This is my first attempt (and also my first fanfic) at bringing the four heroes of the "Slingers" to X-Men: Evolution. It was a short series when Peter Parker temporarily stopped being Spiderman, because he was framed. He decided to take four new superhero personas so the chance of being caught was less.

I've retooled each of their characters (some drastically) and made them mutants (each with their own personality.) This one stars The Hornet, he originally had a cybernetically controlled jetpack, a hardened exoskeleton and some weapons (I can't remember specifics), but will now be transformed into a mutant (to better fit in with the story). Any writing tips or constructive criticism would be much appreciated, also, opinions on where the story should go would be great.

Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, if I did, I would be producing the show for at least another three seasons, rather than writing fanfics. Also, I apologize if anyone thinks I screwed up the characters, but this is my first fic, so bare with me.

Chapter One: Riders of the Swarm

Late at night, a figure known as The Hornet was speedily flying to his destination, listening intently to the static and chatter of the police radio he had "acquired". There was a robbery in process, and he urged his wings to go faster. Swooping and soaring, adding a flourishing barrel-roll or dive now and then, he sped towards the bank on 51st and 2nd. If he didn't hurry, and they managed to get back into their vehicle, he was as powerless to stop them as an insect on their windshield. His acute hearing – between the popping of his ear drums due to the changing altitudes – recognized the shrill alarm of the bank, and so he sent himself into a rapid dive, bringing his tail to attention. Hornet switched the filter of his visor from opaque to infra-red, and located seven targets – each armed with a gun of some sort. While he trained his tail-stinger on one perpetrator, he produced four quills – two from each hand – and threw them. One was a complete miss, another entered a criminal's hand, knocking the gun out of his hand and holding him there. One entered the chest of another thief (releasing a toxin that would knock him out) and the fourth pinned another thief to a wall, via their jacket. In the split second before the criminals acknowledged his presence, his tail let off a quick strike, incapacitating a fourth crook. The three remaining criminals turned to run, firing their guns wildly as they made their way to the escape vehicle. Hornet strafed rapidly in the air, dodging what bullets he could, his thin yet sturdy exoskeleton absorbing the rest. He chuckled at their panic-stricken run, looking up in time to find a barrage of shotgun buck shots screaming towards him. He was promptly knocked to the ground – rather painfully – as his insect-like carapace absorbed most of the attack. He still felt the kinetic force of the bullets and his ribs shook painfully. Blood was detected in his mouth, but he put it aside, realizing that the criminals had managed to pile into the van. Silently, he cursed himself, and threw several quills at the tires in a last-ditch attempt to stop the van. One quill ricocheted off the hub-cap, the rest were complete misses. He slapped his forehead and pulled himself up, all too aware of the throbbing that his torso was emitting, and staggered after the van – pausing only to knock out the thugs he had pinned to the wall.

After a quick breather, he made his insect-like wings rapidly flutter, and took flight after the speeding van. He knew that this was almost certainly futile, but there was a slight chance he could catch up to them. It was dark, after all, and crooks could not see as well as his visor allowed him to. Perhaps they had crashed, maybe then he could locate them, and knock them out - leading to their incarceration.

Speeding in the direction he had last seen the van drive in, he looked for any sign of the culprits: headlights, tire skids, petrol spills – anything. He realized it was becoming less and less likely that he would find them, there were plenty of side-roads they could have taken. He cursed himself yet again, switched his visor to night-vision, and let his eyes sweep over the area. He found no sign of them, just the dumpsters, street lights and traffic lights that were arbitrarily placed everywhere in the city. He then laid eyes upon something rather strange – a cloud of smoke was rising up, and he swooped down to investigate. On further inspection the smoke was rather foul smelling and he cursed himself for not putting in olfactory filters into his exoskeleton. The smoke smelled a lot like burning rubber, largely due to the fact that it was burning rubber. A van, the one he had tried to stop previously, was gunning its engine for all it was worth, but seemed to be held in place by some mysterious force, and was therefore burning its tires. Surrounding the van were two people, a girl who seemed to be concentrating rather hard; the other, curiously, was wearing sunglasses at night – red ones. Hornet swooped down and knocked on the window of the van. "License and registration, please" he requested, jokingly. The response was a hard blow from the door of the van opening into his stomach. The force from this was not absorbed from his torso carapace - as it had been shredded – and he was winded. The three remaining thugs piled out of the van and made a break for it, shouldering the money they had stolen. Hornet picked himself up in time to see a beam of light (playing hell with his filtered vision) and watched as it struck one of the criminals, knocking them down. Joining in on the fight, Hornet sped along and launched a wave of quills at the two escaping thugs, flooding their bloodstream with mind-numbing toxins. It was slight overkill and when they came to, they wouldn't be comfortable, but he smiled smugly as he hefted the three bodies against the van, and stooped to collect the money. He dropped the bag next to the bodies, as he tied them up with a special synthetic cord.

He was about to leave a note for the police, when he heard footsteps. He spun around and found the two allies he had forgotten were there. "Thanks for the help" the one with the glasses said obligingly. "Just thought I'd buzz in" Hornet replied. After a brief pause, he gave a casual salute. "Well, gotta fly" and was about to take off when the girl called to him: "Wait," "Yeah?" "You're a mutant, aren't you?" "What? A tail and wings ARENT the latest in summer fashion?" he inquired sarcastically. "We can help you" she replied gently. "Yeah, well, the next time I need human tire-spikes, you'll be the first to know" he told her, mockingly. "Watch it." Scott replied menacingly. Jean put a hand on his shoulder to calm him, and continued. "We attend a school that helps mutants understand and learn about their abilities, we can help you control your powers." He raised an eyebrow skeptically, not that they could see it under his visor. "What's the catch? Expensive school fees? 6:00 curfews? Cruel and unusual punishment from the principal?" he asked, half serious. "No, nothing like that, honest. If you come with us and just talk to Professor Xavier, I'm sure you'll reconsider." He thought it over and gave a reluctant sigh. "Fine, but I know I'm going to regret this…"

So, there was my first chapter, of my first fic, of the first episode in the Slingers saga. I hope you enjoyed it, if not, tell me how to improve it. Reviews and feedback would be great, opinions on where the story should go would also be appreciated.