Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:38:12 +1030
From: Ben Harvey <scifi_fanboy@hotmail.com>
Subject: X-Force Chapter four (Celebrity)

Disclaimer:

All of the standard disclaimers apply. The X-men are the property of
Marvel, and I take no credit for the creation of their characters, only my
own. This is a fanfiction, therefore anything dicontinuous to the normal
X-men universe, including sexuality of the characters, is the product of my
imagination. Any similarities to real people or events is completely
coincidental.

This story contains male/male sex and romance. If you find either theme
offensive, what are you doing reading nifty stories? And if you are
underage or this story is illegal where you are reading, please leave. But
if you chose to ignore this warning, it's your own fault!

Sorry for the wait but it's a longer chapter and I wanted to do it justice
without making it too long a read.


Chapter Four - Reckoning 


Remiel sat patiently at the briefing table, waiting for the meeting to
begin. Every X-man involved in the recent skirmish was present, excluding
Josh, who was still recovering from the mental attack he had sustained
during the conflict.

The door to the War Room hissed open and the Professor entered, rolling
smoothly in his mechanical wheelchair.

"Good afternoon, X-men," he said, coming to a halt at the head of the
briefing table.

"I don't see what's particularly good about it," Scott snapped.

"Scott!" Jean warned.

"I understand your frustration Scott," the Professor said, "but that
attitude is not going to help the situation".

"Professor," Scott said in a flat tone that was still filled with
annoyance. "That kid made us look like complete fools. There were eleven of
us and he just brushed us all aside like we were nothing more than a mild
annoyance".

"And it is for that reason I've called this meeting," the Professor stated.

"No offense Professor, but how is a meeting going to help us beat this
guy?" John asked.

"I imagine we're here for a group debriefing in which we are going to
discuss the way our new friend fights, and theoretically, identify any
flaws in his technique," Remiel answered.

The Professor smiled, "You are going to make an excellent stregist in the
future Remiel. You are quite right. Firstly, I've gone over all of your
reports, and I must say I'm somewhat confused as to the powers this
stranger demonstrated. According to all of the reports, he used no temporal
powers at all".

"That's correct. He demontrated no temporal abilities, but a host of
others," Remiel confirmed.

"Right. He used what I'm guessing was telekinesis, telepathy on both Remmy
and Josh, speed against Nori, electricity against David, and he hit both
Scott and I with optic blasts," John said.

"And that was in addition to the regeneration and teleportation he employed
against us," Betsy finished, "Not to mention the fact that he was
completely immune to a combined telepathic assualt from Jean, Remmy and I".

"I see. He wields multiple mutant abilities, all of which are very
powerful," the Professor concluded. "He obviously had the means to do
serious and permanent damage to all of you, but the fact that he chose not
to, even going so far as to leave Jean unharmed, shows that he has a level
of restraint. Temporal abilities employed against an individual can kill,
so the fact that we didn't see him use them could simple be an example of
this restraint".

"Well reasoned," Kurt said, swishing his tail from side to side.

"I did notice one thing though," Remiel said. "With all of the power at his
disposal, he could have easily defeated us as a group, but he chose instead
to engage us as individuals".

"An interesting conundrum," Ororo said.

"I really wish you guys would speak in 'normal-people' english," John
complained. "All these 'engagements' and 'conundrums'. Can't you just say
that he kicked the hell out of us and he could have done it a lot easier
than he did?"

David gave him a bored look. "You really need to update your vocabulary".

"Anyway," John continued, ignoring David entirely, "I think that next time
we meet him, we should worry less about talking, and more about not getting
our arses handed to us".

"How do you do it?" Jean asked Remiel.

"Huh?" John looked between the two psychics.

Remiel smiled and ran his hand along John's cheek. "What can I say? I'm a
sucker for a pretty face".

Everyone laughed, and for the first time in the three days since their
defeat, the tension broke.


******


John led Remiel along the long corridor by the hand. The moon shone in
through the high windows, testiment to the lateness of the hour. The
meeting had lasted much longer than any of them had anticipated, but even
so, they had still managed to identify nothing anout the stranger they
could use. Remiel had been tired when the meeting had begun, but now,
several hours later, he was completely exhausted.

The pair finally made it to their room, and John unlock the electronic
latch and pushed open the door. Remiel stepped over the the bed he and John
shared, and collapsed onto the covers. His lover smiled at him before
heading off to the bathroom.

When John returned he lied down on top of Remiel and playfully nipped at
his ear. Remiel giggled slightly without closing his eyes.

"Come on babe, I'm too tired".

"Even for a little bit of fun?" John teased.

"Even for a little bit of fun," he answered. "I'm exhausted".

"Okay," John relented, "but I'm still going to have to get you out of these
clothes".

Remiel smiled again, "Be my guest".

John stood back up and pulled Remiel back towards the edge of the bed.

"First, I'm going to get rid of these jeans". John leant forward and kissed
his way over Remiel's denim covered crotch before pushing up his lover's
shirt and trailing more along the firm ridges of his stomach. Bringing his
mouth back down to the fly of Remiel's jeans, John began meticulously
pulling aside the denim flaps. Once his lovers naked crotch was exposed, he
pulled the jeans away and cast them aside next to the boots Remiel had
discarded earlier.

John ran his tongue along the inside of Remiel's thigh, right up to the
beautiful cock that was slowly growing to its full size. Very lightly, John
suckled on the head, drawing a soft moan from Remiel. Once his lover's
member had swollen to its full seven inches, John engulfed the entire stiff
shaft with his mouth. Remiel let out a muffled cry and thrust his hips,
driving his engorged member deep into John's throat. Suppressing his gag
reflex, John continued to suck and lick. After ten minutes of continued
service, John's persistance was rewarded with a warm load of the best
tasting cum he'd ever had.

Remiel's breathing became labourous as he fought to regain his breath. "You
really are a high maintenance boyfriend".

"No I'm not," John smiled, sliding up Remiel's body and kissing him
deeply. "You don't even have to pay me back until you've had some sleep".

"Love you".

"Love you too".


******


Xavier sat behind his large oak desk staring down at the pad of notepaper
before him. His neat handwriting covered the lined paper, forming a large
mind map. At the top of the page was the word "Stranger" followed by three
question marks. Connected to it were the words "Powers" and "Tactics", each
with a dozen or so more words connected to them. The names of each X-man
was writen on the page, with lines linking them to other words on the
page. At the bottom of the page, each connected to dozens of other words,
where the phrases "Impossible to trace", "Immune to psychic powers",
"Fourth Dimentional", and finally, the word "Mirror".

A sudden knock at the door caught his attention and he looked up to see
Jean enter the office. She looked like she was having as much trouble
sleeping as he was having himself. Dark rings circled her eyes and her
flaming red hair that was normal vibrant and full hung drearilly over her
shoulders.

"I thought that you might be awake," she said as she took a seat across
from him.

"Yes. I'm afraid that the current situation has my mind rather
preoccupied".

"What are you working on?" Jean asked.

"I'm just putting my thoughts onto paper," Xavier said, then continued when
he saw the puzzled expression on Jean's face. "I sometimes find that it
helps to write down my thoughts. It makes it easier to see connections
between events when you're dealing with something solid and tangible".

"Has it helped?"

"See for yourself," Xavier said, handing her the pad. "The observation that
young Remiel made started me thinking".

"About our new friend's choice to engage us as individuals?"

"Precisely. Why would someone with this order of power, who claims to lack
time, waste prescious moments facing against each of you seperately. The
only answer I have reached is that he had no choice but to engage you
individually".

"Interesting," Jean commented.

"Indeed. Fortunately however, I believe I have identified how our friend
was able to defeat your team with such relative ease".

"Really?" Jean said, glaring at nothing in particular.

"We failed to realise that your opponent exists in four dimentions; time as
well as space. From what you've all said, I have to believe that this time
travellor arrived from the future, which means that there is no telling
what sort of information that he could have had access to. It is possible
that your first encounter with him, was not his first encounter with
you. There is just no way to know".

"I see," Jean said. She looked down at the page for a moment, then asked,
"Professor, what do you mean by 'Mirror'?"

"Tell me, did you notice that every one of the powers he displayed were
each possessed by someone on your team in one form or another? Optic blasts
are Scott's power. Advanced healing belongs to Logan. Telekinesis from both
Remiel and yourself. Speed and Electricity from Noriko".

"I hadn't actually noticed that, but what about his immunity from Telepathy
and Empathy?" Jean argued. "Not to mention the fact that the level of power
required for the Molecular Telekinesis he used is completely beyond both
Remiel and I".

"That's true," Xavier agreed, "but we shouldn't rule out the possibility
that he mirrored your powers".

"I suppose you're right. After all, if he is from the future, there's no
telling what is considered normal for him," Jean conceeded. "I think that
I'm ready for some sleep. Goodnight Professor".

"Good night Jean". Xavier waited until Jean had closed the door behind her
before adding, "And sweet dreams to us all".


******


For the second time in as many days, Remiel sat at the War Room's breifing
table, waiting for the meeting to begin.

"What do you think this is all about," Nori yawned from across the large
table.

"I don't know," John answered without opening his eyes. "But it had better
be good. No one wakes me up at 5:00 AM unless there's a damn good reason".

"How's Josh," Remiel asked Ororo, who was sitting next to Nori.

She yawned before answering him, "He's resting in his room. That young man
did quite a number on him. I don't think Josh will be ready to fight for a
few more days".

"But can't Josh just heal himself?" John asked.

"Josh suffered a severe telepathic attack. If it had been a physical
attack, he'd have been able to fix himself without any real effort, but his
mind is another matter entirely," Remiel explained.

"Whatever," John said. "Just as long as he's okay".

Remiel looked around the room. The table was long and round, seating over a
dozen people easily. It's current occupants included Betsy, who, alone
among the group, was wide awake. Next to her sat Logan and David, both of
whom were snoozing in their seats. Opposite them sat Kurt, with the
remaining X-men, excluding Scott and Jean who were still with the
Professor, huddled at the other end of the table.

The door hissed open and five people entered. The Professor, flanked by
Jean and Scott, and two new faces. The first was about the same age as
Remiel and John. He had short blond hair and icy blue eyes. The clothes he
was wearing were simple; jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt bearing some
non-descript logo. Next to him walked an older woman, about the same age as
Jean and Ororo. She was Native American, with flowing black hair and a
beautiful smile that she still managed to maintain despite the early hour.

"Good morning everyone," the Professor announced.

"Please don't make me quote Scott," Remiel complained. "I don't want to be
accused of being unoriginal".

John snorted back a laugh. The Professor, however, shared the confused look
that passed over everyone's faces, save Nori who had also understood the
joke.

"Never mind," Remiel rolled his eyes. "Too early for humour anyway".

"I thought it was clever," Nori tried to console him.

"Thanks Nori," Remiel smiled.

"How come she gets a thank-you, I laughed," John complained.

"You have to laugh at my jokes because you're my boyfriend, so it doesn't
count".

"Well, all jokes aside, we called you here for a very important reason,"
Jean said.

"Yes, pray tell. Why did you get us all up at 5:14 AM and leave us sitting
here for almost an hour?" David asked rather pointedly.

"I apologise for the early hour, but this matter couldn't wait," The
Professor chimed in.

Scott stepped forward and tapped a few buttons on the console while
everyone that was standing took a seat. The lights dimmed and a large
holographic image shimmered into life above the table. It depicted a large
stretch of land covered in crators.

"This is all that's left of Fort Islington, Ohio. Special research and
training division. Average personal; Twelve thousand. At 2:13 this moring,
military command in Washington recieved a transmission from the base,
claiming that they were under attack from a lone individual".

"Are you saying that a single mutant did all of that!?" Remiel gasped.

"From all reports, it appears so," Scott answered.

"How is that even possible?" Ororo asked.

"There was no residual radiation of any kind," The newest woman said. "From
my initial readings, it appears like total molecular diffusion".

"Is that even possible?" David asked.

"Apparently so," the Professor concluded. "I'm sorry for not realising
Remiel, but you haven't met Danielle Moonstar, also known as Mirage, and
Bobby Drake, also known as Iceman. They are also X-men, but they have both
been working out of a reasonable new facility in the mid-west. Danielle,
Bobby, this is Remiel St.Cloud, also known as Seraph".

"Nice to meet you," Danielle said.

"Hi," Bobby waved.

"A pleasure to meet you both," Remiel greeted them. Out of the corner of
his eye, he saw John roll his eyes before glaring at Bobby.

<David> Remiel reached out with his mind on a lower telepathic band, so as
not to be noticed by either Jean or the Professor. <Is there something
between John and Bobby that I should know about?>

Remiel heard David laugh mentally. <You got about three weeks?>

<That bad?>

<Let's just say that they clash like fire and ice>

Remiel's attention refocussed on the conversation at hand.

"I used Cerebro to back-track all mutant signatures that were present at
the time of the attack and I came across one that appeared before the
attack commenced. This signature remained present through the entire attack
and remained after, before moving on west".

"Professor, you said that you couldn't track our new friend with
Cerebro. So does this mean that it wasn't him; that we have another mutant
with semi-god-like powers," Remiel stated.

"I am afraid so," the Professor confirmed. "Based on the movements of this
mutant, I believe that he or she is headed for the military base outside of
Indianopolis. If I'm right, and judging from the devistation of the last
attack, civilian casualties would be catastrophic".

"So we're headed for Indiana," Nori said.

"Some of you, yes. Some of you will remain here and continue the search for
our time-travelling friend," Scott answered.

"Remiel, John, Noriko, Bobby. You four will be headed to Indiana under the
joint command of Scott and Danielle. The rest of you will remain here," the
Professor ordered. "X-men, move out".


******


Josh snapped awake, a cry escaping his lips. His golden body was covered in
a cold sweat and his sheets were drenched. Breathing heavily, his mind
processed the information that his senses were feeding it. He was in his
room. The windows were open and the early morning sun had only just
appeared over the horizon.

The door to his bedroom swung open and two people rushed in; Jean, and
following close behind, Robyn.

"Josh! Are you alright?" Jean asked as she darted over to him and touched
his forehead and pulse.

His head hurt, but he managed a garbled reply, "I'm fine".

"Like hell you are!" Jean argued. "We all heard you cry out from down the
hall. I'm sure you scared half the floor".

Josh sat up and waved Jean's hand away.

"I'm fine," he said with conviction. "Just a bad dream is all".

Jean frowned and said more softly, "I bet it was. Having your worst
nightmares rolled up and thrown at you all at once is an ordeal for a
trained psychic. And you're not. It'll take time for them to sink back into
your subconscious".

"How is everyone?" Josh dropped his patent tough-guy routine. "Ororo didn't
give me any real details when she moved me here last night".

"Everyone else is fine. Nori, John, Scott and Remmy left to go to Indiana
with Bobby and Dani about an hour ago. The rest of us are either helping
the Professor or training in the Danger Room".

"Why are they going to Indiana?" Josh asked.

"They're going to intercept a mutant terrorist before he hits a military
base outside of Indianopolis".

"What!?" Josh yelled.

"Calm down," Jean said sternly.

"I need to talk to the Professor," Josh demanded.

"If you're planning on asking him to put you back on active duty before
you're sadly mistaken," Jean informed him with a humourless smile. "Just
face it; you're not going anywhere until your mind has fully recovered from
the shock. Besides, you have a visitor, and it would be rude of you to give
her the brush off".

Jean turned and said to Robyn as she walked out, "Don't let him get out of
bed!"

Once Jean had left, Robyn moved towards the door and shut it. Turning back
to Josh she smiled and said;

"Don't worry, I wont tie you down or anything. I just wanted to see how you
were".

Josh only realised that he was naked save for a pair of boxer briefs when
he caught Robyn's eyes roaming his exposed flesh. He silently thanked the
universe that his mutation prevented him from visibly blushing.

"I guess you heard about the incident," Josh said, pulling the wet blankets
back up to cover his chest.

"You mean about you all having your arses handed to you?" Robyn said, a
grin creeping across her features. "Yeah, I heard about that".

"How did Remmy and John do? I don't remember much of the fight," he said.

"I'm not really sure," she said, "I only saw them when they were up and
about and they didn't want to talk about it".

"Wait, you didn't go and see them when they were in MedLab, but you come
and see me when I'm in my room".

"What can I say," she shrugged. "You're more interesting".


******


Robyn suppressed another bought of giggles as Josh told yet another story
of his clumsy misadventures. Initially she'd been reluctant to let him
leave is room, but she had soon relented when he had climbed out of bed and
slid into a pair of low-riding jeans. The sight of his tight chest and
stomach melted any arguement she had tried to form, and after pulling on a
sweat-shirt, Josh had led her down to the cafeteria.

"Um, I'm not sure if I should be asking this," Josh said, eating his
ice-cream sundae, "but what was it like for you, on the streets I mean? Was
it hard? I've heard some really bad stories about people who were thrown
out but I've never met someone whose had to live on the streets".

Robyn looked down at her bowl, pushing the green jelly around with her
spoon.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," Josh said.

"No. No, it's okay. It's just a little hard to talk about," she said. "At
first it was hard, but I think that it was only that way because I made it
hard for myself. My parents said some very...unpleasant things, and when I
was on my own, I guess that I started to believe them myself. I honestly
thought that I was a danger to everyone else, so I avoided people as much
as possible. As you can probably imagine that didn't do anything to help my
power control issues. I was on the streets for about a year before I ran
into Remmy and the other run-aways. After that, life was actually pretty
good. Well, maybe not good, but better. We didn't have much, but we were a
family, and we were happy. Not everyone was a mutant, mind you, but that
didn't matter to any of us. Those that had powers used them to help out
everyone else whenever they could". Robyn looked down at the table. "But
that's all gone now. I don't even know if any of the others are even
alive".

The look of rapt attention on Josh's face shifted to one of sympathy.

"I'm sorry Robyn. Remmy doesn't talk about what happened the night you were
brought to the mansion. Just that the place you were staying was attacked
by mutant haters".

Robyn looked up at Josh with fiery anger burning in her eyes.

"Don't feel sorry for my Josh; feel sorry for those sons of bitches if
Remmy or I get our hands on them. They took something from me, something
that nobody should have to lose, let alone lose twice. If I ever find them,
Josh, I swear, I am going to make them pay for what they did to me and my
family".


******


Remiel was bored. He sat behind the pilot's chair, listening to Scott and
Dani talk about the new facility in the midwest. John had been silent the
entire trip, and stubbornly refused to engage in an conversation that his
comrades tried to start with him. A quick delve into his emotions had told
Remiel it was due to the presense of Bobby Drake.

Maybe if I just took a peek into his head, Remiel thought to himself, just
to find out what's between the two of them.

No, his conscience whispered. That would be violating John's trust,
something that Remiel would never do.

"So Seraph. The Professor didn't give me the chance to read your file, so
I'm a little in the dark about you. What are your abilities?"

Roused from his internal conversation, Remiel turned to answer Dani's
question.

"I'm a Psi. Class four in Telekinesis, Telepathy, and Empathy".

"Great!" Bobby snorted, "Another telepath".

"Bobby!" Dani warned from her place at the cockpit. "You'll have to forgive
him, Seraph. He has trust issues when it comes to telepaths".

"I can understand that to an extent," Remiel said, then turned to
Bobby. "You have nothing to worry about with me. I give you my word. I
would never enter someone's mind without their express permission".

"Really?" Bobby asked, "So you wouldn't claw your way into the mind of an
opponent in a fight?"

Remiel frowned, "Yes, I've had to strike out at an opponent's mind before
but..."

"But nothing," Bobby cut in. "You decided that the circumstances required
you to disregard that directive. How do I know that sometime in the future
you wont decide to disregard it again? Don't give me your word telepath; it
doesn't mean anything to me".

"And yet you choose to follow Professor Xavier," Remiel replied harshly.

"No. I choose to follow Dani, she chooses to follow the Professor".

"Enough!" John snapped. "Lay off him Bobby! If you want someone to take
your insecurities out on, try me".

"That's enough from everyone!" Scott bellowed from next to Dani. Everybody
started at the older mutant's outburst. Once he was sure he had everyone's
undivided attention, Scott continued. "We are about to go up against an
extremely powerful mutant and I, for one, plan on living to see tomorrow,
so you can all either put aside whatever trivial differences you all have,
or I can throw you all out of the damn jet!"

No-one muttered a word for the rest of the flight.


******


Josh and Robyn were headed back to his room when the alarm sounded,
followed by the sounds of explosions and gunfire.

"What the hell..." is all that Robyn was able to say before the entire
mansion shook violently.

Rushing to the nearest window, Josh looked out to see half-a-dozen black
vans skidding to a halt on the mansion's front lawn. Dozens of white clad
figures poured out of the doors and began firing on anyone they saw. Lucky
for those few students that were milling around the front lawn, a talented
telekinetic was able to pull together a telekinetic shield in time to
prevent any serious injuries.

Nightcrawler appeared in a plume of black sulphuric smoke and gabbed the
students huddled behind the translucent blue barrier. With another flume of
smoke, they were all gone.

"Robyn, you have to get down to the sub-basement shelters right now,'' Josh
ordered.

"Like hell! I am not going to run and hide!" she argued.

"I don't want you to get hurt!"

"Trust me! I'm not the one who's going to get hurt".

Before he could say another word, a mortar hit the mansion and the window
they were looking out of was shattered as plaster and brick fell to the
ground, revealing a large hole in the wall. Robyn was out of his arms and
through the opening before he had time to stop her.

"Robyn!" he shouted, rushing through after her.

The front lawn had quickly become a battle ground. Students who had
defensive or offensive powers were lashing out at their attackers. The fire
and lightning elementals were striking out with fireballs and lightning
bolts, while the earth and air elementals were using their powers to shield
the fallen or whisk them out of harm's way.

Running to a large wall that had been erected by an earth elemental, Josh
caught up with Robyn who was standing next to Wolverine.

"What the hell is going on here!?" he shouted above the sounds of battle.

"What the hell does it look like Elixir!" Logan shouted back. "We're under
attack and they've got some sort of machine switched on that's stopping the
telepaths from doing their thing!"

"What!?"

"It doesn't matter what they're doing or how they're doing it. What matters
is that we're under attack and we're only just holding our own!"

"What about Jean and Ororo, why aren't they here!?" Josh demanded.

"They're trapped in the sub-basement, and Kurt took a hit". With his last
words, Logan nodded his head towards the blue mutant, lying on the ground
beneath the protective curtain of a nearby telekinetic's shield.

"I'll deal with Kurt," Josh said. "But I'll need some cover, or some sort
of distraction".

Robyn's eyes blazed with fury, "Then let's see if I can't help with that".

Slapping her hands together, Robyn summoned her mutant power, focussing the
ambient light of the battle into a sphere the size of a baseball.

"Get ready," she said. "GO!"

Josh sprinted across the expanse of lawn between him and the wounded
mutants who were still being protected by a small group of
psychics. Looking over his shoulder he saw Robyn throw the ball into the
air, but was forced to cover his eyes when it exploded in a monumental
flare of brilliant white light. He imagined that everyone facing the
mansion was experiencing a bought of temporary blindness. Thankful for the
time her distraction broughthim, Josh dropped to his knees next to the
wounded X-man. The bullet had passed straight through his shoulder, but it
looked like it had shattered a few bones on its way through his blue flesh.

Applying his own mutation, Josh reached into the wound with his mind,
feeling the dozens of bodily fluids trying to repair the damage. Under his
careful touch, Kurt's flesh began knitting together and the shattered bone
began to fuse back together. From the look on his patient's face, the
process was not without pain, but, given the situation, Josh could not
afford to be gentle.

A shout caught his attention and he lifted his head just in time to see a
grenade explode a few feet away. The concussive force was enough to
collapse the telekinetic shield, exposing both Josh and his patient.

Three of the white clad attackers broke through the front line of mutants
and made a mad dash towards the front of the mansion. They raised their
weapons and prepared to fire on the few telekinetics that were still
standing. Their faces were etched in horror as the assassins pulled the
trigger. What happened next was breathtaking. The air in front of the
psychics shimmered and was suddenly flooded with a rippling wave of water
that intantly froze in place, creating a massive barrier of ice between
them and harm. The bullets embedded themselves in the barrier harmlessly.

Josh watched as the same hydrokinetic that had summoned the wall pulled
water molecules from the air and began raining frigid blasts of ice down on
the three figures.

"Are you alright?" Robyn called, rushing over to him.

"I'm fine," he answered her. "What about you Kurt?"

"Ja. I am well enough to continue to fight I think".

"Trust me," Robyn declared, "after I'm done, there wont be any fight left
in the whole lot of them".

Everything dimmed as she pulled as much of the light towards her as she
could. Shadows lengthened and the entire battlefield was blanketed in an
unnatural gloom. Josh fell back from the young mutant in front of him. The
air surrounding her was pitch dark, obscuring everything behind her, but
her own body was the same as if she were standing in a brightly lit
room. The contrast between her aura of darkness and her own body was
frightening. But her eyes were amazing. All of the light she'd gathered
seemed to have condensed in those beautiful orbs, giving them an unearthly
glow.

The battle grew silent as she stepped out from behind the icy
barrier. Every eye was on her, both human and mutant alike, captivated by
the contrasting horror and beauty of her powers.

An angel could look no more beautiful, Josh thought to himself, and a devil
no more frightening.

Realising the power this mutant possessed, both sides renued their battle
again with fury; the humans trying everything they could to stop her, and
the mutants doing everything they could to protect her.

Finally reaching her goal, Robyn stood at the centre between the two
forces. Lifting her head to the heavens, she let out a cry and let her
powers take over. A blast of pure light that would have made Scott envious
burst from her eyes and roared up into the heavens. The clouds glowed a
bright white as the beam faded. For a few moments, nothing happened. Both
sides were confused as to what she had just done. Then it happened. A clap
like thunder echoes across the lawn as hundreds of smaller beams of light
fell from the heavens, showering their attackers. The devistating lasers
burnt holes through the armoured vans and scortched the earth where they
fell. Screams and howls filled the air as the attackers were incinerated by
the focussed light.

When the beams had ceased, only a handfull of men were left alive. With
expressions of abject horror, they fled on foot, their vehicles having been
totally destroyed. As the survivng mutants rused to capture their enemies,
Robyn fell to her knees, blood streaming from her nose. Josh ran to her and
caught her as she slumped backwards.

"Are you okay?" he asked, wiping the blood away from her face.

"I'm okay. I'm just a little tired," she smiled weakly. "Did I do good?"

"Kid," Logan said gruffly, stepping beside them, "you did more than
good. Remind me never to piss you off".

"Then I'd better be getting an A in gym," she said, snuggling against
Josh's chest and falling to sleep.

"She going to be alright?" Logan asked Josh.

A faint glow radiated from his hands and he lightly his fingers along her
cheek.

"She'll be just fine".


******


Remiel was thankful when the Black Bird finally reached its destination. He
found the strained silence after Scott's outburst unconfortable. Not simple
because of his own sense of anxiety, but because of everyone elses pressing
in on him from all sides. None of them knew what it was like to be an
empath in a room with everyone broadcasting their emotional turmoil like a
friday night football game. He could barely stand it. At one point in the
flight, Remiel had been on the verge of standing up and shouting at
everyone else; "For Christ's sake! Why don't you keep your damn feelings to
yourselves! Don't you realise what you're doing to me!" It was only the
soothing touch of John's hand that kept him in his seat.

"You know what? I never had this much trouble with my empathy before the
Professor started teaching me to use it," he said to John when the loud
sounds of the Black Bird's landing had faded.

"That's because you never really used it before. You'll get used to it
eventually," John said, squeezing his hand.

"I hope so".

"Okay everyone," Scott said. "We're approximately ten miles outside of the
military base. From the Professor's calculations, our target should be
passing through this area within the next hour. Standard interception
protocols apply. We will only engage if this mutant threatens hostile
action".

"How will we know when the target is here? After all, we don't know what he
or she looks like," John asked.

"That's where Remmy comes in," Scott answered. Tapping a few buttons on a
nearby storage locker, Scott retrieved a futuristic head-set that reminded
Remiel of a medieval cirlet. Scott handed it to him and then explained;
"It's a remote Cerebro unit. It should amplify your telepathic and empathic
abilities enough for you to detect our target well before he actually
arrives".

Remiel examined the device in his hand. It was a large metallic ring that
would wrap around his head. At the back of the device, two curved spokes
arched over the top, ending in two diamond-shaped silver modules that would
sit just above Remiel's forehead.

"I've never used a Cerebro unit before. Are you sure I'll be able to handle
it?"

"The Professor wouldn't have sent you if he didn't believe you could,"
Scott answered.

"Okay," Remiel said. "Here goes nothing".

Placing the device on his head and activating it, Remiel closed his eyes
and reached out with his powers. At first there was nothing, just the black
void of his own thoughts. Then he felt his mind expand. In his minds eye a
flat disk representing his immediate area flared into life with crystal
clarity. Six clusters of light sat at its center, representing the
X-men. Their individual signals were each unique in their own way, a one of
a kind flurry of colour. He oushed out and slowly, the disk expanded,
encompassing ten square miles. Thousands of light-clusters shimmered in and
out of his psychic perception, representing the civilians and military
personel on the nearby military base.

<Remmy?> Scott thought before opening his mouth to say the same.

"I'm alright Scott," Remiel said, not giving Scott the chance to voice his
thoughts out loud. "You don't need to talk. Just think clearly and I'll
hear you".

As soon as the words had left his lips, he sensed Bobby's light dim, as he
tried to block himself of from the telepath.

"Stay out of my head," Bobby warned.

"I gave you my word I wouldn't enter your mind without permission Bobby and
I meant it. You can trust..."

Remiel's words were cut off by a gasp as he felt a powerful presense enter
the field of his psychic perception. A violent tapestry of anger, pain,
loneliness and power appeared at the edge of the disk, casting a long red
shadow across the rest of the bright lights around it.

"He's here!"


******


All six X-men stood as still as stautes, watching the horizen. The minutes
dragged by as they waited, until finally, striding out of the twilight, a
figure appeared. At a glance he appeared to be nothing more than a young
man out for an evening walk, but they all knew better. He had red-brown
hair cut in a military fashion and his amber eyes glowed faintly in the
failing light. His leather jacket hung around his broad shoulders and bare
chest casually, complimenting his snug black jeans and boots.

Stopping ten meters in front of their line, he smiled. "X-men? Damn. I
thought you'd be busy elsewhere".

"Identify yourself!" Scott ordered.

"No," the man retained his smile, "I don't think I will".

"If you do not identify yourself, you will be detained for questioning in
regards to the attack on a military base".

"Oh, will I now?"

"What did you mean?" Remiel asked, unable to hold his curiosity back, "When
you said that you thought we'd be too busy".

The young man idly scratched his stomach. "Well, I did order an attack on
the mansion, so I thought you'd still be there, fighting the good fight and
all that jazz".

"What!"

"Oh, don't go getting your panties in a twist. I wouldn't have organised an
attack on the mansion if I honestly thought you couldn't handle it. Some of
you are too important to kill just yet".

"Enough!" A voice boomed from behind the X-men's line.

Remiel looked over his shoulder at the voices owner and found himself
caught in the gaze of cobalt eyes.

"Bailey," the first young man said.

"Tyler," Bailey greeted, stepping through the X-men's line.

"What the hell is going on here!?" Bobby yelled, seeing the fearful faces
of Scott, John, Nori and Remiel.

"He's the one that kicked our arses," John said.

"Really?" Tyler asked. "Really Bailey, I'm surprised. I never would have
thought you'd risk damaging the timeline". At that Tyler cast a long look
at both John and Remiel.

"I'm not the one here trying to change the timeline," Bailey snapped.

"I see you still haven't gotten rid of that snippy streak of yours," Tyler
smiled. "If you're not here to change the timeline, the I guess you're here
to preserve it, or at least stop me from changing it the way my side wants
it".

"I'm afraid so".

"That's too bad".

"Not for me," Bailey smiled. "I've been waiting for this day for a very
long time".

"Then let's finish this".

Neither one moved for what seemed like an eternity. Then all hell broke
loose. Tyler clapped his hands together with Bailey mirroring his
action. Two violent bursts of energy let against one another, red from
Tyler, blue from Bailey. The explosion produced from the impact of the two
opposing blasts rocked the very earth on which the combatants stood. The
X-men were hurtled mercilessly through the air, coming crashing to the
ground dozens of meters away.

Remiel pushed himself up from the dirt, ignoring the viscious pain that
shot through his limbs. The titanic battle being waged before him was both
horrifying and beautiful. Pulses of scarlet light ricocheted off of blue
ones directed back at them. The earth surrounding the two fighters was
vapourised as the molecular bonds were pulled apart by indescribable
radiation.

Around him, the X-men bagan pulling themselves up from where they'd been so
unceremoniously thrown moments before. John's hand found his as his lover
crawled across the dirt next to him.

"What do we do? It's like the freaking clash of the titans out there!" John
shouted over the sounds of battle.

"I don't know! Who the hell's side are we on anyway!"

"I don't know about you, but I'm thinking that our time traveller is the
good guy in this situation".

"Okay. On three?"

"On three!"

"One," Remiel counted. "Two. THREE!"

Remiel unleashed every ounce of power he could muster towards Tyler while
John simaltaniously added his own fiery power to the mix. The result was a
spiraling whirl of blue telekinetic energy and golden flame surging across
the field. Tyler only noticed it a moment before it was about to strike
him. Raising his hand, he summoned a rippling disk of scarlet energy that
hung in the air before him. The combined assault of Remiel and John slammed
into the shield where, to their surprise, it was joined by a scarlet beam,
arcs of electricity and a stream of icy particles. To the horror of the
X-men, all five streams of energy diffused upon striking Tyler's shield,
melting the earth surrounding him, but leaving him otherwise unharmed. A
wide smile crossed Tyler's features. It was a short lived smile however,
because, taking advantage of his opponents momentary lapse in
concentration, Bailey send a blast of azure energy carreering into Tyler's
side. The mutant was sent skidding across the dirt where he rolled into a
crouch and glared at his enemy.

"You can't beat me Tyler!" Bailey breathed hoarsly, "Not by yourself, and
certainly not when they're helping me".

Tyler let out what can only be described as a growl. He stood up and cast
aside his leather jacket which had been decimated by the conflict.

"Savour this victory," Tyler spat. "Because you wont get another one". With
that he fell back into the earth, which liquified beneath him. The earth
solidified a moment later and the X-men were left alone with their
mysterious time traveller.

Bailey swayed on his feet and then collapsed onto the ground. Unable to
stop himself, Remiel lept to his feet and ran to the fallen mutant. His
clothes were ruined, leaving wide expanses of his flesh exposed and several
cuts and gashes bled profusally.

"Come on," Remiel shouted. "We have to get him back to the mansion!"


To be continued...



Thank-you to everyone who has read the X-Force series so far. I'm sorry for
the lack in sexual content, but I promise that now most of the characters
have been introduced, there will be a lot more.

If you like the story, or would like to give some constructive feedback,
please feel free to email me at; scifi_fanboy@hotmail.com