A scream went up from all the kids in the main hall as the glass of the four huge windows smashed inwards. New mutants jumped through them landing on the ground with ease, most of them with some kind of feral mutation.

The crowd of people backed away from the new mutants, some trying to disappear completely, others hoping that if they screamed loud enough everything would go back to being normal. Some of the teachers, the slightly braver ones stood in front of the kids creating a barrier between them and the oncoming threat. Others tried to stand behind the students, keeping as far away from any of the action as possible.

The new mutants (approximately ten of them) were joined by ten more who appeared through the main doors to the hall. They were soon joined by a man, around 6'0" with brown hair, a prominent bone structure and incredibly pouty lips. A look of disdain crossed his face as he surveyed the worthless humans standing in front of him. Well, not quite worthless. Mutant X would hear about this soon and they would turn up as always ready to save the day. Gabriel didn't know why they bothered. What was the point of saving people who would only end up hating them anyway? But it didn't matter because through these pointless little people with their pointless little existences he was gonna get Mutant X and through them the ultimate revenge on Adam.

A smirk came to his face as the thoughts flitted through his mind. It was a perfect plan. A couple of hundred people at risk would definitely bring Shalimar, Brennan, Jesse and Emma running to help. They couldn't resist the helpless. And when Mutant X came he would have the Strand keep them occupied while he sat back and watched. No effort on his part and plenty on theirs. That was the way he liked it.

Double Helix sped its way across the sky. The team wasn't entirely sure what was going on at their final destination. All they knew was that whether the rumours Adam had heard were true or false, if regular people and possible new mutants were in danger they had to go check it out. And plus kicking Gabriel's ass was always fun. Atleast that was the view Shalimar took. She loved beating the crap out of any new mutant stupid enough to piss her off. If it was Gabriel, that was a bonus.

The others were slightly more cautious. Emma had felt how much Gabriel could scare people. She had felt their fear and it had frightened her. The first time they had gone up against Gabriel had been hard enough. They had worked their butts off. She didn't savour the battles against Gabriel like Shalimar. But then Shalimar always did, she was like that. Emma smiled to herself remembering all the times Shalimar had gone up against the odds. She always enjoyed the adrenaline rush.

Jesse was cautious like Emma. Occasionally Emma would let her wild side come out during the fight but Jesse was more reserved, he concentrated a lot more when hurting people. It was just his way. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy kicking ass but he was a heck of a lot quieter about it than Shal.

Brennan was only slightly less excited about beating the bad guys to a pulp than Shalimar was. The adrenaline rush was so cool. There was no other way he could have gotten that same feeling. And when he wasn't kicking ass he loved watching Shalimar do her thing. She was so graceful it was hard not to be completely in awe of her. The fact that she looked gorgeous even when fighting was just a plus.

'Sir, would you please leave…and…and take all your…colleagues with you. This is a private building.'

Gabriel was getting pissed off waiting. He had never been a very patient man and he didn't like waiting around for Mutant X. Did they not realize what a tight schedule he was on. He had other places to be and other people to do. And this guy was majorly annoying. Gabriel looked down at him. The teacher must have been 5'9", jovial looking, atleast 50 years old. Gabriel could have squashed him like a bug but it was mildly entertaining watching the guy stutter and stammer his way through whatever the hell he was saying. Gabriel hadn't really been listening, he didn't need to bother. Just the sight of this guy plus the feelings Gabriel was getting off him were side-splitting. Gabriel was smiling… on the inside.

But the novelty of it all was wearing thin and now Gabriel was bored. This idiot was taking precious time away from Gabriel's day, time that Gabriel wouldn't get back. It was time to finish this he thought, just seconds before he pulled his fist back and slammed it into the face of the teacher. The fool dropped to the floor like the weak human he was.

Gabriel smirked as he looked over at his second in command. She was a tall athletic brunette, feral/ thermal elemental mix. His look told her that she was in charge. Gabriel stalked out of the room, he was bored of it, wanted a different view.