The air was getting cold. Quite a chill in the air as the wind picked up over the mountain side. Urien was wrapped up in a long jacket as the other new mutants he was with who collectively called themselves the Strand came to a cliff on the mountain side. The distant sound of a chopper's blades could be faintly heard over the wind distortion. The pale face of the feral was flushed a dark red as the four others looked over the bluff. The plan was sort of hard to grasp for Urien. The Purpose didn't seem like something he could understand. What was the point of making them walk this far from the lighthouse he had been living at for the last two weeks, with a few of the Strand members in charge of training him? Two weeks, of training and learning about new mutants, had taught him a lot. And this walk, Urien wondered if it to was part of his training, or just so he'd not know where the secret base that this guy Gabriel had made the head quarters. Gabriel Asheloche even thinking of him made the cold feral warm up. Sharon turned up on the bluff; her own thin face formed a smile as her eyes seek him out amongst the crowed of the three other new mutants. Urien couldn't help but wonder what her job was within the Strand, so far she was the only fellow Feral he had met, and they had been alone a few times and there was something about her. Urien knew that she was hiding something. As though she couldn't tell him everything, it was more that Urien's attraction for her… Sharon had told him that all Ferals have instinctual attraction.

The Helicopter came into view over Sharon's head, as jackets began to ruffle at the sudden up draft in the air. The helicopter was a sleek black machine; the air seemed to contrast wit the white artic land that surrounded the environment the crew of new mutants were standing towards. As the Helicopter neared where they were some snow began to slide away into a miniature blizzard as the copter sat down in the snow. A rattling of metal rolled along the track as the door opened. The long brown hair curled around Gabriel's face as he peered put from the helicopter "Come on and hurry, we have work to do." Gabriel mentioned with his slow yet seemingly always excited manner hood. Like gravel sliding through a river bed.

The crew began to walk towards the sleek black helicopter. As they began to walk towards Gabriel Asheloche and the machine he was inside. Urien lead the group as though he had earned something of know-how as he walked towards the helicopter. The Rat Feral's hair was tied back into a long pony tail, a sock hat fitted loosely around his main of hair. The air seemed to be the only thing to be halting any of them, as though the group were all fighting a great draft of wind. Climbing aboard, the helicopter Ashelocke's hand patted against Urien's shoulder. Gabriel smiled as his eyes looked at Urien nodding as though there was a big plan for Urien. Gabriel's look when he needed to say something was painted across his unshaven face. "Urien, I see you are starting to grasp your new mutant abilities. Sharon says you're really a fast learner. This is excellent, because I think you may be ready for your destiny. What I have planned for you… mean everything to the cause."

*******

Jam & Joes
Toronto, Ontario Canada

Brennan had led Matty Collan down a long Corridor, of dim lights through an underground passage. To Matty it appeared they had been walking for something that seemed like a few ages. Matty's olive colored hand stroked her short raven hair as the footfalls of her and Brennan echoed over the canon. "So how much further is it Brennan, seems like we have been walking a few miles now? Why couldn't we have we gone through this the easy way?"

Brennan's head turns around and spread to a smile as his shoulders rolled slowly. "Well, I didn't get that information; I think Adam wanted to make sure the new safehouse remains that way. After the fall of the last fronted safehouse, My Friend's Bookstore… I suppose Adam wants to cross all his T's when dealing with the larger themed safehouses."

"I see, just seems they could have installed an automatic walking path, like at those airports. My legs are killing me."

"Oh quit complaining, we use to make large walks all the time back in the day."

"Brennan I was seventeen then, my bones are all old now."

The two of them walked on in silence, Brennan wondering if his team mates had any luck with the guy, Todd Richards. Brennan remembered the last time he met up with that guy, and his wife who found the boxers that he and Jesse wore as very interesting. The path came to a mouth at the edge of the path, making its way into a lobby, there was a large screen TV to their left with some couches following along each wall. With a familiar blue face bopping around the screen.

--And now with that white haired saint and his boys in black, now missing in action we wonder what's next? Well we've had more reports about another group of powerful people who seem to be thwarting justice more so than MutantX. Proxy mates say they call themselves The Strand, and are looking to take active control over the population. Their leader, who remains unknown at this point, was not available for a quote. But the guy seems spooky if you ask me—

As Brennan and Matty stop inside the lobby, a familiar robust figure walks from the doorway, a smile sliding over his face as he raises his glasses from his face to clear his eyes a moment. "Yes, I'm that traitor Matty. Though I think I might have a bit to say about why it all happened." Ruby mentioned as he stopped a few inches away from Brennan and Matty. Brennan's smile spread again. Brennan had heard all about the situations at Genomex from Adam. Though Matty had not, and for her to be working with the telepath, Brennan was sure would be quite interesting. Though Brennan was having doubts about Adam since he learned Adam had created the Stasis pods and Subdermenal Goveners, that he himself had witnessed, if there was one thing Adam knew—it was how people's minds worked. Brennan had all the faith in the world that if anyone could lead a second group of new mutants, it was this man… this telepath Ruby Bishop.

"Ruby, well I am sure what ever the reason with Genomex on the down and outs that we'll work out fine." Matty mentioned under a haze of a fake smile. Brennan knew Ruby didn't buy it as long as he did. Surface thoughts never got past the wondering mind of Ruby.

"Yeah, well I suppose I should be thankful for that. Welcome, to the Safehouse, well ummm I believe we are calling it a halfway house, but what is little details right Matty?" Ruby's shaky voice spoke.

"Yeah, little details." Matty mentioned as she reached her hand out to clamp to Ruby's in a shake. "What good are details, if you already know where you're going?"

"So Brennan, how long are you going to be with us? Adam mentioned something about you working with Matty, with her powers coming into a static emission, since the new mutant power surge, in do to Ashelocke, I am sure Matty might need some help with her new abilities."

"Yeah, Ruby, Adam did mention it in passing. I should check in with Adam. See how Shalimar and Emma are doing. Though I don't know how much help I will be. Adam mentioned that I'd be doing a little help but you're as qualified as I am."

"In theory of course I can train elementals, Brennan. But only in theory, I don't have the hands on training, which I think would do Matty some good."

"Hands on? I can deal with some hands on training Brennan." Matty smiled though there was also a little strangeness still with Matty and Brennan. Matty could feel it. Since she was told by Genomex to take out Brennan there was this gap in their friendship. Matty knew she still felt bad about it. It was part of why she was here. To make it up to her old friend—part of it for Matty was revenge.

Brennan waved away the comment as he brought his ring up to his mouth. "Adam, Brennan here."

--Brennan, I was starting to worry about you. Is everything going alright with Matty? -- Came Adam's digitized voice over the micro speakers in the ring.

"Yeah, Adam Tip-top, we are at the safehouse now."

--Good, we are just sitting on our hands over here, trying to ascertain The Strand's next move.—

"Oh? Have you heard from Shal and Emma yet?"

--Not yet, but by their comms they seem to be moving, I suppose they will be checking in, soon.—


"Someone call my name?" Came a purr from the passageway from behind Matty, Ruby, and Brennan. A quirk of a grin came over Shalimar's face. As Brennan turned he returned the smile seeing the eyes of his two teammates Emma, and Shalimar along with a face Brennan could live without seeing again.

"Brennan, didn't expect to see you here." Todd's quick mannered voice came over. A smile formed over Todd Richard's face.

"Yeah you can say that again. You are doing okay?" Brennan called back to Todd. Before his hand went back to his communicator Ring, "Okay Adam, they just arrived. We will try to get back to Sanctuary as soon as we can."

--Excellent Brennan, so you three are back together. If anything comes up I'll contact the three of you-- The communication link went dead.

*******

The Strand Head Quarters
location Unknown


Urien's coat and sock hat were lying on the bed to the room he was given. Though something felt weird to the Feral, possibly it was the lack of knowledge all this would be happening so fast. The Ferals fingers tinged wishing he had a piano or a guitar to play, to get some of these feelings out of his system. For Urien there were many things going on inside his mind. Almost to the point that he wasn't sure how he was going to deal with the special mission that Gabriel kept referring to. There was a compelling nature for him to go and hide, to not deal with any of the situations. The way Sharon's eyes would lay on him—the way Gabriel made him feel, his heart racing to impress him. These two things the Urien had never felt before. Urien almost felt loss for what to do next. Urien's body feel softly onto the bed, arms sliding under his neck and head giving out a small sigh, Urien wondered how he was to deal with all the pressure. Could he truly be what they expected of him, Urien could help but think? It was almost as Urien had shut his eyes that a light wrap came to his door.

As Urien's eyes flickered open the door slid open. As Urien's eyes looked up Gabriel Ashelocke let a smile slip over his face as he walked into the room. The skillful fingers of the Strand leader slipped a bit of his brown locks back behind his ear. "Hey Urien, getting settled in okay?" Ashelocke asks.

"Well it's all still sort of hard to grasp. But I'm doing my best to put it all together."

"Hmm, yeah I suppose it is a bit abrupt. But I have to admit—I have been looking for a guy like you for a while. You are much like a god send."

"A god send?" Urien asks taken away a bit by the nervousness that appeared over his face. "Is this about that Destiny thing you keep talking about?"

"Funny thing about destiny, Urien. You don't ever realize its there. Until it…" Gabriel's voice trails off as he reaches a hand to stroke the cheek of Urien. "…embraces you."

Urien's own hand traces where Gabriel had touched. A short glow of yellow seemed to emit over his eyes just for a brief moment. Urien felt a tinge of feeling almost rolling over his body as his eyes snapped shut, his body going slack, falling with a thud onto the bed. As the Feral's restless body came to a halt, Gabriel's lips formed a smile over them.

"Sleep now Urien… as I said destiny awaits."

*******

Sanctuary
the Break room

Jesse's hand moves upwards and aims the ball as Adam's body moves to pivot to the left and then the right. Adam's body jumps up as Jesse's hand phases the ball through Adam's left hand. Adam's knee nail's Jess in the stomach as the ball goes solid and Adam's hand bangs the ball down. "Okay, so you're a little better at this than Brennan." Jesse mentions holding his stomach. "I deserved that." Jesse's voice became a little weaker and a little more muffled.

"Well, if you're cheating so can I. Didn't mean to hurt you though Jesse, you going to be okay?"

"Sure Adam as soon as my left ribs decides to grow back." Adam slaps Jesse's shoulder with his hand.

"Well I did mention no powers." Adam mentioned when suddenly Emma's voice came over the speakers of the break room.

--Adam? Jesse? You guys there?—

"Yes, Emma I was just taking Jesse to the hole."

--Taking Jesse to the what? No never mind it's not a big deal. Just letting you all know that were nearing Storm king, all three of the new mutants are safely at the safehouse—

"Good, to hear Emma. Is Shalimar and Brennan with you?"

--Yes, I think Brennan's a bit reluctant. Ruby wants to have him come back. To show Matty some things when we have time.—

"Hey Adam, look," Came Jesse Kilmartin voice as he pointed to the Television set. As Adam turned he could see a large fire erupting from a museum on the television. The camera quickly tilted up to see the helicopter both Jesse and Adam had seen before.

"Great. Okay, I think its time to see if Mutant Zero can handle things, Jesse get a hold of Ruby, Mutant Zero is about ready for a baptism by fire, Emma I need you three to get to this museum. We are downloading the location to the Double Helix."

--Were on it Adam—

*******

Jam & Joes
Toronto, Ontario

Matty looked down at the silver ring on her finger. With a smile she looked over at Todd who was at her left, and then to her right where Michelle sat with the same sterile expression. Matty's eyes then looked up to the three moderators who were standing before them, though only Ruby's seemed to be anywhere near how she was feeling. All three of the members thinking finally they were going to be doing some good in the world. Ruby adjusted his glasses as he took a step forward.

"And now let me welcome you all to Mutant Zero. Though we are still missing a feral from the group, we have looked for the best new mutants from the underground in protecting the world from this new threat. A threat that MutantX, cannot shoulder alone, it is why this group… this team has been formed. And it gives me great pleasure in seeing the start of something I know will lend itself to a more secure place for all new mutants." There was a pause and ruby sniffed his nostrils a moment. The room was large, and seemed to have only three dim sources of light. The floor was only cement, except for a platform along the back wall. Ruby had taken special precautions and with Alison's help had built this area of the halfway house, as a training center for the team. The team who's idea sparked the building of this new safehouse. A team who's whole purpose was to deflect the strand to bring Gabriel out of hiding. Adam knew something big was going to happen, and if only for the safety of humans and new mutants a like something had to be done to stop this from coming to pass. Strange was that just as Ruby began to think about MutantX that a comm. Screen came up over one of the walls. Ruby turned to see Adam Kane's face hovering on the screen there. Ruby's eyes beamed as a smile came across his face.

--Ruby, I know you have just seen your team for the first time, and I regret the urgency of… this situation but the Strand just attacked a museum in the Hudson area. I suspect this will be as good a time as any to see what these kids can do.—

Ruby's face slacked. They barely knew each other, though Michelle and Matty had combat training with the GSA, how would they perform together? Ruby nodded. Yes, in his heart Ruby knew that they needed this. "Okay Adam, better now to test them."

--Shalimar, Emma, and Brennan will be on their way as well. So I thought it would be a perfect chance…--

"I understand Adam. We are on our way." Ruby mentioned again before the comm. faded back to black. Ruby's eyes fell on them now. The three new mutants looked at each other. Though they really didn't know each other, well they each knew that they were here for a reason. Each agreeing to help new mutants, like they themselves were helped.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Matty thundered after a few moments of silence, Matty began to walk from the group before she turned back to Ruby with a big grin on her face.

"Wait how are we getting there?"

"Funny you should ask." Came Vince from behind Ruby. A large hand patting over Matty's shoulder, "This bad boy will blow away anything the Double Helix can do. Alison and I saw to that personally."

"Now this I gotta see." Came the voice of Todd as he began to zip past the others. A blur of Vince's own hand grabbed the back collar of Todd.

"Now this is a team… we will see it all together." Vince said with gritted teeth as the six of them began to walk through the door and down the corridor of the still being built halfway house. Todd was in the front of them, Vince's hand still clenched on the shirt of Todd.

*******

Hudson Museum of Art
Hudson, Ontario

The flames inked up brightly into the sky, smoke drifting a gray as the sleek black helicopter stood pivoting over the flames high into he sky. Urien looked out the window, wondering how high up they were. More so he wondered how he even got aboard this helicopter. The last thing Urien recalled was talking to Gabriel. Glitters of police siren lights were off in the distance.

"Okay maybe it's best we be making it out. Did you all get the diamonds?" Came a voice from behind Urien. Urien's head turned to see the guy Matt at the controls with a head set pressed to his ears. The blond hair Matt usually kept jailed was deep and hidden under the helmet he was wearing. Urien looked out amongst the fire and it was as he looked he could hear something in the distance… this was followed by the odor of some sort of oil. Urien's eyes went yellow as he saw what appeared to be a craft coming to a hovering position over where he was. Urien's fist clinched, as he knew these where those who tried to stop The Strand, wanted to take them all and give them over to the humans and despise. Urien knew he was looking at the Double Helix.

*******

Jam & Joes's Hanger
Toronto, Ontario; Canada

Vince was in the cockpit as the other three members climbed into the cabin of the strange new craft, to put words to describe it was a bit harder to do than one would actually think. Though the cabin was roomy and carpeted there were windows on all sides of the craft. The floor was carpeted in a grey, and towards the back was a curtained area. Seats pulled out from below the windows as the three teammates learned as each one pulled the seats that sat there and sat down behind the main controls. Vince smiled as he turned around a head set sat against his face. "As you will note, this a different sort of machine than the Double helix, it's designed to get you where you need to be fast. Though because you all will be sticking to around the area of Toronto, its not as heavily equipped with rations and fancy lab equipment as the Helix, this baby does have some equipment, but with the lack of long distance functionality we can trade in for other unique features."

Vince smiles as he presses one of the buttons that seemed to be planted over the dash area of the plane that was designed to look more like a helicopter. As the button was pressed a joystick launched from the control panel. Outside the slick black wings pressed forward from the body of the craft coming into place above the planes body the blades began to whirl as the machine began to rise off the ground. Vince's hand pushed the stick forward as the heliplane took off from the now open passage way. As soon as it was nearing the hanger door, something happened. Vince's hand hit the green flashing button as the joy stick turned side ways and ejected a second piece to its self. The wings outside the plane snapped back into place and the machine took off through the door Vince navigating like the professional he was out through the rocky columns and straight into the clear blue sky.

"So your like what—been flying long Vince?" Matty's voice came as she looks out the window, that big smile beaming across her face.

"Yeah, I got lessons when I was a kid, my family has always been well off, and it's why I became a Fortune 500 CEO over night. Surprise huh?"

"No not really." Michelle said as though she was bored to tears.

"Oh well can't win them all. I use to fly the Double Helix you know. Before Jesse came along, he's a natural. A lot better than me," Vince mentions to the group as the craft begins to move towards Hudson, sleek in its maiden voyage. The steering column moved through Vince's hands as though it was operating on his very thoughts. Though as Vince's smile streamed over his face, the unified Mutant Zero had other things on their minds, could they truly measure up? Would they be able to face what Lies ahead?

*******

Hudson Museum

Brennan was the first on the scene, followed closely behind by Shalimar as they were the two on the team of MutantX who more than anyone enjoyed a good fight, even if would dull their flank. As three of the Strand members came running from the flaming museum if like on queue all holding bags of money, it was Brennan that looked shocked even as he launched an orb of electricity to put them in their place. As the two MutantXers saw the three strand members seemed to wave and ripple.

"No scent Shalimar you should have seen that one coming." Came the loud voice of Karen who was wearing a mask over her face, the rest of her in black. Karen jumps from the shadows a smile under the mask. As she walks out so do two other guys from behind them.

"Yeah well I can smell you a mile away." Shalimar snarled back as her eyes flashed a bright yellow.

Karen turned to one of the figures behind them. "yeah their close enough Scott. Want to do that trick of yours?" The skinny form behind her nodded as he put his hands together generating a green orb in his exposed hands, Brennan's own hands formed a second Tesla coil. Though, as Brennan tossed volts at the opposing elemental; the elemental, Scott had thrown his own energies at the building. The building's fire tinged to a green for a moment before a back draft launched from the balefire sounding like a thunder clap. Brennan and Shalimar neither were expecting that move. Both members of MutantX tossed backwards. Brennan's hand grabbed Shalimar's jacket as he let his propulsion kick in sending him a few feet into the air. The MutantX members land hard on asphalt. Brennan took the impact on the back as he shouldered a turn, before coming to a stop. The pain racked through Brennan's body as he laid there. An arm reached up to grab for Shalimar's shoulder.

"Shal you okay?" Brennan whispered with a gruff. Though Shalimar did not move or turn. "Shal, wake up… can you hear me?" Brennan's face flushed with the pain he sustained and the fallen team mate. "Emma, Shal's down… we need to get her out of here.." Brennan lifted his hand up to Shalimar's neck searching desperately for a pulse against her warm neck. "She's breathing, just barely, and the Strand is getting away."

--Any sign of Ashelocke?-- Emma asked in a stressed voice, wanting more than anything to get down there, and help her teammates.

"No, I think it was another Scare tactic."

--okay, hold still I'm on my way.—
"Shal hold on for me… you've taken more than this."

…To be continued.

((now we resume our regular monthly updated scheduale. Thank you to everyone this far who have been reading and enjoying Mutant Zero. Also I should start mentioning if people who read this would like to be in these pages as their own new mutant Creation.. I'm a big RPG geek and will love to hear about your new mutant creations, and I like to put new mutants in my MutantX fics that aren't over my own design. So feel free to send them my way, and I can start collecting people. I'm on the MutantX forums all the time.. okay I've said enough don't you think?))

((Oh right and the format was sort of messed up... thanks Rev.. it should be more readable now.. not sure what was going on there))