You remember when I told you to go rent or buy a copy of Newsies, right?  You did go rent or buy a copy Newsies, didn't you?  I would be very upset if you had not followed my advice to rent or buy a copy of Newsies…

This chapter has been a long time in the making.  I knew I was going to do it since the first time I saw this scene…

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A climate-controlled dome, somewhere in the frozen expanse of Alaska…

"He's really doing it, sir!"  Cried Scanner.  "Can you believe it?!  They're actually letting him make those things!  Those—Those—Sentinels!"

Pursing his lips, Magneto—helmetless and newly returned from the Rebirth Chamber—ascended the up the stairs from the lower quarters.  Scanner, a young, blond haired girl, and Sabertooth, his oldest and most trusted comrade, flanked him a step behind.  At the top of the stairs awaited a large crowd of young mutants whom Magneto was harboring at his retreat.  The crowd parted as he reached the top, and Magneto instinctively identified the assembled mutants in his head.

Aside from Scanner and Sabertooth, there was Gambit, a roguish Cajun.  Cortez, a red haired older teen.  Chargil, a black girl from the inner city.  Uniscione, a brunette, second-generation mutant.  Kato, a large feral mutant.  Pyro, an orange haired boy from Australia.  Projector, a black haired boy with a broken leg who was leaning on a telekinetic crutch.  Neophyte, the youngest of the crowd.  Colossus, a heavily built man from the Ukraine.  Magik, Colossus's younger sister.  Voght, a woman in her twenties.  Gargoile, a three-foot tall Frenchwoman with gray skin, horns and wings.  Decay, a prematurely old man.  The Klienstock brothers, a two-torsoed boy.  Lyric, a young black-haired girl.  Forearm, a man with four arms.  Skids, another young girl.  Rusty, Skids' off-and-on boyfriend.  And Thorn, a feral cat-like girl.

"You are sure of this, Scanner?" 

"Of course I'm sure!"  Replied the blond haired girl.  "And your son is too!  He snuck me in, and we both saw it, with our own two eyes!"

"Y'know," complained Cortez, with his slight accent, "it's bad enough that we got to wait here in the friggin' arctic!  Now they're gunna start hunting us down!  Can you believe that?"

"We're screwed," Pyro flippantly remarked.  "Just stick us in the flames, we're toast!"

"Dey can't do this to us," muttered Gambit, from the side.

"Calm down!"  Yelled out Magneto.  "This is nothing but a minor setback."

"Minor?"  Cried out Rusty.  Many other mutants began voicing similar sentiments.

"It ain't fair," whined one of the Klienstocks after the initial outburst. 

"They're huntin' us like we've got no rights at all," finished the other.

"In their eyes, we don't!"  Yelled back Chargil.  "The government doesn't know about us, so don't know we have rights to protect."

"And until they do," growled Thorn, "people can rig the deck anyway they want."

"So why don't we rig our own deck?"  Gambit demanded to Magneto.

As everyone started speaking at once and crowding around Magneto, Neophyte pushed his way to the front.  "Hey!"  He called out in his still-childish voice.  "Back up and let him think.  Give him some room.  Let him think…"  The complaints slowed to a trickle, and most of the mutants reluctantly took a few steps back.  With some open space around him, Magneto leaned against a wall and began drumming his fingers across his forehead.  Neophyte stood next to his master and feigned a similar contemplative pose.

For a moment, the assembled mutants looked on expectantly.

Gambit irritably flipped through a deck of cards.  "Hey boss, you done thinkin' yet?"  He asked sharply.  Uniscione shoved him into Colossus for his disrespect.

"Now listen," addressed Magneto before the crowd could start muttering again.  "One thing's for sure.  That Sentinel is the only thing Trask and his lackeys have going for them.  Without that, he's got nothing!"

Standing with his arms crossed in the back of the crowd, Sabertooth grunted.  "Yeah, sure.  Like we're going to take it out with a first strike?"

"Yeah!"  Confirmed Magneto.  "Like a first strike."

Pyro's mouth fell open.  "What, are you outta your mind?"

"It's a good idea," Magneto shouted back.

Pyro threw down his hands and many other mutants voiced their skepticism.

"It's a horrible idea," observed Kato.

"Mags, what are talking about?"  Demanded Sabertooth as he shoved his way to Magento's side.  "You can't strike first, you need a strike force to do that."

Somewhat slack-jawed, Magneto turned to face his confidant.  "Yeah, well...  If I pick some of these guys, then I have a strike force, right?"

"No," Sabertooth quickly contradicted.  "You'll just have a bunch of angry kids with no combat experience.  Look...  Even if you do hit the Sentinel, they'll just build another one.  Without anyone in the government seeing what he's doing, Trask will do whatever he wants."

Magneto thought hard for a moment.  "Then we get someone to watch over him."

"Who?"  Countered Sabertooth.  "Who in the government knows enough about mutants to care whether he comes after us?  Who knows enough to justify stopping him?  They won't care.  Because nobody will want them to care."  Sabertooth shook his head in frustration.  "Maybe if mutants were exposed to everyone on Earth, but, until then..."

"Yeah, then we'll do that!"  Proclaimed Magneto as he slapped his hands together.  "And we'll make a show of it!  We'll show the world just who we are, and what he's trying to do to us."  The crowd of mutants parted as Magneto confidently made his way through it.

Exasperated, Sabertooth ran his hand through his hair.  "Mags, this isn't a joke!  How do you expect to sneak all this past the X-Men?"

"Well that's another good idea," said Magneto as he whirled around.  "When we show the world what they're doing, we show them doing it to the X-Men!"

Several of the assembled mutants cheered at the thought. 

Growling to himself, Sabertooth rushed forward.  "Stop and think about this, Mags."  Sabertooth roughly grabbed Magneto by the shoulder.  "You can't just rush everybody into this!"

Magneto's face became sullen for a moment.  "Yeah, you're right.  Let me think about this..."  Magneto turned the side, then whirled back towards the others.  "You know, when you think about it, Sabertooth here is right.  Guys like Trask have a lot of power out in that world.  And Xavier, and all his people, they aren't going to do a thing about him.  They like things the way they are, and they're likely to fight to stop us from changing it.  That's a lot of power to be going up against..."  Magneto paused for emphasis.  "So the choice has got to be yours.  Are we just going to stay up here and take what they give us?  Or are we going to strike?!"

Sabertooth winced at Magneto's melodramatics.  With the questions now being directed at them, the other mutants averted their gazes and shifted uncomfortably.

Neophyte glanced around for a moment, then threw up one of his arms.  "Strike!"

Once a decision was voiced, the other mutants loudly supported it.  Sabertooth stared at them, dumbstruck.

"All right, boss," said Cortez.  "We're with you!  So tell us what to do."

Grinning weakly, Magneto threw his arm around Sabertooth.  "Okay, Sabertooth, this was your idea.  Why don't you tell us what to do?"

Sabertooth stared at Magneto for a moment and started wondering if his experience in the Rebirth Chamber hadn't adversely affected his mind.  After a grunt, he answered.  "Tell them that Xavier and Trask have to respect our right to make our own choices."

Seemingly thinking hard, Magneto nodded his head once.  "All right."  He took a step away from Sabertooth to address the crowd.  As he did, the fast-paced buzzing of some violins became audible in the background.  "Hey, listen!  Xavier and Trask have to respect the rights of mutants to make their own choices on things!"  The proclamation was greeted with a flurry of cheers.  "That's right!"  Magneto added.

Magneto took a discreet step back and looked over his shoulder to Sabertooth.  "Well, that went over pretty well," he half joked.  "So, what else?"

Sabertooth sighed, and gave Magneto a long, disparaging look.  "Tell them...  That they can't treat us like we don't exist."

Magneto nodded, and then leapt up onto a large boulder that served as a monument to the remains of Asteroid M.  As he did, the background music intensified.  "X-avi-er and Trask, they think we're nothing!.  Are we nothin'?!"

With a single voice, the mutants responded with a definitive "No!"

Sabertooth grunted.  "Expose everyone else, but you ought to keep some of your people hidden..."

Fueled by a rush of adrenaline, Magneto smiled out over the crowd.  "X-avi-er and Trask, they think they got us.  Do they got us?"

"No!"

"If you want to make these rookies a team, fine!" Yelled Sabertooth, rather annoyed by the way things were unfolding.  "But they'll have to start acting like a team."

Magneto began righteously circling the top of the crate as his followers gathered around it.  "Even if they ain't been tried or tested, they're my strike force, just 'cause I say soo—ooo...  And the World!  Will!  Know!"

"Hey, what if some of those rogue mutants get mad that we blow their cover?"  Demanded Cortez.

"Well then we'll talk to them," answered Magneto.

"Some of them don't hear too good," countered Pyro.

Magneto looked down from his spot on the boulder and smiled.  "Well then we'll burn them!"

Pyro's roaring laughter was almost drowned out by the cheers of the other mutants.

"No!"  Cried Sabertooth, "If you start beating mutants in the street they'll just band against you!"

"Hey, dat'd be nothing new," chimed Gambit as he tossed one of his quarterstaffs up to Magneto.

Magneto effortlessly caught the staff, striking a heroic pose while doing so.  "What's it gonna take to stop the Sentinels?  Are we ready?"

"Yes!"  Chorused the mutants.

Sabertooth pinched the bridge of his nose and growled.

"What's it gonna take to stop the rebels?"  Asked Magneto as he used the staff to pick out various mutants in the crowd.  "Can we do it?"

"Yes!"  The chorus echoed.

"We'll do what we gotta do—ooo unitl we break,"  Magneto snapped the staff over his knee for emphasis.  "The will of Cha-arl-es and Bo—oooh…"

"And the World!  Will!  Know!"  The mutants proclaimed in one voice.

Magneto chucked the broken staff over the crowd.  "And the be-yond too…"

Standing around the asteroid chunk, the crowd turned to face the all-scaffolding building that housed the dome's main power station.  "Mis-ter Trask and X'vi-er have we got news for you…" They sang together.  "Now the World will fear...  That we're here to stay..."

Standing in the midst of the crowd, Sabertooth stood slack-jawed with a mixture of disgust and awe.

"We'll be makin' headlines and we're head-din' our own way...."

Seeing that Sabertooth wasn't joining in, Lyric grabbed his arm and gave it an encouraging shake.  The feral man glanced down at the girl, and then a look of realization spread across his face.  "You're doing this!"

"And our ranks will grow!"  Sang the crowd.

Projector held up one of his glowing crutches.  "And we'll kick their rear!"  Several nearby mutants cheerfully  slapped Projector on his back.

The crowd continued in a voice that became deeper with every beat.  "And the World will know that we've been here!"

"Lyric!"  Sabertooth yelled as the music modulated.  "Cut that out!"

Ignoring his lieutenant, Magneto jumped down from the boulder and began leading the mutants to the parade ground that ran around the power plant.  "If the air raid bells start ringin'," he prompted.  "Will we hear it?"

"No!"

Magneto turned around with a sneer on his face.  "What if an angry Cy-clops comes out swinin', will we fear it?"

"No!" 

A few of the mutants ran past Magneto and hundsprung onto the parade ground.  A second wave followed, jumping and barrel rolling off the ground and back onto their feet.  "When you got a hun-dred voi-ces singin', who can hear the police whistles blow?"  with Magento taking the lead at the center-front of the ground, the rest of the mutants fell into rank behind him.  "And the World!  Will!  Know!"  The mutants punctuated the line by triumphantly pumping their fists in the air.

"Now this ain't no game..."  Gambit, Pyro, Rusty, and Cortez ran forward and leapt onto the power plant's scaffolding.  "We've got energy to burn and per-fect aim!"  After a few spins around a pole, the mutants ran back to their ranks.   As they did, Scanner, Uniscione, Skids and Chargil rushed out to meet them. "So they gave their word..."  Continued the others as they watched.  "But it ain't worth beans!  Now they're gon-na see what 'stop the press-es' real-ly means..."

During the verse, the girls met the guys, and did a one-armed vault off their shoulders as they passed.  With a rough synchronization, the boys turned back to the girls, grabbed them by the arm and shoulder, and threw them into an assisted front flip.  A few of the girls showed off a bit in the spirit of things, and all eight rushed back to their positions.

Standing behind the formation, Sabertooth looked on in dismay.

"And the day has come!"  The mutants continued.  With everyone in position, the began moving in an impromptu routine of righteousness gestures.  "And the time is now!  And the fear is gone!"

Unable to follow the moves, Neophyte took a step forward.  "And their name is mud," he sang in counterpoint.

"And our game is on!"  Sang the chorus.

"And we'll see their blood!"  Neophyte finished.

Having seen enough, Sabertooth began walking forward to confront Magneto.

"And the World!  Will--"

"X'vi-er may watch the world, but he won't see us!"  Interrupted Magneto as he started walking forward.

"X'vi-er may watch the world, but he won't see us!"  The chorus repeated, still showing off to the power plant.

Sabertooth grabbed one of Magneto's arms.  "Will you listen for a second?!"

Taking the interruption completely in stride, Magneto put both hands on Sabertooth's shoulders and looked him square in the eyes.  "X'vi-er may crack the whip but he won't whip us!"

"X'vi-er may crack the whip but he won't whip uuu—uuus!"  Sang the crowd, repeating the gestures.

Turning away from Sabertooth, Magneto sprung to the air and hovered with the power plant as a backdrop.

"And the World!  Will!  Know!"  Sang the assembled Mutants as they began series of triumphant dance moves,  "And the world will learn…" 

"My elite!"  Cried Magneto, with his arms outstretched.  "Those who would stand and fight...  Come forward!"

"And the world will wonder how we made the tab-les turn!"

Pyro confidently walked out of the crowd.

"And the world will see..."

"You get 'em, Aussie!"  Yelled one of the mutants.

"That we had to choose..."

"De ace of spades," laughed Gambit as he took a spot beside Pyro.

"That the things we do to-day will be to-morrow's news!"

Glancing to his other side, Gambit saw Colossus step up beside him.  "And de King o' Clubs," he added as he flipped a card Colossus' way.

"And old will fall..."

The mutants who had not stepped up knelt down and lowered their voices in time with the lyrics.

"And the young stand tall..."

Sabertooth stood in the center of the crowd, slowly shaking his head.

"And the time is now...  And the winds will blow...  And our ranks will grow..."  As each line went by, mutants began to stand back up, and their voices built to a crescendo. "And grow and grow and so..."

Sabertooth cocked his head to the side and smiled the smile of a man who has accepted madness.  "The world will feel the fire..."  He led, taking a stand next to Colossus.

"And fi--iiine-ly--yyy knooo--ooow!"

The last note held as long as the singers had breathe, and then exploded into a multitude of cheers.

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