Hell's Kitchen, Yesterday Night

Franklin Brown looked over his shoulder for what had to be the millionth time, making sure there were no police in sight or that any unsavory types were following him. Being raised old money, it almost went without saying that he did not feel comfortable here. But as far as he was concerned, he really didn't have a choice. The supplier offered the best product around at the cheapest price, and so he met him in Hell's Kitchen. Why? Because the supplier said he loved the atmosphere. Checking over his shoulder one final time, Brown reached his car, unlocked the door and got behind the wheel.

Damn supplier needs to find a better place to meet. I keep expecting to get my ass busted by Daredevil He thought as he started the ignition. He reached into his jacket and patted the blue pellets inside; Still, Mr. H certainly does supply some quality material. Ain't been caught yet!

Thomas Jefferson Private School today

"You'll have a lot of catching up to do, but I'm confident that you'll be able to keep pace with the rest of the class, Mr. Bradley." Dr. Ward, fit blond haired woman of forty years, stated as she walked down the hall.

"I'll do my best, Dr. Ward. " Chris replied. He was trying his best to pay attention, but he was still a little taken back by the last couple of days. When Night Thrasher said that he was going to finish High School, Chris never expected for that to mean that Night Thrasher would pay for him to go to one of the best private schools in New York! It was made even cooler when his teammates Crux and Spiderwoman, were attending Thomas Jefferson as well.

"I would expect no less, Mr. Bradley. " Ms Ward said as she led him to his second period. "Please meet me after seventh period. There are still some matters that need to be addressed. Be thankful that you transferred into Thomas Jefferson so early during the semester."

"Understood ma'am."

"…And please class have patience with Ms. Lemieux. I sure it's hard to get acclimated to a new language."

"Actually, umm…I speak English fluently. " Cristal corrected quickly.

"Well, isn't that good for you. " Mrs. Dawson said dryly. She did not like being corrected, regardless of the subject manner. "You may take your seat, Ms. Lemieux."

Cristal breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards her desk at the back of the room. She barely made it two feet before she tripped over her own feet. Cristal barely stumbled, thanks to her excellent conditioning, but she could still hear a slight murmur of laughter from her classmates. She reached her seat, sat down, and prayed for the earth to swallow her up before the day ended

New York, The Broiler

"Why do you think he wanted to meet us here, Vance?" Angelica Jones asked as she looked around the run down restaurant. It was early in the morning, and so the place was almost deserted. There were only three other customers in there, and the employees behind the counter were preparing for the lunchtime rush. It was hardly the place one would expect to find the two former Avengers known as Firestar and Justice.

"Who can tell with him?" Vance answered as he read his paper. Neither of them noticed a white, blond haired male enter the Broiler. They really didn't notice when he walked up the counter and picked up an egg sandwich he had ordered from his cell phone. But they did notice when he sat down in their booth.

"Vance, Angel, good to see you two again. " the man said before he took a bite out of his sandwich. Both Vance and Angelica were taken back by this man's odd behavior.

"Excuse me, do we know you?" Vance asked. The man ran a finger over his right cheek as he took another bite of his sandwich.

"Dwayne?" Angelica said softly.

"Yep. Sorry about the disguise, but I didn't think it would be prudent for Dwayne Taylor to be seen in the presence of a publicly known mutant Avenger. " Dwayne explained. "So, why did you two want to meet about? Because I can assure you, the New Warriors are in good hands."

"It's not that. " Angelica said as she nervously rubbed her hands together. "To be honest, our concern with the Warriors is the past now."

"Then what's this meeting about?" Dwayne asked

"You. " Vance said. "To be honest, we're a little worried about you, as well as confused. The last time we really sat down and talked, you were toning down your activities as Night Thrasher. We lost touch after you started your internship at Stark-Fujikawa, which I have to say confuses me as well. You're the CEO of the Taylor Foundation, which is and was doing very well. But that's besides the point…"

"What is the point?" Dwayne interrupted.

"We've talked to Mickey, and to be honest, you've been acting weird. The new armor, the internship, your attitude, you just haven't seemed like yourself lately. " Angelica said.

"We just want the truth. " Vance said. "You seemed like you were getting out of the business for a while now, what's changed?"

"The truth. " Dwayne stated. "Okay, the truth. I'll start at the beginning. My parents were murdered by their best friend, Andrew Chord, at the behest of Tai, a powerful mystic. They adopted me, and manipulated me into believing that my parents were killed by criminals, pushing me into becoming a superhero and encouraged me to form my own team, the New Warriors. Tai intended to sacrifice my team in a play for ultimate power, but she failed when I killed her."

"Dwayne, why are you telling us this? We know that already." Vance stated.

"Because an explanation needs a context. Yes, I was manipulated. Yes, my life has been a lie. But you know what? What I felt, what I lived thru, wasn't. The pain was real, even if I wasn't right about what caused it. I can't turn my back on that, no matter how hard I try and believe me, I tried. I don't want any other child to suffer thru what I did, and that's why I've rededicated myself to being Night Thrasher."

"So how do you explain the internship?" Angelica asked. "And the new armor?"

"Stark-Fujikawa was attempting to recreate information that was lost when Stark's records were purged when Stark Enterprises merged with Fujikawa, but they needed help on the sly. Due to past illicit deals the Taylor Foundation was involved in, they thought that the Foundation could help them in recovering the lost information. I pretended to agree, and secretly sabotaged their efforts. That 'internship' was set up between Stark-Fujikawa and myself to prevent anyone from suspecting what we were up to."

"And the armor?" Vance asked, suddenly very worried for his friend. If Dwayne was using Stark tech without permission, there could be hell to pay.

"I couldn't have touched Stark's information if I wanted to. It was like there was something alive in the Stark-Fujikawa computers, deleting any information on Stark tech," Dwayne answered. "But then, Stark isn't the only builder of armors out there."

"Do I want to know?" Vance asked.

"Probably not."

"You know, Dwayne, when people experiment, they usually do it with drugs or their sexuality, not pieces of super weaponry."

"Why even use the armor?" Angelica asked. "You never needed one as advanced as your current armor in the past."

"I'm worth close to four billion dollars, Angel. I may as well use some of that money on my war on crime. I mean, look how successful Iron Man is. Maybe if I brought some of that power to the fights the Warriors fought, the Poison Memories wouldn't have happened," Dwayne replied. There was a beat of silence as the three friends remembered how the Poison Memories had changed the Warriors forever. "So, any more questions?"

"No, I think we covered everything," Vance said uncomfortably. "Is there anything here you recommend?"

Ballston Commons Mall

Suzy Sherman checked her watch for the millionth time, and looked around, not knowing what exactly she was looking for. Turbo had asked her if she wanted to have lunch with her, do some shopping, and maybe see a movie afterwards. Suzy agreed because she had a day off from taping 'Secret Hospital'. Everything was planned perfectly for a day of relaxing and getting to know one another better. Except one little thing.

Suzy had no idea what Turbo's face looked like.

That's one hell of a thing to forget to ask Suzy thought as she debated what to do. Should she get her lunch and wait a little longer? Head back home and forget about it, what? The matter was made more annoying by the fact not five feet away, some Asian girl was yelling at her mother into her cell phone.

"I don't care if he's good looking, I'm not going out with him, Mother! I have more important things to worry about right now than a boyfriend! Like college, maybe!" She shouted, seemingly not caring if half the mall heard her. And half the mall likely could hear her, the way she was shouting. It was especially unpleasant for Suzy, who was only sitting only three feet away from the girl. Suzy took a sip from her diet Pepsi and tried to ignore her. Thankfully, the girl hung up a second later, and curiously, sat down across from Suzy.

"Sorry about that Suzy, my mother just tried to set me up with yet another Japanese boy who she wants me to marry and have many, many kids with," she sighed.

"Excuse me, do I know you?"

"I should hope so, we're on the same team." Mickey smiled

"Turbo? You're…Asian," Suzy stated, caught somewhat off guard.

"That's what they tell me. Surprised?"

"No, sorry, I just didn't know what to expect. So, I take it you're having fun with family expectations?" Suzy asked as she stood up. "Ready for some shopping?"

"Oh yes. I need something to get my mind of my parents. See, my parent's expectations for me are kinda simple. Grow up, get married, and get knocked up, in that order. They think my goal of being a reporter is stupid and unlady like," Mickey explained as they made their way to the escalator.

"I can relate. My family totally expected me to do what they wanted, not what I wanted."

"Doesn't it get old after a while?" Mickey asked as they stepped off the escalator and made their way towards a J.C Pennies'.

"Oh yeah. They raise us and teach us to think for ourselves, and when we actually do, they complain!"

"I know, it's like it's only okay to think for ourselves so long as we think what they want us to think!" Mickey stated.

"You know, they'd probably flip out if they knew what we really do now," Suzy said. "I still haven't told my parents about you know what."

"Me neither. They'd probably find a way to ground me for life if they knew what I was doing, even though I'm in college," Mickey sighed. "Well, enough about the 'rents. How are you liking New York?"

"It's great once you get past the air pollution, muggings and rude drivers…"

"It's still pretty annoying," Mickey finished.

"Oh, yeah."

"Everyone put your hands up!" a loud voice shouted. Suzy and Mickey out of the store and to the railing. Standing in the food court was a man wearing a skin tight silver body armor standing fifteen feet tall armed with laser pistols. "I, the powerful Stilt-Man, am here with my gang to rob you!"

"Like we couldn't figure that out ourselves?" Suzy asked as she rolled her eyes. Mickey looked around quickly, and smiled when she saw the hallway leading to the bathrooms.

"Come on!" Mickey said as she pulled Suzy away and sprinted towards the bathroom. "We need to take a powder!"

"Everyone stop panicking!" Stilt-Man yelled. When he declared his presence and intent, the crowd starting running every which way, trying to get away from Stilt-Man and his 'gang', which consisted mainly of three other men with small arms. Said gang was lousy for riot control as well, so people were stampeding to get the hell out of there and pretty much ignoring the person who had started the situation in the first place. "I'm not a terrorist damn it, I just want to rob you!"

"Oh, that makes it so much better," a voice said moments before a black armored fist smashed into Stilt-Man's face. He stumbled back, his skill with his stilts the only thing preventing him from falling over. When his vision cleared, he saw a young woman in a silver and black armor hovering in front of him with turbines roaring.

"Why don't you just come down off your high horse and surrender? My partner's already dealt with your friends, and I doubt you'll be much more trouble," Turbo said.

"I've taken on Spiderman, Captain America and U.S Agent!" Stilt-Man shouted as he aimed his laser weapons on Turbo. "No manga reject is going to…partner?"

A well-manicured hand reached up from under his hands and grabbed his laser guns, turning them into high tech balls of scrap metal.

"Partner," Ultra Girl said as she cocked her fist back. "By the way, did you ever actually beat Spidey, Cap or that Agent guy?"

-Wham!-

The blow knocked Stilt-Man off his elongated feet and he landed hard in the middle of the food court. Both Warriors hovered above him for a few seconds, waiting for Stilt-Man to get up and attack. After a minute, they realized that he wasn't going to be getting back up.

"That's it?" Ultra Girl asked as she descended to the ground next to Stilt-Man. She nudged him with her foot in the ribs a little, but he didn't move. "That's it! What a jip!"

"Congrats Ultra Girl, you've just taken down your first third rate villain."

"*Pfft*, I didn't think it'd be so disappointing," Suzy sighed

Thomas Jefferson Private School

After seventh period was dismissed, Chris quickly made his way to the counselor's office, like he'd been told. Chris was actually glad to be here because he was a little anxious about his classes. It had been a while since he was last in school, after all, though he was a good student. He sat outside Mr. Ward's office patiently. After several minutes, she emerged from her office.

"Mr. Bradley, I'm glad to see you remembered to come by," Ms. Ward stated. "It speaks highly of you."

"Thank you, Ms. War," Chris said as he stood up.

"As we discussed earlier, I'm somewhat concerned about the time you've missed," Ms. Ward explained. "As such, I'm arranged for one of our brightest students to help tutor you. Her name's Gina Stockbridge."

The image of a fat, pimply girl with thick heavy glasses and bucktooth teeth flashed thru Chris' mind before he caught himself. He was a mutant, for God's sake, why was he stereotyping someone he'd never seen before he asked himself as he entered Ms. Ward's office. When he saw the figure sitting in the chair, he thanked God for all the time he had missed. For the first time in a long time, all his trials, discovering he was a mutant, learning that he had contracted the Legacy Virus, being forced to become a Dark Rider, everything just seemed to evaporate from his mind.

And that was because of Gina Stockbridge.

As far as Chris was concerned, goddess didn't come close to describing the red haired beauty who had been asked to mentor him. She was about five foot seven, with a slim waste and as far as Chris could tell, didn't have an once of fat on her. Her lightweight blue jeans completed her legs, and Chris didn't what her floral blouse did for her other assets. Chris, for the first time felt something stirring within himself. His body felt tingly all over. The 'God, I want to know this girl' tingly, not the horny tingly. Not lust, but honest to God love at first sight.

"Hello, Chris, I'm Gina," she said as she stood up and shook his hand. Chris felt like a pervert just shaking her hand, as though the mere touch was an act of defilement. Chris almost smacked himself. Where the hell did that come from?

"Chris Bradley, nice to meet you," he choked out. With an incredible amount of will power, he resolved not to embarrass himself. That wouldn't do with the future mother of his children, after all.

Elsewhere

As he lay dying, Calvin Rankin otherwise known as the Mimic couldn't help but think this was what he deserved for going back to the Brotherhood. When he originally joined the Brotherhood, it was because he needed protection from the forces of Bastion's Zero Tolerance and then the sentient Cerebro. He hadn't really gotten along with the other members of the Brotherhood and after those threats were dealt with, Calvin left the Brotherhood in disgust, hoping to start a normal life.

That, however, was easier said than done. Calvin had long since permanently absorbed the powers of the original X-Men. Among those powers were large, angel like wings, clearly marking him as a mutant. Needless to say, he couldn't find a job if his life depended on it. Rejection after rejection embittered him, and in a fit of depression Calvin had decided to rejoin the terrorists known as the Brotherhood of Mutants.

His timing couldn't have been worse. Within a week of rejoining, techno-enhanced birds, of all things, attacked the Brotherhood. The battle had been fierce, short, and ugly. Within minutes, Calvin was left broken and bleeding on the floor in a pool of his own blood, fading in and out of consciousness. An X-Men team, which one Calvin couldn't have known in his state, had come and gone, taking the Toad and leaving behind the scent of burned flesh. They had overlooked Mimic, so close to death he may as well be dead.

Calvin felt a chill go down his spine and slowly spread across his body, and thought so, this is what death feels like.

As Calvin lost consciousness for what he expected to be the final time, oddly enough his thoughts were of others. He only wished he could prevent others from making the same mistakes he had made.

"There he is, friend Frank. Caliban senses mutant not mutant Mimic is still alive."

"…Alive? He's an ice sculpture, Cal," Calvin heard a harsh voice state. Joy swept thru his body when he realized that he wasn't dead. He was alive! He tried to take advantage of that fact by standing up and double-checking, but found that he couldn't move, his entire body was numb, like he was covered in ice.

"Caliban sees that, but Caliban senses he is alive. Caliban's senses have never lied to Caliban before," a voice said. It sounded like that of a small child, wavering despite the fact that it should be certain. Caliban knew the voice as well, had X-Force come to save him?

"Well, Cal, let's crack this nut and see if there's something inside," the harsh voice said. Calvin felt powerful hands grab his chest and started to shake him like a rattle. Calvin's vision swam and he saw ice fall off of his body. The powerful hands stopped and stood him up. Calvin tried to stand, but almost immediately started to tip back as blood rushed to his head and his eyes attempted to adjust to the light. A clawed hand grabbed him by the shoulder and held him up.

"Mr. Rankin, you're a hard man to track down," the harsh voice said. Calvin's vision cleared, and he finally saw the man to whom the voice belonged. The man talking to him was easily in his sixties, but still had a powerful build and was wearing combat fatigues. The oddest thing about him was that both his arms were cybernetic. The man helping him stand Calvin recognized as the morlock Caliban. "Name's Frank Bohannan."

"What happened to me, and what does X-Force want with me?" Calvin asked as his mind swam. Calvin was having trouble making sense of anything at the moment, other than the fact that he wasn't dead.

Frank stifled a laugh. "You're a little behind the times, son. Caliban isn't a member of X-Force and hasn't been for a while. As for what happened, I'm not sure. When me and Cal got here, you were just an ice statue."

"I mimicked Wolverine's healing factor a long while back, and from what you've told me and what I've seen, I'd guess his healing factor must have merged with the powers of Iceman to save me," Calvin explained, having finally gathered his wits. "Makes sense, water is a source of life."

"If you say so, son. You fit to travel? I've got a transport and we need to scram before SHIELD gets here to clean up the brotherhood," Frank explained.

Calvin stretched his entire body, working the kinks out of his neck while expanded his wings to their full length of sixteen feet. "With this new lease on life, I feel like I can do anything!"

"Good to hear, son. Now follow me." Frank said as he led Mimic out of the Brotherhood's hideout. "Because America's facing a problem that I need your help with."

Crash Pad, New York

"Eddie, you just gotta do it!" Johnny Galo, better known as Ricochet, said to his best friend Eddie McDonough, otherwise known as Hornet. Eddie was busy typing away on one of the huge computers that dotted the Warrior's Crash Pad.

"I can't!" Eddie replied. "I'm busy!"

"Eddie, it's a party at the Alpha Omega fraternity house! Half the students of Empire State University are going to be there!"

"Then no one will miss me," Eddie replied.

"What could possibly be so important that you couldn't come?"

"Gee, I don't know Johnny, homework maybe?" answered Eddie.

"Cripes, you sound like you're in high school! Come on, live a little!"

"And barely pass any class like you? No thanks, Rico."

"What's Johnny bugging you about now, Eddie?" Mattie asked as she entered the room.

"He wants me you come to some frat party, though God only knows why," Eddie answered.

"Because, you have to be with someone to get in, and my girl Kathy's out of town for the weekend," Johnny explained.

"Then take me!" Mattie said. "I don't have any plans for tonight, and it sounds like fun!"

Eddie and Johnny gave each other a concerned look. "Umm, I'm not sure that's such a good idea. I mean, you're a high schooler and this is a college party…"

"So you don't like me, is that it, Johnny?" Mattie snapped. "I'm good enough to watch your back, but not good enough to take to a party, is that it?"

"It's not that!"

"Then what is it? We're teammates, don't you trust me to handle myself?"

"…"

"Well?"

"Okay, fine. You can come," Johnny said, throwing up his hands in frustration. "The party starts at nine. I can't promise you'll get in though. The Frat boys might not like the idea of a high school chick at the party." I hope, he thought to himself

Alpha Omega Fraternity House

Much to Johnny's displeasure, the fraternity member watching the door had no problem whatsoever letting a high schooler attend the party. With a lecherous smile, to Johnny's mind anyways, the guy at the door let them pass

"Okay, Mattie. We're here to have a good time, but some words of advise, trust no one," Johnny stated. "I go to this school, and I don't trust anyone. Read me?" Johnny looked towards where Mattie had been standing only moments before, to see that she was gone. "Crap." Johnny resisted the urge to search her out, and turned his attention towards the party. He was here to have fun, after all, and Mattie was a big girl. She could look after herself, right?

"…and then I said 'at least I can drive!" Franklin Brown said with a wicked smile, his arm around Mattie's waste. Franklin, or Frank as he liked to be called, had introduced himself to Mattie and volunteered to show her around. Mattie, enamored with the atmosphere, didn't know how to say no. It was just as well, because Frank seemed nice enough and had already introduced her to a dozen of his friends. Mattie took a sip of her coke as she took a moment to enjoy at least being close to the center of attention for once.

"Can you guys point me to the bathroom?" Mattie asked, excusing herself.

"Sure, it's down the hall, third door to the left," Frank said.

"Thanks, can you hold my coke?" Mattie said.

Frank had to resist smiling. "Sure thing," he said as she handed it to him.

As Mattie made her way towards the bathroom, she noted that there wasn't a single boy here she was interested in. That always seemed to be the case, she sighed.

"Man, can you believe that piece of tail?" One of Frank's friends asked. "Barely anything in between her ears!"

Frank reached into his pocket and grinned. "Gift horse, my man. You know what they say about that."

Johnny made his way thru the crowd, oblivious to the appreciative stares of the many well-endowed young women. Something just didn't feel right. What he couldn't tell, but he didn't care either. He searched the crowd, looking for his friend. He felt like an idiot, but that was a small price to pay to make sure everything was all right.

"I feel like crap," Mattie muttered as Frank led her upstairs towards an infrequently used room in the frat house. Mattie's world was swimming, doubling over as she tried to complete the simplest thought, as well trouble standing, let alone thinking about where Frank was leading her. She vaguely remembered her light-headedness starting after she came back and finished her drink, but she couldn't be certain. In fact, her mind was so foggy she couldn't even be certain of her own name, let alone anything else. Frank and Mattie moved unobstructed into a room at the end of the hall. Frank opened the door and led the wobbly Mattie in, and closed it. The slight -click- of the doorknob somehow almost brought her back to her senses.

"Nooo…" Mattie protested feebly as Frank laid her down on the bed. Somewhere in the back of her drugged mind, she realized Frank's intentions now. "Stop…"

Frank chuckled, and started to unbuckle the belt to Mattie's pants. "Stop? Baby, I haven't even started. But gimme a sec…"

Next: Hyde and Seek, Part 2