Tewks: if you mean the attitude, it's part of the plot, man.  That, and his character.  He's having his chest eaten away by his own mutation, for God's sakes. Consider him the New Mutant's answer to Rogue, the dark, slightly foreboding character who can get rather creative with threats.

Animeluvr: Guthrie-vision! All Guthrie, all the time!

Chapter 27: The War is Now Public

It was a week after the arrival of the newbies, and the X-Men and New Mutants were partaking of a day off.  Kyle, Amara, Bobby, Jubilee, Sam, Rahne, Lorna, and Alex, who had been placed in the X-Men, since he had an excellent handle on his mutation, were meandering down the right side of the street towards the movie theater.

Unfortunately, life did not intend for them to see a movie today.  When the ambling teenagers were within a block of the theater, a bolt of electricity blasted their path.

Turning to its source, the mutant teens saw Berserker standing across the street, which was quickly clearing of people.  To his left was a young woman who bore a purple tail, which was whipping back and forth violently behind her knees, whom the files Gambit had brought registered as Catseye. On his right was a young man with a middle-eastern appearance whom the files identified as Jetstream.  Behind Jetstream stood a young man whom the files identified as Pete Wisdom.  Lockjaw stood just behind Catseye, his face a mask of contempt.  A young man, Hispanic-looking man knelt next to Catseye.  The file had identified him as Skin, due to the extra skin that his mutation produced.  To the left of Catseye was a young man large enough to match the Blob, but with less fat, whom the files had identified as Beef.  Next to Jetstream knelt Psylocke, her psi-blade glowing.

Alex chuckled, "Who're they? The Gump Squad?"

Amara, however, did not find anything about this situation funny. "They're Acolytes."

Lorna looked at Jubilee, "What are Acolytes?"

Turning her head to the side a little, making sure to keep an eye on the Acolytes, Jubilee responded.  "Magneto's answer to us.  They're very good and very mean."

Berserker chuckled, a cruel, malevolent chuckle, "Well, well, well, it seems you wimps got some new recruits.  It doesn't matter though, we'll still beat you."

Bobby laughed at that "Try it, coward."

Berserker began shaking, "C...cow...COWARD! I'LL SHOW YOU COWARD!"  The now berserk Berserker rushed at Bobby, and the battle began.

Sam faced off with Jetstream, "Hello, I'm Jetstream, that's all you'll need to know." With that, the Moroccan Acolyte blasted towards Cannonball.  Sam rolled to the side, letting his Acolyte counterpart blast by him, and then launched himself through the air.

Catseye and Rahne squared off from on top of two cars, "Hey, I'm Catseye, and I'll make sure you don't forget it."  With that, the Acolyte transformed into a purple lynx, and, coiling her legs, launched at Rahne.  Rahne, however, had transformed into her werewolf like state, and, grabbing Catseye by the forepaws, planted a foot in her belly, and threw her backwards.

Jubilee faced off with the Hispanic Skin. "Hola, chica, let's samba."  With that, the Acolyte sent five tentacles flying from his fingers at Jubilee.  The second youngest of the Xavier students jumped to her right, just before the first tentacle slammed the ground near her feet. She then rolled to the side of the next one, which slammed through a car window. Coming out of her roll, Jubilee's eyes widened at the sight of the third tentacle flying at her chest.  Thinking fast, she dropped to the ground, letting the tentacle of skin fly past her and slam into a mailbox.  Quickly rolling to the left to dodge another tentacle, Jubilee threw herself to her feet, and began running, shifting her weight to the left to dodge the final tentacle.

Wisdom faced off with Alex, neither speaking a word for several seconds. Finally, Alex broke the silence by letting loose with a blast of energy into Wisdom's chest.  The blast caught the Acolyte by surprise, and he stepped back slightly.  Quickly recovering, he transformed his fingers to knives, and began to run at Alex, his hands poised to cut the younger Summers' open.

Beef squared off with Lorna, "Hehehe, I'm going to crush you girl."  The massive mutant rushed forward, intent on flattening the girl.  However, she had other plans, and, concentrating on the magnetic fields, she lifted several sewer covers, and threw them at Beef.  The slammed into the charging mutant hard, knocking him on his butt.  Standing up again, he rushed at Lorna once more.

Lockjaw stood before Amara in his were form, as she powered up into her Magma form.  The former friend of the X-Men jumped at Amara, his jaws open wide.  Amara rolled to the side, the ground heating beneath her.  Coming out of the roll in a crouch, she faced off against the crocodilian mutant.

Kyle and Psylocke wasted no time with pre-battle pleasantries.  The blind martial artist and the mind-controlled ninja began fighting with fervent abandon.  Opening up the round with a swift jump-kick to the chest, Psylocke followed up by rushing forward with her psi-blade.  Kyle rolled to the side, bringing himself to his feet, and squaring off against his foe.  Psylocke smirked, and then jumped up onto the car next to her.  From that vantage point, she flipped forward, and planted both feet on Kyle's chest, knocking him to the ground.  Standing with her legs on either side of the blind mutant, she lifted her psi-blade, preparing to stab him with it.  Kyle was having none of it, however, as he rolled to the left, slamming past Psylocke's ankle with his upper arm, knocking it out from under her, and bringing her to one knee.  Kyle took advantage of that time to get back to his feet.  By the time he had turned back to Psylocke, she was once again rushing at him.

Bobby had barely had time to ice-up before he had to dodge Berserker's electrified punch, which slammed into a storefront, sending electricity running through the metal in the window, shattering it.  Turning to the enraged mutant, Bobby flung a blast of ice at him, knocking Berserker back a few steps. Before Iceman could capitalize, Berserker flung a bolt of electricity at him, forcing Iceman on the defensive.  Acting fast, Iceman created an ice shield in front of himself, hoping it would absorb the blast. Berserker's blast of lightning slammed into the shield, shattering it.  Berserker rushed forward even as the pieces of the shield settled, and slammed an electrified fist into Bobby's stomach.  The Iceman went flying, the electricity propelling him for a good thirty feet before he slammed into a lamppost.

Jubilee reached Skin, and blasted his face with some of her sparks, blinding the Acolyte for a few minutes.  She then brought her fist into his stomach, and stepped back, shaking her hand.  Skin chuckled, wrapping his skin around Jubilee's torso, and lifted her into the air.  He began squeezing tightly, slowly adding pressure to Jubilee's ribs.

Sam slammed into the back of Jetstream, hammering him into the pavement, and then quickly drew back as the Acolyte stood up.  The two human projectiles faced off, each waiting for the other to make the first move.  Finally, Jetstream saw his chance, and began to run at the other mutant.  Sam watched him, waiting for him to launch.  Jetstream finally closed within a few feet of the other mutant, his fist raised as if to punch Sam. Suddenly, Jetstream launched himself into Cannonball, and drove the other mutant back into a storefront.

Rahne watched as Catseye transformed herself into a werecat form, and, jumping off the roof of the car, the two mutants began to circle.  Catseye suddenly bolted forward, catching Rahne across the stomach with her claws.  Rahne let a howl of pain off as she brought her claws down into the space Catseye had once occupied, but the other mutant was well gone.  A burning pain across the shoulders brought Rahne spinning around to face off with the faster mutant.  Growling in pain, Rahne faced off with the Acolyte.

Alex barely dodged in time as Wisdom sliced through the air where he had been.  However, his new position gave him an opening, and he blasted the Acolyte in the side with a bolt of energy.  The Acolyte staggered slightly, and then began running to the side.  Alex followed him, his hands sending multiple blasts, but he couldn't get a shot on the other mutant. Finally, Wisdom rushed towards the energy-flinging mutant, and slashed him across the side with his claws.  Blasting Wisdom in the chest, Alex brought his arms to his sides, where the cuts were beginning to bleed.

Beef quickly began to realize that rushing this girl wasn't working.  Every time he did, she simply threw something else at him.  Grinning, the massive mutant turned to a storefront, and knocked a huge piece of cement off.  Hefting it, he threw it at the girl.

Lorna watched as the cement piece flew through the air at her, her eyes wide in fear, her feet paralyzed.  Acting on instinct, she lifted one of the sewer covers, and slammed it hard into the concrete.  The piece of concrete was knocked off course by the sewer cover, and flew past Lorna to crush a car.  However, a shard of cement flew by her, hitting her in the side of the arm, ripping it open.

Lockjaw quickly moved forward, his speed surprising Amara. What surprised her more was when he spun, using his tail to catch her in the side of the head, and knock her across the street.  Amara was sailing, sailing, sailing... through the air? Her sailing was brought to an abrupt halt when she smashed through the window to a store, bringing many screams from the stores patrons.  Lockjaw was quick to follow through, jumping through the window, and landing above the girl, his teeth and claws ready to rip her throat out.

Waiting for the last possible moment, Kyle spun to the side.  From that spin, he turned it into a roundhouse slamming a foot into the back of Psylocke's head, knocking the ninja off her feet.  The mind-controlled mutant flipped back to her feet, however, and, grabbing onto a lamppost, she used it to launch into a kick at Kyle.  The kick would have caught him dead in the gut, and carried him a good twenty feet, had he not brought his mutation into play, transforming into mist to let her kick fly through him. The mutant Ninja (AN: Turtle!) quickly recovered from her missed attack, and rushed forward.

As the New Mutants fought the Acolytes, the News Crews had arrived.  Rushing forward, they set up cameras; reporters describing the battle between what were apparently rival mutant gangs.

Bobby staggered against the lamppost he had slammed into, as a cameraman watched him, the Acolyte, who was once his friend could not resist gloating a little. "You know, Iceman, Professor Xavier's wrong.  Humans won't ever accept us.  Look around; look at what fight has done to this street.  It' 'cause we've got this power that they won't accept us.  Magneto says that the only way they'll accept us is if we make them, and he's right.  I'll give you one chance to join the Acolytes.  Think about it."

At the beginning of the statement, the cameraman had turned to catch Berserker's face, now he turned back to Bobby, his camera catching every detail of both boy's faces.  Bobby's face was contorted by pain from the punch, and, as the cameraman looked up at the lamppost, he saw that the kid had hit it hard enough to bend it.  The cameraman quickly focused on the boy again as he spoke.

"You know what, Berserker?" He said his voice strained slightly, "You always did like violence."  He then flung his hand forward, sending a pillar of ice slamming into the Acolyte in front of him.  The cameraman followed the pillar, which caught the boy dead in the chest, and carried him ten feet, knocking him out against a storefront.

Another camera, this one accompanied by a reporter, focused on Jubilee, who was still wrapped up by Skin.  "It appears," Said the reporter "that this young girl has somehow been drawn into the fighting, and is now being crushed by one of the mutants."

Seeing his teammate's plight, Iceman lifted his hand, and, with the last of his power, blasted Skin with another ice pillar. Before the cameraman's eyes, the boy passed out, the ice on his skin dissipating.

The pillar of ice caught Skin in the chest, and knocked him into a concrete wall.  Jubilee was dropped to the ground as the ice-pillar caught Skin, and began coughing.  Looking up, she saw that Skin was getting up, albeit slowly.  Rushing at the skin-growing mutant, Jubilee blasted him in the eyes with her fireworks.  Unlike last time, she caught him dead in the eyes, where the burning of the fireworks dropped the other mutant to the ground in pain.

Jubilee turned to the reporters, and spoke quickly, "GET BACK!"  Was all she said, before she was caught in the back by a pillar of skin from her foe.  Jubilee rolled to her feet as her foe stood up again, his intent to finish her clear even through the camera.

"Chica, Xavier's method won't ever work.  If we mutants gonna get what we want, we're gonna have to take it."

The camera trained on Jubilee's face, which bore a look of pity.  "So you want to hurt them so that they'll fear you? That doesn't get you anything but guilt."

The other mutant laughed, "Yeah right, chica, try this on for size." With that, he let rip with more tentacles.

The reporter spoke again.  "It seems that this isn't a gang fight, like we thought, but a battle between schools of ideals.  One side seems to favor force in gaining mutant rights, the other, I can only assume, would prefer a more peaceful solution."

Meanwhile, Jubilee was dodging tentacles as best she could, but she knew she couldn't keep it up much longer.  Suddenly, Skin was put down by a blast of yellow energy.  Turning to the source, she saw that Alex had taken a break from his battle to help put down the massive mutant.  She shot him a thumbs-up, and rushed to the assistance of her teammate, as Wisdom attacked again.

Another set of camera and reporter were trained on Catseye and Rahne.  The two animorphic mutants were both wounded and bleeding.  Rahne bore a set of bad claw marks down her left thigh, along with across her side, and shoulder blades.  Catseye was marked on the side of her chest, her right thigh, and her stomach.

"Why are ye' doin' this, lass?" Asked Wolfsbane, as the two mutants circled.

"Because, you wench, humans won't accept us for who we are.  We'll have to make them. Magneto says there's a war coming, and he intends to make sure it actually comes.  Cause when we win that war, we'll be accepted."

Rahne growled, "Ye're mad, lass.  Think 'o all de people that would be killed in a war like that.  Mutant's are outnumbered by normal people, we wouldnae win a war wit them.  Plus, they could just build Sentinels.  Magneto's a loon, lass, why will ye not see that?"

"Because we would win the war.  We're more powerful than them, Wolfsbane," The codename came out like a curse, "Why not use it?"

"Because, lass, with powar, there comes responsibility. Ye got ta know when ta use the powar."

"You sound just like your dear Professor. And where is he, while he lets you fight his battle?"

"The Professor could nae more fight ye than a baby, and ye know it."  With that, Wolfsbane rushed forward, slamming Catseye across the head with a closed fist, a move that surprised the other mutant.  Following up on the opening, Wolfsbane brought her fist into the Acolyte's stomach, then slammed her across the face with her clawed feet.  Catseye hit the pavement, and did not return to her feet.

Wolfsbane looked upon her downed foe with disdain, and a hint of pity, then ran to assist her allies.

Cannonball had staggered back to his feet, and quickly realized that he and this guy could go on all day.  The two human projectiles came to a decision, and the two launched themselves at each other.

The cameraman watched the two speeding foes as they collided.  Upon impact, Jetstream was sent flying backwards, having underestimated Cannonball's power when in flight. Cannonball kept flying forward until he slammed Jetstream into yet another lamppost.  He stepped back, and shook his head. "Wow, thah was a doozy."  He then looked around, trying to spot an ally in need of assistance.

Jubilee and Alex had Wisdom on the ropes, as their foe held his eyes, which had been blinded by Jubilee's sparks.  Alex shook his head, "It's over,"

Wisdom looked up, "I can still fight."

"But you'd lose," Said Jubilee, "you're not trained to fight blind, and you wouldn't win against a projectile thrower anyways."

With that, the two mutants left the badly beaten Wisdom, confident that Magneto would collect him.

Cannonball saw that Beef was getting another cement chunk to toss at Lorna.  Acting fast, he cannonballed himself into the massive mutant, knocking him to one knee.  Before he could get up, Alex capitalized on the opening, blasting him with energy.  Lorna closed the deal by dropping a lamp post on his head.  Beef found himself knocked out by the combined efforts of the several mutants.

Another cameraman had stumbled across Amara and Lockjaw, as he prepared to rip her throat out.  The female mutant was frantically trying to find a way out without killing the other mutant.  Suddenly, she saw her chance.  Raising her arm, she fired a blast of lava.

"You missed, senora." Said the crocodile.

"No I didn't." responded Amara, as she smiled.

BAM!

The sound of a fluorescent light swinging down, to catch Lockjaw in the back of the head.  The crocodilian mutant fell forward long enough for Magma to get back to her feet.  Lockjaw reoriented himself, and then turned to rush at the lava-wielding mutant.  Amara shook her head, then grabbed hold of his wrists as he swung at her, planted a foot in his chest, and flung him back out the window from whence they came. Following him, she found that he slammed into the side of a car, knocking him out cold.

Berserker being knocked out broke Psylocke from her mental shell.

"Help me, please." Was all she got out before Magneto's sphere's swooped down for the Acolytes.  Before the eyes of cameramen and reporters, and many civilian bystanders, the tentacles from the car wrapped around the Acolytes, lifting them into the spheres.

Psylocke fought against the sphere's tentacles, trying to reach out telekinetically to rip it apart.  However, another tentacle came over, and sprayed her with a burst of knock-out gas, putting the girl to sleep, and she was placed into the sphere.

The spheres lifted into the air, and as they did so, Kyle's temper snapped.

"DAMN IT!! MAGNETO, WHERE ARE YOU!!!"

At his scream of fury, the Master of Magnetism chuckled, his voice projected by a device in his helmet.  "You have a worse temper than your instructor Wolverine."

The cameras all switched their focus up, to find themselves focusing on a man whom the world would come to despise.  As he floated down to ground level, he chuckled again.

"Once again, you X-Men surprise me. I would have thought that you would not have won this battle. But, then again, you are always full of surprises.  There will be a war between humans and Mutants, X-Men, be sure of that.  Even if I have to start it myself."

With that ominous warning, Magneto flew into the air, and, Acolytes in tow, flew away.

The X-Van pulled up at that point, and Scott jumped out.

"I guess we're too late."

Kyle chuckled, "Yeah."

Wailing sirens were heard closing on the area, "I guess that's our cue to book it." Said Amara.

Scott nodded, as Jean floated Bobby into the X-Van.  The wounded New Mutants piled in, and the van rushed off, just as an ambulance came around the corner.