Shout Outs...

Aaron W: Thank you. I thought she'd make an interesting addition.

Kairan1979: Thanks man.

Dusel: Do remember this an X-Men: Evolution version of Stature; there are no Avengers and her father is not Ant-Man in this verse. Nor is there, as of yet, Pym Particles.

The Notorious SMP: Thanks again man.

X00001: "That guy" is probably Dr. Henry 'Hank' Pym, aka the first Ant-Man, aka Giant-Man, aka Goliath, aka Yellowjacket, aka the current Wasp. And the mansion is not rebuilt yet, just in the process of being rebuilt.

wawaboy2: I thought she was a good choice myself.

TWISTED CHEERYS: Thanks man. Lady. Dude. Whatever you are...

0---0

"Gah!" Abigail let out as she sat straight up in her bed. Looking about she saw her (temporary) room and roommates. Idly she wondered how Laura was doing rooming with Amara and Tabitha but put that thought aside to look at her clock, the face reading five o' six. "Ugh... So not getting any more sleep..." She grumbled, getting up and gather her towel and a change of clothes, heading to the shower. Minutes later she re-emerged in a pink t-shirt and blue shorts, wandering the hall until she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Grumbling she fished out some milk and cereal, pouring and mixing them into bowl before getting a spoon and starting to eat, each bite coming slowly. The sounds of wheel on floor noted idly. "Abigail. You're up early." Xavier noted as he wheeled into the kitchen.

"Couldn't sleep..." She muttered holding a spoon full of food.

"I know; it was a bad dream." The professor muttered as he moved over to her. "I could feel it, you were projecting somewhat."

"Having girls like Jean around must give you a lot of sleepless nights."

"The gender ratio in the more... How shall we say, excited dreams are quite even." He said with an amused smile. "I was hoping to talk about yours however. You seemed disturbed by it."

"I'm fine, I..." She said, before sighing, laying her head down on the table. "...My powers suck ass in a fight... I mean, we get attacked and what can I do? What act of significance did I do? I flew Kurt into the house! I couldn't fight back!" Letting off a growl she leaned back into the chair, covering her face with her hands. "My friends, my teammates were fighting for their lives and I COULDN'T DO A THING! I was... I was... helpless..."

"...I can understand that..." Xavier began. "I too was quite useless in that fight. If it was a human attacking I could have made them into a vegetable, made them put on a tutu and dance, or have made them punch themselves out. But against a robotic foe my powers are of no use."

"Professor..." Abigail began, turning to face him. "I..."

"There are times, Abigail, when your powers have no real use. But there are others when people will depend on YOU and your powers. That is why we are here as a team, a family and friends. We can depend on each other; what one cannot do another can. Not all of us need claws like Logan and Laura or physical strength like James or even fireballs like Amara to do our part. You can fly! You can carry others, survey the land."

"...Yeah, I guess." She said, giggling softly. "But I just wanted to, you know, help more."

"And you will I'm sure." Xavier said smiling. "Now eat up. You've a day of school ahead."

"Great. My OTHER nightmare..."

0---0

"I still hate school." Laura let off as she sat in her usual seat with James, Abigail and Victor, Cassie joining them.

"Lots of people do." Abigail sighed as she chewed on a sandwich.

"It's a bit different here." Cassie mused. "A lot smaller than my old school."

"Oh really? What was it like?" Victor asked.

"Well I was always in the middle of the social pecking order, so I got picked on but not as bad as most people." She mused. "Then again my daddy's got a good job and most of the bullies fathers worked under him, so they figured it was just better to leave me alone. Course daddy couldn't do anything to them or their dads for it, but it was something. Then I grew to forty feet..."

"Yeah, that's a cool power." Abigail replied, idly watching Kitty sit under a tree as she ate.

"Maybe, but... now Mommy's pretty much disowned me..."

"Oh yeah..." James sighed. "I remember that. How you holding up?"

"It hurts." Cassie said a sniffle escaping. "But you know; what am I going to do? She hates mutants. I... can't do anything about... I'm just glad my daddy still loves me..."

"Well, you got us now too." Abigail chirped, playfully slapping Cassie's shoulder. "I mean James is a bit of an ass when he's not being two flavours of awesome, and Laura has a temper, and Vic's a dork but... we..." She trailed off as the rest of the table turned to glare at her. "...shutting up..."

"Okay, we're not perfect, including the ones that don't know when to shut up most of the time." James summed up. "But we're here for you."

"That 'friends' thing." Laura added.

"Yeah. Friends." Abigail added.

"Thanks guys, I'm still so new here and you've been so nice to me." Cassie said, smiling as she wiped at her eyes. "I'm... I'm glad." She added as James chuckled.

"Well if your happy, we're--" James trailed off as an explosion sounded, by one of the trees, some debris passing through a phased Kitty as she ran to their table. "...happy?"

"What happened?" Laura barked out as everyone at the table got to their feet, her claws popping out as Kitty stopped by them.

"THAT!" Kitty replied, pointing a hand pointing at a dozen of seven foot robots walking over to them, a helicopter hovering overhead briefly before opening it's doors, another group walking out.

Each was identical and looked much like a knight in full plate armour. It's armour was painted a light purple with darker purple trimmings, a visor sat in the helm above a faceplate. Shoulder armour adjusted to reveal weaponry as they stalked forwards, the copter taking off to hover nearby.

"Is anyone having flashbacks to a couple days ago?" Abigail wondered briefly.

"Abi, up high and scout, see if there are more around!" James barked out before mentally speaking out as 'loud' as he could. "Professor!"

"What is the matter?" He heard in reply as Abigail formed a cloud and flew upwards.

"There are... Mini-Sentinels attacking us at the school!" He summed up. "seven feet tall, at least..."

"Another chopper's coming in!" Abigail called out as James bit back a curse.

"Four or so dozen! I got my team and Kitty with me, but the others--"

"I will tell them, focus on the fight!"

"Okay guys, here is how we play it!" James called out. "Abi, keep the eye in the sky! Laura, you and Vic take left, me and Kitty take the right and Cassie goes down the middle, super-sized!"

"Simple." Laura replied. "Let's take'em!" She yelled out as the six charged towards the rushing robots, laser cannons opening fire as Cassie grew in size. All the while Abigail sat above the field, squatting on her cloud, sighing.

"I should be down there..." She sighed just as two of the robots tackled James before being thrown off; a third tackling Laura as rockets in it's back ignited.

"WHOA!" She yelled out as it ran for the school.

0---0

"But Mister Bauman, the school's being attacked by robots!" One of the students cried out to the principal as the man crossed his arms.

"Yeah right." He huffed. "And I suppose the mutants are fighting them, huh?" He retorted just before something smashed through the wall, through a row of lockers and into another room. A moment later a tearing sound was heard before a robotic body was kicked back out of the hole, Laura rushing past a moment later and back outside. "... So... robots?"

0---0

"Now these things are more my size!" James said as Laura rushed back into the fray, decapitating one of the robots. Kitty phased the heads off of a few while Victor and James simply smashed them. Cassie, at full height kept stomping at them, only to have them roll out of the way, save an unlucky few. He did note that they seemed to at least try to block and dodge his attacks; as well throw punches back like a boxer. A moment later the mechanical warriors used rockets in their backs and feet to fly backwards, away from Melee range. "What are they doing?" He asked as they lifted their arms, the bracers flipping up to reveal a missile in each arm.

"That's, like, not good." Kitty summed up as Laura's eyes widened.

"The missile models are dumbfire, they don't target!" Laura called out. "If we hit the dirt as they--"

"HIT THE DIRT!" James called out as the robots fired all the missiles, James, Laura and Victor ducking down as Kitty phased herself the barrage passing though her harmlessly while Cassie jumped over the line of missiles that carried on to strike the school building. "Oh god..." He let off as the side of the building began to collapse. "SHIT! Kitty, Vic, the school!" He cried out as a few of the other institute students arrived on the scene. "Laura, Cassie! We gotta end this NOW!" He added as he charged at the robots, Laura and Cassie quickly joining him.

Roberto quickly powered up and began to shift through debris as Abigail flew down. Looking at her hands then the debris she sent cloud-stuff down into the mess of stone, wood and metal, Roberto squawking in surprise, before her clouds lifted the whole mess up, tossing it aside. "Great, now I feel useless..." He whined.

"Nice going Abi!" Kitty cried out. "Rob, Rahne, let's get this stuff moved, see if anyone's trapped. Rouge, take the others and go kick some ass!"

"On it!" Bobby barked back, icing up as he used an ice slide to rush over to the battle, the others following him.

"Hey, I'm supposed to be leadin' ya'all right now!" Rouge cried back as they rushed to join the battle, fire, ice and lightning striking out against the machines while Kitty phased into the wreckage, Abigail using her clouds to shovel debris away as Roberto removed the pieces too heavy for her.

"These things are pretty fast!" Cassie called out as she finally stomped on one; Jubilee's blast smashing another as Sam flew up, slamming his body into a group of the machines on the way back down.

"I noticed!" Amara called back, one robot dodging her searing blast, the attack striking another behind it. The first one ended up moving too close to Laura who deployed a foot claw, slicing it's head with a spinning kick.

"Not to mention the numbers!" Bobby added as he iced a few of them just before James smashed them apart.

"Numbers-shunbers." Rogue barked back, using a dismembered robotic arm as a club to smash another robot, doing little damage but occupying it until Ray could get a clear shot at it. "We're the freaking X-Men!"

"Right!" Tabitha added as a damaged robot charged at her. She prepared to throw a bomb at it just before bricks and other debris was dropped into it, the wreckage finishing it off. "Wha?"

"I got one!" Abigail cheered from overhead before flying back to the ruined school.

"That's one way to take out the trash..." James muttered as he elbowed a robot towards Amara who put her hand on it's head, melting it.

Away from the battle Abigail, Rahne and Roberto kept digging at the debris, Kitty phasing into it, eventually leading someone away.

Almost as suddenly as the attack happened the last robot dropped. Giving themselves a moment to rest the mutants took in their victory before turning to the school to help clear the debris, sirens rushing to them.

0---0

"Hello and good evening, it's time for the six o' clock news, and our top story. Bayville High School was, apparently, attacked by robots earlier today!" A female news reporter belted out on the news channel as video of a ponytailed male appeared in a caption, punching a robot head off. "Experts believe that these robots are made by none other than Bolivar Trask, creator of the Sentinel series of robots. It is likely they were sent out to destroy the mutant population of the school, however rather than save humans from the mutants the mutants have been saving humans from the robots who launched a massive attack that destroyed the wall of the school.

"Given that it was lunch hour during the attack not many students were inside the school when the robots, dubbed 'Guardians' by the military, launched a missile barrage that missed the mutants and levelled a portion of the school. Before rescue crews could arrive several known mutants from the Xavier Institute had cleared the wreckage, saving people trapped inside and defeating the robots. Twelve people were taken to hospital, three with serious injuries. Thankfully no one was killed in this event.

"Graydon Creed, founder and leader of the anti-mutant group 'Friends of Humanity' declared this to be another reason to 'purge' mutants, however some people disagree, which is surprising given the anti-mutant hysteria that's swept the nation."

"By son was in the school!" A man said as the screen switched to him, a caption naming him 'Franklin Gayle: Father of Bayville Student' as he looked at the camera. "One of the mutants, the cloud girl, pulled him outta the wreck. Now I ain't much for muties, but if someone wants to solve the problem with attacks on schools then I'll stick with the mutants, thank you very much!"

"I can't believe this happened!" A woman said as the view turned to her, a caption reading 'Betty Crockit: Mother of Bayville Student'. "I mean robots, ROBOTS!? My daughter had to be saved from them by mutants! If Trask thinks he is our 'protector' then I think I'll stick with the mutants! At least they don't blow up schools at random!"

"Despite this Graydon Creed has publicly supported the actions of Bolivar Trask, who has been declared a terrorist by US officials." The news woman added as the view turned to her before turning to a press conference featuring Creed himself.

"The Friends of Humanity understand that this attack was entirely unnecessary, and was a mistake. I doubt a man that would sacrifice his life, resources and reputation to protect decent humans would intentionally harm an innocent soul. Robotics is, however, a new field of science and the AIs that they use can be prone to bugs, and unexpected errors. We all remember Vista, right?

"The government may have called him a terrorist for his making of the Sentinels. And this incident will not help, I will not kid anyone. But I believe in the man and his mission! And I believe that he will save us, the ungrateful, from the dangerous mutants of the Earth! He will overcome his mistakes, and someday when we can all go to bed safe and sound... We will thank him."

"Human rights groups, meanwhile, have used what is now called 'The Battle of Bayville High' as proof that not all mutants should be feared." The news woman continued as the view returned to her. "They have stated that mutants are humans with unique abilities that can use them for good and evil. That the mutants attending Bayville High School helped save normal humans in spite of the prejudice they have faced. More will be reported on this issue as more news comes in.

"In other news--" The woman began before the television was turned off.

0---0

"This bodes well for us." Xavier began as he turned the TV off, turning to face all of his students and staff, the sounds of construction work still heard in the background. "The brave actions you have done today have put us in a more favourable light. I will not lie; we are still no where ready to be accepted by humanity as a whole. But this is a step in the right direction. A step where what evil we can do has been set aside for the thoughts of what good we can do, a step where people see us as a group seeking acceptance. But it is still not enough.

"People still fear us; hate us, but today the seed of doubt was put into their views. They can see us as something more now. They can see us not as monsters but neighbours. They need only see that view."

"Not that they will." Logan grumbled in his seat.

"No, not yet." Xavier continued. "Some may call me too optimistic, but I am no fool. We have years, decades and a lifetime even of work to be done before acceptance. But it has been done before; African-Americans, the Jews, they have fought and won acceptance. Are they still hated by some for just being what they are? Yes. But they have come so far from those days. If Martin Luther King could see where his people are now he would weep in joy. If I live to see the day where mutants are accepted as such... I too shall weep with as much joy."

0---0

"This does not bode well for us." Trask seethed as he glared at his staff, Clansey behind him as the TV was turned off. "We programmed the Guardians to attack mutants ONLY! How did they hit an entire school?! WHY did they hit an entire school?!"

"I-I-I don't know, but..." One of his workers spoke up.

"But WHAT!?" Trask bellowed.

"I have a theory..." The man meekly replied. "A-a wide scale attack like that, militarily called an 'Alpha Strike'--"

"I'm military; I KNOW what an Alpha Strike is!" Trask barked back. "Unloading everything you have at a single target. What does it have to do with THIS!?"

"Well the Guardians may have selected the tactic from their database." The man continued. "They may have decided to end the battle then and chose an Alpha Strike as the best method. I mean we based the programming off of video game AIs, it's likely that the programming was too primitive to make a batter choice."

"But the Sentinels are programmed the same way!"

"Yes, but there were always fewer of them, and the Guardians do not have the same durability. Because they aren't expected to last as long they are programmed to use their more powerful weapons sooner."

"Uggh!" Trask let off as he gripped his head. "I want the Guardians and Sentinels reprogrammed! I don't care what it takes, how LONG it takes but get it done! We cannot afford another debacle like this!"

0---0

"Hey Kurt, you doing well?" Amanda asked as she walked into his room, the furry mutant lying on his bed, bare-chested save bandages about his ribs and chest.

"I am better." He said with a smile as she sat on the bed. "Before it felt like I was run over by a tank. Now it's only a Volkswagen!"

"Don't joke about it Kurt!" She chastised as she set a hand on his cheek. "I was... When I saw you after the attack... I... God Kurt, you had blood coming out of your mouth! You looked DEAD!"

"I felt like I should have been dead..." Kurt replied, smiling softly. "But I am not, and I'll see to it that God knows how thankful I am for that. Lord knows when you finally bit it you'd let me have it when you caught up to me."

"Kurt..." Amanda said, stroking his face. "I just... I just..." She said, a tear coming out of her eyes. "Just please, don't scare me like that again..."

"I cannot make promises..." Kurt began, sighing softly. "But I hardly want to do that again. Heard I missed another fight though."

"Yeah, I saw it." She replied. "I was hiding near the fence."

"I hear a story coming."

"Well, once upon a time--"

"It's always once upon a time..."