Zero Hour, Part Two

Undisclosed location
After finding his father and zipping him out of there before Wanda had a chance to change her mind, it took Quicksilver only minutes to return to their secret headquarters, where the rest of their little band had fallen back to.
Coming to a complete stop inside their base, Pietro released his father's arm. 
"We're here." He said.
His eyes narrowing, Magneto stormed further into the base. Pietro followed him into a meeting room, where the rest of their team was...including Doom; Pietro's eyes went wide as he saw the fist-shaped dents in Doom's armor...
"What have you done, Victor?!" Magneto shouted.
Doom's eyes narrowed. "Control yourself, Lensherr."
"Our plan was never to harm Xavier!" Magneto roared. "I felt his mind while he was disabling me, von Doom; something drew him away! That could only happen if his defenses were disabled!"
The Brotherhood and Acolytes were silent. Doom's voice was calm. "It was necessary."
Magneto's eyes narrowed. "You bastard..."
"We both know that Xavier's influence, both to all mutants and Kal-El himself, was too great a risk." Doom countered. "His pacifism would only hamper what we have done; you know this."
Magneto's fists clenched, as everything metal in the room – save Doom's armor – started to shake...
"My armor is non-magnetic, Lensherr; you cannot threaten me." Doom said coldly. At that, Magneto stopped. "Xavier was once your friend, Lensherr, and he was willing to spare your life; Doom respects that." Doom continued. "But he was an obstacle to our plans. Now, Kal-El and Xavier's students will certainly attempt to rescue him...giving us a limited window of opportunity."
Magneto slowly nodded. "We...we will have to make Genosha's existence known to the world."
"As well as intercept Cain Marko once the humans release him." Doom added. "I will travel to Genosha and lower the invisibility spell that cloaks it. Do you possess the power-amplifying device?"
Magneto nodded, and took out a small, electronic device. "It will amplify the natural abilities of the mutant who uses it." he said. "Sabretooth lost my prototype, last year...but it did work."
"Good. With the X-Men and Kal-El distracted, we can provide Juggernaut with the advantage he needs to wreak enough havoc to inflame humanity against mutantkind...showing Kal-El the true nature of those he protects." Doom said. "And if they are successful in rescuing Xavier, the memory of what humanity tried to do to Xavier will still linger...and should they fail, mutantkind will have its first martyr, and Kal-El will surely be enraged."
Magneto slowly nodded. 
"I will wait for Marko to escape." He agreed. His eyes then narrowed. "But I would have appreciated being informed of what you planned to do, von Doom."
"The necessity did not allow time for such courtesy, Lensherr." Doom countered.
"Perhaps." Magneto said. With that, he turned, and strode away.
Slightly stricken, Siryn turned to Doom. "Father, you're hurt..!"
"I am fine, daughter." Doom replied. "I will heal." He then noticed her eye. "I see that your encounter with the Blaire girl was less than successful." he added, as Siryn lowered her head in shame. "I also noticed that the Maximoff boy possessed a Kryptonite shard...and I am quite certain that Lensherr did not possess any more..."
"I had the shard at first, Father; I borrowed it from your laboratory." Siryn admitted. "I had planned to use it against...her." She half-glared at Pietro. "I might have been able to recover it...had someone not taken it!"
"Hey, don't blame this all on me, Little Miss Boss-Around!" Pietro snapped...and then froze as Doom's soul-freezing glare turned on him.
"Be very mindful of how you address my daughter, boy." Doom said coldly. "Your father is Doom's ally, and thus Doom has a greater tolerance for his insolence." His eyes narrowed. "You, however, are but a minion, and Doom has very little for you. Am I understood?"
Pietro gulped. "Yes, sir."
"Good." Doom said, before turning back to Siryn. "The Kryptonite was ineffective?"
"Yes, Father." Siryn said.
"I see." Doom said. "Using your enemy's weakness against them...a tactically sound decision." he added thoughtfully. "And even with this loss, you have gained crucial information about the nature of the girl's abilities, and can thus be better prepared. Even the Maximoff boy's buffoonery provided an insight; Kal-El possesses a countermeasure to Kryptonite which we must now consider. Failing to learn from loss is infinitely worse than loss itself, Anita." His arms then folded sternly, as he finished, "But the loss of the Kryptonite shard...that is coming out of your allowance, young lady."
Siryn suppressed a flinch, as she respectfully bowed. "Yes, Father." She said softly.
"Regardless, I will proceed to Genosha." Doom said. "Anita, you will join me there, shortly after; if all goes according to plan, Kal-El will be dropping by, soon." Siryn nodded, and then Doom 'ported himself away.
"Aw, man, I did not sign up for this, yo!" Toad cried.
"'ey, pipe down, ya wanker!" Pyro shouted, looking up from watching T.V.
"No, way, man! Don't you get it?!" Toad shouted. "Mags and Doom just outed us! We're gonna be on the receiving end of every pitchfork and every lynch mob in the country!"
"It had to happen, sooner or later, Tolansky!" Pietro snapped. "Now it happened on our terms!"
"You mean your dad's terms!" Blob shouted. "Todd's right, Pietro! We didn't want this! We just stuck with you 'cause you were our friend and all, but now I'm thinkin' that wasn't such a great idea!"
"Yeah! Alvers had the right idea!" Toad exclaimed. "You know what, that's it! I'm done with this!"
"Yeah, me, too!" Blob added. With that, they turned to go.
"Hold it!" Siryn snapped, and the two of them stopped. "We are in the middle of our victory," she hissed, "and I order the two of you to..!"
SPLAT!
A massive glob of Toad-slime splatted across a very surprised Siryn's face, silencing her. "LeRoux, do us all a favor and shut up." Toad snapped. "Your big mouth has gotten us in enough trouble, thank you very much. You can just take this job and shove it!"
"What he said." Blob agreed. "See you later." With that, the two of them walked away.
"Fine!" Quicksilver shouted after them. "We don't need you two losers, anyway! See if we care!"
As his former friends walked away, Pietro clenched his fists. This was all Super-Dork's fault.
He'd taken his sister. He'd made him lose his friends. He'd humiliated him on way too many occasions. If he had just agreed to work for his father last year, this wouldn't have happened.
Superman had ruined his life...and prophecy or not, he was going to pay.
Warehouse district, New York City
Superman's eyes narrowed at Mystique's words. "'Much worse'?" he repeated. "What is that supposed to mean, Mystique?"
"What do you think it means?!" Cyclops shouted, glaring at Mystique. "She's been in on it since the beginning..!"
"Scott, calm down!" Jean exclaimed. "Let's just...let's just cool it, okay?" At that, Cyclops calmed, though he still regarded the shape-shifting mutant with suspicious eyes.
"I suppose I should have expected this kind of reception." Mystique said, "But it isn't me that you need to worry about."
"What do you mean?" Storm demanded.
Mystique closed her eyes. "The people who built those...machines – the F.O.H. – they plan to attack the Institute and capture Charles."
"What?!" Beast exclaimed.
"Superman, Power Girl, Krypto, you three are the fastest; head to the Institute! Stop them!" Cyclops cried. "Everyone else, head back to the X-Van!" Cyclops turned to Mystique. "You're coming with us."
"Fine with me." Mystique replied evenly. With that, the X-Men, Wanda and Mystique headed to the X-Van, as Superman, Power Girl, and Krypto took to the sky, flying for home as fast as they could.
Superman reached the Institute first, followed by Power Girl and Krypto; by then, the sun was starting to set. As the three of them touched down, the New Mutants, all in uniform, rushed out. 
"Clark, what's going on?!" Jubilee cried.
"Is everyone okay?" Superman asked.
Iceman nodded. "The Professor said we were under attack." he answered. "He told us to lock ourselves in the Danger Room until the attackers left...but they took Professor Xavier, and rigged the Institute to blow up, and we can't shut it off!"
Superman's eyes widened. "What?!" he exclaimed. "Where?!"
"In the Professor's office!" Magma cried. "Hurry!"
Superman turned to Power Girl. "Ali, stay with them; if this goes wrong, your light-powers can protect them!" he said. Power Girl nodded, and Superman darted into the Institute, heading to the Professor's office.
Quickly, Superman darted to the computer on the Professor's desk...which showed a timer counting down...
...with only one minute left.
Superman tried every computer trick he knew...to no avail; only the Professor could authorize the self-destruct's shut-down...and his card-key was broken in half on the floor.
There was no way to stall the timer...
Suddenly, a nutty idea came to him. Quickly, Superman brought up the system diagnostics screen, his hands a blur over the keyboard.
The timer kept counting: 00:10...00:09...00:08...
Finally, Superman finished his programming, and entered it.
00:02...00:01...
Initiating full-system diagnostic. Countdown paused.
Superman breathed a sigh of relief; he hadn't been able to stop the timer, but he had been able to toss a monkey-wrench into the works with a full-system diagnostic scan, tricking the computer into thinking something was wrong...causing it to suspend all other activities until it had checked itself.
Superman then frowned. All he had done was buy about ten minutes, nothing more.
They had to evacuate the Institute.
Getting an idea, Superman quickly took out his belt-computer, and entering a few commands, before putting it back and heading back outside.
He hated the idea of asking his friends to leave their home...but there was no other choice.
From a safe distance from the Institute, aboard their silent helicopters, the F.O.H. soldiers watched with glee as they mentally counted down, waiting for the mutant scum's home to blow up...
Suddenly, something popped up on their radar, as a red-and-blue blur streaked towards the Institute, followed by two other blurs. "HOLY..!" one soldier yelled. "It's the flying freak!"
Another soldier in the back of the chopper grinned. "Let's get him!" he crowed. "There's a lot more of us than there are of him!"
"Are you NUTS?!" another cried. "Didn't you hear what he and the other freaks did to three Sentinels?! That freak took out one Sentinel on his own! With ONE SHOT!"
That silenced the others. "We'd better call for reinforcements." one said. "Get some backup before taking that freak out."
"Hey, I think the rest of the muties are coming back!" another exclaimed.
"Good." the first soldier said. "Call for backup; we'll wipe 'em out all at once..."
As Superman emerged from the Institute, he saw that the others had caught up with him, and had been talking with the New Mutants. Cyclops looked towards him, looking grim. "What's the situation, Kal?"
Superman's expression saddened. "I couldn't stop the self-destruct, not without the Professor's key-card." he replied. "All I could do was loop the system into a diagnostic and buy us about ten minutes. We have to evacuate."
"What?!" Multiple cried. "But...but this is our home..!"
"Jamie, we don't have a choice." Power Girl said sadly.
"I've signalled the Argo; it should be here soon." Superman said. "I can use its stealth field to mask the Blackbird's radar signature."
"But where will we go?" Shadowcat asked.
"Just leave that to me, Kit." Superman said. "I've got it covered."
Cyclops nodded. "Everyone, head to the vehicle hangar and get on board the Blackbird!" he instructed. "We don't have much time!"
Iceman nodded. "The Professor said we were under attack." he answered. "He told us to lock ourselves in the Danger Room until the attackers left...but they took Professor Xavier, and rigged the Institute to blow up, and we can't shut it off!"
Superman's eyes widened. "What?!" he exclaimed. "Where?!"
"In the Professor's office!" Magma cried. "Hurry!"
Superman turned to Power Girl. "Ali, stay with them; if this goes wrong, your light-powers can protect them!" he said. Power Girl nodded, and Superman darted into the Institute, heading to the Professor's office.
Quickly, Superman darted to the computer on the Professor's desk...which showed a timer counting down...
...with only one minute left.
Superman tried every computer trick he knew...to no avail; only the Professor could authorize the self-destruct's shut-down...and his card-key was broken in half on the floor.
There was no way to stall the timer...
Suddenly, a nutty idea came to him. Quickly, Superman brought up the system diagnostics screen, his hands a blur over the keyboard.
The timer kept counting: 00:10...00:09...00:08...
Finally, Superman finished his programming, and entered it.
00:02...00:01...
Initiating full-system diagnostic. Countdown paused.
Superman breathed a sigh of relief; he hadn't been able to stop the timer, but he had been able to toss a monkey-wrench into the works with a full-system diagnostic scan, tricking the computer into thinking something was wrong...causing it to suspend all other activities until it had checked itself.
Superman then frowned. All he had done was buy about ten minutes, nothing more.
They had to evacuate the Institute.
Getting an idea, Superman quickly took out his belt-computer, and entering a few commands, before putting it back and heading back outside.
He hated the idea of asking his friends to leave their home...but there was no other choice.
From a safe distance from the Institute, aboard their silent helicopters, the F.O.H. soldiers watched with glee as they mentally counted down, waiting for the mutant scum's home to blow up...
Suddenly, something popped up on their radar, as a red-and-blue blur streaked towards the Institute, followed by two other blurs. "HOLY..!" one soldier yelled. "It's the flying freak!"
Another soldier in the back of the chopper grinned. "Let's get him!" he crowed. "There's a lot more of us than there are of him!"
"Are you NUTS?!" another cried. "Didn't you hear what he and the other freaks did to three Sentinels?! That freak took out one Sentinel on his own! With ONE SHOT!"
That silenced the others. "We'd better call for reinforcements." one said. "Get some backup before taking that freak out."
"Hey, I think the rest of the muties are coming back!" another exclaimed.
"Good." the first soldier said. "Call for backup; we'll wipe 'em out all at once..."
As Superman emerged from the Institute, he saw that the others had caught up with him, and had been talking with the New Mutants. Cyclops looked towards him, looking grim. "What's the situation, Kal?"
Superman's expression saddened. "I couldn't stop the self-destruct, not without the Professor's key-card." he replied. "All I could do was loop the system into a diagnostic and buy us about ten minutes. We have to evacuate."
"What?!" Multiple cried. "But...but this is our home..!"
"Jamie, we don't have a choice." Power Girl said sadly.
"I've signalled the Argo; it should be here soon." Superman said. "I can use its stealth field to mask the Blackbird's radar signature."
"But where will we go?" Shadowcat asked.
"Just leave that to me, Kit." Superman said. "I've got it covered."
Cyclops nodded. 
"Everyone, head to the vehicle hangar and get on board the Blackbird!" He instructed. "We don't have much time!"
"Which is why we're here." 
Superman turned towards that approaching voice...and saw Flash zip up to them.
"What's the situation?" Flash asked.
Superman's expression turned grave, all business now. "We have less than ten minutes before this place self-destructs," he said, "and we could really use some help in evacuating..."
But he suddenly stopped, as his hearing picked up the sound of rotor blades...as numerous black helicopters hovered into view, dropping several dozen soldiers...
...soldiers bearing F.O.H. arm-bands.
"Looks like that can wait." Flash said.
Superman turned to the X-Men. "Everyone, head to the Blackbird and get to safety; we'll buy you time!" he exclaimed. "Power Girl, Krypto, Flash, we have to hold these guys off!" At that, Cyclops nodded, before he and the rest of the X-Men darted inside, while Power Girl and Krypto remained outside with Superman and Flash.
Within minutes, the first squadron of F.O.H. soldiers were in firing range. 
"Die, mutie scum!" The leader yelled, as the squadron opened fire.
Quickly, Superman darted forward, into the line of fire, his hands moving faster than lightning, snatching up every single bullet, tossing them aside when the soldiers stopped firing. Flash took advantage of that pause by zipping into that group, snatching up their weapons at top speed, before they had a chance to reload. Once Flash moved clear, Superman took a deep breath, and unleashed his gale-breath, blowing the soldiers back, as if they were no more than fallen leaves.
While Superman and his pals engaged the foot-soldiers, Power Girl took to the air, firing her eye-rays at an approaching chopper, searing off its rear rotor, forcing its pilot and crew to bail out. Turning, she managed to raise a barrier as a second opened fire with its Vulcan-Cannon; she easily repelled its rounds...until a snarling Krypto took to the air and grabbed its rear rotor, shaking it and throwing it away, where it crashed to the ground. Power Girl smiled. "Good boy!" she called to Krypto, who barked happily.
As Power Girl turned back, she saw several more choppers flying towards them, opening fire with missiles...which impacted harmlessly against a green energy-barrier that suddenly appeared between the missiles and the Institute. As the choppers flew closer, that same field engulfed two of them, stopping them in mid-air...as Green Lantern flew into view, a beam from his ring generating the field. Green Lantern then threw the choppers away, before freezing another one in an energy field.war-cry filled the air, seconds before Hawkgirl dove from the clouds at incredible speeds, smashing the chopper's tail clean off with her mace. Hawkgirl then flew at another chopper, evading its Vulcan shots, and then smashing its main rotor, causing it to drop like a stone.
As the remaining choppers started to pull back, Power Girl, Krypto, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl touched down, as Superman and his two pals walked over to them. "Green Lantern, Colonel Hol, it's great to see you both!" Superman said. "We certainly could use the help!"
Green Lantern smiled. 
"Figured as much." He replied. He then turned to Hawkgirl. "Nice moves, back there."
Hawkgirl smiled back. "Likewise." 
"You know these two?" Flash asked Superman.
Superman nodded. "Introductions will have to come later."
Just then, from its cliff-hangar, the Blackbird flew out, taking to the sky, heading out over the ocean. Superman smiled as he saw his friends escape...and then his eyes widened as he saw the two fighter jets closing on them...the jets with F.O.H. markings. "Uh-oh."
The others saw them, too. "Looks like the others need some air-support." Aquaman said worriedly.
Hawkgirl's eyes narrowed. "Then what are we waiting for?!"
Just then, Superman's hearing picked up a familiar sound, approaching fast, and he smiled. "That." he said, as the Argo touched down in front of them.
Flash whistled. "Nice ride." he quipped.
"It gets the job done." Superman replied. Then, he tapped his belt-buckle, and the Argo's teleporter beam shot out, 'porting Superman, Power Girl, Krypto, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkgirl inside. In the Argo's cockpit, Superman promptly headed to the pilot's seat, and took the controls, powering up the engines while the others took their own seats. Outside, the Argo hovered into the air, and then took off at high speeds, heading after the Blackbird and the fighters pursuing it...
...and as they flew, Superman could hear the Institute's computer finish its diagnostic...and resume its last activity.
The Xavier Institute exploded in an impressive blast, leveling the entire mansion, their home, leaving nothing standing. The lower levels were likely untouched, since they were reinforced...but the home they had all known was gone.
The rear-viewing screen on the Argo' HUD showed the explosion in more detail than Superman would have liked. Power Girl lowered her head. "There goes our home..."
Krypto softly whined.
"Someone's gonna pay." Flash muttered.
Green Lantern shook his head. "What kind of sick bastard would do this..?"
Hawkgirl's eyes narrowed. "When we find out, remind me to tear him a new one."
Superman's expression became determined. "As long as we're all okay, we have a home." he said. "The Institute can be rebuilt." He looked back, and smiled at Power Girl. "We'll be okay, taushi."
Power Girl smiled back. "I know, tausha." she replied. "I know." Turning back to the Speeder's HUD, Superman increased speed, as the Argo chased after the monsters trying to hurt their friends.
In seconds, the Argo had caught up to the Blackbird and its pursuers...just as the fighters had launched missiles at the Blackbird. The Blackbird instantly dove low, trying to shake the missiles off – one of Cyclops' evasive tactics, Superman noted – but the missiles followed it, closing fast...
Quickly, Superman brought up the ship's Countermeasures, and enabled Radar Ghosts; in less than a second, the Argo hacked into the missiles' targeting systems, fooling them into thinking their target was elsewhere – instantly, the missiles veered off, detonating harmlessly.
By then, the F.O.H. fighters had broken off their attack on the Blackbird, and were closing on the Argo. One fighter opened fire with its Vulcan-Cannon, firing numerous cannon-shells...which bounced harmlessly off of the Argo's shields, as human weapons technology met Kryptonian shield technology.
Before the fighters could attack again, Superman dropped altitude and lowered speed; outside, the Argo slowed down, and suddenly dipped low, causing the pursuing fighters to shoot past...where they were sitting ducks.
Instantly, Superman locked onto the two fighters. "Argo: arm Swarm Drones." he instructed. "Two clusters, 10 percent attack rate." As the Argo complied, its weapons pods extending, Superman tapped on the targeting holographics, bringing up detailed images of the fighters, and tapping particular spots – weak spots – on the images, directing the Drones exactly where to attack. "Fire."
At once, the Argo fired two crystalline spheres, which began homing on the two fighters, before the spheres each separated into three smaller units...which expanded into claw-shapes, before impacting the fighters, latching on at their weak spots...and unleashing swarms of countless nano-bots.
Swarm-Class Attack Drones, designed to attach to the hulls of either unshielded or shielded vessels – the latter target-type requiring the activation of their shield-piercing force-field – and unleashing their nano-bot payloads, eating through their hulls to destroy their targets through catastrophic implosion much faster than mere hull damage could. The nano-swarms could also be programmed for additional functions, such as chewing through hull-plating until they hit ship electronics, and then deliver subversive programs to circumvent the target vessel completely...
...but against the relatively-low-tech jet-fighters, just having the voracious mini-machines snack on their hulls was enough.
Within seconds, the hulls of the fighters started to disintegrate from the nano-attack, as the pilots ejected from their craft...before they lost the ability to do so. As the fighters, utterly crippled, started to fall towards the water, the Swarm Drones recalled their nano-swarms, and detached from their targets, flying back to the Argo, and clipping to its weapon-pods, as Superman piloted the Speeder onward, to catch up with the Blackbird.
Flash whistled again. "This is one seriously nice ride."
Power Girl softly chuckled. "Flash, you haven't seen anything, yet."
Before long, the Argo was flying side-by-side with the Blackbird. Superman hailed them. "Everyone okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine," came Cyclops' reply, "but where to, now? I don't exactly have a flight-plan, here!"
"I do." Superman replied. "We head north."
"'North'?" Cyclops said. "Why? What's up there...oh. Got it." With that, the transmission ended, and the Blackbird adjusted its course, heading to the north. Superman adjusted course to match it, and activated the Argo's stealth-field, extending it to cover both ships, so that no other F.O.H. fighters would detect them. With that done, Superman continued on his chosen course, escorting his friends to safety.
Batcave, beneath Wayne Manor, Gotham City
Batman was sitting in front of the high-tech Bat-computer, deep in thought, when Robin darted out of the elevator, running up to him. "Bruce, did you hear?!" he exclaimed. "Did you hear about..?!"
Batman simply tapped a key on the keyboard, bringing up the video-feed of Superman and his companions. "It's on all the networks, Dick."
"Oh. You have heard." Robin said. "So, what should we do?"
Batman's expression didn't change. "'Do'?"
"Well...we're going to help them..." Robin elaborated, "...aren't we?"
"Leaving would put Gotham at risk." Batman replied. "We can't risk leaving the city unprotected, not when someone like Joker could take advantage of this kind of chaos."
"Unbelievable!" Robin shouted. "Superman's your friend, Bruce – and don't say he's not – and you're just going to hang him out to dry?!" With that, he turned, and stormed out of the cave.
Alfred stepped out of the elevator just as Robin was getting on. Alfred simply arched an eyebrow. "Another difference of opinion between you and Master Richard, I presume, Master Bruce?" he hazarded. "With regards to...recent events?"
"Robin thinks that we should help Superman." Batman answered. "But we can't leave Gotham unprotected."
"A valid enough point." Alfred agreed. "But could Master Richard and the young Miss Gordon handle things suitably enough...on their own?"
Batman's eyes narrowed in a half-glare. "You're suggesting I leave them to watch over Gotham City alone?" He turned back to the computer.
Alfred's expression became stern. "Master Richard and Miss Barbara are quite capable, Master Bruce." he replied. "And, on another note, it might interest you that Master Kent's compatriots were the students of the Xavier Institute."
Batman paused at the mention of that name.
"Charles Xavier was one of your parents' oldest and dearest friends, Master Bruce." Alfred said softly. "His dream was always to create a world where those with...unique talents could peacefully coexist with all others." He turned to leave. "And a peaceful world, Master Bruce, is a safe world." With that, he left the Cave.
Batman was alone with his thoughts, now. No matter the situation, he couldn't leave Robin and Batgirl alone, here...but they were capable, he admitted. He knew he could count on them to handle smaller tasks while he handled more important ones.
But the Mission was paramount. No matter what, he couldn't leave, not until Gotham was safe...
...but what would it matter if Gotham was safe, while the rest of the world fell apart?
Batman shook his head. No. He couldn't afford doubts; doubts were pointless. His years of training had taught him that...but still...
And then, he remembered.
He remembered the nights of his parents' deaths...he remembered watching that man shoot them down...
He remembered watching his mother's pearls scatter across the street, stained red from their blood...
He remembered being taken to the police station until Alfred picked him up...
And he remembered the funeral...where he'd met a kind bald man, with gentle eyes, who'd said he was a friend of his parents...
Batman's eyes narrowed behind his cowl, as he looked to the screen, recalling the spare Bat-Wave transmitter he'd given to Clark...and he made his decision.
Somewhere near Roswell, New Mexico
The afternoon sun was hot over the desert near Roswell as the single black helicopter flew over the impressive mesas dotting the landscape...but Graydon Creed wasn't in the mood to appreciate the scenery.
Graydon's eyes narrowed as he spoke into his cell-phone. "What did you say?" he said, with deadly control. "What happened to the Sentinels?"
"Uh...t-they were destroyed, sir." came the lieutenant's reply.
Graydon's teeth clenched. "You're telling me that we lost three Sentinels to a handful of muties?!"
"It...it was that flying freak, sir!" the lieutenant cried. "He took out one Sentinel all on his own! With ONE shot, sir! If it had been the muties alone, it would have been different! He's much more powerful than anyone anticipated, sir! Not only that, but the Sentinels wouldn't recognize him! It's like he's...he's...something else ENTIRELY!"
Graydon sighed, putting his hand to his head. "Please tell me we have Xavier." he said flatly.
"Yes, sir; Xavier should be arriving at the New Mexico base within the hour."
"Good." Graydon said. "Any problems?"
"Well...not at first, sir." the lieutenant said. "We got Xavier away without a hitch...but when we tried to destroy the Institute, the flying freak – along with some other freaks, ones we hadn't seen before – interfered; Xavier's students escaped before it blew. We tried to shoot their plane down...but the flying freak chased us in some kind of...of ship, sir!"
Graydon's eyes narrowed. "One ship shot down two fighters?" he growled. "You didn't even put up a fight?"
"Sir, this ship was different; our shots just bounced off of it, like it had...I don't know, some kind of...of shield, or something! And its weapons, sir...NO human mind has ever thought up weapons like that!"
Graydon paused. "You're certain of this?"
"Absolutely, sir."
Graydon's brow furrowed. "I'll look into this later. Any word from Dr. Trask?"
"Yes, sir. Dr. Trask has returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. without incident; he is ready to release the Juggernaut at your command."
"Good." Graydon said. "And our two test-subjects?"
"Already en route to the New Mexico base, sir."
"Excellent." Graydon said. "Head back to the nearest outpost for full debriefing; I want a full report on exactly what you saw that...'ship' do."
"Understood, sir." came the reply.
As Graydon ended the call, he frowned to himself. Where did those mutants get' that kind of technology?' he thought.
S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't have it.
His people didn't have it.
No-one had it.
So where had they gotten it?
'We're going to have to put more effort into analyzing the Roswell Object.' he thought to himself. No matter where the mutants had gotten that technology, he would not allow their kind to have a technological advantage of that magnitude.
Still, the thought of that ship troubled him...and from what he knew of the Roswell Object, he knew that threats from outside Earth were just as real as those native to Earth.
Like mutants.
Graydon's eyes narrowed. The Friends of Humanity would eliminate any and all threats to the human race, regardless of where they came from.
And they would start with mutants.
North Pole
As the Blackbird followed the Argo into the far north, Cyclops could see the landscape on the shoreline slowly turn from deciduous forest to boreal forest, then to tundra, and then to glacial ice, before vanishing as they flew out over the waters of the Arctic Ocean.
Mystique frowned. "Why are we going here?" she muttered. "The only thing that was ever out here was Asteroid M, and that's long gone!"
Cyclops chuckled. "Asteroid M was the only thing you and Magneto knew about." he quipped. "The Professor, Logan, Storm, Jean and I are the only ones besides Superman who've ever seen it."
Shadowcat's eyes went wide. "Wait...are you guys talking about..?"
Jean smiled, and nodded. "Yes, Kitty; that must be where Kal is leading us."
"Huh?" Multiple asked.
"I, too, am confused." Android said. "Please clarify."
Storm smiled. "It's the place where we first found Kal." she said.
As they had been flying, a blizzard had been gradually building; by now, it was really raging. "Hang on." came Superman's voice over the radio. "I'll just switch off the weather-defenses. Just follow me into the Docking Bay."
Seconds later, as if someone had just hit a button, the blizzard died away...and they all could see it.
Even though he'd seen it before, Cyclops was still awed by the marvel that was Superman's Fortress.
"My word..." Beast murmured. "Is that..?"
"Yep." Cyclops confirmed.
"Whoa..." Iceman murmured.
"It's...beautiful..." Magma murmured.
The others were similarly awestruck by the Fortress, even Mystique. Slowly, Cyclops guided the Blackbird towards the strip of landing lights, following the Argo into the opening crystalline doors, setting the Blackbird down next to the Kryptonian Speeder, as the doors began to close behind them, locking out the snow of the Pole.
Once the Blackbird was down, the X-Men, New Mutants, and Mystique disembarked, as Superman and the others 'ported out of the Argo. Superman noticed their awed expressions, and smiled. "Welcome," he said, "to the Fortress of Solitude."
"Mein Gott..." Nightcrawler whispered.
Ray whistled.
"Wow..." Wanda whispered.
"You lived here?" Multiple murmured.
"For four years." Superman answered.
Jean chuckled. "After seeing this place, again, we have to wonder why he left." she joked.
Superman chuckled, before walking to one crystalline wall, and simply touching it; several holographic symbols appeared at his touch, and Superman manipulated them with his hand, before tapping the central holographic. Instantly, a large section of the wall became blue-white energy, with golden circuitry woven in, and then retracted, leading further into the Fortress. "Professor Xavier took me in, and gave me refuge." Superman said. "Please...let me do the same for all of you." With that, he headed further into the Fortress, and the others followed.
Superman led his friends to the Fortress' Main Hall, stopping next to the main teleporter. "Fortress," he instructed, "generate two dozen additional sleeping quarters. Also, unlock Bio-Coding for the following commands: food synthesis, teleporter control to and from sleeping quarters, and civilian-level communications and computer access."
"Acknowledged."
Superman turned to the New Mutants. "This teleporter will take you all to your rooms." he explained. "All you have to do is step on and tell it what to do."
Boom-Boom arched an eyebrow. "Do we get our own rooms?"
Superman chuckled. "Yes, Tabitha. You do."
Berzerker grinned. "'Bout time!" he laughed.
"Just remember, Ray: this is Superman's home." Jean warned.
Rogue chuckled. "Yeah, Crisp; if ya break somethin' here, ya answer to him!"
Ray gulped.
Iceman chuckled. "You know, I'm anxious to check out my new room."
"Me, too." Jubilee agreed, as the New Mutants murmured words of agreement. With that, they all stood on the teleporter, instructing it to take them to their new rooms; in a flash of blue-white light, they were 'ported away.
Avalanche chuckled. "So much for being a Fortress of Solitude."
Superman smiled. "Hey, I don't mind having boarders."
"So, what should we do, now?" Hawkgirl inquired.
Superman's expression turned firm. "Now we organize a rescue mission for Professor Xavier."
Spyke grinned. "Good to hear, Big Blue."
"But where?" Power Girl asked. "We have no idea where those soldiers took him..."
"I could try looking for him telepathically." Jean volunteered. "I've...never tried looking this far, though..."
"You can do it, Jean." Cyclops said. "We know you can."
Jean lightly blushed. "Thanks."
"The rest of you wait here." Superman instructed. "I'm going to see if I can get us some backup." With that, he headed further into the Fortress, towards his workshop.
As Superman entered his workshop, he heard a faint beeping noise...and then he saw the transmitter that Batman had given him, flashing its bat-symbol constantly. Superman picked it up. "Superman, here."
"What's the situation, Kent?"
Superman smiled. "Nice to hear you, too, Bruce." he said. "Everyone is okay, but Professor Xavier's been kidnapped; we're mounting a rescue mission."
"Any leads?"
"None, yet." Superman answered. "We're looking into a few things; hopefully, we'll get lucky. Right now, we're just trying to get a rescue team together." He lightly smiled. "You interested?"
Batman was silent for a few seconds. "Notify me when you have a lead." he finally said, before he ended the transmission.
Superman chuckled. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." he said to himself, putting the transmitter down.
"Tausha?"
Superman smiled as he turned to see Power Girl, there. "Hey, taushi." he greeted.
"What did you mean by 'backup'?" she inquired.
"Hang on, baby...I know I left it here somewhere..." Superman said, and then he smiled as he spotted it, picking it up. "I'm just going to call in a few favors."
With that, he switched on the communicator. "Superman calling Captain America. You there, Cap?"
There were a few moments of static, and then, "Cap here. That you, son?"
Superman smiled. "Good to hear you, Cap." he replied. "You remember that time, last year? That little job I helped with? Well, Cap, I'm calling in the tab..."
Xavier Institute ruins
Night had fallen as the Quinjet, the main transport for the Avengers, touched down next to what was left of the Xavier Institute. As he disembarked, Captain America frowned sadly as he took in the sight. 
"My God..." He whispered.
"I know, Steve." came a lightly-Russian-accented female voice, as Natalia "Black Widow" Romanova, Cap's girlfriend, walked out of the Quinjet. Natalia was in her twenties, was tall, with an elegant frame, and mid-length ruby-red hair, and spellbinding emerald eyes, clad in a skin-tight black bodysuit, with a loaded firearm strapped to her belt, as well as a pair of deadly vibranium knives. Natalia had once been a deadly operative for the KGB, but had later defected as the Cold War came to an end.
Natalia met Cap's gaze. "Who could do this?" She asked.
"Someone who hated mutants, that's who." came Iron Man's metallic voice, as he, Hank "Giant Man" Pym, and his wife, Janet "Wasp" Pym, walked out. "Any word from Thor?"
"None yet, Stark." Cap replied...and then, he felt the air stark to get muggy. "Hold on; I stand corrected."