Episode 3: Exalted

The last ten minutes of the school day were Pietro Maximoff's nemesis. He prided himself on having a lot of enemies, but time was always the one he couldn't beat. For him, who could run on the edge of the speed of sound, and whose father was the most politically powerful mutant on the planet, the world just moved too slow.

He checked the clock again and swore under his breath. How much more could this man say about the Declaration of Independence? His gaze shifted around the room as he thought. All men aren't created equal; the mutant gene made some far better than others, thank God. If that didn't make the ideal a farce, the recent hate crimes against mutants through the first two weeks of school shot plenty of holes in the notion of equality.

He looked at the clock and swore again. His knee started to bounce subconsciously and he focused on tearing graded homework into little balls. Kurt Wagner set the normally quiet suburb of Bayville against mutants. A couple of days before school started, he had been idiot enough to get caught with his blue devil's tail out for the world to see. Everyone knew Pietro and his crew were mutants. He was no friend to cowards who hid from who they were.

With a stock of spitballs, Pietro shot one into the hair of another closet mutant. Bobby Drake shot a glare at him, but Pietro gave a grin and waved mockingly. Cowards, all of them. Running together, going straight from school to Xavier Institute, they were nothing. Not Pietro, not his group. They didn't hide, they took on haters all the time and sent them running.

When Bobby turned back around, Pietro grinned at his twin sister next to him for approval, but she hadn't been paying attention. Wanda sat calmly filing her nails, her shorts showing off her legs and expensive shoes. Unlike Pietro, she had wavy brown-red hair, and enjoyed good grades in school. She did, however, look over sympathetically at his thrumming knee which was now bouncing in a blur.

He looked up at the clock, feeling that at any moment he was going to explode his skin. Ten seconds… Five… When the bell rang he was out the door so fast it made the papers in the waste bin fly two in the air.

Freedom after classes was so fantastic, he couldn't explain. When he sat still too long every fiber in him told him to run, and run fast. He returned to the classroom after a lap around campus. He had hardly missed anything and met Wanda on the way out.

She grinned. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah!" he said, leaning on the wall. Bobby and the other XI kid in their class, John, were meeting up with the rest of their group. He looked at Wanda. "So good I think we should see the new 'mutant lovers'!"

She sighed and frowned. "Pietro, don't."

"Too late!" He laughed and zipped over to the XI kids, running into the back of Bobby's shoulder.

"Hey!" Kurt shouted, helping Bobby regain his balance.

"Aw, look who's finally come out!" Pietro said. "So what, you gonna hang out with us now? Come one, join our side, Kurt. You know we stand together instead of burying our heads in the sand."

"Sand?" Piotr asked. He looked at John who just shook his head instead of explaining.

"Shut yer trap, Pietro!" Anna said.

"It goes both ways, Rogue," Pietro snapped. "You left us, joined them… even your saintly brother can leave you for us!"

Bobby frowned. "Get lost and you won't get your butt kicked."

Pietro zipped right up to whisper in his ear. "Not easy being a 'mutant lover' is it?" He zipped away to Anna next. "All the gossip, the looks, the vandalism" –

Anna took a stomp at his foot, but he was too quick.

He was right back at Bobby. "Are you mutant lovers our friends now? You love us now, do you?"

Kurt frowned. "Leave us alone, Pietro!"

Wanda caught Pietro's arm. She was the only one who could. "Let's go. They've had enough."

John grinned. "Yeah, listen to your pretty sister, Speedy."

Pietro grimaced at him and then looked at Kurt. "Things'll just get harder, Nightcrawler," he said. "When it gets hard enough, you come to us."

Wanda gave Kurt a warm smile. "Our door is open… to you." She winked at him and Pietro frowned.

"You'll get old waiting for that," Bobby growled. "Come on guys, the bus is waiting."

Pietro stayed with Wanda while they walked down the hall, surrounding Kurt protectively.

"What was that about?" Pietro snuck an evil grin at his seductive twin.

"Nothing," she said innocently, a sure sign of a lie. "Take us home, brother."

He obediently picked her up and began the run to their house. "Seriously, what was it?" he picked, amused at her secretive effort.

"Since you ask, I think you were an idiot for picking on Kurt."

"An idiot? Oh, come on."

She had her arm around his shoulders as he ran at blurring speed. It didn't take a stretch for her to slap the back of his head. "Yes, an idiot."

"Only because you've got a crush on him," he grinned, teasing.

"Because he'd never pick on me like you do," she retorted. "Lay off, okay. He's got it really rough lately."

Pietro yielded the point while he slowed down several miles from the school. They zipped between trees in the surrendered old grounds of a vacant, high-end property. He stopped so they could unlock a gate hidden by years of overgrowth. The place was impenetrable for anyone who didn't know what they were looking for. More than that, it didn't look worth the attempt. Pietro and Wanda, however, easily arrived at the old guest house beyond a tumbled stone wall.

It was an impressive old Victorian, but since the mutant teens moved in it looked its age. It was not only a living space, but the headquarters for all of the missions commissioned by Pietro and Wanda's father. Most had resulted in police investigation, so the place was mutant-disguised and obscured. With that, they could continue serving his purposes in the area. Mostly that included keeping eyes on the Xavier Institute.

As Pietro ran up, he saw someone unfamiliar run out of the house calling his name. He skidded to a stop and saw her long green hair. His jaw dropped.

Wanda spoke when he couldn't. "Lorna!" she cried, beaming as their fourteen year old sister threw her arms around them.

Pietro hardly recognized her. Their father Magneto had two goals in life:: making mutants the rulers of the world, and spoiling his daughters. Wanda was trained as a force to be reckoned with as the heir to his legacy and the growing mutant country of Genosha. Pietro knew he was the top general of the armies. Lorna, however, was every inch a princess. He hadn't seen her in seven years, and that was the last time he had seen the shores of the Genosha. Back then the island was still an international backwater.

The little girl he remembered was now a fresh little teen. All her emails and letters didn't do her justice as she hugged Pietro with all she had. "Pietro, Pietro!" she squealed. "I came to visit you! Aren't you excited?"

It took a moment for him to get his voice, but he hugged her back right away. "Uh, yeah! Yeah!" he laughed. "How did-? When did-? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Lorna took his hand, dragging him into the house. "Come in, come in!"

Wanda smiled when Pietro looked at her for answers. Her shrug really didn't help, but his little sister was such a surprise he couldn't stop grinning.

His grin faded when, as they went inside he saw Julian Keller. Hellion.

Lorna skipped over to him, naïve as usual to how dangerous he was. All the mutants Magneto assigned to protect and dote on her were dangerous, the most elite force he had. "Hellion! Lookit who's home!"

Hellion was a powerful telekinetic, and a cunning young general in Magneto's upper level of leaders called the Brotherhood. As the Lesser Brotherhood, Pietro's team had to take orders from any one of them. "I see that." Hellion smiled his honeyed grin. "Why don't you get Toad and Blob to help you make some snacks?"

Lorna clung to Pietro's arm. "But…"

Hellion knelt to her. "I need to tell them some business from your father. They'll come back out to play, alright?"

Used to being handled with kid gloves, Lorna warmed to the request. "Okay!" She skipped off to the messy kitchen where Pietro's two drop-out lackeys were hiding.

Pietro could hardly believe she was there. It felt surreal. Magneto had never allowed their precious step-sister off of Genosha. Here she was, out of her ivory tower, and with him in the broken down house. By all accounts the place was a reeking excuse for a house thanks to unrestrained use of powers and the fact that Toad perpetually smelled of swamp.

Hellion stood. "Well, come on."

Pietro looked at her incredulously as they followed Hellion to another room, . "Did you know she was coming?"

Wanda smiled. "Yes, but not when."

In the old parlor, Pietro flopped onto the stained couch. "So what's the news, Hellion?"

Julian grimaced at him. "Orders, actually."

Wanda scolded her brother with a slap to his knee and perched on the cushion, elegant and dignified as usual.

He quieted, but kept grinning. Hellion may be strong, but Pietro figured he should be reminded who was a prince.

Hellion was a tall, broad-shouldered man in his late 20's. He paced slowly in front of them, hands clasped comfortably behind his back. "Magneto has a big plan in the works. Lorna demanded to come visit you both and this means someone has to watch over her. Since she wanted to see you both, I'm leaving her here with you."

Pietro heard the first part best. "A big plan?" He was on his feet again without noticing. "Are the X-men involved?"

Hellion raised an eyebrow. "That's classified. It's a matter of Genoshan National Security."

Pietro frowned. "Well fine, but if it's so big what should my team be doing to prepare? We've got a lot to give! What's our part? Do we have to work on anything specific? Any new objectives?"

Hellion checked his watch nonchalantly. "Just keep doing what you're doing." He collected an expensive jacket from the old coat rack and picked splinters from the fabric before putting it on. "If you'll excuse me, I'm late for a meeting with Graiton Creed."

"But" – Pietro said, confused. "That's it?"

"That's it." He took a thick packet from his jacket pocket and dropped it on a chair. "Funding from Magneto. Cheers." With that he left the room and the house.

Through the open parlor door, Pietro could see and hear Lorna riding the shoulders of the mountain of flesh that was Blob, and mocking Toad's scrawny frame and sour smell. As neither of those things bothered him, he looked back at Wanda.

"So that's all we get to do? … And who's this Creed guy? Is he one of ours?"

Wanda's face clouded. "Let it go, Pietro. We've got our orders." She stood and went out to keep Lorna from driving Blob through the wall.

Pietro glowered. If Hellion thought the Lesser Brotherhood would be useless except as babysitters, then he had another thing coming. Pietro's mind spun, imagining up how big a part he and his teenaged team would play in his father's work. First he had to find out what the plan was, and Graiton Creed was the first question to answer.

Pietro had learned from Magneto's legendary tactics that often the answers to your questions are in the hands of your biggest opponent. The lesser Brotherhood existed to keep an ear to the ground around Xavier Institute for those kind of answers. Once, Charles Xavier had been so close to Magneto that Pietro, Wanda, and Lorna had learned to call him 'uncle'. The gap had suddenly widened to the point that there were spies in place. The dear children of Charles' philosophy and Magneto's men risked their lives in defending their divided ideals.

A fight of philosophies left plenty of room for defection and persuasion. Pietro decided to go to one turncoat, John Allerdyce, who'd stayed on at XI as a spy on the inside. If XI knew who Graiton Creed was, John would know too.

Pietro also knew the XI students would be taking an after school field trip to the natural history museum in the city. Never one to wait, he picked up his jacket at the front door only to have the doorknob pulled from his hand from the outside. "Hey!"

Lance Alvers, one of the Lesser Brotherhood, came in still wearing his backpack from school. "Can it, Speedy," he said, pushing his way in.

Pietro's face burned. "Don't you tell me to 'can it'!" He zipped in front of Lance again as he strolled to the couch. "Where have you been?!"

Lance was the only other member of Pietro's team besides himself, Wanda, and a few occasional allies, that hadn't dropped out of public school. Where Pietro's grades weren't great, Lance's were always just a hair better. Besides out doing him in that, Toad and Blob had the nerve to like Lance better than him.

Lance flopped on the couch. "I ride the bus, remember genius?"

Blob lumbered in from the kitchen, Lorna perched on his mountainous shoulders. She had to duck deeply to avoid the ceiling. "Uh, Lance… Good!" He gave a relieved grin. "Didn't know when you were comin' back."

Toad, whose legs were more comfortable leaping low to the ground than walking upright, jumped from behind him. "School's done the same time every day, Fred. Get a watch."

As Blob looked at his wrist which was nearly a foot around, Toad leapt right past Pietro to the arm of the couch. "You gotta help us, Lance, she's crazy!"

Lorna glared at him and pointed regally. "Hey! Blobby, throw him! He's mean!"

When Fred hesitated she hit his bald head. "Do it!"

Toad screeched as he fled and Lorna rode Fred in pursuit, giggling.

Lance sat up instantly. "Hey, stop! Call off your sister, Pietro. Toad didn't do anything, and Fred's not a stooge!"

Pietro folded his arms and grinned. "He called her crazy. I'm not doing anything. And it's Quicksilver to you."

Lance opened his mouth to sass back, but he put up his hands and stomped after them.

Proud, Pietro figured he put the upstart in his place. Taking a minute to preen, he put on his jacket and adjusted his stark white hair in a cracked mirror in the hall. As he gave up flattening a stubborn couple of locks up front, Wanda came up behind him.

"Where are you going?" she demanded.

"Oh! Uh…" He smiled nervously. "To, um, the museum?"

She raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but to his relief she didn't ask more.

"Alright, then."

He relaxed and grinned, reaching for the door. "Be back sometime."

"Take Lorna with you."

Lorna heard and came skipping in, having lost interest in the pursuit. "Oh! Take me where? Will it be fun?"

Pietro's face fell. "But- I- Why?"

Lorna took his hand. "Where will we go? Can we get ice-cream?"

"She came to see you, Pietro, and Dad said to show her a little of the world outside Genosha."

Pietro knew well enough his father wouldn't want any ugly truths to tarnish his precious daughter's trip. He sighed and smiled for Lorna. No's weren't an option, but sugarcoating wasn't Pietro's favorite activity.

"Fine. Museum first, ice cream later, okay?" he said, squeezing Lorna's hand.

Her smile was enough to melt his reluctance. "Yay!" She used her powers of magnetism, inherited from their father, to throw open the door. She hauled on his arm. "Let's go, let's go!"

Pietro grinned and scooped her up in his arms like he did for Wanda. "Let's go!"

Lorna gave a giddy squeal as they raced off in a blur to downtown.

Sure enough, the black van from Xavier's Institute sat in the parking lot. Pietro found the mutant teams on a tour led by a museum guide, but two of their teachers chaperoned. Pietro felt lucky the telepath Jean Grey had been replaced on this trip with some weak looking woman in a blue dress. No fighter would wear that.

Confident his little sister was occupied on an audio display nearby, Pietro caught John's eye. As the group was given time to look at an exhibit for a few minutes, Pietro waited behind a display.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" John hissed furiously. "Just being here you could blow my cover. You better have a damn good reason for this!"

"Shut up, Pyro," Pietro snapped. John was like Lance. Idiot kept forgetting who was boss. "Listen, the plan hasn't changed. I want you to tell me what this guy Graiton Creed has to do with it."

John grinned incredulously. "Seriously? Creed has everything to do with it! He's the leader of the Friends of Humanity… He's the richest, meanest, anti-mutant son of a bitch in the US!" He stood back and put his hands in his pocket smugly. "Geez, you don't know a thing, do you?"

Pietro flushed with fury. "Hey! I'm your contact here, so you gotta do what I tell you, got it?"

John was unintimidated, even scornful. He flipped a lighter and suddenly held a fist full of fire up to Pietro's chin. "Gonna run from this, track star?"

Pietro felt the flames lick at his chin and he stood on his toes doing his best to keep his authoritarian expression. "Get that out of my face."

John inched it closer by growing the flame, grinning maliciously before extinguishing his handful of flames. "Stay out of the plan and never contact me again." He left and rejoined the XI group.

Pietro exhaled, realizing with shame that he'd been holding his breath. He rubbed the stinging heat from under his chin and slipped out from behind the display.

Pyro didn't worry Pietro much, really. He was just a rebel, right? Any leader has his challengers and Pietro had him beat by bloodline alone.

What really kept his thoughts buzzing was the identity of Creed. He knew a few things. First, Hellion was known as a mutant only to a select group. Second, Creed would never associate with known mutants from what John said. Then he also knew it was usual for Magneto to employ the philosophy to "keep your friends close and enemies closer". After all, Magneto was a diplomat, politician, and philosopher, as well as a seriously powerful warrior. It was this final thing that puzzled him.

Spying on Creed was common sense, but Magneto's plans were never passive. John said Creed had everything to do with the plan. Creed had a bigger part and Pietro was at a loss as to what it could be. More questions to ask, for sure.

Pietro found Lorna near where he'd left her, but she wasn't alone. The lady he'd seen earlier was talking with her. Pietro hurried over, but at normal human speed so as not to give himself away. "Lorna!"

Lorna looked up and smiled. "Oh! See this is my brother Pietro who I told you about."

Pietro was bothered by the woman's open smile and blue eyes. She looked a little odd, sort of too innocent. He took Lorna's hand. "Come on, we're going now."

Lorna resisted. "No! I don't wanna! You're being mean." She smiled at the lady. "This is Ms. Kate! I like her, she's nice, and a mutant. Like us!"

Pietro looked at the lady a little more. It wasn't like an X-man to tell anyone their secret. "Oh yeah?"

She offered a hand and a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Lorna's been telling me so much about you."

Pietro stared at her hand for a second, a long time for him, before hesitantly shaking it. This lady had to be an idiot, new, or both. She obviously didn't know who he was, or who Lorna was. For a second he considered recruiting her, but with that smile this woman had to be some kind of peace lover. No room for that in his ranks, not with a big plan coming on.

He chose to just limply shake her hand. "Nice to meet you. Come on, Lorna, we've got to go get you some dinner."

Lorna squirmed as he took her hand. "But I don't wanna go!" When Pietro didn't hesitate, she waved to Kate as he pulled her hand. "Bye, Ms. Kate!"

Clearly confused, the woman waved back. "Oh! Well… Okay. Goodbye, Lorna. Have fun!"

"I will!" After a few moments Lorna looked up at her brother. "Why didn't you like her, Pietro? She's nice and funny. If you let her talk, you'd-"

"Some mutants are different than others, Lorna." Pietro directed her to the gift shop knowing she'd be plenty distracted.

That didn't help. She only shook a snow globe and asked another question. "Can I have her?"

Pietro tried to think how not to say 'no'. "She belongs to the X-men, Lorna. If she knew who we were, she wouldn't even talk to us."

Lorna sighed, pouting. "I know daddy doesn't like them, but she was really nice. Couldn't everybody just get along? We're all mutant."

Pietro spun a little commemorative ball on his finger. "If everyone was mutant there wouldn't be a problem. Humans are the problem."

Lorna looked around. "How?"

"The X-men are human lovers," Pietro said with disgust. "As if humans hating them weren't enough, they fight with us for showing the humans who's boss."

Lorna lost interest in shopping and frowned to herself. "But if we're all mutant, we should get along."

"Well, that's how it is," Pietro said shortly, putting the trinkets back on the shelf.

After buying the toys Lorna had picked out, he ran her by an ice cream place and then got her home before it melted.

It was hard not to let Lance's insolence and John's cutting pride get to him. It might have deterred him, but nothing could. If he played an indispensable part in this plan, then no one could question who was boss of this team. He was the boss! He was the son of Magneto! He was a prince of mutants and he would make sure to be that from now on.

That night, he went to Wanda's room. He wanted to know, from her, where his country stood. She was always well informed, but Pietro also knew she had a heavy weight on her shoulders. She was the heir, after all.

"We're in trouble financially, I know that," she said as she lay on her bed. Hers was the only room in the house that was clean. It also had soundproof walls, floor, and ceiling.

Pietro lay at her feet on her large bed, thinking. "Trouble? But what about the bank?"

She pushed her hair from her shoulder as she shrugged. "The bank's fine. It's really done a good job. The issue is most of the county's capital is invested in the buildings of the city. All that art, the architecture, the technology sucked up millions in our funds."

Pietro traced the patterns on her comforter guiltily. "Wow…"

Wanda sighed. "Pietro… I don't think Dad's being very realistic."

"In what?"

"Genosha. The whole country." She played with one of the toys Lorna brought back from the museum. "We're so small. The state of New York is bigger than the whole island."

Pietro was worried about her tone. He rarely saw her so concerned and even less often heard her disagree with their father. "Size isn't really the problem," he said with a small smile. "England's tiny, but the whole world knows them."

Wanda smiled. "Think through that one. They have hundreds of years of history, generations of colonies, and at least ten times our population. They also have a society, systems, and authorities already in place to keep those citizens under control."

Pietro smiled. "We'll get there. The place is planned right."

Wanda looked troubled instead. "Honestly, it's more like a million dollar small town instead of the city we built it to be."

Pietro watched her, feeling bad he couldn't make her smile. She was the only person who cared about him for him, and he knew it was Wanda who would have to bear the incredible weight of ruling Genosha after Magneto. Alone like this, he was comforted to know she could show it for once.

She picked at the pillowcase. "I'm afraid, Pietro," she sighed. "We only have a few thousand people for our citizens, and I'm supposed to lead them? To where? For what?"

"A better life," Pietro said quickly. "Somewhere great and far away from humans who would mess everything up for them!"

"We're 17, Pietro. At this point, I hardly know if I can govern myself, let alone a new country full of people older, stronger, and more intelligent than me."

"Hey!" Pietro threw a pillow at her. "I want to debate that." He smiled encouragingly. "You can outclass everyone in that stuff!"

She threw the pillow back at him with a little smile. "You're biased." His success was fleeting as her melancholy returned. "Whether or not I can lead won't matter if Genosha goes bankrupt."

Pietro frowned, noting her worry. "Is it that bad?"

Wanda looked down and sighed. "I shouldn't doubt Dad. He's always got a plan for everything. We've been pretty successful so far."

"He wouldn't let anything happen to Genosha," Pietro said firmly.

"I just wish more people would take us seriously!" Wanda said, suddenly upset. "We'd change all their minds if they just gave us more credit as a country instead of as the world's mutant prison colony! Right now we're becoming the home base for criminals. We don't mind refuges, but we can't afford the rap for all the runaway hooligans trying to get off from the law."

Pietro frowned, surprised how much of an issue it actually was.

Wanda saw the look and settled some. "It's not that we don't want to help, but we can't be a free ticket to every mutant who claims discrimination. I don't want to rule villains. We're already enough of a joke to the diplomats of the world."

It hurt Pietro to see Wanda bothered. Lorna was experiencing a little of it despite how sheltered she was in Genosha with Magneto. Pietro shared their dream of a safe, accepting place for mutants. He dreamed about living there, happy with his sisters.

"Wanda, if I can do anything to help, you know I'll do my best." He took her hand to give it a squeeze.

She smiled gratefully, but shook her head. "No offense, Pietro, but how could we fix this?"

"Well I'm here at the root of it all," he said. "Most of the mutants having a bad time here, down on the lower levels, think pretty highly of Genosha."

Wanda listened with a bit more interest. "Oh? How?"

"To a lot of them it's like a promised land. Visuals are even more for it. As long as they're informed they generally talk about it like a homeland. Not just the shunned ones either. A lot of them have had lots of school."

He was glad to see she was comforted by his words.

She patted his hand gently. "Maybe… Maybe after this plan of Dad's you'll get to come home?"

Though it sounded wonderful to him, Pietro grinned nobly. "I'll stay anywhere to help Dad, you and Lorna, and Genosha."

She smiled sadly and he softened.

"I'd really like to come home," he said quietly, "even just for a visit."

That next day Pietro rolled out of bed late, having stayed up talking to Wanda. Dizzying spots danced before his eyes and he felt his muscles shake. Breakfast. He dashed downstairs and quickly stuffed a spoonful of peanut butter into his mouth. Eating usually helped stop the shaking and dizziness, but he had to sit awhile to let it work. While he did, he heard Lorna ordering Toad and Fred around in the yard. Sounded like they were playing some odd version of house.

Pietro happily sucked on another spoonful of peanut butter. It was about time those two slackers were kept on their toes.

An envelope on the table came into focus as the food helped Pietro's system settle. He picked it up and read the post-it on the front. It was Lance's writing.

"Note left on the door. Be back Monday night."

Pietro snorted. Lance was always bugging out on weekends. Didn't matter too much to Pietro, though. The less he saw of that cocky upstart the better.

The handwriting on the envelope mattered a lot, however. Pietro grinned mischievously. This might just be his ticket to finding more about Magneto's big plan. The curly script read "Julian" and it definitely belonged to Emma Frost.

He heard the door open and he zipped into the hall, grinning at his good luck. "Hey Hellion! How's it going?" he asked, hiding the envelope behind his back as he leaned on the doorway.

Julian straightened his coat. "I'm here to check on how things are going with Lorna's visit. I won't be here long." He ran a hand through his hair and looked at Pietro suspiciously.

Pietro gave his best toothy grin.

Julian shook his head. "Idiot. Has anything come for me?"

"As a matter of fact," Pietro held up the envelope and said, loud enough for the whole house to hear, "you got a note from Emma!"

Toad and Fred came in. Just as he hoped, Julian's face clouded and he glowered.

"Emma Frost?" Fred said, his perpetual expression of 'what?' holding a little excitement.

Toad leaped over with his ridiculously powerful legs. "Hott damn! Betcha it smells like her." He grinned with pleasure and made a grab for the note. "Lemme see it!"

Julian grabbed Toad by the neck, flinging him away. "Sick little beast." He frowned at Pietro. "Give it to me."

Fred chuckled slowly. "Doesn't she like Cyclops?"

Pietro made a shocked face, glad the Blob brought it up. "Oh! That's right. Aw, poor Hellion."

Pietro knew Hellion could easily tear him apart, but Pietro was playing on his pride. As he expected, Julian hardened.

Hellion's voice was low and lethal. "Come with me, you little bastard, and bring the note."

Glad to have provoked him, Pietro zipped to the next room and leaned against the wall.

Julian closed the door behind them and his anger obscured his handsome face. "What is your problem?"

Pietro lifted his chin haughtily. "I want information."

Julian frowned. "That note's important and you're holding it for a question?"

"Answer it and I'll let you have your 'important' note. Just the one question and a legit answer." He raised his eyebrow and held up the note with the handwriting facing out.

"Fine. What the hell."

Pietro nodded. "What does Magneto want with the Friends of Humanity?"

Julian was surprised by the question, but he shook his head firmly. "All I can say is some plans of mutant-kind's enemies have the potential to do Genosha a favor."

"Well that's a crap answer," Pietro snorted. "What plans? What kind of favor?"

Hellion lost patience and his eyes glowed.

Pietro couldn't hold onto the note if he tried. It leapt out of his hand and into Hellion's. It was a parlor trick compared to Hellion's real power, but it served his purpose.

Hellion pocketed it. "Treat your step-sister well, or I'll have to follow my orders. You're responsible for her."

He left, and Pietro might have been mad, but he wasn't. He'd gotten something important. He knew it was important from Hellion's reaction, but didn't he know what to do with it. And he was still without a lot of important detail.

Later that day Pietro was picking up on some real activity. Julian was calling more, there was an agitated feeling at Baywood High School, and the anti-mutant feeling in town was spiking. He could tell because he racked up three more detentions than usual.

When they did get orders from Julian, Pietro knew for sure it was business with the big plan and he was eager to be a part of it. Julian only gave them what to do on that upcoming Wednesday, but Pietro went over orders again and again to try and figure out more of the whole plan.

Wanda was to be in the school's front office at the passing period to lunch. 11:55 am. Pietro was to know where Bobby and the X-men kids were at all times.

Lorna would still be at the house, safe. That was predictable. The rest of the team would be at Pietro's disposal, keeping an eye on everything in the immediate area of the X-men kids.

After Julian gave them the orders, he warned them he wouldn't be coming around for quite a while. He even initiated phone black out. No calls for any reason.

Pietro, as soon as he heard the orders, couldn't have cared less about Julian. These orders were very similar to others he'd received for years. He and his team had played the distraction a hundred times before, and Pietro had this role down. This time, though, he was determined to go above and beyond.

On the weekend and early in the week, he drafted up some new drills and drove his sluggish team out on the lawn to drill harder and longer than before.

Lance gave a half-hearted effort at best and it infuriated PIetro.

"Hey! Avalanche!" Pietro ran up to him and all but yelled in his face. "You get your ass in gear!"

Lance frowned, but didn't back away. "This is stupid. I'm tired of getting thrown at the X-men just so your big shot daddy and his friends don't have to get their hands dirty."

He then turned his back and walked off.

Pietro fumed and chased him down. It wasn't hard. Before he could take more than two steps, Pietro was in his face again. "We have a big role in this, don't you get it?! All of us, we're the only thing standing between the X-jerks and the biggest thing to happen to mutants in years!"

Toad's eyes widened as he listened. Lance wasn't convinced, but Fred was starting to listen.

"We're who Magneto put at the front lines! We have this job and we'll pull our weight for everyone who's had to put up with all this human shit. It's been hell these last few weeks! I don't know about all of you, but I want to be ready if we get the chance to show 'em what we're made of!"

Toad threw his fist in the air. "Yeah!"

Fred fiddled with his thick, sausage-like fingers. "I dunno. I don't like takin' hits. It hurts."

Pietro was about to give him a shout, but Wanda stepped up.

"It's a big deal. What we do affects how other mutants feel about who they are and what they can do. We're strong! We're going to practice so we can stand up to all the humans who want to control us!"

"You say that real nice, Wanda!" Toad was starry-eyed.

She grimaced and zapped him with a "magic" bolt from her hand.

That made Pietro grin. He was fired up. He knew what he wanted to do and he was glad to have Wanda with him.

They cooperated despite Lance stalking off, and Pietro sat up late on Tuesday night with a map of Baywood High School. He ran through his plan over again, even using colored markers to remember the movements he'd ordered. No X-men member at Baywood would get away with anything this time. Every one of them would be prevented from interfering come 11:55!

"Pietro?"

Pietro blinked out of his focused state. "Huh?" He saw Lorna at his door and he smiled. "Hey pretty girl. What're you still doing up?"

She came in and climbed up next to him on his squeaky bed, comfy in her pajama pants and heart patterned tank top. "I was worried about you."

"About me? Ha!" He put his arm around her narrow shoulders. "I should be worried about you instead. 14 year old princesses need to be in bed before 10."

"Everyone's upset at you, Pietro," she said sadly. "They're mad you're making them work so hard."

He smiled, touched she'd be concerned. "They're mad at me a lot. I'm the boss, so it's part of my job to make them do things they never would. Besides, this is important, Lorna. We're a big part of Dad's plan." He smoothed her hair to try and make her worried expression disappear.

"But…"

"If I do a good job, Dad will notice, Lorna. We're going to be the facing enemies of all mutants, not just people against Dad and Genosha."

She sighed. "Why? Why are there 'enemies'?"

"An ugly little truth, sister." He kissed her forehead. "But that's not for you to worry about, right?" He smiled and she nodded slowly. "I'll protect the team. That's why I've been working them. If we practice, we'll be ready no matter what!"

Lorna nodded. "Good. You'll be safe too?"

Pietro softened. Lorna and Wanda were the only people who would be worried about him. He always struggled with how to take that. "I'll be okay."

"And will you promise something? Don't hurt other mutants. Remember, they're Brothers and Sisters too."

Pietro thought about the X-men kids and couldn't promise her that. Instead he smiled gently and petted her green hair. "It'll be alright, Lorna. I promise I'll be good. Okay? For my favorite little sister."

Lorna smiled and kissed his cheek. "I love you, Pietro."

He couldn't help giving her a hug. Those four words were so wonderful, but so unfamiliar. "I love you too, little Lorna." He formed a smile and let her go. "You go get to bed so I don't get in trouble for keeping you up!"

She giggled and got up. "Okay! Good night!"

Pietro watched her skip out of his room and sighed. She was so lucky, floating in her protected world where everyone loved her and told her so. He felt lucky to have her for these few days. Even though the biggest assignment he'd ever been given was that next day, he did wish he, Wanda, and Lorna could have done more together.

Dwelling on that didn't help, so he went back to work. Hell, he thought, maybe if he knocked this one out of the park, then he'd finally get to spend some time in Genosha. He fell asleep dreaming of how it would have changed after 7 years.

The next day Pietro watched the clock like it would suddenly go backward. 11:52. So close! His heart raced, his stomach churned. He was convinced he could do more to help if he only knew what was going to happen.

Pietro hadn't seen Lance. That goof-off had probably ditched. Pietro was mad over that, but he'd get back at him later. Now was time to focus. He'd take Lance's position tailing the X-men.

John wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. Pietro watched, just in case something should clue him in on where all of this was going.

At 11:55 the bell rang and Pietro nearly jumped a foot in the air. Any second now. From anywhere some Humanists could come blasting in, or the X-men could duck out and escape his watch.

Wanda had already been called to the office and Pietro for once forced his body to go slow as he gathered his stuff and followed the X-men out.

It puzzled him they were all totally at ease. They were all talking about what was on the menu at the cafeteria.

"Hey, I left a book in math class," John said. "I'll catch up, ok?"

Bobby turned as John headed back past Pietro. "Better hurry or Kurt will eat all the burgers!"

That got a big laugh.

John met Pietro's eyes as he pushed past him, and his expression made Pietro nervous. He was a cocky jerk, yeah, but John shot him an odd grin and a 'see you later' jerk of the head.

Pietro couldn't react, not when he heard the X-men get quieter in their talk. When they did that they were usually plotting and he thought for sure it was something important.

"Bet you he's up to something," Bobby was muttering.

"Leave him alone," the big Russian said. "He may walk where he likes."

"Not on my watch," Bobby snorted and they turned into the big crowd of hungry students. "Hey! Speedy!"

Pietro couldn't understand why he hadn't gotten some signal by now.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Bobby said. "Why are you following" –

A sudden deafening bang made the hall silent for Pietro. There was a flash of fire and a blast that tore apart the hall in front of them, bringing walls crumbling down on the crowds of students. Pietro was knocked flat and so were the XI students.

Pietro couldn't hear anything but a high-pitched whistling as he opened his eyes to dust clouds, screaming faces, and a wall that had fallen just short of his feet, bulked up over Piotr's metal form hunched over as many people as he could protect.

Then there was another blast! He felt the shock wave and the flashes. Pietro's mind spun as outside light poured through the massive hole in the school's wall onto the pile of rubble and torn up backpacks of students.

Run! It was the only thing Pietro could think and he found himself struggling to his feet and fumbling outside. Everything was a haze of dust, glaring sun, and people running toward the hole in the wall.

Pietro ran off, zipping with as much direction as he could muster toward the front office where Wanda was supposed to be. Red, blue, and white lights got close on the roads, but he could only hear his own breathing and the high-pitched whistling in his ears. He couldn't wrap his head around the multiple explosions and the damage.

As he turned to see another more serious blast hole, Pietro tripped. At his speed, he fell and rolled over and over on the lawn. Halfway through his tumble, the sound came back and he clamped his hands over his ears against the screams, shouts, and sirens coming from every direction.

He heard cries for help, cries of panic, anger, and pain coming from all over. The sirens of fire engines and squad cars jolted him from his stupor. He had to get away before he got tangled up in this mess!

The main office was untouched and he was sure Wanda hadn't been in the danger zone, so he took to his heels and dashed almost too fast for the eyes to see back to the Brotherhood house. At that speed he avoided anyone asking him questions. Instead he singled in on the hope his sisters were safe and sound.

When he arrived, he didn't pause before dashing upstairs toward her room. He slammed open the door. "Wanda!" The room was empty, but he heard the news turned up on a TV.

-"to be a group of anti-mutant activists calling themselves the Friends of Humanity. Our reporter, Chuck B-"

Pietro's heart raced and his mind spun. This was their plan? Bombing a school and- How would this help?

Pietro shoved the falling pieces of the truth from his mind. Wanda. Where were Wanda and Lorna? He saw a note on the bed and he snatched it up in a blink, reading out loud.

"Wanda, Lorna, and John are on the Genoshan ship Polaris on their way to the palace for safe keeping." Pietro was relieved to hear his sisters were far from danger, but…

He sat down, holding the note and looking at it although it was no longer in focus. John. His sisters and John got called to Genosha for protection. Pietro was alone. Not only that, he wasn't warned. He was told to follow the X-men kids, and if he'd even been a few steps nearer he might have been killed by the blast. He looked up and felt like he had a cold hand squeezing the life from his heart. He'd been passed over, again, by his father. He was left in the line of fire like a common pawn.

The news footage playing downstairs got Blob and Toad running up. "Hey! Hey boss! What happened?"

"Yeah, what" –

Pietro stood furiously. "Shut the hell up! I don't know, so leave me alone!"

They looked at him, confused. "What?"

"Get OUT!" Pietro grabbed a lamp and flung it with all his might.

The two thugs dodged the glass shards and fled downstairs while Pietro screamed at them. He didn't know what he was saying. He was barely even aware he was crying as he fell back to sitting, the news rattling on as more devastating attacks were reported.

"We are receiving reports of fatalities at public schools in Maine, Georgia, Tennessee, Maryland, Vermont, Colorado, Missouri, California, Arizona, Nevada, Montana, Texas..."