‘I admit that the first verse was slightly amusing, but after fifty four verses - plus choruses - Jubilees version of Jingle bells gets slightly tiresome.’ Monet St. Croix said in agitation.

‘Jingle bells, Storms on Pills,
Rogue is going mad.
Gambit’s in a coma now
and Wolverine’s just bad, hey!’

‘J, it’s November!’ Cried Paige Guthrie.

‘Magneto’s looking mad,
but some things never change.
Xavier has joined Sinister,
and Phoenix is deranged --’

‘THAT’S IT, JUBILEE!’ Screamed Paige. ‘I CAN’T TAKE ANY MORE!’ She leaped forwards onto Jubilee who let off a burst of pyrotechnics in completely the wrong direction. After Paige had successfully tickled Jubilee into promising that she wouldn’t sing any more, and again when Jubilee started singing the next part anyway (Marrow fancies Beast, but Beast is after Jean, The Blob is on a slim-fast diet and given up ice-cream) she let her up and went back to lie on her sun-lounger with her book, while Jubilee contemplated the risks of attempting the next chorus, one which she was particularly proud of. Generation X had grabbed the chance of the first warm day in ages to lounge around the pool. The air had been cold lately, and this was probably the last chance they’d get before the winter weather really set in to relax outside. Even despite the racket Jubilee was making, Paige still found it quiet. ‘I guess it’ll take a while to get used to Artie and Leech living with X-Force.’ She thought.

‘AND WHY, MAY I ASK, AREN’T YE TRAINING?’ Bellowed Sean Cassidys’ voice. Paige, Angelo and Everett jumped out of their skins (nearly quite literally in Paige’s case) while Jubilee fell in the pool in surprise. Monet didn’t even look up.

‘Training, sir? I didn’t know we had any to do.’ She said calmly.

‘I told YE all yesterday, that today at half one, I expected YE to be in the danger room, using pre-set program four.’

‘Oops.’ Said Monet, just as calmly.

‘OOPS?! ALL YE CAN SAY IS --’

‘Sean, there is no need for hysterics.’ The picture of decorum, Emma Frost entered the scene.

‘Since when was Frosty so easy going?’ Whispered Jubilee to Paige, wringing out her T-shirt.

‘Whoever said I was being ‘easy-going’, Jubilation? This lack of organisation will not go unpunished. I was simply pointing out the fact that shouting is a waste of energy. Things can be said just as forcefully at this level. I want you all in the danger room before I get back, or your punishments will be doubled.’ All the students were racing towards the academy within two seconds. ‘See?’ Said Emma to a fuming Sean.

‘Sir?’ No response. ‘Mr Gabrielle, sir?’ The man didn’t turn around, but nodded his head slightly by way of acknowledgement. ‘Sir, I’ve located the mutant Mary Parker. Do you wish me to dispatch someone to exterminate her?’ Another slight nod.

‘Very good, sir.’ She turned and left the room.

The snow had started to fall in New York. A girl hurried along the cold back-street, shivering through her thin clothing, cursing that she hadn’t thought to wear something heavier. She pulled her coat tighter around herself and quickened her pace. Her breath clouded in the frosty air, and she watched it snake out of her lips. She couldn’t think about the cold, though. If she let her concentration lapse, it might happen again... She thought about the events of earlier. It had been freezing in the tube station, and all she had been able to think about was how cold she was. It had been at this time that the numbing cold had suddenly disappeared. When she had looked down at herself, she had freaked. Her hands were silver and shiny, exactly like steel. Instantly her hands went back to normal, and the rest of her body felt its normal self again. Oh God, if she was a mutant... If she was a mutant she faced a life of prejudice and discrimination. She remembered once seeing those mutants that called themselves the X-Men on the news once. Wasn’t there one who could turn his body into steel or something?

‘Mary Parker?’ Someone said. She looked up.

‘Yes?’ She answered, nervously. The man was uniformed. She couldn’t even scream before he had produced a pistol and fired it.

‘Wrong answer.’

Night had descended over the Massachusetts Academy. Most of the students had settled down to watch TV or read. Paige was a different matter. Despite the cold air of the night, she sat outside on a swing, alone and unmoving. Jubilee, who was reading in the living room, would occasionally glance up from her comic to check on her through the French Windows. Eventually Jono entered the room.

*What’s she doing?* He asked, looking at Paige.

‘Thinking about you, you great dope.’ She said, not looking up.

*What makes you think that?* He asked.

‘I’d be surprised if she was thinking about Mr Cassidy.’ This time she did stop reading. ‘There’s a thought.’ Jono opened the French windows and after a squeal of indignation from Jubilee, quickly closed them after him. He mentally took a deep breath. This wasn’t going to be easy. *Paige?* He said. She looked up.

‘Oh...Hi, Jono.’ She said. Jono sat down on the swing next to her.

*Paige, I want to talk to you. Properly.* She looked at him.

‘Well?’

*You know I have... Feelings for you, and after what happened to the girls dorm that time, and since then... Well, I’m guessing you feel the same way.*

‘You know I do, Jono.’ She said.

*You know that a relationship would never work?*

‘Why not, Jono? You’re not the only one whose powers cause them problems. Look at Cyclops and Jean Grey! They’re married!’

*What about Gambit and Rogue? What about Beast and Trisha? What about-*

‘Look, Jono. I can’t help but love you, and I know you have a lot of problems, but moping around with a defeatist attitude doesn’t help anyone.’ She got up and left Jono in silence.

‘Mutant Mary Parker exterminated, sir.’ The girl said.

‘Good. I trust I can leave the extermination of Mutants Laura Black and Robert Witters to you to arrange?’

‘Yes sir. There are twelve new recruits for the operation, sir. Do you wish me to instigate training procedures?’ She asked.

‘Yes. I also want you to find me all the information you can on the mutants of the Massachusetts Academy.’

‘Very well, sir. Will that be all?’ She said. He nodded slightly. ‘You have five minutes.’

Within the one month that Gabrielle had been working through his mutant extermination plan, nineteen mutants had been killed with ease. As he had anticipated, there had been little concern from the police. The death of mutants wasn’t really worth investigating. Every day more and more people were joining him out of their hatred for mutants, and he had put them all through a short training program and equipped them with guns and uniforms. This man was different. He was huge and muscled. Three thin scars ran across his eye and cheek, so his was now blind on one side. ‘You are Mr Wells?’ Gabrielle asked.

‘Yes.’ He answered.

‘Why do you wish to be part of my program, Wells?’ He asked.

‘I hate muties. And that spark-throwing freak-’

‘Jubilation Lee?’

‘Yeah, that’s the one. I’ve got unfinished business with her.’ Gabrielle arched an eyebrow.

‘Few years back I was in Canada looking for that mutie with the claws. One who calls himself Wolverine. I found he was there with Jubilee - that’s what he called her - and I decided to get rid of her first. While he was out, I found her, and loaded my gun. She threw some of that fire at me - that’s how I got all those burns on my chest, and I shot, but I missed. I shot again. This time I hit - not in the head where I had been aiming, but in the arm. She fell back, and I thought I had her then, but suddenly I was on the floor with that other mutie keeping me down. He shot these nine-inch claws outta his knuckles - adamantium by the looks of ‘em, and brought them down at my head. I managed to move it to one side, but he still got me.’ He touched the scars that had blinded him. ‘I fired. It hit straight in the head. He toppled over, and I shot him again in the chest, just for luck. He looked like he was a goner. Then that freak-girl ran over to him and started shouting ‘Wolvie’. I aimed at her, and fired, but I was out of ammo.. I know that clawed mutie survived, cause I’ve seen him since. Kept my distance though. It’s the first time my target hasn’t died.’ He finished.

‘Wells, you will lead my selected men against the mutants that attend the Massachusetts Academy. You will kill the teachers and students there - all apart from Jubilation Lee. Her inside knowledge of the X-Men will be invaluable to us.’

‘What about the other one?’

‘Wolverine? Once we have fully established our program to exterminate young mutants while they can’t defend themselves, I will instigate the operation on the ‘X-Men’ and the other mutant groups, then other adult mutants. It is all planned down to the last detail, Wells. If you should fail me...’ He left the rest to the mans imagination. ‘Understood?’ Wells nodded.

‘Good.’

For once, Jubilee didn’t mind being in the classroom. The snow was falling heavily outside, the classroom was warm, and just because Emma was teaching didn’t mean she was learning. It might look like she was sitting in class with a blank piece of paper in front of her, but she was mentally leading the X-Men against the Phalanx. Next to her, Paige was busy scribbling notes, and on the other side was Monet, sitting listening, and occasionally nodding, as if consenting that what the teacher was saying was right, and passed her personal inspection. Everett was doodling in his book, Angelo was staring out of the window, so it wouldn’t look like he was listening, and Jonothan had given up trying to talk to Paige, and was taking notes. Jubilee had just been admired for her fighting skill by Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm and Jean Grey, when she was startled back into reality by the sudden realisation that Emma was in her mind, watching her daydream. She looked up at Emma and cried ‘Miss Frost!’ In anger.

‘If you’re going to daydream in class, Jubilee, I don’t think you should complain that I watch it. By the way, I way, I doubt that a Phalanx would turn and run in fear at the sight of you.’ Said her teacher, and started talking to the whole class again, who were all completely mystified as to what had just happened, apart from Monet who had worked it out, and sniggered.. Jubilee turned a bright shade of red, and forced herself to concentrate on her work.

Nearly ready. All the time Gabrielle was gathering support... It wouldn’t be long now until every student in the Massachusetts Academy was dead. Every detail had been accounted for, every man trained hard, and six teenagers - even if they did have mutant powers - could not stop him. He glanced at a piece of paper lying on his desk. He allowed himself a smile when he saw what was on it. The records of the deaths of five mutants, and it lay on a pile of papers just like it. All killed without fuss, or interference from powers. After he had succeeded in the extermination of the students at the Academy, he could start on phase two of his plan - first he would kill the X-Men, and all the other organised groups of mutants - with the right planning that would be easy enough - and after that, the elimination of all remaining mutants would be child’s play. He could watch it all from here. He had fitted small cameras to the helmets of the suits his men wore. The suits were quite ingenious. They were totally repellent to psychic attack, and practically all projectile mutant powers. He thought leisurely about which mutants would be most easy to kill because of this. Jubilation Lee, when he had finished with her, Emma Frost, Scott Summers - the leader of the X-Men - that would be satisfying - and his wife Jean Grey Summers, Betsy Braddok - in fact, most of them. Most pleasingly, Xavier would be killed with just as much ease as the teens he had killed already.

The school was quiet. Its occupants were warm and safe from the deep snow outside, and even Penance was at rest. In the White Queens private cottage the only sound was that of her steady breathing, and there was peace. At least on the outside.

Whispered words brushed against Emmas mind. She could sense that feeling. That terrible feeling, throbbing in her mind. It was the same feeling as when the Hellions had died. An image came. ‘Sean!’ She breathed. He was still... too still. She knelt down and tried to stir him, and suddenly she was shaking the shoulder of Penance, and her hands were red with blood. ‘Help!’ She cried as she was surrounded by blood. The word was echoed back on her by young voices. ‘Help! Help us! Miss Frost, don’t let us die.’ In front of her were Chamber, Skin, Husk, Synch, Penance, Artie, Leech and M, holding out bloody hands to her, then they were gone, and in their place was Jubilee, crying, tied up, and reaching out to Emma. Emma stretched out her hand to her, but she couldn’t reach her. Jubilee screamed as invisible arms picked her up, and she was carried away. ‘No!’ Screamed the White Queen after her. ‘NO!’ Now she was staring at something white and flat. A wall - no, a ceiling. She sat up, and saw the familiar surroundings of her room. ‘It was a nightmare. A nightmare.’ She said out loud. Sean Cassidy rarely talked telepathically to Emma, but now he was practically shouting in her mind. ‘EMMA! What’s wrong?’

Finally, they were on their way. His best men, led by Wells had left that morning for Massachusetts. Everything would go to plan. There could be no slip ups. Within hours, all those at the Academy would die, apart from the girl Jubilee, who would be instrumental in the death of the rest of mutant-kind.

Jubilee sighed in relief as Sean Cassidy announced it was end of Geography lesson, and the start of Physical education. The class went to their respective changing rooms where they changed into their red and yellow costumes. ‘I will be taking all of you today.’ Said Banshee.

‘Why?’

‘Miss Frost isn’t feeling very well. She had a psychic nightmare last night.’ Emma had told him this when he had heard her psychic scream and come to her cottage, but she wouldn’t tell him what it was about.

The students began using the equipment to train as Banshee supervised. Jubilee climbed up the bars quickly, not even thinking about it. She watched Everett at the other side of the hall, helping Skin with the weights. She lifted her foot for the next bar, and it met with thin air. She tried to regain her balance, but shrieked as her other foot slipped, and her hand quickly followed. Synch was quick in reacting. He had synched up with Monet, and leapt from the ground towards her within a few seconds, but Banshee was faster. He grabbed Jubilee out of her fall, and put her down in one smooth movement. ‘Not concentrating, Jubes?’ She turned red, and Sean turned to Monet. ‘Your reaction time was too long, Monet. You need to work on it.’ She nodded, seemingly uninterested, although she was annoyed at him and herself. At that moment the White Queen walked into the gym. ‘Emma? I thought-’ Began Sean.

‘I’m fine now, Sean.’ She cut him off. ‘It was just a nightmare. Jubilee, Paige, Monet, you will spend the rest of the lesson on target practice in the danger room.’ The three girls left with Emma Frost close behind.

The White Queen had decided that it had been a bad idea to try in teach. Her head pounded, and half an hour in the control room of the danger room hadn’t helped. She returned to her cottage and lay down. After five minutes she reached to her bedside cabinet and took a painkiller out from a drawer. It would dull her powers, but that hardly mattered. She took it and lay back. Within a few minutes she was asleep.

Everett had left the lesson quickly. He needed time alone to think. He walked in the snow, as far from the school as he could get, while remaining in the school grounds, and watched the white flakes drift slowly to the already covered ground. Jubilee was his friend - one of his best friends. Monet was... well, Monet. He couldn’t even tell if either of them liked him that way. Probably not, he figured. He looked up. He had definitely just heard something. ‘Jubes?’ He called out uncertainly. No answer. He let his rainbow aura surround him. It didn’t move. That meant it wasn’t a mutant he was dealing with, and that meant it wasn’t one of his friends. He looked around, scared. Suddenly there was a figure standing in front of him. It raised a gun a fired. It whistled past Synchs ears. In a futile gesture he launched himself at the figure. With no other mutants around, he couldn’t attack using his powers. He hit the man in the chest, and he staggered back slightly, but in a few seconds he had knocked Everett to the ground, and had aimed the gun again. This time the bullet was true.

Gabrielle watched the monitor in front of him. It showed the body of Everett Thomas lying unmoving on the snow, his blood staining the snow pink. In the corner of the screen flashed the words ‘Mutant designate: Everett Thomas, terminated.’ in red letters. As he had anticipated, the mutant Synch had been the easiest to kill. Gabrielle had noted that in the past weeks, he seemed to be spending more time on his own, and so would be easy to kill. Now things would become slightly harder. The image on the screen changed as the man who had killed Synch turned away.

‘She’s faking it.’ Announced Jubilee. Monet had been sitting cross-legged in mid-air above the roof of the school when a sudden, intense pain in her mind had sent her falling. She had hit the roof and slid off. She tried to fly again, but she was too panicked. She grabbed out with her hand and felt it closing around something. She looked up too see she was hanging from a window ledge. She took a deep breath and let go. She didn’t move. Good. She pushed herself away from the building and quickly landed on the floor next to Jubilee and Skin, who had ran out of the building seconds before.

‘Shut up, Lee.’ Said Angelo, helping Monet up. ‘What happened?’ Monet shook her head, unable to speak. ‘I’m going to get Sean and Emma. You stay with her, Jubilee.’ He ran back into the building leaving Jubilee to talk to Monet. To her astonishment, she suddenly collapsed back onto her knees and grabbed the collar of Jubilees raincoat, breaking into tears. ‘There’s something wrong... Everett... we have to get away...’

‘What are you talking about, Monet?’ said Jubilee. ‘What’s wrong with Ev?’

‘Listen, Lee, we have to run. Now!’ She stumbled to her feet. Jubilee saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned to it. ‘Get down!’ She screamed at Monet, but too late. Two explosions rang out and Monet slumped to the floor. ‘MONET!’ Jubilee shouted terrified, shaking her. ‘Get up!’ The Man was moving. He was coming towards her. He was coming for her. She scrambled backwards. Two more men stepped into her line of vision. She ran into the building, screaming. The first man reached Monet. He lifted the perspex screen shielding his face. He pushed Monet onto her back with a foot. Her eyes flickered. Just as he had thought. She was harder to kill than the first one. Her lips moved, as if she was trying to say something, then gathered her strength and whispered ‘Chamber.’ The man pointed his gun at her head.

‘Mutant designate: Monet St. Croix, terminated.’ Gabrielle looked at the words flashing up on the screen, his face expressionless. He had expected more resistance than that from the girl, but there she lay. He almost smiled.

Jubilee ran. ‘BANSHEE!’ She screamed as she tore through the school. Where was he? She reached the end of the corridor, and collapsed in the corner, trying to shout for her teacher through her sobs. ‘Jubilee, what’s wrong?’ It was Sean. She stumbled up and collapsed onto him.

‘Monet.’ She gasped. ‘Monet and Everett are dead.’

Monet’s last word had been weak, but it carried further than sound. With her last strength she has pushed a telepathic message to her team-mate. In his dark, cold basement room, Chamber sat bolt up-right. *Monet?* He called telepathically. He was more worried than he cared to admit. With Monet’s call had come a brief picture of pain and terror. He walked to the door and paused. He could have sworn he’d just heard a faint cry, but then again, Jubilee was always doing something which involved being loud. Skin had probably just tested Synch’s super-soaker on her.

Jubilee struggled to keep up with Sean, as he determinedly dragged her down the corridor. ‘Hurry, Lass!’ He told her fiercely. ‘If what you’ve told me is true, we are in grave danger.’ They rounded a corner, and came to the door of the communications room. Banshee let go of Jubilee arm and turned his attention on the code-panel by the door. Jubilee stared down the corridor with tears of horror at what she had just seen, and terror at what might happen streaming down her face. ‘C’mon, c’mon.’ Muttered Sean as he tapped the numbers in. Something moved at the end of the corridor. It was one of the men. He raised his gun. ‘SEAN!’ Jubilee screamed. He had only half turned before the impact of the bullet knocked him against the wall, and he slid down onto the floor. ‘Sean! Get up! SEAN!’ Jubilee screamed. He had to move. He had to. But he didn’t. She didn’t know what else to do. She ran.

Only one bullet for the mutant teacher. He was easier to kill then his students. There were those lovely words at the top on the monitor. ‘Mutant designate: Sean Cassidy, terminated.’ Unfortunately, the girl had escaped again. Not that it mattered. She had been lucky so far, but in the end they would get her. She couldn’t run forever. He’d made sure of that.

Chamber was running now, finally scared. He had heard Jubilee’s scream again, and you couldn’t mistake a scream like that. It was from pure, unbridled fear. ‘Jonothan!’ He stopped, turned, and saw Paige running towards him. ‘What’s wrong? I heard Jubilee-’ He grabbed her arm and started running again. *There’s something... horrible here.* He told her as they ran towards where Jubilee’s screams had come from.

There was a man in the boys dorm. He was searching with a certainty he would find his prey. He kicked open a door and went in. A few seconds later he was out again. He moved onto the next. Again, the door was kicked open. Angelo reacted quickly, sending out his extra skin to try and trip him up. In caught him, setting him of his balance. He fired his gun, destroying everything in its path. Angelo grabbed his chance, and threw the nearest thing at him, a chair. He barely stumbled as it caught him on the shoulder, and aimed at Angelo. The bullet hit his leg. He staggered back into a corner, and tried to grab something to use for a shield, but the man aimed again, and this time the bullet was true.

He waited, and there it was. Those words were up on the screen again. ‘Mutant designate: Angelo Espinosa, terminated.’ Now there were four left. The White Queen was next on his list, and after her Jonothan Starsmore and Paige Guthrie would die. Once they were dead, Jubilee would be small fry. Gabrielle sat back and watched.

She was blind with fear. Her mind and heart were captive to torturing, unyielding horror. She didn’t know where she was going, only that she had to get away. She headed down a corridor, and suddenly impacted with something. Instinctively she threw fireworks at it, not even looking at what she was attacking. *JUBILEE!* Shouted the voice of Chamber straight into her mind. She stopped and fell back onto the floor. Chamber stopped the psionic shield he had thrown up to protect himself and Paige. ‘Jubilee, what’s happened?’ Paige asked her, helping her up. Jubilee shook her head, unable to speak for tears. Eventually she managed to splutter out. ‘We’ve got to go. Run. ESCAPE!’ There was a urgency and desperation in her voice which made it impossible to disobey.

‘Skin! We’ve got to get Skin!’ Paige panted. Jonothan nodded and headed up the corridor to the boys dorm with Jubilee and Husk close on his heels. ‘Angelo!’ Jubilee yelled, flinging open his bedroom door, which was slightly open. His room lay destroyed. His clothes were everywhere. a CD played lay torn apart on his floor, and his windows were broken. In the corner was Angelo, pitifully crumbled up, with his neck at a sickening angle. ‘No! Angelo...’ Paige whispered. Jubilee grabbed her T-shirt and forcefully dragged her from the room. Jonothan was close behind. ‘There’s nowhere safe. They’ll find us. We have to felt to Emma. She’s the only one left.’

Emma Frost sat up in bed. Her head... these headache pills were useless. Suddenly she realised. This wasn’t the same pain as earlier. This was sharper, and brought with it sudden horrible thoughts, like those from last nights dream. Sean slumped unmoving against a wall. Monet and Everett lying half buried in the snow. Jonothan, Paige and Jubilee running for their lives. She struggled out of bed and to the door. She tried to call to her students and fellow headmaster telepathically, but her powers were numbed.

Paige could hear footsteps. Her ribcage was threatening to burst, and the breath was rasping from her throat, but she couldn’t stop running. She couldn’t. She looked up, and saw a sight which made her feel sick with despair. A suited man was coming around the corner. She shook her head feebly, and the other two stopped. He lifted his gun. She panicked. She didn’t know what to do. Only one thought filled Paige’s mind. ‘Husk!’ Her mind ordered urgently. Without even thinking she reached up and ripped at her skin. She heard the explosion of the gun firing, and felt the impact as it hit her. She slumped onto her knees, staring in confusion and horror down at her own body. Skin. Normal, soft skin. She had husked into herself. Blood trickled from where the bullet had entered, but she didn’t see it. She toppled over and hit the floor hard.

‘Mutant designate, Paige Guthrie, terminated.’ Gabrielle watched the screen with interest. The girl had been killed and he had the other two cornered. Neither Jonothan Starsmore nor Jubilation Lee could escape his men now.

*PAIGE!* Screamed the psionic voice of Chamber in anguish. He collapsed onto his knees next to her. Jubilee turned and sent pyrotechnics speeding down the hallway at the man coming up behind them. They didn’t damage him in the least. One missed and slammed into the wall, spraying plaster all over the floor. In a flash of inspiration she let off more fireworks, but this time at the walls near the man. For once she didn’t bother trying to control them, but shot them at full intensity. The walls by him were blown apart, and with nothing to support it, the ceiling collapsed in on him. He was buried under a pile of rubble, but at the same time blocking up the corridor. Jono sent a roaring inferno of psionic energy blasting down the corridor towards the other man. He kept coming. *When he’s close enough you’ve got to go through his legs and run for Emma’s cottage.* Jubilee gave him a frightened look. ‘What about you?’ She whispered. He didn’t answer. The man was less than five feet away from them now. *NOW!* Said Chamber, aiming a blast at the mans head so he was momentarily blinded. Hating herself, Jubilee took her chance and dived under his legs. She didn’t look back. She didn’t have to.

Just one left to kill. ‘Mutant designate: Jonothan Starsmore, terminated.’ Yes, yes. He knew that. He could see his body lying still next to that of Paige Guthrie on the monitor. One thing tainted the image of another mutants dead body. The mutant girl Jubilation Lee had escaped again.

Emma’s mind had finally cleared, though she wished it hadn’t. ‘Not again.’ She whispered. The only presence she could feel in the school was Jubilee. She knew with a horrible certainty than Sean, Monet, Everett, Paige, Angelo and Jonothan were dead. She ran through the snow towards the school. At the entrance she stopped and stared down at Monet’s body, then forced herself to look away and walk into the school. Monet was dead. She couldn’t help her, but she could help Jubilee. She had to find her.

Running was all there was left to do. Keeping her feet going was all she could think about. She tripped and fell, hitting her arm hard against the floor. She stumbled to her feet, not letting herself think about the pain. ‘Jubilee!’ Emma Frost was there. Jubilee ran forwards to her, and grabbed her coat for support. ‘They’re all dead.’ She sobbed. ‘We have to run.’ She started running again, with the White Queen close on her heels. Jubilee could see the door. It was close. Another few steps and she would be out. She pushed it open and ran through. A huge expanse of snow lay before them. Jubilee was panting in exhaustion.

‘We have to run. We can’t wait.’ Emma said, starting to head across the field. Jubilee followed, struggling to run in the deep, cold snow. They were nearly a quarter of the way across when the first shot rang out. A quick glance told them the men had reached the door and were coming after them, their passage made easier by their suits. Jubilee forced herself on, going as fast as she could, but it wasn’t enough. Emma was going faster, and the distance between them was rapidly growing. ‘Emma!’ Jubilee called, tripping again. ‘Hurry, Jubilee!’ The White Queen replied. She turned her head and set out a psionic lightning bolt towards the men, like she had once used on Monet, but this time at a far higher intensity level. The men walked on regardless. One took the opportunity of Emma being stationary to shoot, but she had sensed his actions a split-second before and dropped. She got up and ran on after Jubilee. The girl dropped back as she saw something move in front of her. ‘Penance!’ She exclaimed in intense relief. Penance crouched low, watching the men pursuing Emma and Jubilee. Suddenly she sprang forwards and towards the men, cutting through the snow like it wasn’t there. ‘PENANCE!’ Shouted Jubilee, watching in horror as the girl sprang at the men. ‘Keep going.’ Ordered Emma fiercely. Penance reached out with her razor-sharp hands and slashed one of the men. Her claws went straight through his suit, and he crumpled up before he could raise his gun, almost cut in two. The other men had acted quickly, though. The bullets didn’t pierce her diamond-hard skin, but the force drove her back into the snow. She tried to burrow into the ground, but a man caught her with a gloved hand and shoved something over her mouth and nose. She couldn’t breath. She tried to lash out with her clawed hands, but the man only pushed the thing against her face harder. It wasn’t long before she stopped struggling.

He’d forgotten about her. One man lost to a loophole in the planning. Still, Wells had improvised well, and now she was dead. ‘Mutant designate: Unidentified, terminated. Searching for files’ Unidentified? That was odd. He’d thought he had all the information on the students of the Massachusetts academy. ‘Mutant of Yugoslavian origin. Names used: Penance, Yvette, Penny.’ The computer flashed. Still no proper information? Oh well, what did it matter? She was dead.

They were beyond half-way now. The woods were cover from the men, and the snow was less thick in there, so it wood be easier to run. They didn’t see what had happened to Penance, but the White Queen had felt her death. Another few bullets shot past accompanied by eruptions of sound. Jubilee didn’t even notice that Emma wasn’t running anymore.

Now he had her. The last had been destroyed, and now he would have Jubilee. ‘Mutant designate: Emma Frost, terminated.’ Even the teachers hadn’t been able to use their mutant abilities against his men. If they were this easy to kill, it shouldn’t be too hard to get rid of the X-Men - and the other teams. This was turning out to be a very good day indeed.

Jubilee had finally noticed she was alone. She tripped and got up for what must have been the tenth time, and kept on running. Her world was made up of snow, and blood and pain, and the promise of safety in the woods, which had become like a beacon of hope. The shooting had stopped now, but that somehow scared her even more. She was so close now. Just a little way further, and she would be there. Suddenly she was knocked off her feet. She tried to get up, but her head was forced into the snow with a shard blow from something. More blows rained down on her legs, back and head, so she couldn’t even think, let alone move. For the first time she heard one of the men speak. ‘Remember, we can’t kill it.’ It was a voice she knew. The man who had nearly killed her and Wolvie in Canada once. The beating stopped, and a hand roughly turned her over. Wells had taken off his helmet, and she stared up at his scarred face. ‘You see this scar?’ He hissed. ‘It’s your fault I’ve got this, and you’re gonna pay for it with your life, gene-trash.’ He reached down to his belt and brought his hand up again, now holding his pistol. ‘You can’t-’ Began one of the men. Wells aimed and fired, instantly killing the man who had spoken. He smiled as he put the gun against Jubilees forehead.

He had expected this. Gabrielle looked at the monitor indifferently. Wells was out for private revenge, and he had been almost certain he would try something like this. Try being the operative word. He tapped a button.

Jubilee knew she was going to die. She felt the cold steel of the gun barrel, and heard Wells laughing quietly as he slowly depressed the trigger. Suddenly an ear piercing scream rang out, and she opened her eyes to see Wells, clutching at his chest with a look of intense pain on his face. What none of the men, nor Jubilee knew was that at the touch of a button, Gabrielle had activated a secret device in Wells suit, which pushed electricity straight through his heart. In a few seconds he had collapsed into the snow next to Jubilee, his unseeing eyes staring at her. The men glanced at each other, then grabbed Jubilee and hoisted her up, one dumping her over his shoulder. They walked towards the woods and exit, leaving the two dead men behind.

The first phase was over. A team of mutants were dead, and the one he had caught would aid the next part of the plan. He had lost four men, but it hardly mattered. There were always many mutant-haters ready to take their place. Others had found it impossible to destroy the X-Men, but if you broke down impossibilities down, they simply became very hard problems, and if you broke those down... All it needed was careful planning.