Monday

In the halls of Bayville...

"So, Evan... About that physics test next Thursday..." Liz glanced down at Evan with a sly look on her face. "Teach says its gunna be hard. Tonight I'm having a little... Study session... At my place. 'Bunch'a people are gunna be there. Ya wanna join us? We could always use another... Participant. And I think you'd be great..."

With his eyes darting nervously from side to side, Evan gave Liz a weak grin. "Well, gee, Liz, I'd love to, but..." Liz was just a Sphomore, but she had already developed quite a reputation around Bayville. As had her 'study sessions.' Very notorious reputations. Evan needed an excuse, and he needed one fast. "...But, well, I've got some... Other things to do." Excuses were never Evan's strong point.

Liz slanted her head and stuck her chin in a little pout. "Oh really..." Coyly, she batted here eyes. "So you've got something better to do? Or is someone better?"

"Well, uh..."

At that point, Jean appeared at the end of the hallway. "Hey Evan!" She called out with her usual smile. "You ready to go, or what?"

Evan's eyes quickly darted to the ceiling. 'Thank you!' With a smile on his face, he turned towards Liz. "Sorry, Liz. Gotta go. Talk to ya later."

With that, Evan dashed off, leaving Liz staring in utter disbelief at the redheaded Senior standing at the end of the hall.

-----------------------------

The Bayville parking lot...

"By the way, Jean, I'd like to apologize for the rumors the underclassmen are spreading about you."

Jean looked at Evan curiously. "Huh? I haven't heard any rumors..."

Evan shrugged casually. "Well, they probably won't actually start until tomorrow. They should reach the upperclassmen by late Wednesday." Evan shrugged again. "But don't worry. Nobody'll really take them seriously..."

Jean cast a sideways glance toward Evan, than resumed her gaze straight forward. 'I don't know,' she thought to herself. 'And I really don't want to know...'

A moment later, the pair reached a familiar looking red convertible. Jean opened the door and got into the driver's seat. Instinctively, Evan hopped into the shotgun seat. It was only once Jean started the car that it struck him.

"Hey! This is Scott's car!"

"Yup." A few telekinetic taps adjusted the mirrors.

"So how'd we get it? Or is Scott coming on our little 'mission' as well?"

"Don't worry," responded Jean. "Its still just you and me. Scott brought the van. He'll take the others home in it."

Evan looked at Jean another moment, then repeated himself. "So how'd we end up with the Scottsmobille?"

Jean chuckled as she pulled out of the parking lot. "Yeah, Scott does pamper the car... Anyway, I just asked him if I could borrow it for the day. He gave me the usual spiel about taking care of it, but that was it."

"That was it?"

"Well, I do own him a favor for it..."

"Hoooaakaaayyy..." Evan rolled his eyes, teasingly. "That was more than I needed to know, Jean."

A lopsided scowl formed on Jean's face. "Keep it up, funny man, and you'll be walking to PS 82..."

"Speaking of '82," cut in Evan as he turned back to look at the street they just passed. "We just missed our turn. I thought you said you'd find out how to get there?"

"I did," replied Jean, after a sigh. "I just decided I wanted to take the scenic route and not travel through the heart of New York City. Besides, school just ended for us. The middle schools won't be ending for another hour or so."

"Oh." That hadn't occurred to Evan. Eventually his mind wandered, and he brought up the conversation's original topic. "So, if you don't owe Scott a 'favor...'"

"Watch it, buster. ...Actually, Scott just made me promise to leave him alone for a day."

"Again--waaaaaay more than I needed to--" A telekinetic whack on the back of his head silenced Evan.

"Get your mind out of the gutter and let me finish, Evan. What I meant was that Scott didn't want me scheduling anything for him on the 24th. Oh, and the car is also his, then."

"Why?" Prompted Evan. "What's on the 24th?"

Jean chuckled before responding. "Brace yourself... The annual Bayville High Car Expo. A chance for every upperclassman in Bayville to get together, drink pop, talk about cars, and argue about who's got the biggest stereo..."

"Your kidding me. That's the biggest Jock-fest this side of homecoming! And Scott wants to be there?"

"Oh, you bet. Scott's still kicking himself for not entering in last year's Expo. He figures he can rack up at least a few 'Best of' awards... Anyways, he made me promise that neither I nor anyone else would bother him that day."

Evan just shook his head for a moment. "Man, Scott willingly going to something like that. That... That's just... Man, that's just weird!"

Jean gave Evan a surprised glance. "What? That perfectly nor--oh wait, you're still new around here..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Jean smiled to herself an turned her attention back to the road. "It means you just don't know Scott. He loves to cut loose at things like this. He's a natural show-off. He just prefers that none of us are around to see him when he does. I think he worries that would undermine his authority or something..." Jean chuckled. "He used to do things like this all the time before Kurt and Kitty showed up."

It was Evan's turn to chuckle. "'S'that so... I may just have to harass Scott about that..."

With Evan's last remark hanging in the air, the conversation came to its natural conclusion. After a moment of listening to the sounds of the road, Jean decided to start up another conversation.

"By the way, Evan, what was the deal with Pietro and the Lanterns?"

"Nothing Jean," responded Evan in a dismissive tone. "Nothing but ancient history."

"Oh." Undeterred, Jean tried the next topic that came to mind. "So you're a Static Shock fan? You ought to talk with Kurt. He's really into some of--"

"Actually, its a really interesting story," continued Evan, loudly cutting off Jean. "Y'see, back in the day, Pietro and I both went to school at PS-82 Middle School. And while there, we both played on the boys basketball team. What a shocker, huh?"

"Oh, yeah," Jean casually interjected.

"Anyway, back then, Pietro was really the star of the team. Complete natural. We used to call him the next Larry Bird."

"Who?"

Evan looked at Jean like she had just asked what color the sky was. "...Uh, he's a famous White basketball player," he finally answered.

"Oooh."

Evan shook his head and continued. "As I was saying, Pietro was genuinely the best back then. A veritable Boy Wonder. And that was before his mutant powers manifested themselves. ...Anyway, things were going great for him 'till he had a falling out with Coach Jordan."

Jean arched here eyebrows at this. "Michael?"

Evan smirked, relieved that Jean recognized at least that much. "I wish. The guy's first name was Hal. That should tell you something..."

"Ah, so he was a real grump, then?"

"That's an understatement. Ol' Jordan had a problem keeping his temper. Little things always seemed to just set him off. And for some reason, he was always in a bad mood. We used to joke that he was just bitter 'bout his hometown getting nuked."

"What?!"

"I said 'joke about it,'" cried Evan, defensibly. "We were middle-schoolers. That's the way we were!"

"Yeah," Jean conceded. "that age group is known for its... ...Unique brand of humor. So what'd Pietro do? Some ill placed joke?"

"I don't even remember what it was. All I know is that Pietro got benched for half the season because of it. And Pietro took it personally." Evan exhaled loudly. "Man I still remember what Pietro did when he came back. ...Pietro was set to take the face off. And he blew it off. The other guy blasted right by him, and Pietro just stood there, with his arms crossed, and that arrogant, vindictive smirk on his face."

"Whoa," commented Jean. "That's harsh."

"Yeah, but that's not the best of it. Jordan immediately stomped onto the court and started screaming at Pietro. The game was stopped dead. The whole arena was silent, just watching Jordan rant. And then Pietro..." Evan was forced to break of laughing. "In front of the whole school, Pietro told Jordan to 'suck on that,' and then he just walked out. Never even looked back."

Jean whistled in appreciation. "I'll bet that had the school talking..."

"Oh yeah. With three words, Pietro became a PS-82 legend. My last year there, somebody taped an 'x' on the center of the basketball court with a sign saying 'Pietro stood here.' I wouldn't be surprised if its still there..."

"Knowing what kids are like at that age, it wouldn't surprise me either. So whatever happened to Jordan? Did he try to get on Pietro's case afterwards?"

"Jordan wasn't around long enough to get on Pietro's case. I think the principle had been wanting to fire Jordan for a while. The 'basketball incident,' as they called it, was a great excuse to fire him. We didn't miss him. Or at least I didn't," commented Evan. "The coach of the girls team--I think his name was Stewart--finished the season, and coached the next year, but I think they got a new guy for this season..."

Jean nodded in understanding. "Ah, so you think that Pietro's going back to '84 because of the new coach. To check on the program and all that."

Evan scoffed. "No. The way that kid carries a grudge I wouldn't be surprised if he hates that program till the day he dies. No matter who's in charge of it."

Jean blinked as a confused expression came across her face. "But, Saturday, you said--"

"What?!" Interrupted Evan. "Everything I say has to be completely relevant and accurate? Cut me some slack, man. It was morning. I was speculating..."

"So then... Why is he there?"

Evan smirked, proud to get the last word in. "That my dear, Jean, is exactly what this sojourn is meant to find out!"

Jean sat in silence for a moment. "You've been planning that line, haven't you?"

"Oh yeah... Ever since English class..."

-----------------------------

On the bleachers behind PS-82...

"Okay..." Leaning back into the sun, Crisse Tile closed her eyes in concentration. "Washington DC got sacked in 1814, as part of the War of 1812... The White House was set on fire by... ...British troops under the command of General... Clinton? No, no. He was Revolutionary War. ...Um... Okay, Pete, I give up. Who led that attack?" Not hearing an answer, Crisse opened her eyes. "Pete?"

Sitting a short distance away, Danielle Char raised a finger to her lips. "Shhhh." She whispered playfully. "His Silver-Sense is tingling..."

Brushing her blond hair out of her face, Crisse pushed herself back up and glanced at Pietro. He was sitting several bleachers above her, perched precariously on the guardrails at the top of the bleachers. Crisse immediately noticed that his face was devoid of its usual smirk. Instead, his mouth was half open, and his head was cocked the side, as if he were listening for something.

Grinning, Danielle looked at Pietro through the brown mess of hair she let hang in front of her face. "So what is it, Pietro? Trouble with some after school sports? Bank robbery? Some yellow psycho with a magic ring coming to take vengeance upon us all?"

Pietro came out of his reverie with a chuckle. "'Unuscione, I'd worry more about an orange psycho with claws... No, I just thought I head someone. Must have imagined it, though."

Forgetting about the history test she was studying for, Crisse sighed. "Ya know, Pete, you still haven't told us what 'Unuscione' is supposed to mean..."

"Who cares." Commented Danielle. "It sounds cool."

"It sounds messed up," retorted Crisse. Danielle's response was to lean slightly forward and smile. "So I guess it suits you fine, huh?"

Danielle laughed. "Don't it though..."

"Okay girls, break it up," chided Pietro. "'Scione, you're starting to scare me. Don't do that. I get enough of that at home..." Pietro shook his head to get his thoughts back on track. "So what were you saying, Scanner?"

"Something about her and Clinton, in the White House," said Danielle as she went back to her sketchbook.

Pietro sighed. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that..."

"Pietro, do we have to do this?" Whined Crisse. "I've been going over this stuff since last Wednesday. Can't we take the day off?"

Once again, Pietro sighed in annoyance. "No, Scanner. We've been over this. You need this test if you want any hope of passing this class. And I need you to pass this class!" Pietro exhaled loudly. "Unlike Mystique and Xavier, I don't have much clout around here. It took all I had just to convince 'Scoine's parents to let you live with them."

"I know, I know..." Crisse had heard this speech more times than she cared to mention.

"Remember, they let you stay on the condition that you stay clean. That means you stay on your best behavior, and you keep up your grades." Pietro paused for emphasis. "You need to keep your grades up on your own. I can't bail you out if you screw up..."

Still sketching, Danielle piped up. "Aw, don't worry too much, Crisse. I doubt my parents would throw you out now. They've gotten too used to having a normal kid around the house." Danielle finished her comment by flashing her trademarked unhinged smile.

Pietro looked down at his young charge, and shook his head. "I'm too young for this..."

"C'mon, Pete, she's right. I don't need this test that badly. I can afford to take the day off."

Pietro rolled his eyes. "Okay… Just don't complain to me if you don't do well..."

"Hey Pete," said Crisse, quickly redirecting the conversation. "You gunna make our next game? Its tomorrow, here. Coach says neither of us are starting, but we should still see some court time." Crisse finished her statement by tossing her books to the side. With a new gleam in here eyes, she looked up at Pietro. "So, can you be there?"

Pietro stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Tomorrow night... I doubt it. I'll probably be busy then..."

Crisse looked slightly hurt. "Busy with what?"

"A thing..."

"A 'Brotherhood thing,' a 'Magnus thing,'" Danielle asked, without looking up. "Or a 'thing thing?'"

"A 'thing thing.'"

"Ah, I see. Another night hunting for Ninja Turtles, eh?" Danielle looked up with a mocking grin.

Pietro's face suddenly turned serious. "Laugh all you want, 'Scione, but I'm serious. Xavier wouldn't have sent out his boys if there wasn't really something down there. There was someone in those sewers..." A half smirk formed on Pietro's face. "I can't vouch for it being turtle, or ninja, but it was definitely mutant. And from the one look I got, it looked teenage..."

Crisse grimaced in disgust. "Great, Pete. I really hope you don't plan on having us room with a kid who lives in the sewers..."

"Not us," quipped Danielle. "Just you. It is my house, after all..."

"Your parents' house!" Clarified Crisse.

"Which makes it mine!" Retorted Danielle.

"Girls..." Pietro was rubbing the bridge of his nose, dreading the almost inevitable argument. "Can we change the subject... Please?"

"Okay. Ice cream!"

Still holding his nose, Pietro opened one eye and glared down at Crisse. "What?"

"Ice cream," Crisse repeated. "Ice cream would change the subject!"

"Yeah!" Chimed Danielle.

Pietro held his pose for a moment, just staring at his two wards.

Acting in unison, they looked up at Pietro and smiled. "Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaase?"

Stoic as he was, Pietro could only handle so much forced sweetness. Shaking his head, he gave in. "Okay. If ice cream will prevent a headache, ice cream it is. What'll you have?"

"Vanilla cone," Danielle eagerly replied, once again wearing her unhinged smile. "Dipped in blooooood...."

"Cherry dip it is," responded Pietro, rubbing his nose again. "And Scanner?"

"Ooh... Ah..." Crisse hadn't really expected her request to work, and didn't have an answer readily available. "Errr.. How 'bout a grape slush?"

"A slush," Pietro mumbled to himself. "She says ice cream, then wants a slush... Okay, fine. I'll be back in a minute or so. Try not to tear down the school in the meantime."

With that, Pietro hopped down from his perch. He landed softly, then left the school grounds in a blur.

-----------------------------

Near the bleachers of PS-82...

With Evan near her, Jean was crouched down in a recessed doorway. She had her eyes closed, and hands on her head, trying to scan the area. "Okay... I can sense a few stragglers in the halls, and parking lot... A large group in the gym... Thr--no, two people in the track area..."

"That'd be our target," cut in Evan.

"Huh?" Jean blinked a few times as she cut her scan short. "How--what makes you so sure? I didn't sense Pietro there..."

With a Pietro-like smirk on his face, Evan pointed over his shoulder, at a string of dust-devils and disturbed litter leading away from the field. "Call it a hunch."

"Well that would explain the glitch," Jean mumbled to herself. "So Pietro was talking to the two on the track. At least that's our best guess. Do we still want to check it out further?"

"You bet," replied Evan. "First, we don't know if he was actually talking to those two. And second, if he was, we don't know why, or why they seem to be so important."

Jean chuckled at this. "Wellllllll... They were both girls. There's a good chance that that's all the explanation there is."

Evan instantly had his mouth open to respond, but checked himself before he said anything. After a moment's pause, he opened his mouth again. "Ahhh, no. At this point, I think its safe to rule out the girlfriend scenario. While two girls would definitely be Pietro's style, I don't think he'd be looking for girls at a middle school. I don't think Pietro would even consider any girl who wasn't up to the standards of someone... Say.... You."

"Thanks," interjected Jean, taking the compliment for what it was worth.

"So unless the girls turn out to be total hotties, there's probably another reason. And if they are hotties, I wanna know what they're doing with Pietro." This brought a vindictive smirk to Evan's face. "In any case, its worth checking out. Lets go."

Evan was just about to turn around, when said hotty ran straight into him.

-----------------------------

Back at the bleachers…

As she idly scanned her notes, Crisse's head suddenly shot up. "Uh-oh." She looked at Danielle with a worried look on her face. "I left my Spanish book in my locker. I need that tonight…"

Danielle looked up sympathetically. "Ooh, yeah. You have some kind of speech to give tomorrow, don't you. You'd better go back and get it. And quick. They lock up the school any minute now..."

Crisse grumbled as she hurried down the bleachers. "Not, again… Ya know, I shouldn't have to care about this. I mean, Pietro knows I'm forgetful. He knows I leave stuff at school. And he can use his powers without worrying about getting noticed... And he can get into the school without even trying. It'd be a cinch for him to get it." At the base of the bleachers, Crisse paused and gave one last exasperated look up at Danielle. "So why'd he make such a fuss when I asked him to get a book out of my locker last week?"

Danielle shrugged. "Dunno. I asked him about that, and all he said was that it would have 'brought back bad memories.' Whatever that means…" Danielle shrugged again, and then went back to her sketching.

"Man, Pietro is just plain weird, sometimes." With that, Crisse sprinted towards the nearest entry. With her thoughts on the quickest way to get to her locker, Crisse didn't even see the two kids standing in front of the entrance. Having only barely slowed down to turn a corner, Crisse ran into one of the students at nearly full speed. Crisse tumbled backwards, while the other student was knocked into the wall.

Crisse was still getting regaining her senses when the other kid steadied himself and reached down to help her up. "Hey, man? You okay there? That was not a good way to take a fall…"

Crisse took the kid's hand, and pulled herself up to a sitting position. At that point, her vision cleared, and she got a clear look at who she had run into. He was black kid, somewhat gangly, with bleach-blond hair. Though he was rubbing the back of his neck, he didn't look too shaken up by the whole affair. Beyond him was a tall redhead looking on with concern. Though she had never seen either of the kids before, Crisse immediately recognized both of them.

"X-Men," she uttered, barely above a whisper. "Oh, no… They've found us…" With a terrified look on her face, Crisse drew back from Evan.

"Whoa, hold up," cut in Evan, somewhat confused. "How do you kn--"

Crisse's mind was racing frantically. Pietro had always warned her that something like this might happen. That their cover might somehow be blown. He had told her what to do in such situations. He had gone over their 'contingency plan' seemingly hundreds of times. And yet, with the situation unfolding right in front of her, Crisse--Scanner--couldn't remember one word of them. All she could do… Was panic.

Turning her back on Evan, Scanner sprinted back to the bleachers. "'Scione!" She called out, "Unuscione! They--they've found us!"

"This was not part of our plans," muttered Jean, as she glanced about, making sure nobody else noticed the outburst. Once she was satisfied they were safe, she ran after the girl.

Evan, though momentarily taken aback, was quicker to regain his wits. "Okay, now I really want to know what's going on here!" With that, he sprinted after the fleeing girl, quickly gaining ground on her. "Heh! Wait up! We're just trying to… Would you… Hey!"

Realizing the girl wasn't listening, Evan put on a burst of speed and caught up to her. He grabbed the girl's wrist and dragged her to a stop. Still keeping a firm grip on her wrist, Even pulled the girl around to face him. "Look, calm down. We're not here to hurt you. We just want to--Huh?!"

Caught in Evan's grip, Scanner realized she had no other choice. Ignoring what Evan was trying to say, she closed her eyes in concentration. After a few seconds of effort, her power activated, and her entire body became translucent. As it did, a slight shock jolted Evan's arm, and his grip suddenly tightened around nothing. A slight smile crept onto Scanner's face as she pulled away from her stunned pursuer.

"So he was scouting mutants…" Muttered Evan as he rubbed his wrist. "Guess this really is X-Men business."

A shout from above returned his attention to events at hand.

"Die, Spykie!" Spyke's head shot up, and he saw a brown haired girl standing in the scaffolding near the top of the bleachers. The girl leapt off, with a slight glow forming around her body. The girl had her arms out in front of her, clenched fists pointing to the sky. Her muscled seemed flexed, but Spyke couldn't tell why.

Fortunately, Jean did. Stopping her run, Jean shut her eyes and created a psionic bubble around Spyke. As the shield came up, Spyke noticed movement above him. He looked up, just in time to see a giant glowing cylinder smash onto Jean's shield. Spyke covered his head instinctively, and a bang resounded through the area. Nonetheless, Jean's shield held.

"Whoa," muttered Spyke as the cylinder faded away. "Thanks Jean…" Before he could say anything more Spyke's attention was brought back to the girl he had originally chased.

Growling, Scanner ran towards Spyke. With an electronic cackle, she passed through Jean's shield. Spyke saw this, and his mouth opened in shock. A second later, a very opaque, and very solid fist connected with his jaw. The blow knocked Spyke back into the side of the shield, but otherwise only stunned him. Growling himself, Spyke picked himself up and glared at Scanner.

"Big mistake, girl…" Scowling, Scanner went immaterial again and stepped back outside the psionic bubble. However, as she did, the bubble faded away. As Scanner saw this, her expression went from determined to shocked. She gulped, then looked back at Spyke, who had grown a series of bones from his forearms. "Big… Mistake…"

A short distance away, Unuscione stood up, staring balefully at Jean. "So, I'm up against Xavier's Teke. How appropriate…"

With a last sideways glance to make sure Spyke was okay, Jean turned her full attention to the mutant in front of her. "Look," she tried to reason, "we aren't here to fight. We just came to--"

"To what?!" Unuscione demanded, pushing her hair from her face. "To make sure nobody can live their lives without you knowing? To make sure Xavier's influence is everywhere?"

"What? No!" Jean responded, incredulously.

"Bull!" Unuscione thrust her arms forward, and three glowing spheres formed just beyond her reach. With a yell, she sent the three spheres hurling towards Jean.

As she took an apprehensive step backward, Jean's powers flared. Jean winced, and two of the spheres veered past her. With the last sphere still coming towards her, Jean thrust out her own hand. The sphere came to an abrupt halt just beyond arm's length. Jean gritted her teeth, and powered up even further. With a grunt of exertion, Jean crushed and dissipated the offending sphere.

Jean breathed a sigh of relief and looked back at Unuscione. Unuscione looked winded, but still had a determined look on her face. Almost too late, Jean realized that Unuscione wasn't looking at her. Jean whirled around, and threw up a psionic shield. She allowed herself a small grin of satisfaction as the two surviving spheres struck the shield, and were knocked away.

However, they had not fallen far before Unuscione reasserted her control over them. As the two spheres hovered in front of Jean, two more formed in back of her. Jean whirled around again, striking the new spheres before they could advance. Still keeping her guard up, Jean glanced at her opponent, and wondered what she had gotten herself into.

Meanwhile, the tide had turned against Scanner. In order to mount any type of offense, she had to stay solid. However, Spyke was had her outclassed in every respect. He was faster than her, stronger than her, and just knew more about fighting than her. Harried and exhausted, Scanner made one last lunge at Spyke. He dodged it, and Scanner hit the ground hard. Before she could get up, Spyke turned her over and jabbed her in the stomach. Spyke then picked her up, and shoved her against a nearby bleacher support, holding her there.

"Okay," began a somewhat winded Spyke. "We could have done this the easy way, but you chose to make this difficult. Now, before I get angry, what's going on here?! Who are you, and what--"

Suddenly, Spyke was interrupted by a high pitched scream. Before he could turn around to see what happened, something hit Spyke in the small of his back. His vision went red, and he lost his grip on Scanner. Before he could even register what happened, he found himself face-down in the dirt.

Deliberately, and angrily, Evan pushed himself back up. As he did, something in the back of his mind identified the earlier scream as Jean's. Supporting himself with his left hand, Evan used his free arm to wipe whatever it was off his face. Blinking a few times to clear his vision, Evan examined his arm. "Ice cream?"

"Don't even think about getting up, Daniels. I'll knock you back down before you even exhale!"

A scowl formed on Evan's face, and he slowly lifted his head to face the speaker. Ten feet away from him stood a glowering Pietro Maximoff. Beyond Pietro were an unnerved Crisse, and an angry Danielle. While the two girls stood mostly upright, Pietro was in a full fledged battle-crouch. Belatedly, Evan noticed Jean standing near him. Jean had a shocked look on her face, and purple liquid dripping down her face and splattered on her shirt.

"Pietro," Jean managed to get out, "what did you just--"

"You're in a fine position to ask questions, Jean!" Pietro angrily yelled. "You tell me what the heck you're doing here, and just how you get off beating up my kids!"

As ice cream began dripping down his face, Evan ignored Pietro's warning, and pushed himself to his feet. "Your 'kids?' Just how stupid do think we are Pietro?"

"As stupid as you look, Daniels. Now tell me why you two were beating up on a couple of middle-school girls!"

"Because they panicked," said Jean, trying to take some measure of control of the situation. "They saw us, and for some reason assumed we were here to get them. So they attacked us. And we fought back. So now you tell us Pietro, who are those two? And what--"

Instead of Pietro, is was Danielle who responded. "We're right here, X-Man! You don't need to talk about us like we can't hear you. And it wasn't us who threw the first punch."

"Yeah it was!" Cut in Evan. "Heck, you were the one who--"

"Shut it, Daniels! I don't want to hear it!" Pietro took a second to calm himself, though his expression didn't change. "Alright, one at a time. Why were you here? Did Xavier send you?"

"No," responded Jean. "We came here on our own."

"Why? And were are the rest of you?"

"Its just us. And we came because of you." Jean paused upon seeing Pietro's haughty expression. "Evan noticed you seemed… Preoccupied. I saw you at a basketball game you had no business being at. It seemed out of character. So we investigated. That brought us here…"

"Basketball game?" Whispered Crisse. "That means they saw you… Its… Its our fault…"

"Hush, Scanner," Pietro whispered back. Turning his eyes back to Jean, he continued. "So, you're saying Xavier doesn't know about this. That… That that 'Cerebro' thing of his never picked up my girls…"

"Nope," quipped Evan, with a bit of pride in his voice. "This was all us."

To Evan's surprise, Pietro closed his eyes, and seemed to chuckle at this. "So that's it. Of all the ways our cover could have been blown, after enforcing all those 'no power' rules, we get caught because I got sloppy and got myself tailed." Pietro looked back up. "That's almost funny…"

Jean raised an eyebrow. "'Funny?' Think Mystique will find it that way?"

"Oh, Jean… Mystique would find this an-y-thing but funny…" Jean had expected the mention of Mystique to make Pietro serious. Maybe even to scare him. It did neither. For some reason, Jean found that disconcerting.

"Wait a minute…" Began Evan, a look of realization on his face. "Are you saying that--"

"Is that was you two thought?" Interrupted Pietro. "That this was some secret training ground for Mystique? Oh, that's just too much…"

"Wha… So… So if those two aren't Mystique's mutants," demanded Jean, "then whose are they?!"

"So much for being one of the 'gifted,'" muttered Danielle.

"Why, mine, of course," responded Pietro, in his most patronizing of tones. "These are my mutants. My team. My Acolytes!"

For the first time since Pietro arrived, Evan addressed the two girls behind him? "He… Is he serious? You two are taking orders… From him?"

Danielle responded wearing her unhinged smile. "Oh, you bet, Daniels. You bet…"

"But Pietro," stammered Jean. "Why?"

"'Cause it's a challenge," laughed Pietro.

"No, Pietro, breaking into lockers is a 'challenge.' This… Starting your own team…" Evan trailed off, not able to come up with any more words. "…Why?"

This brought a new expression to Pietro's face. An expression full of pride, and earnestness. It was a mixture Evan had never seen Pietro use before. "Because, Daniels, I have a destiny. I will be my own man. Avalanche, Blob, and all you X-Geeks, you're all just pawns. Just pieces in the greater game of life…"

"We're not--" began Jean.

"Think about it, Jean. When was the last time you did something on your own? Something important. Something that could change the course of your life." Pietro looked at the expression on Jean's face. "Its been a while, hasn't it? But you know what the worst part of it is? You don't even know the full extent of what you've gotten yourself into…"

"Yeah, we do," interrupted Evan. "Its Xavier on one side, and Mystique on the other. Simple as that!"

Pietro just shook his head. "That's why I'm the one with a destiny, Daniels. I'm the only one here who knows just how deep he's buried. I'm the only one that knows there is no turning back…" Pietro looked up, a determined gleam shining in his eye. "But one of these days, I will turn back. I will dig myself out of this hole. I won't live my whole life as one of Mystique's lackeys. As anyone's lackey. And the reason I'll be able to get out, is because I'll have my Acolytes behind me. I'll have followers, soldiers to back me up. I will be a force to reckoned with." Pietro stared at the two X-Men, and for a moment seemed to stare past them. "And I'll be able to make up for past mistakes…"

Evan and Jean exchanged worried looks. With a sigh, Jean tried to bring Pietro's attention back to the present. "So that's why, but… How, Pietro? How did you slip two mutants by Cerebro? How did you slip them past Mystique?"

Evan eyed the two girls behind Pietro. "How can you be sure they're loyal to you?"

"We are loyal," replied Danielle in a guttural tone.

"Why?"

"'Cause he told us everything," was Danielle's response. "Because he told us exactly what we were getting into, before we joined. He told us who else was out there, and what they were really like. He told us of the war zone were stepping into. So we chose him. And we'll stick by him…"

"And because I went after them," continued Pietro. "No matter which side of the tracks they were from. Unlike you guys, I set my sights on recruiting all available mutants. Unlike you," Pietro looked directly at Jean, "I didn't single out the cute little girl, then leave the troubled kid out to dry..."

Jean fumed at that. "Pietro, that wasn't how it was at--"

"As for how," continued Pietro, an arrogant smile creeping across his face, "you'd be surprised. Cerebro isn't as foolproof as Mystique believes. If it were, there'd be a lot more than six mutants at Xavier's little institute. I find my mutants the old fashioned way, by looking. Its slow, its inefficient, and I waste a lot of time following bad leads. But it works, nonetheless."

"And Mystique really has no clue you're doing this?" Asked Jean.

"None," confirmed Pietro.

"How? How could you keep something this big from being noticed?"

"Because its not big," cut in Pietro. "There is no tangible infrastructure behind this team. No Mansion, no danger room, no jet, no nothing. Just a few determined individuals, giving it all they've got."

"And… And you can really keep a team like that?" Asked a stunned Jean.

"Yeah, Jean, I can. 'Cause I'm just that good…" Pietro gave the X-Men a searching look as he straightened his posture. "Well, Daniels, that's it. That's all there is to know here. I guess I really can't stop you from telling Xavier about this… Heck, he's probably already noticed this power outburst..." Pietro's eyes narrowed. "But if my girls start getting harassed, or if Mystique hears even a word of this… I will find a way to make your lives miserable. That's a promise."

Evan regarded Pietro for a moment then walked away, disgusted. "Sure Pietro. Whatever…"

Jean watched Evan leave, then turned back to Pietro with an uneasy expression on her face.

"Yeah?"

"You… You said that we're all in over our heads… That you were the only one who knew how deep we really are," began Jean, not sure if she wanted to know the answer to her question. "How do you know how deep we're buried?"

"Because, Jean," Pietro answered with a sad look in his eyes. "I'm buried deepest of all…" Pietro lowered his head, breaking eye contact. "Come on, girls. We've got things to do…"

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