INTERLUDE 1

The day was cold and the piercing cold breeze swept through the cemetery like an eerie reminder of death. The black clad congregation was silent except for the sporadic sounds of crying or sniffling. The small green grassed cemetery was surrounded by tall San Francisco skyscrapers.

On top of two of these said towers sat Rob Stories, and Gretchen Juomba. They looked down at the scene with their sniper rifles in hand. Rob reached for his head set and spoke softly. "Still clear here. What about you Nachias?" he asked.

Down below on the street, sitting in a car near the gravesite a Russian mercenary named Nachias Raspio who answered back. "Still clear." He looked through his binoculars and glanced at his employer, Scott Summers. He stood around the closed casket, Nachias couldn't see his eyes through his red quartz glasses but he was sure that they weren't stern and knowledgeable as they usually were. Standing with him was his teammate Kitty Pryde, and Pete Wisdom. But the real reason the hired mercenaries were here were the others. Kurt Wagner, Ororo Monroe, Tessa Niles, and Lucas Bishop. They had been instructed to watch them as closely as possible because Mr. Summers had something special in store for whoever put his daughter in that casket. The priest had finished talking and the crowd dispersed. The four past X-Men got and their limo and started down the street. Nachias started the engine and followed them. "I'm following them right now," he said into his headset. He turned a corner and reached for his headset again but was stopped short when a small black dart broke through his windshield and struck him in the shoulder.

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