Chapter 1

Pain.

Excruciating in its intensity.

It permeated his mind and nearly collapsed his body. It was a gripping, relentless agony that brought with it the urge to vomit and he welcomed the sensations...

Because pain meant he was alive.

Pain meant he was aware.

Pain was his link to reality and the tether he'd used to pull himself up from his drug-like stupor. He felt dark liquid envelop him, swallowing him, sucking him under, and twisting him in circles, then propelling him up to the surface— only to gasp a single breath of air. A gasp and he was under again.

And there was heat, a strange moist heat in his temple that seared through the freezing darkness that kept dragging, a fire where no fire besides Amaterasu should burn. There was ice, too; an ice like feeling throbbing in his stomach and his legs and his chest and his right arm, oddly warmed by the coldness that surrounded. He felt these things, acknowledging his own panic as he gradually felt them.

He could see his own body turning and twisting, arms and feet working frantically against the pressure of the dark whirlpool. He could feel, think, see, perceive, panic and struggle—yet strangely there was peace. It was the calm of the observer, the uninvolved observer, separated from the events, knowing of them but not essentially involved.

Then another form of panic spread through him, surging through the heat and ice and the uninvolved recognition. He could not submit to peace! Not yet! No, he still had fight left in him.

He kicked furiously, clawing away at the heavy walls of water above, his chest throbbing and burning. He broke surface, thrashing to stay on top of the black swells.

A monstrous rolling wave accommodated; he was on the crest, surrounded by pockets of foam and darkness. Nothing. You can do it! You can do it!

It happened. The explosion was massive; he could hear it through the raging and clashing waters and wind, the sight and the sound somehow his doorway to peace. The sky lit up like a fiery diadem and within the crown of fire, objects of all shapes and sizes were blown through the light into the outer shadows.

He had won. Whatever this was. He had won.

Suddenly he was plummeting downward again, into an abyss again. He could feel the rushing, watery darkness crash over his shoulders, cooling the white hot heat in his temple, warming the ice cold incisions in his stomach and his legs and…

His chest. His chest was in complete and utter agony. It felt like he had been struck; the blow crushing, the impact so sudden that it jarred and rattled his very teeth and felt like the very cells in his body was being pulled apart at the seams. Leave me alone. Give me peace.

And he clawed again and kicked again… until he felt something. He couldn't tell what it was, but it was there and he could feel it, hold it.

Hold it! It will ride you to peace. To the silence of darkness… and peace.

The outskirts of Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters

George Bartley awoke with a start, his chin settled into his collarbone, causing the odor of his mouth to invade his nostrils; it was not pleasant. He blinked, orienting himself, and glanced at the monitors in front of his eyes. Had his nap been interrupted by his partner? No; there was no sound from him, thankfully, no doubt he was sure that if his partner Gabe had caught him sleeping on the job again, he would have rewarded with a series of obscenities that would leave a sailor blushing in total embarrassment.

The monitors and high tech equipment within his government issued Mk 3 Sentinel unit did not pick up any disturbances, not even a sound. Even the crows that were picked up on the different individual scanners were mercifully quiet; it was Westchester County, New York's holy day, it was as quiet as the grave.

George looked at the empty glass and half empty bottle of whiskey on the tray besides his soft, black, upholstered comfy chair. It was an improvement. On a normal Sunday, both would be empty now, the pain of the previous night having been spiraled out by the scotch. He smiled to himself, mentally patting himself on the back for being able to land a job within SHIELD (Strategic Hazard, Intervention, Espionage Logistics Directorate), which of course hired only the best of the best; after all being an Ex Navy seal did give him employment.

George gave a small chuckle as he shook his head ruefully, while pouring himself another drink. Their orders were to guard the Xavier Institute and the mutants that inhabited the building. Sure he'd done it on more than one occasion; sure he was one of the few individuals who had a clear respect for some of the mutants in the community. But he was sure that his partner, Gabe, didn't share his optimism nor his sentiment.

No doubt because of the tragedy that befell him when his wife had been killed and eaten by the monstrosity known as Venom a couple years back. Gabe didn't tell him much about what happened that night, but George was sure that the event scarred him, changed him. George couldn't even imagine what he'd have done in his friends place, he honestly didn't know and neither did he want to know.

Red light suddenly bathed the entire area around them, George looking up in alarm, his eyes wide with shock as an object rocketed towards their location, wreathed in fire, the very air rumbling from the force of its inner planetary fall.

'A meteorite?' Gabe exclaimed over the microphone, his voice filled with complete surprise and shock. George simply gaped at the sight in complete shock as the largest piece of space debris he had ever seen continued to plummet towards its landing zone with celerity unbefitting its massive size and shape.

Sometimes it happens fast enough to correct mistakes, but sometimes it just seem to occur in slow motion, and other times it happened faster than one could blink. George was taken completely by surprise by the sudden appearance of the meteorite, and by the time he tried to brace himself for the impact. It was already too late.

A massive explosion the size of a small nuclear warhead tore itself through the air in front of him, and slammed directly into the center of the square. George covered his eyes and head, allowing his military training to take control of his body, from the dust and shrapnel that pelted his Sentinel from all sides as the shockwave rolled over them.

George lay still, as he'd been instructed. Luckily for him, he had enough alcohol in his system that he didn't notice his head clunk hard on the visual screen in front of him. Blood drained down his left eye from a cut above his eye, but he was fine. His military training instantly rose to mind as he covered his head and waited the blast out, his ears practically ringing from the loud noise outside of his sentinel unit.

Eventually the chaos died out, returning its natural calm. He gaped visibly, and his eyes widened in horrified disbelief as he dazed down at the crater that had been dug up by the impact. Easily fourty feet deep; eighty feet in diameter. The walls of the crater itself were vaporized, a clear testament of how fast the large chunk of rock had been moving when it ploughed through the atmosphere.

The sound of water woke him. It was a heavy, repetitive sound: water sloshing against something solid, over and over, as if he were lying inside the bottom of a pool that was rapidly draining and refilling itself. There was a strange metallic taste in his mouth and he was conscious of a nagging, persistent pain that radiated all over his entire being. With a groan, the figure's eyes began to flutter open, and a deep groan resonated from his throat.

The being's earliest existence had been one of pain, one that resembled an ice pick being dragged up and over his entire being. Sheer and unbridled agony had composed every conscious moment, a suffering that had known no end until recently, where his mind and body had simply fell into oblivion's arms into a realm beyond the pain and suffering.

Even now unimaginable heat sizzled through his veins and the pain still plagued him, but at a much less intensity. His skin felt much hotter than boiling metal. Much hotter than anything he'd ever experienced.

The pressing weight of the liquid filled him with power, with… comfort.

'How…did I get here?' he wondered, floating aimlessly in the sea of darkness. 'What am I doing here? What is… my purpose?'

'Punish them.' A voice seemed to whisper in the deep reaches of his mind.

'Punish…them? The being wondered, not even questioning the second voice that had apparently sounded within his own head. 'Punish… who?'

'Punish your enemies'

'Enemies?' The figure wondered, brow furrowing slightly in confusion as the voice echoed in his head, some deep and dark emotions rose from the back of his mind. 'What… enemies?

An image of blue world appeared in his mind, populated by a race of two legged creatures of varying race and status. He saw them living bunched together like cattle in massive cities, saw them living opulently and others in poverty, committing atrocities and working miracles for one another. He saw giant, assorted mechanical figures, piloted by men and women brutally massacre several of the two legged beings without hesitation and without prejudice.

'Are they… my enemies?' The being wondered as his mind was practically racing as he tried to take in all the piece of information at once.

'They are our enemies, so they must be annihilated at all costs.'

Several moments of silence passed before the figure opened his eyes. His earlier fear of the unknown was strangled by a fresh batch of rage. His fingers and toes were suddenly tipped with razor-sharp claws. His breathing became erratic, and his heart felt like it was going to rip itself out of his chest. Fangs grew in his mouth and dark rings formed around his eyes.

'Hurt them all. Remember what you suffered through. Make them see and feel your grief. Let them see what it means to really suffer.'

'I… understand' The figure murmured, his features hardened as his eyes burst open, the whites of his eyes were flooded with red.

'Punish them, Naruto.'

Yes I will punish them The figure growled, his clawed hand clenched into a fist as he glared at the cracking darkness around him with pent up rage and aggression. Yes, their last sight on this world will be; me!

'That's right, kit,' Jubbi smiled sinisterly.

"Damn it, is a decent amount of sleep around here to much to ask for?" Cyclops ignored the remark made by Robert Louis Drake; aka Iceman, but felt that it was well needed. It helped him shake off the impending drowsiness he felt from being woken up three thirty in the morning. Hell, he'd practically fell out of his bed by the violent tremor that had passed over and shook the entire X-Mansion. In Scott's mind, there were only two plausible explanations to this conundrum. Either someone amongst the 198 had done something stupid, something extremely stupid or they were simply under attack by an unknown enemy. Again.

They were woken up by a large burst of purple and red light that seemed the night sky, followed by an earthquake which was probably caused by a Sentinel tumbling over, as if something strong and heavy had struck it. That was definitely not a good sign. Especially since the Sentinel Squad One were supposed to protect and prevent them from leaving the mansion without slight supervision. So, either someone among the 198 decided that their head wasn't screwed on tight or they were under attack.

"Bobby, Kitty, Peter, you're with me. Hank, you're with the 198." Cyclops ordered promptly as he pulled his coat over his frame as he and his team ventured down the stairs, coming to the foyer of the mansion. Already, Hank McCoy, also known as Beast gave a slight nod before he gave a slow run, right before he kicked off a wall and pulled himself over towards another level within the mansion by grabbing onto a railing and hoisting himself over.

All the while Bobby, with his powers beginning to take effect by the ice creeping over his entire body, couldn't help a whistle. "No matter how many times I see Hank do that, it still amazes me. I wish I could do something like that"

"Well you could probably do it to if you actually tried ya know?" Kitty replied simply. A mischievous smile trailed across her lips as Bobby practically gave her a dry look.

"And end up turning myself into an icy pretzel by mistake? No thank you Kitty, I'm perfectly fine with what I've been blessed with." Bobby watched in interest as his large Russian friend hurried over in front of everyone, and opened the doors heading out of the academy as he willed his organic armor to take effect. The others followed behind instantly, and their eyes were wide in complete and total disbelief at what their eyes were actually taking in.

"What…The…Hell"

"Ge…orge…" a broken voice called out, the SHIELD operative couldn't help but groan in pain as his headset buzzed to life, the voice fixing into that Gabe Davi, his commanding officer and partner. "George, what's your status? Damn it; answer me, are you alright!"

Blood trailed down his face from a head wound, and his eyes fluttered as he shook the spots out of his vision. "I'm alive, Serge." George spoke over mouthpiece, despite the jarring, jabbing pain that radiated in the back of his head. He was pretty sure that he had a concussion. He'd suffered a couple in football during his high school days, and he recognized the symptoms. Even though he didn't experience the amnesia that sometimes accompanies a concussion, the nausea, dizziness, and blurred vision had already begun to plague him.

"I'm alive, Serge. "George stammered over the microphone, having remained within the confines of his giant robot during the crash, strapped in place by his seatbelt with his legs trapped between the seat and front of the now ruined Sentinel. His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the now cracked monitor in front of him.

His eyes were wide in terrified disbelief as he gaped up at the… the… thing that was now standing on top of his downed sentinel had sunk its hands into the chest of the robot, and began to effortlessly began to manually pry open the hatch with relative ease. George could hear the strain and pressure being applied by the sounds of metal, steel and circuitry being pulled at the seams like tin foul, and it only filled his soul with even more dread.

If this thing was more than capable of ripping apart two Sentinel units by itself, his face paled dramatically at the mere thought of what it would to do him, especially in his present condition.

He'd been so focused and so scared that he had nearly missed when a red beam blindsided it from the right, sending it skidding across the floor unceremoniously.

"Way to go man, now let's see if we can get this little guy wrapped up good and tight." Bobby cracked his knuckles and immediately used his powers of cryokenesis, and froze the creature in a giant, solid block of ice. After checking his handy work, Bobby patted his hands together and a smug look appeared on his face as he snapped his fingers. "There, see. That wasn't so hard now was it?"

"I don't know… that seemed almost too easy." Kitty spoke out finally, her tremulous voice and the chattering of her teeth told her volumes about how she, too, had been laid low by the ghastly aura that was beyond human ken. At the moment, the only thoughts running through the young woman's mind was getting locking this thing up and getting the hell out of here. Sure when Scott had hit it with one of his optic blasts, she regained a bit of her spirit. But just being around or even close to it sent a chilly feeling down her spine and she didn't like it one bit. "Is it… a mutant or something?"

"I don't know." Piotr admitted truthfully as he regarded the now frozen creature that had been the cause of the night's excitement. The being was tall with a slender human built with long straight red hair that spiked at the end, reaching down his waist past the remains of a tattered black cloak which covered his lower body. Black bandages formed tightly around his torso, arms and face, ending just beneath his black sclera's and white irises.

If anything he got this strange yet bizarre feeling like they were being observed by it somehow. "Out of all the weird and freaky stuff I've seen in my life, this is definitely a first for me.

"Well whatever it is, I'm sure pretty sure that we may need to contact the O.N.E., for assistance in apprehending him.

"Guys, I don't mean to sound paranoid or anything but, why do I get the feeling that it's looking at us?" Bobby spoke out, only to jump in surprise when it did something he didn't' expect. It turned its head towards Bobby and seemed to glare defiantly, despite the fact that he was supposed to be frozen rock solid.

"Holy shit!" Bobby fell on his butt and pointed an accusing finger at their captive. "Please tell me I'm not the only one who didn't freaking see that, that's not normal!"

"Nothing about this thing is normal," Emma finally stepped up with the others, with her hands on her head; allowing her to fully focus her mental powers into play. "Ever since Scott hit him with his optic blast, it's like he's calmed down or something. Deep down inside I can sense two separate minds, both in complete sync to form this."

"So what you're trying to say is… that somehow its possessed or something?"

Emma shook her head. "No, not possessed but something similar along those lines." Even now she could feel her entire body being washed over by a roaring wave of negative emotions and feelings. It was as if the entire world's hatred had taken on form and created this, this; thing. There was simply no other way of describing it.

Just trying to pick away at this phantom's mental defenses was not only a taxing task in itself, but it was drastically putting her mental abilities to the test. Several times already she had nearly fallen prey to being overwhelmed, but she held strong and had finally managed to separate most of its feelings. Despite the impending migraine that she knew she was going to get when this night was over. "The bloodlust, rage and anger are all coming from the darker, sinister of the two minds. And with the other… Its calm and peaceful… somehow. "

Scott observed the creature from behind his red glasses, and he could help shake a slight shiver that went down his spine and gave a sigh. "I really hope this isn't some sort of sick experiment to recreate the Hulk or anything…"

Juubi observed his new adversaries with a neutral expression on his phantom visage, but inwardly he couldn't help but mentally smirk. He smirked beneath his bandages because unlike his last targets, these smaller ones actually had signs of life within them. Yes, he could sense and feel their life energies burning strong within them. So if they had life within them they could bleed, and if they could bleed, then they could surely die.

An ear splitting roar rang soundly into the air, the depth and volume of it all seemed to shake the very earth beneath their very feet, and made everyone's ears ring like bells. In the stunned moments after the roar ended, everyone opened their eyes and had found that their target had vanished.

"Where did he go?" Kitty asked as she and the others began scanning the region. Emma used her telepathic powers to do a mental scan of the region; her eyes were scrunched in deep concentration. Right before her eyes widened in realization and horror.

"Scatter!" Emma yelled to the group as a large shadow slammed into the ground where they had been standing moments ago. The group narrowly evaded being crushed by the monster as everyone scattered away from each other. The being growled and turned his eyes towards Emma. Growling he rushed at the woman with clawed hands out ready to tear her very flesh off of her body.

He slashed at Emma's stomach only to find that the woman had turned into some sort of crystal or diamond like substance, right before his claws found their mark. Instinct was the only that saved Emma's Frosts skin as she was absolutely sure that had she not transformed into her diamond like state, she would have had the honor and horror of watching her intestines spill across the ground in a bloody display.

Sparks flew off of her skin as the pure power and force behind the blow was incredible, so much so that it sent barreling across the fields, smashing unceremoniously into the water fountain. Emma floated to the surface feeling the pain and spasm of the attack traveling all over her body and the fact that the water was freezing cold didn't help either. She guided herself over the edge and lied on her belly on the wet edge, briefly trying to recuperate and catch her breath.

Incredible. Emma though as a violent coughing fit took her over, and blood seeped down from both sides of her lips. Even in my organic diamond form, he was still able to hurt me.

"Emma!" Scott cried out worriedly as he hurried over to his lover, all the while he let loose a volley of optic blasts that had the effect of catching the creature off guard and pushing it off its feet and into the ground.

The creature growled in anger and annoyance, and had quickly righted itself back on its feet. But before he even had the chance to jump off the ground, tentacles formed from ice grew from the ground and wrapped themselves around his legs, arms, waist and neck. He struggled to break free as he felt himself being pulled hard into the ground.

"Damn it!" Bobby said as he strained and focused as much his ice powers as he could to hold the monster down. "I could use some help here people!"

Colossus and Kitty had already motioned into the direction Bobby was at.

"Wait! Emma cried out, despite the pain that flooded her system. "Don't-"

The monster broke free of his confinements and gave a loud and vicious roar in the direction of the senior X-Men. Scott, Kitty and Colossus were hit and thrown backwards off of their feet and were sent flying into trees and rocks. Bobby appeared behind the monster, gave a shout of frustration. Ice shot up from the ground started engulfing the creatures form as the ice man continued focusing his affinity of manipulating ice to restrain and hold the creature back as best as he could.

"God… damn it" Bobby Drake couldn't help and complain. "Why the hell won't you-"

He was abruptly cut off when a powerful burst of black energy surrounded by a white energy dome exploded from the creature's body. Bobby was pulled into the white spinning orb for a few seconds, right before the dome exploded violently with a bright flash of white light, momentarily bathing the vicinity in light and blinding everyone as it promptly destroyed sections of the surrounding landscape. The force of the explosion was enough to not only completely eradicate the ice that had imprisoned the beast, but thrust and propelled Bobby across the ground. All the while creating craters with each bounce and crash he made.

"Bobby!" Kitty cried out worried, as she, Scott and Colossus were about to head over to rescue him when they saw the creature static blurred in their midst.

"You bastard!" Colossus roared as he rushed past his teammates, pushing himself forward with the massive strength of his legs towards hic chosen target, his fist raised. "You're going to pay for what you've done!"

The metal man's fist made contact with the flat of the bandaged mask of the creature's face with a solid thump. The force hit him dead on and was enough to make it slide back a half an inch, but did next to nothing close to harming it as it stood there and absorbed the barrage of Colossus's punches that he had sent his way.

"What!" Was the only reply Colossus could speak before the creature clenched its fist and delivered a vicious punch into the metal man's guts. The metal man instantly coughed blood as he doubled over in pain and he was sure that he could feel the ground beneath his feet literally shatter. The sickening crack of bone told him that this thing was able to bypass his defense, and the strike had managed to break at least five of his ribs. It then grabbed Colossus by the neck and held him up off of the ground with a grip that threatened to crush his wind pipe. The Russian struggled to breathe as his supply of oxygen was cut off from him, and he fact that he was choking on his blood didn't help his situation any.

"Piotr!" Kitty cried, her breathing and heart rate sped up as the fear and adrenaline set in from the situation that was before her. The creature casually threw Colossus to the side and was met by a fury of punches and kicks. As fast, practiced and polished as they were, the creature evaded and blocked every last one, even the ones that had been meant to phase through his arm and grab his heart. Kitty Pryde was completely and surprised, though she made the biggest mistake in her entire life. She let her guard down.

With uncanny speed, the creature feigned a duck to the left, and when his foe threw her punch, went to the right and struck a nerve bundle just under her armpit with his straightened finger. The young woman cried out in pain and swung her arm backwards, hoping to catch her adversary.

It casually ducked underneath the predictable swing, and slammed its flattened palm into the center of the girl's chest, followed by a blow that made his hand look like a smudged blur that impacted her liver, which left her momentarily surprised and blood flew out of her mouth, followed by a swift round house kick to the face. The young woman flew backwards like a brick wall, and didn't get back up.

Ignoring the two that had tried to get in his way, he turned his head back towards the direction of Emma Frost, but was effectively stopped when a tremendous and vicious amount of concussive force struck him in back force. The force behind it was so incredible that sent the creature through the air, flying into the woods. Rocks and trees alike were pulverized as it finally came to a stop and lay supine.

Scott panted lightly as he looked for a moment at the creature, and seeing that it wasn't moving, took a sigh of relief. If that last attack didn't do anything, he wasn't sure what he would do.

He looked toward Kitty's unconscious frame and watched as Piotr managed to carefully hold her in his arms bridal style, despite the fact that the large man looked as if he would pass out at any moment. If anything, she was the reason he managed to do as much damage as he did, despite the fact that she had gotten badly in the process.

That was when he heard movement behind him.

Scott turned and saw the beast righting itself from where it had fallen. When it had regained its foot; with no signs of Scotts attack doing any damage to it whatsoever on its body. Its head turned to stare at him for a moment before he raised an arm into the air and gave a deep bellow.

'Damn it, what is he doing now?' Scott observed in horror as the monster seemed to let loose a barrage of what appeared to be spheres. Multi-colored spheres of different shapes and sizes found themselves floating into the air listlessly. Had this been any other occasion, he and Emma would have found the display incredibly beautiful. But this was a life or death situation, so he quickly wiped the notion from his mind and looked on as the creature was now gathering the spheres within his palms.

Even Colossus who had already made his way towards Scott and Emma looked on in confusion at the action.

"Emma, talk to me, what's happening!" Scott couldn't help but feel a little worried.

The spheres gradually continued to compress and grew until it had taken the shape and form of what appeared to be a tiny white and black ball the size of a gum drop, and it had focused directly in the flat of its palm.

"Oh, my…" Emma Frost's eyes lit up into complete and utter shock and horror as realization dawned on her. Her face drained of its beautiful color and left her pale and sick. "Scott! He's going to fire that thing at us! You have to stop him!"

"He's gonna…" Scott quickly turned his around just in time to see the creature continued to stare at his handy work, it was as though it had been fascinated at what it created. Though the artistic notion was quickly thrown out of the window as the creature leveled Scott a smoldering glare that was akin to molten metal, and gave what the senior X-Man what could have passed as a smirk. The construct had seeped into the creatures hand, right before it had simply leveled a glowing pointed index finger directly at Scott, his team and the X-Mansion.

That was action alone was more than a warning shot for Scott.

The leader of the X-Men ripped off his visor and unleashed a full force optic blast, a blast that he usually reserved to use on the likes of larger and more heavy duty foes like The Juggernaut or The Blob. While the creature let loose all of the power it had managed to gather into a thin, narrow and straight black and white laser that instantly impacted against Scott's attack. The two separate forces collided with one another in a white hot torrent, and the result was a devastating shockwave and explosion that was so massive, and so chaotic that the very gale that resulted from the blast destroyed all of the windows within the X-Mansion.

The explosion and dust finally cleared and revealed that Scott, too, had fallen to the world of unconsciousness with singe marks visible on his form. His chest had been brutally ripped open by the attack, but not enough to expose his organs to the world. The explosion didn't gravely injure anyone within the party thanks to Emma Frost's warning, but threw them for a loop and left them visibly singed from the very heat and intensity. Even Colossus who had managed to shield Kitty from the blast with his own body, looked far worse for wear.

"Damn it, no matter what we throw at him, he just won't fall down" Emma spoke, sweat matted her entire face and her body shook from the very physical exertion of trying to keep scanning its mind. Hoping and praying to find or dig up anything to stop this force of nature that had fallen into their laps. The task itself was brutally taxing because trying to read that thing's mind was like trying to pry open an armored adamantium tank with a spoon.

"Emma, I need you to look after Kitty for me" The Russian giant gently laid the young woman in question in her arms, right before he cracked his neck and back and turned around to face their adversary, despite the fact that he had a noticeable limp. "I'll go ahead and engage this thing."

"No way big guy," Emma and Piotr turned and were stunned to find Bobby Drake was standing on his own two feet. Despite the fact that looked like a complete and utter mess, and his stance had suggested that he was far from one hundred percent. "You're not going in this alone; I'm gonna to back you up."

The woman in question couldn't help but bite her lip for a moment, before she gave a nod and had made to say something. But she was cut as a few shadows ran past them towards the creature. The first that was able to clear way to it was a large that looked to be composed of what appeared to be rock or granite. His fist was cocked back as he gave a roar of fury. "You're going down for what you did to our teachers you pendejo!"

"Santo?" Bobby could help but say in slight confusion.

Emma Frost was stunned at the very least, if anything she was flummoxed. She quickly turned around to her colleague. "Hank!"

"I apologize Emma, but the students were watching from inside of the mansion and felt that you all required some additional assistance" Hank motioned his head towards Joshua Foley, who moved towards Emma and gently laid her down on her back next to Scott who was slowly, but gradually bleeding and looked at the blue lion. "Elixir, I need you to tend to the wounded. I will join the others to try and stop this invader. Emma, would you…"

"Kindly pass on whatever knowledge I was able to gather about this beast to the Stepford Cuckoos so that they can relay it to the others, give me a moment." Emma closed her eyes briefly as she mentally did as she was requested.

From the very basement of the X Mansion, the Stepford Cuckoos who had been observing the entire battle had already put into motion of relaying the valuable information that they had received from Emma, and quickly began to relay it to the other students.

"Okay, so all we have to do is engage him in close combat otherwise he'll try to blast to bits. While at the same time try to keep him at arms length or he'll pick us apart." Noriko nodded to herself as she could feel electricity flowing through the air from one of the badly mangled sentinels. Instinctively she began to draw in the electricity in the air into her body, causing her eyes to glow and electrifying blue that was not lost to her teammates. "Damn I feel good; I can feel the wave of electricity flowing through my whole body."

"Don't get carried away here Noriko," David intoned to his fellow peer. "Our enemy was capable of taking on and harming Colossus, that's nothing that should be taken lightly. We have to proceed with caution, look out!"

David and Noriko jumped out of the way just in time as Santo was sent barreling into the ground where they were standing. The rocky teen gave a slight groan, before he staggered back on his own two feet and gave a war cry. "You think that was enough to stop me you mummified freak! You're going to have to better than that to take me down!"

"He's coming!" Cessily warned. The group looked and saw that the monster was charging at them at a break neck pace. Bobby ran ahead to cut it off and concentrated as he put his powers to work before he gave a little hop. A circular piece of ice formed underneath his feet, and lifted him up promptly several inches off of the ground. Focusing his affinity, he charged forward at a fast speed as well as he used the circular piece of ice as a surfboard.

Reaching his intended target, Bobby used the ice board in an attempt to crash and push the creature away from the group. The creature however dodged at the last possible moment and slashed at the surfboard, breaking off a third of it from underneath Bobby's feet. Losing his balance as a result, he flew off the board but managed to regain his balance as he somersaulted and landed on his feet.

The creature growled and ran over to him. Clenching his fist, Bobby punched and smashed it into the ground. The earth itself was torn apart by a barrage of ice pillars and spikes as the path of destruction went after his intended target.

The monster for his part jumped out of the way of the growing ice pillars and spikes, and while in the air dived right his direction. Bobby saw the attack coming and jumped as the creature smashed to micro-sized pieces the spot where he had been originally standing. He continued to hop back getting some distance to see it running after him.

Picking up a large slab of ice covered gravel, he threw it at him. The monster effortlessly evaded the obvious frontal assault. However when his shadow was overcastted by the slab's shadow, a large metallic frame crashed through the piece and debris and landed directly on top of the head and entire frame of the monster.

"And that's how it's done ladies and gentlemen," Julian couldn't help but give a mock bow of his performance, and a toothy grin split across his face. He dusted his hands and folded them across his chest. "No thanks are absolutely necessary."

Bobby Drake was not as optimistic as his student. If there was anything he had learned from this very night, it was to expect the unexpected and the impossible.

He stood there for what seemed to eternity, seconds ticking past steadily, minutes seeming like hours. He was afraid to let his guard down for even a moment. Who knew what the beast was planning, or what was going on.

Several moments passed before it happened. The ground trembled slightly and he and his students were all given a slight warning before the beast emerged from the discarded body of a sentinel unit landing. Its body was emanating a fierce and terrible black aura that sent a cold sliver inside of his stomach, and brought about a sense of dread.

Julian gawked visibly, right before a scowl marred his features. "Are you freaking kidding me! He's still alive!"

The creature simply stood on the balls of its feet and gave the students and seniors a simple glance, right before it brought its leg all the way up into the air. Right before he sent it crashing down into the ground with resounding force.

Less than a few seconds after the foot sent shockwaves through the ground, the earth around the students erupted. Literally. Glowing white magma spouted up out of the ground like a fountain, seeking to bathe all of those unlucky enough to be in the way, in its burning embrace. Forcing them to get the hell out of dodge's way; and making the battle even that more difficult.

"Shit." Emma couldn't help but curse underneath her breath. "Girls, is everything prepared according to my specifications?" She said to no one in particular.

"Yes, Miss Frost." The three in one were indeed trying to find a quick solution of somehow stopping the monster from the inside. They were finally able to peel back at the mental barriers that had been set up to prevent their intrusion, and peer into the mind of their enemy. Though what they saw was something they hadn't expected. Not one bit.

Like Emma had glimpsed, the consciousness of the creature was the result of two minds that had merged together in complete harmony. In order stop this threat and save their friends and the X Mansion from being blown to kingdom come, they were going to have to actually delve into the mind of this being and separate them. Though they also took into consideration that such a task would warrant that there were going to be risks in this venture; but it was a risk that they were going to have to take.

"We believe that we have found a way to subdue this creature, however, we feel that we should warn you about the risks that may or may not be involved." Celeste said, all the while her twin sisters, Mindee and Phoebe Cuckoo gave mental nods to the headmistress. "If we are able to help awaken the sleeping and dormant personality, and help him regain control over his body,"

"Then that should be more than enough to take care of the problem at hand." Phoebe intoned.

Alright. But I can't do this on my own, so I'll need your help with this.

The three in one gave a physical and mental nod of unison, right before their eyes resonated a vibrant violent.

The beast gave a feral grin beneath his bandages as he continued to callously dispatch his enemies. Like the oncoming tide they crashed upon him and like a rock, he did not break. His eyes took in the many injured and wounded that littered the ground, and the very few brave individuals that continued to stand despite their grievous injuries and the mere hopelessness of their situation.

He had made to move forward before a foreign feeling swept over his entire being; pain. Excruciating pain.

The pain was relentless, stabbing white-hot like a branding iron. He could feel his breath rattling in his lungs, bile rising and reality fading in and out, right before his body froze up, and he slumped over on bended knees.

(Within the mind of the beast)

Emma, Celeste, Mindee, and Phoebe were flying through what could be described as a vortex of the creature's mindscape. It wasn't a while later when they merged from out of the vortex and into an area that looked like an industrialized, raining village.

"Nice scenery," Emma remarked cynically.

"I'm sure," Celeste said emotionlessly. "In any case, let's see what we can find in this place."

Celeste, Mindee, Phoebe and Emma began moving around through the creature's mind. The three in one suggested that it would best if they stuck together instead of separating to cover more ground. The four wandered aimlessly through the raining mindscape hoping to find what they were looking for. It took them a while and a great deal of expended energy, but soon they came across what could've have only been described as an incredible scenery before their very eyes.

A massive creature with black fur that seemed to gleam brilliantly in the low light, over eighty feet tall, with massive claws adorning massive, overdeveloped forelimbs. The creature raised its massive head with even more massive horns and ten long tails extended around eight meters in length from the tail bone. Emma swallowed the instinctive, animalistic fear that welled up inside of her at the sight of the monster, and forced her and ignored the voice that told her to run

She sensed nothing but emptiness, anger and evil from it, not aimed at her but seemingly at the whole world. It was a cesspool of hatred, anger and rage, so much so that she felt queasy from the near proximity.

'You have no right to be here!' It bit out in a fearsome growl. 'Leave or else I'll devour the lot of you!'

As if to make true to its threat, the being gave a loud and reverberating roar.

Gravity itself suddenly became a thousand times stronger than it should be. Everything was being crushed into the earth, even the very air itself was being pulled down. Beneath Emma Frost couldn't help but shield her face from the sheer force and magnitude of it all as violent gales of wind rushed past her and her group, but in doing so it drew her attention towards what the creature was holding within its massive paws.

Inside of its paws appeared to be a black sphere with white light emanating from its core, the light was in the form of a young man. A young man around the age of her students

She was barely even aware that she moving until she was upon him, her eyes burned with violet light and her hands were stretched out. The Psi of the Highest Order was pissed off to the highest degree. "Girls, we have a job to do here. Push him back, now!

"Understood, Miss Frost." Came the unanimous vote. Their eyes too flooded a florescent violet as they tapped into their telepathic powers, and combined them altogether with Emma to push back and subdue this creature.

The creature didn't even know what hit him, until his world was drowned in white and then; nothing.

Everyone was forced to cover their ears in the face of the sudden barrage of sound that plagued them. The depth and volume of the roar from the creature seemed to shake the very earth beneath their feet, and their ears rang like bells.

"Everyone stay back!" Scott Summers warned the others carefully, noting that his lover and her clone daughters actions were somehow able to have an evident effect on the creature, as it seemed to reach up an began to pull heavily at the bandages. All the while its body started to glow. Already he could see it was being immersed in blue, crimson and black energy that seemed to shoot up and rip a hole in the sky itself and kicked up another gale of wind which swept through the area heavily.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, everything seemed to calm down. The energy receded back into the body that it was covering. A massive cracking sound could be heard for almost a mile as the bandages broke and shattered as they hit the ground, and they shimmered out of existence as if they were never there. Scott slowly approached it along with the others.

Where the giant, bandaged creature had knelt now knelt a teenage boy, kneeling in the exact same pose as the creature, stark naked as the day he'd been born.

The boy tilted forwards, smoke trailed off of his naked frame as he collapsed face first into the grass before the startled men, women and teenagers that had surrounded him.

A/N: Chapter one complete. I must say that I really and truly missed this bloody website. First off I wish to convey my apologies to everyone for not having updated in almost an entire year. The reason for the year and couple months long hiatus was not only because of Kishimoto's sudden revelations, which really threw off a lot of things I had in mind for my stories, and for a time I had lost interest in writing after the theft of my laptop and my one terabyte hard drive which had ALL of my updates and previous for other fanfictions as a result. I hope you guys accept this new crossover as a token of my apology for taking so long, it was inspired by Meinos Kaens No Reading crossover.

Anyway, I just wanna let you guys and girls know that updates will be sporadic as they come since in addition to working I am also doing a Computer Repair Tech program which will no doubt take up a large portion of my time and since they have me doing both A+ Hardware and Software, not to mention Microsoft Application and Entrepreneurship. All in which are heavy courses in themselves. Though that doesn't mean I will be slacking off on updating my current stories. More than likely I will have to take down a few of them and revamp them the same way I did with my Naruto:Rosario Kitsune Rewrite, which I will be updating soon by the grace of God. Once again guys and girls, I thank you all for the wonderful support you were all able to give just by putting my stories as a part of your favorites, or simply reading them as a way of keeping them alive. You have no idea what that means to me as an individual to see people after all this time still find my stories interesting, despite my lack of updating.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I. AM. BACK!