you hurt?"

"No, just hating what I'm about to say."

The X-Men looked at each other.

"Oh, they're going to kill me…" came Todd's voice.

"Just spit it out already, Toad!" came a harsher, quicker voice.

Jason sighed. "Pietro; so much for my luck."

"I heard that, scar-head!"

Scott called down. "Is anyone hurt down there?"

"No, just trapped! It all caved in! Come on, don't leave us down here. Not for some stupid flag!"

"I swear, Toad, if we weren't trapped down here…" came Pietro's voice again.

"There's not a doubt in my mind that Lance caused the cave-in," Kurt said.

"Agreed, but that's not important right now," Scott said.

Jason made a face. "Don't I have a say in that?"

"Not now, Jason," Scott and Jean chorused.

"How are we going to get them out?" Kitty said. "There was a ladder, but it's totally busted now."

"Our only choice is the rappelling rope we used to get up here," Jason said.

"Right," Jean said. "But if some of them are still trapped, just throwing down the rope won't work."

"Yeah," Kitty said. "But we don't have anything to dig them out."

"Actually…we do…" Jason said slowly.

Everyone looked at Jason, who held up his hands slightly, and motioned to himself.

"You mean…," Bobby said.

"Yeah, I can transmute the debris enough so they can get out. Shouldn't be too hard…," Jason then looked down the hole, and continued louder. "…providing the fastest tongue alive doesn't start trouble!"

"Oh, you think you are sooo funny…" Pietro's voice sneered. "Now are you going to get us out of here or what?"

"Please?" whelped Toad's voice.

"Shut up, Toad!" chorused his three comrades.

Jason looked at Scott. "Teamwork in action."

"You up for this, Jason?" Scott said.

Jason pursed his lips. "I doubt we'll come up with a better plan. Now all I need is a good belayer."

Piotr, beside Jason, said. "I will help…" He then looked concerned. "Jason, are you sure you are all right?"

Jason's eyes softened. "I appreciate your concern, Peter; hell, I welcome it, but we all know what we should do. Just trust me."

Piotr still looked very concerned, but he eventually nodded. "I do."

Jason smiled a bit, handing Piotr one end of the rope. "I don't think Jean will begrudge you steel up for me…especially considering we have Blob to hoist up."

At that, Piotr looked concerned. "Is rope strong enough?"

Jason threaded the rope through the belt loops on his pants, and was doing his best to improvise the knots and clips needed for rappelling. "This is a rappelling rope, and it has a breaking strength of nearly seven tons."

"In other words, it could hold a young elephant, much less Fred," Jean said assuringly.

"So yeah, it's strong enough," Jason summarized. "I'm depending on you, Peter."

A moment of tense silence past between the two, but Piotr finally nodded, his flesh expanding and hardening into his trademark organic steel. "Be careful."

Jason smiled. "Hey, it's me!" Jason peered down the shaft as he climbed into its mouth. "Going down…"

As he descended, every eye of the X-Men peered down the shaft as Jason meticulously descended, slowly disappearing into the darkness. Jason pressed his lips together as he felt the rock face with his feet for both hold and hazard. As the darkness deepened, his progressed slowed. While he had a flashlight, his hands were too occupied to utilize it, not to mention it would be dangerous to try.

"Jason, how is it going?" came the mental voice in his head.

"So far, so good," Jason thought, allowing Jean to read it. "No idea how far away from the bottom I am though…"

"You have to be getting close. I can feel their minds not very far from yours."

"No offense, Jean, but that's kind of creepy."

"Well, since I don't think you have sonar, take what you can get."

Jason sighed. "Do I even need to say or think it?"

"No, you don't. You've only been saying it for weeks now."

"Well, it's only true." Jason's foot suddenly found empty space. "Whoa!" Jason yelped.

"Relax, X-Geek, you only found the bottom," hissed Pietro.

"I can barely see anything down here; sue me." Jason lowered himself a little further, his feet finally touching solid ground underneath him. "Ok, just hit the bottom," Jason thought.

"Good; you're almost at the end of your rope."

Jason rolled his eyes at Jean's pun. "So, is anyone hurt?"

"Like you care," Pietro answered.

"No, we aren't!" Lance finally said. "Are you going to stand there or are you going to help us out?"

"Couple things first:" Jason answered. "One, go up the rope one at a time; while it's a strong rope, I don't want some idiot jostling the rope. Two, no funny business!" Jason crossed his arms in the near complete darkness.

Fred crossed his own arms. "You expect me to climb that on that dinky little rope? You must have hit your head hard in whatever gave you that scar, dude."

Jason was grateful that the darkness hid his face, because he was shooting Fred a death glare. "You think I'm that stupid, Fred? That rope can hold a bull elephant, much less someone of triple-digit weight. Not to mention, we have Colossus holding the rope. You don't trust it, you can stay down here."

Fred growled. "Fine, have it your way," he said as he strode towards the rope.

Jason had to bite his tongue to not retort; he didn't need to make a situation worse with loose lips. "Todd, you hang around down here until Fred's up, and for god's sake, don't touch anything."

"Hey!" Toad said. "You think I'm going to bury us again or something?"

"Yes," chorused Jason, Pietro and Lance, which surprised each of them.

Toad visibly deflated.

"Just don't touch anything." Jason repeated, before he reached into his backpack feeling for a flashlight. "If we're all patient, we'll all get out of here."

"Wow, that sounded just like a Boy Scout," Pietro hissed.

"Since you're the exemplar of patience, Pietro, I thought you'd appreciate it," Jason retorted.

"Are you kidding me?" Toad guffawed. "Pietro can't even wait to swallow his food before the next bite!" A thick silence was Toad's answer. Toad got the hint. "Right, shutting up now."

"Best news I've heard today," Lance muttered.

Jason pulled out a flashlight and switched it on. "Well, now that I can finally see, I can finally get you guys out and you can go back to be a loving happy family."

"Yeah?" Pietro spat. "Well, if he was smart, Colossal Failure up there should just let go of the rope. Save him a world of trouble."

Jason spun the flashlight right into Pietro's eyes. "Watch your mouth, Pietro."

"Jason, Fred made it up," came Jean's mental voice.

"Thanks for the update," Jason thought, then said aloud. "All right, Toad, head on up."

"About time," Toad muttered, and began hoisting himself up the rope.

Pietro didn't feel obliged to stop, despite Jason's warning. "But I suppose I can't expect that. That giant hunk of medal couldn't hurt a butterfly even if he wanted to."

A clap echoed in the cavern; suddenly, the cavern lit up green as alchemic energy coursed through the rubble around them. In the middle of it all was Jason, wrapped in a cocoon of the same energy as tendrils shot off into the rocks, summoning its restructuring. Lance and Pietro didn't dare move nor breath as the rock and wooden planks around them seemed to melt together and crawl to the walls like some primordial life form. Just as fast as it melted down, it congealed back into stone and wood, solid and unbroken.

The cavern grew dark again, and both heard footsteps. Pietro felt himself pulled to his feet and was now staring into a pair of eyes that seemed to crackle with the same energy. "Listen, Pietro, because I'm only going to say this once: there's not a doubt in my mind that your father has something planned for Peter, and I don't like it. When you get out of here, deliver this message to Magneto:" Jason's eyes narrowed angrily, and tendrils of alchemic energy raced between his fingers gripping Pietro's shirt. "If he touches a single hair on Peter's or any of his family's heads, I will personally crush his head within that spittoon he calls a helmet. Am I clear?"

Pietro grinned. "Ooh, that sounded like—"

"AM I CLEAR?!" Jason roared, instantly silencing Pietro's retort before it sprouted.

Pietro felt his insides shake at the force of Jason's demanding question; all he could do was stare at Jason's eyes, narrowed to slits but emitting barely-restrained fury. Normally, Pietro would just have blown Jason off with another taunt, but Jason was clearly in no mood for games. Showing uncharacteristic amount of restraint, Pietro growled, "Fine…"

Jason let go of Pietro's shirt. "Good." Jason stood out of Pietro's way. "Toad likely already made it up. Get out of here."

Pietro stood defiantly still for the briefest of seconds, but conceded to walk silently around him, although not without shooting Jason a poisonous scowl. As he strode past, Jason's hard gaze followed Pietro. Soon enough, Pietro began climbing the ropes, and out of sight of Jason's scrutinizing glare.

Jason then looked at Lance, who was standing with his arms crossed. One of Jason's eyes twitched in annoyance. "Got something to say, Lance?"

Lance smirked. "It's nice to know that not everyone on the X-Geeks is a goody-two-shoe."

Jason didn't move. "Spare me the patronizing, Lance, because I don't give a damn what you think what I—or we—are."

"Yeah? Well, you talk big for someone climbing down here and rescuing his own bully. Seriously, what's your angle?"

Now Jason crossed his arms. "I was the only one who could get you out of here the fastest and the most safely. It wasn't anything personal; just a matter of tactics. I would think Mystique would have taught you a thing or two about tactics."

Lance frowned at the shot.

"But you're right. I—and the rest of us—very well could have left you down here and gone for the flag to win the race, but we didn't. If the tables were turned—not saying they would be—would you four have done the same?" Jason looked away. "I doubt it, but last time I checked, just because the river flows south that doesn't mean I should go south. Sometimes the best way isn't the easiest way, Lance. Lesson in life."

Now Lance looked away, scoffing. "What, you trying to convert me or something, Scarhead?"

"I have a name, Lance," Jason said. "And I can't tell you to do anything; neither can any of the rest of us. What you do with whatever you hear or see is your decision." Jason walked towards the rope to see if Pietro made it to the top. After finding no one, he signaled to Lance that the way was clear. "Whatever you choose, I hope you're happy with it."

Lance looked at Jason for the briefest of moments, and then strode past him towards the ropes. Jason remained behind, lost in thought. His words rekindled past memories of the time before the hurricane over two months ago. The Professor had said the same thing to him in different words:

"Whatever you glean from this, Jason, I hope that you are happy with the choice you have said you stand on."

Jason allowed himself to grin at the irony. "I think I've been at the Institute too long…"

Meanwhile, back outside, Fred, Toad and Pietro were resting from their climb while the rest of the X-Men were waiting for Lance and Jason to ascend the ropes. Piotr, still in metal-form, was patiently belaying the rope and didn't look any worse for wear for having to hold on to over six-hundred pounds of weight that Fred so proudly held.

Fred looked disdainfully at the tall metallic youth. He was lucky that they he wasn't in any mood for a fight at the moment; otherwise, he'd show him who was the strong-man on the campus. Looking away, he looked up the mountain, and at once espied the flag at the summit. Discreetly, he looked at the X-Geeks near the mouth of the shaft: all were too busy looking down.

Quickly, he nudged Pietro, who protested. "Hey, not enough room for you?"

Fred ignored him. "Look up there." He pointed to the summit.

Pietro followed Fred's fat finger to the object of attention: a simple white triangular banner holding on to an even simpler wooden steak. Pietro smiled. "I'm on it." Without another syllable, he dashed for the top.

As Pietro blasted past the X-Men, Scott snapped up as the wind clawed at him. "Hey!" Scott protested.

BAMF!

Kurt suddenly teleported in a cloud of smoke, startling everyone around including the newly-surfaced Lance, who was left coughing as the sulfurous fumes washed over him. "Man!" Lance coughed as he dragged himself up. "And I thought Toad reeked!"

Pietro raced around the summit until he came to the very top. Grinning wildly, he reached for the flag. Suddenly, a flash of smoke erupted beside the flag. A hand reached out of it and grabbed the flag, just as Pietro grabbed it himself.

"Hey!" Pietro protested. "Let go, you blue monkey! I had it first!"

The smoke blew away, revealing Kurt holding onto the flag himself. "No way, Pietro!"

The tug-of-war continued on the summit as Jason finally emerged from the whole, and noticed everyone save Piotr was looking up at the summit. Looking around, he noticed one in particular was absent from the group. Sighing, he presumed, "Pietro?"

"And Kurt," Jean added.

Jason lumbered onto solid ground, just as Piotr began unwinding the rope from around his arms. "Guess there goes the race…"

"Hey, look over there!" Kitty said, pointing towards the south.

The others perked up and looked southwards; Jason lumbered to his feet and asked, "What is it?"

"Is that a jet way over there?"

Jason squinted in the afternoon sun. "Whatever it is, it's coming in fast…and low." An inkling flashed across his mind's eye. "You don't think…"

"I think you're right…" Scott said, just as the roaring sound of jet thrusters began ripping the air apart.

In seconds, the dot on the horizon grew wings and before any of them could react, it was right on top of them, slowing down to a hover. The X-Jet hovered just off the summit, causing everyone—particularly the warring Kurt and Pietro—to freeze and look.

"X-Men," came a voice over the loudspeaker. "Prepare to board immediately. The Institute is in danger!"

A collective shock passed over the Institute members. Scott immediately took charge. "You heard the Professor. Let's go!"

None hesitated. "Well, guess the race is over," Jason mused.

In a blink, Pietro appeared right beside Jason. "That's right, Alche-dork! And you all lost!"

Toad even chimed in. "Yeah, that's right! We beat you!"

Lance couldn't resist. "What did I tell you, Sumner? Told you we would win."

Scott gritted his teeth, but before he could respond, Jason cut in, all the while ignoring Pietro to his side. "Technically, you didn't without using powers…like you said you would."

Pietro scoffed. "Like that makes a difference now. Just face it, dork; you lose, we win!"

Jason scowled. "Congratulations, Pietro. You win a flag, whoop-de-flipping-do."

"Who cares about the flag?" Toad said. "We still won!"

"That you did. I'm sure Sergeant Hawke will be thrilled to see the picture of you guys holding the flag at the top. Now, if you excuse us, we have a job to do."

Stone-cold silence came from the Brotherhood boys, who looked at each other. "Ok, who has the camera?" Pietro whispered.

"I don't," Fred whispered back.

"I don't either," replied Lance the same way.

"Don't look at me!" whispered Todd.

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" Pietro whispered fiercely. "You mean you three idiots forgot to bring a camera?"

"Hey, you forgot too, Pietro!" Fred whispered.

While their hushed argument proceeded, Scott said, "Kurt, get down here and port us to the X-Jet! Guys, huddle. Kurt should be able to port us to the X-Jet in one jump."

Jason looked at the Brotherhood, and had guessed what happened between them. "Just one last thing, first." He called to them. "Hey, Pietro? Forget something?"

Pietro spun around to face Jason. "Why do you care?"

Just as Jason heard Kurt's trademark teleporting behind him, he quickly pulled out a disposable camera from his pocket and snapped a picture. "Just wondering, s'all." He turned back to his peers. "Ready when you all are!"

"Aye, aye!" Kurt said, placing a hand on the group and teleported away.

"You little—!" was all Jason heard as they reappeared on the X-Jet in a flash of smoke. Jason allowed himself to smile. "Ok, that was worth it."

Scott immediately asked. "Who's attacking, Professor?"

"First things first: suit up. Your uniforms are in the back. Jason, Bobby, you need to suit up as well. You will be needed greatly for this."

That surprised Jason and Bobby as they looked at each other, but Jean spoke before any of them had the chance. "Professor, what's wrong?"

"I will tell you, but you must prepare yourself for your greatest challenge yet."

---

Iron Man clattered across the battlefield to a stop, his armor bent in many places, yet maintaining its functionality, even though some lights shining through began to blink rather sickly. Iron Man tried to climb to his feet. "Ok, definitely not trying that again. JARVIS, damage report."

"Flight thrusters have sustained concussive damage. Auto-repairs are underway, but prolonged flight is not recommended. Flight stabilizers, primary weapon systems and emergency power reserves are online. Main power systems are holding at 65%, but further trauma to the reactor will cause the armor to cease function albeit without endangering your cardiovascular system."

"Good to know. Where's the target?"

A massive thud shook the ground as an armored giant landed nearly right on top of Iron Man. Before he could react, a massive hand grabbed his head and tossed him into a grove of firs. Seemingly not satisfied, Juggernaut came rampaging through and snatched up Iron Man as if he was just an action figure. "I'm right here!" He then smashed Iron Man into the ground and smashed a foot down on top of him. "Your armor is nothing against the might of the Juggernaut! I'll stomp you into the earth!" With that, he raised his foot up.

A snarl came up from behind, and then Wolverine climbed up on Juggernaut's back like a wildcat. Juggernaut raised his hands to get the pest off, but Wolverine bounded over the arms. Twisting around, he swung himself up, whipping out only two claws out of one fist, and then jabbed them into the eye slots of Juggernaut's helmet.

Juggernaut instantly covered his face as he stepped back. Wolverine followed up quickly with lightning-quick slashes at the nerves under Juggernaut's arms. Juggernaut roared angrily, and then shot both fists down on top of Wolverine, pommeling him. Iron Man watched nauseated as blood spattered from beneath the mammoth's fists. Juggernaut then picked up the still form of Wolverine and was threw it down again.

"Tell me the stabilizers aren't offline."

"They are not, sir, and are primed."

Iron Man raised a hand and fired a shot right into the slots of Juggernaut's helmet. Juggernaut backed off, trying to swat away whatever hit him.

"Sir, attracting his attention may not be the wisest course of action given the present structural integrity of the armor."

"I'm risking it, JARVIS. You meanwhile see if you can reach our back up. We're going to need all the help we can get."

"Affirmative, sir."

Juggernaut shot his eyes around and noticed Iron Man, clambering to his feet. Enraged, he ran up and smashed his knee into Iron Man's head. Iron Man fell into his back, but not without travelling twenty five feet. Juggernaut chased after him, completely livid. Iron Man didn't even have time to pick himself up before Juggernaut wrapped his massive arms around Iron Man's waist and squeezed. "Let's see how strong you are now!"

Damage reports began piling in as the armor began to buckle. JARVIS alerted. "Weapons systems offline, thrusters offline, flight stabilizers offline, emergency power cells offline…"

"FLARES!" Tony shouted suddenly.

"Deploying flares." At once, two slots opened up and fired multi-colored flashes of light, shooting chaotically around the area. In the fog, the flares tripled in brightness, and Juggernaut was blinded to the depths of his retinas. At once, he dropped Iron Man who retreated behind a tree, trying to keep quiet as Juggernaut swatted away the fireflies that seemed to dance before his eyes.

"Damn you!" Juggernaut blasted.

Iron Man peered out from behind cover, his eyes shining brightly through the mist and smoke. Through infrared filtering, he could see the form of Juggernaut trying to peer through the soupy mix of smoke and mist. His suit's readouts were staggering with damage reports. He couldn't keep this up any longer.

"Sir, I have established contact with Professor Xavier," JARVIS notified at one-third of his normal volume.

"Professor, mind picking up the pace?" Tony said. "You don't want to be late."

"We have your location and we are two minutes out. Hold on!"

"Easy for him to say," Tony thought. He continued quietly. "JARVIS, tell me we have something."

"The flares were our last defensive option, sir, and have been depleted."

Iron Man's grimace was almost visible behind the gold face. "Looks like I'm playing low-tech." Stark combed the area again, seeing that Juggernaut was definitely looking for him. Some distance away, Wolverine was still knitting himself together, but he was on his feet. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he had to wish he could recover from hangovers that fast.

Juggernaut got closer to his position, and Iron Man shimmied around the tree to avoid his gaze. Slowly, but surely, Juggernaut turned his back on him. Iron Man looked around the tree and saw his exposed back. He didn't have a lot of options, and he needed to keep Juggernaut in this area just long enough for back up. He couldn't help but sigh mentally; sometimes it sucked being him.

As Juggernaut looked around, he growled. "Show your face, you little metal snot! Don't tell me that's all you got."

"Not quite."

Before Juggernaut could react, Iron Man heaved himself up on Juggernaut's enormous back. Juggernaut sagged underneath the weight, but only briefly. The stagger was all Iron Man needed. His eyes lit up one of the latches. "This looks important!" he glibly said, grasping onto the latch.

Juggernaut reached backwards and grabbed Iron Man, by the head. Swinging around, he pulled and threw Iron Man across the clearing. Iron Man slid to a halt next to Wolverine who was shaking his head after being ground to death.

Wolverine looked down at Iron Man, who hadn't moved. "That was a stupid thing to do, Stark," he growled.

Iron Man lifted his head. "Compare notes with Potts; I'm sure she'll find something worse." With that, he held up his hand: inside it was a piece of the latch that snapped off. "In fact, I'll bet my inventory of spirits on it. Shake on it?"

Meanwhile, Juggernaut had felt the sensation that he lost something. Patting his back, his massive hands slid across his back…and stopped at one of the latches' locations. It took only the briefest of seconds to process what happened. Whipping around, he found Wolverine and Iron Man. "You'll pay for that!" he roared.

Iron Man looked back at Juggernaut. "I suppose now would be a good time to say that they are on their way."

Wolverine huffed. "Doesn't help."

Juggernaut took one step to run towards them, when a strange sound cut the air: a high-pitched sound that seemed to rip the air. All looked up and around, trying to see where it was coming from, but the fog was still too thick. Wolverine however recognized it. "Took them long enough."

Juggernaut was still trying to see what the source of the sound was, when suddenly a loud sound came from his side. Looking to see, he soon saw a flash of red. Before he could think about it, a blast of red light punched him in the gut, forcing him back.

"Take a breather you two! We got this!" came a voice.

"Right on cue," Iron Man quipped.

Juggernaut looked livid. "You think you can stop me?!"

The source of the new voice entered view: a slimmer teen wearing a visor that seemed to shimmer red. "Oh I don't think we can; I know we can."

As if on cue, another pop sound immersed from the mist, revealing several more new combatants flashing from smoke, all wearing similar uniforms the visor-wearer wore.

"Alchemist, take care of Iron Man. The rest of us, take this guy down! Go for the latches."

As one scarred-youth split from the group, the rest scattered about the clearing as Cyclops aimed another crimson shot. Juggernaut took the shot, but held his ground. Infuriated, he grabbed a tree and pulled it out of the ground. "See how you take this!" He tossed it.

Cyclops dived out of the way, narrowly avoiding being clouted. "Jean, try to hold him still!"

Jean reached out with here telekinesis and formed a stasis field around Juggernaut. At once, she felt bone-crushing resistance, so intense that it felt like she was going to have a stroke. Groaning in exertion, she hissed. "I…I can't…" She then fell to the ground, completely drained.

Now free, Juggernaut whirled around and charged at her. Suddenly, Colossus tackled him from the side. The two grappled with each other, tearing up the ground as they did. Juggernaut kicked Colossus off, his feet clanging against the other's metal flesh. Before he could retaliate, Cyclops fired another optic blast. Blocking the crimson blast with his arm, Juggernaut only grew angrier; he snatched up a tree and tossed it like it was just a stick. Cyclops barely had time to avoid being crushed as he leaped aside, the tree soaring overhead and crashing into the trees behind him.

"Man, you really need to chill out!" came a voice from Juggernaut's far left.

Turning, he saw a boy scrawny enough to eat seemingly completely made of ice. He thrust his hands forward, and a frigid blast shot out, completely encasing Juggernaut in ice.

Cyclops saw an opportunity. "Shadowcat, see if you can phase in and unlatch one of those latches!"

"On it!" Shadowcat replied, taking off for the frozen giant.

Before she got within five feet of her target, the ice shattered around Juggernaut's form. Shadowcat flinched, as ice shards shot away as if a frozen firecracker went off, but she retained the focus to phase into the ground. As she sank beneath the surface, Juggernaut's arm swung just inches where she was standing—quite solidly—before.

Juggernaut was furious. He was being embarrassed by kids! Not if he could help it. "Enough!" he yelled, punctuating it with a massive punch to the ground. A ripple of earth shot from all around him, knocking all the X-Men too close to him off of their feet. Juggernaut had smashed the ground so hard that Shadowcat shot back to the surface as if she was thrown up from below.

Meanwhile, Alchemist had reached Iron Man's side. After having recovered from his initial shock from seeing the massive form of Juggernaut, he refocused his mind to his task at hand, all the while trying to ignore the sounds of battle sickeningly close.

Iron Man looked at the kid who just joined him and Wolverine, more so at the boorish scar. "Here's looking at you, kid," he said.

Alchemist looked at all the damage, and couldn't help but flex his hands nervously. "I'm not going to lie; I'm not entirely sure where to start."

"How about you start with his mouth?" Wolverine said, breathing hard as the pain he was enduring still told of unhealed wounds.

"What's he going to do?" Iron Man said. "Massage me to health? I would have preferred that redhead to be my personal masseuse, myself…"

Alchemist had to shake the puzzlement from his face before answering. "Just tell me which part needs to be fixed first and I'll do the rest."

"Sir, the damage to the chest plating is impeding all my attempts of maintenance to the arc reactor. If it is not properly maintained within a few hours, we risk power failure."

Alchemist looked slightly to the side, as if the source of the new voice was in Iron Man's ear. "Who was that?"

"Just one of the voices in my head," Iron Man stated. "Whatever you are going to do, be careful not to crush the big glowing circle."

Alchemist clapped his hands together and placed them on the chest plate, summoning his trademark alchemic powers to do his bidding. In seconds, the dents were gone and the armor shone like it was freshly polished. Alchemist sighed. "Next?"

Iron Man didn't say anything right away. In fact, he wasn't sure what to say at all. Had he been back at the tower, he would have had to either replace the chest piece or smith out the dents himself, which would have taken considerable time. Finally, Iron Man looked at Alchemist. "How old are you?"

One of Alchemist's thick eyebrows shot up. "Uh…seventeen?"

"When you turn eighteen, you're hired."

A crash nearby snapped Alchemist back out of his confusion. Looking back, he just saw Nightcrawler land nearby, stunned. "Shit," Alchemist hissed, before turning back to Iron Man. "What's next?"

As Alchemist continued to work on Iron Man, Juggernaut had been getting wiser. One blue-furred one had managed to teleport onto his back when he was knocked off his feet by the metal one. Before he could undo one of the remaining latches, Juggernaut had managed to grab him and toss him aside. Just as he did, the world lit up white as he felt a blast like a sledgehammer strike at his gut, followed by the ear-splitting sound of thunder.

Despite the fact it didn't harm him, the electricity shot through his muscles, flexing and contracting them chaotically. Determinedly, he stood against the barrage of lightning and glared towards the source: a woman floating above the ground like some pagan god, her white hair dancing like the wind.

Before he had the chance to react, another blast of red struck him in the back. Whipping around, he saw the tall one with the visor blasting him. Raising his arms to shield himself from the barrages, he glared at the one with the visor. "You can't hurt me with those lasers of yours! I am unstoppable!" With a roar, he charged at Cyclops.

Cyclops shut his visor just in time to see the giant come running to him. Dancing aside, his eyes never left Juggernaut's form as his mind raced for possible strategies. Shadowcat and Nightcrawler were already down, and Jean had not recovered yet from her strain. "Colossus! Distract him!"

Before Juggernaut could react, the one metal kid came running in, slamming him in the back with a punch. Lurching forward, he spun around to face his attacker. Catching a punch from Colossus, he threw a fist at the Russian youth's unprotected side. A clang spelled the hit as Colossus backed off from the blow, but Juggernaut dove at him, slamming him into the ground and pinning him. "You think you are strong?!"

He was cut off by another blast from Cyclops, striking him in the shoulder just below the undamaged latch. Snarling, he picked up Colossus and hurled him at Cyclops. Cyclops had only the time to look before colliding with the flying form of Colossus, knocking him out. Thankfully, Colossus had become flesh before impact, so Cyclops had been saved from being crushed.

Rogue, who had been trying to get a window to strike, saw that at this rate, they would surely lose this fight if she didn't do something. Nearby, Shadowcat was just coming to. "Whoa, what happened? Did I like phase into a beehive because I feel like one."

"C'mon, Kitty!" Scott, Kurt and Jean's down! We need to do something."

Meanwhile, Juggernaut looked around, expecting to see his dear old brother hiding somewhere. "Is that all you got, brother?" he called out. "Sending kids to do your work? You never did fight your own fights, didn't you? You always ran to mommy!"

As Jason was mending the last piece of armor, he turned when he heard Juggernaut's taunts, a strange look building across his face. "That sounded personal," he mumbled.

Iron Man looked over as well. "Son of a bitch. They're brothers. Talk about sibling rivalry."

Jason looked at Iron Man, but then noticed a complete lack of emotion coming from Logan. While Logan was generally the antithesis of a thespian, it was the lack of response to the news that had caught his attention. "You knew?"

Wolverine, still waiting for his body to mend, looked at Jason—the latter trying not to let the healing progress nauseate him. "In a manner of speaking."

"It's true, Jason," came the Professor's voice. "He is my step-brother through marriage, his father's son, Cain."

"Well, that partly explains why he hates you, I guess…but I bet there's more to it," Jason thought.

"Much, but this is hardly the time to expound."

Jason nodded, before looking back to Juggernaut. "Well, looks like I'll have to make time."

"Jason, you aren't ready to face him!"

"Read my mind, Professor…and if you're okay with it, patch in Storm, Kitty and Rogue."

While that exchange was going on, Juggernaut saw that others were hanging back. "Is that all you got? You can't stop the Juggernaut! You're stupid to try!"

"Pardon us for being thick…!" came a challenging voice. Juggernaut turned to face his new challenger: an athletic-looking youth with a dominant scar on the right side of his face. The youth continued, "…but with a helmet like that, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you Cain?"

At the mention of his birth-name, Juggernaut's eyes shot open…and then slowly narrowed. "You dare challenge the Juggernaut?"

"Oh, I don't dare…" Jason clapped his hands together. "I am challenging you…"

Juggernaut saw red, and charged with a yell. Alchemist held up a hand, gauging the speed of the charging behemoth. Suddenly, he slapped it against the ground, summoning an earthen pole to rise beneath him. Juggernaut skidded to a halt, completely incredulous as the boy now stood on a fifteen foot pole above him. "You think that's going to stop me?"

Jason crossed his arms. "This? No." He then pointed downwards. "Gravity might though."

Through his helmet, a puzzled look peered through the slits, only moments before Juggernaut fell through the earth. The fall collapsed the pillar under Alchemist's feet, but he was expecting it. Leaping off at the last second in a flip, he landed right on top of Juggernaut's helmet. "NOW!"

Behind Juggernaut, two figures phased out of the ground: Rogue and Kitty. "Get the latch!" cried Rogue.

Both worked quickly to get the latch undone, a fact not lost on Juggernaut as he thrashed about in the sinkhole. "GET OFF!" he shouted, lumbering himself. Alchemist bailed, tumbling off but quickly got to his feet and faced Juggernaut, who showing surprising speed climbed out. He spun around and faced the young Alchemist. "You'll pay for that!"

Alchemist had to summon willpower not to be too aware of the Goliath-proportion between him and Juggernaut. "You'll have to catch me first, dickhead!"

Juggernaut swung at Alchemist, who deftly dodged aside, mildly wondering if he bit more than he could chew. They were two latches down and two to go: the front ones, and likely to be the hardest. He knew he had to immobilize him somehow, but how could one stop something this big from moving for even a few seconds?

Evading another punch, his mind raced for a way to keep Juggernaut's hands occupied as they fumbled with the remaining latches. At this point, they needed something crazy, something simple…

Jason's eyes suddenly flashed. He wondered what made him think of it, but he stopped himself before he began to rationalize it as a good idea. "Storm! You still out there?" he called out, keeping himself out of reach from Juggernaut.

Storm lowered herself from the skies. "What do you need?"

"Can you make it rain? I got an idea." He narrowly ducked a backhanded punch.

Storm raised her hands to the sky, summoning the clouds the build above her. In seconds, a downpour began to fall on the forest. Alchemist now split his mind between searching for the next ingredient and avoiding being pulverized.

As the tussle continued, Piotr felt the rain splash down on his face, waking him up from his stupor. He felt his head throb painfully as his mind tried to piece together what happened. One moment, he had been fighting Juggernaut—his eyes flashed. Rolling up onto his seat, he looked around and saw Juggernaut swatting at someone else. Suddenly, the offender slid into view. Piotr felt his heart skip. "Jason…"

Scrambling to his feet, he soon espied Jean nearly, who was gingerly holding her head. She probably woke up thanks to the rain too. Scrambling towards her, he said earnestly, "Jean, we need to help Jason. He is fighting Juggernaut!"

"What?" she replied weakly. It felt like a bowling ball had been shoved into her ear. "What about Jason?"

Breathing, Piotr said again, "He is fighting Juggernaut!"

Jean looked to see that Jason was in fact fighting Juggernaut, slipping and sliding across the area as the ground turned soft. "Oh, my!" She tried to get herself up on her feet, but her headache pounded like a drum at a rock concert. "I-I can't concentrate. My head's a mess; I can't focus on my powers."

Piotr winced as he saw Juggernaut nearly wipe out Jason with a massive sweeping blow. Jason had backed up, sliding to a stop on the muddy ground just narrowing missing the blow. Piotr could also see that Jason couldn't keep the game up much longer. Looking around, he saw that most of the others were already spent. He needed to do something. He fought his headache as he stood up; there was no holding back now.

As Alchemist continued to dodge Juggernaut's wild swings, he soon espied the sinkhole that he himself had created moments ago. As soon as he saw an opening, he made a break for it and dropped to his side to slide the rest of the way. The sinkhole was overflowing with mud and water, something he had been counting on. Clapping his hands together, he turned and waited.

Juggernaut spun around, and soon found the kid next to the sinkhole. "You're like a little fish, but you're out of water, little man, and I'll squash you like a goldfish!" He ran at Alchemist.

Alchemist's eyes narrowed. "Wait! I got something to tell you!"

That stopped Juggernaut in his tracks, only feet away from the kid, who hadn't moved. Something about that stunned Juggernaut enough to stop.

"You got mud in your eye." Alchemist plunged his hand into the mud. Sparks of green shot upwards, and a blast of mud shot out and into Juggernaut's face.

Juggernaut staggered back as the mud filled the gaps of his helmet, completely blinding him. As he tried to claw the mud out, Alchemist scrambled to his feet and rushed under the flailing arms. He quickly spotted one of the latches and got to work, his fingers gliding back and forth as he undid the latch, and his eyes looked for the other one.

Suddenly, a massive hand grabbed his head and chest, picked him up and shook him around. Alchemist tried to pry the massive fingers away from his head and throat, but they were as strong as a vice. He could feel the pressure in his head build as he desperately tried to suck in any lick of breath he could.

"Very clever…," Juggernaut sneered, after wiping the mud from his face. His eyes narrowed as he peered at Alchemist struggling in his grasp. "…but looks like your fun is over." Juggernaut raised a fist. "Tell Charles when you meet him on the other side…he should have tried harder."

"PUT HIM DOWN!" came an authoritative voice.

Juggernaut's fist froze mid-strike as yet another challenging voice met his ears. His eyes narrowed as he turned slowly around and faced his newest challenger…and smiled seeing it was the big metal kid who tried twice and failed to best him. "Can't take a hint?"

Colossus' pupil-less eyes narrowed. "I said put him down!"

The smile disappeared from Juggernaut's face. "Are you going to make me?"

"If you put him down now, I am promising that I will not be squashing your head like egg."

Juggernaut stared only for a few tense seconds, and tossed Alchemist away as if he was a broken toy. As Alchemist lay several feet away gasping, Juggernaut cracked his knuckles. "Just try it, kid!" He threw a missile punch forward.

Colossus swatted it down with both hands, sweeping both hands upwards against Juggernaut's face. Juggernaut stumbled back, giving Colossus the time to charge in and slam into Juggernaut. Grappling briefly, Juggernaut swatted Colossus aside and quickly followed up with a solid punch into the other's face. Colossus fell to the ground, but he scrambled right back to his feet, and rounded back to face Juggernaut. Juggernaut swung again, but Colossus swatted the fist aside and rammed one of his own straight into Juggernaut's gut. As he doubled over, Colossus let fly an uppercut that sent Juggernaut off his feet.

Colossus charged forward, but Juggernaut leaped back to his feet and made a sweeping strike at his opponent. Colossus took the blow to his side, but struck back with a fist into the soft spot under Juggernaut's arm. The arm promptly collapsed, giving Colossus time to strike again at Juggernaut's face. Juggernaut quickly head-butted Colossus in the chest, pushing him away, completely puzzled at his opponent's plan of attack. What was he up to? He hadn't tried once for the latch!

Before he could think further, Colossus struck out again, but Juggernaut caught his fist, holding it in place. Colossus strained against Juggernaut's might as the larger held his fist in place seemingly effortlessly.

Juggernaut sneered. "Give it up, kid! You aren't stronger than me!"

Colossus only shot back. "I will not give up!" He doubled his efforts against Juggernaut's might…and ever so slowly, he was able to push Juggernaut's arm back.

Juggernaut quickly noticed, and the sneer vanished just as quickly. Suddenly, Colossus freed his hand and whipped it around, smashing it underneath Juggernaut's head. Juggernaut staggered back, and Colossus followed up with two rapid punches to the helmet, each fist clanging against it. Juggernaut struck back with another head-butt, but Colossus quickly recovered and smashed his own head into Juggernaut's chest. As Juggernaut staggered back, Colossus saw the latches in front of him and reached out, grabbing onto the latch and pulled. Juggernaut found himself pulled back into Colossus' grip, who swung around in a circle until something snapped and Juggernaut tumbled away.

Colossus took a quick breather as he threw the remains of the final latch away. Now there was only one thing left to do: knock the helmet off.

Juggernaut got up and patted the area where Colossus had grabbed him…and to his horror found the fourth and final latch torn up. Looking up, eyes flashing in anger, he saw Colossus charge again, and strike at him with a kick. Juggernaut caught the foot and twirled around, sending Colossus into an oak tree. Quickly, Juggernaut fumbled with the good latch, trying to relock it, but he was quickly interrupted by Colossus moving in. Swinging wildly, he smacked Colossus in the jaw, and returned to fixing the latch, but his fingers kept slipping in the rain. He couldn't get a good grip.

Colossus came in like a force of nature and smashed into Juggernaut's shoulder. Juggernaut was furious; he twisted around and smashed fist after fist into Colossus, forcing him into a tree. Juggernaut then rushed in and smashed lightning-fast punches at Colossus' gut and head. Colossus blocked as many as he could, but knew he couldn't keep this defense up, and finally ducked down. Juggernaut's fist slammed into the tree, and he was so blind with rage that he kept slamming the tree until it finally fell with a crash. Whipping around, he saw Colossus standing nearby and he swung again and again, but Colossus kept stepping further and further back, just out of reach. Suddenly, Colossus caught one punch and quickly struck back to the face. Juggernaut stumbled back, but moved right back in, intending to flatten this kid, metal flesh be damned.

Colossus knew he was dancing with death; Juggernaut was furious beyond all reason, but as Juggernaut attacked, Colossus could see more and more mistakes in Juggernaut's defense. Stepping back one punch, and ducking the next, she struck again at the chest and head. Colossus slapped back another punch and then slammed both fists into Juggernaut's chest.

Juggernaut staggered back, and Colossus moved in with a savage kick to the stomach. Juggernaut double over and Colossus swung back. "Face true strength, Juggernaut!" he yelled, and then struck upwards in the strongest uppercut he could muster.

Juggernaut flew backwards into the air, his helmet dislodging from the rims of his chest plate and clattering away. He crashed to the ground, momentarily stunned. Invulnerability or not, he felt that one. He looked up as the rain clinked down on his face. His eyes bulged as he realized that he was feeling the rain on his face! Lumbering to his face, he looked for his helmet and saw it twenty feet away. He took two steps towards it when suddenly a blast like a bomb went off in his head.

Screaming, he sank to his knees, holding his head as if it was about to explode. Another blast went off in his head, then another, and another. He doubled over, trying to block the deafening noise in his head, but to no avail. He felt his consciousness slip away as the blasts continually came and with one final grunt, he pitched forward onto the ground, unconscious.

Piotr watched the whole exchange with a rather sickened expression. He had no idea what psychic bombs were like, but he guessed that if they downed someone like Juggernaut, they had to be excruciatingly painful. His eyes suddenly flashed as he remembered Jason having been tossed away like a doll before he fought. Looking around, he espied Jason lying on the ground, still. Running towards him, he sank to his knees and shook him, quickly reforming his flesh back to normal. "Jason! Jason, are you all right?"

Jason groaned, his eyes fluttering open. He then shut his eyes tight. "Oh, quieter, please. It's too noisy…quiet thoughts….yes, think quiet thoughts."

Piotr was a little confused at Jason's words. "Are you all right?"

Jason winced, but said. "I just have one hell of a headache. I could use some Excedrin right about now." Jason raised his head to look at Piotr. "Did we win?"

Piotr looked over at Juggernaut's still form. "Yes, we have won."

"Good," Jason sighed.

"I'll say…," came a rather metallic voice. Piotr and Jason looked up to see Iron Man back on his feet, seemingly admiring his patched up armor. Iron Man looked down at Piotr. "That was quite a punch, kid."

Jason worked himself up to a sitting position. "Whatever works, right? Your armor working now?"

"Self-repairs are nearly complete," came in another metallic—albeit British-sounding—voice. "Mr. Downs' repairs have accelerated the process by 400 percent."

"What he said," said Iron Man. "JARVIS, call Colonel Fury for a pick up, and tell him it's a big package."

"Understood, sir."

Jason looked around. "What about everyone else? Are they all right?"

The rain immediately led up, and the fog rolled away almost instantly, permitting a clear evening sky to look down upon them. Storm then lowered herself from the skies, looking no worse for wear. "Scott and Kurt are still out of it, but Jean just woke up and nursing a nasty headache of her own. Iceman hung back after his ice wasn't doing any good. Rogue and Kitty are all right."

Jason sighed. "Well, that was fun. Seemed like we need to train a bit harder."

"Not entirely, Jason," came the Professor's mental voice. "You all performed admirably. Cain will probably be one of the toughest opponents you have all faced, and you have all performed well. Thankfully, with all your actions, I was able to disable Cain until we can finally contain him again."

Jason looked up, and had noticed that everyone had a similar look on their face. The Professor had been speaking to all of them. "Yeah…well, hopefully if we have the bad luck to face him again, we'll all be standing next time." Suddenly, Jason looked around. "Wait, what about Logan?"

A trumping sound from nearby answered him. All looked to see a rather haggard-looking Logan—his uniform in tatters—stalking up to them. He was still covered in blood, but his wounds had closed completely. He cracked his shoulders and neck as he looked around him, sighing—which strangely sounded like a woof sound.

Jason blinked. "I guess he's ok."

---

Xavier Institute for Gifted Children – 7:09 PM, the same day

Dr. Hank McCoy was in the Cerebro room, working on some calibrations that he knew needed to be done. Cerebro was a busy machine on the best of days, and for a purpose this sensitive, frequent recalibrations were a necessity. After receiving the call that Juggernaut had been recaptured—and that the X-Men were en route to Stokes Max-Sec to drop him off—he returned his focus to less stressful things.

He had been afraid of the possibility that Juggernaut would come to the Institute and unleash his unholy rampage here. With so many students here, it would be a catastrophe, not to mention the rampage that Juggernaut would have likely cut through the city to get here. At the same time, he had to wonder how Charles was dealing with this. Cain had always represented one of the most difficult decisions he had ever made in his life, and facing it again had to be hard, not to mention that his own students had suffered at the hands of the Juggernaut. It was probably one of Charles' worst fears realized. However, Hank knew that since the students became X-Men, they had accepted a personal responsibility with the knowledge that any of their assignments would risk their safety a great deal. All they could hope was that in the face of danger, the X-Men would remain vigilant and return in one piece.

Hank removed the glasses from his ape-like face. As he had thought about the risks they all have taken and will take, he had a grim realization that there may come a time that they would have to make a stand, and they would all come out bloodied from the exchange…if they came out at all. Verily, he had a bad feeling that they would soon face a force that would demand lives, and that lives would be given. Hank rubbed his eyes: he just hoped that whenever that day came, it would be later, not sooner.

A few minutes later, Hank finished his calibrations and turned on the computer for Cerebro to begin a system diagnostic. As the monitor flicked to life, a message appeared on the screen. "Hmm?" said the blue-furred mutant. "What is this?" He placed the glasses back over his eyes and read the screen. After a few seconds, his eyes widened. "Oh dear me…"

"File transfer: 100% complete."

---

Stokes County Maximum Security Facility – 8:23 PM

The form of Juggernaut stood motionless inside a pod filled with a greenish liquid, his legs and arms chained to the ground. The mood had been very tense as massive form of Cain Marko was re-chained and placed into the pod, but with the cellular neuroparalytic bio-fluid now completely submerging him, all relaxed.

The Professor sat silent in front of them all, lost in his own thoughts. He himself had placed his own step-brother here, forever sealed away from the world, for the safety of the world. He could still remember the day when he had Cain brought here under complete psychic-provoke paralysis, and locked away in a chamber such as this. It had been the toughest decision he had ever made. On one side, he believed all mutants should be free to choose their own paths. That had changed when Cain Marko left, and Juggernaut returned, a force of furious nature, unstoppable, untamable…unreasonable.

He sat before Cain now, wondering if he still made the right decision. Who was he to really decide the fate of someone? But had he not, what would have become of the world and the worldview of mutants?

"You can't control the will of others, Chuck," came a voice. The Professor turned to see Logan standing next to him, arms crossed. His eyes never left the pod as he continued. "They just do what they want."

The Professor sighed. "And in response, we do what we must."

Behind them, Jason spoke up. "You know if I hadn't met Cain here before, I might have disagreed…but after seeing Cain here…and knowing what we all just went through a few hours ago…I can't help but agree."

The Professor turned his chair around to face Jason. "There will always be a battle of wills in the world; such is nature."

Jason nodded. "But we also have the responsibility to get over our own feelings and do what we need to do, despite our feelings. We'll at least be better men for it. It's just like back at the camp: we had every excuse to not play by the rules, but how different would we be from the Brotherhood, or even Juggernaut, if we listened to what we wanted to do?"

Nearby, Scott, Jean and Piotr had listened in silence, but on their faces, reflections of comprehension etched across each one. The Professor smiled. "I'm glad to see that you knew to rise up to be a better man, Jason."

Jason smiled a bit. "We all did."

No one noticed the smallest of glances Jean made towards Scott, except perhaps Scott.

Logan finally said, "Well, we'd better clear out of here."

"Agreed." The Professor turned to the pod again and keyed in a few commands. The pod slowly sank into the floor, finally disappearing with a clang of finality.

As the others turned and left, Scott finally said. "You know, I have to admit, it felt kind of right."

Piotr looked at Scott. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, despite the fact we lost the race, we still played fair….most of the time anyway."

Jason smiled. "I'm going to say close enough."

"Now if only the Brotherhood would stop drawing lines in the sand and learn that lesson too," Jean said.

"Maybe one day, Jean," said the Professor. "Maybe one day."

"Yeah," Jason agreed. "And who knows? Maybe it will be sooner if Jean becomes their conscience. From what I saw on the mountain, she'd be perfect for it."

Jean shoved Jason playfully. "Haha, shut up! Hey, even good guys and fearless leaders need a nudge in the right direction once in a while."

It was Scott's turn to laugh. "Hey, Jean, if I need a nudge, nudge away."

---

Oh my flipping goodness, I'm so terribly sorry! 2013 has completely screwed me over with life changes and problems. Got sick again, started therapy, and moving…TWICE! But it's not been all bad. Met someone really awesome and thinks look great for us. Anyway, I will try much harder to get updates more often.

So, here's a preview of the next chapter:

Wolverine begins to be haunted by his past, and when a trip to Canada turns catastrophic, it's up to three young mutants to save Wolverine from the clutches of his past, as well as some homicidal mutants deep in the underground laboratories. Will they be able to save Wolverine, or end up getting an earful from the most talkative foe they've ever faced?

"Oh, sure, why don't you just SAY so?! I would!"

Find out next time in Chapter 10: Bygones.

"Now I better not be waiting ten months for this! It's my debut! Punk…"