X-Men: Rebirth

"Torture is a frail thing, something that only works on some. Those that survive, Charles, will do anything to avoid it again."

    "Magnus, we don't have to go through with this! Some will not come willingly!"

    "Yes, Charles, some might need more persuasion, but for every forced entry, there is a voluntary one."

    "No…" he whispered. "Scott…"

Operation: Rebirth

    There aren't too many of us left anymore. After Magneto tried to contain all of us on Asteroid M, he realized that he couldn't hold all of us. Some of us, Xavier just never told him about. Like me.

    I really don't have much in the way of a name, most call me leader. I do all of the talking for our band of minorities. It seems that the human race has an evil tendency to become prejudiced against those that it does not understand. Like the States before the Civil War. The prejudice against black people, and the prejudice against women, humans have that tendency.

    Now, however, they've forgotten these prejudices. They've gone on to bigger ones. Like us mutants. They don't like what they don't have. It makes sense why the wizards have all but hidden themselves in their castles, not worrying about who is more evil, or who wants to kill the non-wizards. Humans tried to eradicate them too. The wizards just disappeared, and the humans were content. They had fooled the humans.

    I can't see why I call them the humans; it must be from the fact that I am a mutant. The seven of us all have interesting backgrounds. We just barely survive now, most of us left for Asteroid M. Some come back for a while, telling us that the mutants are thriving up there, and that we should join them. It's just down to us seven now.

    We aren't your normal bunch. There's Adriana, the last wizard around. She was exiled because the wizards felt that she was too evil. She was siding with the humans, being kind to them. We've dubbed her Sorceress, because none of us have those powers. Hers are the most broad, but the weakest overall.

    There's Shade. He came from almost a bad background as I did. He happened to grow up in the rattiest parts of New York. It's become the best for us, however. We can use his talents. He has an affinity to shadows. Any shadow in his sight, and he can manipulate it, make it alive. He can't see much of anything in the light anymore, he's lived so much in the darkness that he somehow has adapted and can see with his ears and nose.

    One of the more… traditional people, Shawn, or Flare, can make fire and manipulate it. Kind of like that Human Torch character the humans love to read about. He's immune to all fire and can do anything to it that he wants. He grew up in Ireland and has a pretty strong brogue.

    Then there's Kelcea. Our real shade, if you ask me. She's different from most people, with or without the X Gene. She got trapped once in-between dimensions and she now lives in both, not fully in one or fully in the other. She's the last offspring of Raven Darkhölme, the fabled Mystique. She does not know this, however, and it has been a challenge to keep this knowledge from her.

    Then, there is Ambre. She is one with an interesting history. A vampire with an attitude, Ambre has been back and forth between times. She grew up in America, in the year 4000, when some random vampire chanced upon her, and brought her back to the 1200s. What luck for her, she has been living off human blood for the past 800 or so years.

    Then there's Morph. She is the original Morph's granddaughter, before he happened to turn to Sinister. Not much to say about her, but she happens to want Mr. Sinister to pay for his deeds to her father.

    And last but not at all the least, there's me. I get called Leader, as I previously said, or Weapon X 2. I have interesting powers. Take Logan and Rogue, and then put the two together. That's what I am. It all started when I had a chance meeting with Magneto and the real WX2. My powers happened to explode at that moment, and the WX2 was lucky, or unlucky enough, depending on how you look at it, to be the first person in my way. I grabbed his throat and happened to hold on for too long. Just as the Rogue from the comics did, I got his healing factor. Permanently. Magneto did not know that I was even a mutant, and when I grabbed him he was shocked.

    I absorbed some of his power and found adamantine in WX2, and decided to use it myself. The painful way, mind you. I literally took the adamantine out of WX2 and forced it on my own bones. Not a fun way to get unbreakable bones, I assure you. That's when I ran. I left a terminally and clinically dead man lying next to an unconscious freak.

    I don't know how Magneto got out of that mess, but he did somehow. He made it back to his Asteroid M and has been there ever since, or so I have been told.

    We, the last mutants left, have not exactly had such a good life. Hiding out in Canada, the last free area. It gets almost annoying having to conceal myself. I have been getting better with my true powers, but I am nowhere near being able to have lengthy physical contact over the span of fifteen seconds.

    I am the first one awake, and I start our meager breakfast. Ambre left hours ago for breakfast, and the rest of us happened to sleep in this morning. It's about eleven, and I start up the stove. I pull out some bacon and eggs for our last day in this cabin. We don't have any food left, and the government has finally cracked down on mutant rights. They say that we just have to relocate closer to the government, but I know they want to eliminate us.

    Sorceress walks in and starts criticizing my cooking. After just a few seconds of torment, I give up and let her cook. I go to the door and grab the paper. Normally I would not read the news, but they are talking about the new "Mutant Rules" and I prefer to be informed than caught unawares. Flare walks in, tired as usual for such a late hour, and slumps down on the table, waiting for breakfast. I acknowledge his presence as he nods off again, and snigger as he slips off the table. Morph and Kelcea walk in, or in Kelcea's case, floats in, and Morph takes a seat at the table. She always sits next to me and the rest of us think she has taken a liking to me, but she denies it. It would not be too healthy for her in the first place. I have not had a relationship since I was left after my most recent ex found out I am a mutant. It was painful, really. I thought I had found the one person… I guess I should still be looking, but I do not see how anyone could get close to me, physically or emotionally.

    I watch Shade slide in at the other seat next to me and I wave to him. He waves back, just as silent. We eat silently and Ambre walks in minutes after we finish.

    "So," she asks, the first real word spoken for the day. "Where are we running off to today?"

    "I was thinking up in Alaska, where the humans can't keep that much of an excellent watch," I say, not looking up from the paper. She stays silent, seeming to agree with me. By noon we are all ready, and Shade grabs Ambre's arm. She flinches somewhat, but he does not notice. They disappear and start the scouting for us. Flare powers up his body and flies up into the sky. Morph becomes a small viper and crawls up Sorceress's arm. Kelcea follows Flare and the remaining three of us start off towards Alaska.

    We did not live that far away from Alaska, and we set our sights on two days before we made it to Anchorage. Sorceress and I have interesting conversations, sometimes forgetting that Morph is in our presence. After a few hours, the small viper crawls out from Sorceress's robes and becomes a winter wolf, a creature from legend. She runs up ahead, creating a trail for Sorceress and me to walk across.

    "So," I start warily, hoping that Sorceress will join me in conversation.

    "Do you know your family?" Sorceress asks randomly. I sit in shock for a few seconds. Usually I have to pry conversations out of her, but this time it seems that she is in a talkative mood.

    "No… not much. I know I've got a brother, younger by a few minutes, and that my family was kind as any, but because of the accident when I was eight, well I don't think any of them have survived." My voice trails off and we walk in silence for a few minutes.

    "I remember my family. They were always kind, caring. We visited relatives almost daily; it was that easy to transport ourselves. Mother brought us to a party one day and I met a boy who was about three years younger than me. Even though there was this age difference, I knew that we would be friends. He had to have been a wizard, my mother never went to parties with Muggles."

    "Non-wizards, please," I whisper, remembering just such a time when my brother did just that. "It makes me feel inferior." I know that I would have been a wizard had my family not died. I would have gone to a school and learned magic with my brother. They said we were inseparable. They never counted on Magneto, now did they.

    She smiles at me and doesn't see the connection between my twin and me. I shudder involuntarily, but mask it as being cold. I remember Adriana now. James and she were excellent friends after that. I guess she never knew that tragedy struck our family just days later. We stop talking and start preparing ourselves for the night.

    We had walked a good group of miles; Morph suspected that it was over fifty. We ate a silent dinner, hoping the rest of the group found places to stay. We had minimal conversation, mostly constricted from the cold. Morph and Sorceress huddle close together to keep warm, while I sit by myself. I revel in the cold, knowing that I can live through it without clothes. My acquired healing factor makes sure of that.

    We camp the night and only get three hours of sleep. Sorceress and Morph are quite tired, but I am fully awake. We only finish twenty miles that day, but it is enough. We find Flare, Ambre and Shade. They tell me that Kelcea has gone to find a more suitable shelter for us. Flare starts up a bonfire and after a few minutes we have to sit at the edge of our cave to stay comfortable. We usually attempt to not use our powers to an excess. Sorceress is a prime example of this. Before we found her, she could not get her food without her magic.

    I smile in the silence, thinking about how lost Sorceress was the first few months that Ambre and I helped her. We were only two then, about a year ago. In that miniscule amount of space, we had grown to over fifty; down to the seven we have today. But as I go over it in my mind, I realize that the seven we have now is much stronger than the fifty we had then. I hear breathing coming from outside the cave.

    "Looks like we have company," I say grimly, catching the scent of a pack of wolves. It has to be about ten wolves, and while we can defeat them easily, I don't want to get any more enemies than I have to. Such is the life of a mutant.

    I walk up to the alpha wolf and we have a stand off. The pack circles the two of us and I pull out the claws in my right hand. I feint with my right hand, wanting to end the match. He doesn't recognize the feint and jumps into my left hand. My ungloved left hand. It is a weird sensation, having your body start to change. I look like a werewolf now. My body is covered in white fur and I do not have much in the way of hands right now.

    I growl and the seven of us leave the wolves to their home, attempting to rouse their now unconscious alpha male. I find Kelcea as she is returning to the cave. She smiles seeing me with white fur. I attempt a grin, but it looks more like I am threatening her life. She ignores me and starts off to the place she has found.

    Even though it should not have come as a shock to me, I still jump as I realize where the sanctuary is. Sanctuary, to be exact, or Asteroid M. I then do growl at her and attempt to threaten her life. She looks at me with a glare and speaks.

    "This is what I have found," she says, her voice leaving no room for argument. "Magneto has graciously allowed us to live there."

    I jump in at that point.

    "Any of you who want to go to Magneto, I will not blame you, but when you do, know that we will no longer be friends. We will be enemies. And Magneto cannot control me, even though I have adamantine encased bones." I look at all seven of the group. "I will personally escort you there, but once you set foot in M voluntarily, that's it. I walk away not even turning around. I can live alone. I've done it before. Don't voice your opinions yet, do that when we get there. I've beaten Magneto when I didn't even know how to. I will be a formidable opponent." I turn around and walk off in the direction of the asteroid. They all seem to follow me and in less than an hour we are standing there.

    "Alright, we're here. Those of you who will be staying, go ahead and walk to 'Sanctuary'. The rest of you, follow me."

    I walk away from the group and stake out a spot about fifty feet away. I am clearly out of normal hearing range. But I do not have normal hearing. I watch Kelcea start to float towards the Asteroid and I nod grimly.

    Sorceress immediately walks to me and sits down with me. Again, I nod grimly. Shade appears next to me. Flare seems distraught, and Ambre seems to be waiting for everyone to make the decision. Morph is changing forms continuously, trying to sort her thoughts. By now, I've returned to normal and have calmed down. Even so, I do not back away on what I have stated.

    The count is down to Morph and Flare. I know Ambre well enough to not want to live in a sanctuary. Flare finally lets out a feral growl and falls to the ground in confusion. Morph walks over to my group and Ambre gets Flare in Kelcea's care. I turn around and walk off. Shade appears every so often in front of me, and Sorceress is running to keep with my pace. Morph has become a winter wolf again and is not having a problem keeping up.

    Suddenly, Sorceress gasps. I look at her as she picks up a shiny object. She looks at me and says one word. "Port-key." I understand better than she thinks and nod grimly.

    "Where does it go to?" I ask.

    She looks at me for a second. I have never shown a remote knowledge with the arcane arts. "I don't know. I can figure out if need be." I nod curtly and we all settle down in the middle of the Arctic waiting for Sorceress to identify the place where we would be going to if we used the object.

    "I… I think it goes to Hogwarts," she says after a few seconds. "I've figured out how to work it. Do we want to use it?"

    Shade looks up. "Will it be warmer there?"

    "Most likely, unless they are in the deepest of winter there. That is doubtful," Sorceress answers instantly. Shade nods.

    "I wonder… would there be people there?" Morph asks. Sorceress nods. Ambre is silent, as usual.

    "Well," I say after a few seconds of silence. "I guess we put it to vote then. Everyone who wants to go, stand behind Sorceress, the ones who don't, stay here." I am the first to react, and I am behind Sorceress. Not much of a vote is needed, and everyone is willing to use the Port-key. I motion for Sorceress to take charge of the moment and she does.

    "Alright, everyone, you need to touch the knife. Then, when everyone is touching the knife, I'll say the words needed. Good?"

    Everyone puts their finger on the knife, keeping sure that they do not touch me. Then Sorceress intones the required words. "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."

    I feel a horrible pull coming from my navel and suddenly appear at the bottom of a hill with a large castle on the top of the hill. It is a good fifty feet away, and the ground is covered in snow, but we are all much warmer. I realize that we stand on the edge of a forest.

    "Guys," I whisper. "Should we go into the castle through the door or go up through a window.

    I never get a response to that question. At that moment, the front doors of the castle open and a group of people walk out. There are four of them, all boys. There is one who is standing in the back, hoping to keep up with the other three. The leftmost one, in my perspective, has on a black leather jacket. The rightmost one looks to be one of the smart kids, just seeming to have this ebb and flow of intelligence. The center one, however, strikes me as someone I know.

    Without the consent of my group I walk over to the kid in the middle.

    "Hello," I say impassively. "Do I happen to know you?"

    The kid in the middle smiles. "I don't know. This is Sirius Black," he says pointing to the kid on his right. "This is Remus Lupin," he says pointing to the kid on his left. "And this is Peter Pettigrew. I'm James Potter. And you are?"

    The last name takes the breath out of me. "You- you're James Potter?"

    "The one and only," he says proudly.

    "But… James, I thought you died when he attacked," I whisper, looking right at him. I hear him gasp and I feel his piercing gaze.

    "M- Matt?"

    "Yeah. It's me."

    "What happened? They came and you just kind of disappeared. Where did you go?" James asks, being like the younger brother I have forgotten.

    "It's a long story, James," I say. The rest of my band, what is left of it, walks up and stands next to me. "This is Ambre, Adriana, Shade and Gen," I say pointing to each member. Morph looks at me in surprise, wondering how I know her real name. James and Sirius shake hands with everyone. Remus seems to hang back, and Peter looks exasperated.

    I walk up to Remus and extend my gloved hand. He takes it and we shake hands. He seems to be quite reserved. I look Remus in the eyes. "Everyone has secrets, Remus. Keep them from everyone, and you will live like we have." He takes a double take and looks at me again. But I've already turned around and I am talking to James. Adriana and Ambre hang back a little. Adriana is probably afraid that they will recognize her for who she is, and Ambre just never associates with anyone. Morph seems to have taken a liking to Remus, but he tries to keep back.

    "Well," James starts after a few minutes. "Perhaps we bring you to the Headmaster." I nod and the eight of us follow James to the Headmaster's office. James leads us to a statue of a hideous looking gargoyle.

    "Sherbet lemon," James says and the gargoyle moves out of the way showing a passageway that was not obvious before. Morph gasps and James walks through the corridor. We all follow and crowd the adjoining room.

    "I've been expecting you," a middle-aged man says, walking into the room from a hidden passageway.

    "Hello to you too, Professor," James says sarcastically. The Professor smiles, a twinkle in his eye. "I've got friends for you to meet. They somehow had a chance meeting outside of the main doors with us a few minutes ago."

    The Professor nods, as if he knew it was happening before it happened. "I am Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster at Hogwarts."

    "I am Matt, James's older brother. This is Adriana, Ambre, Gen, and…"

    "Drew," Shade says.

    Dumbledore nods slightly to each person then grabs a tattered, old hat. He hands it to me.

    "Put the hat on and we will put you into the house that you should go into." He smiles and I put the hat on my head.

    A Potter, are we? The hat says in my head. Well, it doesn't look like there's much choice, you'll go into "GRYFFINDOR!"

    James smiles at me and I pass on the hat. Shade grabs it and puts the hat on his head. After a few seconds, the hat says nothing.

    "It wishes to speak with you, Professor."

    Dumbledore looks highly shocked, but not entirely shocked. He puts the hat on his head and seems to speak with it for a moment. He then hands the hat back to Shade. Shade puts it back on and it screams out, "SLYTHERIN!"

    Shade does not react, except to hand the hat to Morph. Sirius seems to suddenly dislike Shade. Morph is the most nervous of us all and she puts the hat on. It barely touches her head when it screams, "GRYFFINDOR!"

    Ambre takes the hat and puts it on her head. I snicker slightly. Unlike the rest of us, Ambre is slightly older. Ambre takes it off after a second and hands it to Dumbledore. Dumbledore looks quite amused, and his face turns to shock as he hears what the hat has to say. He seems dumbfounded, and I am trying not to fall on the ground laughing.

    "Well, that comes as a surprise. Ambre, how old are you?"

    "Depends, since my birth, or how many years have I been around."

    "Since your birth."

    She grins at this. "Well… let me do the math. Approximately -2025 years. Why?"

    Dumbledore stuttered. "And how many years have you been living?"

    Her grin grows even larger. "About 820 years or so."

    Dumbledore's face breaks into a grin. "Well then, perhaps you should be our new teacher. You could lead the Physical Defense club."

    Ambre nods and Dumbledore motions for James and company to show the four of us to our rooms.

    "I suspect, Adriana, that you will return to Gryffindor Tower to complete your two remaining years here at Hogwarts?"

    Sorceress nods happily. "You should tell Sh- Drew his password and where his common room is."

    Dumbledore nods. "That has been taken care of already."

    James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Morph, Sorceress, and I all go to the common rooms.

    "Norwegian Ridgeback," James says and the picture of a large lady opens up. "That's the password. Tell it to the Fat Lady and she'll open herself so you can get in here. Up to the right are the boys' dorms. The left is the girls' dorms." James stops abruptly as an older-looking woman walks into the common room.

    "James," she says, "Professor Dumbledore tells me that the guests are to be given prefect rooms."

    "Yes, Professor." The woman leaves. James sighs.

    "That was Professor Minerva McGonagall. The Gryffindor Head of House and Transfiguration teacher," Sirius says, not entirely happily, though not entirely unhappily. Remus walks over to a red haired girl and says a few words to her. She follows Remus back to the group, though reluctantly, it seems.

    "Remus, did you have to ask Lily to help them?" James complains. I punch James in the arm.

    "Fallen off the cliff, haven't you, James?" I whisper in his ear, too softly for anyone but James to hear. He growls at me and tries to lay me low, but I just laugh and push him off of me.

    "James Potter!" Lily yells. "Five points for aggressiveness! You should be nice to your guests!"

    "Lily," he says exasperatedly, "this is my older brother, Matt." I smile at her, though not before I push James into a sofa. She sighs loudly, then grabs Morph and Sorceress, pulling them into the girls' dorms.

    James sighs and watches them leave. Sirius and Peter snicker, while Remus just looks at the ground.

    "Come on, let's show you your room," Remus says to me, pulling me away from a stricken James and two hysterical maniacs. He brings me to a large room with a four-poster bed on one side. He turns around.

    "What do you mean, we all have secrets, don't turn out like I did?"

    I look at him and smile. "Remus, you aren't just human. I can tell that. But that's because I not just human myself." Remus looks at me incredulously. I smile and flex my fingers. I walk up to the wall and scrape the skin off my fingers. I show him the solid adamantine bones, and he watches in horror as the skin grows back on them.

    "See Remus? If anyone in the school knew about this, I would be in more trouble than you being what you are." Remus, however shakes his head slowly.

    "No, I don't think so. I'll tell you only because you are James's twin. I can see it in your eyes. I'm a werewolf."

    To his complete and utter shock, I smile. "I've got to try that. Tell me when the next full moon is. I can take the pain from you for one night."

    I walk out of the room and find James sitting on the sofa I pushed him on, Sirius sitting next to him with Peter on the opposite sofa. I sit down at one of the smaller chairs, for one person only.

    "So, any of the rest of you got some secrets?" I ask, thoroughly amused. "Hmm… There are three wizards and a stag, rat, and a dog?" I ask.

    Peter looks at me in amazement and Sirius immediately looks at me as if I'm crazy.

    "Umm, what are you talking about Matt?"

    "I know we all have secrets. But I already know Remus's secret, I don't see why you won't tell me yours."

    "We're animagi," James says before anyone else can react.

    "Ah," I say. "Stag, rat, dog?" I say, pointing to James, then Peter, then Sirius. They all nod, not sure if they should be admitting this or not. "Well, you have something in common with Gen then."

    "What's this about me?" Morph asks.

    "Oh, I was just telling them how you are an illegal animagus, just like those three. You're an arctic wolf, right?" I say defeating any argument. She can tell from my attitude that we would be talking later.

    "Ssh! Matt, you aren't supposed to tell anyone!" she hisses. I smile.

    "Sorry."

    Remus walks in. "A wolf?"

    Morph blushes. "Yeah, an arctic wolf. Why?"

    James looks up at Remus and me and tells us to shut it.

    "I'm a gray wolf animagi," Remus says smoothly. "I don't like to become it though. It becomes hard on me being a prefect." He smiles apologetically. There's a rush of people in the common room, and James looks up.

    "Oh, dinner time. Let's go to the Great Hall." He gets up and we all walk to the Great Hall.