Okay, okay, since y'all asked nicely...I guess I'll write the fight that already happened (I'd like to know what happened myself)......but first, review time:

Missi (songofimagine) - My first reviewer, thank you. I love to hear from the readers, just as much as I love to read.

Wolvster - Love the name! Thanks for the review

(no one #1) - I think I just might =)

cat - since you asked nicely...

rlgierlach@yahoo.com - Thanks for answering! And thank you for the praise. Critics can talk all they want but it's ultimately the views of the readers that matter most.

Jo the Phoenix - It helps that I am a martial artist. I can picture everything in my head, then I write it down. Email me if ya ever need help! Here's another battle for ya!

Agent 51 - okay, okay *holds hands up in defeat*...I probably wouldn't have been able to leave this one hanging anyway.

(no one #2) - LOL...enter a name people..otherwise it will get extremely confusing!

Chiclet2021 - Thank for the high praise!

DevDev - I am, I am...hold your horses!

AND NOW ON WITH THE STORY: (warning, PG-13 for graphic scene)



Somebody screamed her name, but she ignored it. Something had gotten into Wolverine, and she did not want to stay around. She saw what had happened to him after Proteus had ripped through his body, but she had gone after him then. She slowed, remembering her trek to Japan to find him. Cyclops had read her the riot act after that one.

She stopped about a half-mile outside the gates. Wasn't it her job to talk him down, to cheer him up when no one else could? But she had never seen him like that; not at her anyway. She knew it went back to their most recent battle, but she didn't know why.

She bolted into the dense forest as it began to drizzle. Where had the clouds come from? As far as she knew, Storm had accompanied the Professor on his trip to Washington. She let out a laugh involuntarily. In ten minutes, her perfect day had been destroyed.

She sat down under a rather large oak and leaned her head back. Silent tears ran down her face as she tried to remember the fight.

He was a free-lance, as she liked to call them, not working for anyone. He just wanted to generally cause chaos for those who had made his life difficult; namely the non-mutants. So he had attacked a largely populated city in upstate New York, and the X-Men had responded. Jubilee had pleaded to go, claiming she was old enough to look after herself. Beast had stuck up for her and the Professor gave in. She clambered in next to Rogue and buckled up, grinning stupidly the whole time. She straightened her face into the "game face" after Cyke had glared at her.

"Doan worry, chere, he just worried 'bout ya."

Jubilee had turned and replied in the same whisper. "It's not like I'm a kid ya know. I am almost fifteen." This received a stifled chuckle from somewhere up front, and Jubilee glowered in that direction, searching for the perpetrator. Wolverine was suspiciously interested in a flock of birds flying in front of the Blackbird, and she had to resist an urge to throw something at him. That would not improve her chances of being allowed on other missions.

As the Blackbird landed, Cyclops barked out several orders to the team. Most of it was routine: don't destroy anything you don't have to (he glared at Rogue and Wolverine), and protect bystanders. Other orders were general points about the area, ideal places to take cover, and a report from the computer on number of bystanders in the immediate area. And with the final (and awaited) "be alert, be careful" they disembarked.

The first thing everyone noticed was the fact that no one was running. Everyone seemed to be rooted to the spot. No one was running, but they all looked terrified out of their minds. The mutant was standing on an over- turned car, seemingly concentrating very hard to keep focus on something.

Like the fearless leader he was, Cyclops stepped up to the front of the team. "We can end this peacefully, or we can stop you. Either way, whatever you've planned will not succeed." Jubilee smiled proudly, but on the inside, she was laughing. That was way too cliché for her liking; it sounded like something the heroes in her comics would say.

She noticed Wolverine crouch down a little lower in his stance, claws at the ready. Something was up, and he knew it. She charged her powers, steeling herself for the ensuing battle. Gambit charged a card, ready to throw it at the first hostile movement. Jean closed her eyes for a second, clearing her mind. Cyclops clicked his visor to max stun, and Rogue was levitated just above the ground. Jubilee looked hastily, but she didn't see Storm with them. She was probably hovering somewhere, ready to provide cover.literally.

"I'll say it again. Let these people go, and come peaceably." Had she missed something? They didn't look as if they were being held hostage (unless this guy had massive telekinetic abilities), they just looked, well, scared.

The mutant blinked and looked up at them, and the chaos began. The fifty or so people in the area began to scream, knock each other over, or lay down on the ground rolling. Some were bawling their eyes out, others just looked really shaken. A loud thunder clap overhead accompanied by a rather intimidating bolt of lightning drew most people's attention to the sky. Cyclops threw a grateful look (A/N: well, as close as a blind person with a visor can get to a grateful look) to the Wind Goddess hovering above them, and he turned once more to the mutant, who was now looking directly at him.

"If it isn't the X-Men! I was wonderin when you'd show up." His deep southern drawl made him sound less intimidating than Jubilee supposed he was. She began to help Beast and Jean clear the people out while Cyclops, Wolverine, Rogue, and Gambit closed in on the mutant.

"Who are you?" Cyclops demanded.

"You may call me Vereor. And you are?" He gestured to the team.

"We're here ta stop whatever it is ya got planned, bub," Wolverine growled.

Vereor, she knew that name. Not the name itself, but the word. What did it mean? She began to rack her brain to come up with the information. Suddenly, her world went black. She found herself on the streets again, running. She dared a look behind her. Chasing her was the gang she had always hid from as a child on the streets. This was not happening. Well, they had never managed to catch her before, and before she hadn't developed her powers. This was going to be fun. She stopped and turned, slightly amused by the look of triumph in their eyes. The eldest stalked up to her, and sneered.

"Hey, mutie-hater. Let's see how you deal with three of us." Wait a minute..had he just called her a mutie-hater? Before she had time to correct him, the small one shifted into a large dog and leaped at her, knocking her to the ground. She tried to fire off some sort of spark, but nothing happened. What was going on? The second boy lowered his gaze upon her, and his eyes began to glow yellow.

She couldn't move, and laid on the ground as the three of them beat her. They never went farther than that, but it in itself was enough. As she lay there, bleeding, their words replayed in her head. Mutie-hater..mutie- hater....it couldn't be. She sat up painfully and tried her power, but nothing happened. She was normal, and alone.

She was shaken awake by Jean, and looked around. Vereor was concentrating hard on Wolverine and Cyclops, both of whom seemed to be fighting with all their strength. The mutant hadn't noticed that they had escaped his realm, and Jean motioned for her to follow. They ran behind a car and ducked down.

"I managed to block whatever he was using with my powers, but it took me a while to get control again. It seems as if Scott and Logan are being more difficult that he had planned, so his hold on the rest of us is weaker."

"What exactly is his power?"

"It seems as if he can play our fears out as reality, turn our worst nightmares into life. Quite powerful, actually, but he must be stopped. Stay here as I revive Storm." Jubilee crouched down and powered up her fists, ready to give Jean some cover fire if she needed it. Storm was easier to revive, as she was already mentally strong. She had to be to be able to control her power. Jubilee shuddered at the thought of what would happen should Storm ever lose that control. Still shaking, Storm followed Jean and regrouped with Jubilee.

"I'll need to you to go get Rogue while I pull Gambit back. He may be a little harder than the others." Jubilee nodded and bolted out from her cover. Rogue was laying motionless on the ground.

"Come on, Rogue! We gotta get outta here!" she whispered. She shook the woman, and she stirred. Jubilee focused on the woman in front of her, and willed her back into consciousness. She knew it was probably just luck that Rogue chose that moment to wake up, but Jubilee felt a twinge of pride as she helped Rogue back over to Storm.

"What happened?"

"Vereor can show us our worst fears. He's havin' trouble with Cyke and Wolverine, so his hold on us was weakened. Jean was able to revive most of us. I think she's with Gambit now." The two older women looked at the teenager with amusement. They knew she was just repeating what Jean had told her, but they were still proud. She was keeping her cool and helping where she could. At that moment, Jean returned with Beast and Gambit.

"Good ta see ya well, chere," he placed a kiss on Rogue's gloved hand, before she snatched it away and knocked him on the head.

"This is neither the time or the place, Swamprat!" The others hid smiles, and Jubilee had to turn around completely. Jean focused her mind on Scott's, and she could feel the fear emanating from him. ~Scott~ She tried to reach out to him, but his mind was too entranced by the mutant. She turned her attention to Wolverine. ~Logan~ Again, nothing. She looked at the others with a sad look, but Jubilee looked defiant.

"Well, we can't just sit and do nothing!" Jean smiled.

"Come over here, child." Jubilee walked over and took Jean's hand. "Now, I want you to concentrate on Logan. Focus your mind to his, and call him." Jean closed her eyes and began opening the connection. Jubilee also closed her eyes, but kept a picture of Wolverine in her mind's eye.

~Wolvie?~ The sensation of channeling her mind through Jean was disorienting, but she didn't break her concentration. ~Come on Wolverine! You can take him! Don't let this bully break you.~

Slightly, and so low she had to strain to hear it, he responded. ~Jubes~ At that moment, a roar erupted from within him, and Vereor looked on in fright. Wolverine lunged at him, breaking his hold on Cyclops. Gambit covered him with charged cards and Jubilee fired off a small spray allowing Cyclops to regroup with the team. Jean filled him in on what they had learned, and he formulated a plan so quick, Jubilee could have sworn he'd worked on it for days.

Rogue picked her and Gambit up and dropped them behind the mutant. Wolverine was still fighting, but Vereor was holding his ground. Not for long, she mused. Jean mentally instructed Wolverine to retreat, and he complied grudgingly. He fell back beside Cyclops and Beast, still seething with rage. Jubilee was extremely curious to know what Wolverine was most afraid of. Probably something pink and fluffy, she thought. She gave a small snort, earning her a look of confusion from the Cajun.

"Petite, doan go losing your head now; Gambit may need you to back him up." She merely nodded sheepishly and focused back on Vereor. He was adjusting himself after his rather unpleasant encounter with Wolverine. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Storm and Jean approaching him from either side. She got it now..put the strongest members up front, as a distraction. She and Gambit were the cover fire, and Storm could be support. This was going to have to be a mental battle. She was right; as Cyke blasted him, Wolverine went back in with Beast. Together, they managed to give him quite the run-around, and that gave Jean enough time to get close enough without being spotted.

Storm's eyes clouded over as a dense fog pushed its way around the skirmish. Wolverine and Beast broke off, the former a little more reluctantly. Jean focused her mind on his just as the fog enveloped him. After she broke his barrier, it was fairly simple work. Within minutes, both telepaths collapsed, but Cyclops caught Jean mid-fall. Vereor, however, cracked his head on the concrete. No one could really see it, but they heard it, and it sounded bad. Storm cleared the fog away and Beast, Wolverine, Storm, Gambit, and Rogue surrounded him, so Jubilee couldn't really get a good look.

She walked over, wanting to smile triumphantly, but she could tell by the others' faces that something was wrong. Wolverine noticed her approach first, and moved to intercept her.

"Nuthin worth seein, darlin. Go help Jeannie," he pushed her in the direction of Cyclops and Jean, but not before she got a glance at the fallen mutant. His head was split open, and she had to resist the urge to vomit. She saw that Rogue was doing the same as Beast gently tried to collect the man's brains and place them back in his head. She ran over to Cyclops and grabbed Jean's other arm. Together, they lifted her and escorted her back to the Blackbird. The others joined them shortly, Rogue and Wolverine carrying a large plank covered with a sheet. She suspected the lump was Vereor, and the looks of Beast and Storm confirmed it. He was dead.





A/N: Whew, that was long...I didn't think I was going to carry it that far, but I did. I know it didn't really further the plot along, but I think it was crucial. Next chapter we discover what everyone saw as Vereor took over their minds. By the way, Vereor is one of the latin forms of fear.