A woman's laughter echoed around the Danger Room, as the computer generated environment around the two Neo-X teams began to warp and shift. Soon, Psihawk, Valence and Dante had completely lost sight of the rival team; Sirocco, Anodyne and Kismet.

"Time to die, Neo-X!" The woman repeated gleefully.

"You think it's worth me pointing out that I'm not a member?" Dante asked Valence, with a wry grin.

"Guilt by association I think." Katya Rasputin replied.

"Defensive formation, now!" Psihawk ordered. His tone of voice spoke volumes, and the smile faded from Valence's face as she realised that Warren was taking this very seriously. This wasn't a training exercise. "Back to back." Warren said. "Be ready for anything."

Their surroundings had finally stabilized, the pixellated blur finally settling into the form of a long, dark tunnel of uneven height, sloping gently downwards and turning so that they couldn't see where the path led. The walls, roof and floor were made up of metal panels and long strands of wire, piping and conduits which pulsated audibly to the rhythm of some distant but powerful generator, but which was eerily reminiscent of the beating of a heart. In fact, despite the steel and wire, their surroundings had a strangely organic feel to them, as if the corridor had been grown rather that constructed.

"Computer, end programme." Valence said. There was no response. "Professor McCoy? Can you hear me?" Again, nothing. "Warren, what's going on? Did you recognise that woman's voice?"

Psihawk shook his head but didn't answer. Suddenly he pointed. "Look!"

The walls, floor and ceiling in front of them were moving - flowing out into the corridor in a seemingly shapeless mass of snaking cables and metal parts. As the pieces met in the centre of the tunnel they began to interlock and connect, twisting around each other and taking on a more recognisable shape, a humanoid form of armour plate which finally hauled itself free of the walls and strode towards them, red eyes glowing balefully.

"Phalanx." Warren said, grimly. "There's a blast from the past."

* * *

Beast tore an access panel away from the wall and studied the exposed wiring.

"Now we'll see..." He said to himself, scratching his chin. Behind him, Spitfire gazed at the incomprehensible tangle of wires and Shi'ar crystal filaments and wondered how he could make any sense of it. She felt so useless - unable to help her new friends as they fought for their lives on the other side of the wall, and unable to even contemplate the system check that the Beast had begun. The monitor screens in the Observation Deck had flicked back on a few moments earlier, but only to scroll rapidly through the system's databanks, selecting new opponents for the Neo X team from their rogue's gallery. The central monitor still showed the face of their tormentor - a young woman with red hair and green eyes.

"You'll never find out how to stop the system that way, McCoy!" the woman taunted.

"Who are you?" Carrie shouted in frustration, not really expecting a reply. To her surprise, the woman responded:

"There's no point hiding it anymore, since tomorrow I'll be known across the planet as the world's greatest assassin." She said with pride. "My name is Arcadia Locke."

"Any relation to our old foe, Arcade?" Beast said, looking up from his futile study of the wiring.

"Arcade was a bumbling idiot - a hopeless amateur compared to me!" Locke retorted. "And if your junior X-Men hadn't stumbled onto my plans at the X-Isle Park, I should have proved my superiority for all time! But they won't cross me again!"

At that moment, the sound of pounding footfalls alerted them to the arrival of the Juggernaut. Richard McCoy rounded the corner, followed by the golden armoured form of Joyride - Samantha Guthrie in the robotic 'box unit' that granted her mobility.

"Oh no!" Samantha Guthrie whispered. "We're too late!"

"What a marvellous grasp of the obvious you have." Locke smiled. "Time's running out for your friends."

"Locke - what do you want? Let us talk about this!" Beast said.

"Enough talking! Let's get them out of there!" Richard cut in, striding forwards he gripped the handle of the access door and tore the reinforced panel away from its hinges with little effort.

"No! Wait!" Beast's warning came too late. Richard had already stepped in, through the hole and into the Danger Room.

Once inside, the Juggernaut immediately realized his mistake. He was standing in a forest clearing, an environment generated by the Danger Room's holographic projectors. There was no sign of the Neo-X team... and no sign of the doorway through which he had come. It was there somewhere - but hidden behind the illusion. Richard turned back the way he had come - feeling ahead of him like a blind man - fingers reaching for the open door.

Suddenly the earth at his feet shook and a yawning chasm opened beneath him. McCoy managed to throw himself to one side and avoided being swallowed up in the heaving earth, but only succeeded in launching himself into the path of a furious charge from an opponent almost as massively built as he was, a savage impact that knocked him to the floor, stunned. As he lifted his head from the dirt he realised that he had no idea which direction he had come from - his hope of escape now completely lost. Behind him, a group of costumed figures emerged from the tree line, and joined his huge attacker.

"Hellions - finish him!" Teryn said.

* * *

"Silly boy!" Locke smirked. "Now he's as trapped as the rest."

"Damn you!" Beast shouted at the monitor. "At least let us see them!"

Locke seemed to consider for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes, it would be a shame if you missed out on all the fun, wouldn't it?"

The screens snapped on, one by one.

* * *

In a New York subway station, Devastator, one of the Wrecking Crew, swung his wrecking ball at Jade Logan. The girl back-flipped away, simultaneously launching her own counter-attack, throwing her metal bo-staff at the terrorist's head. Her aim was perfect but the blow barely registered against the invulnerable powerhouse. Behind Jade, Uzuri Monroe dodged and wheeled in the air as he desperately tried to avoid the attacks of Skyhook, another of the Wrecking Crew. Sirocco was faster and more agile, but his room to manoeuvre was severely limited by the confines of the tunnel, and Skyhook was tireless - fuelled by stolen Asgardian magic.

"Over here you two! Quickly!" Kismet emerged from an interconnecting tunnel between the two Neo-X members. Despite not being an official member of the team, the elder LeBeau sibling had trained with them many times, and they knew exactly what she had in mind. Kismet's probability controlling powers enabled her to extend what she called a 'sphere of reality' around herself - within the influence of which she had total control. Anodyne and Sirocco were at her side in seconds, and the Wrecking Crew's formidable attacks were unable to penetrate - bouncing away as if they had struck an invisible barrier.

Viewed through a different screen, Juggernaut's fight with the Hellions continued. Not experienced in the use of powers he had never wanted, Richard had nonetheless finally managed to bring his superior strength to bear and had hurled Minotaur away from him. His victory was short lived, however, as Shade projected a screen of darkforce that temporarily blinded him, long enough for Touch to step in under his flailing arms and brush his hand across the Juggernaut's chest. The Hellion's tactile telekinesis levitated the startled Juggernaut helplessly into the air, unable to evade Lamprey's bio-electric stings, or the magical bolts that Conjur fired at him.

In the Phalanx catacombs, Psihawk hurled a barrier of telekinetic force forwards, plugging the tunnel and preventing the monstrous creature from getting closer. The Phalanx smashed its metal fists against the barricade, but to no avail.

"This is bad?" Dante asked. Valence nodded.

"They can form their bodies into any weapon, and they heal like Mister Logan. The real ones can infect you and make you a monster like them - but this is just a simulation - isn't it?"

The creature had given up trying to breach Warren's psychic barrier and stepped back, considering its options.

"Run!" Warren said. "We can't fight it!"

"What do you mean? Aren't these things just robots, or holograms?"

"We can't know that. Whoever is running the Danger Room now is controlling what we see. Remember, Jade, Uzuri and Jeanette are in here with us somewhere. We could be fighting them and we'd never even know it until it was too late!"

The metal tunnel began to blur and change, as the Danger Room prepared to send new foes to destroy them.

* * *

Beast, Spitfire and Joyride had now been joined in the Observation Deck by the mansion's other residents. Logan, Sam Guthrie, Lila Cheney, and Piotr and Kate Rasputin crowded forwards to see what was happening, and Carrie found herself edged out into the corridor to make room for the new arrivals. Not only were these people all former X-Men - legends - but their concern for their children and protegees once again made the British super-hero feel as if she were intruding somehow - out of place and awkward.

"The gang's all here I see!" Arcadia Locke smirked. "I do so love an audience!"

"Any way you can turn her off, Doc?" Wolverine growled.

"Working on it!" Beast said, once again studying the exposed mechanism beneath the control panel. "Aha!" he said, triumphantly. "There you are!"

"What is it?" Kate Rasputin asked.

"An invasive programme - a small device has been inserted beneath the main imaging conduit. It's actually corrupted the entire system - mutated it if you will. Fascinating!"

"You mean we've been hacked into?" Logan said. "I thought that was supposed to be impossible!"

"Ordinarily it is. But the security systems were badly damaged when the Horde attacked. I would suggest that this 'Arcadia Locke' woman was watching us and biding her time - just waiting for her opportunity."

"Can you get rid of it?"

Beast raised an eyebrow. "Logan - It's me!"

* * *

Skyhook and Devastator had been joined by the other members of the Wrecking Crew, who co-ordinated their attacks against Kismet's mental barrier. LeBeau was showing signs of the terrible strain - it was only a matter of time before her concentration wavered. Suddenly, the onslaught stopped. The Wrecking Crew had turned and were running back along the platform. Another target had appeared - The Juggernaut - Richard McCoy was stumbling along the platform. He seemed barely conscious, despite his formidable power. His left eye was swollen shut and his armour was scorched and blackened.

"Richard!" Uzuri shouted. "Get away! Run!"

The Wrecking Crew slammed into him. Richard's powers were largely untested, but he was probably strong enough to hold them off one at a time. Together, though, they would almost certainly be too much for him - especially as the Doctor had no real combat training. The impact shook the tunnel.

"We have to help him!" Jade said.

"We don't even know if it's him!" Kismet said. "He wasn't with us! He could just be another hologram, trying to get us to leave the sphere of reality."

"And if you're wrong? Can we take that chance?"

* * *

Samantha Guthrie turned away from the viewing screens. She couldn't watch any longer. To lose Chase - her closest friend - had been more than she could bear. And now it looked as though she might lose more friends, and she was powerless to stop it. Suddenly her 'Box' unit felt claustrophobic and restrictive - she wanted to be out in her own body again - so she left the room, unnoticed by the others, and followed the corridor towards the elevator and the living quarters in the mansion above, where she had left her hoverchair.

As the elevator doors opened she heard a sound - stone breaking against stone, as if someone was digging. She followed the noise. It was coming from the kitchen - or what remained of it. Spitfire had been there earlier that day, and believing she had seen Maaxa, the British super hero had unleashed a devastating burst of stored energy. Had Maaxa been there it would certainly have stopped her. But Maaxa wasn't there, and the kitchen had been blown to pieces. Cautiously, Joyride edged towards the door.

Carrie Conway was kneeling in the centre of the devastated room, pushing aside the rubble with her hands as though she was looking for something. Joyride was surprised to see her - partly because she hadn't noticed her leave the Danger Room.

"What are you looking for?" Guthrie asked.

"I don't know... something..." Carrie said, not looking up. "I thought that since the Maaxa that attacked me in the Danger Room was a projection, then maybe the others might have been as well." She threw aside the rubble she was holding and got to her feet. "Trouble is, I made such a mess of this place that I can't tell what bits were supposed to be here and..." she trailed off.

"What is it?" Joyride asked. Carrie was looking out through the hole in the wall, towards the rear of the building where two grey uniformed delivery drivers were working at the back of their truck, manoeuvring a heavy crate into the trailer with an anti-gravity lifter.

"Look at that." Carrie said.

"There are lots of deliveries." Joyride said. "We've got loads of guests coming for the memorial service tomorrow. What are you so interested in?"

"If they're delivery drivers..." Carrie began, stepping out over the debris and walking towards the vehicle, "why are they loading that truck, and not unloading it?"

* * *

Uzuri Monroe concentrated, feeling his elemental powers welling up, until he could no longer contain the forces he had summoned. He threw his arms wide and released the power, sending a seismic shockwave tearing across the subway platform which scattered the Wrecking Crew as if they were weightless, hurling them away from the still body of their victim. Jade was moving even before the terrible tremor had died down, stepping lightly across the twisting spurs or fractured rock and concrete until she had at last reached Richard McCoy. She placed her palms against the sides of his head and reached out with her empathic powers.

Her eyes widened in shock and alarm. There was nothing there - no connection - no emotion. At first she feared that he was already dead - but as she watched the Juggernaut dissolved into nothingness - a hologram, as Kismet had warned her. Distracted, Jade didn't even notice Rage landing behind her, until the tips of his adamantium claws emerged through her chest. Jade Logan screamed.

* * *