Chloe and Marina were still looking over the last of the photographs just as their friends got back.

"Nine people…" said Chloe. "But who are they and why did McKenzie have them at his house tonight?"

"Do you – do you think there's a connection to what's going on?"

"There must be. If Magneto was willing to be there and show himself to them, they must be mixed up with him somehow. I think I recognise one or two of these faces. If we can identify the whole group, it will give us some idea what Magneto wants them for."

Marina frowned, "I – I think I recognise about four of them. These two men and – and these two women."

Chloe pointed to one of the men, "Ah – that's Robert Worcester."

"He's – um – "

"He's a media tycoon and one of the most influential men in the Western world. He owns or indirectly controls about half of the newspapers in Britain and America, and has his fingers in several other countries as well."

"What about this guy?" said Marina, pointing to another of the nine people. "The Middle Eastern looking guy."

"I don't remember his name, but I think he owns oil fields in Saudi Arabia and other countries. He has to be among the top five richest men alive. Possibly number one. I've seen him in the news."

Marina's finger hesitantly pointed to the youngest of the three women, "I – I know her. She's Karen somebody, Karen Auberschwift? One of the most prestigious lawyers in the US. She gives a – a lot of talks on women's rights and feminist issues. Gemini reads a – a lot of that stuff; I've seen it in our dorm."

"Yes," said Chloe. "I know who you're talking about. I think I read somewhere that in the ten years since leaving law school, she's never lost a single case. She mostly defends powerful corporations against litigation suits. As for the rest…I'm not sure. I've seen most of them on TV or in the newspapers, so they're obviously high profile people. A couple of them I don't recognise at all."

"But what are they all doing together? And what does M – Magneto want with them?"

"I don't know, but I'd hazard a guess these are our conspirators. The Admiral, what was his name?"

"M – McKenzie."

"He'll be their contact in the Navy. This constantium that Vertigo was talking about, that was developed in conjunction with Navy research teams. I bet McKenzie was involved in it up to his neck. There's also this soldier/commando type, the man who attacked the school…Magneto must be using him as an assassin."

"But – but why would M – Magneto order him to kill us? I thought – I thought that M – Mag – he didn't want us dead."

Chloe sighed, "I don't understand it either, Marina. Perhaps he's had a change of heart over the years. He was a close friend of the Professor, but who's to say he's willing to extend that friendship to the rest of us?"

"So what do we do?"

"We have to find out who the other people in this photograph are, and why Magneto is interested in them. Once we know who we're dealing with, we'll have a better idea of what they're trying to do, and how we can stop it."

Marina said nothing, and looked closely at the photograph once more. Chloe walked over to the window to check on the situation outside. Her heart suddenly thumped as she saw what she'd been dreading: the ravens forming a diamond formation in the sky, the signal that somebody was approaching the school. Another attack was about to start. There was no time to lose.

"Do I hear a – a helicopter?" Marina asked.

She pulled the tiny binoculars from her uniform and joined Chloe beside the window.

"Marina, get the kids inside. I'll get my animals ready."

"No, no, wait. It's – it's Pyro's helicopter. Look."

She handed the glasses to Chloe, who looked through at the rapidly approaching aircraft. The women breathed a sigh of relief. False alarm. Their friends were returning, hopefully with Scott and Logan. Chloe hurried down to the hangar to meet them, and Marina went with her.

"Logan! John!" Chloe exclaimed as she saw them emerge from the chopper. "Are you all right? Where's Scott?"

"We couldn't find him," said Wolverine. "But that's the least of our worries right now. I need a drink and then I'll meet you upstairs."

"Things are way more complicated than we thought," Pyro told her.

The three adults headed for the door, the teenagers following behind them. The two groups made their way to the meeting room upstairs, where they waited for Logan. Cassandra winced as she put her hand to a small cut on her shoulder.

"Are you – are you OK?" Marina asked shyly.

Cassandra ignored her.

"Cassie, want me to get you a plaster?" said Accel.

"OK, honey."

The little girl ran off, almost colliding with Logan as he came in the door. He crossed the room to where Chloe stood with Pyro.

"Logan, there's something I have to tell you," Gaia said urgently. "I don't know exactly what it means but it changes everything. It's Magneto, Logan, he's alive and he's at the bottom of this."

"How do you know that?"

"Marina saw him. She's never met him before so she didn't know it was him, but she took a photograph. It's him. I can't believe it. I don't want to believe it. I keep wishing that it were wrong."

"It's not. I've seen him too."

Chloe gasped, "You have? Where?"

"In the prison where we were being held. He was there. We caught a glimpse of him on a security camera."

"What was he doing there? I don't understand; what is he trying to do?"

"Where's your husband?"

"Neil's gone to London to talk to the UN. He – "

"Where's your kids?" Logan interrupted.

"They've been captured by Magneto. I don't know how it happened; Marina can tell us."

Pyro and Logan exchanged glances.

"So every telepath in the school is missing."

Chloe frowned, "What are you getting at?"

Logan sighed, "Magneto's obviously been waiting for this chance for years. He's been sitting waiting for Xavier to die. Without the Professor there's nobody to stop him."

"To stop him doing what?"

"Mind control. That's what he's trying to do with us. That's why he's gone to such trouble to split us up and capture us. He wants to use his telepathy to enslave our minds."

"How do you know that?"

Logan told her what they had seen at the prison: the slashed-open door and the grisly remains of the dead guards.

"It looked as if it had been done by me," he explained. "But I sure as hell don't remember it. That bastard must have been controlling my mind."

"No. That's impossible."

"Is it? Is it any coincidence that Neil and Annie and the boy have been lured away? It gives Magneto a free rein to control the rest of our minds. We haven't got any defences against it."

"I have," said Pyro. "And I can teach the rest of you."

"You learned it from Magneto, don't forget. You think he's going to have taught you enough to be able to get in his way? We can't rely on it."

Chloe said, "But we still don't know his reason for doing all this. Obviously it isn't just to control our minds. He doesn't have enough power to permanently alter our way of thinking and force us to join his cause."

"Right," Pyro agreed. "Clearly he just wants to get you out of the way for a short period of time, in which he plans to do something. Something he expects you to try and prevent."

"But what? That's the key. That's what this whole thing revolves around. He's started the terrorist attacks to distract the humans from noticing anything suspicious, and to give him more power over a terrified population. He's been sending us these adamantium discs to distract us and confuse us, and ultimately to lure us towards him. By blaming mutants for the terrorist bombings, he's had our friends arrested by the human authorities and brought to him. It all fits together like a jigsaw. We're just missing the central piece."

"He seems to be involved heavily in research," Pyro said. "My guess is he's discovered – or is on the brink of discovering – some new piece of technology. Perhaps something that will let him wage war on humanity again."

"Right, and when he does, whose side are you on?" Logan demanded.

Pyro ignored him, "If I'm right, we need to find out what his discovery is."

"Maybe it's this new metal," Chloe suggested.

"Of course. Constantium."

"Which is what?" said Logan.

Chloe explained, "A new metallic alloy that's stronger than adamantium. It's just been discovered – well, created – by Naval and civilian researchers. We believe it's what Magneto used to carve the adamantium discs."

"So what's he planning to do with it?"

"Well, that's obvious enough," Pyro answered. "He can make weapons out of it. He can make anything out of it. He can do anything with it. If it's stronger than adamantium, he can control the world with it."

"So why didn't he just do the same thing with adamantium?" she said.

"Because it's difficult to produce, and difficult to manipulate," said Logan. "Maybe constantium is easier."

Then he went on, "All right. So, let's say he plans to wipe out humanity using constantium-based weapons. Why does he need all this secrecy? Why is he so afraid of us that he's going to such extraordinary lengths to get us out of his way? Why doesn't he just take the simplest option and kill us?"

Chloe said, "Well…as you said before, he's obviously been planning this for years. Presumably he had to maintain secrecy to keep us from finding out."

"But why us specifically?"

"Maybe there's some weakness of his that only we know about," she suggested.

Logan shrugged, "Nothing comes to mind, besides his old age. That's something I don't get. He's what by now, a hundred? How can he possibly be doing all this?"

"We'll get to that later. I'm thinking maybe he has some weakness that the Professor knew about. Maybe Magneto tried to hide it from him and failed. Maybe he's afraid that the Professor told us about it before he died."

Pyro frowned, "Well, I know Magneto better than either of you, but I don't know of any Achilles' heel."

"Or perhaps you do and you're just not telling us," said Logan. "Chloe, we can't trust this guy. He lied to us about Mystique. She isn't dead, and he's been meeting her."

"I met her once, and she sought me out, not the other way round. Look Wolverine, I don't particularly care if you trust me or not. I certainly don't trust you. All I care about now is my daughter. The only reason I care about this whole Magneto affair is because it's putting Gemini in danger."

"So whose side are you on? Ours or his?"

"Neither. I'm on the same side I've always been on: my own."

"Yeah, we noticed."

"Logan," said Chloe. "Remember I wasn't around the school at the time the Professor died. Was there anything he said, any kind of last message he passed on? Anything at all he might have known about Magneto that he never told us before?"

"No idea," Logan admitted. "I wasn't around either. I'd been getting majorly pissed off with Cyclops over something, so I disappeared for a few days to let things cool down. If there was any kind of last message, Cyclops would be the one he gave it to."

Chloe sighed, "Yeah. We have to find Scott. We have to find Annie and Gary too. We have to find a way to stop Magneto. We have to do so much, and we don't even know where to start."

Pyro spoke up, "If Magneto isn't dead then Mystique lied to me. She swore that he was gone. She even – wait a minute. Gemini?"

The girl looked over, "Hey, Dad."

"Come here a moment, honey."

Obediently she walked over. Nervously keeping her distance from Logan, she stood between her father and Chloe. She was still wearing the necklace Mystique had given her, and Pyro gently unfastened the clasp at the back of her neck, taking the pendant in his hand.

"Lovely," said Logan sarcastically. "I didn't know you were into jewellery."

Pyro flipped open the cover, "Mystique gave us this. She told us Magneto was dead and the remains of his ashes were inside. She even told me it would stand up to a DNA test."

"I didn't know you could DNA test someone's ashes," Logan said.

"I guess it depends if any traces have survived," said Chloe. "The real question is, where do we get an existing sample of his DNA to compare it with?"

"The Justice Department," said Pyro. "When he was taken into custody in Stryker's plastic prison, they would have taken a blood sample then."

"Would it still exist?"

"I should imagine so. He's still officially a fugitive from justice. They don't know he's dead."

"Wait a minute, what's the point in doing a DNA test?" Logan demanded. "We already know he isn't dead. We've all seen him. The only explanation is that Mystique lied."

"So she's part of it too?"

"Of course she is."

"Hey, Mystique isn't part of anything!" Gemini snapped. "Leave her alone!"

"It doesn't make any sense," said Pyro, shaking his head. "If Magneto wanted to wipe out humanity, why didn't he help me and my students spread the Plague?"

"Perhaps he guessed the Plague would mutate to attack us as well as the humans," Chloe suggested. "Or maybe he was too proud to play second fiddle to your plan."

"Does that matter?" Logan said impatiently. "Do any of these questions matter? All we know is that he's on the brink of doing something huge and we have to get in his way! No more questions. Let's just concentrate on what we actually know, and see where that takes us."

"All right," said Chloe. "We know Magneto's alive. We know he has our friends. John, you spoke earlier about your idea of a group of conspirators behind these terrorist attacks. It seems clear that if such a group exists, Magneto is organising it."

"That would make sense," said Logan. "It's also what I've been saying all along."

"I told you earlier that Marina managed to take some photographs of Magneto. She also got a picture of some people Magneto seems to be working with. I want you to take a look and see if you recognise any of them."

She led them to her office, where the photograph of the nine figures was still on the computer screen.

"Marina and I have already identified three of them," she said, pointing them out. "That's Robert Worcester, the media overlord. And here, the Middle Eastern oil billionaire; I think his name is Ahmed Al-Sayed. Third, Karen Auberschwift."

"Auberschwift," said Pyro. "She's the one who's supposed to be invincible in the court room, isn't she?"

"That's her. I've heard that other lawyers will refuse to take a case if they know they're going to be facing her. She's obviously an incredible ally to have on your side. Little wonder Magneto has recruited her. Do you recognise any of the others? Hang on, I'll write these down."

While she reached for a pad of paper, the two men moved closer to the screen. Pyro immediately indicated one of the women, "I know her. That's what's-her-name. Ellen Marshall. She's one of the President's advisors."

"What do you know about her?"

"She hates mutants. She's one of the loudest voices behind mutant registration. She was an assassination target of ours a year or so ago."

"Surprise," Logan muttered. "I think I recognise one or two of these other guys, but I can't remember who they are. I'm good with faces but pretty hopeless with names."

Chloe headed for the door, "I'll go and get the teenagers. Maybe they can help us."

The two men continued facing the picture on the computer screen.

"So what does Magneto want these people for?" said Pyro.

"Well, that's obvious, isn't it?" Logan retorted. "Each of them lets him expand his power base in a different way. The oil guy has money. The newspaper man handles propaganda. The political advisor gives him a foot in the White House. The lawyer gives him legal protection."

"Yes, that is obvious, and it's not what I was getting at. I meant: why is he working with humans? He hates them. I can only assume he's manipulating them for his own ends, and is going to pull the rug from under their feet at the last moment."

"Sounds likely."

At that moment Chloe returned, with the teenagers in tow.

"Nine people plus Magneto," said Pyro. "These are our conspirators all right. Is there anyone else?"

"Yes," said Chloe. "Two others that we know of. An Admiral who works in Naval research, who we assume was involved with the constantium project. And some kind of elite commando, the guy who led the attack on the school earlier."

"What attack on the school?" said Logan.

"Wait a minute," Pyro interrupted. "Magneto was behind that? That doesn't make any sense. Why would he try to kill mutants? I thought we agreed he wanted you guys kept alive under his mind control."

"Maybe he knew his attack would fail. Maybe it was meant to provoke us," Chloe said.

Marina shook her head, and spoke up nervously, "He – um – it wasn't like that. I o – overheard his reaction when he found out that – that it failed. He was surprised and – and he wasn't happy."

"Something doesn't add up," said Logan. "First we're saying he wants us kept alive but under his control. Now we're saying he sent troops here to kill us. Which is it?"

Nobody had an answer.

"So…eleven people plus Magneto," Pyro amended. "That makes twelve. I wonder if any of them know what he's really planning to do."

"How do we know it's really him?" said Atlas. "Couldn't it be someone wearing a disguise?"

Aqua shook her head, "N – no. I – I met him, remember? He was c – controlling metal spikes and trying to impale me."

"I can't believe he would do that," Pyro said.

"I can," Logan muttered.

"Take a look at this picture," Chloe said to the teens. "See if you recognise any of these people."

They moved forward to take a look. Gemini was near the front, and her eyes widened with shock as she gasped, "I don't believe it!"

"What?"

She grabbed Pyro's arm, "It can't be. It's – it's her!"

Pointing to the remaining unidentified woman, her hand trembling, Gemini repeated, "It's her!"

"Who?" said Chloe.

"My mother, of course!"

"Your mom?" someone gasped.

"But you said she was dead," Cassandra frowned.

Pyro looked more closely at the picture, "We theorised that she might have faked her death. Her body was never found. In fact, we think she's the Cartëasis who discovered constantium. It makes perfect sense that she'd be in this photograph, and that she'd be working with Magneto."

"I hate her. I wish she was dead," Gemini spat.

Cassandra still looked confused, "But you said your mother gave you to the researcher – Van Gaarde – because she hated mutants. Why's she working with Magneto? Does she know he's a mutant? And why did he allow her to do that to you?"

"Maybe the other eleven don't know who he really is," someone suggested.

Pyro said, "This explains how Magneto knew where to tell me to find Gemini all those years ago. He must have found out what her mother did, and sent me to get her out."

"So she's the one who developed this constantium stuff?" Dominic said.

"That's right," said Chloe. "As far as we know she worked in conjunction with Naval researchers to do it. Admiral McKenzie was obviously the go-between."

"And Magneto clearly has a plan for the constantium," Pyro went on. "He must have a large supply of the metal if he can afford to waste some of it on engraving those badges. I wonder, does it have any special properties other than its strength?"
"Does it need anything more?" Logan asked.

"Um – " Marina began uncertainly.

"Marina?" Chloe prompted her gently.

"It – um – it might be nothing, but – but there was some constantium in McKenzie's house when we were – when we were there. It was in a – a box labelled Constantium Samples #1-5. There was – there was something making Annie and Gary lose consciousness. Something was a – affecting their telepathy. Maybe it was – maybe it was the constantium."

"It blocks telepathy?" said Pyro. "In that case I wonder if it's based on the material Magneto's helmet was made from."

"Which was what, precisely?" said Logan.

"I have no idea; he never said."

"Ah, but there was some of it on the island when you were last there. Wasn't there?"

"Yes. Part of a room Magneto built, somewhere to go where he could be safe from Xavier and Cerebro."

Chloe nodded, "If we can take a look at it, it might give us some clues about constantium."

"You forget: the island was destroyed by the Horsemen."

"Of course. I'd forgotten. Is it possible that the metal survived?"

"I don't know. You want to find out?"

"Yes," said Chloe. "The more we know about constantium, the more we know about what Magneto is capable of using it for. Marina?"

"Y – yeah?"

"I want you to look into this. The island was only a few miles from the shore. John will give you the co-ordinates. Can you swim there?"

"Easily."

"Right. I want you to look through what's left of the Brotherhood's island and try to find some trace of this metal. Bring back anything you find."

"You – you got it."

"As for the rest of us," said Chloe. "Dominic, Cassandra, stay here and work on finding out who the other people in this photograph are. Vertigo, Atlas, it's possible the school could come under attack again. I want you to be on the lookout and help defend it. Gemini, I'd like you to find out where your mother was working when she developed constantium. Pyro, you can help her."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Gemini protested. "You can't tell me and my dad what to do!"

"Honey, relax," her father said. "It's OK. We can probably find out from your sister what we need to know."

Chloe continued, "Our main problem is we have no idea where Magneto is based. Logan, I want you to work on tracking down Mystique. There must be something she can tell us. I don't believe that she simply lied to us. There was no reason to do it. Perhaps Magneto has deceived her too. Perhaps she can help us find him."

"What do you expect me to do?" Logan retorted. "Tracking her down is like tracking down a brain cell in Cyclops' head."

"Anything you can think of. Find out where she met up with Pyro recently and try to pick up her scent. Maybe you can coax her into meeting you. We know she likes you," she said, ignoring his growl.

"All right, I'll try," he shrugged. "I think it's a stupid idea though. What about you, what are you gonna do?"
"I'm going to try and get in touch with Neil. We need him here if Magneto is going to try his mind control on us. OK. Any questions? Right, then let's get moving."

As the others moved into action, Chloe was suddenly surprised at how easily she'd handled that. She had never known any real leadership qualities before. It had just come to her naturally. Logan the eternal loner and Pyro the worried father both clearly had no interest in taking charge of the situation, so Chloe did what she often did, simply slipping into the role where she was needed.

Dominic and Cassandra found themselves alone in the room as the rest hurried to their various tasks. They pulled up chairs and sat in front of the computer. Cassandra picked up the pad of paper Chloe had been writing the names on. There were twelve question marks, the first five of which had names beside them: Robert Worcester, Ahmed Al-Sayed, Karen Auberschwift, Ellen Marshall, Peter McKenzie. The sixth question mark was labelled: School Attacker (name unknown). The seventh had Elena Cartëasis (Alexandra's mother) written beside it. Question marks eight through eleven were still blank. The twelfth and final question mark was labelled: Magneto.

"So we still don't know who four of these twelve are," she said. "And we don't really know how they all link together. I mean, it's obvious each of them brings something unique to the group. But why and when did they all come together? How did Magneto convince them to join his conspiracy? He must have promised them something, but what? It can't be money or power, because most of them have that already. It can't be some kind of political or religious crusade, because they all come from different backgrounds."

Dominic shrugged, "There must be something they have in common. There must be something that links them. What do we know about them? Let's go through them in turn and see if some kind of pattern emerges."

Cassandra pointed her pen at the top of the list, "Worcester. All I know about him is that he owns something like a half of all newspapers and TV stations in America."

"And in Britain. He is English, you know."

"There was something in the news about him last year, but I can't remember exactly what. I think he'd just bought up one of his biggest rivals, and he'd gotten into all kinds of trouble about the deal not being entirely legal. Rumour said he was going to be sued for billions, but he managed to escape in the end. In fact – now that I think about it – I'm pretty certain she was the lawyer who represented him."

She was pointing to the third name on the list.

"Auberschwift?" said Dominic. "She's his lawyer? Well, there's a link right away. We should find out if she's ever defended any of the others."

"I can think of another link. Cartëasis worked on the constantium project together with the Navy, didn't she? And McKenzie works in Navy research. They must have come together at some point."

"Right. Here, I reckon we ought to concentrate on working out who the anonymous four are. When we have names for all twelve, we'll probably see more links."

Both of them looked back at the digital photograph still on the computer screen. The anonymous four were all men, but neither Dominic nor Cassandra recognised any of them.

"I have an idea," she said, hitting the print button.

Waiting a few moments for Chloe's colour printer to spit out a hard copy of the image, Cassandra walked to the door. As she had expected, Acceleratus was hovering outside, hoping to find out what was going on.

"Cassie, Cassie, tell me what's happening!"

"I will, honey, but you do something for me first, OK? I want you to show this picture to all your friends."

With her pen she circled the four unidentified men, and went on, "If anyone recognises one of these four, let me know, OK?"

"OK, Cassie!"

The little girl hurried away clutching the picture, and Cassandra went back into the office.

"Kids have good memories for faces," she explained to Dominic. "Even if they don't know who these guys are, there's a chance they might have seen them before somewhere."

"Which gives us time to concentrate on finding out how they all link together. Nicely done."

"Thank you."

He hesitated, "Um, Cassandra – "

"Yes?"

"Have you given any thought to what I said before? About us?"

"Well…not really."

"I…" he swallowed nervously. "…I think we could be happy together. Why don't you give it a chance to see if it works out?"

She sighed, "Look, Helios, can we just concentrate on what we're meant to be doing here?"

"I told you, you can call me Dominic."

"And I told you I only use mutant names."

He was silent for a moment, then he said, "Don't you have a name? Didn't your parents – well…"

Cassandra was angry now, "Don't talk about them!"

"Sorry. But – they must have given you a name. You must have found out somehow."

"No, they didn't! They abandoned me the day I was born, and never bothered to give me a name! Now would you drop this already, please?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Sorry."

"Let's get on with what we're meant to be doing. We're wasting time."

Gemini had headed straight for the communications room, holding the piece of paper that gave her sister's phone number. Placing the call, she waited for Melody to pick up. It took four rings.

"Hello?" came the bright and cheery voice of Gemini's older sister.

"Mel?" she said, remembering she'd called her that in years gone by.

"Alex! It's great to hear from you!"

"Yeah, you too. Listen, can I ask you a question? It's, like, really important."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Where did – " she stopped herself just before she said 'Mom'. " – where did your mother used to work?"

Her sister replied, "Well, all over the country, really. It depended on who she was working for."

"Oh. Well, I'm trying to find out where she was working on a certain project. I think she working for, or with, the US Navy."

"Ah, then it'd be the ocean labs down here in Florida. What's this about, sis? I thought you said you hated Mom and wanted nothing to do with her."

Gemini didn't want to be too specific, "I'm just trying to clear up something. Thanks, Mel."

"Any time. Oh, hey, that reminds me! There was somebody else came by the house earlier today. They were asking about Mom as well. I think it was one of your friends."

"Huh?"

"You remember, the first time you ever came here, before the Plague was destroyed? You had some friends with you. Well, one of them came by today, asking about the name Cartëasis. I told him what I just told you."

Gemini frowned, "Was it Gladiator?"

"I didn't get his name. But there was something funny about his eyes…"

"Oh, right, then I know who you're talking about. It doesn't make any sense, though; I thought he was…no, it doesn't matter. Thanks loads, Mel. I'll see you later."

"OK. Love ya, baby sister."

They hung up, and Gemini tried to make sense out of the confusion in her mind. Melody said Gladiator had been at her house. She must have been talking about his golden eyes. But hadn't Gladiator been captured by Magneto? That was what Aqua had just told them. Maybe he'd gotten away. Yeah. He must have escaped. But why had he gone to Melody's house? Had he gotten some clue about her mother's involvement in the constantium project? That had to be it. Well, it wasn't that surprising, really. She couldn't imagine Gladiator staying imprisoned anywhere for long. But why hadn't he gotten in touch with the school to let them know he was free? Maybe he couldn't. Maybe he was too busy.

Casting it aside, she hurried out of the room, narrowly avoiding running into Gaia. She had to find Dad and tell him what she had just found out about the ocean labs. Dad would probably want to go there and look for clues that would lead them to wherever Mom – no, she's not my Mom any more – was hiding. That in turn would lead them to Magneto.

But I don't get this, Gemini thought, why are we trying to stop Magneto? Isn't he on our side? Isn't he part of the Brotherhood too? And isn't he, like, dead as well? I don't get any of this!

The fourteen year old cast her mind back, searching for memories of Magneto. It was true to say she'd never really known him. He'd never gotten close to her in the way that Mystique and, latterly, Dad had done. He was always kind of aloof, kind of above her. Not really in an arrogant way, but she was just a kid and he was an old man. There was too much of an age gap for them to get close. He had paid her little attention, and she had watched him from a distance. In a way, she had to admit she'd found him frightening. It was just the way that Dad and Mystique both looked up to him and treated him with ultra respect. And, well, if Dad thought that way about someone, then he had to be pretty special.

Wait, there was something else that didn't add up. Gemini now knew that Magneto had told Dad where to find her and rescue her from the abusive researchers. But it was Mom – no, that's not her name – who had given her to the researchers in the first place…and now it looked like she was working with Magneto. Hey, that makes no sense! Why would Magneto be working with the person who gave me away? Why would he let them do that? Why would he wait two whole years before telling Dad about me? He wouldn't do that to me – would he? Gemini suddenly realised she had no idea what Magneto would or wouldn't do. As memories of her two years of abuse came back to her, she felt tears creeping in at the corner of her eyes. But she wiped them away and thought furiously, no, I'm not going to cry! Those bastards destroyed my life but I'm sure as hell not going to give in and let myself waste away. Everybody thinks I'm just a little sex toy they can use whenever they want, but I'm not, and I'm going to show the world that nobody can use me!

She was at Dad's room now, and she pushed open the door to walk inside.

"Dad? I – oh, sorry…"

Pyro quickly put down the little photograph of his beloved Jacqueline before his daughter could see it, and he looked at her, "Did you call your sister?"

"Yeah, and I found out where her mother was probably working when she made the constantium. She said something about some ocean labs down in Florida. Are we gonna go there and look for her?"

"Yes."

"Dad, I'm confused," she went on immediately. "Why is Magneto doing this? Why has he forgotten about us? You, me, Mystique – don't we mean anything to him? Why did he let my mother give me to the researchers so they could rape me for two years?"

"Gemini, I don't know. I'm even more confused than you are. His actions don't fit in with the Magneto I used to know. Part of me can't believe it's really him; I keep thinking it must be some kind of deception, that it isn't really him. I mean, it can't be him doing this. But we know it is, though. You heard what Aqua said. She saw him controlling metal."

"Yeah, I guess…but…"

"But what?"

"It's like everything he ever told us was a lie! He's working with humans and he's trying to kill mutants. He's trying to kill us. Was it all a lie? All the time he was leading the Brotherhood, was it just a lie? Was he running this human conspiracy in the background?"

"Impossible. No, something must have happened to him. Something must have changed him. Something must have changed his beliefs and his priorities."

"Xavier! Maybe he went into Magneto's mind and changed him. Like, just before Xavier died. Hey, that could be it! Xavier loved humans, right, and that fits in with what Magneto is doing now. Working with humans to destroy mutants! What if that's what he's really planning to do with the constantium? To kill all the mutants?"

"I don't know. I don't know. All I know is there's something going on here we can't see. Something will explain all this. There has to be a reason why Magneto is doing this, and I don't think we're going to get any closer to it by simple guesswork."

Chloe Rosiçky had entered the communications room just as Gemini had come hurrying out. The two of them had nearly collided, but both had managed to react in time to avoid each other. Chloe now activated one of the communicators and tried to make contact with her husband. She assumed he had taken his own personal communicator with him, but after several minutes of trying to establish contact, there was no response of any kind.

Perhaps he's busy, she thought. Chloe sighed and put her hands over her face, as if she could suck the tiredness out of her brain and into her palms. She couldn't think. She just couldn't concentrate at all. Her children was missing, and she had no idea where they were or what might be happening to them. She'd never felt this afraid for their safety before. Part of her still couldn't believe it was happening. Annie and Gary were supposed to be invincible. She'd convinced herself that her natural maternal worry for them was unnecessary. She'd been certain that they could defend themselves from any danger that might come their way. She'd believed, as they all had, that Annie and Gary together were indestructible.

But that was not the case. Magneto had discovered some weakness. Marina had said it was something to do with their telepathy. Something had been throwing off their power and distracting their concentration; something that had begun to affect them so badly that they lost consciousness entirely. Marina had obviously wanted to rescue them, to bring them back with her, but it hadn't been possible. Chloe understood. She didn't blame Marina. The girl had done remarkably well regardless, escaping with her own life and the photographic evidence of Magneto and his co-conspirators.

What's happening to them? What's happening to my children? Oh God, please keep them safe! Please let me see them again! Have I been neglecting my duty to protect them? Despite their powers, are they still too young and inexperienced to look after themselves without my help? Is this my fault?

She tried again to contact Neil, but again met with no success.

What will Magneto do to them? Has he already killed them? Does he even know who they are? Does he know that Neil and I married and started a family? Will he use them as a bargaining chip to keep us out of his way? Will our family emerge safe from this chaos? We've always managed to keep ourselves safe before…but I don't think we've ever faced an enemy like this before…

Marina was preparing to leave on her mission to the remains of the island. It wouldn't take her long to get there. There were underground streams somewhere on the estate that she was sure would eventually lead to the ocean. Swimming at full speed she knew it would take her no time at all. Pyro had given her the co-ordinates where the Brotherhood's island had once been. All she had to do was search through the underwater debris, for any trace of the telepathy-blocking material that Magneto had once used. Would there be a connection between it and constantium? It seemed likely. This new metal seemed to be the key to everything that was going on here. Magneto had obviously gone to incredible lengths to manufacture it and keep it secret. Marina guessed it was the metal that had disabled Annie and Gary. It had been among the samples in McKenzie's secret office. The closer they had got to it, the worse the effects had become. That had to be the explanation for it.

Then something else occurred to her. She had forgotten about the disk. The DVD ROM they had found hidden in the walls of her house, that had contained the secrets her family had been killed for. It had been all about McKenzie and his projects and corrupt friends. Maybe there was information on there that would help identify the mysterious conspirators who were working with Magneto. McKenzie was one of them, so it made sense that his other contacts would be among the rest of the twelve. She hurried to Fliss' office, where she'd last seen the disk. It was still there, and she took it to where Dominic and Cassandra were working.

Both of them looked round as Marina pushed open the door. Cassandra immediately glared at her, and Marina felt nervous. The two of them had never really spoken to each other, ever, and there was still a lot of bad feeling simmering on the surface. Marina hated it. She just wished it could be over. She just wished Cassandra would find something else to occupy her mind, and leave Marina alone. She swallowed, found her courage, and held up the disk, "Have, um, have a look at this. There – there might be something useful on it. We n – never really had the chance to examine it fully."

Cassandra didn't move, but Dominic reached over to take the DVD from her hand.

"What's on it?"

"It's – um – it's information about Admiral McKenzie. He's on your list. He's the one who – who killed my family."

"OK. We'll take a look."

As Marina left, Cassandra muttered, "Whore," just loud enough for the other girl to hear. Marina pretended she hadn't heard it, and hurried to the exit.

Pyro found Chloe in the communications room, still trying to contact Oculus.

"Hey," he said. "Listen, my daughter called her sister and it looks like we've found out where constantium was developed. She said something about ocean labs down in Florida, and I think I know which ones she means. That seems like our next avenue of exploration."

She nodded, "Right. Once I've managed to call Neil, I'll come with you."

"Where is he at this moment?"

"In London, talking to the UN Security Council. He's trying to calm down the world-wide panic before it spreads out of control."

"London?"

"That's what I said, yes."

"But the UN isn't meeting in London. They're meeting here, in New York. It was on the news."

"Neil said he was going to London. You must have got it wrong."

"I don't think so. Check and see."

It was the work of a few minutes for them to log into one of the computers and search for the topic online. Pyro was right. The UN were meeting in New York, not London.

"So what's Neil doing there?" Chloe demanded.

"You're his wife. You tell me."

She went on, "And why can't I contact him? I checked and his communicator's not here. He must have it with him."

"You don't think he's in any danger? You don't think he met Magneto?"

"Not in London, I shouldn't think. But why did he go there? There must be something else there. But what is it and why didn't he tell us? Why didn't he tell me?"

"No idea, Chloe. Look, I'm going to try and find out more about these ocean labs. I'll let you know what I find."

"OK. I'll keep trying to call Neil."

Gemini was standing silently in the doorway, watching the conversation between the two adults. She didn't particularly care that Oculus was missing – he'd turn up – but she was beginning to get restless. They had to do something. They had to act now to find out what was going on! It seemed majorly stupid to just be sitting around here fact-finding when they ought to be out there fighting the enemy. Every second they wasted was one extra second in which their enemies' plans – whatever those were – might be coming to fruition.