Chapter 39

Rivalry

At the Boarding house

Mystique walked out of her bed chambers before dawn as she always did. A principal's job was never an easy one.

As soon as she walked out of her soundproof walls she heard loud racket coming from outside.

"All I want is some peace in the morning and I can't even have that" Mystique stomped downstairs and went outside, "What is all this noise?!"

Kratos was outside training, the area looked like a bulldozer had gone through. He currently had a giant tree in his hands, and beneath him was where he ripped it out with his bare hands.

Mystique walked up to him, "What are you doing?"

"Training" Kratos simply said as he ripped the tree in half.

"You can't use our front yard as your training grounds you ignoramus!" Mystique shouted.

Kratos dropped the tree halves and faced her, "Says who?"

"Says me" Mystique pointed at herself, "I make the rules around here"

Kratos stepped closer to her, "You think because Magneto put you in charge of these incapable fools that you have power over me?"

Mystique went to slap him, "Watch your mouth you insolent—"

Kratos grabbed her wrist before she could hit him, "I only obey those more powerful than myself" he squeezed.

Mystique felt her bones being crushed. She tried shapeshifting to a larger body but he squeezed even harder keeping her in her present one.

"And you" Kratos said with a cocky grin.

Mystique fell to her knees from the amount of pain.

"Are beneath me" Kratos let go of her and left.

Mystique held her aching wrist, perhaps Kratos was right for the job, but that doesn't mean she's going to tolerate his insolence. As soon as he deals with Dean she's going to make Kratos pay for what he did.

At the Institute

Dean was training under 3x gravity as he listened to music. Change, by Black Stone Cherry.

{You promised, we believed you
The water's getting high, my God, I forgot you
Why must we choose and die, yeah, yeah?
Why must we choose and die?}

Dean threw consecutive punches over and over, feeling the strain of the gravity as he did.

{We are, we are waiting, waiting
We keep hearin' that a change is gonna come
It's been too long, if it's comin'
I wanna know where the change is coming from}

He ducked as if avoiding an attack and came up with a right uppercut and a left hook.

{Deep pockets, bodies piled high
How can you sleep at night, my God, I forgot you
Why must we choose and die, yeah, yeah?
Why must we choose and die?}

He kneed upward and spun around with a left elbow.

{We are, we are waiting, waiting
We keep hearin' that a change is gonna come
It's been too long, if it's comin'
I wanna know where the change is coming from}

Dean then attacked with a high kick and his leg felt like it was on fire from it's soreness. He dropped his leg and panted, 'C'mon you can still go on' he jumped for a tornado kick.

However he miscalculated how long he would be in the air, the gravity pulled him down earlier than expected and landed on his back with a good amount of force.

{Make no move
It's dark, it's true
If you can it's time you do
We are, we are waiting, waiting
We are, we are, we're waiting for a change}

Dean gritted his teeth as he got on his feet, 'Still good' he rapidly punched the air in front of him.

{We are, we are waiting, waiting
We keep hearin' that a change is gonna come
It's been too long, if it's comin'
I wanna know where the change is coming from
We're waiting for a change
We're waiting for a change}

As he felt the last of his energy leave his body he stopped and breathed heavily, "End simulation" Dean said out loud and the gravity returned to normal.

'Dean we have to go or we're going to be late for class' Jean spoke telepathically.

'Just give me a minute, I'll be right there' Dean limped towards the exit.

At Bayville High

Later during lunchtime Dean decided to spend his time outside. As always he desired some peace and quiet, something he hasn't had much of these days.

Then again when was the last time he had uninterrupted peace and quiet? Probably since he was on the road alone. Even though he was going through some shit at the time having no one around to bother him was nice.

Perhaps that's a sad way of thinking but when you're a person who appreciates being alone with your thoughts it sure doesn't seem that way.

Dean looked at his gauntlets and his mind started wondering about his mission, 'I'm supposed to save the world, and from what? I don't even know' he sighed, 'How am I supposed to do that?'

His father expected either him or his supposed brother to carry out this task which he still doesn't know the specifics to. It's possible that voice he hears in his dreams is connected to his mission.

"Hey Dean!" Taryn called out his name as she approached him.

'It was nice while it lasted' Dean thought, "Hey Taryn" he greeted her.

"What are you doing out here?" Taryn asked curiously.

"I was just uh, enjoying the silence" Dean said awkwardly.

"Oh, I probably ruined that, didn't I?" Taryn figured.

"No don't worry about it, you're not the first and definitely won't be the last to ruin silence for me" Dean said optimistically.

"Well that's good to know. So umm" Taryn looked at the ground nervously before looking back at him, "The Sadie Hawkins dance is coming up in a few weeks"

"Yeah I've seen the posters around school. I'm guessing from your enthusiasm that you're going, right?" Dean asked.

"Of course I'm going silly, everyone is going" Taryn said with a smile.

"I could argue that you're wrong but it doesn't matter" Dean said.

Taryn playfully rolled her eyes, "So, uh, I was wondering if you would be my date for the dance"

Dean felt awkward, "You see here's the thing, Jean and I have been going out now for a while and we literally just decided to be exclusive"

Taryn looked disappointed.

"So knowing that Jean is 100% going to ask me, if I say yes to you she will literally kill me" Dean joked.

Taryn laughed at the joke, "Yeah she probably would. Thank you for being honest with me though, it means a lot"

"Thank you" Dean put his arm on her shoulder and walked with her, "Because I do want to be friends with my girlfriend's best friend"

"Oh so you want me to put in a good word for you?" Taryn laughed.

Dean looked skeptical, "If you would be so kind"

As they were talking Kratos came around the corner and walked past them.

In that moment both boys felt a strange inexplicable sensation.

Dean stopped in his tracks and turned around.

Kratos coincidentally did the same.

They locked eyes and stared at each other. They felt a sort of familiarity but couldn't quite place it.

Taryn noticed he stopped walking, "Dean?" She then noticed the two of them staring each other down, "What is it?"

Dean never took his eyes off him, "I...I don't know"

"Do you know that guy?" Taryn asked.

Dean glanced at her for a moment, "Never seen him before in my life" he looked back and Kratos was gone, 'Where'd he go?'

Later at the Boarding house

Kratos avoided a fireball from Pyro as he charged at him.

After school Kratos decided to challenge his soon to be teammates. Of course, that was after a disagreement between Lance and Kratos on who would have won their first encounter.

Pyro threw consecutive fireballs to try and hit his mark.

Kratos avoided all of them and when he was close enough he punched Pyro in the jaw knocking him out and flat on his back. The only ones still standing were Blob, Quicksilver, and Avalanche.

And so, this is where they were now. Down 3 teammates and Kratos had yet to break a sweat.

"I don't care what we have to do, let's just wipe that smirk off his face" Avalanche said feeling tired.

"Just tell me what to do" Blob said panting.

"I'll keep him off balance, Pietro will keep him distracted, while you sneak up behind him and grab him so he can't escape" Avalanche said.

"On it" Quicksilver zipped over to Kratos and ran around him.

Avalanche created a tremor in the ground where Kratos was standing.

Kratos was unaffected by the tremor and kept trying to hit Quicksilver.

Meanwhile Blob went around and snuck up behind Kratos.

Kratos elbowed Blob who was right behind him, grabbed his arm, and flipped him over on his back.

Quicksilver zipped towards him in attempt to free Blob from his grasp.

Kratos kneed Quicksilver in the gut.

Quicksilver was stunned from the surge of pain that he felt in his stomach.

Kratos then grabbed Blob's arm and swung him over on top of Quicksilver, crushing the silver haired speedster.

Avalanche then created a wave in the earth and aimed it at Kratos.

Kratos then swung Blob around in a circle a few times before throwing him at Avalanche.

Blob knocked into Avalanche and they crashed into a tree.

Kratos jumped over the wave and approached them.

Blob, who was stuck to the tree, pushed himself off. He looked back and saw Avalanche in a man sized indentation, unconscious.

"Your size can be taken advantage of if you're not careful" Kratos stood in front of him.

Blob went to punch Kratos but he dodged.

Then Kratos grabbed him by his shirt, flipped him over, and shoved Blob's head in the ground.

Blob's body was standing upside down while his head was buried in the ground. His arms and legs flailed, "Who turned off the lights?!" he shouted.

Mystique, who was watching, was disappointed in her team.

"Your group of incompetent mutants are incapable of dealing with a single individual" Kratos said as he passed by her.

"A mistake I will correct" Mystique said glaring at her team. She noticed he was leaving the premises, "Just where are you going?"

"To find a real challenge" Kratos said.

At the institute

Charles and Logan made their way downstairs.

'Everyone, would you please gather by the front door' Charles spoke telepathically.

The X-men plus Ororo gathered just as he asked.

"What's going on Professor?" Scott asked.

"Logan and I will be visiting an old friend, I'll be leaving Ororo in charge" Charles said.

"Which old friend is that?" Ororo asked.

"His name is Dr. Stephen Strange and he is Earth's Sorcerer Supreme" Charles said.

"What is a Sorcerer Supreme?" Dean asked.

"He is Earth's supreme defender against mystical threats as well as the protector and teacher of those blessed with the gift of magic" Charles said.

"So what? He can pull a rabbit out of his hat or something?" Kitty laughed at the thought of magic.

"With magic almost anything is possible Kitty" Charles tells her from his personal experience, "What you consider the normal laws of physics don't apply"

"How did you meet him?" Jean asked.

Charles smiled lightly as memories came to him of an earlier part of his life, "I wasn't always confined to this wheelchair Jean. Once I was a young man who set out to explore the world. On my travels, I encountered many unusual things, including magic, and had what you could call adventures. That was how I first met Storm and her sister after all"

Storm smiled slightly to herself as she remembered that. Her life was hard back then but it was meeting the Professor she remembered fondly. After all he did free her and her sister from the servitude of the Shadow King.

"On my travels I met someone with much experience of magic and we have, on and off, maintained a long-distance friendship. Seeing as how I've discovered a whole new world with Dean, I would like to consult with Dr. Strange" Charles said.

"Consult for what?" Dean asked curiously.

"Well, anything he knows on the matter. There's still a lot you don't know, even more so myself, and if anyone I know might have some valuable information it's Stephen" Charles said.

"I can't argue with that, good luck" Dean said.

"Thank you" Charles said as he rolled out, "We won't be gone for too long"

"The house better be in one piece when we get back" Logan warned them as they left.

"Hey guys let's go on an adventure in Logan's room" Dean joked.

"I heard that!" Logan shouted from outside.

"I'm gonna go play with the samurai sword, anyone wanna join me?" Dean ran up the stairs.

"I don't know if he's serious or not" Kurt wondered out loud.

"More importantly since when does Logan have a samurai sword?" Rogue asked.

"Like everyone, he's entitled to keep his past private" Ororo said, like herself of course.

"I suppose that's true" Rogue does a very good job of keeping her past private.

Logan drove out of the Institute with the Professor.

"Why do I get the feeling that something is going to happen" Logan said as he drove.

"There will come a day when we won't be there to protect them. And when that day comes I hope they're prepared" Charles said.

"I hope so too" Logan said.

After they left Kratos came out of some bushes.

'The telepath and his body guard left' Kratos smirked, 'Which means there's no one left to stop me' he leaped over the front gate.

An alarm went off and plasma turrets came out of the ground across the lawn.

Kratos drew his blades, "Let the fun begin"

Suddenly an alarm went off in the house and plasma fire could be heard from outside.

Everyone was suited up and ready to fight when they went outside to check what was going on.

All the turrets were destroyed and Kratos stood there with his blades sheathed.

Kratos wore black combat boots and black pants with a red greek key pattern around his waist. His chest was bare apart for a strap to hold his blades on his back.

'It's that guy again' Dean thought.

"At last, I was getting bored of waiting" Kratos said.

"Can we help you?" Scott asked since he had no idea who he was.

"Yes you can, by attacking me all at once" Kratos said.

Rogue raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What?"

"He's got a few screws loose" Evan laughed.

Dean noticed the blades on Kratos' back, 'Those don't look ordinary'

"And why would you want us to do that?" Scott asked curiously.

"I desire a challenge, so I sought out the X-men" Kratos said.

"We're not going to fight you just because you want us to" Jean said.

"Is that what you think?" Kratos looked amused.

"We won't be a tool to be used" Kitty said.

"That's where you're wrong" Kratos moved faster than he could react and punched Scott in the stomach.

Scott dropped to his knees and then fell face first on the ground, unconscious.

"Scott!" Jean ran over to him.

"You will be used whether you like it or not, whether you defend yourselves is up to you" Kratos raised his foot to stomp on her.

Dean rolled across the ground, grabbed Jean, and pulled her away just in time to avoid the stomp.

Kratos eyed Dean carefully, he moved fast enough to save her. An impressive feat, overshadowed by his mistake.

"You ok?" Dean asked.

"Yeah I'm fine" Jean said.

"You could have seized the opportunity and attacked but instead you chose to protect the girl. You would have caught me off guard too" Kratos admitted.

"Don't worry I'll catch you again" Dean said preparing himself.

"I doubt that" Kratos said.

"Leave now!" Storm summoned powerful winds that were aimed at Kratos.

Kratos stood still, unaffected by the winds, "Is this supposed to do something?"

Storm raised an eyebrow in confusion, that's not right.

Kurt teleported next to Kratos with a kick aimed at his head.

Kratos grabbed his leg and bashed him against the ground hard enough to render him unconscious.

"Kurt!" Evan shouted before shouting a couple of spikes at him.

Kratos drew one blade and deflected all the spikes with ease, "I urge you to take this seriously"

At the Sanctum Sanctorum

Charles and Logan waited outside the large building.

The door opened.

Standing there was a tall, lean man, in his early forties, with short black hair streaked with grey on the sides, and a trim black beard around his face, with sharp green eyes. He was wearing black pants over which is a long, mostly black coat with red patterns on the upper half. The man was wearing a pleasant smile.

"Good to see you Charles" Stephen said.

"Likewise my friend" Charles said as he rolled inside.

"Logan" Stephen greeted him.

"Magic man" Logan nodded as he walked in.

Stephen rolled his eyes, "I guarantee you no one likes your nicknames" he said as he lead them.

Logan smirked, "You think I don't know that?"

They walked through a long hall with a red carpet.

As they walked there were random objects on display.

Logan remembered from last time not to touch anything, some of those objects were dangerous.

They entered a room that was highly decorated and filled with fancy furniture.

"Please have a seat" Stephen said as he sat down on his personal chair.

Logan sat while Charles rolled right next to him.

A well dressed, bald, Asian man walked in, "Hello Professor"

"How are you Wong?" Charles asked.

"Fine as can be" Wong said with a smile.

"Wong, would you please bring some tea for our guests" Stephen said.

Wong bowed, "Yes master Strange" he exited the room.

"So, how is that school of yours going?" Stephen asked.

"It's coming along nicely I'd say" Charles said.

Wong came back in with a tray full of teapots.

"That's good, thank you Wong" Stephen said as he grabbed a cup and sipped on the tea, "How many have you assembled?"

"6 mutants" Charles said proudly.

Stephen nodded, "A good number to start with" he sipped on his tea.

"And one half-blood" Charles added.

Stephen choked on his tea and coughed.

Charles smirked, he knows.

Stephen stopped coughing, "Well, that explains your visit. If you're wondering why I never told you—"

"I understand why you wouldn't, at first I didn't believe the boy when he told me. But recent events have convinced me otherwise" Charles said.

"Charles, the dangers of housing a half-blood are vast, I don't think you understand the depth of your situation" Stephen warned him.

Charles grabbed a cup and took a sip of the tea, "Then make me understand" he said calmly.

Stephen took a deep breath, "From birth half-bloods are in constant danger. It's a miracle half of them even make it to puberty"

"Can't argue with that" Logan admitted, the kid always gets himself into some kind of trouble it really is a miracle he's still alive.

Charles nodded calmly, "Continue"

Stephen did not like how calm his friend was being, "The world of mutants is a dangerous one already, mixing that with half-bloods is a risk to your goals"

"I will determine the risks that this boy brings" Charles said.

Stephen looked overly concerned, "Charles believe me when I say right now more than ever is a bad time to be getting mixed up with the Olympians"

Logan felt confused, all this over a boy?

Charles studied Stephen's features, he'd never seen him so concerned, "What're you so afraid of Stephen?"

"Years ago, the Oracle of Delphi spoke of a prophecy that would determine the fate of our world" Stephen said.

"A prophecy?" Logan asked.

"Yes, prophecies are their way of avoiding future catastrophes. And there have been a few major prophecies in the last couple of decades, but one has made the Olympians very concerned" Stephen said.

"Tell me the prophecy you speak of" Charles said.

"Are you sure you want to hear this?" Stephen asked.

"I need to know Stephen" Charles said.

"If that's what you want" Stephen said as he fished out the Eye of Agamotto from his pocket. Normally it went around his neck but that's a bit flashy for every day wear, "Speak the Oracle's words" he commanded the eye which opened and green mist came out of it. And from the thick green mist a voice began to speak.

"Two sons of Zeus shall decide,
Where their true allegiances lie,
to follow in their father's footsteps,
or the path of the hero doomed to die.
Their destiny forever tied,
To the fate of Olympus and its kind,
The gods to be slaughtered or saved,
The outcome to be remembered for all time..."

Charles and Logan looked at each other with concern.

Stephen saw how they looked, he didn't even have to read their minds to figure out what that meant.

"Your half-blood is a son of Zeus, isn't he?" Stephen asked.

At the Institute

Dean flew back and tumbled across the ground.

Kratos had turned out to be an incredible fighter indeed. He managed to take out everyone except Evan and Dean.

Evan panted as he stood next to Dean, "Who the hell is this dude man?"

"I don't know" Dean said as he looked at the blades on his back, "But those blades make me think he might be like me"

Evan's eyes widened, "You've gotta be kidding me"

Kratos he leapt towards them.

Dean blocked Kratos' attack with his gauntlets as he landed.

Kratos froze as he saw the gauntlets. He looked at the lightning bolt symbols and then looked at Dean with a shocked expression, "You?!"

Dean backed away, he wasn't sure why Kratos was acting so funny, "What about me?"

"You're a son of Zeus?" Kratos asked.

"Yes, and I'm guessing you're a half-blood too?" Dean assumed.

Kratos looked at the sky, "You must be joking" he said looking unamused, "This is my brother?"

Dean stared at him, "Brother…" the realization hit him like a ton of bricks, "You're my brother? The other son of Zeus?"

"You see this" Kratos said pointing to his red tattoo that traveled along his body, "I was born with this, this is my mark, my proof that I am who I say I am"

Dean lifted his sleeve on his right shoulder and showed his birthmark, "I guess this is mine"

Kratos looked at it with disgust and spat on the ground, "You're not worthy of it"

Dean glared at him in response. He summoned a lightning bolt to his palm and threw it at his brother.

The lightning bolt struck Kratos in the chest making him skid back from the force of it, but otherwise he looked unaffected.

Dean's expression was a mixture of shock and worry.

"That should have worked" Evan said.

Kratos smirked, "Sons of Zeus are naturally resistant to lightning, your powers will do you no good"

Dean sighed, "Great, this just keeps getting better and better"

Author's note: Oh my, bombs have been dropped. No wonder Gods have been treading lightly around our Protagonist. And now we'll get to see how the sons of Zeus match up against each other...well not now, but soon! ;)