Last time on Take the Long Way Home: Last time, a brutal fight in Cleveland culminated with the Hellions getting thoroughly thrashed by a team-up between Hack's crew, and Kid Razor. Sharon Smith, the Hellion known as Catseye, was rescued from the control of Emma Frost by her boyfriend, one Jon "Hack" Lutz. The X-men extended an invitation to the two teens, and Hack's team of sentient computer programs, to come live at the Institute. Hack turned them down, opting instead for the humbler environs of the Hood Boardinghouse. And now we see how all of the members of the Triad are coping with their specific situations.

AN: Well, I'm back now, and going strong folks! Finished with Basic and A School, and have reached my first duty station, La Madd Italy! And I'll be going to the Dark Continent in a few months, so updates'll still be a bit sporadic, to say the least. But at least this time I'll have ready access to my comp so I'll be able to write still.

PS. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and have a great New Year!

Chapter 34- Catching Up

Calm.

That was the only thing that Sebastian felt. The demon/mutant hybrid was sitting in a lotus position near one of the walls of the Alley. His eyes were closed, his expression stoic, and his sword lying next to him.

He took a slight breath through his nose, and his lips twitched downwards in the barest of frowns. He smelt…anger. Anger and a strange…wrongness. There were many in the Morlocks that smelt of anger when he passed by, thinking that he didn't deserve to be there; those that felt that he seemed to act like he was superior to them. But only one person had that strange wrong smell. He cracked open one eye, and bit back a groan.

Standing above him, tail twitching in agitation, was Feral, glaring down at him. "Yes?" he asked in a weary tone, already knowing what was going to happen. It had been the same thing for the last week.

"You're in my spot," Feral snarled. Slash made a mighty effort, and actually succeeded in not rolling his eyes. Down the way, some of the other mutants stopped in their various activities to watch. Feral had been trying to pick a fight with the newcomer for days now, without any noticeable success. Perhaps this time Sebastian would lose his temper?

"I don't believe so. Yesterday, I was meditating in that corner," Slash pointed to a corner that was slightly more shadowed than the rest of the Alley, "and you said that that was "your spot". Now correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like you're just trying to agitate me into fighting you. Correct?" Feral ignored his impeccable line of logic, instead changing to a new tactic.

She reached down for the Tetsusaiga. "Nice knife," she sneered. But before she could get her hands on it, she found herself looking into cold amber eyes, her wrist caught in a grip that made a vice look weak.

"Yes it is," Slash said in a freezing tone, "and if you want, we can go somewhere out of the way, and you can get intimately acquainted with it." Feral's eyes lit up in triumph, as she opened her mouth to retort.

At that precise moment, Spyke stepped up, scowling. "That's enough Feral, we don't need you picking fights with the newcomer." Feral scowled, and muttered something under her breath as she turned to leave. Slash's ears perked up.

"And exactly when did you see that?" he hollered after the feline mutant. The back of Feral's neck colored, and she stepped up the pace of her walk. Spyke shot Slash a look. "Don't ask," the dog-eared teen deadpanned. Spyke nodded distractedly. "Did you need something, or were you just preventing an altercation."

"It's your turn to take a watch."

"And who will be watching me during my watch?" Spyke raised one jagged eyebrow. "I'm not stupid Spyke, I know that neither you nor Callisto really trust Shippo-sensei or I enough to take a watch on our own. Speaking of which, where did he go?"

"Capybara and Thorn will be joining you on your watch. And Shippo went with Callisto and Exo on a supply run." Slash raised a single brow, prompting an explanation from Spyke.

"Your mentor may be annoying, but he's very good at creating illusions... however he does it." Slash's eyebrow rose higher.

"So you still don't believe that Sensei is a demon?"

"Would you?"

Slash thought for a moment. "I guess not, given the situation. If our roles were reversed, I'd think that he was a mutant too. But they're not, and I know what he is, even if you doubt his word." Evan ignored the silent accusation of mistrust, plodding alongside the amber-eyed mutant for a few minutes in silence. He broke the silence after a few minutes.

"Look, we can't afford to take any chances, you know? We've been lucky that no humans have come looking for us yet, and a lot of us are concerned that you two are gonna end up selling us up the river." Sebastian snorted, noting the clear division of 'them' and 'us'.

"And what would I gain from doing that? Material wealth? I can create diamonds from gravel and gold from scrap steel. A "cure" for my "condition"? I've never really cared about outward appearances. Human allies against some obscure foe? My friends and I have been called a three man natural disaster by some of the most powerful fighters in the underground. So what do I have to gain from selling the Morlocks out?"

Evan appeared to think it over for a moment. "And what about Shippo?"

Slash let out a bark of laughter that reinforced his canine appearance. "What could Shippo-sensei possibly gain from selling out a bunch of mutants that remind him of the straights his own people are in?" At Spyke's skeptical glance Sebastian elaborated.

"All the Youkai have gone into hiding, been assimilated into the human world as anything from high-ranking businessmen to janitors depending on their type and rank, or simply faded away like smoke on the wind, a forgotten memory of a sometimes benign boogey-man. The only thing that keeps him from going out and pulling pranks all day is the promise he made to my ancestors."

Evan just shrugged, unable to find any holes in the white-haired boys logic. As they rounded a bend, the conversation turned to a different subject. "You know, maybe you should start wearing a cap or something, those ears of yours really seem to devastate most of the ladies down here, and we need everyone to be on the alert. And having over half the female population drooling over you isn't exactly making you popular with the other guys down here either," Evan added, enjoying seeing the stoic young man squirm when the topic changed to girls.

Sebastian sighed. "I'm sorry Evan, but I can't bring myself to put a cap on. It hurts my ears and muffles my hearing. Plus even then the girls would come after me because of my hair, or my eyes, or simply for my physique in general." Evan nodded, ceding the point. Most Morlock men were… scrawny, to put it kindly, from their limited diet. Sebastian on the other hand, was lean, but toned, and looked all the more dangerous for it. And as all men knew, most girls loved the dangerous ones.

As the two rounded another bend they came in sight of Thorn and Capybara near one of the many entrances to the Morlock tunnels. A grate that presumably led to the street allowed a grid of light to fall into the space. The rat-man was quietly speaking to two of the oversized rodents that made up his intelligence network, while Thorn was practicing growing a small shrub and then shrinking it back to seed form in a small patch of dirt she had found in one of the patches of light. 'So she can reverse plant growth as well as enhance it,' Sebastian thought, 'Interesting.' As the two neared Capybara and his two scouts looked up, while Thorn continued to concentrate on the small shrub, lifting her hands as if in prayer as it grew upwards, then spreading them out as pale, delicate flowers blossomed.

For a moment their delicate scent teased the mutant hybrid's nose before she made another gesture, causing the shrub to dwindle back into a small seed. The scent of the flowers lingered in the fetid air for a moment, ghostlike, before being overwhelmed by the normal stench of the sewers. Sebastian gave a gusty sigh in disappointment, and Thorn's head jerked up at the sound, breaking through her semi-trance.

"What took you?" Capy asked. Spyke gave a tired sigh.

"Feral." The one word answer was enough, both Capy and Thorn nodded in understanding.

"She and her sister are so different, if it wasn't for the physical similarities you'd hardly be able to tell they were siblings," Capy remarked.

"Maybe sisters by blood, but not in spirit," Sebastian returned, setting himself down in a corner and almost immediately assuming a cross-legged position, the Tetsusaiga cradled in the crook of his arm as he bent his head down. To the casual observer it looked as if he was sleeping, but the others could see that he was on full alert. What gave him away was the constant twitching of his ears and how he would take a deep breath through his nose every few minutes, scanning the surrounding area through scent and sound for anything unwelcome.

Spyke nodded to himself after watching the small group for a moment, then left to return to his duties as co-leader of the Morlocks.

After a few peaceful minutes Thorn looked up from her once-again flowering shrub towards Slash. "Why is Feral so intent on picking a fight with you?" she asked softly. Sebastian gave a small shrug, not bothering to open his eyes. A trace of contemptuous scorn entered his voice when he answered.

"Kheh, how should I know? All I know is that there's something wrong with her." Capy looked over at him sharply at this.

"What do you mean "something wrong"?" he asked in a to-casual voice. Slash gave a one shouldered shrug, his brow creasing in thought.

"I don't know, but it's in her scent. I can usually tell what someone's feeling due to pheromones and body language, and all I can tell you is that something in her scent just puts my hackles up. Makes me feel like I either need to get as far away from her as possible, or neutralize her before she does something horrible."

Both Capy and Thorn frowned at the finality behind the word "neutralize". "But then I throttle my instincts and just ride out whatever petty little squall she tries to swamp me with." Thorn gave a small giggle at the sailor speak, prompting a faint blush across the dog-eared teens cheeks. Capy indulged himself in a small smile as the two teens began to converse about other, more lighthearted, topics, before he began to worriedly turn this information over in his head.

---

The 'Hood House

---

Coyote glanced around the room and sighed to himself. So far the Brotherhood hadn't taken to well to his decision to add to their ranks without getting some feedback from the current members first.

Personally he couldn't blame them, he would have been just as pissed if someone had tried to pull the same stunt with him. However this was a personal favor to Tom, and to a lesser extent to Jon as well.

The hacker in question was sitting in one of the broken down armchairs in his regular clothes, Sharon huddled in his lap still in her housecat form. She had transformed to her human state briefly, but had gone back when greeted by the incredulous glares from the Brotherhood, and not even coaxing from Jon could convince her that they wouldn't hurt her, so he settled for stroking her back, trying to calm her quaking form. Finally she had fallen asleep, more from exhaustion than anything else, but was still curled up tightly. The pendant that Hack had placed on her earlier had converted to a snug fitting collar that wasn't too tight around her throat.

Raven hovered near the young couple, her nurturing instincts battling with the knowledge that anything she tried to do to help would most certainly do more harm than good right now. Decoy and Scratch had reverted to their "indoor" forms, and were laying at Jon's feet, looking around curiously. Biker had left as soon as he was sure the two youngsters were safe, and Sidewinder and Overdrive had been put in "storage".

Across from them Wanda and Todd were sitting on opposite ends of the sagging couch, with Lance in the middle. Pietro, who was still unconscious, was propped up in a corner, a small line of drool slithering down his chin. Freddy had retreated to his sanctuary in the kitchen after glaring at Coyote without even giving the new arrivals more than a passing glance, and the clang and clanks of his movements could be heard clearly. Lance gave the odd couple another once-over.

"Soooo, what's your story?" he asked. His tone, while not exactly friendly, was not hostile either, merely curious. Jon shrugged, careful not to jostle the sleeping form on his lap.

"Ah, you know, the usual. You take a wrong turn trying to lose a particularly nasty virus, log out at the first exit you see and find yourself literally in the lap of one of the most unique, interesting, and beautiful girls you've ever encountered," at this point he was softly stroking Sharon's back, "who happens to live in this big giant mansion with a team of the first mutants outside your friends you've ever met, all of them being taught how to "best utilize their powers" by some weird, but supposedly kindly, woman. After a while a few things about your girlfriend's home life don't add up and you do a little digging into this woman's background." He gave a distant frown as he recollected memories he'd prefer to leave buried, more for Sharon's sake than his own.

"Well you dig around a little and find out that your girlfriend's benefactor is actually a prominent member of a club that's been around for centuries and controls a nice chunk of the organized underworld, and she's been training her students in criminal activities."

Lance and Todd were leaning forward now, their interest caught, while Wanda's eyes showed that she was entranced by the telling. Coyote's ears caught a distinct lack of noise from the kitchen and when he cast his eyes towards the door he noticed that it had been wedged open a crack, Freddy's large frame still visibly moving, but obviously keeping an ear open as well. Jon continued; his eyes contemplative as he continued to stroke Sharon.

"Well of course you try to bust you girl out of this life of crime, and end up getting caught, putting up a fight, and getting your ass handed to you on a plate. So you retreat, regroup, reorganize, upgrade, and go to try again, only to find that your girlfriend's been turned into a mind controlled slave and only some very lucky foresight on your part prevented her memories of you from being wiped out completely." Todd and Lance both blanched at the thought, while Wanda looked horrified. Out of the corner of his eye Coyote saw Freddy pause, before going back to his task.

"You bait a trap, and are skilled, or just plain lucky, enough to have them fall for it, swoop in, and after a kicking some serious ass you manage to get your girlfriend out of said evil bitch's clutches." Jon stopped then, one hand clenching into a fist as he remembered how Sharon had cried almost all the way to their current location, tears streaming down her cheeks as she choked out sobs.

Frost had lost a valuable asset, true, but in Jon's eyes it was only the beginning of the payback he planned to inflict. He would do whatever it took to stamp out the Hellfire club, root and branch, until not even the name of the society could be recalled.

Lance blinked, an action that Todd mimicked, as they assimilated all of this information. Pietro continued to ooze drool in the corner, and the sounds of Freddy preparing something resumed. Wanda looked to be deep in thought, occasionally glancing to Sharon, who was shivering in her sleep as if the very mention of her former teammates and benefactor invited nightmares.

Finally Todd spoke up.

"That's pretty intense man, but why not take your girl home 'stead of coming here? I mean this place ain't exactly the Ritz yo."

A tired, pained look came over Jon's face for a moment when Todd mentioned "home", one that all three 'Hood members had seen before. They had all seen it in the mirror at one point or another.

But before Jon could answer, Freddy nudged open the kitchen door with one hip, holding a tray loaded with sandwiches, a couple of saucers of milk, and a small bowl of leftover beef from last nights roast. He put the tray down on the rickety coffee table between the chair and the sofa, before taking a seat on the couch, Lance moving over to make room for him. He took a sandwich, and, at the hacker's curious look, gave a small nod.

"Well, help yourself," the Texan said, before taking a big bite of his own sandwich. Jon nodded in thanks, before taking one of the bowls of milk and the bowl of beef, and setting them down on the floor for Scratch and Decoy. The two programs dug in heartily, mewing and grunting out their thanks as they ate.

Picking up and balancing the other saucer on his knee, Jon gently prodded his girlfriend. "Come on Cat, wake up…" At her slightly grumpy "meow" Jon smiled. "Freddy made some food. There's sandwiches, or a saucer of milk if you'd really prefer to stay in cat form." Sharon looked up at him, her eyes questioning. Jon smiled warmly at her. "It's okay Cat, I know Coyote, and Shawn's told me all about the Brotherhood. They're good people, and they won't hurt you like Frost did." Jon looked around the room as he spoke, meeting everyone present's eyes, making sure they understood the promise inherent in his next sentence. "And if they try to hurt you they'll answer to me." Sharon nodded firmly, as if coming to a decision.

The cat seemed to stretch out languidly, growing in size as she did. Her shape seemed to blur in the trademark of most morphs, the feline features merging with and then giving way to more human ones. In the end a lavender-haired girl was sitting in Jon's lap, cat tail twitching as she warily surveyed the Brotherhood through slit pupils. Her collar had changed to a velvet choker with the pendant stuck in the center. Jon however, was more concerned with the sudden increase in weight on a certain piece of flesh that was very dear to him.

"Cat," he squeaked, "shift weight, please!" Sharon cocked her head at him for a moment before realizing the source of his distress. One hand flew up to cover her mouth as she shifted so that her weight wasn't so…centered on his lap.

"Oh Jon-jon, Catseye is so sorry!" she apologized. Jon let out a sigh of relief, his voice cracking slightly as he answered.

"It's okay Cat, you didn't realize," he soothed, wincing internally at the sharp rises in his voice.

Fred was chuckling behind his sandwich, while Todd and Lance weren't so kind, laughing outright at the somewhat diminutive teen's misfortune. Wanda was giggling slightly, before sharply reminding herself that she had a reputation to keep and giggling was not part of it. Jon just glared at them as if insulted, before giving a weak smile as he thought how it would have looked to him.

All the laughing had the unforeseen side effect of waking up Pietro. The silver-haired speedster grunted, before sitting up. He wiped the drool from his chin, making a disgusted face, before looking around to see what all the laughter was about. His eye immediately fell on Sharon, and the playboy instincts kicked in.

He zipped over to the armchair, grabbing one of Sharon's hands in his own. "And who might you be?" he leered at her, before attempting to kiss the back of her hand. Attempting, but not succeeding, as he suddenly felt his arm from the elbow down go numb, while pain radiated from the area above the elbow. He squawked in confused pain, dropped Sharon's hand, and tried to pull away, only to find his elbow in a pincer-like grip. On the other end of said grip, Jon growled.

"She might be my girlfriend," the hacker snarled. "And she might have had an emotionally traumatizing day, and she might not need some lecherous little prick trying to get into her pants. And I might remove some vital pieces of flesh from south of your waist if you ever try to hit on her again. Do we have an, understanding?" He tightened his grip on the last word. Pietro whimpered and nodded, and Jon's attitude suddenly did a complete one-eighty. "Good," he said in a much friendlier tone, letting go of the other boy's elbow. Pietro was across the room in a flash, wincing as the circulation and feeling began to return to his lower arm, making it feel like he was getting stuck with pins and needles.

"Razum-frazum so-and-so," he muttered under his breath.

Lance nodded to himself as if coming to a decision, before looking over to Coyote. "So…where exactly are they going to be staying?" he asked casually. Jon looked at him, gratitude in his eyes, while Sharon seemed to get a bit more nervous. She knew that they weren't going to let her and Jon room together, and that made her jumpy. Coyote seemed to consider it for a moment, before snapping his fingers.

"Todd, you've got an extra bed in your room right?" Todd nodded slowly, and Coyote turned to Wanda, "And you've got one as well, right?" Wanda nodded warily, not liking where this was going. She liked her space, and judging by the grudging face Todd was making, so did he. Coyote grinned as if he thought this the greatest idea in the world. "Well then, there you go. Wanda can share her room with Sharon and Todd can share with Jon."

At this announcement Sharon made a little whimpering sound at the thought of being in close quarters with this scary looking girl without anyone she knew around. Raven put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I think it might be a good idea for one of these two," she pointed at Decoy and Scratch, who were sleeping contentedly on the floor now, their stomachs full and warm, "to sleep in the same room with Sharon; if that's okay with you of course hon," she added, looking at Wanda.

Wanda thought about it for a minute. With one simple word she could keep her private space all to herself, and oh how tempting it was. But looking at Sharon's scared face, she couldn't help but remember her experiences in the asylum, the aching loneliness, feeling the betrayal of her father. She was slowly beginning to deal with these issues with counseling sessions with Coyote, Raven, and, surprisingly; Freddy.

The large boy really had quite a keen insight into the inner workings of the mind for someone who wasn't a telepath, and he put things into perspective with ease, making what had seemed like towering hatreds and righteous vendettas look almost petty, and in some cases even cruel, with just a few honest words.

In their own ways Lance and Pietro had helped as well by giving her her space, though Pietro had done it more out of fear than anything else.

Surprisingly Todd had helped her most of all by simply being there for her from day one and refusing to let her stew in her own murderous thoughts until she went berserk, instead opting to be her personal punching bag, taking all sorts of abuse and never once voicing complaint or trying to get back at her. She would have to ask him why he hadn't ever complained sometime, no one was that nice… He may have annoyed the hell out of her with his constant use of disgusting pet names, but if one overlooked that part it was almost…sweet.

Jerking her thoughts back on track, she looked around the room. Coyote's face was neutral, as were Freddy and Lance's. Todd however, had an expectant look, as if urging her to do the right thing. Wanda gave a small sigh as she scooped Scratch off the floor, the cat program merely shifting till he was comfortable before falling back asleep.

"So long as she doesn't snore like Tabby did," the goth agreed. She blushed a tiny bit as she saw Todd's face break into a proud smile, before averting her eyes, thus missing the knowing look that passed between Lance and Freddy. Off in his corner, Pietro continued to sulk, massaging his sore arm gently, dark thoughts filling his head as he glared at Jon.

---

Xavier's

---

Rick looked down at his guitar, idly plucking random notes as he tried to get his thoughts in order. It had been three days since the fateful trip to Cleveland, and so far he had managed to avoid Tabby since they had stepped off the X-jet. The flight itself had been awkward beyond imagining, with the two teens keeping at opposite ends of the plane.

Most of the attention had been on Shawn, who had been rushed to the med ward as soon as they had touched down, where he was proclaimed to be suffering from second degree burns and slight tissue damage. He had woken the morning of the next day demanding food and to be let out of the ward. Beast had almost been forced to ask Jean or the Professor to knock him out temporarily, just to get some peace!

On the second day though, Shawn had insisted that he was good to go, and had begun to move around, performing most of his normal exercises without paying a speck of attention to Dr. McCoy's protests. Rick gave a small smile as he recalled what had finally gotten the restless teen back into bed. Maria had come in to check on how he was doing, as she had been for the entirety of the previous day, and had found him doing chin-ups on a pipe that ran across the ceiling. Her angry yells had been heard throughout the entire Institute.

In the end Shawn had meekly agreed to get back in the bed, with the condition that Maria stay with him for a little while. Dr. McCoy had left the ward soon after to see to an experiment of his, leaving the two under the semi-watchful eye of Bahumut. Rick didn't know what had passed between the two, but when he had dropped by later he had found Maria snuggled up against Shawn's chest, tear tracks still evident on her face as she slept. Shawn had been asleep too, cradling the former HYDRA assassin as if she were a figment of his imagination that might disappear if he held her too tightly. As both were still fully clothed Rick decided that this was absolutely none of his business, and after snapping a quick picture (just in case he ever had a need to get out of trouble with Logan), he left the two alone.

Rick winced as he hit a sour note as his thoughts turned to what could, and more than likely would happen, if Shawn ever found out about that picture. He remembered today's incident with the DR. Shawn had somehow managed to hijack the place remotely while Logan was going through a solo demonstration run, and well…

---

Flashback

---

Logan struggled in the grip of the robots, but couldn't quite bend in the right directions to sever their limbs. "SCAAAAAAAAALEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!" he roared, as the rest of the holographic Rockettes continued to do a chorus line, the ones on either side of him kicking his legs as they did so, forcing him to kick along with them.

Up in the control room, an invisible Bahumut sniggered silently as Shawn's sleeping body was held up in view of the camera by an invisible Smaug, looking as if he were the one using the laptop that the feral mutant could see on a monitor in the DR thanks to a bit of creative rewiring on the security cameras. 'God I'm evil.'

---

End Flashback

---

Rick would never have guessed Bahumut was the one actually doing it, except for noticing that Shawn's eyes had remained closed even as he "typed" on the laptop. And while Hack may have been that good, there was no way that Shawn was!

As the sonic blast-making teen wandered through the halls, his mind drifted to Tabby, and the mess Cleveland had made of his emotions for the girl. Sure he had felt some attraction for the self-proclaimed "wildchild", but still… His mind drifted through what he knew of her, and liked about her. Her hair, her smile, her carefree laughter, her devil-may-care attitude, the little wiggle she seemed to put in her step sometimes… He stopped, a look of consternation on his face as he realized just how many little memories of the girl he had!

"Okay, maybe it's more than a little attraction," he muttered to himself, running one hand through his hair. He shook his head and started towards his room with decisive steps. In a situation like this, beating up on his guitar until he produced something usually helped.

Across the Institute, Tabby was engaging in a serious girl talk with Kitty and Amara on the porch, while Storm hovered in the background, caring for a few of her outdoor plants, and ready to lend a sympathetic motherly ear, or some sage female advice, should the blonde be in need of either.

"So is he a good kisser?" Amara asked. Tabby hesitated, a light blush staining her cheeks. In the background, Storm chuckled to herself. 'Well this is certainly a first, Tabby unwilling to talk, about a boy no less.'

Kitty leaned forward, curiosity akin to her namesake's gleaming in her eyes. "Weeeell, spill!" she demanded. Tabby, for the first time in a long, long time, looked a bit embarrassed.

"Okay, yeah, he's a great kisser, but that's part of the problem!"

Kitty rolled her eyes. "You like him, I'm pretty sure he likes you, so what's the problem?" Tabby shot her a look.

"I think Lance is starting to rub off on you, and not in the good way," she deadpanned. Kitty blushed, but continued her line of questioning.

"You're avoiding the question Tabby."

Tabitha sighed, cupping her chin in her hand and looking as miserable as only a teenage girl can. "I don't know if it was real," she said simply. Amara and Kitty looked at her, a little shocked by how serious she sounded.

"If what was real?" a somewhat curious voice came from behind them. The trio turned to see Maria standing at the patio door, looking a bit sleepy, but at the same time still alert. The girl hung back for a few moments, before a gesture from Kitty had her coming out onto the porch and taking a seat with the other girls. "What did you mean, 'I don't know if it was real'?" she asked again.

Tabitha sighed. "If the feelings behind that kiss back in Cleveland were real," she explained in a tired voice.

Storm could only shake her head as Amara and Kitty tried their best to counsel their friend, while Maria merely sat there quietly, trying to absorb the scenario and make sense of it; somehow.

Ah, to be a teen again.

---

An Undisclosed Location

A man sat at a desk, writing on small scrolls in a neat, flowing script. As he wrote, he would consult the screen of a computer that sat to the side. On the screen was a long list of names. As his eyes ran across the list once more, a series of names caught his attention.

He reread them, and then chuckled. "Well, it seems this year's tournament will be most…interesting." He chuckled quietly to himself once more, before grabbing a handful of the small scrolls and beginning to write on them. On the screen, the names that had caught his attention continued to sit unobtrusively amongst the rest: Shawn O'Reily, Tom O'Reily, Jon Lutz, Sebastian Kamiya, Remy LeBeu, and Adam Krupner.

---

To Be Continued

Well, that's the latest chapter! Next time, the X-men, Brotherhood, Acolytes, and Morlocks are brought into a world that not even Magneto could have envisioned, a world that the members of the Dragonfire Dojo know all to well. A world of shadows and rivalries; where logic is sometimes nonsense and sometimes nonsense is the only logical course of action; the world of underground martial arts tournaments. But these are no ordinary marital artists, and this will NOT be an ordinary tournament.