Neb: Facing off with Magneto's Brotherhood Mutants, the X Men learn of a terrible threat. Apocalypse, Ricky remembers the prophecy though, after the apocalypse Ricky will lead the new Brotherhood. to what ends, he has no clue... He could use a vacation. This chapter is Cruise Control. I do not own X Men.

Finally, a party cruise. Ricky grinned as the X Men were finally having the time of their lives after all this segregation they've received from the humans. Scott and Jean were finally enjoying a date, Kitty and Kurt were spying on them, Tabatha was playing Limbo, and Ricky was enjoying the pool. It was nice to do something outside of the usual mutant drama. Ricky walked by and grinned at a few girls walking by in bikinis. "Best trip ever."

"Hey handsome, how'd you get those scars," a blonde girl spoke up behind him. He turned his head and grinned. "Oh, and those ones." She was referring to the ones on his back obviously, yet she didn't expect to see the two long scars across his face.

"Uh, I don't really like to talk about the ones on my face," he spoke up. "My back, however, I got in a fire." He wasn't lying, it was a time back when he was a kid fighting against a girl named Jessica Jones. This girl had ended several trades between his second father and the League of Snakes. His father had wanted him to fight her using his powers despite him only knowing how to pick locks. He smiled thinking back and then headed out of the pool leaving the girl. It wasn't until he noticed Ice sculptures floating in the water did he realize Bobby, the Ice Man was causing trouble. "Dammit, Bobby." He ran over to the front of the ship to find Jean and Scott headed in the same direction.

"Magma, melt that Ice," Ricky yelled.

"I can't," Magma responded. "I don't know what's wrong."

"I got it," Scott yelled as he destroyed Bobby's iceberg with a blast from his laser eyes. Ricky, Scott, and Jean all looked angrily at Bobby.

"It was just a joke," Bobby defended. "Honest."

"Bobby," Scott yelled. "The idea was to not draw attention to ourselves. Remember? Stunts like that could ruin the vacation for everyone." Scott stomped off angrily and Ricky shook his head.

"Ouch," Tabatha reacted.

"Look, Bobby," Jean began. "Just use some common sense, okay. Don't worry about Scott, he's just been a little stressed lately."

"Hmm," Bobby replied.

"I think I'll go to the room," Magma spoke up as she headed off.

"Poor kid," Ricky responded. That response somehow made Magma feel worse. Not only was she far away from land but Ricky, one of her crushes, thinks of her as just a kid.

O0O

Ricky was back in his room with his new DSLR camera out recording. "Dear diary, today was awesome up until Bobby almost exposing us. I... I don't know what I'm doing with my life or will do with my life. I feel like an outcast among my supposed friends. The only two people who hang out with me at the X Men are Tabatha and Amara are my two real friends, but I feel like I'm on thin Ice with them. After all, Tabatha likes to live dangerously and that's the side of myself I try to lock away. Amara is a good kid, but she doesn't just look at me as a friend all the time. I don't wanna lead the kid on, so I try to keep my distance... I just wish I wasn't alone. No, I'm not alone anymore. The X-Men aren't perfect, but they have my back now." He shut off his camera and then heard knocking on his door. He headed over and opened it up.

"Hey Ricky," Storm spoke up. "I noticed you've been keeping to yourself through most of the day, I was just wondering if anything was bothering you?" Ricky stared at her for a second and then smiled.

"Nope," he smiled. "I'm just fine." He closed the door and then she frowned.

O0O

The restaurant area was pretty nice. They had a lobster tank and a buffet. Ricky was making his own waffles with their waffle iron and then he got juice before sitting down.

"You know they can bring that stuff to you right," Tabatha laughed.

"I keep confusing this place with a hotel honestly," Ricky grinned back at her. "Where's Amara?"

"She's taking a nap," Tabatha explained. "Being away from land is getting to her."

"Must be her X Gene," Ricky assessed.

"I figure," Tabatha agreed.

"You call those eggs benedict," a blonde lady yelled at a waiter. Ricky noticed Tabatha's eyes dart in that direction. "The sauce tastes like glue and just try cutting this leather you call ham." The waiter apologized to the lady.

"Oh great," Tabatha muttered. "A whiner." Multiple and Iceman was getting waffles like Ricky and Jean and Scott was enjoying a table together.

Scott handed Jean a flower then Kitty and Kurt snickered at them.

"Oh man," Kitty began. "Are they for real?"

"Jean darling," Kurt replied to Kitty getting into character. "Please accept this croissant as a symbol of my love."

"Oh Scott," Kitty responded also in character. "You have such a way with pastry." She fluttered her eyes at Kurt and they both laughed.

Back to the blonde lady. "And take a close look at this table, do you see any pulp-free orange juice on it? Where is my orange juice?"

"I'll take care of it right away," the waiter replied.

"Just forget it," she growled. "I lost my appetite."

"So have I," Tabatha responded before tossing a ball of energy into the lady's eggs. The chain of events after that happened so fast Ricky could barely comprehend it. The lady fell back in fear knocking over a waiter who had a flaming plate that caught fire to a tablecloth. Jean tried to put out the fire with the lobster tank but was bumped into causing her to drop it. Multiple fell back in fear causing him to multiply and Ricky tried putting the lobsters in stasis to keep them from getting away.

"They're all mutants," the lady yelled as every human in the room ran out.

"Oh great," Ricky grunted.

O0O

"Man," Bobby began. "I've never seen Ororo so mad." Ricky, Bobby, Tabatha, Kurt, and Kitty all headed back to the pool.

"This was to be expected at some point," Ricky responded. He turned his head to see a mother pick up her child and leave the area as soon as they came by. "Humans."

"We're humans to Ricky," Kitty responded angrily and he lifted his arms in defense.

"Hey sorry," Ricky apologized. The entire crowd of people was gossiping under their breaths to each other as the group walked by.

"This Sunday cruise has taken a major chill," Kurt spoke up.

"Sorry guys," Tabatha grunted. "Guess I blew it big time."

"Hey, freaks," one of the people yelled. "Why don't you just stay in your cabins?"

Tabatha almost reacted again, but Bobby grabbed onto her.

"Cool it, Tabatha," Bobby instructed. "Just ignore those jerks."

"Yea, your right." Tabatha turned around. "I think I'm just going to see how Amara's doing." Bobby then shot Ice at the water when no one was looking causing people to run out of the water. He smirked at that.

"I'm just going to head to an area away from people," Ricky spoke up before heading off. If you asked him a year ago what the difference between Brotherhood Mutants and the X Men were, it would be the X Men were whiny hypocrites and the Brotherhood was the enemy of humanity. Now if you ask him, he'd say there was no difference. Just a mansion. Ricky headed towards his cabin and then heard an announcement.

"Attention passengers looks like we have some rough weather ahead, so we won't be proceeding directly to the Bahamas. Instead, we will anchor by San Sebastian island. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

Ricky punched a nearby wall after that. He felt his hand vibrate again and then grunted before hiding it. "Wait, what does it matter. Everyone knows I'm a mutant now." He headed back to the top of the ship to find Bobby, Tabatha, and Amara about to climb into a Canoe made of Ice. "Where are you guys going?"

"We're getting Amara to shore," Tabatha responded. "Being here is killing her." Ricky looked at her and grunted.

"Fine," Ricky. "But take me with you."

O0O

When they were on the island everything seemed better. No more judgemental looks, just regular people who thought they were regular. Apparently Jean and Scott were on the island as well.

"Hey, Scott and Jean," Bobby yelled. "Some Island right."

"Oh no," Scott responded.

"What are you guys doing here," Jean asked.

"It's a mission emergency. We needed to get Amara to dry land before she freaked." Amara looked down upset.

"We are taking her up to the hot springs for some healing bubble water," Tabatha smiled.

"I'm supervising to make sure they doing get into trouble," Ricky grinned and Scott shook his head at him.

"You two wanna join us," Tabatha asked.

"No thanks," Scott responded. "But maybe those two would." He pointed to Kurt and Kitty who were trying to hide.

"Oh hey," Kurt spoke up. "What's up?"

"All of you just keep it under control ok," Jean advised.

"Hey, no problem," Tabatha insisted. "What could happen?"

O0O

The group minus Jean and Scott were at the hot springs. Ricky laid back finally getting peace as the others bantered.

"Oh, just the right temperature," Kitty spoke up.

"Now that's the stuff," Kurt replied. "Oh yes, it tingles my fur. You sure you don't want any of this bobby?" Bobby stayed out of the hot tub.

"Hey," Bobby smiled. "I'm just here for moral support. I don't do hot water." He made himself an Ice chair and sat back in it.

"Your loss," Amara grinned. "Cause this feels great."

"Do I know what my girl needs or what," Tabatha bragged causing Ricky to roll his eyes.

"Thanks, Tabatha," Magma thanked before going underwater. After a few minutes, The water felt hotter for some reason.

"Hey," Ricky spoke up. "Is the water getting hotter?"

"Yea," Tabatha agreed. "I'm starting to feel part boiled. I'm getting out."

"Yea," Nightcrawler grunted. "Ow! Me too!" The group headed to the shore.

"Where's Amara," Bobby asked.

"She's still down there," Kitty yelled. "Amara," she called out.

"Amara," Tabatha spoke up as Magma exited the water.

"We have to get out of here," Magma yelled.

"Ok," Bobby began. "Time to Bobsled it."

"Ha," Ricky responded before they all jumped down an Ice slide Bobby made with his powers. The whole Island began to shake as lava started flowing from the volcano. As the group made their way down to the village, they saw people were in danger and quickly moved to help.

Ricky looked over and saw a few kids were about to be trapped under their house and he quickly ran over and pulled them out of the way. He then saw an old lady fall to the ground as a building almost toppled over her, so he used his stasis power on the building keeping it held in place. Kurt teleported the old lady away and the other X Men had split up helping each individual person until the island stopped shaking.

"It's stopping," Vibrant smiled. "Thank goodness." He turned his head to see the Islanders were all starring at the mutants with shock. "Oh god, not again." They just got off the ship full of people that hated them.

"Look, we don't want any trouble," Scott began. "So why don't we just leave and you can-" The people began to cheer causing the mutants to become confused.

"Hey," Nightcrawler spoke up. "They don't hate us!"

"Now that's more how I like it," Bobby grinned as he high fived Kurt.

The day went on after that. The mutants showed off their abilities to the people of the island. Kitty signed autographs, Kurt showed his watch transformation, Amara and Tabatha posed for photos, Bobby was hanging out with girls from the island as he made a skating ring, Jean even helped fisherman fish, and Vibrant stuck to smaller tricks playing tag and hide and go seek with the island kids. With his ability to sense anyone around him the game was pretty easy. He'd show off bigger stuff, but unfortunately putting a whole building in his stasis field wore him out. At the end of the day, they all sat down and ate together as a waitress poured them drinks.

"You see, this is all I've been asking for," Tabatha smiled. "To be treated like a queen."

"Oh yea," Kurt grinned. "I could get used to this."

"It appears we are all Vibrant today," Ricky smiled. Scott rolled his eyes after hearing Ricky's joke, not that anyone could notice with his sunglasses on. The Island shook again.

"Oh no, not again," Jean responded.

"Ah, it's just an aftershock," Bobby replied. "Don't sweat it, if that thing acts up again, we can handle it."

"Why aren't you eating Amara," Scott asked. "You still feeling sick?"

"No, it's not that," Amara explained. "It's just, Scott, I feel like maybe I was the one who caused the volcano to act up."

"What are you talking about," Scott wondered.

"When I was at the hot spring their was a fisher," she remembered. "And when I touched it, it awakened somehow. The whole mountain, and now I feel like I'm connected to it in some weird way."

"Uh oh," Kurt spoke up. "I think we've been found out." Storm clouds immersed from the ship they retreated from.

"That thunderhead looks pretty angry," Kitty pointed out as the storm rolled in. Then the Volcano awoke causing a fire to spit everywhere. Amara wasn't the only one who felt one with the volcano, Ricky could feel it's particles bouncing around chaotically as it shot parts of itself on fire all over the island. Ricky felt Amara leave during the chaos as Tabatha called out for her friend.

"Amara where are you going," she yelled. "Amara!" It was round two of the X Men as they tried to save the villagers again. Although this time it was more difficult. Ricky tried to hold the lava flow in stasis, but that instantly caused his body to shake as he fell to his knees. One of the island girls ran off and pushed him out of the way of a burning tree.

"Th-thanks," Ricky spoke up. He focused on his breathing to get his body back under control and then he tried again as Ice Man, Jean, and Scott also tried to stop the Lava flow with their own powers. Storm then flew over as she created rain over top of the island and then she moved to Tabatha and then flew to the volcano. "She's going after Amara," Ricky muttered. He then ran up after her along with the other X-Men as they all worked together overcoming each island disaster. Before they made it up, the Island began to calm down once more.

"Storm," Tabatha yelled. "Did you find her?"

"Sh-She fell in," Storm replied solemnly. The group began to look sad until Ricky felt a presence within the Volcano.

"Amara," Ricky spoke up. Amara flew out of the Volcano and floated over to the group.

"Oh man," Boom Boom spoke up. "How cool are you?"

"But how," Storm spoke up.

"I can't explain it," Amara replied. "I felt- it's like I somehow, merged with the volcano. Like we were the same."

"It seems like you were beginning to understand the true nature of your powers," Storm analyzed.

"I- I guess maybe I am."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The Villagers cheered to their return. "Wow," Storm responded.

"Kinda nice, isn't it," Jean grinned.

"It certainly is," Storm agreed. "But that doesn't excuse you and Scott from leaving the ship."

"I know," Jean replied. "I'm sorry, it's just we needed to get away."

"And the rest of you," Storm growled at the others. "I know you were just trying to help Amara, but you should have let me know what you were doing. We'll talk more about this when we get back to the ship."

"Oh right the ship," Bobby grumbled.

"Sailing the happy seas with hostile passengers and a ticked off chaperone," Kitty added.

"I'd rather fight another volcano," Kurt grunted.

"That can be arranged," Amara chuckled.

"Hey, my girl's funny again," Tabatha smirked. "Good to have you back Amara." Ricky smiled at the group and then walked forward with Jean and Scott. He felt his hand shake and tucked it away.

"No, this is Amara's day," Ricky thought to himself. "I don't need people worrying about me."

"Well Amara, glad to see your feeling better," Ricky grinned to her.

"So am I," Amara smiled.