Thanks to:
Steph14Wales – Well, you know how I felt about Evo Colossus!
Oceanbang – Uh…Amara managed to dodge the lasers without Tabby's help, found Scott and saved the others! Didn't really think that through, did I? I'm not sure where Colossus will show up. Thanks!
Carol J – More fights to come! That happened to me once in a youth hostel in Ireland…
Lyranfan – Yeah, real life sucks! Glad you liked the chap and the disclaimer – I was watching X-Men animated series at the time.
DemonRogue13 – Jean's not gonna let that happen again…
Rogue14 – More Jean/Acolyte-ness (is that even a word? My spell check says it is!) in this chapter.
Wen1 – Last chapter was just practice for Jean – hahahaha!
Lance (Evils) – I don't know if Colossus will show up yet, coz I wasn't fond of him in Evo. I do like Caliban though!
Enfant-terrible – Getting close to the end of this fic now (sob), but I am plotting a sequel…
Furygrrl – I dumped Piotr mainly because I had to lose one of them and when I wrote this chap I hadn't seen series 4 (they only showed it about 3 weeks ago, I was going crazy waiting!). He only had a couple of lines in series 3, so he got the chop. Now I've seen series 4 I might bring him in at some point. Here's an Acolyte-heavy chapter for ya! And thanks, this week's been much better.
XX-Goth-Gal – Hey, I can never be complimented enough! (Grins) Jeans gonna be using her powers a lot in the next couple of chaps…
Disclaimer: I used the disclaimer to beat a referee to death. I have anger management issues. Also a court case on Monday.
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"My fellow Americans – all my fellow Americans, human and mutant…"
Pietro glanced nervously at his father, who had been watching the news footage relating to the exposure of mutants obsessively since they had returned to the base at Mount Ararose. He didn't know exactly what Magneto had hoped for, but a message of tolerance did not seem to be a part of the plan.
Deciding he'd had enough of the speech – he could recite the damn thing word for word – Pietro sped away, finding Pyro sitting cross-legged on a box, chewing the end of a biro and frowning at a notepad.
"Hey Pietro, fancy helping out your mate?"
Although he would hardly consider St John a 'mate', Pietro had nothing better to do. "What do you want?"
"Can't think of a line that rhymes with 'Your hair is like a dancing flame'. Any ideas?"
"How about 'Writing poetry is totally lame'," sneered Pietro. "Don't tell me, it's for Jeeeeeeean."
"You've no romance in your soul. And Jean likes my poems!"
"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."
Gambit wandered over to the pair. "Know what you should do? De femmes love being serenaded."
"Y'think?" Pyro looked hopeful. "I do a mean version of 'Fire Woman'!"
Pietro scowled. "You're worse than Lance and his damn rock puns!"
"No one could ever be worse than Lance." Jean had approached them unnoticed. "And St John, sing one note and you'll regret it."
"I'm bored," complained Pietro.
"So go back to the Brotherhood," replied Jean with a smirk, sitting on the box beside Pyro, much to his delight. "Bet they'll be pleased to see you."
"Are you crazy? Wanda'd kill me!"
"And we wouldn't have to listen to you whine anymore."
Irritated, Pietro zipped back to the control room, where Magneto was still studying news footage, the picture having changed to the X-Men and the Brotherhood fighting the Sentinel.
"What is it Pietro?" asked Magneto wearily, not turning from the screen.
"I'm getting rigor mortis sitting around here. When we gonna see some action?"
Wanda's face filled the screen, the camera catching her as she hexed her father and stole his powers, her face angry and hateful. Magneto frowned thoughtfully. With his enhancements, there was no way for her to trace him to Mount Ararose…
But she doesn't have to trace YOU, not when she knows who's with you…
"Maybe you should spend some time away from the Acolytes."
Pietro was startled. "Are you serious?"
"I am not ready to initiate my plans. Your presence is not currently required here. But do not return to Bayville and do not attract attention to yourself."
"Uh…thanks." Pietro sped off to change into his street clothes, then prepared to leave the base. Before he could go, Jean, Pyro and Gambit stopped him.
"Where you going mate?" asked Pyro.
"Well deserved vacation."
"Well deserved. Right." Jean rolled her eyes. "Magneto probably just wants to get you out of the way."
"Whatever." Pietro shot the redhead an evil look and raced out of the mansion.
Gambit smirked. "How long before he gets into trouble?"
Jean grinned at him, causing Pyro to bristle with jealousy. "If I know Pietro, it won't be very long at all."
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"Jean." Magneto approached the girl as she levitated some boxes into a stack against the wall. "I must speak with you immediately."
"What's wrong?"
"Pietro has run into some…problems."
Big surprise. "You want me to help him out?"
"Not quite. Wanda has managed to orchestrate Pietro's arrest in the hope of drawing me out. I want you to recruit the Brotherhood to free him."
"Mystique's gonna love that."
"She is no longer a problem. I believe it was Cyclops who caused her to be left behind when the X-Men and the Brotherhood rescued their captive team-mates."
"Summers?" Jean was surprised. "I didn't think he had it in him."
"Go today," ordered Magneto. "You will find the Brotherhood at home, with the exception of Wanda. They were recently expelled for using their powers publicly."
He's certainly been keeping an eye on things in Bayville. "I'm on my way."
"Keep an eye on the Brotherhood, ensure Pietro's safety and return to Ararose immediately."
Return immediately…
"I will." Jean hurried out of the base, the beginnings of an idea in her mind.
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"Oh shit!"
Forge glared at his latest invention, a gun with a modified neural inhibitor function. In theory it made the victim highly susceptible to any suggestion made in the few seconds after its use with the effects lasting a couple of hours – he intended to use the weapon to 'persuade' the Soldier in Area 51 to help him free Mystique. In practice, every time he tried it on Toad the younger boy believed every woman in the vicinity was Wanda. Tabby was threatening to blow up both of them the next time she was referred to as a 'crimson cutie'.
I'll never be able to help her escape at this rate, thought Forge gloomily, looking over to where Fred was happily munching on a sandwich. And these guys don't even care.
The house was a mess, he reflected. Pizza boxes and empty glasses littered the living room and the window was broken. The last time Wanda returned to the house, she had called them all a bunch of pigs and Tabby had told her to lighten up. The near-fight that followed had only been averted by Toads yell of delight as he realised the object of his affections had returned and the hex that Wanda had planned for Tabby ended up blasting Toad through the glass.
The sight of something moving outside the window broke Forge from his reverie. His eyes widened. It couldn't be…
Jean Grey flew in through the broken window. "Hi there. Miss me?"
For a few seconds, the Brotherhood could only stare at their former teammate in shock. Then Toad leapt over to her. "Sweetums! You came back to me!"
Jean grimaced as she read the boys mind and discovered he thought she was the Scarlet Witch, using her telekinesis to slam him into a wall. Fred ran at her with a roar, but she merely flew over his head and he tripped over the sofa. Instinctively Forge fired his new weapon at her, only for the beam to bounce harmlessly off her telekinetic shield and a second later he too was thrown against a wall. Tabby created a handful of bombs and threw them at the invader but they were deflected back at her, landing at her feet. Unable to avoid the ensuing explosion, she was flung across the room and landed dazed and slightly scorched in a corner.
Surveying the scene with a grin, Jean landed in the centre of the room. "Ready to listen to me now?"
Groaning, Forge sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "OK, it's your show."
"No. It's Magneto's show."
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Lance and Kitty walked down the street on their way back to school after eating lunch off campus. The constant comments and jibes the X-Men had endured since their exposure as mutants upset Kitty more than she liked to admit and she was worried that Lance might lose his temper with some one and get himself expelled. Principal Kelly was looking for an excuse and any would do.
"Check it out." Lance pointed to a shiny new SUV stood at a red light. "Isn't that Tabitha driving?"
"Yeah, and the rest of the Brotherhood! Like, where did they get a ride like that?"
"Hey, you know what a klepto Boom-Boom is." Lance glared at the SUV through narrowed eyes. "They're up to something. Damn, I wish we hadn't left the jeep at school!"
"Should we go tell Scott?"
"No time," said Lance, glancing around at the traffic as the lights changed and the Brotherhood began driving away. "Start phasing."
"What? Lance!"
Lance pulled Kitty toward a truck following the SUV and the pair leapt through the side. They managed to track the Brotherhood a long way by phasing unseen into different vehicles when the SUV changed lanes. Kitty made a few token protests about sixth period, but in truth she wasn't too concerned about the missed lesson. The Brotherhood had been their friends, under different circumstances the couple might still be a part of the team and neither of them wanted to see the group get into any trouble.
When the Brotherhood drove up a winding mountain road, Lance and Kitty were forced to abandon their lift and follow them on foot. Night had fallen and the temperature had dropped at least ten degrees. Kitty shivered, glad of Lances body heat as he drew her closer.
"So, what part of your plan is this?"
"The part where it all comes together." Lance pointed to the SUV, abandoned near a pile of rocks. In the distance they could hear the sound of a number of engines heading their way and realising the Brotherhood were up to no good, ducked behind the car.
As the first Army truck rounded the corner, a flurry of bombs bounced in front of it and exploded, shredding the tyres and forcing the truck into a skid. The driver managed to stop the vehicle inches away from the steep drop, the following convoy obliged to hit the brakes. As soldiers jumped out of the trucks, hands on their weapons, several were hit by a red beam that rendered them unconscious.
Blob leapt from a ledge of rock from above the convoy, his landing causing tarmac to crumble and the ground to shake. He grabbed the handle of the rear door of the truck as Pietro looked out of the windows.
"Hey Blob, you actually got off the couch to come rescue me?"
"Yeah – and then we're gonna squash you!"
As three soldiers ran over to try to stop Fred, Tabby threw more bombs at them. They dived out of the way, the explosion causing a rockslide that threatened to bury one of them. Lance broke cover and sprinted over to him, knocking the man out of harms way. The soldier looked at Lance in surprise.
"Aren't you with them?"
"No, I'm not. Not anymore."
Noticing Toad grab a phone from another soldier attempting to call for help, Lance sent an earth tremor toward him, throwing the boy over the edge of the mountain. Toad managed to grab the bumper of a truck with his tongue, saving him from falling.
Kitty phased through the mountain, emerging unnoticed behind Forge and Tabitha as they sat on a ledge five feet or so above the convoy. A swift kick knocked Forge off the ledge, his gun falling from his hands and smashing on the road below. Startled, Tabby threw a handful of bombs at Kitty, which passed through her intangible form and blasted loose the rock behind her. Kitty grabbed Tabby's arm, enabling them both to phase through the falling debris. Tightening her grip painfully, Kitty leant closer to Tabitha. "Backed the wrong team, huh Boom-Boom?"
"Spare me the lecture, Shadowcat. Some of us didn't have a choice. And now it's too late."
Kitty hesitated for a second, wanted to say or do something to help the girl – but she was distracted by a terrified yell from below.
"BLOB!"
The truck that Pietro was locked in had begun to roll toward the edge of the precipice. The boy hammered vainly at the locked doors as Blob stared stupidly at the handle that had come off in his fist. Kitty dived off the ledge and through the side of the truck as it fell off the cliff, grabbed the frightened Quicksilver and phased them both out of the vehicle. The pair managed to grab hold of an overhanging rock as the truck plummeted down, rolling twice when it hit the bottom before exploding into a fiery inferno.
Recovering quickly from his fright, Pietro smirked at his unlikely captor. "Thanks, but you just about muffed that – slowpoke!" He climbed swiftly back onto the road and sped off into the night.
Lance knelt down by the roadside, grabbed Kitty's wrists and pulled her to safety. She wrapped her arms around him, still shaken. Their embrace was interrupted by the sound of an engine roaring into life and they looked up to see the SUV accelerating away, the Brotherhood making good their escape. Lance jumped to his feet and sent an earth tremor after the vehicle, but was stopped by Kitty resting a hand on his arm.
"Forget it, they're gone. And so is Pietro that jerk. I'll 'slowpoke' him!"
The dirty joke Lance was about to make died on his lips as behind them a voice shouted, "Hands in the air!" The couple turned slowly to see the group of soldiers with guns pointed directly at them.
Lance clenched his fists. "I'm gonna rock this place…"
"No, wait." Kitty spotted the soldier whose life Lance had saved walk up behind the other soldiers.
"Stand down men."
Kitty gave a sigh of relief as the guns were lowered, although she kept her hands up. The man walked over to them. "I saw what happened back there."
"And?" Lance's voice was sarcastic.
"Thank you."
Kitty lowered her hands. "Uh, y-you're welcome."
"If you know what we are, then why are you letting us go?"
"Lance!"
The soldier shrugged. "Not everyone hates mutants son. We're just peacekeepers, like you. I'd offer you a lift home but uh, well, we're kinda stranded 'til another unit arrives."
"Oh, that's OK." Lance put an arm around Kitty's shoulders and led her away. "We'll catch a lift, right?"
"Wrong. We're finding a phone and we're calling Scott."
00000000000000000000000000000000
Jean strolled through the open door of the Brotherhood house and regarded the group, hands on her hips. "Why are you such a bunch of losers?"
"'Cause the X-Men are winners," replied Todd sulkily, using his toes to doodle 'TT 4 WM' on the notepad in front of him. "It all balances out."
Fred looked at Jean hopefully. "So, do we still get to join Magneto's new team?"
Jean laughed. "Are you serious? After that disaster? As if!" She smirked as she saw their glares. "Oh, you'll get other chances, but you need a leader."
"Let me guess," sneered Tabby. "You?"
"No. Him."
Pietro walked into the house and Jean watched in amusement as the Brotherhood all tried to attack him. Quicksilver dashed out of the way and began issuing threats of a father-based nature. Jean stayed long enough to make sure that the bosses son would come to no physical harm – for now at least – she slipped out of the house unnoticed.
Back in Bayville she thought as she walked the familiar streets. It felt as though she'd been away for years rather than months. She'd enjoyed her time there, being the most popular girl in school, top of all her classes, captain of the soccer team – but that was all in the past now.
It was time to think about the future.
Magneto's orders had been clear – establish Pietro as the new leader of the Brotherhood and return to Ararose. And Pyro had suggested they watch a film together that evening. As romantic as 'The Towering Inferno' sounded and as much as she secretly feared the self-proclaimed Master of Magnetism, she had some business to take care of that might delay her return to the base. Couldn't be helped. This was something she had to do.
Revising the details of her plot one final time, Jean headed for the Xavier Institute.