Disclaimer and Such: Though I'd love to say I own these charactors, Marvel does.

Sorry for the slow updating but this is probably as fast as it's going to get. College tends to put writing into Jell-O and make it slow. :/

Also, I know that this was originally put under X-Men: Evolution (mostly because my dream was only in that universe and was only the first chapter) but it's begining to drift into the Comicverse and pretty much all over the place. I'll try to keep the charectors in their Evolution-ness but the plot is becoming very Astonishing X-Men.I appologize if that irritates/dissapoints anyone.

Anyway, thanks to my reviews and alerters! It's awesome to know people like and read the things I post! :) Yay for feeling warm inside!

Now, onto the story!

Odd Situation Chapter Three

The strange group, made up of four teenage girl X-Men with one convict who had repeatedly tried to kill them in the past had begun making their way back to Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning. They didn't have too far to go; the Tile Building was, or had been, in the center of Bayville. The Institute couldn't be more than two miles. A decent walk for the girls but barely a well needed stretch for Cain.

They'd already covered a mile and a half and, although it was getting dark, there was nothing for them to be concerned about. It was a Friday which meant no school the next morning so no assignments were due. Logan had moved their normfal Saturday morning training session to the afternoon over some conflict with Beast concerning an update to the Danger Room. And honestly, what could be lurking in the shadows that four X-Men and the Juggernaut couldn't handle?

For the first mile and a half, no one had spoken. But really, what did they have to talk about? "Remember that time you tried to kill me?" Somehow, that seemed a little awkward for everyone involved, even those who hadn't been part of the school when Cain attacked.

Finally, after almost an hour of silence, the Southern Rogue drawled, "so why'd you get your powers and we didn't?"

On the top floor, the seventh, of the Tile Building, twenty minutes prior to collapse.

Cain Marko's eyes slowly opened to unfamiliar surroundings. He stood, well, was immobilized in a tank, in front of a small, sickly looking child who was flanked by a dark skinned woman.

"Juggernaut," the tan woman with an Indian accent asked as she waved a flashlight in front of his eyes. She wore a white lab coat that was embossed with the name Dr. Rou in black letters. Her hair was pulled up in a smooth bun and small square glasses were perched on her nose. She moved swiftly and confidently; she must be a doctor. "Can you hear me? We need you for an experiment. Behave, and you'll be free to leave. Understand?"

His body was still mostly paralyzed. He could open and close his eyes and open his mouth a sliver. Peeling his lips back from his square teeth, he whispered, "Yes."

"Excellent," came her reply. She clipped back behind a large computer in the corner and pressed down a button. The green translucent liquid that kept the Unstoppable Juggernaut effectively stopped slowly began to drain away. Down past his shoulders, to his waist, down his legs and finally to his feet, it all went down the drain.

As did his immobility. For the first time in almost a year, he twitched his fingers. Next, the muscles in his arms and chest were able to be flexed. Full motor control returned to his face and he opened and closed his mouth several times, reveling in the feeling. By the end of his second minute of consciousness, Cain could walk.

The woman doctor said that she needed to retrieve the rest of the "patients" and left, taking the sick boy with her. He looked terrified and verging on vomiting. Their departure left Cain to be the only one in the room. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he began to investigate his new surroundings.

This room was definitely not the same as the one he'd been kept in before. For one, it was above ground. Seven stories, to be specific. Two, it looked more like a laboratory than a chamber for a super villain criminal. Its walls were white, as was the floor. Everything was pristine. A stack of paper work and a box of hypodermic needles sat on the console of the lady doctor. The giant picture windows were the only things out of place. He looked out them, seeing the sky for the first time in a year. Cain didn't even notice the door open softly behind him; he was enjoying watching the cars on the streets too much to notice.

When the Tundra he'd been admiring was out of sight, Cain turned back around to find his civilian clothes laid out on a desk. Momentarily, he wondered how someone had gotten in and out so fast but pushed that thought aside. Perhaps his eardrums were still partially paralyzed.

He slipped into the clothes quickly, enjoying the soft fabric that wasn't coated in the fluid from the tank. Running a hand through his red hair, he saw small flakes of the dried solution fall like snow in front of his face. He was going to need a shower, soon as he was done with whatever this was.

Knocks issued from the door behind him. Not waiting for a response, the duo returned. Although this time they were accompanied with more mutants. These mutants sprouted deformities Cain couldn't even comprehend. None of them looked remotely human. For once, he felt content with only being abnormally large.

"Now," the woman doctor began. She led the small sick boy to the couch. "Everyone, this is Leech. Hopefully, you'll see why his name is fitting in just a moment." She turned on her heel and strode back to the console. Using a notebook she's just brought in, she typed a few numbers into the computer and looked up. "Alright Dorian, whenever you're ready."

All of the mutants in the room snapped their attention toward the boy, Cain included. He looked absolutely horrified to be sitting on a couch in the same room as the rest of them. After a minute of shaking, he drew a deep breath and shut his eyes. Groaning, he started to cry out. The lights began turning on and off. The extent of this obviously reached the streets below them; shouts and accidents could be heard clearly as the traffic lights sporadically changed colors or shut off.

Out of the corner of his eye, Cain saw the doctor slip a hypodermic needle out of the box. She darted around her desk when the lights were out. Thrusting the needle into the closest mutant, a girl whose skin resembled that of a lizards and who only had three fingers on each hand.

Pulling the plunger out, the doctor extracted the mutants purple blood and watched as it began to turn red. Looking back to the mutant, her scales were beginning to disappear. The green leathery coating shed away to normal pink skin. Her hands split so that each had five fingers. Her eyes, which had been a blood red, now became a light sea blue. The once reptilian girl looked down at herself, at her normal body. She began crying and hugging Dr. Rao who tried to calm her down as best she could.

When the girl was under control, she continued down the line to the rest of the mutants who now appeared to be normal people. They were all astounded, doing things they never could've before. Running, jumping, even smiling. They were all overjoyed.

Well, all except for Cain.

While everyone else was enjoying a glorious respite from their normally life altering mutations, Cain appeared the way he always did: big and bulky. He hadn't expected much else, and apparently neither had Dr. Rao.

"Your abilities come from something else, don't they?" She asked him, standing toe to toe with the Juggernaut, completely unafraid. She had no reason to be afraid. For right now, he was just another subject in a series of tests.

She walked circles around him, eyeing him like a prize winning steed. Dr. Rao didn't even turn when the boy, Leech, passed out on the couch behind them. The lights flickered back to life as did the mutants powers. Once again, they were sullen. Having tasted normalcy they wanted more. One brave member of the group, the reptilian girl, shuffled towards the doctor to ask,

"Tell me Kavita, when can I have this cure?"

Cure?

The word resonated inside Cain's brain. Cure for what? There was nothing wrong with her. True, her outer appearance wasn't as easy on the eyes as it could be…

Then it hit Cain, harder than anything that ever had before. Hard enough to knock the wind out of his lungs and drop him to the ground. He gasped, clutching his chest although he felt no pain there. This girl, all of these people, they'd come to see Dr. Kavita Rao to get rid of their mutations.

Permanently.

"Mr. Marko, are you alright?" The doctor asked him. She didn't have time for an answer, however, as the plate glass window behind her exploded. Gunshots followed, raising screams with them. A smoke bomb went off. They were blind to their attackers.

One by one, the mutants around Cain disappeared. He waved his hands in front of his face, trying desperately to see who was attacking them but it was useless. The smoke was too thick. By the time enough had cleared that he could see, he was the only one left. The attackers, whoever they were, had taken everything, even Dr. Rao's huge console computer. All that remained was a circular piece of paper.

Cain bent down and picked it up. Brushing some soot off the top, the image on the sheet jumped to life. Expertly painted on a green background was a yellow skull being held up by what appeared to be octopus tentacles. But the card would have to wait. Through the floors Cain could feel more explosions going off. He heard screams, screams he recognized.

Screams of his half brother's school children. Screams of mutants who might not be mutants for much longer.

The Tile Building dropped out of the sky. Several stray vials were all that remained of Dr. Rao's lab. Upon impact with the floor below, a few of them shattered, spilling a red liquid which caused the lights to go out as they had before with the boy Leech. Cain grabbed a handful and stored them in the inside pocket of his coat for, hopefully, safe keeping. He thought his half brother might like to see them.

But Xavier would have to wait. First, Cain needed to get himself, and his half brother's students, out of the collapsed building. The collapse had rather inconvenient timing. It wasn't everyday that the Juggernaut wanted to work with the X-Men to save mutant kind.

"No idea," Cain said, not meeting any of their eyes. "Why don't you ask Charlie," he said, nodding towards the iron wrought gate in front of them that stood guard to the mansion behind it, "He'd probably know. Apparently, he teaches these kinds of things at this school."