Chapter Thirty Five:

Scott looked down at the picture that had floated (he suspected telepathically) into his hand, and then almost decided to throw it away. Yet right before it left his hand he paused. 'What was Magneto talking about?' Scott wondered. Then he replayed the words Magneto last told him... "Something you lost on the rocks of those cliffs..." Could it be?

He reexamined the photo in his hand some of the features matched his brother's but the last time he had seen him they were just boys… maybe. Feeling as if he had been hit with a runaway train Scott's body started trembling, as he looked up at the smiling face of the X-Men's greatest foe. He had a sinking feeling of what this person wanted. But was he really in a position to refuse?

"I I is this real?" He hated how weak he sounded in front of his team.

"It's simple to find out..." Emma said stepping forward. Helping Magneto with the levitation trick was simple, but this Scott guy was cute (which was a plus) and it also seemed he was in charge of the group in front of them. If nothing else he would be a good piece for the little game they were playing if... they could obtain him.

"Come with us, Scott. I think it's time you two met." Magneto finished with a smirk.

Scott was tempted and his teammates could feel it, "Scott..." Spyke said sounding uneasy.

Scott didn't say anything as he considered Magneto's offer.

---

Rogue and Amara were taking down several mutants, while the SHIELD agents would quickly come in, handcuff them and cart them away once they were down. Rogue's mastery of several martial arts and Amara's ability to control magma from the earth was a wonder to the eyes.

Often there would be the scene of Amara blocking any active power from the assailants, while Rogue would come in to knock them out. It was quick proficient and it impressed the SHIELD agents a lot. It was rare to see two small girls handle themselves so well.

Although it hadn't been their original intent it did feel good to have the acknowledgment of the people who had been looking down their noses at them just a few minutes before. The girls weren't planning on getting a big head over the agent's reactions, but couldn't help showing a few flashy moves to impress the crowd a bit just for fun.

As they fought, they worked their team towards the large dome, although the structure in the distance was massive it honestly only held a few hundred mutants. Therefore, the clean-up process was going pretty smoothly, very few mutants were actually getting away.

After a twenty-minute battle, the pair finally managed to take down a mutant that had the ability to emit high pitched sound waves from her vocal cords.

Suddenly a wave hit the two sending both of them sprawling on the ground as the mutant teen caught them both unaware. Reeva Payge quickly jumped to her feet dodging the advances of the SHIELD agents attempt at recapturing her. Reeva had gone through too much to be captured by these guys, people always wanted to judge her or use her and she knew they would probably do the same.

She thought that with the Brotherhood protecting her, she could finally feel safe, being a black girl in a small southern town with no family hadn't really instilled trust in her. But it was all a bust she had been there a month before the sky fell down on her head.

Blasting a few more Shield agents away from her she managed to get back on her escape pod and hightail it out of there.

"Damn… I can't even tell which way is up right now." Amara said sounding exhausted.

"… Who was that?" Rogue said struggling to her feet sounding even more out of sorts.

"Well, I don't know her name…"

"No, not her, didn't you see the person…"

But before she could finish her sentence, they both spotted someone leaping inside the dome that seemed similar to the Scarlett Spider.

"I thought we left Ben back at the institute... Could it be Spidey?" Rogue said in puzzlement.

"That don't know… isn't he local to New York, only?" Amara said puzzled.

"I'm not sure, but I think we'll need to find out," Rogue said grimly.

Looking at the agents around them Rogue sent a message to Logan and Storm's teams that they were heading towards the large dome.

BROKEN DOME BASE

Warren was getting ready for Gwen's containment pod to be released. He had already picked out her clothes and shoes, he decided not to manipulate her thoughts like he had Spidercide. He wanted her to make up her mind once and for all. Peter Parker had moved on, forgotten her... now he's dating a red-headed floozy without a thought of his once 'Great Love'. He just wanted to laugh; Warren couldn't move on... No, he refused to move on! Defying death he brought her back. Now she would see the depths of his love and they would live happily ever after. While laughing at the dead bodies of those despicable three.

"Master, the bate has been set and we already have a group of the mutants approaching the base." A man said wearing a Spider-Man costume.

"Good now... Leave us. I do not wish to have such a lowly person in our presents." Warren said with a disgusted sneer on his face.

Spidercide nodded but imperceptibility a muscle jumped in the clones features as he moved into the shadows.

Dr.Warren had never wanted to keep one of the Parker clones close by, and that would end soon enough! He had already made the arrangements to dispose of all of the Parker clones directly after their battle. He wouldn't really need them anyway, not only had he enhanced Gwen but he also had plans for his own enhancements as well.

He checked and rechecked the formula specs he had just finished, he had found when ingested the contents not only would grant longer life but powers similar to the super soldiers of legend without the harmful side effects. He simply wanted to laugh in joy!

Magneto had his eyes on this very formula, he said it would 'empower his brother's and sisters… BLAH, BLAH, BLAH' Honestly the man just loved to prattle around spouting nonsense!

He was glad he had kicked the metal man away and he got some souvenirs to help his projects in the process. When Spider-Man finally did show up he was going to have a big surprise! Warren couldn't wait until that time…

PHOENIX

Honestly, after the first couple of hours on the ship, they had talked like old friends and had a good time with the Slurpee machine but things seemed to set down inside the ship afterward. MJ and Peter had found a quiet corner and we're whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears. Leaving Jean and Ben setting a little awkwardly in the front. Every once and a while they would meet each other's eyes and then immediately break eye contact pretending they were really interested in something else.

Ben was currently looking at a Coke bottle trying to make himself believe its contents were much more interesting than they actually were.

Jean was looking at her chipped nails wishing she could have a file to straighten one out that had slightly been damaged in the fight earlier. The silence was starting to get to her, they had been through a lot today and they had depended on each other more than she had expected they would... and she would be lying if she said her feelings for Ben hadn't gotten stronger.

Remembering her bold-ish actions when she kissed his cheek earlier made her face blush as she finally spoke.

"I have a boyfriend..." Why the hell was she bringing that up! Jean wished she could kick herself so much right now. Yeah, it had to be said. It had been bugging her, she hadn't ever thought of herself like some girl with loose morals.

Setting up straighter Ben met her eyes, "I understand that, but I need to get this out in the open... I like you."

Eyes widening Jean didn't expect him to say it so bluntly. She wasn't prepared for this conversation she wasn't even sure why she had brought it up… it was her that brought it upright. Dammit… it was.

"Yeah… I won't sit here and say I don't feel close to you…"

"But…" Ben finished with a serious face. He knew it was coming. It hadn't felt right when she started talking, and he (or rather Peter) had a very long list of girls giving him a similar conversation.

"No… Yes… I feel it's moving too fast. I have to deal with my relationship with Duncan before we can see what this is… I feel very close to you, but how it all happened wasn't what most would call 'natural' and I…"

"I get it," Ben said a little sharper than he intended.

Honestly, he did. Was it frustrating? Hell yes. But he knew from the beginning she had someone in her life already. He couldn't expect her to drop everything because he was available… He didn't know if he would still like her the same way if she did. Even if it was Duncan.

Ben let out a sigh but Jean seemed to understand as she put a 'friendly' hand on top of his own.

"Everyone, suit up! We will be arriving in twenty minutes!" Beast's voice said over the coms.

Everyone stood up as they all started to prepare for the upcoming battle. They didn't know what to expect from Magneto and his goon squad, but with Warren's presence, anything could happen.