Sydney.

Hugh Japheth has had a hard life. From leaving his family, to discovering he was a mutant, and being unpredictable with questionable ethics, the former X-Man known as Maggott is the epitome of amateur. A lot of what he does is in the gray area. His problem is that he's too naive, eccentric, and cocky.

Now he's trying desperately not to eat everything in sight. His unique and...gross mutant power took the form of two slug-like creatures that act as his digestive system, able to eat matter at great speeds. This broken down energy then is converted into increased strength and endurance for Mr. Japheth. It creates somewhat of a sexual high whenever the slugs replenish him.

However, both Maggott and his slugs seem to be going through a hormonal change, needing more and more energy as they grow.

"C'mon, gels," Maggott winces, grabbing his stomach. "Not now...please."

As the cargo hold of the plane opens, Maggott shouts as he jumps out of his hiding spot behind two large wooden crates, knocking the two runway workers over. He was bulked up and his skin was dark blue. His eyes shined with an eerie crimson glow. Foam came from his mouth as he breathed.

"That's far enough, mutant!" a woman dressed in some sort of religious-military attire. There stood at least ten others behind the woman, all wearing the same outfits and all carrying large rifles. Maggott could tell they were energy weapons, he's seen them before.

Maggott smiles, "Ag, that's not very PC, mates." Eany and Meany roar as they tear themselves out of Maggott's stomach, lunging for the Church of Humanity clerics. "Eat the guns, gels!"

As the two slug-like creatures leap and begin chomping on the weapons of two of the clerics, another fires an EMP upon them. Having a link to them, Maggott feels his mass and strength diminish. Eany and Meany fall flat and curl up into a ball.

As Maggott slumps to the asphalt, the clerics approach him, beating him with the blunts of their rifles.

"A worthy sacrifice for the Lord!" one of them shouts. With one final blow, Maggott's head slumps to the side as he is knocked out. The clerics and their captured target disappear in a blue beam of light.

Meanwhile, Eany and Meany awaken, uncurling themselves. They seem to have a shrilling dialogue with each other as they slither away.

*BLINK*

Blink, Archangel, and Roni appear inside a small apartment. Roni stumbles over a chair.

"Damn...teleporting sucks," Roni says, getting to her feet. "Um, well, this is my place. I don't think I have anything to offer to eat, but I do have some wine coolers in the refrigerator."

Archangel walks around, observing everything he can, "No, that's okay, I'm fine. Thanks."

"Clare?" Roni asks.

"Um, Clarice," Blink corrects.

Roni smiles, "My bad. You want some wine coolers? I think I got fuzzy navel in there somewhere."

"I'm not 21," Blink blushes.

Roni shakes her head, "This is Australia, girl."

"My powers aren't something to be taken lightly if I'm drunk," Blink says.

"Why?" Roni asks. "They're just wine coolers, not like straight alcohol."

"Look...I said no," Blink says. She regains her composure, "So what was your connection to Will Takken?"

"I don't know, he's probably dead with the rest of Gene Nation," Roni says as she walks into her bedroom, grabbing a suitcase which she begins to pack with clothes.

"We don't know that, Roni," Archangel says. "The authorities didn't find his body."

"Yeah, but they aren't done counting the casualties yet, either," Roni says as she throws a pair of black lace panties into the suitcase. She grabs a couple of DVDs with provocative imagery on the covers. "Can't forget these," she says with a kinky smile.

"You didn't answer us, Roni," Blink says. "We need to know, Psylocke can't probe your mind because your powers naturally block telepathy."

Roni sighs as she sits on her bed, "I'm from LA. I was doing stand up one night and some asshole started hootin' and hollerin' at me, eyein' me up. Kept telling me to drop my drawers so he could slap my bare ass. Then my...powers kicked in. My anger had an effect on the crowd. Started a riot. Some people died. My career was finished, but Will found out about what happened and offered me to join Gene Nation. After I had some differences with his methods and left, I tried to start over here in Sydney."

"My God, I'm sorry, Roni," Archangel says. "Didn't realize your powers worked that way."

Roni shrugs with modesty, "Everything about the brain is electrical impulses. It's not totally mind-blowing or uncanny. I guess that's why I try to make people laugh...so I know I won't make them turn bad."

Blink remains strikingly silent. The first time she used her powers, she woke up in a puddle of blood. If it was her own or someone else's...she never really knew. That gave her parents all the more incentive to accept her enrollment into the Massachusetts Academy. Of course, that didn't go as planned. Only intense training from both the In-Betweener and Witness, as well as the experiences of her alternate reality self, allowed her to control her gifts.

"Do you guys hear that?" Archangel asks, trying to determine the high pitch frequency's origin.

"No...," Roni answers, concerned.

"Get us out of here, Bli--!" Archangel shouts.

*BOOM!*

"I don't get it," Pyro says as a cigarette dangles from his lip, "they're killing some and then just abducting the rest. It doesn't make sense."

He and Quicksilver are watching news reports from the safety of the hotel's lower levels, located in the Outback.

"It's circumstantial," Quicksilver explains. "Whoever is easier to subdue is captured...and didn't you stop smoking?"

"I did," Pyro nods. "But then I realized I could die soon with these poncy wankers flyin' around declaring war on mutants. So, I could care less about lung cancer. Skin cancer's the worst. The hole in the ozone is right above us, y'know."

"Did Joseph get back yet?" Pietro asks.

"No, he's still in Antarctica," Pyro says. "Doin' his electromagnetic yoga or whatever he calls it. Guess sitting on the magnetic south pole calms him er somethin', eh?"

{{"...reports are coming in all throughout heavy populated areas of Australia of mutants being attacked by the self-proclaimed Church of Humanity..."}}

{{"...many mutants are being reported missing in the American southwest..."}}

{{"...no hay nada de los mutantos en la Cuidad de México..."}}

"I'd hate to see him try to stay calm with all of this going on," Quicksilver says. "Better check on the others." He takes a communicator out of his pocket and talks into it, "Archangel, this is Quicksilver, do you copy?"

{{............}}

"He's still with Roni at 'er apartment, isn't he?" Pyro asks. "Ask him if she's all right?"

Quicksilver impatiently shoves his hand in front of Pyro's face, "Blink, Archangel, can you hear me?" He rubs his hand over the top of his head, "God...this is too much. We've got these zealots running around and the team is totally disorganized!"

"Get Betsy," Pyro says. "She's still got the telepathic touch."

"Are you sure? I don't know if we can rely on her," Quicksilver says. "Rogue can more easily--"

"What are you, blind?" Pyro asks. "Psylocke was born with it, Rogue bloody just stole it. Quit tryin' to pull this 'my gel is better' garbage!"

Pietro crosses his arms, "I didn't know Betsy was your girl."

"What? Bloody hell, you know what I meant," Pyro shouts.

"So, what did you mean?" Quicksilver asks.

"...I like her, is all," Pyro mutters as he takes one last drag from his cigarette, putting it out with his boot.

"Oh, is that right? I think Warren would have something to say to that."

"Look," Pyro yells, "you're not the poster child for keeping your infidelities in check, so just mind your own damn business!"

"I don't have time for this, John," Quicksilver says as he disappears in a blur of speed.

Pyro glares at the empty hallway Pietro Maximoff just ran down. He chuckles as he casually walks the same path.

Psylocke is dressed in skintight black spandex with a katana in her grasp. After emerging from the Siege Perilous a fragmented woman, she was merged both mind and body with the Asian assassin, Kwannon. Spiral, a denizen of Mojoworld, used her Body Shoppe as means to complete the genetic and mental manipulation.

Both Kwannon and Psylocke were Betsy Braddock, as much as it sounds like a paradox. When Kwannon -- inhabiting Betsy's original body -- died, Betsy lived on in Kwannon's body. Her body and mind were weapons. Now, with the Crimson Dawn removed from her, Betsy's Asian form mysteriously returned to Caucasian. It seems Spiral's transformation was only skin deep.

However, Psylocke's ninja training and martial arts skills have diminished, both from losing the Crimson Dawn powers and gaining her original body. It doesn't make sense, if she was in her own body all along, she should've been able to retain all of her skill. Perhaps there is a part of Psylocke that knows she is trying too hard to be Kwannon, an unattainable plateau in her terms.

"Ahh!" Psylocke shouts after performing a kick. She grabs the back of her thigh. She pulled the muscle.

It seems that isn't the case.

"Psylocke, we need to--are you okay?" Quicksilver asks, just having skidded to a halt in the exercise room.

Betsy drops the katana on the floor with a loud clang, "I must've not stretched enough."

"We need you to--"

"Warren and Clarice, I know," Psylocke says as she sits down at the weight bench after limping for a few steps.

"And Roni, if possible," Pietro adds.

"Right," Betsy mutters. She concentrates as an energy butterfly appears around her eyes. "I can't sense them, did Cerebro do a scan?"

"Maybe Rogue can find them," Pietro suggests.

Psylocke opens her eyes, "Let me use Cerebro, my natural range is limited. Rogue might have the power, but not the experience, luv."

"Okay," Pietro sighs, "either way, we're going to have to get to Sydney to try and stop these clerics. I can make the trip on my own, but Rogue might have to use a portal or something for the rest of you."

*CRASH*

A form whizzes past Pietro and Betsy, about to crash through another wall. Quicksilver instantly sprints at top speeds and catches the person. It was Rogue, who was bruised and bleeding.

"Rogue?!" Quicksilver shouts.

Pyro darts into the room with two balls of fire smoldering in his hands, "What the bloody hell?"

Psylocke stands up slowly, "Pietro..."

"What?" he asks, wiping blood off of Rogue's forehead.

"We're under attack...," Psylocke breathes. Dozens of clerics begin to storm the hotel, armed with their rifles.

Sydney.

"Do you guys hear that?" Archangel asks, trying to determine the high pitch frequency's origin.

"No...," Roni answers, concerned.

"Get us out of here, Bli--!" Archangel shouts.

*BOOM!*

A black portal forms above the streets as Blink, Archangel, Roni, and a little bit of excess flames pour out of it. As they hit the ground, cars swerve and crash into each other.

"Nice reflexes," Warren comments as he flaps his wings, trying to cause burning feathers to fly off.

"Don't mention it," Blink says as the angry drivers begin to shout at the three mutants.

"My communicator's dust," Archangel says.

"My panties have been urinated upon," Roni says.

Blink's eyes glow, "Oh no, they're coming, I can sense their teleporting frequencies--"

Ten clerics appear from blue portals and unleash their EMP rifles, hitting Blink, rendering her powerless. The guards advance with their laser blasters charging up, signified by a high-pitched chirping noise. Blink is bound by a metallic coil and has a negator collar slapped on around her neck.

"Oh my God!" Roni shouts as Warren picks her up and carries her into the air with his wings flapping furiously. "We have to go back and get her!"

"They're using electromagnetic pulses to scramble mutant powers," Archangel says. "We need to fly to safety and rethink what to do. Blink isn't in trouble yet. I'm going to try and contact my girlfriend mentally."

Roni looks down at the street and sees the ten clerics and Blink disappear, "Well, they didn't kill her, but they probably will. She was our ride home, too. See what happens when you rely too much on teleporting?"

Archangel smiles, trying to mask his anxiety, "The shortest distance between two objects on the globe is a curved line. I've got wings, we're not totally helpless."

"Won't you get tired flyin' all that way?" Roni asks.

"Nope," Warren responds.

"Not even by carryin' my fat ass?" Roni asks.

Archangel simply glares silently at the passenger in his grasp, trying to remain serious, "If you keep struggling, yes." He sighs, "And you're not fat."

"Well, my ass is," Roni smiles.

"No comment--ARGH!" Warren shouts as a laser hits him in the left wing. He and Roni begin to plummet towards the ground.

"Not totally helpless my ass!" Roni screams.

Beijing, China.

A darkened room is dimly illuminated by two glowing orbs. They were really eye slots for a young man who wore an iron mask over his face. When he was thirteen, his brain cells dissolved, sucked up into the gravitational forces of the miniature star inside his skull. The Communist government ordered the seizure of the child to be locked up. The boy's parents were slain. No one even bothered to keep the boy's birth records. No one even knows his real name.

No one even cares.

A crack of light appears. The young man turns his head towards the light. He reads objects based on the light they reflect. He says hello in Mandarin and then Cantonese, but there is no answer. The sliding doors open all the way, revealing fifteen armed men and women.

"We've come to liberate you, trash."

"Ah, you speak English?" the man asks. As a flash light is shone on him, he is naked, chainlinks connected to shackles all over his body, connected to the four walls. There was also an intricate system of locks that held the mask over his face. The mask itself looked like a sick, industrialized version of a skull. "My name is Xorn."

"Yeah, whatever," a cleric says as the team begins dismantling his shackles. A cleric touches the key which was in the mask's lock system.

"No, do not! My true face would blind you!" Xorn warns. He sighs, "I am greatful you have freed me. I've been locked up for years. I absorbed information and knowledge where ever I could. Am I going back to live with my parents?"

There is no answer as Xorn's world becomes dark once more.

"Stand still!" a cleric shouts as at least ten try to blast Quicksilver, but the speedster is too quick for them to get a decent aim. Before they knew it, their guns were dismantled. A large serpent made of fire flicks its tongue, setting them on fire.

"It would have been more symbolic using a burning bush," Pyro says. "But the serpent motif works." John forces his clenched hand forward, manipulating oxygen molecules just right to shoot out a stream of flame that creates a barrier of pure heat.

"Stay sharp, Pyro!" Quicksilver shouts, "They can de-power you at any minute!"

"Worry about yourself, Maximoff!" Pyro shouts back as he forms a layer of fire around him.

"We need to disable their EMP generators," Quicksilver says as he zips off to face the second wave of clerics.

"Great," Pyro mutters as he charges behind him, hoping the barrier will protect him from the lasers.

Psylocke, meanwhile, cradles a bleeding Rogue, "Come on, gel...you have to access Wolverine's powers!"

"I can't...," Rogue mutters.

"You'll die!" Psylocke shouts. Rogue's head falls limp to the side. "Fine," Psylocke says, "I'll help!"

Rogue's eyes shoot open as her pupils shrink. She grits her teeth as six bone claws slice through the tops of her hands just below the knuckles. The injuries, visible and internal, heal almost instantly.

"Good, now access Magneto's powers and disable their weapons," Psylocke commands.

"No...," Rogue growls as she brings the claws up to her face. Sideburns have actually started to grow in on her face. "I'm usin' these."

"Shall I fetch you a cigar?" Psylocke jokes.

"Cute," Rogue retorts as she charges into battle with a berserker rage.

Psylocke begins to run, or rather, limp, but hesitates. She was still a relative martial arts novice.

"Freeze!" a cleric yells.

Psylocke whips around and causes the man to pass out with a thought. She cracks a smile, "Not so helpless, Betsy, are we now?"

"Hold on!" Archangel shouts, trying to get out of freefall by positioning his wings in just the right way.

"Hold on? Gee, what else would I be doing?" Roni asks.

"This might hurt...," Archangel winces. The flapping of his wings wasn't working. There was too much of an air current above him instead of under him to keep him aloft properly.

"I'm gonna try something, sweetheart," Roni says as her eyes begin to crackle with ions. She holds out her hand and discharges massive amounts of electrical energy. She concentrates and forms a focused beam of electrons, effectively slowing their fall.

"I'll be damned...," Archangel says. "Slowing your fall with an energy beam really does work. I owe Cyclops two-thousand dollars."

"Huh?" Roni asks.

"Don't stop," Archangel shouts.

As the two reach ground level, Warren falls to his knees. His wing was slightly burnt, but otherwise okay, it was already healing. The clerics return, appearing out of nowhere. Their guns are drawn as they fire an EMP upon their capture. Archangel simply smiles, since the EMP had no effect on physical mutations. Roni appears to be winded, but fine.

"End of the line, mutant freaks!" the lead man yells.

"You poor boys need to take up a new fanatical religion," Roni says as her body lights up with sparks of electricity, "Perhaps comic books." Archangel and the clerics are amazed. "Using an EMP on an elemental mutant? In four words...thanks for the snack."

In one fell swoop, a massive pulse of electricity courses through the men like they were tasered by a 2000 volt stun gun. In a comical fashion, they dance and jiggle before falling flat on their faces. Only one cleric, the ranking officer, remains.

"And now, my young Jedi," Roni jokes as she holds her fingers crooked in front of her, "you will die." A stream of lightning flows from her fingers as it connects with the cleric, sending him backwards twenty feet. "Or, at least, you'll loose bladder control."

Archangel can't help but smile, "Roni, you're like a little diode, aren't you?"

"Well, thanks," Roni says, elbowing Archangel playfully in the gut. "Try to dodge those blasts next time."

Suddenly, Warren's countenance becomes serious, he walks up to one of the clerics and takes a small device from his belt, "Are these the same men that got Blink?"

"Uh, I dunno," Roni responds. "Probably. Same number of men that captured her, why?"

"I think this is a teleportation device," Archangel says.

"Wait, you're sayin' we've got Star Trek technology now?" Roni shrieks. "We can't even figure out how to block spam for AOL yet."

Archangel holds out the device, "Well, it's not sold in stores. Only certain government agencies would have it. They're sold on the black market, too. Criminals love them. They're rare, though."

"Where in the hell did we get that kind of technology? What's next, is time travel possible, too?" Roni asks.

"Well...not sure, to tell you the truth. I'm guessing some time travelers just misplaced some of their stuff or we crafted it using data from alien space ships that crash landed here," Warren explains.

"You're joking, right?" Roni asks.

"You lived through the Apocalypse, right?" Warren asks. Roni nods. "Then it can't be that hard to believe."

"Point taken," Roni sighs. "So, if this will lead us back to where ever Blink and hundreds of other mutants are being detained, what are we going to do?"

"We're going to have to take matters into our own hands," Warren says as he begins stripping one of the clerics and putting on the religious-militaristic outfit. "You and I aren't affected by the EMPs. We should be able to infiltrate this Church of Humanity thing. No problem."

"Spies, huh? Whatever," Roni says as she begins getting into her own cleric outfit. "Might as well start calling me 'Diode' or whatever. Can't believe I'm doing this."

Warren smiles, "Welcome to the X-Men, Roni...hope you survive the experience."

"What the hell kind of welcome is that? Screw you!"

"Sorry," Archangel says as he slips a trench coat on to conceal his wings. Warren is startled to see two slugs sniffing at his feet. "Jesus!" He flaps his wings, elevating himself.

Roni looks down and falls backwards in response to the two creatures, "Oh my God! What the hell? Call Steve Irwin!"

"No, wait...," Archangel breathes. He calmly lands on the street and leans down. Eany and Meany's eyes seem to follow every movement Warren makes. He looks up at Roni, "These two belong to someone I know, and if I'm right, he's in the same place Blink is."

Camp Verde.

"Mr. Proudstar?" a young Apache boy asks, running up to a large, muscular man hunched over a small brush fire. James Proudstar's eyebrows furrow as he remembers the scene years ago, his tribe had been killed by Stryfe. His brother, John Proudstar, also known as Thunderbird, was the first full-fledged X-Man to die on duty.

"Mr. Proudstar, there's some white people on the reservation," the boy repeats.

James looks up, "What do they want?"

"They're asking for someone named Warpath," the boy responds. He scratches the side of his face, "Do you know who they're talking about?"

"Possibly," James says as he stands up, brushing dust off of his jeans. "Go inside with your parents."

"But--"

"Do it!" James barks. John had a temper, too. It's what got him killed. Proudstar walks out in the open when he hears footsteps in the sand behind him. He whips around with his fists clenched, a fury in his eyes.

A blonde man with a hardened face and a green-haired woman are there to greet him. The man holds out his hand, "Long time, no see...Jimmy."

"Havok and Polaris?" Proudstar announces. He gets out of his defensive position. "Last time I saw you was at Storm, Cable, and Apollyon's funerals. Why are you here?"

"Well, if you've been paying attention," Havok begins, "there's a lot of mutants being killed lately. Now that we're not as immortal as the media puts us out to be, fanatics are springing up left and right trying to finish the job."

"What Alex means is that...," Polaris pauses. "We need you. We're going to help put a stop to it."

"On your own?" James smiles, "I'd expect this from Cable, not you two."

"Someone's gotta do something," Havok says coldly.

Proudstar shakes his head, crossing his arms, "I've given up the mutant hero thing. I'm trying to live a normal life here."

"We've tried, too," Polaris says. "But we can't. We'll never be able to. Not with all of this stuff going on."

"Aw, damn," Havok mutters. James and Lorna look around and see fifty clerics surrounding them.

The hotel.

"Rrrraghhh!" Rogue shouts as she sinks her claws into one cleric after the next. They fall like flies to a bug zapper. Blood has spattered onto Rogue's face, but she's too feral to care. She's caught up in the rage. For the first time, she finally "gets" Wolverine.

"I think we've almost got 'em!" Pyro shouts amidst the commotion.

Quicksilver whooshes around, knocking out every cleric he sees, with speeding fisticuffs. "Keep fighting! Just get their guns. They aren't great fighters, but their marksmanship makes up for it!"

"Ahh!" Psylocke shouts as she trips on a piece of scrap metal. A cleric points his gun at her head.

"End of the line, spawn of Satan!!!" the cleric shouts in an overly dramatic fashion.

Rogue leaps at the man and, instead of skewering him, touches him on his face, absorbing his memories and energy, "Time to see how you people...operate!"

"Rogue?" Quicksilver says as he sees Rogue absorbing the man for what seems like too long.

Soon, the man falls over, dead. Rogue stands over the corpse, horrified by what she's done. She appears to blank out while standing up. She reawakens...somewhat different. She grabs a gun and points it at the still trembling Psylocke.

"Kill the mutants!" Rogue shouts.

*BLAM*