Warning: The following chapter contains T-rated graphic content that surpasses the K+ rating of this story.

A Forgotten Encounter

KA-BOOOOOOM!

"Gahhh!" Mastermind yelped as the Acolytes arrived in the middle of a deep muddy trench. Great gaping holes had been blown out of the sides which had been previously reinforced by an assortment of wooden boards, sand bags and sheet metal. "Oh geeze, what fresh nightmare have we fallen into this time?"

"Yuck!" Remy gasped as he attempted to free his boot from a small viscous pool of mud. More mud oozed from beneath the trench's parapet and plopped down onto his clothes. "Man, this is disgusting!"

"And cold!" Pyro whimpered wrapping his arms around himself in an attempt to stay warm. A layer of snow coated the top of the trench, some of which melted and added to the fluidity of the mud. "Yaaah! There's snow all down my back!" He began to oddly jerk about while hopping up and down.

BANG!

"Aaahhhhhh!" Pyro yelped and fell to the bottom of the trench as a shot cracked around his head.

"Pyro!" Piotr gasped and quickly bent over him. "Pyro, are you alright?"

"Oooh, I think so," Pyro blinked while sprawled out in shock. Piotr carefully helped him stand up. "Am I bleeding? Is my brain still here?"

"Yes, your brain is still there," Mastermind snapped rolling his eyes. "Or whatever you had that passed for it. And no, you are not bleeding."

"Oh good," Pyro sighed. "I wouldn't want to get any bloodstains on my uniform. They're so hard to get out."

"Yeah, like blood is what we should we worried about around here," Remy grumbled while futilely trying to wipe mud off his trench coat. "And we just had all this stuff cleaned too."

"Where the heck are we?" Mastermind shivered tightening his coat while keeping his head below the edge of the parapet. Several explosions were heard going off nearby. "And why is someone shooting at us?

"Like people have ever needed a reason to shoot at us before," Sabertooth growled glancing around at the damaged trench. "But I gotta admit, this does look kinda familiar..."

"Freeze!" A section of soldiers wearing Canadian uniforms suddenly appeared from around the corners and poured in from both sides of the trench. They were armed with a collection of rifles, grenades, bayonets and machine guns.

"Uh oh," Piotr gulped. "This is not good."

"Surrender! Kamerad, kamerad..." One of the soldiers paused and blinked at Sabertooth. "Creed! I shoulda known you'd be up here."

"Huh?" Sabertooth frowned at the man in confusion. "Are you talking to me?"

"I thought 3rd platoon was supposed to support us after we captured the trench, but looks like you got ahead of everyone as usual, eh," A muddy man with lieutenant pips stepped forward and gave Sabertooth a nod. "So what's the situation here, sergeant? And what are you doing out of uniform?"

"Lieutenant Darknell?" Sabertooth blinked in recognition. "Oh no. Now I know where we are!"

"Me too," Remy said glancing down at the machine. A screen had just finished clearing up. It read:

April 11, 1917 A.D.
Vimy Ridge, France

"Oh no," Mastermind blanched at the display. "This really isn't good!"

"Why? What is it?" Piotr whispered. "Where are we?"

"We've ended up on the Western Front in the middle of the First World War," Mastermind paled in horror. "And by the look of things we're right on the front lines!"

"Who are these men?" Darknell eyed the Acolytes warily as several soldiers pointed their weapons at them. "Germans?"

"No! We're your allies!" Mastermind shouted frantically. "I'm Italian! He's Australian! He's Russian! He's French!"

"I'm American," Remy corrected giving Mastermind an annoyed look.

"American?" Darknell looked at Remy in surprise. "How did you get over here? America only entered the war last week!"

"Maybe he's one of those pilots flying for the French," A soldier suggested.

"He doesn't look like a flyer to me," Another soldier grunted.

"I don't care what he looks like as long as he's able to fight," Darknell snapped turning to Sabertooth. "Will you men be able to hold this position if the Germans counterattack, sergeant?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sabertooth grunted. Darknell stared at him. "Uh, I mean yes sir."

"Good. Dig in and wait for the rest of 3rd platoon. We'll take up a position on your flank," Darknell ordered. "You men need anything?"

"Yes, a dry cleaner and some warm blankets," Mastermind's teeth chattered.

"And some fuel for these," Pyro indicated his flamethrowers.

"Well unfortunately all the blankets are at the dry cleaners down in the subways," Darknell quipped. "But we did stumble upon a German flame projector when we seized the trench. You can have it."

"Yay!" Pyro chirped as two soldiers lugged the captured flamethrower into view. He eagerly pounced on it. "Thanks mates!"

"Just remember you owe us some Lowney's bars for it," Darknell said before gesturing to his men. "Okay, move out. See ya, Creed."

"Yeah, see ya," Sabertooth grunted as the soldiers moved further down the trench line while trying to avoid sniper fire. "Great. Never thought I'd have to go through this muddy mess again!"

"Again?" Piotr blinked as Pyro worked on transferring fuel and gas to his flamethrowers. "You mean you were here during all this?"

"I fought during all this," Sabertooth growled gestured at the steep, churned up ground the trench line had been dug on. "The Canadian Corps took and held the ridge that the French and British failed to take three times!"

"I can see why," Mastermind gulped at the pillboxes and dugouts built further down the line. "This place is a fortress!"

"Wait a second," Remy calculated. "If you fought during this time, then that would make you..."

"Old enough to kill you for making any wisecracks," Sabertooth growled showing his claws. "Got it?"

"Whatever you say, Fossils," Remy smirked.

"Grrr," Sabertooth rushed at him.

"That is enough," Piotr managed to prevent Sabertooth from gutting Remy on the spot. "There is no need to fight each other. There is enough fighting going on already."

"No kidding," Mastermind twitched as artillery continued to rumble in the background. "Can we please leave now?"

"Can't. The machine is still cooling down," Remy said checking a screen.

"It's not the only thing cooling down around here," Pyro shivered as he worked. "I can't feel my fingers!"

WHUMP!

"Yikes!" Mastermind yelped as a pair of armed muddy figures tore through a tangled line of barbed wire before tumbling into the trench.

"Look out!" Remy and Piotr quickly prepared to fight them off.

"Let me at 'em!" Sabertooth roared readying his claws. He then took a good look at one of the figures. "Oh no. Not you!"

"What? What is it?" Remy stopped and stared at a short, well-built man with brown eyes, black hair and wearing a Canadian uniform. "Wolverine?"

"What did you just call me, bub?" A younger Logan snapped brandishing his rifle and a trench knife. He appeared much as he did in their time period. Logan paused and quickly took in the Acolytes. "Whoa, that guy looks just like you, Vic."

"Who does?" A younger Victor Creed growled getting to his feet. He looked the same as Sabertooth only with shorter hair and no mutton chops. "Hey, he does look like me!"

"That's because I am you," Sabertooth grunted lowering his claws. "I'm you from the future!"

"What?" Victor looked at him in confusion. "That doesn't make sense!"

"Trust me, nothing about this group ever makes sense," Mastermind groaned.

"This is impossible," Logan frowned sniffing experimentally. "He even smells like you, Vic."

"And you smell just like someone I know," Sabertooth snapped. "Someone I really, really hate! I should just kill you now and save myself years of trouble. Hmmm, that's not a bad idea!"

"What?" Logan shouted and pointed his rifle at Sabertooth. "Don't even think about it, bub!"

"Yeah!" Victor pointed his rifle at Sabertooth as well. "Nobody does anything to my pal Logan!"

"O-kay," Remy blinked at the scene. "Here's a sight I never thought I'd see Number 36."

"Listen you, I mean me," Sabertooth growled at his past counterpart. "Killing the Runt now will save you a ton of trouble in the future. I know because it's already happened to me!"

"Oh yeah?" Victor snapped back. "If you're really me, then what number am I thinking of?"

"Huh?" Sabertooth sputtered. "How the heck should I know?"

"Because if you were really him from the future then you'd have gone through this already," Logan spat at him. "And you'd already know everything about it."

"I don't remember ever running into a version of my future self," Sabertooth shot back at Logan. "Not knowing about the past is your specialty!"

"I'll show you my specialty!" Victor roared swiping at Sabertooth's face.

"Gaaahhh!" Sabertooth hissed as Victor's bayonet slashed him across the cheek. His healing factor quickly repaired the damage.

"What the?" Victor gasped in shock. "How did you...?"

"I told you," Sabertooth gave him a look. "I'm you!"

"You're just like us," Logan stood stunned at the sight. "We can heal ourselves from practically anything. Even after being hit by whizbangs and coal boxes."

"I know that," Sabertooth snapped pointing at Victor. "Just like I know he used to wet whatever he managed to use as a bed until he was thirteen."

"What?" Victor blanched. "That's a lie! I...I never..."

"Then there was the time you stumbled into the house wearing a dress," Sabertooth continued.

"I was helping Mom do the wash! Her clothes blew off the clothesline and just happened to drape over me at the wrong time!" Victor protested. "But I never told anyone about..."

"And then there was a certain 'fuzzy snuggy goo-goo' incident..." Sabertooth began.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?" Victor yelled.

"'Cause I'm you," Sabertooth snorted. "Duh!"

"This is very weird," Piotr blinked as the Acolytes witnessed the exchange.

"I dunno. I'm finding it to be pretty entertaining," Remy smirked. "Somebody's writing all this down, right?"

"Okay, okay! You've convinced me! You're me!" Victor caved in quickly. "Just stop talking!"

"'Fuzzy snuggy goo-goo' incident?" Logan looked at Victor questioningly.

"SHUT UP!" Victor and Sabertooth yelled at him.

"Sheesh," Logan rolled his eyes. "Still as cheery as ever, isn't he?"

"Tell us about it," Mastermind sighed.

"So you really are me from the future," Victor stared at Sabertooth in amazement. "Unbelievable! Why are you here? Are you gonna help us win the war or something?"

"No, this is just a random stop while we try to make it back to our own time," Sabertooth grunted. "But I'll give you these wise words of advice." He placed both hands on Victor's shoulders and stared him straight in the eye. "RUN MAN! RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!"

"Huh?" Victor blinked in confusion.

"Never join up with these lunatics!" Sabertooth frantically gestured at his fellow Acolytes. "If you ever come across any of them, ditch 'em and just run far, far away!"

"Thanks for the support, Sabes," Remy drawled. "We feel the same way about you."

"They're crazy, I tell you!" Sabertooth ranted. "Every one of them is absolutely mad! Mad!"

"We are not the only ones," Mastermind grumbled.

"And when some bucket-headed guy wearing a cape and calling himself Magneto asks you for your help, tell him HECK NO!" Sabertooth warned. "'Cause joining up with him means you will end up working with these nuts!"

"Says the guy who's obviously cracked," Remy quipped.

"Are you sure we should be letting him do this?" Piotr asked. "Giving advice to his younger self could end up affecting the future."

"Na, it's okay," Remy waved. "He obviously didn't end up listening to himself."

"You have no idea what they'll do to you!" Sabertooth looked like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "There will be fire, explosions, insane arguments, shaving cream, chaos, aardvarks..."

"Aardvarks?" Victor and Logan repeated.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," Remy twitched.

"Neither do I," Mastermind gulped.

"Is he on some kind of medication?" Logan asked the Acolytes while jerking a thumb at Sabertooth.

"No, but he probably should to be," Remy shrugged.

"O-kay," Victor slowly freed himself from Sabertooth's grip. "Thanks for the tip, bud. Except for the aardvarks it sounds just like being in the trenches."

"No, it's worse. Far, far worse," Sabertooth groaned.

"Look out. Coming through!" A young soldier rounded a corner of the trench while dragging a bulky field telephone set and a roll of telephone line. He dropped the set in part of the trench and began to hook it up. "Hey boys. Everything still jake-a-loo around here?"

"Good to see you too, Conn," Logan grinned punching the man on the shoulder. "What's a Military Cross winner doing up here?"

"Saving you sorry behind from being shelled by our own artillery. Doubt you'd be able to survive having it happen again," The man smirked as he worked. He then noticed the Acolytes. "Hey, who are these guys?"

"We're, ah, a group of international observers," Remy said smoothly. "Non-combatants of course."

"Since when?" Mastermind grumbled.

"Who are you?" Piotr asked.

"Lieutenant Conn Smythe, artillery observer, 40th Field Battery," The man replied studying them. "Hey Vic! That guy looks just like you! You two related?"

"That's one way to say it," Sabertooth grunted.

"Huh, well I never heard of noncombatants being this close to the front," Smythe quipped as he went back to setting up an observation post. "You must be lost!"

"You have no idea," Mastermind sighed.

"All done!" Pyro finished refueling his pack. He stood up and brandished his flamethrowers eagerly. "Let's try these sheilas out!"

"NO!" The Acolytes yelled at him.

"Don't even think about it!" Remy and Piotr moved to prevent Pyro from firing up his pack.

"That's a flame projector!" Logan gaped in recognition. "Is that guy crazy?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Sabertooth snapped.

"Hey, stop it!" Smythe shouted as the mutants struggled while occasionally having parts of their bodies appear above the parapet. "Keep moving around and the Germans might decide to shell us!"

WHEEEEEEOOOOOOHHHHHH!

"Speaking of which," Smythe groaned. "TAKE COVER!"

"Aggghhh!" Mastermind cried before curling up into a ball.

"Look out!" Piotr grabbed Smythe and threw him next to Remy and Pyro before armoring up and shielding all of them with his body.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

KA-BOOOOOOM! KA-BOOOOOOM! KA-BOOOOOOM!

FA-WHOOOOOOOOOMMM!

"Aaahhhhhhhh!" Pyro yelped as explosions rocked the trench line.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Mastermind wept from the shelling.

KRA-BOOOOOOUUUUUUHHHHHH!

The rain of heavy shells stopped abruptly leaving behind an eerie stillness and silence. "Oh, is it over?" Remy asked slowly sounding very shaken.

"I think so," Piotr listened for a moment before carefully getting up.

"Hooley dooley!" Pyro gasped at the heavily destroyed section of trench line. "Just look at this place!"

"Good heavens!" Smythe stared at his obliterated field telephone. "That could have been me! Thanks!"

"Uh, you are welcome," Piotr said modestly having revered his head back to its non-armored form. The rest of his armored body was hidden by his frock coat.

"I got to go back and scrounge up another telephone set," Smythe quickly checked his helmet. "Anybody wounded?"

"No," Mastermind stuttered still somewhat in shock. "Not physically anyway."

"Speak for yourself," Sabertooth hissed yanking a ten-inch piece of sheet metal out of his neck. "Gaahhh!"

"Okay, hang in there," Smythe waved before cautiously crawling away.

"Well that was fun," Remy coughed as Smythe disappeared and the wind began blowing more snow down into the trench. "Let's never do it again!"

"Oh dear," Piotr gulped pointing at a caved in portion of the trench. Victor and Logan both lay partially buried underneath a small pile of dirt and debris, each with a large piece of shrapnel in their head.

"Yuck!" Pyro gagged at the sight. "I think I'm gonna be sick!"

"You're not the only one," Mastermind groaned before being so. "Bleaaah!"

"Well, that explains why Sabes never remembered meeting his future self," Remy shakily studied the scene. "The hunk of steel in his and Logan's brains must have destroyed that part of their short term memories and their healing factors didn't fully repair them."

"Crud," Sabertooth cursed. "And I was looking forward to never knowing any of you idiots!"

"Well if that happened you won't know what you don't know instead of knowing what you do know," Pyro said. "Ya know?"

"I know," Sabertooth groaned.

"Um, shouldn't we do something about this?" Piotr gestured at Logan and Victor.

"Na, forget it. They'll regain consciousness once they finish healing," Sabertooth growled as the pieces of shrapnel were slowly ejected from Logan and Victor's heads. "See, they're healing now."

"Lovely," Mastermind looked very green. "Can we please leave now?"

"Yeah, the machine is all done cooling down," Remy glanced at a screen.

"About time," Sabertooth grunted. "For a time machine that thing always seems to take way too much of it!"

"I really need to learn how to erase my own mind," Mastermind moaned as Remy prepared to activate the machine. "I never want to remember anything about this time period."

"Some things we should remember," Piotr said quietly gazing at the scene of destruction and slaughter around them. "And some things we will."

Historical notes: The Battle of Vimy Ridge occurred during World War I from April 9-12, 1917 A.D. It was the first time all four Canadian divisions acted together as a cohesive unit as the Canadian Corps. The German army never regained Vimy Ridge. The battle is widely seen as a symbol of Canadian unity and is often considered to be the birthplace of Canada's national identity and nationhood.

Conn Smythe was an artilleryman during World War I. He later became the principal owner of the NHL Toronto Maple Leafs, built the Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931 A.D., served again during World War II and became one of the best-known figures in Canadian hockey.