Exodus 2!

" Misguided fools!" Exodus, who had left the Jean Grey School to instead attack and kill Cyclops on Utopia, shouted as the X-Men followed after him and attacked

Emerging from the jet, Rachel, Rogue, Wolverine, and Cannonball all attacked Exodus.

" My quarrel is not with you." Exodus told the X-men. He raised his arms and used his telekinetic energy to blast them away from him. " Open your eyes! We should be allies!"

Rogue grabbed Wolverine and dropped him directly on top of Exodus. " Problem with mental powers..." Logan stated he then jabbed his claws into Exodus' shoulder. " You gotta focus to use'em." Logan told the man as they plummeted towards the ground.

The two men hit the ground hard. Exodus then grabbed Wolverine and threw him into Cannonball and Rogue.

" You make me despair for my people." Exodus declared.

" What my dad used to say about me homme." Gambit told the man as he chucked two of his exploding cards at Exodus. The cards went off in the man's face causing him to roll across the ground.

" Hit him! All at once!" Logan shouted to the others

Gambit, Beast, and Frenzy rushed Exodus. Gambit jammed his staff into the man's shoulder blade while Frenzy hammered away on his face. Exodus spit up blood from the force of the blows.

" Put him down fast! I want this over!" Logan shouted.

" It was over the moment you refused my mercy!" Exodus responded. He used his telekinetic to once again blow the mutants away. " True, I do not wish to kill you. But you have no idea how much pain I can impart teaching you the folly of your ways." Exodus told the group. " My power is much greater than you know."

While he was distracted another one of the X-Men, Iceman, snuck up on Exodus and attacked.

" Yeah? Mine too." Iceman told Exodus.

Exodus turned around to see an Ice giant behind him.

" We're just not all so obnoxious about it." Bobby told the man. Bobby raised his giant arm and slammed Exodus into the ground with great force, leaving behind a trail of ice. Bobby then turned to the telepath in the sky and asked for help. " Rachel, we could use a hand."

" What... Do you think I'm doing?" Rachel responded. She had her eyes closed and was straining herself. " Why... Do you think... He hasn't shut down all our minds? Erased and rewired... Your brain?" Rachel asked. " I'm fighting him on the psychic plane. Now shut up and let me work." Rachel told the man.

Rachel had engaged Exodus in multiple forms of battle ranging from chess to a battle between warriors and wizards. All of it taking place inside their minds, while Exodus is fighting the rest of the X-Men in the real world.

" My bad." Bobby told the woman. " Let's see what we can do on the physical plane."

" You can do nothing." Exodus replied. He raised his hand and blasted Bobby in his face, destroying his Ice giant form. " But fall. And if you force my hand, die. But you cannot defeat me. My power is as great as my faith." Exodus exclaimed.

Wolverine tried to attack but was quickly dispatched by the powerhouse. " And I have never believed more strongly in the righteousness of my cause." Exodus told Logan. He raised his hands and blasted him with enough force to tear the skin completely off of his body leaving behind nothing but muscle and bone, logan was sent flying by the blast.

Frenzy in an anger punched Exodus in his face and dropped him. " Where was that faith when you ran out on us acolytes? Cyclops maybe right, and he may be wrong. But when things get tough, he never gives up. He's ten times the man you are!" Frenzy told the man.

Rogue caught the man and along with Cannonball placed him on the ground. " Look at you, You're either the orneriest man I've ever met or the bravest. Or both." Rogue joked.

" Wolverine this is way out of hand. We can't beat him on our own." Cannonball told the man. " It's time to call Utopia."

" Don't make me kick yer ass Guthrie." Logan replied.

Rogue wrapped Logan's arm around her shoulder and helped him to his feet. " It's okay/ Ah sent them a message before we left." Rogue told Cannonball.

" You what?" Logan asked the woman.

" On a delay. Ah gave us time to fix it ourselves, but that time's run out. They'll pick it up any second." Rogue explained.

" Who?" Logan asked the woman. " Who'd you send it to?"

" Anyone on their extinction team. Whoever's there. Cyclops, Storm..." Rogue explained.

" Magneto." Logan stated.

" Yeah Magneto! You telling me we couldn't use him about now?" Rogue responded.

" Maybe you could. This ain't about you." Logan told the woman.

" How dare you! Ah was workin with our kids before you ever gave a damn!" Rogue shouted. " Ah didn't wake up on mornin between ninja fights and decided Ah wanted to be a teacher! Ah been doin it all along!"

" This ain't a classroom. It's a battlefield. And by running to your boyfriend, you let your personal feelings compromise the mission." Logan told the woman.

" Uh, guys... One fight at a time?" Cannonball asked.

" I can't trust you. Stay out of my way. I got a mess to clean up." Logan told the woman. " Before you make it worse."

While those two argued, the others continued their fight against Exodus.

" I confess it, Joanna... I failed you. But I have rediscovered my purpose. My faith gives me strength to match yours." Exodus told the woman. " We must be one race again. The woman I knew would see that. Your misguided love for Cyclops blinds you to the necessity of his death."

Frenzy used her strength and pushed Exodus into the ground. " You... Never knew me... And you sure as hell don't now!"

" Impressive. What you could be without distractions... You should take a vow of celibacy, as I Have, rather than allow unworthy men to drag you down." Exodus told the woman. " Divert yourself of worldly concerns and your spirit will reap the reward."

" Good advice, Homme." Gambit told the man. He snuck up behind Exodus and used his power to charge Exodus' cape. " Since you're all humble now... You won't be needing this flashy cape." Gambit told the man.

Exodus turned around just in time for his cape to explode.

Logan lunged at Exodus and slashed him with his claws. " All together! Give him too many targets ta hit!" Logan shouted. " We can't win hand ta hand, but if he's fighting on two fronts! We need ta stun him long enough for Rachel to grab his mind!" Logan explained.

" Let me through, Ah can try to drain his telepathy." Rogue shouted to Logan as she tried to get close to Exodus.

" Both wise stratagems." Exodus told the group. " That I can use myself." Exodus shouted. He raised his hands and flung Rogue and Logan right into Rachel, causing her to lose her grip on his mind.

" No!" Rachel shouted.

In the split second, Rachel lost her battle with Exodus, and in doing so allowed Exodus to use his powers to grab hold of all of the X-Men's minds and trap them.

" You fought bravely and with honor. Your hearts are pure, even if your minds are clouded." Exodus commended the X-men. " If I face such an opposition on Utopia, I may be unable to slay Cyclops without other mutants falling in battle. You will prevent this. You will be my foot soldiers... Occupy the others while I execute my holy mission. You have no choice in the matter. When Cyclops is dead, I will return your independent thought. I know you will hate me. This I accept. Like Moses, I will deliver my people to the promised land, but will not enter it with them. If it must be hatred of me that unites mutantkind, so be it." Exodus explained. " For now, though, you will love me, without question of reservation."

" Sihal Novarum Chinoth!" Exodus heard a voice behind him and turned.

" HAHAHA!" Shiva laughed excitedly as he lunged at Exodus, Exodus turned towards the boy and was punched in the face.

Exodus grunted and was sent reeling; however, the attack wasn't finished. When Exodus straightened up he was blasted in the back by the newly arrived extinction team from Utopia.

Rogue, looked at Wolverine, grinning in victory. " Sounds ta me like helps arrived. My treason lookin a mite better now?" Rogue asked.

" No." Logan replied. " Based on what I smell, it's worse." Logan told the woman.

" To you maybe. All Ah know is Ah can move again and will take any help Ah can..." Rogue was telling the man. But when she saw who had come to help her attitude changed. " Oh no." Rogue exclaimed.

" Don't worry, Rogue... The calvary's here." Hope told the woman.

Arriving to the battle was Hope's team of lights, along with Dust and Surge, all former students of the school.

" Yahoo!" Shiva shouted. He dropped down straight on top of Exodus.

" You summon children to fight me, Wolverine?" Exodus asked. He got to his feet used his telekinetic energy to fling Transonic away from the fight, while using his eye beams to blast Shiva in his chest.

" So did I." Wolverine stated as he looked over at Rogue. He lunged at Exodus and slashed him across his chest. " Pixie! Get these kids out of here! We got this under control!" Wolverine told the girl. " And you leave too, Kenway!"

"English is my second language." Velocidad, one of the lights who can jump seconds through time, told Logan. " But I don't think under control means the same thing as getting our butts kicked."

" Who said we're getting our butts kicked?" Shiva asked. " We're just taking our time with this guy." Shiva replied. He and Frenzy once again tired pummeling Exodus.

" Don't let up on him kid!" Frenzy shouted.

" I know that." Shiva told the woman. Exodus raised his hands and a blast of energy shot towards Frenzy. " Watch out." Shiva shouted, he jumped in front of the woman and took the blast for her. The two were pushed back a great distance. Not letting up, Shiva reached back and grabbed Frenzy. He then spun off the blast and threw her at Exodus, allowing her to land a solid blow on the man's face.

" Hope, what the hell is this?" Rogue asked the girl. " Ah sent that message for Scott's extinction team!"

" Which, I'm on." Hope replied. " All of the others were responding to a crisis. I brought who I had."

" You shouldn't have brought anyone! Y'all are kids!" Rogue told the girl.

" No, Rogue. Your students are kids. We're soldiers. Now, let me do my job." Hope told the woman.

Having heard the remark, Shiva's nerves twitched, and his anger rose. " What did you say?" Shiva asked the girl.

" You heard, her. Now either be useful and help or get out of the way little boy." Surge told the boy leaving him stunned in silence

" Damn it, Pixie! You heard Wolverine, get them outta here!" Rogue yelled to the woman.

" I'm sorry, Rogue. but we don't take orders from you." Pixie told the woman defiantly.

" Ah swiped Exodus' teleporting powers. Ah could take ya back myself." Rogue told the girl.

" I'd think twice about that." Frenzy told Rogue as she avoided one of Exodus' attacks. " We couldn't stop Exodus on our own. But Hope can duplicate the power of any mutant she's near... Without having to touch them. His included." Frenzy explained to the woman.

" Ah won't have them fighting a battle that's our fault, Frenzy." Rogue told the woman. " It goes against everything we reopened the school for."

" Might be Chere. But Exodus fancies himself our savior. He don't want to kill any mutants except for Cyclops. And much as I hate to admit it, if we're to stop him doing that... We're gonna need Hope's help." Gambit told the woman.

Rogue looked at Logan and Logan begrudgingly accepted.

" Damn it to Hell." Logan cursed. " Hope! Rogue! Form on me! Four arms! You wanted this fight, well now you got it. So, get yer ass moving!" Logan yelled to Shiva who stood there in silence. " Let's take this bastard down!"

' Weak? Useless? A child? Is that what they said?' Shiva asked himself. The veins from his forehead down to his neck started throbbing violently.

" Hey, did you hear me kid?!" Logan shouted.

" Forget him, we need to focus on the real fighters." Hope told Logan.

" WHAT DID JUST YOU SAY!!!!!!" Shiva raised his arms and shouted in anger, his body heated up so much that a pillar of fire erupted into the sky, shocking everyone, Exodus included. " AHHHHHH" Shiva lunged at Exodus and punched him in his face.

" Grhhhhhhhhh!" Exodus roared in pain.

Shiva continued to pummel Exodus, the heat and force of his blows causing his fist to appear as fireballs in the sky.

" HAAAAAAA!" Shiva's continuous blows appeared in the sky as an image of a bird. And with one last fierce blow he punched Exodus into the ground causing it to splinter.

" Damn. All right, while four arms is giving it to Exodus, this is the plan. Hope, Rogue you two are the key to this." Logan told the women. " Hope, you can copy his powers. But that just gives you the same box'a tricks as him. Unless Rogue takes some'a his away." Logan explained.

" You should know Ah've tried this already... He's got more power'n most anyone we've ever met. His limits have never really been tested." Rogue told Hope.

Hope took one look at Exodus and copied his powers instantly. " Neither have mine." Hope told Rogue. Hope joined Shiva in his battle against Exodus, the combined heat and telekinetic energy keeping the others at bay.

" Magnificent! You are both more impressive than I dared imagine." Exodus praised the two young mutants. " And you, Hope. The prophecies ring true. You could be the messiah of all mutantkind." Exodus told the woman.

" That make you my humble servant?" Hope asked.

" But of course." Exodus replied. He dodged Shiva's attack and used his energy to blast him and hope off of him. " Once I've freed you from the corrupting influence of Cyclops." Exodus told the girl. " NAAH!" He then yelled in pain as Wolverine jammed his claws into his back.

" I hate stabbing people who agree with me." Logan told the man.

Exodus grunted and blasted Wolverine into the ground. " Enough. It is high time this foolishness ended." Exodus exclaimed.

" Ah couldn't agree more." Rogue told the man. She used cannonballs powers to get close to Exodus and grabbed him, taking more of his power from him.

" RAAAAGH!" Exodus shouted in pain. He turned and back handed Rogue down into the ground in anger. " Stupid girl. You can only steal a fraction of my power." Exodus told the woman.

" Oh, Ah know." Rogue replied. " But against odds like this... Fractions mean a lot." Rogue told the man.

Exodus looked around to see himself surrounded on all sides by his enemies.

Shiva lunged at Exodus and punched him into the sky.

" First wave!" Logan shouted.

Transonic, Dust and Hope attacked Exodus together. Transonic hit him in his chin knocking him higher into the air, while Hope and Dust blasted him.

" Second Wave! Knock him out of the sky!" Logan commanded.

Gambit hit Exodus with three of his exploding cards, while surge blasted him in his chest with a bolt of electricity, knocking him off balance and allowing Rogue and Cannonball to knock him back to the ground below.

" Third wave... Finish it." Logan ordered.

With Exodus, grounded, Wolverine, Frenzy, Beast, Primal, and Shiva all pummeled Exodus into the ground.

" There, I finally got past his defenses." Rachel told the others. " Set up a mental block stopping him from using his powers. Weakened as he is it should last for hours."

" Okay, back off, people. He's had enough. We beat him." Logan declared.

Shiva backed down and looked at Hope. " Who's a child?" Shiva asked the girl.

" Heheh! So, you have." Exodus spoke drawing everyone's attention. " But it is I who have won this day. Separated you could not defeat me. Only by coming together-- The disparate factions reuniting-- Were you able to prevail." Exodus explained. " Cyclops still lives, but it's apparent this divide cannot. You have proven the righteousness of my quest. The necessity. Because of what happened here today... It is inevitable. Soon... Very soon... Mutant kind must be one." Exodus spoke before collapsing.

" Shut him up will ya?" Logan asked. " While I figure out what ta do with him."

" I thought it was obvious, Logan." Hope spoke. " We take him back to Utopia. Danger's cellblock will keep his powers dampened. I doubt there's another prison on earth that could hold him." Hope told the man.

" Logan... She's right." Rogue stated.

Logan scratched the back of his head in annoyance as he knew the girls were right. " I know, damn it. The nutjob gets ta go exactly where he was headed anyway. Ya gotta love winning." Logan stated.

Rogue then turned to the others and spoke to them. " Wolverine has a point, with what Scott's doing. Utopia gets more dangerous by the day. He puts a target on your backs, and Exodus ain't gonna be the last to come gunning for it." Rogue told the students. A look of revolt appeared simultaneously on all of their faces. " Ah know why Hope stayed. Being a soldier's all she's ever known. And a lot of the rest of you stayed because of her. But Dust... Pixie... Ah never had the chance to talk to y'all about your decision. Ah just want you to know there's a place for you at the school. A safe place, for all of you." Rogue told them all.

' Aw, that's nice.' Shiva thought.

" You're kidding right?" Surge asked the woman.

' Ah shit.' Shiva's thoughts immediately changed based on the tone Surge took up.

" Safe place? The school where I saw forty-five of my friends murdered?" Surge asked the woman.

" Things are different now, surge." Rogue replied.

" Respectfully, Rogue, they are not." Dust told the woman. " At first, I wanted to go with you... With so many of my friends. But I quickly realized that you were deluding yourselves. We will spend our lives fighting for our lives. This is what our lot has always been. And will be." Dust explained. " This does not need to be a bad thing. We can still have good lives if we accept and understand it. But to pretend we have another choice is to invite the same kind of tragedy we saw when we were last at the school."

" Deluding ourselves? Hold on now, little girl. What gives you the right to say that?" Shiva asked in sever offense over Dust's words. " No other choice? What makes you think that? If you really believe any of what you said, then you are a bigger fool than you know." Shiva told the girl.

" Oh, yeah? You didn't see what we saw. You didn't experience it. So, what gives you the right to tell us we're wrong?" Surge asked the boy.

" I heard everything about what you all went through, from Cessily. And you're right I didn't experience any of it. I probably can't imagine it. But one thing I do know from experience is that there's always a choice." Shiva told the girl. " Just whether or not you are brave enough to accept that fact is the question." Shiva explained. " To think you don't have a choice... That is deluding yourselves."

" Yeah? Well, we're on the front lines saving new mutants who pop up while you sit in a classroom." Hope told the boy.

" Because I choose too. Get it?" Shiva told the girl. " You sit on your island, and you do what you do because you believe you have no choice. Right? Well, I sit in the classroom, and enjoy the life I have because I choose too. I don't have a problem with you all fighting for what you believe in." Shiva stated.

" Then why don't you join us?" Hope asked. " You like to fight, that's what we do. We fight."

" Nah. I like to fight, but I don't like being forced to fight. That's not saying that I won't fight if I need to. Like him for example. He attacked us first and I fought back. But what it sounds like you're preaching is something different all together. And I choose not to follow people like that." Shiva told the woman. " We are who we choose to be."

" Exactly, you kids don't need to be Scott's personal soldiers." Wolverine told the group.

" Look, let's face it. Everything that happened her proves what Dust said is true." Hope exclaimed. " Or did you not just use a bunch of kids as soldiers when your backs were against the wall?" Hope asked.

" That's not fair." Rogue exclaimed. " We ain't a bunch of hippie Pollyanna's. We didn't say there'd never come a time when kids would have to fight. But if you accept that's your purpose in life-- You spend your childhood preparin for it-- You lose something. You end up like." Rogue was explaining.

" Like Magneto? Like Wolverine? Like you?" Pixie asked. " We're a bit okay with that. Sihal Novarum Chinoth!" Pixie chanted and in a flash of pink light her and the rest of the Utopian team were gone.

Logan hung his head and started walking away. " Let's get the hell outta here." Logan told the others.

The flight back to the school was short, but the intense silence made it feel much longer, as tensions were high. When the X-Jet landed back in the school's hangar, Logan stormed off the ship in a huff.

" Logan..." Rogue tried calling out to the man.

" Got nothing to say to you." Logan told the woman.

Rogue reached up and grabbed Logan's shoulder to make him stop. " We're gonna have to work together, So, we better clear the air." Rogue told the man.

" You wanna clear the air? Fine." Logan replied. He turned towards Rogue, and everyone could see the anger on his face. " No point hashin out the arguments. I know why you did what you did, calling Utopia like that. None of it matters. What does matter is you went behind my back." Logan explained to the woman. " We can work together fine. You're good with the kids. Great in a fight. I know I can rely on you. What I can't do is trust you. From here on out... I plan accordingly." And after saying that Logan walked away leaving the woman behind.

" Now, come on teach. Do ya really need to go calling her out like-" Shiva was explaining.

However, before he could finish Logan snapped back around and stormed up to the boy.

" And you. You listen to me, and you listen good. If you ever pull a stunt like you did today, you won't have to worry about choices or detention, cause I'm throwing yer ass out. Got it." Logan shouted in the boy's face.

" Yes, sir." Shiva replied.

Logan huffed and then turned and walked away.

Rogue placed her hand on the boy's shoulder gently. " Ah, thank you for trying to support me. But Logan's right. You shouldn't have been out there."

" You know teach, I learned something today." Shiva spoke.

" Yeah? What's that homme?" Gambit asked.

" That as much as none of you don't want to admit it. Exodus was right." Shiva told the man before walking away, leaving his teachers stunned. As it was true that only together could the X-Men take Exodus down.

A few minutes later the teachers were in the process of getting the student's out of their safe rooms and back into the school.

" You did what?" Kubark asked.

" I got to fight one of the bad guys man. Exodus." Shiva told the boy.

" You do realize he's, like, one of the deadliest mutants alive right?" Victor told Shiva.

" Yeah? Well, I guess that makes me more awesome right, Ruth?" Shiva asked the girl.

" Yes. I'm glad you're okay." Ruth replied.

" See, Trance? there's no need to be scared of Blindfold. Her visions don't always come true. Right, Ruth? You said Exodus was coming to bring our destruction and you were wrong." Victor asked the girl.

" Excuse me? No." Ruth stated. " It's not finished yet." Ruth replied.

The others looked at the girl with concern. However, Shiva scoffed and laughed.

" HA! Well, I'll be ready next time. Guess I'm just gonna have to surpass my limits again." Shiva exclaimed. " Will ya watch me, Ruthie?" Shiva asked the girl.

" Excuse me. Yes, gladly." Ruth replied.

" We must fight right now. I must prove I'm stronger." Kubark shouted in Shiva's face.

" Sorry, but I think starting a fight right now's only gonna get me kicked out sooner." Shiva laughed.

" Ah, don't worry about, Professor Logan. He'll get over it." Victor told Shiva. " He just needs to cool down and everything will be alright."

" Well, until then. I need to get ready for tomorrow. Because I'm almost certain my detention is going to be awful." Shiva replied.

The group all went their separate ways. Kubark returned to his room, Victor as well. Shiva however walked with Ruth and Cessily each back to their rooms, before finally returning to his as well, none of the students or staff aware of what was currently happening to one of their teachers, Kitty Pryde.

" Oh, boy. How... How did this happen?" Kitty asked herself. She looked into the mirror to see her stomach was bulging as if she had been nine months pregnant.

Next time! The Svarga Brawler vs The intergalactic Doctor?!!!