Chapter 10: Take a Walk on the Wild Side
-Stokes Maximum Security Prison-
At the Stokes Maximum Security Prison, what looked like a routine check up with one of its top priority inmates was being done by one of the head guards. Unbeknownst to the security team of the prison, it was anything but.
Said guard walked into the cell and then made the its main hub, and then a large tank rose out from the center of the room and revealed that inside said tank was a huge man, even bigger than Sabertooth, who was chained to the floor and surrounded by a green liquid.
The guard then made the liquid slowly drain as he suddenly transformed into Mystique. As the man slowly started to wake from his stasis, the blue skinned woman smirked.
"Wake up, Kane. I think it's time for you to have a long overdue reunion with your brother, Charles Xavier." The woman said as the man glared at her.
(Elsewhere)
-Ironback Survival Campgrounds-
Meanwhile, the Xavier students and the Brotherhood were both at the Ironback Survival Camp, the former of which decided to come to the camp in place of the Institute's version with Wolverine, which was adamantly supported by Gavin, who honestly had been hounded by Logan quite a lot as of late because of the Sabertooth incident.
As everyone was standing and listening to the Sergeant who was the supervisor of the camp, Gavin was doing his best to ignore the man by turning the volume on his hearing aids (which he had to wear due to his enhanced hearing) all the way down.
"You will not be making wallets, neck tie holders, or paper weights. You will not be participating in potato sack races, water balloon tosses or pony rides." The man said as he walked back and forth between the line of students. The man was about as well built as Logan, with a well maintained grey hair dotted crude cut, a rather pronounced chin and was wearing a tank top and shorts, as well as a pair of shades. "You will be taking twenty mile hikes, propelling thirty foot cliffs and crossing treacherous waters with nothing but a rope and as much courage you can muster. Do you read me?!" He yelled.
"Yes Sgt. Hawk, Sir!" Everyone yelled, except the pseudo vampire, which Sergeant Hawk took notice of and decided to get in the boy's face.
"I said do I make myself clear?!" "He yelled in Gavin's face.
The boy simply leaned forward with his ear facing the man, cranking the volume of his hearing aids up a bit. "Sorry what was that? My hearing aid was off." He questioned.
"I said, do you read me?!" The man yelled into his ear, causing the boy to reel back and clutch his ears.
"Okay okay, ya don't have to yell." Gavin hissed as he got back in line, pushing his round rimmed shades up over his eyes.
Sgt. Hawk glared at the boy before he walked back towards Scott. "Now, here we have a man by the name of Scott Sumners." He stated as both shaded men looked at each other.
"Summers." Scott corrected.
"And his scholastic achievements at Bayville high have earned him the role of Team leader, so you will be following his league, you have twenty minutes to get your gear unpacked and meet at the training grounds, dismissed!" The man yelled louder than before, most likely to make Gavin hear him.
"Urg, I'm gonna be dead in, like, three days!" Kitty groaned as she sat down.
"Hey, what about me? I'm a city kid." Evan whined.
"Yeah, vhat did we do to deserve this?" Kurt questioned.
"Well I'm going AWOL, anyone know how to hotwire a bus?" Rogue asked.
"I do!" Gavin said as both headed towards the bus.
"Okay you two, calm down. It's not that bad." Jean said
"Yeah, settle down." Scott nodded, blocking them. "We don't want to wash out in front of the entire school do we? Besides, Professor Xavier endorses this place."
"Scott's right, I mean at least he gave us a choice, this place or with Wolverine." Jean added.
"Speak for yourself." Gavin hissed while adjusting his hearing aids.
"Ditto. It wasn't really a fair choice." Rogue nodded in agreement as they all grabbed their stuff.
-Stoke's Maximum Security prison-
Mystique was in the middle of helping the man she just set loose, Kane, get ready to move, namely helping him put on some sort of helmet.
"Paralysis bio fluid, the one thing that could stop the unstoppable." Mystique said in wonder. "Now, it'll take a moment for you to get full mobility again."
"Who are you?" Kane groaned as he slowly started to regain the feeling in his body. All the while Mystique was latching his helmet into place.
"A deal maker, I let you loose, and you bring me one thing in your brother's possession, his mutant detection system, Cerebro." Mystique told him.
"And Charles?" Kane questioned.
"I leave him in your capable hands, after all, you are the Unstoppable Juggernaut." Mystique grinned. "Now, I have a plane that will take you to-" The shapeshifter was interrupted by Juggernaut pushing her out of the way.
"No one, no one, takes the Juggernaut anywhere, and nothing gets in my way." He said as he punched a door out of the way.
"Charming." Mystique said dryly.
-Ironback Survival Camp-
The students meanwhile were currently trying to scale a rope climb/zipline race, Gavin having the least trouble due to his natural agility and using flexibility to swing himself up to the zipline instead of crawling, while his brother Devin just used his powers to coat his hands in metal to help him not burn his hands.
Both were suddenly halted, however, when Blob bent the rope climb and nearly broke it in the process.
"Man, I am literally not built for this." The fat mutant complained.
"No argument here, fatso!" Gavin laughed as he flipped up onto the zipline and swung down with Scott while Devin ran after Lance. As Gavin and Scott started to untie the rafts, Lance caused the ground to shake and sent the other three boys into the water.
"Lance, you bastard!" Devin yelped as he struggled to stay floating.
"Oh, that's it!" Gavin growled as he turned to smoke and climbed onto Lance's raft before he hurled the boy into the water and picked up both other guys. When Lance tried to get to the other raft, Devin shot a piece of his metal at it and popped it. Then they all crossed the finish line.
"Hey!" Blob yelled. "Those guys should've lost."
"Yeah, just because they slipped and took a swim they all went ballistic!" Pietro snapped.
"Slipped? More like avalanched!" Kurt snapped.
"Yeah you want that ribbon so bad, Ah'll pin it on your head!" Rogue growled as they all started arguing, Devin joining the side of the X-men in the argument because of what Lance did.
This drew the attention of Sgt. Hawk, who growled before blowing his whistle. Immediately after he made all of them do sixty pushups, which made everyone else become exhausted, except the twins, who instead took this as an opportunity to show off by doing one handed pushups.
Sgt. Hawk wasn't keen on this show of attitude, but decided to let it slide. "Here at Ironback, we know how to weed out the loudmouths from the tough guys." He stated.
"Aren't those the same thing?" Gavin questioned.
"Yeah." Devin nodded.
The sergeant tried his best not to start yelling and just continued. "You want to prove you're better, fine." He then pointed to a mountain. "If you can bring back a flag I placed on the top of mount humiliation, I will declare you the winner."
-Xavier Institute-
The telepathic professor of the institute was using Cerebro to scan the country for any new mutant signatures while also keeping an eye on his students.
"Seeing any new mutants?" Logan questioned.
"No, just keeping an eye on our students. They've been rather lively today." Xavier nodded to the man. "The Shirakumo brothers in particular are very active."
"Did you tell them not to use their powers?" Logan asked.
"I was hoping they'd make that decision themselves to be honest." The man shrugged.
"Well I still say you should've let me handle it." The scraggly mutant huffed.
"And I was, but they gave the argument that they'd have an easier time surviving the camp than with you." Xavier nodded. "Both Rogue and Gavin in particular saying that a week in the woods would be worse than a (and I quote) second degree sunburn and a wooden stake to the heart."
Logan huffed in annoyance. His training methods weren't that bad to him. "I say they're just overreacting." He huffed.
Right at that moment, Cerebro's mutant alert went off, with a signature that was designated as 'enhanced' and was in the archive files.
"Oh no…" Xavier gasped in horror.
"Charles, who is that?" The scraggly mutant asked warily.
"My half brother, but this doesn't make any sense. Who could've set him loose?" Xavier wondered.
"What's an enhanced mutant signature, anyway?" Logan questioned.
"It's a designation meant for mutants that had their powers strengthened by artificial means, like the twins for example, when I examined Gavin's mind and his Control Art Seals, I realized that at some point in his life, he and his brothers were involuntarily enhanced through some sort of procedure, increasing their powers greatly." Charles explained. "The same can be said about my brother. He had an X-gene, but it remained dormant most of his life, so he awakened it with mysticism."
"What kind of powers does he have?" Wolverine asked further.
"When he awoke his gene, he became unstoppable. Indestructible, even. He became a juggernaut." Charles explained.
As he said this, said Juggernaut was making his way to the mansion at a rather leisurely pace. And when he came face to face with a police roadblock, he just flipped the cars out of the way with little effort.
Storm, meanwhile, was in the process of spreading a thick layer of fog around the area where the Juggernaut was. And although it did little to slow the villain down, it did however stop the search for him. Kane simply just kept walking, and when he came to a railway that was in his way, instead of stopping, he just pushed the trains out of the way and caused them to fly all over the place.
With Xavier, he and Logan were going down to the danger room. "Do you have any way to stop him, Charles?" Logan questioned.
"Just one: My mind. With enough psychic blasts I can disable him. Unless he's wearing his helmet." The man nodded.
"Well, it'd be best for you to stay in the danger room." Logan stated, getting a nod from the professor.
-Ironback Survival Camp (same time)-
All the X-Men were going through the main trail while the Brotherhood were scaling the mountain itself. Well, all except the twins, who both decided to take the scenic route.
"So, why did you want me to come with you down this route?" Gavin asked.
"Because I have a few things that I need to discuss with you in private." Devin replied as the two of them kept walking.
"Like… What?" His brother questioned.
"The accident that killed our father. The one that mother was unjustly blamed for." Devin stated.
"Wait- You don't think mom caused the accident? I thought Grandma and Grandpa told you she did?" Gavin questioned.
"Of course I don't! I would never think that of her! Our mother loved father, we are the proof, aren't we? Why would she cause the accident that killed the love of her life?" Devin snapped.
Gavin recoiled in surprise at his brother's response. He wasn't expecting him to be so passionate. "Okay… Then who could've done it? From what mom told me, the accident was because of some drunk driver on a motorcycle."
"Well at first glance you'd think that, but after I started looking into it, things just didn't add up." Devin explained. "The way the crash looked, the data from the blood tests of the bike's driver, the witness reports. It all just didn't make sense."
"What did you learn, then?" Gavin asked as he narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses.
"Not much. Whoever wanted things ruled as a DUI accident gone terribly wrong, did an extremely good job at covering their tracks." The boy sighed as they then started hiking up the mountain.
"Well, that's a pain in the ass." Gavin groaned.
"Well I can promise you this: No matter what, I will find out what really killed our dad, and clear our mother of the guilt she's been feeling." Devin declared.
"What brought this on?" His brother asked.
"The Brotherhood has done nothing but slow me down, so I'm trying to find a way to become better by myself by finding who killed our father, and if I can square his death, that's even better." Devin explained as they kept scaling the mountain. "And because my thoughts have turned in that direction, Mystique has had the others keep a close eye on me."
"Then why not join us?" Gavin questioned, recalling Evan telling him that his brother was under surveillance shortly after the Sabertooth incident..
"I'm flattered you're willing to accept me, brother, I truly am. But I'm not really a team player, if I'm going to find the right path for myself, it has to be on my own." The metal user stated as they finally reached the low part of the top. He then helped his brother up as he smiled at him. "Besides, Magneto, the leader of the Brotherhood, has promised me a reward if I prove myself soon, so I'd like to see what he has to offer first before I do anything."
Gavin nodded in acceptance. "Alright, but if you find yourself in a pinch, don't be afraid to bring that problem to me." He said, wanting to be a good sibling.
Devin was about to answer when the X-Jet appeared above them. "Gavin, Devin, Professor Xavier and Mystique are in danger, you have to come with us, now!" Storm called them over the plane's speakers..
"Crap! Devin, let's move!" Gavin ordered.
"Right!" Devin replied.
The two of them immediately got on the X-Jet and they were off to the Institute. As they were flying, Gavin decided to ask what was going on.
"So, mind filling us in on what's happening?" The pseudo vampire asked.
"The Professor's half brother, the Juggernaut, is attacking the mansion, and he needs our help in order to take him down." Storm explained, getting surprised looks from the Shirakumo twins.
"I didn't know he even had a half-brother." Devin commented.
"Same." Gavin agreed.
-Xavier mansion-
Wolverine was in the process of fighting Juggernaut, but was being tossed around like the world's ugliest rag doll. And to make matters worse, a danger room run meant to make the Wolverine break a sweat, was barely even scratching the hulking mutant.
"Well, Charles? Aren't you going to welcome me home?" Kane asked his half-brother.
"Kane, this doesn't have to end badly. This house, it's about new beginnings. If you'd permit me, you could stay here, be a part of something bigger-" Xavier tried to say something.
"Oh I'll give you something bigger, a bigger grave." Juggernaut growled as he stomped towards both him and Mystique.
Meanwhile, Wolverine was about to get up, right when the others stormed in. "Take a break Wolverine, we'll handle this." Scott told the man.
Gavin then drew his sword and charged at Juggernaut and then started slashing at the mutant's body and then he stabbed him in the chest and used his sheer strength to force the man against the wall of the danger room.
"Release Control Art restrictions Level 3." He hissed as he pushed even harder against the man as he tried to push back. "None of us can back down from a fight, so why don't you stop holding back and fight for real, Judas Priest?!" The boy hissed as his feet dug into the metal floor crumpled underfoot as the Juggernaut kept pushing, and the boy's muscles tensed.
Once the giant was stalled, Blob came flying in and sent Kane into another wall, allowing Gavin not to be over exerted.
"Unstoppable, meet the unmovable." Blob smirked, getting a chuckle from Gavin.
"Physics anomaly incarnate." Devin stated as his left hand morphed into a morning star mace. "Yaaaaa!" He yelled as he struck the man in the side before morphing his other arm into a shield to block one of the other mutants punches.
"His helmet, take off his helmet!" Charles yelled out to them.
"On it!" Gavin nodded as he charged at Kane and jumped over his head and unlatched one of the shackles on the helmet but had to turn into smoke to avoid getting grabbed. Once he was away from the man, he concentrated on his sword and used his smoke slowly pick up the blade before he sent it to slash one of the clamps in half, and then called his sword back right at the exact moment when Kane threw a large piece of metal at him, which he was able to slice in half to avoid getting hit.
Then both Kurt and Pietro managed to get two more latches before both got slammed hard into the floor, Scott meanwhile shot a laser at him to distract him long enough to allow Gavin to release to Level 2 and send a strong kick into the Juggernaut's back and send him stumbling forward while standing in front of him, sword drawn and ready.
"No further." The boy stated coldly.
Kane just chuckled. "You think you can stop the Juggernaut? Don't make me laugh." He mocked.
"You've got nothing but insults, have you? A tired little-" But his insult tirade was interrupted by a large fist colliding with his face, causing his neck to snap and his head to spin completely around, only for the boy to snap it back into place and his body healing the injury within seconds.
Juggernaut growled as he charged at him, but was met by Gavin releasing to level one, and grabbing the man before using the mutant's own momentum against him and sent him over his shoulder and hurled him into the adjacent wall, allowing Kitty and Rogue to unlatch the final two clamps.
Toad, seeing an opportunity, leapt onto the wall above the Juggernaut and shot his tongue at the face hole and removed the helmet from his target's person.
Desperate not to be beaten Juggernaut charged again, but was tripped by Devin who used his liquid metal to turn his body into a long metal cord, causing the man to fall flat on his face, and gave Gavin the opportunity to pin him down by stabbing his sword through the man's midsection.
"Now, Professor!" Both boy's yelled. "Jinx, joke, you owe me a Coke!" They both added, pointing at each other.
Charles wisely decided to ignore their banter and focused on sending psychic blasts at his half-brother, who struggled to get loose before succumbing to unconsciousness. "It… Is done." The man sighed in exhaustion.
The others, meanwhile, were all celebrating their victory and the scene looked rather nice to both of the team's leaders. "We do work well together, wouldn't you agree, Raven?" Xavier asked Mystique.
"Yes, I must agree with you. Their united performance was quite a sight to behold." The blue skinned woman admitted. "But that changes nothing." She stated before walking towards the Brotherhood. "Come on boys, let's leave before you're invited to a sleepover."
All the Brotherhood members nodded as they left, but Gavin and Devin shared a friendly smile and nod as he turned to leave with the rest of them.
"What was that about?" Rogue asked the boy as she watched his brother leave.
"Eh, just a twin thing." Gavin shrugged.
(Elsewhere)
-New York City-
Chelsea stepped off the plane from Philadelphia and shouldered her duffel bag. As she continued to walk she scratched the space behind her left shoulder blade as she felt an itch in that spot, the skin under her tank top red and irritated but kept repairing, probably due to a healing factor.
"Gotta keep scratching, gotta make sure their signal is slow." She muttered as she made her way to the train station. As she arrived at the ticket booth, she slid some cash into the pay slot.
"Where to, Miss?" The ticket master asked in a thick New York accent.
"Bayville." She stated simply, still scratching her shoulder.
"That's pretty far, you sure? It's gonna cost cha." The man said.
The blonde grinned as she slid more cash to him. "Money is no object." She told him, her pupils turning narrow.
The man nodded and handed her a ticket, which she took as she started walking while she kept scratching her shoulder. As she walked she slowly disappeared into the crowd, before she couldn't be seen, not even in the slightest.
Next stop? Bayville, and the Xavier Institute for gifted youngsters, and Sanctuary.