" Ian, vhat are you doing here?" Kurt asked the boy.
Ian sighed and raised his hands.
" What did I say? Logan said you guys needed some help. So, since he couldn't come, I popped in. " Ian told the man.
" No, why would he send a boy here?" Charles asked.
Ian didn't take it to heart, but he was a little offended being called just a boy.
" Look, professor I see a lot of you here that I haven't seen in a while, but I'm the furthest thing from a boy. You have a good team composition here. But you have no power. I've punched it out with quite a few heavyweights including the Abomination. Now I hear you're going into to space. For what? I don't know, Logan didn't tell me. But I do know that having more muscle couldn't hurt. Besides, I came all the way here, I'm not leaving now." Ian explained to the group.
Charles didn't like the idea of putting more people in danger and it showed on his face.
" I can handle this professor. I got your back. When you first brought me to the institute, you asked me to trust you... Now, I'm asking you to do the same for me." Ian told the man.
" Professor, I think it's a good idea. We're gonna need all the help we can get out there. If Logan vouches for the kid, then he's okay in my book." The biggest guy in the room said to Xavier.
" I mean, If the kid wants to come, I say let him. John's right." Alex Summers, AKA Havok, spoke up.
Charles looked over at the rest of his group, which consisted of Lorna Dana, Polaris, Rachel Summers, Marvel girl and Darwin, looking for any sign of their thoughts.
" Okay..... I had hoped to keep as many of you from this as I could. But I have seen lately that I may not always make the best decisions." Charles spoke. " If you really want to come with us, then I'll be glad to have you. But first, you must know that the chances of any of us coming back from this mission are slim." Charles said to the boy.
" Professor, I've been nearly killed quite a few times over the last two years that I've been at your school. This is no different. We'll face it together and we'll overcome it." Ian replied.
" Very well. Let us leave while we still have a chance." Xavier spoke.
And without further delay Xavier and his small rag tag group of mutants boarded the Shi'ar ship and took off into space.
" According to the charts, we hit the first stargate beyond the moon, then it's four more jumps to shi'ar space." Xavier explained as he looked out over space.
" What it that in real time?" Alex asked.
" Yeah, I've never been to space, just wanted to put that out there. I don't speak the lingo." Ian spoke up.
" Heh! Well, it's not as fun as you would imagine." Alex told the boy.
" Yeah?" Ian asked.
" Oh yeah." Alex replied.
Xavier got a little chuckle out of the two's banter, finding it nice to have some form of peace in this rare moment.
" Well, to answer your question, Alex, it's about a day's travel between most stargates." Xavier told the man. " This ship can access them without any hacking, because it's from the fleet. So, we should be able to pass unnoticed until we can get a message to your father." Xavier explained to Alex.
" Hey, is that the stargate thing, you keep talking about?" Ian asked as he pointed out the window. He was looking at a giant metal, triangle shaped, construct that was just floating in place out in the void.
" Yes, that's it, Ian. It'll take us to the next point on the Shi'ar charts. Far outside our own galaxy." Xavier explained.
The Ship the group was traveling on entered the stargate and took off.
They were moving so fast Ian felt he was going to lose his lunch.
" What's wrong, kid? Feeling the gravity?" Alex asked the boy, who was still focusing on not vomiting.
" Yeah.... I'm not... Not gonna like this trip, am I?" Ian asked.
" Heh, you get used to it." Alex replied. " Hurgh!"
" You're sick too?!" Ian exclaimed. He looked over as Alex forced the urge back down.
Ian slocuhed down in his seat, feeling his body becoming lighter and the feeling of throwing up getting worse and at that moment, he decided in his mind.
' Space travel sucks! On so many levels!' Ian hated his current predicament, and it was at this moment that he wished he had turned down Logan's offer. Surely there were other ways. But no matter how much he might wish for it, there was no turning back now.
Thankfully, the world around them began to settle down and the ship was starting to slow and open space became visible once more.
" Oh, thank God!" Ian exclaimed. He could finally catch his breath again without feeling the urge to throw up in his stomach. " The next time I ask to come to space, you all have permission to slap me as hard as you can in the face. I deserve it." Ian stated. " Alright, where's the next Stargate? I need to know how long I have to prepare myself for the next one. And maybe throw up my lunch before then." Ian asked.
" Let me check..." Alex said to the boy. He typed away on the computer in front of him, searching for signs and directions to the next Stargate. " Uh Professor! We have a problem!" Alex shouted to the man.
" What is it, Alex?" Xavier asked.
" I'm not getting a reading for the next stargate. Or any of the other ones in this sector." Alex explained to the man.
" What do you mean?" Xavier asked.
" According to the computer the jump gates have been destroyed." Alex told the man.
" Oh, that's bad, ain't it?" Ian asked.
" Oh my god, Vulcan... I'm sure it was him. He's stranded us." Xavier exclaimed. " We're stranded in space."
Xavier's words hit Ian like a truck and there was only one thing Ian could think of.
" FUCK!"