X-men Story

X-men Story
Chapter Twenty-Five

"Arrival"

The school week rolled on by, and once again the weekend drew near. And it saw quite a few changes to our normal routine. For one thing, every morning before classes started, we had to gather at our assigned locations for a quick House meeting. In addition to this somewhat dubious improvement to our school life - Peter and Ororo had come up with an idea of their own. An idea that Professor Xavier liked all too well. Working in tandem with Peter's artistic talents, Ororo had designed a new emblem for the school in the form of a badge. Each House's badge was of a different color and we were all required to wear our badges during school hours.

(Summers - Red)

(Grey - Gold)

(Ororo - Turquoise)

(Logan - Purple)

Ray: "God dammit! People are laughing their asses off at us!"

And he was right too. Logan had not changed his mind about using purple as our representative House color. While no one would ever dare tease us in his presence, they didn't have any qualms about doing it whenever he was not around. Around the school, our House was the "Gay" House. But by and large it was a pretty ordinary and decent week in the schoolwork department. And things were groovy in the relationship department too. Bobby was being extra nice all of a sudden. And I never even had to nag him about excessive public displays of affection. Just one Biology class with Hank to complete and the weekend would be upon us. In the meantime, those of us who were free from our recently concluded Elemental's lesson with Ororo, rested outside on the greens.

Amara: "So, any plans in the works for the weekend?"

John: "Well, Jenny's going home to visit her folks this weekend and I get to go along with her. Hopefully, I'll meet her father's seal of approval."

Ray: "But you can't. With Cerebro fully functional now - all the Danger Room's advanced simulation tech is working. Scott wants us participate in a training exercise this weekend."

He had news for us.

John: "Oh yeah? Well, it's a good thing that I got permission to skip it then, huh?"

Bobby: "Skip?! But, I don't understand. Scott said that..."

I for remembered him reproaching us when we groaned at the thought of weekend training. He said that he let us off early the day Fantasia attacked and we had to make up for lost time. Not only that, but ever since the attack on the school by Novarian terrorists seeking Princess Amara - Cerebro was not himself. Our favorite cyber intelligence was not able to access most of his higher functions, including advanced Danger Room simulations and major telepathic amplification. And now that he was fixed and feeling chipper - Scott was making the most out of it. He seemed to be spending all of his free time in the Danger Room. Probably designing even more complex missions for us to complete. I didn't think that he'd be granting anyone time off. Especially the smart mouthed John.

John: "I just told him why I wanted the time off - and bam! It was mine. I hope Grey keeps putting out like she's been doing."

Bobby: "Lucky you..."

Later that evening...

The crowds that thronged the halls mere hours before were escorted outside by armed security guards. Visiting and tour hours were long over at the Museum of Ancient Antiquities. The lights were dimmed, the security system activated, and the guards walked their beat around the museum looking for non-existant threats. For over two decades there had not been an incident of robbery - armed or otherwise - at the Museum. With this longstanding record, it was safe to assume that the guards were a little less than vigilant in their duties. After all, what were the odds of anything happening on their watch?

None however was as incompetent as twenty one year old Terry Sanders. He had enough to deal with on his plate without a pencil necked curator telling him how to do his job. Every night he took secret revenge by being as lax as he could in his duties, knowing that the curator would be as clueless as ever in the morning. But little did he suspect that this night was going to be a little bit different. Leaning against a carving of Venus, he was awakened from his slumber by a faint, scratching sound. At first he was willing to pass it off as the work of the Museum's rat infestation. But the closely followed crash spurred him to action. If anything was unaccountably damaged in his sector - he'd be the one held responsible. And as unfulfilling as it was, he needed his job.

He mobilised himself and stealthily crept into the rooms housing the Egyptian exhibits. The crash seemed to originate from within there. Shining his flashlight around he detected nothing out of the ordinary. But just in case,

Terry: "Alright, I know you're in here. Either you come out now - or I catch you, beat the shit outta you for ruining my sleep and slam your ass in jail."

There was absolute silence for several minutes that left him feeling foolish for talking to the air. Until the faint sound of footsteps was heard behind him. Spinning around quickly, he shone his torch along the length of the room. Empty...

CRASH!

Terry: "What the fuck?!"

Instinctively he reached for him walkie-talkie, intending to call one of his partners for aid. He failed in his endeavor as an invisible force snatched it out of his hands and tossed it aside. Five seconds later he was sent flying across the room, mouth sealed shut by an unknown will. As he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness, a cloaked and hooded figure stepped into view and walked down the hallway he had come from. At that he fainted. One of the other officers would have to deal with it...

Saturday Morning

Scott: "Our Danger Room exercise has been cancelled for the time being."

Our first reaction was one of triumph. Then curiousity won out. After he had been so vehement that we keep on tops with our training, he gives John a break...then cancels it altogether? So when I happened to see Scott walking down one of the ground floor halls, I ran up to question him. His crazy flights of fancy had gone on unexplained long enough.

"Scott!"

He seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere, judging from the quick pace he was walking. And it was so early too.

"Hey, good morning - why did you cancel our training session for today?"

Scott: "Something's come up and the Professor wants some of us seniors to investigate it."

"Anything Brotherhood related?"

Scott: "No, he thinks this has the potential to be much worse. Look, he was all cloak-and-dagger about this, so I think that you should ask him personally."

"Okay, I will."

At that he hurried off to wherever he was going and I went my own way. Something was up that could be worse than the Brotherhood? Whatever could that mean? I would ask as soon and Professor Xavier was up and about in his office. Well, as soon as I finished my session with Emma. Since Emma was not as bad a person as I thought she was...and since David hinted that she was biased against Kurt - I figured I would give it a shot.

Logan: "So they've finally managed to figure it all out, huh?"

Professor Xavier: "According to the intelligence reports courtesy of Nick Fury."

Professor Xavier, Scott, Logan, Betsy, Remmy, Hank and Kurt were in the War Room at an urgent briefing. The night before, Professor Xavier had received an encrypted transmission detailing a new scientific breakthrough. Several high ranking scientists working for a private firm - under government contract - had discovered a means by which to apply mutant scanning technology over large geographical areas. Mutant scanning technology had always been close range, as in the case of the Sentinels. But now, a new threat had reared its head.

Hank: "The device appears to scan for the unique DNA sequences of the X gene over a ten mile radius. What's even more disturbing is that it actually 'marks' any mutants it finds in a manner that I do not completely understand. It seems that the DNA of mutants can be made to absorb small traces of energy from the scan, whilst ordinary human DNA does not."

Professor Xavier: "And we do not know if it is permanent. Imagine if the government succeeds in passing the Mutant Registration Bill. With technology such as this in their hands - any mutants who did not register will not be able to hide. If these devices are set up nation wide, activated to an unknown public - all mutants in their range will be marked. And if that Bill is passed - as I suspect it will be at some point in time... the government will have the means by which to round up 'criminal' mutants who disobeyed' the law for punishment."

Scott: "So what do we do?"

Professor Xavier: "Fury has sent us the coordinates of the facility. You are to attempt to steal the prototype and return it here...hence, Remmy will be joining you. If you cannot do this - then destroy it...do not let it remain in the hands of that organisation. I have the names and addresses of the three scientists responsible - Betsy will wipe their minds and alter their memories so that they'll report that their efforts have been a failure - that they were mistaken. Lastly..."

He sighed deeply...

Professor Xavier: "Betsy will be able to read their minds to determine where they have computer backups of their research information. But that facility itself poses a danger to mutant kind...the government makes use of them often. For military training technology and such. Fury hinted that this project may be followed up by others. Destroy the facility. But try to minimise the potential for loss of life. Make it seem as if the building is on fire or such."

At that, they set out on their mission.

I sat down patiently in Emma's office waiting for her to arrive. Emma was running a bit late. Our session was due to start at nine and it was nine-thirty. I wished that I had brought along something to occupy my time with. All the magazines lying around were either girly - which I'd never read...or swimsuit featuring ones, nearly pornographic in nature, that held no interest to me. At the sound of the door opening I turned to see a cool looking Emma walking casually through the door as if she had all the time in the world.

Emma: "Ah, Rick - what are you doing here? Didn't you get my message?"

"Message, Miss Fro - um, Emma?"

She clarified it for me.

Emma: "Your session today has been cancelled, darling. Mr. Wagner has some rather pressing issues that need taking care of. When he came to alert me of them, I asked him to inform you of our meeting's cancellation."

The good for nothing fool!

"No Emma, Mr. Wagner didn't say anything about it to me. Well, if it can't be helped...it can't be helped. I'll just be going on my wa -"

Emma: "Well, why don't you stay a while. We can talk and get to know each other a little better."

"I don't know..."

Didn't she get to know 'me' a little better the last week?

Emma: "I see that Jean, Betsy and your moth - I'm sorry, sometimes I speak quicker than I think."

"Well we all do on occasion. Some more frequently than others."

I decided to stay a little while after all. To try and get to know the real Emma Frost.

Emma: "I can't tell you how glad I am that you're finally starting to trust me. I thought that Jean and friends had poisoned you against me permanantly. Why, last week you were so unreadable. Your mind was completely closed off. Not that I was attempting to spy or anything...but not a stray thought or emotion escaped your grasp."

"Well, I've seen for myself first hand that you're not such a bad person after all."

Emma: "I was amazed that you could be so mentally blocked off."

"I trust you a little more now...so I'm not all that cagey at the moment."

Emma: "Okay. So tell me a little more about yourself. Like...how do you find life at the Mansion?"

"It's...okay I guess."

Emma: "Not to be overly personal...but, do you get teased a lot?"

"Sometimes. But I've learnt to ignore it. The people that matter don't hassle me and that's all that counts."

Emma: "And as to your home life...have you given any thought about what we discussed last week? Have you decided to take the leap and forgive your parents?"

"Well...not really. But - it seems that someone has been trying to persuade me."

I explained my infiltrator issues.

Emma: "You know, there is no doubt in my mind that if you were to give them the chance - they'd go down on their hands and knees to beg your forgiveness. Think about it darling, The prospects could be rather lucrative for you."

"I wouldn't know what to say. So I pick up the phone and call... I can't just say hello and pretend everything's alright. So what? They'll say 'forgive us' and I'll say,'sure', and that'll be it?"

Emma: "I know it'll be awkward. But it will be worth it."

"Maybe I will."

Emma: "Good."

There was an awkward pause in conversation for about a minute or so. And her eyes became rather shifty.

Emma: "So, you're a nice enough looking young man. Is there anyone special in your life?"

"Maybe yes, maybe no."

Emma: "Is - is there something going on between you and that Jacob boy?"

Since we were no longer together in the way she was suggesting, I was able to hide my shock somewhat more effectively than in the past. Like say, when Jubilee surprised me.

"Why would you think that? Jacob is straight."

With a barely audible, almost conspiratorial voice,

Emma: "Honey, I recognised the glint in his eyes when he looked at you. If you don't have anyone - you should keep your eyes open around him. He just may surprise you if you give him a chance. I don't know what he is - but I know attraction when I see it."

She then went on to say that she was used to men looking at her like that all the time. Which was all good as it gave me an idea to divert her suspicions.

"Maybe he was really looking or thinking about you. And just looking away from you because he's shy. You're very pretty."

Emma seemed to mull something over for a little while.

Emma: "Why thank you! But I don't think so."

"Well, he isn't really my type."

Emma: "But he's gorgeous, that's everyone's type! I mean, he seems like a very nice young man. "

"He is. But -"

Emma: "And smart too."

"Uh huh, yeah. Can I ask you some questions now, Emma?"

Why should she be the only one delving?

Emma: "Ask away, dear."

"What made you decide to take up a stressful job like this?"

Emma: "Charles was concerned about the stress on Jean whilst she undergoes this pregnancy. So, since I have a psychiatric degree, he asked me to fill in for her. But in a bona fide psychotherapuetic role."

"That must have been very selfless of you. After all, you're rich - or so everyone tells me - and accustomed to a certain standard of life. And taking this up to help us...you're a real doll."

Emma: "Aww...well, when I think about the stresses that modern teens have to face these days - it makes me want to cry. I am only too glad to play some small role in helping you all out in your adolescent development."

She seemed very garrulous. And I figured that while I was there, I might as well see what information I could milk out of her, subtly of course. Even if Jean was right and she was working at the Mansion under false pretences, I would still prepared to give her the benfit of the doubt. It was her actions here that counted. Not why she was here in the first place. It was just my curiousity that made me want to find out. Who knows, she just might let some crucial piece of information slip...

Walter Maclean, the Chief of Police, together with two of his best detectives, was in the process of interviewing young Terry Sanders. The security officer had suffered a violent blow to the head and was recuperating in the hospital. That the Museum Of Ancient Antiquities had suffered its first robbery in over twenty years was enough of a shock. But that a mutant was responsible... It made the event even more spectacular.

Chief Maclean: "Are you certain it was a mutant thief?"

Terry: "Hell yeah! My walkie talkie flew out of my hands and the next thing I knew - I went flying without anyone even touching me. Just before I blacked out I saw some dude in a cloak walking away."

Maclean considered. The security camera's footage had shown Terry flying into a wall, but not who was responsible. What was even more curious was the fact that priceless gold amulets and figurines were left untouched. All the thief had stolen was a stone carving. The curator was actually grateful when questioned by the police. The stolen item was among the least valuable of all the museums exhibits and had little monetary or archaelogical value. It was merely showcased due to its curiously, meaningless nature and to occupy space.

Officer#1: "Sir, if we are dealing with a mutant thief - how do we go about tracking him down?"

Officer#2: "Should we even bother? If what he stole was almost worthless - what's the use?"

Chief Maclean: "How can you say that? Forget the carving. He stole from the celebrated Museum Of Ancient Antiquities. A high profile institute. He cannot be allowed to remain at large. The museum's owners will be outraged and take it out on us for not doing our best to catch him. The media will have a field day."

Officer#2: "What do we do?"

Officer#1: "Well, if this is a mutant case...we could try the X-men. They've declared themselves as the authority on mutant -"

Chief Maclean: "Yes! They did a good job with that school that was plant wrapped. But how do we contact them? We can't let this get out on the media and hope to attract their attention. The museum staff want this kept under wraps."

All were confused until...

Officer#1: "Wait a sec... We could do like in Batman."

Officer#2: "What shit are you on?"

Officer#1: "We could have a skylighter or a hologram - in the form of an 'X'. Broadcast it all across the city sky - hell, even statewide. Didn't they tell us that they keep their eyes open for signs of trouble? That could draw them out."

Chief Maclean: "Okay, so they'll see it. How will they know it's us that's calling them?"

Officer#2: "We could have the police insignia in the background and the 'X' in the foreground. The media might be able to speculate...but that's all they'll be able to do. Even if they guess that it's a call for the X-men - they won't know why."

Chief Maclean: "Alright, let's call the Mayor and get to work on this."

[Lola: "Once again, I repeat this is NOT the work of UFOs or anything extra-terrestrial in nature!"]

[Trish Tilby: "Thank you, Miss Lovelace. And there you have it folks. Until we determine the exact purpose of the hologram superimposed on the overhead sky - this is Trish Tilby signing out. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program."]

It was a little after one when Professor Xavier summoned us all to the War Room. Cerebro was back online and monitoring the news on every channel. Something had come up and the Professor was alerted. When we got there he replayed the television footage for our benefit. From what I gathered, a strange holographic design was being broadcast into the sky - all across the city. There was an 'X' motif incorporated into what looked like a shield of some description. None of us could figure out what it meant until the Professor simply spared us the trouble and told us.

Professor Xavier: "I believe the police force would like a word with us."

Ray: "How do you know it was them?"

Jamie: "Wait, did you use Cerebro to scan the minds of everyone in the city - and found some minds that contain information? Or maybe took the information from the minds of the police?"

Professor Xavier: "No, I did this."

He clicked a button and the image altered. The 'X' design shifted off the shield. It was our symbol. And the shield was revealed to be -

Jean: "The Police force's crest!"

Professor Xavier: "Precisely. If they want to meet with us, we shall have to comply. It's common courtesy. I suggest we do so at their headquarters."

"Do you think that something's seriously wrong, Professor?"

Professor Xavier: "I don't know. The media has been remarkably quiet about this. They've merely explained what it cannot be - but have not suggested what it could be. I believe they being forced to keep quiet and are just trying to keep the civilian's calm. Anyhow, I want a team to meet with the police right away. I of course shall accompany you."

"You?"

Professor Xavier: "Why yes. Surely I can wear spandex and carry it off just as good as you. All I need is a mask."

Ray: "Mask?"

Professor Xavier: "Hank has gotten rid of those unsightly holographic facial inducers in favor of some trendy new masks."

"Oh cool."

There was a general clamor for the opportunity to get out some. In the end Ororo, Jean, Warren, Peter and Rogue were selected. None of us juniors were chosen for this mission.

Professor Xavier: "Now, Scott, Logan, Elizabeth, Remmy, Hank and Kurt are all busy at the moment pursuing a most crucial mission. And the other remaining senior X-men will be accompanying me to the Police Headquarters. Only Emma will be left here to supervise the running of the school. Which means that you will basically be allowed to do as you please. Now then, can I trust you to follow the rules and to safeguard the students?"

"You're leaving us here alone to safeguard the students?"

Professor Xavier: "Cerebro is back online and so are the auto-defences. And you have all matured into capable young men and women. I believe you can be trusted if I have your solemn promise."

We all agreed. John was away with Jenny, and as he was the most problematic of us - we didn't think that we had anything much to worry about.

Professor Xavier: "Very well then. Raymond, Jacob - you two are in charge until my return. I shall need to speak with you both for a few minutes. The rest of you may leave. Those accompanying me - prepare for departure immediately."

Ray: "Now listen up, Professor Xavier has left me in charge and I expect you to obey my orders unconditionally. We may have Cerebro to monitor the school, but that's not good enough. We shouldn't take any chances. So I've organised these patrol schemes."

He handed out copies to us all. From what I could tell, we were to basically orbit the entire Mansion continuously. No more than one bathroom break per three hours was allowed and we had best carry along something small to eat. We would have no formal break for eating. There was to be absolutely no fraternising on the job. Such a dick.

"No fraternising? Oh really? Do you care to explain why Jubilee is your patrol partner then? It makes no sense. You have a ranged attack and so does she. As a matter of fact - you BOTH specialise in ranged attacks. Why not have someone with a direct, melee attack - like Roberto, for a partner? It would be more balanced strategically."

Almost everyone glanced at me impressed. I absorbed the glory.

Bobby: "Well, someone has been reading up on those combat strategy guides that Scott suggested."

Ray: "Never you mind why Jubilee's my patrol partner. You just stick with yours."

There was nothing that could be helped. I was stuck with Jamie.

"Hey! I got an idea! How's about we just make Jamie clone himself. With ten clones of him running around, the rest of us can relax."

Jamie: "I am not going to be the one doing all of the work!"

Ray: "This isn't up for discussion. I expect you all to be ready in exactly one hour. Dismissed!"

The Meeting...

There was quite a stir down town as the X-men's secondary jet - The Hawk - landed on the Police Headquarter's heliport. Chief Maclean and a small contingent of officers were there to meet the disguised Professor Xavier and company. Not all present were completely trusting of the vigilante mutant team, but they had decided to give their chief the benefit of the doubt.

Professor Xavier: "We've accepted your 'subtle' invitation and have come to you. Please be at ease. You'll have no need to use those automatic pistols you have concealed beneath your jackets."

An embarrassed murmur rippled throughout the crowd as all officers present brought their weapons out and placed them in their holsters.

Professor Xavier: "Now, what may I ask prompted you to communicate with us in this manner?"

Chief Maclean: "We have a problem of a mutant nature. There has been a robbery at the Museum Of Ancient Antiquities. The Museum owners and staff wanted it hushed up - so we couldn't just have the media help us by broadcasting our incident for the public to see. We are of the belief that a mutant is responsible."

He went on to explain the testimony of chief witness, Terry Sanders. By the description - and the fact that he was sent flying without anyone so much as touching him, Professor Xavier was able to offer some explanation.

Professor Xavier: "You're probably dealing with a mutant who possesses telekinetic powers."

The Chief of police looked dumbfounded.

Jean: "Telekinesis is one of several psychic mutant abilities. In its most basic form it allows someone to move objects on a macrocosmic level. Like that brick for instance."

She treated them to a minor display of telekinetic power by levitating a loose brick for a few moments. There was a murmur of approval as the officers let it all soak in.

Professor Xavier: "Might I ask what exactly was stolen? And your precise purpose for summoning us here?"

Chief Maclean: "A stone carving from the Ancient Egyptian display was taken. Fortunately, it was not valuable at all. We're concerned that this theif may strike again, and possibly take something of real value. And not just from this museum - but others locations as well."

The Chief went on to explain some more concerning the particulars of the case.

Professor Xavier: "And I suppose that you want us to track this person down for you."

Chief Maclean: "Well...yes. You all have tried to give the impression that you're the authority on mutant issues."

Professor Xavier: "And if we find a possible mutant suspect - we are to hand him or her over to you?"

Chief Maclean: "Of course."

The accompanying X-men glanced at each other cryptically.

Professor Xavier: "If we were to find someone who we suspect - will he be given a fair trial?"

Chief Maclean: "You have my word, sir."

Professor Xavier conversed telepathically with his X-men for a few moments before accepting Maclean's terms. Helping the police apprehend a mutant thief would put them in good stead with the law enforcers. And that would be a major plus for a newly debuted mutant vigilante team. He asked to speak with the Chief alone and gave him a private communicator should any communication need to be made.

Chief Maclean: "So you're sure can help us?"

Professor Xavier: "We can certainly try. I don't know how long this will take as we have little to go on. Did the museum reveal any specifics about the carving?"

Chief Maclean: "Not really. Just that it was almost worthless. Why does it matter?"

Professor Xavier: "Because our thief left priceless gold Egyptian trinkets for a stone carving. Whatever anyone else thinks - it must have had some considerable value to him. If we can learn more about this carving and find out if it has any special properties, no matter how insignificant, we can search for other such pieces in other museums or the like. The thief may strike next at one of those if they have something similar. This could be a classic case of collector thievery."

Chief Maclean: "Very well. You're welcome to accompany us to see the Museum curator."

Professor Xavier: "Should we follow your police squad cars...or do you prefer to ride with us?"

The officers glanced at the sleek Hawk and their testosterone got the better of them. Throwing mistrust aside, they followed the X-men into the jet.

"Ah ha! I knew it! I knew the only reason you teamed up with Jubes was so that you could mess around!"

Ray: "Aw shit!"

"Fraternising, fearless leader? While the rest of us are patrolling our asses of?"

Jubilee: "Ray, I told you that being a hippocrite isn't healthy for a leader. We have Cerebro back online now. I'm not saying that we should just rest on our laurels...but I do think that you're making too much of a big deal out of this."

Thanks to Jubilee (I love that girl) Ray decided to relax a little with the patrol shifting. He had just given me the all clear to spread his good words when the Mansion's front gates suddenly slid open. All of us momentarily tensed until we saw one of the Institute's cars pulling into the driveway. The heavily tinted windows were up and so we couldn't see who it was until the car door opened.

Jubilee: "John?! What are doing back so soon?"

I went up to the car and took a peek inside. It was empty, Jenny was nowhere to be seen. And John didn't look too happy.

Ray: "John, is something wrong?"

"Where's Jenny?"

John: "She's at home."

"But if she didn't come with you then how is she gonna -"

John: "Her parents are going to drop her off. Maybe later, maybe tomorrow."

There was an awkward pause then, as John seemed to be reliving a memory.

Ray: "Earth to John!"

John: "Sorry. It's just that - her dad doesn't like me very much. Or at all I should say. The man is an absolute dickhead."

I begged to differ.

"That isn't true. He's cool."

John: "Uh, no he isn't. He basically threw me out of their house."

I found that hard to believe. Jimmy seemed so kind-hearted and understanding.

"Are you sure?"

John's eyebrows twitched a little angrily.

John: "Of course I'm sure. What else could 'Get out!' mean?"

"But...there has to SOME reason."

John: "Well...okay, maybe he caught us in a brief moment of adolescent passion."

Uh oh.

Jubilee: "John, don't tell me that you were grinding it out right in that girl's house with her parents under the same roof!"

John: "We were not! We just got a little frisky in her bedroom and her stupid brother walked in and let out this girly squeak and started up this raucous laugh. The next thing I know, her parents come barging in wondering what all the commotion is about and catch me with my shirt off and - well, 'Get out!'."

Ray: "You're shirt was off? Couldn't you try to resist a little bit more?"

John: "Well, her mom wasn't so bad about it. But her father was pissed."

"Well, we have to try to see things from his point of view. I mean, Jenny was almost raped at school. And he cares deeply for his family. He doesn't know you like we do and - "

Ray: "That's a good thing. If he knew John like we do - then he mighta whooped his ass."

"I meant to say, that for all he knows, you could be yet another good for nothing, horny teenaged boy."

John: "He said that he's gonna have a word with the staff. He doesn't want me near his daughter."

"John, give the guy some time. I mean, he's used to guys trying to get with Jenny for sex."

The three of them looked at me shocked.

Jubilee: "You mean...Jenny's one of 'those' kinda girls? I thought that she was like - innocent."

"No! I said guys tried, I never said that she gave in. I was privy to a conversation when I had breakfast with them the morning after I ran away. One guy got so horny and desperate when she kept on denying him...he almost gave into her brother's seduction."

Ray: "Her brother's sedu - . You mean her brother's...gay?"

"Uh huh. So you see, he doesn't want her used and tossed aside. Maybe she'll be able to talk some sense into him."

John: "I hope so. By the way - they asked for you."

"Oh, cool."

John: "What are you guys doing out here? Aren't you supposed to be training with Summers?"

Ray: "Well, here's the thing..."

At the Museum Of Ancient Antiquities...

Curator: "Au am-nef saa en neteru. Neb ahau pa neheh t'er-f."

Chief Maclean: "And that's supposed to mean what exactly?"

The curator went into long, drawn out detail concerning the stolen Egyptian carving. Whilst most of the officers had long since lost interest, Professor Xavier was most intrigued.

Curator: "Roughly rendered it means - 'He hath consumed the vitality of the Gods. His existance is for all Eternity.'"

Two officers chuckled.

Officer1: "Sounds like some scary shit to me."

Officer: "The Mummy returns!"

Chief Maclean: "Harper! McCarthy!"

Officers: "Sorry sir."

Professor Xavier: "Who is this 'He' the inscription mentioned?"

Curator: "We are not entirely sure. Please bear in mind that we are not even certain that the myth told by the tablet was even authentic to begin with."

Storm: "So it could have been a faked story?"

Curator: "Yes. But the myth suggests that it was a man. A very powerful man - probably an ancient Egyptian sorcerer or other - who robbed the Gods of their power and usurped all control from them."

Professor Xavier: "Intriguing. Would you care to share more?"

The curator did indeed.
Curator: "The Ancient Egyptians would have considered tablets such as these a horrible blasphemy. Basically it tells of one who shall defeat and destroy the Gods, adding their strength to his own and ruling in their stead. And it went on to say that his rule would be as a dictator. Pa t'etta em sah-f pen en merer-f ari-f mest'et'-f - none shall but bow before his might, he does what he wills and forbids what he does not (will)."
Rogue: "That sounds like an ancient Egyptian Horror play or something."
Curator: "The ancient Egyptians were a devout people who didn't take spiritual affairs lightly. The reason these tablets are almost worthless is due to the fact that the authorities believe they were created by bitter, blasphemers to discredit the Pharoah's royal line. You see, the Pharoah kept his power by claiming to be the chosen of the Gods. It was in accordance to universal order. For all we know, these tablets could have been politically motivated and fake."
Professor Xavier: "Would you by chance be able to advise us? As to where we might be able to find more of these blasphemous tablets?"

Curator: "There are but few. Even though they're rare, they lack authenticity. One is under the care of a Mr. Lawrence De Gannes. I can give you his address. He bought it cheaply from us about a year ago. Another is cared for by the Carson Foundation Of Archaeology."

Chief Maclean: "We'll see what we can do about alerting the owners and securing the artefacts. If our thief is a typical collector - then he or she may strike there at some point in time."

Curator: "It is possible. Those two tablets tell a little more of the tale. You didn't hear this from me - but um, the Museum broke the original tablet into three pieces on purpose. Just so that it could occupy more space in the debut exhibit. Everyone thinks it happened by accident. The original tablet was called 'The Khemennu Carving'. Perhaps you will catch this thief after all."

Chief Maclean: "Thank you for your help, sir."

Lawrence De Gannes was enjoying a carefree Saturday mid-morning siesta in his luxurious pool house. It was not often that his busy schedule allowed him such a weekend. He was scarcely able to contain his anger when he was shaken awake by one of the servants. Before he could settle his head and articulate a single swear word,

Servant: "The police and some strange looking people are at the front entrance, sir."

Police... Cold fear washed over him. What were the odds of them having any solid evidence concerning his fraudulent doings? They must be at his home trying to shoot some scare into him - in the hope that he might incriminate himself. Delay would be disastrous. Of course he must meet with them. But he would keep his cool to the end. They couldn't know anything much.

"Admit them. I shall be there shortly."

Rogue whistled softly in appreciation of the De Gannes' Manor. The antique fittings and sculptures rivalled those of the Xavier Mansion itself. A fact that was not lost on Professor Xavier. Lawrence De Gannes was most certainly a man of substance. Ororo drew their attention to an exquisite warrior's mask of the Serengeti that adorned a rear wall.

Ororo: "Do you see the gold inlay? This was made for a high ranking warrior. The craftsmanship...it couldn't have been anything less than - "

Lawrence: "Good day, ladies and gentlemen. To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"

All eyes turned to the source of the sound. Standing in the hall was a suave middle aged man with an urgent expression on his face. Chief Maclean took the time to firstly introduce several members of the X-men to him, explain their presence at his manor, and the possible danger he was in. The fact that he was host to a group of mutant vigilante heroes did little to put him at ease. Professor Xavier could sense his nervousness.

Chief Maclean: "Do you have in your possession an ancient Egyptian stone tablet? One that you bought a year ago from the Museum Of Ancient Antiquities?"

The man's expression lightened somewhat.

Lawrence: "Why yes. Wait...they don't want it back to replace the one that was stolen, do they? I paid for it fair and square. Well, if they want it back, it must be worth something after all. Tell you what, I'll sell it back to them at a hefty raise."

Professor Xavier: "They don't want it back. But we have reason to believe that someone else - a mutant thief - may have an interest in these tablets. Another such tablet is being kept at an archaeology center. We have sent a group there as well. To offer protection. We're offering the same to you."

Lawrence: "Well thank you all the same. But my security guards will be able to handle whatever comes my way."

Chief Maclean attempted to reason with him. He was a citizen and had a duty to aid in the apprehension of a criminal in any way that he could. If he allowed the police force and the X-men to stay at his manor - should the thief arrive, they'd stand a chance at capturing him. It was all futile as De Gannes refused to budge.

Lawrence: "If my guards see anything, I'll have them give you folks a call."

Professor Xavier: "Mr. De Gannes, we could very well be dealing with a dangerous and violent mutant. One of the museum's security guards is receiving care at a hospital due to an attack by this said mutant suspect. I don't think that your guards will be able to do anything to stop him. Guns will be useless if this mutant is capable of fully controlling his powers. He is telekinetic. Allow me to the demonstrate what I mean. Throw that book at me."

De Gannes looked at him as if he had gone mad. In the end Ororo made her way to the bookshelf and threw it herself. It collided with the telekinetic shield the Professor formed instantaneously. De Gannes gasped in shock.

Professor Xavier: "Bullets will have no effect if he can shield himself. He'll come here and take your carving if he wants it - maybe more if it strikes his fancy, you've got some nice antiques here - and there's no telling who will get hurt if they get in his way. Furthermore we don't even know if he possesses additional abilities besides telekinesis."

This information coupled with the telekinetic display shocked De Gannes enough to make him willing to host the small contingent. Professor Xavier sighed. One down...he'd have to contact the other group to determine if the Carson Foundation was being problematic. Hopefully they would see sense.

Meanwhile, a short distance away from the De Gannes' Manor, a lone, shrouded figure hovered out of sight. The Hawk was docked almost inconspicuously amidst the small forested area on the grounds, but he recognized it all the same. The foolish X-men were going to be throwing in an additional complication to his master's plans. For the X-men, he had no doubt that he could defeat them easily. His skills had grown more powerful thanks to the grace of the master. But Charles Xavier, as ever, could prove to be more than problematic.

He could sense the sickening mental impression distinctly. Xavier was most definitely present in the building. Still, he would have to attempt it. He had sworn the blackest of oaths. If he failed his soul would be consigned to eternal damnation. But he would need a distraction. Something to lure Xavier away from the De Gannes manor. Perhaps if a little accident or two were to take place at his school - Headmaster Xavier would go running to the aid of his precious students... With a twisted grin, the figure drew his hood, and teleported away.

A little while later...

Jake: "I've said it one too many times! No running down the hallway. There are too many bends to be going that fast. Not to mention the elevator."

Jake was busy healing the broken bones of several young students who had decided to race and slide along the corridor. There was a rule against it, but with no adults around to enforce it - kids were being kids.

Kid1: "I wasn't running all that fast, honest. The elevator warning light was off. No one was supposed to be coming out of it."

Jake: "You shouldn't have been running at all."

They grumbled whilst Jake continued the healing.

"Damn these friggin' lights!"

For the past half an hour, the Mansion seemed to be undergoing a bit of an electrical problem. Our fearless leader, Ray - remembering the Defenders attack - had scanned the Mansion grounds for any sign of intruders. There was no one in sight and no sign of electromagnetic interference. The electricity circuits seemed to be surging every now and then. And the weird thing was that we weren't using a great deal of power. Even when we max out our energy expenditure in the Danger Room, we hardly ever experience surges and low voltages. It was hard watching the Saturday lineup of cartoons with the television constantly flickering and the sound going on and off all the time.

"Ray, do you know how to put the Mansion on one of its generator?"

Ray: "I can't. That's strictly for emergencies and for subbasement use."

The lights flickered once more and I mumbled a swear word. Simultaneously, the lightbulb exploded sending shards of hot glass flying everywhere. Luckily no one was hurt.

Ray: "Rick, cool it! Did that solve anything?!"

"But it wasn't me. I swear!"

Before another word was spoken, another bulb further down the room shattered. And another, and another...

Ray: "What the hell is going on here?!"

Emma frantically made final checks on the students. At the instigation of Ray, she had them all placed in the subbasement emergency shelters. She hurriedly made her way back to the Mansion proper to join with the junior X-men. They were in the middle of a crisis - the Mansion itself seemed to have turned against them! The communications systems were being problematic and she barely managed to establish a connection with the Hawk - requesting immediate backup. The worst part was the the auto-cannons in the front lawn were now activated and firing upon the school they were supposed to protect. She morphed into her diamond form and rushed outside to lend assistance.

"Jubilee, will you just blast the damn canon while it's reloading?! I don't have unlimited telekinetic energy at my disposal. I can't shield forever!"

Jubilee: "You just do your job and let me do mine!"

When Hank got back, we would all give him a piece of our minds! Cerebro's cyber-intelligence seemed to have gone insane. The auto-canons started firing upon the school for no apparent reason. And when we tried to evacuate the students to the subbasement - the elevators weren't working. Roberto had to tear the doors down, climb up the tunnel, and lower and raise the cables repeatedly on his own. It was the only way to get the students and Emma down.

David: "Hank must be slowing down. He had help to fix Cerebro and he still botched it!"

A salvo of micro-missiles headed for Amara. Her back was turned. Out of the blue - a diamond figure rushed onto the scene and withstood the blasts.

Emma: "As soon as they reload, aim for the exposed warheads! They'll explode whilst inside the canons and destroy them for us!"

Jubilee, Ray and Amara complied and in a short while the canons were nothing but smouldering shrapnel. We paused and surveyed the damage. The Mansion had suffered some serious harm. Several columns had been destroyed completely and were replaced by ice versions courtesy of Bobby. He and Roberto were assigned to damage control. Shattered glass and crumbled concrete littered the front lawn.

The trees that Ororo valued so much - they constantly suffered damage of one sort or another - were completely ruined beyond hope. We were all glad when we Emma informed us that Professor Xavier was on his way to shut Cerebro down. Cerebro's override required his presence to be ascertained by a retinal scan. A few minutes afterward the screech of the Hawk was heard and we saw it heading for the backyard. Those of us in the front yard rushed towards the back. When we got there, Bobby, Roberto, Jake and Jamie were already there. The hatch door opened and Professor Xavier hurriedly exited and hover chaired himself inside. I was about to follow, to save Roberto the trouble of hoisting elevator cables. But Professor Xavier surprised us by levitating himself down. Eventually he returned to us.

Professor Xavier: "I've shut down Cerebro's artificial intelligence. The auto-defences will be offline. But the elevators should now give no further trouble. I have no idea what went wrong. Hank will have to investigate when he returns. Cerebro has never mafunctioned before."

"First time for every -"

Beep!

An urgent call was forwarded to the communication gear that was integrated into his hoverchair.

[Ororo: "Sir?!"]

Professor Xavier: "Yes, Storm?"

[Ororo: "We've just been attacked and Lawrence De Gannes has been put into some sort of coma!"]

Professor Xavier: "What exactly happened?"

[Ororo: "This mutant definitely has advanced telepathic power. The officers, Rogue, Warren and I were suddenly unable to move. A cloaked, male figure teleported into the room, seized Mr. De Gannes and teleported away. A minute or two later and we were able to move once more. We found De Gannes in the day room, mumbling. I think his mind was invaded telepathically. The thief probably ripped the location of the carving from him. If only you were here...we would have had him! We're leaving a cop or two behind, just in case. He's done here. We're going to join the others. In the event that he makes an appearance."]

Professor Xavier: "Very well, Storm. Jean's telepathy should offer some protection. I'm leaving immediately to see De Gannes. Perhaps by exploring his mind I shall discover some clue to this mutant's identity."

[Ororo: "I've contacted the others already. They have had no trouble whatsoever.]

Professor Xavier telepathically communicated all the information that he had received during the day. Those last few words of Ororo's struck a deep impression upon us all. "If only you were here...we would have had him."

Emma: "Oh my God! Charles...you don't think..."

Professor Xavier: "This 'malfunction' of Cerebro seems to have occurred a bit too conveniently I should think..."

Ray: "So you think that someone wanted the Professor out of the way? That this could have been some sort of distraction?"

Professor Xavier: "Yes. Probably committed by someone working with this thief."

"But that someone would have to know the identity of the Professor and the X-men. Not to mention where we live!"

Amara: "The Brotherhood?"

Jubilee: "You don't think that this thief could be one of them do you. They have stolen works of art before."

Why, Ray and some others had been sent to take care of a minimal Brotherhood related crime spree a good few weeks before. They timed it right with an attack on the Mansion too.

Jake: "Yeah, but those were actually worth something."

Professor Xavier: "You could be right, Amara. I can't think of anyone else. It's obvious. They must know something about these carvings that we don't. There is one piece of that tablet left. Jean, Colossus and several officers are assisting the facility's staff right now. I'm leaving to see Mr. De Gannes. Emma, let no student leave the subbasement. "

At that, he entered the Hawk and departed.

With the auto cannons offline and us being the sole defenders of the school, we settled down on the surface. The idea that a Brotherhood member had slipped by us and caused such mayhem was embarrassing. David was of the opinion that it wasn't ou fault. They must have hacked into our wireless network and thence into the Cerebro core. They could have been anywhere, thanks to the marvels of modern day satellite technology. With the wireless network and Cerebro down, they would no more be able to use our own defences against us. And if they wanted to distract the Professor - who knows what else they might do.

And all of this over some worthless Egyptian carvings? Why couldn't they just stick with the good old fashioned nuclear arms? What use could some stone blocks telling blasphemous Egyptian myths be to them? I got quite curious and so whilst the first of us went on our break and the other shift took up their posts, I retrieved my portable computer from my room and returned downstairs. Since the wireless network was down, I found a good old fashioned phone line and borrowed John's ISP password.

John: "Isn't this a bad time to chat online?"

"I'm not going to entertain myself, John. Believe it or not - the internet can be used as a powerful source of information. I'm going to research this 'Khemennu Carving' that Professor Xavier informed us of."

John: "Whatever, I gotta go take up my patrol shift."

After quite a bit of searching (and the fact that dial up is so goddamned slow!) I stumbled upon an article that offered excerpts from 'National Geographic'. It dealt with the actual discovery of the tablet, as well as its history and the story that it told. It's history alone read like a horror story. It was compared to the curse of the Pharoah that hit all of Lord Carnavon's archaeological crew. The complete tablet had been owned by three separate individuals - then by a research group. The first financed the dig in Egypt, 1815. He went mad three months later and leapt to his doom from the top of a five storey building. It then passed into the hands of his son. He was murdered (revealed years later to have been by a relative) and the tablet claimed by said relative. The Egyptian artefact craze was in full force as the world took a break from classical archaeology.

The relative - then unsuspected - had inherited the tablet and sold it to for a hefty raise to Lord Ainsley's group of researchers - they would later found the Museum Of Ancient Antiquities. It was not known at the time that the carving was worthless. Jean Champollion would solve part of the mystery of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics some nine years later. When it was read - the tablet was held to be without any real value as the story it told seemed to defy accepted mythological standards. The museum kept the carving for keeping's sake. It was damaged in transit once and broke into three separate pieces. The authors of the article added a new twist - the day that the carvings went on display, the murderer who killed for the original tablet, was hanged. *Shivers...*

Bobby: "Damn!"

"Aah! Bobby, how long were you standing over me?"

Bobby: "Long enough. I just wanted to see what you were so engrossed in. It seems an odd time to be surfing for porno."

"This shit is freaky. Imagine, killing your family member for a stone tablet, selling it to a museum for loads of cash, then it was found to be worthless. And then the guy hanged on the very day that the debut display took place, YEARS later. They all suffered because of it. Not to mention the original owner - he went mad and killed himself."

Bobby: "These people who have fragments of it now - well aside from the Museum staff - must not know about the history of these artefacts. I wouldn't pay a dime for shit like that. Bad Karma yo!"

"The story the complete tablet told is even freakier."

The tablet was discovered in Khemennu, the great Egyptian city of the fifteenth nome of the Nile. Hence the name. The city was sacred to the all powerful cosmic deities of Ancient Egypt.

Keb - The Earth God.

Neit - The Sky Goddess.

Sesah - God of Time.

Horus - God of Divine Vengeance.

Re - The Sun God.

Osiris - The God of Healing, Eternal Life and Resurrection.

Isis - Powerful Goddess of Mysticism and Sorcery.

Mekentis - God of the Heavens, Son of the Sacred Star.

Ma'at - The All-Seeing Goddess of Prophecy, Fate and Divine Law.

Ptah - God of Creation.

Anhuret - God of the Warriors.

Thoth - God of the Mind, Wisdom and Intelligence.

These twelve Gods ruled the cosmos with the aid of lesser divinities. But according to the tablet, they were unfit to do so and one was to come who would strip them from their lofty positions. And it would not be a demon, or even a bitter God. But a mere man.

Bobby: "A man beating all powerful Gods? Uh huh..."

"Well, Bobby...Egyptian Gods were somewhat different to our concepts. They could be killed. The ancient Egyptians believed in only one supreme deity, Amon - The Hidden One. All the other Gods were merely his representatives or manifestations. It seems that he needed them to carry out his will in the mortal world."

Bobby: "Oh, I get it. So if this bad guy were to kill them off, then this...Amon couldn't act, right?"

"Right."

The actual story said that he would hunt them down and consume them. As in eat... I reasoned, some ancient peoples did believe that consuming their enemies would transfer their strength into the body of the eater - but still...disgusting. We read a bit more.

Bobby: "But look at this part. It says that there is a possibility that he could lose the battle. The only reason he'd win is cuz the Gods would be too busy disputing with each other to give him a real fight! Those Egyptians who wrote this were a bit silly, don't you think? If I knew a powerful enemy was coming for me - especially one I couldn't defeat on my own, I'd be more than willing to work with others to stop him."

"Well, the story is a blasphemy against the Gods...and a bit crappy if you ask me. No wonder that the tablets aren't worth shit."

At that I got up to recommence my patrol shift.

Elsewhere...

A shrouded figure kneeled reverentially before an arcane, sacrificial altar - subservient to the will of the one who commanded him. He had done well, far better than he had expected. Two of the sacred fragments were now in his possession - and it was only a matter of time before the third and final piece would fall into his hands.

"Master, this humble servant requests an audience with your eminence..."

The graven image of his lord rumbled slowly to life, eyes blazing fiercely.

Master: "You serve me well. When I am Lord of this world, you shall have your just reward."

"The last piece of the tablet is heavily guarded, Master. There is one man who will be most problematic. A Professor Charles Xavier. It may be a little while before I can procure the final fragment - time to dispose of this interfering infidel."

The chamber trembled slightly due to the repressed rage of the entity contained within the idol.

Master: "I have been waiting for five thousand years. I can wait a little while longer. Do not fail me, servant."

"I won't, master. I just need more time."

The idol's eyes grew dim and subsequently faded out altogether. There was much work to be done...

Professor Xavier and the others returned to the Mansion later that night. At around eleven I should think. I was a bit surprised that they'd all come back. Didn't they say that the final piece of the Khemennu Tablet was being kept at some archaeological facility? Then I saw Jean levitating a case of some description. Seeing my curiousity,

Jean: "It's the final piece of the carving."

I was confused as to how they managed to convince the archaeological society to hand it over. But according to the Professor, when they found out what had happened to the the other two owners of such carvings - stolen by force from the museum, and the mindwiping of Lawrence De Gannes - they just about forced the X-men to take it.

Professor Xavier: "I take it that no other calamities befell you whilst we were away?"

Emma: "No, Charles. Things were rather quiet after you left."

That was true. No sign of trouble.

Ororo: "This is all so confusing. What would Magneto possibly want with these carvings?"

Professor Xavier: "I don't have the slightest clue."

"I've done a little research on those tablets. They're reputedly cursed."

They all looked at me incredulously.

"It's true. Don't look at me like that. It ain't the first. Do you know that every member of Lord Carnavon's crew who went into a pharoah's tomb died mysterious deaths? This tablet - before it was fractured into three separate pieces - has a history."

I shared some of what I had learnt.

Jean: "We didn't stick around to hear the whole story from the curator."

"Well, basically, it reads like the end of the world."

Ororo: "Well, another artefact for the vault. Looks like the Shard Of Cytorak will be having some company."

Jean, Emma and the Professor froze and stared at Ororo.

Ororo: "What?"

Professor Xavier: "Of course. Mysticism... These tablets could be of a mystical nature. It's not as if Magneto has not made use of mystic force before. The source of the Juggernaut's powers were mystical in origin, the shard. They haven't attempted to seize that from us. But these tablets... I'll have to consult with an expert."

Jean, Ororo and Emma began eyeing each other. They never were the best of friends - major understatement...but now they seemed united by something close to - fear.

Jean: "You mean - her?"

Professor Xavier: "Yes. The woman is a mistress of the mystic arts. If this tablet has any properties that are mystical in nature - she will be able to tell us."

"Um, who is SHE?"

Professor Xavier: "An old aquaintance of ours. Mistress Marguli."

"What the hell? Couldn't she come up with a classier name than that?"

Jean and Ororo didn't seem too pleased. They definitely were no fans of this Marguli woman. Professor Xavier didn't bend to their suggestions.

Ororo: "Professor, I'm sure that I'll be able to pull in a few favors and get a mystic from back home or - "

Jean: "We could ask Forge, couldn't we? He has powerful mystical abilities."

Yeah, Forge. I remembered Jean telling me that when she introduced me to him properly. Back when we visited Muir Island.

Professor Xavier: "Ororo, it would take too long. And about Forge - we all know that he is very uncomfortable with his mystical heritage. This is the quickest way."

"Is she like...a bad guy - uh, girl? I mean, you said 'aquaintance'. Not 'friend'."

Professor Xavier: "She's most certainly not a villain. Although she has done some questionable things, she has more than made up for them. I guess we'll be going to the carnival tomorrow."

What was he on?

"What carnival?"

Professor Xavier: "Mistress Marguli owns a carnival and works as a fortune teller there."

"Cool! So, are you going there alone...or do you want some company?"

Professor Xavier: "Would you like to come along?"

"It beats sticking around here, patrolling round the building all day tomorrow."

Elsewhere...

Scott Summers cautiously landed the Blackbird in the cover of some trees, whilst his team made themselves ready. They had spent the day cloaked and airborne, circling the Millenium Tech facility, noting the entrances and exits to the main building. Skilled as they were, they dared not enter the facility until they had the cover of night to offer some security. Logan was as impatient as ever, but he was forced to obey orders. After reviewing their mission objectives one last time - they headed out, towards the fence of the facility.

Psylocke: "I can sense guards nearby. Two are on the other side of that wall."

The wire fence sparked bluish white as electricity crackled along its length.

Cyclops: "Damn, the fence is electrified. If we touch it, we'll fry."

Wolverine: "That ain't no problem for me. I can take a little zap."

He unsheathed his claws and started up to slice a hole in the fence. Fortunately Beast was able to stop him in time, before he could follow through with his plan.

Beast: "Wolverine, if you damage the fence, you'll break the electrical circuit. They'll know that something's wrong and will come to investigate."

Fortunately, Beast offered to hurl them over the fence whilst Psylocke telepathically messed with the guards' nervous system so that their minds wouldn't register the sound. Nightcrawler was positioned on a ledge above two guards, using his mutant abilities to render himself invisible in the shadows. In case the guards were to come around the corner - he would take care of them. It was a pity he couldn't teleport them inside. He could only see towards the wall, not behind it. and the sudden appearance of an entire team, even for a moment, before they could scramble for cover - would attract too much attention.

Remmy: "Umph! Beast, I'm going to have to return the favor sometime."

Beast: "Your turn, Psylocke."

Psyclock: "Don't even think it! I can shadow step!"

Once they were all inside the perimeter, they headed towards a secluded row of windows. Gambit managed to silently short circuit the electronic locks by infusing them with kinetic energy and they were inside the building. Psylocke had stolen information from one guard's mind. Whilst he didn't know anything concerning the location of the mutant tracking device - he knew where the main computer room was. It's super computer stored information on all aspects of the facility's operation. Once there, Beast could hack into the network and obtain all the information needed. If all went well, they could be back home in time for Sunday dinner...

Raven: "Irene! Wake up! Come on, it's only a dream!"

Irene was tossing and turning frantically. It had been so for a little over ten minutes. Even after repeated shaking she refused to wake up. In desperation, Raven fetched a glass of ice cold water and dashed it onto her. The shock of it managed to pierce her sensory system and jerk her back onto the conscious plane. Before Raven could ask what caused such an episode, she hurriedly spoke out.

Irene: "Professor Xavier, I must speak with him!"

That of course was out of the question. Irene however, would not hear of it.

Raven: "Are you insane?!"

If she was crazy, she was most definitely not stupid. She had concocted a plan right then and there on the spot.

Irene: "They don't know anything about me. I was never directly involved with any of them or sent on any Brotherhood missions. You're telepathically immune AND a shapshifter. You could hide your presence from them easily."

That's it. She was officially insane. The visions had finally done it to her. Perhaps Brainchild would be able to do something to help her.

Raven: "Why do you want to speak with Xavier?"

Irene: "I - just have to."

Raven: "Come on, you can do better than that. Tell me why exactly."

Irene: "I don't know if I should..."

That irritated Raven. She had done more than what was required to prove her loyalty to Irene. And now she was keeping back secrets?

Raven: "Irene, please."

She sighed heavily and spoke softly...as if she was afraid that the walls had ears.

Irene: "His life is in grave peril. If I don't communicate with him - he'll be dead by this time tomorrow!"

Oh what a glorious night! Raven couldn't help the scandalous cackle that escaped her. Dead! Old Xavier would croak and without his leadership - the X-men would surely fall apart! The ultimate victory of The Brotherhood was assured. Irene's visions were never wrong! She kissed Irene joyfully...for once that Sight of hers had something good to impart.

Irene: "Stop it, Raven! Don't laugh like a blasted witch. Xavier must live! The fate of this world will be irreversibly damaged if he is murdered!"

Murdered?

Raven: "What could happen?"

Irene: "My dark visions...they'd come to pass a lot sooner if he were to die. I sense that he is a key factor in the sequence of events that will lead to them. And it's entirely possible that he can help stop them from coming to fruition."

Raven: "But - we can't just stroll into the Xavier Mansion. And I'm certain that they'll have blocked their network to Brotherhood frequencies."

Ever the planner...

Irene: "We won't have to. His murder took - takes place in the early afternoon tomorrow, just as he's about to enter the Mansion. In the morning tomorrow, he'll be out in public. I got a glimpse - a travelling carnival...in Greenfield Park. We can search for and meet him there. I saw him heading into the fortune teller's shack. You can be disguised as my guide or the like. I'll just warn him, hope he listens and heeds my warning - and we can leave right after that."

Raven: "I don't know."

Irene: "We both know that he won't force himself into my mind. And as long as I keep focussed on the task...my thoughts won't leak for him to sense them. Raven, 'they' want me to ensure that he lives. For the sake of this world, Charles Xavier must survive."

Raven stubbornly refused for all but five minutes. But she could never deny Irene anything for long. As long as it was her's to give - Irene would have it. And she so
Rarely asked for anything at all. And it wasn't even for herself that she was asking. She was being her usual altruistic self. And she seemed convinced that if Xavier were to die - bad things would happen. She was never wrong before. She'd do it - but at the first hint of trouble...they would leave. With or without delivering Irene's warning.

First thing Sunday morning, Professor Xavier held an emergency meeting in the War Room. All X-men, both junior and senior were required to attend. To our surprise Emma was also asked to attend it. The Professor was still hesitant to allow the students up from the subbasement. Some of them were already starting rumors that we were trying to cover up a Brotherhood attack by saying it was a computer glitch. The Mansion itself was currently unoccupied as all the students were still in the emergency living areas underground.

Professor Xavier: "Emma, are the students getting along well?"

Emma: "As well as can be expected, Charles."

He seemed satisfied with her response and didn't waste any further time. He stated his intentions for the day. The other junior X-men were aquainted with Mistress Marguli - not personally, but they had heard of her before. And I would be meeting her later in the day - so no lengthy explanations would be given. The Professor was of the opinion that the Brotherhood were plotting something incredibly evil - they had gone through a lot of trouble to procure the other two fragments of the Khemennu Tablet. And if it was mystical in nature - as he now suspected - then it was imperative that we find out what its significance was. Above all else, it must
never be allowed to fall in Brotherhood hands.

As expected, he wanted to ensure that the school was well protected. In the light of recent Brotherhood activity, he would be leaving behind some senior X-men. He was no fool. With the final fragment in his hands...it would only be a matter of time before they came to forcibly take it. So he wanted to be well protected on his journey to Marguli's carnival as well. He decided to blend the X-teams. Leaving some seniors at the Mansion with a few juniors. And taking along an even mix with him as well.

Professor Xavier: "Emma, Warren and Ororo will remain at the Mansion. Peter, Rogue, Jean, Rick, Bobby, Raymond and Amara will leave with me. All other junior X-men will remain at the Mansion, under Ororo's command."

"I take it we'll be going in ordinary - uh - I mean, civilian garb. So as not to attract attention? In case anything were to come up - it IS a public place."

Professor Xavier: "Yes, but we will all be wearing holographic inducers. Just in case any major trouble were to come up. They'll make us appear to be in uniform...masks and all. But they don't have much battery life, I'm afraid. They're some of Hank's experimental technology. I hope he won't be upset with me borrowing them."

Ororo: "Professor, if this tablet turns out to be mystical in nature...I suggest that you leave immediately after you've spoken with Marguli. She may give into her urges and try to take it from you."

"Is she...dangerous, Storm? I mean - you said 'give into her urges'."

Professor Xavier: "She's not a bad person. But she does have a bit of a kleptomaniac complex when it comes to mystical artefacts."

We would be leaving as soon as we finished breakfast. Marguli's carnival was currently located in some place called, "Greenfield Park". Professor Xavier wanted to catch up with her before the day became hectic and regular humans saturated the place.

Bobby: "Professor...if the stone carving is mystical...do you think anything it says could be true?"

Professor Xavier: "Ancient prophecies are not to be taken lightly. Myths and legends often have alternative interpretations. And we can't say much until we have spoken with Marguli. I want everyone ready in one hour."

Meanwhile, in a dark alley way, an event of tremendous importance was in the process of occurring. The only people present to witness it were the vagrants, the dregs of human society. And they were too drunk with alcohol or stoned with cocaine to differentiate if it was real or false. Suspended in midair was an orb of iridescent light. A few moments later it began to alter its shape into one of humanoid appearance. As the last traces of the light died away, the tramps beheld the visage of a tall, muscular man, encased in armor that could not possibly have been from our time, wielding weapons that seemed more appropriate for a Sci-Fi flick than down town... He regarded them briefly before tapping an object on his wrist and vanishing from sight. Nothing but the scorched ground where the orb had first formed remained to prove that it had ever occurred.

We travelled to the carnival grounds in a modified version of the vehicle that we used on our mall journey. It was basically the same, except that the school's crest was not present. If anything went wrong, the Xavier Institute could not be directly linked with anything mutant in nature. Well, as long as no one knew Professor Xavier for who he was. In any event, the holographic inducers should take care of that. It was around eight thirty when we pulled into the car park and got out. The place was empty and even the gates were locked.

Raymond: "Hey! Anyone in there?!"

There was no response. Professor Xavier tried to telepathically make contact with the carnival staff, but failed in his attempts.

Jean: "They could be asleep."

Bobby: "I suppose so. But look at that poster. It says that they open at nine. They should be up and about by now. Preparing for their acts or something."

Professor Xavier: "Everyone keep sharp."

Rogue and Jean drew closer to the Professor whilst Peter morphed into his metallic form. With the enhanced physical strength it afforded him - he easily broke the lock on the main gate and pushed it open. We all walked in, prepared for the worst. The place looked quiet enough. It reminded me of one of those ghost towns you see on old western flicks. The stalls seemed ready for business. The power was turned on. All they seemed to lack were human operators.

POP! POP!

Bobby: "What the hell?!"

In his shock he threw an ice spike in the direction of the sound. It collided with a machine, destroying it and sending white fluffy specks flying over us.

Ray: "Take it easy! It was just an automatic popcorn machine."

Bobby sheepishly grinned, and we continued on our way.

Professor Xavier: "Something does not feel quite right about this entire set up. Not a soul in sight. Lives could be at stake. We had best split into separate teams. We'll cover more ground, quicker."

He divided us into three groups. One headed by Peter with Ray and Amara in tow. Another headed by Jean. Bobby and I would join her.

Jean: "Professor, will you be okay with just Rogue?"

Professor Xavier: "I'll be fine. Do not worry. If my life is in danger...or this (he tapped the case containing the tablet) I won't hesitate to use my powers. Telepathy, telekinesis...whatever it takes to ensure our safety. Besides, Rogue is an excellent bodyguard. Peter, if you cannot manage to make mental contact with me, use your communicator. Jean, you should have no trouble. Now be on your way."

We complied with his orders.

Jean: "Guys!"

Bobby: "What? We haven't come across anything odd - well, more odd - yet. And I can't help it - I love cotton candy!"

I wasn't complaining. It was one of my favorites too. And Bobby was nice enough to get me a nice helping. We had been wandering around our assigned segment of the carnival for about forty minutes. So far we came across nothing that could account for the emptiness of the place. No signs of a struggle, no corpses...no blood or broken stalls or machinery. Nothing. Jean had sensed nothing helpful. And as Professor Xavier had not alerted us - neither had he.

Jean: "I'm going to go check out the area by the carousel. Stay alert...or as alert as you can be when alone with each other."

She left us to perform her solo investigation.

Bobby: "So, this has been a hellish week."

"Yeah. Fantasia and now this? I wonder if those two events were linked. I mean, Mystique did send Freddie to us. And the first theft took place the day after. Maybe they wanted to make sure that the X-men would be too occupied to deal with the thief - only their plan failed."

Bobby: "Speaking of Fantasia...have you got any closer to remembering what you were dreaming about...before you woke up?"

Truthfully, I didn't.

"No. But considering the fact that everyone else's dream was at least partly erotic...I guess maybe we were both making out in some exotic locale or something."

Bobby: "Yeah..."

Just then Jean invaded our thoughts and requested that we join her over at the carousel. There was a hint of panic coloring her thought patterns - even Bobby could tell. No one was around to see. I leapt into the air whilst Bobby followed, speeding along on an ice sled. Jean exited a tent next to the carousel and waved us over. She led us inside and pointed to the floor. There, lying unconscious, were around twenty people or so. They seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

Jean: "This just reeks of a psionically induced coma. I've contacted the Professor and Peter. They haven't found anything on their own yet. Which means we found the first clue."

"Lucky us."

Bobby: "Jinkies!"

That's Bobby for you. The boy could make a lame joke at the most inopportune time. And he even expected you to laugh.

Bobby: "Well, they always say it on Scooby Doo."

Jean ignored him. By her sighs, I could tell that she was used to it.

Jean: "I wonder if someone knew that we'd be coming here."

"And disabled these people...maybe even Marguli herself? So that we wouldn't be able to get her advice?"

Jean grew even more troubled.

Jean: "Marguli is a powerful sorceress. If someone did succeed in disabling her - they will be a force to be reckoned with."

"Jean, what exactly can a mystic do?"

She explained it to me. Their powers were very flexible in nature...ranging from energy and reality warping, to psychic feats, transformations...and a whole lot more, almost rivalling the best of mutant abilities. But their abilities were not coded for by the X-gene. They derived their powers from otherworldly sources. Like Juggernaut's powers did. He was not a mutant. But he did have superhuman powers, thanks to the mystical forces that the Shard Of Cytorak channeled into him.

Jean: "Come on, let's check the other tents for victims."

We followed her lead, completely alert after having witnessed the scene within the tent.

A sleek Jaguar pulled into the carnival's car park. There was only one other vehicle present. A large bus that appeared to be used for some sort of chartered service. The place was remarkably quiet for a carnival. Weren't there usually freakish clowns running about? Loud firecrackers exploding? Raven opened the passenger's door and Irene stepped out, guided by her inner sight - blind though she was.

Raven: "Well, I brought you here as promised. It looks empty...but nice. Maybe we can come back for some fun one of these days. Irene?"

She was perking her head in one direction to the other.

Irene: "Something's wrong! Xavier is inside...but so is he!"

Raven: "He?"

Irene: "The one who will try to kill him! We have to find him now, hurry!"

She took off with such speed and accuracy, no one would even suspect that she was blind. It was all Raven could do to keep up. Who would have thought that Irene was so fit?

Rogue was standing over a wishing well, tossing a quarter in and having a go at it. Half in earnest - half jokingly. The Professor was not far off - surveying the scene and occupied. Every bit of focus at his disposal was being utilised in an attempt to locate Mistress Marguli. He was so engrossed that he did not sense the two women running up to him. Rogue detected them and instantly shouted out whilst running to his side. He was broken out of his psychic trance. The two women stopped suddenly and fumbled around absently. Presently, one spoke.

Woman1: "Professor Xavier?"

Rogue was shocked. But then she realised that the woman must be some intellectual or another who recognised the Professor in his capacity as Headmaster of the Institute. He did run a school for 'gifted' students after all. They were forever having to deny admission requests made by anxious parents. The usual explanation was that their children were not 'gifted' enough. Perhaps this woman was about to make an appeal or the like.

Professor Xavier: "Yes? How do you - "

Woman1: "Sir, your life is in great danger! You have to leave here. Now!"

Rogue: "Listen sugah! Step away from the hoverchair."

The two women complied.

Professor Xavier: "I don't understand."

Woman1: "Look, long story short. I'm a mutant - I know you are too!"

Rogue was struck speechless.

Woman1: "I'm precognitive. I can see the future. And I am telling you that unless you leave this place, you will die!"

Woman2: "Come on! You've delivered your message. Now we leave!"

The second woman dragged the other one away, leaving Professor Xavier and Rogue shell shocked.

Rogue: "Now what do you suppose she could have meant by that?"

Before another word was spoken, an earsplitting blast was heard. Xavier had just enough time to form a telekinetic shield strong enough to withstand an extremely powerful energy blast. Rogue glanced in the direction of the blast. A lone figure was fast approaching them. His features were impossible to make out as he was fully encased in some sort of armored body suit. Whilst Xavier made mental contact with the other X-men, Rogue leapt towards the man, aiming a full powered smash punch. Before she could make contact, her speed slowed until she was being held suspended in mid air.

Professor Xavier: "Of course...telekinetic."

With a rapid gesture of his hands, she was sent flying. Professor Xavier locked onto her mentally and caught her before she collided with a stall. Whilst his mind was occupied, the figure took aim with a weapon (of a type that Xavier had never seen before) and fired. To both of their astonishment, a blue orb of telekinetic energy formed around him, protecting him from the blast. Glancing to his right, he saw that Jean was his savior. The other X-men had arrived on the scene, ready to defend their mentor. Ray took advantage of the surprise of the attacker and blasted him with a full strength electric bolt. The man himself withstood it. But his weapon sparked violently. He tossed it aside as it was obviously now short circuited and useless.

Professor Xavier: "I believe that this is our thief. He's telekinetic and probably telepathic as well. The sleeping bodies Jean found must be his handiwork. He must want the tablet. Subdue him, we might be able to interrogate him for intel."

As soon as the Professor gave the word we all went into action. Professor Xavier encased himself in a shield so that we could focus on the enemy without worrying about his safety. Rogue had recovered by then and ripped out a support beam from the ground. She tried to whack the guy with it, but he put up a shield to guard against her assault. The shield did not run across the ground however. Amara noticed it and focussed her Fire and Earth powers, rendering the ground beneath him into molten lava. He didn't so much as yell. I took it that the armor he was wearing was heat proof. After repeated whacks from Rogue's beam, his shield flickered out.

Bobby had meanwhile been forming a massive spike of ice. As soon as he saw his chance, he unleased it towards Professor Xavier's would be assassin. The man caught it telekinetically before it reached within ten feet of him. I locked onto it mentally and tried to force it forward. For a moment I thought I was succeeding, then the shard exploded due to the extreme pressure from both our telekinetic grasps. Sharp spikes flew everywhere. Bobby shifted into ice armor whilst Jean and I shielded our team mates.

The unknown man then made a weird motion with his hand and vanished from sight. So he could teleport too. Just great. Jean and I lowered our shields so that we could regroup. As soon as we had, an assortment of trash cans, paving stones and pickets came flying our way.

Rogue: "Watch out!"

Rogue dove in front of Ray. Her skin was impenetrable and so she came to no harm. Amara had by now morphed into her magma form. Bobby was in ice armor, Peter was in steel form, and both Jean and I had our telekinetic force shields at the ready.

"Where is he?! Can anyone sense him?"

Neither Jean nor the Professor could. So it goes without saying that I didn't stand a chance.

Peter: "Perhaps that armor of his is psionically shielded."

A flash of light to our right caught our eyes and we saw him appear from nowhere.

Ray: "There's eight of us and one of you. There's no way that you can win. So give it up and we'll go easy on you!"

The man had other ideas. The next thing we knew, with a mere motion of his hand, each of us, except the Professor, was rendered unable to move. It wasn't telepathy. It was telekinetic in nature. I felt as if all the air inside of me was being squeezed out. He raised his hand and we all started levitating upward. I focussed my own telekinesis and managed to break free of his grasp. Jean did the same. Together, we primed up a telekinetic bolt and prepared to unleash its fury against him. He realised our plan and tossed everyone else aside. They fell and only Rogue and Peter were sufficiently strong enought to get up again to continue the fight. With his telekinesis fully at his disposal, he was able to shield against our combined telekinetic attack.

Professor Xavier: "Enough of this!"

The Professor now raised his hand in a violent gesture. The armored man flew backward, shield negated. Jean and I drew out of the line of fire. Before he got back up, Professor Xavier mentally ripped several steel beams off a tent and binded him with it. We were all treated to a display of high level telekinesis at its finest. The beams started warping and seemed to become almost liquid. I reasoned that he must have been altering their molecular structure. A solid orb of steel surrounded the man.

Professor Xavier: "Now we'll take him back to a proper holding cell. We'll see if a night in the brig won't loosen his tongue."

As soon as he had said the words, the orb rose about twenty feet into the air. I thought that the Professor was about to telekinetically tow it off the grounds. Not so however.

Professor Xavier: "Jean, Rick? Are either of you levitating the -"

Jean: "Not me."

"Me neither."

It promptly exploded, sending wickedly sharp shrapnel flying towards us. Everyone either dove for cover or shielded. A tortured scream alerted us that one of us had not been quick enough. When we glanced across the field of battle, we saw Ray clutching his chest in pain.

Amara: "Ray!"

A shard of metal had ripped into his torso. The one thought echoing through us was...did it strike his heart? Mysteriously, the shard flew out of his chest and the wound spontaneously healed. But none of us could heal... Professor Xavier glanced upwards and we followed suite. The man was pointing his hand in Ray's direction. We didn't dare make a move. As soon as Ray's wound was fully healed, he made a gesture with his right hand and vanished from sight. We all stood defensively for over ten minutes...but he didn't return to continue the battle. What kind of enemy heals the wounds of his adversaries?

After our mysterious attacker left, the psychic hold he had on the carnival staff dissipated. People started appearing on the scene. The all thought that they had simulataneously went to take a short nap (on the floor?) and woke up a bit later than they planned. When they saw the damage - and us strangers about, then things started to get a little heated. The front gate was torn off. Many stalls were severely damaged. Support beams were ripped out of place and shrapel littered the ground like confetti. They were demanding payment when a peculiar figure appeared on the scene.

It was a woman, dressed all in plain black. I couldn't make out any facial features as she wore a veil that completely masked her face. I wondered what she was doing in a place of fun and merriment. She seemed a downright depressing sight. Dressed as if she were attending a funeral - she sucked whatever joyfulness the surroundings exuded.

Professor Xavier: "Mistress Marguli."

She rebuked her carnival's employees, saying that if she wanted to obtain compensation for damages, she would do so. The carnival belonged to her after all. They went about their business and the woman beckoned us with her hand. We followed her into a rather large tent. There were several chairs seated around a large, circular table. She bade us sit, and we did so. Professor Xavier was about to explain the purpose of our visit.

Marguli: "I had a vision of your arrival yesterday, Charles. It seems that someone was most unwilling that we meet."

She then explained what had happened. Earlier, she was apparently gazing into her crystal ball (yes, she did say crystal ball) and forsaw the unknown man heading into the carnival grounds. She couldn't sense anything much about him, which was odd, the crystal had never failed her before. She went outside to face the intruder. The first thing that she noticed was the lack of carnival staff. Before she could utter a single incantation, she was sent flying back into her tent. Whilst he didn't have the power to render her asleep, he was able to bind her inside a telekinetic shield and suppress any mental calls for aid that she tried to send. That was why the Professor had not sensed her presence even though she was awake.

Professor Xavier: "Two women rushed in here and warned me that my life was in danger. Then they fled and scarcely a minute went by...and we were under attack."

Marguli: "He wanted that."

She pointed to the case bearing the stone tablet. Seeing her curiousity, the Professor undid the locks and rested in onto the table - explaining how we had come to own it. At once, Marguli's thought patterns perked up. I couldn't help but think, "Klepto!". She took up the tablet and passed her hands over it several times.

{Jean: Rick, if she starts eyeing it like Smeagol eyed the Ring...I'm grabbing that tablet. If she manages to stop me, then you do it. The Professor's too soft hearted and trusting.}

{Is she that bad a kleptomaniac?}

{Jean: When it comes to mystical objects - most definitely.}

Marguli: "Ah, mhmm hmmm."

Her eyes perused the stone and it was plain to see that she was reading it. As a delver into the mystic arts - it appeared that she could read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Marguli: "You must guard this tablet with your life, Charles."

She promptly handed it back to him.

Jean: "Why, Mistress Marguli - wouldn't you like to help us out and guard it for us?"

Professor Xavier: "Jean..."

He eyed her warningly. Marguli didn't appear to take offence. And for good reason.

Marguli: "If Hecate herself were to request that I keep it - I would decline. I'd rather face Her anger than keep such a cursed artefact."

"I told you it was cursed! But wait - um, Mistress Marguli - ma'am - if it's cursed, why do you want the Professor to guard it with his life? And why don't we just destroy it?"

Marguli: "Because someone has to keep it. And destroying mystical artefacts never ends well. Take it from me, child. Now I shall reveal some of the significance of this tablet."

We were all ears, especially as she had confirmed that it was not only mystical in nature - but cursed too.

Marguli: "The tablet itself is about five thousand, five hundred years old."

She seemed so confident about it too.

Amara: "Oh my God! You saw that in a vision? Or maybe the Spirits?"

Marguli: "No, young one. The hieroglyphic script is distinctive of that era. It tells of the coming to power of a man who shall upset the cosmic balance."

Professor Xavier: "By consuming the 'Gods'..."

Marguli: "Consuming is a bad translation. Absorbing is a more fitting description."

Rogue: "Is there any truth to alla what the tablet says?"

Marguli: "Yes there is, but it is heavily concealed within the myth. I'm afraid that I can't say anything much unless I read the other two tablets."

I told her about the story I had read on the internet.

Marguli: "Interesting...but these researchers nowadays cannot hope to rival my translatory skills. I would be willing to bet that they made errors in their interpretation. One thing is certain...these tablets hold a terrible secret. And we shall only learn of it when we have all three assembled."

Jean: "Dammit! We have no idea where to look."

Bobby: "Hmm...don't museums take snapshots of artefacts and stuff? Don't you think that they may have copied the inscriptions?"

Professor Xavier: "Excellent idea, Robert! Why didn't I think of that before?"

Marguli: "You're getting along in years...you must be slowing down, Charles."

Charles: "Well, we didn't think that there was anything special about the tablets at first. We thought that it was just a mutant thief. We only thought about him being linked to Magneto after the second theft occurred."

"Miss Marguli, the tablet is most certainly a prophecy...right?"

Marguli: "Yes."

"Then do you think that maybe Magneto and company want to bring about this state of affairs? I mean, One Man Ruling The World...sounds like Magneto's objective to me."

Professor Xavier: "I have thought about that, of course."

Ray: "But all this talk about 'Gods'...it's confusing."

Jean: "What if the Gods...aren't really 'Gods' at all? What if it merely represents or means something else. Like a riddle. All prophecies seem to the shrouded in riddles to guard them. Look at Nostrodamus' prophecies. And these seers always say that the key lies in interpretation."

Professor Xavier: "If Magneto wants to ascend to such power by bringing about such a prophecy...then -"

"Oh my gosh! I just brewed up one hell of a conspiracy theory... What if Magneto wants to be this 'Man' who consume the 'Gods', just like in the story? What if the Gods aren't 'Gods' at all...but powerful mutants? I mean, Magneto considers himself to be the Champion of Mutants, right? The people who foresaw this happening were from over five thousand years ago. They wouldn't have known anything about genetics. Wouldn't mutants be considered as Gods and Demons in ancient times due to their powers? And Mystique sent Fantasia to steal the Xavier Protocol too! She's their 'talent scout'! That's it! Magneto drew inspiration from this prophecy - he wants to use the Xavier Protocol to find powerful mutants so that he can 'absorb' their powers! He's super powerful on his own - with the combined power he'll gain...he'll be unstoppable!"

They listened to me rant.

Rogue: "Lord! It makes sense!"

Jean: "Rick, how did you come up with that one?"

"It's a gift."

Marguli: "I doubt that the Spirits themselves could do better!"

"Well, I sometimes jump to conclusions. At least I could be right this time."

Professor Xavier: "With the Psionic shielding that Magneto possesses, it will be nearly impossible to find him. But there may be a way to force him out of hiding."

None of us had a clue as to how.

Professor Xavier: "Pietro and Wanda. If we can get a hold of them...he'll break."

"I don't understand."

Jean: "Pietro and Wanda are his children, Rick."

"Say what?!"

Professor Xavier: "Yes. When next we see them...we shall have to try our utmost to capture them. Perhaps we can try to ransom them for information."

Rogue: "But Professor...he knows you wouldn't hurt them."

Professor Xavier: "I think he's beginning to fear me and what I can be capable of. He did send Juggernaut to kill me. And our most recent attackers... I can be ruthless if I have to be. He must know that I'll do whatever it takes to prevent a prophecy such as this from coming to fruition."

Bobby: "If it's true - about the 'Gods' in the story being mutants...how would we know who to look for?"

Marguli: "This tablet doesn't just say, 'Gods'. It gives a list of names of ancient Egyptian Gods. Now, if you're right...the seers must have seen this happening in the far future and matched the mutant powers they saw with the Gods they knew. What you have to do, is try and figure out what mutant powers could match the Gods' names and attributes...then search for the most powerful mutants you can find who possess such abilities."

She proceeded to list the Gods' names on the tablet.

"The same names I read on the internet."

Marguli: "If you'd like, I can give you accurate resource material on the ancient Egyptian deities to help your search."

Professor Xavier: "It will be most appreciated, Mistress Marguli. I'd trust your information over any researcher's."

After Professor Xavier received several large, archaic manuscripts from Marguli - he wanted to head right back to the Mansion with no delay. Us young ones wanted a little time to look around the carnival. After much begging, he granted us half and hour. He waited in the company of Peter and Jean whilst us teenagers and Rogue went our separate ways. Bobby wanted to come along with me. And Amara thought we could all hang out together. But I declined. You see, I was led to believe (by Professor Xavier no less) that Mistress Marguli was a seeress - that she could fortell the future with uncanny accuracy and glimpse past events with ease.

And I planned on paying her a short visit myself. Not that I wanted any of them to know that mind you. I wasn't absolutely certain that I believed all of that. But I was willing to go in with an open mind. And I wouldn't have to worry about my friends seeing me. Ray went to the roller coaster. Amara chose the house of mirrors and Bobby went to see how scary their haunted house was. Rogue was testing her strength by arm wrestling their strong man.

The line wasn't too long and so I got into the tent fairly quick. The room was darker than when we were in it earlier. And some sticks of incense were burning in a corner. On the opposite side of the table sat Marguli, still wearing the black veil.

"Miss Marguli?"

The fact that her face was perpetually hidden unnerved me somewhat.

Marguli: "Back again so soon? Have a seat, son."

I didn't plan on staying long, but being in the midst of such a presence of hers made me obey. Her fee was a mere fifteen dollars, according to the sign outside. So I placed a twenty dollar bill on the table. I hadn't said anything yet, but she issued a warning.

Marguli: "I must warn you...choose carefully before you ask me a question. It may be that you will not like the response."

"Don't worry, ma'am. I've learned not to ask questions that I don't want answers for."

Marguli: "Now, what can I do for you?"

"I need to find out something. Is it true that you can see events and gain information through extra sensory methods?"

She nodded slowly. I didn't know why, but I believed her.

Marguli: "Surely that is not what you needed to find out?"

"No, it isn't. Someone has been sneaking into my room...I wanted to know if you can help me find out who."

Marguli: "Has this someone been stealing?"

"No."

Marguli: "Vandalising?"

"Well, no."

Marguli: "So what has this person been doing in there?"

I explained about the notes and she listened patiently.

Marguli: "Might I ask why you're so angry with your parents."

"No, you may not."

Marguli: "It seems to me that this someone is trying to guide you along the right path. If you persist in this estrangement...believe me, child - you will painfully regret it someday. Sooner...or perhaps later. Time will tell."

Whatever.

"I just want to know who is doing this."

Marguli: "That's simple enough. I can tell you who."

I leaned in closer, anticipating her reply. If Professor Xavier had so much confidence in her abilities - she might very well have given me the right answer.

"Yes?"

Marguli: "Someone who cares a great deal about your welfare."

I waited and she said nothing more. She was definitely not going to give me a name. Perhaps, whatever her other talents, she didn't know a damn thing about extra sensory perception. What a ridiculously simple answer! And that's what I paid fifteen bucks for? I got up to leave, fists clenched. When I was almost out of the door, she spoke.

Marguli: "Don't forget your change."

Something crinkled in my right fist and when I opened it - there was a five dollar bill inside. She laughed softly before saying,

Marguli: "Just have faith that it's in your best interest, and all will be well. This person went through a lot of trouble on your behalf."

She pointed to the door. So I left.

Imagine my surprise when I bumped into Rogue, Ray, Amara and Bobby outside the tent. Apparently, they had all snuck back independently to see Mistress Marguli - and caught one another. They saw me exit her tent and walked up tentatively.

Ray: "Rick?! What was it like?"

I told them about the trick she did at the end of our brief session. They were then convinced that Marguli possessed mystical powers.

"Rogue, why would you doubt that she has powers? Jean and Ororo were convinced."

Rogue: "I never had much to do with her before. I only heard about her. This is the first time that I've actually met the woman."

Amara: "What did you go to see her for, Rick?"

"I wanted to find out who has been sneaking into my room."

Rogue: "Did she tell you?"

"No. she just said that it was someone who cares and that it's some guidance."

They all looked a bit sceptical after that. But nonetheless, they decided to follow through with their plan and talk to Mistress Marguli. They subjected themselves to a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors and it was decided that Rogue would enter first, then Ray, then Bobby, then Amara. I decided to just stick around until they were done.

Professor Xavier: "I knew that you couldn't resist it."

Those were the first words the Professor said to us when we entered the vehicle. Oddly enough none of us were smiling. Amara was silent and not her usual vivacious self. Ray seemed distant and sort of sad. Bobby kept staring out of the window. But Rogue seemed particularly distraught. She was sitting right in front of me and so I asked her if anything was wrong.

Rogue: "Aw, it's nothin' that I can't handle, sugah."

Jean walked over and took a seat, close enough to us all so that she could address us in person.

Jean: "Guys, there's a reason that I didn't sneak off to see batty, old Marguli. The woman's prophecies are so unstable. Anything about the future can be changed. The future is not set in stone."

Up front, Professor Xavier laughed heartily and fingered his tablet bearing case.

Jean: "You're not helping, Professor!"

Professor Xavier: "My apologies. Don't begrudge an old man a laugh."

Jean: "As I was saying - our future is in our hands. I remember what Edgar Cayce used to say...man's will has more to do with his destiny than any prophecy, solar, lunar, planetary or stellar influences."

Rogue: "You think so? She was...really good at telling me about myself. And I've never even met her before. She's not supposed to know anything about me."

Jean: "I'm not saying that she doesn't have mystical powers at all. She can see into the future. But if we let bad news about the future get us down, we won't be motivated enough to change the present - where it matters. We may even fall into hopelessness and believe it can't be changed. And that's not the truth at all. It's always best not to know and live life one day at a time. If we depend of that kind of Sight, we'll lose our spontaneity and start questioning every move we make. We'd be too afraid to live and take risks - and that's not the way life is supposed to be lived."

Rogue cheered up a bit.

"Wow! Jean! You are good!"

Jean: "Good? Merely good? Honey, I'm the best in the business and don't you forget it!"

When we arrived home, Professor Xavier gave the all clear. The students were finally allowed out of the subbasement and thronged the schools after their long confinement. The rest of the guys informed us that nothing of any real interest had occurred and that they pretty much spent the day walking about the school aimlessly. We, in contrast, had a tale to tell.

Jubilee: "Oh God, are you alright?!"

She opened a couple of buttons on Ray's shirt and took a look at his chest. There was a very faint scar present. But the wound itself was completely healed. The Professor was just as confused as the rest of us. He said we'd discuss everything fully at a meeting that he intended to call later in the day.

Jamie: "Why would an enemy heal Ray?"

Ray: "I don't know. When I saw him point his hand towards me - I thought he was going to drive the spike deeper into my lung. But it flew out and the wound healed instead."

Then there was the warning that the Professor said he had been given. Mere moments before the attack took place. Perhaps the man wasn't aiming to kill the Professor - but merely wanted to steal the tablet. Maybe he didn't plan on killing any of us at all. But not not attacking to kill and actually performing a healing service were two very different things indeed. And he was so powerful too. All of us put together couldn't detain him.

Professor Xavier had managed to disrupt his telekinetic shield, and detain him for several moments - but no more. He managed to escape. And Professor Xavier was supposed to be among the most powerful of mutant psychics known. And Jean was an expert in the use of telekinesis herself. He could shield against a full strength telekinetic attack from her? At the same time that I chipped in with my own?

And Professor Xavier had no idea who he could be. Jean was of the opinion that he could be a new mutant to join Brotherhood ranks. If they had a psychic of that level on their side before, they'd have made ample use of him. So it made sense to assume that he was new. Perhaps Mystique's talent scouting had paid off after all. I could just imagine it. Once Scott and Hank got back - they would overwhelm us with Danger Room simulations, just to help prepare us for this guy.

Amara: "And he could teleport too. It made him hard to hit. And that armor of his was heat proof. He stood in molten rock and didn't so much as flinch!"

Ray: "The guy levitated seven of us into the air at once. When he slammed us down...it felt like every bone in my body was crushed."

Bobby: "He even escaped from Professor Xavier. And that's saying something."

"Rogue, Jean and Peter weren't much help against him either. I guess we all have some training to do. Juniors and seniors."

Later, in the War Room...

We were all attending the meeting that Professor Xavier urgently called. During the day, he had been reading the manuscripts that were granted to us by Mistress Marguli. Moreover, he revealed that whilst the rest of us had spent some time at the carnival, he, Jean and Peter had recovered the short circuited weapon that our attacker had thrown aside.

Upon subjecting it to a full scan he had determined that it wasn't designed to kill at all. According to the weapon scan, it fired a beam that disrupted neural impulses. In effect it temporarily paralyzed foes. Since psychic powers were powered by thoughts, and thoughts themselves were of a neural nature - it could also serve as a psionic inhibitor weapon.

Ororo: "So, you're saying that he didn't intend to kill you with that weapon?"

Not only did the Professor agree, but he insisted that there was no evidence from the scan to suggest that the weapon could kill at all. Even if deliberately misused.

Rogue: "But what if he wanted to get rid of your powers and then kill you with his?"

Professor Xavier: "If his intent was completely hostile...then why would he have saved Raymond's life?"

>From the way the Professor spoke, it seemed to us that he was of the opinion that mystery man wasn't an assassin at all. Oh, there was no doubt that he wanted the tablet...but apparently he wasn't willing to kill for it.

Jubilee: "But Professor Xavier...you said that a woman warned you about a minute before that your life was in danger."

Professor Xavier: "True, she said that she was precognitive - that she could see the future. But she may have seen the attack and misinterpreted it."

Jean: "You could be right. If only that armor of his wasn't psionically shielded. We could have telepathically stunned him, or perhaps siphon off information from his mind."

Professor Xavier: "There is one possibility that I have been thinking of."

"What?"

After lengthy thought, he had considered the possibility that our attacker could have been someone who was not affiliated with Magneto's Brotherhood. His justification was simple and convincing when we all thought about it. Had the man been one of Magneto's group, he would have been carrying a weapon that could not only stun, but kill. Secondly, he wouldn't have used his powers merely to disable us. He would have attempted to kill us all. And thirdly, he would certainly not have healed Ray. When he was through talking...I believed him. And so did everyone else.

Peter: "But if it was not one of the Brotherhood's members...who could it be? No one else but the police know about this tablet being stolen. Well, them and the victims of the theft."

"Yeah, and the police and the others don't have any clue as to who we really are. We went in civilian garb too."

For all anyone could tell, we were a group heading out for some Sunday fun at the Carnival.

Professor Xavier: "I cannot answer that question, Peter. But I am grateful that as badly as he wanted the tablet - our attacker was not prepared to kill us for it."

Well, the Professor was right about one thing - he did seem to want the tablet badly. And all of us were certain that he'd try again. What if he spared us the first time? If we annoyed him enough - would it drive him to kill us?

Warren: "Professor, do you think it will be wise to store the tablet here? We have the students' safety to think about. You've confirmed that it is mystical in origin. Other mystics may be able to track it down. For Magneto - or others. We have the safety of the students to think about."

I for one agreed. We couldn't throw our day to day life outside the window like we had been doing. If storing the tablet elsewhere could prevent such frequent assaults on the institute, then I was all for it. If the Mansion became a battleground for possession of the tablet, people were liable to get hurt.

Professor Xavier: "I've thought about that too. I have been making arrangements. By tomorrow, it shall be out of the school premises. I'll see to it personally when I pay a visit to the Museum Of Ancient Antiquities."

After informing us of his plans for the following day, we were free to go.

Dinner that evening was slightly marred. Just before dinnertime, Jenny's family arrived out front. The mess had been partially cleaned, but several support pillars were heavily damaged. Needless to say, that attracted their attention. Jenny had said that she rathered that her parents not find out what went down at the school, as her over protective father would most assuredly recall her home.

Jimmy: "What the devil happened here?"

"Oh, a new student. She has a little control problem and wrecked the school's front."

Kat: "It looks like a war zone."

They didn't ask anymore questions, and we all were talking just fine as we entered the building - until Jimmy chanced to see John skulking around the corner. His face twisted angrily and I saw Kat grab his arm to calm him down. All he did was yell for John to stay away from his daughter - resulting in raucous laughter, to John's embarassment.

Jimmy: "Jenny, remember what we talked about. I want you to stay away from that boy."

Jenny: "Yes, dad."

Tyler: "Dad, don't you think that maybe you're over reacting? I mean, he doesn't seem like that bad a guy."

I spoke up.

"Mr. Hansen, John isn't as bad as you might think."

Jimmy: "Oh?"

"Yeah, he's just a little on the horny side. But we're teens, we all are. It doesn't mean that you have anything to worry about. John would never force himself on a girl."

Kat: "You know, it's a bit hippocritical. Fathers give their sons pointers on how to score with other people's daughters...but don't want other people's sons scoring with theirs."

Tyler: "Dad, you never gave me any pointers."

Jimmy: "I learned that you were gay when you came of age, son. And I'm not even going to try to tell you how to score with a man."

Jenny: "You don't have to, dad. He's already mastered the art."

Tyler: "Jenny!"

Jenny: "And he's younger than me too! Dad, I don't see what the big deal is. We all know that Ty's a male whore, I'll never go that far - why are you treating me this way? You don't do it to him."

Jimmy: "Jen, when last I checked, Tyler can't get pregnant. Now come on. I want to have a word with your principal."

Professor Xavier waved goodbye to the Hansen family as they drove off into the night. Unbeknownst to him, he was being closely observed by not one - but two anxious individuals. Their intents however, were worlds apart. They were both ignorant of the other's presence as Xavier himself was. Presently, the Professor turned and started heading in the Mansion's direction. Without warning, a cloaked individual appeared behind Xavier's back. Before either Xavier or the second watcher could act, the Professor was blasted by a full strength psychic attack of some description. The second man sprang from his hiding place whilst the perpetrator immediately vanished, leaving the good Professor slumped unconscious in his hoverchair.

{Jean: X-men, front lawn...now! It's the -}

Jean's psychic distress call hit us all painfully while we were in the midst of some well earned relaxation time. What was even more disturbing than the sheer terror patterning her thoughts, was the fact that her message had been cut off midway. Ororo ordered all students to remain indoors via the P.A. system and ledd us all to the front lawn. When we got there, the first thing we saw was a slumped Professor Xavier, with an nervous Emma tending to him. Glancing around us we saw Jean closer to the Mansion's gate. And she was not alone.

Standing directly opposite her was the same man we had encountered earlier in the day. They were both in defensive stance, studying each other's motions closely. Ray quickly relayed that fact to Ororo. Piecing two and two together...it was obvious. He must have done something to the Professor. Perhaps stunned him or tried to extract information as to the tablet's whereabouts. When Ororo expressed her thoughts and told Emma to get the Professor to Med-Bay, she had some news for us.

Emma: "This is no ordinary psychic stun. I've never seen anything like this before. It's as if he's mentally dead."

Ororo: "Get him inside. X-men, don't hold anything back. Take this attacker down!"

If the Professor's guess that this guy was not one of Magneto's henchmen...then who was he? How did he know about the Xavier Mansion? He had to have known that we were the true X-men. Only Magneto's gang of villains had any real knowledge of our whereabouts and identities. And if he wasn't one of them...

Meanwhile Jean had lost her patience waiting for the unknown man to make his move. Even from a distance I felt the violent surge of telekinetic energy build within her. The next second, he was sent flying upwards. Before he could react, Ororo flew into the air and the sky grew stormy. Three full strength lightning bolts struck him, further augmented by Ray's electrical discharge. They did nothing to even phase the guy, as his force shield activated. Jacob tried to invade the stranger's mind but was completely foiled as the armor was psionically shielded. I caught hold of the shield mentally and tried applying pressure to it, bringing it down to ground level. Multiple Jamies, Rogue, Jubilee, Peter, Roberto and a Draconic David started pummelling the shield. It started to flicker. The very second it went out Amara, Bobby and Ray pelted him with various Elemental attacks. For the first time, we heard him yell. And it was in pain and annoyance.

They pulled back and Warren was on the scene. His shirt tore open and his wings unfurled. I was temporarily surprised at the transformation. He was wielding some sort of mace. The impact of the weapon sent the man sprawling some distance away. He started fumbling with some gizmo or other on his wrist and vanished. So his teleportation was not mutant related - but a technological effect... We next heard his voice way behind us at the Mansion's front.

Man: "It's not what you think! I didn't attack Professor Xavier!"

Jean: "Don't listen to him! Capture now, talk later!"

A stream of telekinetically animated objects; a few chains, lawn chairs, beams and lamposts, zipped towards the stranger courtesy of Jean. He succeeded in fending them all off. But whilst occupied with that, Rogue had snuck up behind him, pulling off her gloves. I noticed that part of his armor was cracked near his neck. Probably due to Warren's mace. She grabbed on and they both began yelling in pain. He knocked her about and she flew off shrieking upwards into the night sky with Warren flying after her.

"What's wrong with Rogue?!'

Ororo: "She must have absorbed too much energy...more than she could handle. She'll be fine once it wears off!"

The man drew backwards, a little shaken. Rogue's touch must have weakened him a great deal.

Man: "Don't make me have to hurt you..."

Ororo: "Like you did the Professor?!"

Three more lightning bolts rained upon him. He blocked two, but the third one hit him full on. He made to tap the gizmo strapped onto his wrist but I managed to snatch it off his wrist mentally.

Man: "No, don't!"

"He's been using this gadget to teleport."

Man: "There was another... He mentally assaulted Xavier whilst his back was turned. I was here to stop him, but he attacked before I could sense his presence."

Jean: "You won't be escaping this time."

The metallic objects that she had hurled before became fluid and streaked towards him, sluicing over and solidifying on his body. He resisted but to no avail. Jean cranked up the power and he grew weary after battling all of us. His armor was damaged as well and when he suddenly slumped forward, I realised that he had succumbed to Jean and Jake's telepathic stun. We now had an iron encased, stunned, masked man on the lawn. Cautiously we all drew closer, afraid that he could wake up at any instant. The flutter of wings alerted us that Warren had returned. Rogue was unconscious as well and had to be carried inside.

Ororo: "We must see to the Professor. Jean, you're the one most aquainted with Hank's concoctions. Whilst he's unconscious - dose him with the most potent mutant suppressor drugs we've got. We'll keep him in the brig for the time being."

At that we all hurried back inside to see if Emma had any luck in reviving the Professor.

We were all assembled in the medical wing, anxiously looking on as Emma attempted to make contact with the Professor's mind. After repeatedly trying for over forty five minutes, she took a breather. The expression on her face told us all that she had no idea as to what she could be dealing with. Which scared the heck out of us - she was supposedly one of the most powerful telepaths in existance.

Jean alone was not present. She and Rogue were in the brig interrogating our 'guest'. In other words, giving him a beat down. In all honesty, she was making me even more nervous. I had never seen that ruthless side of her personality before. Rogue...I could deal with. But Jean...man. She was justified of course. Professor Xavier was like a virtual father figure to all of the senior X-men. And as one of his first students, she had been particulary hard hit. Emma now spoke.

Emma: "This is not exactly like any psychic coma I've ever come across. His mind is like...a computer's hard drive that had been wiped. It's as if it's completely empty. As if his body is all that's alive."

Jake had already examined the Professor. There was nothing physically wrong with him - so there wasn't anything that he could do. Emma expressed the desire to fully reactivate Cerebro. But Warren had an objection. We had no idea if Cerebro would resume it's auto-destructive behavior. With Hank absent, our technical genius was not present to correct any possible malfunctions either. The telepathic boosting technology that Cerebro controlled was therefore temporarily unavailable to us. Everything was just spiraling down to hell...

SLAM!

Jean: "I'll ask again...who are you?! And who are you working for?!"

The man said not a word. He was punched once more by Rogue. Eventually, Jean ripped the helmet off his head.

Jean: "The Professor would think twice about ripping the information out of your brain. But I'm not as merciful as he was."

Rogue: "Is..."

Jean: "Yeah, IS. He'll pull through. He always finds a way out of the impossible."

She closed her eyes and focussed every iota of telepathic power at her disposal. His powers were suppressed, it should have been easy to delve into the innermost recesses of his mind. But all she got was a blank. She mumbled a swear word. He must have had some serious mental training. Betsy herself had similar abilites due to the ninja heritage of her body. She could focus her mind on absolute nothingness and evade all but the most intense mental probes. Obviously, the man before them was capable of it as well. She subjected him to a withering gaze. He looked to be in his mid twenties, Couldn't be past twenty seven. And the way he fought...he had to have had experience. He met her gaze defiantly for all but ten seconds, then shifted his eyes to the ground.

Rogue was confused herself. For the first time ever, she had touched someone and retained none of their thoughts, emotions or memories. All she got from him was raw, mind numbing power. It over loaded her temporarily. And she had only hung on for a few seconds too. She had been over loaded before. Like with the Juggernaut. But then she had absorbed his anger and childhood memories. Not so with this man.

Man: "I didn't hurt Xavier."

Jean: "Earlier today, you attacked us at Greenfield Park! How did you learn that we were there? How do you know who we are?!"

Silence...

SLAM!

Rogue: "You attacked us...probably trying to steal the tablet from us. Were you planning on giving it to Magneto? Maybe killing the Professor at the same time...two birds with one stone?"

Man: "No! I don't work for Magneto. I wasn't going to hurt any of you. I just wanted the tablet."

Jean: "Maybe to fulfil the prophecy on his own, Rogue. He must know about it if he wants the tablet so badly. He says he doesn't work for Magneto. But he could be just as bad as he is."

Man: "I just wanted the tablet - to make sure that it stays safe."

Jean: "What makes you think that it isn't safe with us?"

Man: "Xavier - take a look at what has happened to him. Do you see how dangerous this business is?"

Rogue: "How do you know the Professor?"

Man: "I...just do."

Jean: "I'll be back later. I'm going to check with Emma and see if we can combine our powers with Jake. Maybe we can revive the Professor. Rogue, keep sharp."

She warned him that she was far from finished and would be back later to deal with him. With that, she left Rogue to her duties.

Rogue: "So, what's your name?"

When Jean left, Rogue took up the post of good cop. Maybe she could try and gain some useful information from their prisoner.

Man: "Chris."

That was easy enough.

Rogue: "I don't suppose you're dumb enough to give me your last name?"

He smiled faintly, albeit in a bitter manner.

Man: "I don't know it myself. I never knew my father."

There was the unmistakable hint of sadness in his voice and Rogue couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic. Not that she told Jean, but a part of her believed him when he said that he didn't mean any harm to the Professor. His manner was different from what would be expected of typical enemies. He didn't resist violently when she and Jean interrogated him. Didn't even lift a finger. Even Fantasia had tried to bite during her interrogation. And hers wasn't anywhere near as violent as his. But not this man.

Rogue: "Earlier today, Ray - he's the one who got injured - you healed him? Why?"

Man: "I didn't want anyone getting hurt. I just wanted the tablet. To keep it safe."

The sincerity in his voice was unmistakeably genuine.

Rogue: "We can keep the rock safe."

The look on his face was one of pure scepticism.

Man: "You - don't have any idea what it is you're dealing with."

He quickly averted his gaze.

Rogue: "And you think you do? Care to share?"

Man: "I'm not dumb. I can take pain too. That information is the only thing that I can use for leverage with you people. I might share - if you change the way that you're treating me. I tried my best to keep from hurting you - but you seem ready, willing and able to lay the hurting on me."

Rogue: "Jean won't think twice about beating it out of you."

Man: "Pain is just a concept..."

Bobby, John and I were in Hank's lab examining the gauntlet that I had levitated off the man's arm. It didn't look much like armor to me. There were a lot of buttons on it and one circular, visual display that was currently offline. The others were all busy with either the Professor, the prisoner, or keeping watch over the school.

John: "Watching it ain't gonna do anything to help us understand how it works. Let's see..."

Bobby: "John, don't!"

Too late. He gave into the urge and pushed the largest of the buttons on the gauntlet. The visual sprang to life...and I didn't like what it was saying at all. Basically it was flashing red (play enough video games and watch enough movies - and you know that ain't a good sign) and seemed to be counting down to something. By the count, there seemed to be a little over an hour left before...whatever it was counting down to occurred.

"John! What if it's like a self destruct sequence or something?! Like in the movies? What if it's a remote to a bomb - or -"

There was only one way to be certain. With Hank, our technical wizard gone, the only other person who could tell us - was the man himself. And Jean and Rogue were interrogating him. What better time could there be? Bobby and John agreed. I was afraid of holding the gauntlet after it activated, so I levitated it instead and headed out of the lab with Bobby and John trailing after. When we got to the Brig, Jean was nowhere to be seen, and Rogue was sleeping away to herself in her seat.

John: "Rogue!"

Instantly she sprang awake. With the crazy shit happening and the hours she had been working - you couldn't blame her.

Rogue: "I was just restin' my eyes, Jean! Oh...boys..."

An amused chuckle sounded from within the cell. Well, at least our prisoner was enjoying himself.

Rogue: "What's the matter, fellas?"

"This."

Bobby: "As usual - it's John's fault."

She took the gauntlet and studied it for a moment before she walked over to the cell. The man was reclining on the oh so comfortable cell bed and was paying her little attention. Then, suddenly, he caught sight of what was in her hand. He tensed instantly. It was nice to see him nervous. The sure of himself attitude he was exhibiting before was unnerving.

Man: "Put that down!"

Rogue: "This little gizmo's something special to ya, isn't it?"

No one made any attempt to comply with his weird, emotional outburst.

Bobby: "What is it?"

"It's counting down to something...like forty eight minutes left."

The expression on his face changed from nervousness to slight fear.

Man: "You have to give that back to me."

John: "Why? You rigged the Mansion to blow or something? Haha, well - you'll just blow sky high with us then."

He shot the nastiest look I had ever seen anyone throw towards John. Bobby, me - even Rogue herself jumped upon seeing it.

"We're not giving you this gauntlet back. Now, if it's something dangerous it's counting down to...I'm sure that you can tell us how to deactivate it. Hmm, there are a whole lot of buttons. I'm sure that you don't want us experimenting with it."

He calmed somewhat.

Man: "There's a numeric pad. Enter 2985 - 4872, then hit the largest button in the center."

Rogue complied and the red flashing light stopped. The man rested a little easier then and took a seat on the cell bed.

Bobby: "You got anything out of him yet, Rogue?"

Rogue: "Only that his name is Chris."

John: "His name? What is this? Social hour? If you need some help beating useful information out of him - I'm your man!"

The man started throwing death glares at John once more. John threw some of his right back.

Bobby: "John...just shut up! Okay?"

John: "What's the matter, Rob? Scared of the big bad man?"

Bobby quickly denied the accusation. But I know I was. The man was packing some serious power. Enough to fend us all off for a while. A short while...but all of us nonetheless.

Rogue: "I'm gonna go check on the Professor for a minute. You boys do me a favor and keep an eye on our guest. Do not go anywhere near the containment field."

John: "Sure thing, Rogue."

Rogue left and we all took a seat so that we could supervise in comfort. Even though he was kept at bay by the containment field, none of us disobeyed Rogue and got close. Not even the usually problematic John. The man was studying us just as much as we were studying him. And he was back to his non-terrified demeanour too. It went on for about ten minutes before a word was spoken. And it wasn't us who spoke first either.

Man: "So..."

John: "So what?"

Man: "This is the home of the mighty X-men?"

I took it that he knew all about our rescue of Bayville High. I couldn't wait to learn how he knew where to look for us. Or our real identities for that matter. He attacked us at the carnival and we were in civilian garb. If Jean and the others couldn't help the Professor for the time being - they could try combining their power to rip the information from his brain. Hell, if Betsy got back soon she'd be only too willing to help them do it. So would I if I was telepathically strong enough. I unconsciously scowled.

Man: "Fix your face, kiddo."

"Fuck you."

Man: "Not a nice way to talk to your elders. But I'll let it slide considering the situation."

"What is it with you?! Professor Xavier is in some weird coma, we're in the middle of a crisis cuz of some dumb rock, attacks and... You told Jean that you didn't mean any harm. And you're all funny like now when things have deteriorated?"

With a mock motivational speaker's stance,

Man: "Well, moping around isn't going to do a damned thing to help. So we might as well keep a positive frame of mind, right?"

I could just see myself telekinetically strangling him, especially in his powerless state. But we were not to have unnecessary contact with him.

John: "Man, shut the fuck up! Ain't nobody was talking with you."

Man: "Don't think you can be bossing me around, punk. If you want to keep shut - you do it. I was talking with...say, what's your name?"

Bobby: "Unbelievable."

"None of your business."

Man: "Now why can't we all just get along, fellas?"

Bobby: "You do know that once Jean is done with the Professor...she'll come right back in here and kick your ass, right?"

He chuckled heartily. All three of us were now scowling.

Man: "No she won't. Not for long anyway. You see...I'll be working with you guys for a while. Quite a while..."

John: "What?! You're off your rocker. The Professor's like a father to Jean, heck to all of us - and she won't be doing anything less than mentally -"

Man: "Believe me. It won't work. I have some valuable information. And there only one way that you'll learn it. And that's if I tell it to you. With that bargaining chip in hand - I can say with certainty that you boys better get used to seeing me around this place."

John: "I hope Jean lets me stay and watch the mental tearing."

The stranger continued.

Man: "I hope we can work efficiently together. These are going to be some exciting and dangerous times."

Bobby: "You sound pretty sure of that."

Man: "Oh, that I am. You see, I know the story on the tablets. Knowing the story is one thing... But the tablets are mystical. And in order to fulfil the prophecy - the one they speak of must have them physically in his possession. Hence the need to guard this last one with our lives. Oops...I let that slip. I should bite my tongue."

Judging by the hint of sarcasm in his voice, he didn't let that slip at all. He must have expected us to jump at his little teaser and beg for more information. Information that need not be true either. I didn't fall for it and neither did John. But our simple minded Bobby was another matter.

Bobby: "You do know stuff! The story, do you know exactly what it means?"

John: "Bobby, the guy is lying to confuse us."

The mood suddenly shifted and I could sense the anger within him. The guy's voice was kept forcibly even though.

Man: "Watch what you say about me. I never lie."

John: "We're supposed to trust a guy like him? I mean, look at the mood swings. I'm willing to bet that he has a few - maybe more - loose screws."

Man: "You don't have to be insane to do crazy things."

John: "What's that supposed to mean?"

Man: "Not the smartest, are you blondie? I'm guessing that he's not one of the top brains behind your organisation."

Bobby and I couldn't help but smile a little. The way John was fuming. Normally, he's the one that makes others do it. And with my hair being dyed - I was enjoying the fact that the dumb blonde jokes were being piled on him. Just for a moment mind you. The seriousness of our situation seeped back into our minds.

Man: "See, we're bonding. I made a funny."

John: "Fuck this. I'm gonna go see if the others have found a way to wake the Professor."

He turned to the guy.

John: "When your interrogation starts up again...if they let me - I'll be the one who beats the intel outta you."

Man: "Oh, but they won't let a little boy like you take on a big, bad man like me, now will they?"

John clenched his fists angrily and left whilst the guy had another amused chuckle.

Man: "And you're supposed to be the mighty X-men? Haha!"

Bobby: "Yeah, we're the X-men! And we do our job just fine. We took you down didn't we? All your power didn't help you and now you're our prisoner. How's that?"

Man: "Let's get one thing straight, I wasn't trying to beat you. If I was - some of you might be critically wounded or dead by now. Oh sure, a couple of you would have taken me down eventually - but the rest of you would be well on your way to the afterlife.

I didn't doubt it.

"So why didn't you try harder?"

Man: "Well, as much as I keep repeating this... I really don't want to see you people hurt at my hands. And I was hoping to get to have a talk with you peacefully. But now things have changed a bit. We're all potential friends."

Bobby: "How do you figure that?"

Man: "Simple. The enemy of your enemy is your friend."

"You're opposed to Magneto?"

Man: "That I am."

Bobby: "And you plan on working with us to stop Magneto from fulfilling this prophecy?"

Man: "Oh, Magneto isn't responsible for the fulfillment of this prophecy at all."

Okay, I didn't see that coming.

"Assuming I believe you...then who is?"

Man: "Someone far worse."

Before either Bobby or me could ask further questions, the door slid open and Jean, Ororo and Rogue stepped inside. They warned us to get back from the containment field. Unconsciously, both of us had gotten closer to it.

Bobby: "We were just talking, Jean."

"He told us some stuff."

Man: "True stuff by the way. I never lie. I either tell the truth or stay silent."

Jean: "Speak when you're spoken too."

Man: "Now come on. These two were patient enough...and they got a whole lot more outta me than you did. Minus the beating. Won't you listen to what I have to say?"

"Jean, maybe we should hear him out. I'm sure that the Professor would have done so. Maybe he has some information that we could use."

Bobby quickly filled them in on the few titbits that he had let slip to us. Jean was distrustful, but Rogue seemed willing to listen. Ororo had calmed a bit since the battle outside and now spoke as our leader.

Ororo: "Very well, speak. And you had better have something to say that's worth our while..."

Elsewhere...

Cyclops: "Get down!"

Three armored soldiers were sent flying out of the room due to one of Cyclops' optic blasts. Before they could call for reinforcements, they were rendered unconscious by Psyclocke's telepathic attacks. Beast hurriedly completed his download and they exited the main computer room via it's seconday doorway. The mission had deteriorated. The DNA scanner prototype had been moved to another facility at the last minute. Nick Fury's insider must have been caught or left tell tale clues of his discovery.

The security had been beefed up considerably once the network detected Beast's hacking into the main system. Luckily, he was able to delete the backup information stored at the facility. All that they were able to learn then and there was that the protptype had been moved to somewhere else. And it would be a little while before they could learn more, given that they were currently engaged in running for their lives. Between Cyclops' optic blasts and Gambit's kinetically charged cards, they tore a hole through the floors and quickly reached ground level.

Psylocke: "At least we know the whereabouts of the scientists responsible. We can wipe their minds of this!"

Wolverine: "Let's just get the hell out of here first before we make adjustments to the plan!"

Nightcrawler: "Grab hold! I can see the jet!"

(It's image - as had their uniforms - had been holographically altered so that no one could implicate the X-men in any wrongdoing should they be discovered.)

BAMF!

Within minutes they were streaking skyward.

Gambit: "Close call..."

Wolverine: "We could have taken them."

Nightcrawler: "If we had wanted to kill them all... Thankfully it didn't come to that."

Beast: "Hmm...what's this? It appears that we have an urgent message from the Mansion. Sent nearly three hours ago."

He clicked the play button.

[Jean: "Guys, we have an emergency! It's the Professor...he's been attacked and is under some sort of psionic coma. I can't go into the details right now, it's long and complicated. I know you're on a mission, but as soon as you're done - return home ASAP. We have a prisoner and I have to continue his interrogation. Psylocke, we could really use your help. All the telepaths we can muster. And...I've called Julie. See what you can do about getting her here. I've gotta go.]

Cyclops: "That's it! We're returning to the Mansion."

Wolverine: "But the mission."

Beast: "It obviously got out that the prototype's existance was discovered. We have no idea where to look. And wiping the scientist's minds will do nothing to help us. They still have the prototype and can easily reconstruct the plans. And decrypting the information we gained from their computers will take time...and equipment we only have access to at the Mansion."

Wolverine: "Alright, let's go then."

Author's Notes

Well, these last two chapters were a long time coming. I know I wasn't updating as I should and I'll have to apologise for that. But I am still writing. In addition to all the distractions, I don't want to make plot mistakes and ruin the story irreparably. So I'll kinda take my time. But I have got this story all planned out. So no worries.

And about Professor Xavier. I agree with some of you in that he should excercise his powers more - within reasonable limits. Also, I've made him the uber psionic - a psionic nexus if you will. He's not going to be the impotent, bald old guy some of us get fooled into thinking he is...with only occasional bursts of virility. My Xavier is going to be a powerhouse - with access to all of the psionic powers.

Once again, I have to thank all the emailer, posters and instant messagers. You guys keep me motivated and writing. Sorry I can't do any shoutouts. Bit pressed for time. But thank you guys a lot! If I'd known this would have taken off the ground like this...I'da listened to my friends a whole lot sooner.

As usual, feel free to email me at either:

phoenix_587@yahoo.com

birdofflame_587@yahoo.com

Or, if you're a member of my group, you can post a message and it will be forwarded to me.

By the way, if you're not reading this on my group, but elsewhere, the address is at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phoenix_587

Bye!