Fabio took in a sharp breath, the pricking in his lower abdomen intensified. He swapped a hand across his forehead to swipe away the sweat. The other students were several feet ahead of him, but he could see most of them already slowing down as well. Only Eva kept on running ahead, ignoring everyone around as if she were trying to outrun her disappointment and anger.
Benjamin stopped and turned around to his friend: "You okay?"
"Yeah," Fabio whispered as he toppled to the ground.
The lankier young mutant was quick to join his side and help him up.
"Good to see some teamwork," Bobby whistled as he sent out a large chunk of ice to capture the two boys in place.
As Iceman came closer to the duo, Benjamin's features slowly shifted to resemble those of the older mutant.
"Interesting," Drake said thoughtfully.
"I don't get it. What's the point of all this? How does this help us control our powers?" Benjamin shouted as he glared at the ice-manipulating man.
Meanwhile Fabio was still trying to calm down his breathing patterns and as he took a large chunk of air in, his body churned out a stream of golden eggs one of which fell down on the ice shattering the blocks which had trapped them. But one smaller ones also managed to hit Benjamin in the face and another one scraped by Bobby's left ear.
"Nice one, though next time maybe try not hitting your teammate?" Bobby suggested. "Oh, and also don't think winning a part of the battle means winning the war."
As the older mutant's eyes glimmered with a spark, Fabio and Benjamin got to find out what he was hinting at. Something pulled at one of their legs and they found themselves being tugged underground though they were passing through the mud without feeling its touch. They only regained their solid mass when the only thing that remained above the ground were their heads.
"As for the answer to your question, Mr. Deeds," Kitty said as she crossed her hands in front of her chest: "physical as well as mental training are very important facets of preparing for the rest of your lives as mutants. For one thing it helps you learn focus which is necessary if you want to learn to control your powers, at which the both of you are failing tremendously so far. For another, being a mutant in this world was never safe. We're hoping you will help us change that, but until that day comes it's important that every mutant learn how to defend themselves from potential attackers."
"Boy, you're not sugar wrapping it for them," Bobby commented.
"You got a problem with that?"
"Nah. I think I like this you."

Kitty sat down on one of the old musty chairs in the conference room as she shivered, not even the newly installed fireplace could make up for the dark and gloomy impression of the place. It didn't help that sitting next to Bobby made her feel even chillier. Rachel on her other side was pretending to be cheerful as she chattered her ear off. The White Queen snuggled into the comfiest chair and instead of her usual sparse clothing she wrapped a blanket tightly around her shoulders as she watched the flames flickering.
Her icy blue eyes only looked up when Scott's footsteps echoed around the walls as he walked into the room.
"Where's Illyana?" he asked instead of providing a greeting.
"She took off this morning," Emma hissed.
"Took off where?"
"How would I know? I'm not exactly her keeper."
Scott sighed at his ex-girlfriend's hostile tone, he knew that it was partly caused by his reluctance to start a deeper discussion about were they were as a couple or whatever it was they were now. He and the others had been in Canada for three days now and Bobby, Rachel and Kitty had spent most of the time performing some basic training exercises with Emma's new students. Emma on the other hand either spent the time teaching theoretical lessons or retiring to her room. She had not asked not to be disturbed, so it didn't excuse Scott's hesitance fully, but he had his hands full of checking the inventories, making lists of things they'd need, calling potential allies, making plans for things which had never been attempted before.
"Alright, let's start without her," he said finally while at the same time asking Emma for a private meeting later.
"What do you guys make of the students?" Scott asked.
Kitty screwed up her face as she was trying to think of a nice way to put it, daring to throw an uncertain glance towards Emma, she felt like she would be treading dangerous waters with the answer.
"Oh, I expect their performance in your tests was atrocious, no need to be polite about it, Pryde. It's to be expected. They only just manifested their powers and are still coming to terms with them, they're lacking both in education and experience. But we're going to fix that and we will also add some more experienced students."
"How? You've already tried to do that at Logan's school and you've only got the Cuckoos to show for it," Bobby pointed out.
"Right. But the Cuckoos were all I came for back then."
"But now things are different. Logan and I closed a truce," Scott said. "And under one of its clauses his students are free to choose to join our school if they like our plans. Ray has already talked to some who seem interested."
"Did you drug him so he would agree to that?" Kitty wondered.
"No. I just had to make some concessions, as did he. He's stepping down as the headmaster of the school and letting Ororo take over. And in turn, I had to promise that this place will not have me in a similar position either. Emma's the headmaster of the Frost school, but for the general org here we're going to take votes when it comes to making decisions."
"Wow," Bobby mumbled as he scratched his ear. "And what exactly is the endgame here? What about Emma's little revolution? Are we just going to pretend it never happened?"
"Oh, quiet the contrary, Robert. We're going to scale it up.," Emma chuckled. "What is it you called it in your head, darling? Operation Mutant freedom?"

"Do you want to get back together?" Emma asked, standing tall and proud, her porcelain skin a reflection of the snowy ground all around them, not showing how much she was dreading his answer no matter what he would say.
"I don't know," Scott said after a few seconds of thought. But he got up and encircled her in a tight hug, pressing her head against his shoulder and buried his chin in her blonde hair. "What I do know is that we're tied together for the rest of our lives. If we get together again, I want to make it right this time. And I think it will take time until I'm okay enough to be capable of that."
"That's a more straightforward answer than I expected from you."
"What do you want?" he questioned, accentuating the you in the sentence.
"I used to be so certain of things. But then I fell in love with you and everything turned upside down. But it felt right even if it made me feel vulnerable. But when I look back now, it all seems to be tainted by that one moment when you took the Phoenix's power from me. I told you I was struggling; I practically poured my heart out to you begging you to help me as I felt myself descend into the darkness and instead of trying to help me you turned away from me because of what you felt was your duty."
"I'm sorry," Scott said as he grasped her head in his hands to make her look up to his face.
"No, you shouldn't be. I knew what I was getting into. And I loved you for it. But I can't help it, if it still stings, even when I know you weren't in your right mind either."
As she turned her back to him and dabbed at her face, Scott knew that the rare moment of complete vulnerability she had shown in front of him was over, but he felt privileged that after everything they had been through lately, she still trusted him enough to open up in front of him.
When Emma looked at him again, she did so with a flirtatious smile on her lips and tugging on his shoulder, she whispered: "You know that thing you said about us being tied for the rest of our lives? I believe you owe me some services on that front."
"Uh-oh," Scott chuckled as his cheeks turned red.

Bobby really tried to stop Alex, but when it came to the Summers brothers, stubbornness came in heaps too large to contain. Havok barged into the room, instantaneously stopping frozen in his tracks causing Steve and Tony to collide into him.
The scene that their eyes were met with was Emma lounging in a comfortable chair with her legs resting on top of a table while she sipped on some tea. This wasn't the image that had the younger brother so shocked, his distress came from seeing Scott's naked form wrapped around the torso of another undressed man and his tongue so deep inside the other's throat that it took quite a while to untangle.
"Um, it's not really what it looks like?" Cyclops said in a pitiful attempt to save the situation as he scampered from the bed to look for some more clothes for himself and his companion.
"You're still a terrible liar, Scott," Bobby groaned, trying to conceal his fit of laughter with a cough. "Technically it's exactly what it looks like."
Emma sent a devilish smirk in his direction before saying: "Robert at least stop pretending you're not enjoying the view as much as I am."
The three Avengers stood there in various states of surprise, pure terror and amusement.
Tony almost suggested that they get some popcorn before he noticed that Steve's face had reached a color akin to a very ripe tomato on the color scale and in total contrast Alex's had turned paler than white and it looked as if he were doing everything in his powers not to pass out.
"Iceman," Cyclops started with as much dignity as a man caught inflagranti with another man while his ex-girlfriend watched the whole spectacle could muster. "Could you buy us a minute or two?"
Bobby who had been a little preoccupied with enjoying every single moment of the Avengers reacting to the situation at hand outstretched his hands as a solid wall of ice rose in place of the door to the room.
"You could have just closed the door, you know?" Scott shouted from the other side.
"Nah, and miss my chance to impress Captain America over here?" Iceman answered suggestively, grinning as Steve's face climbed even further up on the red scheme as he mumbled something intelligible.
"So are we going to talk about that or what?" Tony asked enjoying the situation almost as much as Bobby for the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
"What the hell is going on?" a female voice sounded behind the five men as Kitty Pryde strode into the corridor, tagged by Illyana Rasputin and Rachel Grey on each side.
"Trust me, you don't want to know," her red-headed friend groaned as she picked up the thoughts of the other occupants of the corridor.
"I really wish you guys would learn to shield your thoughts," she groaned towards the guys. "At least my father has the decency to shut me out when he does these things."
Steve looked like he was about to finally regain enough composure to speak again, but just as he opened his mouth, Scott shouted from the other side of the barrier: "Stand back, everyone!"
Everyone managed to take a step back just as the force of Cyclops's optic beam crushed through the ice.
"We need to talk, Scott," Captain America started as he was faced with the mutant leader who was now fully dressed in his civilian garb.
"Sorry, Steve. I'm afraid that whatever you're here to do – arrest me, scold me, fight me – will have to wait until after my daughter is born."
All of the Avengers managed to stammer out multiple questions that none of the mutants occupying the bunker seemed to notice.
"Illyana get Dr. Rao here, now!" Kitty barked as she noticed Emma's form now no longer hiding the bump behind the psychic pretensions.
Her face was contracted in pain and her bottom lip was bloody from biting down too hard on it in an effort to suppress the screams. After all, the White Queen could not afford to lose any more of her dignity in front of her enemies.
Scott telepathically ordered the Cuckoos to gather Triage and come to the makeshift infirmary as he scooped up Emma in his arms to carry her.
She buried her nails into his elbows and between the gasps she managed to say: "Summers, I'm already imagining all the very detailed ways I'm going to cut you into pieces for putting me into this undignified position."
Seeing no other option, all of the mutants and Avengers alike followed in a procession after him, the Frost School students were all already waiting in front of the infirmary. Christopher Muse opened the door and Scott walked in and deposited Emma on the bed, the Cuckoos were quickly at her side, delivering some much needed telepathic painkillers. After a moment of hesitation, Rachel also went inside.
As Steve, Tony and Alex were about to walk into the room as well, they were stopped by the small form of Kitty Pryde.
"Nope," she said, shaking her head and pointing them towards the chairs in the waiting room, where Tempus, Goldballs, Hijack and Benjamin Deeds were already sitting.
The three boys were exchanging ideas on what reason Cyclops could have had that made him crazy enough to think that knocking up Emma Frost was in any way a good idea while Eva Bell sat with knees drawn to her chest, looking forlorn. After all, it was still relatively early after she had learned that the man she had fallen in love with was nothing more than a telepathic illusion and the real him saw her as just one more student at his ex's new school.
"Are you okay?" Steve asked the younger of the two Summers' brothers as Havok slid down into a chair.
His answer came as a hollow laugh.
"You'd think that after all the alternate timelines kids and long lost secret brothers I'd be used to this by now. Kitty, what the hell is going on? When did this happen and why didn't they tell anyone?"
"Well, I wasn't around, but I think the timescale makes the when part pretty obvious. Also given the terrible things that tend to happen to your brother's offspring, it can't really come as a surprise that Emma would insist on hiding this from people as long as she could, " Kitty explained.
"It's what parents do for their children," Steve mumbled.
"What?" Tony asked, confused.
"I just recalled a memory we had seen in Cyclops' head, it's what Cable told him after he tried to kill us. Scott knew we were about to fight a war and the last thing he wanted was for his child to become another pawn in it."
Their conversation was interrupted by a chain of expletives that Emma shouted at Scott.

"What is it you're saying Dr. Rao?" Scott questioned, an unusual harshness present in his voice.
"I'm saying you need to prepare and decide," she said, eyes full of sorrow. "Miss Frost is not in labor, if my readings are correct, your daughter's powers are just starting to manifest. Her whole body is reconstituting and morphing into something different."
"But how can her powers be manifesting in the womb already?" Rachel wondered.
"Under normal circumstances, I'd be hard-pressed to find an answer, but given that her mother spent weeks connected to a cosmic entity that is known to promote mutation, I'd dare say the probable answer is clear."
"There's something more about the Phoenix," Emma said between groans.
All heads turned towards her in surprise.
"What? You thought that you could just walk a few feet away from me and talk in hushed voices to stop me from hearing? I might be highly pregnant and in a lot of pain, but I'm still a world class telepath."
Her eyes connected with the doctor as she telepathically received the answer from the other woman.
"Right, we might not want to be talking about that with three blood thirsty Avengers present in our home," she said catching the doctor's drift. "You could at least tell us how long the little one's transformation will feel like she's trying to kill me?"
The room was silent as Scott approached the bed and sat down on it, taking the blonde's hand into his.
"Emma," he said, gently. "She might very well kill you, you know how newly manifested mutants feel like teenagers and we're talking about an unborn baby here. The next time she opens her eyes, she could blast through you. Or she could kick her way out from you in panic."
"So what? We can let her do that and Christopher can heal me…,"
Scott shook his head and answered: "A single optic blast could totally disintegrate you and you can't turn into diamond because then she will suffocate."
"So when Rao said we have to decide, she meant…," Emma's words trailed off and were lost in a heart-wrenching sob.
"If it's me or her, I choose her. Scott, I can't let it happen again."
She didn't have to say it all aloud in order for him to understand. I can't bear to stand over the corpse of another dead child, especially not one born of our love before it all burned and turned into ash.
"Emma, read my mind," he said, projecting his plan. "Do you trust me?"
"Yes," she said after a moment.
"Girls, Ray, can you put Emma under for this?" he questioned.
"No," the pregnant woman protested.
"That's not a suggestion, it's an order," Scott barked.
Emma exploded and hurled any expletives she could think of at her ex-boyfriend.
"You don't get to pull rank on me, Cyclops. Not now, not here," she seethed. "All they have to do is keep me calm and in turn I can concentrate my power on keeping the little one calm."
"Alright," Scott conceded as he opened the door and called: "Kitty, we need your help in here."

"You want me to do what?!" she cried.
"Kitty, I wouldn't be asking you if we had any other choice, trust me," Scott explained.
"Just do it already," Emma groaned.
Pryde's right hand hovered over the telepath's baby bump as she looked up at the screen that was showing the way that the unborn child was tangled inside of its umbilical cord. Dr. Rao guided her as her fingers phased through Emma's skin slowly. Making sure that she had both of her hands on the small form on the screen, she solidified inside of the other woman's womb to get a firm grip on her daughter so she could phase her through the blonde's skin. Despite the psychic painkillers that the other telepaths in the room were delivering, Emma couldn't stop herself from screaming due to the internal injuries caused by Kitty's solid hands inside of her.
Frost opened her eyes and tried to look at her freshly born daughter as she clutched her nails deep into the palm of Scott's hand in panic as she realized there was no sound coming from the little girl.
"Dr. Rao, please step in, Triage stand by," Cyclops commanded, holding onto his leader persona, not allowing himself to feel the fear that was raging deep inside him.
The female doctor cut the place where the cord was sticking out of Emma's skin and quickly carried over the unmoving silent form of the newborn over to the examination table.
"Triage, help Dr. Rao. Emma, turn diamond now," Scott barked orders left and right.
The White Queen hesitated for a moment before changing into her solid form, she recognized that her ex-boyfriend's aim was to make sure that her injuries weren't bleeding while Christopher was too busy concentrating on saving the life of their daughter, but this form was hardly conductive to feeling emotions.
She got up and tried to join Dr. Rao and Triage who were leaning over the small silent form, but Scott wrapped his arms around her and stopped her, so that they both hovered a few feet away from the medical professionals.
They both glimpsed the small ruby colored form with eyes firmly closed, limbs not moving, chest not heaving due to the cord that was tangled all around her.
As the doctor quickly unwrapped her from it and was about to step aside to get Christopher to jump in, the ruby form slowly changed into the pale skin of a regular newborn and the girl opened her glowing red eyes for the first time and let out a healthy strong cry.
"Oh, you clever girl," the mother cooed.
"I see," the doctor nodded. "She recognized the danger to herself and changed to her ruby form to make sure she could survive. Astonishing."
Emma tried to step forward to get closer to her newborn treasure but Scott stopped her and directed her back towards her bed.
"First Christopher heals you," the mutant insisted. "I'm sure Dr. Rao needs to examine Ruby and make sure she's truly okay."
"Ruby? Is that what we're calling her now? How frightfully unoriginal."
"Do you have any better suggestions?"
"Not at the moment," Emma responded as she laid down and once Triage was standing beside her, she shifted back into her human form.