Date: Tuesday, July 20, 2010.

  Location: Tyson’s subscious, Alkali Lake Industrial plex, British bia, ada

  Stepping through the door, Tyson found himself standing in a familiar white room. Two ures stood inside; One etite young woman, and the other was a menag figure, his frame covered in a mix of torn clothing and thick, shaggy fur.

  Sabertooth's pierg yellow eyes stared maliciously at Tyson, and his lips pulled bato a feral snarl, revealing a set of razor-sharp fangs. Sabertooth extended his deadly cws. "I’ve been waiting for you, runt," he growled, his voice dripping with menace.

  Rogue’s face ainted with as her eyes darted betweewo men. Ign her, Sabertooth lunged forward clearly i on ending Tyson. Time felt like it was crawling, each sed feeling like ay as Tyson studied the murderous i in Sabertooth's eyes.

  Images of Professor Xavier flitted through his mind. The wise old mutant's calm voice echoed in his thoughts, "It is your mind. You trol

  what happens there."

  Sabertooth’s cws desded on him, Tysohe sting as they pierced his skin. However, as Sabertooth pushed further, his progress tly stopped, the cws couldn't pee any deeper.

  The sharp cws met Tyson's adamantium-reinforced skeleton and failed to pierce the iructible barrier. Sabertooth growled in frustration, his faches away from Tyson's, hot breath wafting over him.

  Tyson stood firm, asserting his dominance over the mental space they occupied. Drawing himself to his full height, his voice echoed with unwaveriainty, "This is my mind, my body. You're nothing more than a shadow, an echo of a dead man."

  Sabertooth snarled in response, but the fury in his eyes was tinged with uainty. The monstrous figure took a step back, watg as Tyson advanced, every bit the hunter Sabertooth himself once was. The first time he ehe white room, Tyson was the skinny teen he’d been when he arrived in this world. Now his inner appearached his outer size. Now he was a match for Sabertooth’s height and bulk. He flexed his fingers and matg cws extended as well. The room seemed to grow colder as Tyson's voice lowered, the iy building with every word, "You made the mistake of uimating me. You're nothing but a fading memory. It’s time you learned your pce."

  Sabertooth refused to bow down, he lu Tyson once more, cws sshing violently in a series of rapid, brutal strikes. The room took on a surreal hue as Sabertooth's cws cshed against Tyson's cws and iructible bones, sending sparks and blood flying in every dire.

  As they fought, Tyso him blow for blow. At one point, Sabertooth, utilizing his incredible strength, smmed Tyson against a wall. He attempted to drive his cws through Tyson’s abdomen to reach up under his reinforced ribcage. But Tyson kicked and thrust off the wall. Taking advantage of Sabertooth's momentary surprise, he quickly maneuvered himself and unleashed a flurry of ter-attacks. The final move saw him drive his adamantium-den fingers straight into Sabertooth's chest, ing them around his heart.

  The very essence of Sabertooth’s being was at Tyson's mercy.

  Gasping, with beads of sweat f on his brow, Sabertooth looked deep into Tyson’s eyes. "Do it," he rasped. "End it."

  Tyson tightened his grip slightly, making Sabertooth win pain. "Submit," he hissed, "or I'll destroy whatever's left of you."

  After a few agonizing moments, Sabertooth's once fierce eyes dulled, repced by a begrudging acceptance. "Fine," he growled, his voice barely above a whisper, "You win."

  With a final squeeze, just to emphasize his victory, Tyson released his grip and stepped back. Sabertooth, now a shadow of his former self, crumpled to the floor, utterly defeated.

  Rogue's pale fad the horror in her eyes told more of a story than any words could. As Tyson moved towards her, her entire body stiffened. Reasoning she wouldn’t want him close, Tyson chose a spot a few feet away, sitting down in an attempt to ehat she felt no threat from him.

  "I'm sorry you had to see that," he murmured, his voice ced with genui.

  She blinked back tears, taking a shaky breath. "We're all monsters," she whispered, her voice soft yet haunting. “You think you’re bad. You should’ve seen what I did to Cody.”

  Tyson's brow furrowed. "Who's Cody?" he inquired gently.

  Rogue hesitated for a moment, her firag invisible patterns on her jeans. "Cody Robbins," she began, a hint of nostalgia in her voice, "He was my boyfriend, ba Mississippi."

  Her green eyes clouded with pain, "We were in love. It was the kind of love that you read about in fairy tales. One evening, Cody leaned in for a kiss. It was my first kiss, it was supposed to be magical.. But, I didn’t know," she paused, choking on the memory, "I didn’t know about my powers."

  Rogue's fession hung in the air, heavy with sorrow. She gulped, her eyes glistening with uears. "That night, when our lips met, something inside me snapped. I felt a rush of energy, and Cody... he just crumpled in my arms. He went into a a. Because of me," she whispered, her voice barely above a breath, breaking with emotion. A siear escaped, trag a path down her cheek.

  Tyso a pang of empathy for her. Her pain, raw and deep, was almost tangible. He furrowed his brow, his mind scrambling to find words to offer soce. "It was an act. You 't bme yourself for a power you didn't even know you had, much less trol."

  Rogue's resolve was evident, even as her voice trembled with the weight of her memories. She shook her head fiercely, refusing to accept Tyson's attempts at sotion. Her eyes, usually so full of strength, now shimmered with a vulnerability that made her seem even more formidable. They locked with Tyson’s, veying a depth of pain and vi that words alone could never fully express.

  "Even acts have sequences," she insisted her voice firm but threaded with an undercurrent of raw emotion. Her gaze never wavered, holding Tyson’s with an iy that spoke of her iurmoil. "Cody’s life was taken from him because of me... it's a cost I have to bear." The words were heavy, den with guilt that had been a stant panion sihat fateful night.

  Her expression softened slightly, but the firmness ione remained as she tinued, "And every life you take, it'll have its cost too." It was a warning as much as it was a shared truth. The power they wielded came at a high price; a price paid in the currency of sequences and responsibility.

  In those few sentences, Rogue id bare the harsh reality of their existehey were not just individuals with extraordinary abilities; they were also bearers of sequeyson leaned slightly towards her, his brow furrowed in . "What kind of cost?" he asked, seeking to uand the depth of their burden.

  Rogue hesitated for a moment, her eyes shifting away as if gatherihoughts. Then, turning back to Tyson, she spoke with a cryptic yet siohe kind of cost that's with us every day," she said, her gaze drifting towards Sabertooth. "Him being here. He’s always there, If he’s n to exert his will over us, he’s in the background, listening, waiting for a moment of weakness," she gestured slightly towards Sabertooth, her voice tinged with a mix of disdain and resignation. "His stant needling, the violence, and threats... we deal with it every moment of every day."

  Her admission tly interrupted by a voice ced with aggressiveness and s. "Dealing with you all day is like being trapped in some sappy, sad novel," he grumbled, his voice heavy with disdain. He’d healed from the wound Tyson inflicted, and now his cold eyes fixed ue. "If I could, I’d put ao it... Maybe have a little fun first," he sneered, a twisted smirk curling the er of his mouth. The implied threat in his words was unmistakable, sending a shiver due's spine.

  He paced slightly like a predator sizing up its prey. "One day, I’ll be able to stand that touch of hers," he mused aloud, more to himself than to anyone else. "Or maybe I’ll just take what I want, sequences be damned." The casual cruelty in his words revealed the depth of his malice. An evil, fanged grin spread across his face as he suggested, “We could fuck each other to death… Wouldn’t that be a good way to go?”

  Rogue’s voiow quivered with an undercurrent of fear as she fided in Tyson. "I’m always on guard, always ready to defend myself," she said, a hint of weariness seeping into her words. Her gaze shifted towards Sabertooth, lingering there for a moment before sing the room as if seeking out invisible threats. “From him, and the others.”

  Tyson, her closely, could see the weight of her stant vigince. He leaned in, etched on his face. "What others?" he asked, his voice ge probing.

  Rogue hesitated, her eyes flickering with a mixture of fear and resolve. "The ones who are only here for a little while," she began slowly, "they e and go." Her gaze drifted away, lost in thought. "The demons, the nice girls," she mumbled under her breath, "and the meahere was a heavio her words, a burden of experieoo plex to articute fully.

  "And the soldiers," Rogue added after a pause, her voice barely above a whisper. As she spoke, Tyson's mind raced, pieg together the puzzle. He realized she was talking about all those who he had touched since arriving.

  The revetion hit Tyson like a wave. He uood now the extent of what Rogue had been fag. Not just Sabertooth, but the psychological toll of stantly entering new people, and never knowing if they were tra, or would bee a permahreat. He opened his mouth, but before he could utter a word, a shrill, pierg arm echoed throughout his mind, f him to ch his eyes shut and grip his temples.

  The bright white of his mental ndscape started to blur and shift. Rogue's form began to dissolve, and the grouh him felt unstable like sand being washed away by the tide.

  Gasping, he was thrust bato reality.

  The arm tis shrill bre, eg off the walls. Tyson blinked, disorierying to adjust to the harsh light. He gnced around and was greeted by the familiar metal bars, reminding him of his impriso.

  ~~ Rogue Rept ~~

  Storm sat in the pilot’s chair at the helm of the Bckbird. She ehe auto-navigation system. As the system came online, her deep blue eyes transformed into an opaque white, signaling her e to the forces of nature.

  The Bckbird zipped through the vast blue expanse of the sky. But, it wasn't alone. Closing quickly behiwo F-16 fighter jets. The roar of the F-16's engines grew closer, but Storm was i on not allowing them a on’s lock. Calling upon her mutant abilities, the sky around them darkened ominously as she invoked her elemental power. Twin tornadoes maed from thin clouds, swirling with ferocity. One of the F-16 pilots, eyes widening in arm, veered off course as the tornado's powerful gusts threateo engulf his jet. He didn't have a choice - he hit the eject button, and his seat rocketed him safely away while his fighter jet became ensnared iwister's grasp. It was hurled and spun, ultimately meeting its doom as it was torn apart by the violent winds.

  The sed pilot, with sheer determination and a hint of desperation, mao avoid the sed tornado. A swarm of tornadoes maed in his path, aoo was forced to eject. But beforehand, he swiftly locked onto the Bckbird and released a missile. The deadly projectile sped through the air.

  Storm's eyes fshed back to their blue hue. She yelled over the roar of the engines and the whistling wind, "Brapact!"

  Withiight fines of the Bckbird, panic spread like wildfire. Jean's emerald eyes widened as the weight of the situation bore down ohe thought of losing her friends, and her family, was unbearable. There was no time for words or doubt; only raw, unchecked emotion. She reached out with her mind, trying to ect with the speeding missile. Her brow furrowed in tration. The missile was a fleeting blip in her psychidscape, moving at an unimaginable speed. As the missile neared, her e to it solidified. With a final surge of her psychiergy, her telekinesis forced the missile off its trajectory. The ge was minuscule but enough.

  The missile detonated mere meters away from the Bckbird. The shockwave of the explosion rocked the jet violently. A fiery ball illumihe sky, turning the evening into a brief, blinding day. The force of the explosion ripped a gaping hole in the back of the jet. The sudden depression was violent and deafening, a cacophony of metal tearing and air rushing.

  Jubilee was sucked out of the newly-formed hole in the back of the jet. Her scream was barely audible over the roar of the wind and the explosion's aftermath. She became a small silhouette against the vast backdrop of the sky, rapidly falling away from the tumbling Bckbird.

  Amidst the chaos ihe Bckbird, a sudden burst of sulfuric blue smoke filled the cockpit. Kurt Wagner, also known as Nightcrawler, vanished in a fsh. He reappeared in the vastness of the open sky o the falling Jubilee. Her face was etched with pure terror, eyes wide and mouth open in a silent scream.

  With the wind r around them, Kurt shouted, "Hold on!" His signature three-fingered hand clutched her tight, and with another puff, the cold wind of the freefall was repced with the interior of the Bckbird.

  Jubilee, disoriented and gasping for breath, g onto Kurt, her eyes gzed with relief.

  Ba the cockpit, the dire situation alpable. The spiraling Bckbird roared, its arms bring, warning of an immi crash. Logan, his features hardened with tension, looked at Storm, the weight of their shared history evident in their gaze. They grasped each other's hands, brag for the impact that seemed iable.

  But, as the ground drew terrifyingly close, a strange sensation enveloped the jet. The hole in the rear of the pne knitted back together as if the explosion occurred in reverse. The tumultuous dest of the Bckbird began to decelerate, being eerily calm. The loud warnings ceased, and the once violent shudders turned into a gentle hover.

  The team looked out the main window. Unbelievably the ground y just a few meters below. The Bckbird hung suspended, cradled istretched palm of a figure a deep maroon cape a.

  Mago.

  His eyes, visible below the edge of his helmet, gleamed with amusement. With the e in his magic grasp, he smirked. "Ah, it's the X-Men, right on time." he decred with a hint of smug satisfa.

  ~~ Rogue Rept ~~

  The soft crag of the campfire filled the silence of the night, the fmes dang and flickering, painting the faces of the gathered mutants in hues e and yellow. John, with a sly grin, snapped his fingers, igniting the firewood with his pyrokiic abilities.

  Mago began, "His name is William Stryker." The weight of the name hung heavy in the air.

  Logaioned, "What does Stryker want from us? And more importantly, what is it you're after, Mago?"

  Mago let out a weary sigh, staring deep into the fmes. "When Stryker and his men invaded your mansion, they weren't just there to wreak havoc. They took something crucial."

  Illyana's blue eyes shimmered in the firelight, her tone urgent. "Tysht?" Her protective nature over her friends was evident.

  Logan's eyes narrowed, remembering the previous enters between Mago and the young mutant. But Mago waved away the accusation. "No. The boy is powerful, indeed. But what they were after is far more dangerous in the wrong hands."

  Storm asked, "Cerebro?"

  Mago nodded gravely. "Charles and I ceived Cerebro as a bea of hope. I envisio as a device that could bridge the gap between mutants and humans. But as always, Charles was too cautious. He ruly tapped into its enormous potential." his gaze turned darker. "In the wrong hands, Cerebro could spell doom for mutants worldwide."

  Storm pressed, "But for Cerebro to be operational, Stryker would he Professor."

  Mago's eyes met Storm's. "Which," he cluded, "is the only reason I believe Charles is still alive. And we o rescue him before it's too te."

  The night was still, punctuated only by the sound of crag firewood and the low murmurs of the mutants gathered around the fire. Storm, her white hair flowing in the gentle breeze, turned her gaze to Mago, her expression inquisitive. "How could Stryker possibly know about Cerebro? And even if he did, how would he know how to operate it?"

  Mago's lips tightened, his expression darkening with memories of his captivity. "Stryker has... ways to persuade, even someone as formidable as Charles." The very notion of someone maniputing Xavier's powerful mind was chilling.

  Logan growled, "Even if we were to swallow this tale of yours, what do you need us for?"

  Mago met Logan's inteare evenly. "Stryker has been dug experiments and operations from a base for years. I know of its existe not its location."

  Logan's eyebrows furrowed in thought, memories of his painful past ing to the fore. "The adamantium they grafted onto my bones... that was Stryker's doing. Alkali Lake," he spat out. "I was just there. Found nothing."

  Mystique interjected, "It's there. When I accessed Stryker's puter, I stumbled upon some files. 'Alkali Lake' was mentioned."

  The weight of the revetion hung in the air as the mutants sidered how to stop Stryker. As the m sun dawhe campsite was abandoned. What was left of the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants boarded the Bckbird heading north toward Alkali Lake.

  ~~ Rogue Rept ~~

  A faint whimper caught Charles Xavier’s attention. It sounded like a muted cry inating nearby. He traced the sound to an inspicuous se of the wall. Upon closer iioiced a discreet panel. Pushing it gently, the wall slid away to reveal a hidden stairwell. Huddled in its shadowy recesses was a young girl, no older than ten. Her wide eyes were filled with tears, and her face was streaked with dirt and distress.

  Seeing him, her eyes fshed with a mixture of hope and fear. "Are they gone?" she asked in a trembling voice, ging to her worn teddy bear.

  Xavier met her gaze with a passionate smile, his eyes exuding warmth and kindness. "Yes, they are gone," he assured her.

  Swallowing hard, she looked around, her fusion evident. "Where are all the others?"

  He frowned slightly, but to fort her, he replied, "I'm not sure. But," He paused for a moment slightly fused, before brushing it off and tinuing, "I guess we'll have to find them, won't we?"

  A spark of hope lit up the little girl's eyes. Xavier extended a weling hand toward her. She hesitated for a split sed, then, gathering her ce, she gripped his hand firmly and stood up.

  The massive door to Cerebro loomed before them. Professor Xavier wheeled closer to the retinal ser, its blue light illuminating his face with a gentle glow. Just before he leaned iurned his head, catg the little girl's gaze. Their eyes locked, and he gave her a f smile, trying to assure her of the safety inside. She tentatively smiled back. As the ser analyzed Xavier's retina, the meism whirred, and slowly the dan to part ways, revealing the futuristiterior of Cerebro. Just as Xavier was about to wheel in, the girl's soft voice stopped him. "Don't leave me alone, please," she pleaded, her voice eg in the spacious corridor.

  Xavier paused, realizing that after everything she had been through, he couldn't just leave her in the unknown. "Alright," he replied, noddily. "You e inside. Just stay close to me."

  The little girl's eyes brightened. Xavier began wheeling himself into Cerebro, the vast chamber stretg out before him. Curiosity repced the little girl's apprehension as she followed closely. Together, the two of them journeyed down the long ptform.

  The vast chamber of what Charles believed to be Cerebro stretched out before him. However, the sterile shine of the inal was o be seen. Instead, Stryker’s version of Cerebro, with parts stolen from the institute had walls that bore a grimy texture, stained with blotches of brown and rust. Wires hung loosely in pces, occasionally sparking, and the soothing hum of the maery was repced by an uling drone.

  Charles was pletely oblivious to this bastardization of his creation as he reached out and picked up the helmet. Its weight felt different, heavier, but he was so focused on his task that he dismissed his fleeting uhe little girl, who had been so meek and afraid earlier, watched Xavier ily. Unbeknownst to the Professor, she was merely a mirage, an illusioed by Mutant 143, Jason, to manipute Xavier's senses.

  Xavier's mental barriers were strong, but the psionihibitor allowed Jason to worm his way through the professor's defehe power of Mutant 143 was such that once he had a foothold, even a mind as formidable as Charles Xavier's couldn’t resist.

  As Xavier prepared to pce the helmet on his head, the massive door of the Dark Cerebro smmed shut with a force that seemed to reverberate throughout the space. Caught in the illusion, Charles paid it no mind, but the little girl behind him slowly allowed her i facade to crumble. Her mismatg eyes, one blue, one green, which had once seemed filled with tears and fear, now gleamed with a malevolent mischief. An uling smile curved her lips, revealing a hint of darkhat had been hidden just moments ago.

  ~~ Rogue Rept ~~

  Logan's boots made soft thudding sounds as he walked down the spillway corridor. The spillway was an essential po of the dam. It was desigo release excess water during periods of heavy rain or s, preventing the reservoir from overflowing. It protected the dam from water damage and the surrounding areas from potential flooding. Alkali Lake dam held back vast amounts of water, ensuring it was released in trolled amounts through its spillways.

  As Logan approached the run-off tunnels, he gnced into the one on his right. Desigo direct the released water safely away from the dam's base, it stood eerily dry, evidence of the dam's current inactivity. Taking a deep breath, Logan's voice echoed powerfully, "Stryker!" His shout traveled through the vast, hollow tunnel, boung back from the cold, crete walls. After a brief pause, he yelled again, strohis time, "It's me. Wolverine!"

  The echo of his voice was the only response. Logan's eyes sed the length of the tunnel as he ventured deeper, the silenly amplifying the tension in the air.

  Stryker stidly in the trol room, eyes fixated on the monitor dispying Wolverine's every move within the spillway corridor. The low hum of the room's maery was interrupted by the muted tapping of the guard's finger on the flood button, awaiting a and.

  Without diverting his gaze from the s, Stryker's voice cut through the silence, "Send a team. Bring him to me in the north corridor." He took a brief moment to g the guard, emphasizing, "Carefully."

  Ihe spillway, Logan's senses were on high alert as he cautiously trod forward. Just as he felt a shift in the air, a se of the wall in front of him slid open, revealing three soldiers. Their rifles aimed directly at him, expressions tense. Before Logan could react, another se of the wall behind him opened, revealing an additional trio of soldiers. The trap had been sprung.

  In the dimly lit corridor, the team leader, a tall soldier with a scar running down his cheek, shouted with an authoritative tone, "Don't move! Hands in the air!"

  Logan's eyes darted between the soldiers. In a move that surprised everyone in the corridor, and even Stryker watg remotely, Logan slowly raised his hands, cws retracted. The cold steel of the rifles and the anxious breaths of the soldiers were the only sounds that filled the tense silence.

  Logan was shackled around his ankles and wrists. The heavy s ked with every step he took as he was led through the facility, guns trained on him the eime. Waiting for him at the end of the corridor was William Stryker. As they approached each other, Stryker’s face morphed from one of sheer arrogao slight surprise and then, a touch of dread. He stood fidently, taking a moment to peer into Logan’s eyes, seeking a hint of the animal he knew y within. The cocky grin that previously pyed on his lips was now repced by a line of .

  Without a word, Stryker suddenly lifted a handgun, aiming it directly at Logan's temple. But as his finger began to apply pressure origger Logan’s rough features began to morph and ge. The face transformed into a slimmer, more delicate visage, and the yellow eyes of Mystique repced Logan's inteare. Reag almost immediately, Mystique's slimmer form slipped effortlessly from the bulky shackles that bound Logan. In a swift, fluid motion, she used the momentum of her movement to the s around the gun in Stryker's hand. Before he could process the sudden ge of events, the gun was ripped away from him, and he was violently thrown into the nearby wall, dazed.

  The soldiers, caught off guard by the sudden ge of events, scrambled to react, but Mystique's smirk sighat she was already two steps ahead. The corridor lunged into chaos as the first two soldiers, still adjusting to the sudden ge iarget, pulled their triggers almost simultaneously. But Mystique was quicker; she dropped low in a split sed, and their bullets found each other. With a thud and a grunt, both guards fell, victims of friendly fire. With the grad agility of an Olympic gymnast, Mystique performed a fwless handspring, propelling herself forward. Anuard quickly drew his pistol. However, as he tried to aim, Mystique's hand darted out, knog his arm sideways just as he squeezed the trigger. The misfired bullet struck a pipe, and a sharp hiss filled the corridor as steam began p out, obsg everyone's vision.

  The corridor was now thick with a blinding fog, making visibility almost impossible. Stryker, dazed from the sudden assault, stood up, squinting, trying to catch a glimpse of Mystique through the veil of steam. But she was gone, her silhouette having vanished pletely into the mist. Cursing under his breath, Stryker turned, his face twisted in anger. "Activate the arm!" he s the guard. The guard nodded hastily and scrambled to follow the order as Stryker marched off into the mist.

  AN: The White Room is one of the potential avenues for Tyson to gain trol ue’s power. Unfortunately, because Xavier locked it, he ’t reach the room on his own. He he help of a powerful psychic to do so.

  Behind the Ses

  - Mago being in the perfect spot to save the bckbird lothole I couldn’t bother to fill.

  - For some unknown reason, I skipped the se with Nightcrawler and Mystique meeting. Assume it wely as in movie .