The team was split into three groups of three people each. The High
Lord was in the group with
Phoenix, and Cyclops. Wolverine, Gambit, and Rogue formed the second
team. The third team was
  compossed of Meltdown, Cannonball, and Timeslip. The three teams would
enter the complex at
   diferent points, and search for the time travel device. The group
that found it was to release a
 telepathic message that Phoenix would recieve. If Phoenix's group found
it, she'd mentaly alert the
 others to their location. The groups were wearing heavy coats and
trudging through the deep snow
 banks as they aproached the target. They stuck together until they were
about a mile from were the
 target was presumed to be. "Teams 1 and 2 will circle around left an
right, respectively. Team 3 will
  keep going down the front. Remembah to keep in contact with Phoenix.
Mah future and yoah's
                                depend on this." 

  Timeslip struggled through the high snow with a grimace on her face.
Guthrie had stuck her with
Meltdown and Cannonball on purpose. He wanted her to make sure that
nothing happened to either
  of them, but Tabitha in particular. He also knew what she would think
about that. She had never
    made any of her feelings secret to anyone. If only she could
throttle the High Lord... But she
   admired him too much. He had practicaly raised her and a few others
on his black ops team.
 Sometimes she swore that he still thought of her as a child. "What are
you doing?" she demanded to
 Meltdown who had formed one of her bombs. "It's freezing! I don't wanna
end up as a popsicle,"
  she replied. Timeslip grit her teeth. "If there are any mutant energy
detectors around here you've
  alerted the Clustic Corp to our presence. If not you've still set off
the meltage alarms that monitor
  the snows all over the world because they are the only source of fresh
water and they don't want
         people pirating it." The bomb vanished. "Geez! How was I
'possed ta know?" 

"The oposition could already be alerted to our presence," reported
Phoenix. "How?" asked the High
  Lord. "Meltdown." Jean couldn't be sure, but she thought that the
ghost of a smile lit on the High
 Lord's lips. "Well so they may be ready for us. That's never stopped
the X-Men from doing what's
 right before. We'll use added caution from here on in. Alert the
others." Cyclops just listened to the
   man who had once been his student and looked up to him with a tinge
of amusement. He felt a
  twinge of fatherly pride at the capable way in which he handled
himself, and at the leader he had
 become. Jean sensed his thoughts. *He has matured very much. It's nice
to think that we have done
 something to prepare him for his future.* *What do you sense from him?*
Scott was curious. Jean
  smiled, she loved him so much and was the only one who could claim to
truly know him, for he
  often kept his emotions and feelings in his mind so as to be a better
leader. *He is very changed.
  Sam has seen much in his centuries. He isn't the happy go lucky kind
of kid our Sam is. He hurts
 inside but strives not to show it because he wants others to be able to
feel confidence through him.
 You should be proud, my love* *I'd be proud if we had a son like him*
Jean felt surprised. Scott
   rarely spoke of children. *One we can raise together and talk freely
with* *We will someday,
  Scott* They reached out and held each others hands as they trudged
together through the snow. 

  Rogue was flying low over the snow. "Ah hope we ain't walkin in to to
big a mess," she said. She
  had taken to the air after Jean had communicated their possible
detection. "Don't worry, I'm sure
  that either way it's gonna be a heck of a brawl," said Wolverine with
a grin. "You like this sort of
thing don't cha, Wolvie?" "If they fight as well as Xeltec kid, we
should actually get a workout out of
 this." Rogue rolled her eyes. Wolverine was the only one to take up
Xeltec's offer of a mock battle.
  "Remy jus hope we can save de timestream an still be home for dinner.
I mean, who knows what
     dey serve here in the future, eh?" Wolverine guffawed. "Men,"
grumbled Rogue. She was
   considered rash and hotheaded, but every man she had met excepting
Cyclops was as bad or
                                   worse. 

 The compound had a silvery white exterior, that they hadn't been able
to distinguish from the snow
  until they were almost on top of it. "It seems tah be seamless," said
Cannonball running his hands
  across the smooth hull. "Do we havta blast our way in or what?" asked
Meltdown. "Shhh!" said
  Timeslip. She pulled of her heavy snow glove and placed her hand on
the freezing hull. Then she
  pulled something out of her coat. "When you're inside don't even move
until I come in after you,"
  she said. "Yeah sure, sure. We won't get in to any trouble unless it
comes lookin for us," replied
  Meltdown. Timeslip gave her a warning look. Then she placed a
thumbnail sized chip on the hull.
   When she pressed it, the hull went translucent. She pushed Meltdown
and Cannonball through
  quickly. She hit the switch again and dove through. When she hit
ground she rolled and smacked
 into a wall. "Are yah ok?" asked Cannonball holding a hand out to her.
She gave him a funny look,
 but allowed him to help her up. "What was that?" asked Meltdown looking
at the wall. "Sorry, but I
  can't reveal any details about the future. All three of them were
covered in a silvery metalic color.
Timeslip pulled of her snow gear and tossed it in the corner. Then she
rubbed all the color out of her
  hair, face and hands. Meltdown and Cannonball did the same after a
moment. "So now we're in,"
 she said. "Let's get moving." They were in a rounded corridor with
grayish pink panels. "First place
 we should check out is the compound center and work our way outwards if
the time travel device
   isn't there," said Timeslip. "That way we'll be on our way out as we
search," said Cannonball.
 Meltdown shrugged as if to say 'whatever'. Timeslip ran lightly down
the corridor without making a
sound. Cannonball and Meltdown followed her. After a while they realized
that the corridor spiraled
 inward. "That means that the device probably is in or near the center.
This pattern will funnel energy
    flows in that direction," whispered Timeslip. "And the empty
corridor has tah mean a trap,"
                      whispered Cannonball. Timeslip nodded. 

   Team 1 was not in a spiraling corridor section. When they had entered
it had been into what
 seemed to be a laboratoy complex. They walked carefully through the
halls, avoiding opend doors
and any people they saw walking into and out of rooms. "This is a
population breeding system," said
   the High Lord sounding surprised. *About half the population is
sterile because of exposure to
harmful energies or illegal experimentation* he explained mentally. *The
more controling goverments
  sometimes keep breeding stocks, but on whole it's considered criminal
because the need for it is
  negligeable. We aren't an underpopulated world yet* *Could they also
maybe be trying to breed
 more powerful mutants as weapons?* asked Cyclops. *That's what caused
half the population to
 become sterile in the first place. It's illegal world wide and evidence
of such doings would cause the
  loosely connected council of nations to declare nuclear war on whoever
was doing it* "How's it
  going?" asked one man who had come out of a lab to another who was
standing in the hallway.
  "Subject 44 has just manifested. Extremly powerfull. Big boss will be
pleased with this breeding."
 "Good. If the up and up does manage world domination maybe we wouldn't
have to work in such
 and infernal place anymore," the first man said. *Gene-scientists* The
High Lords thought came out
in a snarl, and made Jean flinch. *Clustic must have found the Doc. He's
the only geno-freak left. All
   other research was destroyed in the war, but he just vanished* He got
ahold of himself. *Let's
     proceed with the mission. This isn't the problem we came to solve.
I'll deal with it later* 

 Wolverine dispatched the last guard. Team 3 had come into what looked
to be a watch station. The
   10 security guards that had been stationed there lay on the floor,
dead or unconscious. "These
 rent-a-cops are the same even in our time," he growled. "Oui, only they
'ave some nasty weaponry"
   Gambit grimaced at the gaping hole melted into the wall behind him. A
second slower and that
  would have been his head. "Ah don't think they set off any alarms,"
said Rogue looking over an
  incomprehensible control panel. "Not that Ah'm likely to understand an
alarm if Ah see one," she
      added. Suddenly all the screens went blank. The three teammates
exchanged a look. 

 Team 3 was now in a white walled room. "We should be almost at the
center," said Timeslip as she
     looked down one of the curving walls. It ended with a dead end, but
there was an empty
 passegeway down in the other direction. "This is a perfect place for
that ambush," she muttered. As
  if she had sensed it, a green slimy glob suddenly surged through the
curved wall behind her and
  enveloped her. She waved franticaly for Cannonball and Meltdown to go
on. "She can't breathe
   that!" exclaimed Cannonball. "She knows what she can and can't do
better than you, hayseed.
  Besides isn't saving the world more important than one person?"
Despite her words, Meltdown
 sounded worried and reluctant. *The High Lord says Timeslip can get out
of it. You have to move
   on* came Phoenix's mental voice in their heads. Phoenix sounded
worried too. Meltdown and
                   Cannonball rushed on ahead with a sinking feeling. 

 As soon as Meltdown and Cannonball had gone down the passegeway, a tall
man with long brown
hair that hung in his eyes and was wearing a white suit walked through
the wall. "Thank you so much
 for sending them on their way to meet the oposition set up for them,
darling," he said with a laugh.
  His brown eyes glowed green, and the slime that covered her became a
thin but hard membrane
 holding her against the wall. His eyes turned back to brwon and he
stepped closer to her. "The High
 Lord's time traveler is quite a catch, tell me dear, are you
breedable?" He laughed. "Oh I'm sorry. I
forgot you can't even breathe like that!" His eyes flashed green and she
fell to the floor. "You haven't
 really caught me yet," she growled jumping up and slashing at him with
her claws. He jumped back
 and pulled his hair out of his eyes. "Lively, I like them that way." He
unbuttoned the front of his coat
 to allow him more freedom of movement. She punched him, but he moved
fast and grabbed her fist
 before it impacted his face. "You're about to learn something new about
my powers, pet." His eyes
  and her arm started glowing green. She bit her lip so as not to scream
at the pain that shot up her
                arm, as she brought her leg around to kick him in the
face. 

 Cyclops fired a beam behind them as they ran down the corridor. A bunch
of armored guards had
spilled out of one of the labs as they had tried to sneak past. The
blast slowed the armored men, but
  only because it pushed them back a few feet as it hit their shields.
*The energy shields will fade if
   you hit them hard and long enough* Came the High Lord's mental voice.
*The aren't shielded
  against mind attacks either* comunicated Phoenix as one of the armored
units fell to her mental
 assault. "We don't see many telepaths anymore", came a smug sounding
voice from a doorway up
  ahead. A man in a white suit and with white starting to show in his
dark hair was standing in the
 doorway. Phoenix let out a scream as soon as he spoke. Through their
link, Cyclops could feel the
  pain that burst into her mind. The man raised a weapon and fired at
the High Lord. A blue goop
   shot out, covering him and anchoring him to the floor. "A telepathic
manipulator makes people
 regret being psi's. Too bad your companion is linked to you, dear.
Other wise he might have saved
  you." He turned to the armored men. "I can take it from here. Go
assist those at the net center." 

   "These tin cans ain't worth crap," said Wolverine as he ripped
through one. His comment was
 somewhat of an exageration, for the armored troops had the advantage at
that moment. They had
  powerfull shields generated a few inches away from their bodies that
only crashed after a serious
 beating. Gambit didn't have anything to charge unless he ripped panels
off the machines and risked
 electric shock. That's why Rogue didn't say anything when Remy yelled
"Merde" as more armored
                  troopers came pouring in. She was too busy fighting. 

  Timeslip took quick advantage of her oppenent being off balance from
her kick and delivered a
  quick punch to his gut, with her claw gloved hand. He gasped as she
violently brought her fist up
 and pierced his lungs. She kicked him in the knee as he reached to grab
her again. He collapsed to
the floor, but managed to get ahold of her leg as he feel. Her leg
glowed green and pain shot through
  her again. She almost sucumbed to the pain and fell, but she had been
trained brutally, and was
 stronger than that. She came down on his chest hard with her free leg,
and heard the ribs snap. He
 released her, and collapsed with blood coming out of his mouth. "Don'tmess with me," she said as
 she sent the claws on her glove through his eye sockets and into his
brain, making his death a little
quicker. Timeslip got up, and ran down the passage way, limping
slightly. The next room was a huge
circular chamber. In the center was a strange device on a round
platform. Everything had a sterilized
  white color to it. From the time patterns she could sense, Timeslip
knew that through the central
  platform timetravelers could be sent. Meltdown and Cannonball were
both trapped together in a
  containment field, that held up no matter how hard they used the force
of their powers against it.
  People in lab coats rushed around preping the device. Timeslip ducked
behind a work station. A
  metal door slid open down by most of the activity, and four men in
white suits, as well as a white
 suited woman stepped out. Timeslip suddenly remembered what they were
called: "Exec's". It was
 short for executive exterminators. The report she read said that they
were the reason Clustic Corp.
 was internationally backed in a world where no one worked together.
"They're sending Exec's back
                           in to the past," she groaned. 

 Cyclop's head was pounding so hard, he couldn't concentrate enough to
fire one of his optic blasts.
  That was the problem with having the trigger atuned to one's mind.
Jean was reeling on the floor,
 and he was barely left standing. Obviously that meant that links were
harder to manipulate than the
 actual psi's, because Jean's mental defenses were tougher than his. The
High Lord was twitching in
the solid slime. So far all he had managed were a few jerks. He wouldn't
get free before their captor
 managed to dispose of them. "Soon I will gain complete control of your
mind, and then I'll destroy
 the High Lord's mind and Clustic Corp. can finally take over America!"
But speaking to gloat would
  cost the man. It didn't affect his control over Jean, but it did
affect his control over Cyclops. He
  wasn't experienced enough in links. Cyclops let loose an optic blast
that hit the aging man on the
   skull. Cyclops hadn't managed to control the blast though, and
instead of knocking him out, it
vaporized his head. For some reason, not even the noble people loving
Scott Summer's could regret
  killing the man that had hurt his wife so badly. He could feel her
mental trembling through the link.
 He helped her to her feet, avoiding the sight of the body. A little
optic blast assistance, and the High
 Lord was free in no time. "I knew my memories of the X-Men weren't
exagerated," he said. In the
  Sam Scott knew, that statement would have been acompanied by a grin.
The High Lord was all
          business. "We must hurry," he said running down the now empty
corridors. 

 In the end, for Team 3 it all came down to betting on a dangerous ploy.
Such things were common
 when either Wolverine or Gambit was involved, but with both together...
Gambit charged a section
  of the wall, to find a way to escape or even just some more fighting
space. It was a show of their
 uncanny luck, that none of them got injured and that the explosion took
out several of the armored
 trooper's shields. The three X-Men spilled into a white chamber full of
people running around. "We
  be very lucky dis day after all, non?" said Gambit with a smile as he
downed a shieldless trooper.
 "Our luck seems to have come out in spades, bub, because if I ain't
mistaken that's Meltdown and
   Sammy over there and this is our target." "Ah'll see if Ah can do
something 'bout the field that's
holdin Cannonball and Meltdown," said Rogue flying over. "You aren't as
lucky as you think!" yelled
  Timeslip, jumping up from behind a work station. "Those people in the
center there are seconds
 away from timetravel and I can't stop them!" At that moment, Cyclops,
Phoenix, and the High Lord
  arrived. Rogue smashed panels left and right, and the High Lord
blasted towards the time travel
 platform, but they were too late. Just as the High Lord made it to the
platform, the five people on it
                                  vanished. 

 Wolverine ripped into the armored guards, trying to get near the rest
of the team. "Clear the room,"
 yelled the High Lord, sweeping up a few armored guards. Cannonball and
Meltdown got free, and
 joined the fight. Phoenix wasn't in fighting condition, so Cyclops
stayed near her and helped out any
  way he could. Rogue batted at the shields, trying to help bring them
down. Working their powers
 together they bagan to slow the overwhelming number of armored maniacs
in the room. Wolverine
 soon found himself fighting side by side with the girl Timeslip. She
ripped into the troopers using the
  claw in a way similar to the way he used his. She also had some
viscious kicks and that sounded
like they dented armor. "Who taught you to fight, girl?" he asked as
things wound down. "Part of my
  training was done by the High Lord, the rest in battle," she said,
giving him a funny look. 'Could
 Sammy have watched my fighting enough that he could teach the girl
those moves?' he wondered.
 She moved similarly to the way he did, he admired that. The main
difference was that she was taller
  and had only one claw to use. But to him it was still obvious that she
fought the way he did. He
  found it somewhat amusing that his skills should live on even 300 some
years after he kicked the
  bucket. But when you were the best at what you do, maybe it wasn't so
surprising. This kid was
 better than if he had trained her himself, and somehow he wished he had
been able to. He was still
  looking at the girl and contemplating this when the High Lord spoke.
"We haven't failed yet," he
 said. He turned to Timeslip for confirmation. "Paradox flows shimmer,
but they aren't poised to alter
 the known timestream, yet. The past is still in the balance." "Quite a
change, eh?" laughed Gambit.
 "This is not tha time for jokes," said the High Lord coldly. "If
Timeslip can take you all back to your
   timeline without pausing to rest and gain her strength you may have a
chance to finish what you
  started here. But you must not fail this time. Your comrades await you
in the past." Everyone was
 looking at Timeslip now. "Seven," she muttered. "I can take them, but
what about you, High Lord?"
 "Ah'll stay here and set charges tah attept tah destroy this facility.
We've learned a bit moah about
  Clustic's vile plans while heah." He shared a look with Cyclops.
Timeslip held out her hands. You
   didn't need Wolverine's senses to tell she was exhausted. "Let's go
slipping," she said glibbly.

Go On
Home