Magneto's HQ, The Heart of the Savage Lands
21:46 (9:46 pm)
Day 3

Logan growled as he slipped for the gazillionth time in a pool of green slime. I'll never make it in time to help them, he thought angrily, attempting to shake his captive foot free of the miniature bog, to little effect.

"Dammnit, doesn't anyone ever clean in this place?" he mumbled to himself, releasing one long claw and swiping at the strings of slime.

After a moment's struggle, he sheathed his claw once again and stumbled out of the green muck. "Ole' s'limey's gonna pay double," he snarled.

Taking a long whiff of the pungent odor, he continued to track the green froglike man to where he held Rogue captive.

"Welcome to my little experiment, X-men," Magneto waved his arms vaguely at the tubes and other equipment that filled the room.

"What is the meaning of all this, Magneto?" Storm looked furious.

Magneto smiled gravely. "If you'd listen, I might explain."

Storm fell silent, though her beautiful and usually peaceful face retained the rage.

He started to pace the room, finally coming to a stop before the row of tubes. "You were all summoned here for a purpose, that purpose being to contribute to the most notable event in the history of mutant kind. You are here," he said, inserting a dramatic pause. "You are here to create the Ultimate Mutant, the Juggernaut."

A stunned silence met his words.

Unperturbed, he continued his speech. "He will be created using a combination of your DNA, your energy, and your body's constructive materials."

Cyclops looked abashed. "But you can't just take our lives from us by force!" he cried, outraged. "We do not wish to participate in this...experiment!"

Magneto sighed patiently. "Cyclops, this is all in hopes for a higher goal. It's beyond one or two people's lives, what I'm doing will decide the fate of millions of mutants."

He turned back to his minions. "Mystique, start the preparations. Sabertooth, it's time for you to take your place." The X-men watched, amazed, as Sabertooth willingly entered one of the tubes beside them.

Mystique pressed a button on the wall. The roofs of the tubes emitted bright light as the machine warmed up.

"Perfect. Prepare yourselves!" He saluted the captives and started tapping commands into the keypad in front of him. No one but Rogue noticed the man creeping into the room as the tubes began to rotate.

Logan!

She felt her heart soar as he sneaked up to the generator and unsheathed his claws.

"The buck stops here, bub!" he yelled as he brought his fists down, mangling the mechanism to shreds.

Magneto spun on his heels as the noise caught his attention. "No!" he shouted helplessly, stretching out his arm to the metal in Logan's bones.

But the damage was already done. Instantly, the glass from the tubes shattered to the floor as different mutant powers broke free.

Rogue flew straight for Magneto as Storm electrocuted the machine that ran the experimental DNA combining mechanisms. Cyclops and Jean were busy struggling with the minions, doing their best to subdue them. But it wasn't easy.

Toad was hard to catch, even with Cyclops's laser vision, and Mystique was no less a challenge for Jean, shifting forms constantly to keep herself immune to the mental attacks of the psychic X-woman.

/Scott!/ Jean said telepathically to Cyclops. / You take Mystique and I'll take Toad! /

With a nod of understanding, Cyclops pressed the button on his visor and hit Mystique with a powerful jet of energy. Jean attacked Toad's mind, knocking him out with a bolt of psychic energy.

Satisfied, they rushed to help the other unconscious mutants out of the glass that held them captive.

Rogue was struggling with Magneto, dodging the shards and masses of metal he sent flying her way with the speed of bullets, making him loose his hold over Logan's bones. Logan had long since passed out in pain.

She saw an opportunity and lunged at him, using every once of sheer strength her invulnerable body possessed to shove him at the wall. She stopped short but he continued through, disappearing from view. Shrugging, she turned to help her teammates.

Jean was now battling with Sabertooth, but he had managed to get a grip on her throat and was slowly choking her to death. Mystique had recovered and was kicking Cyclops senseless a few feet away.

/ Rogue! / Rogue snapped to attention as Jean made a last desperate attempt to save herself.

"Ah'm coming, Jean!" Rogue shouted and flew at the huge mutant overpowering the telepath. She butted him out of the way with a powerful shove of her shoulders.

"Pick on someone your own size!" she said as she helped Jean to her feet.

Storm had conjured up a bolt of lightning to finish Toad off as he attempted to attack her. She was now fighting hand-to-hand with Mystique, using her powers of flight to overpower the blue-skinned shape-shifter, finally pushing her to the floor with a thud and keeping her down with another display of electricity.

"People! Grab the other experimental subjects and get your asses on the Blackbird! Now!" Cyclops shouted, taking command.

Rogue grabbed Logan's unmoving form and another person who lay lifelessly on the floor, and followed her teammates to the safety of the Blackbird.