NOTE:~ means telepathic communication. * means personal thought. [ ] means cyberpathy or computer-generated speech.

Mass. Acad. Quad, 09/07/2006: 15:30:01 hrs EDT:

"At last!" Nate yelled. Classes let out for the day - and the weekend - at Xavier's, and the kids were definitely in a mood to cut loose and have fun. All except Rhian, who sat on the steps of the girls' dorm.

*T'is nae that the others've been rude or cruel, but I still dinnae feel like I'm one o'them,* she thought, watching an impromptu game of full-contact soccer between the Shades and Charles on one side, and Cathy, Gailyn and Soraya on the other. *T'is it because I was a Hellion? I didnae enjoy it! Th' Hellions were mostly older n' me, an' some enjoyed bein' cruel... but others, like Jeb n' Marie-Ange 'n Sharon were so nice.*

Rhian had been warmly accepted at first, especially by Cathy, but over the past week she had rarely been included in their extracurricular activities or outings. *True, I've just been here a week in this time, an' I dinnae wish t' push m'way in, but...* "YEEK!" She narrowly dodged a soccer ball flying by her short-haired red head.

"Oh geez... sorry, Rhian," Tom called, wincing.

"You OK, carrot-top?" Cathy asked. "You wanna play too?"

Rhian retrieved the ball and slowly nodded. *Why nae? Maybe I c'n get t'know them better...*

She rose and called, "Heads up!" She drop-kicked the ball and raced towards the others.

Cathy caught it with her feet and bounced it to Soraya, who slipped past Charles' attempt at guarding the boys' "goal" (a sideways garbage can) and scored. "Hoya, Sora!" Cathy whooped. "That's two, guys. Great job, Rhian."

"Thanks," Rhian smiled.

"OK, OK, break," a panting Charles called.

Soraya sat by him and asked, "Still recovering from surgery?" "I get winded yet, yeah," he shrugged. The kids sat in a semi-circle and broke into their own conversations, while Cathy tugged on Rhian's T-shirt sleeve.

"You really OK? You seemed a little down," the Cheyenne asked her roommate.

"I... just wish I c'ld be as close t'the others as you an' I are," Rhian said quietly. "No one's been mean t' me, but I just feel a little lonely, tha's all. I didnae want t' butt in..."

Cathy groaned and said, "I'm sorry! I should've sensed something was wrong. Don't be afraid to ask to be included, kiddo! We love having you around - we didn't want to crowd you, since you'd been uprooted from the past."

"Oh, I miss th' past, but if I've learned anythin' as a time traveler, it's tha' ye need t' be prepared f'r anythin'," Rhian smiled. "Thanks, Cathy. I'll 'member tha' in th' future - huh!?"

A sudden earth tremor brought the other students running, accompanied by Emma and Yukio (the Cassidys were taking the weekend to visit Theresa and James at Cassidy Keep). "This part of Massachusetts should be tectonically inactive!" Emma yelled.

"Tell that to the sinkhole in the quad!" Yukio pointed. A huge hole appeared under the New Mutants, while Cathy shoved Rhian away from the collapsing ground.

"Go get help!" Cathy yelled.

"I'll - MY POWERS!?" Frank cried.

"Inhibitor field -!?" Emma replied. Before Rhian or Strongjaw could try and reach the other students or teachers, they vanished beneath the ground.

"CATHY!? Frank - Ray - Chuck -!?" Rhian cried. *Get 'hold o'yuirself, girl -they need help!* she chided herself between tears. Strongjaw licked her hand, while he teleported them to the biosphere. "Good dog," Rhian said. She tried to call the Institute, but only got a busy signal. "How c'n superheroes hae busy signals on videocoms!?" Rhian sighed. "Well... Sister Mary Moira always said if'n ye want somethin' done..." She headed for the girls' lockers and changed into her New Mutants uniform, then scanned the quad with the control center's sensor net.

"Hmm... Strongjaw, how good are ye at diggin'? I've found a tunnel o'sorts," she told the puppy. He yipped, and led the way to the quad. "Good dog - let's get t' work," Rhian said. She hefted the shovel she had brought with her from the biosphere tool shed, and began to dig alongside Strongjaw.

*T'is like th' garden work I did back at th' orphanage in Dublin,* Rhian reminisced. She had never known her parents, being taken in by the nuns at St. Cyril's Orphanage when she was only a few days old. When her mutant power had manifested at age 11, she had left the only life she'd ever known, and found Emma Frost to be both much like and far different from the nuns. *Sister Mary Moira in a leather bustier - hehe!* Rhian allowed herself a small giggle, but it turned into a scream as her excavation struck a hollow spot beneath the dirt. She fell, followed by a barking Strongjaw...

Frank awoke in a glass tube, unsurprised to be wearing only his underwear. *Why do supervillains always have to undress their captives?* he thought. He looked around to see the other New Mutants similarly imprisoned, while Yukio hung upside down from the ceiling in chains. The room was full of scientific equipment, and Emma was strapped down to an examination table in her bustier and bicycle shorts. *Bicycle shorts?* Frank thought. *Oh yeah... I forgot she was getting on an exercise kick.*

Emma looked about and snarled. "I HATE area-effect inhibitor fields!" she spat. "WHO DID THIS!?" A shape chuckled from the shadowed doorway and moved forward, bringing gasps from the New Mutants.

"Why, my dear Emma, you should have realized I always demand a price for my services," a greying Henry McCoy smirked. Unlike the Beast the New Mutants were familiar with, however, spines replaced fur, and metallic pants were the creature's garb. "In this case, your students. Or did you forget who provided you with the technical training to create Frost International?"

"You KNOW this freak!?" Ray yelled.

"I never condoned his black-market organlegging," Emma replied.

"For all the 'White Queen' schtick, you've always been soft," the Dark Beast sighed. He picked up a scalpel and said, "You know, the Emma of my timeline had her telepathic brain centers removed to fit in with the Human High Council. It left a nasty scar right... here." He caressed her temple with the scalpel and moved to begin operating. "Better to take no chances," McCoy grinned.

"Great Spirit... at least Rhian got away," Cathy moaned. She kicked at the glass of her tube, but it refused to give.

"I can't look...!" Nate winced. McCoy swung his arm back to begin -

- and screamed in pain as a huge pair of jaws clamped down upon his wrist. "WHAT THE -!?" Strongjaw shook the Dark Beast like a rag doll, while Rhian pulled the scalpel away from him with a look of rage.

"Ye'll nae perform yuir horrid experiments upon my friends, ye fiend!" she cried. "Ye... ye're nothin' but somethin' a cat would cough up!!" Rhian plunged the scalpel into what she hoped was the inhibitor field generator, and narrowly dodged McCoy's claws as he broke free of Strongjaw.

"I... am... NOT... a... HAIRBALL!!" McCoy roared. He struck Strongjaw across the face with a clenched fist, sending the puppy flying, and turned to Rhian with bloodlust. She had no time to think, and tackled him, praying her last trick would work.

"Goodbye, ev'ryone..." she moaned. Rhian timeported McCoy about the room, sure she'd lose control over the rapid-fire repeat timejumps. She kept the effort up, until she finally ran out of power and collapsed atop a similarly-spent McCoy near the containment cell controls.

The Mutants struck at their cells with their powers, achieving little effect. "It must be a polymer," Frank called. He tried to transmute the material to a weaker form, but had to proceed slowly or risk losing control of his abilities.

"Hurry, Frank!" Cathy called. "Rhian's a sitting duck!"

Rhian lifted her head and crawled, slowly, towards the control panel. "C'mon... ye c'n do it..." she whispered. Every inch was another effort which she dragged from some part of herself she'd never believed existed. Her hand fell upon the control switch, but was covered by a hairy, clawed mitt.

"I don't think so, dearheart," McCoy hissed in her ear.

~Neither do I,~ a mindvoice warned. McCoy screamed as Emma's full-force psi-bolt tore past his shields. Rhian slammed the button down and collapsed, but was caught by a recovered Strongjaw.

"I'll - AIERGH!?" McCoy was slammed into a far wall by a telekinetic blast, and Frank took him by the throat with a glare of hatred.

"You hurt my dog, and tried to hurt my friends. I don't usually get angry, you... disease, but for you I can make an exception," the boy growled. He slammed McCoy again, and bound the Dark Beast in the chains Yukio had been imprisoned in.

The Mutants hugged Rhian, while Yukio cut Emma free. "I'm sorry we ignored you, kiddo," Ray smiled. "Believe me, we won't make that mistake twice."

Rhian blushed as Nate kissed her hand. "I'll second that," he grinned. "Now, where the heck are our clothes?"

Illyana looked about the room, but winced. "There's... something wrong here," she mumbled. Her eyes widened as the Soulsword appeared in mid-air, flaming and seemingly wavering. "Someone's - NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She spasmed, as the Mutants were surrounded by a stepping disc.

"Aw, no, not again -" Bill's yell was cut off by the disc's departure.

Emma tried to reach her students, but Yukio restrained her. "What are you doing?!" Emma yelled.

"You want to get lost too!? We're better off trying to rescue them from this end," Yukio said. "Especially because we still have the perfect means to track 'em - a hunter with built-in teleportation and a sniffer second to none." She thumbed at the panting Strongjaw, who led the women back the way he and Rhian had come.

*Let's hope you're right,* Emma thought...

NEXT: Double-length extravaganza!! Illyana's origin, Limbo exposed, and a battle royale with all-new enemies - the kids's first (and maybe FINAL) exam!?