I.

Paige Guthrie stormed down the hallway, her fists clenched at her sides, as her heels dug into the floor with each step. She barely heard Jono's rapid steps behind her, quickly closing the gap, which only infuriated her more. Turning quickly into her room, she thought about slamming the door in Jono's face, but he was in the doorway before she could, so she simply crossed her arms and glared at him.

She couldn't believe that Jono had acted so childish at lunch!

After classes ended, Paige made her way to the dining room, led by the aroma of grilled chicken and asparagus with just a hint of lemon and the smell of garlic potatoes. Once she entered the dining room, she spotted exactly what she smelled, and a smile crossed her face. It reminded her of her mother's delicious home cooking.

From the left end of the table, Ethan stopped chatting with Everett and Angelo to wave Paige over. With an inviting smile, he motioned to the empty seat right next to him, and Paige could swear that he winked. Feeling a bit embarrassed, Paige hesitated for a moment, just long enough for Jono to step in front of her.

"Hi, Jono," Paige said, attempting to step around him, but he didn't budge.

"I don't want you sitting with 'im."

Stunned, Paige froze. "Wait. Excuse me? Are you joking?" She managed a slight jovial smile, but his stark expression deadened her mood.

Jono's lips narrowed to a tight line and his eyebrows furrowed. "We need to talk."

"About what?"

Jono shifted his weight uncomfortably. "I don't know. I mean—"

In between a bout of laughter, Angelo said from the table, "Hey, Jono! Paige! What are you two doing? Get over here! Ev's crackin' some loco jokes over here."

Paige eased around Jono, hoping to avoid a confrontation or a scene. The day was pleasant up to this point, and she wanted to keep it that way.

"Are you datin' 'im now?" Jono loudly asked, purposefully broadcasting his comment to everyone.

Her face hot with embarrassment, Paige shot Ethan an apologetic glance as she shot from the table and up the stairs. Jono and Ethan locked eyes for only a moment, then Jono noticed everyone else at the table giving him either puzzled or stern glares. Jono went after Paige, disregarding Jubilee's banter and Vanessa's warning.

Following Paige to her room, Jono stopped right inside the doorway. "So you're pissed because I asked—"

"No, Jono. I'm upset because you don't know when to quit."

"All I want to know is if you're dating that bloke now," Jono pressed.

"It's really none of your business," Paige snapped. "It stopped being your business when you broke up with me."

Jono recoiled, obviously caught off-guard by Paige's bluntness. "Why are you actin' like this? This isn't the Paige I know."

"Maybe you don't know me at all," she shook her head, taking a deep breath. "We tried it. It didn't work. I had to move on. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Well, you didn't 'ave to date 'im of all people."

"You don't get a say in who I date."

"He's—"

"Doing a much better job of showing that he cares," she cut him off, not wanting to entertain anything that Jono had to say. Softening only slightly, she added, "That's all I wanted. But you—you couldn't do that."

"I 'ad a gapin' 'ole in my chest. I crippled Gayle with my powers. I blew up 'alf the damn dorms when we tried to kiss."

"Don't play the sympathy card with me. It's not going to work. You're fixed now, and you think that just magically makes everything else better? No, Jono, it doesn't. I liked you regardless of how you looked or whatever else was going on. And you just threw it back in my face. Did you ever stop to think about how I felt?"

Paige told herself that she wasn't going to show any emotion—that she wouldn't dare let Jono see her cry again. But as the tears welled up and Paige repeated her vow, the feelings rushed back to the forefront of her mind, overriding any restraint she thought she had. And like a leaking dam, the tears streamed down her reddened cheeks.

The back of her hand shoved away the unwanted tears as she stared at Jono. So many emotions flooded through her right then—anger, love, hate, guilt, pain, sympathy, longing, hope, sadness—but they were a kaleidoscope, ebbing and flowing at such a rapid pace that Paige swore that she felt dizzy and nauseous like she had been spinning around.

"Just..." Paige trailed off, feeling another bout of tears coming on. "Just leave."

Jono reached out to touch Paige's arm, but she quickly pulled away. "Leave."

A knock disrupted the scene, and Paige threw a glance toward the door, her eyes leaving Jono for the first time since they had entered her room. "Come in," she softly commanded, steadying her voice.

Ethan opened the door slowly, noting the quiver in her voice. But when he saw Jono, his features darkened. "Is everything okay, Paige?"

"It's fine, Ethan. Jono was just leaving," Paige turned back to Jono and stated. Her blue eyes were cold, reinforcing her request for Jono to leave. Now.

Jono returned a desperate plea within his own face, hoping that Paige would just hear him out. But her unflinching expression told him that his time had completely run out. Whatever they had, as of right now, it was definitely over.

"Yeah, I guess I was." Jono stuck his hands in his jean pockets. He turned away from Paige and met Ethan's gaze, locking eyes with him. For only a moment, the two were embroiled in an unspoken battle, with Paige as the prize. But as quickly as it started, it was over. Jono broke, and simply strode past Ethan, only bushing his shoulder ever so slightly.

Ignoring it, Ethan's attention fell to Paige. "I just—"

Paige held up a silencing hand. "I'm sorry. I just...I need some time alone, okay?"

His own mood soured, Ethan nodded. "Yeah. I understand. A lot has happened. Just let me know if you need anything."

"I will," Paige responded as Ethan turned and left, closing the door behind him. She fell against the door, willing herself not to break down. Never had she experienced this much heartache and pain.

If this is what love is, I don't want any part of it!

Taking a deep breath, Paige steadied herself, crossed her room, and pulled her new training uniform out, laying it on the bed. She stood back and admired it for a moment, pushing her soured emotions away.

"That's right. You're a part of the X-Men. You want to be a leader, so act like it, girl," Paige said aloud. Steeling herself, Paige stripped out of her clothes and into her training uniform, replacing her heartbreak with the vigor she felt on day one of arriving to the school. Eventually, Paige knew that she would have to deal directly with her feelings for both Ethan and Jono, but for now, she was Husk of Generation X. And for the rest of today, that's all that mattered.

II.

So, here I am. Floating upside down in the middle of my room, imagining all of my worries inside of little boxes.

It didn't take much for Michael Lawson to suspend himself in the air, upside down, sitting lotus style. And it only took a little more effort to split his concentration between holding himself aloft and performing Jean's recommended mental therapy to help him deal with everything that was bothering him up to this point. He could see why this was a good exercise, since he never really had to utilize his telekinesis and telepathy at the same time. It was kind of weird doing both at once, but once he got used to the feeling, Michael really wasn't sure why he hadn't been doing it all along.

In his mind, he had always seen the two as distinct acts, not meant to be used in parallel. He never thought that it was impossible to do, but the opportunity had never really presented itself. Until now.

Not only that, but he also had to concentrate on the inner workings of his own body. Normally, suspended upside down like this, blood would have rushed to his head and probably caused him to blackout. But when he felt the effects coming on, he simply focused a part of his efforts on keeping his blood flow exactly the same as if he were standing. He was sure that if he talked to Dr. Reyes or Dr. McCoy, they would have some lengthy medical synopsis of what he was doing and how. All Michael knew is that he felt fine, despite being upside down for the past twenty minutes.

His eyes closed, Michael imagined his concerns and worries as tangible objects with a compact, amorphous shape, able to be moved and manipulated at his command. Each one was colored differently and disappeared into a corresponding box with a lid. As Michael psionically packed, he felt his burdened mood lightening.

"What are you doing?"

The voice cut through Michael's serene concentration, startling him so much that he completely lost all focus and fell. "Damn!" Michael exclaimed as he flipped at the last second, barely landing on his feet. One hand rubbing his temple while the other balanced him, Michael telepathically recognized his visitor before actually seeing him.

"Rico, you scared me," he said breathlessly. He could feel his heart still racing and his muscles twitched as if he were in immediate danger.

"Sorry, man. But you're awfully jumpy these days. And what the hell were you doing in the air like that? I've been knocking on your door for the past two minutes. Didn't you hear me?"

"No, I didn't hear anything," Michael stated as he stood. "I was just doing this exercise from class. I guess I was in my own world." He made light of it, but really, Michael was surprised that he was totally unaware of anything around him. He made a mental note to keep a psionic eye open while doing something like that next time.

"Vanessa figured you'd be late for the Danger Room session, so she told me to get you." Michael glanced at his watch then looked back up at Rico, only then noticing the training uniform. Rico's, long-sleeved shirt, with a dark red stripe crawling up both sleeves, loose cargo pants, and combat boots looked almost like his normal apparel, except that it was mostly black with dark red accents. The gloves as a finishing touch, Rico looked more like a grungy mall-rat than a junior mutant-in-training.

"I didn't realize the time! Damn!"

Rico held back a laugh as Michael rushed to the closet, found his training uniform, and began to strip out of his clothes.

"Hey, I need one of your X-Men history lessons on Jean," Michael managed to request as he used a combination of physical effort and telekinesis to take off his clothes.

"You on a first-name basis with her, eh?" Rico slyly asked.

"No. She said to call her that. Like Iceman. And Forge."

"Codenames. First names. Big difference."

"Don't be dumb. Just give me the facts."

"She's one of the original X-Men. Married to Scott Summers. Went by the codename Marvel Girl. Now Phoenix. A dual-psionic, like you. Also has the unique ability to tap into a foreign power known as the Phoenix."

Michael's interest piqued. "The Phoenix? What's that?"

"I don't know too much about that, actually. It's kind of convoluted to say the least. But it's some kind of cosmic force, I guess, that ultimately has the power to create and destroy."

"Wait a sec. She's got that kind of power?"

"Yeah. And just like the bird of legend, she sometimes displays a fiery...I don't know...like an image of a bird around her."

"Flaming bird?"

"Yeah, I guess it's a flaming bird. Kinda like the story of the Phoenix. You know, the bird that like lives for so long then burns to ashes just so that a new one can be born."

"Interesting," Michael said as he pulled on his gloves. Fully geared up, he took a deep breath, anticipating what the future held.

"What're you not tellin' me, man?"

Michael looked away for a moment, "I'm not really sure yet myself." A pensive silence hung in the air, before he broke it. "We're going to be late. Let's go."

Michael and Rico only took a few sprinting steps before setting themselves aloft with their respective powers. He telekinetically shot down the hallway and around a corner, followed closely by Rico, who used air currents to propel himself forward. While Michael's telekinesis only affected his own body, Rico's air currents ruffled rugs and drapes as he blew past.

Instead of taking the stairs, the flying duo simply soared over the balcony and dove downward to the first floor, pulling up at the last possible second, then zoomed down the hallway. Michael and Rico glided into the Danger Room, quietly settling in the back as Tom scribbled on notes in front of them.

The entire teenaged student body was present in the Danger Room, which made this the only class that all of them had together.

Without looking up from the roster in his hands, Tom said, "You're cuttin' it close, Lawson. Vidal."

"It was my fault, Mr. Corsi," Michael admitted. He noted a childish snicker from Angelo and Jubilee making a shame, shame gesture with her index fingers.

Great. Late on the first day. First impression—a hot mess, Michael sourly thought.

"Tom in the Danger Room," he reminded them, finishing his annotations then glancing up at the two sternly. "And put a little more effort into being early. Early is on time. On time is late. And late...well, a lot of bad things could happen."

"Got it," Rico jovially responded with a thumbs up.

"Understood," Michael quietly said.

"Alright. Every week, I'll be putting a group of you through a training scenario at the beginning of class. Marvel, Helios, Chamber, Vanguard, Lightwing, you're up. Danger room scenario number six-one-six-one-nine-six-three-zero-zero-one. Chamber, you're taking the lead on this one. Magneto's your target."

Rico said, "Magneto?! Whoa! Isn't he like the biggest X-Men arch-enemy of the century? That's like our final, right? I mean, shouldn't lesson one be against the the Vanisher, the Blob, or some other C-lister?"

Giving a less-than-sympathetic smile, Tom replied, "If you know all that, then you should know that the X-Men's first distress call ended up with them facing Magneto. Teamwork is key, kids. Good luck," Tom said as he and the rest of the students faded into the background.

The metallic floors and ceiling morphed into a sprawling, barren expanse, spotted sparingly with patches of grass or the occasional shrub. Not too far from them, desert dust colored buildings, most no higher than two stories, disrupted the level ground. Symmetrical and boring, the buildings, presumably hiding a vast, multilevel underground structure, were clustered together near a long, wide runway. Not too far from the base was a large body of water—Jono figured it was the Atlantic Ocean, but in retrospect, he didn't pay that much attention to the location of the missile base in the study material.

Magneto must be there, Jono assessed. He glanced over his team and already knew that he was in trouble. First, there was Ethan, and honestly, Jono hated the fact that he was getting so close to Paige. And Jono swore that Ethan knew it and purposefully flaunted it in his face. And his interruption earlier didn't make Jono like him any more. If anything, Ethan was the first person that Jono could say that he hated.

Michael and Vincent were on his team as well. It was well-known that those two didn't get along, but Jono didn't really have a problem with Michael. He seemed to be an okay guy, just a little focused, a bit too serious, and dangerously mysterious. Vincent, on the other hand, had quite the temper and always seemed to be standoffish. It wasn't that Jono didn't like him—he was sure that Vincent just didn't like anyone.

And lastly was Lily, who was the team sweetheart. She got along with everybody and had nothing bad to say about anyone.

Ultimately, Jono already knew that personal attitudes, to include his, would get in the way of the mission. But Tom had trusted him as the leader, so Jono pushed his animosity and issues with Ethan aside and hoped the others could do the same.

But at least they looked like a team. Dressed in their new training outfits, the five teens resembled a small squad of highly trained professionals sent in to infiltrate Magneto's current base of operations. The all black with varying dark red accents made them appear intimidating and official. Hopefully, Magneto would think the same thing and give up easily.

"Alright, mates," Jono began, stepping forward, eyes toward the missile base. With them being so close to the water, he was surprised that there wasn't more shrubbery or growth around them. So, they had no cover, eliminating the element of surprise.

Realizing the head-on fight they were going into, Jono continued, "This bloke controls magnetic shit, so be careful about gettin' too close. He's good enough t' control th' iron in our bodies. And he's not afraid t' use deadly force."

Jono felt the pulses emanating from some foreign energy. Electomagnetic shield, he deduced. As they neared the base, the vibes became stronger, and he knew that the barrier was strong enough to physically keep them from getting any closer. "It seems like he's out up a barrier to block us out," Jono informed his teammates.

About fifty meters away from the closest buildings is where the shield halted their progress. Small bolts of electricity snaked on the surface of the barrier, the only indication that there was anything actually there. To make sure, he picked up a small rock and heaved it. As soon as it struck the barrier, the electricity came alive and attacked it, frying it to nothing more than flakes of ashes.

"How can we get through?" Lily asked, a worried expression on her face.

Michael stepped forward offering his own idea. "Chamber, why don't you try to blast through it? Your biokinetic energy may be able to—"

"That's the stupidest thing I've heard," Vincent interjected.

"At least it's an idea," Jono responded. "Do you have something better in mind?"

"Do whatever you want. I don't care. I didn't ask to be on this team anyways," Vincent crossed his arms and glared, his ice blue eyes angry.

"Well, we don't get to chose our teams, so let's make the best of it. Everybody, stand back," said Jono.

He took a deep breath, focusing the energy coursing through his entire body into his fists, now pointed at the shield. With a grunt, Jono let the biokinetic energy loose, and only a fraction of a second later, the amber energy collided with the shield with a hard zap. The attack turned into a ferocious duel between the two differing energies, but the barrier held strong against Jono, even after he pushed his energy level to deadly levels.

Not even feeling a hint of progress, Jono pulled his attack back. "It's no use, I can't break through. I don't think I even made a dent." Jono mentally shuffled through his team roster, then smiled as an idea popped into his head. "Maybe we can create an energy attack strong enough to disrupt the shield at least long enough for us to get through. Lightwing, Marvel, Wildfire, you up for it?"

"I don't know if my telekinesis can help, but I'll try," Michael said.

Lily nodded. "Yes. I'll do my best!"

"Yeah, whatever. It still sounds stupid to me," Vincent shrugged nonchalantly.

That kid really grates on my nerves, Jono thought but kept his expression neutral. Counting off, he gave the cue for the trio to add their own respective forms of energy to his own attack.

My full potential, huh? Michael thought as he remembered both Emma's comment and the mysterious voice's statement. He took a deep breath, focusing his mind on his telekinesis, but Michael felt something different this time. A different kind of energy teemed within his entire body. Focusing the white-hot energy into his hands, Michael shot his hand out and a blue flash of energy responded, pouring from his hand to the target area of the shield.

Ethan watched in amazement as his teammate unleashed an unrecognizable, powerful psionic attack. Michael's normally invisible telekinesis was now a formidable energy blast, close to Jono's own biokinetic blasts. He made a mental note to ask Michael about it later, but now wasn't the time.

The combined energies of Jono, Lily, Michael, and Vincent combined into a lightshow of sorts, crackling and hissing as they bombarded the magnetic shield. It took only a few moments for the barrier to begin to give, creating a visible clash showing the sturdy shield buckling. Before too much longer, the attack completely burst through the shield with a loud sound somewhere between a zap and a boom.

"Everybody through, now!" Jono commanded, leading the charge through the newly created entrance. Ethan was close behind, tapping into his enhanced speed. Michael floated through with Lily flying at his side, and Vincent trailed.

"We did it!" Lily smiled once the shield reformed behind them, as if they had never touched it.

Jono said, "Yeah, now we're in the lion's den. Marvel, are there any hostages?"

Michael narrowed his brown eyes for a moment, instantly allowing his mind to expand past its normal day-to-day limitations. It was like a wide door being swung open as he mentally reached out beyond where just his eyes could see, searching in a way that could only be described as magnificent and daunting at the same time.

His search lasted a fraction of a second, ending his scan for any foreign thought patterns. Answering Jono, Michael replied, "Negative. I don't sense anyone here inside of the shield. But I didn't find Magneto either. My guess is that he's probably somehow shielded from psychic probes and attacks."

"We'll do this the old fashioned way then. Lightwing, Helios, and I'll take this side."

"Splitting up isn't a good idea. We're not sure what we're up against," Ethan argued.

"We'll cover more ground if we split up. Marvel can keep us in touch, and alert everyone if there's any issues."

"No. We're staying together," responded Ethan, as if his words were final.

"You're not leadin' this mission," Jono kept his voice neutral but firm, refraining from letting his anger from earlier cloud his response in this situation.

"But you don't lead anything. You don't know the first thing about—" Ethan.

Michael interjected, "Knock it off. Both of you. Did you forget that we're in class? And that Magneto's lurking around here somewhere? Pull it together. I'm definitely not a fan of splitting up, but if Chamber thinks that's best, then let's just go with it."

"Agreed," Lily said with a pleasant smile.

Ethan slit his eyes at Jono, but said nothing more, realizing that Michael was right. As he crossed his arms, resolving himself to take a backseat, his enhanced hearing caught the sound of something launching. Several somethings. "Wait! Did any of you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Vincent asked.

"Above you."

Michael's heart pounded against his ribcage. It was the voice again, but this time, it was giving him a warning, instead of cryptic power babble. But how did it know what was happening? Unless somehow...

He immediately cast his eyes skyward and witnessed missiles launch straight into the air from somewhere behind the buildings. Following their arc, Michael quickly realized that the missiles were headed straight towards them, picking up speed as they grew dangerously closer. "Guys, we've got trouble. Look!" Michael alerted.

The others turned skyward and saw a group of missiles, complete with a jet of fire and gas pouring from the back, headed towards them in a downward arc. The missiles were still far enough away though for them to react, and Jono didn't waste another second.

"Damn. Missiles. Divert or destroy the blasted things. Keep damage to a minimum," Jono commanded, as he focused his biokinetic energy into his fists. In the next split second, he cut loose, ensuring that he bombarded the missiles with enough energy for them to explode on contact and for the remaining fragments to be disintegrated into mere atomic particles.

While Jono took an aggressive approach, Lily wasn't sure that her blasts of light force would have the same effect as his attack. Remembering what Warren taught them earlier, Lily decided that if she was going to practice her tactical flying, this was the time to do it. Her radiant wings appeared from seemingly nowhere, their outline a brilliant shine while still being mysteriously translucent.

She shot straight up into the sky and glided effortlessly into the path of the missiles. Noting their trajectory change, Lily steadied herself as two missiles decided that she was a viable target. Taking sharp angled turns and increasing her velocity, she managed to put enough distance between her and the pursuing missiles to keep herself relatively safe but not lose their interest.

Lily paused for a beat, then soared around in a graceful curve that sent her and the missiles heading back to their originating point. And just as she suspected, more missiles fired from the unseen launch pad and found her as their target as well. Lily focused harder as her plan slowly came together. She headed directly towards the oncoming missiles, then at the last possible second pulled up, the collision of the missiles and resulting explosion trailing her ascent.

Breathing hard and slightly shaking, Lily glided to a stop, hovering over the quickly dissipating fireball. She couldn't believe that her plan had actually worked, and that she wasn't hurt in the process. But this wasn't the time for a pat on the back. Lily immediately scanned the base from her position above, hoping to catch a glimpse of Magneto, but he was nowhere to be found.

"You find Magneto?" Michael telepathically asked Ethan, having kept track of everyone's whereabouts psychically.

"No. Nothing. But there's one more missile heading right towards you!"

"Not a problem. All I have to do," Michael stated aloud as he concentrated, "is take hold of it with my telekinesis and redirect it into the ocean!" The scene unfolded just as he narrated, ending with a distant explosion in the water, completely away from the base.

"Vanguard, if you can stop bein' an ass fer two seconds, find Magneto while we take care of these missiles," Jono shot.

"Do not worry," a gravelly, innately evil voice called from above, cutting off Ethan's snappy response. "I, the Master of Magnetism, have found you!"

Jono glanced up, as Magneto eyed his new foes with deadly intent and an interest that could only have stemmed from seeing not one, but, five of mutants, like him. Jono remembered that this event really did occur, but it was at a time where mutants were few and far in between. At the same time, Jono found it shallow for Magneto to have thought he was the only one capable of manipulating matter and energy no human could ever touch, even in their wildest dreams.

"You should've gotten away while you had the chance!" Ethan dashed towards him.

With only a mere flick of his wrist, Magneto levitated barrels, metal rods, bolts, and anything else of a metallic nature. "Fool! I can stop your advance by simply encasing you with every metal object within my reach, then pinning you to the ground."

Despite making a sharp turn to avoid the attack, Ethan found that somehow, he was at the center of the objects' congregation as every metal object encased him in a makeshift cage.

"I—I can't—move!" Ethan shouted, finding that his strength didn't do him any good as the metal held fast.

"Lightwing, Helios. Focus on Magneto. Marvel, help Vanguard!" Jono barked out orders concisely, right before focusing his own attacks at Magneto. But the elder villain easily used flat, metal panels as shields, deflecting their attacks from every angle.

"You children are no match for me."

"That's what you think," Vincent replied as he threw a swirling ball of fire at Magneto.

"Ha!" Magneto used another metal plate to swat the attack into a gas tank. The outside of it burning, Magneto acted quickly—while still blocking Jono's and Lily's attack, he levitated the gas tank into the air, holding it there just for show. In the next second, Magneto hurled the burning tank downward, while tearing a hole just big enough for the flame to reach the flammable liquid inside.

"Marvel?!" Ethan gasped as the tank pummeled toward them.

"I've got it!" Michael yelled as he held his hand palm up toward the sky, directing the force of his telekinesis upward. Michael focused on slowing then steadying the metal tank in while erecting a telekinetic shield around them. But before he could do something about the flames, the situation took the worst turn possible—the tiniest of flames touched the flammable liquid, resulting in a massive explosion.

Michael braced himself, but was almost swept off his feet. He maintained his shield and his hold of the tank, suspending it in midair. The tank was no problem, but the flames—that was a completely different story. The heat and fire chipped away at Michael's telekinetic shield, and he found himself applying more and more force just to maintain a reasonably safe distance.

But it wasn't going to be enough.

The inferno licked away at the invisible barrier, as it continued to build in intensity, fueled by the gas continuing to pour from the tank. His strength waning, Michael wasn't sure how long he could keep this up. He could hear Jono in the background, giving out orders, while Lily, despite the worry in her voice, gave him encouragement.

His temples throbbed, and Michael was sure that his telekinesis would give out, sending them into a torturous, flaming end. But he had to protect them—his teammates...his friends. And Michael continued to push himself, against the pain and against the odds. Then, it happened.

Just as before, Michael felt something unlock deep within him. Before, it scared him, but this time, he welcomed it, knowing that unleashing this power would save his friends, just as it had at Arminthorpe. The strain suddenly lightened as Michael's otherwise invisible telekinesis became a visible shield of azure, flashing against the red, orange, and yellow hues of the fire above. Baring his teeth, he felt not only the metal being held at bay, but the fire and heat as well.

A part of him knew that he had exposed himself fully, and whoever was monitoring this session would have questions. Lots of them. But he had to deal in the present, whatever happened after this would take care of itself. As the fire continued to cascade and fuel itself, so did Michael's powers.

Michael felt exactly the same as he did during his fight with Arminthorpe—powerful, unlimited, and vast. Somehow, he had again tapped into an extraordinary power within himself, and now wielded something much more than any person less than a god should. And he embraced it fully, understanding the boundless energies of the astral plane and something beyond strictly under his control, limited only by his human nature.

From his place above, Magneto could only see the fiery explosion right above the teens. Gloating, he said, "Now, with them out of the way, nothing remains to interfere with the master plan of the miraculous Magneto!"

But his triumphant win was short-lived as the flames swirled about, as if taken over by a violent wind, only the air was still and calm. Magneto continued to watch as the flames dissipated, leaving behind the charred tank, still sloshing with the remaining gas. Curiously, the tank hovered in mid-air, rotating ever so slowly on an invisible axis.

Looking past the tank, Magneto spied Michael with both his hands extended in the direction of the hovering tank. Blue energy rippled around him like an aura of fire, yet, it stayed close and controlled, having no effect on the other four teens standing close to him.

The desert-colored tank, probably thousands of pounds, with flammable written in red stenciled lettering, lowered to the ground as gently as a feather, and the young man responsible glared at Magneto.

"Nice alliteration," Michael complimented with a knowing smirk. "But you talk too much. And you don't know who you're dealing with. We're not your traditional X-Men. We're Generation X. And you're history."

Taking advantage of Michael's momentary distraction, Jono took a quick shot, his biokinetic energy finding its target right on Magneto's chest. The villain cried out in pain as he recoiled from the impact, lost his concentration, and tumbled through the air. He managed to catch himself at the last moment, floating only inches above the ground.

Stunned and desperate, Magneto threw out his hand, random metal objects responding as if Magneto had physically thrown every one of them. Any metal object not nailed down became a deadly projectile, moving at his command.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Jono commanded, dodging a steel barrel and several metallic poles. But instead of retreating, he pushed forward, leaping and bounding over the oncoming objects while nudging some out of the way with short biokinetic bursts. "I'm goin' in. Back me up!"

"No problem," Michael replied. Easily redirecting the objects flying towards him, Michael concentrated on keeping the five of them psychically connected, so Jono's orders and intentions could be relayed at the speed of thought. Keeping the lines open among them should have been much more taxing, but he did it with ease, acting as the telepathic hub while he actively engaged his now visible telekinetic energies.

"What the hell are you doing, Chamber?!" Ethan quizzed as he ducked underneath a flying barrel.

"Takin' this bloke out. Stay back."

"Not a smart idea. You said—"

"You goin' to start a bloody argument, or you gonna actually contribute to this team?"

Ethan punched a barrel out of his direct path as he advanced, and it clattered to his side, its once definite cylindrical shape now dented and contorted. His strength and adrenaline flowing, because of both Magneto and Jono, Ethan launched forward, using his speed and dexterity to dodge and hurdle his obstacles.

"If that's the game you're playing, fine. We'll see who get's there first," Ethan thought to himself, but forgot that he was still broadcasting over the telepathic communication lines Michael maintained between them.

"Now you're gonna make this into a race? Real mature, mate,"

"Yeah, just as mature as your conversation with Paige earlier."

"You eavesdropping—ugh!" The broad side of a dumpster sideswiped Jono in the middle of an otherwise well-timed leap over flying metal grates, cutting his advance and sentence painfully short. Jono shook off the minor pain, thankful for the newly designed training outfits Emma gave them, able to absorb the brunt of about thirty to forty percent of physical impacts. On one knee, he caught his breath, his anger with Ethan and Magneto fueling his second wind, but then the sun was blotted out.

Stunned, Jono cast his eyes skyward and was barely surprised to see a large dumpster floating high above his head, casting him in its shadow. The dumpster remained in a stationary spot in the air, barely moving. Then in the next split second, it fell as if the strings holding it aloft were suddenly cut. The dumpster's full weight carried it toward the ground with increasing force every passing second.

"Bloody 'ell!" he exclaimed. No time to waste, Jono rolled to the side, the deep clang of the dumpster against the concrete punctuating his successful dodge. Barely to his feet, Jono whipped around with the intent on getting another good shot in at first sight, but Magneto was nowhere to be seen.

"Guys, this is the wrong time to be fighting about anything other than what we're going to do with this guy," Michael snapped, throwing his comment in between buffeting metal drums of foreign substances, dangerously sharp iron shards, and heavy steel ores. Impressing even himself, he simply applied enough of a force to the oncoming dangers to either stop them in mid-air or nudge them out of his path, while using only a fraction of concentration to communicate telepathically.

The telepathic part was tricky because it was just like Jean said—if he was linked to everyone's mind, they were linked to his in the same way. Therefore, he had to narrow the link to only pick up thoughts that were purposefully projected, which so far was working quite well.

"He started it," Ethan uncharacteristically replied, as he leaped nearly eight feet straight into the air to avoid another wave of random metal objects.

Michael had known Ethan the longest of any of them, having met him almost five years ago at the Arminthorpe Corporation. Even then, Ethan's mature, cool demeanor impressed Michael, and it was one of the main reasons they got along. This was the first time that Michael had ever heard Ethan sound so...childish.

"If we don't pull it together, Magneto will finish it," Michael strongly replied, ensuring that his telepathic statement resounded within their minds loud and clear.

Jono grimaced. "Crank down the bloody volume. I hear you jus' fine. Tell your chum to act like we're in a trainin' session."

"You're the one acting like we're in the latest episode of Grey's—" Ethan stopped as a sharp flash of pain erupted behind his eyes. But as quickly as it happened, it was gone, and Ethan couldn't feel a trace of anything. Throwing a glance in Jono's direction, Ethan could tell something had happened to him as well.

"That's my second warning," Michael kept his telepathic voice even. "I'm not keeping us connected for you two to fight." He wasn't quite sure how he had done it, but his annoyance became an acute attack, only affecting Jono and Ethan, despite Lily and Vincent being telepathically connected as well.

"Fine. We need to regroup. Where are Lightwing and Helios?" Jono asked.

Michael first pinpointed Vincent telepathically, then made visual confirmation of his location. But before Michael could say anything, he witnessed Vincent fall victim to Magneto's desperate attack.

A mistimed dodge resulted in a cascade of metal objects catching Vincent's legs and arms, pinning him to a tall antenna tower. Immobile and angry, Vincent spat out every curse word he knew and even a few more that surprised Michael.

It only took him another second to spot Lily, who appeared to be barely holding her own against Magneto's barrage of attacks.

"Vanguard, Chamber. Helios and Lightwing are struggling. I'm going in to help." Michael suddenly stopped as he felt a foreign thought pattern materialize out of nowhere, and he prepared to communicate the appearance to everyone as Magneto finally coming out of hiding. But there was something not quite right about this new presence.

Upon his first gleaning of information, Michael couldn't read any malevolent thoughts or intentions—rather the thought stream was riddled with surprise, focus, and agitation. Confused, Michael turned in the direction of the mysterious thought pattern, and instead of Magneto, he found a young female, dressed in something that Paige would wear—a flannel shirt, jeans, and old tennis shoes.

Her lavender-hued skin first caught Michael's attention, then the strange markings on her face, resembling tattoos. She stepped out of a portal of sorts, outlined with rippling pink energy, and as soon as her feet touched the ground, she took a low stance as more metal debris flew over her head.

"Where am I now?" Clarice rhetorically asked. It wasn't until she rolled to the side and got back to her feet that she saw three other males—one seemingly deflected the oncoming dangers with some invisible force, the other shot rounds of amber energy from his hands, and the last one moved much too quickly to not be gifted.

Cursing, she thought about teleporting away, but then she spied a redheaded teen pinned against an antenna and another blond girl, desperately avoiding the flying obstacles. I'm in the middle of a warzone! she gasped to herself. Clarice figured she had little time to figure out how she had teleported from the security of the school into complete chaos and even less time to figure out who the good guys were.

"Who th' bloody 'ell is that? Where did she come from? Marvel?"

"I don't know," Michael replied to Jono, just as perplexed by the girl's appearance as Jono. Remembering that they were in the Danger Room, Michael thought for a moment that she could simply be a part of the program. But Tom said nothing about any kind of weird curveballs being thrown at them in the battle. Plus, her thought pattern was as real as it could get, though Michael wasn't really sure whether the Danger Room could simulate a human-like thought pattern. Regardless, Tom only mentioned that they were to be battling Magneto, not him and some pink girl.

From the way she moved, Michael could tell that she was dangerous to say the least. Her body twisted with a fluidity and grace of a seasoned fighter, much like Kiana.

"It's the girl from earlier, Clarice!" Ethan exclaimed. "How did she get in here?"

"Spatial displacement or teleportation in layman's terms," Emma telepathically interjected, broadcasting to all five teens. "I've asked Tom to keep the scenario running until one of two things happen: you beat Magneto or he beats you. Figure it out. Clarice, I strongly suggest you assist your new teammates, otherwise you'll all fail."

That woman...Emma. Clarice's agitation peaked, but she wasn't really sure why. There was just something about Emma that struck a bad chord with her, and though she couldn't pinpoint it, Clarice knew that it was only going to get worse over time.

Pushing her irritation aside, Clarice flipped forward, springing off of one hand. She wished that instead of the cumbersome flannel shirt and jeans, she was in her battle outfit. Though more revealing—a green, knee length dress with slips up the sides, durable matching boots, and her javelin case—it provided her with greater mobility and freedom. Still, she would have to make due with what she had, and pray she didn't end up ruining Paige's clothes.

"Team, 'ead to the 'angar! Now!" Jono commanded over the telepathic lines. Michael ended the command with a mental picture of the hangar, including a gentle nudge in the proper direction.

Seeing that Clarice was closer, Michael telepathically said just to her, "You're closer. Save the redheaded guy pinned to the antenna."

Clarice knew that it wasn't the time to ask questions. She immediately spotted the individual the telepath asked her to rescue, and within less than a second, Clarice had teleported to the redhead's side.

"The telepath told me to save you," she explained, noting his fire red hair and ice blue eyes. Focusing her power carefully, her eyes radiated the same energy that outlined her portals. In the next split second, every piece of debris pinning Vincent to the antenna fragmented at odd, random angles. Then, the pieces all fell to the ground, the metal clattering against the concrete.

Vincent surveyed the damage, perplexed. "What the hell did you do?"

"Didn't you listen to your teacher up there? Spatial displacement. Looks like you've got some homework. Need a lift to the warehouse?"

Gruffly, Vincent replied, "I'll get there myself."

"Suit yourself then," she shrugged. Clarice sprinted forward, leaped in the air, then after a sound of a blink, she vanished, reappearing only a few seconds later in mid-air. She relaxed her body and landed gracefully on the dusty floor, glancing about as she stood.

Crates, heavy machinery, and covered equipment lined the outer perimeter of the hangar. In the middle, a large aircraft was parked there with about a coat less of dust than everything else. Clarice wasn't exactly knowledgeable about the different types of planes, but she thought that it was a C-130. Rays of sunlight managed to peek through the dirty, high windows lining either side, but the immediate area was still dim at best.

The ruckus from outside was barely audible from within the hangar, so Clarice was slightly surprised when the large hangar door slid open with a relatively smooth motion, despite its heavy appearance. Rusted and dark, it slid open with only a few squeals in protest.

Watching the door carefully, Clarice relaxed when she saw the teens from outside clamber through the opening. Only after they were all inside did the telepath face the door, hold his hand out, and, to her, magically slam the door with much more force than it opened with. She figured that he must have been a telekinetic as well, noting the rarity for a single individual to have both abilities.

Michael turned from the door, the blue telekinetic energy in his eyes dissipating. "This isn't going well at all."

"Because we're not working as a team," Jono stated, letting his gaze pour over everyone.

Noticing Clarice a bit farther away, Ethan called to her. "Clarice? Hey, come pow-wow with us!"

She approached cautiously, keeping a close eye on all five teens before stopping a few feet away.

"Look, we may not like each other," Jono cast Ethan a quick knowing glance, "but we've gotta 'ave each other's back. An' work together. Clarice—" Jono said.

"Codenames!" Lily said.

"Blink," Clarice responded.

"Blink then. We're fightin' Magneto."

"Magneto. Throws metal things. Quite often. I get it. What I don't get is how I went from the school to this."

Michael answered, "We're in holographic simulation. Magneto isn't real. Neither are the surroundings. You dropped in the middle of our power training class. We're still inside the school."

"Interesting. So, you're learning to fight at this school?" Clarice asked.

Vincent gruffly stated, "Yeah. This is gonna be the best part of your day. The rest is boring as hell."

"Regardless," Michael sharply interjected, "we're not necessarily here to learn to fight. We've got a long story, and with Magneto lurking around out there, we don't have the time to get into it. If we're going to pass, we've got to stop Magneto like Emma said."

"Okay. I'm in. What's the plan?" Clarice asked.

"Seems like he's tryin' ta keep us at a distance. So, we've got ta close the gap."

"That's easy for someone like me," she said. "Point me in the right direction, and I can get us close."

"Vanguard, if we get you close, can you turn off his power? And yank off that bloody helmet?"

"I can, but I have to get close, and if what you said earlier about him controlling the iron in our blood is true, I'm going to be in trouble."

"Lightwing. You've got backup. If Ethan goes down, you're up. Be ready for anything."

"I'll do my best."

"Marvel, you've got the final blow."

"Understood."

"Do we know exactly where he is?" Ethan asked.

"We will in a minute," Michael said closing his eyes. He linked everyone's minds together, so they were all seeing the same thing. "All I have to do is simply remember the direction that Magneto attacked each of us from."

"You blast a hole in a magnetic shield, you telekinetically hold back energy, and now you replay memories like a BluRay. When did you figure all this out?" Ethan quizzed.

I wish I could answer that right now, Michael thought.

Sensing Michael's hesitation, Jono cut in. "We'll deal with it later. Marvel, if you're not comfortable wit' this, you can stay here."

"No. I'm fine. And I'm going."

"Everyone else? Are you in or out?"

Lily's fist shot in the air. "In!"

"Yeah, whatever." Vincent replied.

"I've got your back," Ethan said. He made eye contact with Jono, letting him know that despite what had happened, his words were sincere.

"Well, then, we'll be there in the blink of an eye," Clarice said with a wink. Without warning, she activated her teleportation abilities, concentrating on the location Michael showed them. The sound of a blink sounded through the warehouse, and the teens were gone.

In the following second, they appeared out of a darkened circle, the rim brimming with pink and lavender energy.

Magneto, Jono identified the man in front of them. Through Jubilee's stories and overhearing Sean's conversations with the senior staff, Jono felt as though he had already met and fought Magneto, who had vacillated between being a friend and foe to the X-Men for many years.

This incarnation of Magneto was clearly the foe type, the one that threatened the world with the impending release of missiles. In essence, they were reenacting the X-Men's fist battle with Magneto. And it was just then that Jono fully understood the composition of the team.

Each of them had powers that likened to the original X-Men. Jono's biokinetic blasts were similar in nature to Cyclops's optic blasts. Lily glided through the air gracefully, aided by wings of light, much like Angel used his physical wings. Ethan's speed and agility were more advanced but paralleled Beast's own dexterity. Vincent controlled the fundamental element of fire, a polar opposite to Iceman, but the concept was the same. And Michael, a telekinetic, like Marvel Girl.

But this new generation of X-Men was much more powerful than the X-Men at their age. Plus, this time, they had an edge—a wildcard. Clarice. Blink. A teleporter. An almost necessary element for any successful mutant team. And with her, Jono was absolutely sure that if they played their cards right, the scale would be tipped in their favor.

Magneto's purple cape fluttered in the wind, while his entire body crackled with electromagnetic energy. His piercing blue eyes glared at the teens from the opening in his mask, which in addition only showed his sharp nose, and thin frown. His silver eyebrows where nearly hidden by the shadow of his helmet, responsible for protecting him from psychic intrusion. And that was his weak point that Jono hoped to exploit.

"Blink. Vanguard. Now! Lightwing. Helios. Right flanked high-low attacks. Marvel. Same on left!" As Jono barked out orders, the teens responded, Clarice and Ethan disappearing almost instantly, while the rest launched a distracting offensive against Magneto.

"You dare stand against the Master of Magnetism! Then I shall have no mercy...even against you children!" Magneto maneuvered flat metal panels, using them as physical shields, in conjunction with an electromagnetic shield. Fireballs, light beams, biokinetic blasts, and telekinetic force blasts all collided with the shields, barely reaching Magneto.

"And we're here!" Clarice shouted playfully as she fell through a portal opened about fifty feet above Magneto. Ethan dove headfirst, resembling a skydiver, heading straight for his target, Magneto. And a few moments into his decent, he heard another blink above him, meaning Clarice had already teleported away, and he was alone.

Magneto, preoccupied with the other four teens failed to notice the surprise attack from above.

Ethan let out a grunt as he latched onto Magneto's back and grabbed his helmet in almost one smooth motion. With an almost effortless heave, Ethan tossed it into the sky, where it was instantly it dissected into hundreds of pieces, courtesy of Clarice's intervention. He hung onto a flailing Magneto's back, and with just a little focus, Ethan's dampening power kicked in.

Unable to hold himself aloft with electromagnetic repulsion, Magneto and Ethan tumbled to the unforgiving ground. Thankful for his durability, Ethan recovered much faster and managed to hop to his feet and dash to the side of his teammates, who now stood in a row behind Michael.

Magneto clambered to his feet. "You children are fools. Following Xavier's dream—there is no peace. You'll see."

"I'm taking this one day at a time. And today, you're finished," Michael peacefully stated. He focused all of the psionic energy at his disposal, creating a visible, glowing combination of telekinesis and telepathy. Releasing the energy directly from his brain, the azure psi-bolt streaked through the air and struck Magneto directly in the chest while overloading his neural system. Barely having time to cry out, Magneto pitched backwards several feet before hitting the ground, unconscious.

Tom applauded slowly as the scene melted away, and the teens approached the rest of the class, who gave smiles, nods of approval, and thumbs up.

"I had my doubts for a second. Jono, you pulled the team together nicely. And great adaptation to changing circumstances. You, young lady," Tom looked at Clarice, "those were some impressive maneuvers. Actually, all of you are powerful and held your own out there. But you couldn't win until you pulled together as a team." Turning to the rest of the class, Tom continued, "And that's the point of today's lesson. Yes, I could have started you off with fighting a C-lister, like Rico said. But you're better than that. I'm here to push you past your limits. I expect all of you to review the first five fights in the Battle Archives. You can access it from the Danger Room link on the homepage. Questions?"

"So, ya think ya woulda won if Clare hadn't shown up?" Jubilee asked Jono.

Jono thought for a moment. He looked over his team, and turned back to Jubilee. "Without a doubt. I don't know if we woulda won wit' you on our side though, Sparky."

"Ha, ha," she replied, her words dripping with sarcasm. "Whatever, dude. I've totally done tha real thing. Trust me, Magneto's like waaaay harder than that ol' holographic pushover."

"Okay, class dismissed," Tom said with a pleased smile.

"You know, Mr. Lawson, that you aren't going much of anywhere until we talk." Emma telepathically said. Michael felt a pair of eyes on him and noticed a knowing glance from Monet.

"Yeah, I know," he said aloud toward the control booth, where Emma and Sean looked down on him, expressions unreadable.

Notes

Generation X and all characters related to Marvel belong to them. Any other characters are fictional