What? The disclaimer has arrived!
Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution. THERE. I DID IT. BAH!
This is a sequel of sorts to my other fic, Age of Apocalypse: Alternate Reality. I say "of sorts" because this one takes place in a similar timeline, but a few events that happened in the first fic never occurred, though it does directly tie in to it through a common OC... but don't worry, he's not going to do much in this fic, if I decide to have him appear at all. Fortunately for you, you don't have to read the first one to get this one (there will be introductions for characters that retain their AoA:AR personas), and just for you, a quick explanation will be provided here in the prologue... those of you who have read the first one, go ahead and read the prologue, too. It may seem the same, but there will be some slight differences that will be important later on.
Anyway, the first one was R-rated, but this one is PG-13. Going more for effect than outright violence, but there will be some darker stuff later on, but nothing you guys probably aren't used to. Oh, and excuse the grammar.
Humankind has ruled the planet Earth for as long as it has existed. All of the creatures on this planet have their own special adaptation. Some can fly, some can swim, some can crawl, some can climb. Some have claws, some have teeth, some have horns, some have spines. Humanity was given the greatest gift of all; intelligence. As the most intelligent creatures on the planet, humans are capable of sentience, reason, and even logic.
Humankind has used this intelligence to adapt to their environment ever since the first tools were invented. Humans were able to suit themselves to any environment on the planet, and eventually, they spread to all corners of the Earth. From this, different variations of humanity appeared. Early in their history, when these different races encountered each other, they were met with mutual curiosity, and their differences led to hatred, and eventual suffering.
Centuries have passed, and since that time of prejudice, the various kinds of humans have settled their differences, and now coexist. In the time it took for these races to unite, new technology rose beyond the early tools, and allowed humanity to take a different approach to adaptation. Rather than change themselves to suit their environment, humanity began to change the environment to suit themselves. Because of this, internal change had come to a near halt. Humanity stopped evolving.
But then, their evolution gene was awakened. It remains unclear why this happened, only that it did. Known as the X-Factor Gene, partially named after Professor Charles Xavier, an X-Factor Positive researcher who had studied the gene for years, this new twist on humanity advanced itself to the point of giving some humans extraordinary, even dangerous powers. Recipients of the X-Factor Gene are often referred to as "mutants," and the so-called "normal" humans have come to hate and fear these mutants and their powers.
All that changed, however, with the awakening of the long-dormant mutant En Sabah Nur, or as he would come to be known, Apocalypse.
As Professor Xavier and his former associate, Erik Lehnsherr, recruited mutants to their causes, Apocalypse likewise did. Years after he had destroyed both the X-Men and Magneto, Apocalypse realized that his bouts with them had severely weakened him. He employed the aid of a mutant called Shifter to travel into the past and alter history.
This time-traveling Shifter slipped through time to a period before Xavier and Magneto parted ways, when neither had fully developed their radically different philosophies, and the only thing that was known was that mutants did, indeed, exist. Erik quickly dispatched the assassin by driving a metal pin through his heart, but not before the assassin had fired. Erik had tried to stop the bullet that raced towards his friend's head, but he was met with one great misfortune: the bullet was not made of metal. His friend Charles died instantly.
It was then that Erik looked through Xavier's old logs, hoping to salvage what he could of Xavier's research before it was all taken away by the state, as Xavier had no heir and had made no will. Erik discovered that Xavier had believed that mutants and humans should coexist peacefully, though he had never fully discussed the issue with him. Though Erik secretly believed that humans would come to hate mutantkind, he thought it was best to honor the memory of his good friend by doing everything he could to make sure that humans and mutants lived side-by-side, burying his doubts inside and hoping that Xavier would not be proven wrong.
Erik founded the Xavier Institute for Mutant Research, after his old friend, and began to recruit mutants to his cause. They would come to be known as the X-Men.
After years of practice, the X-Men and their allies defeated Apocalypse. Ironically enough, they had suffered severe casualties in the battle and a young version of Shifter traveled back in time to alter history once again. Through unknown means, he managed to get past the doors of Apocalypse's tomb and kill the tyrant before he had a chance to unleash his power upon the world. Realizing that the future Apocalypse had sent his older self to kill Xavier and inadvertantly, the weakening of the X-Men, the young Shifter tried to stop his older self, but he failed to reach the site in time. The older Shifter was killed, and the younger Shifter's fate remains a mystery.
The time-travelers' movements sent ripples through time, altering certain events and affecting the lives of many people.
Raven Darkholme, a shape-shifting woman and friend of Erik, thought Xavier's philosophy to be nonsense, but she remained Magneto's closest ally. With the time and reality altered, her son Kurt was never taken from her, and she went on to give birth to another girl, who she named Marie. She later adopted two other children, who had both faced ridicule due to their mutations.
This, of course, came at a time when mutants were scarce. For reasons unknown, the altering of time had somehow caused many more mutants to appear in a short amount of time. Humans grew increasingly afraid of mutants, and mutants grew more agitated by constant human persecution. The resulting fights, riots, and murders furthered the tension between the two groups. A scientist named Bolivar Trask was among the fiercest of the mutant-haters. He had conspired with others to form the Pure Blood Movement, a political idea that was nothing more than an excuse for genocide. Dr. Trask even went as far as designing a super-robot made solely to hunt down mutants. Before the machine could be built, Dr. Trask was mysteriously killed, and the design blueprints destroyed. The only clue police found was a small trace of acid on the melted door of Trask's home. Forensic research revealed the acid was a biological secretion produced by a human... a mutant.
Though the X-Men no longer have to worry about the tyrant Apocalypse, a less obvious but no less dangerous enemy has appeared to fill the void...
A small, pudgy mutant covered in warts trudged through the sewers below the streets of New York, carrying several bags from the surface. He avoided the rats that crawled through the access tunnels that led into the main area and kicked away a mutated six-legged frog. Though the X-Factor gene only affected humans, the sewers were filled with all sorts of toxins that resulted in mutations among animals, though none as drastic as those that had appeared in humans. He saw the fire burning at the far end and ran towards it.
"Food's here!" Lucid yelled as he saw the pudgy mutant enter. Several mutants crawled out of hiding from behind the walls, tunnels and chambers of the sewer. None of them could pass themselves off as humans topside, but in the Morlock Tunnels, their appearances didn't matter. Lucid himself was short and reptilian, with a large snout in place of a proper human face. One of the mutants, a young man with a bald head and dirty brown clothes, walked near the access tunnel and threw a rock into the murky water. Clearly, Ray Crisp, called Berzerker by his peers, was growing annoyed with their lifestyle. It was the same thing, day in, day out. They couldn't leave the filthy rat den they were calling "home" for fear of human violence, but they would send one of their smaller members up to the surface daily to bring back food. Sometimes he brought back enough, often he didn't.
"What troubles you, Berzerker?" one of the other Morlocks, Cybelle, asked him. Her face was less than attractive, but among the Morlocks, she was almost normal. She wore special gloves that resisted the acidic substance she secreted from her hands, and allowed her to touch things without melting them.
"What doesn't, Cybelle? I'm getting tired of all of this. We go up, the humans beat us. We stay here, we live in filth."
"There's nothing we can do, Berzerker. We just have to put up with it."
"I know. That's why I'm so frustrated."
"The hamburgers Lump brought back are almost whole, come on." Cybelle led Berzerker back to the table where other Morlocks looked through the garbage brought back and saw if there was anything edible left. As they ate, someone in the shadows kept a close eye on them. According to the lab results, the acid found on Trask's door had matched the DNA samples of Cybelle.
"Someone else is here," a mutant with overgrown ears alerted the others. With the element of surprise gone, the assault began. The sound of gunfire echoed through the sewer chambers, mixed with the screams of dying Morlocks. A few of the them scattered, but many of them decided to stay and fight, among them Berzerker.
"Get the children out!" he yelled. He fired a bright blue beam of electric energy at the enemy, but a small disc managed to absorb it. The disc was thrown and exploded, unleashed all of the store energy taken from Berzerker and killing several more Morlocks. Berzerker was far enough away from the blast that he was only hit in the leg, and a larger Morlock caught him as he fell and carried him away, into an escape tunnel. The other Morlocks followed, as did the enemy that attacked them. A young girl with oversized hands, called Torpid by the others, remained in the main chamber to observe the damage... seventeen dead Morlocks, disgusting, deformed mutants all covered in holes with their blood lining the gray brick walls of the main chamber. She looked around and found several more bodies face down in the sludge. He pulled one of them up to get a look at her face... Cybelle, with a bullet through her forehead.
Frightened, Torpid huddled against a wall. No other Morlocks were with her, at least none that still lived. She wanted to call out, to see if there was anyone left, but she was too afraid.
Her answer came in the appearance of a tall, thin man dressed in gray and black, with a black hood over his face, marked with a white Cross on his forehead. In his left hand, he carred a long pole with a blade attached at the end, and in his right hand, an ivory knife covered in different shades of red blood. Torpid raised her hands in defense.
"No sin will go unpunished," the raspy voice proclaimed. The hooded man raised his blade, but he was hit from behind by a surge of electrical energy. As Berzerker pounded the hooded man, the black-haired girl called Scaleface took Torpid and ran down the hall. Quickly, before the hodded man could get up, Berzerker ran after him.
"No sin will go unpunished," the raspy voice proclaimed.
X-Men: Evolution
"The Legacy of Apocalypse"
King of the Worthless
Chapter One - The Mutant Underground
Nobody was quite sure why, but Bayville, New York, seemed to be the center of mutant activity. The Morlock tunnels reached as far as downtown Bayville, and two known mutant houses were located nearby. One was the Xavier Institute, located in a metal building outside of city limits. The other, less obvious of the two was the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House, residence of the Darkholme family. Though the two groups didn't see eye-to-eye, but they weren't enemies.
"C'mon, c'mon, where is it?!" Kurt Darkholme cried in frustration. His room was a ruined mess, and not just because he had emptied out every drawer and thrown everything around looking for a particular item. Kurt was a fairly normal-looking boy, though there was one obvious mutation that had appeared: he had a fuzzy tail. His natural hair color was blue, and so, his tail was blue as well, before he dyed it, anyway. His favorite color was black, so all of his blue hair had been changed to that color. His tail had only recently emerged, and he was still getting used to having an extra appendage waving around behind him. His family was especially annoyed by his limited control over it. Kurt scratched his head and looked through a pile of art supplies. "Oh... don't tell me I lost it!"
"What exactly are you looking for?" Kurt's adopted older brother Scott Darkholme asked as he leaned against the doorway. Scott wore a black leather jacket, ripped jeans and a cigarette in his mouth, as well as a pair of metal sunglasses equipped with a twin set of iris-shutters; the exterior of each was coated with traditional black-tinted glass, but the interior had a layer of ruby-quartz that kept Scott's deadly eye-beams in check. His brown hair was disorderly and hung down almost to his shoulders, and he hadn't shaved in days. "Your room's a damn mess. More than usual, anyways."
"None of your business!"
"Must be a personal item," Todd giggled. Todd Wyngarde, or Toad as he was known, was taken in by the Darkholmes, though not legally adopted like Scott. Toad was short and skinny with pale skin and green hair, styled in a mohawk. He seemed to have piercings everywhere, including a stud at the end of his long, frog-like tongue. "Panties, from some poor girl you're stalking?"
"Shut up, Toad, this isn't funny!"
"I think I know!" their sister Marie said. She was Kurt's biological sister, and her style of dress was decidedly unconservative. Her tight workout pants showed off her natural curves and her small white and green shirt hugged her chest, leaving little to the imagination. She wore a slightly oversized brown jacket with the sleeves rolled back and a pair of black gloves. Her brown and white-streaked hair grew out past her shoulders. She wasn't often alone, but preferred to do things her way, hence her nickname, Rogue. She held up a folded piece of paper. "Could it be a note from someone?"
"Hey! Give it back!" Kurt yelled. He disappeared in flash and puff of smoke and reappeared in the same fashion next to Rogue. "C'mon, it's not funny!"
"Well... okay..." Kurt held out his hand and Rogue dropped it. A green tongue snapped out of nowhere and took the note. Cackling, Toad hopped out of the room and down the stairs.
"TOAD!"
"It's on now!" Scott declared as he and his sister ran after them. Kurt appeared at the bottom of the stairs, but Toad jumped over him and kicked off the front door, heading back up the stairs and passing the note to Scott as Kurt started up the stairs. "Now let's see who wrote this!"
"Scott, please!" Scott jumped down the stairs and ran into the kitchen. When Kurt appeared on the table, Scott ran out the back door and around to the front lawn, where Kurt again appeared. Before he could snatch it away, Scott threw the note to Rogue, who was waiting at the front door and ran back up the stairs. "Rogue, stop! This isn't funny! Please!"
"Alright, you've had your fun," Mystique said as she took the note from Rogue and gave it back to Kurt. Raven Darkholme was once a criminal in Europe, but she decided to leave that life behind and start a family in the United States. Though she could be very strict and impatient, she loved her children, even the two that she had taken in. She made no attempt to hide her blue skin from the world, though she could easily change into a more normal form. She wore a long black skirt with a red blouse and spoke with a tone of authority. "That note is Kurt's business."
"We were just goofing around, mom," Scott said.
"I know that, but you're all old enough to know better. Now, Magneto and one of his X-Men will be here any minute now, and I want you on your best behavior."
"Dammit, is he going to try and recruit us again?!"
"No. We're going to discuss some matters. You don't have to talk with him, but I'd appreciate it if you behaved yourselves."
"Eh, I'm gonna go for a ride or something."
"Even better." As Scott walked downstairs, Kurt sneaked back into his room and unfolded the note. Toad and Rogue silently watched from the door, giggling as Kurt whispered the words to himself. They didn't go unnoticed for long.
"Wha?! This is private!"
"So who is she?" Toad asked. "Who's your 'huggles'? Who's gonna 'keep you warm at night'?"
"SHUT UP!"
"Get to your rooms!" Mystique yelled. Quickly, they obeyed.
"Thanks, mom. You saved my life there!"
"Oh, don't thank me just yet. I want you to brew some coffee for us."
"...I knew there was a catch."
-------------------------------
Erik Magnus Lehnsherr was his given name, but he chose to be called Magneto. Wearing a gray suit with a silver tie, Magneto sat in the Darkholmes' living room, sipping a cup of coffee "kindly" offered by Kurt Darkholme, who stood next to his seated mother. Magneto was an old man, but appeared young due to enhanced mutations, though his hair was white. Standing at Magneto's side with his hands behind his back was his son and right-hand man, Pietro Lehnsherr, codenamed Quicksilver. Pietro's hair was silver like his father's and swept back, and he wore a blue outfit that was similar to a suit, but more casual, with the sleeves rolled up and the jacket partially unbuttoned. Pietro was in independent thinker, though not quite the visionary leader his father was. He followed in his father's footsteps, hoping to one day become leader of the X-Men, but he was happy enjoying his free time and lack of real responsibility in the meantime.
"...And you think the Morlocks are innocent?" Mystique asked. Both knew about the massacre below the city, but neither was sure about the details.
"There is something else at work here, Raven. The Morlocks are thieves and cynics, but they are not murderers."
"Even if they didn't do it, I'm sure whoever slaughtered them didn't know the truth themselves."
"You may be right. If they were framed, their killers were the ones fooled. But who would want the Morlocks dead?"
"I don't know many people who are even aware of them. Erik, do you think it was mutant hunters? We could be next."
"There's no doubt that their killers were mutant hunters... but another group may have framed them. This doesn't make any sense. There's no reason they should be after us specifically."
"You need to open your eyes, Erik. The Morlocks never hurt anyone, if someone wanted them dead, it was because they were mutants. Only Cybelle was wanted for Trask's murder, they had absolutely no evidence that any others were involved... and..." Mystique paused briefly, disgusted by what she knew. "They were all slaughtered. Even children. This may have to do with the recent mutant disappearances around the world, too. I think there might be a trend."
"I hope you are wrong, Raven. I hope that their deaths were a part of a minor scheme of revenge. In any event, we must be prepared." Magneto took a sip of his coffee. "...There were some survivors."
"Yes? Well we'd better go talk."
"I tried. They're still in shock. They won't talk to anyone."
"Maybe Callisto could talk with them?" Mystique suggested.
"Yes... I'll arrange a meeting. She might be able to get answers out of them... though, knowing her, she will take her time."
-------------------------------
Scott Darkholme got off his motorcyle and walked into an alley on the south side of Bayville with a single light to show the way. Just inches from the light's reach there was a red door, which Scott knocked three times, then kicked twice. There was no response.
"Shit, got it mixed up again." He knocked twice, then kicked three times. The peephole slid open and a pair of blue eyes looked him over.
"Got the password, chief?"
"Kirby Lee."
"Go proof, pal?" Scott pulled back his glasses slightly, letting the red glow leak out. "Good enough for me." The blue eyes shifted to a less human pair of iridescent yellow eyes. The peephole closed and the door opened. "I'm glad you could make it," the red-skinned, amphibious mutant said after Scott handed him a few bills. Past the door was a large, circular room lined with chairs, all filled with mutants of all kinds. In the center was a pit surrounded by a cage that kept the spectators out, and inside, two mutants fought as the rest placed bets on the outcome. Against the outer wall of the club was a bar, tended to be a six-armed woman. Scott found a seat near the front of the stands with the bar behind him.
"Good, you saved me a seat," Scott said to John Allerdyce, commonly known as Pyro. Pyro kept his clothes simple, wearing a pair of jeans and a white tank top and letting his hair stand up like the fire he loved so much. He always had a lighter in his hand and frequently played with the flame, but was never distracted by it. "Who's fighting?"
"Got some Russian laborer and last week's champ. Not sure what the big guy can do, but he's not taking the Wolverine down so easily."
"Settle down, settle down!" a gray-skinned announcer with a black dreadlocked beard spoke from the bar, next to the six-armed bartender. "We've got a hell of a show for you tonight, folks! If you've ever been here before, then you know who was champion last night, Saturday the week before, and every night he's been here," The spectators cheered and hollered. "The man from the northern wilderness, built like a wolf, tough as a bear, the Wolverine!"
Logan, the man known as the Wolverine, was already inside the cage-pit, wearing only a pair of jeans and a set of metal dogtags. He took a puff of his cigar and raised his fists to the cheering crowd, then exposed his hidden weapons: a set of bony claws on each fist, three claws on each hand, with each claw appearing between his knuckles. Seeing those famous claws, the crowd went wild, and Logan grinned.
"Well tonight, we've got a newcomer, a Russian worker brave enough to take on the Wolverine! Is he tough enough or just plain stupid? Now where are your manners, folks? Give a round of applause for Colossus!" Logan looked over his opponent, a young but heavily built Russian worker called Piotr Rasputin, easily twice Logan's size, wearing a pair of overalls and a white shirt, with his hands tied together by large iron handcuffs. Like all fighters in this place, he had taken a stage name. The pit itself was lined with a thick metal fence that protected the glass wall, which was tinted to keep any outside eyes from seeing inside, but everyone knew that the owner of the club was down there, watching the fight with favored guests. "You all know the rules, but for the new people here tonight, let's clue them in! What are the rules?"
"There are none!" the crowd excitedly replied. Pyro grinned and cheered with a loud "YEAH!"
"Then let's get this show on the road! Fighters, ready!" Wolverine and Colossus assumed fighting stances. "Let's get ready to RUUUUUM-ack!" The announcer glared at the bartender, who had accidentally smacked him with one of her arms as she was fixing a drink for someone. "...Just fight already!"
Wolverine jumped against the cage and flew at his enemy with his claws out, but Colossus rolled out of the way. Wolverine grabbed the cage fence and jumped at him again. This time, Colossus caught him by the hands and kicked him in the chest. Wolverine flew back, but was on his feet quickly.
"I'll give you this," Wolverine gruffly said, "You're tough, kid..." Wolverine lunged at Colossus's legs and slashed at them both, but he only managed to tear his pants. He looked up to see that his young opponent had transformed into living metal, strong enough to protect him from Wolverine's claws.
"You have no idea," the accented Colossus said. He dropped his fist onto Wolverine's head and then held the stunned mutant above his head. With all his strength he threw him against the ground, leaving a large dent on the pit floor as Wolverine bounced up to Colossus's chest, groaning, before Colossus punched him against the metal pit fence.
"What an upset! Tonight's winner and the new king of the cage, Colossus!" Colossus waved one hand to the crowd, then quickly went to Wolverine.
"I am sorry. I needed the money."
"Erghh... don't... sweat it..." The crowd erupted in boos and angry cries. Most of them stood to lose money on the outcome of the match. Pyro, however, stayed calm, with a wide grin on his face. He held a ticket with the word "OPPONENT" on it.
"...Pyro? How could you have known he was that strong? Did you..." Scott started to ask.
"I might have met him before, but who's to say? It's not like we're mates or anything." Pyro nodded to Colossus. "Don't feel bad, tell you what, I'll split it with you."
"Thanks, Pyro. I didn't even place a bet tonight."
"Oh. No deal, then." Many others started pounding against the cage in outrage. "Alright, it's getting rowdy in here! Ready for a good riot, Darkholme?"
"Let's go!" Scott grabbed an empty bottle nearby and smashed it against the cage, creating a sharp-edged weapon and preparing himself. A mutant near him, wearing a cap and sunglasses to hide his face, threw a whip made of light at the cage and burned right through it. Not specifically defending Colossus, Scott was looking for a reason to attack someone, and stabbed the whip-wielder in the chest, then blasted him with two clear red beams from his eyes. Clutching his wound, the whip-wielder threw his whip at him, but Scott rolled out of the way and kicked him to Pyro, who sprayed him with a cloud of flame from his tiny little lighter.
"Break it up, break it up!" the announcer yelled. He dropped his microphone onto the floor with a loud electronic squeal as a bird-like mutant flew into the booth and attacked him. The bird-woman fell back out, covered in poisoned needles launched by the gray-skinned announcer, who quickly picked up his microphone. "Let's all settle down, we've got another match coming up, if you lost betting on Wolverine, maybe you can win it all back betting on our next match!"
"We don't have another match," the six-armed bartender told him.
"We'll have to improvise," the announcer told her, holding his hand over the microphone. "Tell the boss we need two more fighters." Within minutes, two mutants entered from the back room and stepped into the cage, one a yellow-skinned woman with large eyes, the other a white, bear-like creature. Colossus pushed through the crowd into the back room, followed by Wolverine and several club employees.
"Aw, over already?" Scott pouted. "Fine. This better be a good one."
"Yeah, we need some better entertainment." Pyro kicked a bleeding man off his chair and sat back down alongside Scott. "Betting this time?"
"Nope."
"I think I might use some of my winnings from that match earlier..."
"No, you're going to duck early tonight," a deep voice told him and put a hand on their shoulders. It was Freddy Dukes, a member of the X-Men. He was a large man with a thick body and even thicker arms, a bald head, and wearing the black and silver-armored uniform of the X-Men. Freddy was strong, but he wasn't stupid. He was often considered the wisest of the X-Men, as he liked to think things through instead of rushing into action.
"Awww, Fred, what do you-"
"Hey, that's enough out of you, Pyro. Magneto sent me to get you two out of here before you fellas get in any more trouble." With the strength of twenty men, he pulled them out of their seats and carried them towards the front door.
"Good night, drive safe," the amphibious doorman said.
-------------------------------
Pyro sat in a metal chair in one of the metal rooms at the metal Xavier Institute... sometimes he wished the place was made of wood, or something. Paper?
Scott, meanwhile, waited in one of the holding cells one level below... but he had a TV in there. Pyro didn't.
The rest of the X-Men stood around the room, having been in a Danger Room session while Pyro was away. There was Freddy Dukes, of course, whose codename was Stalwart. Next to him was his girlfriend Jean Grey, called Converse, who wore her red hair in a long ponytail and was rarely seen smiling. She almost never had anything nice to say, but she was easy on the eyes, so Pyro had no problem with her, even if she was taken by the least likely of the team.
On the other side of the room was Pietro, still dressed in his casual attire, and next to him was a blue, gorilla-like man named Hank McCoy, the Beast. He wore a pair of black pants with silver shin-guards, and there were notable lines across his chest and upper arms where hair didn't grow, spots where the skin beneath was scarred. Beast was an intelligent man, but he had a short attention span and tended to daydream quite a bit. He wasn't paying attention to anything else in the room, busy reading a book, "Neural Pathways and Hidden Secrets."
Magneto, now dressed in his black battle outfit with silver armor and violet cape, walked into the room, followed by the Scarlet Witch, his daughter Wanda Lehnsherr. She wore black with silver like the others, but she also wore a red cape that symbolized her status as team leader. Her black hair was worn to her shoulders and a silver frame adorned her face. Wanda took after her father and displayed natural authority and maturity that made her a natural field leader, unlike her less controlled brother, who was not an active X-Man. Magneto looked at Pyro, then stepped aside. He would allow his daughter to handle the situation.
"Do you have any idea what time it is, Pyro?" Wanda asked him calmly.
"...er... late?"
"It's midnight. You left the Institute sometime at nine."
"Yeah, I wasn't out long then, what's the worry?"
"You had a class at ten. The students wandered into the Danger Room alone."
"Er... whoops."
"Whoops? Two of them have been seriously injured! Pyro, you're a member of the X-Men. You have a responsibility to the team and especially to the students under you, and you went out to watch some fight in a back-alley club?"
"Aw, it's not so bad, I got-"
"Quiet!" Wanda yelled. "You disobeyed orders and you let your students endanger themselves! This is unacceptable! I should throw you off the team for this!" Pyro cringed and looked down to the metal floor. "But I won't. You've proven yourself an X-Man, and this is your first serious screwup, so I'm giving you another chance, Pyro."
"I... thanks, Wanda, you won't regret it!"
"Now get to your room. You're on suspension for a week. Until then, your students will be divided among the rest of the team." Pyro grinned nervously and left the room. "How did I do?" Wanda asked her father.
"Satisfactory," Magneto said. "If he fails again, I'll deal with him. You are all officially off-duty. Rest well." The metal doors opened and Magneto left the room.
"I'll be taking some rest, too," Wanda said.
"Right, I forgot we have Scott here tonight."
"Shut up, Pietro."
"Hold the elevator, Wanda," Beast said. "I'll need some rest as well. I have that debate tomorrow."
It has begun! Who was the hooded killer? Was he working alone, or was he part of a team? Is something... shady going on at the club? What's Beast debating? Most importantly, what's in Kurt's note? WELL?!
No really, someone tell me. I'm lost.