The Morlocks are mutants, every one of them. Horribly deformed or just unable to adapt to society, they chose to live secluded from a world that hates and fears them. They don't like strangers. After their run in with Young Justice, they had hoped to be left alone.* The X-Men didn't let them.

*(Young Justice #19)

After their mansion home was destroyed in the battle with Magneto, they found themselves in the tunnels, presumably with the help of the Morlocks. Callisto, the Morlock leader, didn't want them in the tunnels. But she decided to play along. She figured she could use them to her advantage.

No longer. Callisto had had enough of them . . .

But what startled him awake was that Jean Grey wasn't beside him. They were an item, right? He thought so. But then again, since his confrontation with Death last night, there was a lot he didn't know. There was too much he was unsure of. That's why he told Callisto that the 'X-Men', thus named by the media, would be returning to the ruins of their home this morning.

"Jean . . . ?" he called quietly, looking about the room. He did a quick scan with his X-Ray vision, peering about the other rooms in the tunnels. Everyone else is accounted for . . . Hank McCoy, the Beast . . . Robert Drake, Iceman . . . Sarah Da'Part . . . Morph . . . but no sign of Jean. Hmm . . . now who're they?

Clark's eyes focused on two figures tip-toeing through the door to Sarah's room. He didn't recognize them. But we were attacked by Morlocks yesterday . . . no reason to take any chances!

Clark was out of his bed faster than a speeding bullet, intercepting the two Morlocks and flying straight into Sarah's room.

"Jesus!" she screamed, jumping up in her bed. She quickly pulled her blanket up to cover herself. "Don't you ever knock?"

"I've got X-Ray vision," Clark said, holding the two Morlocks, each with one fist. "If I really wanted to see you naked, I could. But the fact of the matter is, these two were about to ambush you."

She shook her head. "It's bad enough you don't find me attractive enough to take a peek at, but these guys've gotta try and kill me in my sleep?"

"Why?" Clark asked one of the Morlocks. He wasn't willing to answer.

"Egads," Hank McCoy appeared in the doorway, Bobby and Morph behind him. "By what havocal cry let slip those dogs of war?"

"They don't want to talk," Clark frowned, holding them up.

"Then maybe I should rip the answers from their minds," Jean Grey stood behind the boys in the doorway.

"Jean?" Hank asked.

"We haven't gotten a moment of peace since Charles gathered us back together," Jean continued. "And I'm tired of it. You said we're leaving, Clark . . . good. Everyone, gather your things, get dressed. I'll . . . interrogate these two . . . and then we're leaving."

"Yes ma'am," Morph saluted. He turned to Bobby and whispered, "Must be that time of the month, huh?"

"Go," Clark said to them. "And watch your backs."

"I'm sick and tired of this crap," Sarah frowned, grabbing a shirt and pulling it on.

"Callisto ordered them to kill us," Jean frowned. "Why?"

" . . . "

"Why?!" she repeated, pressing further.

One of the Morlocks yelled, obviously in pain.

"Jean, stop!" Clark grabbed her arm. He was shocked. And, he found, by the expression on her face, so was she!

"I'm . . . I'm sorry," she said, lowering her gaze. "I've just . . . I need some time off, y'know?"

Clark nodded. "Well, we'll get out of here . . . head back to the mansion, see if it's salvageable, still livable . . . if not, we'll think of something. Trust me."

"Hate to interrupt you two," Morph said, his head sticking through the doorway, "but we really should get moving. I'd hate to think of a whole army of these Morlocks attacking us."

Clark nodded. "Let's go."

"Well . . . " she asked. "Are the X-Men dead?"

The two Morlocks were afraid to answer. They bowed their head.

"No, ma'am," one finally said, meekly. "They got away . . . "

"Got away!?!?!" Callisto shouted, sitting on the edge of her throne. "Why did you let them get away?"

"We had no choice. Should we go after them?"

Callisto sat back and thought for a moment. "No, let them go. We can deal with them later, when they least expect it . . . "

And so, it was less than an hour before the X-Men returned home. They all landed, and stood side by side, looking at what was left of their home for the first time since the battle with the Brotherhood. The mansion itself was caved in. At some places, only the foundation could be seen. Bricks and other debris were scattered across the property, and the whole place looked like a landfill almost.

"Oh, man," Iceman said. "It's totaled."

"At least it looks like no one's come by to be a scavenger," Beast replied.

Clark sighed. "I never imagined it was this bad. I guess we'll have to grab what stuff we can find and go."

"Oh man," Bobby frowned. "I never realized how their could've been students killed in the fight . . . "

Hank nodded. "Indeed. I can only hope that our more . . . talented students were able to provide the others with protection and a means of escape."

They continued on, walking over rubble.

"Look over here," Hank called. "There's signs of people in the wreckage."

"I thought you said it didn't seem like any scavengers had come?"

"Well, you see the footprints, right? Seems someone was here for a while . . . but they're long gone."

*(See Exiles #1! - Paul)

"Maybe it was some Morlocks?" Bobby asked. "Or . . . more of Magneto's Brotherhood?"

"I hope not," Hank frowned. "If I ever hear the word Brotherhood again, it will be too soon."

"Brotherhood," Bobby said, laughing.

"Look there," Hank said. "It's an accessway to the underground portions of the school . . . our parts. Maybe it isn't totally damaged?"

"Let's take a look."

Bobby and Hank jumped down the access port, noticing all the cracks and damages to it on the way. There were no lights and most of the structure looked unsalvageable.

"What about Cerebro?" Bobby asked. "If that was still working, the Professor's dream could still live on . . . "

"This way," Hank lead. As they walked, Bobby iced up some of the walls and ceiling to help maintain structural integrity. When they approached the doors to the Cerebro chamber, they found them jimmied open.

"Looks like someone beat us here," Bobby frowned. "Our mutant detecting device is gone."

"I'd hate to think of that power in the wrong hands . . . "

"I just . . . I still can't believe I got sucked back into this," Sarah shook her head. "When I left the first time . . . I had left for good. Or so I thought. I mean, I'm grateful for what Professor Xavier did for me . . . but this fighting for his dream? I just . . . I can't do this."

"No worries, doll," Morph grinned. "There's plenty of other activities we could do instead. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge, say no more."

She sighed. "Grow up, Morph, will you? We're facing life and death situations here . . . it's bad enough the world hates and fears us . . . but we have to brand ourselves outsiders to other mutants who believe differently from us? It's suicide."

"All the more reason to cherish every moment," Morph continued. "And get laid. A whole lot."

Sarah moaned angrily and walked away from him.

"What? What'd I say?"

"Clark," Jean asked, "why did you bring us out here to the shed instead of trying to find our stuff in the actual mansion?"

Clark ignored the question and opened the door. He peeked in.

"Have you ever wondered what was out here?"

Jean was confused by the question, but decided to play along. "No . . . why?"

"I never did either. Until the mansion was destroyed, and Xavier was dying." Clark looked back at Jean. "Jean, he spoke into my mind, and told me things. I . . . I'm not . . . I'm not quite what you think."

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since that night, I've been full of questions. But now, I think that I might be close to some answers."

"Here in the shed?"

"I think it was something Xavier put into my subconscious." Clark walked in, and Jean followed. In the far corner, they saw a strange box, one they had never noticed before. "I've been in here tons of times," Clark said, "helping with the groundskeeping, or when we had a new construction project, but I never, ever thought to look in that box."

He walked over, and pried the lid off. Peering in, he saw a strange rocket-like machine. "Help me get it out," he said.

Surprisingly, it wasn't that heavy, and Jean didn't even need to use her telekinesis.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I don't know . . . " Clark replied as he touched it.

Suddenly, Clark felt like he was being pulled away from the world, much like he did when Death revealed his true identity.*

*(in the Annual - Chip)

Jean watched as Clark stared off into space. "Clark!" she exclaimed. She tried to enter his mind, but found it to be an impenetrable as his rock hard skin.

Clark was totally unaware of her as he entered a different plane of reality. Standing before him was a man, similar in height and stature as himself, with very . . . familiar facial features. He was clad in what looked like a military uniform. The coat looked something like a green version of the jackets worn in the civil war, only with much modern material. His pants were the same shade of green, and his boots were red. However, the most striking feature was the red sun that was emblazoned on his chest.

"Hello, son," the man said.

"So, I really am from another planet, huh?" Clark asked.

"You are Kal-El, the last son of Krypton . . . I am your father, Jor-El. Your mother's name was Lara."

"What is this?"

"We programmed your birthing matrix with this simulation to show you your home planet. You were conceived on the planet Krypton."

The image of a green planet appeared behind Jor-El.

"So, how does this work? Is it interactive?" Clark asked.

"For the most part," Jor-El replied. "I can answer any question that has been programmed into the matrix."

"If I was conceived on Krypton, why was I born on Earth?"

"Kal-El, before you were born, great earthquakes disturbed Krypton. I was a leader in the Kryptonian community, and knew what these great natural forces were doing to our planet. However, I was unable to convince my fellow citizens of the danger. I knew that to survive as a race, Krypton would have to be evacuated."

"To Earth?"

"It was the planet closest to our own in nature."

"You mean, it was the only one that Kryptonians could live on."

"Actually, there were others in our system, but I knew that once Krypton had been destroyed, those planets would eventually die as well."

"How did I survive if no one else did?"

"Because I had already built a prototype ship. It was big enough for your birthing matrix to fit into. Your mother and I decided that just because no one would believe us that our legacy should completely die out."

"But what of the others who attempted to be saved?"

"I'm sorry, that question does not compute."

"When Death attacked me, he said that I was one of the four, but the others didn't survive the atmosphere."

"I'm sorry, that does not compute."

"I wish to know more about my heritage."

"You shall," Jor-El replied. "When you leave this . . . state of being, and return to the real world, all of the knowledge in this birthing matrix will be downloaded, so to speak, to your brain."

"Is there anything else I must know now?"

"When your mother and I sent you off, we had hoped that you would become a champion of the people - a superman, of sorts. The yellow sun would give you powers denied you by the red sun of Krypton."

"So that's why I took the name . . . "

"There is one thing I must give you now that cannot simply be downloaded into your brain." Jor-El pointed at Clark's chest. A stylized 'S' materialized on his chest. "I designed this for you, to be your emblem. You are Superman." He put out his hand.

Clark shook it. "Good-bye, father," he said as everything started to fade, and the shed reappeared.

The first thing he heard was Jean calling his name. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Clark shook his head a bit, to clear it. "Yeah, I'm fine." He looked Jean in the eye. "Jean, I'm not a mutant."

"But your powers - "

"I'm not even human."

"What are you saying? Wait a minute! What's that on your chest?"

Clark looked down and saw the 'S'.

"It's my symbol," he said. "Now, read my mind, and you'll know. But please, don't tell the others."

Jean closed her eyes, focused her power, and looked into Clark's mind. A few seconds later, she opened her eyes again. "Amazing . . . "

"We're taking this thing with us."

"But - "

"It's too valuable to me to lose."

"We don't know where we're going."

"I have some ideas. C'mon, let's get back to the mansion."

"Sarah, what's wrong?" Jean asked.

"Morph's acting like a total pervert."

"What's he doing?"

"We're facing life and death situations, and all he can think about is getting laid."

Clark snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. Jean smacked him across the chest and glared. Sarah grunted and stormed off again.

"Sorry," Clark said, meekly. "Let's just get our stuff . . . "

Captain America found himself talking to Henry Gyrich in a video conference yet again.

"Cap, our men have finally been able to locate the X-Men," Gyrich was saying. "Ever since that school in Westchester blew up, we haven't been able to find them. But, they have finally been found, back at the school. We're dispatching the Avengers League right now to apprehend them."

"But - "

"No 'buts' about it, winghead. This time, you do as we say, when we say it. Now, get your team together, and over to Westchester, now!" Gyrich disconnected the link.

"I know you don't want to do this, but we have to," Martian Manhunter said. He'd been watching from the back of the room.

"I know," Cap replied. "So, let's get the team together, and take them down . . . "