Okay, final chapter to the Brotherhood Arc, let's go. After the battle we'll get a lot of down time, characters recovering, new things being learned, and the setup to the next arc which will be Blue & Gold. It'll be based off the Blue & Gold run; you'll get the team lineups next chapter. Also, Blue & Gold will take place over the longest time period so far, from 2015 to late 2016, so it'll probably be the biggest arc so far, we'll see.

I should also say that yeah, after this chapter the story will go on a little hiatus as I work out the next arc and regain my bearings. I mean, constantly writing 8,000-word minimum chapters for every Thursday gets to you.

That's all from me up here! On with the story!

Plummet

I take a deep breath as the elevator doors open, on the other side I find Colossus, Wolverine, and Polaris waiting for me.

"Took you long enough. What held you up?" Wolverine asks as I walk up next to him.

"I ran into Destiny and Mystique."

Wolverine's eyes narrow as he sniffs around me. "And?"

To prove I'm me I swap to my Iceman powers and blast the wall next to me. Wolverine nods and backs off. "And Destiny's dead."

Their eyes widen. Polaris lets out a gasp and covers her mouth with her hands. "Oh, Mystique isn't going to like this one bit."

"Doesn't matter. Destiny sent her escape pod hurtling towards Earth. She looked pretty mad at me," I reply.

"Destiny forced the pod to launch, didn't she?" Wolverine asks. At my nod he continues. "Mystique probably doesn't know that. She probably thinks you sent her away to deal with Destiny. When we get back you gotta be careful, she's gonna hunt your ass down."

I sigh deeply as I turn my body and face the door to Magneto. "I already had enough of that with Sinister," I whisper. "So, we ready?"

Colossus slams his flesh and blood hand into his fist. "Da, I am ready."

Polaris nods as she gulps. "Y-yeah. Yeah, I'm ready."

"We ain't gonna beat him by standing here, are we? Let's go," Wolverine gruffly says.

With that, we walk towards the doors.

Because anything could happen as soon as those doors open, I take the lead, icing up to take any hit Magneto sends our way. Oooh, plan. I stop just before the door and look at Polaris. "I'm gonna go in with a flashy entrance, Wolverine and Colossus are gonna be with me too. I want you to hide, he probably won't expect you to fight with us, so when the moment comes hit him hard."

Polaris nods. "Got it. Let's go."

I look back at the door and get ready to run in. "Three…two…one!"

I run through the door at top speed, creating a small blizzard that covers our entrance. Through the snow I notice some shards of metal flying at us, I create some ice walls that block the shards, protecting Wolverine and Colossus. From the corner of my eye I notice Polaris stealthing by, keeping close to the walls and staying low.

I look forward and swipe my right arm upwards, creating a wave of ice that parts some of the blizzard and flies towards Magneto. I hear the wave shatter just before a barrage of metal shards comes flying in, some crash into my body, leaving faint cracks while others bounce off, one managing to hit Wolverine in the arm.

Thanks to the metal barrage the blizzard dissipates, revealing the room in its entirety.

Looking down, I notice an ornate red and purple carpet that leads to the center of the room, there I see a giant metal throne that reminds me of the Iron Throne. At the other end of the room is a giant window showing a beautiful view of the Earth that is getting closer. All along the walls are blades of many kinds from many places, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and others. Gotta keep an eye on those things. In front of the window is a console, on it is some weird device that looks like it would fit on someone's head. There are some computers along the wall on the right and a bar to our left, some seats around the room as well.

What's most interesting is the section next to the throne. It's a platform, the ground around it missing, separating it from the rest of the room, and on the platform is a metal cage. And guess who's in the cage. That's right, Professor X and Forge. Magneto probably has them in here just so he could gloat if he were to be successful.

The two of them look at us wide-eyed as there's a pause on the combat. Forge looks at Wolverine, me, and then Colossus. "Hey guys! I, uh, I see Piotr's here. Please tell me someone else is coming."

Wolverine growls as he cracks his knuckles, his claws staying inside. "Hate to break it to ya Forge, but it's just the three of us."

"Oh. Great," Forge bemoans.

Magneto chuckles as he floats off of his throne, his arms folded. "Indeed. Great. A child who has yet to see real combat, a rookie, and a man with a metal skeleton. I may not even need to use The Crown."

The Crown? Oh, that thing on the console, I guess.

"Hey! Don't underestimate us! Who knows, we may have a secret weapon or two you don't know about," I shout at him.

Magneto just stares blankly at me. "I highly doubt it."

And with that, combat resumes. He raises his arm, the ground beneath me coming up and wrapping around me, making me look like a metal burrito with an ice cold inside. Magneto lifts me up and uses me as a shield to protect him from bottles thrown by Colossus from his bar. Using that moment, Wolverine somehow appears out of nowhere and jumps on Magneto's back, punching the Master of Magnetism twice before Magneto recovers and tosses him at me, slamming both of us on the ground.

"What a wasted opportunity," Magneto says. "You could have used that moment to take my helmet off, maybe then Mimic could have shut my brain down. Then again, what else would I expect from a savage of your caliber, Wolverine?"

Without saying a word Wolverine rolls away, giving me a clear shot as I hit Magneto with a Siryn scream. He shouts in pain as he flies back, his hands over where his ears would be under his helmet.

During all of that Wolverine looks at Colossus. "Let's try it."

Colossus looks at him surprised. "Are you sure?"

Wolverine nods. "Yeah. C'mon, while Shifty still has him preoccupied."

Colossus just shrugs before transforming into his metal form. He walks towards Wolverine and grabs him by the front and back of his suit. He then lifts Wolverine up and spins around, at the third spin he throws Wolverine at Magneto, a yellow and blue blur flying at the Master of Magnetism.

Just before Wolverine connects, I stop my attack, giving Magneto no time to recover as Wolverine's claws stab into his shoulders.

After taking a moment to get out of his shock, Magneto hits Wolverine with a powerful pulse that sends him flying towards me, again causing us to slide on the floor.

Breathing deeply, Magneto's gaze turns to Colossus. "Ah, so that is your gift. How unlucky for you to be fighting me," he aims his arm out towards Colossus, lifting him up in the air. "Do not worry, child, I do not plan to kill you. Just hurt you."

Colossus groans in pain as we hear his body creak and groan, his arms bending in a way that doesn't seem natural. I quickly get up and hit Magneto with another sonic blast. He expects this one and an electromagnetic shield blocks it. Shit, I gotta do something, and fast.

I swap to my Magneto powers and tear the floor up around me, creating two tendrils that I wrap around my arms. With a deep breath I swap to my Omega Red powers. Immediately I feel my life force slowly draining away, and a need to absorb the life forces of the others. So, I focus that need on Magneto.

With the metal tentacles I toss one at Magneto. Of course, his electromagnetic field catches it, but I fully expected it. As it pulls me in, I whip the other tentacle forward, it stops just in front of Magneto's face.

He finally stops messing with Colossus and looks at me. "What is your plan?"

I smirk. "This."

I activate my life force absorption. Magneto starts to look ill as he drops down, the both of us landing on the floor.

Oh, this, this feels good. Like, really good.

NO! Dammit.

After a few more seconds I quickly switch back to my Magneto powers and take off the tentacles.

This is why I hate that powerset, I pretty much become a vampire. It takes practically all of my willpower to not absorb everyone's life force when using Omega Red's abilities.

The floor below me explodes outwards, and I slam my head up on the roof. Yay, I think I have a concussion. How fun.

For who ever knows how long I lay down on the ground, staring at what I think is up. I can't tell, everything's swimming around. And I think I hear Colossus fighting Magneto, I'm not sure. Slowly getting up, I look to see a flesh and blood Colossus punching at Magneto, but each hit is stopped by a metal sheet Magneto puts up. Wolverine's stuck on the ground as Magneto also keeps him pinned down.

Dammit. Polaris, if you're gonna hit him, now would be a great time.

I switch to my Quicksilver powers and blitz Magneto. A few hits connect, allowing for Wolverine to get up. "God, I hate fighting this asshole," he mutters.

After some more hits Magneto wraps the floor around my legs, getting me stuck. "If you think I can't combat superspeed you are sorely mistaken," Magneto says.

I smirk. "Distraction, asshole."

Two giant, metal arms lift Magneto up and slam him down onto the ground, disorienting the Master of Magnetism. Colossus then shifts back to normal, but before he completes the transformation Magneto fires a powerful pulse that sends the three of us flying away. Colossus slams into the roof and falls down, groaning in pain as he writhes on the floor. There goes our big guns.

Magneto does have a point though, Polaris' powers would definitely be horrible against him outright, and he most definitely has plans against Scarlet Witch's powers. I switch to my Shadowcat powers and phase through the metal traps around my lower half. Looking up I see a multitude of metal spikes aimed at me. Shit.

Keeping my powers activated, the metal spikes go through me. After a few minutes, the spikes all end up in the ground behind me, turning around I see Magneto standing right in front of me. His eyes narrow as he reaches towards me, his arm going through me. Magneto's eyes twitch before he pulls his hand back and rubs it. "Hm…"

Magneto floats back, his eyes still on me. "What's up, asshole?" I question.

Magneto's fist glow with a weird blue-purple energy, some electricity arcing along his fists. "That won't work, dude!" I shout. Magneto ignores me and fires the weird electromagnetic blasts at me. They go through me, as expected, but they leave me feeling weird, almost…weaker. Ah, hell.

Magneto notices my reaction and fires more blasts at me. Using my acrobatic skills, I avoid the blasts, one manages to get my leg, causing it to feel weird, kinda like static. Dammit Polaris! Now would be great.

Out of the corner of my eye I notice the cage is now empty. Oh, nice one Polaris.

I switch to my powers from Vanessa and hit Magneto's beam with a powerful blast of wind that surprisingly keeps it back. Although, even with my feet planted in the floor I'm still pushed back slowly.

During our beam struggle Wolverine comes in from out of nowhere and wraps his arms around Magneto's neck, choking him out and bringing him down to ground level. "Kid! Hit him now!"

I switch to my earth powers and cover my fists in stone. I run forward and hit him in the abdomen with my stone covered fists. He groans in pain as my fists connect with his armor. With each hit the stone breaks away, but it definitely causes damage to him. Good.

I slide back a little and get my fists ready, going in for a double-fisted punch. The hit connects, shattering the stone fists and probably breaking some of my fingers. My left middle finger hurts like a bitch especially.

Another electromagnetic pulse pushes the both of us back, causing me to slam into the ground next to Colossus. My head slams into the ground and makes my vision swim. Turning my head to my left I see Colossus waking up. "How are we doing?" He asks. Thanks to slamming my head down I can barely hear it.

I look back up at the roof. "Not so good," I think I say, I'm not really sure what I said.

My hearing and vision clears up, and the first thing I notice is the screaming.

Sitting up I see Magneto's arms out, aimed at Wolverine, some metal coming out of his arms.

Shit. Shit. SHIT!

While me and Colossus are down, Magneto lifts Wolverine up with one hand, his other forcing the adamantium out of his body. Wolverine roars in pain as the metal comes out of his flesh, tears all along his arms, his claws coming in and out repeatedly.

Quickly switching to my Magneto powers, I grab the adamantium around Wolverine and try to bring it back into him. It doesn't work. Well, kind of. Instead of more adamantium leaving his body it all stays around him, but I can't hold it, even if our power is equal, he's got more skill.

Dammit. I turn to Colossus. "Dude, I need your help!"

Colossus shakes his head and gets up, ready to run at Magneto to tackle him. Instead, the metal cage slams into Magneto, sending him flying into the opposite wall. Wolverine falls over, the adamantium splattering on the ground around him and on him.

Looking over to our right Colossus and I notice Forge, Professor X, and Polaris coming towards us, Polaris' fists glowing green as she keeps Magneto pinned with the cage. "I can't hold him for long."

"Colossus, help her keep him down," I order. "Forge, Professor, think you can help me with Wolverine?"

Colossus gets up and runs towards the cage, transforming into his metal form and keeping it pinned down with Polaris' assistance. Forge and the Professor come next to me as we stand around an unconscious Wolverine. With his cybernetic arm, Forge scans him. "Good thing you reacted when you did. Magneto was only able to take out about fifteen percent of the adamantium in his body."

"If it was such a minuscule amount why'd it look like it hurt so bad?" I ask.

The circle on Forge's palm glows as it vacuums the adamantium up, a hard-light tube keeping it all in place. "Imagine if fifteen percent of your bone structure was forcefully pulled out of you. Wouldn't be so fun now, would it?" He then pats my head with his normal arm. "Thanks for the save, by the way."

"Yes, thank you," the Professor says. He places his palm on Wolverine's head and does a mental scan. "Hm, his mind has undergone intense trauma, he may not wake up for quite some time."

"Seriously?" Forge asks incredulously. "I mean, even with his metal skeleton he'd be pretty valuable for this fight."

As I look down at Wolverine's still injured body a thought comes to mind. Oh, please don't bite me in the ass.

"I have an idea," I announce.

Forge and the Professor look at me. "What is it, Mimic?" The Professor asks.

"I think I can get the adamantium back in him."

"How?" Forge wonders. "You'd need some equipment not found here to even get started. And who knows how long we'd even need to get the procedure done-"

The Professor raises his hand, silencing any further input from Forge. "What is your plan exactly, Nolan?"

"Simple: do the reverse of what Magneto did. He forcibly pulled it out, so I'll put it back in," I answer. "But yeah, it'll take some time, I'm not as skilled as him but I'm just as powerful."

The sound of metal grinding catches our attention. Looking over we see Magneto forcing the cage to explode outwards, sending Colossus flying away. After a moment Magneto floats upwards, studying all of us before his gaze lands on Polaris. She fidgets a little before standing her ground, glaring up at her father. "I won't let you do this," she states.

Magneto's blank look flashes into one of hurt before hardening in rage. He turns to glare at Wolverine, Forge, the Professor, and I. "You turned my daughter against me," the cage is morphed into another multitude of spikes. "You will regret that."

Reacting quickly, Forge creates a hard-light shield that protects us from the spikes. "Alright! Whatever your plan is here!" He tosses the tube of adamantium towards me. "I'll help deal with Magneto!"

"What about your arm and leg?" I ask.

"Don't worry, they aren't magnetic!" Forge reassures.

With that, Forge goes to help Colossus and Polaris hold back Magneto, leaving me and the Professor to help Wolverine.

"What is it you want me to do?" The Professor asks.

"When Wolverine takes enough damage his healing factor goes into overdrive. He also enters a berserker rage, going after anyone in his sight," I explain. "When he wakes up, I'll try to protect him from Magneto's magnetic attacks, hell, Polaris might too, making him immune to Magneto's magnetism. After all that me and you can fix his mind. That sound good?"

The Professor has a proud smile on his face. "Yes. Yes, it does. Well, let us begin."

I take a deep breath as I magnetically lift the adamantium out of the container, floating it towards Wolverine's open wounds along his arms. But once the adamantium touches the wounds I feel a barrier, as if I can't go any further. What the hell? I push more, but all it does is squeeze the adamantium along his arms.

I purse my lips as I try again. Same result.

Goddammit, what the hell am I doing wrong?

I grit my teeth as I try to seep the adamantium in through the wounds, putting the metal directly on his bones. And third time's not the charm.

"Nolan," the Professor says.

I bring the adamantium out and keep it floating over Wolverine's arms as I look at the Professor. After some calming breaths I reply, "yeah?"

"You need to focus."

"Oh, well, thanks. As if I weren't already," I mutter angrily. I try to fuse the adamantium with Wolverine's skeleton again, but it fails for a fourth time, further frustrating me.

Doesn't help that I can see Colossus, Forge, and Polaris struggling to keep Magneto pinned down.

While most of his attention is aimed towards Polaris, Magneto's still capable of keeping the other two occupied. Forge goes for potshots or creates little bombs, but Magneto's electromagnetic shield keeps him safe. And Colossus can't do much in his normal form, what with Magneto keeping him on the defensive with magnetic weapons.

"Nolan," the Professor says again. "Don't focus on them, focus on this. On your mission."

"Kind of hard to focus when an omega-level mutant is literally a few feet away from you kicking the asses of your friends, and when another one of your friends practically had a layer of his skeletal structure forcibly removed," I counter in anger.

"You're angry, good," the Professor says, sounding like a Sith lord. "You're halfway there."

I stop my seventh futile attempt and look at him. "What do you mean?"

He rolls up next to me, looking down at Wolverine. "I believe that true focus lies between rage and serenity. Would you mind if I…" he motions for a mental connection between the two of us. I nod, giving him access.

"Nolan! Come here and greet our guests!" My Mom calls for me.

Getting up, a little five-year-old me walks downstairs to the living room, here I find three people waiting for us. A man and a woman around Mom and Dad's age and a little girl around my age.

She has shoulder length brown hair and expressive brown eyes. She has on blue jeans with the left knee has a tear on it, she's also wearing green sneakers. Her shirt is navy blue while the sleeves are light blue, there is a giant stylized cat's face of a light blue shade on the center of her shirt as well. And in her arms is a purple cat plushie.

Her dad lightly pushes her forward. "Well? Go introduce yourself."

The girl looks up at him before looking at me, a look of determination on her face. "Uh, hi! My name is Katherine Anne Pryde, but I prefer Kitty! What's your name?"

I'm taken aback by her energy a little bit, but I recover and rub the back of my head. "I-I'm Nolan Alexander Belmont," I look up at Dad, not sure what to say next.

"Why don't you show Kitty some of your toys, us adults are gonna talk about boring adult stuff," he says.

"Um…okay!" I turn to Kitty and take her hand. "Come on! I have so many cool toys to show you!"

We exit the memory.

I look at my left hand, still feeling Kitty's hand in it. "That was when we first met," I whisper.

"A beautiful memory," the Professor compliments.

"Why did you show me that?" I ask, calmer than before. Hell, I think the last time I was this calm was on our way to Ireland.

"There is so much more to you than you know. More than your bloodline, you are your own person, with your own opinions. When you acknowledge this, I believe you will access a power no one, be they mutant or super-powered, will be able to match. Not me, not Jean," he looks at Magneto, bringing my gaze to him as well. "And certainly not Erik."

The Professor gives me one more nod before backing up.

With a deep breath I lift the adamantium up, over Wolverine's wounds, and refuse them with his bones, using my rage to complete the task, while keeping my serenity to stay on track. The sound of the battle fades away as I feel the metal connect with his bones. A giant smile breaks out on my face as I let out some loud laughter, something I don't think I've done in some time.

There's only a little bit of adamantium left. Good.

Wolverine's awake and his wounds have healed over completely. Not good.

He gets up and roars in anger as he swipes at me and the Professor. Using my powers, I force him at Magneto, and seeing what I'm doing, Polaris helps, allowing us to push Wolverine past Magneto's electromagnetic barrier.

I look to see that Wolverine's claws are fully covered in adamantium again, that's good. What about this adamantium? Maybe I could try and blind Magneto with it? If I find the right moment, I could totally harden it around his eyes, giving us the chance to take him down. Gah, he'll recover faster than I could blind him.

I snap my fingers and recoil in pain. Right, my left middle finger's hurting like a bitch. I quickly switch to my Wolverine powers, my finger healing.

…

Holy shit, Nolan Alexander Belmont you bloody genius.

Or bloody moron. Depends on who you ask.

Unsheathing my claws, I scratch up my arms, tearing at the flesh and revealing my bones. Using my willpower, I then stop the flesh from repairing itself.

During all of this the Professor rolls up next to me, his eyebrow arched in confusion, worry, and intrigue. "Mimic? What are you doing?"

"Gonna fuse this adamantium with my skeleton. It's gonna hurt."

"Wait, don't be so rash, Mimic. Look at Wolverine, with the amount of damage he is taking there will surely be an opening for you to fuse the rest of the adamantium with him. Don't do this to yourself," he reasons.

"Yeah, I'm looking at him, and you know what I see? A dude who's regenerating faster than I can deal with," I counter. "Besides, Professor, adamantium's a complicated metal, it takes a lot of thought to keep it liquid, if I let it just lie here until the end of the fight it might just harden. And I don't know if I have the skill to liquefy it again."

The Professor looks like he wants to argue, but my determined face says otherwise. He sighs deeply before I feel his presence in my mind. "I will keep you awake and calm," he looks at me with a worried face. "Are you sure about this, Nolan?"

"Nope."

I switch to my Magneto powers and try to ignore the pain. The adamantium is then grafted to the bones in my arms.

For the first few seconds I grit my teeth and shake violently as I try to keep the scream of pain in, but eventually I let it out. And it. Is. Loud. Really good thing I'm not using Banshee or Siryn's powers, otherwise I'd probably destroy Asteroid M.

Even with the memories of my friends and my family flashing through my mind the pain is still there, and it doesn't feel like it's going away soon.

Fuck. Fuck! FUCK!

I feel tears run down my face as I try to scratch the adamantium off of my bones, but thanks to the Professor my arms don't move. Then again, I don't know if I'm thankful for that, with my arms stock still I feel like I'm in more pain.

C'mon, c'mon, Nolan, keep calm.

It feels like it's eating my flesh. How the hell does Logan live with this? God, I don't know if I wanna live with this. Why am I so stupid? Did I really expect this to just be painless, to just…poof done?

After what feels like forever the pain decreases immensely. The bonding process complete. I fall over and lay down on my side as I bring my arms into me, looking straight at my bones to see them covered in adamantium. Gritting my teeth, I switch to my Wolverine powers, the pain subsiding greatly and the flesh repairing itself.

I slowly get up on my hands and knees and look down, my sweat and tears dropping. Come on, Nolan, you got this. I slam my right fist down as I slowly stagger up, nearly falling over. "If I ever think of adding more adamantium to my skeleton please make me think I'm a chicken for a week, Professor."

The Professor breaths a sigh of relief before a smile plays on his face. "Done."

The asteroid shakes violently again, causing those of us on the ground to fall over. After getting up I help the Professor get back in his wheelchair. "You okay?" I ask.

"Yes," he looks outside the window, his eyes widening. "We need to leave. Fast."

My earpiece activates. "Hey, guys," Shadowcat begins. "Hate to rush, but uh…we need to leave. Like now."

"Dammit," I whisper. I activate my earpiece. "Kind of can't. Magneto's got us pinned here, Wolverine, Colossus, Polaris, and Forge are barely keeping him down. And I highly doubt he's just gonna let us escape, we have to take him out if we even want a chance of leaving."

"If Forge and the Professor are safe just get over here," Shadowcat tries to reason. "Use your Quicksilver powers and get them all here."

"Can't do that. I mean, maybe I could get Forge, Polaris, and the Professor there, but by the time I do the Blackbird won't be able to leave. Doesn't help that Wolverine is deceptively heavy and Colossus is obviously heavy," I reply.

"Wait," Cyclops says. "When they left, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver mentioned some escape pods near your position. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

"Yeah. They're a floor below us," I reply. I see his plan. "You guys get out of here, once we take down Magneto, we'll take an escape pod and meet you on the surface."

"No!" Shadowcat argues. "We can't just leave them behind! I-I mean, our mission was to rescue the Professor and Forge! And now we're just gonna get outta here without them!?"

"Kitty," I calmly reply. "We've got this, don't worry, okay? Look, after this, we'll go on a date, I'll pay. That make you feel better?"

She's silent for a moment. "No. What will make me feel better is seeing you—all of you—back on the surface. See you in a bit."

And with that, the commlink ends.

I take a deep breath and look to see the others keeping Magneto on the ropes. Good, looks like our numbers are getting to him. I go to help, but at my first step the Professor speaks up. "Mimic, quick fact: did you know magnets lose their charge when heated up to a certain degree?"

I smirk as I switch to my Human Torch abilities, I then flame on. "Huh, now I do. Look, Professor, you should head to the escape pods, we'll keep him distracted."

The Professor shakes his head. "No, I have a plan. Are you aware of Magneto's helmet? What it can do?"

I nod. "Yeah, block telepaths."

"Take the helmet off and then assist me in shutting down his mind. Then we will go to the escape pods," he says. "Oh, and Mimic? Be sure to get the Crown. With it a mutant's powers are increased exponentially, I fear we may need it to stop, well, that," the Professor points to the outside of the windows, where the Earth is becoming more of the view.

"On it," and with that, I rush Magneto.

True enough, I pretty much burn through the electromagnetic shield, my fists colliding with Magneto's chest, thanks to my new adamantium infused bones and the heat, it warps the metal around my fists, sending him flying into the wall behind him. Polaris floats down slowly as the green electromagnetic energy around her fists flickers. "Think you can direct your heat towards him?"

I look at her with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I'll try."

One of the swords from the wall comes at me, but thanks to the heat I give off the blade melts, the molten metal landing on the floor.

Forge looks at me as I keep Magneto pinned with a torrent of flame. "Hey, what was up with that screaming earlier? You okay?"

"Yeah…No, I'm not. But we can focus on that later, now we gotta get that damned helmet off of him," I reply. "I'll try to stop him from using his powers. Forge, Colossus, help Wolverine keep him busy. Polaris, you've got the helmet."

The two nod and run forward, helping a slowly calming Wolverine beat Magneto down. Polaris smirks as her fists glow again, her eyes as well. "The helmet's as good as gone."

With one more pulse Magneto pushes the three back, his eyes and fists glowing strongly. His eyes land on Polaris, the blades along the walls floating around him. "Lorna. My own daughter fighting against me. What would your Mother think?"

Polaris glares at him, the ground around her tearing apart and becoming spikes around her. "I don't know Father, what would she think about her husband trying to commit genocide? Now, I may not remember her like you, Pietro, or Wanda does, but I do know she'd be very strongly against this. You spit on her memory."

During all of this I sneak by and grab the crown.

Magneto grits his teeth in anger as the blades move around dangerously, some of them sparking against each other. "I will make sure to discipline you after this is all done," he activates something on his left gauntlet. "Pietro, Wanda, to me."

As soon as he finishes, he looks to the doors to the room, waiting for them to arrive. After a moment he looks at us. "What did you do to them?"

"Oh, you know, just made them see the error of their ways," I nonchalantly reply. "They took an escape pod and got outta here. You're the only one left."

Behind him I notice a thick metallic wire floating behind his helmet, ready to snatch it at any moment.

"Erik."

Looking back, we all see Professor X looking up at Magneto, a stern look on his face. "Just give up. You are defeated. You have no chance in defeating all of us, your people are defeated, you are alone. Look outside, man! Just surrender, or else we will all die."

I deactivate my flames and switch to my Marvel Girl powers, slowly putting on the Crown. "NOW, POLARIS!" I shout just before Magneto can reply.

The second the helmet is removed the Professor and I enter Magneto's mind, ceasing any movement from him and forcing him to float down. Not taking any chances, the Professor and I go for the immediate shut down. Honestly, his natural mental defenses are stronger than I expected, but thanks to the Crown I break through them as if they weren't there.

Magneto falls over.

Well, we won.

"Uh, guys! Wolverine's still kinda losing it!" Forge shouts.

Oh, right.

The Professor and I look at Wolverine and fix his mind, this time much easier thanks to the help of the Professor and the Crown. Wolverine shakes his head before looking around. "We won?"

I nod. "We won," the asteroid shakes violently again. "But if we wanna celebrate that victory we should get outta here."

Using my telekinesis, I lift Magneto as we run out of the Throne Room, running past Mastermind's unconscious form. As he runs by, Colossus—in his metal form—scoops Mastermind up. Our group runs, and rolls, into the elevator, Polaris and I slamming face first into the opposite wall of the elevator. At least Bobby isn't here to make fun of us.

Even by going down one floor the elevator ride feels like forever, the elevator music doesn't help.

Eventually the doors open and we run, or roll, out of the elevator and skid to a stop in front of one of the escape pods. Forge quickly gets to work and opens the pod. "Come on, come on!"

We enter the escape pod, Polaris in the pilot's seat and Forge in the co-pilot's seat. After some button presses, we feel the escape pod shoot from Asteroid M. A few seconds of silence later we all let out sighs of relief, pretty sure our heart rates have all gone back to normal levels.

I switch to my Thunderbird powers stretch my legs. "Worst. Birthday. Ever."

Polaris looks at me from her seat. "Oh, uh, happy birthday?"

I shrug as I look at the moon. "Th-"

What the fuck nugget?

I get up and lean on Forge and Polaris' seats.

"What's up?" Forge asks.

I point at the moon. "Polaris, can these things zoom in?"

"Yeah?" Polaris replies. She presses some buttons on the console, the window shows a screen of a zoomed in portion of the moon, showing the others what I see.

"Whoa," Forge and Polaris say at the same time.

"The hell?" Wolverine whispers.

"That is…something," Colossus says.

The Professor just hums.

On the moon we find two individuals looking at us.

The man is tall, he looks strong as well. He wears black and silver armor. The boots are mainly black, where they connect with the pants of his suit is silver, stylized to look like a V, he also has a silver belt that separates the top and bottom half of his armor. The center of the belt has a diamond on it, on either side of it are zig zagging lines that go up to his silver shoulders. He has silver wings under his arms, probably connected to his armor. His cowl's interesting though, it's mainly black, but what's interesting about it is the silver tuning fork on the forehead, it's glowing with some blue-black energy, like his eyes.

The…person next to him is much more interesting, honestly.

Well, not really person in a human sense but more a giant ass brown bulldog with a similar tuning fork on its head, glowing with a similar energy.

After a moment, the dog's eyes, and tuning fork, glow blue, and then they're both gone.

We all stare forward, blinking at…I don't know, that.

I sit back down, leaning my seat back. "My life's been crazier in the past year than the previous thirteen."

"These have been an interesting… few months, to say the least," Colossus agrees.

"Uh, guys?" Forge calls out. He points at Asteroid M, falling down really fast. "If that impacts things aren't gonna go so well."

I really should've seen that one coming.

"Plan," I call out. "Wolverine, take the co-pilot's seat. Polaris, me and you are gonna try and slow that thing down, make sure the impact at least doesn't cause an extinction level event."

Polaris stands next to me as we watch the asteroid fall down. "A-are you sure we can do it?"

I nod as I give her the Crown. "Yeah, we can. Use the crown, you have more skills with these powers than I do."

Polaris takes off her headpiece and puts on the Crown. "Okay, let's do it."

The two of us reach out and feel the almost pure metal makeup of Asteroid M. Okay, now we just gotta fight gravity and its size. Fun. Taking deep breaths, the two of us increase our power output, slowing down the asteroid greatly, but not enough.

I grit my teeth in anger as I feel my feet drag across the ground, Polaris does as well, but at a slower rate. Looks like the size of the asteroid is dragging us towards it. With another burst of energy Polaris and I pull the asteroid. Dammit, my arms are starting to feel like shit.

"Remember, Nolan," the Professor says. "The point between rage and serenity."

Even though the message was aimed towards me, Polaris and I take deep breaths as we pull at Asteroid M, slowing it down. I ignore the feeling of blood dripping down my nose as I keep trying to pull the asteroid back. It's definitely slower than it was before, if it hits at least it'll only wipe out some of the world. Bright side, you know?

Suddenly, the weight of the asteroid is much lighter. Looking around my gaze lands on Magneto, standing up and helping us hold Asteroid M back. Colossus and Wolverine get up, ready to fight at any moment.

"Yes, knock me out, Mimic and my daughter can definitely stop Asteroid M without my assistance," Magneto sarcastically remarks.

The Professor raises an arm, telling the two to stand down. "Why help now, Erik? Asteroid M falls, humans are dead. You win."

"Asteroid M falls, humans and mutants are dead. Earth becomes a barren wasteland. We all lose," he answers. "Lorna, give me the Crown."

"Don't do it, Mint Leaf," Wolverine warns. "Who knows what'll happen when you stop the asteroid."

Magneto growls as he turns to Wolverine. "I promise to surrender to the authorities after. Do you feel better now?"

My head explodes in pain, even with Magneto's help the strain of slowing Asteroid M still hurts.

"Do it, Lorna," the Professor says. "If I know Erik, he's a man of his word."

I would question that but stopping an asteroid from colliding with the Earth is kinda more important.

Taking a deep breath, Polaris slowly reaches for the Crown and takes it off, dropping it and yelping in pain as the power enhancement of the Crown goes away. Forge reaches down and gives Magneto the Crown. Immediately, the weight of the asteroid lightens immensely. Oh, that's pretty good, actually.

The weight lightens even more. I don't think there's anyone else here capable of helping. What's up?

"Scan the other side of Asteroid M," Magneto says.

Using my powers, I scan the metal around the asteroid that isn't from it. Okay, I can sense a whole bunch of metal men, most around the same shape and size, some bigger than others. I also sense something weird, almost…mystical.

Eventually, the pod enters the atmosphere, close behind the asteroid as it nears the Indian Ocean slowly, definitely doesn't have enough momentum to destroy even India. Nice. From the other side of the asteroid we notice a whole bunch of Iron Man armors flying away, Thor with them.

The asteroid splashes into the Indian Ocean, a giant splash of water coming from the "landing". All around the asteroid we see a whole bunch of ships and jets, the rest of the team, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and SHIELD agents around it.

Magneto takes off the Crown and hands it to me. "I am a man of my word," with that, he sits down in the back and just closes his eyes, thinking about whatever.

Forge and Wolverine land the pod next to one of the ships, this one having our team mates on it. "Alright," the former begins. "Let's go."

Wolverine opens the door to the pod. I take a deep breath as I float out of it, looking up and waving at the others. "Yo! We ain't dead."

Marvel Girl laughs lightly. "No, you aren't."

I float up onto the deck of the ship and I'm wrapped in a tight hug, courtesy of Shadowcat. "Don't ever do that again."

I smile as I hug her back. "There's a lot of things I don't ever want to do again," oh, the pod. Using my magnetic powers, I lift the pod up onto the deck.

After some near drops, I…gently place it down on the deck. Forge rolls out of the pod and slowly gets up, rubbing his head. "Warn us next time, yeah?"

Despite her injuries, Storm rushes forward and hugs Forge as well, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Forge smiles but groans in pain. "Please lighten up, my ribs hurt."

Storm chuckles. "No."

Slowly, the others get out, Cyclops and Beast walking towards the Professor as he gets out of the pod. Before they can speak Magneto walks out, causing everyone to stand on edge, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

The Professor raises his hand. "He's surrendered. Don't worry," from behind a contingency of SHIELD agents along side the Captain America and Iron Man walk towards us.

A man with brown hair, white at the temples, and an eyepatch walks in front of the SHIELD agents. "Erik Lehnsherr, otherwise known as Magneto. Boys, arrest him."

Two of the SHIELD agents walk forward, one with power dampening handcuffs and the other with a power dampening collar. They latch them onto Magneto and grab either arm, pulling him back towards a prison ship. During that, Polaris averts her gaze downwards, Havok places a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Right," the SHIELD leader begins. "So, which one of you took 'im down?"

Professor X rolls in front of us. "Polaris, Mimic, Wolverine, Colossus, and Forge. X-Men, this is Nick Fury, the leader of SHIELD," he answers.

"Nice to meet you," I begin, shaking his hand. "Oh, Mastermind's in the pod also."

Nick Fury nods as two more of his men do the same to Mastermind. He then turns back to us. "We weren't able to capture 'em all, sadly," he then looks at Havok and Polaris with his one good eye. "But I can arrest two more."

The two glare at him, their arms tightening around each other. Cyclops stands in front of them and glares at Fury as well. "That's not happening."

Fury sighs as he shakes his head. "Kid, they were more than willing to help wipe out humanity, they gotta be punished for it."

"They fought with us in the end!" Forge argues. "Hell, if it weren't for Polaris, you'd all be dead right now."

"Fury," Captain America speaks up, interrupting the SHIELD leader. "He's right, if it weren't for…Polaris?" Said girl nods mutely. "Polaris. We wouldn't be here. Give them the benefit of the doubt."

Forge's eyes widen. "Holy shit, Captain America agreed with me. I can die happy now."

"And he acknowledged me. Same here," Polaris whispers.

Fury growls as he looks at Captain America. "What would you have me do? I can't just let 'em walk free. I mean, yeah, they helped us in the end, but they still helped him first."

"What about a sort of probation?" Shadowcat says, catching our attention. "They want to join the X-Men, which they will, but maybe they can write a status report, keep you in the loop. What do you say?"

Fury hums as he rubs his chin. After a moment he snaps his fingers. "Bi-weekly reports for a year. If they can't then Professor Xavier will have to write one."

The two and Cyclops let out sighs of relief as Professor X rolls up to Fury, shaking his hand. "Done."

"Sir!"

Looking over, we see one of the SHIELD agents waving him down. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure! You should come and see this!"

Fury nods as a boat comes up next to the ship we're on. Before he jumps over the railing he looks at the Crown in my hands. "What's that?"

"It's-"

Wolverine comes forward and grabs the Crown. He looks Fury in the eye as he snaps it in half. He then snaps those halves into more halves. "It's broken."

Fury's eye just narrows before he jumps down, his little speed boat heading towards the anomaly.

Now that he's gone, Iron Man and Captain America walk closer towards us. "We'll check this place out. You guys should go home and patch yourselves up," Iron Man says.

"But we can help," Polaris argues.

Iron Man raises his hand in surrender. "Hey, I don't doubt it. But you guys look like you've been through enough these past two days. You did the heavy work, let us do the clean-up."

"And maybe some of you could pick up the students at Avengers Mansion? They've been…an interesting bunch to deal with," Captain America says with a sheepish smile.

Iron Man laughs. "The kids won't leave him alone. Hell, some of them won't leave Hulk alone. But I think the big guy enjoys their company."

The Professor nods as he gives them a smile of thanks. "Of course. Come, my X-Men, the sooner we return home, the sooner we can rest."

With that, we head towards the Blackbird. On the way there Iceman and I wave as Human Torch gives us a quick salute.

Hoping in the jet, we see Psylocke and Angel waiting for us. The latter turns around, his face covered in soot. "We ready?"

Cyclops, being the last one to put on his seatbelt, leans back in his seat. "Yeah, we ready."

The Blackbird lifts into the air, after some more button pressing, we head home to New York, to rest at the school.

Thanks to me and Shadowcat sitting in the back I can lean my seat all the way back without the seat resting on someone's legs. "I'm going to sleep," I announce.

Shadowcat smiles as she sweeps some of my hair aside. "I'll wake you when we get there."

With a smile, I go to sleep.

After some gentle shaking I open my eyes to see Kitty leaning over me. "Hey," she says. "We're here."

My seat straightens up as the Blackbird lowers down into the hangar. As it lowers Havok and Polaris look at the now repaired school. "When did you guys repair the place?" He asks.

"When we came back Jean, Nolan, and some of the students rebuilt the school," Scott explains.

Havok rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Right, uh, sorry about that."

Lorna taps her fingers together. "Yeah, I should be sorry too, a lot of the damage was my fault."

Jean just waves off their concern. "Eh, no one was permanently hurt. No harm, no foul."

The Blackbird lands, and we all get out of the jet, some of us helping the others as we walk out. Professor Xavier sighs as he looks around with a smile. He then turns around and looks at all of us with a proud look. "You all did admirably," he looks at the new recruits. "Especially all of you recruits, your first mission and you've saved the world, stopped the Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy, and successfully rescued me and Forge. I couldn't be prouder."

Scott nods as he looks over all of us. "The Professor's right. We couldn't have done this without you guys, thank you. Now, all we gotta do is get the students back and continue with our lives. But, uh…some of us will have to stay back. Injuries, you know?"

"My head really hurts," Jubilee says from her position on Shiro's back. "I wanna lay down."

Professor Xavier chuckles as he heads towards the elevator, the rest of us following. "Right. Jean, Hank, Warren, Nolan, Logan, Forge, and Lorna. Could you gather the students?"

The seven of us nod as the elevator doors open. We all separate and head towards the locker room, changing out of our suits. Before I change, I help Nightcrawler take off the top part of his suit, he flinches as the suit moves over his wound. "Sorry about that," I say.

"It's okay," he replies. "So, did you run into anyone else up zere?"

"What do you mean?" Kitty asks, coming around the corner wearing white sneakers, black sweatpants, and a solid red short-sleeved shirt.

"Any other members of ze Brotherhood," he elaborates. "Like…Mystique?"

Kitty and I quickly share a glance, our eyes wide. I look back at him as I grab a shirt for him to wear, a black shirt with a white circle in the center. "Uh…yeah. We actually ran into her and Destiny like right after I beat B-Mimic," I reply.

"Vas zere a fight?" He asks.

What do I say now? I mean, we have to tell him about his relationship with Mystique at some point, but is now really the best time?

"No," Kitty says. She then sighs deeply and messes with her ponytail. "Kurt, there's something we gotta tell you. But later, right now you need the rest, alright?"

Kurt looks at her with an arched brow before nodding. "Okay…? I'm going to sleep, see you two later."

With one of my clones, Kurt heads out of the locker room. Once he's gone Kitty and I look at each other. "This is gonna be a bitch to explain," I mutter.

Kitty nods as she gently puts her other hand over her wound and sits down. "You got that right. So, some of the students are at your house, huh? You gonna stay there for the weekend?"

I sit down next to her, letting her rest her head on my shoulder. "Yeah, probably. Besides, there's something I've been meaning to ask my Dad for some time now," I sigh as I pull out my phone, November 12th, and it's pretty late at night. "The day's still ahead of us. Come with, my parents will definitely want to see you again."

Kitty looks to think it over before nodding and getting up. "Okay, I'm down. Just let me get a sling for my arm, okay?"

"Okay," I reply.

Kitty smiles before leaning down and kissing my cheek. She then exits the locker room, letting me focus on changing out of my suit and putting on other clothes.

After that's done, I head to the garage, running into Warren on the way. "Nolan, hey!" He comes over and lightly punches me on the shoulder. "Nice job with Magneto!" He compliments.

"Heh, thanks, man. Hey, what happened to you? I mean, you aren't as beat up as the others," I reply.

"Oh, Pyro's flames were a little to intense for me. Doesn't help that one of the Brotherhood's jets dropped nearby, distracting me, and clipping one of my wings," Warren explains. He opens the door to the garage where we find the others waiting. "Hey you guys. So, who's going where?"

Hank pulls out his phone. "Jean and Lorna will be gathering the students at this location," he sends a message to Jean's phone. "Warren and I will be heading to Avenger's Mansion. Forge will gather the students at the Baxter Building. Logan and Nolan will get the students at Nolan's home."

Logan sniffs the air. "Incoming."

Kitty phases her head through the door and looks around, her gaze then lands on us and she walks through the door, her arm in a sling. "Hey, I was wondering if I can come with?"

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Jean asks. "I mean, you took a pretty nasty hit to your arm up there, I don't want you to do anything that could aggravate your arm."

"It's fine. Besides, it's only my arm-"

"Come on, kid," Logan interrupts. He notices the looks the others are giving him. "She isn't gonna take no for an answer, may as well bypass the argument."

"And you're just bringing her along?" Forge questions.

"She's only coming along 'cause she's Shifty's girlfriend, nothing more," Logan answers.

Kitty gives him a deadpan stare. "Glad to see that's the only reason," she mutters as she walks towards the car, phasing through it.

Logan just groans as he hops into the driver's seat. "Get in, Shifty!"

I shrug before sitting in shotgun, just in front of Kitty. The car moves out of the garage, the other three cars behind us. As we drive Logan's silent, which leads to me and Kitty being silent, creating a rather awkward atmosphere. I notice Logan looking at me from the corner of his eye, his gaze then shifts to Kitty before he looks forward. What was that about?

Kitty's head appears between ours; she turns to look at Logan. "So, where are we heading?"

"Look who's in shotgun."

Kitty turns to look at me and nods. "Got it," she looks back at the multitude of seats. "How many kids are at your house anyways, Nol?"

"Like, ten? Maybe eleven?" I answer. "One of them either has a twin or they can clone. I'm not sure."

"Clones," Logan answers.

"Right, clones," I echo. I yawn loudly as my energy almost plummets at that moment. "I'm clocking out again. Wake me when we get there."

I don't wait to hear a reply, I just close my eyes and rest.

"We're here," Logan's voice calls out.

Opening my eyes and groggily getting up I see my house outside the windshield. Through the windows I can see some lights going off, and I don't think they're from any televisions.

As we get out Kitty looks through the windows as well. "Think we asked too much of your parents?"

I shake my head. "Nah, they totally handled those kids."

Logan walks forward and knocks on the door, the lights instantly stopping. After waiting for a minute, the door opens. Mom looks at Logan before her gaze sweeps over Kitty and then lands on me. "Nolan!" She runs by Logan and wraps me in a tight hug. "How are you, baby?"

I blush in slight embarrassment but reciprocate the hug. "I'm fine, Mom. Hope things weren't too crazy for you."

Mom backs up, her hands still on my shoulders as she leads me towards the door. "Eh, nothing I couldn't handle," she then finally notices Logan and Kitty. "Oh, sorry about that. My name's Julie Belmont, what are yours?"

Logan, for once, looks unsure of himself. "Um, uh…Logan, ma'am."

Gonna ask him what that was about later.

Kitty smiles brightly. "Oh, well, you already know me."

Mom looks at her with an arched brow. She tilts her head as she thinks. "Hm, okay, I'll play your game," she taps her finger on her lower lip as she walks around Kitty. "Brown hair and eyes, a little shorter than Nolan and around his age," her eyes widen before a wide smile breaks out on her face. "Kitty!?"

"Hey Mrs. Belmont," Kitty says with her own smile.

The two hug each other. Mom then backs up, one arm around Kitty's shoulders and the other around mine. "Well, you've grown up, haven't you? Come on! Let's talk inside, Cayde probably needs help."

We go inside, and surprisingly enough, Dad doesn't need help. The students are moving around the house, gathering their things. The younger ones sitting in the living room watching TV as the older ones help the other students get their stuff. The kids all turn around and run around Logan once they notice us.

It's faint, but there's a smile on Logan's face. "Alright, alright, we won, yeah. Look, if you want the full story get in the car and wait, I'll be sure to tell you what happened."

The kids shout in excitement before running out to the car. I make some clones that go out with them to help. Some more clones go up to help the older kids get their stuff. As this is happening Dad whistles. "Damn, how many powers did you get over the year?"

"A lot, Dad," I then walk forward and the two of us hug each other. "I'm gonna stay for a bit, by the way."

Dad nods. "Right, of course. Don't worry, we made sure none of them came into your room," he then looks at Logan and Kitty. "Who are your friends?"

"This is Logan, also known as the Wolverine and this is Kitty," I notice his slightly widened eyes. "Yup, that Kitty."

Dad's gaze lands on her. Kitty waves as she smiles. "Hello."

"Hello to you too. How're your parents?" Dad asks.

"Oh, they're good, thanks for asking, Mr. Belmont," Kitty answers.

As the last of the students leaves Logan coughs before pointing his thumb towards the door. "We really just came to get the kids back. Kitty and I will go back to the school. Thanks for keeping an eye on them, we—I—appreciate it," Logan manages out. He then walks towards the door, exiting the house.

Kitty and I share a glance. That was rather…nice of Logan. Weird.

Kitty scratches the back of her head. "Yeah, I should go, the three of you have a lot of catching up to do. See you later!"

"Oh, Kitty!" Mom calls out. "We're gonna celebrate Nolan's birthday tomorrow, please tell the X-Men, alright?"

Kitty nods with a smile. "You can count on it, Mrs. Belmont. It was nice seeing you guys again, bye!"

After the door closes the three of us walk towards the island in the kitchen, standing around it. Looking up, I notice Dad's smirk as he looks at me. "What?" I ask.

"You and Kitty seemed pretty…close," he says. Oh, that's what. "Something you wanna tell us?"

I let out a deep breath as a large smile breaks out on my face. That's all they need. Mom claps before wrapping me up in another hug, wiping away fake tears. "Oh, my little man, growing up so fast. Next thing you know, I'll become a grandmother."

I blush furiously as I switch to my Shadowcat powers and phase through her arms. "Okay! Thinking ahead, aren't ya?" I say. I then sober up as I look at the two, their smiles dropping as well. "I'm staying for a couple of reasons: One, I'm pretty damn tired. Two, I knew you guys would want to celebrate my birthday ASAP, may as well stay now. But three," I point at Dad. "Your last name, what is it?"

Dad sighs deeply as he goes to the table, sitting at one side. Mom leads me to the other side, the two of us sitting down next to each other, me across from Dad. He takes a deep sigh before looking me in the eyes. "It's a long story. You sure you don't want me to tell you tomorrow morning? You've been through a lot today."

I shake my head no.

Dad gulps as he scratches the back of his head. "Okay, right off the bat, my name was Cayde Frost."

Frost, huh? So, I'd technically be Nolan Frost.

He sighs deeply. "Okay, how do I begin this? Right, so, I come from an old money family from Boston, Massachusetts. The second wealthiest family, actually," he begins. "I have an older brother, Winston. God, he was an asshole. While I was physically superior, he was smarter than me, and he'd be sure to rub it in any chance he could. My parents did jack-shit to help. Hell, because of them I promised to be nothing like them."

"Well, you aren't," I say.

Dad smiles. "Anyway, there was this get together, all the wealthiest families of Massachusetts would get together and do one percenter things. Putting it bluntly: it was a collection of assholes. I wasn't invited, I was seen as "too crude". So, me and some friends partied hard nearby, some of them were wasted, I had a little buzz, so I remember everything that happened that day."

He pauses to take a deep breath. Dad looks down at the table, his gaze blank as he's lost in his memories.

"Cayde?" Mom asks, reaching out and taking his hand.

That shakes him out of his memories as he gives her a smile. "Sorry. So, me and my friends were being delinquents nearby. Like, if you were to look out the window, you'd notice us messing with public property. And would you look at that, Winston noticed. He called us out, causing everyone at the party to watch us, someone pointing me out specifically. Mom and Dad came downstairs, furious, they left the party, dragging me, Winston, and Hazel along."

"Who's Hazel?" I ask.

Dad purses his lips; Mom rubs his hand in comfort. "She's Winston's wife. She'll be important later."

Dad's gaze lowers, not looking at either of us. Again, Mom finds a way to be his rock. "Honey, it's no problem. Really."

What? What's she talking about?

"The thing is, Winston wasn't just a dick to me, he was a dick to his wife as well, barely paying attention to her, their daughter, or their son, during the entire month, fully focused on the party. She wasn't happy about that. But, to the main story. After arriving home my parents were furious, screaming at me about tainting the family name or whatever, I didn't care. But then they disowned me. That caught my attention," Dad says. "So, a week passes and I'm in a hotel, wondering what my next move would be, and during that wait Hazel came to my hotel room, crying. I don't remember what Winston did, but it was bad enough to lead to the two of us sleeping together as a way to spite him."

I narrow my eyes as I look at Dad. He scratches the back of his head, messing with his blond hair. Why is he…? Oh.

"When was this?" I ask.

"Seven years before you were born. Two years before I met your Mother," Dad answers.

"I have an older half-sibling, don't I?" I say, catching them by surprise. "I mean, you wouldn't mention this unless it was important."

Dad chuckles. "You definitely got the smarts from your Mom. Yeah, you have a sister, I didn't know about her until years later when Hazel sent a message to me a week after your first birthday."

He falls silent again as a pained look crosses over his face. He's probably thinking about all the time he could've had with her. I lean forward, resting my arms on the table. "What's her name?" I ask.

"Emma Frost."

Emma Frost.

I have an older half-sister.

I don't know how to take that.

Dad gets up from his seat with another sigh. "That's all I know about her, Hazel only sent a picture with her birthdate and name on the back," he runs his hand over his hair. "I'll show you tomorrow. I'm tired."

Dad goes upstairs, leaving me and Mom in the kitchen.

"I keep telling him that I don't care he has a child with another woman, but he just keeps beating himself up over it," Mom says. "It's like he thought he cheated on me, but she was born before he and I even met. Honestly, I would love to meet Emma, see what she's like, you know?"

"Yeah, I know."

"You want anything to eat?" Mom asks.

I shake my head. "No, I'm good. Thanks, Mom, but I'm gonna go to sleep," I hug her. "I love you."

Mom messes with my hair as she hugs me back. "I love you too. Good night, baby."

I go upstairs, I pause as I walk by Mom and Dad's room. Damn, I have a sister, I hope I get to meet her at some point.

I continue walking and enter my room. Sure enough, it looks to be relatively untouched. Laying down in bed I look up at the roof of my room, some of the glow-in-the-dark stars from my childhood still up.

My eyelids become heavy as I roll over, staring at the wall next to my bed. A smile breaks out on my face.

I have a sister.

Brotherhood Arc, complete; Blue & Gold Arc, commence.

THIS IS THE BIGGEST CHAPTER I HAVE WRITTEN SO FAR!

So, this made me realize, chapters that end an arc are gonna be bigger than normal chapters since they have to end one arc and setup either the next arc or the future of the series.

Alright, let's talk about what happened in this chapter. And a lot happened.

Let's see, Wolverine nearly lost the adamantium in his body like in the storyline Fatal Attractions, which leads to Nolan getting some adamantium in his body. That was something I've had planned since Nolan got Wolverine's powers. Don't worry, it'll be explained upon more in the next arc.

And during that part Xavier gave Nolan the Rage and Serenity speech. First Class is one of my favorite X-Men films, and that speech was just so damn good that I had to bring it in somehow, and so I thought that would be the perfect moment. Helps that I was listening to that soundtrack when writing that part. Also, Fury's based off the original white one, the Samuel L. Jackson one will appear later.

Oh, and the escape from Asteroid M, Black Bolt and Lockjaw's cameos. That was an idea I've had since the beginning of writing this arc. Black Bolt's one of my favorite characters, and I wanted to find a way for him to appear before the X-Men vs Inhumans Arc. To explain: because of Asteroid M, Black Bolt went out to keep an eye on it, ready to take it down should it threaten Attilan.

And now to the biggest reveal, Cayde's last name. Ever since I realized Nolan had his mom's last name that idea came to mind. At first, I thought about making Cayde Sebastian Shaw's little brother, which would add to Nolan's fear of being inherently evil considering the fact that Shaw would be his uncle. And then I had the crazy idea of making Cayde Victor von Doom's little brother, but I didn't really know how to connect that to this story, so that was scrapped. But then I thought about making him a Frost, and the ideas just flew off from there.

The main thing that helped propel the idea was Emma's relationships with Jean and Kitty. From their first meetings things have always been antagonistic between Emma and the two, and then I thought "why not make Nolan a big part of why they're like that"? You see, Jean is like the older sister Nolan's never had, and now that he has an actual one it adds more to Jean's distrust of Emma. And for Kitty, well, Emma just doesn't think she's good enough for Nolan, it'll be more in depth as the story goes on.

Well, that's all from me. Now, like I said, with the end of the arc the story will be on hiatus for a moment as I plan out the next arc. So, please leave a constructive review and remember to stay awesome! See you next time!