The Last Son, Book Three: Changes

by The Writer with No Name

AU S3. Xover with Superman and Justice League. Mutants are public knowledge. Superman is no longer myth. With this change the Man of Steel and his new team strive to make a difference in the world..but they and the X-Men have their work cut out for them.

11. Shredding Spykes

CHAPTER ELEVEN: SHREDDING SPYKES

New York Industrial Sector, New York City, November 6, 2008

The dead of night had long fallen over New York, with only the late-night watch patrolling the factory. As one patrolman rounded a corner, he paused, as he thought he heard footsteps behind him; he started to turn around…

But he got no further, as he felt something hop onto his back, seconds before that something touched his temples…as he suddenly blacked out.

As the guard fell unconscious, the small, shadowy silhouette hopped off his back, before waving towards a shadowed corner with her large hands; at that signal, four other shadowy figures darted out, rejoining their comrade. After regrouping, the leader of the five looked to one of the shorter ones, who put his hands to his head, before gesturing to the east side of the facility…just as the shadow of the other watchman was drawing near.

Quickly, the small group darted to the west side of the factory, out of sight, where, at their leader's signal, a third shadow put her hands to the wall; almost instantly, the wall began to dissolve, melting away at her touch, creating a large hole in the wall, large enough for them to slip inside.

The inside of the factory was completely silent, as the machinery was utterly still. Looking to her comrades, the leader nodded, before the five of them got to work; the largest one, summoning her inhuman strength, pulled her fists back and slammed the support struts of the nearest chemical-tank, causing it to spill into the nearby basin, contaminating it and its contents, while the others grabbed crowbars and started smashing glass bottles and machinery, as their acid-handed comrade melted the conveyor-belt.

It was only several minutes after they entered the facility that the alarm started to sound, but they had done enough damage for now. "We should leave." the shorter one said, putting his hands to his head.

"Are the police coming?" the leader asked.

"Yes…and he is coming, too." her comrade rasped. "He is still far away, but his presence is blinding; he is getting closer…"

"But…why are we scared of him?" the largest asked. "We know he's not like the others; neither are his friends…"

"This is our problem." the leader said firmly. "Even if they understood, the other surface-dwellers would never understand." Her tone grew worried. "Let's move; we haven't much time." With that, they hurried out of the factory.

As the alarm sounded, the night watch quickly swarmed over the factory, as police sirens began to blare in the distance, which were quickly drowned out by the now-familiar sonic boom…but all the commotion easily masked the sound of the nearby sewer manhole settling back into place, as the police passed it by, ignoring it completely.

XXXXXXXX

Xavier Institute, November 7

By the time the sun rose over the Institute, Evan was already wide awake; ever since he'd found out about the competition tomorrow, he'd been beside himself.

The manufacturers of the Powr8 sports drink were sponsoring a skateboarding tournament on the weekend, with the first-place prize being a scholarship to NYU. He'd been practicing all week, spending every spare minute he had perfecting his tricks; he was going to ace that competition, hands down.

Bolting out of bed, Evan headed to the bathroom, long before anyone else had woken up, even CK, and got a shower, while thanking God that there were no early-morning sessions, today; he could use the time between now and breakfast to get a bit more practice in. With those hopeful thoughts, he steeped out of the shower, toweled off, and started to get dressed; as he pulled on his jeans, he absently passed by the mirror…

…and froze, as he saw a large column of spiky bones extending from his back, in perfect alignment with his spinal column.

'What the..?!' Evan thought, his expression horrified as he gazed upon the bony growths. Closing his eyes, he started to concentrate, focusing on retracting the bones…

…but nothing happened.

Evan concentrated harder, as a mild panic started to get a grip on his mind. 'Come on…come on..!'

After several minutes, he felt the familiar grinding sensation of bone-growth running in reverse, as the spikes retracted back into his skin. His spine smooth again, Evan breathed a sigh of relief; he'd never had that much difficulty in pulling back his spikes before. Something told him that maybe he should tell the others, or Auntie O…

'Nah; this was probably just a one-time thing. I'm probably just wiped from the extra hours of skating; no sense freaking everyone out.' Evan thought. With that, he finished getting dressed, and went to grab his board, before heading outside.

After about an hour's worth of practice, Evan walked back into the Institute, energized and exhilarated, his earlier 'mishap' all but forgotten. As he walked into the kitchen, he found the rest of the X-Men, minus Clark and Alison, as well as X-Force, the Professor, his Auntie, Logan, Hank, Raven and J'onn, all getting breakfast, with Krypto happily nibbling on a bone under the table. "You were up early." Ororo commented.

Evan shrugged. "I wanted to get in some early practice, Auntie O."

Lila chuckled. "I take it you're psyched for that competition, tomorrow."

"Ya think?" Tabitha lightly teased.

"Hey, ease off the guy." Scott said, chuckling.

"Yeah, this is important to Evan." Jean agreed.

Siryn sighed as she sipped her orange juice. "There is no offence intended, but I personally do not see the point of a sport involving nothing but a piece of plywood equipped with wheels."

"Don't knock it 'till you've tried it." Kurt interjected. "It's not as easy as it looks." He winced, as he scratched a spot on his back that had once been sore. "I've viped out enough to know."

"I must confess, the application of aerodynamics involved in the sport is intriguing." Mark said. "If you require it, Evan, I am certain that I could produce several mathematical models that you could utilize to maximize your performance."

K'imm nodded. "Back on Mars, we had a sport similar to skateboarding; I'm sure I could give you a few pointers…"

At that, J'onn's toast stopped halfway to his mouth, as his eyes widened, his face turning even greener than usual. "Oh cosmos, K'imm…do not mention those hovering deathtraps…"

K'imm frowned. "Datya…"

"That will not work, K'imm; your mother and I nearly had heart-attacks, every time you got on one of those…things." J'onn said firmly.

Bobby chuckled. "Alien extreme sports?" he asked. "Now this I gotta…" but he stopped in mid-sentence, as J'onn's firm stare made him reconsider.

Raven chuckled. "No matter what planet you're from, kids will be kids."

"Amen to that, dearie."

The British lilt of Bridget Blaire was a slight surprise as Alison's aunt, in her usual attire, walked into the kitchen. "Why hello, Mrs. Blaire!" Hank exclaimed. "What a surprise! What brings you here?"

"Several things." Bridget answered. "For starters, Guy Spears wanted me to ask Kal and the League to endorse Powr8." She sighed. "Again."

Logan snorted. "Figured he would."

Paige blinked. "Who?"

"Guy Spears owns the company that makes Powr8." Professor Xavier explained. "He was looking for a spokesperson for his drink, and he had previously called here to inquire if the League was interested in endorsing it." He lightly grimaced. "He called several times, in fact."

"Let me guess; Big Blue wasn't interested?" Lance asked.

Bridget nodded. "Not that the donkey took the hint." she answered. "Still, I suppose that I should at least let that dear boy know about it." Looking around, she added, "So, where is he?"

"Still snoozing, I guess." Wanda observed.

"There was an incident at the Powr8 bottling plant, last night." J'onn added. "Kal, Flash, Green Lantern and I received the alert, three hours after midnight; before that, we had responded to a robbery in North Dakota."

Piotr blinked. "Is that not the place where there was large increase in mutant activity?"

"You're almost correct, Piotr." Professor Xavier said. "Several months ago, there was a large explosion from a chemical plant, which spread a mutagenic gas over the city."

"Yeah; I heard that they called it 'the Big Bang'." Roberto added. "All of a sudden, there were a whole bunch of people with mutant powers, calling themselves 'bang babies'…and not all of 'em were good."

Ron whistled. "No wonder the big guy's pooped."

Lila giggled. "I'm sure that Ali gave him a proper welcoming."

Bridget arched a bemused eyebrow. "I see."

Siryn frowned at her teammate. "I would think that it isn't wise to speak of things you know nothing about."

"Sounds like someone's in denial." Jubilee quipped. "Someone sure doesn't want to face the facts about what Kal and Ali do…"

"What we do, Jubilee, is no-one's business but ours." Clark said sternly as he walked into the kitchen, clad in his blue jeans and a white t-shirt. Seeing Bridget, he smiled. "Good morning, Mrs. Blaire." he greeted, giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Why, good morning, my dear boy." Bridget replied, smiling. "I was just telling your friends that Spears is still determined to get you and your team to endorse his drink."

Clark sighed, smiling wearily. "Well, I'm sure that an expert negotiator like you can convince him we're not for sale."

Ray chuckled. "Gotta hand it to him; the guy knows how to butter a lady up…"

"I heard that." Clark said flatly.

"As did I." Bridget added, causing Clark to smile sheepishly. "And you don't need to worry; I trust my niece's judgement." Softly enough for only his ears to catch, she then added, "As long as you two are being safe…"

"Auntie Bridget, stop scaring my boyfriend." Alison teased, as she walked into the kitchen, clad in her blue pajama pants and white tank-top. "Morning, guys." Alison greeted the others, before smiling and giving Clark a kiss on the cheek. "Morning, baby."

"Morning, beautiful." Clark replied with a smile.

Rogue chuckled, arching an eyebrow. "Ah take it you both slept well?"

That earned a chuckle from the rest of the X-Men and X-Force, while Jamie just blinked. "What's so funny?"

"Well, Flyboy? You want to explain it to him?" Logan asked.

Spotting a chuckling Scott and Jean, Clark quickly said, "Only if Scott and Jean help."

That was all he needed to say. "So, Mrs. Blaire, what was the other reason you dropped by?" Scott asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Ah, yes; I had hoped to speak to Alison about a particular matter." Bridget said. Turning to her niece, she added, "Honey, do you recall what I mentioned to you, a month ago?"

Alison arched an eyebrow. "That rumor the tabloids were circling around?"

"It wasn't a rumor, sweetie."

Alison's eyes went wide. "She…She really said that??"

"I just confirmed it, this morning."

Alison instantly beamed. "Oh, my GOD!!" she all but squealed. "Really?!"

Sam looked confused. "Uh…someone wanna clue us in??"

Clark's expression mirrored his. "Yeah, I'm kinda drawing a blank here, too, Ali…"

Bridget chuckled. "A month ago, a rumor started that the renowned opera singer Viola Corazon was interested in performing a duet with Alison…"

Alison instantly picked up her Aunt's statement. "…and Auntie Bridget just confirmed it!! She'll be retiring from the opera in a few months; her last performance will be in early 2009…and she wants to sing with me!!"

"Wow, Ali, that's amazing!" Kitty exclaimed. "I heard Diva Corazon's performance once; her voice is just amazing!"

"I know! Aunt Bridget once took me to a performance of Carmen; her aria was just…sublime! She's the one who first inspired me to start singing! I'd be lucky just to be mentioned in the same breath as her! And she actually wants to sing a duet with me!!" Alison exclaimed, overjoyed.

Clark grinned. "That's wonderful, Ali!" he exclaimed, enfolding her in a hug.

"Congrats, PG!" Evan said.

"Thanks!" Alison replied. "So, what time does the competition start, tomorrow?"

"Around noon," Evan answered, "assuming that Big Blue and his pals don't find any problems at the crime-scene."

"Our investigation shouldn't affect the competition, Evan." Clark answered. "We didn't find any leads, but we were going to take another look over the crime-scene with Krypto, and see if his nose can pick up anything." At that, Krypto automatically perked up.

"Well, good luck wit' dat." Remy said.

Scott nodded. "We'd better get going, before we're late for school." he said. With that, they all got up from the breakfast table, and headed upstairs to gather their things, before heading back downstairs. Evan was the last to get his stuff together in his room; he'd just finished stuffing his texts into his backpack…

…when his forearm sprouted spikes.

Evan nearly leapt back when the bone-spikes poked out through his skin; quickly concentrating, he began to focus on pulling them back inside…

"Evan?"

Looking up, Evan spotted Clark, who'd just been walking by…and had noticed him spike-out. "Everything okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, everything's fine." Evan said quickly, while discreetly focusing. "Just a little twitch, that's all." 'Come on…come on…'

Quickly, the spikes retracted.

Clark still looked concerned. "Look, Evan, if you're having trouble…"

"Aw, no, man; I'm fine." Evan said. "Besides, don't you have a crime-scene to check on?"

Clark's expression didn't change, but he slowly nodded. "If something's up…you just let me know, okay?"

"Sure, man; no problem."

"Okay." Clark said. "See you." With that, he headed off.

Evan grimaced to himself as he followed the others downstairs; he hated brushing off CK like that, but it wasn't like this was a major problem. He was probably just tired from all the extra practice…

…right?

XXXXXXXX

Powr8 bottling plant

Despite Superman's intentions, it wasn't until close to noon that he, Flash, Green Lantern and Krypto could head back to the crime-scene at the bottling plant. Thankfully, by then, most of the police CSIs had headed back, as had the news crews, leaving only a handful of policemen still going over the scene.

As Krypto quickly got to work, starting to pore over every square inch of the scene with his nose, Superman and Green Lantern walked over to the officer in charge, while Flash did a quick sweep of the area. "Any new leads?" Superman asked.

The officer shook his head. "Sorry, big guy, but we're still drawing a blank; we managed to get a few prints, but the system didn't recognize them."

"So they're not on file." Green Lantern observed.

Superman looked thoughtful. "Why don't you send the prints to us, and we'll run them through our system? Our database is a bit more comprehensive; we might be able to get a hit…"

The officer looked reluctant. "Uh…no offence, Superman, but I'll have to get clearance from the Chief before I can release evidence on this case to anyone."

"Then I suggest you get clearance."

Turning, Superman and Green Lantern spotted Guy Spears, a fairly tall, somewhat-lanky man, in his late thirties, with short brown hair, and brown eyes, clad in a brown sweater and a pair of light brown slacks. "If the Justice League wants to help figure out who sabotaged my factory, by all means, let them!"

Superman managed a somewhat-forced smile at that. "Your vote of confidence is appreciated, Mr. Spears."

Guy Spears just flashed his high-voltage smile. "So, big guy, have you given any thought to..?"

"…to the League endorsing your sports drink?" Superman finished. "We're flattered by the gesture, Mr. Spears, but product endorsement is not what we're about."

Guy's expression partially collapsed. "Well, that's all of your decision to make." he said. "Find anything?"

"Doesn't look like it." Green Lantern said. "Whoever did this covered their tracks."

Superman nodded. "My thermal vision couldn't get a fix on any particular trail, due to all the police in the area, last night." he agreed. "We'll keep looking, but I'm afraid that, at least for now…"

"Hey, guys! Over here!"

As soon as they'd heard Flash's call, Superman and Green Lantern followed his voice back to their comrade, finding him standing in front of a manhole where Krypto was sniffing. "I think Pooch is onto something."

Superman knelt down to his pet. "What is it, boy?" he asked. "Did you smell something?" Krypto just barked. "And it went down there?" Krypto barked again.

"Sounds like we've found our escape route." Green Lantern said.

By then, the police had caught up to them. "Find anything?" the lead officer asked.

"We have reason to believe that our perps escaped through the sewers." Superman reported.

The lead officer looked grim. "We'll notify HQ, and have a team start combing the sewers."

Superman frowned to himself, as an unpleasant theory started to form in his mind about the potential identity of the perps. "With your permission, officer, we'd like to take a look, ourselves…"

But he got no further, as his hearing picked up the sound of an alarm, seconds before his communicator, along with those of his comrades, started to go off. "We've got a break-in at the 1st Bayville Savings and Loan."

"Sounds like this investigation just got put on hold." Flash said.

Superman nodded, before turning to the police. "We have a situation at the 1st Savings and Loan; get your people there as quickly as possible; we'll go on ahead." At that, the lead officer nodded, as he and his colleagues got to work, while Superman, Green Lantern, and Krypto took to the air, followed closely by Flash on the ground.

Seconds after taking off, Superman heard the Watchtower hail him. "Black Knight to Boy Scout; come in, Kent."

"Boy Scout here, Black Knight." Superman answered. "Anything wrong?"

"You may have company, Boy Scout; I'm detecting a fairly large electromagnetic anomaly heading towards the target-zone."

Superman's eyes went wide. "Magneto??"

"Negative, Kent; this signal is too erratic to be Lensherr – this one looks more 'electro' than 'magnetic'. It looks like the signal that pops up in North Dakota, from time to time."

Superman nodded warily. "We'll keep our eyes open." he answered.

"Be sure that you do. Black Knight out."

As he switched off his communicator, Superman looked to Green Lantern. "We might be getting some help on this one, guys; it looks like our friendly Dakota blip is headed our way."

Lantern arched an eyebrow. "Well, this should be interesting."

Superman nodded. "Still, we should stay frosty; we don't know who this guy is. Better to be safe than sorry." With that, they continued on, at top speed, towards the alert.

XXXXXXXX

As he watched the alien and its fellow freaks head off, Michael Matthews scowled out at them from the window in Guy's office. He did not like the fact that they were snooping around…or the fact that his business partner had been trying to get that thing to endorse their product; it was bad enough that they had to let muties participate, especially since his youngest son, Mitchell, wanted to compete – the idea of both his sons having to be near those freaks..!

Just then, Guy walked into his office. "It's all taken care of, Mike." Guy said. "The police are on the case, and production will be back up in two days, tops."

Michael just scowled. "Oh, really?" he asked sarcastically. "And just what were those freaks doing here?"

"They heard the alarm, too, Mike; they were just checking things out…"

Michael's eyes narrowed. "And if they find out what's been going on?!"

"They won't, Mike." Guy answered. "By the time the skateboarding competition starts, it will all be taken care of."

"And what about this competition we're sponsoring?" Mike snapped. "You know as well as I do that we can't afford to pay out a scholarship to NYU; not with sales as they are!"

"Relax, Mike; with the publicity from the competition, plus from having the League endorse our little venture, we'll make enough to cover that easily – all we have to do is hold off a few weeks on awarding it, and no-one will be the wiser!"

Michael scowled. "I don't want those freaks endorsing our product; not after what that thing did to my son..!"

Guy frowned. "Like it or not, Mike, but Superman and the League are big, right now; with them on our side..!"

Michael was barely able to suppress his fury at that statement; it made him sick at times, to think that so many humans saw that alien as a hero…when all it likely wanted was to conquer the Earth for itself and those muties.

Not for the first time, he was grateful to Graydon for letting him and others know of the threat they faced; as long as the alien and its team was around, neither he nor his children were safe.

No-one was.

Still, there wasn't anything he could do about that now. Scowling, Michael simply nodded. "Don't screw this up, Spears; we took a big enough risk in shortening the processing time to meet our deadline. I've got quite a bit invested in this little venture…"

"So have I, Matthews." Guy answered. "We'll both make a pretty penny from Powr8, and no little bit of sabotage is going to mess that up; I'm certain of that."

XXXXXXXX

Bayville Skate-Park, a few minutes earlier

By the time the noon sun was shining over the skate-park, the park was already filled with skateboarders, out on their school's lunch-break, eager to grab a few more precious minutes of practice.

As the skaters continued their practice, two more competition hopefuls walked into the park. Both young men were 17; one was an African-American youth, fairly tall and of average frame, with mid-length dark hair in dreadlocks, and brown eyes, clad in brown slacks, and a white-and-dark-purple t-shirt, supplemented by his black elbow-pads and knee-pads, along with his helmet; the other, a Caucasian youth, was around the same height, but of leaner frame, with short, spiky blond hair, and green eyes framed by glasses, clad in blue jeans, and a green hooded sweater, as well as his own skating gear, with his backpack strapped over one shoulder, containing his laptop.

Glancing to his pal, Richard "Richie" Foley chuckled. "So, Verge, think you're up for this?"

Adjusting his helmet more securely over his dreadlocks, Virgil Hawkins grinned. "You know it, Rich!" he replied. "You sure you won't sign up?"

Richie just laughed. "Unlike some, I prefer keeping my bones intact, thank you!"

Walking over to the sign-up sheet, Virgil promptly signed up for the competition; he'd really lucked out, this time – Dakota High had been closed for repairs – from a bang-baby attack, ironically – the very week that this had been happening…prompting a trip to his uncle's house in Bayville – after copious amounts of begging – so that he could attend. Even more fortunate, Richie had been allowed to tag along, for moral support…and tech-support.

As they started to walk towards the nearest skate-ramp, Virgil turned towards Richie. "Is the system up-and-running, Rich?"

Richie smiled proudly, tapping his backpack. "We're good to go, Verge; whenever you're ready to put a shock to the system, around here, this baby'll let you know where to go!"

Virgil nodded; when the Big Bang had flooded North Dakota with that strange, mutagenic gas, he'd been one of the lucky – or unlucky – few who'd inhaled it…and had gotten electromagnetic powers in the process. Then, when bang babies had started to get out of control, he'd decided to use his new abilities for good, prompting him to take on a new name.

Static.

Unfortunately, since no-one besides his best pal since childhood knew his little secret – not even his Dad or older sister – it had been getting more and more difficult to patrol North Dakota for trouble…until resident genius Richie had devised his little computer-program, which tapped into his hometown's alert system, and notified him if something was up just a few seconds before anyone else.

And now Rich had done it again, having linked his system to Bayville's; if anything happened while they were here, Static would know about it.

Richie's proud grin grew. "Who knows, pal? You might just get to team up with the League!" he said softly.

Virgil smiled, nodding in agreement. That had been another reason why he'd wanted to come here; it wasn't a real secret that Bayville's Xavier Institute was where Superman hung his cape during his down-time…and where the Man of Tomorrow was, the rest of the Justice League wasn't far behind.

It was his chance to show what he could really do.

Reaching the skate-ramp, Virgil set his board down, hopped on, and glided onto the ramp, while Richie sat down on the nearby bench, and took out his laptop, monitoring his program while Virgil practiced his boarding. After a few minutes of hand-stands, kickflips and rail-slides, Virgil glided towards one of the larger ramps, building up speed as he went; he was going to need some serious air for this trick to work. Closing on the ramp fast, he kicked off, flying into the air, before twisting into a series of flips that would have made anyone else airsick.

His own personal trick: the Gyroscope, inspired by the countless hours of electromagnetic levitation he'd logged on his static-powered hover-board. Virgil smiled to himself in mid-air as he spun into the last flip…and then he was forced to kick out of it, landing on his feet. 'Crap; still not enough air…'

Picking up his board, Virgil headed back towards his pal, to take over monitoring Richie's program while his pal boarded…but he stopped, as he saw another African-American kid, around the same age as he was, pull a beautiful mid-air flip, touching down just in front of him, his landing a little shaky, but better than his had been. "Hey, nice one!" Virgil exclaimed.

Turning around, the guy blinked…and then smiled. "Thanks." he answered, before grinning. "And what was that thing you were doing, just then?"

Virgil laughed. "The Gyroscope." he answered. "It's still got a few bugs to work out."

"No kidding, man; did you think you were Superman or something?" the guy joked.

"Well, not anymore!" Virgil laughed, before he extended his hand. "Virgil Hawkins."

The other guy shook it. "Evan Daniels."

"Nice to meet you." Virgil answered, before gesturing to Richie. "And the guy with the computer is my pal, Richie Foley."

By then, Richie had walked over. "Hey," Richie said, his eyes widening, "aren't you one of the guys from the Institute?"

At that, Evan's expression darkened. "Yeah." he growled, irritated.

Quickly, Richie held up his hands. "Whoa, whoa there, pal; I didn't mean anything by it…"

After a few seconds, Evan calmed. "Sorry about that; most people do mean something by that, most of the time."

Virgil smiled wryly. "Well, between the three of us, let's just say that me and Rich are a bit more…used to people that…don't fall under what some consider 'normal'."

Evan arched an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"Ever hear of North Dakota?" Richie asked.

"That 'Big Bang' thing?" Evan asked.

"Yep; home sweet home." Virgil answered. "So, as you can probably figure, what's 'freaky' for some is 'business as usual' for our home town."

"Good to hear." Evan said. "So, you guys here for the competition?"

"Verge is." Richie answered. "Our school's under repairs for the week, so we figured we'd kill some time here."

"Lucky you." Evan said. "What happened, though?"

"A couple bang babies decided to throw a party." Virgil answered, his expression collapsing as he recalled that incident; several students had decided to use their new powers to get even with their tormentors – it could have gone so wrong so quickly…

"Yeah," Richie added, noting his pal's expression, "until Static showed up and pulled the plug on the whole thing!"

"Who?"

"Static; he's North Dakota's local hero." Richie explained. "He's a bang baby, but he uses his powers to help, unlike the rowdy jackasses that give bang babies a bad name!"

Evan chuckled. "Sounds like a cool enough guy." he said. "Well, with any luck, nothing'll happen to wreck the competition, tomorrow."

"Yeah, like muties showing up."

At that, the three of them turned around, and spotted several burly-looking guys, all in letterman jackets, with one blond-haired, green-eyed Neanderthal in the lead. "I heard you were trying out for the competition, tomorrow, mutie." the lead goon said to Evan. "I suggest you do yourself a favour and stay out of it; freaks like you aren't welcome."

Evan just scowled back. "It's a free country, Matthews." he muttered, as several bony spikes started to poke out of his arm.

"Not for muties, it's not."

Virgil just scoffed. "And which Amendment says that?"

The lead goon turned to glare at Virgil. "Stay out of this, geek."

"Oh, real original." Virgil shot back. "Guess I shouldn't have expected much from a bunch of cavemen in jackets; beats the Klan uniform, though."

At that, Richie started to snicker…prompting the goon to glare at him. "What're you laughing at, nerd?!"

Richie's long-honed survival instincts kicked in. "Laughing? I wasn't laughing."

"Good." the guy snarled. Turning back to Evan, he added, "Consider this your only warning, freak; if you show up for that competition..!"

Glancing behind the thug, Virgil spotted two more jacket-clad bullies standing by a blue convertible…before he noticed several street-lights forming a path to it, starting with the light behind him. Getting an idea, Virgil reached his hand behind his back…and started to concentrate; as he touched the light, sparks of violet electricity arced from his fingertips, streaming up it, and then arcing from one light to the next. "Hey," Virgil said, "that your car?"

The electricity sparked from one light-top to the next silently, before reaching the last one…

The thug just smirked. "Why, freak-lover? Jealous?"

ZAP!!

BOOM!

Suddenly, a bolt of electricity arced from the light into the car, utterly frying its engine.

Virgil just chuckled. "Jealous? Of that piece of junk?"

The thug whirled on him. "YOU did that!!"

Virgil arched an eyebrow. "How??"

"He was all the way back here, Matthews; he couldn't have done anything." Evan snapped. "I think that's what's called karma."

The thug just glowered at them. "This isn't over, freaks." he spat. "We'll finish this later, and your pet alien won't be saving you." With that, he and his pals stomped off, towards the ruined car.

Richie snorted. "Nice guy."

"Try being stuck with him five days a week." Evan muttered, as he concentrated hard, slowly, retracting the bones. "Thanks for the assist."

Virgil smiled. "No problem, bro."

Glancing to his watch, Evan groaned. "I'd better head back to school; you guys wanna hang with me and my pals afterwards?"

Virgil grinned, and nodded. "Sounds cool by me…"

Glancing to his laptop, Richie grimaced. "Uh, Verge?" he asked. "Don't you have a…a thing you need to handle?"

Virgil arched an eyebrow. "What thing?"

Richie rapidly pointed to the computer. "The thing we were talking about, before?"

Virgil's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh!" he said. "Uh, sorry, Evan, but I got an errand to run."

Evan shrugged. "No problem, man; see you tomorrow, then!" With that, Evan hopped on his board, and skated off.

With Evan gone, Virgil quickly handed his board to Richie, and darted off, ducking into a darkened alley…

The alley was illuminated by brilliant sparks of electricity as Virgil activated his powers; as wave after wave of electrostatic energy coarsed over him, the electrical power ionized his clothing, reconfiguring it into a pair of black pants, a white t-shirt with a black, lightning-bolt-style S-crest surrounded by a circle, with a dark purple trenchcoat over it all, and a white eye-mask over his face, with a slick pair of yellow shades on his forehead.

To this day, he still didn't know how that change happened…but dang it if it wasn't stylish.

His change complete, Static sent a wave of sparks from his hand, generating a disc of electrostatic energy, before hopping on, his steel-toed boots magnetically adhering to the disc, and then flying off, taking his communicator out of his pocket. "What's the situation, Rich?"

"We've got a situation downtown, S-Man; standard bank-job…whoa!"

Static's eyes widened. "What's wrong, Richie?"

"Dude, I just picked up another program running…one like mine!" Richie exclaimed. "Except this one is way more sophisticated – we're talking signal strength through the stratosphere, here – and I think I've seen it before; it's shown up a couple of times back home…just before the League showed up! Verge, this must be how the League picks up trouble!"

Static grinned to himself. "Sounds like the big boys are coming out to play."

Richie chuckled. "You heard it here, first, sports fans!" he quipped. "Won't they be surprised when Static takes care of business, eh, pal?"

"You said it!" Static laughed, before his expression turned serious. "I'll call back as soon as I'm in the clear."

"Got it, pal; good luck." With that, the transmission ended, as Static flew onwards.

It was hero-time.

XXXXXXXX

The sound of gunfire shattered the silence of the 1st Bayville Savings and Loan, the bank's patrons diving for the floor, all trembling in fright as the six masked gunmen burst through the door. As his five comrades secured the area, the leader stormed towards the teller, taking aim at the teller's face; that was all the incentive that the bank clerk needed to start filling his duffel bag with cash. "Stay sharp, boys!" the leader declared, looking over his shoulder. "We'll be good to go in less than five..!"

But he was cut off, as he saw two of his cohorts' weapons start to spark with electricity, before they were yanked right out the door, taking their wielders with them, as an African-American kid in a black-and-purple getup, standing on some sort of electrical hover-board, hovered into view. "Sorry, but you guys are overdrawn."

Snarling, the lead crook took aim, followed by his remaining pals, and opened fire, but Static quickly generated a field of electrostatic energy around himself, catching the bullets and repelling them to the side harmlessly. With the bullets gone, static readied an energy-pulse…but froze as he saw the lead crook grab one of the bank patrons and put a gun to her temple. "No more funny business, junior." he spat, as his finger tightened on the trigger. Static froze, momentarily conflicted…

Suddenly, a crimson blur darted into the bank, zipping to and from the four thugs…who were now missing their weapons.

As he came to a perfect stop, the Flash grinned. "Thanks for the assist, pal." he said. "You mind?"

Static momentarily blinked…and then he chuckled. "No problem!" And with that, he unleashed an electric surge, shocking two crooks and knocking them into the air, giving Flash the opportunity he needed to dart towards them at top speed, sending them flying with two mid-air kicks, knocking them out.

By then, the last two crooks had had enough; dashing outside, they quickly piled into their getaway van and gunned the motor…but the van didn't move; it only shuddered in place, held back by a pair of iron-hard jaws, lined with razor-sharp teeth. Growling under his breath, Krypto dug in his paws as he held onto the van's back bumper with all his might…until the bumper popped loose, allowing the van to zoom off.

Free of the Superdog's teeth, the last two crooks indulged in a laugh of relieved joy…which died seconds after it had escaped their throats, as they realized with utter horror that their van was slowly being lifted off of the ground..!

After grabbing hold of the van from behind, Superman easily lifted the van onto his shoulders, before he flew back towards the bank, where the police were gathering, while Green Lantern fired his ring-beam with surgical precision, slicing open the roof of the van, before scooping up the last two perps with force-field bubbles. As they reached the bank, touching down on the ground, Superman deposited the van back on the street, while Green Lantern turned the two crooks over to the police with the rest of the perps…who were too scared of the growling Superdog to even think of causing the cops trouble.

Static lightly smiled. "Well, nice working with you guys." he quipped. "We oughtta do it again, sometime."

Green Lantern's eyes narrowed. "What was that, just then?" he snapped.

Static blinked. "Huh?"

"You froze." Green Lantern growled.

Static's eyes narrowed. "He had a hostage; I was thinking…"

"In that kind of situation you adapt; you improvise. Freezing up gets people killed." Green Lantern snapped. "If you're going to stay in this business, you sure as hell better keep that in mind." Turning to his comrades, he added, "I'll see you back at the Tower." With that, he flew off.

Flash grimaced. "Yeesh! What flew up his butt?" he muttered. Krypto just whined in agreement.

Superman just shook his head, before glancing to Static. "Don't let our friend fool you; we appreciate the assistance." he said. "You're from North Dakota, right?"

Static nodded. "Name's Static."

Superman smiled. "Nice to meet you." he answered.

"So, what brings you to our neck of the woods?" Flash asked.

Static chuckled nervously. "Oh, you know…just passing through."

Superman nodded. "Well, if you plan on sticking around for a while, I suggest you be careful."

Static smiled. "Will do, big guy." he answered. "Peace!" With that, he generated his hover-board, hopped on, and zipped off.

Flash chuckled. "So, what now?"

Superman looked worried. "Now I need to ask Ray to contact the Morlocks; they may know something about what happened." 'If they aren't involved…' he added mentally.

"Gotcha, Big Blue; I'd better head back home." Flash said. "I've got a test to study for."

Superman smiled. "J'onn should be along soon to relieve you." he agreed. "Don't study too hard."

Flash laughed. "Who? Me??" he quipped. "See you around, Boy Scout!" With that, he darted off, while Superman and Krypto took to the air, heading for home.

XXXXXXXX

Xavier Institute

As night fell over the Institute, Clark, in his regular clothes, was in his room, working on his dissertation, his hands blurring over the keys, pausing only to think…and to allow the computer's pattern-buffers to catch up with him.

After returning home, he'd had to wait for the others to get back from school – and had helped Hawkgirl avert a flood in Australia in the meantime. Once his friends got back, he'd mentioned his concerns to Ray, who had quickly agreed to contact the Morlocks…but as of yet, there was no word.

Whether that was a good sign or a bad one remained to be seen.

Pausing his typing, Clark decided to get something to drink; standing up, he turned, and headed out of his room, giving Krypto a scratch behind the ears from his napping spot at the foot of his bed, before walking down the hallway.

"Come on…come on…retract..!"

Stopping in mid-step, Clark turned towards the door he'd just passed – Evan's door. For a moment, he debated whether or not he should look…and then chose to make sure his friend was okay. His eyes flashed electric-blue as he activated his X-Ray vision, looking through the door…

The room was in perfect order, with Evan sitting at the foot of his bed, his forearm spikes out…as he struggled to retract them..!

"Evan?" Clark called out. "You okay?"

Through his vision, Clark saw Evan get up; quickly, he deactivated it, just as Evan opened the door…with his arm behind his back. "Yeah, man, I'm fine."

Clark didn't buy it; not this time. "Why are you hiding your arm?"

Evan frowned. "I'm not hiding anything..!" At that, a spike popped out of his shoulder.

Clark's eyes widened. "Ev, are you having trouble controlling your powers..?"

"I'm just having an off-day, man." Evan said. "It happens."

Clark looked concerned. "Evan, if you're having trouble, we can help…"

"I said, I'm fine!" Evan snapped. "I just had one off-day, man! Forgive me if I don't have perfect control 24/7 like some people!" With that, he stormed off, but not before he uttered one last sentence. "We can't all be Superman."

Clark could only stare after his friend in dismay. 'I'm an ass.' he thought. Maybe Evan was right; they did have off-days – Lord knew he'd had his share, learning to get his powers under control. Maybe he was expecting too much…

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Turning, Clark found Ororo there, smiling gently. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough."

Clark sighed. "He's probably right, you know." he said. "Ororo…do I ask too much, sometimes..?"

Ororo just laughed. "Of yourself? Certainly! You and Scott are exactly alike in that regard!" she lightly teased. "But you've never asked too much of anyone else, Kal; we all know it, including Evan." Chuckling, she added, "Sadly, however, we don't have the luxury of your Kryptonian stability; this is a trying time for a young man like Evan…to say nothing of having mutant powers." She smiled. "I'll speak with him later; this is something an Aunt should be able to handle."

Clark smiled. "Thanks, 'Ro."

Ororo smiled back. "Anytime, Kal." With that, she walked after her nephew, while Clark headed back to his room, leaving this matter to the expert.

XXXXXXXX

New York Skate-Park, November 8

The afternoon sun was shining brightly over the skate-park as the legions of participants poured in, presenting their registration papers, which allowed them entrance to the competition, while spectators began to fill the benches, eager for the contest to begin.

As they took their seats in the benches, Charles, Ororo, and the rest of the X-Men and X-Force, looked out at the practice area. Spotting Evan, Charles couldn't help but smile. "Well, Evan's practice certainly seems to be paying off."

Tina nodded. "Yeah; I bet Evan'll win, for sure!"

Her expression worried, Ororo glanced to Charles. 'Charles, are you certain that Evan's little…difficulty won't affect his performance, today?'

Charles smiled gently. 'I am positive, Ororo.' he answered telepathically. 'I briefly scanned Evan using Cerebro; Evan's powers are simply fluctuating due to a momentary hormonal imbalance. I am quite certain that it will correct itself very soon, if it hasn't done so, already; he'll be good as new, in no time.'

At that, Ororo breathed a relieved sigh. 'Well, that's certainly a relief.'

His expression concerned, Scott glanced to Ray. "Any word from the Morlocks, Ray?"

Ray shook his head. "Negatory, Fearless; I haven't heard a peep from Callisto or anyone."

Paige looked nervous. "You don't think that…that they did it, do you?"

"Ah sure hope not, Paige," Sam answered, "but it's not lookin' good…"

"Well, whatever's going on, the League'll figure it out." Jamie said.

Looking around, Jean spotted the refreshment stand. "Hey, I was just going to grab a soda; anyone else want anything?" No-one else spoke up. "Okay; back in a few." Jean added, before she got up, and headed for the refreshment stand.

"Well, it shouldn't be long, now." Lorna commented. "They should be starting, pretty soon."

Alison nodded. "I was going to go wish him good luck."

Scott nodded. "Tell him we all said good luck, too."

"Sure." Alison agreed, before she stood up, and walked towards the practice-area, to wish their friend good luck, while the others stayed behind, waiting for the competition to begin.

XXXXXXXX

After pulling a few practice-tricks on the few practice ramps that had been set up, Evan took a deep breath, trying to calm his thoughts, to focus on the competition…but his subconscious wasn't making it easy for him.

He still felt lousy for yelling at CK, yesterday; the guy had only been trying to help him, and he'd practically chewed Clark's head off. To add insult to injury, Auntie O, having heard his little outburst, had decided to have a little chat with him about his issues; it actually hadn't been as horribly awkward as he'd initially expected, as his Aunt had just calmly taken him aside and talked to him about everything that was bugging him. Truthfully, he felt a bit better about things, now…

…except for feeling guilty for yelling at Clark…

"Hey, Ev."

Turning, Evan spotted Alison walking up to him, smiling. "Hey, PG." Evan replied. "What's up?"

"Oh, the rest of us are just waiting for the competition to start so we can watch you kick the rest of these guys' butts." Alison answered.

Evan chuckled. "Good to hear, Diva."

Alison smiled. "Anyway, we all just wanted to wish you good luck, out there, Evan."

"Thanks." Evan answered. "Hey…when you see Big Blue…just tell him I'm sorry I wigged out on him, okay?"

Alison chuckled. "Sure, Evan; chances are, he's already forgiven and forgotten."

Evan smiled. "Thanks." he replied. "See you guys after." Alison smiled back, before she turned and walked off.

His conscience eased, Evan felt ready to rip; he was going to blow the judges away…

…as soon as he got something to drink; he was parched.

Looking around, Evan spotted several free samples of Powr8 on a nearby table. Shrugging to himself, Evan walked over, picked up a glass, and started to take a sip…

"Poison!!"

That harsh whisper made Evan freeze, as someone nudged against him from behind, causing him to drop the sports drink before it touched his lips. Looking around, Evan tried to spot the person who'd bumped him…and then he thought he saw a figure in a long trenchcoat walking away..!

"Hey, man."

Turning back, Evan spotted Virgil standing there; quickly turning around, he found that the trenchcoat-clad figure was gone.

Virgil arched an eyebrow quizzically. "You okay, man? You look like you've seen a ghost…"

Evan shook his head. "It was nothing." he said quickly. "So, you ready?"

"Oh, yeah. You?" Virgil replied. Evan just nodded. "Anyway, pal, I just wanted to say good luck, out there."

Evan smiled. "You too, man; may the best boarder win."

Virgil grinned. "Same to you, dude." he replied. With that said, all they could do now was wait for the competition to begin.

XXXXXXXX

As she headed for the refreshment stand, Jean moved through the crowd still cluttering up the park; as the crowd began to thin, in anticipation for the start of the competition, Jean paused, as she thought she saw someone familiar. "Mrs. Matthews?"

At the sound of her name, Valerie Matthews turned, startled, before lightly smiling; Valerie was in her mid thirties, fairly tall and of elegant frame, with long, auburn hair, and hazel eyes, clad in a lavender long-sleeved sweater and slim blue jeans. Meeting Valerie was one of the few pleasant memories Jean had from her relationship with Duncan; Mrs. Matthews had always seemed to be a sweet woman, if a bit nervous…which was to be expected, if her husband was any indication. "Hello, Jean." she greeted softly. "How are you today?"

Jean smiled back. "Oh, I'm fine." she answered. "One of my friends is competing, today."

"Oh, that's nice." Valerie said. "My youngest, Mitchell, is competing today, as well."

"Oh, okay; I hope he does well." Jean replied; from the few times she'd met him before, Duncan's younger brother, Mitchell, had been a nice enough kid.

She just hoped that the 'shining' examples provided by his father and brother didn't rub off on him.

That thought brought another to her mind. "Mrs. Matthews?" she asked softly. "Are you…okay with…me?"

Valerie blinked at that…and then gently smiled. "Contrary to what my husband and elder son would indicate, not everyone with the name Matthews hates mutants."

At that, Jean smiled. "Thank you, Mrs. Matthews." she replied. "I hope you enjoy the competition."

"You, too, dear." Valerie answered, before she continued on her way, as Jean headed to the refreshment stand.

As she reached the stand, Jean wasn't too surprised to see that the only thing to drink was various flavours of Powr8; she was about to order a glass of grape-flavoured Powr8, when she spotted a familiar face. "Clark?"

At the mention of his name, Clark – in his reporter persona – along with Chloe, his partner, walked over to her. "Oh, h-hello, Miss Grey." Clark greeted. "It's nice to see you again!"

Jean managed to suppress a knowing smile. "You, too." she answered. "What are you two doing here?"

"We're covering this competition for the Bugle." Chloe answered. "Between this promotion and the media blitz Guy Spears and his partner, Michael Matthews, have launched for this product, Mr. Jameson wants us to get the scoop on it."

Jean's eyes widened in mild surprise. "Mr. Matthews is Spears' business partner??"

Chloe looked mildly annoyed. "Believe me, I was as surprised – and nauseated – as you are, now."

Jean frowned. "I seriously doubt it, Chloe." she answered. "So, what exactly were you two planning on doing, now?"

"Well, we were hoping to talk to some of the competitors," Clark said, "but it looks like the competition is just about to start; I guess we'll have to wait until after it's over."

Jean nodded. "Are you guys thirsty?" she asked.

Chloe lightly smiled. "A little."

"Well, how about I get you both a glass of Powr8?" Jean suggested.

"Gee, that sounds great, Jean!" Clark replied, taking a step forward. "I think I'll have a…"

But Clark hadn't been watching where he was going; as his foot moved, one competitor's board rolled away…right into his path.

"WHOOP!"

As Clark stepped on the board, the board rolled forward, flipping Clark flat onto his back, as the board's momentum shot it into the refreshment stand, rattling it…and causing all the glasses of Powr8 to spill.

Chloe sighed. "And Klutzy Kent strikes again."

Jean couldn't help but chuckle; Clark likely hadn't intended for that little expertly-timed goof-up to go that well. "You okay?"

"Oh, sure, I'm okay!" Clark said, standing up. Noticing the stand-manager scowling at him, he gulped. "G-Gosh, I'm awfully sorry…"

"Come on, Smallville; I'd better get you out of here." Chloe chided, as she started to push Clark away. "It was nice talking to you, Jean!"

"You, too!" Jean replied, as she headed back towards the benches, while Clark and Chloe headed off.

By the time Jean got back to the benches, the competition had started. Quickly, she sat back down next to Scott. "Has Evan gone, yet?"

"Not yet." Scott answered. "I think he'll be up, soon, though."

Looking back to the skate-ramps, Jean saw Mitchell Matthews, a fairly tall, somewhat-lanky 14-year-old with hazel eyes and reddish-blond hair, finish up his routine with an impressive series of handstand tricks on the ramp's rim. As Mitchell skated to the side, another boarder – introduced as Virgil Hawkins – skated onto the park. Virgil quickly got up to speed, flipping into a rail-slide, before speeding up and flying up the ramp, whirling into a perfect triple-spin, landing perfectly. Boarding up to the opposite ramp, Virgil flipped into a series of handstands, before kicking off and racing towards the first ramp, propelling himself into the air…where he executed a series of near-impossible mid-air flips, before landing perfectly, ending his routine.

As Virgil skated away, Evan glided onto the course, the last competitor of the day; quickly picking up speed, Evan dove right into his routine, rocketing up one ramp and blasting into the air, executing a front-to-back flip, a far cry from the spinning flips that most skaters used, before landing perfectly. As he touched down, Evan didn't lose even an ounce of speed, as he kick-flipped into a rail-slide, before kick-flipping around to finish the slide backwards, in 'fakie' stance. Gliding off the rail effortlessly, Evan rode up another ramp, executing a series of handstand tricks, one right after another, before racing towards another ramp and flying into a double-spin. Landing perfectly, Evan moved into his final trick; cutting his speed just enough, he kick-flipped on top of the nearby fire hydrant, whirling into a series of high-speed spins, trying to keep his balance while maintaining momentum, for one…two…three…four…five spins, before dismounting, finishing his routine.

As Evan landed, the crowd erupted into cheers…although none cheered louder than the X-Men and X-Force. "Okay, if that doesn't win it for him, I don't know what will!" Kitty exclaimed.

With the last of the skaters finished, Guy Spears quickly conferred with the judges, before taking the microphone. "Well, I think we have our final three boarders!" he declared. "Our three finalists are…Mitchell Matthews, Virgil Hawkins, and Evan Daniels!"

With that revelation, the crowd erupted in another round of cheering. "I knew he could do it!" Tina exclaimed.

"Remy got t' say, dough; de oth'r two were pretty good, too." Remy said.

Rogue nodded. "And was that red-haired kid Mitchell Matthews?? As in Dunc's kid brother?"

"Apparently so." Scott said.

Jean couldn't help but look worried. "That's not all; apparently, Matthews Senior is Spears' business-partner."

Bobby blinked. "You mean that jackass' dad helps make Powr8??"

Alison grimaced. "No way am I drinking it now."

"Loathe though I am to admit it, I agree with Blaire." Anita muttered.

Charles chuckled softly. "Now, everyone, let's not go jumping to conclusions…"

"Sorry, Professor," Roberto said, "but when one guy gives you as much hell as Dunc has, you tend to get a bit suspicious."

Warren nodded. "Yeah, especially given Spears' track-record." he added. "I did some checking, Professor; Guy Spears seems to have a knack for business flops – all of the enterprises he's started in the past have gone under. He must have needed Mike's help to bail him out."

"Curiouser and curiouser…" Amara said.

Frowning to herself, Jean couldn't help but agree; for Evan's sake, she hoped she was wrong…but she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was rotten in the skate-park…

XXXXXXXX

From his seat in the benches along with his parents, Duncan couldn't help but scowl as he heard the names of the other two finalists. "You hear that, Dad?"

"I most certainly did, son." Michael answered.

Valerie just smiled, ignoring their sentiment. "Isn't that wonderful, Duncan? Your brother made the finals!"

Duncan snorted. "It'd be nicer if there weren't two freaks in there with him."

Valerie frowned. "Now, Duncan…"

"Our son is right, Valerie." Michael said coldly. "I don't know about the other one, but that Daniels mutant is dangerous. He shouldn't have been allowed to enter."

Valerie looked stricken. "That may be your opinion, Michael," she said, "but if so, kindly keep it to yourself; talk like that will make our boys prejudiced…"

Duncan laughed. "A little late for that, Mom; I've hated muties ever since Grey dumped me, last year."

"Well, you were hardly a gentleman towards her, mister." Valerie lightly scolded. "She seemed like such a nice girl…"

"It was an act, Valerie; she was using our son to fit in, and she disposed of him as soon as she didn't need him, anymore." Michael muttered. "And these are the creatures that our society holds up as 'heroes'."

Valerie sighed to herself. "I'm going to go congratulate Mitchell." she said. "I'll be back soon." With that, she walked off.

Duncan just frowned; it was so annoying, the way his mom babied Mitch, sometimes. The way she was going, Mitch would never realize how dangerous mutants were. "Those muties probably cheated to get into the finals." he muttered. "Somebody ought to do something…"

"Someone should." Michael agreed idly. "Right now, we have more important things to worry about…like making sure that the next set of ramps are set up properly; we wouldn't want to have an accident while some of the finalists are performing…"

His eyes widening, Duncan looked to his dad, who looked back with a neutral expression…but the sly twinkle in his eye told it all.

"Dad," Duncan said, slowly smiling, "mind if I go hang with my friends for a sec?"

Michael just smiled. "Not at all, son." Grinning, Duncan headed of, to go round up some of his football pals.

It was time to teach those freaks a lesson.

XXXXXXXX

After the little skateboard mishap, Clark and Chloe had gotten statements from several of the judges, before simply waiting to the side for the competition to conclude. As he watched Evan get selected to head to the finals, Clark couldn't help but smile, especially as he heard the others cheer for Evan. Spotting Alison among them, Clark's smile couldn't help but widen…

"I saw that."

Clark froze, as he turned towards a smiling Chloe. "You saw Alison, didn't you?"

Clark gulped. "Uh…"

"Thought so." Chloe continued. "Hard to believe that she used to chase you around, every summer, isn't it?"

Clark chuckled. "Oh, yeah."

Chloe lightly smiled. "So, you gonna go talk to her?"

Clark froze up. "Huh?"

"I'm sure she'd be thrilled to see you, again." Chloe said. "And who knows? She might still be carrying a torch…"

"I don't know, Chloe." Clark answered. "She's already dating this guy Kal; she's probably got better things to do than hang out with a farm-boy goofball…"

Chloe sighed to herself. "Seriously, Smallville, you have got to invest in some self-esteem."

Clark chuckled. "I'll see what I can do." he answered.

Looking around, Chloe sighed. "Pity Peter couldn't be here to take pictures."

Clark chuckled. "He had a few errands to run."

"Anyway, why don't I go get us some drinks?" Chloe suggested. "You just stay put, mister; I don't think we need another mishap, today." With that, she headed off.

Alone, Clark cast a discreet glance towards his taushi in the benches, this time meeting her gaze; as she saw him, she gave him a secret smile, likely having heard everything, before looking back towards the skate-park. Smiling back, Clark looked towards the ramps being set up…and froze, as he saw several shadowed silhouettes behind the ramps, lingering out of sight…when the construction crew had started to move clear. His eyes narrowed as his vision focused in on them…and then they widened, as he saw Duncan Matthews and his football pals tampering with the ramps…with Evan set to go first!

Clark quickly looked around; the competition was set to start in minutes, and there was no way to warn Evan. He couldn't get to the others in time, either…so he decided to go straight for the source.

Moving through the crowd as quickly as he could, Clark headed towards Guy Spears, who was currently talking to someone Clark couldn't see, as Guy was between him and the other person. "M-Mr. Spears!" Clark called out, hurrying towards him. "Please, sir, a moment..!"

Guy just looked over his shoulder at Clark, and smiled. "Sorry, son, but I won't be making any statements to the press until after the competition…"

"It isn't about that, sir!" Clark cried. "I have reason to believe that some teenagers have tampered with the ramps..!"

It was then that Clark got a good look at the other person, and recognized him, as Michael Matthews stepped into view. "That's quite a big accusation, mister." he said coldly. "I assume you have proof..?"

Clark gestured towards the ramps. "I saw them, sir; they're right over..!" But as he looked towards the ramps, he saw that Duncan and his pals had already left.

Michael scowled. "Look, kid, until you have concrete evidence, I'm afraid that what you 'saw' doesn't carry much weight." he sneered. "Remember that before you let fly with any outrageous accusations; not even the press is immune to charges of slander." With that, he and Guy walked away.

Clark could only watch the skating area in dismay; the finals had already started…

As the crowd cheered, Evan quickly got up to speed, before launching into a fakie railslide, dismounting with a spinning kickflip, causing the crowd to cheer again. Gathering speed, Evan raced up the ramp, launching himself into the air…

…but just as he cleared it, the ramp started to collapse, turning the excited cheers to screams of horror.

Momentarily suspended in midair, Evan could only watch as the ramp started to fall back towards his fello boarders; as the ramp fell towards them, he saw Virgil start to lead some of the others out of the way…but then he saw Mitchell trip and fall.

Acting quickly, Evan altered the momentum of his spin-trick, shifting from a forward-flip to a side-spin…giving him the perfect shot; concentrating hard, Evan formed two long bone-spikes on his forearms, wincing in pain as the extra size of the bones stuck in his arms, before firing them; the bones lanced into the trunk of the tree just above where Mitchell had fallen…causing the falling ramp to catch on them and stop momentarily, giving Mitchell just enough time to get clear, as Evan came out of his spin, landing on his feet, breathing a sigh of relief…

"Disqualify that mutie!!"

Duncan's accusation cut through the silence that had formed. "That freak used his powers!" Duncan accused. "He tried to off my little brother..!"

"Oh, that's bull, and you know it!" Virgil shouted. "He was trying to save him, dumbass!"

"He probably cheated!" one of the boarders who'd been eliminated shouted. "He probably used his powers to get to the finals!"

That accusation caused Guy to walk over. "Is this true?" he asked Evan. "are you a mutant?"

Frowning, Evan nodded. "Yeah," he answered, "but my powers don't have anything to do with..!"

Guy's expression turned grave. "I'm afraid that there's going to have to be an inquiry." he said. "If there was any cheating…"

Evan scowled at that. "Save it!" he spat. "I already know how this is going to end!" With that, he turned, and stormed off, grabbing a sample of Powr8 from the refreshment table to drown his sorrows. As Evan started to take a sip, Clark could only look on helplessly, shocked at the utter injustice of what had just happened…

…but his shock turned to utter horror, as he saw Evan convulse the very second he took a sip, dropping to his knees, as dozens upon dozens of bone-spikes started to pop out of his skin, firing off wildly, driving the crowd into a panic.

As Evan's spikes shot towards the benches, Jean and K'imm quickly raised telekinetic shields, repelling the bones, while Ororo, nearly frantic with worry, tried to reach her nephew, but the crowd kept pushing her away.

As he fought to get through the crowd to reach his friend, Clark's eyes widened as he saw a trenchcoat-clad figure pick Evan up and start to walk away. "Hey!!" Clark shouted, racing after the figure, but his shout only served to spook whoever it was; the figure darted into a dark alley by a nearby building, zipping out of sight. After managing to break free of the crowd, Clark ran into the alley…and found it empty.

Empty, that is, save for the manhole at the very end of the alley.

As he saw the manhole, Clark's eyes narrowed firmly, before he reached under his shirt and took out his communicator. "Boy Scout to Slim Shady; it looks like our not-quite-so-friendly sewer-dwellers are involved in this. I just saw one of them take Evan."

"Sounds like we'll need to organize a rescue-mission." Scott answered. "We'll head back to the Institute and see if we can get a fix on him."

"You'd better take some med-kits, too." Clark said. "Evan's sick…and I'm betting that Powr8 has something to do with it; Evan's symptoms started the second he took a swig."

"If that's true, then we need a sample; we need to find out exactly what we're dealing with."

"Already on it, Cyke; I'll contact you when I know more. Boy Scout out." Ending the transmission, Clark headed back to the skate-park; as he walked by the spot where Evan had fallen, he quickly picked up the bottle that Evan had drank from, before grabbing a full sample-bottle of Powr8 from the refreshment table.

He found Chloe near the entrance to the park; walking over to her, he handed her the full bottle. "Chloe, I need you to get this to the crime lab; I want a full toxicological scan run on this stuff."

"What? Why?" Chloe asked, confused.

"Evan Daniels was drinking this stuff when his powers went haywire." Clark answered. "I have reason to believe that Powr8 had something to do with it."

Chloe's eyes widened as she took the bottle. "Oh my God…"

"If this stuff is toxic – if it did poison Evan – then we need an official laboratory test-result, along with a sworn statement from an expert to back it up." Clark finished.

Chloe nodded, before she started to smile. "Just when I start to think you're a goofball, Clark, you go and do something like this." she said. "I'll get right on it."

"Thanks." Clark replied. "I'm going to do a little snooping; I'll contact you when I know more." Chloe nodded, before she turned, and hurried off. Alone again, Clark darted out of the skate-park, zipping into a dark alley, where he took out his belt-computer and scanned the bottle Evan had drank from. "Boy Scout calling Eye-in-the-Sky; I'm sending you a readout from a tox-scan – I need it processed A.S.A.P. Send me the results as soon as you're done."

"Understood, Kent. Watchtower out."

As Batman ended the transmission, Clark headed further into the alley, as he quickly shed his street-clothes, revealing his uniform underneath; after hiding his clothes, Superman took to the air, flying off, before hailing the others via his communicator, to rendezvous with them, as he started to scan the streets and the sewers below them, looking for their friend.

XXXXXXXX

After Evan's unofficial disqualification, and the ensuing panic, Virgil quickly met up with Richie outside the park. "Man, remind me to never get Evan mad!" Richie exclaimed.

"Something ain't right; Evan's not the type to freak out that much over something like this." Virgil said. "And it happened just after Evan drank that Powr8; I'll bet my board that stuff's got something to do with it."

"Looks like you're not the only one." Richie replied, glancing towards the sky; looking up, Virgil spotted Superman, flying off, likely to try and figure out what the heck was going on.

Virgil nodded. "Up for a bit more hacking?"

Richie grinned. "What kind of a sidekick would I be if I wasn't?" Grinning back at his pal, Virgil hurried off, to find a dark place to change.

It was go-time for Static.

XXXXXXXX

When Evan came to, the first thing he realized was that he felt horrible.

Everything hurt, from his scalp down to his toes, accompanied by an unending aching sensation deep in his bones; he felt like someone had squashed him with a paver and then blown him back up like a carnival balloon…

"I see that you're awake."

Evan's eyes widened, as he quickly sat up…and then realized just how stupid an idea that had been. Looking around, he found himself in a sewer tunnel…and there, sitting down next to him, was a young woman, close to his own age, with fairly dark skin, long ebony hair, and a single brown eye, her other eye covered by an eyepatch…from where her abusive father had cut it out, Evan knew. She wore black pants and an olive-green tank top, both of which had seen better days, underneath her brown trenchcoat…but Evan would have recognized her anywhere.

"Callisto??" Evan choked out.

Callisto smiled wearily. "I told you not to drink that stuff, top-worlder."

Evan's eyes widened. "That was you??"

Callisto nodded. "That drink…it's poison to us."

It was then that Evan noticed that Callisto looked almost as bad as he must have. "What happened?"

Callisto coughed. "We tried to stop them…"

"So it was you guys that sabotaged the Powr8 plant." Evan said.

"We had no choice." Callisto countered. "They were killing us."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Evan asked. "We would have helped…"

Callisto frowned. "This was our problem; we thought we could handle it ourselves." she muttered, before coughing again. "We had thought that attacking the plant would have been enough…but they didn't stop." Another cough. "Healer said that this wasn't something we could do alone…"

Evan's eyes widened in realization. "…so you came up to find us."

Callisto nodded. "I knew that if I took one of you, the rest of you would come." she answered. "After I saw you drink that poison, I knew you were the obvious choice."

Groaning, Evan started to stand up. "All you had to do was ask, Callisto." he muttered. "I'll just head back up and let the others know…"

"No."

Callisto's reply surprised him. "But I thought you wanted us to help…"

"That isn't what I meant." Callisto answered. "You're one of us, now." With that, she gestured to a nearby murky pool. Confused, Evan walked over, looked down…and froze.

His reflection showed dozens of spiky growths jutting out of his face, as well as his arms, chest, and legs; concentrating hard, he tried to retract the spikes…and got nothing. Focusing harder, he tried again; likewise, zip.

He was stuck like this.

As the colour began to drain out of his face, Evan managed to find his voice. "So…what do we do, now?"

Slowly, Callisto got to her feet. "Now we wait for your friends to get here." she answered. "Between all of us, we should be able to stop them…" But she got no further, as a dart shot out of the shadows, embedding itself in her neck, causing her to fall to the ground, out cold, seconds before a second dart shot towards Evan, but hit one of the bony plates that had formed on his chest underneath his clothes. Evan quickly looked around, reflexively popping out his wrist-spikes, trying to spot their assailants…seconds before another dart hit him in the neck.

As his world went blurry, Evan felt himself fall to the ground hard, before he faintly saw numerous black-clad figures step out of the shadows, reaching for him…and then, he passed out.

XXXXXXXX

The sky was turning red as the X-Van raced towards the rendezvous coordinates that Superman had given them; inside the van, the mood was a tense one, as the X-Men, plus Storm, who'd insisted on coming, as well as Krypto, were all silent with worry about their friend…

"Watchtower calling X-Men; respond."

As Batman's voice came in over the radio, Cyclops quickly returned the hail. "We're here, Batman; any word on Evan?"

"Negative, Cyclops; neither J'onn nor Hawkgirl could get a fix on him." Batman answered. "However, we do have the results of the tox-screen that Superman wanted run; he was right – Evan was poisoned."

Storm suppressed a gasp, as Krypto softly whined.

"So the Powr8 did it?" Shadowcat asked.

"Correct." Batman replied. "The drink contains an impurity that causes something akin to an allergic reaction in cells positive for the X-Gene; contact with it triggers a hypersensitive reaction…"

"…causing mutant powers to go nuts." Rogue finished.

"I'm afraid that's just the start." Batman continued. "Repeated exposure will cause mutant cells to burn out and become unresponsive to any stimuli…even normal ones."

Power Girl's eyes widened. "So…if a mutant drinks too much Powr8, they could..?"

Batman's silence spoke volumes.

Storm's voice was shaky. "Can you cure him?"

"If we knew exactly how the drink is made, we should be able to determine the exact nature of the impurity."

Cyclops nodded. "We'll have to ask Spears about his business practices, then."

Siryn arched an eyebrow. "Since we did not see any others exhibiting symptoms, I assume that the drink is harmless to non-mutants..?"

"Only at first." Batman answered. "The impurity is bioaccumulative; it may not be toxic to normal humans after one bottle, but after ten or more…"

"Merde…" Gambit muttered. "Gambit gon' be more careful 'bout what 'e drinks, fr'm now on."

"We're coming up on the rendezvous point, now." Cyclops reported. "We have X-Force on standby; if anything comes up, don't hesitate to notify them."

"Understood. Watchtower out."

By then, they had reached the rendezvous point; a street in the older part of town, right in front of a manhole cover. As they parked the van and got out, Cyclops saw that Superman and Green Lantern were already waiting for them. Superman looked grim. "Has Batman told you..?"

"…about Powr8 being toxic?" Avalanche finished. "Oh, yeah."

Nightcrawler looked worried. "But vhy did zhe Morlocks take Evan?"

"That's what we're gonna find out, Fuzzy." Scarlet Witch said.

Green Lantern nodded. "Think we'll be able to track these 'Morlocks' down?"

Phoenix chuckled. "With Krypto's nose? Easily!" she answered, as Krypto barked in agreement.

"We'd better get moving." Superman said. "There's no telling where they might have taken Evan…"

"In that case, I'm guessing you guys might need a little backup."

At the sound of that voice, they all turned around in time to see a young African-American man, in a black-white-and-dark-purple uniform step off a hover-board of crackling electricity onto the street behind them, his board fading away as he did. Green Lantern's eyes narrowed. "You again?"

"You know this guy?" Power Girl asked.

Superman nodded. "Everyone, Static; Static, everyone."

Static chuckled, and gave them a brief wave. "I was just in the neighbourhood, and thought you might need an extra pair of hands."

"The last thing we need is some hothead kid getting into something he can't handle." Green Lantern said. "I suggest you go home."

Static's eyes narrowed. "Look, pal," he shot back, "maybe I'm not a big-leaguer like you guys, and maybe I don't know as much about this as you guys do…but I do know that somebody needs help, so if you've got a problem with me wanting to help fix it, I suggest you say so; otherwise, I suggest that you should step off."

There was a momentary silence at that; Green Lantern simply arched an eyebrow in response, considering him…while the X-Men braced themselves for the inevitable…

"You follow our plan." Green Lantern said. "You do what we tell you; step out of line, and you're gone."

Static half-smiled. "Cool by me."

The X-Men all breathed a relieved sigh. "We'd better get moving." Superman said, lifting up the manhole cover. "Let's go." With that, they started to head down into the sewer depths.

Once they were all inside, Power Girl generated a light-field around herself, illuminating the tunnel they were in, supplementing Green Lantern's force-field glow. "So, these 'Morlock' guys…" Static began, "…they live down here?"

Cyclops nodded. "They're mutants whose mutations are more obvious than most, and who feel cast out from society."

Static's expression saddened. "Dude, that is the very definition of raw deal."

"My sentiments exactly." Siryn agreed, frowning. "One could only feel sorrow for anyone forced to live here."

Rogue smirked. "Too much for ya, Princess?"

Siryn glared at her. "I will do what is necessary."

Green Lantern looked around. "You sure that pooch's nose can find anything, down here?"

Superman chuckled, giving Krypto's head a scratch. "He did it before." he replied, before kneeling down to his pet. "Okay, boy; you know what to do…"

"That will not be necessary, Superman."

Instantly, they all turned towards the owner of that voice…and found an older man, in his mid fifties, with fairly long, greying hair, a thin white beard, and green eyes, clad in a tattered priestly raiment, his white collar turned light brown from the dirt.

"Healer." Superman greeted the Morlocks' spiritual leader. "I wish we could have met again under better circumstances."

Healer smiled weakly. "As do I." he replied. "With all that has happened, I believed that you would come, and since this was the way that young Raymond last used, I felt it a safe bet. No doubt you all have questions."

"No kidding." Phoenix said. "What's going on, Healer?"

Healer simply raised his hand. "Before I answer, there is something that you must see." he replied. "Follow me." With that, he turned, and walked away, as the others promptly followed.

Healer led them to the Morlocks' humble dwelling, a series of makeshift lodgings amongst the sewer-pipes; the rest of the Morlocks were all there…and every single one of them looked deathly ill.

Healer's grim expression only worsened. "This began several weeks ago." he murmured. "It started with Torpid getting a stomachache; we had thought it was just a simple virus…but when the others started falling ill, we knew that it was something else."

Just then, the brown-haired, somewhat-turtle-faced Lucid walked by, looking particularly ill, his eyes almost glazed. Healer looked stricken. "Lucid, why didn't you tell me you had gotten this bad?" He reached out to the boy…

"N-No, really, Healer, I'm okay," Lucid murmured weakly, "you should save your strength…" But Healer ignored him, and took hold of the boy's shoulders, his hands beginning to glow with a golden light; almost instantly, Lucid's colour started to improve, until he was almost in perfect health…but he looked stricken as he saw Healer stagger back after letting go.

Quickly, Superman moved to catch him, helping the old priest into a chair. "You've been healing non-stop, haven't you?"

Healer suppressed a cough. "The poison…it's in our water." he wheezed. "We tried to boil it out, but it boils at the same temperature as water…there's no getting rid of it." He coughed again. "I've done the best I can, but all I can do is keep the others alive…and I only have so much to give…"

Cyclops looked stricken, as he took out the med-kit clipped to his belt, as the others did the same. "You just rest now, Healer; let us help, now." he said. With that, they got to work.

Within minutes, each of the Morlocks had been seen to and were resting in their lodgings. As she tucked the little girl Torpid in, Power Girl sighed. "Isn't there anything more we can do for them?"

"Not until we know what we're dealing with." Phoenix answered. Glancing to Healer, she added, "You said that this poison is in your water; how did it get there?"

His energy momentarily renewed, Healer stood up. "I know where it came from." he whispered. "I'll show you." Slowly, the old priest started to walk off, as the others followed him.

Healer led them to a sewer-pipe a few meters from the Morlocks' home…where a dark, wine-coloured liquid was trickling out of the pipe and into the water. "We noticed this substance start to come out of the pipe at around the same time as this started." Healer explained. "This feeds into the water-supply we use to purify our drinking-water."

"Where does it lead?" Shadowcat asked.

"I'll tell you where." Static said, as realization dawned on him.

Superman nodded in agreement. "The Powr8 bottling plant." he said. "That's why you guys went after it."

Healer nodded. "Callisto found out where the pipe led, several days ago; after I healed her, Caliban, Torpid, Cybelle, and Scaleface, they went to try and stop it."

Nightcrawler gulped. "Ve have to tell the Professor."

Cyclops nodded. "If we let the Professor know what's happening, he'll get Spears to kill production." he said.

Healer looked relieved. "Thank you."

"Give back Evan and we'll call it even." Storm said.

"One of the Morlocks took him when he was poisoned by Powr8, a short time ago." Superman explained. "He needs treatment."

"Callisto said that she was going to bring one of your comrades here to lure the rest of you here," Healer said, confused, "but she should have been back, by now…"

Green Lantern's eyes narrowed. "Something's not right, here." he muttered. "Is there any way to locate him?"

"Caliban would have been able to do it, if he weren't so weak." Healer replied.

Cyclops nodded. "Jean?"

Closing her eyes, Phoenix concentrated, focusing on Evan…before her eyes opened wide. "He's at the bottling plant! Callisto is with him!"

Gambit shook his head. "Dis don' look good; dat crazy fille be tryin' t' bring de 'ouse down, again…"

"No…no, I don't think so." Phoenix answered. "Something is wrong."

"We'd better check this out." Superman said.

"Agreed." Cyclops added. "We'd better hail X-Force, and have them get down here with more med-kits."

Superman nodded. "I'll let Hawkgirl know what's happening, and have her meet us there." he agreed. "Let's move!" With that, they all headed out of the sewer, to get to the bottom of this.

XXXXXXXX

Powr8 bottling plant

His mind stuck in blind panic, Guy Spears hurried into his bottling plant, finding Michael Matthews calmly sitting in his office. "It's over, Mike; we're ruined!"

Michael just looked at him calmly, before he stood up. "Calm down, Spears…"

"Calm down?! Didn't you hear me?!" Guy wailed. "It's over!! I just got off the phone with Charles Xavier, Mike; apparently, our little sports-drink is highly toxic to mutants, and toxic in high doses to everyone else! Our product kills people, Mike! When the FDA finds out..!"

Michael's slap cut off Guy's panic. "They're not going to find out, Spears."

Guy gulped. "But they are, Mike! Apparently, there's a leak in one of our tanks; it leaked into the sewers, where it's been poisoning some colony of mutant outcasts; if they start talking..!"

Michael chuckled. "Yes, I've heard about that." he interrupted. "An…associate of mine told me about them when I mentioned that our saboteurs escaped to the sewers; he also suggested a little solution to our problem." With that, he gestured to the office window, overlooking the rest of the plant.

Looking down, Guy saw about two dozen black-clad men walk into the factory. "In order to keep this from getting out, we need to destroy the evidence." Michael said. "These men are going to blow this place sky-high…after we've left and established alibis, of course. The blame will fall to our unknown saboteurs, who for reasons unknown chose to dump our entire supply into the sewers, while we collect the insurance and get back everything we've invested and more."

At that, Guy smiled; that could just work…until he remembered one last detail. "But what about the Institute kid that got sick..?"

"You mean that one?" Turning, Guy looked closr, and saw the Daniels kid, covered in what looked like bony plates, along with a teenage girl, both being dragged in by the strangers.

"We destroy all the evidence. Spears." Michael finished. "No witnesses."

Guy's eyes went wide. "Mike…"

"If we don't, we both get sent to jail, Spears." Michael said. "It's them or us…and I choose us."

Guy was silent for a moment…before he nodded; there was no other choice.

"Okay." he agreed.

Michael smiled. "Then we'd best get started." With that, they both headed off, to establish alibis, while their new associates did their work.

XXXXXXXX

By the time that Superman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, the X-Men, Storm, Static, and Krypto had reached the bottling plant, the sun was just starting to set. As they stood upon a rooftop overlooking the plant, Superman looked through the plant's walls with his X-Ray vision, scanning its interior thoroughly. "We've got company." he reported. "I count around twenty-four, all with light armaments and packing enough heavy explosives to bring the whole place down."

"Can you see Evan?" Storm asked.

Superman nodded. "They've got both him and Callisto under guard."

Scarlet Witch frowned. "It looks like Spears found out about his drink making mutants sick."

"An' now 'e's gon' wipe out de evidence." Gambit said.

"Right along with any hope for a cure." Static muttered.

Green Lantern looked grim. "We need to access Spears' files before those goons delete them."

Hawkgirl nodded. "And if this place goes up, Spears gets away with the whole thing." she agreed.

"They're placing most of the explosives around the conveyor belt and the bottling tanks." Superman observed. "Shadowcat, think you can short them out?"

"No problem." Shadowcat answered.

"We'll need to get to those files fast." Cyclops said. "Gambit, do you think you can hack their system?"

"Easier den Tante Mattie's 'omemade gumbo."

Cyclops blinked. "Right." he said. "Nightcrawler, can you 'port Gambit into the computer room without being seen?"

"Jawohl!"

Storm looked stricken. "We'll need to get Evan and Callisto clear quickly, because once the shooting starts..!"

Superman chuckled. "I think that Power Girl and I have that covered."

"The rest of us will have to take those guys out before they get a chance to set off any explosives." Green Lantern said. "As soon as we're in, we pick our targets and take them down fast."

Cyclops nodded. "We'll give Nightcrawler and Gambit five minutes to get in and get the files." he agreed. "After that, we move in."

"Okay by Gambit." Gambit said. "Time t' 'aul tail, Fuzzy." With that, Nightcrawler simply placed his hand on Gambit's shoulder, before 'porting them both away, while the others began counting down five minutes.

XXXXXXXX

Inside the bottling plant, as their comrades continued placing their explosives around the plant's machinery, two of the demolition team walked into the main office, where the main computer was housed. As one sat down at the computer, quickly bringing up the main database, he started to run a delete-command, while his comrade kept an eye out, just in case…

As the watchman inhaled, he suddenly caught whiff of a pungent, sulphurous odour. "Jeez, Sikes!" he wheezed, grimacing. "Lay off the bean burritos, will ya?!"

Sikes gagged, his delete command interrupted. "It wasn't me, Franco!"

Franco scowled, turning around. "Well then who was it..?" he began…but then he froze, as he saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes staring out from the shadows at him.

Before Franco could even cry out, the yellow-eyed shadow leapt at him, tackling him to the ground and knocking him out with a punch. Utterly terrified, Sikes raced towards the door, to warn the others…but his cry was cut off, as a steel staff slammed the side of his knee, sending him falling, before the staff smacked him into unconsciousness.

After taking out one of the thugs, Nightcrawler quietly pulled the two of them out of sight and closed the door, while Gambit sat down at the computer, cancelling the delete command. "Did ve get here in time?" Nightcrawler whispered.

Gambit scowled. "Dese guys already deleted a good bit," he muttered…before he smiled, "but dey didn' get de procedure used t' make de stuff!"

Nightcrawler breathed a relieved sigh as Gambit started the download…and then gulped nervously as he saw the silhouettes of the other goons start to approach the office through the window. "So…zhink zhey heard us?"

Gambit frowned. "Gambit 'ope not; 'e needs a bit more time." he muttered. "Now'd be a pretty good time f'r de others t' step in…" With that, all he could do was keep the download running, while the rest of the thugs started to close on them…

XXXXXXXX

Once the last of the explosives had been placed, they had been ready to activate the timers when Sikes' strangled yell came from the computer room; gesturing to three of his comrades, the leader of the demolition team started to move towards the office, flanked by three others, weapons at the ready…

Suddenly, a massive green energy-beam lanced through the ceiling, slicing it open like a scalpal; as the entire demolition team turned towards the now-open hole, they saw a blast of pure crimson force blaze through it, sending two of them flying, followed by a pulse of ethereal fire, singing another two. Before they could react, Hawkgirl dove in through the hole, landing on her feet amidst a group of four goons, unleashing a wide swing of her mace, sending them all flying, and giving, Green Lantern, Static, Storm, Krypto, Phoenix and Cyclops time to descend into the factory, with Phoenix levitating herself and Cyclops down.

As the remaining thugs turned towards them – and thus ignoring the shadowy female silhouette moving through the machinery, along with the occasional sparking whenever she passed through an explosive – they opened fire, prompting Green Lantern to raise an energy shield, protecting them all…just as a cloud of green smoke appeared to the right of the goons, as Siryn 'ported herself, Avalanche, and Rogue into the factory. After Rogue gave Avalanche a quick tap, the two of them unleashed an impressive earthquake that literally shook the weapons right out of their hands, before Siryn unleashed a sonic scream, sending six thugs flying.

As another six tried to recover their weapons, Static and Storm unleashed a double-electrical blast, electrifying their guns and shocking any thug stupid enough to try and touch them…giving Krypto the opening he needed; his fangs bared, the Superdog barreled into one thug, knocking him into the air, before he grabbed the goon by the ankle with his teeth, and then throwing the screaming felon into two more, knocking them down. As the other three tried to run away, Cyclops fired an optic blast, overlaid with one of Phoenix's TK-pulses; as the blast connected, the pulse detonated, spreading the blast's energy out in an impressive burst, knocking all three of them down.

In panic, the last two thugs guarding Evan and Callisto took aim at their hostages, to use them as leverage…but their leverage was quickly taken away, as two blurs – one silver, and one blue – darted past them…and then they suddenly realized that they were missing both their weapons and their hostages, as they turned and saw Superman and Power Girl there, between them and the recovering Evan and Callisto, with their guns, now crushed, in Superman's hands. Superman and Power Girl looked to each other, nodding in understanding, before they both unleashed bursts of gale-breath, sending the two goons flying.

With the would-be arsonists dispatched, \superman turned back to Evan, whose torso was now almost covered in bony, armour-like plates, his clothes in tatters, with only his head bare. "You guys okay?"

Evan looked at his hands, his expression darkening. "I guess."

By then, Gambit, Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat walked over to them, their respective tasks complete. "Did you get the files?" Superman asked.

Gambit grinned. "Not only did we get de process Spears used f'r makin' dis stuff," he reported, "but we got proof dat 'e been skippin' on de las' few steps in de process…where de 'mpurities get taken out."

Nightcrawler grinned. "Ve got him dead to rights!"

Phoenix smiled wryly. "Any chance that Matthews Senior was involved?"

Gambit shook his head. "Sorry, chere; if 'e was, it got d'leted 'fore we could find it."

Superman chuckled. "Well, once we turn Spears over to the police, there's always the chance that he'll give up his partner-in-crime."

"So much for honour among thieves." Hawkgirl quipped.

"Kitty, did you take care of those explosives?" Cyclops asked.

Shadowcat nodded. "Their detonators are all fried." she began. "They won't be causing any…"

But Callisto's shout of warning interrupted her. "LOOK OUT!!"

Turning, Superman spotted one thug reaching for his gun; before anyone could stop him, he took aim, and fired…at the bottling tank with the explosive still attached..!

"Lantern!! Power Girl!! SHIELD!!" Superman shouted; quickly, Green Lantern and Power Girl raised their respective barriers around them all, seconds before the bullet hit…

BOOOOM!!

The tank exploded in an impressive blast, soaking the entire room with the toxic drink…as well as dumping gallons of Powr8 into the dump-basin…which leaked into the sewer.

As the tide of the deadly drink subsided, Callisto looked stricken. "We…we have to warn the others..!"

"There's no time; that swill will reach them in minutes…" Siryn murmured.

"X-Force should be able to slow it down." Cyclops said.

"Not enough to evacuate the Morlocks." Hawkgirl said. "We need a plan…"

Static's eyes widened. "Hey, Supes? How hot are those eye-rays of yours?"

Superman blinked. "On average, they can superheat pretty much anything to temperatures in excess of 50000 degrees Kelvin."

"So you could vaporize that stuff, right?"

Green Lantern shook his head. "It's still toxic as a gas, kid."

"Not if he keeps heating it!"

Superman's eyes widened. "Plasma!!" he exclaimed. "Static, that's brilliant!"

Rogue arched an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"Plasma is the fourth state of matter, the kind that exists in stars; it's what you get when you superheat a gas." Superman explained. "At these temperatures, electrons are stripped from atoms, resulting in a highly charged, corrosive semi-gaseous substance…which can be manipulated by electrical fields..!"

"Like mine!" Static finished. "If you can superheat that stuff and turn it into plasma, I know I can tow it out of there with my powers!"

Superman nodded. "The rest of you, catch up to us as soon as you can; there's no time to lose!" With that, he darted off at top speed, while Static quickly generated another hover-board, and took off after him, to intercept the toxic liquid, before it was too late.

XXXXXXXX

New York sewers

The very second they had gotten Cyclops' hail, Iceman, Havok, and Berzerker darted into the leaking pipe to intercept the Powr8, to buy time for Superman and Static, as well as to give Angel, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Leviathan, Phantom, Multiple, Jubilee, Android, and Leap a chance to get the Morlocks to safety. As they reached a fairly long section of pipe, they stopped as they felt the pipe walls start to shudder…seconds before the mass of Powr8 rushed towards them…

"Okay, guys! Push it back!!" Iceman ordered. Nodding, Havok and Berzerker unleashed force-blasts and electric surges, slowing the rushing liquid enough for Iceman to raise a solid wall of ice between them and the poison. As the liquid hit the wall, the ice held firm, earning relieved sighs from all three of them…

Crack!

Iceman froze as he saw the hairline crack start to form in his ice, as the Powr8 started to seep through, turning it dark red. "Fall back!!" he ordered, before taking out his communicator. "Colossus, Boom-Boom, Polaris, move up to the secondary intercept point!" With that, the three of them darted away, as the cracking of the ice began to grow louder…

The three of them ran as fast as they could to the second intercept point several meters away, where Colossus, Boom-Boom, and Polaris were waiting for them; once they were on the other side, Boom-Boom quickly lay down several charges, which promptly detonated, collapsing part of the tunnel. Colossus then began to move large sections of rubble into place to form a solid barricade, as Polaris did the same by using her powers to repel the rubble into place. Once the barricade was solid, Berzerker used his powers to weld the rubble together, before Iceman put up an extra ice-wall for good measure…

…and then the liquid broke through the first ice-wall, rushing through the tunnel and smashing into their second barrier; as the Powr8 hit, small streams started to trickle through…

Havok grimaced. "Tell me that'll hold."

"We can't guarantee it." Iceman said, switching on his communicator. "Magma, Miss Martian, both of you move up to the third intercept point; we'll be there soon." With that, they all hurried away, as their barricade started to bulge…

Magma and Miss Martian were already waiting for them when they reached the final intercept point; if the Powr8 got through here, there was nothing standing between it and the others. Assuming her fiery form, Magma fired a stream of flame into the tunnel, melting part of its wall in on itself, forming a molten barrier, which Iceman quickly cooled with an ice-blast, solidifying it. Magma then formed a second barrier, and then a third. "Will that hold it?" she asked.

Iceman looked grim. "Let's hope so."

He was answered then by the sound of the toxic liquid breaking through their second barrier to strike the first of Magma's walls…before breaking through to the second…and then the third, which began to swell…and burst apart, rushing towards them…to impact against Miss Martian's TK-shield.

Berzerker grimaced. "Jeez, how much of this crap did Spears make??"

Colossus frowned. "This is why I am not liking American soft-drinks."

As she pushed the Powr8 back, Miss Martian's expression turned strained. "I…I don't know how much longer I can hold it…"

Just then, a familiar blue-and-crimson blur darted in, followed by an African-American youth riding on a hover-board of static electricity – Static, Iceman guessed. "Good work, guys." Superman said. "We'll take it from here."

"Fine with us, big guy." Iceman answered. "Get ready, K'imm."

Miss Martian winced. "I was ready ten seconds ago."

Quickly, Superman moved ahead of Miss Martian, his eyes starting to glow red. "Get ready, Static." he instructed, his eyes glowing brighter and brighter as he spoke. Quickly, Static's hands started to spark with energy, ready to catch the plasma that Superman's eyes would form. "Miss Martian…drop it now!!"

With a gasp of relief, K'imm let go of the Powr8, allowing it to flood towards them just as Superman fired his eye-rays, tapping 20 percent of his maximum power, and widening the beams to encompass the entire tunnel.

Instantly, a huge beam of blazing red, nova-hot energy, as wide around as a school-bus, blazed from Superman's eyes, striking the liquid, instantly boiling it, turning it to vapour, which expanded even more rapidly towards them. Superman kept his eye-rays trained on the vapour, pouring more and more thermal energy into it; slowly, the gas began to glow, until it seemed to radiate its own inner light…

"Static, NOW!!"

At once, Static sent out an electrical pulse, encompassing the glowing gas, and then took firm hold of it; as his pulse took hold, the gas suddenly stopped moving.

Static was jubilant. "It worked!!" he exclaimed.

"There's no time to celebrate, Static; we need to get that plasma to the surface as soon as we can!" Superman declared. "Plasmas are notoriously unstable, without proper maintenance; it's not going to hold for long! Get moving!" Static didn't need to be told twice; generating another hover-board, he flew into the tunnel, pushing the plasma ahead of him as he flew.

Switching on his communicator, Static hailed Richie. "Talk to me, man; I've got a whole lot of hot gas that needs passing..!"

"Try a bran muffin, man; that always works for me…"

"FOLEY!!"

"Alright, already! Jeez!" Richie replied. "I've got you on my map, here; take the next right turn."

As he came up on the right turn, Static pushed the plasma ahead a bit, and then zipped into the tunnel, pulling it behind him…with a bit more effort; he was losing his grip on the plasma – it was cooling down, losing its charge…

"Okay, now take a left."

Static started to turn…

"No, no! Your OTHER left!!"

Groaning, Static reversed direction, heading into the tunnel on his right.

"Okay, man, you're all clear! This takes you right to a ladder leading up; you're good to go!"

Just then, Static saw it: a ladder leading straight up to another manhole; blasting it open with a static-surge, Static flew out into the open air, flying straight up into the night sky. By then, the plasma was almost a simple gas; he was barely holding onto it as it was. 'Okay…now what..?'

He needn't have wondered long, as Superman darted out of the manhole after him, taking to the air. "Okay, Static, you can let go; you've done your part."

With a sigh of relief, Static happily did so, letting the now-cooled gas waft into the air. Taking aim, Superman unleashed a burst of gale-breath, supercooling the vapour into a solid chunk of ice, before flying towards it, grabbing hold and tossing it out of the atmosphere, into space, far away from anyone it could poison.

It was over.

As Superman and Static touched down, the others were there to meet them. "You do know that was completely crazy, right?" Power Girl asked.

Superman shrugged. "Fortunately, it fell under the category of 'just crazy enough to work'."

Static grinned. "You can say that again!"

Green Lantern frowned at him. "Kid, I've just got two things to say to you." he said. "One, for God's sake, try and stay out of trouble until you're 18."

"And Two, when you turn 18, come find us; provided you don't get yourself killed, we could actually use you." Turning towards Superman and Hawkgirl, he added, "I'll meet you back at the Tower." With that, he flew off.

Static blinked. "Hold up…did he just..?"

Hawkgirl chuckled. "We heard it, too."

Storm then spoke up, her voice mildly frantic. "W-Where's Evan?!"

Looking around, they all realized that Evan was gone, as was Callisto. "He couldn't have gone far!" Cyclops declared. "Everyone split up; we should be able to..!"

"There's no need." Superman said, as his hearing picked up a familiar heartbeat, echoing through a thick layer of bone. "You guys should just head back, except you, Storm; you'll want to tag along."

Power Girl nodded sadly. "Good luck." she said, as Krypto whined in agreement.

Superman nodded, before glancing to Static. "Thanks for the assistance, Static."

"No problem, big guy." Static replied, extending his hand, which Superman shook. "I hope you can find your friend."

Storm nodded sadly. "So do we." she answered. With that, the X-Men started to walk away, to meet up with X-Force, while Static took to the sky on his hover-board, as Superman and Storm headed in the other direction, to find Evan.

XXXXXXXX

After he and Callisto had slipped away from the others, Evan found himself walking through the sewers alongside his new friend; his bone-growth had finally slowed down, culminating with a bone-plated 'helmet' growing over the top of his head. The Powr8 must have worked itself out of his system…for what good it did.

"It's not so bad, down here." Callisto said pleasantly. "We don't have much of what's up above…but we do have each other."

Evan nodded miserably. "If you say so."

Callisto nodded. "We can always use another, especially one who already has a handle on their powers."

Evan shrugged. "What choice do I have?"

"You always have a choice, Evan."

At the sound of that voice, Evan turned around, to see both Superman and his Auntie standing there. "Evan," Storm pleaded, "what are you doing?"

Evan looked sad. "Sorry, Auntie O, but I can't go back."

"Why not?" Superman asked.

Evan scoffed. "Those peepers of yours busted, Big Blue? Look at me!!"

"We are, Evan." Storm said. "We see a family member who's walking away from us, and we want you to come home."

Evan sighed. "Callisto, you'd better go on ahead."

Callisto nodded. "We'll be waiting." With that, she walked away.

Turning to his Aunt, Evan replied, "Look, I'm not the same guy I was when I came to the Institute, okay?"

"None of us are, Evan." Superman countered.

Storm nodded. "We've all changed; it's inevitable."

Evan snorted. "Yeah; I'm living proof." he muttered. "Face it, guys; compared to how I'd be treated up there, looking like this, I'd rather be left alone."

"No, you wouldn't."

Superman's voice startled Evan, before his eyes narrowed. "What do you know about it?!" he spat. "You don't look like this, CK!! You don't have to deal with this!! You don't..!!"

"No, Evan." Superman said firmly. "I don't have to deal with it." His eyes narrowed. "But you didn't have to deal with being terrified to hug your mom because you might crush her; you didn't have to deal with being scared to open your eyes because you might set your house on fire; you didn't have to deal with the knowledge that there was something different about you that no-one else could ever know about…or that there wasn't anyone like you on Earth."

"I've been alone, Evan – I was isolated from most of my classmates in Smallville, and I was alone in the Fortress for four more years. I almost lived my entire life alone…but the Professor showed me that I didn't have to be." His expression turned sad. "I could never go back to that." he finished. "Could you?"

His expression hardened. "If not, I suggest you quit acting like a bonehead and come back to the people that care about you." he snapped. "Otherwise…it sounds like having extra bones is the least of your problems." With that, he turned to go. "Whatever you choose, I hope you can live with it." As he said that, he started to walk away.

Only Storm stayed behind. "Please, Evan." she pleaded. "We don't care what you look like; all we care about is you. We want you to come home…"

His Aunt's words – plus Superman's – hit Evan hard. "I just…I-I need to think…"

Storm sighed, smiling weakly. "Okay, Evan." she whispered, as she turned to go…but not before she looked over her shoulder at him. "Whatever you decide, I just want you to know that you'll always be my nephew…and I'll always love you." With that, she turned, and walked away, leaving Evan with his thoughts.

XXXXXXXX

Watchtower, Earth orbit

After returning to the Watchtower, Green Lantern headed to the Monitor Womb, where he leaned against the massive window, looking down at the planet he called home.

One of the things he'd loved most about joining the Lantern Corps was the perspective it gave him; the reminder that the petty concerns of one individual, of one country, hell, even one planet, wasn't much in the long run – it was a reminder that there was so much more in the universe to see…if people just tried hard enough to see it and appreciate it…

"I heard you were a bit hard on Static, today."

Turning, John saw Hawkgirl walk into the Monitor Womb, leaning against the window next to him. "Is that so?" he asked idly.

Shayera chuckled. "Care to tell me why?"

John shrugged. "He needed a little straightening out."

Shayera arched an eyebrow. "And you would know this because..?"

"I was young once." John answered. "The Marines straightened me out."

"So you decided to play drill-sargeant."

John arched an eyebrow. "Worked, didn't it?"

Shayera laughed. "Careful, Stewart," she teased, "or else someone might think that you're a nice guy."

Before John could retort, the rest of the League walked in. "Any progress?" Shayera inquired.

"We've identified the impurity in Powr8." Batman reported. "We have an antidote."

Superman nodded. "We've also contacted Lex; he's agreed to mass-produce the antidote and provide it to anyone exhibiting symptoms."

John nodded. "And Evan?"

Batman's jaw tightened. "Based on what Xavier told us, the impurity has thrown his irregular X-Gene activity into long-term hyperactivity; treating it will be no simple task."

Wonder Woman frowned. "There are no fires in Tartarus hot enough for Spears, after what he did."

"The evidence we provided will be enough to convict Spears on all charges; he will not escape justice." J'onn said.

Aquaman nodded. "Sounds like that guy Static was a big help."

Superman smiled. "John actually raised a good point, tonight." he added. "Sometime in the future, we may want to consider expanding our ranks."

Flash grinned. "I know who you want to invite." he quipped.

Superman half-frowned. "Shut up, West."

"It would have to be unanimous." Batman said.

Wonder Woman nodded. "We couldn't let in anyone we didn't trust."

"I'm not suggesting otherwise." Superman said. "I'm just saying that we might want to keep our eyes open."

"Sounds good in theory." Shayera said.

John nodded. "Maybe." he agreed, before his expression turned grim. "Any word from Evan?"

Superman sighed. "None yet." he answered. "We've done all we can; it's up to Evan, now…"

XXXXXXXX

Matthews residence, Bayville

"I don't care where he is or what he's being charged with; I need you to get Spears out now!!"

His face twisted in anger, Michael Matthews slammed the phone down on his lawyer; he had to get Spears out on bail before the police started to lean on him. Things had gone from bad to worse with their little endeavour; at least he'd been sensible enough to sell his shares in time – it had been a stroke of luck that all evidence linking him to this had been destroyed. He just needed to get Spears out before he started talking…

"Michael?" came Valerie's voice from the kitchen. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine." Michael lied, before he quickly changed the subject. "Where are the boys, Valerie?"

"Duncan's out with his friends, and Mitchell's out skateboarding – he said he'd be back shortly."

"Good; with all these freaks around, I don't want to take any chances." Michael muttered. He was starting to think that the alien had it in for his family, after this little debacle.

He'd been right to call Mr. Creed, and let him know what was happening; Graydon had been very interested to hear about their product…enough to make a little proposal of his own.

Just then, the phone rang, and Michael answered. "Hello?"

"Mike?!"

Michael smiled. "Good to hear you, Guy."

"My God, Mike, how did you get me out..?"

"I have a friend." Michael answered. "Tell me, do you still have the formula for Powr8?"

"It's all up here, Mike…but why on Earth..?"

Michael smiled to himself. "You just be ready to go back into production, Guy; my friend is very, very interested in it." he replied. "You see, Powr8 is about to become a lot more valuable…"

XXXXXXXX

Bayville Skate-Park

The night air was cool and crisp over the skate-park, as a lone, trenchcoat-clad figure walked among the skate-ramps, gazing upon what had been his life.

Evan sighed to himself as he strolled through the park; Callisto had loaned him the coat, and had given him the time to make a choice. After scrounging a few quarters from pay-phone slots, he'd had enough for bus fare to and from Bayville…which was just as well; there was nothing for him here…not any more…

"Figured you might be here."

Turning, Evan saw Static standing there. "I heard you weren't going to go back."

Evan shrugged. "I don't see how I can."

Static smiled wearily. "Look, man, I'm not gonna pretend to know how you feel," he said, "but the way I see it, you got a whole bunch of people who care about you, and who want to help you; you'd kinda have to be pretty dumb to give that up."

Evan smiled wryly. "That's kinda what Superman said."

"Sounds like a smart guy." Static answered. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that freaks like us gotta stick together." Smiling, he added, "Whatever the odds were of you getting better on your own, you stick with them, I guarantee that they'll double."

Leaning in, he added quietly, "And then we can come back here, and I can kick your butt at skateboarding properly."

Evan's eyes widened in understanding…before he smiled wryly. "You wish, fuzz-head."

Static laughed. "Oh, them's fightin' words, my brother!" he declared. "So now you've got to get better, man; you owe me a rematch!" Smiling, he added, "You take care of yourself, Evan."

Evan smiled back. "You too." With that, Static generated his hover-board, and flew off, while Evan walked away.

After a fair walk, Evan found himself just outside the gates of the Institute; all he had to do was ring the bell…but was this the right choice..?

"Hey."

Turning, Evan was surprised to find none other than Mitchell Matthews, in his skating gear, standing there. "You…you're the guy that saved my neck, right?" he asked.

Slowly, Evan nodded. "Yeah."

Mitchell looked nervous. "Look, I just…I wanted to say thanks, okay?" he replied. "So…thanks for saving my butt."

"No problem." Evan answered. "It's…" He stopped as he realized what he was going to say.

It's what we do.

Mitchell's eyes widened. "That Powr8 stuff…it did something to you?"

"Yeah."

Mitchell looked sad. "Sorry."

"Thanks."

Mitchell's expression turned guilty. "I heard that my bro gives you guys a hard time at school."

"No kidding."

"Yeah." Mitchell added. "Living with him ain't so easy, either."

Evan chuckled. "I hear that."

Mitchell's expression turned hopeful. "Hey…you know that move you pulled on the hydrant, today?" he asked. "Could you teach me how to do that…when you get better, I mean?"

Slowly, Evan smiled. "Sure."

Mitchell beamed. "Thanks, man!" he exclaimed. "Anyway, I'd better go; I've gotta go home. See ya!" With that, he hopped on his board, and skated off.

Smiling to himself, Evan turned back towards the Institute, with utter certainty; things had never been so clear.

"Yeah…me, too."

XXXXXXXX

Coming Soon:

As a visitor from the ocean deeps comes to the Institute, an ancient threat rises to the surface…

Can our heroes resolve this conflict?

Or will a watery tyrant's evil grip fall upon both the land and the sea?

Find out in "Deep Trouble," coming to your computer soon…