DISCLAIMER: The X-Men are property of Marvel Comics, and I am using them without Marvel's permission. I am making no money from this, so it would be pointless to sue me for something I don't have. Dakota and the spangly new villain team introduced are mine. Mine! Mine! [Mwa ha ha!]

bold a sounding action

italics what somebody's thinking

Note: This probably gets violent from here on out, so people who are bothered by such things, I suggest close your eyes and cover your ears at those parts. But if that doesn't work, then just don't read it. I won't be offended. Honest.

WARNING!!: This gets violent. Just in case you skipped the Note. If you did go back and read it. Go on. Read it. You done? Good. I also suggest somethings sexually in few spots. I think they're pretty mild but then again, I'm not you, the beloved reader.


The First Step - Part 3
Beverly McIntyre

Warren Worthington and Betsy Braddock lounged quietly on the bear-skin rug, enjoying each other's company. The roaring fire licked them with warmth as they sipped their champagne. Betsy cuddled into Warren's side in a rare moment of contentment. Things were just starting to settle down after the return from Antarctica. Life seemed to be heading back toward the blissfully mundane. But that sense of peace was about to be shattered. Unbeknownst to the two lovers, several pairs of malevolent eyes watched them balefully.

"Awwww, doesn't that make yer heart just wanna pop?" Ch-click. "They're bein' all cute an' lovey-dovey." A small, wiry man lowered the barrel of his rifle at the two blissfully ignorant people. He sighted up the back of the woman's head in his scope. He was just about to squeeze the trigger when the rifle was snatched out of his hands.

"What the 'ell are y'doing?" The man, codenamed Shadow, turned toward the woman who now had his high-powered rifle in her hands. He looked her up and down with a sneer. Her bluish-silver eyes were narrowed in anger. "Y'know we're not supposed t'kill them right away. We go in there an' hold 'em down 'til their teammates arrive."

"Lissen, I'm a sniper. I don't go in anywhere, Lash. I sit back an' splatter people's brains out from a distance. Fade into the woodwork an' I'm gone." Shadow nervously ran his fingers through his cropped, brown hair. "'Sides, these X-Men we're supposed to be waitin' for, well, some of them can toss around Buicks like they're nothin'. I say I snipe the two lovebirds an' we move on."

"That's why I lead. I've got more foresight than you'll ever 'ave. If I didn't need you t' cover our backs..." She shifted the rifle so she held it in one hand. The palm of her free hand split open. There was a nausiating sound as a whip brushed through the opening and produced itself in her hand. It immediately started to glow a faint white.

Shadow looked at the whip, worried. He knew she had no problems with using that electrified whip on him. She probably would enjoy doing it, too. Lash was the leader of the Destruction Crew through sheer brutality alone. She would beat anyone down who got in her way. Who'm I kiddin'. She'd kill anyone who got in her way.

"Lash, power down." The calm command came from over Lash's shoulder. A tall, dark-haired man stood behind her with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Don't start orderin' me 'round, Psion." Lash did not turn toward him.

"Very well. Then when Angel and Psylocke notice a faint white glow, they won't be surprised when we launch ourselves over there." Shadow looked from Psion to Lash and back again. These two did not like each other at all. Psion was often trying to position himself to become the leader, a post that Lash held onto tenaciously.

"'Ere." Lash serenely held the rifle back out to Shadow. He snatched it out of her hands and glowered at her. "Remember. Don't fire on either o' 'em 'til we're int' position. Understood?" Shadow nodded uncertainly as she turned toward Psion. Lash had never acted serenely before, ever. "Now, Psion, is Tech in place?"

Psion got a far away look in his eyes. "She'll be ready in five minutes."

"Good. Now go get the Elementals up 'ere. Let's get ready t'move." As Psion moved away without a word, she powered down her whip. (That bloody fool doesn't think this plan will work. It'll work. I leaked the information to Blackhorse Inc. personally. The information will get to Dakota. He'll contact the X-Men. The Destruction Crew will kill them when they come to rescue their fellow teammates. Can't have those X-Men goodie-two-shoes mucking up our future conquests now can we?)

"Lash, is this really gonna work? I mean we've all read the files on these X-Men. They've beaten teams like the Marauders and Brotherhood of Evil Mutants time and time again. What makes you think we'll do any better?" Lash turned to him and the sereness was gone. Her eyes blazed with anger. Shadow was almost relieved she was back to her old self, except for the fact she was angry at him.

"We'll succeed where those dolts failed 'cause we now these X-Men inside an' out. We know their powers an' personalities. We're not goin' t' underestimate 'em. We're going t' destroy them."


Dakota poked his head in the van. His friend wasn't in the back searching through the boxes as he had hoped. Wanderlust had struck his friend at the most inopportune time. Dakota slammed the van door shut.

"Great. Just what I need." He looked over his shoulder at Storm who was waiting patiently. "I'm sorry for this. I should have known better than to leave him out here alone. When he gets bored he starts to wander around. But don't worry. he can usually get himself out of any trouble that he gets into."

"I will be more relaxed once we find your friend. What does he look like?"

"Well, he's around my height, blond, wears black leather. That help?"

"It is a start", she said as she flew into the air. She felt no need to hide her powers from him any longer. He had already proved he knew about her mutant abilities. He also seemed to know a great amount about what happens at Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning. "I shall look from the air while you search from the ground."

"Works for me since I can't fly." He turned in the opposite direction than Storm was heading and started to walk. You better hope that Storm finds you first, buddy. 'Cuz I'm liable to wring your neck.


Rogue was working on decorating her room. It helped her keep her mind off of what had happened in Antarctica. It kept her mind off of Remy's betrayal. Though it didn't make her exactly happy. Bastion had cleaned out the mansion pretty good. He had taken everything, even Rogue's personal effects like the sweet little mementos she had collected. Damn you Bastion. Ah come home after havin' my heart ripped out t'find you ripped out the heart of mah home.

Rogue pushed that melancholy little thought out of her head. She didn't need to break down into tears right now. Lord knows if Ah jus' start ta sniffle, Joseph will come chargin' in here ta comfort me. At first, she had found Joseph's eagerness to help her through this difficult time endearing, but now, she found it most annoying. Some things she wanted to sort out for herself.

As Rogue worked to make her bed she had an odd feeling that somebody was watching her. She stopped and looked around her room. Maybe Bastion had left survalence devices in the mansion. But as she looked around, she decided that she didn't feel it was like that. She started to turn toward her bedroom door when she saw something drop from the window out of the corner of her eye. I don't think Joseph and Hank are throwin' anything off of the roof.

She moved to the window and looked toward the ground. She saw a blur of blond and black disappear around the corner. "Look's like we got a Peepin' Tom" , she said as she threw the window open. In the blink of an eye she was outside, flying after whoever had been spying on her.


Dakota was walking right by the corner of the mansion when his friend whipped right by him. Dakota stopped and turned around. "Longshot, what are you doing?"

Longshot skidded to a stop and turned around. "Dakota, I was just looking for you! I was out to see if there had been a change in the team roster or anything, and that might not be the place you want to be standing."

"What? Why?"

"All right whoever yah are. Ah don't appreciate yah- OOFF." Rogue plowed right into Dakota's backside. Rogue lost her concentration and her flight became dependent on inertia and gravity.

Longshot watched as Rogue and Dakota became tangled up and flew a bit farther before falling into a heap of body parts. He took a step towards them when he saw Beast and a silver-haired man look over the edge of the roof.

Rogue began to untangle herself from whoever she hit. "Uhh, Miss. Could you remove your hand from there before anything else?" Rogue saw where her hand was and blushed severely as she yanked it away. "Thanks."

"Here. Let me help. I kind of caused this." Rogue felt a pair of hands help hoist her away from the man. She saw Joseph and Hank come floating down from the rooftop in a magnetic bubble. Rogue felt like she wanted to go hide under a rock. She was so embarrassed. Her only hope was that neither of the two had seen where her hand had been.

"Thanks...LONGSHOT!" For a second, Rogue forgot about her embarrassment and hugged her former teammate. She was genuinely happy to see him. It had been awhile since she had seen him, and a lot had happened since then. But she was truly glad to see him. Whenever she was around him, she felt a little happier. She didn't know why, maybe it was his childish innocence or his happy-go-lucky attitude, but she did. Deep inside she hoped he was going to stay with the X-Men awhile; they needed something like him right now. "It's so good to see you. Where's Al-"

"Did anyone catch the stinger missile that hit me?" Dakota got to his feet with a little help from Joseph and Beast.

"I do not believe it was a stinger missile. I believe Rogue was whole-heartedly chasing without looking for what was in her path." ,Beast chuckled. Once Dakota was on his feet, Joseph let go and moved away from him.

"Rogue, are you okay?" ,Joseph asked with loads of concern in his voice. Rogue dismissed him with a wave.

"Ah'm fine. Bein' well nigh-invulnerable does wonders." She looked over at Dakota who was swaying on his feet a little. "Oh God, Ah'm sorry, Mister-."

"He's not Mister. He's my friend Dakota" ,Longshot said as he walked over to him. "Don't worry. He'll be fine in a couple of minutes."

"Lucky, you're concern for me is underwhelming." Longshot looked concerned for a minute.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

"Nah. I'm just a little dizzy." Dakota straightened up slightly and stopped swaying so much. "Somebody might want to go find Storm and tell her I found my friend."

"I'll do it" ,Joseph said as he lifted himself aloft in the air. He flew off in the direction that Storm had gone to search in.

Dakota watched him leave before turning back towards Rogue and Beast. "While he's getting her why don't we wait in the house. I think all of you X-Men might want to be together when she reads the note from Xavier."


As Storm entered the mansion with Joseph following closely behind, she could hear the buzz of conversation. The X-Men along with Dakota sat on the main stairway. The X-Men were asking him questions, and Dakota was trying to answer them to the best of his ability. The buzz died down when Joseph shut the door behind them. Everyone looked at Storm expectantly. She scanned the motley group sitting on the steps.

"Joseph had told me you had found your friend, Dakota. Yet, he is not here." Storm heard light footsteps come up behind her.

"He found me Storm." The happy tone it was said in almost made her numb. She knew of only one person who was normally that effervescent. She turned around and looked into the baby blue eyes she had not seen for quite awhile. Longshot held out both of his arms expectantly. Storm did not disappoint him. She hugged her friend tightly.

"Longshot, it is so good to see you." Storm pulled back from her friend and held him at arms length. "You look as well as ever. But I do not see Alis-"

"Well" ,Dakota interrupted as he stood up. "I think everyone here's waiting on pins and needles to here what Chu-OOPS, I mean Charles, wrote on that note."


Lash looked around at her team. Everyone appeared to be raring to go. Shadow had gone and perched himself up higher on an scaffolding. His rifle was lowered and ready. Psion was checking on Tech as she positioned herself inside Worthington's penthouse with her gadgets at the ready. The Elementals stood in a loose clump behind Lash. They were the cornerstones of the team. Inferno rocked back on her heels. She absently played with a flaming lock of auburn hair. Her blazing green eyes watched not the two marks snuggling closer but the roaring fire next to them. She's prob'ly thinkin' on how nicely those two'll burn. Zephyr held himself aloft in the air. The winds under his control whipped his white hair around while his gray eyes sized up his fellow teammates. His job was to carry everyone but Shadow across to the penthouse. It would be a slight strain for him to do it, but he would have to have total concentration to do it. He just better not drop us, or I'll kill him. Tsunami rolled a ball of liquid in and out between her fingers. Her deep blue eyes caught her leaders gaze and held it for a minute before popping the water ball between her fingers. She ran her fingers through her damp, blue hair and came out with another water ball which she promptly squeezed and let dribble out between her fingers. She's ready all right. Finally, Lash's gaze fell upon the last Elemental: Bracht. Little was known about the person who controlled natural solids like earth and wood, not even what sex s/he was. Lash had a feeling that Bracht was not from this planet, but then s/he could have a mutation that transformed herm so. Bracht had craggy skin that looked like a mountain face as well as no visible hair and a pair of dull, brown eyes. When Bracht moved it was like mountains toppling. Not a real subtle one. S/he is the biggest strain for Zephyr to move. Weighing around a ton does that.

After seeing everyone ready, Lash pulled one of Tech's little gizmos out of a pocket. She tossed it up to Shadow. "Remember, if we get into serious trouble, use that to get us out then fade into the woodwork."

"I thought you said we can handle these X-Men" ,Psion said smugly as he walked up beside her. Lash would give anything to be able to wipe the smug look off of his face but she didn't want to draw any attention from the two lovers.

"We can, mate, especially if you can keep Elizabeth Braddock from sensing we're coming. But I want to be covered if these X-Men pull a miracle out of their asses. I don't want Shadow to have to break us out of any prison." She turned to Zephyr. "Let's go."

Zephyr lifted everyone off of the rooftop and carefully floated them over to the penthouse. It was a stable ride for everyone except Bracht, who kept dipping then rising back to hish original position. Bracht, meanwhile, kept hish eyes shut the entire ride over. Everyone landed quitely except for Bracht, who Zephyr kept aloft to keep herm from making too much noise. Lash signaled Zephyr to set Bracht down in front of the glass, double doors leading inside. Beads of sweat broke out on Zephyr's forehead as he set Bracht down as quietly as possible. Tsunami tenderly wiped the sweat off of his forehead and created a small ball of sweat in her palm. Bracht slowly looked to Lash for the okay. She nodded as a whip came out of the palm of each hand.

Bracht, slowly and methodically, pulled back a fist. He swung it forward with a speed that belied hish big bulk. Glass shattered and flew into the penthouse, spraying the interior. Bracht then held back and allowed everyone to get through the doors before s/he plodded inward.

Battle-hardened instinct had taken over Warren Worthington III and Elizabeth Braddock as the glass shattered inward. They rolled away from each other and came to their feet a good ten feet apart. Many hours in the Danger Room had honed their reactions to fit the situation. A psychic knife materialized from Psylocke's hand. Angel's wings spread as he said, "I don't know who you people are but you picked the wrong time to mess with me. I just want some quiet time with my girlfriend, and I intend to get it!"

Tsunami and Zephyr were the first people through the double doors and had gotten to halfway across the room when Angel and Psylocke sprang. Zephyr managed to dodge Angel's dive and call up a column of wind to buffet Angel toward the high ceiling. Psylocke, who was surprised that she had not even sensed that these people were near, was a bit luckier than Angel. Tsunami had not moved fast enough, and Psylocke tackled her around the midsection. They both went crashing toward the floor. Psylocke saw two more people rush into the room and drove her psychic knife into Tsunami's head.

"Is that the best you got, mind-witch?" ,Tsunami spat as she drove her knee into Psylocke's side. Psylocke gasped as the air was driven from her lungs. Psion, who had been protecting Tsunami's mind from Psylocke's knife, gritted his teeth as he fought to keep the effect of the psychic knife from overcoming his protection. Tsunami threw the ball of sweat into Psylocke's face. The ball went up Psylocke's nose and Tsunami controlled it to move down into her windpipe. Instead of gasping for air, Psylocke gasped in the liquid. She began coughing and sputtering.

Angel, while keenly aware of his own plight, became more concerned with how Betsy was doing. He somehow got out of Zephyr's wind column and swooped down toward Zephyr. Luckily, I had this place built with a lot of room for me to maneuver around. As Angel flew by his antagonist, he stuck out his right arm and clotheslined him. Zephyr fell to the floor and Angel wheeled around to make pass to pick up Betsy.

"Hey Bird-Boy." Inferno had been one of the second pair to come in, and she now stood across the room, in front of the fireplace. "Are you aware that feathered wings like yours are highly flammable?"

A large column of fire rushed over her and directly at Angel. Angel had been in a position in his maneuver where he could go nowhere but down. He drew his wings in toward his body and dropped. The jet of flame arched hungrily and lapped at the feathers. Angel could smell and feel his wings starting to burn. The flames were hot on his back and started to burn his skin. He plummeted to the floor, unable to stop his descent in any way.

Before Angel had hit the floor, Shadow had fired three shots into him. Angel felt the sting as a bullet ripped through one of his wings, his arm, and his side. As he hit the floor, the flames lept off of his wings and arched back to the fireplace. The flames passed back over Inferno who was untouched by them. She stood there serenely playing with a small flame in between her thumb and forefinger. She knew that the fight was almost over.

Lash, the other person of the second pair to enter, snapped both of her whips simultaneously at Psylocke. Both whips hit dead center of her chest. zzacht. Both whips discharged the small electrical charge they had been holding. Psylocke flew backward to the middle of the room. She landed hard and fell unconscious.

Psion walked into the penthouse rubbing his temples. "Make an addition to our file on her. She's more powerful than we give her credit for. I nearly didn't stave off the effects of her psychic knife from Tsunami's mind."

"You have my pity then, Psion" ,Lash said throatily as she watched Angel writhe in pain. "Bracht, contain these two in a couple of your earthen grasps. Zephyr, Tsunami, help Tech set up the security system for the X-Men."

The floor rumbled under Lash's feet as Bracht moved into the building. Two hands made of metal, wood, and stone formed out of the floor and clasped Angel and Psylocke. Angel groaned in pain. Psylocke just laid limply. Lash continued to watch Angel writhe in anguish until he was knocked unconscious by Bracht. Lash looked around contentedly.

"Now, we wait. The X-Men will fall right into our hands."