Storm's mouth dropped open in shock as a teresscat deposited Sinister, a tall, pale, vampire of a man with a smile like a shark's, into their living room.

Three of Remy's cards, heavily charged, struck the man in the chest before he'd taken a step away from his portal. The resultant explosions knocked him a step back, but did no real damage to him.

An evil, obscenely confident laugh filled the room. "My little Gambit, did you honestly think I would allow you to leave my service after what you had seen?"

"Did yo' t'ink I EVAH help yo' 'gain after what I saw?" Remy shot back, along with a handful of cards.

"I thought you were an intelligent child Remy," Sinister replied. "I thought you realized the truth of your situation. I've favored you, even above my other agents. Your fascinating talent for making people trust you was of value to me and too potentially delicate to risk damaging with invasive experiments. That, however, is no longer a consideration."

"Not goin' back wid yo'," Remy said grabbing a lamp and charging it, the wild fire of his power beginning to dance across his skin. Storm added her lightening to Remy's attack. Again Sinister shrugged off the assault.

He answered their attack with lasers shot from his hands. Remy dodged, knowing the other mutant's abilities and anticipating his response. Storm wasn't so lucky, the barrage sent her flying into the couch where she lay, stunned.

The explosions drew Xavier, Jean and Colossus into the room. A blood spattered Wolverine, supporting a reeling Cyclops and Beast appeared a few moments later.

Sinister surveyed his opposition with satisfaction. "Even in your rebellion you bring me one final catch," he said with satisfaction.

A second teresscat opened spilling Sinister's new recruits into the mansion, another green haired girl with a twisted expression of hatred on her face, a man whose costume dripped with blades, another, inhumanly large man and a regretfully familiar face.

"What is it with this bunch and green haired chicks?" Jean asked sarcastically as Colossus fought to rearmor himself in preparation for another battle.

Wolverine stepped away from Beast and Cyclops, snarling, "Sabretooth."

"Bet ya didn't expect to see me runt," the larger feral said. "Gotta love that healing factor."

"There is something fundamentally wrong about you," Xavier said, scanning the woman.

"Everything is wrong about me, I am Malice," she replied.

"Quite frankly Gambit, this is the best lot you have ever brought me," Sinister said as his minions advanced.

"Non!" Remy screamed, the eldritch flame of his power bursting into a bonfire. Dust motes in the air exploded with sharp pops as the flames reached for Sinister, locking the two of them together.

"What's he charging?" Cyclops asked.

"Maybe the air itself," Jean guessed.

"Jean, contain it!" Beast exclaimed urgently.

Remy and Sinister were consumed in a whirling mass of plasma. Jean groaned, falling to her knees from the strain of holding back the explosion while simultaneously wrapping a layer of protection around Remy.

The flames died away to show both Sinister and Remy swaying, blistered and burned in a blasted hollow that had been part of the room.

Cyclops hit Sinister with an optic blast, leaving the villainous creature's shoulder a blasted crater. Reeling under the assault Sinister opened a final teresscat and fled the battle.

"Oh shit!" the knife wielder exclaimed going into a spin.

The big man lunged for the door only to find himself trading blows with Colossus.

The woman simply stood in the middle of the room, her expression uncomprehending, her eyes focused inward.

Suddenly the air was filled with flying metal, then all the knives stopped, hanging dead in the air.

"Good work Marvel Girl," Cyclops said only to find his teammate unconscious on the floor. "Jean!"

In the center of the room the green haired woman levitated from the floor. "You used me!" She shrieked and the knives reversed course heading for her erstwhile allies.

"Peter! Duck!" Beast yelled. The metallic man hit the floor moments before the two Marauders where filleted by their own weapons. Then the green haired woman smashed through the front window and fled into the night sky.

Scott surveyed the remains of the living room and his team. Jean lay in his arms out cold. Hank, limping heavily, made his way across the room to check Ororo's still form, which was draped across an over turned couch. Peter knelt beside Remy, hesitant to even touch the badly burned boy.

The area around Remy was beyond scorched, everything that had been within the sphere of Jean's telekinetic shield had simply ceased to exist, dissolved down to it's component atoms. Two dead Marauders lay in pools of their own blood.

Xavier looked nearly as shell shocked as Scott felt as their eyes met across the trashed room.

"What happened to Logan?" Scott asked.

"I believe he and Sabretooth took their fight outside," Hank commented, easing Ororo into a more comfortable position. "I guess they didn't want any interruptions."

"What happened to Logan?" Scott asked.

"I believe he and Sabretooth took their fight outside," Hank commented, easing Ororo into a more comfortable position. "I guess they didn't want any interruptions."