Alex is walking to his physical science class when all of a sudden, 
there is a pull from his backpack. He turns around to identify the culprit, 
when he realizes that it's only his best friend, Drew Ebon. "You always seem 
to be able to sneak up on me like that, Drew. What's your secret? It might 
come in handy for me someday," comments Alex thinking of the fight between 
him and the others with Holocaust.
    Drew gives Alex a shrewd smile, replying, "Oh, you know I can't do that.
 That's why it's my little secret. You gotta have the touch. Anyway, it's 
too cool to see you almost jump out of your pants every time I do that to 
you!"
    "I did not!" Alex whines.
    "Oh, yeah right, Alex. I know when you're scared. You can't hide that 
from me."
    Alex starts to laugh, as Drew does as well. They then walk into their 
class and sit at their assigned seats, which is a problem since they cannot 
talk to each other without getting in trouble. Drew, though,enjoys talking 
to Alex anyway.
    "Alex," he whispers. "I won't talk for long, but I need to talk to you 
about an envelope I got in the mail yesterday, okay?"
    "Sure," Alex whispers back.

    After the bell rings for classes to change, Alex and Drew walk out, as 
Alex laughs from the teacher of physical science, Mr. Albaugh, who 
constantly makes jokes throughout the class period. Alex wipes away the 
tears from his eyes from laughing so hard.
    "What was so funny, Alex? Tell me, tell me!"
    "Well, Drew, it's just that -laugh- Mr. Albaugh is so, so funny!"
    "Mr. Albaugh? I cannot STAND that man! He is continuously making 
senseless jokes, as if we were still in Kindergarten!"
    "Shush, keep your voice down. That's only because you have no sense of 
humor whatsoever."
    "No sense of humor? You gotta be kidding me. Why, I'll show you a sense 
of humor!"
    If someone had true insight, they could see flames rising from Drew's 
body. 
    Laughing, Alex asks his 'friend,' "So, what's up with that envelope you 
were telling me about? You didn't look too pleased. Is something 
wrong?"	
    Drew replies melancholy, "I'm transferring to another school that's very 
far away from here."
    Alex looks sad, yet puzzled. He thinks to himself, Either this is pure 
coincidence, or Cerebro's technological capabilities are far more advanced 
than I first thought. Only one way to find out, though.
    Nervously, he clasps his hands, purposely covering up a ring, with the 
J X L symbol on it, that he received from Professor Xavier.
    He asks, "Where are you moving? Or do you even have an idea on where you 
will be going?"
     Drew answers, "A place called Salem Center. It's in New York. I'm 
really not supposed to tell anyone about this, but you're my best friend, 
Alex, I just had to tell you."
    Alex's eyes grow wide with astonishment. He sticks his hands in his 
pockets so his ring won't be seen. He walks with Drew down the science 
corridor while he contacts Rose through her ability of telepathy, Rose, can 
you hear me? This is J X L business.
    Down the hallway, Rose puts her hand on her forehead for a clear 
transmission of thoughts. I read you loud and clear, Alex. What's up? 
Something buggin' ya or what?
    You might say that. I've found another one, a new neo-mutant, but he 
doesn't even know it yet. Cover up your J X L ring. I'm walking with him 
toward you. You aren't gonna believe this. It's Drew!
    Drew??!!! Wow, I never thought that Drew of all people would be a 
mutant. When did you find out?
    Just now, and I am just as shocked as you. We will have to break the 
news to him really carefully, though. We don't want him to do anything 
drastic, especially here!
    I get what you mean. Do you know when we will get called to transfer? 
I'm getting rather jumpy about it. Something doesn't feel right here.
    Why? What's gotten you so worried all of a sudden? Have you seen 
something in the future?
    Oh, Alex, you know I can't see the far future, just the immediate. 
Anyway, I can't see anything, I just feel it.
    Feel what?
    I sense a disturbance in the space/time continuum. I think time is going 
to stop for a few minutes. I'm not really sure, but Alex, you don't know how 
it feels! My cosmic energies that allow me to manipulate the passages of 
time and space and directly linked to the s/t continuum. I feel so much 
pain, that it's almost unbearable.
    Calm down, Rose, get a hold of yourself. Everything's going to be okay.
 Now, can you tell me when time is gonna stop?
    In a few minutes from now. What do you think we can do? How can we stop 
it? What if we can't stop it? Will we be stuck in time forever??
    Rose, listen to me. Everything will be okay. We just have to think about 
this. Now tell me, if time really stops, is there anyway you can put an 
anti-time shield around us?
    I think so. Why?
    I'll bet that we need to find out whatever will cause this abrupt stop 
in time, and find some way to neutralize it. Anyway, we'll jump that hurdle 
when we get to it.
    Rose and Alex, with Drew, walk toward each other at the end of the 
science wing. The three begin to talk, but suddenly, a loud scream is heard 
from down the hall. Without warning, time stops and everyone seems to be 
frozen in time, just like Rose predicted, and because of her powers, Alex, 
Drew, and herself, are not affected.
    Alex says to Rose telepathically, Looks like you were right, Rose. I can
tell that your powers are growing stronger!
    The three quickly run to the point of location where the scream took 
place, and that is when they witness a terrifying site. . . .
    A man, presuming, is floating in mid-air in the cafeteria lobby. Flames 
are projecting out of his back like wings of fire. He is holding a bloody 
skull of an unknown Caucasian in his right hand. He is laughing 
hysterically, amused with his handiwork, and watching the blood drip onto 
the floor, forming a puddle, when he notices the three teens watching him.
He exclaims to them bellowing, "How can this be? No one can resist the dark 
powers of those who serve the coming holocaust!"
    The neo-mutants are stunned by the unidentified man's appearance. Red 
flowing energy emits from the monster's eyes like that of lava erupting out 
of a volcano. Pure blackness seems to cover the gigantic fiend from neck to 
foot! The flames that looked as if they were coming out of his back like 
wings are distinguished now as insufferable energy which constantly 
surrounds him. His "gloves" and "shoes" sparkle like a consistent shower of 
different shades of orange and red.
    Rose says to the others, "I think I'm gonna be sick!" She jumps into the 
girl's bathroom. Unknown to the man, however, this is a ploy to draw 
attention away from Rose.
    "Hey, come back here, Rose. You coward!" exclaims Drew.
    "Don't talk about her like that, you moron, she's my girlfriend."
    " 'Scuse me."
    The man just watches and laughs at the two boys standing in front of 
him. "Go ahead, argue among yourselves. It will only make my job just that 
much easier!!" he utters as he laughs.
    Alex whispers to Drew as quietly as possible, "When I say 'Go', run into 
the boy's bathroom and wait for me to tell you it's safe for you to come 
out."
    Drew asks, "What are you gonna do, Alex?"
    "I don't know, but I'll think of something."
    "You can't be serious."
    The man yells at the boys, "I cannot stand this! Are you just going to 
stand there staring at me, or do you want to fight for your life before I 
take it away from you?!"
    Alex exclaims, "Go!"
    Drew stares in confusion at the horrific sight.
    "GO!"
    Drew stands like a gallant soldier at full attention.
    Alex tries to pull him back, but before he can, he is knocked ten feet 
backwards from an electrical shock! He realizes that the unknown "visitor" 
has encased Drew in some kind of electrical shell which would prove to be 
fatal to ordinary humans. Even though the electrical shield hinders most of 
the sound, Alex can hear Drew screaming something, but cannot understand the 
wording.
    Inside the shell, Drew speaks boldly, "I shall not allow this! I will 
pay you back for what you have done to this innocent!"
    The electric shell bursts open and whirling energies discharges out of 
Drew's body.
    "Drew?" Alex says in amazement.
    The energies encircling Drew come down upon him as he and the energies 
unite as one. He then screams, "Divide and conquer!"
    "Oh my gosh. We're in for it now," Alex murmurs.
    Two beings of energy issue from his body, both having the physical 
likeness of Drew. One of a reddish tone and the other one, a bluish tone. 
Drew articulates to them, "My children, destroy this vestige of 
annihilation!"
    The two entities lash out with forceful energy blasts at the unnamed 
foe, who can only laugh, "Foolish, child, you are good, but not good 
enough!" he yells stopping Drew's "offspring" with his gargantuan hands. 
Then he pushes them toward their creator, knocking Drew and his children in 
union once more, causing him to collapse.
    "Drew!" Alex runs to his friend. "No, Drew, you can't leave us. You have 
so much promise! I can see it within you!"
    "Alex?"
    "Come on, we gotta get you out of here!" Alex lays Drew's left arm 
around his neck, heading for the boy's bathroom.
    "Not so fast!" the enemy shrieks hurling a massive blast of concussive 
force down at the teenagers. Drew is cast into the bathroom, but luckily, is 
still intact. Senselessly, Drew runs back out to stand beside Alex. He 
stumbles and moans, when Alex hears him.
    "Drew? Gosh, you dirt for brains, can you never listen to me?" he asks 
turning around. "Go now! Drew, do you want to survive or not? Go! GO!
    Drew stares at Alex with huge eyes, but snaps back into reality and 
dives into the boy's bathroom, finally getting out of the hypnotic fear,  
just before there is an explosion of gray electromagnetic waves. He opens up
 the door slightly. Subsequently, he passes out from the shock wave produced
 from the discharge.
    Unknown to the unconscious Drew, Alex is the one responsible for the 
explosion and the shock wave. The electromagnetic waves he produced 
apparently melted the unidentified man within seconds, leaving absolutely 
nothing recognizable behind. Rose reappears in the lobby and opens another 
portal leading into a different galaxy on the other side of the universe. 
The remains of the victim fall into the portal, as Rose closes it, never to 
be seen again. Alex walks into the boy's bathroom, only to find Drew asleep 
on the floor.
    Walking over to Drew, Alex shakes him. "Wake up, Drew. Get up!" Getting 
annoyed, Alex sends a surge of magnetic energy into Drew's body, raising him
from unconsciousness.
    "Is it . . . over?" Drew asks Alex, looking at the bloody floor in 
astonishment.
    "Yes, it's over. Everything's fine now."
    "Who was that man? And how did you get him out of here?"
    "That's information that you'll have to ask somebody else. I'm certainly 
not that person. All I can say is for you to follow the instructions in that 
envelope you received from Salem Center. Your questions will be answered 
when you talk to the founder of the school, Charles Xavier."
    After this sordid experience, Alex walks Drew through the main hall as 
Rose uses her teleportation ability to clean up the rest of the mess caused 
by the unknown visitor.
    Before Alex leaves Drew, he says, "That was totally cool what you did 
today. How'd you do it?"
    "Do what?"
    "Oh, come one, don't be modest."
    "I'm serious, Alex. The only thing I remember of it was he captured me 
and then you saved me. Wasn't that the way it happened?"
    "Sure, Drew, what ever," says Alex in a confused state.
    "Catch ya' after class. Bye!"
    "See ya'," he says perplexed. "That's funny. He doesn't remember? I have 
to tell the Prof. about this!"

Later that day . . .

    "MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION FOR THE AFTERNOON ANNOUNCEMENTS?"

    The four students are currently in their third period classes: Graham in 
physical science, Drew in English I honors, Rose in French II, and Alex in 
Biology I.
    In Alex's class, he thinks to himself, looking upward to the intercom, 
"I wonder. . . ."

    ". . . THE JUNIOR-VARSITY BOY'S BASKETBALL TEAM . . ."

    Through their telepathic rapport, Alex contacts his girlfriend,  "Will 
they announce for us to report to the office for our transfer?"

    ". . . THE INTERACT/KEY CLUB WILL HAVE A MEETING . . . "

    Rose replies with her special ability, "I sense that they're about to 
right now. Now, let's listen and find out."

    " . . . WOULD THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS PLEASE REPORT TO THE OFFICE WHEN 
THE BELL RINGS:  DANIEL SCHMIDTZ , DREW EBON, ROSE-MARIE WEST, AND ALEX 
DAVIDSON."

BRINNNNGGGGGGG!!!

     Walking out of English class, Drew contemplates, I'm so worried about 
all of this. The others have already been to Salem and been given roles in 
this supposedly upcoming battle. It's just not fair. Why do I always have to
 be the new kid, and why are they immediately transferring me when I haven't 
been there and the rest have? I just don't get it.
     Alex, Rose, and Daniel say their good-byes, mostly to friends that they 
have had in their classes, and those who have been with them throughout each 
other's life. Some cry, and some laugh of the special times that they 
shared.
     Drew, however, purposely blends in the background, refusing to be sad, 
for he, even if he has only been living in Tullahoma for two and a half 
years, has also made some friends that if he said good-bye, his heart would 
be broken. 
    They walk into the THS office through the main entrance. Coach Jackson, 
the Vice-Principal, and Mr. Mayberry are there with the student records of 
each teenager.
    They hand each of the students their profile and Jackson says, "Good 
luck to the four of you. Sorry you had to leave so soon. We hope you are 
successful in whatever journey you have chosen."
    They walk outside the front doors of the lobby. Unbelievable, but not to 
Alex, they see a  limousine, sent by Charles Xavier in Salem Center, New 
York. The chauffeur is standing by holding an opened door. The door has the 
same markings as the J X L ring. He motions for the teens to step inside the 
limo, which they do willingly, but before Drew can, someone calls out his 
name, "Drew! Stop! Hold on!"
    "What?" he asks turning around. "Jeanie?"
    "Sorry," she says trying to recover her breathing, "but you went so fast
 after class, I couldn't catch up. Where . . . where are you going?"
    Drew turns around away from her, saying, "It's nothing, Jeanie, honest. 
Nothing at all."
    That's all he says to his friend, leaving her speechless. He walks 
toward the car, then getting in, he slams the door. The limo drives off, as 
"Jeanie" can do nothing but stare into the horizon where the limousine has 
disappeared.

    After a couple of minutes of the agonizing torture of silence, Alex asks 
Drew, "What was that all about?"
    "Nothing, Alex. Just drop it."
    Rose speaks to Alex telepathically, What's wrong with him, Alex?
    I really don't know. If I had to guess, he probably hates the fact that 
he's going to be away from his other friends. He always has liked Jeanie, 
the first time he saw her.
    Oh, poor thing. Anyway, what's his power? We never discussed that.
    You know something, Rose? Except from what I witnessed earlier today, I 
don't know that either.
    "I sense confusion within you, Alex," Drew interrupts.
    "What do you mean?" asks Rose.
    "I'm not totally like Rose, but in a way, I most certainly am. My main 
power is Empathy:  the ability to read, redirect, create, manipulate, and 
predict emotions in someone. I can absorb emotions also. If someone near me 
is angry, I absorb it. I then rechannel it as hot plasmic fire. If someone 
is depressed, or any of those other 'darker' emotions, and when I absorb it, 
I can redirect it as cold living fire. Don't ask me to explain it because I 
don't understand it myself."
    "Okay," is the only thing Alex and Rose can say.
    Alex says to Rose through telepathic rapport, Maybe that would explain 
why he didn't remember the experience before lunch today. His powers 
probably take up so much of him that he can't remember certain moments in 
time! The Prof. won't believe this!

Chapter 5: Epsilon

   The limousine pulls up to the terminal at Nashville's International 
Airport. The four get out, luggage in hand, and walk through the automatic 
doors--which, in Nashville, actually work without having to repair them 
every five minutes--to get their boarding passes checked in.
    They walk over to the check-in counters for Northwestern Airlines. Rose 
hands the man behind the desk her ticket. He starts to punch keys in on his 
computer when he says, "I'm sorry. You cannot check in at this counter. You 
need to go to the desk marked 'Private Flights.' You will be able to check 
in and board your plane there." The four teens comply with the instructions 
the man gave them.
    When they arrive at the "Private Flights" counter, their boarding passes 
are checked without question or hesitation. Their luggage is immediately 
scanned and sent on a conveyor belt to the appropriate plane.
    They are directed to go through a special door that leads outside so 
they can board the plane waiting at the terminal. The plane resembles a 
private plane, with a design on the tail that appears to be a picture of the 
letter "X" of some sort. Alex, Rose, and Daniel realize that the picture is 
the same insignia as the one on the ring they each have been given.
    Logan, also known as "Wolverine", is standing by the stairs, waiting for 
the teens. He says, "Hey, kids. What's new?"
    Alex shakes hands with him and replies, trying to sound like Logan, 
"Nothin' much, bub!"
    They can't help laughing with each other. 
    Alex introduces the other three. He motions his hand after he says each 
name. "This is Rose, my girlfriend, whom I believe you know."
    "Good to see you again, Rose."
    Rose says in return, "Likewise, Logan. It's always a pleasure."
    Alex continues, "You remember Daniel, don't you?"
    Logan answers, "Yes, we had a little match against each other in the 
Danger Room."
    Daniel adds, "'Little?' We nearly tore each other apart, as well as 
destroying the Danger Room! But I'm just glad that you are on our side."
    "We'll always have the Danger Room."
    Alex then concludes, "And may I present Drew Ebon. He just joined us."
    "Pleased to meet you, Logan."
    "Hello, Drew. Well, ya' might wanna get in, 'cause this bird isn't goin' 
anywhere until you do."

    The five walk up the stairs and stop to take a peek inside the cockpit. 
Doctor Hank McCoy, or "Beast", is in the pilot's seat with Scott sitting 
beside him in the co-pilot's chair. They each say hi to the four teenagers 
before Logan directs them into the middle section of the plane while he 
closes the door.
    A voice over the intercom, which sounds vaguely familiar, states to the 
passengers, "Would everyone take a seat while we are given permission from 
the tower for take-off."
    A total of about six teenagers and three X-MEN take seats that are 
designated for them. Some are talking to each other, some are reading books, 
and some are looking on personalized CompuPADDs, the very same that 
Professor Davidson uses!
    The voice comes on again, "We will be leaving Nashville International 
Airport shortly. This is a non-stop flight into Charlotte, North Carolina. 
We will stop in Charlotte for a thirty minute layover to pick up the rest of 
our passengers for our final flight into Salem Center, New York."
    The engines come to life, and the teenagers can feel the thrust against 
their bodies. The nose lifts up, and the plane takes off from the ground. 
There is little wind turbulence, so the take-off is rather smooth.
    "We will be climbing to our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. Please 
remain seated until the seat belt sign has been turned off. After that, you 
may feel free to walk around the cabin."

    Twenty minutes later, the cabin is filled with all kinds of 
conversations that could possibly take place during a private flight. People 
are making new friends and old friends are reuniting. Some are studying 
PADDs, others are listening to music. All in all, everyone is getting along.
 Everyone, that is, except for Drew.
    Alex and Rose sit down where Drew is sitting. Drew is staring off into 
space when Alex asks, "Drew? Do you wanna talk about what happened back at 
THS?"
    "No, Alex. I don't really think that it's your business."
    Alex continues anyway. "Drew, you will find someone else. If she meant 
so much to you, do you think that she would've tried to come aboard this 
plane? Don't let it bug ya', man. You'll get over her."
    "You really think so?"
    "I know so. Three weeks from now, you probably won't even remember her."
    Alex and Rose stand up and walk away from Drew. An unknown girl comes up 
to Drew with a PADD in her hand asking for help with a certain file, and 
Drew gladly stands up and walks with her to assist her with her dilemma.
    Alex turns to Rose and says, "I told ya' he'd get over Jeanie."
    Someone taps on Alex's shoulder. He turns around and suddenly looks upon
 a familiar face. . . suprisingly from THS!! It's Sam Angell, a friend from 
physical science!!
    "Hey, Alex. Hey, Rose. What's up with ya'? Any new stuff I can know 
about?"
    "Sam Roberts!! You never told me anything about this!! When did you find 
out?"
    "Just a few days ago. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, so I didn't."
    "Since when do you keep secrets?"
    "Well. . . this time was my first time; and there's a first time for 
everything!"
    Without warning, an explosion rocks the plane. The lights dim, the plane 
shakes, and oxygen masks fall from the ceiling. Everyone grabs a mask and 
pulls it over their heads. 
    Rose yells to Alex, "What's our current status, Alex??!!!"
    Alex replies loudly, "Same as always..."
    They both say in harmony, "All Screwed Up!!!!!"
    Suddenly, Beast walks from the cockpit and yells, "Everyone, sit down in 
a seat and fasten your safety belt. We have to eject from the plane!"
    Everyone straps in their seats. Then, suddenly, the neo-mutants are 
swallowed by crystal casings that turn out to be escape pods. Rose looks 
around to see someone that she knows when she sees Beast standing in the 
doorway. He pushes a button, then she blacks out.
    Five seconds later, the entire cabin and cockpit is empty, just before 
the engines explode from the plane and a ball of fire rises from the debris.

    Rose awakens from her sleep. She looks around, trying to reconfigure her 
point of view. She cannot see anything from the smog lying near the ground.
    Off in the distance, Alex coughs from smoke that filled his escape pod.
 He crawls around, trying to find someone.
    Drew sits in his pod with the hatch open. He is wraping up his arm in a 
bandage from a bad scrape he received from the impact. 
    Daniel checks his CompuPADD for the other teenagers from the plane.
    Sam's pod was damaged from the explosion. He seems to be unconscious. 
Jean appears from the shadows and awakes him from his sleep.
    Ororo steps out of a pod. Known to the X-MEN, she is called "Storm." She 
creates a whirlwind to carry the smoke away. The smoke does clear. 
    Alex stands up, trying to locate his friends. He sees an awe-inspiring 
sight. Scattered in a desolate, scorched corn field are twelve escape pods. 
The five X-MEN round up the seven teens among the fallen debris from the 
airplane.
    Off in the distance, a yell is heard. "HELP!!!!"
    Alex, Daniel, Rose, Drew, and Sam race toward the scream, followed by 
the X-MEN--Wolverine, Beast, Storm, Phoenix, and Cyclops. They all meet up 
at one certain escape pod.
    A young girl is inside screaming from all the carbon monoxide that has 
filled her pod. She is beating at the glass door with her fists, making an 
attempt to break it open, but to no prevail.
    Drew asks, "What do we do? We can't just leave her in there!"
    Alex replies, "Let me try to access the emergency lock override through 
the electrical system."
    He places his hands over a control panel, and within seconds he is 
traveling through the escape pod's CPU, trying to find the electrical 
override. 
    "I think I found it!!!"
    In his mind, he finds the chip to the emergency door override mechanism.
 It is blocked by some kind of telekinetic viral force field. He cannot gain 
access to it from the roadblock.
    He returns to reality from the pod's CPU. Sweat is rolling down his face
 from the heat in the wires that he traveled.
    "I found what is causing the door to remain locked, but I can't 
disengage it because there is some kind of viral infection inside it--
telekinetic, I think. there's no known program or procedure to remove it. We 
have to find another way."
    Daniel thinks for a moment, then takes his PADD from his pocket and 
scans the glass door to the pod.
    "The glass is only 3 inches thick. There is a slight chance that if we 
can blast a hole through that door, we might be able to save her."
    Alex comments, "But the pod isn't depressurized yet. It could kill her!"
    Rose states, "Maybe I can open a portal inside there and depressurize 
her in a time warp."
    Beast replies, "The pods are designed to hold only one person at a time. 
You wouldn't be able to open a portal big enough for you and her while she's 
inside the pod."
    Drew asks, "Why don't we combine two plans at once? Have Daniel blast a 
hole into the glass big enough for two people to walk out--as a matter of 
fact, blast the whole door out. . ."
    Alex concludes, "And have Rose open a portal, pull the girl into it, 
then depressurize her in a time warp and appear a few seconds later."
    Rose replies, "It just might work! Yeah, let's do it!"
    Daniel and Rose get in position. Daniel charges his supernova powers 
into his eye while Rose opens her space/time portals.
    "Ready," says Daniel.
    "And waiting to go," says Rose.
    "NOW!!" yells Alex.
    A green, fiery blast shoots out of Daniel's eye, like a narrow beam of 
light. At the same time, Rose opens a portal both inside and outside of the 
pod. Rose jumps through one portal, which closes instantly.
    The supernovaic blast demolishes the door and within a matter of 
nanoseconds, Rose reappears in the other portal and pulls the young girl 
into the time warp.
    Five seconds later, another portal opens and Rose walks out with the 
girl walking beside her. She appears unharmed, but her clothes are covered 
in smoke.
    Daniel asks the girl, "Are you allright? We had to get you out of there. 
If you had stayed in there any longer, we would've lost you."
    The girl replies, "I'm fine... now that you have saved me."
    Daniel and Alex stare at her bug-eyed.
    Rose asks Alex through their rapport, Actually the question is, are YOU 
allright? Do you know her, or are you astonished that she came out alive?"
    Daniel asks Alex at the same time, "Do you remember that voice?"
    Alex replies to both. She's a girl that Daniel knew last year. "I think 
you should remember more than me, Daniel."
    Daniel asks the girl, "Is that you, Andrea?!!" He hands Andrea a 
handkerchief to wipe her face off with.
    Andrea takes the handkerchief from Daniel and begins to wipe her face.     "Yes, it's me, Daniel. I am forever in your debt for saving my life, Daniel 
and. . ." She looks over at Rose. ". . . I'm sorry. I don't believe I know 
you."
    Rose extends her hand to Andrea. "I'm Rose West."
    Andrea shakes Rose's hand. "Hi, I'm Andrea Dexxley."
    "Pleased to meet you."
    Scott states behind the teenagers, "Well, now that we've become better 
acquainted, why don't we try to solve some other problems--like how are we 
supposed to get to Salem Center now, with our plane destroyed?!!"
    Alex leans over to Rose and requests, "Do you think you could teleport 
us there?"
    "Probably, but I'm not sure where that is. I don't even know where we 
are right now."
    Drew punches keys on his PADD and informs the party, "According to the 
satellite link-up between us and Salem Center, it appears that we've crash-
landed among the outskirts of Jacksonville, North Carolina."
    Rose comments, "Before I moved to Tullahoma, I used to live in 
Jacksonville!"
    Drew asks, "But how are we gonna get to Salem Center? It would be kind 
of stupid and it would take forever if we walked."
    Jean says to Rose, "If I show you what Salem Center looks like 
telepathically, would you be able to transport us there?"
    "I believe so. We can always give it a try."
    Jean and Rose link minds, and within moments, Rose's mind is flooded 
with pictures of Salem Center, the Xavier School, and a direct path to take 
to their destination.
    Rose puts her hand against her forehead and says to Alex, Alex, tell her 
to stop. I have the information, but I'm getting a migraine and I can't 
switch off.
    Alex relays the message to Jean, and the link is broken. 


    Rose collapses to the ground with telepathic energy swarming over her 
body.
    Alex tries to pick her up, but Jean stops him and says, "She has so much 
concentrated telepathic energy that if you touch her right now, your mind 
might be destroyed."
    She picks Rose up off the ground, and the energy is absorbed by her.
    Rose awakens and says, "Is everybody ready to go?"
    The X-MEN and the members of J X L look at each other and Drew pops a 
question, "Don't you think that it would be the proper, decent, humane thing 
to do if we try to clean up this whole mess? I mean, it was OUR plane that 
caused this."
    Ororo replies to Drew, "You are absolutely right, Drew."
    She raises her hands, and as if acting as a signal, dark clouds start to 
form around the airplane debris. Winds begin to pick up chunks of metal. 
Lightning bolts start to crash Then a small whirlwind forms. It circles 
around, collecting the pieces of scrap metal. Suddenly, the whirlwind 
disappears, and Daniel disintegrates the metal with supernovaic blasts from 
his eye. The debris dematerializes within seconds.
    Daniel touches his head with his hand. "What a killer rush!"
    Without warning, a plane swoops down from out of the sky. The shock wave
 from the afterburners on the unknown jet forces the mutants to the ground.
 Scott realizes that the jet is none other than. . . the Blackbird--the X-
MEN's air mode of transportation!!!
    Scott motions for the others to get up from off the ground. The 
Blackbird flies away to make a turn-around for a landing. Five seconds 
later, the sound of screeching tires across grain and the rumble of engine 
blasts can be heard from three miles away. The Blackbird slows down and 
stops abruptly near the X-MEN and the newly formed team, J X L.
    A side door opens. Three shadowy figures appear from the doorway. Two 
are standing, while one is in a wheelchair. They move slowly from inside the 
fuselage of the monstrous jet. The sun's rays shine upon the unknown figures 
to reveal their identities. . .
    Warren Worthington III, or "Archangel," followed by Reme LeBeau, known 
as "Gambit," and "Rogue," whom no one knows her real identity, walk out the 
hatch from the Blackbird.
    Warren states, "People, you sure know how to flag a plane down!"
    Remy continues, "We could'a seen dat from 'bout ten miles away!"
    And Rogue concludes, "But at least ya weren't prank callin' us, sugah."
    Daniel asks politely, "Well, can ya give us a lift?"
    Warren looks at Daniel and says, "Well. . . let me think about it. . . 
Okay."
    The mutants forming the teams J X L and the X-MEN walk into the fuselage 
of the mighty Blackbird and take off on their way to Salem Center, New York. 
. . and to an unforgettable moment in every one of their lives.