I do not own any of the rights to the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, or Spider-Man. None of these characters are my own.
This story takes place soon after the latest Thunderbird joined the X-Men.
The Fantastic Four and the X-Men stood opposite each other on the battlefield. Behind the Fantastic Four was an unconscious form, the long-lost Rachel Summers. She lay on the other side of a dimensional hole, which would engulf all of New York City if anyone tried to step through. The sides had argued, but the X-Men were not going to let up. They wanted to rescue her, and did not seem to care about dimensional stability.
For some reason, they could not bring themselves to believe Iceman. Since he had taken a leadership role in the Fantastic Four, his former comrades had lost all faith in the team. They had proven at least equally effective as under Reed Richards, yet they were still looked down upon by the six X-Men present.
"Rogue, you know us. Let us close the portal before something happens."
Rogue looked down, resigned. "Colossus, keep the Thing busy. Wolverine, Gambit, see what you can do about Spider-Man. Thunderbird, subdue Iceman. Shadow Cat, help me with Human Torch."
The X-Men charged, only to be buffeted by a wall of ice. Before they could get past the obstacle, a ring of flame surrounded the mutants. "Spider-Man, seal that portal. Torch and I will see if we can keep them at bay."
Shadow Cat walked through the two walls of elemental fury, heading towards Spider-Man. The Thing stood in her way, swinging punches that never landed. Each time his fists passed through her, it caused a very strong sense of discomfort. She tried to avoid walking through him.
Elsewhere the ice-wall crumbled, Colossus's organic steel body stepping through. "You must think you're hot stuff," Robert said, not very impressed. On cue, he was dowsed in flame by Iceman's teammate. "Chill." After being heated to over two hundred degrees celsius, his temperature was dropped to around negative one hundred thirty, and then restored to normal. They did not want to kill him. Colossus dropped to the floor, stunned, and in shock.
While they were taking out Colossus, Rogue had come up unseen, and struck the Human Torch. He was knocked through a brick wall, temporarily out of sight. The other X-Men charged through.
Iceman used one hand to create a giant igloo around Spider-Man, his machinery, and the tear in the dimensional fabric. With his other hand, he created an ice-dome around the three X-Men on the ground. That igloo quickly melted beneath waves of plasma, and allowing Rogue to fly forward and strike Iceman.
"That was not a good idea," said Thing, as he pounded Rogue from behind. She was out of the fight for at least as long as the Human Torch.
The Thing took brunt of Thunderbird's plasma blast, along with Gambit's exploding cards. He was slowed, but not halted. He advanced on them, successfully landing a punch on Thunderbird. With the X-Man's plasma out of the picture, Iceman was free to use his cold waves to slow Gambit and Wolverine. He stopped the two by freezing them completely in blocks of ice.
The Human Torch flew in through the window, creating flame barriers to stop Shadow Cat. His fire did nothing but startle her, and Shadow Cat continued her approach. Fortunately, by the time she made it to Spider-Man, the rift was too small for her to step through. She tried to short out Spider-Man's device, but the small circuits were protected by a force field that she unable to penetrate. The battle was lost for the X-Men.
When Rogue re-arrived, she received the news from Shadow Cat. "You just took the life of a friend, Bobby," the self-righteous X-Man said.
He pelted her with a small barrage of ice, not giving her a chance to use her powers. "Don't call me that, I'm not your friend any more. First you and Thunderbird tell me how welcome I am with the X-Men, and then you try to destroy the Universe? To tear it to ribbons? I'm not going to waste my life as a 'hero' when other 'heroes' try to take away everything we've fought for. I've had it. To hell with all of you."
"Bobby, don't you think you're reacting a little strongly?" said Johnny, trying to make his friend see reason. "After all, they thought they were doing the right thing. They didn't see Spider-Man's readings."
"Torch. Shut it. I'm out of here." Iceman left, ignoring protestations.
"What just happened here?" asked Spider-Man. "I pack up my equipment, hear some yelling, and the Popsicle vanishes. What'd you guys do?"
"We did what we thought is right, y'hear?"
"Sure thing, sweet face, but you don't need to yell."
"Didn't we used to have a leader?" asked Spider-Man.
Johnny looked determined. "We still do. Let's go back to Freedom Plaza. For some reason, I don't think we'll be seeing Iceman any time soon. He made his choice."
