ISSUE #96

Part 1 of 2

It was the day after the trip to hell, and while everything seemed normal at a glance, things were anything but normal.

Scott and the few remaining teachers at the institute, were gathered in his office and were discussing the events that had taken place.

" Defeated Nimrod, saved one of their own from the facility, and now, saved us all from Belasco. All since M-day." Scott stated.

" Hell, we should just retire now. Maybe shoot the kids into space, let them deal with Vulcan." Logan replied with a grin on his face.

" Logan, your sensitivity is staggering." Emma told the man.

Logan scoffed and rolled his eyes at the woman.

Scott placed his hands on his desk and sighed.

" There are twenty-five students at the institute. That's about one-eighth of the mutant population in the world, right here. And we've failed them in every possible way." Scott stated. He pulled out photos of each and every remaining student at Xaviers. " We haven't protected them; we don't even know them. That ends now, today. Their protection is our imperative. Because if everything Hank is saying is true... They could well be the last generation of X-men." Scott explained. He picked up the picture of Santo in his new rock form and showed it to everyone.

" I didn't know we had a lava kid." Logan spoke.

" That's rockslide. I'm still figuring it out." Hank explained.

" Well, get to it then, Hank. Everyone else, we need to speak with the students. We're having student/teacher conferences with everyone. We've got a lot to cover, so let's get to work." Scott explained.

Logan groaned and walked out of the class with Kitty and Peter to go speak with the students.

" I'll leave the Hellions to you, Emma. They seem to trust you more than anyone else." Scott told emma.

" And what about you?" Emma asked.

" I'm going to see Noriko and uhhhh." Scott sighed. " Sinclair." Scott groaned.

Emma chuckled as Scott rubbed his head.

" Well, then, best get to it now." Emma told the man.

" I know." Scott groaned. He then walked out of the room, followed by Emma and went to seek out the first on his list, Noriko.

Meanwhile,

Ian was still in his room, lying in bed, when a knock came at the door.

He got up to see who it was and when he opened the door, he saw it was Cessily.

" Hey, Cess. What's up?" Ian asked.

" Are you feeling alright? No one's seen you all day." Cessily asked the boy.

Ian rubbed his eyes and nodded.

" Yeah, I'm fine." He said through a yawn. " What's up?"

" Well, I should probably know this but how old are you?" Cessily asked.

" Eighteen. Why?" Ian asked.

" Just trying to figure something out." Cessily replied.

" Oh, well I gotta know now. What is it?" Ian asked. He stepped out of his room and closed the door behind him and followed Cessily.

" Well, Matt Landru." Cessily replied.

" Who?" Ian asked.

Cessily sighed and continued walking down the stairs.

" Just follow me. I need to see Julian." Cessily told the boy.

" What, I just didn't know who he was." Ian grumbled.

Cessily chuckled and rolled her eyes at the boy's frustration. The way his face contorted as he searched his brain for the name, made her want to laugh.

" Give it up, you're never going to figure it out." Cessily stated.

" Whatever, just knock on his door already." Ian told Cess.

" Julian, are you in there? I need to ask you a question." Cessily spoke through the door. She knocked three times and suddenly the door blew off the hinges. " Julian!"

" What the hell?!" Ian cursed.

He and Cessily both got back up to see Julian glowing and perfectly fine, other than seemingly being annoyed.

" What the hell, man? Is that how you answer the damn door?" Ian asked the boy.

" I'm sorry! I can't control my powers! What do you want me to say? It's McCoy and his damn paperclip. It's annoying the hell out of me. I can't handle anything smaller than a refrigerator. And with Marvel Girl still out in space, I'm like the only telekinetic on the planet. Unless I want to join initiative and train with some idiot calling himself justice." Julian explained.

" That's true. I guess." Ian replied.

" Don't be like that guys. Come on, Julian. You can do it." Cessily told the boy. " Uh, not to blow you off or anything, but do you know how old the cuckoos are?" Cessily asked Julian.

" Old enough." Julian replied sarcastically

" Perv!" Cessily yelled. Making Julian and Ian snicker. " I'm serious." Cessily exclaimed.

" Okay, okay. They're two, I think. Artificially aged to fifteen. Long story." Julian told the girl. " Why?"

" Matt Landru." Cessily replied.

" Who?" Julian asked.

" That's the same thing I asked." Ian told the boy.

" UghhH! Just follow me!" Cessily groaned.

Ian and Julian looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders and followed Cessily, down to Cerebra. Once there they were joined by the stepford's they began using it to search for mutants.

" Okay, can you tell us what's going on, Cess?" Ian asked.

" Well, I've been doing some thinking.... And going to the Landru funeral with Laura made me realize... With no new mutants being born, emerging, whatever.... Some Mutant somewhere is the youngest mutant on the planet." Cessily explained. " And statistically speaking, it is one of us."

" Well, that rules out me, Noriko, and Julian to my knowledge." Ian stated.

" Why's that?" Cessily asked the boy.

" Well, I'm the oldest out of our group, and I thought you and Noriko were both seventeen, Julian." Ian spoke

" Yeah.... I guess we are the oldest. But hey, what about that one chick, the prides kid in Los Angeles... The Runaway? She's five or something, right?" Julian asked.

" She's not registering on Cerebra. Angel Salvadore's child, Tito, is technically the youngest." One of the stepford sisters said to the group.

" Gross, don't remind me." Julian told the girls.

" What about Franklin Richards?" Cessily asked. " You know, the fantastic four kid? Did he keep his powers?"

" Doesn't count." Julian replied. " No one's going to snipe mister Fantastic's kid. He's probably got his own Tv show."

" Miss frost is opening the door." The stepford's stated.

" Wonderful." Julian groaned.

Julian, Ian, and Cessily all turned around to face the woman.

" I'll overlook the fact that you're even in here for now." Emma told the kids. " Cessily, Julian... I need to see you in my office. The senior staff is conducting interviews with the students. Ian, Mister Summers wants to see you in his office." Emma explained.

" Oh great. Well, I'll see you guys later." Ian told Cessily and Julian.

" See ya man."

" See ya."

Ian sighed and walked past Emma frost.

Ian was hesitant to visit, Scott. He didn't want to talk to this man, right now. But he knew if Scott was looking for him, then it was probably important.

Ian stood outside of Scott's office and knocked.

" Yo!" He called out as he entered the room.

" Oh, Ian. You're here. Good to see you. I assume Emma sent you?" Scott asked.

" Yeah, she did. So, what's up?" Ian asked the man.

He wanted to get straight to the point on, he didn't really want to waste time on speaking about nonsense.

" Sit down, take a load off. I know you've all had a lot going on lately. I just want to know how you're feeling. With everything that's been going on, I know it's been a lot. A lot of good people have been lost, and with being the last of our race, I know how much stress you must be under." Scott spoke. " I know, we don't have the best track record, but you have to believe me when I say that all of us here at the institute, absolutely care about all of you. We want you to be safe, to be happy. We haven't done a good job at that so far, so this is us trying to be better."

Ian was taken aback. He wasn't ready for Scott to approach him like that. A part of his mind wondered if Ruth had something to do with this or if maybe it was a coincidence.

Ian took a deep breath and exhaled.

" Look, Scott, I appreciate the thought. But I'm fine. Alright. I'm serious." Ian told the man.

" Look, Ian. You don't have to be tough with me, or any of us. We were in your shoes once too. We know how stressful all of this can be, especially on the younger kids. That feeling like you need to be ready, that you could have done better, that maybe you didn't do enough. The thoughts that can get into your mind with this lifestyle can be crushing if you allow them to overtake you. You don't have to be strong all the time." Scott told the boy.

Ian was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He shifted in his seat repeatedly and started playing with his hands underneath the table.

Scott noticed this and tried shifting the conversation away.

" What about your friends? You're quite famous with the ladies. Seeing anyone that interests you?" Scott asked the boy.

" Aghh, well.... I don't know. Things are.... Weird. I mean.... Have you ever felt like you connected with someone so well, but... Then you look next to you and there's someone else that's just.... Her. I mean you probably do, looking back at your own dating history does make me feel better sometimes." Ian told the man.

Scott scoffed at the boy. He gave him a small smile, but on the inside, he was a little irritated by the comment.

" Yeah... I do know how complicated dating can be. But the one thing that should always matter is what makes you happy." Scott told the boy.

" Well, you certainly didn't feel that way before." Ian remarked.

" That was different. I couldn't have one of my teachers having relations with a student. It wouldn't only send a bad message to the rest of the staff and student body, but what would others think? You are still young, even if you are eighteen, you haven't lived long enough to know what real love is." Scott told the boy.

" Maybe not, but that was for us to find out. If things didn't work out, then they didn't work out. But you didn't give us that decision, you just took the choice away from us." Ian argued. " You know what, forget about." He spoke. " I don't feel like going through this again, especially right now." Ian told the man; he got up from his seat and started walking towards the door.

" Ian wait." Scott told the boy.

" I don't want to do this. I've got a lot on my mind, and this isn't helping. If you really want to help, go speak to Noriko. I know she's freaking out about David. Maybe she'd like to hear your first-year psyche student Bullshit. I'm out." Ian told the man. He then walked out of Scott's office.

Scott sighed and collapsed in his chair.

" I did try it with her already." Scott groaned.

Ian walked absentmindedly down the hall. He was a little irritated at the moment.

" Hey, Ian!" Cessily called out to the boy.

Ian lifted his head and looked at Cessily and Julian walking up to him.

" Oh, hey. What's up?" Ian asked somberly.

" Are you finished with Mr. Summers?" Cessily asked.

" Yeah." Ian replied. " Just finished a few minutes ago."

" Well, why don't you join us? We won't to continue looking for the youngest mutant." Cessily told the boy.

" Sure, why not." Ian replied bluntly.

He joined Cessily and Julian on their walk back to the break room.

Julian watched Ian the whole time and saw just how tired Ian looked. He had noticed it for a while. But right now, it more concerning.

He wanted to say something but figured that right now would probably not be the best of times. So, he stood back and watched. For now.

A little later.

Cessily gathered the remaining students in the institute's break room.

" And Bling... That's everyone." Indra stated.

" So, who is it?" Julian asked the purple skinned boy.

" Hang on." Indra replied. " I'm comparing birthdates.... Wait a minute? How are the cuckoo's only two?" Indra asked.

" Long story. Just who else?" Ian asked.

" It's Pixie. I mean, just look at her." Julian spoke up.

" Yeah? She is young, but I don't think she's the youngest. I would have guessed it was Nick or maybe Anole." Ian laughed.

" Not funny dude." victor replied.

"Oh, come on, lighten up, Victor." Ian told the boy. " Hey, Laura, how old are you?" Ian asked.

" Sixteen." Laura replied meekly.

" Really? You gotta tell me when your birthday is, I'd love to celebrate it with you. Maybe by then I'll be able to take you back into town without having to explain every little action we take to those O.N.E bastards. How about it?" Ian asked.

Laura gave him a small smile, which she hid behind her hair, and nodded.

" Okay." Laura replied.

" Hey, David, where's Noriko? Haven't seen her all day." Julian asked David.

" I haven't- Oh, there she goes now." David spoke. He looked over Julian's shoulder and saw Noriko walk into the room. " Nori, I haven't seen you all day. How was your meeting with Cyclops?" David asked the girl.

Noriko, however, didn't answer. Instead, she just kept on walking, prompting David to walk in front of her to see what was going on.

" Whoa, Nori, what's going on? What's the matter?" David asked the girl. " Will you talk to me?" David asked again. Noriko, however, continued ignoring David, while everyone else continued the hunt for the youngest mutant.

" Uh, okay, yeah Nick. It's you. You're the youngest mutant." Indra told Nick the Wolfcub.

" Except the Richards kid, and Beak's kids." Nick argued.

" They don't count!!" Cessily told the boy.

This caused Nick to freak out.

" I wonder how it will happen... Sentinels I bet... Or maybe the purifiers again? They didn't catch them all!" Nick exclaimed.

Cessily went to check on the list herself, and when she did, she noticed that Indra had missed his own birthday.

" Hey, wait... Indra, your name and birthday aren't on the list. When is your birthday?" Cessily asked the boy.

" What?" Indra replied. He looked down at the list and then it hit him. " It's.... Oh... Oh no. It's me. I'm the youngest mutant on the planet." Indra exclaimed.

" Hahaha! Dude no way!" Ian laughed at Indra and Nick as the tow visibly swapped moods.

Everyone immediately turned their attention to Indra, and recognized him as the youngest mutant alive, and it seemed like things had hit the peak of the evening. But things were just beginning.

" Nori, just look at me!" David exclaimed.

Noriko ignored David and while he was laughing leaned up and kissed Ian on his mouth.

Everyone in the room stopped laughing and just stared at the two in shock. Except Laura, she was mad. She popped her claws and glared at Noriko for a brief moment, before putting them away again.

" NORI!?!" Cessily yelled.

It took a moment for Ian to process what had happened, but by the time he did, it was already too late.

" Nori?! What are you doing?" Ian asked the girl as he pushed her away from him. The first thing Ian did was look for Laura " Laura..."

Laura ignored Ian and ran straight out of the room.

" Laura, wait! LAURA!" Cessily yelled after the girl and chased her.

" LAURA COME BACK! WAIT!" Ian yelled after Laura. " Nori, what the hell?" Ian turned asked the blue-haired girl. He was baffled about everything that just happened. Ian took off out the room, trying to chase after Cessily and Laura.

Not grasping the situation fully, Megan flew up to Noriko.

" Um surge? Nori? Captain? What should we do about paras?" Megan asked, referring back to Indra.

" What?" Noriko asked bitterly.

" You know... Indra? He's the youngest mutant on the planet, more or less, and he's going to die!" Megan explained without any kind of tact. " What should we do?" She asked again.

" Don't let him die." Noriko told the girl. She then walked out of the room without saying another word.

" Drama." Alani whispered.

Things were bad for everyone, from Indra being named the youngest and most likely to die first, to David being cheated on, to Laura running away from Ian.

Cessily chased Laura straight to the girl's restrooms, and she was horrified by what she saw there.

" Laura? Laura are you in... Oh, Dear God." Cessily exclaimed. She looked into the bathroom, and it was torn to pieces. There were shards of broken glass everywhere. The wall was missing chunks. One of the bathroom stalls had the door ripped off the hinge. And then there sat against the wall, was Laura, Covered from head to toe in blood and scratches. Having cut herself viciously all over. " Laura?"

" I don't understand what's happening to me. I don't understand what I'm feeling." Laura spoke. " And I'm scared I'm going to hurt someone." Laura told Cessily. She raised her face for the girl to really see her and revealed her face full of cuts.

" Oh, Laura..." Cessily sat down next and hugged the crying girl. " Shhhh... It's okay. Everything's going to be okay. You're not alone anymore." Cessily told the girl.

Cessily, sat there with Laura keeping her company and comforting her, while Ian searched for the girl.

Ian ran down the hall, as fast as he could. He regretted not chasing after Laura immediately. But he just didn't know what to do.

" Ian! What is the matter?" Sooraya asked the boy. She saw how terrified he looked and stopped him.

" Sooraya, I'm sorry, have you seen Laura, or Cessily? This is really important." Ian asked the girl.

" I saw, Cessily go into the girl's bathroo--" Sooraya was explaining, but before she could finish, Ian sped off down the hall.

Ian felt bad for leaving Sooraya like that, but he was in a hurry. When he saw how hurt Laura looked, he just knew he had to find her.

When Ian arrived at the restroom, he could hear the sobbing on the other side and in that moment, he felt his heart ache. It hurt so bad, and he didn't understand why.

He hesitated at first to knock, his breath was coarse, and his heart was racing a hundred miles an hour. But he did.

Ian knocked three times then spoke.

" Laura? Are you in there?" Ian asked.

The room went quiet and for a moment, Ian wondered if maybe he had gotten things wrong.

" Hey, Laura? Are you in there?" Ian asked again. " Can I come in please?"

" Ah, that's not a good idea right now, Ian." Ian heard Cessily say through the door

" Cess, is everything alright, in there?" Ian asked.

" Yes. Everything's fine." Cessily replied.

" Can I come in, please?" Ian asked again.

" No. Now's not a good time Ian." Cessily told the boy.

" Please? Is Laura in there? Cess, I just need to see her. Laura, please.... I... I didn't kiss her. I swear I didn't know she was going to do that." Ian told the girl. " Will, you please just let me see you?"

There was another moment of silence, before Cessily replied.

" I'm sorry, Ian. But she doesn't want to see you right now. I think you should just go." Cessily told the boy.

" But.... Laura." Ian placed his head against the door of the room, and just cried. He just cried. " Laura."

" Just go Ian." Cessily told the boy.

" Please." Ian heard the pain and hurt in Laura's voice, and finally he just broke. He slumped away from the door and flew straight out of the nearest window.

Ian sat outside on the top of a ruined sentinel, and just stared out across the institute. Time seemed to move slow for the boy. It wasn't until someone came to see him that Ian seemed to return to reality.

" Ian? Are you well?" Ian looked up and saw Sooraya was floating right in front of him.

" No, not really." Ian replied. " My friends are dead. My family hates me, the girl I thought I loved is gone, I can't stop thinking about a girl I hardly even know. And worst of all... I'm alone. Damn it, Sooraya. I've tried so hard. I've tried to keep everyone together. To keep them safe and protect them. But no matter how hard I try, it's never enough! It's... It's..." Ian gasped. He felt his chest growing tighter and tighter every moment, and then suddenly it just stopped. " Wait... Ruth sent you up here to check on me, didn't she?" Ian asked the girl.

Sooraya was silent for a moment, before finally nodding.

Ian sighed and wiped his eyes clear, before sitting back up. He loved that girl, Ruth, he did. He knew she was only trying to help but he did wish she hadn't asked Sooraya to get involved.

" Yes, she did. But that does not mean that I do not care any less about your troubles." Sooraya told the boy. She landed on the sentinel, beside him, and placed her hand on his shoulder.

Ian grabbed Sooraya's hand and removed it from his shoulder. He then looked at her and smiled.

" You know, even before I saw your face, I knew that you were beautiful. Not because of your body. But because of your heart, Sooraya. You've always been so kind, and compassionate. You've showed concern for those that would bring you harm. You are a star, Sooraya. A beautiful star unlike any other. And I truly think the world would be a better place if it had even just one more person like you in it. Allah is lucky to have a devout follower like you under his eternal wings. Thank you for everything, Sooraya, you have no idea how much I count on you and the others." Ian told the girl.

Needless to say, Sooraya was deeply touched by Ian's speech. She felt every last sting of his heartfelt words and knew that within the pain and sorrow, there was genuine adoration and care.

Ian looked at Sooraya, one more time, and then floated down to the ground.

Sooraya watched from atop the sentinel, as Ian walked back to the Insitute.

Meanwhile, the cause of all of this, Noriko, was sitting alone in her room.

" I'm staying, Noriko." Noriko looked up to see David, in his attire, standing in her doorway.

" David?" Noriko asked.

" Prodigy! Is my name. And if this is the end of mutant kind... I stand with the institute." David told the woman. " This is my home. This is where I belon. You don't get to make that decision for me."

" No!" Noriko snapped. " You're going to die here, and I can't let that happen! Do you hear me?" Noriko told the boy. She got up and pushed him, making David grunt. " I don't want you here! I don't love you! Leave!" Noriko told the boy. She yelled it in his face as loud as she could, just to drive home the point. " You're powerless! You're useless! I love Ian! What do I have to say to make you understand?!" Noriko asked the boy. She raised her fist and prepared to electrocute David.

David caught Noriko's arm and twisted it behind her back.

" I understand more than you." David told the girl. He began putting more and more pressure on Norikos arm, threatening to break it.

" Ah! David?!" Noriko shouted. He was hurting her bad.

" HEYY!!!"

David and Noriko both looked up to see Ian standing in the doorway.

" GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!!!" Ian blasted David right in his face, forcing him off of Noriko, and knocked him into the wall. Ian ran up to Noriko and helped her to her feet. " Did he hurt you?" Ian asked.

"Are you insane, Ian? It's David. He wouldn't-" Before Noriko could finish her sentence, David snuck up behind Ian and punched him in the back of his neck.

Ian snapped around and blocked David's next strike.

" Israeli special forces combat? Since when did you learn that?" Ian asked.

" Kitty Pryde, and Wolverine both know it. And now I do too." David replied.

" So, that's how it's gonna be David?" Ian asked.

" Yeah, it is." David replied. He backed away from Ian and went straight to the door. " Oh, and Noriko? We're through." David told the girl. David walked out of the room and Noriko sat down on her bed.

Ian had originally come here just to ask Noriko why she had done what she did. But when he saw David hurting her, he just snapped. And seeing her now, he felt bad for Noriko. He felt her pain. He reached down and placed his hand on her shoulder and Noriko looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

She didn't need to say anything, her face more than conveyed what it was she was feeling. Ian sat down next to her and just held her.

Noriko placed her head on Ian's chest and just sobbed.... And so did Ian. Noriko, though crying herself, felt Ian's sobs vibrate through her body. When she looked up the boy with the emerald eyes, had eyes of red and tears of blue down his face.

She reached up her hand and wiped the tears away. He didn't deserve them. Not for something she did. Her hand lingered on his face for a little while longer, she seemed to have gotten distracted. Noriko, through her pain and anger, found herself lost in Ian's eyes.

And so, did Ian.

The two stared at each other for what could be described as an eternity, not breaking eye contact even once. And then, it happened again. Noriko kissed Ian. She kissed him with all the passion her seemingly, small body, could muster... And Ian returned the kiss. His emotions running raw along with hers.

The two broke their embrace, only for a moment. Just long enough to catch their breaths. Then once again they reunited.