Venom: I hate hiking.

Y/N: Good thing you don't walk then.

You stood beside the younger X-Men with a pack of supplies on your back and a pair of hiking boots on your feet.

Today was the day of the training exercise. You stood beside Lorna, Illyana, Samuel, Laura, Kitty, and Bobby who were all also ready for the hike.

Standing in front of you was Scott, Jean, Logan, and Ororo.

Scott: Everyone knows the rules. No powers. Make it to the top of the mountain and take a picture with the flag.

Jean: Should anything happen, you all have the ringers that will notify us.

Easy enough. This'll be fun!

Logan: And try to avoid the wildlife. They don't like visitors.

Maybe not so easy, but whatever.

Ororo: Above all else, have fun. Now go forth, children.

Young X-Men: Right!

You smiled widely and nodded.

Y/N: Right!

Monster:
Year 1

You followed Bobby and Samuel who were leading the group up the trail. It was a nice day outside, not too hot or too cold, without a single cloud in the sky. Everyone was dressed for the weather and you were eating an energy bar.

Bobby: I think we can make it to the top by noon.

Samuel: Unless Logan trapped the trail again.

Y/N: He traps the trails?

Laura: Yes, he does.

That was concerning. Well, at least you weren't alone here. You continued forward before you looked behind you at the mansion.

Y/N: So, how many X-Men are there?

Samuel: A lot. We're just the younger group.

Kitty: Everyone is pretty cool. I think you'd like them.

Lorna: Most of them. Hank can be a bit of an ass.

You reached a downed tree and everyone began to climb over it. You followed their lead and pulled yourself up on top of the tree. Suddenly, your senses went off and you bent backwards just as an arrow was fired off at you. It stabbed into the tree behind you and you jumped down.

Bobby: Arrows?! Seriously?!

Kitty: You alright?

You nodded and stood back up. Did Logan plant that?
------------
Scott: I'm gambling that they'll be back by dinner.

Jean leaned against him while he stared at the mountain with Logan and Ororo.

Ororo: That is if Logan didn't trap the entire mountain.

Logan just huffed.

Logan: I didn't trap anything this year. Figured they could use a break.

Scott: Then they should be back by dinner.
--------------
Lorna: So, what kind of things do you like to do?

You climbed up the ledge and held out a hand to help her.

Y/N: Just whatever there is to do, I guess.

You pulled her up and then helped Laura.

Laura: What is there to do?

Y/N: It various. But I do like working in the lab sometimes.

The group contiued on through the woods before you reached the end of the trail. Looks like this was were the real exercise begins.

Samuel: The fastest way to the top would be if we head to the east side. The west was messed up pretty badly after that fire.

Everyone agreed and headed east. However, you stopped when you heard something. Laura must've caught it too since she turned around and eyed the treeline.

Y/N: You see anything?

Laura looked a bit longer before she turned back to the group.

Laura: Probably just a squirrel.

Venom: I hate ssssquirrelssss

You shrugged it off and contiued to follow the group.

Samuel: You're being trained to be an Avenger, right?

You nodded.

Bobby: Man, I could never be an Avenger. Saving a town or a city is fine. But the entire world? I'll pass.

Samuel: I'm with you. Well, kinda. I just think my calling is with the X-Men.

That was fair. In a world where Mutants were hated by the general population, being around them would feel better.

Illyana: You said you were practicing magic? You any good at it?

You shrugged.

Y/N: Not the best, but I am getting better. I had some spell books lent to me and I have a teacher.

Illyana: Who's that?

You stopped and recalled the conversation with Logan the day before.

Y/N: J-Just a friend.

Nice save.

You suddenly hit a fork in the road and everyone stopped walking. Samuel rubbed his chin while you looked back at the trees behind you.

Samuel: I think we should split up. One group heads one way and the other goes the other way. I think these both lead to the top but, I don't know which one gets there faster. Or which one Logan trapped.

Everyone nodded in agreement and the groups were created.

Team 1:
Samuel
Bobby
Kitty

Team 2:
Y/N
Lorna
Laura
Illyana

Samuel: Good luck.

Samuel waved as his team headed to the path on the left. You looked at your group and nodded before you lead them to the path on the right.
----------------
Back in New York City, a boy sat in a dinner with a cup of coffee in his hand. He took a drink and grinned.

Cletus took another bite of his sandwich before he looked at the waitress who was trying her absolute best to stay away from him in the crowded diner.

Eventually, she made eye contact with him.

Cletus: Hello. May I have another cup?

Cletus smiled as he held up his empty mug. The waitress nodded and grabbed the pot while Cletus watched. She walked over to him and began pouring him a mug.

Cletus: You know what really puts my socks in a knot?

The waitress slowly stopped and looked at him.

Cletus: People hear the way I talk, the accent, they heard the trash talk and they think it makes me stupid. You think I'm stupid, sweetcakes?

The waitress shook her head.

Waitress: N-No sir.

Cletus: Damn right. Cletus Kasady, he is many things, but the one thing he is not...he is not stupid.

He looked down at his sandwich.

Cletus: Quittin' school because teachers don't know diddly don't make a man stupid. There's more to education than what's in those damn books. 'Course, books are good, too. I read a book once. "How to Make Friends And Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. Ever heard of it?

Waitress: N-No s-sir.

Cletus: You should read it. Changed my life.

Cletus was about to take another bite but stopped when he saw something on the TV.

Cletus: The hey? Sweetcakes, turn that up.

The waitress did so and he watched the screen.

Anchor: Reports of unsolved mass murders contiue to skyrocket as officials rush to try and find the true identity of the Carnage Killer.

Cletus grinned.

Anchor: The Carnage Killer is responsible for the recent string of murders that has sweeped New York City. Their motive is unclear.

Cletus: Oh, I know that one. Do you, Sweetcakes? I even know his name.

The waitress looked at Cletus as his grin grew larger and sharper.

Cletus: His name is Cletus Kasady. And he ain't stupid.

The woman watched in horror as Cletus stood up and let out an evil laughter as the Carnage symbiote covered his body and tendrils shot out at everyone in the diner. Man, woman, child, it didn't matter. By the time Cletus left the establishment, their blood was sprayed everywhere.
----------------
You scanned the area before you sighed and began to climb down from the tree. You reached the bottom and walked over to the girls.

Y/N: Yep. We're lost.

Laura: Great. Who the hell let Lorna handle the compass?

Lorna: My name is literally Polaris.

Y/N: It's fine. We can figure this out. Ven?

Venom appeared on your shoulder.

Y/N: Think you could sniff us out a path or something?

Illyana: Powers aren't allowed.

Y/N: Venom isn't a power. He's my partner.

Venom: Sssso take that, Sssssabrina the Teenage Witch. I might have found the path.

You nodded and followed where Venom told you to go. As you walked, Lorna and Illyana fell into their own conversation while Laura kept to herself. You looked over to Venom.

Y/N: Hey, Ven?

Venom: What'sss up, kid?

Y/N: Can you tell me about your former host? The one you had during the Strikers?

Venom: Why?

Y/N: Just, humor me.

Venom looked at you for a moment before he nodded.

Venom: I guesssss I could. Hisss name wasss Eddie Brock. He wassss a lossser, jusssst like you. Assss a matter of fact, he wassss a virgin before I took him under my wing.

Y/N: Yeah, sounds about right.

Venom: But he wasss a good man who got dealt a ssshitty hand of cardsss. Hisss mother died at childbirth. Catholic asss hell. He wasss an only child. Hisss father wasss filthy ssstinking rich, before Eddie wasss involved in sssome kind of accident when he wassss a kid. He wasss sssmart asss hell. Went to college and got a gig asss sssome writer. Unsssolved murderssss and ssserial killersss.

You listened as Venom spoke. You don't know if he realized it or not, but he spoke fondly of this Eddie person.

Venom: One day he wrote the wrong thing about the wrong perssson, and he lossst it all. Then he fell off the face of the earth. That'sss when we met. And we become one. We become Venom. We were the big bad monssster ready to make the world pay for everything that happened to usss. But in a blink of an eye, we became protectorsss to Ssssan Francissssco. Their leathal protector. Eventually, the Creator found usss. Offered usss a place on hisss team.

Y/N: The Strikers.

Venom: Yesss. From there, we met the othersss. Your mother, father, and the other one that I can't ssseem to remember. Asss a matter of fact, it wasss that man we met on the roof. The one who warned you of the Ten Ringsss.

Wait, that guy was a Striker? He knew your mom? Wasn't he also the one who saved you back at the AIM base?

Venom: He wasss a good man. Actually, he had a ssson. He ssshould be around your age.

Y/N: And what happened to Eddie?

Venom was quiet for a moment.

Venom: I don't know.

Venom returned to your arm and you were left in silence. You looked back at the others to see they were still following you.

Y/N: Ven, if you're still listening, just know I appreciate you. And thank you for being here for me. It means a lot.

Venom didn't respond, but he did hear you.
------------
Laura: We should take a break here.

Everyone agreed and dropped their packs before taking your own seats wherever you could. You had to be half way up the mountain by now.

You took out your canteen and took a swing of water before you looked up at the sky. Judging by the sun, it was around noon now. You'd been hiking for about 5 hours now.

Lorna: Man, was it always this rough? Last year was nothing compared to this.

Laura: That's because we always went on the east side. That fire last year made it impossible to walk through.

Fire? You think you heard something about it when you were still running around as a thief.

Illyana: Maybe we can cut across past the river?

Y/N: There's a river?

Lorna: Over that way.

She pointed towards where the river would be and you shrugged.

Y/N: Might as well give it a try.
------------
Felicia held her books to her chest as she walked through the hallway of the school towards her locker. School turned out to be something she found herself enjoying. Cat would handle the social aspect of it, and Felicia made sure her grades all stayed as A's and B's.

She finally reached her locker and unlocked it to exchange her books. While she did, Quentin happened to notice her. He smiled and walked over to her.

Quentin: H-Hey.

Felicia turned from her locker and offered a friendly smile.

Felicia: Oh, hey, Quentin. Ready for science?

Quentin: Y-Yeah. But I w-was wondering if y-you knew where Y-Y/N is? He's b-been gone for a f-few days. Is h-he sick?

Quentin didn't know about the Program but Nadia did let it slip that they all lived together. But Quentin also noticed that you and her were pretty close on top of everything.

Felicia: Yeah. He's, uh, visiting family. Out in the country.

Quentin: Oh. C-Cool.

Quentin then nervously rubbed his hands together. There was a difference between Felicia and Cat, this was obvious. But there was something a lot of people didn't think about.

As two different people, they didn't really share feelings. Cat could feel bitterness against someone like Wanda, but Felicia would see her as a close friend. Cat and Felicia both valued you but for different reasons. Cat saw you as a partner and a friend, and longed for something more. Felicia saw you as family and loved you more than she could openly admit.

Quentin was an odd case. Cat saw him more or less as someone she could talk to sparingly. She was nice to him and treated him as a friend since he was your friend. Felicia, however, actually saw him as a true friend.

Quentin: Uh, w-would you like t-to hang out t-this weekend?

Cat: Just us? Sounds, frustrating.

Felicia: Be nice. He's our friend.

Cat: You're friend. Y/N's friend. Not mine.

Felicia: I would love to.

Quentin: C-Cool! Uh, I'll text y-you the p-plan.

Cat: Good God. Count me out of this one.

Felicia: Sounds good. Should we walk to class?

Quentin: S-Sure.
--------------
You stood in front of the river and rubbed your neck.

Y/N: Alright, looks like we're swimming.

You looked down at your clothes and sighed. You turned back to the girls and blushed when you realized they were taking their clothes off.

Y/N: uh....

Illyana: Just throw your clothes in my bag. It'll keep them dry.

You looked down at your clothes and pondered your options. Screw it. You let out a sigh and took your bag off. You then pulled your shirt off. As you stripped down to your boxers, the girls watched shamelessly.

You handed your clothes to Illyana who stuffed it into her bag. You turned back towards the water and took a deep breath. You let it out and started forward. The girls followed you and you reached the deep part which forced you to swim.

Lorna: It's a nice day for a swim.

Laura: That's debatable.

You just smiled as you kept swimming forward. However, you felt something brush against your leg. You stopped and looked at the water confused. It was too deep to see anything.

Illyana: What's wrong?

You looked around confused before you heard something again. Your senses went off and you looked at Laura with wide eyes. She heard it, too.

Y/N: Go. Swim faster!

You and Laura began to swim as fast as you could with Lorna and Illyana following as fast as they could. From below, a light began to shine. This wasn't a trap. This was something else. Something more dangerous.

Laura: Go, go, go!!!

And then it happened. From the water and the trees, came the things that were watching you. They finally found you and they were activated.

A giant hand shoved a tree out if the way while a large figure appeared from the water just as you reached the shore.

Lorna: Sentinels?!

Y/N: Everyone get to cover!

The girls all rushed to the trees while Venom covered you and you popped out your claws. One of the Sentinels swung it's hands at you but you caught it and held it back before you jumped over it and landed on it's wrist.

You began to run up it's arm and ignited your claws.

Y/N: Not today, Tin Man!

You lunged at the Sentinels' head before stabbing into it. You sliced into it before it grabbed you and threw you back towards the river.

Sentinel: Omega Mutant reported. Elimination protocol engaged.

You jumped out of the water and looked up at the two Sentinels who began to close in on you. However, one suddenly stopped moving. It struggled before it began to seem to crush into itself.

You turned around and found Lorna in hovering behind you, now dressed. From the trees came Laura and Illyana as well, ready to fight. Illyana seemingly summoned a sword while Laura popped out her claws.

Lorna: They shouldn't be here. Get rid of them.

Y/N: Gladly.

You turned back to the Sentinels and charged at them once again. You lunged at the one being crushed and sliced into its head. You then stabbed into it on both sides before you used your strength to pull it off of the body.

You lifted it up and threw it to the side causing the giant to power down and crash back into the water but you were quick to jump over to the other Sentinel.

Laura sliced into its legs before Illyana let out a cry and leaped up with her sword ready. She sliced into its leg before Lorna used her powers to hold it on place. Laura ran towards Illyana who boosted her up, allowing her to stab into it's leg. She popped out the claws from her feet and began to climb up while you avoided the Sentinels' swinging arms.

You caught its hand just as Laura reached the top. She then rushed to the head and stabbed into the back of the head. You both nodded at each other and you pushed the hand away before you ran past the head, slicing it deeply, and grabbed Laura before you took the dive into the river below.

Lorna took advantage of your slice and pulled the head off with her powers. You held Laura as you both clashed into the shallow water, your back hitting the rocks below, and the second Sentinel fell over.

Laura helped you out of the water as Lorna landed on the ground and Illyana walked over. You and Laura made it to shore and Venom returned to your shoulder.

Venom: Why are there giant robotsss in the woodsss?!

Illyana: Someone sent them here. They were waiting for us.

You pushed yourself up and looked back at the depowered Sentinels. Realization hit you.

Y/N: That means there must be more. The others!

Lorna pulled out her ringer and hit it. But nothing happened. She hit it again but it didn't work.

Lorna: Our ringers aren't working. Someone jammed them.

So this was really all planned from the beginning. Someone sent these things here to hunt you all down. Or, maybe something else.

Y/N: The school.

The girls looked at you as you turned to look down the mountain.

Y/N: They're waiting here, to attack the school.

Everyone suddenly began to piece it together as you clenched your fists.

Illyana: Training be damned. We need to warn everyone!

Lorna: What about Samuel and the others?

Y/N: You and Illyana need to go find them. I'll get me and Laura back to the school.

Illyana: I can create a portal to them. We'll grab them and head back to the school.

You nodded and turned to Laura.

Y/N: You don't have a fear of flying, do you?

Laura shook her head and you grabbed her. You ignited your feet and flew off while Illyana created a portal.

You needed to warn the others before it was too late.

But it already was.

In all the hiding places, all the Sentinals activated. Their target locked.

Xavier's School for the Gifted.