Timeslip struggled through the high snow with a grimace on her face. Guthrie had stuck her with Meltdown and Cannonball on purpose. He wanted her to make sure that nothing happened to either of them, but Tabitha in particular. He also knew what she would think about that. She had never made any of her feelings secret to anyone. If only she could throttle the High Lord... But she admired him too much. He had practicaly raised her and a few others on his black ops team. Sometimes she swore that he still thought of her as a child. "What are you doing?" she demanded to Meltdown who had formed one of her bombs. "It's freezing! I don't wanna end up as a popsicle," she replied. Timeslip grit her teeth. "If there are any mutant energy detectors around here you've alerted the Clustic Corp to our presence. If not you've still set off the meltage alarms that monitor the snows all over the world because they are the only source of fresh water and they don't want people pirating it." The bomb vanished. "Geez! How was I 'possed ta know?"

"The oposition could already be alerted to our presence," reported Phoenix. "How?" asked the High Lord. "Meltdown." Jean couldn't be sure, but she thought that the ghost of a smile lit on the High Lord's lips. "Well so they may be ready for us. That's never stopped the X-Men from doing what's right before. We'll use added caution from here on in. Alert the others." Cyclops just listened to the man who had once been his student and looked up to him with a tinge of amusement. He felt a twinge of fatherly pride at the capable way in which he handled himself, and at the leader he had become. Jean sensed his thoughts. *He has matured very much. It's nice to think that we have done something to prepare him for his future.* *What do you sense from him?* Scott was curious. Jean smiled, she loved him so much and was the only one who could claim to truly know him, for he often kept his emotions and feelings in his mind so as to be a better leader. *He is very changed. Sam has seen much in his centuries. He isn't the happy go lucky kind of kid our Sam is. He hurts inside but strives not to show it because he wants others to be able to feel confidence through him. You should be proud, my love* *I'd be proud if we had a son like him* Jean felt surprised. Scott rarely spoke of children. *One we can raise together and talk freely with* *We will someday, Scott* They reached out and held each others hands as they trudged together through the snow.

Rogue was flying low over the snow. "Ah hope we ain't walkin in to to big a mess," she said. She had taken to the air after Jean had communicated their possible detection. "Don't worry, I'm sure that either way it's gonna be a heck of a brawl," said Wolverine with a grin. "You like this sort of thing don't cha, Wolvie?" "If they fight as well as Xeltec kid, we should actually get a workout out of this." Rogue rolled her eyes. Wolverine was the only one to take up Xeltec's offer of a mock battle. "Remy jus hope we can save de timestream an still be home for dinner. I mean, who knows what dey serve here in the future, eh?" Wolverine guffawed. "Men," grumbled Rogue. She was considered rash and hotheaded, but every man she had met excepting Cyclops was as bad or worse.

The compound had a silvery white exterior, that they hadn't been able to distinguish from the snow until they were almost on top of it. "It seems tah be seamless," said Cannonball running his hands across the smooth hull. "Do we havta blast our way in or what?" asked Meltdown. "Shhh!" said Timeslip. She pulled of her heavy snow glove and placed her hand on the freezing hull. Then she pulled something out of her coat. "When you're inside don't even move until I come in after you," she said. "Yeah sure, sure. We won't get in to any trouble unless it comes lookin for us," replied Meltdown. Timeslip gave her a warning look. Then she placed a thumbnail sized chip on the hull. When she pressed it, the hull went translucent. She pushed Meltdown and Cannonball through quickly. She hit the switch again and dove through. When she hit ground she rolled and smacked into a wall. "Are yah ok?" asked Cannonball holding a hand out to her. She gave him a funny look, but allowed him to help her up. "What was that?" asked Meltdown looking at the wall. "Sorry, but I can't reveal any details about the future. All three of them were covered in a silvery metalic color. Timeslip pulled of her snow gear and tossed it in the corner. Then she rubbed all the color out of her hair, face and hands. Meltdown and Cannonball did the same after a moment. "So now we're in," she said. "Let's get moving." They were in a rounded corridor with grayish pink panels. "First place we should check out is the compound center and work our way outwards if the time travel device isn't there," said Timeslip. "That way we'll be on our way out as we search," said Cannonball. Meltdown shrugged as if to say 'whatever'. Timeslip ran lightly down the corridor without making a sound. Cannonball and Meltdown followed her. After a while they realized that the corridor spiraled inward. "That means that the device probably is in or near the center. This pattern will funnel energy flows in that direction," whispered Timeslip. "And the empty corridor has tah mean a trap," whispered Cannonball. Timeslip nodded.

Team 1 was not in a spiraling corridor section. When they had entered it had been into what seemed to be a laboratoy complex. They walked carefully through the halls, avoiding opend doors and any people they saw walking into and out of rooms. "This is a population breeding system," said the High Lord sounding surprised. *About half the population is sterile because of exposure to harmful energies or illegal experimentation* he explained mentally. *The more controling goverments sometimes keep breeding stocks, but on whole it's considered criminal because the need for it is negligeable. We aren't an underpopulated world yet* *Could they also maybe be trying to breed more powerful mutants as weapons?* asked Cyclops. *That's what caused half the population to become sterile in the first place. It's illegal world wide and evidence of such doings would cause the loosely connected council of nations to declare nuclear war on whoever was doing it* "How's it going?" asked one man who had come out of a lab to another who was standing in the hallway. "Subject 44 has just manifested. Extremly powerfull. Big boss will be pleased with this breeding." "Good. If the up and up does manage world domination maybe we wouldn't have to work in such and infernal place anymore," the first man said. *Gene-scientists* The High Lords thought came out in a snarl, and made Jean flinch. *Clustic must have found the Doc. He's the only geno-freak left. All other research was destroyed in the war, but he just vanished* He got ahold of himself. *Let's proceed with the mission. This isn't the problem we came to solve. I'll deal with it later*

Wolverine dispatched the last guard. Team 3 had come into what looked to be a watch station. The 10 security guards that had been stationed there lay on the floor, dead or unconscious. "These rent-a-cops are the same even in our time," he growled. "Oui, only they 'ave some nasty weaponry" Gambit grimaced at the gaping hole melted into the wall behind him. A second slower and that would have been his head. "Ah don't think they set off any alarms," said Rogue looking over an incomprehensible control panel. "Not that Ah'm likely to understand an alarm if Ah see one," she added. Suddenly all the screens went blank. The three teammates exchanged a look.

Team 3 was now in a white walled room. "We should be almost at the center," said Timeslip as she looked down one of the curving walls. It ended with a dead end, but there was an empty passegeway down in the other direction. "This is a perfect place for that ambush," she muttered. As if she had sensed it, a green slimy glob suddenly surged through the curved wall behind her and enveloped her. She waved franticaly for Cannonball and Meltdown to go on. "She can't breathe that!" exclaimed Cannonball. "She knows what she can and can't do better than you, hayseed. Besides isn't saving the world more important than one person?" Despite her words, Meltdown sounded worried and reluctant. *The High Lord says Timeslip can get out of it. You have to move on* came Phoenix's mental voice in their heads. Phoenix sounded worried too. Meltdown and Cannonball rushed on ahead with a sinking feeling.

As soon as Meltdown and Cannonball had gone down the passegeway, a tall man with long brown hair that hung in his eyes and was wearing a white suit walked through the wall. "Thank you so much for sending them on their way to meet the oposition set up for them, darling," he said with a laugh. His brown eyes glowed green, and the slime that covered her became a thin but hard membrane holding her against the wall. His eyes turned back to brwon and he stepped closer to her. "The High Lord's time traveler is quite a catch, tell me dear, are you breedable?" He laughed. "Oh I'm sorry. I forgot you can't even breathe like that!" His eyes flashed green and she fell to the floor. "You haven't really caught me yet," she growled jumping up and slashing at him with her claws. He jumped back and pulled his hair out of his eyes. "Lively, I like them that way." He unbuttoned the front of his coat to allow him more freedom of movement. She punched him, but he moved fast and grabbed her fist before it impacted his face. "You're about to learn something new about my powers, pet." His eyes and her arm started glowing green. She bit her lip so as not to scream at the pain that shot up her arm, as she brought her leg around to kick him in the face.

Cyclops fired a beam behind them as they ran down the corridor. A bunch of armored guards had spilled out of one of the labs as they had tried to sneak past. The blast slowed the armored men, but only because it pushed them back a few feet as it hit their shields. *The energy shields will fade if you hit them hard and long enough* Came the High Lord's mental voice. *The aren't shielded against mind attacks either* comunicated Phoenix as one of the armored units fell to her mental assault. "We don't see many telepaths anymore", came a smug sounding voice from a doorway up ahead. A man in a white suit and with white starting to show in his dark hair was standing in the doorway. Phoenix let out a scream as soon as he spoke. Through their link, Cyclops could feel the pain that burst into her mind. The man raised a weapon and fired at the High Lord. A blue goop shot out, covering him and anchoring him to the floor. "A telepathic manipulator makes people regret being psi's. Too bad your companion is linked to you, dear. Other wise he might have saved you." He turned to the armored men. "I can take it from here. Go assist those at the net center."

"These tin cans ain't worth crap," said Wolverine as he ripped through one. His comment was somewhat of an exageration, for the armored troops had the advantage at that moment. They had powerfull shields generated a few inches away from their bodies that only crashed after a serious beating. Gambit didn't have anything to charge unless he ripped panels off the machines and risked electric shock. That's why Rogue didn't say anything when Remy yelled "Merde" as more armored troopers came pouring in. She was too busy fighting.

Timeslip took quick advantage of her oppenent being off balance from her kick and delivered a quick punch to his gut, with her claw gloved hand. He gasped as she violently brought her fist up and pierced his lungs. She kicked him in the knee as he reached to grab her again. He collapsed to the floor, but managed to get ahold of her leg as he feel. Her leg glowed green and pain shot through her again. She almost sucumbed to the pain and fell, but she had been trained brutally, and was stronger than that. She came down on his chest hard with her free leg, and heard the ribs snap. He released her, and collapsed with blood coming out of his mouth. "Don't mess with me," she said as she sent the claws on her glove through his eye sockets and into his brain, making his death a little quicker. Timeslip got up, and ran down the passage way, limping slightly. The next room was a huge circular chamber. In the center was a strange device on a round platform. Everything had a sterilized white color to it. From the time patterns she could sense, Timeslip knew that through the central platform timetravelers could be sent. Meltdown and Cannonball were both trapped together in a containment field, that held up no matter how hard they used the force of their powers against it. People in lab coats rushed around preping the device. Timeslip ducked behind a work station. A metal door slid open down by most of the activity, and four men in white suits, as well as a white suited woman stepped out. Timeslip suddenly remembered what they were called: "Exec's". It was short for executive exterminators. The report she read said that they were the reason Clustic Corp. was internationally backed in a world where no one worked together. "They're sending Exec's back in to the past," she groaned.

Cyclop's head was pounding so hard, he couldn't concentrate enough to fire one of his optic blasts. That was the problem with having the trigger atuned to one's mind. Jean was reeling on the floor, and he was barely left standing. Obviously that meant that links were harder to manipulate than the actual psi's, because Jean's mental defenses were tougher than his. The High Lord was twitching in the solid slime. So far all he had managed were a few jerks. He wouldn't get free before their captor managed to dispose of them. "Soon I will gain complete control of your mind, and then I'll destroy the High Lord's mind and Clustic Corp. can finally take over America!" But speaking to gloat would cost the man. It didn't affect his control over Jean, but it did affect his control over Cyclops. He wasn't experienced enough in links. Cyclops let loose an optic blast that hit the aging man on the skull. Cyclops hadn't managed to control the blast though, and instead of knocking him out, it vaporized his head. For some reason, not even the noble people loving Scott Summer's could regret killing the man that had hurt his wife so badly. He could feel her mental trembling through the link. He helped her to her feet, avoiding the sight of the body. A little optic blast assistance, and the High Lord was free in no time. "I knew my memories of the X-Men weren't exagerated," he said. In the Sam Scott knew, that statement would have been acompanied by a grin. The High Lord was all business. "We must hurry," he said running down the now empty corridors.

In the end, for Team 3 it all came down to betting on a dangerous ploy. Such things were common when either Wolverine or Gambit was involved, but with both together... Gambit charged a section of the wall, to find a way to escape or even just some more fighting space. It was a show of their uncanny luck, that none of them got injured and that the explosion took out several of the armored trooper's shields. The three X-Men spilled into a white chamber full of people running around. "We be very lucky dis day after all, non?" said Gambit with a smile as he downed a shieldless trooper. "Our luck seems to have come out in spades, bub, because if I ain't mistaken that's Meltdown and Sammy over there and this is our target." "Ah'll see if Ah can do something 'bout the field that's holdin Cannonball and Meltdown," said Rogue flying over. "You aren't as lucky as you think!" yelled Timeslip, jumping up from behind a work station. "Those people in the center there are seconds away from timetravel and I can't stop them!" At that moment, Cyclops, Phoenix, and the High Lord arrived. Rogue smashed panels left and right, and the High Lord blasted towards the time travel platform, but they were too late. Just as the High Lord made it to the platform, the five people on it vanished.

Wolverine ripped into the armored guards, trying to get near the rest of the team. "Clear the room," yelled the High Lord, sweeping up a few armored guards. Cannonball and Meltdown got free, and joined the fight. Phoenix wasn't in fighting condition, so Cyclops stayed near her and helped out any way he could. Rogue batted at the shields, trying to help bring them down. Working their powers together they bagan to slow the overwhelming number of armored maniacs in the room. Wolverine soon found himself fighting side by side with the girl Timeslip. She ripped into the troopers using the claw in a way similar to the way he used his. She also had some viscious kicks and that sounded like they dented armor. "Who taught you to fight, girl?" he asked as things wound down. "Part of my training was done by the High Lord, the rest in battle," she said, giving him a funny look. 'Could Sammy have watched my fighting enough that he could teach the girl those moves?' he wondered. She moved similarly to the way he did, he admired that. The main difference was that she was taller and had only one claw to use. But to him it was still obvious that she fought the way he did. He found it somewhat amusing that his skills should live on even 300 some years after he kicked the bucket. But when you were the best at what you do, maybe it wasn't so surprising. This kid was better than if he had trained her himself, and somehow he wished he had been able to. He was still looking at the girl and contemplating this when the High Lord spoke. "We haven't failed yet," he said. He turned to Timeslip for confirmation. "Paradox flows shimmer, but they aren't poised to alter the known timestream, yet. The past is still in the balance." "Quite a change, eh?" laughed Gambit. "This is not tha time for jokes," said the High Lord coldly. "If Timeslip can take you all back to your timeline without pausing to rest and gain her strength you may have a chance to finish what you started here. But you must not fail this time. Your comrades await you in the past." Everyone was looking at Timeslip now. "Seven," she muttered. "I can take them, but what about you, High Lord?" "Ah'll stay here and set charges tah attept tah destroy this facility. We've learned a bit moah about Clustic's vile plans while heah." He shared a look with Cyclops. Timeslip held out her hands. You didn't need Wolverine's senses to tell she was exhausted. "Let's go slipping," she said glibbly.