Chapter 52: Day of Reckoning

Exactly one week after the others Institute found out that Chelsea was a month and a half pregnant, and everyone was doing their best not to upset her frequent mood swings and serious cravings, but other than those two things? The blonde hadn't changed at all.

Right now, she was simply trying to relax while Wolverine went off somewhere in pursuit of Sabertooth, with Gavin following him because the horror fan was quote: dying of boredom.

"Ugh, I swear that boy gets too bored for his own good at times." She groaned as she watched some TV with Laura. Right now the girl was in the middle of texting someone, though she had no idea who.

"Well, I'm gonna head out for a bit, see you later." The girl said as she got up.

"Be careful, Laura." The woman warned.

"I will." She nodded as she walked outside. As she was walking down the street, she soon found the person she had been texting waiting for her outside of the music store. "Peter!" The green eyed girl called as she waved over at the boy standing in front of her. The boy in question turned and saw her coming his way and smiled as he waved her over.

"Hey, Laura! Glad you could make it." He said with his smile still on his face. This was Peter Parker. He and Laura had been hanging out ever since she had somehow managed to figure out his secret identity as Spider-Man by recognizing his scent of all things.

It was well timed too, because at the time she had found out, he was about to commit suicide. Reason being was because at the time his Aunt May had been diagnosed with Appendix Cancer, his long term girlfriend Mary Jane Watson had dumped him for his then best friend, Harry Osborn, and his second girlfriend Gwen Stacy had died when he tried to save her as Spider-Man by his nemesis the Green Goblin via a broken neck… Yeah, it had been a very bad year for the web slinger, to be perfectly frank.

But then when he was about to end it all by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, Laura found him, confronted him, slapped him, gave him a reality check, and in the end… She saved him. It was ever since then that the two had started hanging out, but not actually dating. Poor Peter still wasn't over Gwen yet.

"You doing okay?" The girl asked, hands behind her back as she leaned forward, her fringe falling over her right eye, making her look very cute.

"'Bout as well as I can. Getting over what happened to Gwen isn't easy." He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"What about that bitch, Watson? She still dating that deadbeat friend of yours?" Laura questioned.

"Hey, don't call Harry a deadbeat, he's still my friend, even if he's dating my ex…" The boy sighed. "What about you? Anything big happen with you?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I just found out I'm gonna be a big sister." She chirped.

"... Seriously? Well, congrats. When's the kid gonna be born?" Peter started in surprise before recovering.

"Seven and a half months from now." The girl told him. The boy nodded as they continued to walk.

(Elsewhere)

Logan and Gavin were facing off against Sabertooth in the sewers when Magneto came around and closed a vent cover around Logan, but he was able to slice it apart. Gavin was about to pursue Sabertooth and the master of magnetism, but some sort of robot floated in front of them.

"Okay, who the hell?!" Gavin growled as he glared at the drone. It started to fire odd green gel at them, but it wasn't able to hit Gavin because he kept turning into smoke and redirecting it back at said robot with his sword. Logan, however, wasn't so lucky. He ended up being completely covered in the gel, which hardened in seconds, trapping him.

"Alright that's it!" The pseudo vampire growled as he whipped out his guns and started shooting the robot after loading it with explosive plasma rounds. Explosive rounds proved to do the job since they made the robot crash to the ground. "Alright jackasses! Come out now before I decide to turn this whole place into the world's largest barbecue smoker!" He yelled at the pursuers he had been hearing all over the place. After a moment, several men in what looked like spec ops gear came out, weapons in hand.

"You jacklegs decided to pick with the wrong vampire! You guys working for HYDRA?! Didn't you guys learn already? Lord Dracula said if anyone goes after the mutants, he will rain unholy hell down on the transgressors!" The boy hissed as he flashed his fangs.

"We're not with those morons, kid!" A voice replied from the direction of the drone. The boy looked and saw someone climbing out of its wreckage. It was a manned vehicle, apparently.

"The consequences fall squarely on you, then." Gavin spat back. "Like I said, The Dark Lord doesn't take kindly to anyone antagonizing his kinsmen." He added as the group's leader decided to step forward, who was a man with slicked black hair and a trimmed mustache. "And Just who the hell are you?" The boy growled.

"I am the one who will protect the human race from the likes of you." The man said before he crushed something in his hand and sprayed it in the pseudo vampire's face, the mist causing him to go unconscious.

(Elsewhere)

Everyone else was in the middle of trying to find Logan and Gavin after they went dark, Emma was even brought in to help with Cerebro.

"Find anything?" Devin asked as his head emerged from the machine. He had merged with it to test out one of his new abilities he got from his prior enhancements: Merging with technology and being able to hack, sabotage or even upgrade it beyond its original design.

"Nothing. It's like they've vanished completely." Emma replied with a sigh as she took the helmet off.

"We have to find them!" Rogue said in worry. Damian, who was in the girl's arms, whimpered softly in worry as well, he didn't like it when his father was gone for too long.

"Da da…" The infant whimpered.

"We'll have to continue looking later, but for now, let's wait until Beast and Storm have finished their investigation." Xavier told them.

"They better find something, that asshole still owes me my lunch of meat, cheese, ice cream and pickles!" Chelsea snapped before her stomach growled loudly, so loud that Laura had to cover her ears. Everyone else in the room looked at Chelsea awkwardly before shaking their heads at her pregnancy cravings.

"Let's get you something to eat." Jean said as she and Bast led her out of the room. As she sat down, she started gripping her head.

"You're worried, aren't you?" Bast asked, recognizing this behavior from the many times worry had overcome her in the time she'd known her.

"Yeah. I feel like those two are gonna be forced into something big, something bad for mutants." The pregnant dragoness sighed tiredly.

"Don't worry, me and the others are here for you." The cat woman told her as Marcus, Romano, Kai and Pele all joined her, knowing just how hard this must be for her.

"Yeah, we got split up once, and I promise that's not gonna happen again, ever." Pele nodded, clenching her mechanical fist.

"You got that right." Romano nodded.

"We're sticking together this time." Marcus added.

"Forever and always." Added Kai as they all hugged Chelsea. The blonde sighed as she leaned into their embrace, she was glad that she had so many great friends around her.

(Elsewhere)

Storm and Beast were searching the sewers and after a while of looking for any evidence of their friends, and managed to find the grate that wrapped around Logan, which he had sliced apart.

"Slice marks. Very clean, and very recent. Looks like our man." Beast analyzed. He then took notice of some pistol bullet casings littering the ground. "And pistol bullet casings as well. Gavin was definitely here." He noted.

"Look." Storm said as she picked something up, it was Devil's Ruin and Devil's Scorn, Gavin's guns. "If Magneto captured both of them, what could he have planned?" She wondered.

"Nothing good." The ape-like mutant replied with a shake of his head.

(Elsewhere)

Gavin woke up and noticed that he was shackled, which he easily got out of by turning to smoke and sneaking out and behind a guard and karate chopped him on the side of the neck, knocking him out before grabbing his sword from said guard.

"Okay, now you've just pissed me off!" He snarled as he slashed apart a door and ran around trying to find Logan, and found him being led by the same man from earlier.

Getting his communicator, he started to call the first person who came to mind: Chelsea. "Chelsea, you there?" He asked.

"Gavin? Oh thank fuck. Where are you and Logan?" She asked.

"The two of us got captured by some probable anti-mutant extremists and taken to a hidden facility. They may have worked for SHIELD, but I'm not sure." He replied,

"Should I call Fury and the Sever siblings?" She asked.

"Yes. That'd be best. But first, I need your permission so that I may let loose against these fools. I'm ready, I have my sword, I've sharpened the edge, refined the tip and poised it to kill. I will slaughter everyone and everything in my path, but I need your orders. So, what are they, boss?" He asked her. There was a moment of silence aside from Chelsea breathing deeply before she responded… What she said pleased him.

"You already have them, soldier! You will search and destroy, search and destroy! Any resistance you are met with is to be crushed! The X-Men do not run from their enemies! I want you to leave nothing but bloody stains in your wake!" The Dragoness yelled.

"HA HA HA HA! The final veil removed! Now that's more like it! You still know how to ignite the flames of passion in my soul. Everyone in this facility will be nothing but corpses and blood stains on every corridor!" Gavin said with a vicious grin. With that he hung up and chased after the soldiers, and found them forcing Logan into the room where a giant robot was waiting.

(Elsewhere)

Everyone was now in the danger room for a mission briefing, and Chelsea had just told Xavier and the others about what Gavin had told her. But everyone was sour because the professor had invited some very unwanted guests: Mystique and the Brotherhood.

"You cannot seriously expect us to really work with them." Scott said with a scowl.

"I'm with Scotty, these idiots are not gonna help things." Lance nodded.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Xavier explained as another group of people entered, which was Alisa, Xanatos, and their Gargoyle allies.

"... Are those actual Gargoyles?" Toad couldn't help but ask with wide eyes.

"That we are." Goliath nodded as he shook Xavier's hand. "It is good to see you again, Professor." He told the man.

"Yes. It is good to see you again as well Goliath. Though I wish the circumstances were better." The man replied.

"What's the situation?" Xanatos asked.

"Gavin and Logan have been captured by a group of Anti Mutant Zealots, and our enemy Magneto has somehow gathered several allies. A few of which I'm sure you're familiar with." Mystique said as he showed the man a picture of a blue skinned female gargoyle with red hair, a gold crown, and was dressed in a torn shirt and a loincloth. The other was a metallic looking gargoyle.

"Demona and Coldsteel." Goliath nodded.

"Hold on, didn't Damian help Puck and Alex make Coldsteel after getting an evil gargoyle's soul into another body?" Rogue asked, remembering when this happened during a play date with Alex.

"That he did." Xanatos nodded.

"Regardless, we need to find all of them and stop both the zealots and Magneto before it's too late." Xavier told them before turning to the New Mutants. "Though you all will be staying here for your safety." He told them.

The kids nodded as they all began to leave, but before Mystique could leave as well, she was stopped by Rogue, Chelsea and Devin.

"What do you three want? We have pressing matters to attend to here." The woman growled at them.

"We want to know why you put Gavin through this hell." Chelsea growled. Mystique was about to ask what she was talking about when she realized what they meant.

"If you want to know, ask him when we find him. I told him why I did it, and I told him the truth. I have nothing to say to either of you." She said as she turned away. "Just know that I didn't do it out of malicious intent." She added.

"Forgive us for finding that hard to believe." Devin commented dully.

"Well it's true. After all, I know what pent up emotions and frustration can do to a person." The shapeshifter said. "And Rogue, do yourself and the boy a favor and figure out your emotions quickly, before things get ugly." She told the auburn haired girl before she left.

(Elsewhere)

Gavin and Logan were currently trying to fight the creation of Trask, the Sentinel. The pseudo vampire now had said man in his grip.

"So, are you telling me that you'll commit genocide on Mutants just like the Nazis did to the Jews?! Are you not even going to spare children and infants from your sick crusade, you deranged fucker?!" The boy yelled.

"Mutants are a plight to the natural order! A contamination to the gene pool! Someone has to do whatever it takes to cleanse the world of your filth!" The evidently crazed man yelled with no remorse.

"You know who also said that? Adolf Hitler." He stated, before holding up a recorder. "Thanks for the evidence." He added, putting it away before throwing him against the wall.

But right as the boy did so, something crazy happened: the ground began to open up and the sentinel was being dragged up to the surface along with Logan.

(Elsewhere)

The X-Men, Brotherhood and gargoyles were all standing off against The Acolytes of Magneto. There was Pyro, a Australian Pyrokentetic who had flame throwers on his back, Colossus, a giant metal man. Gambit, a Cajun bandit, Sabertooth, and finally Demona, Coldsteel, and the remnants of the Pack: Jackal, Hyena, Coyote (a techno organic clone of Xanatos) and Wolf.

Right as they were fighting, the ground started to shake, and everyone turned and saw Logan, Gavin, and the Sentinel being raised. The pseudo vampire had Trask in his grip against and as he rejoined the others, dialed up Fury.

"Fury, does the name Trask ring any bells?" The boy asked as he stood on his quarry.

"Yes, actually. He went rogue a while back, and we haven't been able to find him since then. Why?" He asked.

"I have him. His creation, a robot created to kill Mutants called the Sentinel, is trying to destroy Bayville. Can you get the army, marines, anyone to help us take this thing down? Also, I got evidence here so you can pin it on him and not us. Trust me, we don't need the government after us!" Gavin told the man.

"Got it. I'll see who I can send your way." The Director replied before ending the call. As the call ended, Johan and Katerina dropped in via parachute. Both seemed rather pissed at the moment.

"What's wrong with you two?" Gavin asked as he took his guns from Storm and started shooting at the Sentinel.

"This scrapheap just interrupted my afternoon nap!" Johan growled as he lobbed an impact grenade at one of the knee joints.

"And I just got a call from Romano. The Institute just entered demolition mode." Katerina added., much to Gavin's horror.

"DAMIAN!" He yelled in worry and alarm, his parental side coming into play.

Meanwhile at the Institute, Chelsea, Marcus, Bast, and Romano were all trying to help the kids get to the Cerebro room before the place blew. Laura was quick enough to remember to grab Damian and rush inside, but as Chelsea was about to enter...

BOOM!

The mansion exploded and she was blown into the room by the force of the blast, but not without receiving a massive blow to the head after hitting the wall. Bast, Marcus and Romano immediately dashed to her side, worried looks on their faces.

"Chels, you okay?" Marcus asked as he helped her up. The blonde groaned as she got up, and Bast quickly checked her stomach to make sure the baby wasn't hurt.

"Good news: The baby is just fine." She informed them, getting sighs of relief all around.

"Can someone please tell why the hell the Institute went into defcon 4?!" Chelsea yelled while wobbly getting to Cerebro and leaned on it for support.

"No idea." Romano said as he tried to manipulate the light left in the room to give them a better visual.

(Elsewhere)

Back with the others, they were having some serious trouble, and to make matters worse, there were several news choppers capturing everything. Their secrecy was effectively gone.

"Well this is just perfect!" Gavin said as he continued to slash at Hyena who had been attacking him since everything started, with Bloodfallen.

"Dealing with the fallout is gonna be so much fun!" Toad said sarcastically as he and Blob fought Colossus.

"Hey! Ah think-Get off me ya swamp rat!-Fury's comin' with reinforcements!" Rogue yelled as she flipped Gambit over and pointed at the SHIELD and Marines coming their way.

"'Bout time, boss." Johan muttered as he threw a right hook at Demona, only for her to dodge.

"Attention hostile mutants, this is Director Nicholas J. Fury of SHIELD. We have you surrounded, surrender peacefully or we will retaliate." Fury said through a megaphone as he appeared in a chopper. "As for you, X-Men, stand down. We'll take it from here." He added, addressing the X-Men.

"You heard the man. Stand down, guys." Evan called out as he backed off. But as they did, they all then had to turn their attention to a building where the Sentinel was crashing into, and Devin was on top of it. Magneto was on the building as was Wanda, and all three were caught in the resulting explosion.

Acting quickly, Kurt teleported to them as they were knocked off of the roof and got them back to the others. However, Magneto wasn't so lucky. He seemingly got caught in the blast as the Sentinel fell on him.

"Rest in pieces, Magneto." Mystique chuckled.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Wanda nodded in agreement with a pleased smile.

"You crazy ass bitch! You could've gotten me killed!" Devin yelled as he stomped over to Wanda and suddenly turned his arm into a laser cannon before pointing it at her.

"Hey! Do you have any idea of how long I've been waiting to get my revenge on Magneto?!" The HeX mutant yelled back with a glare.

"I don't care! Honestly I think he had the right idea locking you up, you're an absolutely mad woman! Completely mental!" Devin yelled as the marines surrounded them… And unfortunately some of them didn't get the memo that the X-Men were on their side, so they started pointing their guns at every mutant and gargoyle in sight.

"Oi, ya damn cranberries! Didn't you get the memo?! The X-Men are on our side!" Johan yelled at the ones who didn't get the message, causing them to flinch before aiming at Magneto's Acolytes, the Brotherhood and the Pack instead.

"We gotta get back to the Institute, now!" Gavin said as he pulled his hat back on. "I swear if so much as a hair is hurt on my son's head, whoever caused the Institute to explode is gonna die!"

Upon hearing his brother's words, Devin's mood immediately changed from being angry at Wanda to being seriously worried sick about his nephew.

"Come on, let's go!" Devin told them as they all started to leave.

"Goliath, you and the others go back to the clock tower, it'll be dawn soon." Xanatos told the gargoyles, placing a hand on his allies shoulder. "I'll handle things here." He added before glaring at the Acolytes.

"Very well. Be careful." The purple skinned gargoyle nodded before leading his clan back to the clock tower.

(Elsewhere)

The X-Men slowly arrived back at the Institute, and found that it was both destroyed and the police were surrounding it, and if that wasn't bad enough, so were both the FBI and more SHIELD guys.

"Oh brilliant." The pseudo vampire grumbled as he looked at the sight.

"Looks like we're not out of the woods yet." Logan growled, before his expression turned concerned. "Chels, Laura, please be okay…" He said under his breath. Gavin's hearing picked up his words and he silently hoped Damian was safe.

"Might as well get this over with…" Evan sighed as they approached the mansion. Immediately, they were all put at gunpoint and the officers even started to put handcuffs on a few before Johan interrupted by shooting his AK-47 in the air.

"Alright, ya damn cream puffs, listen up! These guys live here, and I don't know what's making you put those cuffs on them, but I'm ordering you to take them off now!" The green eyed SHIELD operative said in an authoritative voice that made the officers flinch before they did as told with some even muttering apologies.

However, an FBI official stepped up. She was a woman with grey haired and a razor scar stretching across her face. "You have no authority here, Agent Omni. These people are suspects in a terrorist plot and we're going to take them in for questioning. Now you can either stand aside, or you can face a court martial. Your choice." The woman told him, making him immediately recognize her.

"Belova…" He growled. He knew this woman, this was the same one who almost had his sister have her brain removed and her body kept for dissection when she was discovered as a mutant. "Care to tell me who exactly came to the conclusion that these people were suspected to be part of a terrorist plot?" He asked sternly, suspecting that this was another mutant control attempt.

Belova snapped her fingers and everyone was soon being led into carriers, but Gavin was being belligerent and was trying to attack the people who were trying to take Damian away from him, the baby constantly screaming and crying for his father.

"GIVE ME MY SON, NOW!" He roared furiously, only to freeze when Belova pressed her gun to the infant's soft spot on the back of his head.

"Continue struggling, and this thing dies." She warned. Gavin growled and glared missiles at her, his gaze promising vengeance.

The soldiers then forced him into handcuffs and then forced him into the carrier with everyone else, but Johan was quick to grab Damian away from Belova and glare at her.

"Did you seriously just point a gun at an innocent baby?! What is wrong with you?!" He snapped as he watched the carriers close, and he saw Chelsea, Logan and Laura hugging, relieved that they were still alive.

"I do whatever it takes to get anyone to cooperate with me." She replied coldly, causing Johan's glare to intensify.

"I wish my sister had made you a vegetable!" He growled as he tried to calm Damian down.

"Is that a threat?" The woman snapped as she got in his face, causing the baby to cower in fear and cry at the bright lights that were around him.

"Considering how you behave, I think it ought to be a promise." The cyborg said, his glare unwavering before he walked away as he tried to shield the baby in his arms from all the lights. "Don't worry, we're getting away from the bad woman." He told Damian softly, causing his crying to lessen as he gradually calmed down.

The X-Men were then promptly driven away to who knows where, but luckily both the Sever siblings had Gavin's recorder and body cam, so they had evidence to make their case to the senate if need be, so now all they had to do was get it to director Fury.

It was all up to them now…

(Elsewhere)

Juggernaut was sitting in a train car when one of the car guards came to force him out. To that the man just got up and stomped away without another word, flipping a car over with one hand as he walked down the highway, with one destination in mind: the local dam.

It was time to show the world that you don't mess with the unstoppable juggernaut.

Dragon Emperor0: And just like that, the status quo has been destroyed. Good luck returning to normal now. Well, at least Trask is gonna be going away for life, and the recording is probably gonna make most people see just how similar the Anti Mutant movements are to the Nazi Holocaust… Hopefully.

ThermalsniperN7: And then there's that bitch, Belova. Yep, she tried to have Katerina's brain removed and keep her body for dissection, in a pickling solution like a frog, but thankfully failed. On top of that, she was literally heartless enough to point a gun at a baby's head! What the actual fuck is wrong with this woman?!

Dragon Emperor0: Believe it or not, some people in the FBI are exactly like her… Also can we just take a moment to appreciate how cute a couple Laura and Peter would make? I got the idea from Ghostkaiser24 and GreyKing46.

ThermalsniperN7: They do look cute together, not gonna lie. I gotta wonder what'll happen when they actually get together…

Dragon Emperor0: Me too. I wonder how the Institute entered DEFCON 4 though? Guess we'll have to wait and see. See you next chapter guys!