Misting's Story

"No, I'll be fine. I’ve had much worse." Cara insisted again, leaning herself up against the wall of the mansion to support herself. "What do you mean inside? Did the soldiers sneak past us?" she didn't need an answer it made sense to her as soon as it left her lips. With the majority of the battle-trained mutants outside there wasn't much in Project X's way to Vincent.

“Vincent has been kidnapped…"

Cara felt the air in her lungs freeze as the message came. That’s what the attack was for, that’s why the soldiers didn’t force them back, although it wasn’t for not trying generally the soldiers would have put up a much better fight then they had today. They didn’t want to get inside the mansion; it was just a distraction.

"Our fears have come to pass…"

Although Cara was never a greatly emotional person she couldn’t deny the feeling of dread inside her, she may not have shared the visions of Vincent’s family but she could not deny he was a friend.

Sliding herself down the wall she was leant on Cara stared up into the smoke filled sky, the pain she was experiencing slightly dampened by shock. She looked out across the mansion’s grounds; the once bright and vibrant gardens were now covered in the bodies of black clad soldiers, guns scattered around them, the massive gates that once adorned the driveway to the mansion were now broken, bent and half buried in the flowerbeds and the sentinels that had caused the most damage now lay in burning ruins, only huge metal husks remaining of the great mutant-killers.

Eventually her eyes slowly drifted back to the blackened skies and there they remained for some few minutes as Cara just sat and listened to the sounds around her until Pietro returned. Then as the echo of Magneto’s cry was still ringing in her ears she finally pulled herself to her feet and limped over to hear the news.

"Well Ryan we did it. We stopped them. No more soldiers." Thantos said, smiling. He held out his hand for Ryan to bump fists with. Ryan did so, with gusto. He heard Thantos's knuckles crack, they weren't broken, but his hand should have hurt a little. Ryan smiled. "That's for almost killing me with that Sentinel." Ryan joked. "I swear, I actually thought I was gonna die there! If my bones were any less dense, my skin any less scaled, my healing any slower, I would have died. I was scared!" He laughed. Then he heard it. Professor Xavier's plaintive voice.

"Vincent has been kidnapped... out fears have come to pass..." He said. The sadness evident in every syllable. The world froze around Ryan. Everything stopped, everything was quiet. Ryan almost didn't even hear Thantos say, "R-Ryan this can't be right... There's no way we lost. Right Ryan?" Ryan tried to speak, but nothing came out. His mouth moved wordlessly, his brain hopelessly, desperately trying to grasp the fact that Vincent was gone. It was a joke. A sick prank. "Stop it you guys." Ryan said, chuckling, mostly out of nervousness. "You're kidding right? Vincent is really in the bushes over there or something and we're all gonna laugh about it before we go back inside and start repairing the damage from the attack. Right? Right?" Ryan asked, hoping someone, anyone would tell him he guessed it, that it was all a clever ruse, that Vincent would crawl out of a bush and they would all laugh. There was no such response. Ryan was greeted with only sad nods and tears. Ryan felt his heart shatter, next was the dull thud of his knees hitting the ground. He heard Magneto's pained cry and matched it with his own sobs. Tears flooded down his face, there was no holding them back. Ryan cried like a child. He cried so hard he had trouble breathing. He cried so hard, his whole body shook with the force of his sobs. Vincent wasn't just a friend. He was a brother, a mentor, he was everything Ryan could have wished for in a fellow mutant. Ryan just kept crying and crying. He felt Thantos's hand on his shoulder but it did nothing to console him. He just kept crying. Eventually he ran out of tears and just sat there, on his knees, sobbing silently.

Charles Felt caught up in feelings of despair and sorry. He let his son down. He let his students and family down. The faces of each one of them flashed in his overwhelmed mind. He placed his face in his hands and wept. He then felt the gentle embrace of one that he could only be Mia. She was one of a sweet heart and she knew how to make one feel better, she didn’t have to say a word. Charles began to feel centered once again. He placed his hand over Mia’s and said, “Thank you Mia. I needed that.”, softly to her.

Fuyumi felt horrible. She thought back to earlier in the day when Vincent, Vila, and her were formulating their plan of action. They were to protect the students. But once they found out that the students weren’t the actual target she should have switched modes. She wished she had not have allowed the steady flow of things to sweep her into quick brash decisions. She racked her brain for ways to help make this right. Then it hit her, Cerebro. Fuyumi sprinted over to the professor who was crouched on the ground next to Mia, Erik and Pietro who all stood. “Professor you must use Cerebro! I’m sure you’ll get a location on where Vincent is if you search for him that way.” Fuyumi sounded flustered. She was usually very calm in disposition but today’s events proved to be a bit much for even her.

Charles looked up with a sense of hope. He was so grief stricken that he had forgotten all about Cerebro. Charles replied, “Yes… Fuyumi you’re right! I must go to Cerebro immediately. Erik will you see to the students? I also received another communication from Hideki in the danger room just now. It seems they managed to subdue a rather dangerous mutant who’s abilities seem to mirror Logan’s. I can trust only you to safely handle someone of that caliber Erik.” Charles said swiftly.

Erik stopped him before he could continue. “Charles, it’s alright. I’ll handle things here. Please find our son, I know you will. We need your calm disposition more than ever right now. Vincent will be fine and you will find him. Don’t you worry.” Erik gave Charles a gentle smile and helped him to his feet. Charles nodded in response and headed off to the danger room swiftly.

Erik then levitated off of the ground high enough for all to see him. He then spoke calm and authoritatively to the group outside the mansion. “Listen well everyone. I know today’s incident was indeed difficult. Today we were attacked by people who are afraid, afraid of you for your strength, afraid of you for what you have been blessed with. Fear stems from misunderstanding. They don’t understand us and thus out of fear they tried to harm and destroy us. But we mustn’t harden our hearts and close our minds off to the mission we all believe in. Vincent, my son…, has been taken from us. However, we WILL find him. We won’t let Weapon-X claim a member of our family, as X-men, and as a Mutant family! Charles is using Cerebro to locate Vincent now. The best thing for us to do is to be strong, be proud, and carry onward believing that our future will be better than our pasts! You all have made me very proud today. Charles is proud of you. You stood up for each other and fought hard not to kill even though they tried to kill us. I know how hard it is to come from a place of killing humans without a thought, to protecting those very humans that would rather see me dead. It’s difficult to love someone who hates you. But love suffers long for its cause and so shall we until our desired end is met, harmony. Rest now, tend to your wounds, continue to support one another. Know that all is well.” With that, Erik lowered himself down to the ground and headed into the mansion.

Fuyumi felt relieved after Erik’s speech. He was so charismatic and a natural leader. Fuyumi noticed some of the other’s dispositions improving slightly. However one person’s disposition showed they needed a little tending to. Fuyumi calmly walked over to Ryan and sat down beside him. She placed a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “Ryan, don’t you worry. You were so brave today. I’m sure Adria will greatly appreciate saving her. Vincent looked proud to see you all work so well together in the middle of danger. You did what was best for the team and I know for sure he’d be proud of that. I believe that for myself as well. I wish I could have stayed by his side, but there were others that needed me too. I believe he’ll return to us, in one piece.” Fuyumi then gave Ryan a gentle hug. She liked Ryan for his gentleness and strong spirit. He took things so seriously and tried his best. She was very much the same way when she was younger.
Kyle stood next to Scott who looked as upset about today’s event’s as he did. He noticed Scott’s face cringe when he heard that Vincent was taken. Scott was definitely silently dealing with a great deal of anger and disappointment. Kyle looked on as Jonathan tried to console Memory, who seemed to be breaking down. Jonathan was most likely hurting heavily as well, but he needed to be strong for Memory and he was doing a very good job. Kyle wondered how his best friend was doing. Hideki was there when Vincent was captured. Kyle was sure Hideki wasn’t in the best head space. Kyle wasn’t in the best head space. He felt kind of useless. He wished he had been more helpful than he was. He wasn’t exactly sure of what would happen to Vincent but he prayed silently to on the spot that Vincent would be okay.

Kyle didn’t cry or look angry. He simply stood silently next to Scott and watched everyone else. He did however look disappointed. Kyle was a very interesting individual. He was very personable and quite the people person. However he had a very existent lonely side to him. He developed that way of being during the time when he couldn’t control his absorption abilities thus he couldn’t touch anyone. This problem had persisted for nearly two and a half years before he was able to be helped. He was used to being the charming guy you could see but never really get close to. Even now that people could get close to him, it was hard for him to take down those inner barriers that he placed up long ago. Vincent was a good friend to Kyle. Kyle could only imagine how hard Philip was taking the situation. Kyle thought to himself, “Whe the professor locates Vincent, I’ll fly as far as I need to so that I can meet up with him and make sure he gets home safely. I promise.”

Hideki plopped down on the floor of the danger room. He was tired and upset. He was relieved that X-23 had finally been subdued but Vincent was gone. He felt terrible having to tell the Professor that he failed to help his son. As much as Hideki beat himself up on the inside he tried to keep a slightly upbeat disposition on the outside. He never liked to look down and sad if he could help it. “Today was not a very good day…” He commented.

Philip looked on at the pile of rock and vines X-23 was constricted in. He stood looking on as if he were in a trance. His breathing was broken and winded. His eyes began to tear at the thought of his lover being snatched away from him and he couldn’t protect him. He began to weep heavily and didn’t wipe away a single tear. “Why… why… wasn’t I strong enough? I couldn’t save him… what kind of boyfriend am I?” Philip criticized himself.

Logan walked over to Philip and placed a hand on Philip’s shoulder. “Look kid, the guys we were facing were nothing easy to overcome. They aren’t just strong but as tricky as they come. There was no way we could have planned for this. You did what you could. This doesn’t mean you can’t protect who you love or that he ain’t comin’ back. We’ll get him and we’ll make Trask pay big time for this I swear.” Logan knew that Trask was to blame for all of this. It fit his M.O. perfectly. Philip seemed to take well to Logan’s encouragement and slowed in his weeping. Logan then turned to Vila, “Thanks Vila. You did an excellent job at keeping little miss assassin under wraps.” Vila didn’t say anything, but nodded as she left out of the danger room. Logan knew that Vila was taking this as hard as Charles, Erik, and Philip did.

Erik shortly afterward entered the danger room. His face was stern looking. He walked over to Hideki and helped him to his feet. “Thank you, all of you for helping my son as best you could. I do not take that lightly.” Erik the turned to Philip. “Philip my boy, I know… I know… but continue to be strong enough to believe that Vincent will be fine. Charles is looking for him right now with Cerebro. A mutant of Vincent’s strength will not be hard to spot with Cerebro.”

Erik then looked at the pile of stone and vines that held X-23 captive. He scowled at the pile angrily. With a wave of the hand he brushed the heavy stones aside using his power and levitated X-23 in the air. She was just like Logan indeed, with an Adamantium coated skeleton. X-23 was stuck in one position, as if she were standing at attention with floating in the air. “When will Trask learn that coating things in such an alloy is simply a heavy handicap? I’ll bring her to the holding cell myself. You all should tend to your wounds and get rest as best you can. Things from this point forward will not be easy.” With that Erik turned and walked out of the danger room taking X-23 with him.

He brought her to the confinement cell that was actually tested to be able to hold a mutant even as strong as Logan and stronger. He hurled the assassin into the cell using his power. He had very little remorse for the deadly mutant. Erik knew a stone cold killer when he saw one. He grew up suppressed and threatened by them every day in his youth. He said only one thing to X-23 before leaving her in the containment area alone and secure. “You, young one, are very fortunate that I am a changed man. Charles’ rubbing off on me has saved your miserable life more than you know… the old me would have ripped your bones apart and beat the remains with them but I have learned to suppress such uncontrolled and vicious urges. Do know that I can smell your bones miles away. So if you did manage to escape, you won’t be getting far before you feel your head begin to snap from your body. Just a bit of encouragement for you to be a good girl and behave.” Erik’s tone was composed but very serious. He meant every word and could more than back it all up.

Erik left the holding area and met with Charles. The room that contained Cerebro was enormous. The large spherical room had one extended platform from the room’s entrance. At the end of the platform sat Charles at the station that carried the helmet that the user would use to operate the machine. Only telepaths could operate Cerebro and not just any telepath could effectively use it the way Charles or Vincent could. It amplifies the telepathic strengths of the user. Erik slowly approached Charles. “How’s the search. Have you found him?” Erik asked, sounding like a worried parent whose child hasn’t returned home after curfew.

Charles was about to reply that he had not yet located Vincent but he, just then, picked up on Vincent. “I’ve just located him Erik!! He was miles away in an underground base. He and several others have escaped it seems and the base has been destroyed. But something puzzles me and concerns me. It appears that I am sensing double signatures on Vincent’s X-gene. There is another present with him that shares Vincent’s reading. This is much different than clones like the young lady in captivity right now. She has a different signature than Logan. But it is as if there is two of our son.” Charles explained. He had communicated with Vincent and instructed him that he would be sending Scott in the blackbird to go pick him and his companions up soon. They would be back at the mansion in a couple of days.

Charles then proceeded to inform everyone else telepathically that Vincent was alright. “Everyone there is good news. I have located Vincent and he is alright it seems. I will have Scott and Logan fly to his location to pick him and his companions up. Rest easy and thank you all for your bravery and strength today. To all of our guests please make yourselves at home. I will have repairs initiated as soon as possible. I will aim to keep you all posted on the status of things.” With that Charles ended his telepathic communication with the others.

The next day had arrived and things were busy at the mansion. Repairs were underway and everyone was given the day off from all meetings and classes. They were encouraged to take it easy. Scott, Logan, and Philip set out to pick up Vincent. The trip would take a little while. They weren’t aware that David, Sabertooth, Agent Six, as well as Cain were the extra people that would be accompanying them back to the mansion. They were in for a deadly reunion…

After a long time, Ryan was finally feeling a little better. People were moving around and starting to get stuff done. Professor Fuyumi had suggested the use of Cerebro to find Vincent. It was brilliant, anyone with an X gene as powerful as Vincent's would stick out like a sore thumb.Ryan had finally, for the most part, regained his composure. He'd stopped sobbing but everytime he tried to talk nothing happened. His voice was sealed away, unable to come out. At tht moment, Ryan noticed Professor Fuyumi approaching him. Fuyumi calmly walked over to Ryan and sat down beside him. She placed a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “Ryan, don’t you worry. You were so brave today. I’m sure Adria will greatly appreciate saving her. Vincent looked proud to see you all work so well together in the middle of danger. You did what was best for the team and I know for sure he’d be proud of that. I believe that for myself as well. I wish I could have stayed by his side, but there were others that needed me too. I believe he’ll return to us, in one piece.”

Fuyumi then gave Ryan a gentle hug. Ryan closed his eyes and he hugged Professor Fuyumi back, but not as hard as he could or else he would have crushed her. He almost started crying again. Luckily his tear ducts were pretty dried up, so he managed to keep it together. It was exactly what he needed. Someone to tell him everything was going to be ok and that he did the best that he could. To hug him like... like his mom used to. That nothing was his fault and they were gonna get Vincent back. It was perfect. Ryan managed to whisper, "Thank you, Professor." As they broke apart, Ryan stood up, offering his hand to the professor to help her up. He did so with the palm of his hand, so she wouldn't cut herself on his claws. As she got up, Ryan said, "Thank you so much for your kind words and for the hug. Must not be so nice to hug someone who's scaly. I still appreciate it though."

Charles then proceeded to inform everyone telepathically that Vincent was alright. “Everyone there is good news. I have located Vincent and he is alright it seems. I will have Scott and Logan fly to his location to pick him and his companions up. Rest easy and thank you all for your bravery and strength today. To all of our guests please make yourselves at home. I will have repairs initiated as soon as possible. I will aim to keep you all posted on the status of things.” With that Charles ended his telepathic communication with the others.

The next day had arrived and things were busy at the mansion. Repairs were underway and everyone was given the day off from all meetings and classes. They were encouraged to take it easy. So Ryan did. He woke up early and took a walk around the campus. He helped out a little bit with moving heavy things and opening some stuff, but for the most part, he relaxed. He felt perfectly fine, his body healed very quickly, it always did. Wounds on his body weren't what was vexing him. It was Vincent, and the rest of his friends. They must have felt so terrible. Ryan had no idea how to console them, so he did the only thing he knew how to do at a time like this. He walked down to the basement where the art room was. As he walked in the door, the art teacher looked up, and started to put himself together. He must have been in the middle of something, "Please don't bother yourself with me. I know where all the supplies and things are, I come here a lot actually. I'm just feeling like painting." Ryan said with a smile. He'd taken great care to grind the scales all over his body down extra this morning so he could have as much freedom of motion as he needed to paint. It would be tricky, like it always was, but hopefully, with the foresight to grind most of his scales off this morning, it would come a little easier.

Ryan prepped his canvas and grabbed his five colored tubes marked white, blue, red, yellow, and black. He set himself up in a corner, facing the door, so his work wouldn't be seen by anyone in the room. It would be embarrassing if someone looked at whatever horrid monstrosity he made with his clumsy hands. Still, Ryan got started. He mixed some basic colors together to give himself a full spectrum of paint to work with and got to painting. He'd wanted to portray what he really felt like at the moment, so he'd started with mostly blues and blacks and grays. He'd started with the sky, like he always did, forming big angry rain clouds that pelted his canvas with rain. Next was the sea. It was turbulent and tempestuous. Obviously it wasn't in a good mood because it was rampaging like an angry rhinoceros. However, there was a single opening in the rampaging waves. A small spot where the sea was calm. It was far away, but it must have been a good place to be because the sky was clear there. A metaphorical oasis in the middle of such harsh environs. Finally, Ryan filled in the space between with the horizon, clouded and bleak. There was no hope there. Just an almost empty space that was only filled with the rage and sadness of the sea and sky around it. Next, Ryan began the last component of his painting. It was a boat. A small sloop whose sails were stowed and was in danger of tipping. It was headed for that calm spot with as much speed and urgency it could muster. Ryan tried to convey as much desperation in that sloop as he could. The lines were lashing about, some of them hadn't been battened down and were whipping about as the storm tossed the ship. The sails were beginning to come undone from their bindings, and the mast was ever so slightly bent out of shape from the force of the wind and the rain. Ryan didn't make any people on the boat, but he figured there were a few on board, maybe one of them was below decks attempting to prepare something warm for the sailors who were about to go out and battle the storm. Maybe yet another was in his bed, holding a bible and praying that this wouldn't be the end for him. Finally, he managed to make a dark, humanoid shape over the boat's wheel. Perhaps he was the captain, steering the ship to clearer waters, or perhaps he was some mutinous villain, set on sinking what little hope the ship had. Either way, Ryan had spent a very long time in the art room. As he finished, Ryan sat a while, lost in thought at the painting he had created. It was better than his previous attempts at art, which made him feel good. The scale grinding had definitely helped. He had wanted to making something inspiring and hopeful. This dark thing in front of him felt more like the blues than a march. Shaking off his uncertainties about the piece, Ryan started to clean up. He'd made a mess and felt it was time to get out of the poor art teacher's hair. He'd been here long enough.

“Everyone there is good news. I have located Vincent and he is alright it seems. I will have Scott and Logan fly to his location to pick him and his companions up. Rest easy and thank you all for your bravery and strength today. To all of our guests please make yourselves at home. I will have repairs initiated as soon as possible. I will aim to keep you all posted on the status of things.” With that Charles ended his telepathic communication with the others.

'He's safe. He's coming back. We didn't fail.' Thantos looked to Ryan and saw him being comforted by Professor Fuyumi. 'He'll be ok. He doesn't need me right now. I wouldn't be any help anyway.' Thantos went to retrieve his fallen coins. As he went to grab some off of the ground he whinces at the pain that explodes in his arm. 'Oh, yeah I got shot. He begins burning Pewter to cancel out the pain. Burning Iron he pulls the coins into his hand and tosses them into his pouch. He turns to walk into the mansion going to the infirmary. Once he got there he falls into one of the bed and extinguishes the Pewter letting himself feel the burning pain of the bullet in his shoulder. After a while he passes out and sleeps.

His sleep isn't restful or relaxing. He dreamed of his parents and the kidnappers. He felt the desolation of abandonment the fear of being alone. He woke with a start in the middle of the night. He was coated in a cold sweat. His shoulder was bandaged and arm in a sling. The pain had decreased in his time asleep. He lied awake staring at the ceiling for a few hours thinking about the dream, his past. He started to panic. Hyperventilating he jumps out of the bed and runs outside. He gasps the cool night air calming himself. He looked into the sky and saw a skyscraper a few blocks away. He ran putting distance between himself and the mansion the pain in his arm flaring as he ran. Reaching the base of the skyscraper he flares Steel pushing himself to the top of the building. He stood on the top of the spire surrounded by darkness. Tears were streaming down his face. He was scared and alone. He spent the rest of the night atop the building. In the morning he returned to the mansion. He sat atop the mansion alone thinking.

Terra

They had traveling with the Morlocks for some time now, as much as Terra appreciated all the help Callisto had given them he couldn’t help but find the whole thing strange; especially due to the fact that one of the mutants tried to hit on his adopted sister Canann. ‘Wait now that I think about it where is she’ and Terra’s look of calm flickered into a more worried look but it quickly passed. Getting up he looked around hoping to find her; but alas he did not and began to ask around as to her whereabouts ‘Aye dios mios! She has firkin white hair how can they have nor noticed her, is it because they have already seen stranger things than a 6’2 girl with white hair And a God damn tail!’ coming back to his sense he heard some people yelp.
Without realizing it Terra had made the earth tremble a bit and some rocks jutted out of the ground causing some people to trip and panic a little. 'Oh crap' and with a well-defined blush of embarrassment Terra walked away fast hoping no one knew it was him, pulling up the hood of his jacket for good measure.

Walking around a bit cleared his head some and he heard a couple kids screaming. It was the kind a child would make when they had fun. It brought a small smile to his lips and he headed towards the direction of the screaming to see what it was they were having so much fun about.

Turning a corner he found Canann crouched down on the ground looking at something on the ground; noticing that there were no lids and assumed she must have scared them off. He gave a light chuckle and leaned against a small structure his hands in his pockets and watched her. After a while a walked over to her and touched her on the shoulder "hey you alright" his voice soft and full of worry.

Canann

having been bored for an incredibly long time she decide to explore what little space she could of the Morlocks sewer home. She thought the people here were nice enough but her adopted older brother Terra didn’t think so. 'Ugh why does he have to be so protective of me' completely unaware of the real reason Terra got mad. "If the situation had turned to That i would a have killed the ugly bastard myself or at least hurt his manhood" and she giggled to herself imagining the Morlocs face if she did so.

Cananna’s mood lightened a bit but was still irritated by what happened the other day. She then came upon a group of kids each one with distinct markings somewhere on the persons that clearly said they were mutants.

Watching them play Canann became jealous of how happy they were 'they have such a nice childhood while mine was-' she shook her head to keep thinking of her past; whispering harshly to herself. "No, no, no i will not think of that i will think happy thoughts and that’s it" repeatedly hitting her head as if by doing so it would stay.

Upon doing so the kids noticed her and ran away scared of her little tantrum leaving behind the pieces of the game on the dirty floor. "Hey wait-"reaching out to them she took a step forward stepping on a plastic jack. Her face instantly light up with joy as she remembered this game as the one Terra taught her when they first met.

Smiling softly Canann thought about Terra and all the things he did for her and she was glad she met him. When a hand touched her shoulder for a moment she thought it was someone she didn’t know until she noticed the scent. 'Ahh Terra' turning to face him she suddenly stood up giving him a giant hug." Terra I’m so glad we met did you know that and don’t worry i forgive you about yesterday okay i still think you’re awesome!” she said smiling into his face.

Terra&Canann

Surprised by the sudden hug Terra fell backwards on his butt and blushed as Canann said he was awesome rubbing the back of his head in the process. "Yeah i guess i am, well um any way could you maybe get off me please" he asked and Canann complied and sat back on her heels looking at him with a mischievous smile. "hehe don’t be so mean Terra so what are we gonna do today?" her curiosity in full.

"umm i don’t know really want to train for a bit or something?" he replied. Standing back up, brushing off the dirt that was on him. Not that it would ever go away fully as he was always dirty no matter how hard he tried.

"Oh i know lets go see what Callisto has for us today" and grabbed Terra’s arm pulling him towards where she assumed the leader of the Morlocks was.

"Canann I’m sure Callisto is busy right now" but Canann simply looked back at and shrugged "i don’t care i wanna see how their doing" and with that she continued to pull Terra behind her despite his outcry of letting him go.

Finally reaching the Morlocks main base they saw Leech one of the scouts go inside informing Callisto of something. After that Callisto had all the able bodied Morlocks to go to the surface and wreak havoc above.

Canann curious as to what was going down followed them up to the surface Terra close behind. The two covered their eyes as they adjusted to the light after being underground for so long. What lay before them was a fight between an incredibly large man vs. mutants (he guessed) some in uniforms; who were trying to hold the big guy back. The opposing mutants then began to attack the group of Morlocks that had swarmed to the surface.

“Hey why are they attacking us for?” Canann looked towards Terra awaiting an answer. And as a reply Terra slammed the palm of his hands into the ground, sinking into the pavement. With a load groan terra then began to pull his hands out of the ground, which resulted in the pavement to follow. The pavement rumbled a multiple mounds appearing the size of large bears. For a moment nothing happened then with a loud rumbling the mounds cracked and shook and uncurled to reveal large Golems. Their eyes glowed and each had a kind of stone in their chest that seemed to glow.

“Alright time to fight boys!” Canann smiled excitedly and ran off to confront the mutants in uniforms going straight towards a man his hair almost in the shape of ears .(OOC: Wolverine) The Golems followed after her lead some of the Morlocks were afraid at first then some jumped on top of the Golems riding them. The Morlocks lead Golems towards the opposing mutants while others ran off and began to trash the place. Terra watched everything from where he stood not really wanting to go head to head, besides he had to concentrate on keeping the Golems from falling apart.

Annabelle was shocked that a metal could stop telepathic waves but didn't dwell on the thought instead she focused on the battle currently happening, she listened to Cyclops' orders and took into account what Xavier had told her earlier,
"I must ask that you try not to get too involved. I don’t want you hurt."
She watched as more people joined the fight, mainly the Morlocks, if they came near her all she'd really be able to do was make them fall asleep and even then that wouldn't do much they'd just wake up 5 minutes later. 'I'll deal with that when I have too.' She thought to herself and returned to the fight before her.
Annabelle mainly focused on dodging anything thrown at her, but her dodging style consisted mainly of dropping to the ground or jumping away from any object flying towards her, but whenever she noticed civilians trapped or too scared to move she'd help them.
Annabelle took note of the Stone golems attacking some of the X men, when she looked back at Juggernaut she was met by a dust bin being hurled towards her, she was knocked through a window with the dust bin. She got up and clutched her chest, she took in heavy breaths as the bin had winded her and made it sore to breathe. She looked back up to the battle and tried to get up but she was far too weak and ended up on all fours gasping for air. "Maybe I should just stay here." She wheezed, not noticing the shards of glass around her and the pieces that managed to lodge themselves in her skin.

Ace

She attacked the first Morlocks that she could reach taking them down easily as they fought with very little style or for they were like animals in her opinion. Reaching into her shadow she drew out a small knife to cut down one of the street signs making sure to take off the sign itself; twirling it around a bit to get a feel for it twirling it backwards with a thrust knocking out the morlock that had tried to ambush her “idiota” mumbling under her breath. She ran towards the nearest one and seemed to dance as she took out the morlcoks but more just kept on coming. “Damn there’s more than I thought”. She rushed to the Prof. “Oi Prof. would you like me to constrict Juggernaut so you guys can take his helmet off, it’ll be difficult so you guys will have to move fast.

Agent Six

Landing lightly on her feet she left the group of X-Men, walking away from the battlefield. Tracing her hand on whatever reflective surfaces she could reach and noticed the oncoming news reporters as they tried to get close to the battle and filming it for the whole world to hear and criticize her people. Stopping short she got to a flipped over car placing her small pale hand on its window and closed her eyes. Suddenly she heard the yelps and whines of the news reporters as their cameras stopped working as the lens went out. ‘humans are such fools no matter how many times you try to fix it as long as I can get to it I can do whatever I wish’ for almost every camera in the vicinity had an observer spirit on the lenses and other reflective surfaces.

Terra

Terra observed the battle before him with calculating eyes and noted the black figure that had destroyed one of his Golems. Then another was destroyed and he could feel a deep aching in his chest as he felt their pain as they became lifeless piles of rubble. “Damn I didn’t think they would find their weakness so soon”. With a heavy sigh Terra slowly got on his feet and headed towards the black figure that let out a terrifying roar. (OOC: Ryan) he weaved around the fighters and caught sight of Canann fighting a burly guy with metal claw-like things coming out of his knuckles. ‘You better be careful Canann you’re not invincible’. Looking away from the two he continued on his way to meet the strange creature that managed to destroy one of his precious Golems, his anger building up inside of him and sent it to all the awakened Golems; who in return let out terrifying roars that shook the ground, their roars sounded like stones grinding against each other letting out a reverberating echo.

As the battle continued to rage around him, Ryan heard Vincent's voice in his head. "Ryan! You don’t know how glad I am to see you. Gosh friend you’ll have to tell me how this new look came about! Ryan I know there is little time, but do know that one’s appearance is not what makes them a monster, it’s their heart and their actions. You my brother, are no monster. You have the heart of an angel. Never forget that, your heart is your strength and that is what we’re all depending on Ryan."

Ryan thought quietly to himself, "Thank you Vincent. Maybe being who I am, being like this... Maybe it's not so bad." Just then, Ryan whipped his head around. He smelled that metallic tang in the air, and smiled. It could only be... it had to be... "Thantos!" Ryan called out, as he whipped his head around to see Thantos dive out of the air and smack a golem in the face. Ryan liked fighting with Thantos. The two were good friends and even better partners. Thantos appeared to be having some issues. He wasn't as effective as he usually was. However, he was doing ok, he managed to bring one down.

Just as Ryan was in the process of disassembling another golem, they all backed away from him and grouped up. He'd found destroying them was more difficult that he'd previously anticipated, they started to reassemble unless you smashed the gem in the center. Ryan disengaged from the fight and adopted a defensive posture, he was down on all fours, his tail lashing wildly. The golems were all grouped around a single boy with black hair (OOC: Terra). Should he fight with this boy? It seemed ok to destroy the golems, they were just made out of stone. However, in this new form, could he hold himself back against something made of flesh? "I don't want to fight with you!" Ryan called out to the boy, "If you're controlling these golems tell them to stand down. The X-Men here, under the direction of Professor Charles Xavier, are simply here to detain that giant monster." Ryan said, pointing to the Juggernaut. "We have no reason to fight with you. Just turn around and we'll leave you alone. If you all retreat, you'll be allowed to leave peacefully. Our only concern here is that thing." Ryan said, once again referring to the Juggernaut.

However, it seemed the boy and the golems, who appeared to be under his control, had other plans for Ryan. Instead of talking, like Ryan would have preferred to do, they all shifted forward, challenging Ryan, who had struck first. Ryan slunk lower to the ground, a low growl rumbling forth from his throat. The golems answered back with a roar of their own. It was so loud, it shook the ground and grated against his ears like the sound of an earthquake. Ryan stepped back. They weren't backing down. Fine, Ryan would do what had to be done. "So be it!" Ryan roared and dove forward towards the golems, sprinting towards them on all fours. He leaped high into air, landing on top of one and smashing its gem.

Ryan jumped off as it crumbled to the ground. Roaring in defiance of the giant golems. Just as he was about to jump on top of another one, he felt a vice like grip attach itself to his tail and he was whipped into the air. The golem swung him around, smashing him into the ground. Ryan's body was being tossed around like a rag doll, however, something was different, strange even. The impacts didn't hurt that much. The bruises and scrapes weren't forming. Sure he was covered in scales, but they couldn't negate all the damage he had to be taking. Was he healing... faster? "No time to test this out," Ryan thought. "I gotta get out of here." Ryan whipped his legs around, stabilizing himself mid-air while the golem flailed him around. Ryan grabbed onto the golem's arm with his arms and legs and held on. When the golem finally stopped shaking him, Ryan planted his feet on the ground, dropped his hips as low as he could, and hip threw the giant golem, tossing it over his shoulder and smashing it onto the ground, roaring as loud as he could while he did it. It let go of his tail and he jumped on top it, and punched it directly on its gem and it smashed easily. Ryan jumped off as what was left of the golem shattered and returned to the ground.

"We can't keep this up." Ryan muttered to himself. Ryan looked over at the boy with the black hair, who seemed to be studying him, as if he were some foreign anomaly. He was the one who was controlling them. If Ryan took him down, the golems would stop. However, it wasn't as simple as he thought. The golems were regenerating slowly. Not wasting anymore time, Ryan charged at the boy with the black hair, intent on getting him to stop his geological assault.

As Ryan was charging towards the black haired, boy, he heard him say, "Fine you wanna fight one on one, be my guest. But don't ever underestimate me just because I use my Golems to fight." The boy was glaring at him, quickly throwing off his jacket, his shirt wet with sweat on his collar and under his arms. 'The golems must take a good bit out of him.' Ryan thought. 'Still, by targeting my family, he's made himself my enemy, no holding back.' Ryan roared and leaped at the boy, who took a deep breath. He closed his eyes for a moment then they snapped open just as Ryan reached him.

The boy ducked low, causing Ryan to completely miss his target, flying over the boy, Ryan spun around to face him, just in time to see him stab his fists into the ground then pull them out. The rock and earth itself had bound to his hands and upper arms, creating huge earthen fists. He brought his hands up close to his face like a boxer and started punching the air for no reason. Just as Ryan was about to lunge at him again, he stopped, his instincts telling him to hang back. SOmething was off. Just then the earth around him erupted into a hail of sharp, rocky spikes. They jutted out of the ground, coordinated with his punches. Luckily, Ryan's instincts had been right, he dodged the spikes gracefully, weaving in and out of them as if he were made of smoke. Finally, the boy seemed to give up on that particular offensive maneuver and rushed Ryan, flinging all his weight into a wicked cross that caught Ryan on the side of his face and spun him into the dirt, forcing him onto all fours. Ryan blacked out for a second, the impact had been massively heavy, despite the boy's sleight frame. The world was spinning and Ryan felt his heavy eyelids close.

Just then, something snapped in Ryan. As the boy threw a second punch, attempting to smash the back of his head into the dirt, the Leviathan's fist flew up of its own accord, catching the punch mid-flight and squeezing his rock covered fist like a vise. So strong was the Leviathan's grip, that the rock around his fist shattered, the Leviathan's claws tightened around Terra's hand, something primal awakened within the depths of Ryan's psyche. Ryan had been repressing it through sheer force of will, trying to be more human than beast. However, with his newly changed form, Ryan's predatory instincts had awakened, forcing their way through. They couldn't be held back any longer. Ryan's eyes changed from their friendly and warm golden color, to an orange and red hue. There was no longer any love in those eyes. They were empty, and murderous. The Leviathan's feet, dug into the ground, he threw the boy's hand from his own and instantly jumped back six feet, landing on all fours, looking the boy square in his eyes. The Leviathan had sensed fighting intent, and he was bent on reducing it to nothingness. The Leviathan's tail lashed wildly, he circled the boy slowly, waiting for an opportunity to sink his teeth into the boy's throat. When he thought he found an opening, he seized it, lunging forward, claws extended, and jaws gaping wide. His sharp teeth glinted in the light.

As the golems backed off Ryan went to face off against the boy who seemed to be controlling them. Thantos watched wanting to see how this new form had changed his friend. Ryan charged the man but was put off as his stone covered hands started punching spikes out of the ground. They closes into hand to hand combat Ryan got punched in the face and went spinning to the ground. As the boy went to close in for another hit. Ryan grabbed his hand crushing the rock shield around it following suit with the other shortly after. Something wasn't right. Something in Ryan had changed. He wasn't himself any more.

The boy vanished and reappeared a few feet away. He quickly covered himself in surrounding rock and dirt forming himself into a giant golem. 'I need to stop Ryan or he's gong to kill that person. Thantos runs up to Ryan. "Ryan stop!" Thantos stops between Ryan and the giant golem holding his staff in a defensive position. "I don't want to hurt you Ryan your my friend, but I can't let you kill this person."

Terra

he didnt understand why this mutant wanted to help him but he didnt care. he was being stupid for getting in the way of his friend. "no get out ofthe way thats not your friend right now he is simply an animal, a killer" his voice low and rumbling.

Canann

she was having trouble dealing with the man with long claws he kept regenerating everytime she cut him but she wasnt able to regenerate so she was at a disadvantage. "dammit why cant you just stay down"snarling at her opponent. Canann then noticed any loose dirt or stone levitate off the ground and flew towards an unknown source as if drawn to something. but she knew better, this was Terras doing and it wasnt good. 'shit Terra stop you'll die' leaving her opponent to confront Terra but her opponent wouldnt let her go so she had to watch as Terra began to fight the weird black man.

Ace

looking for Frenzy and Collossus amongst all the chaos only to find them surrounded by the Morlocks."dammit" she ran over towards the two helping them take down their attackers and briefly explained what she planned and how it could help Vila. "alright now help me find him-Crap" though Ace did find Juggernaut he wasnt alone in his hands he held Annabelle crushing her and an uncounsious Scott at his feet. "okay change of plans first we need to get Scott away from him i'll handle that you two get Annabelle" without waiting to see if they understood she dived into the nearest shadow and appeared in Scotts shadow. she came up to her waist and pulled him through, to later appear off to the side Scott slung over her shoulder. she set him down and raced back to Juggernaut. "okay i do hope this works" concentrating she willed Juggernauts shadow to become tendrils that began to snake up and around his body constricting him.but Juggernaut wasnt just about to let his own shadow stop him. with a roar he actually managed to tear through his own shadow and slammed his fist into Ace knocking her back hard. for a brief moment she blacked out and she wasnt breathing.

the shadows loosened a bit and began to drift back to his shadow only to go back to constricting him this time even harder than before. Ace gasped for breathe and a cruel smile spread across her face, her left eye was completely black save for a yellow iris; Alice had woken up and she wanted to kill oh so badly. standing up shakily, blood dripped from a large cut on her forhead which was proably the cause of Ace loseing counsious and just the perfect opening for Alice take control of their body. "you'll pay for that you oversized bastard" lightly touching the cut. the shadows nearest her began to squirm and black figures walked out of them slowly taking on the image of their master. two appeared in Juggernauts shadow holding him down they looked up at him through the slits of the mask they all wore. "id get the girl if i were you before i kill this ugly bastard" Coming from Alice something was definately wrong but it didnt matter at the moment, Juggernaut was stuck and now was the time to rescue Annabelle and take off his helmet.

When the Leviathan reached the boy, he passed right through him. His teeth closing around... sand? Blegh. He spat it out, the tiny gritty rocks tasted terrible. The Leviathan thrashed his tail and roared, his prey was gone, where was it?! It was no where to be found. The Leviathan couldn't even smell him until... wait... there it was! The prey had appeared out of the ground near him. Sand was pouring out of every opening in his clothes and hair. The boy was breathing hard, good. The Leviathan crouched low to the ground, preparing to strike. He circled the prey once more, drawing in ever closer, until... Something was wrong. The Leviathan jumped back, rocks and dirt and sand were flying towards his prey, conglomerating on top of his body and sheilding it from the Leviathan's teeth and claws.

The earth covered his entire body and the boy kept growing and growing until he looked just like the other Golems from before. However, it was different this time. The boy... well... the monster, was 3 times as big as the golems from before, and there was no glowing stone in his chest. It seemed to look over into the distance, but the Leviathan didn't care. It had dropped its guard and that was an opportunity. The Leviathan would smash it to pieces.

Thantos, however, had different plans. He ran up to Ryan, trying to stop him from killing that giant rock beast. "Ryan stop!" Thantos stood between the Leviathan and the giant golem holding his staff in a defensive position. "I don't want to hurt you Ryan, you're my friend, but I can't let you kill this person." The Leviathan didn't care about this boy, but it seemed Ryan did, he would live... for now. Then he heard the giant speak, "No. Get out of the way! That's not your friend right now. He is simply an animal, a killer." his voice low and rumbling.

The Leviathan, however, was hungry. He charged the pair, flinging Thantos out of the way as if he were nothing but a twig, using much more of Ryan's strength than he knew he possessed. The Leviathan, on the other hand, did know. He did it on purpose. The man with the stick had gotten in his way, he needed to be removed. As soon as he'd disposed of the nuisance, he finished closing the gap between him and the giant, pouncing up on top of him, and aiming to peel the rocks off of his body and drag him out from inside his armor. Then... the Leviathan would feast.

Terra

"no stop" he reached out towards the foolish boy with the staff. One of the Golems noteing his creator cry caught the boy gentely in its arms, setting him down. Its first instinct kicked in, Protect The Creator. letting out a roar the lone Golem charged at his creators would be killer only to feel the wrath of the creatures hunger and he broke away into a useless mound of dirt and stone.

Terra was mad now andd letting out a roar of his own met the creature head on, grabbing his long black tail Terra swung him around the flung him into the ground hoping he would stay down.'come on, come on dont get up i dont want to lose control. "please for both our lives just stay down before i lose control please" Terra pleaded but he knew there was a slim chance he would listen.

(Oops, double posted when I meant to edit. Sorry guys. XP)

Luckily for Thantos, he was caught by one of the rock giant's golems. It set him down gently, before roaring at the Leviathan and then it tried to charge him. The Leviathan smashed it, a single strike was all it took. However, the Leviathan was distracted by the golem for a second, just a split second, and that was all the giant needed.

It grabbed the Leviathan's tail and swung him around then flung him into the ground. Once again the Leviathan was flung through the air, being smashed into things, and once more the tough scales on his body and the horns on his head protected him from harm. "Please, for both our lives' sake just stay down before I lose control. Please..." The giant pleaded with him. However, there was no mercy in the Leviathan's eyes. It got back onto its feet, shook itself off, and began to circle the giant once more. The Leviathan was hungry. The stupid rock was hard, and unappetizing. It needed to be removed. However, it was trying to make a deal with him. It was tired. The Leviathan, on the other hand, wasn't slowing down just yet.

Just then, the Leviathan charged at the giant, a massive arm swept him away, but that was what he was waiting for. Just as the Leviathan hit the air, he lashed out with his tail, grabbing the giants wrist and pulling himself onto it. He'd taken a heavy blow to get there, but it didn't matter, he was on top of him. The Leviathan wrapped his arms and legs around the monster's arm, squeezing the life out of it. The giant flailed wildly, smashing the Leviathan into the ground again and again, but he didn't let go, not for one second, tightening his grip all the while, until... crick... crack... Just a little more... CRUSH! The sheer force of the Leviathan's constriction shattered the monster's left arm. The giant flung the Leviathan off and he landed with a thud off. He got up, slower this time, onto all fours, facing the giant. With one arm disabled, the other would shortly follow, then, finally, the Leviathan would rip off whatever rock remained and devour the soft flesh inside. However, the giant was guarding himself more closely now, not wanting to let him take his other arm, or get in any closer.

The Leviathan just closed in, circling all the while, trying to catch the rock giant off guard. One false move, one tiny opening and it would all be over. One chance was all it would take, then the Leviathan would feast upon his flesh.

Thantos was in shock. Ryan had attacked him, and even more surprisingly a golem from the person they were fighting saved him. 'I have to stop Ryan. I can't face him head to head but I can tire him out.' While Thantos was thinking Ryan had jumped onto the golem's arm and was beginning to crush it. Thinking fast Thantos noticed that Ryan was still wearing his metal soled shoes. He ran to a position behind Ryan while he was now circling the crippled golem. "Ryan I'm sorry but I can't let you loose yourself like this you have to come back!" Thantos anchored himself steel pulling on a sewage pipe below him and then pulling on the shoes on Ryan's feet. 'At least I can slow him down some.'

However Ryan's greater mass was pulling Thantos closer to him. Cursing in his mind he started to panic. Through a sudden burst of clarity Thantos was able to begin burning Pewter along with his Steel increasing the force of his pulling and the anchor to the ground. He stopped moving forward and Ryan was drastically slowed for the time being. "Ryan you need to stop this now come back. If you kill him you'll be hurting your family!" Hoping that somehow beyond all reason his message would get through to Ryan and stop this beast he held on for as long as he could his energy quickly fading.

Terra

all he felt was excruciating pain as it came wave after wave through his body as the black creature tore his earthen armour off his arm. thankfully he managed to throw him off, but the black creature continued to circle him looking for an opening that Terra hoped he would never give. unfortunately Canann thought diffrently and ran over to the two. she tackled the black creature only to have him grabbed her by the throat and flung away like a doll. Terra yelled and ran over towards hers "Canann, Canann wake up are you okay Canann say something!" but all Canann could do was look around before she passed out.

"Canann!" Terra too had lost it anger welled up within him and he turned to face the black creature letting out a deafening roar full of anger and pain as more of his Golems fell. Terra charged, the earth around him began to tremble and crack, his arm began to regenrate; the earth once more becomeing armour. tensing his legs Terra jumped high his fists raised above his head and he brought them down on the creature crushing him at the most if he did not evade. a large crater formed where his fists smashed the ground cracks began to form as the pavement broke away forming piles ontop each other. but Terra wasnt done, not yet he had already lost councious with that last attack, the only thing keeping him upright was the drive to keep Canann and himself alive in one piece. he reached out towards her still body, picking her up gentely in his large arms and walked away from the battlefield that he no longer wanted a part off; ignoring the black creature.

as Terra walked away his stone armour began to break away, his body sinking into the dirt as if it were water. his eyes glowed a redish white color soon and soon his head was submerged until he was completely gone.

Just as the Leviathan was closing in for the kill, a girl tackled him. The pair tumbled to the ground, but the Leviathan wasn't playing around. His claws found his their mark around her throat. He lifted her into the air, growled at her distastefully, and threw her from him. She wasn't the rock giant and she wasn't the boy with the stick, and she was in his way. This seemed to have displeased the giant, it yelled and ran over towards her, "Canaan! Canaan wake up! Are you okay? Canaan say something!" but all Canaan could do was look around before she passed out.

"Canaan!" The giant let out a deafening roar full of anger and pain, it turned to face the Leviathan, who lowered to all fours and once again, prepared himself to kill the monster. The giant charged, the earth around him began to tremble and crack, his arm began to regenerate; the earth once more becoming his armor. Tensing his legs the giant jumped high, his fists raised above his head and he brought them down, intent on crushing the Leviathan. Just then, the Leviathan felt a pulling sensation on his hind legs. He looked back and saw the boy with the stick, that he thought he'd discarded, reaching out towards him. As the giant fell on top of him, the Leviathan realized he wouldn't be able to dodge. He growled impatiently, attempting to get free. Thinking fast, the Leviathan jumped back, his movement aided by the pulling on his hind feet. A large crater formed where the giant's fists smashed into the ground, cracks began to form as the pavement broke away forming piles on top each other.The giant reached out towards the body of the girl the Leviathan had discarded, picking her up gently in his large arms and walking away; ignoring the Leviathan. The Leviathan no longer sensed fighting spirit. Killing unwilling and unprepared prey was worthless. It wasn't worth it if the prey wouldn't fight back.

The Leviathan, did however, turn his head towards the boy with the stick. It seemed he'd hampered him from attacking the giant, but he'd also saved him by providing extra backward propulsion. The Leviathan kicked off his shoes. The pulling sensation from earlier seemed to be coming from them, there must be something special about them. Regardless, the Leviathan sensed fighting spirit, and he wanted to see what it tasted like. He charged the boy with the stick, pouncing on top of him, and pinning him to the ground. The Leviathan growled softly, looking deeply into the boy's eyes. There was sadness there. He didn't want to fight for the glory of it, and he wasn't fighting to kill the Leviathan. It was a strange look, but it obviously didn't want to fight anymore. The Leviathan decided he could live. However, if he tried to hamper him again, the Leviathan could die. Scaring him away was his best bet. The Leviathan roared as loud as he could in the boy's face. If that didn't scare him away, he deserved to die foolishly.

The Leviathan leaped off of the boy, looking around for worthy prey. He saw a massive creature throw off bindings made of shadow and light. It was strong. It was, however, giving the multiple people it was fighting trouble, and deep, somewhere in his psyche, the Leviathan felt something pushing him towards the monster. He needed to protect the people there. He felt a deep bond with the group of people engaging that raging behemoth. He charged off into the battle. He was tired, and slowing down from his fight with the stone giant, but he felt a need, more pressing than hunger and survival, to bring down the behemoth in order to protect the people it was fighting. As he ran over to them, a pair of mutants punched the monster in the chest, sending him flying. The Leviathan changed direction, heading straight for the monster, who was now slowly getting up. Roaring his presence to the new prey, the Leviathan leaped into the air, pouncing on top of the behemoth and setting him off balance.

The Leviathan struck at the behemoth's head, pounding it with his fists and scraping it with his claws, but nothing seemed to phase it. It's head was odd shaped and hard, nothing was even wounding it. He appeared to have some sort of covering on top of him, bound in place by some odd mechanism. He kicked at it with his powerful legs, attempting to dislodge the cover and expose his real head. Just as he could feel the mechanism loosening, he felt a vice like grip enclose around his body. The behemoth's massive hands had found him, and were tightening very quickly, threatening to squeeze the life out of him. The Leviathan felt his body compress and howled in pain, clawing at the hands that held him and biting the soft flesh. He managed to get his knees underneath the monster's fingers and kicked out as hard as he could. At first nothing moved, but slowly, the grip loosened. The Leviathan roared in defiance, pushing against his bindings with all of his strength. Then, the Leviathan felt something change. The spines on his back and his horns lengthened, his scales thickened, and his canines grew. His claws became more jagged and wicked, growing longer and harder. The Leviathan felt his whole body strengthen, he pushed even harder against the monster's hands with renewed vigor, until the Leviathan was almost completely free of them. However, it seemed the contest of strength bored the behemoth, who reasserted his grip around the Leviathan's body in an instant and threw him. The Leviathan flew through the air until he felt something stop him. The air pressure from the speed he was moving made it impossible to move his tail and limbs to adjust his body mid-flight. He crashed into a building and blacked out instantly, his body exhausted, and his mind fading. The Leviathan's eyes slowly closed and he drifted off into sleep.

Ryan's golden eyes fluttered opened. He appeared to have made quite an entrance in the building he was resting in. It seemed as if he'd been thrown through the front wall and blasted through several walls before stopping in the pile of rubble he was currently laying on. Ryan's eyes flitted around, almost blinded by the light after having his eyes closed for so long. He couldn't remember how he got there, but he was sure it had to do with that impulse that hit him before he went under. All Ryan remembered was a ravenous hunger and an urge to kill. He hoped he hadn't hurt anyone too badly. Ryan got up and dusted himself off, when he heard some rocks skittering across the floor and footsteps. He hid behind a large chunk of building, making sure his tail wouldn't expose him. Ryan peeked out from his hiding place, then immediately ducked back into it. There was a mutant there with him, but it was disfigured and strange. Definitely a morlock. "Hmm... Why hide form me boy? I can smell you. " Ryan heard the mutant say. "You smell strange little one, scaled and strong like a Morlock, but different. You smell like a human too. Come out boy, I won't hurt you." At that, Ryan stepped out from behind his hiding place and the morlock hissed, his eyes forming slits, his posture becoming defensive. "But, he's wearing one of those infernal X's. Still, I wonder. Who are you, little one?" Ryan's whole body tensed, that's when he felt it. He body was so... sturdy. So strong. Ryan felt like he could lift a mountain if he had to. Still, his body felt strangely heavy, not an unpleasant heaviness, but heavy nonetheless. Looking down, Ryan had to surpress a gasp. The scales that were usually carefully groomed back and set close to the skin had grown much more rampantly than he remembered letting them. They jutted out from his body at odd angles, but they felt strangely powerful, as if they couldn't be broken. Ryan heard the morlock again, breaking his reverie, "Best be going back to Callisto, she'll know what to do with you. Eh?" At that, Ryan sprung backward, much farther than he'd intended, he'd misjudged his strength, it was so odd. The Morlock stepped forward slightly, as if to give chase, then discarding the idea. "I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm going back to protect my family from the Juggernaut." Ryan growled adamantly, his teeth bared. "Ohh, so you are an X-man." It said. "In that case, I definitely can't let you leave. A mutant like you, so strong, and inhuman, you can't belong with the X-men. You're much to bestial for them. Come with me boy. You can learn what you really are with us." Ryan shook his head. "I'm sorry, I already belong to one family. I can't pledge myself to another. I mean you no harm, we are brothers, mutants. Leave me be, and I will have no reason to fight you. You can go in peace." Ryan said, backing away from the Morlock before him. "That's just it," the morlock said, baring his own teeth. "I can't let you leave. You're coming with me." Ryan sighed, "So be it."

The Morlock charged him, but Ryan keenly stepped to the side and twirled his whole body around, generating enough momentum to whip his tail underneath the morlock's feet, sending him into the air. The Ryan brought his leg up into the air, then harshly back towards the ground, ax kicking the morlock's exposed back. The morlock smashed into the ground, completely knocked out. "I am sorry." Ryan said. "I cannot go with you, but I don't wish you any harm. Sleep for now, then make your escape when you can. Good luck, brother..." Ryan said, trailing off. He stood up, then ran outside to return to the battle field and assist his friends. Poor Thantos and the others must be worried sick about him. Ryan stooped low to the ground, then raced ahead on all fours, pouring through the debris and cars like water. When he was approaching the battle field, he almost crashed into a parked car, making a good deal of noise and correcting half-assedly to get out of sight behind a corner of a building. Walking towards the battle were two mutants he knew very well, Memory, and his teacher, Miss Black. Ryan almost started hyperventilating. What would he do? Surely they heard him, they must have. "Oh crap," Ryan thought, berating himself for not choosing a different path. "They had to have seen me, they must think I'm a morlock. Oh jeez..." Ryan heard them call out to him. What should he do? "Umm..." Ryan said, loud enough for them to hear. "It's ok, it's just me, Ryan. You guys might wanna... umm... go somewhere else. The professor and the rest of the X-men are battling the Juggernaut. It's really dangerous. It's... umm... it's not a place for people who should be in the infirmary and students without combat abilities. I don't mean any disrespect or anything, but it's not safe. So... umm... you should just turn around and go home." Ryan was sweating bullets. He needed to go back and help the professor, but he also didn't want them to see him. What would they think of him? He was so different from how he normally looked. He looked... He looked like a monster. Even though Vincent had said he was ok, Ryan knew he looked scary. He looked like a monster.