Chapter 1:

On The Road Again…

"What? What the fuck do you mean they're 'evolving'?!" Jade had a look of what appeared to be either anger or confusion. It might even of been fear.

"Exactly that," Canius sat on the couch next to the chair and began to rub his eyes.

"And they want me to go and assess their abilities, which are supposed to be pretty fantastic. So much so they want no one else but the nearly invincible Canius to check it out. Meaning they were all too chicken-shit to do it themselves."

"So what are your mission parameters precisely?" Jade asked.

Canius told her the parts that she could hear making her eyes become wide with either excitement or jealousy, probably both. The parts she could hear were probably the only parts she wanted to hear about anyways.

"FUN! Let me come! Please, please, please, please, please!" Jade begged getting on her knees and shimmying across the floor towards Canius on them with her hands together like she was saying grace at dinner.

"Get up. I didn't Create someone who crawls across the ground like that."

"Actually…" Jade began before Canius cut her off.

"Shut up," Canius had been fairly offset by the letter and was taking it out on Jade. But now he knew he just screwed himself since he'd have to take her along after that little outburst. He rubbed his temples, "Fine. You can come. But we're taking your car."

"Yes! Thank you, Canius! You won't regret this."

'I already am.' he thought but only said, "Go get your stuff together, and meet me back here in one hour, okay?"

"Sure thing." Jade nearly skipped out of the room.

"That girl has problems. That's why I love her." Canius said after door had closed behind her. Honestly, this mission worried him. Worried him a great deal. Humans were dangerous enough without some kind of freak powers. The letter, which was now laying on the coffee table in front of the couch, had given a description of some of the abilities of the…they weren't truly human anymore so what could you call them? They called themselves mutants and that would have to do. He had neglected to tell Jade about them for reasons that were his own, but they're was one in particular that bothered him. The letter spoke of a mutant who could control not only the thoughts and actions of humans, but also that of mutants. This could be trouble of the large sort. Destroying this mutant was a pillar of his mission.

Canius had begun to move to his bedroom in order to pack his supplies. A few changes of clothes, two bags of AB+ blood, three fragmentation grenades, both of his Desert Eagles along with 5 boxes of depleted uranium ammunition, three boxes of .45 caliber ammunition for Jade's weapon that she always kept on her person, even in the airport, and last but not least the letter from the table. He didn't know why he was taking it, he just thought it might be useful. Somehow. It had also mentioned the marked mutant had been recruiting others for some sort of strike team, which Canius found laughable at best since the other mutants seemed to be no older than teenagers. Even if these humans possessed power unimaginable, they were still far to young to know how to use it and that would be they're downfall. If a strike force did exist, they too would have to be eliminated along with their leader.

Canius was ready. An hour had passed in the time it took him to pack and think of how he was going to deal with some of these mutants. He had no clue what this so called strike team was capable of, but he had a feeling he'd find out. Canius set the alarm to his apartment and locked the three deadbolts behind him. The hum of the elevator on the way down ground into Canius' mind encouraging his already building headache. Waiting in the parking lot was Jade in her Mercades convertible that he had bought her for her 28th birthday.

She honked the horn, "Come on, slowpoke!"

"Yeah, yeah." Canius hopped into the car, throwing his duffel bag in the back.

"You brought my ammo, right?"

"Yes."

"And some blood bags?"

"Yes!" Canius was losing patience.

"And you turned off the coffee pot?" Jade played on his annoyance.

Canius just gave her a look.

"Where are we going anyways?"

Canius couldn't help but sigh, "You've been bugging me to get going and you don't even know where that is?"

"Well, duh, you never told me."

"You never asked!"

"I just did."

Canius gathered himself before he ripped her limb from limb, not fatal but painful. "Just keep driving East and I'll you where to turn."

"Righty O!" Jade put the car into gear and sped off in the direction of they're prey.

Professor Charles Xavier and the X-men.