Disclaimer: The X-Men and Brotherhood aren't mine, they're Marvel's. Chances are any OCs you see are mine. Oooor in this one, Ash is San child of the wolves'.

Author's note: IIIIIII'M BAAAACK!

Yes, yes, I live! Sorry for the ALMOST A MONTH wait, but I was consumed by the thing known as school. That and I did a major rewrite of this chapter. And I've been dealing with a couple of "Bombshells" of my own, including one I dropped on my friend. Still managing the shrapnel right now. Anyways, here it is: Chapter 32, also called The Birth of the Sisterhood.

Enjoy. Read. Review.

Magneto stood in front of the electronic screens in the lowest level of the Brotherhood House. He drummed his fingers against the controls and studied the information in front of him. The same diamond found painted on the ground at the explosion sight was on one of the screens, surrounded by screens filled with text. He stood reading the text in a gray suit and red tie, his shielded helmet sat on the controls nearby.

"These are strange times we live in, Raven." The man muttered without turning from the screens.

The blue-skinned woman approached, hiding her annoyance of being discovered. Would she ever be able to sneak around this man? Mystique stood beside Magneto and examined the screens more closely now that she was close enough to properly read the text. She arched an eyebrow and turned her head halfway to the man. "These are who we're up against?"

"Yes…" He mused, tapping a few keys. "What odd times where your enemies so blatantly boast about themselves. But I guess it's no different than…" His voice faded and he frowned as unwelcome memories resurfaced. Shaking his head he looked down at Mystique. "Our enemies are gathering and our numbers are weak."

"Weak is putting it lightly!" She scoffed. "What ever happened to our tough team of mutants?"

"That is what I keep wondering." He sighed. The man spread his hands out over the controls and looked down. Suddenly he looked much older and frailer in his civilian clothes.

"Did you acquire what I asked?"

"Easily." Mystique smirked and handed him a flash-drive. "The X-Men left their doors wide open."

Magneto took the device and plugged it into one of the USB ports. With a few taps at the controls the screens cleared and were filed with Cerebro profiles. They were mostly of mutants they'd never seen before.

"Charles made a mistake of stopping recruitment when he did. Such talent skipped over."

His eyes searched for a moment, then he smiled.

"Raven, I will be taking a short trip… a few days at the most."

"What are you up to?" The woman asked skeptically. After all she'd been through she only loosely trusted the man. It was mostly their similar views, and her bloodlust that kept her from leaving.

Taking his eyes off the screens he smiled at her. "I will be bringing in some new talent. Hopefully this will motivate our current Brotherhood into movement."

"How so?"

"By showing them they can be replaced." He sated, gesturing to one of the screens.

Mystique read over it quickly and shared his smirk. "Oh yes. She'll do."

"When I'm gone I'd like you to work with our boys and Wanda. If you must get Sabretooth or Pyro to help… I will make sure they are more than willing."

Mystique smirked, ideas forming in her twisted mind. It would be a training session truly worthy of Wolverine.

"Now…" Magneto turned back to the controls and tapped a few buttons and all the screens went dark. "…we have a memorial service to attend."

"An Xavier brat—"

"He was one of us, Mystique." Magneto stopped her. "From this day on we do not take attacks on our own so lightly. The guilty party will be found and one way or another will face justice."

The man strode from the room with Mystique's eyes following him.

It was time for people to learn respect for mutant-kind.

Rogue twirled her pencil around her fingers absent-mindedly. Her Chemistry teacher surprised them with a Pop Quiz on enthalpy, which was just a little too much math in science for the goth, but she still managed to breeze through it. There was about fifteen minutes left of class and the rest of the class was starting to get a little restless. Tomorrow was the start of Thanksgiving break, and a lot of them had plans to visit other places.

But not Rogue.

She sighed, leaning back in her desk and decided to doodle on her paper. The teacher wouldn't let her get her book out because of students still taking the test, and somehow that could be sending answers to them.

Riiiight.

She was trying to keep her mind from wandering to the girl next to her, or to Leo's memorial service, or to Benj. How she was able to focus during school was a mystery, but maybe if one is used to having the minds of others in their head their own thoughts aren't that hard to ignore.

The professor had decided they would have a small memorial service for Leo that afternoon, since many of the students were leaving for home the next day. The invitation was extended to the Haven mutants, his classmates, teammates, and even the Brotherhood. The mutants at the Xavier Institute required some closure, so hopefully this would prove to be that.

Rogue was glad for it; the mansion was seemingly empty without the feline mutant causing chaos and laughs. It was time to lay him down and move on, even if it was hard to do.

It made their purpose more clear, though. The X-Men existed to try and stop things like that from happening, and if more trouble broke out between humans and mutants, more friends would be lost. If they could, they would stop it before it ever occurred.

"Alright, it looks like everyone's done. Pass your papers forward." The teacher stated. After he collected them all he sighed. "Since there's only like ten minutes left, go ahead and be gregarious teenagers." When the students mostly just blinked at him he smiled. "Talk."

Rogue sighed. She needed some answers from Claire, but she wasn't too thrilled about asking the questions. Kurt had tried convincing her some more the night before that Claire was Haven, but Rogue came up with some pretty compelling arguments. Her father was the principal, and she'd seen them go home before.

"Earth to Rogue!"

Rogue shook her head and turned to the girl next to her. Claire was wearing a bit of a forced smile, and her eyes were still relatively dim.

"Oh sorry, Ah—"

"It's fine." Claire stated. "So mind if I hitch a ride this afternoon? My father's got some school stuff to take care of right after school, and I'd like to be at Leo's memorial rather early."

Rogue couldn't believe she'd forgotten. The day before she was too busy trying to keep her head on about the missing mutants she'd forgotten that Claire had been Leo's girlfriend. She was hurting just as much as any of the Xavier students, but she had seemed to shake it off while she was with Rogue.

"Of course." Rogue said quickly. "Ah'm so sorry, Ah kinda forgot that ya and Leo—"

"That's okay." Claire answered a little too quickly. Rogue wondered if she was just trying to suppress her emotions. The girl wasn't exactly the most expressive person.

"It just doesn't seem like…" Claire started. She took a deep breath like she was debating saying something. There was a strange look on her face as she continued. "…he's gone…" She whispered almost inaudibly. "I don't want to… I just can't…" She glanced at Rogue through the corner of her eye as she turned away for a second.

"Hey, it's okay. We'll get through this." Rogue said softly, placing her hand on the other girl's shoulder.

Claire rubbed her wrists with a blank look on her face. The two sat in a painful shared silence while the rest of the classroom grew increasingly loud.

The bell rang and the pair collected their things. As the rest of the students filtered out of the room enthusiastically Claire struggled with her crutches, gripping the cool metal with uneasy hands. Rogue set her things down and assisted her friend before she stumbled.

"Well, Ah guess we should go…"

The girl's eyes fell and her expression became downcast. Taking a deep breath she nodded in reply. Almost incomprehensibly she whispered, "I hate this."

Rapid City, South Dakota

The sky was a bleak gray as a man in a tan overcoat and a brimmed hat strolled to the front of a building in the small city's downtown area. On a white-washed sign in large black letters above the door it read: "Welcome to the Quincy Community Center." Underneath in smaller print were the words: "Mutant-friendly facility."

The man paused long enough to read the words before ducking inside the building. The inside was not very impressive, but it had a warm feeling to it. It was as if the idea that everyone was accepted there had ingrained itself in the walls and literally warmed it. There was a full-sized basketball court taking up the left side, with metal bleachers against the far left wall and along the court's right side, separating it from the rest of the interior. In the far right corner was a boxing ring, with a few benches lined up near it and several punching bags against the walls nearby. Closer to the doors on the right was half a basketball court, with just one basket where several younger kids were standing around in jerseys looking at an older teenage girl.

The man glanced around the gym and saw the equipment and benches were well-worn. Several of the punching bags were frayed, and one of the bleacher benches was bent completely inward. The other thing he noticed was the people there. Several high school aged kids were playing basketball on the court (more of a pick-up match than anything organized). More than one had a physical mutation. At the boxing mat in the back a boy black hair was throwing punches at a slightly older boy with brown hair. All of a sudden the black-haired boy jabbed his fist forward, though he was too far to reach his target, and a small orange flame burst out. The other boy twisted his body in an inhuman manner and avoided the flame, before flipping over his opponent and yanking his wrists back. The two laughed and clapped each other on the back before starting up again.

Mutants.

Once again he turned his attention back to the half-sized court. The young kids were watching a fairly tall teenage girl with long blonde hair that was braided behind her, tanned skin, and silver rimmed rectangular glasses. She wore a basketball jersey and shorts, as well as tennis shoes. She had a basketball under one arm, and with the other hand was gesturing about. Her voice carried in the open space, but was muffled with the other sounds. She grinned and the kids and they lined up behind the free throw line. Bending down, she handed the ball to a kid with bony plates sticking out on his head.

The man leaned against the wall near the doors to watch, removing his hat and placing it under his arm. His silver hair and well defined face identified him right away.

"Alright, now how about we play a game of Knock-Out?." The girl shouted, receiving cheers from the kids. "Winner gets any piece of candy you want." This got the kids even more excited. She handed the ball to a boy in front of her with bony plates on his head, and held up her hands as another teen by a rack of balls threw her another. She passed it off to another kid and grinned. "'Kay, go!"

The boy did as she said and the ball soared through the air and through the net, hitting it with a swoosh.

The boy smiled hugely, and the game continued.

After all but one was eliminated the girl retrieved a gym bag from the side under the hoop and walked back over. She tossed the bag to the ground in front of the winning kid before turning back to the others.

"'Kay you hooligans! Time to go home!" The girl yelled out. The kids scattered, running up to adults that were lining up near the door.

The girl had a satisfied grin on her face as she watched them go, before turning to the hoop herself and putting up a shot.

"Impressive." The man near the doors muttered, still watching the girl.

She picked up her bag as the kid ran to his parents and slung it over her shoulder. Jogging, she went over to the bleachers and set the bag down. She stretched her arms over her head for a second before sprinting into the mix of high school kids playing basketball.

The group was close together, a boy much taller than her was trying to steal the ball from the other teen dribbling it. With incredible grace the girl spun in between the two and snatched the ball, racing back across the court and scoring a basket.

"Ey! Samantha, we were in the middle of a game!" The boy who had previously been in possession of the ball whined.

The girl, evidently Samantha, laughed, picking up the basketball. "Well let's divide the teams up again. What do you guys say to a game, say… with 'power grid' rules?"

The other teens smiled, and a new game was started.

"Alright," One of the boys said, holding the ball at half-court (he was acting referee). "Power grid rules allow the use of powers in regards to ball handling, speed increases, and accuracy but does not allow the use of powers to injure the other players—"

"Unless they're Sam!" A girl snickered.

Samantha rolled her eyes and got set at the half-court mark.

The referee grinned. "Just try not to kill each other."

He tossed the ball up and blew his whistle.

Instantly the girl, Samantha's, appearance changed. Her skin took on a shiny bronze sheen, and her muscles tightened. She sprung up and swatted the basketball to one of her teammates before crashing back to the ground. The floor shook slightly underneath her, but she was undeterred as she took off after the others.

The man smiled. Such promise.

Rogue sat curled up on the couch in the mansion reading a novel. She was trying to keep her mind occupied on something imaginary so it would not wander into the real world. Maybe it wasn't the best way to cope, but it was how she handled things at the moment.

She looked up as she heard the smooth gliding whirl of the professor's wheelchair enter the room.

"Hey professah."

"Hello Rogue." The man said smiling. Being Wednesday evening most of the mansion's students had left for the long weekend, leaving only a few behind, Rogue being one of them. "How are you doing?"

Rogue shrugged and set her book down, making a note of where she left off. "Ah've been bettah…"

"I think we all have." Xavier agreed, rolling his wheelchair so he was sitting in front of Rogue. "Do you want to talk about anything?"

She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Ah just can't help but think that it coulda been any of us, at any time. But why them? Why now?" She asked, her voice raising a little. "And if Benj and Tylah are okay, then why don't they let us know!?"

Xavier studied her for a few moments before answering. "I wish I had an answer for you, Rogue."

"Ah wish ya did too."

"Come now, maybe you can help me with something and it'll take your mind off of this."

Rogue raised an eyebrow. "What do ya want me ta do?"

Xavier smiled. "Would you mind helping me find Julian? I fear she's gotten lost in the mansion."

"She wouldn't be the first."

He chuckled. "No, she would not." His eyebrow raised slightly at Rogue's unasked question. "And no, I cannot locate her using my telepathy. I know she's in the mansion, but she's been using her powers with frequency and they create a sort of 'psychic static' that makes it hard to pinpoint her."

"Have ya tried the garden? She seems ta like it there."

"A logical idea," the professor said hiding a smile, "would you mind…?"

Rogue sighed. Professor X could be quite the master manipulator when he wanted. "Of course professah." As she got up and walked toward the door she paused halfway and glared at the man. "And don't think Ah don't know what ya're doin', professah."

He chuckled as she walked out.

Rogue ducked slightly as she opened the door to the greenhouse in the mansion. She didn't come up there much because she wasn't much of a plant person, but she knew it was Storm's pride and joy. Lush green plants were arranged in rows, most had bloomed a long time ago so the normal variety of colors that was there in the spring and summer had faded back to mostly green.

But as Rogue walked in she saw something else had taken over the normally neat space. Vines and ivy hung from the beams overhead, making it difficult to open the door inward. She squeezed through and followed the mass of twisted vines to where they seemed to originate. The excess vines were making Rogue feel a little claustrophobic, but she had a pretty good idea where they were coming from.

She turned a corner and reached the center point of the multitude of plants. The vines curved down into a large pot with a stick that they were twisted around, all but four that were much shorter than the rest. These four were suspended in the air by seemingly nothing, which perplexed Rogue until she traced their origin down. The four vines were growing straight out of the pale skin of the figure sitting in front of her facing away.

Julian was just sitting on the wooden floor in a black tang-top and jeans with her hair tied back out of her face. She was bent over a little, and it took a few seconds for the observing mutant to see she was holding a guitar. Rogue looked back over the scene and saw that two of the vines were holding a musical score in front of her and the other two were just swaying in reaction to the music.

Rogue felt a little odd just observing the obviously private scene, but the notes floating from the girl's guitar were soothing and she hated the thought of having to interrupt them.

Suddenly Julian sniffed and straightened up. The chord she had just played fell dead in the air, and the vines on her back fell limply to the ground. The girl shifted her sitting position to face the intruding mutant.

Rogue shifted her weight awkwardly and apologized. "Ah'm sorry, Ah didn't mean ta intahrupt—"

"No, no, it's fine." Julian waved it off, smiling half-heartedly. Her mind seemed preoccupied.

"What was that ya were playin'?" Rogue asked, walking closer and sitting next to the girl.

Julian looked suspiciously at Rogue, making her confusion as to why the other girl was talking to her obvious. It wasn't really like they had 'clicked' before. "Well, uh, it was just some chords and notes I've been trying to put together." She let out a singular laugh. "I guess you could call me an aspiring songwriter, but I'm miserable at it."

"Don't know about that, it sounded pretty good ta me." Rogue shrugged. "But then again, Ah ain't no expert on music."

"You don't come up her much Rogue… the others have told me that much… so what are you doing up here?"

"The professah wanted me ta find ya." She answered, pausing for a second before going on. "That aaaand he thinks Ah need to be around some more people right now."

"You all are havin' a real tough time with this, aren't you?" The pale girl asked, looking over at the older mutant next to her.

Rogue nodded, but didn't elaborate.

Julian set her guitar to the side. "I know you're not one for touching, but I think you need a hug."

Rogue narrowed her eyes. "Ya don't have ta do that."

"Too late!" The other girl said, wrapping her arms quickly around Rogue and then releasing her and backing away.

Rogue didn't even have time to tense up with the speed of the hug, but she looked strangely at the girl anyways. "Ya're quite odd."

Julian shrugged. "Sometimes being odd is the only way I could get through the day. I'm hoping things will be a little better here."

"Trust me, it will."

Julian smiled, but then she tensed and all the color drained from her face. Something wasn't right, she could sense it in the web of plants around her. She retracted the vines that had been sticking out of her skin, and stood hastily.

Rogue shot up after her reaction and looked around. "What is it?"

"Two."

"Wha'?"

The black-haired girl shut her eyes and connected with the plants around her with her mind, something the professor had been working extensively with her on. Plants could only sense changes in their environment, and whoever just came in wanted Julian to sense them. With her ears she heard a hard metallic chop against wood, and her eyes snapped open as she grabbed her side with a sharp intake of breath.

Rogue supported her as she took another step back and almost stumbled. "What just happened?"

Julian shook her head as she clutched her side. "They wanted to get our attention."

"And I'd say we achieved that."

The two Xavier students looked up at the voice. Rogue was a little confused as the figure approached because she could have sworn the voice belonged to Claire Darth, but that wasn't who walked into the space.

Her neon green eyes glittered behind her tan mask in a smile. "Well hello! Long time no see."

"Clay Dune? How the hell did ya get in here!?" Rogue shouted.

"Oh come now, I'm a master thief when I want to be, I've been in and out of her more times than you know." Clay answered snobbishly.

Despite her attitude, there was something off physically about her. She leaned heavily to one side, and instead of gesturing with her hands as she normally did, they hung at her sides, with her curved sword held heavily in her right hand. Her tan-gray skin was an ashier shade than normal and even with her mask it was clear she was gritting her teeth when the silence extended.

Julian took a deep breath and stood up straight, ignoring the pain she felt from the vines that died while she was connected to them. "Who else is here? And who are you again?"

Clay's eyes softened. "I am Clay Dune. I lead a squad at the Haven." Julian's eyes widened. "Ah yes, I thought you would react to that name. I know Ash told you about it."

"Ash? Ashley? She's with you?" Julian shook her head. "Just how does this Haven work?"

"We'll talk later, but the Haven isn't the best place for you to be right now…" Clay paused. "Stay here, with the X-Men…" She added softly. "And as for who else is here, I couldn't leave without her insisting on comin'." Clay responded, looking over her right shoulder to where a small frame was waiting in the tangled shadows. She turned her head forward again and she smiled under the mask. "She wanted to see you."

Ash walked in hesitantly behind her leader, glancing from Clay to Julian. She was decked out in her green and blue uniform with the brown and hazel curved lines on her arms and legs, and silver paw prints on her front with a matching purple one on her back, as well as brown fingerless gloves and boots.

Julian blinked at her girlfriend's outfit, her eyes traveling over her body. "Uhhh… is that… spandex?"

Clay and Rogue laughed, but Rogue stopped abruptly and glared at the other mutant. Clay's eyes went to Julian as the girl continued to stare dumbstruck.

"Better get used to it, spandex is all the rage for mutants and wannabe super heroes."

Rogue's head snapped to Clay and she gave her another heated gaze. "That better not have been a cut at our missin' teammates." She growled.

"Never." The gray-skinned mutant insisted, her tone hurt. "Actually that's what I wanted to talk to you about. AKA: the reason why I'm here."

"Oh yeah?" Rogue snarled. She wanted Clay Dune out of there, but her curiosity and worry about Benj influenced her to listen to what the mutant leader had to say.

"Indeed." Clay mused, tearing her eyes from Rogue's angry gaze to again glance at the two other girls. Julian was still seemingly frozen, and Ash was just looking around at the others in the space blankly, reading their expressions. The black-haired girl's confused expression invoked a laugh from the Haven leader. "Ash, I think your girlfriend is frozen, you should do something about that."

Ash nodded slightly and walked up to Julian, placing her hand on her chin and gently forcing her to look down. There was still a dark shadow on Julian's cheek, and although the cut on the side of her face was closed its red shade was prominent against the pallor of her skin. The smaller girl traced her finger along the cut and embraced her, muttering something that sounded like: "I'm sorry."

Rogue and Clay looked away from the two and their eyes met.

"Fine, what do ya have ta say, 'cuz right now Ah don't really wanna hear ya speak."

Clay shrugged, wincing a little as she shifted her weight and sheathed her sword. "What? Would you rather duke it out right here?"

"Ya don't seem in any form ta fight me." Rogue smirked, picking up on the irritation Clay radiated after her comment.

Her neon green eyes narrowed and Clay lunged forward at Rogue, knocking her closer to the plants behind her, and swept her leg behind Rogue's so she wouldn't topple over. In the same motion Clay hooked an arm under Rogue's and pulled a knife seemingly out of nowhere with the other and moved it close to her victim's neck.

"You were sayin'…?" Clay growled.

Rogue's eyes were incredibly wide and her heart was hammering from adrenaline. The girl had moved faster than she expected she could. The knife at her throat wasn't putting her at ease any either.

After Clay took a few calming breaths she put the knife away, and leaned away from Rogue, allowing her to stand up straight.

"Don't. Push me." She snarled, pointing a tan-gray finger at the goth. "All I have to say is: I have a message from Turbulence."

Rogue's eyes softened, her eyebrows spreading apart. "B-Benj?"

"Sí." Clay nodded.

"Leo used ta answah like that…" Rogue muttered, memories springing up uninvited in her head.

Leo and his Spanish. That kid was a goofball when it came to interjecting Spanish phrases into everyday English.

Clay shuffled her feet a little, grinding her teeth together against some unseen pain. She pulled a small spherical device off of her belt and handed it to Rogue.

The goth frowned, inspecting the Haven communicator. "What's this?"

"He didn't think you'd want to hear it from me, so I recorded it for him." Rogue looked at the device skeptically. Clay rolled her eyes. "Just press the damn button."

Rogue complied and the buzzing background noise of recordings filled the air.

"Hey Rogue…" Benj's voice sprung from the small device, sounding raspy and tired. Rogue squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lower lip. He was alive.

"Listen, I… I know it seems like…" He sighed. "…Just listen. I'm working with the Haven mutants right now… at least until w-I get some things figured out. You need to get Xavier to stop looking for us. We're in good hands right now; plus there are bigger things to worry about.

"By now I'd imagine Magneto is already back to recruiting for the Brotherhood, heh, he tried to snag me didn't he? If you guys can get to any of his targets first, and I urge you to try, don't let them join him. I'm sure the professor can tell you why, we had ears at the memorial service for Leo. Magneto warned Xavier he was recruiting for the purpose of preparing for war. The X-Men must block him whenever possible, I'd say start with the old Cerebro files. Somehow, I have a feeling that's where he's going as well.

"I have to say, the Haven is in a weak state right now, and they truly mean the X-Men no harm. But don't get in our way. I don't want to see you hurt, and I don't want to have to face you guys on the other side, Rogue. I—"

"That's enough." Another voice interrupted.

Benj coughed in the recording and finished. "Talk to Lance. Convince him to tell you guys things. And… be careful."

The recording ended with a click.

Rogue extended the device back to Clay with a distant look in her eyes, but the other girl shook her head. "Keep it. It'll play the recording if you press the button… and if you hold the button down it'll put you through to yours truly." Clay stepped back toward the way they had come. "For emergencies."

She nodded to Ash, who separated herself from Julian and walked over to where her leader was.

"I trust you to let those who need to know, know."

Samantha picked up her gym bag and waved to the janitor at the Quincy Community Center.

"Hey thanks Jim. Just lock up once you're done!" She said cheerfully as she exited into the already chilly air. The sun had gone down an hour or two ago, so Samantha was in for a dark bike ride home. She shrugged the bag onto her shoulder, mounted her bike, and started down the road.

Posters of anti-mutant propaganda were pasted all over the downtown area, but the girl had long ago learned to ignore it. They were better than what the media made mutants out to be.

She would show them one way or another.

Normally if she left the community center before it was dark she would spend some time tearing down the trashy propaganda, but when it was dark she didn't want to risk it. Even in a high-density of mutants town people went missing. And they were almost always mutants.

As she sped down the streets she didn't notice most of the posters, but one caught her eye and forced her to stop. Her wheels screeched with the suddenness of her braking and she dismounted her bike quickly.

The poster was taped to a light pole on an intersection. The light orange-glow of the street lamp reflected off the silver frames of her glasses and danced as she moved her head. She reached up and tore the poster down, muttering its writing in disgust.

"We are the superior race! Smoke out the mutant scum!" The paper was filled with drawn flames. She crumpled it up and threw it down, pausing to grind it into the pavement with the heel of her foot.

One of the community center's active members had his house burned down the week before.

"The moronic arsonist probably got his idea from the poster." She muttered angrily. She was about to get back on her bike when she changed her mind and instead slammed her fist into the light pole. Sparks flew from the light above and from the gaping hole in the side of the dull gray metal. Samantha frowned and took a few slow breaths, retracting her fist from the inside of the pole. In the flickering light she could see her skin glinting bronze. Her knuckles were slightly dented but the dents quickly pushed themselves out and she sighed.

Her form returned to normal and she got back on her bike, preparing to pedal home… when the feeling that someone was behind her stopped her dead in her tracks.

"It doesn't make sense, does it?" A cool voice asked behind her.

She turned slowly to see a man in a long tan trench coat and silver hair before her. As brilliant as she could be at times, sometimes the girl lacked better judgment. She answered. "No, it doesn't. Mutants are stronger, better than them. Why do we continue to get persecuted?"

Magneto smiled a little. She he could work with.

The Brotherhood dragged their bruised bodies back into the Boarding House and collapsed in the reconstructed living room. Blob basically face-planted into the large armchair in the corner; while Lance, Pietro, and Wanda fell exhausted onto the couch. Toad was the only one not remotely on auto-pilot and he stumbled into the coffee table that sat in front of the couch. He was too tired to even let out a squeak.

"Pathetic." Mystique scolded, following the team in. "No wonder you continually lose to everyone."

"You… used… Sabretooth… for combat… lessons!" Toad gasped. "We coulda died!"

"And what a shame that would've been." Mystique rolled her eyes.

Quicksilver sat up a little straighter on the couch. "Hey, you've been pushing us to our breaking point for the last two days. I'd say you wanted us dead."

"Again, a dismal shame." Mystique said with a wave of her hand.

Pietro stood straight up in a flash. "Hey! When my father—"

"Your father told me to do this. Now sit your ass back down on that couch and listen." Mystique ordered. The room went silent. "If I'm correct Magneto will be back any minute with an announcement to make. So until then, shut it."

The teens sat in silence and caught their breath as they glanced around at each other. There was something Mystique wasn't telling them.

True to her word, Magneto came walking in the door a few minutes later dressed in his gray suit. He smiled arrogantly as he strolled into the room.

"My Brotherhood, I would like to make an announcement concerning this team." He began. "I have decided it is time to expand our ranks and take in new recruits. I believe this will hold you all to do your best, because as you will see… I can replace you." His tone was not ominous but it came across that way as he spoke the last few words.

He looked to his right where a girl with blonde hair tied in a braid, tan skin, and silver rectangular glasses was walking in. "Brotherhood, meet your newest member: Samantha Quincy, Automaton."

The girl put a hand on her hip as she inspected the others in the room critically. "Hi." Was all she said.

Wanda smiled a little at the new arrival. "Finally, another girl."

Blob scoffed from his chair. "Psh. Right. You're so tiny, I could probably crush you with my pinky!"

The new girl smirked at this, her harsh bronze-colored eyes lighting up at the challenge. "For one, I'm pretty tall for a girl. And secondly…" She clenched her fists and her body changed into sold bronze, making her look like a living statue. "I would like to see you try." Her voice was hard and metallic in this form, making her particularly menacing.

Wanda stood up to inspect her a little closer. Perhaps having a girl like this on the team would strengthen them supremely.

"Look out boys, it looks like we have a Sisterhood of Mutants forming." Mystique laughed.

And you guys were hoping I'd give you more information on everyone's favorite trio of brothers. BAHAHAHA. You must be patient young one. (I hope you all are loving/irritated by the suspense surrounding them!)

Samantha Quincy, AKA Automan, is the first of several background Brotherhood characters coming in. Now remember how I said I was looking for characters? I've sent messages out to those who were interested and I'm looking forward to seeing them. After the next chapter update I will accept no more, and may or may not use all the ones I receive (okay lie, I will use them all eventually no doubt).

Next chapter: WOLVERINE! Yeah! Logan's still having trouble dealing with Leo's disappearance (he thinks)/death (everyone else thinks) and decides to take a road trip, winding up in Canada where he meets an inverted young mutant named Quinn. With no family to turn to Logan decides to bring him back to the mansion, but will an unwanted visitor sway Quinn's alliegance?!