X-men: Devolution

Part 1

The sky turned dark and Jacob Masters screamed. His eyelashes morphed into solid spiky steel then curved into his eyeballs.

Marisa Wolsky thought it was raining. It wasn't. Her body turned to liquid and she splattered over the pavement never to be seen again.

Martin Sharp's lungs became gills and he gasped for water. Instead, deadly air filled his every breath.

Darlene McGill was now able to see in the ultraviolet spectrum but nothing else. She was  essentially blind.

The sun came out again, but those who had been changed would never be the same again.

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All those assembled were listening to Bach's Harpsichord Concerto in E major though not a single person could hear it. The music, as well as the surroundings were all in Professor Charles Xavier's mind but he was projecting it into the minds of his former students so it all appeared real.

Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops, admired the 'room' in which he was standing. It was a cavern of a library with books in shelves that stretched up higher than he could see. Emma Frost held his hand as she tried to make out the titles of the books. There were a few she recognized: Darwin's Evolution of Species, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Harari,  The X-Gene by Xavier himself. Not to mention the countless tomes in alien and mystical languages.

Peter Rasputin took a seat next to his teammates and stared silently at the telepathic replica of the Sistine Chapel that towered above them. Logan found the vending machine that sold beer.

The seats in the middle of the room were arranged in a semi-circle with Xavier at the front. "I want to thank you all for agreeing to this meeting," he said. "Scott and Emma, I know you are currently vacationing in Tokyo, but I'm afraid you're needed."

"We were ready to wrap up our vacation anyway, sir," Scott said. They could be anywhere in the universe to be linked telepathically for the meeting, but this sounded urgent. There were some things that needed them to be there in person.

"We were? I don't recall that," Emma scoffed. "But of course, Professor. We'll drop everything for your little emergency. They only come up five times a week."

"Emma, the professor would not have summoned us if it was urgent," Peter said.

"This beer's flat," Logan muttered.

"Noted, Logan," Xavier said. "Now, to reintroduce you to your colleague for this particular mission: Alison Blaire."

"Hey, guys!" the blonde singer waved. "I'm flying in from L.A. right now, so I'll see you soon."

Emma sighed. "Thank goodness you've called in Hanna Montana. I thought we were doomed."

"It's so nice to see you too, Emma," Ali said.

"I've sent telepathic images of what is going on," Xavier said. "Young people are experiencing sudden mutations, but unlike ours, most of them are malignant and harmful. While we might gain the ability to fly or to move objects with our minds, these poor children have suddenly lost their legs or have formed exoskeletons that prevent them from breathing."

"That sucks, Chuck, but what are we supposed to do?" Logan asked. "We can smack down Marauders or Sentinels. Not much we can do here."

"You can be there for them, Logan," Xavier said. "Which is why I have called in Ms. Blaire. As a pop star, she is someone the children will recognize and respond to. The rest of you can help to teach these children that being different is not a death sentence."

"Agreed," Scott said. "When I first got my powers, I looked at them as a curse. Still do. And there are plenty of people, like the mutant Morlocks, forced to live underground in the sewers because the world was too dangerous for them."

"And I assume these children will need protection as well," Peter noted. "Something we can also offer."

"The majority of these cases have occurred in San Francisco for an unknown reason that we are still looking into," Xavier said. "There was an eclipse that could only seen from that area, so there may be some correlation. I've telepathically informed you all of the location of your temporary headquarters there. I shall be in touch. Best of luck."

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Isiah Armstrong  was done screaming. The sharp tusks  that were teeth had shot through the side of face leaving his drooling a pool of blood. That was over now. He had survived.

And he now had a purpose. A deadly purpose.