This chapter is more in the way of a breather than anything else. Well, that's my opinion anyway. You can judge for yourselves.

Now for the prerequisite quote:

"With the lights out, it's less dangerous,
Here we are now, entertain us."

Er, I really don't think I need to identify the source of this quote; but a couple of people who have been living in a hole for the past ten years may have trouble identifying the song. You see, it's a song called 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', and it was made by a little band called Nirvana. If you pay attention to these small bands and their little songs, it might make you a better person.

I apologise if I may have come on a little too strongly; I don't want to insult anyone living in a hole for the past tens years, but even MTV calls this the best song in the world, and we all know how biased towards kiddie pop MTV is.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters I am writing about. Marvel does. But you already knew that, didn't you?

*-*

Chapter Seven: They Come.

The meeting in the war room the day after the monster was stopped was a lot more subdued than the meeting which had taken place before the X-men had gone to fight the monster and the Brotherhood. Xavier had his head wrapped in bandages, Jean and Remy had their arms in casts, Remy being lucky Ororo had noticed he was falling and nearly stopped him completely. Hank had a leg broken, and Logan had two busted ribs in the process of healing. Kurt, Rogue and Evan had all suffered multiple bruises in their fights, and especially when Remy had thrown them nearly the length of the field with no protection except an improperly maintained TK shield. Even Ororo, who had taken part in no physical fight, had a migraine. Kitty also wasn't hurt physically because she hadn't fought, but the mental torture she had to go through staring at herself in a mirror and wondering if she would remain like this, was more than enough. The only person who was unhurt was Scott, who had been missing since he had dropped Jean and the others off at the mansion.

Xavier called the meeting to order, looking gravely at his battered team as he did so.

"You all did extremely well yesterday, from what I can make out from the thoughts in your minds. Apart from wanting to know if your powers will be returned to you, I know you are all expecting me to make a comment on what Scott did yesterday."

"Mon Dieu!" Remy said in mock incredulity, "Remy t'ink y'r telepathic, professor!"

Xavier ignored what Remy had said, his face expressionless. "I had told you before we set out, that if the monster was brought back unharmed and the remote acquired, we could restore your powers. While the monster was taken and brought here without too much damage being done, we seem to have lost the remote."

Hank suddenly shifted, and produced a battered black pyramid from behind him. "Er," he said abashedly, "a rat dropped this yesterday. I was looking at it after I had tended to my wounds late last night."

Remy interrupted, an expression of mock disbelief on his face. "Professor! Aren't y' telepat'ic? How did Hank keep it a secret from y'?"

Xavier looked at Remy, his face both amused and irritated at the questions. "Mister Lebeau, I am indeed telepathic, but I do not read other peoples minds for no reason at all; and I had no reason to read Doctor McCoy's mind yesterday." He paused, that mysterious smile forming on his face, "the day before yesterday, two students engaged in, ah, promiscuous activities. Now, I might not have known of that occurrence, or at least not while it was going on, but one of the students decided to shield against me. The shield was not effective, and it acted more like a beacon drawing my attention towards it." Remy tried to keep his face smooth, and keep any thoughts of killing Scott for trying to shield him and Rogue out of his mind. Xavier paused for breath and asked, "Do you believe me when I say I am a telepath now, Remy?"

"Remy guesses he has to, sir." Remy replied, hoping Xavier would ignore him from that point on, and continue with the briefing. Just then a mental projection sprang into his mind.

*Remy, under ordinary circumstances, I would be forced to impose punitive measures on you, but the X-men are anything but ordinary, and Rogue is perhaps the most extraordinary of us all. I know you did what you did knowing that there might not be a second time for you both. I could not bear to punish you for that.* Remy gaped. Xavier knew! Then he realised that Xavier was speaking, while talking to Remy mentally. That made him gape further. The man was talking in two ways at once!

"Well, Hank, I hope you have unlocked the secret to the operation of the key."

Remy sent a thought; although he did not have Jean's power; and hoped Xavier would catch on to it. He wanted to tell Xavier what was on his mind, as well as see if his speech was disrupted in any way.

*Sir, Scott made nearly de exac' same speech t' me yesterday.*

Xavier paused in the middle of his speech, but managed to look like he was pausing for effect. Remy was impressed.

*Well, it seems he is quite astute then, if he made the connection between you two.*

While sending thoughts, he had resumed talking. "There is another key that Mystique has, and if we cannot make use of this, we may have to go and steal that one." Just then another mental projection popped into Remy's head.

*Could you tell me who threw up that shield yesterday, Remy?*

*Will you mistreat dat student, sir?*

*Of course not, I haven't mistreated you for taking far greater liberties, have I?*

*Guess not,*

Outwardly, Xavier seemed to be looking thoughtful as Hank expounded upon how he thought he had unlocked the key, and how he thought Mystique had spent the greater part of three days doing the same.

".well, if you see the facts, the monster was not awakened until about three days after the incident at the dike between the two student parties. That would suggest Mystique could not figure out the way to operate the key, even though she is an expert at such gadgetry." he paused, expecting some sort of comment from Xavier.

"Indeed," Xavier said. Hank looked gratified and continued.

*Professor?*

*Yes, Remy?*

*It was Scott who put the shield up.*

*WHAT??* Everyone grabbed their heads in pain.

"Did you just hear someone shout 'what' right now?" Kurt asked Evan. He nodded. Everyone else also said they had heard it, including Xavier, who had the sense to align himself with the group.

"Man, now this is getting freaky," Evan said. All the teens nodded.

"Could we get back to the key?" asked Xavier, anxious to get the topic of discussion away from thoughts inside people's heads, as he was the stronger telepath in the room.

"Yes, so I was saying," Hank continued smoothly, "I think I can make it work. There is just one problem though, it needs all the people who had their powers taken together, and that includes-"

"The Brotherhood," Everyone said. Hank nodded.

"Indubitably."

*-*

The Brotherhood was also having problems of its own. Remy hadn't paid attention to them when he was putting his team-mates out of danger, the monster hadn't cared who he was hitting, and Scott would have been only too happy to have broken Brotherhood bones as collateral damage. Todd and Tabitha both had broken legs, Pietro was still dizzy from Todd inadvertently absorbing his powers, and even Freddy was a little hurt during the monsters attack and Scott's earthquakes after. He was mostly cushioned by a thick layer of fat, even after losing his powers, but damage had still been done. Lance was patched up, the number of perforations indicating how unsuccessful he had been in avoiding Jean's attacks. Sabertooth had disappeared in the middle of the night, probably to roam the church and try to catch and eat mice like he did whenever he could not beat Wolverine in a fight. He had a cracked skull, although it did not alter his usual level of sanity, probably because there was no way the level of his sanity could sink further. Mystique had lacerations all over her body; Beast had not been overly concerned about whether she even had enough room to breathe when she was tied up and kept in his pocket. Mystique, like Xavier had also called a meeting.

"They have the monster, and they have the remote. We must infiltrate their base and recover both things." Mystique said in her characteristic snarl. Her statement was greeted by a response from everyone present.

"Xavier's mansion?" Lance asked incredulously, "Mystique, you're either joking, or you've lost it."

"What? How in heck will we carry a stupid monster? We're all disabled." Pietro said in shock.

"Can we have our powers fixed?" Tabitha asked, "Its getting soo annoying everytime I puff up. I mean, what if this happened at school. It's a good thing we have the hols right now."

"Can't you give him a name?" Todd enquired, "I mean I know my feelings would get hurt if everyone called me monster."

"Where's food?" Fred asked.

Mystique impatiently waved a hand. "Let me answer one question at a time," she said. "First yours Lance. Yes, Xavier's mansion. Pietro, we will work on that right now. I'm sure it can be arranged somehow. Yes, Tabitha, we'll fix you powers," *If I find out how to,* "no, Todd, calling him monster is fine. Fred, go to your room."

"That doesn't answer my question!"

"Food is in your room. Now leave while the intelligent people discuss strategy." She looked around. "Todd, you leave as well." As Fred and Todd were leaving the room she added, "Tabitha, you too." And almost instantly after that, "Lance, Pietro, you two can go also." As all the teens filed out, she shook her head. "I really to find some good students. Xavier has Storm, Beast and Wolverine as teachers to discuss strategy with, as well as capable students like Jean Grey and Scott Summers." She sat down to evolve a strategy that would help the Brotherhood retake the monster.

Mystique was almost completely right. As she spoke, Xavier was discussing the possible ways to bring the Brotherhood to the X-men with Hank, Ororo, Logan and Jean. Scott, however, was missing.

*-*

He sat outside the highway restaurant, head hanging down and rain dripping down his hair onto his clothes, onto his coffee. His name was Scott Summers, and he had a problem. Not your run of the mill too-late-to- complete-homework type problem, but a more serious problem.

For years after his parents had died in a plane accident, he had grown up in a place where he learnt of his own special power, the power to absorb energy from the sun and convert it into an optic blast. He had been taught how to control it by a man he thought of as his father. He had, in the time after the power had manifested, lost control occasionally, but not like this. Never like this.

And now he was afraid to go back. He knew that when he got back, he would probably be welcomed like he had never left. He knew no-one would seriously blame him for what had happened at the field. Not to his face at least. But there was no way of knowing how they really felt about him, what they said behind his back. Maybe Xavier had a file on him which now said 'consider dangerous'. He had always prided himself on being controlled, and had made it his foundation. He had thought he had the restraint and cold thinking required to be a leader. He had always felt he was reliable, responsible, trustworthy. And he had lost it all in the space of a few seconds it had taken to abuse Lance's power.

His world was shattering around him.

He got off his motorcycle, and gave the coffee back inside the restaurant, untouched. The waitress looked at him quizzically as he paid for the undrunk coffee and walked out the door. He got onto his motorcycle and sped off down the highway. His name was Scott Summers, and he needed to clear his head of any thoughts he had. He needed to be comforted by someone he loved.

"Jean," he whispered as his motorcycle sped across the deserted road.

*-*

Xavier looked intently at the teens as they sat in the war-room. "Mystique is bringing the Brotherhood here, to try and take the monster." As expected, there were several questions.

"But, dude, we're all injured. How will we stop them man?"

"They're all hurt. What is Mystique thinkin'? Ah could kick their asses by mahself."

"Are we um, totally prepared? Couldn't she like, bring them next month or something?"

Xavier gave another small smile. "Evan, I think we can manage just fine. Rogue, I suggest you don't try taking them on all at once, even though they have broken limbs. Kitty, Mystique is afraid that we might figure out how to use the monster, although for what, I cannot possibly imagine. It would make a good maidservant, though."

"Wait a sec, prof, dey be comin' here wit' broken hands an' legs?"

"Todd and Tabitha have broken legs."

"I'm sorry; I jus' declared Mystique cert'fiably stupid."

The rest of the team added their voices to the mix, Kurt insisting he was in no condition to fight, Hank, Ororo and Logan asking details, such as the Brotherhood's ETA etc, and Jean trying to tell Xavier how to go about composing a plan. Xavier rapped his knuckles for silence. No one listened. He called out for everyone to be quiet, but his voice was drowned out by nine others. Eventually he grew tired of waiting and gave what could only be described as a mental sneeze. Everyone stopped talking, and grabbed their heads in pain yet again.

"Sorry," Xavier said shortly, smiling. "Now could you all please listen to me? The Brotherhood will arrive within the hour, so we have a terrible dearth of time. Do any of you have any plans?" everyone started speaking again. He waved his hands for silence. This time everyone complied; another mental sneeze was distinctly unlooked for. "Mystique has always had a few surprises up her sleeves. We need to proceed with caution. Now, as I was saying, any ideas?"

"Remy know, why don' y' brainwash Mystique, an' convince her she don' need t' come here?" everyone gasped at his suggestion.

"Remy Lebeau!" Jean said indignantly, "That is the most outrageous suggestion I have heard in all my time here! How could you suggest such a thing?" Kurt seconded her opinion.

"Sugah," Rogue said, looking at him, "ya have a great bod, but no brains." Kitty affirmed this, and blushed as Rogue looked dangerously at her. Remy gaped. They were acting as if he had suggested that Xavier go and seduce Mystique or something.

"Uh, professor, pardon Remy if he said sumthin' stupid, an' could y' please tell him exac'ly jus' what he did say dat was so shocking?" Remy asked, wondering if he was the only sane teen in the room. Xavier smiled.

"You have joined us at a later date than the others, Remy, so you do not know that I never use my telepathy to influence a battle."

"Why de hell not?"

"Language, child. I want you people to have practise at fighting, since these people will constantly hound you throughout your lives for their own goals, and I will not always be there to stop them from harming you?"

"Why don' y' jus' brainwash dem all?"

Xavier looked thoughtful. "Why indeed not?" he asked himself, "Why don't I just brainwash everyone who comes along and turn them into good people?" Jean looked horrified at the suggestion.

"But professor, that would be simply wrong! How can you take over someone's mind like that?"

Xavier smiled. "Like you convince the others to do occasional chores for you?" Jean blushed. Xavier's tone became more serious and his face grew thoughtful again. "But why didn't I think of brainwashing them and ending all this fighting?"

Logan growled. "It's a bit too late in the day to change the script, Chuck. If you had thought about mindwiping those dorks when they joined up with Mystique, we wouldn't be here talking about it now, while she comes to get a monster and try to kill us."

Xavier nodded. "Then let us get back to the matter at hand. Let's devise a strategy."

Remy held his hand up. "Professor, what about brainwashing dem?"

"We won't be doing that, Remy."

"Why not?"

"Because we've never done so. Apparently it goes against our principles."

"It does?"

"Although I have never concretely known what my principles are, yes I believe it does."

"Dat's stupid. C'n Remy be excused from dis meeting?"

"If you feel you cannot contribute to our discussions-"

"Yeah, yeah. Remy know de drill. No, I cannot contr'bute if y' refuse t' simply brainwash dem an' get dis over wit'." He walked out the door.

Everyone frowned at Remy's rude behaviour, but resumed their work. They had a mansion to defend.

*-*

Remy got out the door fast, thoughts coming in machine gun bursts. Something in there was wrong. Everyone was doing stupid things, and he had not been in the X-men long enough to know if those stupid things were normal or not. The one person he had interacted most with (apart from Rogue, who thought he was stupid,) was Scott, and he was not present at the meeting. He was the field leader, so he should have been present. Remy took his trench coat and quickly went to the garage. He saw a bike missing. Logan's bike. Scott was going to die when he returned. For some reason he had not taken his car. Maybe he did not want to be traced. The problem was, Remy needed to find him and tell him about the impending attack. He got onto another bike and sped off in the darkness. He had Jean's power again, and he kept sending out telepathic thoughts to Scott, but no answer came.

*-*

"Whose powers does everyone have?" Hank inquired.

"I have Evan's," Kitty said, throwing a spike out as demonstration. It thudded into Xavier's expensive cabinet. Xavier made a face and was about to speak when Kitty shifted. "Wait professor, the powers have switched again. I think I have Remy's power now." The last part of her sentence was cut off by a shriek from Jean. Everyone turned to see her taking up nearly all of a sofa. She had the Blob's powers. After comforting her and calming her down, Xavier asked the others whose powers they had.

"Ah have Evan's now, professor," Rogue said, tossing another spike onto the cabinet.

"I have Lance's, sir," Kurt said.

"I have -" Evan began, and then noticed that everyone was edging away from him. "- Toad's power," he finished lamely.

"What does that tell you?" Xavier asked. As always Jean, even in her present state of near nervous breakdown, had the answer.

"When we came from the mall, our powers kept switching between ourselves, so we could only have the powers of another person from our team. That was because we were not in contact with the Brotherhood. When we met them at the field, it caused us to gain their powers as well. When we left, we had powers that some of the Brotherhood members had. Now, all the powers that we had at the field are switching between ourselves."

"Say what?" Evan interjected.

"Very good, Jean," Xavier said, "Now let me see if I understand your theory. The powers you people had at the field were Remy's, Lance's, Jean's, Evan's, Todd's, Freddy's, and Pietro's. Now you people have Remy's, Lance's, Evan's, Todd's and Freddy's, and two team members are missing, correct?" everyone nodded. "Then we may assume that Remy and Scott have Jean's and Pietro's powers, and that the Brotherhood has Kurt's, Rogue's, Scott's, Tabitha's and Kitty's powers. This should allow us to formulate an effective plan."

*-*

It took nearly all the will he had to keep going, and not ram the motorcycle into a tree. Logan's bike. He had been past the point of caring about what would happen to him if Logan found out when he had taken it. He kept going, staring blindly at the road stretching out before him. Once or twice, he thought he heard his name being called, but he dismissed it as his simply hearing things. No one would want anything to do with him after what he had done.

*-*

*Dat bugger is on de highway,* Remy thought when he had finally found Scott mentally, and had semi-successfully read his mind, *an' he's not answerin'my tel'pathy, an' as far as I c'n tell, he wants to kill himself.* he rode the motorcycle harder, trying to get to Scott as soon as possible. He was gaining on Scott, but only by enough to reach him by midnight or thereabouts. So he tried making a telepathic bubble.

*-*

Somehow, while going down the highway, he had found an invisible wall. Logan's bike lay on the ground, its wheels still spinning from the momentum. He himself was staring at the sky, all breath knocked out of him. But he had to go on. Why? He asked himself. What does it matter? And he realised he could do nothing else, except go on, and stay somewhere, far away from people he could harm, people he loved. He got up and started running, each step taking him the length of a few trees.

*-*

*Non! if he starts runnin' wit' Quicksilver's power, Remy never gon' t' catch him.* Remy thought as he sped past a truck drivers joint. *Remy have t' make anot'er bubble.* while he drove on he tried for another bubble.

*-*

He had run into another invisible obstruction. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him now. He sat down, waiting for the wall to go, and catching his breath. He had run a few miles in the past minute, and he was feeling hungry. He had stopped questioning why he was meeting walls, or running so fast. He was numbed, uncaring about his fate.

*-*

"He was numbed, uncaring 'bout his fate," Remy muttered. "Dieu! Dat idiot t'inks of himself as some hero from some novel. I wish I hadn't read his mind at dat moment. He was numbed. Bah." He tried sending out another thought for Scott to stop.

*-*

Now someone was calling his name, asking him to stop again. He had known only one person who could do that in a life that seemed so strangely remote now. Jean? He asked the voice hesitantly. Not Jean, you dumbass, the voice replied. Dis is Remy, an' y' better stop where y' are if you know what's good for y'. He sighed. There was only one person who might have stopped him, and she had not cared enough for him to come after him. He got up to run again. If you run again, the voice warned, I will kick your ass from here t' Texas. He shook his head. Jean would never have talked to him like this. I am not Jean, the voice shouted angrily inside his head, now stop dis stupidity Summers. He ignored the voice and started to run.

*-*

*Dat idiot has ignored my voice an' started t' run.* Remy thought frantically. *I must stop him.*

He made yet another bubble, this time trying to keep it in the air.

*-*

He was hanging in the air now. The voice had stopped. He wondered what was going to happen now that he had been captured. Scott, the voice said, y' are an idiot. He knew he was. If he wasn't, he would not have tried killing his surrogate family. Scott, the voice said again, shut up. He did so, awaiting his fate. A motorcycle pulled up about five minutes later.

*-*

Remy pulled up to where Scott was suspended. It was hard, driving while trying to keep a bubble hanging in the air. It was going to be harder convincing Scott to return to the mansion to defend it against Mystique and the Brotherhood. A sudden decrease in perception told him he no longer had Jean's telepathy and telekinesis. He wondered whose power he did have, and then noticed Scott flying slightly. That should mean he had Quicksilver's powers. He flexed his arm and saw it going up and down at incredible speed. Great, he had just found out he would have no empathy or telepathy to convince Scott to return. Now he had to talk to Scott, normally. Life sucked.

"Scott," he began.

"I know you want to convince me to return."

"Dat was some fast use of tel'pathy."

"I did not use telepathy. I knew Xavier would send someone to try to convince me to return, but I have made up my mind."

"You t'ink too much of y'rself. Dat's y'r problem. Xavier couldn' be bothered t' send someone. I came myself."

"So why should I go back if I'm unwanted? Jean didn't even come to get me."

"Dey're all busy, trying t' save de mansion from an assault. I felt I couldn' do much dere, so I came t' get you. Purely by chance. If Jean wasn' needed by Xavier she woulda come herself."

Scott appeared unconvinced.

"I'm serious, Scott. She came t' me as I was leavin', and said wit' tears in her eyes, 'please save my Scott, Remy, please get my only love. Find him quickly.' An' she started cryin'. It was 'orrible. I had no choice but t' come an' get y'."

Scott stared at him. "You're a pretty good liar. But not good enough to convince me."

Remy tried a different approach. "No one blames y', Cyke. We all know it's hard to control y'r own powers let alone someone else's.

"I shouldn't be with the team."

"Dat's a stupid t'ing t' say. Remember dat talk we had in de kitchen?" Scott nodded. "Dose t'ings still apply here. We all still need y', an' de X- men don't kick out Kurt if he does something stupid, or me or anyone else, so why should dey kick dere leader out?"

Scott shook his head. "I'm going," was all he said.

"Den I am going t' go t' de mansion, and kill de person whose fault dis is."

Out of curiosity, Scott asked, "and who is that?"

"Jean."

"What?? You won't touch her! How is all this her fault?"

"If y' two did it once in a while, dis wouldn' have happened."

"I said you won't touch her!"

"Try and stop me, Summers." Remy raced down the highway in the direction of the mansion, Quicksilver's power carrying him a mile down the highway before Scott could react.

"Jean!" Scott shouted as he took to the skies, heading towards the X- mansion himself. He tried stopping Remy with a telepathic bubble, but found he couldn't concentrate enough to create one.

*-*

At the mansion, everything had been set. The defences had been temporally stopped, so that the Brotherhood would be unhurt. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood would be looking to hurt them as much as possible.

The monster had been kept in the main hall, at the foot of the stairs. All the X-men had to do after the Brotherhood came, was to assemble there, and hope Hank's plan worked. There was one problem with this plan, however.

"Where are Remy and Scott?" asked Xavier.

"Scott hasn't been seen since the field incident, professor, and you yourself let Remy leave." Ororo replied, looking at him strangely.

"I did? Why?"

"Professor, you may be telepathic, but the rest of us are not. How are we to know what is inside your mind?"

"I must have been stoned. Wait; let me send a telepathic message to Remy."

Ororo waited. Xavier looked up finally. "Scott is coming. All is going to plan."

"You planned to send Remy to get Scott?"

"No, but it's working anyway, isn't it?"

"As you say, professor."

*-*

The Brotherhood had plans of their own. They were to get in there and create as much interference as possible, while Mystique took the monster. Their broken limbs did cause some discomfort, but with Mystique being about as angry as she had ever been, not one of them asked to stay at home. They had all cautioned Fred to keep his fat mouth shut, and Todd to keep his shut as well, to avoid bugging Mystique. So their ride to the mansion passed in silence, everyone absorbed in their own thoughts.

*I hope I can whoop Summers' ass again,* Lance thought.

*I hope I don't get my good looks disfigured,* Pietro thought.

*I hope everyone else does the work, while I hide somewhere, like a dark corner.* Todd thought.

*Ugh, fighting,* Tabitha thought.

*Whee! Car rides are fun!* Fred thought, moving his head from side to side in a wave motion.

Mystique asked without looking back, "Who has whose powers?"

"I have Wagner's," Lance said. "I can disappear, leaving behind a horrible stench, and I can-"

"Save it. I can tell by the blue fur on your face. What about you Pietro?"

"Tabitha's."

"I have Scott's," Todd said.

"I know," Mystique replied, "I put the visor on you myself after you nearly trashed the place."

"I have Kitty's," Tabitha said.

"I don't know whose power I have," Fred said forlornly.

"Try touching Pietro," Todd said. Fred did so.

"Yaaugghh!!" Pietro screamed as his power was drained by Fred, who removed his hand in time for Pietro to slump into his seat, unconscious.

"If he doesn't wake by the time we reach," Mystique said, "You will be sorry, Tolenski." Todd gulped.

The van drove down the road, the mansion coming in sight. They had a job to do.