X-men Evolution season 5

by Goldust15

Months after Apacolype's defeat, the X-Men must face new enemies as the world becomes more dangerous.

X-Men Evolution season 5 fan fic

Episode 1

Welcome Home

By B. Borneo

Jogging down the pipeline, the Morlock boy huffed with exhaustion and panic in his very body as he continued his descent. They were coming for him. Who, or instead, what exactly? He wasn't sure. All the boy knew was that all he wanted to do was try to find some supplies for his rejected brethren who lived under the City of New York, only to be attacked by four assailants. Shrouded in shadow, their figures melted into the sewers. Yet he knew they were dangerous. The boy fled from them down the nearest tunnel and refused to stop until he was sure they were off his trail. He ran for what felt like hours. With a jittery brace, he skidded quickly to a stop to behold the rotten luck before him: a tri-pronged fork, each path plunging him deeper into the depths. The boy panicked as he looked around the three tunnels, trying to figure out which one to go down. After a beat, he ran down the one on the left as fast as he could until suddenly, a purple beam of light appeared and started towards him at an alarming rate. The boy leaped back in fear and tried running from it, but alas, to no avail. It was too late. With the force of an expert boxer, the beam slammed him back to the fork entrance, knocking him to the floor. Winded, the boy struggled to get up. He looked fearfully down the tunnel and saw a girl emerge from the darkness. She was thin, with short purple hair that reflected off the silver armor wrapped tightly around her, protecting her from anything the Morlock boy might ever have thought to defend himself with. She smiled maliciously as she held her hand up. Energy bolts of pure violet hissed and crackled around her hand. She cackled evilly.

"Now, now, little Morlock. You shouldn't be running alone at night. You could run into strangers," she hissed, soaked with patronizing glee.

With a final, exhaustive effort, the boy got up and attempted to run down the center tunnel but froze when he felt a gust of wind. The wind got so strong the boy felt himself being sucked in, causing him to grab onto a loose pipe jutting out from the wall of the sewer path. Looking behind him, the boy saw what looked like a tornado heading slowly towards him. The boy's eyes went wide as he tried his best to hold onto the pipe until, finally, his hands slipped, and he felt himself sucked into the massive vortex. He screamed as his body fell into the twister until he felt something kick him square in the chest inside the tornado and launch him right where he started. The boy picked himself up and looked down the passage. A young man with shoulder-length white hair wearing a purple jumpsuit stood where the horrific twister had once been. Even more frightened, the boy looked towards the last remaining tunnel, only to find metal pipes rising from the ground and twisting and turning around the archway like a spider spinning its web. Eventually, it stopped, and the pipes completely covered the way out.

"Come now, good boy. You should know by now you can't escape from the Marauders." taunted another female voice.

The boy turned around to where he had come in to find the voice owner walking towards him, arm outstretched, with green hair and an emerald cowl and dress.

Getting up, the boy backed up to the nearest wall as the three mutant assailants closed in on him. As he backed up, he felt something behind him. Something warm, hairy, and impossibly large. Swiveling around, the boy looked up to stare into the face of a giant man with long blonde hair, a short goatee, and a grin that exposed a pair of sharp canines on either end of his teeth.

"Going somewhere?" he asked menacingly.

The boy stepped back nervously before he could make any sudden moves, though he felt a hand grasp his neck from behind and a sharp needle jammed into his neck.

The boy attempted to struggle free from the grip, but his efforts were in vain as he suddenly felt lightheaded and collapsed. The giant blonde mutant looked up at the green-haired woman holding a syringe.

"Nice job, Polaris," he growled happily, lifting the unconscious Morlock onto his enormous back. Polaris smiled.

"Wasn't easy, Sabretooth. With how fast this kid was running, the boss should have paid us more for our troubles."

Sabretooth nodded before turning towards the other man and woman with them.

"Arclight! Riptide! Check down the tunnels again! See if there's anymore down here," he snarled.

The pair nodded and headed down one tunnel behind them. Sabretooth started pacing down the passage from which the boy had come, Polaris closely following by his side.

"How many more do you think he'll need before his experiments are complete?" asked Polaris.

Sabretooth laughed at the question.

"I say, who gives a damn? As long as we're getting paid for this. Besides, once he's finished with his little science fair project, we'll be able to ravage through this city with no one and nothing getting in our way."

Polaris pursed her hips as she pondered her partner's words before realizing something.

"But what about the mutants from Xavier's? Won't they be a problem?" she asked.

Sabretooth shook his head.

"Trust me, I've dealt with those punks before–they've got nothing on us."

Po aris looked down and folded her arms, her expression concerned.

"If you say so," she finally responded.

At noon at the Xavier Institute, the Bayville sun beamed happily through the lengthy estate windows. It had been a few weeks since the school year ended and close to 4 months since the defeat of the mutant deity Apocalypse. Charles Xavier sat in his wheelchair as he used the device called Cerebro in the lower levels of the mansion. In the past few weeks, there had been reports concerning multiple disappearances: 8 mutants, four of them being Morlocks outside of the ones that attended his school. Charles had kept this information to himself as he did not want to alarm the other students. Instead, he had decided to find the kidnappers through Cerebro. Unfortunately, though, he had little luck as every time he got close to discovering the kidnappers' identities, something clouded his telepathic vision. More than likely, it was the work of another telepath, perhaps the kidnapper's leader. After a few minutes, he pressed harder and saw something: a young Morlock boy being obtained by unknown forces whose appearances were clouded by a white haze. Straining under the effort, he dug deeper into the memory but was suddenly interrupted by another vision. It looked like that of a scarlet-haired woman wearing a dark outfit, seemingly consumed by the flame-like outline of a firebird. It started to evoke a sharp and droning pain in his head, like a psychic needle. Eventually, Charles opened his eyes and removed the headset, breathing heavily after what he saw.
Perhaps it's time to discuss this with the others, he sighed, defeated.

In the mansion's basement was a room known as the Danger Room. The room served as a training simulation for the students of Xavier–the X-Men–to hone their skills and prepare themselves for the battles ahead. The holographic technology of the room projected an apocalyptic city landscape, the scenery for the current simulation. On the plane stood five mutant students in training. The first was the leader named Scott Summers, or, as his mutant name would have it, Cyclops. He could project beams of concussive force from his eyes at his chosen target.

He blasted at various pieces of rubble coming towards him from multiple sides of the hologram, failing to notice a giant robotic arm heading in his direction. Cyclops turned around to see the hand heading towards him but felt an unseen force shove him from the hand's reach to the ground. He looked up to see what had caused him to fall over and saw the lean figure of Jean Grey, wearing her combat outfit, fingers pressed to her temple, and eyes closed in concentration. Cyclops smiled. She had used her telekinetic ability to push him to safety. She returned a grin before they both turned to face their attacker. Appearing as a mutant-hunting robot used to exterminate mutant life in the past, the giant figure stood before them. Luckily, Cyclops was prepared this time. Pressing the button on the side of his visor, he expelled a crimson beam from underneath the ruby quartz material, directing it towards the Sentinel's massive head. The head exploded in a blaze of glory, and the decapitated mechanical body collapsed loudly in an enormous heap. With the threat eliminated, Jean quickly approached Cyclops's side.

"That the last one?" she asked.

Cyclops shook his head.

"I think there's one more! Let's go!"

The pair leaped from the rocky floor and ran down the holographic stage to the final Sentinel.

In a viewing area above the training room, a trio of mentors to the young students observed their progress fiercely. Sitting on a pair of chairs in front of a control system was Ororo Munroe, also known as Storm, a mutant who could control and manipulate the weather around her. Besides her was Henry McCoy, also known as Beast, an elegant and athletic mutant whose body was covered in blue hair. Before his transformation, he had been a teacher for the X-Men as they attended Bayville High, although currently, he was employed as a mentor for the young mutant protegees. Behind them was Logan, also known as the Wolverine, leaning on the wall with arms folded. He was a mutant with regenerative healing, enhanced senses, and the ability to produce claws from his bare fists to attack his enemies. Unlike the other two mentors, he was gruff and more cynical regarding things, this being often both a blessing and a curse. After a few minutes, he stood up and approached his fellow comrades.

"How many have the kids defeated?" he grunted.

Storm and Beast looked towards Wolverine and then back to the Danger Room simulation.

"Three of them have been defeated. They have one to go before the simulation ends," replied Storm.

Beast nodded in agreement.

"The addition of the Sentinels has improved their training quite a bit," he added.

Wolverine frowned and folded his arms.

" Still don't like it. Don't understand why we need these things after they tried to kill us in the past."

Storm looked toward him with a stern expression on her face.

"The Professor believes that training with these could prepare the students for far bigger threats. Especially after Apocalypse."

Logan snarled and looked back toward the training room.

After a beat, the sound of metal wheels treading the floor caught the three mentors' attention, and they turned to see Professor Xavier rolling into the room with a concerned look.

"Is something wrong, Professor?" asked Storm.

The professor looked at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"Something like that. End the training early. I need to discuss this with everyone."

On the other side of the simulation, mutants Kitty Pryde, AKA Shadowcat (a mutant who could phase solid objects, like a ghost), and Kurt Wagner, AKA Nightcrawler (a blue-skinned mutant who could teleport), were pacing around the simulated streets, cautious of the potential ambush.

"Do you think it's near?" asked Kitty.

Kurt shrugged.

"Not sure. Keep your eyes peeled," he suggested.

She nodded and continued to follow her friend down an alleyway. They walked a few inches before hearing a giant footstep. The paid looked behind themselves, finding nothing in their way. Suddenly, Kitty noticed a gigantic metal fist approaching them from above, unbeknownst to Kurt. Reacting quickly, Kitty grabbed Kurt, startling him, holding him tightly as she phased them through the oncoming fist. After a few seconds, the fist lifted, revealing the pair embracing each other tightly. They opened their eyes, smiling at each other briefly, before looking up toward the building, showcasing the head of a massive Sentinel head. Kurt frowned and teleported himself and Kitty from the spot.

Looking for the pair, the Sentinel turned its massive head to the virtual buildings, its lifeless eyes falling upon the form of another student. Its figure was big, muscular, and covered with silver coating. The man in front of the Sentinel was Pitor Rasputin, AKA Colossus, whose ability was to cover his entire body in metal to increase his strength and defense. Before joining the X-Men, Colossus was a member of Magneto's Acolytes alongside Sabretooth, Pyro (a mutant who could manipulate fire), and Gambit (a mutant who can imbue objects with kinetic energy, turning them into explosives). Sabretooth disappeared after being lost in an avalanche the previous year, and Colossus had lost contact with Pyro and Gambit months ago. Preparing to attack, the metal mutant charged toward the ledge of the building, leaping off the edge and landing on the top of the Sentinel's chest, holding on to its head to prevent himself from falling. He then placed his hands under the Sentinel's head and pulled with all his strength until the head finally disconnected from the body, leaving sparks and wires flying everywhere. Colossus then tossed the head away onto the virtual ground, following its descent moments later. He then turned around to find the metal form crashing hard onto the ground. Upon hearing the signature displacement of air, a characteristic bamf created by Nightcrawler's teleportation, he turned around to find Kitty and Kurt standing behind him.

"Nice one!" said Kitty proudly.

"Ja, you kicked its butt!" added Kurt.

Colossus grinned at them before looking up toward something behind the two, his face plastered with concern.

The others turned around and saw another massive Sentinel coming in their direction. Colossus looked toward Kurt and Kitty, who nodded and got into position to fight their upcoming foe. Before the giant robot could approach them further, it suddenly shut down, and the surroundings faded.

"Wait, what's happening?" asked Kurt, confused.

"Yeah, we didn't even get to fight the last one!" joined Kitty.

The trio turned to find Scott and Jean running to them, pacing through the fading scenery.

"What happened? Did you take out the last one?" asked Scott.

Colossus shook his head.

"Nyet, the simulation cut out when you arrived," he explained.

Scott frowned as he and Jean arrived near the trio before turning around to the silver walls of the danger room as the simulation finally dissipated. The entranceway's reinforced doors opened, and four figures entered the room.

"Come on! We almost had them!" pouted Kurt disappointedly.

"My apologies, Kurt, " responded Professor Xavier. "But I have had to interrupt this session as something of vital importance upstairs requires all of your attendance. Is everyone here?"

Scott walked up toward the four mentors and nodded.

"I believe so, Professor."

Just then, Wolverine looked at the group and raised his eyebrow.

"Wait a minute, where's Rogue?"

The wind was vital as it blew heavily into Rogue's face and by her ears, sending the strands of hair peeking out from the bottom of her helmet tumbling over the collar of her rippling brown overcoat. She wrapped her gloved hands tightly around the handles of the green Ducati, steering carefully as she sped alongside the various cars skidding by at her side. Rogue looked down briefly at the speedometer, examining the red arrow rising up and down between the thirty and forty-mile marks before resuming her attention to the road ahead. She frowned. Usually, she wouldn't have given much of a damn about her speed because–as far as she was concerned–as long as she stopped at the red lights, filled the gas tank, and did not run anyone over, she was good as gold. Unfortunately, she couldn't live by that luxury anymore. The last time she rode with that mindset, it ended up landing her with a ticket and warning from the cops, forcing her to have to promise Logan and the Professor that she'd be more watchful of her speed on the road.

Looking up, she saw traffic lights overarching the road, the center one turning red. Rogue squeezed the brake lever and allowed the bike to slow down, keeping her distance from the truck in front of her. Waiting for the light to turn green, she looked at the sidewalk across her. Her eyebrow raised when she saw a man wearing a black outfit and ski cap grabbing a woman's handbag and running down the sidewalk with it. Frowning, Rogue looked up to realize the light had turned green before lifting her leg, revving her handles, and driving off toward the sidewalk swiftly. Skidding near the sidewalk's edge, Rogue turned to find the thug bolting down the sidewalk as fast as he could, followed closely by the bag's owner, now screaming for the police to help. Rogue then looked toward the end of the sidewalk and saw a crosswalk. Rogue clicked her tongue sharply before switching her gears and shifting her body to angle the bike toward the intersection. Reaching it, she applied the brakes quickly, turning toward the mugger, who stopped in his tracks upon being blocked by the bike before Rogue lifted her foot and kicked the mook in the chin. He fell backward onto the ground, unconscious, and dropped the stolen purse. Rogue stared at the thug for a few seconds before turning to find the purse owner running to the scene, bending down to pick up the stolen property. She then turned to Rogue with a grateful smile on her face.

"Thank you!" the woman said with heartfelt gratitude.

Rogue smiled.

"No problem, ma'am," she responded in her thick southern accent.

The woman nodded before walking down the right of the sidewalk into the town as Rogue returned her gaze to the unconscious thug. After a beat, though, she perked up upon hearing a familiar voice.

"Rogue, this is the Professor. We need you back at the mansion immediately," it said.

Rogue rolled her eyes.

"It can't wait?" she asked, annoyed.

She had intended to go on a long ride that day, but unfortunately, she might not get that chance.

"I'm afraid not," replied the Professor's voice.

Rogue sighed before placing her foot on the side of the bike and revving up the engine, taking off towards the mansion.

Waiting patiently, Logan folded his arms and leaned on the pillar surrounding the archway to the mansion's front doors. As much as he'd like to give it to Rogue for skipping out on another training session, he couldn't say he was any better. Sometimes, he abandoned his duties and went independently without the professor's permission. Either way, he wished the students, especially Rogue, wouldn't take from the things they knew he shouldn't do. Suddenly, Logan heard a roaring sound, and his head shot up to see a young woman wearing a trench coat riding a motorbike past the archways and down the path to the garage. Bout time, thought Logan.

As Rogue dismounted the bike, Logan approached her and folded his arms.

"You know, sometimes, I don't know why I let you get this thing," he said.

Rogue chuckled to herself as she placed the helmet on its handles.

"Because you knew ah could handle it," she responded.

Logan grunted as he followed Rogue into the mansion.

When they entered, Rogue removed her trench coat and held it in her arms as she followed Logan to the conference room.

"So what'd ah miss?" asked Rogue.

"Oh, nothing much," mumbled Logan."Just a training session you ditched for the second time."

Rogue raised her eyebrow at the remark.

"Ah'll make it up next session."

Logan let out a gruff laugh.

"Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it,"

Rogue rolled her eyes.

"What's the meeting about anyway?" she asked.

Logan shrugged.

"Nothing good,"

Underneath the mansion, Xavier had gathered his X-Men to their meeting room to debrief.

"My students, you probably wonder why I have gathered you here today. Ever since our encounter with Apocalypse, I've noticed various mutants and Morlocks disappearing from my sight as if unknown forces were taking them through Cerebro. I've tried to hone in on them, but an unknown force is preventing me from getting a clear vision of the attackers. I believe another telepath is out there interfering with my visions, possibly the one orchestrating all of this. I promise you I will sort this out. Questions?"

The team sat silently at the information and looked at each other, not knowing what to say. After a minute, though, Scott broke the silence.

"Professor, are you asking us to look for these missing people?" he asked.

The professor shook his head.

"Not yet, Scott. I need to discover more of what we are dealing with before we act on that end."

Colossus raised his eyebrow in confusion.

"Then what are we to do?" he asked.

In response, the professor dug into his pocket and pulled out a poster.

"I have honed in, luckily, on their next potential victim," he explained, putting the poster on the table in front of the students.

On the pamphlet was a young blonde woman in her early twenties, with a white outfit, blue face paint around her eyes, and various streaks and colors surrounding her as she held a mic close to her face. Behind the woman were a disco ball and giant silver letters reading "Dazzler."

Reading this, Kitty perked up immediately.

"Ooh! I know her. "

The rest of her teammates looked at Kitty in confusion.

"What? She's, like, one of the best pop stars in the world right now. Wait a minute. She's a mutant?"

The professor nodded.

"From what I've gathered, her mutant ability is that she can turn sound into light and bend it to her will, which she uses for special effects at her concerts."

"Oh," replied Kitty, her eyes wide with realization.

"I always wondered how she did that."

Scott then interrupted.

"That's nice and all, but what does this have to do with us?"

The professor then turned to Scott, his chin resting on his clasped hands.

"She will perform tonight at the concert hall as part of her tour. I believe these mysterious kidnappers will target Dazzler next, and I'd like it if you'd go there to protect and warn her if the kidnappers arrive. For extra protection's sake, Logan will also be joining you. Any questions?"

"Hang on, professor," said Scott.

"Do you have any idea who could be behind this?"

"I just hope it's not Mystique," joined Kurt solemnly.

"Or Magneto," pointed out Colossus.

'"Well, at least we know it's not Mesmero - Logan made sure of that," added Rogue

The professor folded his hands together.

"I do not believe any of those three are behind these disappearances. They do not align with their motivations. I believe there may be a new threat among us this time."

Finishing up, the professor grabbed the flyer and placed it back in his suit.

"Meeting dismissed."

The students complied and rose from their seats as they headed towards the door.

Unbeknownst to them, Charles frowned and stroked his head as he watched his beloved students leave. He knew the visions were getting worse, and that concerned him. Storm noticed his crumpled brow and waited until the others left before checking on the professor.

"You alright?" she asked.

The professor shook his head.

"I'm not sure. I have a feeling something deadly will be on the way. Something from inside."

In another part of the city, the kidnappers of the Morlock boy entered the office of a lab underground. The frontman, Sabretooth, carried the boy over his shoulder as he approached the desk, flanked by his cohorts of Riptide, Arclight, and Polaris. At the desk, the chair turned to reveal a man, covered in shadow, with crimson red eyes. The man looked toward Sabretooth and eyed the boy on his shoulder.

"I see your mission was a success, my Marauders," he said in an icy voice.

Sabretooth nodded with a menacing smirk on his face.

"Wasn't easy. He was a fast runner, Dr Essex."

The shadowed man pressed his fingers together, his eyes still on the boy's body.

"Good. Place the body on the gurney. He will be a unique specimen in my experiments." he said.

The man, Essex, pointed to the other side of the room, where a gurney lay near a pair of swinging doors leading to the lab. Sabretooth laid the body on the gurney before returning to the table. Behind him, Arclight pushed her way through Sabretooth and Polaris, eagerly placing her hands on the desk.

"So, we good for the dough?" she asked.

In response, Essex reached under his desk and pulled out a briefcase, laying it on the table. A curious Arclight pressed open the suitcase and about ten pairs of money wads appeared within, mainly in the 20-or 50-dollar range. The Marauders beamed with delight. Essex closed the briefcase and pushed it toward his four henchmen. Sabretooth grabbed the briefcase and held it at his side as he and his comrades turned and headed toward the door.

"Wait," continued Essex calmly.

The four Marauders stopped and looked back toward their shadowed employer.

"You have another mission for tonight."

Essex then opened his desk drawer and dug into it, pulling out a flier. The Marauders walked back to the table and leaned over to see a blonde woman in her mid-20s, holding a mic below some decorative graphics and big yellow letters spelling "Dazzler."

"She has a concert tonight at this address," explained Essex as he pointed to the information.

"You are to acquire her for me next. Ensure that she is physically unharmed. Any faults or failures shall be punished. Understood?"

Sabretooth grinned as he grabbed the flier and shoved it in his jacket.

"One last thing,"

The group stopped and turned back to their shadowed employer.

"I believe Xavier's mutants will attempt to stop you tonight. I'd advise you to be on your guard and not let them get in your way."

Sabretooth flashed his fangs.

"It will be done" he affirmed, waving his hand as his comrades followed him out of the room, leaving Essex to himself.

It was now 6:15 p.m and the X-Men were on their way to the concert venue.. Logan, Rogue, and Piotr scouted ahead on their bikes. Inside Xavier's van, Scott was at the wheel with Jean sat next to him, and Kurt and Kitty sat in the back seats. Kurt spent most of the ride looking out the window, watching as various cars and far-away bridges went by. His eyes turned to the sun, and he watched as it set. Getting bored, Kurt moved himself up in his seat and turned to Kitty. He noticed her head was looking down, a sad expression on her face. Following her gaze, Kurt saw her holding her phone with a picture on the screen. In the picture was Kitty with another boy who was a foot or two taller and had shoulder-length brown hair. Kurt recognized the boy immediately. It was Lance Alvers, AKA Avalanche. In the past, Avalanche had been a member of Mystique's Brotherhood, and had clashed with the X-Men several times. But he had also harbored a crush for Kitty, so much so that he once tried to join the X-Men in an effort to get close to her. Shortly after their battle against Apocalypse, Avalanche had seemed to have turned a new leaf and agreed to become a student at Xavier's school. But after a week, he mysteriously disappeared without a word to anyone. This hurt Kitty as she felt they were starting to have an actual relationship, only for him to leave out of the blue. Though Kurt wasn't too surprised Avalanche had abandoned them, he couldn't help but feel remorse for Kitty's feelings on the matter. Kurt bent over and cleared his throat before saying, "Hey, are you okay?"

Kitty turned to Kurt and quickly shoved her phone into her pocket.

"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine!" she replied quickly, putting on a fake smile.

Kurt wasn't fooled.

"You still upset about Lance leaving?" he asked.

Kitty sighed and tilted her head.

"A little, yeah," she admitted.

Wanting to try and comfort her, Kurt placed his arm on Kitty's shoulder in reassurance.

"Well, maybe he didn't change after all" he suggested."I mean, this wasn't the first time this happened."

"I know!" snapped Kitty. "I just thought this time would have been different."She then folded her arms and looked out the window.

"Hey, I know what it's like. When me and Amanda–"

"That wasn't the same." interrupted Kitty. "She moved. She didn't abandon you."

Kurt retracted his hand.

"Ok, maybe that wasn't the best comparison" he admitted.

"But he wasn't exactly always a nice guy. Maybe some people just don't always change."

Kitty shrugged in response.

"Yeah, I guess so." she said.

Before either could continue their conversation, they felt the vehicle stop and heard Scott from upfront say "Ok, guys!" we're here!"

Arriving at the venue, Scott, Jean, Kurt, and Kitty exited their vehicle while Logan, Rogue, and Colossus departed on their bikes. The group looked up at the entrance to the dance club, seeing a neon sign saying " The Starrcade." In the windows, yellow and green lights flashed, hinting that the show had already begun. The group was about to walk in until Logan held out his hand, stopping them.

"Let's lay down some ground rules before we go in" he stated.

"First off: Blend in. We don't need any attention brought to us."

Hearing this, Kurt nodded and switched the dial on his changer watch, causing his flesh to turn from blue to Caucasian, his hair from dark blue to black, and his eyes from yellow to blue. He then grabbed his pointed tail and shoved it into his pants.

"Yes! Got it!" he replied.

The others were already prepared, hiding their mission suits under their civilian clothing. Scott brought a bag where he had his visor hidden as well, in case things went bad.

"Second," continued Logan, ", no one uses their powers unless we are absolutely sure there is danger. Third, don't drink anything and fourth, whatever happens prioritise civilian safety. Got it?"

The group nodded.

"Good." replied Logan. "Let's go!"

They walked up to the front doors to where a tall, bald bouncer stood holding a clipboard and wearing a pair of shades. The bouncer looked up and noticed the group before rapidly holding out his hand to them.

"Stop right there, mutton chops! No minors allowed!" said the bouncer.

Logan held up his finger about to argue with the bouncer, when Jean stepped forward.

"Let me handle this," she said.

She then closed her eyes, held her left hand to her temple and held her right toward the bouncer. The bouncer raised his eyebrow in confusion when suddenly, he froze up and his eyes went wide, almost like he was in a trance. The bouncer then looked down at the clipboard and turned back to the group and said "My mistake. Please come in."

He then opened the door and the group walked in with Jean entering last.

Entering the club, the group was surrounded by neon lights shining from the ceiling and various people walking around and waiting for the show to start. In the middle of the club, a checkered-patterned floor led up to a stage in the back, obviously for the hired performers. On the left end was a bar where various patrons sat on the stools near the counter, drinking and chatting to each other casually.

"Ok," stated Logan.

"Find a place to sit and keep your eyes peeled."

The others nodded, and the group went over to one side of the club, found a table, and took a seat.

"So, what's the plan exactly?" asked Kurt curiously.

"Well," began Scott. "First, we need to find Dazzler here to discuss the situation."

"I don't think you'll have ta wait long" jumped in Rogue as she pointed towards the stage.

The group looked over and saw, near the stage, a woman in her early 20s with short blonde hair, a red bandanna, a brown coat, and a blue jumpsuit, talking to what appeared to be her manager while being flanked by a pair of bodyguards. Scott turned to Kitty.

"Is that her?" he asked.

Kitty nodded. "Yeah, it is!" she responded.

Looking back, Scott saw Dazzler walk into the door leading to the backstage, where the bodyguard was standing in front of the door for security reasons. Getting an idea, Scott returned to his teammates to discuss his plan.

"Ok, here's the plan: Jean and I will try to explain the situation to Dazzler and see if she will let us protect her from whatever or whoever wants to kidnap her. Until then, you guys can stand out here and make sure the kidnappers don't try to attack. Got it?"

The group seemed all in agreement except Logan, who appeared skeptical of the idea.

"What if she doesn't buy that she's in danger?" he asked.

Scott and Jean looked at each other in realization and thought about it for a beat before coming up with an answer.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." replied Jean.

The two sat up from their chairs and walked over to the door leading to backstage. At the table, a waiter approached with a notepad in his hand.

"Anything to drink?" he asked.

Logan, Rogue, Kurt, Colossus and Kitty huddled in to discuss what they wanted to order before turning back to the waiter.

"I'll take a shot of Tequila, and the kids here will take some Pepsi!" informed Logan.

"And a virgin pina colada for me!" chimed in Colossus.

The waiter nodded and went to the kitchen to grab the drinks.

When Jean and Scott walked up to the door, they were greeted by a large security guard standing in front of the door. Scott figured this was not going to be easy.

"Excuse me. My friend and I would like to talk to the Dazzler, please" he said politely.

The guard looked down at the pair and sneered.

"This area is off limits. No one sees her until the show," he growled.

"Please!" urged Jean. "This is important! Her life might be in danger!"

The guard laughed and held his hand towards the two mutants.

"Yeah, nice try, kids. Now listen, if you don't go now, I'll-"

"What's going on out here?" asked a voice from behind the guard.

The guard moved away from the door and turned to see the half-open door. Dazzler poked her head through it, her face confused by what was going on outside.

"I'm sorry, Ms, but these two…"

"We really need to talk to you!" exclaimed Scott.

Dazzler raised her eyebrow in annoyance at him.

"Listen, buddy. I don't do autographs until after the show, so if you'd just.."

"Your life might be in danger!" Jean chimed in.

Dazzler stopped and turned to Jean. Jean wasn't sure if she had gotten through to her or not but after a beat, Dazzler turned to her guard.

"Buster, move aside," she said.

The guard was surprised at her response.

"But they…"

"You heard me!" snapped Dazzler.

The guard complied and stepped aside as Dazzler motioned Scott and Jean to enter the preparation room. In the room, Jean and Scott looked around the room and saw a desk with a mirror and a row of lightbulbs surrounding it, a makeup kit on the desk, a few posters of other bands on the wall, and a leather chair on the left side of the room. After closing the door, Dazzler folded her arms and turned to the pair of young mutants with a frown on her face.

"Ok, you guys have five minutes to explain to me what this "danger" I'm supposedly in nonsense is about," she stated.

Scott could tell she wasn't in the best of moods to be interrupted like this. He and Jean would have to make this quick and to the point.

"Well, we believe someone might be after you. Possibly because of your abilities."

Dazzler raised her eyebrow.

"Abilities? I don't know what you're talking about," she responded.

Scott then turned to Jean, who nodded before closing her eyes. She held out her left hand while pressing her right hand to her temple. Suddenly, one drawer by the makeup table opened, and a magazine floated out. Dazzler looked on in shock as the magazine floated into her hands. Jean lowered her hands, and Dazzler turned back to the pair with a bewildered expression.

"Wait a darn minute. You're mutants?"

Jean nodded.

"Yes. That is why we came to help," Jean explained.

"And we know the effects in your shows aren't exactly smoke and mirrors," added Scott.

Dazzler grinned for a brief moment.

"So you kids figured it out, huh? I'll give you credit on that one. Yes, my abilities and music create the little light shows at my concerts. But I don't know what these supposed "kidnappers" or "terrorists" would need with that unless they want a private home concert. Who or what is after me, exactly?"

Scott was about to answer but froze for a beat, realizing they didn't know who specifically threatened Dazzler's life. Convincing the singer to come with them might be trickier than he thought.

"We're not exactly sure yet, but considering mutants have recently been disappearing, it might be a good idea if you come with us."

Dazzler widened her eyes before laughing at the suggestion.

"Listen, cherry-eyes. I don't know what you think will happen, but I'm not leaving this gig. The Dazzler does not disappoint her fans. Understand?"

"You got a better idea?" asked Scott impatiently. She has no idea what she's up against. Does she think that just because she's on stage, she's safe? We can't afford another disappearance, he thought to himself.

Dazzler squinted and observed Jean and Scott for a few seconds, confusing the pair, before straightening up and snapping her fingers in delight.

"Actually, I just might."

Jean raised her eyebrow.

"You do?"

Dazzler nodded. She then approached them and placed her hands on their shoulders.

"How about a compromise? I can see you kids are hell-bent on keeping me safe from some potential threat, but I can't leave this show. So, how about this: you two can stand near the stage and keep an eye on things to make sure if any attack is to happen. In the unlikely scenario that there is one, you can put it down with ease. How does that sound?"

Scott pondered the offer. He could tell Dazzler was too stubborn to leave this performance, but he couldn't let anything happen to another mutant, even if they were a prima donna. Scott nodded and turned to Jean.

"Yeah, I think we can work with that," she responded.

"Great!" exclaimed Dazzler as she clapped her hands together happily. She then looked at her watch, and her eyes widened.

"Oh, damn! We gotta get on now!"

In a hurry, Dazzler moved Scott and Jean out of the way and opened the door, quickly running to the stage with Scott and Jean close behind.

The hell's taking them so long? Logan thought as he waited by the table for Scott and Jean to return. It had been about 5 minutes, and the pair had yet to return from her dressing room. He then felt a tap on his shoulder and saw Kitty trying to get his attention.

"Shouldn't Jean and Scott be back by now?" she asked.

Logan grunted.

"I agree, half-pint. Don't get how hard it is to convince someone they are in danger in a short time," he said as he drank his beer.

Putting the drink down, he saw Kitty looking toward the stage and pointing toward it. Logan turned to see Dazzler walking out of her dressing room, with Scott and Jean following close behind.

"What do you think they're doing?" asked Kitty.

Logan sat up.

"Gonna find that out for myself. Stay here. Don't do anything stupid."

Kitty nodded as Logan marched up to the stage.

On the stage, Dazzler was observing the stagehands preparing her speakers while Scott and Jean stood to the side, waiting for the performance to start. After a few seconds, Scott felt a finger tap on his shoulder. Then he turned to face Logan, who didn't look like he was in a pleasant mood.

"What are you bubs doing exactly?"

Scott gulped, unsure of how to explain the situation.

"Well, we tried to convince her to come with us.."

"But.." started Jean.

"...she really wanted to do her show, so we made a compromise that we could be her bodyguards until the show was over if we had any trouble."

Logan stood for a few seconds before sighing.

"Fine. But don't get cocky about this. We can't afford another disappearance on our hands."

He then returned to the table the others were sitting at, leaving Jean and Scott surprised at the response.

"He took that well," said Scott, surprised.

Jean nodded. "Yeah, I didn't think that would work."

At the table, Logan sat back in his seat as Kitty tapped his shoulder again to get his attention.

"What's going on up there?" she asked.

"Apparently, the prima donna won't budge with her performance, so she has chosen Jean and Scott as her bodyguards," Logan responded gruffly.

Before Kitty could speak again, a sound like someone mic-testing reached the group, drawing their attention to the stage. Dazzler was testing the audio on her mic before turning to the audience.

"Hello, Bayville! It is a genuine pleasure for me, the fantastic Dazzler, to perform for you all! Now fasten your seatbelts, folks, because you're gonna be in for a hell of a performance!"

The room cheered and clapped loudly as Dazzler cleared her throat and began to sing. The song, in Logan's mind, was mediocre at best, but what grabbed his attention was that from her hands, red, green, and yellow streaks soared out around the ceiling before evaporating into specs of light and fading away. For a while, the act continued, and Logan noticed the crowd was eating it up. He looked at the kids to see their reactions to it and saw that Kitty and Kurt were really into it, while Rogue and Colossus appeared indifferent. Turning back to the concert, Logan watched the lights flow around the ceiling for a few minutes before he eventually got a headache from its brightness. Eventually, he returned to his chair and walked to the bar for another drink.

Next to the stage, Scott and Jean watched as Dazzler brightened the ceiling with her abilities as she sang, enjoying the scene.

"This is exciting, isn't it?!" Jean asked.

Scott turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?!" he replied loudly, unable to hear Jean over the loud music.

"I said 'exciting, isn't it?'!" she repeated louder.

"Yeah, it is!" Scott responded, now hearing Jean.

"I can see why now she's so successful, even if she is a pain in the neck."

Jean nodded in agreement before turning back to the concert.

By the bar area, Logan sat up against the bar table, drinking. He continued to watch the concert while also keeping an eye on the place for anything suspicious. After a minute, his head perked up when detected a familiar scent. Looking around the room, he noticed a suspicious figure wearing a trench coat and hat walking toward the stage. Frowning, he made his way toward the suspect.

On the stage, Jean and Scott stood and shuffled to the music when suddenly, Jean noticed a shadowy person approaching the side of the stage. Cautiously, Jean held out her hand close to her eyes and pressed her other hand to her temple, attempting to get a read about the person coming up. She caught flashes of rage, broken images of violence, and a relentless drive toward Dazzler.

Jean opened her eyes and gasped, seeing the figure stand behind Dazzler and lift a massive arm in the air. Reacting quickly, Jean held both hands out in front of her and an invisible force knocked Dazzler down, causing the mysterious figure to miss when he swiped. Logan leaped up onto the stage and tackled the stranger to the ground. The lights on the ceiling from Dazzler's performance vanished, and the crowd stood up from their tables, muttering what they had just seen before turning to the doors and running away. Seeing the commotion from their table, Rogue, Colossus, Kurt, and Kitty ran up to the stage to help. Concerned for Dazzler, Scott, and Jean ran up to her as she pushed herself up from the ground.

"Are you ok?" asked Scott.

Dazzler aggressively nodded.

"I guess. What the hell was that?"

On the side of the stage, Logan ripped the hat off, revealing the familiar snarling face of a man he knew all too well—long blonde hair, wild eyes, and sharpened canines gleaming in the dim light.

"Creed!" he exclaimed.

Without warning, Sabretooth wrestled his arm free from Logan's grip and decked him off of him near the end of the stage with a hard blow. Struggling to get up from the impact, Logan felt two pairs of hands grab his arms and he looked to see Rogue and Kurt help heave him to his feet.

"You alright?" asked Rogue.

Logan nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine!"

Turning to the others, Logan shouted, "Get her out of here! I can handle this!"

The group nodded and started dragging Dazzler to the front doors.

"Wait, what do you mean 'get her out'? This is my gig!" Dazzler protested, yanking her arm free. "Someone want to tell me what's going on before you start manhandling me?"

Despite her apprehension, the X-men escorted her to the exit. Just before they got to the open doors, they suddenly shut on them and a clicking sound could be heard in the lock mechanism. A feminine voice rang out.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!"

The group turned around to see three patrons still by the bar area. The patrons got to their feet and faced the X-men before ditching their civilian clothing. In front of the X-men was a tall, lanky woman with green hair and a dark green, sleeveless bodysuit. Next to her was a long white-haired man wearing a purple jumpsuit and a shorter, thin woman with short spiky hair, a grey shirt, and a gray leather jacket. Considering their association with Sabretooth, Scott figured they were also mutants. The tall, lanky woman flipped her long green hair back, her smirk sharp and predatory.

"The singer belongs to us!" she crooned.

Dazzler turned to Jean in confusion.

"Know these guys?" she asked.

Jean pointed to the stage in Sabretooth's direction.

"The one on the stage, yes. But these guys are a first for us."

On the stage, Logan turned to see the three thugs intimidating the other X-men before turning back to Sabretooth in a huff.

"Where'd you get these losers from? The gutter?" he snarled.

Sabretooth growled, his lips curling into a sinister grin.

"Losers who'll tear you apart, old man."

Fed up with the nonsense, Rogue stepped forward.

"What do ya want, Sabretooth?!" she asked.

Sabretooth chuckled to himself.

"I think Polaris down there just made it clear," he replied as he pointed in the green-haired woman's direction.

"Indeed," confirmed Polaris.

"Our employer requested we obtain this mutant for his experiments."

"Whether they want to or not!" howled the short-haired woman.

Annoyed, Dazzler moved past Jean and stood before the group, pointing angrily toward the three thugs.

"Listen, cretins. I don't know what the hell is going on here, but I'm not going anywhere with you! It's bad enough that you ruined my performance and chased out my fans, so I'm gonna call the cops on you and—"

The mutant criminals laughed.

"Well, if you don't come calmly, we'll have to take some extreme measures," remarked Polaris as she turned to the white-haired man next to her.

"Riptide?"

The man called Riptide nodded and turned to the group as they turned to fight stances. He started turning around in place several times until suddenly, he disappeared in a blurred gush of wind as a massive breeze swept through the bar.

A peculiar sensation drove Dazzler to look down and see her feet being lifted off the ground as her body was pulled into the vortex like a vacuum cleaner. She yelped in distress as she was about to be sucked in when Jean held out her hands in Dazzler's direction. The singer stopped in mid-air, being slightly pulled forward and back a few times almost like a tug of war.

On stage, Logan noticed the vortex sucking up Dazzler and turned to Kurt and Rogue.

"Go help the others! I got Creed!" he ordered.

Rogue and Kurt nodded and ran over to help the others. Logan then turned back to Sabretooth, who launched himself towards Logan before tackling him off the stage and onto a table that soon collapsed under the pair's weight. Logan rolled over to get back to his feet and face Sabretooth, whose billowing blond hair almost masked the sinister grin from sight.

"You want them, bub?!" he snarled as two pairs of claws pierced through his knuckles. "You deal with me first!"

Sabretooth, in response, brandished his claws menacingly.

"No problem."

The two then charged into each other as they tried to sink their claws into each other's skin.

In the middle of the room, Jean and Riptide still struggled with their tug of war over Dazzler's body. Dazzler's face was plastered with fear and strain as she was pulled back and forth by the strong wind and the telekinetic force tugging on each side of her. As the other X-men tried to figure out what to do, Colossus stood up, allowed his body to be covered with steel, and charged toward the vortex, Polaris held up her hand and Colussus suddenly found himself lifted in the air and then thrown across the room over the bar. Concerned, Jean turned to Scott and Kitty. "Go help him! I got this!"

The two nodded and ran over as Polaris followed in hot pursuit. Jean strained to pull Dazzler closer before a loud popping noise rang through wind, and yanked Dazzler toward Jean, knocking her down. The two then got to her feet and faced each other.

"Sorry about that," apologized Jean.

"It's fine. Thanks for the save," replied Dazzler as she wiped off her jacket.

Jean nodded before turning toward Riptide and Arclight. The vortex disappeared and suddenly, Jean and Dazzler saw Kurt attach himself to Riptide and refuse to let him go as Riptide struggled to get the blue mutant off of him.

"Go!" shouted Kurt as he was still holding onto Riptide. "I got this! Get her to safety!"

Jean nodded grabbed Dazzler by the wrist and ran with her to the other side of the room. Assessing the situation, Arclight decided to run toward Riptide who held out one arm for help while the other continued to struggle with Kurt and he pointed toward Jean and Dazzler.

"Forget me! Grab them!" he mustered through the grapple.

Arclight nodded and turned towards Jean and Dazzler and quickly clapped her hands. A massive wave of purple energy emerged from her hands and soared toward Jean and Dazzler's direction. Jean looked over her shoulder and saw the wave approaching her and Dazzler. Reacting quickly, Jean held out her arms telekinetically causing Dazzler to fall to the other side as Jean jumped out of the way of the wave. The wave soared past them and slammed into the wall, causing a massive burn mark on it. Arclight, angry about her failure, clenched her knuckles, extended her hands, and prepared for another attack as she heard a Southern accent behind her.

"Hey! Ya want a challenge? Ah'm right here!"

Arclight turned around to find Rogue in a fighting stance and a look of fierceness on her face. Arclight chuckled.

"You? Hah! Creed told me about you, skunkhead! How ya like to take what isn't yours?"

Rogue furrowed her brows.

"Come at me and you'll see just how much ah can take from you!"

In response, Arclight cracked her knuckles and motioned Rogue to come at her.

"Come get me then, parasite!"

Rogue complied and charged at Arclight with a spin kick, which Arclight quickly dodged before ducking down and sweep-kicking Rogue onto the floor, causing her to land chest first.

Rogue grunted in pain as she pushed herself up and got back to her feet, frowning at her opponent. She threw a punch toward Arclight, only for her to grab Rogue's wrist and bend it backward. Rogue grunted in pain as she buckled to her knees and grabbed Arclight's hand to free her wrist. Rogue then looked towards her leg and kicked it as hard as possible. She grunted and released Rogue's hand to grab her knee in pain. Getting out of the struggle, Rogue then threw Arclight a left hook, knocking her to the ground. Rogue was about to run to the others when she saw Arclight getting back up. This was going to take a while.

Somehow avoiding the ruckus, Jean took Dazzler behind a flipped table and the two hid behind it.

"Listen! Stay here until we deal with this. Got it?" Jean asked Dazzler.

Dazzler looked over the table at the ensuing chaos before ducking back down.

"Fine. Just answer me this first: who are you people and why do you attract this kind of attention?"

Jean grimaced as she, too, looked over the table.

"Let's just say we aren't the kind of people to back down from those who threaten the helpless."

Dazzler raised her eyebrow.

"Hey, I'm not help–"

Before she could finish, Jean placed her arm on Dazzler's shoulder.

"I don't have time to debate this. Just stay here and don't move!"

She then got up and walked around the table to join her fellow X-Men in combat.

When Scott and Kitty got to Colossus, he was on his side, rubbing his head in his human form, trying to get his senses together. Seeing his companions, he held out his arms so the pair could lift him back onto his feet.

"You okay?" asked Kitty.

Colossus nodded.

"Yes. Just a minor bruise," he muttered.

Suddenly, a knife flew right past Colossus and Kitty's faces and lodged itself into the wall next to them, leaving the pair shocked. They turned to find Polaris in front of them, holding her arms out theatrically while multiple knives and sharp objects were floating about her hands.

"Why the stunned faces?" she asked sarcastically. "Do I remind you of anyone?"

Scott shook his head.

"No one important," he exclaimed.

Polaris laughed at the remark.

"I knew the memory of Erik Lehnsherr would fill your mind, boy. But don't worry, after I'm finished with you, his legacy won't even be a memory."

She then swung her left arm forward and a swarm of sharp metal objects flew toward the trio. Reacting quickly, Scott pressed his hand to his visor to blast the incoming objects. Colossus turned to his metal form, and the objects bounced off of him and Kitty allowed the objects to phase through her body. As the metal storm cleared, Polaris smirked, clearly unfazed. With a flick of her wrist, she sent a metal beam from the ceiling hurtling toward the trio.

Kitty reacted first, grabbing Scott's arm and phasing them both through the floor. Colossus, unable to phase, braced himself as the beam crashed into him, sending him skidding back.

Scott and Kitty reemerged a few feet away. Scott quickly fired an optic blast, but Polaris spun a beam Colossus had deflected in front of her like a shield, absorbing the impact.

"You're gonna have to do better than that," she taunted.

Before Scott could fire again, the ground beneath them rumbled. Polaris lifted her hands, and metal from the club's foundation began twisting around their feet, forming shackles that snaked up their legs.

Kitty phased through hers easily, but Scott grunted, struggling against tight restraints.

Colossus, back on his feet, charged at Polaris, but she smirked and yanked a set of barstools into his path, tripping him.

"You're all so predictable," she sneered. "How about we make this interesting?"

With a sharp motion, she pulled several support beams loose from the ceiling, sending debris crashing down toward the trio. Suddenly, Jean ran up and held her hands up, creating a telekinetic shield, causing the debris to fall off it quickly. After a moment, the last debris fell and Jean lowered her shield.

"Where's Dazzler?" asked Scott.

"She's safe!" replied Jean amidst the chaos.

Suddenly, Polaris used her abilities to lift an amp and chucked it toward the three. Without thinking, Kitty quickly grabbed Scott and Jean's hands and dragged them with her as they phased through the hurled amp. Before Polaris could react further, Kitty also phased through Polaris, still dragging Jean and Scott. Shocked, Polaris turned around to make another attempt at attacking, only to be met with a red force beam protruding from Scott's visor, blasting her in the chest and sending her across the room into a nearby wall. Polaris slumped down to the floor from the impact of the pain.

"Nice one, Kitty!" applauded Scott as he held up her hand for her to high-five. Kitty smiled and reciprocated the gesture.

On Kurt's end, he was still struggling with fighting Riptide as he struggled against the upper half of Riptide's body. Eventually, he grabbed Kurt by his side and lifted him, unexpectedly. Seeing the nearby bar counter, Riptide grinned, preparing to slam Kurt into it. Just as he brought his hands down on the polished wood, a brief flurry of smoke erupted, and Riptide's hands felt empty as if grasping air. A poof sound erupted behind him, and then a pair of red-covered, two-toed feet quickly slammed into Riptide's back, sending him crashing onto the counter, where he hit his head.

"What? Never encountered a teleporter before?" he asked sarcastically.

Riptide grabbed the counter and heaved himself up as he turned to Kurt furiously. Before Kurt could do anything, he heard Rogue's voice behind him.

"Kurt! Little help here?!"

Kurt turned to see Rogue still struggling with fighting Arclight in hand-to-hand fisticuffs.

"Got it!" exclaimed Kurt as he ran over.

When he got to the pair, Arclight was trying to pin Rogue there, the pair's hands grabbing each other, struggling to force the other into submission. Trying to stop the fight, Kurt ran up to Arclight, wrapped his arms around her stomach and the pair disappeared in a puff of smoke before reappearing a few feet away, landing on the ground. Annoyed by her predicament, Arclight elbowed into Kurt's stomach, causing him to release her. Arclight then clasped her hands together and a purple release of energy shot out, hitting Kurt in the chest and launching him near the stage. Rogue, having grabbed a table stool from the bar, snuck up behind Arclight, who smirked at the blue mutant's takedown. When Arclight turned around, Rogue swung the table leg, hitting her hard in the face. Arclight smirked at her takedown of the blue mutant, but unbeknownst to her, Rogue having grabbed a table stool from the bar snuck up behind Arclight's back, and by the time Arclight turned around and noticed, Rogue swung the table leg at Arclight's face, smacking her cheek hard. Arclight then collapsed on the floor, unconscious from the hit.

"Let's see you get up from that!" she exclaimed.

Dropping the stool, she ran over next to the stage and held out her hand to Kurt, who was clutching his stomach in pain from the elbow to the gut.

"Thanks," he said as he grabbed Rogue's gloved hand.

"Don't mention it," she replied, hoisting him to his feet.

On top of the stage, Logan and Sabretooth continued their brutal mauling of each other. Slashes covered the pair's torn clothes, the only remaining marks as their flesh healed. Gaining the upper hand, Sabretooth grabbed Logan and threw him to the other side of the stage, where Logan stabbed through its floor to prevent himself from falling off.

"Why are you doing this, Creed?! Shouldn't you be out playing with a ball of yarn?"

Sabretooth laughed in response.

"Is that what they said about me?"

Logan attempted to jump and strike at Sabretooth, but missed when he ducked out of the way.

"Shouldn't be surprised you believe anything after you left me for dead in the avalanche. If it weren't for Dr Essex, I'd probably be out of your hair forever."

Logan raised his eyebrow at the mention of the name.

"Essex? Who's Essex?" he asked.

Sabretooth smirked.

"Someone you'll never live to find out about," he replied as he attacked his foe.

Getting annoyed, Logan jumped towards Sabretooth and sunk his claws through the killer's flesh, and the two ended up falling off the stage and through a table.

On the other side of the room, Scott, Jean, Kitty, and Colossus regrouped with Rogue and Kurt, before turning toward the stage and noticing Logan continuing to be brutalized by Sabretooth.

"Kitty! Go check on Dazzler! We'll help Logan!" Jean ordered.

Kitty nodded and ran over to the table where Dazzler was hiding. Meanwhile, the other X-Men began running over toward the fight when a pair of lights from above the stage detached and flew over in front of them, smashing into the floor and stopping the heroes in their tracks. The lights sparked and suddenly, a row of flames jumped from the lamps and spread along the floor, blocking the X-Men's path.

"Going somewhere?" came Polaris's voice behind them.

Scott turned his head to find Polaris now back on her feet, her hand up in the air as she held the lights in place on the ground.

"Who are you working for?" Scott demanded.

Polaris shook her head.

"The true liberator of mutantkind." she snarked.

Behind the table, Dazzler peeked over a few times to observe her savior's struggle against these criminals, planning her next move. With a jump, Dazzler suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to find one of the mutants with Jean who was a teenage girl with brown hair in a ponytail.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you!" the girl apologized.

"Just making sure you're alright. My name's Kitty by the way. Big fan of your music."

Dazzler waved the young girl's hand away.

"Fine–thanks, but right now we…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Dazzler looked toward Kitty's pocket and noticed a rectangular-shaped object sticking out from it.

"Is that a Walkman? " asked Dazzler.

Kitty looked at her pocket, then back at Dazzler.

"Um, yep!" she replied.

Hearing those magic words, Dazzler smiled and lunged at the device, ignoring her squawk of protest.

"Don't worry! I'll give it back in a sec!" Dazzler shouted back as she got up and ran from the table.

She ran behind Polaris, who was preoccupied with forcing Colossus into a round of 'stop hitting yourself', and stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled, getting Polaris' attention.

"What?!" hissed Polaris.

Dazzler smirked. "Take on this!"

Cranking the volume, Dazzler hovered her hand over the jack and as the tune poured out, a series of brilliant lights emerged from Dazzler's fingertips and shot towards Polaris. Polaris had little time to react before being struck by the lights and thrown towards the wall. Satisfied, Dazzler turned toward the pair on the stage. She once again aimed the Walkman at Sabretooth and allowed the music out from the headphones to create more lights. The bolts hit him square in the chest and sent him quickly through the back wall, unconscious. Logan pushed himself up from the floor, panting and surprised, but grateful. Proud of her handiwork, Dazzler walked back up to a gawking Kitty and tossed her her Walkman.

"Thanks for letting me borrow it, kid,"

"Uh…. you're welcome," Kitty responded, still in shock.

Polaris slowly got back to her feet, enraged. Before she could do anything, she heard a voice in her head. The icy, crisp voice of her employee rang true in her head.

"Polaris! Gather the others and retreat now!"

Polaris's eyes widened in confusion.

"But, Dr Essex, we haven't…" She spoke to herself.

"Leave her for now. The mission is over. Return now!" the voice commanded.

Polaris sighed as she nodded her head. "Fine."

She looked toward the grounded Sabretooth and yelled, "Sabretooth, the doc needs us back!"

Sabretooth growled as he got up and ran toward her quickly, joined by Arclight and Riptide, who both looked worse for wear. The Marauders then looked toward the X-Men, who were still in their way.

"We aren't letting you get away!" Scott announced. "Who are you working for, and where are the other mutants you kidnapped?!"

Opening her mouth to speak, Polaris looked behind her and saw on the bar counter a bottle of whiskey, just close enough to a sparking light from the earlier kerfuffle to give her an idea. Manipulating the wiring with her powers, she turned to Arclight and nodded toward the objects. Arclight's eyes shone as she realized what Polaris was planning. In a swift movement, the dislodged cable plunged into the bottle of whiskey, while Arclight slammed her hands together, and a purple blast of energy whisked the cocktail past the shocked heroes and through the windows in front of the club, onto the street. Several sharp cries were quickly heard.

"So..." continued Polaris. "As the old saying goes, you have two choices. You can continue your battle against us, or, you can put out that fire. It's your choice."

The X-Men and Dazzler looked at each other. Cyclops sighed.

"Move out, guys!" He said as he motioned his team out the door.

The team and Dazzler were already halfway out the door. Logan was the last to exit, baring one last snarl.

Sabretooth softly chuckled as Logan ran out to meet with the others.

Most of the X-Men held their arms in front of them as a shield from the flames. Scott, Jean, Kurt, Kitty, Colossus and Rogue were trying to figure out what to do to put out the fire when Logan looked for a fire hydrant nearby. He ran over to the hydrant and shouted, "Get back!" to the others before ejecting a claw from his knuckle and slicing off the cap. A long gush of water sprayed from it, shooting past the X-Men, and landing on the fire, putting it out slowly but steadily, leaving a pile of smoke in its place. Before anyone could speak, distant sirens announced the police's arrival at the crime scene.

"Go! Just go! I'll explain everything!" Dazzler pleaded, turning to her saviors.

Scott raised his eyebrow. "But what if...?"

"Listen!" continued Dazzler.

"You've done more than enough for me tonight, so in return, I'll make sure they know what happened here. Who the real heroes and villains were tonight. Now get outta here before you get screwed!"

Scott nodded and he and his team ran to the van and bikes. As he was about to close the door, Scott heard Dazzler say, "One last thing! Thanks for the save!"

Scott smiled before driving into the night.

It had been an hour since the X-Men had returned from their mission. With Dazzler safe and having gained some new intel, the group were watching the news of that night's attack.

"... And after firefighters extinguished the flames, the police arrived to find a handful of mutants, possibly x-men, fleeing the scene, abandoning Dazzler," read the news anchor.

"Now to our interview with the pop-star herself."

It then cut to a news reporter next to two cops and Dazzler in front of the club.

"Hello, this is Jennifer Rose and I'm at the scene of tonight's incident. I'm here to ask Dazzler just what exactly happened here tonight!"

She then pushed the mic right up against Dazzler's face, causing her to flinch slightly in annoyance.

"So, is it true that the group of mutant terrorists, who made their getaway when the police arrived, attacked you?"

Dazzler sighed and shook her head as she sat up and quickly grabbed the mic.

"Mutants attacked me, but not the ones you saw when the police arrived. I commend those mutants for their brave actions that saved my life tonight. I won't give them up for their own sake, but I will tell the authorities exactly who terrorized my concert."

The Professor then muted the TV before turning toward the X-men.

"I see tonight has gone well for all of us. We now know who is kidnapping the mutants and Morlocks and we saved one from being captured. I would say that you have all earned some rest."

The X-Men nodded and left the room leaving Logan remaining in the main area. The Professor raised his eyebrow, intrigued.

"Is there something you want to discuss, Logan?"

The burly mutant nodded before unfolding his arms.

"Yeah. When I fought Creed, he mentioned who he might be working for. Someone named "Dr, Essex". Does the name ring a bell at all?"

The Professor stroked his chin in concentration before speaking again.

"The name does sound familiar. I think I may know who the man is. I'll look into it tonight and come to you when I've found something on Essex. However, until then, I believe we could all use a good night's sleep."

With that, the Professor rolled out of the room as Logan began ascending the stairs toward his bedroom.

At this point, the war was just beginning.

When the Marauders returned to their base, they were confused and bitter. Not only had the X-Men halted their mission, but their employer had also cut their kidnap attempt early.

"So he just called us back? Like that?" questioned Riptide.

Polaris sighed.

"Yes. Don't know how many more times I have to tell you!"

The group eventually reached the top of the stairs and entered the main office, where they found the back of their boss's chair turned to him, but they could tell he was indeed sitting in it.

"I don't get it!" exclaimed Sabretooth.

"We almost got her! Why'd you call us back?"

Essex chuckled to himself before standing up from his chair.

"You call that 'almost having her'?" I've seen better throughout my lifetime. Clearly, you lacked the skills to handle Xavier's mutants, contrary to my expectations. Had I continued to let you fight further, you may have all but humiliated yourselves. I might have lost the singer, but at least I will avoid further embarrassment."

Sabretooth clenched his clawed fist hard, angered at the denial of compensation for the hard work they put in to obtain the potential subject for his boss' experiments. Marching up, he pounded his fist on the table and growled in anger.

"What was embarrassing was your lack of faith in us! We have brought you over 20 mutants and Morlocks for your science experiments, and the one time there's a snag.."

Essex held up his index finger, silencing Sabretooth on the spot.

"Now, now, Creed. Let us remember not to bite the hand that brought you from the brink of death," he retorted.

Sabretooth stopped talking and took a few steps back in hesitation. Essex lowered his hand, feeling he had gotten the point across.

"Now, for your failure tonight, I'll not be able to compensate you with any such reward, but I have a solution to this problem that will benefit all of us in the long run."

The marauders looked at each other in confused expressions before turning back to Essex.

"And what would that be?" asked Arclight.

Suddenly, Essex turned to the group—and in front of them stood a man draped in regal blue robes, a long cloak hanging from his shoulders, lined with a high crimson collar. His gloves and boots were a matching dark navy, heavy and deliberate. But it was his face that struck terror: chalk-white skin, jet-black hair, and pupil-less crimson eyes that glimmered with a cold, unearthly light. When he smiled, his teeth were razor-sharp, like stakes waiting to draw blood. An appearance truly befitting a man named Sinister.

"Bring me an X-Man, and we shall negotiate a new deal!"

The end.