Chapter 3

At the Institute...

Charles rolls into the newly refurbished infirmary where Hank is going over the tests he performed on Clark from last night to try and ascertain that it really is the alien teenager that has returned to them. After the deception Jor-El attempted with using Lindsey Harrison as an avatar and claiming she was Clark's cousin they could not be too careful.

"So what do you have Henry?" Charles asks.

Hank turns from the computer he is working at to face his old friend. "So far the majority of tests indicate this is Clark."

"Majority?" Charles questions that.

"His brainwave patterns are off the baseline I established for him but then again his memory seems to be completely missing and I have no idea what has happened to him to cause that. The difference could simply be the result of whatever has transpired in the time he has been missing. Also the readings on the aura his body generates show it is much more powerful than before which indicates a possible surge in the status of his powers," Hank explains, the comparisons mostly from his memory.

"You mean he could possibly be much more powerful now than he was," Charles surmises what this means.

"The increase is beyond the slow steady increase we observed in his time here. However as I was saying the other tests show it is him. It is unquestionably his blood but I'm limited in what I can do to confirm his identity further due to how much data we lost when we were forced to abandon the mansion."

Charles nods in understanding. After mutants had been exposed by Magneto's scheming they knew the authorities would come for them so they wiped all the medical data from the computers that could be used against them.

Hank removes the small round glasses from his face. "The truth is Charles without the lost data there is no way to be 100% certain but if you want a gut feeling I think this is Clark for no other reason than the fact he seems to have some faint recognition of Rogue."

Yes that was true but Clark's mind was obviously in a disrupted state. His lack of memory along with the odd things he would say and then he would seem to not realise he said anything was clear evidence of that. One possibility Charles can think of from his experience of the human psyche is that perhaps Jor-El was attempting to alter Clark's memories and didn't quite succeed as intended leaving competing, confused and contradictory memories in Clark's mind unable to quite gel coherently. The result being the state Clark is currently in.

That's only a guess as Charles cannot read Clark's mind. Has never been able to due to the fact Clark is an alien and his mind operates in an entirely different way as if he thinks in a foreign language Charles cannot understand.

Still that leaves the question of how and why Clark has been returned now if that was the case. Surely Jor-El must know the state Clark is in so why is Clark back?

It didn't make sense to Charles...unless Jor-El had been forced to release Clark early before whatever process it was was complete which leads back to the question of why.

Why is Clark back and why now?

A sudden epiphany strikes Charles. There is possibly one person who might have an answer. The person who brought Clark to Charles' attention.

Charles thinks it might be time to give his old friend Virgil Swann a call.

SHIELD Hellicarrier...

Lionel has to say it is nice to be back in a suit and out of that prison uniform as he strides upon the bridge of SHIELD's flying headquarters. Not strides alone mind you. Along with his son he is getting a 4 man guard detail. They are marched along the walkway on either side of which are banks of computer and monitors. It is a command centre for SHIELD's worldwide operations. At the end stands Colonel Fury with his back to them.

"Just so you know Luthor I am not happy about this," Fury lets his displeasure be known at pulling strings to get Lionel released but it seems he had no choice after what Lex told him after the younger Luthor contacted him asking for assistance.

"Circumstances can make strange bedfellows Colonel and as I see it you have no choice. Only I know the contents of that journal," Lionel says in reply.

"You and now Magneto."

"Assuming he can crack the code I wrote it in."

"I work on a worse case scenario so lets assume he can."

Lionel notes Fury still hasn't turned to face him. "Well together with my knowledge and SHIELD's resources I'm sure we can frustrate Magneto's plans. By the way very impressive facility you have here," Lionel compliments Fury.

Fury finally turns round and fixes Lionel a cold glare with his one good eye. "Lets quit with the niceties. Give us a place to start," he says wanting Lionel to cut to it.

Lionel concedes he must give them something to go on but not everything he knows. This is currently his only leverage and he has to use it to gain maximum advantage for himself. "The most likely place Magneto will start is a place in Libya near the border with Egypt. The previous Libyan regime never gave me permission to search there so it is the most likely place that the stone, if it exists, is undisturbed."

"Co-ordinates?"

Lionel gives them and Fury orders immediate satellite surveillance of the location to get a status of the situation on the ground in that area. Libya. Of all countries it had to be one in the middle of an armed revolution.

Why is Fury going along with this? With believing any of this?

Well lets just say he has lived a long time and heard many stories about objects with mystical power. He has also seen and encountered many such objects and while sometimes they are just stories other times the power they possess can be very real and Fury will not take the risk. If the stones possess real power and Magneto gains them Fury can only see one outcome. War and he will not allow that. Essentially better safe than sorry.

"Sir?" one of the agents queries to get Fury's attention.

"What have you got?" Fury asks in return and the agent puts up the image of the main screen. Fury squints his one good eye at something shiny reflecting the sunlight. "Zoom in and enhance," he orders.

The image zooms in and what comes into focus are several metal spheres hovering above the site and coming into land. Fury knows what they are. Magneto is ahead of them. Dammit! "Get the jets ready for immediate departure! I want a strike team ready to go now!" he orders and he can only hope Magneto can't find what he is looking for in the few hours it will take SHIELD to get there.

Fury looks at the 2 Luthors. "We'll take care of this. You two will remain here," he instructs them.

Lionel smiles almost smugly. "I do not think so Colonel."

"You are not coming. I'm not risking my agents to protect you," Fury says in no uncertain terms.

Lionel slowly and deliberately folds his arms across his chest. "Colonel even if you stop Magneto and his cohorts you have no idea what you are looking for. Only I do and a possibility here is that you may end up holding Magneto off only long enough for someone to snatch the stone and then make a hasty withdrawal. In either case you require me to be there," Lionel states the situation as he sees it.

Fury almost growls in annoyance but he can't find any argument against that considering they have no time spare.

"I'll keep an eye on my father," Lex makes the promise to Fury as he stares at his father hard and cold. Lex does not trust anything his father says. This is some kind of ploy no doubt.

"I do not have time for this," Fury dismisses this little domestic. He looks to an agent on his right. "Where are the Black Widow and Hawkeye?" he asks.

"Already on the jet," is the reply.

Fury turns to his left and Maria Hill. "Hill you're in charge. I'm taking care of this personally."

Hill blinks and considers telling her commander how that is not his place but she can tell by his expression that he's going on this one so she simply salutes and accepts his order.

Fury departs with the 2 Luthors in tow.

The Libyan desert, near the Egyptian border...

If anyone was around to witness the spectacle what they would see is an enormous column of sand spiralling around like a tornado as it excavates a huge depression.

Over the past few hours Magneto had watched and waited patiently as Sandman slowly revealed the temple and this was not a small structure. It really did make one think of what Cypher had joked about as this being the work of God making sure this was never found...or at least not found by humans. After all God in His infinite wisdom had created mutants who He had gifted the abilities to reach this place.

The tornado slowly dissipates as Sandman reforms himself. He is bent over, hands on his knees.

"Why did you stop?" Pyro asks gesturing at the not quite fully revealed temple. Not revealed enough to see any possible points of entry.

"I'm tired," is Sandman's incredulous reply. He's been at this for hours and he doubts Pyro appreciates the concentration it requires to control the millions of particles of sand as he has been doing.

"You may take a short rest," Magneto permits. While he could simply knock a hole through the temple wall he is reluctant to do so on the premise he can't be certain of the strength of the structure. That could risk the entire temple collapsing in on itself which Magneto won't do unless he has no other alternative.

Sandman sits himself down on the sand and blows out a weary breath as the rest of the Acolytes and Cypher, playing on a hand-held games console, just continue to try and pass the time.

All of them are unaware of the forces bearing down on them as several SHIELD jets fly over the desert.

"We're 5 minutes out," the pilot informs Fury.

Fury nods and turns round in his chair to where Hawkeye, Black Widow, the 2 Luthors and a few SHIELD agents also sit. "It's almost time. Father and son will remain on this jet until I say otherwise. That clear?" he demands of the 2 Luthors.

"Perfectly Colonel," Lionel says sounding suspiciously merry at all this. Lex just gives a simple nod.

"So I have to ask," Hawkeye raises an issue. "We're flying in jets made of metal toward a guy who can literally turn these inside out from miles away. When did we have a death wish?"

Fury fixes a cold glare at Hawkeye. "Barton one of these days you will realise SHIELD is always prepared. We've known about Magneto for years and been preparing for just such a day as this. In 30 seconds every jet will fire two missiles composed entirely of non-metallic compounds. They will impact and embed into the ground in such a pattern to encircle the area. The devices inside the missiles will then activate creating a magnetic nullifying field half a mile across. As long as Magneto is kept within this area he will be rendered effectively powerless."

"Impressive," Lionel can't help but comment.

Well they'll see. The devices can certainly create a null magnetic field. Whether it will work on Magneto as advertised is only speculation. If it doesn't then this will probably be the shortest operation in SHIELD history.

The missiles are launched. Fury checks his watch. Less than 1 minute after they activate they hit Magneto and his followers. "Hawkeye. Widow. Position," Fury orders.

Hawkeye and Black Widow move to the door. When the jets enter hover mode above target they lead the assault.

"10 bucks says I nail more of them than you," Hawkeye bets Widow.

"Grow up Clint," is Natasha's cold response.

"That wasn't a no," he points out with a teasing grin.

"Why do you wish to lose money when we already know the outcome?"

"Ooh that sounds like a challenge."

"It is simply a statement of fact. We both know which of us is the superior."

"How about we raise the stakes?"

"No."

"No?"

"Because what you will suggest next is some foolish notion where the loser undergoes some humiliating task and as much as I would enjoy seeing you suffer that I have to think of SHIELD's reputation. Humiliating one of its agent would damage our image."

"Well this may surprise you but that wasn't what I was about to suggest."

"Then what were you about to suggest?"

"I win. You agree to go on a date with me."

Natasha is genuinely shocked and surprised by his proposition. "What?"

"It's time people!" Fury shouts and the door slides open in front of Hawkeye and Widow.

"Think about it!" Hawkeye shouts as he leaps out first firing his arrows off in the opening salvo.

Natasha shakes herself out of it and leaps out after him firing 'Widow's stings' as she goes. The rest of the SHIELD agents from the other jets follow the lead and the battle begins.

At the Institute...

Rogue is in essence giving Clark a tour round the new mansion, filling him in on details, reintroducing him to everyone and talking more than she has probably ever done in her life previously but she wasn't sure what else to do to try and help jog his memory. It was difficult being with him but not being with him as the Clark she knew wasn't there in his head.

Yet the fact he seemed to recognise her on first glance back in Smallville gave her hope that his memories were still there and that she could get him back fully...and then she'll kick his ass for running off on his own to confront Jor-El.

As she leads him through the corridors they come across Kitty and Kurt whispering in a conspiratorial manner. That means they are up to something. Probably some kind of get back at the New Mutants for a prank. Truthfully Rogue really hadn't been keeping track or been interested at all in all the usual goings on around here.

As Rogue and Clark draw up to the two teenagers Rogue says, "Ah don't want ta know."

"Know vhat?" Kurt asks puzzled.

"Whatevah it is ya two are up ta."

"Us? Up to something?" Kitty queries trying to look and sound completely innocent.

Rogue arches an eyebrow and looks at them with an expression that says 'Don't try to sell that line to me'.

Kurt cracks first. "Vell zhey deserve it," he says in reference to who he and Kitty are planning to get back at.

"Read mah lips. Ah do not want ta know and if ya make meh know y'all will beh tha ones deserving it," Rogue threatens.

"But come on Rogue," Kitty pleads. "You're like usually the first to want to get back at them."

"True," Rogue has to concede. She hates all the dang pranks and practical jokes but when someone succeeds she does enjoy getting them back. Bobby alone needs to be gotten back at a hundred times over. "Howevah in case it escaped your attention ah'm a little preoccupied," she points out meaning trying to help Clark."

"Right," Kurt responds. "So Clark anyzhing come back to you yet?"

"It has not Kurt Wagner," Clark states simply.

"It's just Kurt," he says in reply, upset that his friend is in this state. There has to be some way to get Clark's memory back. "You know you took my appearance really vell just like the 1st time we met," he mentions since they were told to talk about things that had happened to see if that helped jog Clark's memory.

"Why would I take your appearance in any other fashion?" Clark asks, puzzled.

"Vell...you know," Kurt gestures at himself. "Some people zhink I'm a demon or somezhing."

"That is a preposterous notion," Clark says firmly. "What you refer to as demons are simply extra-dimensional beings who evolved in alternately resonating quantum realities with different physical laws to this universe. It is quite clear for anyone to see that your genetic structure is human with the addition of the extra gene that perpetrates your unique appearance and abilities."

Kitty, Kurt and Rogue look at Clark wide-eyed at what he just said. "What did you just say?" Kitty asks because that sounded like to her he said that demons were real.

"I said that was a preposterous notion."

"No. The other stuff."

"Other stuff? I did not say anything else Katherine Pryde. Are you certain you are in fine mental health at the moment?"

"That's a question," Rogue mumbles.

Kitty overhears her and an annoyed expression comes to Kitty's face.

Rogue can see this is not helping Clark. She decides to take him to Mrs Kent who was looking out the Kent family albums to see if any of those could help jog Clark's memory. She leads him off in the direction of Mrs Kent's room.

"Zhat vas veird," Kurt just has to express his opinion to Kitty after Clark and Rogue are gone.

"Like totally. I mean extra-dimensional beings?"

"Yeah."

"Although..."

"Although vhat?"

"Well technically those lizards in that dimension you teleport through could be considered extra-dimensional beings."

"Oh zhanks for reminding me zhose exist," Kurt says sarcastically. He still hates to think about it after they almost ate him that time when Forge was experimenting, trying to understand how Kurt's powers work.

"Sorry but I was just saying."

"Kitty sometimes I zhink you can be too smart for your own good."

Kitty isn't sure whether that is a compliment or an insult. "Anyway look take it this way. Clark said you were human even of it is crazy talk of stuff he doesn't realise he said. Take the positive."

Kurt has to say Kitty had a point. "Ok I vill. Now vhere vere ve vith getting back at zhe ozhers?"

Kitty's lips curve up into an evil grin. She has the perfect idea to get back at them. She whispers it in Kurt's ear and his face develops its own evil grin. This was going to be so good.

The Libyan desert, near the Egyptian border...

It took Magneto a few minutes to understand what happened. Normally he can feel his powers. It is like a constant awareness but only when he concentrates does he access them but now he felt...numb for lack of a better description. He could not grasp them. He was truly shocked and surprised and wondering what happened.

Then the SHIELD jets showed up and Magneto got a good guess at what happened. He had never expected mere humans to conceive and build a way to neutralise him. As the SHIELD agents descended from the sky his Acolytes engaged them and that battle was raging all around him as he tried to come to terms with his sudden disability.

It was chaos as the Acolytes had been taken by surprise but the surprise didn't last long and a full scale fight between them and the SHIELD agents was now taking place. Sabretooth was tearing his way through the agents. They shot at him and it of course hurt but his healing factor soon took care of the wounds and he just kept right on going. Then there is a sudden flash of light and shocking pain. Sabretooth roars and turns to find out what that was. He spots the redhead in black leather. "Widow," he snarls.

"Creed," Natasha replies in her thick Russian accent.

"Been a long time," Sabretooth comments at how much time has passed since their last encounter as they begin to circle each other.

"And it has not been kind to you."

Sabretooth chuckles. "Developing a sense of humour are we. You're going soft," he accuses her because the Widow he knew was no talk and all business.

"We'll see who is soft after I have put you down," Widow promises.

"And we'll see what your insides look like after I make you scream," Creed threatens. He so loves to hear his victims scream just before he ends their lives and with a roar he leaps at the Black Widow.

Pyro laughs manically as the SHIELD agents retreat from a wall of fire in the middle of which is an image of his face laughing manically. He got the idea off the Mummy movies where Imhotep placed his face in the sand in the first one and water in the 2nd one. 'Man those were good movies,' Pyro thinks to himself. Maybe he can suggest they start having a movie night.

Pyro manages to encircle some SHIELD agents with fire. He grins. "You know what mates. I love the smell of cooked SHIELD cronies in the afternoon!"

What Pyro doesn't see is a perfectly aimed arrow heading straight to where the tube comes out of the tank on his back. The arrow slices the tube off and Pyro's flames die.

Hawkeye pulls another arrow back. "If you want some advice ditch the tank because this baby...well actions speak louder than words!" he shouts at Pyro as the end of the arrow lights up and glows with an intense heat.

Pyro's eyes widen. He can control fire. However unlike some other pyro-kinetics he is not actually fire proof. He rips the tank off his back and throws it away just as Hawkeye lets loose his arrow which impacts the tank in mid-air causing it to explode and sending Pyro flying until he crashes into the sand and rolls a few times to a stop. Hawkeye judges he won't be getting up for awhile.

Hawkeye then stiffens as he senses a presence behind him. In an instant he has rolled forward, pulled an explosive arrow out, turned round and fired it off. It impacts and explodes. Hawkeye waits for the smoke to clear...and finds a huge metal man completely unharmed coming at him. "Great," he croaks because if that doesn't even scratch this guy just what will it take to put him down.

Colossus reaches for Hawkeye who manages to dodge. This guy may be stronger and bigger but fast he is not. Neither is Hawkeye betting is he that agile. Those are his advantages until he figures out a way to take this guy down.

Elsewhere Sandman is having a good laugh at the agents trying to shoot him with guns. He means really. Bullets against a man composed of sand. "You Homo Sapiens and your guns," he says dismissively. "It is why the good Lord in His infinite wisdom created us and in His name we will smite your kind from this world!" he proclaims, his religious fervour which has been growing coming more and more to the fore. His daddy, who was a preacher would be so proud of him, he muses to himself as he sucks up the sand around him and grows to enormous proportions before turning his hands into enormous hardened spiky balls and crushes the agents whose blood stains the desert.

Ruckus blasts agents back with his voice while Gambit finds himself currently facing off against half a dozen agents. He grins. He likes those odds. He charges up several of his cards and throws them just in front of the agents. They explode and throw up a huge cloud of sand into the agents faces. With them blinded Gambit charges in, bow staff in hand, and proceeds to expertly disarm and disable his attackers but with the sound of more jets overhead Gambit knows this is just the 1st wave. As a thief he knows when the risk of a job outweighs the reward and this job is rapidly approaching that. If it was his choice the time may have come for a strategic retreat.

Back with Magneto he suddenly finds himself kicked from behind. He uses the momentum to roll forward and then back up. He spins round to be greeted by the man with the eye-patch. "Director Fury," he greets the man.

"Erik Lensherr," Fury says back. "You are under arrest."

"The mockery you call human justice does not apply to me Fury. I've seen so called human justice first hand persecute and experiment upon my kind over and over. I saw it every day in the camps. I swore to survive and never let it happen again."

"I'm not your judge Lensherr. I do not care how you justify your actions. What I am is the man who stops you."

"Then by all means try because powers or no powers I will not subject myself to the judgement of humanity." Magneto swore he would never be the weak helpless boy he was in the camps again. His powers may have been neutralised somehow but he is never helpless. A fact he proves as much to Fury's surprise he matches the Colonel in the hand to hand combat they are now engaging in.

Cypher is hiding behind a column of the partially revealed temple as nearby Live Wire zaps several men to death. Above her a jet swoops in to hover above. Live Wire sneers at it. "Hold on to your shades there junior," she tells Cypher. "The Live Wire is about to give an award winning performance."

Live Wire then pauses. Performance? Why does that strike a chord with her? Maybe it has to do with the missing memories she knows she is dealing with. The sound of the jet's engines firing up gets her focus back. She transforms into electricity and shoots upward hitting the jet. Her electric forms arcs over its surface. Inside the pilot's instruments go crazy. "Well. Well. Well. What do we have here?" Live Wire's voice emanates from all around as she possess the jet. "Missiles. Guns. Ooh pilot ejection system. Hold on there sport. We're going for a ride!" she proclaims just before she activates the eject. The pilot shoots up. Live Wire overloads every electrical system and the jet explodes. Lighting shoots clear of the explosion and she lands back near Cypher. She bends over, hands on her knees breathing heavily. Something is not right. She shouldn't be this winded so soon. She feels...off.

Live Wire looks up for the kid since Magneto put her in charge of keeping him safe. She finds him sitting on the sand with some kind of data pad that must have fallen off one of the SHIELD agents. She walks over to him and hears him murmuring softly, "1001100010101100..."

"Kid. What are you doing?"

"Everything is language. I speak every language. Therefore I am everything," Cypher states in an eerily calm tone.

Oookkkaaayyy. That even creeps Live Wire out a little.

"Systems today," Cypher continues. "They're all connected. For SHIELD everything is relayed and monitored through a single mainframe."

Live Wire looks around to spot Mags fighting eye-patch guy, Sandman is spouting off his religious nonsense as he continues to fight, Ruckus...ooh someone manages to hit in the head with a weapon putting him in the same state as Pyro. Elsewhere in this melee Gambit is holding his own, Colossus is trying to get a hold of the archer and Sabretooth is getting his ass kicked by the redhead who moves with, Live Wire will have to admit, remarkable speed and agility as she lands many blows upon Sabretooth. If it wasn't for his healing factor Live Wire reckons the big fuzzball would be down for the count by now. For the moment she and the kid are safe and she really isn't feeling up to helping out right at the moment. "I hate to bother you junior but we have a major crisis going on," she tells him interrupting whatever it is he is doing.

"I know."

Live Wire comes up behind him and gets a better look at what he is doing on this data pad thing. What she sees on the display is a diagram of a circle. "What's that?" she asks.

"A magnetic nullifying field. It neutralises Magneto's power and since electricity and magnetism are related you probably aren't feeling so hot either," Cypher deduces from what he is reading in front of him.

Live Wire fumes. Bastards! She's going to fry them! "Can you shut it down?"

"I am attempting to do so. 1001001110000. I'm sending the shut-down command...now."

Fury's fist slams into Magneto's gut before he sweeps the legs from under the leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants dropping him onto his back. In the time it takes Magneto to get back up to his knees Fury has reached the point he has had enough of this and pulls out his gun and aims it at Magneto's head. "Don't make me pull the trigger cause if you do all that means is extra paperwork." That and his superiors prefer public trials so people can witness justice being done which is why he just didn't try and kill them all from the outset.

"Pull the trigger Colonel," Magneto dares him, showing no fear of any kind in his eyes. He has seen death closer than most men can imagine in their worst nightmare. It holds no fear for him. "Because if you don't you shall live to regret the one opportunity you had to end this here and now," he says as much as a vow of his intentions as he states it like a matter of fact.

Magneto has no idea how tempted Fury is to do just that but he won't. He has his orders to take Magneto back alive and he always obeys his orders. Then suddenly the gun flies out of his hand and into Magneto's.

Magneto stands up. He holds his hand out and the gun hovers above it before he takes it to pieces with his powers. They were back although he would need several minutes before they were restored fully.

'Shit!' Fury thinks to himself. He has no choice now for his next action because he can't let this continue beyond here. He activates his communicator. "Target my position and fire missiles immediately!" he barks the order because he has to hit Magneto before the mutant's powers are at their full strength once again.

"But sir," the voice on the other end protests at firing at their commander.

"Just do it!" Fury orders.

"Yes sir. Missiles launched."

Magneto's eyes narrow at Fury before he turns to face the missiles bearing down upon him rapidly. Magneto closes his eyes and concentrates all his power. The missiles bend around him only barely. He can feel the heat from their rocket motors but he manages to summon enough power to shift them enough to miss him. Instead they impact the temple blasting a large hole through the wall.

Fury makes a move to jump on Magneto while the man's back is turned only to be impacted by a bolt of lightning sending him tumbling off in to the sand.

Magneto turns to see Live Wire approaching with Cypher.

"Have to say bossman this is one smart kid," she finds herself having to give praise where it's due.

"Do not refer to me as bossman," Magneto tells her, annoyed at the disrespect that was seemingly edging more and more into Live Wire's tone and mannerisms.

"Yeah. Yeah. Whatever," Live Wire says sounding almost snide.

Magneto may have to speak to Mastermind about this because it seems the personality Mastermind created in Live Wire needs a fine tuning. He turns to Cypher. "Now please explain to me what you did."

Cypher explains about the magnetic nullifying devices and shutting them down and in response Live Wire comments, "Can you believe that? The kid speaks computer."

Magneto must admit he did not anticipate Cypher's ability to do that. There was massive potential for him to bring down the whole electronic systems that the human governments relied upon and induce chaos in the midst of which the new mutant order could rise. The roar of more jets overhead draws Magneto's attention back to the here and now. With Fury temporarily out of the picture he could not be sure how the SHIELD agents would react and he didn't have the strength back yet to stop all of them. "Cypher. Can you take control of one of those jets?"

"Maybe," Cypher replies uncertain but thinking that he possibly could.

"Good. Take over one and have it attack the others. That should keep them busy while we enter the temple and search for the stone," he decrees.

Cypher starts muttering his 1s and 0s into the data pad as he attempts an override. After a few minutes he announces, "Got it!"

Up in the sky one SHIELD jet suddenly changes direction and fires upon another hitting it and forcing it to crash. Magneto smiles in satisfaction as the others are forced to move and dodge uncertain what is going on and unwilling to fire on one of their own jets...for now but Magneto doubts that will last.

"Way to go kiddo!" Live Wire praises him and plants a congratulatory kiss on Cypher's cheek. In response he blushes furiously. He is only 14 after all and a girl just kissed him.

"Let us go," Magneto decrees as he leads Cypher and Live Wire into the temple just as a jet crashes nearby.

Out of the wreckage of the jet that was shot down thanks to Cypher crawls the 2 Luthors cut and bruised but alive thanks to the skill of the pilot who made the crash landing. Lex is the first to his feet and makes his way up to the cockpit to check on the pilot who he finds unfortunately did not survive. "He's dead," Lex announces to his father.

"But we are not," Lionel replies focussing on his selfish desire to remain alive.

"Your compassion is overwhelming dad," Lex almost spits out in anger at his father's attitude.

"Lex I am appreciative as you are he saved our lives but his troubles are over. Ours are not," he points out to his son gesturing at the battle still going on between the Acolytes and SHIELD. Lionel then spots Magneto and 2 other mutants enter the temple. "If you want to make the pilot's death mean something I suggest we get going," Lionel says pointing at the temple.

Lex spots Magneto too and as much as he hates to admit it his father is correct. Looking around only he and his father were in a position to try and stop Magneto gaining possession of the stone assuming it exists and is here. He jumps down from the jet and tries to hide the fact that his health has begun its deterioration. He needs to have another blood transfusion within a few hours tops or the toxins within his body will build up to fatal levels courtesy of the poison his father spiked his whiskey with. "Well after you," Lex says gesturing for his father to go first so Lex can keep an eye on him.

Lionel just smiles knowing what Lex is doing and walks across the sand in the direction of the temple with his son following a few steps behind him.

Fury wakes up with a groan. Live Wire had not managed to hit him with a fatal level bolt. That had hurt though...a lot. That also could have gone better. He tries his communicator but gets no response. He pulls it out his ear and looks at it. Fried. He throws it away and pushes himself up to his feet. That is when he spots the 2 Luthors heading inside the temple.

No way in hell is he letting those two get the stone so he runs off after them having faith in his agents to handle the current situation they find themselves in.

Upon reaching the hole in the temple wall Fury quietly lowers himself down the few feet drop and assesses his surroundings. He can hear voices coming from his right and he moves off down the hallway in that direction.

Fury comes to an large doorway with large statues acting as if guarding whatever is inside. He hides behind the one on the left so as to not reveal his presence and peers round to look inside the room. Inside he spots the 2 Luthors doing what he is doing essentially and hiding behind one of many stone columns holding the roof up. At the far end of the large rectangular room is Magneto and 2 other mutants standing in front of what Fury would call an alter where one might place offerings to the Gods. Magneto is directly in Fury's line of sight so he can't see what it is that is on the alter.

"Is that it?" Live Wire asks rather acerbically at what is a small clay figure standing upon the alter.

Magneto reaches forward and picks it up. He examines it closely and on the back of the figure are symbols in the language Cypher thought was alien. That can't be a coincidence. This figure means something. He just has to figure out what.

It is then there is a low rumbling noise. The whole temple seems to shake. Dust falls from the roof.

Cypher slaps himself on his own forehead for not seeing it earlier. "Raiders of the Lost Ark!" he proclaims.

"What?" Live Wire asks.

"The opening scene. Indy takes the idol off an alter setting off a trap because he misjudges the weight when trying to swap it over with some sand."

The rumbling gets louder and Magneto can sense the boy is correct. They have set off some kind of ancient booby trap that perhaps the passage of time and age has slowed down. He turns round to depart only for the whole place to shake so violently to knock them all off their feet. The columns holding up the roof start to topple over and Magneto has to dive out of the way as one crashes to the ground where he had been moments before. Pieces of roof start to fall in and dust fills the air and he loses sight of both Live Wire and Cypher.

Fury watches on as the statue next to him rocks back and forth. As soon as the dust settles a bit and he can assess the situation he'll enter.

Amidst all the dust the 2 Luthors have managed to avoid getting hit by the falling debris. Both are coughing hard thanks to all the dust. It is then Lex spots the clay figure lying on the ground amazingly unbroken. He runs over and picks it up. He examines it closely and therefore doesn't see the fist that strikes him in the face. Lex is knocked to the ground but manages to hang onto the figure to prevent its destruction. He finds himself once again looking up at Magneto standing over him.

"That is mine," Magneto declares in a cold hard voice as he rips the figure out of Lex's hand only to find himself shoulder charged by Lionel who is determined he will get that statue. Finally after all these years he will get what is rightfully his.

As Lionel and Magneto fall to the ground from their collision the figure is dropped and hitting the ground this time breaks into pieces and that is when Lex sees that it was hollow and inside he spots it. Some kind of clear crystal like material. As his father and Magneto tussle on the ground Lex reaches for the stone and picks it up. There is a familiar looking symbol in black engraved on the stone's surface. It looks like the writing in the Kawatche caves. The stone also has a definite manufactured edge while on the other 2 edges they are rough as if broken. 3 stones united as one...literally. The rough edges are where this stone was broken off from a larger stone which was shattered into 3 pieces.

Lex looks at it and for a moment he swears the stone glows...

At the Institute...

In Martha's room she is sitting with Clark showing him the family photo albums, which were still packed up in the lower levels when the mansion was destroyed saving them from being lost too. Rogue is here too as they try and jog Clark's memory...with so far little to no effect it seems. It was starting to get disheartening but Martha wasn't about to give up. She endured 3 months without her son and her husband. A few more days or weeks where Clark's memory is missing is nothing. The main thing is that he's here with her again and not lost who knows where he was.

Martha turns the page and a smile comes to her face at an image of Clark and Jonathan on Clark's first day of school. They had been nervous about letting him out of their sight because of his, even then, vast strength but they couldn't keep him away from other children forever. It would raise questions. Even back then Clark was aware he was different. He was always so bright and he understood even at that age that he had to be careful around other people and not show them what he could actually do.

"Do you remember that Clark?" Martha asks him. "Do you remember what your father said to you?"

Clark looks at the photo. "He is not my father," he dismisses who Martha Kent claimed this man to be. "He is the one who tried to prevent myself being reborn."

Martha and Rogue look at each other both equally confused by what Clark is talking about.

"No Clark. He loves you. I don't know what happened in that cave but I'm sure all he was wanting to do was to save you," Martha says.

"Doesn't matter," Clark dismisses it. "Either way he is dead." A sudden urge comes back to Clark. The urge that he needs to go...to be somewhere else. "I have to go," he announces before getting to his feet and swiftly walking to the door and leaving.

Martha and Rogue are soon in pursuit of him and even running they can barely keep up with his swift broad strides. He is out the main door and walking across the grounds almost before they know it. Then suddenly he stops, drops to one knee, covering his ears and wincing in pain.

That sound. That high pitched sound. He knows that sound. It means one of the stones is no longer safe. Humans have discovered it. The disjointed fragmented memories in his head suddenly snap into a coherent whole. He remembers. He remembers who he truly is. He turns to face the direction the sound came from to the east.

"Clark?" Martha queries as her hands come to his face.

He looks at her and then at Rogue with a cold dispassionate gaze. "I am Kal-El of Krypton," he proclaims himself to be. "It is time to fulfil my destiny."

"Destiny," Martha virtually spits the word out in disgust after hearing it so many times in relation to Clark from one particular person. "That's Jor-El talking. What's he done to you?" 3 months of pent up emotion finally break out from Martha and she starts beating on Clark's chest. "I want my son back! Give me my son back!" she demands almost hysterical. Clark grabs her arms in a solid almost painfully tight grip.

"Clark?" Rogue queries, her voice trembling with emotion. He looks at her and she sees nothing of the boy she loves in his eyes.

"Clark Kent is dead," he states before he pushes Martha aside. Then from Kal-El's perspective everything slows down. Even as Martha is falling he bends his knees and summons up the power. The air seems to warp around his body and he makes a depression in the ground beneath his feet. Then he is lifting off the ground and shooting upward into the sky.

Back in real time Rogue dives to catch Martha and she just manages to do so. Within, to them, an instant they find themselves experiencing a mixture of awe, shock and horror watching Clark rocket into the sky and disappear out of sight over the horizon with a sonic boom echoing around. Clark vanishing once again out of their lives and neither can stop the fear entering their mind that perhaps this time he is leaving and never coming back. That this time they will never see the person they both love in different ways again.

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews. Next up; Clark has fully embraced his Kryptonian destiny. Can his friends save him?