Chapter 5
Bayville Skate-Park...
The morning sun was making a beautiful spring day and Storm had nothing to do with it. It was all nature's work. The legions of participants in the competition poured in, presenting their registration papers and signing in. Meanwhile spectators filled the stands that had been constructed for the occasion. Spears had spared no expense in using this as a launch pad for his Pow-R8 sports drink as it hit the market.
Though he could do without the expense of whoever it is that wrecked his factory. The police still had no leads. Anyway for today he wasn't worrying about that as he himself, stood in front of the stands, microphone in hand and welcomed everyone to the event.
Amongst the crowds sat many members of the X-Men and Generation X and as soon as the New Mutants finished their DR session no doubt a few of them would come along. Anyone who wished to support Evan...or had nothing better to do.
One person who wasn't here was Scott because he was giving Kitty a driving lesson.
Logan couldn't help but smile smugly at seeing the space beside Jean where Scott would normally sit. Revenge is sweet...though he still has it to get back on both Jean and Chuck.
Course he's only attending this thing at all as a favour for Ro. He is getting so whipped.
Also managing to get here were the porcupine's parents which had brought out a huge smile on Evan's face to know his parents cared that much to come watch him. They waved to him down in the practice area.
"I didn't know he had gotten so good," Vivian remarks to her sister.
"It's all zhe Danger Room sessions," Kurt jokes...although now he thinks on it that may be quite accurate.
"No need to thank me," Logan quips.
Ororo chuckles, her whole face lighting up.
Yep. Vivian can see that her sister has it bad for Logan. Could be the most serious yet her sister has ever felt for someone. Well they'll see in time won't they. All answers come in time.
Ororo's smile fades a little as she recalls her worry over the other day in Evan's room. "Charles," she mentally projects out to him. "Did you get a chance to check on Evan after we talked?"
"I did," he thinks back to her. "I did a light scan with Cerebro. It seems to be a hormonal imbalance. Probably just a normal teenage phase. It should correct itself shortly if it hasn't already."
Ororo breathes a small sigh of relief. Despite Evan's assurances she had to ask Charles. She was worried about him.
Charles takes a moment to just enjoy the atmosphere. It was a lovely day and he decided to just take a day off. He doesn't get a lot of them. Nice change of pace.
Martha and Jonathan were there too. Sadly neither had managed to persuade Douglas to leave the mansion and come as well. It seems getting him out of his room was as far as they were going to get this week. Oh well, all things in time.
What no-one notices is directly below them, under the stand, the one-eyed woman in a long blue trenchcoat and hat, watching, waiting, looking for her moment to strike.
After Evan does a few practise tricks, he takes a moment to focus himself for the competition. Though his subconscious was still giving him guilt pangs for snapping at his aunt yesterday. He never actually apologised. He will.
But fist things first. The first round of the competition.
"Hey son."
Evan looks up to see his father, Carl Daniels, leaning over the barrier of the stand. "Hey dad!" Evan greets him happily. "So, um...is this a lecture about wasting my life?" he wonders because he just imagines his father might think skateboarding is exactly that.
Carl's face grows deadly serious. "Well now you mention it I do have something to say in the area."
Evan dreads what is about to come.
"I just want to say...knock them dead son," Carl cheers his son on, his face transforming into a large smile.
Evan smiles back. "Thanks dad...and I will. You watch me!" he vows, full of more confidence than ever.
4 Freedoms Plaza...
Once Superman and Detective Sawyer told the FF the story about Pow-R8 and its seemingly detrimental effects on mutants both Sue and Reed eagerly agreed to run their own tests and verify...or not Superman's findings.
That's the point of coming here. They have to independently run their own tests and come to their own conclusions.
That leaves Superman and Detective Sawyer sitting around waiting with Johnny and Ben for company. Well more accurately Johnny kept trying to hit on Detective Sawyer. Clark swears that throbbing vein on her forehead is about to explode.
It's kinda frustrating...especially when Clark knows one of his friends has been exposed to the drink but Callisto made him promise not to involve the X-Men so all he can do is hope that the tests are finished quickly and he get on to having the stuff banned.
Clark may be imagining it but while they've been waiting Johnny seems a bit...snippy to him. In fact he made a few snide comments under his breath when Superman was briefing them. He probably didn't realise Clark could hear every word. "Mr Grimm may I ask you a question?"
"Just call me Ben, kid and sure. Ask away," Ben permits the kid.
"Have I done something to offend Jonathan over there because he seems a bit..."
"Moody, sour, sore," Ben makes a few suggestions.
"Yeah."
"Ah I wouldn't take it personally, kid. He's just sore that your fansite got more hits in a day after you saved Smallville than his gets in a month."
Superman blinks. "T-that's it? That stupid fan club I didn't even know I had until a few days ago? How's that a big deal?"
Ben chuckles. "Supes we've been trying to get that through flame-brain's thick head since we got these powers. He thinks way too much about the celebrity it gets him."
"But it's not about that. Power is about using it to help people," Superman says as if it is the most obvious thing in the world.
"You're a dying breed kid," Ben comments, truthfully admiring the sincerity in Superman's voice. He really, really means what he says. Johnny needs to get over it. Ben finds that he likes the superpowered kid in red and blue. He's kinda odd though. Has to be super smart to run those tests he talked about yet he's been sitting here chatting away with Ben on topics as if he's just a regular guy...like Ben is. Oh don't let this rocky hide fool ya. Ben's as regular as it comes...or he likes to think so.
Well Clark isn't sure he would agree with that. He knows lots of people who use their powers to help. "Can I ask another question?"
"Sure," Ben shrugs.
"At what point do I inform Jonathan there that Detective Sawyer has a girlfriend?"
Ben turns his head sharply to look at Superman. "Girlfriend? She's..."
"Yep," Superman confirms.
Ben looks back at Johnny and chortles. Oh boy this is good. He must remember to save the security footage for blackmail material. "Well how about we leave it until his life is threatened," he suggests.
"Funny. That's just what I was thinking."
Superman and the Thing share a look before dissolving into laughter.
Bayville Skate-Park...
There was no doubt Evan was on top of his game today. He rocked the 1st round...and he can tell that by some of the sour looks he is getting from his competition. They're just jealous of his awesome natural skills.
He qualified to round 2 easily as the field is halved. Now the real battle was about to begin for who was going to win this.
In the break between rounds the remaining competitors are all taking a rest and rehydrating with the free Pow-R8 bottles that are being given out.
Evan wipes the sweat from his face with his shirt as he grabs a bottle out the ice-bin. He raises it to his lips...
"POISON!"
The harsh, whispered hiss makes Evan spill the drink on his shirt and he ends up dropping the bottle completely and it crashes to the ground.
"Huh?" Evan says as he looks around and spots someone in a trenchcoat wander off. Was that who said that to him?
The figure walks off past Ray who is picking up some snacks. He blinks twice. Was that...? "Callisto?" he queries out-loud. What the hell is she doing here? She almost never comes up here. Certainly not during the daytime. What is going on?
Before Ray can get a chance to chase after her though she has already vanished into the crowd.
The competition continues with more competitors falling by the wayside as the standards get more and more demanding. Evan had put that whole weird thing with that strange person out of his mind as he focussed on his biggest tricks for the last and final run. Really it was down to between him and this other boy from school.
"Amazing," Ororo ends up whispering in awe in the stands. "I knew he was good but I never thought he was this good," she confesses.
"He's alright...I guess," Logan says gruffly.
For Logan that's very high praise indeed.
"Zhere's no doubt. Zhis is his vorld," Kurt remarks to that. For him he couldn't see how Evan could lose this now.
Evan's parents were on their feet cheering and hollering and clapping their son on.
Evan finishes his run and comes face to face with the boy who had already done his last run. He flicks his board up into hands with a triumphant smirk, knowing his run was better than his opponent.
Course the downside of this boy going to school with Evan is that he knows what Evan is and he can use that to still win this. An argument starts about the very fact Evan is a mutant and the boy shoves Evan in the shoulder. "You heard me! Disqualify yourself!"
Evan brushes the arm away. "Forget it!" he refuses, sticking his finger in the boy's face. "I didn't use any powers!" he insists, though Evan can't see why he should be defending himself to his idiot.
The two boys start shoving at each other until Guy Spears himself runs up to separate them. "Hey, hey, hey, what's going on?"
"This punk's a mutant," the boy says. "He's cheating," he accuses.
Spears' expression turns grave. "You're a mutant?"
"Yeah," Evan answers, nodding but frowning, not liking where this is going. "It's not like I hide it but even if I did my powers have nothing to do with my skating."
The boy shoves Evan again. "Liar!"
Evan shoves the boy back.
Spears pushes them apart. "Cool it!" he orders. "Both of you. Now," he says, looking down at Evan. "I have to go talk to the judges about this," he decides because truly he never considered a mutant might enter or how that might affect things. There were no specific rules against them...although perhaps there should have been. That was his oversight.
Evan scowls fiercely. "Forget it!" he spits furiously. "I already know where this is going!" he assumes the worse that they'll disqualify him. There goes his pro career. It's so unfair! "I'm out of here!" he yells, turning and stalking off.
"That's...that's...they can't do that!" Vivian protests from the stands. "Carl?" she asks her husband.
"I won't let this stand, honey. I promise," Carl assures his wife, feeling as outraged as she is. "Ororo could you make sure Evan doesn't run off before we try and fix this injustice?" he asks.
"Of course," Ororo assures her brother-in-law. "Logan. Get the scent. Don't let Evan leave," she asks of her boyfriend.
Logan shoots to his feet, sniffs the air and rushes over to see where Evan has stormed off to. The tan skinned mutant is just grabbing one of those Pow-R8 bottles.
Not too far away a woman in a trenchcoat was still trying to find a way to sneak up on Spears when she spots Evan away to take a drink. "No!" she says in a harsh whisper, not wishing any harm to come to a fellow mutant, especially not to one of Superman's friends...but it's far too late.
Evan barely takes a sip before he convulses, his body racked in pain before dozens of spikes push out through his skin and clothes. Evan cries out in pain as the spikes fly in every direction, driving the crowd into a panic as they slice through everything in the way, the skateboarding ramp, the stands, the judges' scoreboard.
Jean tries to block as many of the projectiles as she can with her TK but it's too late to stop the scoreboard toppling over, heading straight for the stands full of people.
Storm reacts quickly, summoning up a powerful wind, blowing the scoreboard back upright. As soon as she does Bobby rushes over the side and freezes the supports solid in thick ice, which even on a hot day like this should hold long enough to clear the area of pedestrians.
Logan is trying to reach Evan. He can see the kid on his knees in obvious immense distress but the crowd keeps pushing him back.
In the panic one kid is pushed over the back of the stands. Kurt rescues him with his usual flare and teleporting skill.
Evan struggles upright and pushes himself away on his skateboard...being pursued by the woman in the trenchcoat.
All of this is seen by Ray. "It's Callisto," he says.
"What was that Ray?" the Professor asks from next to him.
Ray points. "That woman in the trenchcoat. It's Callisto."
Charles frowns. He had met the woman only once, when he recruited Ray. She had made her wishes abundantly clear that she wished nothing to do with him or the up-top world so why was she up here? "Is she responsible for what has happened to Evan?" he asks Ray.
"I...no. She wouldn't. She doesn't attack fellow mutants," Ray is pretty sure.
Charles' brow furrows deeply. He's missing something.
"Evan!" Ororo and Vivian call together as they search for him. "Evan!" they yell again as Carl catches up to them.
Ororo spots Logan, kneeling on the ground by a spilt Pow-R8 bottle. He dips his fingers in the liquid and sniffs before touching it to his tongue. He makes a sort of pained sound.
"Logan?" Ororo inquires after him as she kneels down next to him. "What is it?"
"This stuff...ain't right. My immune system reacted strongly the second I swallowed it."
Ororo picks up the bottle and eyes it suspiciously.
"Porcupine drank it just before his powers went nuts," Logan relays what he saw.
Ororo's gaze narrows dangerously. What is this stuff and what has it done to Evan?
Evan manages to get as far as the outdoor auditorium that is not too far from the Skate-Park before the pain becomes too much and he collapses to the ground, moaning in discomfort. He...can't think straight...which may just explain why he just kept going instead of waiting for help.
A shadow comes over him and he looks up to see that one-eyed woman in the trenchcoat again. "What...what do you want?" he asks, somewhat delirious.
"Only to help you," she says to him.
Evan can't fight it any longer and slips unconscious.
Callisto picks the boy up. She sighs. She had wanted to prevent this. She looks down at him and can see more bony spikes starting to grow out of his skin as she watches. She's seen this with her Morlocks. The poison messes up their powers. He's never going to be the same again.
That being the case she decides she better take him home with her. The X-Men have no clue what is going on and can't help him but she and the Morlocks have experience with this and they can.
At the Institute...
Meanwhile, oblivious to any of this going on, Kitty is getting her driving lesson from Scott in his red convertible. They're just about finished as they return to the mansion...with Kitty phasing the entire car through the wall and Scott hanging on for dear life, utter fear for his life etched on his features.
Kitty slides to a stop outside the front door and phases herself out whooping in joy only to stop when she spots Kurt waiting for her and Scott on the steps, a concerned look on his face. "What's happened?" she asks, knowing something is wrong instantly by Kurt's expression.
"It's Evan. It's...bad," Kurt says.
Kitty's good mood instantly vanishes. "Tell me everything," she orders as she takes Kurt by the arm and leads him inside.
Scott, meanwhile, has to pry his finger from their death grip on the dashboard. He leans back, breathing heavily. "I never want to ride in another vehicle again as long as I live," he says, his voice sounding whiny. His whole life has just flashed before his eyes and he never, ever, wants to experience that again.
Down the lower levels...
Beast and the Professor were running tests on Pow-R8. Beast examining it through a microscope while the Professor was testing the reaction between Pow-R8 and blood samples by dropping some of the drink into a couple of test tubes filled with mutant and human blood.
Ororo strides in, her whole body tense. Vivian and Carl were upstairs fretting, waiting for news on their son...currently lost son because they couldn't find him. Logan lost the scent trail down in the sewers but why Evan went down there no-one knows. He obviously can't be in right mind which only makes finding out what has happened all the more urgent.
"Odd how I'm not getting the same adverse reaction from non-mutant cells," Charles comments as he ponders what this means.
"What does that mean?" Ororo wants to know. "Is it poison? Has Evan be poisoned?!" she asks, her voice and ire rising. A wind picks up around her in response.
"We're only in the initial stages of our tests," Beast cautions. "However it seems Pow-R8 is hazardous to mutants. We're not certain for humans but certainly not at these concentration levels. We need more information."
Ororo's eyebrows drop. "There's something else," she can plainly see from their expressions. She's known them both too long, especially Charles, not to see when they're withholding something.
Charles and Hank share a look as if deciding who tells her and risks her wrath.
Charles decides he will do it. "I don't think we're the first ones to stumble on this."
"I don't understand."
Beast steps forward a bit. "When Charles and I came down here to run our tests we found several blood samples missing, not to mention my computer left turned on with two specific bits of information called up. Evan's medical history and information on poisons and allergens."
"Someone knew?" Ororo queries. "Who?" she wants to know so she can go kick their ass.
"The access code used to obtain the blood samples and the computer log-in share one person in common," Beast relays.
"Who?!"
"Clark," Charles answers it.
Ororo blinks...put out of her stride. "Clark? I...wait. Clark never forgets to turn things off and if he wanted to he is easily smart enough to wipe any record he had been here so what is going on?"
"We think it's a message he left behind for us," Beast gives what he and Charles speculate. "That in a roundabout way Clark was trying to give us a warning."
"Why didn't he just tell us?"
"Most obvious answer is that for some reason he can't," Charles again speculates.
"What could possibly make Clark not tell us?"
Charles hesitates. "Again this is speculation but himself."
"Himself?" Ororo queries, clearly confused.
"Clark's...not been quite right lately. We've all noticed but had hoped he would either come to us or it was just a phase he was going through."
"Have you tried calling him?"
"Tried and failed. His communicator's turned off. We've shouted on him but he's choosing not to respond...or is so far away he can't hear us."
"So we've got nothing," Ororo says, deeply unhappy.
"Not nothing," Charles corrects her. "We have the fact Callisto was there."
"Yes. The Morlocks did you call them?" Ororo asks for the reminder. Charles had given the story on the way home of them and their leader.
"That's right." he confirms.
"Ok I'm going to ask because someone has to, why Charles? Why keep them secret?"
"Because they made me promise. That was the condition for allowing Ray to leave and join the Institute. They don't want anything to do with top-worlders, as they call us. They just want to be left alone down below ground where they feel safe."
"Can't you find them?"
"No. I keep getting a strange static on Cerebro when I try."
"How is that possible?"
"Hard to say. Perhaps they have managed to recruit a mutant who puts out psionic interference so as to shield themselves from telepathic scan."
"Charles, we have got to find Evan!" Ororo insists desperately.
Bayville Sewers...
When Evan comes back round the first thing he notices is that he feels awful all over from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. It especially felt sore in his bones, a sort of unending ache. He coughs up some liquid he was being fed. He looks up to see the faces of 4 mutants looking down at him. A little girl, one with a turtle like face, a bald pale faced man and one with a 'snub' like pig-snout.
"What happened?" Evan asks with a groan.
"The Pow-R8. It's dangerous for mutants," a voice tells him and coming into view comes that one-eyed lady he saw before. "I told you not to drink it," she reminds him, placing her hands on her hips in a stern manner.
"Will...argh...will I be alright?" Evan asks.
"We can ease your symptoms but you must rest. Don't worry Evan you're with the Morlocks. We understand you...and any friend of his is a friend of ours. We'll take care of you, promise."
"Friend? Who? I..." Evan tries to ask before he passes out again.
At the Institute...
Clark had dropped Detective Sawyer off at the police station and she was about to set to work to shut Spears down. They had what they needed. Reed and Sue had confirmed what Clark had found; that Pow-R8 was lethal to mutants.
Now he was returning to the mansion, floating down out of the sky in the late afternoon. It had all taken much longer than he desired...which totally wasn't his fault.
It was the Human Torch's.
Johnny was trying to show off in the pointless attempt to impress Detective Sawyer and ended up activating this portal generator Reed had invented that leads to a place he calls the Negative Zone and it let in these giant alien bugs that feed off power so there was a 'fun' few hours spent trying to get the damn things back to where they came from before they escaped the building, then repair the damage they caused and then have Reed and Sue finish their tests.
So you see so not Clark's fault. It's just a good thing he has some understanding of portals from his teachings with Jor-El in relation to the Phantom Zone. That helped in this situation. Though he probably picked a bad-time to nitpick some of Reed's assumptions he made in one of his dissertations on pan-dimensional travel right in the middle of all that.
Although Sue thought it funny as hell to see someone actually able to debate Reed on his level. Plus Clark might have praised her for her work where she avoids making any sort of misjudged assumptions like Reed does. That got him a beaming smile and a kissed cheek.
What? Clark likes to read things and having met them before he decided to catch up on their work. Besides what else is he going to do when he literally can't fall asleep at the moment? He has to wile away the hours somehow.
Clark strides towards the mansion doors. As soon as he steps through the door he can tell something is wrong. It's just the atmosphere of the place.
It doesn't take long for Logan to stalk into the lobby. It's that bloodhound nose of his. "Space Boy!" he barks.
"Ok, what have I done now?" Clark asks, recognising that tone. "Or what do you think I have done because I'm certain if you investigate further you'll find it's Kitty's fault," he quips. In Clark's mind if all else fails blame Kitty. He's joking of course but it's fun to annoy Kitty. That never changes.
"Enough of the smart lip," Logan warns. "You. Follow me. Now!" he barks out the order.
Clark is actually, for once, clueless about what he has missed. That's rare these days with all his supersenses so it's kinda a novel experience for him. He follows Logan towards the Professor's office and is literally shoved inside.
"Clark," the Professor greets the young man calmly.
"Professor," Clark returns. "Am I in trouble?" he asks, sensing the seriousness of the situation from the Professor's demeanour.
"Depends on what you say next. Did you know Pow-R8 is poisonous to mutants?"
Clark grows serious. "Something has happened to Evan hasn't it," he guesses because only Evan had been drinking the stuff.
"You did know," Charles says accusatory, a strong hint of disappointment and disapproval in his tone.
"Well yeah...but that's where I've been all day. I've got the evidence to shut Spears down," he says reaching into his jacket and pulling out a rolled up folder. He places it down on the Professor's desk.
The Professor briefly peruses the contents of the folder and sees the detailed analysis contained within on Pow-R8 and its effects. This was...much further along than they were in their own tests. "I need to summon a couple of people. One moment," he requests of Clark as he sends the telepathic summons.
A few minutes later Storm and Beast enter. The Professor tosses the folder to Hank who starts to read it.
Clark feels really out of the loop.
The Professor locks his fingers together as he rests them on his desk. "Clark, no-one is going to get angry at you or judge you until we hear the whole story," he assures the alien powerhouse "Now when did this start for you? When did you learn about Pow-R8's negative effects?"
"Well it started yesterday. I was investigating the break-in at the Pow-R8 factory. I mentioned I was going to do that didn't I?"
"Yes. You did."
"Well I met Detective Sawyer, she's my friend as you know. She managed to get a print that led to a picture and I recognised the person."
"Who was it?"
"I, um, can't say."
"Can't?!" Storm's sharp voice snaps.
"No."
Charles holds up a hand to stop Storm. Her emotions and temper were on edge. She wasn't being her rational best. "Why can't you say Clark?" he asks.
"Because I gave my word I wouldn't. You can't ask me to break my word, Professor."
Charles nods. Now he understands the can't bit of why Clark never said anything. "It was to Callisto wasn't it," he throws it out there on a whim.
Clark blinks in surprise at that and looks around at the grave expressions. "What has she done?" he asks with a grim foreboding.
"Took Evan," Storm says gravely.
Clark rubs his head. "Stay out of trouble, I said. Yes, she said. Leave it to me, I said. Agreed, she did. Well it's plain to see what her word is worth. We will so have words."
"You knew of these Morlocks?" Storm asks, keeping her temper in check for now.
Clark can see that the secret's out so no point is keeping quiet now. "I do a lot of running around. I ran into them," he summarises it over-simply.
"And they made you promise to keep it secret, yes?" Charles guesses.
Clark nods. "Yes. In exchange I asked them not to cause trouble. It's a very simple arrangement...or would be if Callisto wasn't a stubborn, prideful, pain in the ass."
"Yes...she has her moments," Charles has to agree.
"Can I ask what is going on?" Clark asks again, not getting the whole picture.
Charles summarises it, all the while Beast reads through Clark's work.
"Oh. I didn't think Evan was so close to the trigger concentration," Clark says, regretfully.
"Trigger concentration?" Beast queries.
"Page 43," Clark tells him to turn to. "While any concentration is not good for a mutant when it reaches a certain concentration in the bloodstream it sets off a trigger point where their x-gene reacts in a hyper-allergic reaction causing their powers to go wildly out of control. If the concentration isn't diluted swiftly the cells will burn themselves out."
"Which means?" Storm asks.
"They'll die," Beast words it as he reads Clark's results. "Clark, you did all this when?"
"Last night, mostly."
"If circumstances were different I would give you praise for your work. I wasn't aware you were this adept."
"Well unlike some people Mr McCoy I listen when you speak."
That makes Beast grin because there are so many people who just tune him out when he's trying to teach them.
Charles brings the conversation back to an unanswered point. "Clark you can talk about the Morlocks so when exactly did you learn about Pow-R8?"
"Last night. That print I mentioned belonged to Callisto as it turns out. I went down to see them, to get answers as to why they attacked the factory and found many of them all very sick."
Beast's head snaps up. "Sick?"
"Spears has been dumping his off-spill directly into the sewers near where the Morlocks live. It's in their water...plus even in gaseous form it's toxic. That's why they attacked it. They were defending themselves...at least in Callisto's head they were."
"So you went about proving this so Spears would be shut down," Charles can start to get a beat on Clark's thinking.
Clark nods.
"Why didn't you tell us, Clark?" Storm wants to know. "Why the cryptic message? Evan's your friend!"
Clark turns to face her. "Yes, Evan is my friend...but Callisto made me promise not to involve the X-Men and in return I asked her to stay out of it and leave it to me. A deal she broke her side of and I will not let that lie. I did what I could to warn you with the computer that didn't break my promise. Wasn't sure if you'd understand my message. Hoped you would but in the meantime I would get the required proof anyway."
Ororo shakes her head. "That's not good enough, Clark. Evan is sick, he might even be dying," she says angrily.
"I cannot break my word," he emphasises. "I am the last of my kind. My word is basically all I have. If I break my word, my word becomes nothing and nothing is all I will have left. I'm sorry Ms Munroe, about Evan. Believe me I am. I never wanted anything to happen to him. I was hoping to prove the truth about Pow-R8, shut Spears down and have it all be done with before anything like this happened...or before one of the Morlocks died because they have been suffering for weeks because of their refusal to ask for help. I would ask you to keep that in mind. Plus I wanted to be back much sooner than this but stuff came up."
"What sort of stuff?" Ororo asks, giving him an intense gaze.
"Giant insects from another dimension threatening to drain the world of all its power unless they were stopped."
Storm opens and closes her mouth a few times. Of all the answers she never expected that one.
There is a momentary pause. "Reed Richards, right?" Charles guesses, knowing his former student as he does and that sounds so like something that only happens to Reed.
"Uh, yeah," Clark confirms.
Charles shakes his head. Reed was going to be the death of all of them one day.
"I went to him to verify my results for the legality of shutting Spears down. Detective Sawyer is taking care of that as we speak," Clark informs them. "Look I can find Evan," he offers. "I know where the Morlocks currently live."
"Not by yourself," Charles says. "After what has happened Clark you can't expect us to let you."
"Ok," Clark accepts for the sake of saving time and not wasting it arguing over minutiae. Also Callisto can't expect the X-Men not to come now she has taken Evan.
"Storm. You and Wolverine...and Berzerker since Ray use to be a Morlock, go with Clark, find Evan and bring him home. Hank and I will read over Clark's research and see if we can come up with an antidote to the toxin," Charles decides what will be done now.
Storm nods in agreement. Doing something rather than sitting around takes the edge off her nerves. Now she knows how Logan must feel a lot of time and why he does those intense DR sessions of his. Though that doesn't matter right at the moment. What does matter is that she'll be keeping a close on eye on Clark because for, perhaps the first time since he arrived, he has put a dent in the trust she had had in him.
Author's Note: I always kinda thought it was missing that Evan's parents didn't appear to watch him compete so I corrected that. Not Clark's finest moment here but he's young and you have to have him screw up now and again by making poor choices. It's part of learning and growing up. The giant bugs that eat power come from an episode of the 2006/7 FF cartoon series World's Greatest Heroes. Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews. Next up X-treme Measures Part 6 as the X-Men look for Evan and the Morlocks prepare to shut Spears down once and for all.