Chapter 11

The missiles continued to streak towards their targets. Suddenly, their heat-seekers where scrambled as a huge burst of plasma energy exploded above the battlefield, causing the them to lose their lock and home in on the brighter heat source instead. There was a massive explosion as the weapons detonated well above their targets.

The X-men were astounded. "Jubes!" Amara cried. There, standing by a tree close to where they were fighting, was Jubilation Lee, hands out-stretched, still smoking from the blast. She was wearing a black spandex suit, much like the standard New Recruit outfit, but with silver gloves, belt and boots instead of gold ones. In addition, she wore a stylish leather/Kevlar bullet-proof jacket on top of her uniform, with "X-Factor" stitched in silver thread on the back of the jacket.  Posing beside her was a pretty girl with purple hair, and Havoc, Scott's brother, both dressed in similar attire. Alex's hands were pulsating with plasma energy, glowing bright orange in the darkness of the night.

Trask was surprised for a moment, but quickly became amused. "More mutants?" he leered. "What makes you think that you'll do any better than your friends?" he laughed.

His question was answered by a huge explosion as a beam of red struck the closest Sentinel in the arm. Another disc of golden energy materialized, this time in front of the X-men. As hunks of burning metal dropped to the ground, Cyclops and Blink emerged from the portal. "So you're the fanatic that's been causing all the trouble," Scott observed. He was more intense than ever before, with his jaw firmly clenched, and eyes glowing red with unused solar energy, illuminating his entire body in an eerie crimson glow. With both hands to his visor, he finished the Sentinel with one huge blast at max power.

"Scott!" Jean ran up and hugged the long-lost leader of the X-men. Pulling back a bit, she noticed that he had exchanged his usual yellow visor for a silver one that matched his X-Factor uniform. The ruby-quartz was still smoking.  

Shouting over Jean's shoulder, he commanded in his best leader voice, "X-Factor, protect the X-men as they retreat!" Gripping her shoulders, he looked down into her emerald eyes, and whispered, "Jean, you must go with them. I'll stay behind and keep the Sentinels busy."

"Be careful," she whispered by his ear before turning to leave. Cyclops immediately blasted an incoming Sentinel. No effect. ~Armour must be stronger than we thought~ Rolling away from the counterattack, he fired again – this time ripping an arm right off. Some distance away, Havoc was blasting away as flashes of orange lit up the night sky. Although optic blasts were more powerful, Alex can shoot in two directions at once. They covered each other's position flawlessly, working as if they'd been practicing together for years. Their pyrotechnics kept the Sentinels at bay as the X-men retreated into the woods.

            The X-Factor girls protected the X-men with spatial distortions and missile decoys, doing an effective job of neutralizing anything that managed to break through the Summers brothers. Betsy and Angel shared a longing glance at each other before they were forced to part.

            Trask watched on grimly. The addition of these five mutants had turned the tables. The blond kid and the guy with the goggles were doing exceptionally well, disabling most of his creations by destroying their arms and weapons. Although losses still remained fairly light, it was time to pull back.

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            Under the cover fire of X-Factor, the X-men slowly made their way through the forest to the X-jet. Jean wanted to stay behind, but she was in no shape to complain. They almost made it to the jet when they heard someone moaning and crying out for help. Angel and Jean, being the closest ones, quickly cut through the trees to find Boom Boom lying on her back, obviously in pain.

"Omigosh, Tabitha, what happened?" As Warren took her under the arms and eased her up, Tabitha grabbed him and threw him into a tree. 'Boom Boom' transformed into Mr. Sinister. Too weak to fight, the two mutants were petrified as he advanced on them. Holding a small capsule, he explodes it at their feet, releasing some type of knock out gas.

"Who are you?" Angel choked out as they tried unsuccessfully to fend off the gas.

As she collapsed, barely conscious, Jean heard him reply, "Sinister. Mr. Sinister." Then blackness.

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            In truth, Scott had mixed emotions as the beautiful red-headed telepath ran up and gripped him in a tight hug. Wasn't this the same woman who broke his heart?

            However, all feeling, logic and emotion disappeared, and were replaced by uncontrollable anger and a deep sense of dread when he found out Jean Grey was missing. "What are you talking about?" he screamed at the others. "You were all supposed to retreat together! What the hell were you thinking!" Both X-Factor and X-men recoiled at his outburst.

            "Whoa, don't shoot the messenger," Bobby replied. Scott whipped around to face him, visor practically bursting with ruby light. Everyone could've sworn that it was about to burst any second from now.

            "Calm down Scott," Prof. Xavier said in his best calming voice, "You will do Jean no good by taking your anger out on your team."

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." In a more controlled voice, he continued, "So Warren is gone too?"

"Yeah. Both of them disappeared when they went off to investigate some cries for help."

"Logan, did you search the area?" Scott almost hoped the older mutant had forgot.

"Yeah, I did. Nothin' – I lost their scents after a tracking them a few yards." He stopped when Scott slammed his gloved fist onto a table, punching a hole in the wooden surface. "Don't worry kid, we'll find 'em."

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            Her whole body ached with pain. Opening her eyes, Jean found that everything was blurred. She blinked until she could see with some clarity. Looking around, she found herself securely strapped to an operating table in some sort of lab. She tried to contact the Professor, but her powers didn't seem to be working. She felt something tighten around her throat as she swallowed. ~Must be some kind of collar~

"Ah, I see that you are finally awake Miss Grey." At first, only his glowing red eyes were visible in the darkness, but as the man emerged from the shadows, Jean gasped in terror. His face was impossibly white, with thin, black lips framing two rows of pointed teeth. He was clad in some sort of shining black armour, complete with a cape of metallic strips, topside a matching black and underside red. There was what looked like a ruby embedded on his forehead, matching a larger one centred on his powerful chest.

"Who are you? What do you want with me? Where's Warren?" she demanded with as much courage as she can muster.

"You're not exactly in a position to be asking many questions, Miss Grey," he responded coolly. "I'm merely extracting some of your DNA," he responded simply. Seeing the look on her face, he continued, "I've discovered that when your DNA is combined with those of Scott Summers, you will breed a mutant of immense power. You two are perfect genetic partners."

Jean was shocked. "Why is it so important that Scott and I be toge-"

"You don't have to be together for me to clone you," he cut her off with a heinous grin.

"You're mad!" Jean exclaimed as she looked around, catching sight of the various laboratory tools and equipment. At this point, she was horrified at what she may be in for. Jean just hoped that the others would find her before it is too late.

He just seemed amused. "Shall we get started, then?" he asked, face breaking into a wicked grin. He picked up a large needle and tested it by depressed the plunger. Several drops of some green liquid dripped from its metal tip.