Episode No.: 9
Main Characters: Cain, Xavier, Scott, Lance, Jean, Mystique
Other Characters: Pietro, Evan, Kitty, Freddy, Kurt, Todd, Ororo, Logan, Rogue
The Synopsis: We start off in a maximum security facility. A security guard goes through a fingerprint and eyescan check, and then walks into a room, clicks a few buttons on a control panel and voila, a tank containing Cain Marko lifts from the floor. Then, the guard shifts into Mystique and frees him. Go figure.

Re-open to a survival camp. All the teen X-Men and BH are there, plus five or six normal teens who conveniently never show again. Anyway, a bullyish guy by the name of Sgt. Hawke starts drilling them, and after a few humourous exchanges of dialogue throughout the X-Men, they go off to the first training course. After vowing to humiliate the X-Men in public with equally funny lines, the BH follow.

Mystique, meanwhile, is having some difficulties from Cain. After assertaining that he was indeed locked away by Xavier, who happens to be his stepbrother, Cain is still refusing to team up. However, he seems pretty keen on breaking into the Institute, which suits Mystique's palns, so she goes along with him (after he punches her across the room)

Meanwhile, Freddy is also having difficulties, although his are with ropeclimbing. He nearly pulls the whole rigging down before his rope snaps. Meanwhile, Scott and Lance are engaging in a little race. Lance uses his powers to knock Scott into the river, but Scotty gets his own back, optic-blasting Lance off of the lifeboat and climbing on himself. After this act, a huge argument starts between the two teams. Hawke takes note of this.

After they do 60 pushups, Hawke informs the teens that they'll be racing up to the top of Mt. Humiliation (charming name) to capture the flag, a classic X-Men vs BH row, and to prove they all got up, they need to take a pic of the whole team, with the flag. The two teams agree, but Scott, Lance and Jean agree that they won't use their powers. Jean's pretty pleased, needless to say, and a funny scene ensues.

Xavier and Logan are looking over Cerebro, when it picks up Cain's mutant signature. Xavier explains the basic story of Cain, and then panics, in that order.

Meanwhile, Kurt and Kitty are talking about why Kurt can't just 'port up, Scott's going very gung-ho, Rogue's complaining about Scott, Jean's urging them onwards and Evan's whining about the mosquitoes.

Meanwhile, the BH are trying a much riskier tactic. Todd is jumping up the cliffside, scouting ahead and Freddy, well, he's climbing up afterwards, a rope tied around him. Pietro and Lance are on the ends of this rope, and, as Pietro says, if Freddy stumbles, they're dead.

To cover Cain's tracks and prevent more police from getting injured by him, Ororo creates a large fog, baffling news broadcasters.

Back at the mansion, Xavier tells Logan how he can stop Cain, but only if he's missing his helmet, whic, unfortunately, Mystique was foolish enough to give him.

Back with the BH, Freddy's made it up the top, but Lance and Pietro are stil dangling. They make the critical mistake of telling Freddy to help them up, and are dragged up the rest, painfully by the sounds of it. Todd gets back from checking out an abandoned mine shaft, and says that it's all clear; there's a way straight to the top. The boys saunter in, ignoring the 'danger' and keep out' signs.

Scott and Kurt have made it almost to the top, and Scott employs Kurt to 'port up top and check if the BH are there yet. Kurt is annoyed, but obliges, and reports that the flag is still unclaimed. Scott gets excited, telling Evan to spike a rope up there. The guy goes along with it, much to Jean's disapproval. Yes, let it always be known that the X-Men cheated before the BH.

As we all would've guessed, Todd's 'shortcut' ended up landing them about 50 feet below ground with only a flimsy-looking ladder to help them up, which is apparently blocked too. Lance is suitably pissed, until Todd and Pietro reason with him and tell him to avalanche the rocks loose. You'd think that someone's common sense would've stepped in and they wouldn't have caused an earthquake while inside a mine shaft, but they do anyway, getting them trapped.

Said earthquake causes Evan to lose his balance, and the youth is sent falling off the edge of the cliff. Jeannie and her powers save him, and Scott says that since she used her powers then, why not use them to float up top? Jean disagrees, and the two are about to start yellinga t eachother until Rogue interrupts them. The mine shaft that the BH are trapped in is directly below them, and Todd appeals to Scott's better nature.

Cain Marko is in the Institute. Logan is helpless against his, er, backhand of steel, and is knocked through a few walls. Mystique is very upset to learn that Cain stomped on Cerebro, and attempts to attack him, only to receive the same treatment as Wolvy. Xavier and Mystique are cornered in the Danger Room.

The BH have begrudgingly accepted the X-Men's help, it seems, and once they're all up, Freddy instructs Pietro to run to and get the flag. Kurt 'ports after them, and the two reach the flag at the same time. They start tug-of-warring over it, but then Storm appears, piloting the Blackbird. Stormy explains the situation, and Scott and Lance agree to team up to save their respective team leaders.

Hawke's sauntering along looking butch, when suddenly the Blackbird flies overhead. The flag is thrown at his feet, followed by a photo of the X-Men and the BH standing around the flag. God, I would kill for that screenshot ^^;

Xavier tries desperately to save himself by activating Logan's training session, but Cain knocks the weapons away easily. Mystique and Xavier are about to be smashed when the X-Men and the Brotherhood storm in (no pun intended) and Jean levitates Cain away. The coolest fight scene ever ensues, and after Todd gets Cain's helmet off, Xavier lays the mind whammy on him. The X-Men and BH start cheering happily and generally jumping around, and after Xavier and Mystique have an almost friendly conversation, Mystique and the BH leave.

Finally, Cain's back in his cyrostasis or whatever, and Logan's acting surprisingly reassuring, telling Xavier that he can't control the will of others (the anti-Xaviers had a field day with that one), and it ends with a bit of Scott/Jean chatting.

My Rating: 9/10
What I Liked:
I love team-up episodes in any way, shape and form ^.^
Bloody brilliant BH interaction
I found myself emhapsising with Evan. That's a very rare thing
Even rarer, I found myself emphasising with Jean!
This was without a doubt the funniest ep yet :D
Scott Sumner!
Thank you for proving that Wolverine is not invincible
What I Disliked:
Where did all the normal kids at boot camp go?
Cain was too personality-deficient. He was pretty complex in the comics, from what I remember, so why's he so one-dimensional?
Still on the subject of Cain, wasn't he actually a human who was exposed to the Gems of Cytorrak, not a dormant mutant?
-_-; Why did the BH have to be so stupid?
Wolverine was too NICE! Wolvy and nice are not two words that should be used togetehr in a sentence, unless there is a subsequent 'not'. Grr, he's becoming a teddy-bear :P
Quotes:

"Anyone know how to hot-wire a school bus?"- Rogue

Blob: "Group leader, scholastic achievement. That should have been me."
Pietro: "You can't even spell 'scholastic achievement,' Blob!"

"Death by blubber-bomb!" -Pietro

"Unstoppable, meet the unmovable!" -Freddy

"Come on, boys, let's get out of here before you're invited to a slumber party!" -Mystique