Morning came as welcome relief to the mutants at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. Saturdays were, like most teenager homes, times when you could sleep in as late as you pleased. Still, breakfast was at seven sharp, and the students were up and alert, heading down the stairs to grab their pastries and fruits before it was time for Logan's training. Hank briefly joined them for a quick bite, but then had to return to his work in the labs, and also in the medbay, monitoring their new patient. To their surprise, the students saw that Eric was up at the crack of dawn along with them, as he grabbed some bacon and eggs without so much as a thank you and ate alone in the dining room.
Then the students started to wake up and filed downstairs in twos and ones to grab their breakfast which was, as usual, confusing. Things were a little more subdued than most, but still, Ororo winced every time she saw her fine china being tossed to and from one student to another, as well as the utensils. Sighing, she grabbed a croissant and some milk and decided to enjoy her own meal. She sighed a little, thinking of her nephew as she headed back to the gazebo to eat in peace.
Scott, Jean, Kurt, Amanda, Kitty and some of the new recruits ate at the small table, joined shortly by the Brotherhood and some of the Acolytes. Victor was, not surprisingly, still not with them. The man spent too much time by himself, just stalking the halls of the Institute, glaring and growling at anyone who got in his way. Wanda had slept in.
"Morning students," rumbled Logan as he slipped in and grabbed some sausages on a plate, reluctantly grabbed a knife (he preferred his claws) and started to eat at his customary place by the windowsill. As usual when he enter the room, conversation died down, students grew calmer, and everyone was as polite as if they'd been raised by nuns.
After breakfast the students headed back to the respective rooms while the guests (save Amanda) scarfed down the leftovers, still under the watchful eye of Logan.
Remy smirked, searching the shelves, and gave a smile and a faint cry of delight as he found what he'd been looking for... he started to reach in...
"Forget it bub," came the cold voice to his left. "Those're mine."
"Aww, come now, Monsieur Logan, surely you can find it somewhere in your heart to share just one can, mmm?"
"Not likely," replied Logan, folding his newspaper under his arm and slamming the cupboard door shut, glaring at Remy before stalking past him. "Besides, ain't you under aged?"
"Possibly," replied Remy with a smirk. Logan growled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The students lined up outside, dressed in their white gi's. Amanda wore a spare of Rogue's, since the two girls were almost the same size. Professor Xavier had learned, very early on, that dealing with mutants, especially mutant teenagers, tended to mean that they went through uniforms and gear very quickly, even by accident. Thus, most of them had at least two of any given set of clothes, if not three. He'd been experimenting with some of his colleagues on nano-fibers that would be, essentially, self-repairing clothes, but so far he'd only managed to make one suit out of it. It'd been given to Evan as his uniform, and now sat in his locker, unused.
The students lined up as they had before their sensei, Logan, both sides bowing respectfully to one another, as they began their lesson. If any of them noticed the few strands of grey that had started to creep into his hair, they were respectfully quiet about it. From the upper balcony, Eric and Charles watched them.
"Your students do you credit, Charles," said Eric, hands in his black coat's pockets. "They have done more than flourish... they have excelled, even in such troubled times."
"Indeed they have," replied Charles, smiling, very proud of his students. "But I fear the future will not be pleasant for them."
"As I suspect it would not," replied Eric, almost smugly. "Though it is good, to no longer hide who we are."
"I suppose it is," said Charles, considering how, most of his life, he'd led a public lie. "But I would have spared them this pain, if I could."
"Pain is a teacher, Charles," replied Eric darkly, as he turned to exit the balcony. "Pain makes you stronger, in the end."
Charles wheeled after him in his chair, sighing quietly. Though he'd often missed these talks with his old friend, he wished he could sometimes open his eyes and see the beauty that life held, as well as the peril.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kurt landed hard onto his back, groaning immediately as he stretched out and slapped the ground to cushion his blow a little, as he'd been taught.
"Good throw," said Logan with a nod.
"Ja, very good," said Kurt, as Amanda sheepishly gave him a hand up. "You're really getting good at this."
"Logan's a good teacher."
Another thump and a groan drew their attention as they saw that Rogue didn't share the same sentiments. She'd just been landed by Scott, who gave her a hand up. But, instead of helping herself up, Rogue smirked, grabbed his hand and twisted her body, throwing Scott flat onto his butt on the grass next to her as she regained her feet with a grin.
"Owww... glad you're on our side," he joked as she helped him up.
"Definitely," she replied, giving him a pat on the back before they returned to their exercises and practices.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ah, Mr. Wyngarde, I presume," stated Hank as he enter the medbay, seeing his current patient was, for the moment at least, conscious.
"What is this... where am I...?" he asked, his eyes darting about, confused.
"Fear not, sir, you're in the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters... your comrades brought you here shortly following a rather interesting chain of events..." Hank started.
"Who are you?" asked Jason suspiciously, trying to sit up, grimacing at the pain in his chest.
"Please, Mr. Wyngarde, calm yourself... my name is Dr. Henry McCoy. I am here to assist in your recovery..."
"I don't need assistance," replied Wyngarde, his eyes narrowing as he gestured at Hank strangely. "My wounds are fine... see...?"
"No, they are not," replied Hank.
"Yes, they are," replied Wyngarde, his voice raising. Hank, realizing what he was doing, chuckled aloud.
"Ah, you've not been made aware of the phenomenon that occurred yesterday morning, have you?" he asked, as he checked the heart-rate monitor.
"Why... what is wrong?"
"All mutant powers have been, for lack of a better word, suppressed... we no longer can call upon them, whatever they may be."
"My illusions!" cursed Wyngarde, sitting up, but Hank was there, holding him down, gently restraining him. Jason growled, covering his hideous features. "Curse il cielo per che cosa hanno fatto a me," he cursed in Italian. Though Hank was not fluent in Italian (his interests lay in the ancient rather than the modern) he did get the jist of it.
"How dramatic," he said, deadpan, as he adjusted the sedative drip on the former illusionist, who lay back in his bed, huddled, covering his hideous features. "You should be fine in a few days provided you do not strain yourself overly," he said with a smirk, as he started to depart and return to his research.
"Scarlet Witch!" shouted Wyngarde, almost springing out of his bed, the needle ripped out of his arm as Hank was at his side again, gently restraining the wiry man. "Magneto must know... he must... illusions... fail... no..." he collapsed, rambling, as Hank applied a stronger sedative and gently knocked the poor fool unconscious. He would have to inform both the Professor and Magneto about this, if indeed he had something important to tell his employer.
Jason muttered in his sleep, as Hank returned to his lab, trying to unravel the mystery that plagued mutantkind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Piotr found himself in the lounge today. None of his comrades were present, nor the X-men, they all seemed to be engaged outside. Everything was remarkably quiet.
Perfect.
Piotr dug into his satchel and produced a pad of paper and a pencil, starting to sketch as images came to his mind. A longtime hobby of his, he hadn't had much time to practice since he'd become Magneto's, how he hated that term, lackey. Nor had he had much time back home, where his power had been needed on the farm. But still, he was relieved to see he could still put pencil to paper and make beautiful images come forth.
He didn't even really focus on what he was drawing, letting his hand and pencil decide, it wasn't until he was halfway finished he realized what he'd drawn on the paper.
Her face.
Belatedly, he reached up to tear off the paper and start a new... then realized how good it looked. How gently, how innocent, how untouched by the darker life he'd been forced to endure.
Scowling darkly, he did rip off the paper, crumpled in up as he'd once crumpled steel bars, and tossed it into a nearby garbage can, placing his things away.
He had more important things to worry about now than a pretty face, and a rival team member, no less. He had to worry about his family. He was Ilyana's big brother, it was his job to keep her and their parents safe. He'd failed them once before, when Magneto had come to them, but he would not fail them twice.
He slammed his fist into the wall as he made his way down, back to the Danger Room, to train and prepare.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Begin Phase III. Hunt them all down."
"Soon they will be ours."
Authors Notes:
No more evil scientist banter. In this segment, you will soon see -exactly- who is behind all of this. Ah, Logan's beer, and Remy trying to swipe one. Think he'll succeed later? For that matter, does Evo Remy look old enough to legally drink? I'm assuming Jason is either Italian or has lived some time in Italy, since that was where Magneto picked him up, and even with illusions its still easier if you know the language. For the record, all translations in German, French and Italian I'm using an on-line translator. Any mistakes I immediately apologize for.
I will now suggest that, everyone go back, re-read the story, notice any and all subtle foreshadowings I've put in, and prepare yourselves. What you are about to see will blow your mind.
Comet-Hime: I'm downplaying the Evan/Callisto for now, since I'm -really- going out on a limb on that one. But still, she'd be good for him, wouldn't she? Her all serious and responsible and him all playful and immature.
Son of Logan and Ororo: X23 is involved, yes. And one of your guesses was right on the nose, as you've no doubt already seen. Actually that's an interesting question and I don't honestly know what to make of Daredevil. I saw the movie (then again who didn't. For the record, Michael Clark Duncan is no kingpin) but that's about it. Are his powers due to enhanced or mutated genes? Does anyone know? And actually I got another question for you, concerning your name... does that make X23 your sister or what?
*B: Maybe that's why they changed the credit for season three. In any case, why're they still showing Spyke if he's up and left? Oh and Logan isn't dying from Rebirth, he's dying because he's -that- -frickin- -old-. I owe the Son of Logan and Ororo for filling me in about the adamantium though.
Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Where the hell are you getting this? Does your dad own a cheezits, pepsi and m&m's factory or something? Hehe. Thanks for the info on Psylocke, she does seem like a cool character from what little I've seen of her.
Gyuumajo: What, that part where he chased after Wanda wasn't enough for ya? Well, me neither... don't worry, every Toad has his day.
Rogue14: Prepare for mega creepiness to come.
Emerald Lightning Goddess: I mean, some very bad men are gonna take two of 'em away. Muwahahahahaha!
Unknown Source: Cameos coming up in chapter XVI, hold your horses until then. As for human involvement... next chapter! Wait until then!
Faith Darkholme: Well, alright. Seems obvious I don't know much about Sentinels other than your generic pink n' purple ugly giants. And of course the mega cool prototype Trask unleashed in Day of Reckoning. But thank you for the info none-the-less. It has been most enlightening.
CrypticIdentity: Thanks, I figured it was Juggernaut, but it was just an accident. Most informative. Psylocke to come soon, I am ready to create her.
Andtauriel Longwood Baggins: My fast updates are quickly coming to an end, sadly. But more of everyone to come. Every X-Man, X-Woman, and Mutant in all of the Evo-verse will have their screen time.
Gumdrop Boo: Glad you approve, but I'm nobody special. Other XME authors and authoresses deserve more credit than I for inspiring me to make this.
Optic Red: Of course not, this is Marvel! Nobody's gonna die... well, most of 'em won't die... well... *covers up his half-written plots about rather gruesome slaughters*
Glaivester: Definently a nice little plot device for second season X-Men. But you're right, it doesn't apply to my story. As for Bastion, maybe I'll include him in another story of mine someday in the future, but for now.
Ilyana Rasputin: Well technically I love all the Evo characters as my favorites. I'm simply obsessed with the show. Concerning your guess, well, you'll just have to wait and see. Just out of curiousity though... are you, Ilyana, a mutant too? I keep hearing things but I can't seem too sure. Something about Mystic? If you have any info it'd be welcome. Maybe I'll give you more screen time than just some thoughts in big bro's head.
ChaosCat: Wow, what an informative review (not to mention long). Let me see if I can cover a few of those. One, Tabitha/Amara. I agree, Tabitha is very direct when she wants to flirt or just be friendly... but do any of us act normal when in love? Especially when it's a strange or unusual love? She's not ready for it yet, so for now she's keeping her thoughts to herself. As for Sabertooth, he's getting restless, so naturally he needs something to do since he's so... base. Like an animal. And why would he fear Magneto? Apart from the fact Magneto wouldn't care about Storm, he's powerless now, so's Wolverine... though he quickly learned his mistake in that regard. As for Storm, she was scared... she doesn't have her powers anymore either. For the villain, well, you're close... but not quite. You'll see yourself soon enough. Thanks for the cookie.
GryffindorSeeker: Oh more will come in due time. And thank you for the review. All are appreciated. Enjoy the rest of the story as it develops.