Commissioner Heathley spent many years on the Florida Police Force, trained in the arts of self defense, how to wield the most powerful handguns at his disposal, and to report several corrupt cops to Internal Affairs. But he never thought that he would have to face this particular threat.

The threat of mutants on his station. He only knew their names from their talking to one another.

Longshot.

Sunfire.

Craze.

They weren’t just mutants but in this case, killer mutants who had just went on a rampage to attack mindlessly with no motive in sight. He had dealt with mutants in the past. Mutants who wanted to rob some of the senior community’s social security checks to use a little power and leverage to get what most everyone wanted in the world. Money and power. More than their physical powers would allow them.

It started early on a Monday morning when these mutants arrived in Florida, wanting nothing more than to waste all the cops in Florida. There was a barricade of cops between the entrance to the station and the mutants attacking.

He focused on their leader, Craze.

“Okay, guys, let’s kick these loser’s butts,” Craze said, launching into an attack, joined by Longshot and Sunfire. “’Cos y’know I want me to have some fun.”

The lucky one created from the heart of the Mojoverse hurled knives at the bodies of the police officers. His aim was as true as ever. Some died instantly while others were just seriously injured.

Sunfire, on the other hand, fired some solar plasma at the barricade, heating it up, setting it on fire. Now there was a wall of fire between the cops and the mutants. “That should take care of them,” Sunfire said.

“I knew Deus had one of his more brilliant ideas by taking you along with me,” Craze said. He attacked several cops at once, punching them this way and that, hurting them tremendously.

Heathley began to get worried. It seemed that every crazy mutant in the United States was waging a war on his own police department. It was hopeless. He didn’t have the manpower to ward them off and defend himself from the mutants killing his men.

They were cutting a virtual swath through the police officers, either downing them or just outright slaughtering them one by one. Picking them off like dead flies. They were that easy to kill. He didn’t want to think about what would happen when the mutants were done with the cops and wanted to handle the city and state itself.

Craze snapped a female officer’s neck, watching her fall dead to the blood-drenched streets below. “That was fun,” he said.

Sunfire set a couple men on fire watching them burn and become nothing more than a black, dried-up husk.

Longshot used his luck powers to evade the officer’s gunfire and struck them with more of his knives. When they dropped dead, he gathered their guns for later use. Florida is a big state and there are more cities with more police stations to raid.

This should bring the other mutants out of hiding, Craze thought, as he prepared to finish the battle.

Hulkbuster Base

“You’ve got to be kiddin’ me?!”

“You heard me, Fontanelle, no powers. This exercise is built around your abilities to defeat an opponent in hand to hand combat. Without you entering the dreamstate of your victim. Capeesh?” said Exodus. “Think you can handle that?”

“I can try. Let’s begin.”

“I think you know your opponent.”

“Yes, I know Piotr very well. Too well, thanks to you.” Fontanelle looked at the human form of Piotr Rasputin, clad in his X-men uniform. He was a handsome enough fellow and perhaps if she were a few years younger and he wasn’t attached to Kitty Pryde, she would have found him a bit enticing. She had courted quite a few men in her time, flirting here and hitting on them there. But if this were her home for now, then who is she to complain about a little age difference? But she had to remind herself that she was here on business, and stop her infernal daydreaming.

Right, Piotr Rasputin, former X-man, now current Exile member. To teach her about the life and death situations in hand to hand combat skills. There were worse fates.

“As the Pat Benatar song goes, ‘hit me with your best shot’, Peter!” she said, as she sidestepped his first punch-thrust. He wasn’t going to stay in his human form for long, she surmised, He nearly toppled over, losing his balance, as she tripped him, seeking a safe haven at the other side of the training room.

“This is no danger room,” Peter Rasputin mumbled as he fell to the floor. “Guess I’ll have to improvise, my little tovarisch.”

“I’m no friend of yours, Russkie. There may be no Communist Soviet Union but tell that to the poor citizens in Red China. Now show me something fierce, Colossus.”

With that said and as he registered that into his brain, Piotr Rasputin transformed into the armor organic steel form of his alter ego. “This should be fun, Fontantelle,” he said, clenching his fist together and launching into another attack.

“Hey, that’s not fair, Exodus,” Fontanelle complained vividly to their leader. “I thought we weren’t supposed to use our powers. If I can’t, why can he?”

“Simply,” Exodus explained from a safe distance of the two combatants, “because you have to learn to use hand to hand combat skills in the eventuality that someone has psychic defenses to counteract your dream powers. Is that enough explanation for you, my dear?”

Fontanelle shrugged. “Works for me, doll-face.”

“Good. Continue the training exercise,” Exodus said, smiling to himself, with arms folded over his chest.

I could easily enter his mind and make his darkest dreams, fears, and nightmares a reality, Fontanelle thought, as she concentrated on for the final kill of Colossus’s slowing approaching form, but that would be cheating.

“Come to Poppa Bear, Fontanelle,” Colossus purred like a devilish cat. “And make me want you more. More for the defeat. I know you can do better than that.”

Colossus pulled his left clenched hand back, smiling, and then, hurled it forward, punching the elder Exile member to the other side of the room, connecting with the far wall. She was knocked instantly unconscious.

Colossus walked slowly over to Fontanelle, seeing if she were indeed all right. If there were any bruises on her because he had not pulled his punch. She was laying on her back and not answering his calls to contact her.

As he bent down to tap her on the back, she twisted and turned around, thrusting her legs onto his chest, hurling him to the ground. When he hit the ground a second time, he was so distracted that he changed back into human form.

There was uproarious applause from Exodus who now walked into the center of the room, surveying Fontanelle’s victory and Colossus’ defeat.

“Good, good, good. I see that you, Fontanelle, have potential beyond the capability of your dream-entering powers but Colossus, I am sorely disappointed in you.”

Piotr groaned awake. “I am sorry. She caught me off guard.”

Exodus frowned. “Is that what Xavier taught you many times over in the Danger Room? That it is all right to let your guard down and let your villains take you by surprise? That is poor showmanship, to say the least.”

“How dare you speak about Charles Xavier in that manner!”

“I mean no disrepsect but I am trying to raise a point here. Xavier taught you to expect the unexpected. I am teaching you the same thing. Next time, remember, don’t let your guard down, ever.”

“Yes, Exodus,” Piotr said, at attention.

“C’mon, Fontanelle, we have to go to—“

Japan

The Land of the Rising Sun looked great for the fall season but then any country looked great when you were in a super hero team that traveled extensively. Exodus and Fontanelle came here to find the parents of the mutant, ex-X-man Sunfire to recruit him for their own mutant team. They approached his house and Exodus told his female, aging companion that he would speak for them both. No sense in making the natives restless.

He knocked on the door and in seconds, a couple, a man and a woman, answered the calling. When asked upon, they said that they were the parents of Shiro Yoshida. Exodus explained who he was and what he was doing there. Though not asked to, Fontanelle entered their minds to see what they really knew; what she found was that someone put a psychic block on their memories, clouding their thoughts. She sent a psychic message to Exodus, telling him her find.

His parents had no idea where Shiro—Sunfire—was or where he had been in the last couple of days.

“Thank you. We’ll find him for you.”

Shiro’s parents told them to take their leave quickly, before the law intervened in their visit. Exodus wondered where Sunfire had been and not thought to contact his parents.