X-Men Legends - Blacklust's Revenge

by PaulH57313

Born into a world where her kind are hunted and feared, Vanessa has no clue of her past and has been brought up by Professor Charles Xavior, an expert in the mutant kind as well as a teacher to them. Assuming her life is as normal as it could be, things quickly go wrong as her past begins to show...its dark side.

Chapter 1 – A Burning Past

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Shane spoke, looking around to make sure no one else was listening.

"It wasn't expected Shane, it just sort of happened, and, and I wouldn't have told you if I couldn't trust you." Ravenna whispered. Shane stood back a few steps and folded his arms.

"But, having relations with one of those...those...people, why?"

"I told you, it just sorta happened, and now this."

Ravenna pointed toward the bump in her stomach.

"Please Shane, do not tell anyone, especially Magneto, he would not accept me this way?"

"Do not worry, you can trust me!" Shane replied.

Ravenna strolled away with her head down. As she disappeared around the corner, Shane snapped his fingers and a moment later, a sudden burst of red flared in front of him, and then stood Azazel.

"Yes Shane?" Azazel spoke, his Russian accent clearly coming through.

"Well, I have some juicy news for our boss, but I'm gonna wait a while, see how things play out, and when the time is right, that bitch Ravenna will be out of my way once and for all!"

1 year later...

The sun peered through the railings on the roof of Ravenna's room. She was still adjusting to having to bring up a child in the dark, dank surroundings where her and her kin were forced to hide out for survival. It was only a few days ago that she had given birth to her daughter Vanessa, named after her grandmother. Ravenna had not left her daughter alone for any amount of time, for she was sure that if someone found out about her, they would try "Claim" the baby for their own. The only person who knew of the babies existence was her friend Shane, also known as Flayre, but little did she know, her life and that of her babies was about to change forever.

There was a knock on the concrete door that had not been opened it a long time. Ravenna did not make a sound in case the person at the other side of the door was not here for her. The knocking got more frequent, but it suddenly stopped, just for a familiar voice to be heard.

"It's me Ravenna, Shane, you can let me in."

"I...I can't risk it, I'm sorry." She replied, holding her baby close to her chest.

There was a silence for a few moments.

"Fine, ill invite my self in" Shane spoke.

A wheezing noise came from behind the door and a dark mist started pouring in from under and around the door. It then suddenly took the shape of a figure, only to see Shane reappear in front of Ravenna.

"Why didn't you let me in?" Shane said.

"You could have been someone else, y'know, like Mystique for example, I had to make sure you were you."

Shane reached into his black leather jacket and pulled out an envelope.

"He has given you a mission, and he expects you to do it."

Ravenna placed the baby into its sleeping area, and looked at the envelope. Her eyes suddenly turned into a harsh yellow colour and the envelope suddenly burst into flames, making Shane drop it.

"If he wants something done, he can do it himself, I'm busy!" She spoke, turning her attention back to her child.

"He won't be happy, and he will expect an explanation, I can't say that its cause your looking after a baby, he will freak." Shane replied, stamping out the remaining cinders of the envelope.

"What will I tell him?"

Ravenna did not reply.

"Well I'm sure I could think of an excuse for you, It wouldn't be the first time."Shane spoke.

"I do appreciate what your doing Shane, but I gotta get out of here, and soon." She replied.

Shane begun wandering the room, inspecting random objects. But he caught sight of Ravenna's daughter and noticed she had badly wrapped bandages over her eyes.

"What's up with her?" Shane questioned. Ravenna picked up her child and adjusted the bandages a little.

"Just taking precautions."

"Precautions? For what?"

"Well, I'm just assuming that her powers will manifest soon, and must be related to mine, through her eyes."

Shane paused his movement. He looked toward Vanessa and then to Ravenna.

"Course it will be similar...why else do you think Magneto wants her for himself!"

Ravenna stood frozen for a second, before pondering the words she had just heard her friend speak.

"Wait...what?"

"Do you think me a fool! Magneto found out the day you told me about your demon spawn!"

"But...how did he find out?"

"I told him of course!"

Ravenna was utterly paralysed with so many emotions at the moment. She didn't know how to feel about this.

"How could you do this to me?" Ravenna chocked.

"Power of course. I can't let that thing grow up, I've been put down too many times, but no longer!"

Shane suddenly begun raising his arms. The dark mist begun to return, making its way up Shane's body and covering the doorway. He then snapped his fingers and the doorway burst into a blue flame before collapsing in on itself. Ravenna's eyes turned yellow once again, and she looked towards Shane, just to see a mini explosion that sent his flailing across the room and into the back wall.

This gave her time to think of a way out. She quickly gathered a few supplies and threw over her a long red cloak and tossed up the hood. She then turned behind her and looked at the wall. Ravenna concentrated, and the concrete wall begun to heat up, before crumbling in front of her, just enough for her to squeeze out with Vanessa.

There was only woods in front of her, hundreds of acres as far as the eye could see, but she had to try escape, she had to get out of here.

Shane regained to his feet and shouted for assistance. Azazel teleported in and instantly saw the damage done to the room.

"Will I get her, Shane?" He said.

"Call me Flayre, and no! She's mine!"

Flayre moved toward the large gap in the wall which Ravenna had created. He placed his hands in front of him, and focused. A sudden cloud of mist appeared at his feet, and Flayre stepped into it. Somehow, it seemed to carry his weight.

"Tell Magneto I'm on her tail!" Flayre ordered to Azazel, just before he disappeared.

He looked toward the woodland area and begun to travel in that direction.

Ravenna had been hastily on the move for roughly an hour now, and although there was no sign of someone following her, she knew someone would eventually. She jumped behind a large rock and leaned against it.

"I will protect you my dear, I will!" She said to her daughter.

Ravenna reached over Vanessa's eyes and removed the bandages. As the baby took her first look at the world in which she had been born too, Ravenna saw that her eyes were nothing like she had seen before, or imagined. They were as if the pupil was heavily dilated, and that some form of fiery embryo had formed around it. Ravenna looked away for a moment in horror.

"What are you..." She thought to herself.

Vanessa giggled slightly, which made Ravenna smile.

"Be good, Vanessa."

There was a sudden rustle in the trees behind her, and the sky begun to gradually darken. She knew who had been sent for her...Flayre. Ravenna wrapped up Vanessa in the red coat she wore for warmth and placed her behind the tree and placed a kiss on her forehead before standing up and moving away from her child.

Flayre had created a mist like barricade around the area that prevented Ravenna from leaving. He landed off of the mist that carried him and called out.

"Ravenna! Where are you!"

Flayre caught sight of her casually strolling toward him, her eyes, light up constantly.

"Ladies first" He spoke, giving her the opportunity to attack.

Ravenna looked at Flayre's feet and a sudden circle of fire surrounded him.

"My turn!"

Flayre instantly took control of the steam that was caused by the fire at his feet to create a pillar of mist, which put the fire out. He then threw his arms toward Ravenna, sending the pillar of mist toward her.

Surprised at this move, Ravenna attempted to leap out of the way but was unfortunate. The pillar swept her off her feet and slammed her against a nearby tree, she let out a screech.

Flayre begun laughing insanely.

"It's useless to resist!" He boasted.

Ravenna let out a roar and looked at the bottom of the tree she was slammed against. It suddenly begun to smoke and crackle.

"Wait, what?!" Flayre barked.

The tree begun to topple with some speed past Ravenna and almost on Flayre. Unfortunately he had evaporated into mist before the tree came crashing down. Ravenna let out a breath of frustration.

As the tree landed, Flayre begun to reconstitute instantly.

"That was close!" He shouted.

Ravenna struggle to get up, and as she tried to, she felt a sharp searing pain in her side as she saw a chunk of wood wedged into it.

Flayre then used his power to take hold of Ravenna and lift her a few meters off the ground.

"Where is she? Where is your baby?" Flayre spoke.

"Ill never tell you!" She screamed, struggling to speak as the mist begun to enter her body through her mouth. It tasted like a harsh metal liquid was entering her throat.

There was a sudden cry from somewhere in the forest, it was a baby's cry.

"Looks like your daughter wants to be found!" Flayre mocked.

"No...please..." Ravenna cried.

Flayre looked toward the location in which the cry had been heard, then looked back toward Ravenna, and with a quick grasp of his hand, there was a snap, and Ravenna's body fell to the floor.

He took one last look at the body, before heading to find the daughter. The babies cry was coming from behind a nearby tree and then the long read cloak came into sight, bundled up in a way that you could clearly see something was inside. Before unravelling the cloak, Flayre took down the barrier and looked at his surroundings. He then leaned over and begun to unravel the cloak.

"C'mon, where are y-"

As he did, Vanessa's eyes caught Flayre's and he suddenly froze. He could consciously think, but physically could not move. He had no idea what was going on. He then found himself, standing up and walking away, not by his will in anyway. His mind practically screamed for his body to stop, but he could not, and not long after he found himself standing in the middle of a road with traffic driving by on each side. As Flayre finally regained control of his physical self, he understood what had happened to him. The baby must have felt threatened by his presence and used her ability to control his body to leave the area immediately.

Flayre quickly returned to the area in which he had previously been, only to find the body of Ravenna, but no sign of Vanessa...

Chapter 2 – A Bright Future

19 years later...

There was a sudden ringing of a alarm clock echoing throughout the room, before it came to a stop. Vanessa could not find the will to get out of bed today, or most days for that matter. She groaned and slid toward her clock.

"7:24...you gotta be kidding me!" She mumbled.

Vanessa looked across the room to see her room-mate, Serah, already up and packed to head to class, 2 hours early.

"Serah, why you up so early?" Vanessa mumbled, whilst adjusting the covers for a comfortable position.

"Awh you know me, need to be ready!" Serah replied, somehow rather chirpy.

Vanessa slunk back under the covers and let out another groan. She could hear the words "See ya" before hearing her room door open and shut.

There was a rather loud thump from outside that awoke Vanessa a second time, fortunately, in time for her to be up for class. Not feeling up for much she quickly tossed on her red coat, combed her red hair, grabbed her books and headed to the sub-basement for her danger room training.

The elevator door opened at the sub-basement and standing there with her husband was Jean Grey and Scott Summers, more commonly known as Phoenix and Cyclops.

"On time, I see!" Scott said, making Jean chuckle, Vanessa did not find this humorous.

"Yeah yeah, I probably would have been late, but I was abruptly woken." She replied.

"Sleep well?" Jean said, the tone of her voice always seeming welcoming.

"Yeah I guess thanks, must admit, yesterdays session was rather tough, gotta few bruises to prove that!" She rolled up her sleeve to show the damage. Scott laughed.

"Awh I remember the times we use to get hurt, remember Jean?"

Both Scott and Jean suddenly went off in a tangent that Vanessa tried to ignore.

The danger room door opened and there was surprisingly no one there.

"Wait, where's the professor?" Vanessa questioned.

"He is away at the moment, don't worry we'll look after you" Scott replied, beckoning Vanessa to take a seat.

Jean took in a breath and begun to breakdown to Vanessa what today's session was going to be about.

"Well, after yesterday's success, we thought it best that you try it again, but a little more difficult, if you felt up to it?"

Vanessa nodded.

"Now the aim again, is not to kill, but to avoid being caught and to find the objective."

Scott stood up.

"Remember, if you need to use your powers, only do it when you really need to!"

Vanessa nodded a second time.

"Good luck"

"Danger room session 202 begin."

The voice over the speaker ended and the projections of a Vietnam camp begun to appear. It was some time late at night and the objective was to find and capture a data disk. Remembering how she done it the day before, Vanessa begun to reminisce. But it was short lived as she caught sight of a virtual soldier making its way to her position. She quickly lay down behind nearby ammo crates.

"This'll be a breeze!" Vanessa thought to herself.

But suddenly she heard a dog barking and sniffing close to her position.

"This is new!" She whispered.

She caught sight of a dog running up to her position, and fast. There was no other option but to use her power.

Vanessa stood and closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, before opening her eyes again, this time, they were black. As the dog got a few meters away from her position, it stopped, and sat down.

"Good dog." She said, before returning her attention to the matter at hand.

Vanessa caught sight of two soldiers guarding the entrance to where she needed to go. So her first move was to get the dog that she now controlled to distract the soldiers whilst she moved in, and it worked. The dog begun running away around the other side of the building and the two soldiers followed.

"Piece of cake!" Vanessa cheered.

As she reached the door, she tied up her red hair and pulled up her gloves. There was another virtual soldier waiting at the corner. Unfortunately he was wearing a helmet and dark goggles, so her powers were useless.

"Unless I can get them off of him!" She thought.

Vanessa begun sneaking up to the soldier, but he snapped to attention and caught sight of her.

"Oi, what you doing!" He barked. Vanessa smirked on.

The soldier leaned in for an attack but she swiftly dodged to the left whilst forcing her leg down to the back of his knee, making him fall to the ground. Before he could get up, she turned back around, and with one foot, pressed it against the soldiers thigh and her other foot, kicked the soldier's glasses off, whilst landing a somersault. The soldier hastily gained to his feet, but not before Vanessa's eyes turned black once more and had the soldier paralysed on the spot.

Whilst keeping eye contact, she stood up.

"Get your walkie talkie, tell your men there's trouble outside!"

The soldier did what she asked. Vanessa leaped under a nearby desk and heard roughly five soldiers as well as the one she was controlling run outside. The rest of the mission was just a simple run up to the second floor and the session was over.

The projections begun to fade away.

"Danger room session 202, passed" The speaker voice spoke.

"Congrats, Vanessa!" Scott spoke, clapping his hands whilst he congratulated her.

"Yeah, that was some fine work! Professor would be proud!" Jean added.

"Thanks guys, ya kinda threw me off balance when ya placed that dog in there! Who's idea was that?" Vanessa questioned, looking to see who it was.

"Well, we weren't meant to say, but it was Logan." Jean answered.

Vanessa shook her head.

"Come by the professors office later, he will wanna talk to you." Scott said, before taking Jean's hand and heading out of the room.

5 hours had passed since Vanessa's danger room session and she was told to meet the professor at his office roughly around this time. She opened the door to the office to see the professor staring blankly out of the window.

"Ah Vanessa, please take a seat."

He rolled his wheelchair to face her.

"I heard you did well at your session today?"

"Yea professor, I think I'm finally getting a handle on this." She replied.

"Scott and Jean were rather impressed about how you handled yourself."

Vanessa begun to blush slightly.

"Well...I've had good teachers." She smiled toward Charles.

"Well, I've called you hear to say that your hard work has paid off."

The door behind her opened and in came the familiar sight of Jean and Scott, but also followed by two other figures, Ororo Munro and Logan, also known as Storm and Wolverine. He was holding a box of sorts.

They all stood in front of Vanessa and were all rather happy. Logan placed the box on the desk.

"Well done, kid." He spoke, tapping Vanessa on the shoulder.

She reached for the box and pulled off the lid, to see what looked like her own personal outfit, an x-men outfit!

"Wait...are you serious?!" Vanessa spoke, shaking away at what was happening.

Ororo moved forward.

"We could use a girl of your...talents." She spoke.

"We've also given you a new code name to protect your identity...Blacklust." Charles said.

"Blacklust, I like it." Vanessa agreed, whilst measuring up the outfit on herself.

Chapter 3 – The Mission

"Uck, can't get this dam seatbelt!" Vanessa cursed at the object she held in her hands.

"Here, lemme help." Wolverine leaned toward Blacklust and helped her click her straps into position.

"Thanks." Blacklust added, Wolverine nodded in return.

The X-jet jolted a little as it reached its altitude, before settling again. Storm, Jean, Cyclops and Wolverine had been sent by Professor X to a location not too far off from where the mansion was, but they thought it best to take the Jet, in case there was a need of a sudden pick up. Blacklust was told by the professor to accompany the team and shadow them. She was still adjusting to her uniform, constantly pulling the zip at the neck higher and making sure her gloves were tight.

Wolverine sniggered a little for some reason.

"What's so funny?" Questioned Cyclops.

"Don't ya think Vanessa should wear what your wearing, y'know, to cover her eyes!" He begun laughing again, Cyclops didn't reply.

Blacklust turned to Wolverine and growled a little.

"Careful, or I'll make you wish you weren't part of the team!" She barked.

Wolverine straightened up, and leaned left, toward Jean.

"Could she do that?!" He whispered.

"Who knows, do you really want to risk it?" She replied, looking at the vague expression on Blacklust's face.

Another jolt came from the plane.

"Were here." Storm spoke, calming the Jet to a sudden halt, before releasing the wheels and making a touch down.

"Wait!" Jean snapped, placing her hand against her head.

"What's up?" Wolverine replied, clearly concerned for Jean, even though it seemed Cyclop's job.

"Were not alone..."

The Jet came to a silence, Blacklust turned behind her to look out the small box window to see if she could see anything.

There was a strange fog like mist as high as the eye could see.

"Storm, why didn't we see this on our scanners?" Cyclops said.

"Because this fog has literally just appeared as soon as we touched down..." Storm replied, turning toward her team in the back.

"Was it you?" Wolverine questioned to Storm, but she declined.

Jean looked at Blacklust, who was in the midst of finding it hard to breathe.

Are you-"

Before she got to finish, all glass windows upon the jet suddenly imploded into the cabin of the jet, shattering glass everywhere.

Blacklust screamed in horror.

"Everyone okay?!" Cyclops shouted, releasing everyone's belts from a release button above his head.

"What's that smell, that taste, it's...it's disgusting!" Blacklust chocked out her words before attempting to spit out the taste.

One by one the team begun to drop to their knees and struggle to catch air.

"What the hell's going...going on..." Wolverine splattered his words out, trying to wave away the mist that was now entering the jet through the busted windows.

There was a sudden crunch on metal, as the door to the jet begun to fold in on itself, before getting ripped off of its hinges and flung outward. The mist begun to dissipate from within the cabin.

As it did, a tall, statuesque man casually walked in, followed by a female figure and another younger man, in the midst of concentrating the mist from his hands.

"What a surprise to find the x-men here." The tall man spoke, rubbing the edges of his cape he held in one hand.

Wolverine forced his head up.

"Magneto!" He shouted.

Magneto smirked in return, the female figure then strolled out behind Magneto to reveal herself.

"Mystique! Why are you all here?" Wolverine questioned.

"That's none of your concern." Replied Magneto, taking a quick glimpse to Blacklust, who was still struggling to breathe.

He begun to slowly walk up to her, but was short lived as the man beside him snatched hold of Magneto's shoulder and forced him back.

"Careful, that's her!" The man spoke, sneering toward Blacklust.

"Ah." Magneto replied, thanking the man with a nod. He looked toward Mystique and nodded in her direction.

All of a sudden, the tall, blue body of Mystique instantly transformed from head to toe, into the exact copy of Blacklust. Blacklust lay stunned at what she had just seen.

"Oh my god!" She muttered.

"Oh my god!" Mystique replied, muttered in the exact same tone as Blacklust. Magneto looked toward the man beside him.

"Flayre, take her."

"With pleasure!" He replied, moving toward his target.

As he reached for Blacklust, Jean suddenly rose from the ground and threw her arms toward the from of the plane, sending Flayre soaring through the remains of the front jet window, smashing his head off of the roof. The mist from outside instantly dissipated and everyone could finally taste and breathe oxygen again, the whole team rose to their feet, Blacklust a little slower than the others.

Mystique ran out of the jet to check on Flayre, leaving Magneto.

"Your mine!" Wolverine barked, unsheathing his Adamantium claws from his knuckles.

Magneto raised his arm, which made Wolverine too raise a little off the jet floor.

Storm and Cyclops had managed to make it out of the front window before Magneto and his companions made it on board the jet. They saw Flayre come crashing through the front window and land a little away from them, unconscious. Cyclops helped Storm to her feet, before catching Blacklust running after him. Cyclops was unsure whether or not to fire.

"Is that?" He spoke, looking for Storm to verify.

"I'm not sure, Scott!" She replied.

The figure of Blacklust soon transformed back to Mystique, who was trying to get Flayre up.

"It's Mystique!" Storm gasped.

Cyclops hastily raised his hand to his head and fired in Mystique's position. But Mystique slid out of the way, before swirling around and taking cover behind a nearby tree. Cyclops fired again, shattering the tree at the base. Mystique cartwheeled left to take cover behind another tree.

"She's slippery!" Cyclops spoke, removing his hand from his head.

"My turn." Storm said, before suddenly taking flight from a wind that appeared from under her feet. She flew up a few meters to see Mystique's hiding position.

"That's cheating!" Mystique jokingly replied, before rushing toward Cyclops.

He did not see this move coming from Mystique and before he knew it he was tackled to the ground and his eye visor slid off with the force of impact from the ground. A harsh red bean shot furiously skyward, almost shooting into Storm. She became a little unbalanced and slowly tumbled toward the ground. Mystique took a rock she saw beside her and slammed it into Cyclops' skull, knocking him out and stopping his beam.

"Night night!" She smirked, turning her attention to Storm.

"Make your move weather witch!"

The sky suddenly darkened as Storm's eyes turned white.

"By the power of the goddess!"

She aimed her hands toward Mystique and a sudden bolt of lightning came crashing from the sky. Mystique back flipped over Cyclops body and latching onto the tree behind her. The lightning bolt was awfully close to Cyclops. Storm raised one hand after the other and threw them downward one after the other as well, creating constant lightning strikes on Mystique's position. She would not go down so easily.

Back on the jet, Magneto was tossing Wolverine about like a rag doll, making it hard for the rest of their team to go on the offensive against Magneto. He then slammed Wolverine to the floor and laughed. Blacklust caught sight of the drama happening outside.

"Logan, Jean, deal with him, I'm gonna help the others!

She rushed past Magneto and left the jet, Magneto strangely did not stop her.

"Storm!" Blacklust shouted, but was unheard due to the noise of the lightning.

She also caught sight of Mystique doing all she could to avoid being hit. Suddenly, Blacklust thought of something that could change the balance.

"Storm, Storm" She shouted once more, this time it was heard.

"What?" Storm replied.

"Imma try something, keep attacking!"

Storm suddenly froze for a second. Her eyes were locked on Blacklust's. A moment later, she had full control of her body.

Blacklust's eyes were white this time, similar to that of Storm's.

"Go, now!" She shouted over to Storm.

She nodded and then lowered her arm again for another strike. But as the bolt of lightning came downward, Blacklust tossed her arms left in the direction of Mystique, guessing where she would attempt to move once tried to dodge the lightning. The bolt suddenly arced in two different directions and found its mark. Mystique flew backwards as the lightning struck her chest, smashing her against a large rock. Blacklust's eyes returned to normal.

"That was a smart move, Vanessa." Storm thanked.

"Thanks, didn't actually think that was gonna work." Blacklust replied.

Cyclops woke suddenly.

"What...what did I miss?" He spoke, rubbing the back of his head whilst adjusting his visor back to his head.

They saw Flayre still unconscious on the ground.

"What should we do with him?" Cyclops questioned.

Jean suddenly appeared from out of the jet, followed by Wolverine.

"What happened to Magneto?" Blacklust questioned, looking back into the jet and seeing it empty.

"He kinda just left!" Wolverine smirked, lighting up a cigar whilst speaking.

"Jean, did you read his mind, find out why he was here?" Said Storm.

"His mind is protected due to that helmet he wears, it prevents my telepathic abilities." Replied Jean.

The team looked toward Flayre and then to the jet. Cyclops moved into the middle of the team.

"Get him on board, and fix these damaged to the hull, I'm sure the professor can get answers from this mutant."

Chapter 4 – The Trap.

The rain lashed down relentlessly upon the rooftop of the mansion, casting an eerie glare over the surroundings. A sharp, bitter breeze filled the midnight sky and the world around almost seemed to be frozen, something was definitely wrong about tonight. Kitty Pryde and Bobby Drake were getting comfortable in the lounge area of the mansion, watching as the storm intensified outside. Kitty leaped up as a sudden bolt of lightning lit up the room.

"Oh god!" She yelped, holding onto Bobby's arm tightly.

She took a hold of the TV remote shortly after and turned it up a few notches to try drown out the thunder, although the windows still rattled – louder with each clash.

"Scared of a little thunder?" Bobby laughed, Kitty growled slightly towards Bobby.

There was a strange noise coming from outside, as if some form of plane or jet were flying overhead. Kitty leaped to her feet and rushed toward the nearby window. A huge beam of light shone downward as it passed over the mansion and landed upon the basketball court.

"Look who's home!" Kitty spoke, grabbing the attention of Bobby.

But as the jet came into sight, they both could see that it was damaged, and badly. Kitty had a look of worry on her face, enough for Bobby to comfort her in his arms. He took a hold of her arm and whispered, "Lets go." into her ear before hastily leaving the lounge. They ran down the hallway to the elevator that would take them to the sub-basement. Kitty pressed it and they both waited patiently.

The jet begun to shake violently as it hovered above the basketball court, and as the middle of the court expanded, the jet begun to spiral downward and come to a crash landing within the sub-basement. Fortunately the landing gear was out in time for the crash to cause little damage to the jet and to the people inside it. Wolverine furiously booted down the door of the jet and the lights of the hanger begun to flicker on.

"What a landing Scott!" He barked.

"Your welcome." Scott replied, shaking his head.

They were followed down the ramp by Storm, who was holding a young man in her arms, and Jean who was holding Blacklust around the shoulders to assure her that they were safe.

"You okay?" Jean questioned to Vanessa. She ripped out her bobble and her red hair dropped over her shoulders.

"That...was...horrible." She shivered at what she had been through.

"Do you think the professor knew what the hell he sent us into?" Vanessa spoke, wondering the answer to her own question.

"He didn't say, he said that if-" Jean was cut off as the doors to the hangar opened and there stood Kitty and Bobby.

"You guys made it!" She shouted, relieved to see everyone still intact.

"Takes more than a few bumps and bruises to take me down, kid" Wolverine snickered, lighting up yet another cigar.

Bobby caught sight of Storm holding a stranger.

"Who's the new guy?" Bobby questioned.

Vanessa turned to face him with a look of anger on her face.

"If he knows what's good for him, he won't be staying for long!" The tone in her voice clearly stating to Bobby that there had been something going on wherever they had went.

Scott took Storm aside.

"Take him to the prison across the hall, I'll tell the professor we have one for questioning."

Storm nodded.

The team begun to split up, Bobby, Kitty and Vanessa took the elevator back up to the dormitories, whilst the rest of the team stayed at the sub-basement.

Roughly 3 hours had passed since the jet made it back to the mansion. Vanessa could not sleep after her first mission, laying in bed in a cold sweat. She noticed that her room mate Serah wasn't in her bed.

"Wonder where she is." Vanessa thought, looking around the room for clues to her location.

A crash of thunder roared from outside, followed by a flash of white. Vanessa's heart suddenly pounded within her chest for a moment.

She begun to hear creaking of nearby floorboards, gradually getting louder with each one. Someone was getting close. Vanessa tossed the covers over her head, and waited.

Creak...creak...creak...creak...CREAK!

The last one she heard seemed to be whatever it was causing them, to come to a sudden halt. Wondering what was the cause of the noise, she courageously decided to go investigate. Vanessa moved one leg out of bed, and then the other, gently lowering her feet to the cold, wooden floorboards. As she hoisted herself out of bed, the springs in the bed made a squeak and a sudden rushing of footsteps heading away from Vanessa's location were heard.

Someone had been at her door.

Vanessa took a gulp, before unlocking the door and peering out each side. There was no one. But there was a strange smell, as if someone had left a gas cooker on. It eventually begun to dissipate.

"Who was at my door?" She pondered, rubbing her head whilst thinking.

"But the smell of gas could have been coming from the prisoner! Has he escaped?" She then thought, deciding to make her way to the nearby elevator and take it down to the sub-basement.

The elevator pinged as it opened to the harsh bright light of the sub-basement. The prison was to the far right. Fortunately, no one should be around at the moment, so she could find out herself if the prisoner had escaped. She slid her hand along the wall as she reached the huge door that opened to reveal a holding cell, with a laser wall in front of it to hold whoever they had inside. As she looked in, she could see that the prisoner was still within the cell, with his back facing her. Something caught her attention though, the air conditioning unit at the top left of the cell was damaged.

She took a seat at the stairs facing the prison.

"Flayre, If that is your name, or will I call you something else?" She spoke.

There was no reply.

"Were you outside my room earlier?"

The prisoner begun laughing. He then turned his position to face Vanessa, he was smirking.

"Well well, If it isn't the little witch!"

"Excuse me?!"

"Oh you can call me Shane by the way, y'know, just for casual purposes." Every word that was spoken by Shane was as if he was meaning them to be spoken with attitude.

"Why did you and your group attack us at the forest?"

"Your telepath friend not tell you?"

Vanessa wondered whether he meant the Professor or Jean.

"What happened to that vent?" Vanessa pointed to the broken vent. Shane glared towards it, before returning his gaze upon Vanessa. He then stood suddenly.

"I'm surprised you don't remember me..."

Vanessa had no idea what he was talking about.

"Don't tell me the Professor has played his little mind games on you without you knowing..."

"What do you mean? I've never saw you before, I'm sure of it."

"Hm Hm...That's not entirely true."

There was a abrupt silence that fell over the prison. Vanessa rose to her feet and held onto the banister, her hands begun to sweat.

"Wait..."

A sudden flourish of images begun to flow through Vanessa's mind. They were all too hazed to properly make out. Was she remembering something? Was it true what Shane was saying the professor could have done to her? She needed to find out for herself.

"Who the hell are you, Shane?!" She shouted, whilst looking into his eyes, attempting to use her power.

"Oh your little parlour tricks won't work on me, not whilst I'm in this cell, just as my powers cannot reach you."

Shane begun to pace the cell.

"I knew your mother, once...yeah...we had...history."

Vanessa moved closer to the cell.

"I never knew my mother, how is that possible that you know her yet I am older?" She looked at how young Shane actually was, there was no way he could be telling the truth.

"You...you look so young!"

"Well one thing my powers allow me to do is to absorb the life force from someone, although it cannot kill them, it keeps me young, healthy...pretty." Shane brushed his face with his hand.

"Tell me more about how you knew my mother...please!" She shouted once more.

"Oh I'm sure you and her will be reacquainted rather soon..."

Shane begun laughing insanely.

"Is she here? Where is she?" Vanessa begun to panic.

"Because she is dead child! I killed her with my own hands!" The laughing returned.

Vanessa stood in utter shock. Her throat begun to close up as she gasped for air. A tear begun to trickle down her cheek and she swept it away with her hand. Her eyes suddenly turned black, and the expression on her face quickly turned from sadness to anger. She threw herself toward the cage, bashing at it with her fists.

"YOU! I'LL KILL YOU I SWEAR TO GOD!" The cell not getting damaged at all.

Her eyes returned to normal and she suddenly collapsed to the floor.

"But...but why?" She muttered.

Shane leaned over to get to the same height as Vanessa.

"Because she was carrying you! Magneto knew that you would be too dangerous if you were on the wrong side...which you are. Little did he know you would just be a pathetic...little...girl!" His tone of voice suddenly raised.

Vanessa raised her head and begun smiling.

"Well, who is the one trapped behind a cage? Like a dog!" She barked. Shane looked around the cage.

"I'm gonna make sure you stay here for the rest of your life!" Vanessa spoke, walking back up to the door.

"You don't see it do you?"

Vanessa turned to face Shane.

"Me getting captured...it was all part of the plan!"

Vanessa's eye widened with fear, and the heavy door behind her suddenly slammed shut.

"Hello! Help somebody!" She screamed.

Shane begun laughing once again.

"But, your in an impenetrable cage, your just as trapped as I am!"

Shane looked up toward Vanessa.

"Not for long."

Shane closed his eyes and begun to focus. He slowly raised his arms above his head and a sudden mist appeared out of nowhere around his feet. It then started to cling to the cage, creating the same shape of the barrier, both length and height. Vanessa stood in panic, with no clue how to react to what was happening. As the mist covered the barricade completely, Shane then let out a scream before pushing the mist with his mind. The barricade begun to spark, affecting the nearby computer systems and the lights in the prison. All of a sudden the mist burst into a blue flame and the barricade exploded outward, smashing into the far wall. Vanessa fell to the floor. The sprinklers overhead begun to spray, attempting to put out any fires that were around. Shane begun walking towards the exit.

"What the hell did you do?" Vanessa whimpered. The water soaking her through.

"You underestimated me, they call me Flayre for a reason." Flayre replied, before bringing the back of his hand down upon Vanessa's face, knocking her out.

"I'll be back for you soon, but I've got a plane to catch..."

The huge door of the prison suddenly opened and Flayre leisurely strolled out, humming to himself. He saw the door that lead to the hanger and walked through. The doors closed behind him.

"Looks like half my job is already done." He spoke, seeing the damage already done to the jet. Flayre concentrated once again, generating a mist from the palm of his hands and blowing it in the jets direction. It wasn't long before it was consumed by the mist. Flayre strolled back out the door and snapped his fingers. The sub-basement begun to tremble and smoke came pouring out of the holes in the hangar door.

An alarm bell stared to ring throughout the mansion, awakening most of the senior student as well as the teachers first. Jean appeared out of her room and tied her robe. She looked down the hall to see children running about frantically. Scott appeared behind Jean.

"What the hell is going on?" Scott spoke.

Jean placed her hand against her head and begun to sense for danger. Her mind reached the sub-basement and she suddenly jumped.

"Scott, we gotta get to the sub-basement!" She took a hold of Scott's arm and rushed toward the elevator.

Kitty appeared in the hallway and noticed the situation. She saw her friend rushing toward her.

"Clarice, what the hell is happening?"

"I'm not too sure, I've been told to gather everyone in the lounge, so you best hurry!"

Clarice begun to run down the hallway once again.

"Bobby!" Kitty shouted back into her room.

"I'm here." He replied, rubbing his eyes from tiredness.

"We've to get to the lounge."

They looked across the hallway to see Vanessa's and Serah's room door shut.

"Why aren't they leaving?" Kitty questioned, Bobby shrugged.

Kitty headed towards the door and walked through the wooden door using her power. There was no one in their beds. She walked back through the wooden door and to Bobby.

"No one is there."

"Lets just get to the lounge." Bobby replied.

Clarice was standing beside the television as the room begun to fill up with students. Storm and Wolverine barged in.

"Where is the rest?" Wolverine questioned.

"The professor's told me not to wait, I have to do this now!"

Clarice turned to face the blackboard at the far wall, and suddenly threw what looked like a large, purple dagger toward it. The object suddenly exploded outward, but caused no damage. Instead there was a large image of what looked like the courtyard of the mansion.

"Everyone get through now!" Clarice ordered, the students begun walking through hastily.

Storm grabbed Wolverine's arm.

"What about Jean, Scott?" She said.

"I dunno, but we gotta help these kids."

They too walked through the portal and then it shut. Clarice smiled in relief, but, as she was about to create another portal for herself, someone walked into the lounge.

"Your late!" She spoke, looking at the person who had just entered.

"I think you'll find I'm just in time!"

The man looked up and a sudden mist begun to arrive around his feet and fill the floor around the lounge.

"Flayre!" Clarice shouted, preparing to counter attack.

"You must be Blink." He replied.

The mist begun to get closer to Blink. She begun tossing portals around her feet and the mist sieved through it and disappeared. But Flayre kept generating more, eventually pushing Blink against the wall.

"You can't keep this up forever!" Flayre spoke.

"Your right." She replied.

Blink tossed a portal behind her and leaped backwards, taking her to the courtyard.

"Hm, that was just luck!" Flayre commented, before turning to face the hallway.

"Time to end this!"

Flayre let out a roar and mist begun to suddenly funnel out of his body. It travelled at ground level and speedily seeped through each and every room of the dormitories. He didn't care if they were empty or not, but he kept at it until the entire floor was covered in mist.

Out in the courtyard, most of the students had been taken out of the mansion and had gathered here. Blink suddenly appeared out from a portal and headed towards Storm and Wolverine.

"Storm! We gotta go back! Someone just attacked me" She shouted.

"One of the students?" Storm replied.

"No, I am sure he was the prisoner that you picked up on your mission."

Both Storm and Wolverine looked at each other.

"How could he escape?" Wolverine snapped.

"I'm not sure Logan, no one ever has."

The door to the sub-basement opened and there was smoke everywhere. Jean and Scott begun to cough frantically.

"What the hell happened down here!" Said Scott.

"I'm not sure Scott, but Vanessa is down here, I am sure of it."

They both begun feeling along the wall to the opposite end and looked into the hangar. The x-jet was nothing more than a pile of metallic rubble in a ball of flames, which was causing all the smoke. Jean covered her eyes. Scott stood in shock.

They both forced the hangar door shut properly to cut off the smoke. As they did, Jean felt something snatch at her ankle. She leaped up.

"Wait, Vanessa!"

Vanessa was laying on the ground, covered in ash and dust.

"We...we gotta get everyone out." She spoke, coughing and spluttering away.

"Don't worry, everyone's working together to help get people to safety." Cyclops spoke, raising Vanessa onto his shoulder with her arm.

"But...but Flayre-"

All of a sudden the lights of the sub-basement conked out and the foundations on which they stood begun to shake tremendously for a moment.

"What was that?! Sounded like an explosion!" Jean shouted.

Wolverine was about to head through the door of the mansion, before the dormitory floor of the mansion exploded in a catastrophic array of fire and smoke. The students all fell to their knees from the blast. There was screams everywhere. They all looked up to see the top half of the mansion in utter ruin, burning away. Laughing was heard as a strange mist like substance begun to travel away from the mansion and into the distance.

Chapter 5 – Next Step

Sunlight begun to peer over the mountains in the far distance as dawn approached. Iceman, Wolverine and Colossus had entered the remains of the mansion to try and help put out the fires as well as look for survivors. In the middle of the courtyard was a huge water fountain, and Professor X was parked up against it, with his head in his hands. Storm strolled up beside him and sat on the concrete fountain.

"How could I have not seen this coming?" Said the professor.

"None of us did Charles, but at least we managed to save as many students as we possibly could." Replied Storm.

They both looked over past the fountain to see 4 covered up bodies of students.

"Not everyone." Muttered the professor.

"Any sign on Jean or Scott?" He said.

Storm stood up and begun looking through the crowd of students and staff.

"I cannot see them, they must have been in the sub-basement when the explosion hit."

The professor rolled his wheelchair closer to the mansion, and towards Blink. She was helping set up a huge tent for the students to take shelter.

"Blink, could you do me a favour?"

She nodded.

"I need you to take Storm to the sub-basement and see if anyone is down there."

"Will do, Charles."

She threw a portal near her position, took a hold of Storms arm and they both leaped through, before the portal disappeared.

He turned his wheelchair to face his students, and then looked at his mansion. At the front door appeared Colossus, holding another body of a fallen student. His huge, metallic body shimmering in the rays of the sun.

Wolverine appeared next, kicking at the rubble in fury of finding another body.

"Charles, we have to find Flayre, so I can blow up his house!"

The professor chuckled slightly.

"No Logan, that is not our way...but I promise you, I will find where that mutant went." He then rolled off into the distance.

Vanessa leaned against the wall, clutching at her side. Jean and Scott were wondering what was happening above them, as the elevator was not operational. All of a sudden, from Cerebro's direction, a large portal opened and out came Blink and Storm.

"Scott, Jean, you are safe! Storm spoke, happy to see her friends alive. She then caught sight of Vanessa on the ground.

"Are you hurt?"

Vanessa stood up as much as she could.

"I'm fine, I just wanna get out of here."

"Come." Blink shouted to everyone, beckoning them through the portal.

Flayre landed upon a rooftop of a building within the nearby town, pulled out his communicator and pressed it on. A flash of red appeared in front of him as Azazel, Magneto and Mystique appeared.

"I was unable to acquire the girl." Flayre spoke.

Magneto looked towards the x-mansions location.

"That's okay, it looks as if you have done enough damage for today."

"Yeah that was fun." Flayre laughed.

Magneto suddenly took Flayre by the neck and held him over the edge of the roof.

"We do NOT harm our own kind, only if they attempt to stop us in our plans!"

"But...but they would have if they knew what we...we were trying to do!" Flayre chocked.

Magneto tossed Flayre across him and he landed on the concrete with a hard thud.

"Do you not understand, they will be after us now."

Flayre got to his feet.

"But isn't that what we wanted?"

Mystique looked at Magneto. They both had a look of horror on their faces.

"What? What have I missed?" Said Flayre, seeing that something was clearly bothering them.

Magneto moved forward.

"We have a new enemy in this war, my friend."

"Can't we just eliminate them as we usually do?" Flayre questioned.

"No, this enemy if not from our brothers and sisters, this is from that dastardly race, the humans. They have build huge machines to try and capture or even kill us."

Mystique moved forward.

"The government's calling them Sentinel's." She spoke.

Back at the remains of the mansion, the team had come together around the fountain. The professor, Jean, Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Blink and Blacklust were all bickering against one another for what the next step should be.

"I say we find the brotherhood, and kill every last one of them!" Wolverine barked.

"Oh you would say something that would involve death!" Replied Cyclops. Wolverine unleashed his claws.

"You want some one eye?!"

The professor took charge.

"Enough! All this bickering and arguing ain't helping anything. We need to come up with our next step."

Jean leaned forward.

"The jets gone professor, even if we wanted to find the brotherhood, we have no way of getting there."

Blink leaned in too.

"I have to know where I'm going if I wanna create a portal to a place, so I am of no use for transportation there I'm afraid."

Blacklust suddenly put her hand against her head, as a flash of images shone past her eyes, similar to the ones she witnessed earlier, but this time, in a lot more detail.

"Vanessa, you okay?" Jean called over.

The images were showing what she witnessed as a child. Images of what her mother looked like, what she sounded like, even smelled like.

The team were wondering what was happening.

"Professor? I'm getting images of my childhood...I think my mother was part of the brotherhood."

The team begun looking at each other. The professor rolled up towards her.

"Yes, that is true, I am sorry for trying to hide your past, but If you knew where she had been, you may have tried to find her, and you would have fallen into the hands of the enemy."

"It's okay, I understand why you did what you had to." She replied.

She then leaned over to the professor.

"If you read my mind, maybe you can find the location of the brotherhood!"

There was silence for a moment, and the team looked towards the gate that lead in and out of the mansion. Standing there were four figures...all familiar.

The team suddenly took defensive positions.

The professor raised his hand to stop his team from attacking, and begun to roll forward. Magneto was walking towards the professor's position also, and they met half way.

"What do you want, Eric?" Spoke the professor.

"After all this time, and not even a hello?" Magneto replied.

"After what you and your pack of wild animals just done to my home, and my family!?"

Magneto looked over to see the mansion partly in ruins and then bodies of the fallen students.

"You have to believe me Charles, this was not intended, my friend Shane, has a habit of wanting to cause destruction." He looked over his shoulder to see Flayre marvelling at his work.

"So have you come to finish us off?" Snapped the professor.

"That is the last thing I want...however, I do require your help, and believe me, you require mine."

The rest of the team were staying on guard whilst the professor and Magneto spoke. Blacklust caught Flayre waving at her. She just looked on and ignored him.

"Something's not right, I don't understand why they need to speak privately." Blacklust questioned.

"I'm sure everythings-" Jean spoke before noticing both the professor and Magneto rushing to their position.

"Charles, everything okay?" Cyclops spoke.

"No Scott, we are all in serious trouble!" The professor replied.

"And not by me this time!" Magneto added, chuckling at his own joke.

Magneto invited his group of followers to stand beside him whilst he explained to the others about the sentinel's and what a danger they posed on the mutant community.

"How can you be sure these are even legit?" Questioned Wolverine.

"Mystique disguised herself as Bouliver Trask and infiltrated the governments secret weapons division...for alien authorities."

"So they think we're from space?!" Shouted Wolverine, looking around everyone and catching Mystique winking in his direction.

The professor rolled up to Magneto.

"Wait, why were you even in such a high security place? What was your reason?"

Mystique and Magneto shared a glance and Mystique suddenly transformed into a woman who closely resembled Vanessa.

As soon as Vanessa recognised who she had turned into, her legs gave in. a few of the team rushed to her aid.

"How dare you turn into my mother!"

Mystique had transformed into Ravenna.

Magneto moved forward.

"I'm not trying to cause you pain, but there is a reason for this. You see, just after you were born and were found by the x-men, I went searching for your mother's body, just to find it gone too. Now I assumed one of Charles' lot had taken it along with you, but when Mystique infiltrated the weapons base, she found out that the government had took her body, only to do horrible experiments on her."

Vanessa tried desperately not to cry, grasping Jean's hand tightly.

"Once they had realised that she wasn't...well human, they begun to imagine a world run by us...aliens. And so the leader of the programme, Trask, took measures, creating machine like robots to counteract us if we, say, ever turned against the humans."

Storm moved closer.

"But why have we not seen these machines?"

"They have only just finished testing them. I reckon they have hundreds, maybe thousands ready for deployment."

The whole team gasped.

"So this is why I come to you, for they know that this is a school for...the gifted!" Magneto whispered.

"Then why attack where we are the strongest?" The professor said, pointing to the remains of his mansion.

"As I said, this was not of my doing, I merely wanted the girl."

Flayre stood forward and leaned against the back of Charles' wheelchair.

"Too kill you all of course, well, that was until I found out about this new threat, so I guess the killing can be kept till later." He spoke, looking at Vanessa. Wolverine shook his head and laughed.

"This is all just great! Couldn't have come at a better time right!"

Vanessa moved to in front of Magneto.

"Tell me, why am I such an important person to you?"

"Because of your gift my child, if you were one of us, we could use your talents to recruit hundreds to our cause, as well as end Trask's reign of tyranny and fear over the mutant race once and for all!" Magneto slammed his fist on the edge of the fountain.

"I would never work for you!" Vanessa barked, growling at Magneto's forces.

"That's what your mother said too...look where she ended up!" Replied Magneto, making Mystique and Flayre laugh.

"So tell me Eric, what do you want to happen next?" The professor spoke.

"That is up to you Charles. But you need to decide fast, we won't have long till Trask sends his children after us."

The professor wheeled towards his team.

"If what they are saying is true, about how powerful these sentinel's really are, then we may need their help, just as they need ours."

"Awh we can take em ourselves!" Wolverine replied, grinning away.

Jean strolled past the fountain and peered into the distance, something was clearly distracting her attention.

"I'm afraid not Logan, these machines have been purposefully created to capture or kill our race, so I'm sure Trask will have thought of many ways for us to not be able to damage them." She said.

The professor rolled to her position.

"Jean, what's wrong?" Worried the professor.

"Nothing Charles...I mean I'm sure it's nothing."

The professor begun to sense his surroundings for danger, but could not sense anything. What was bothering Jean? He turned to face Cyclops to see if he maybe could get Jean to talk. Cyclops walked past the team and turned Jean to face him.

"There is something wrong, isn't there?"

Magneto and his followers too begun wondering what was happening.

"I've just got a bad feeling Scott...a really bad feeling..." A tear slid down her cheek and then suddenly a nearby scream was heard from one of the students. Everyone apart from Jean turned their attention to where the scream was coming from, only to see students scattering at the site of three, large mechanical robots hovering above the remains of the mansion.

Jean continued to stare blankly ahead.

"We gotta get everyone outta here!" Shouted Wolverine.

Blink ran up to the professor's position and tossed a portal that seemed to lead to a nearby underground area.

"This way!" She shouted, gathering all the students within the portal.

However, as most of the students managed to make it through, one student suddenly stopped in her tracks, and begun looking directly at Jean.

"Yukio, what are you doing? Get through now!" Ordered Cyclops.

Yukio had a look of sadness and regret on her face, as if she knew that something was about to happen as well. She then leaped through the portal and it closed behind her.

Magneto and his followers moved towards the mansion, in an attempt to be the first wave. He raised his hands, only to realise the machines were not made out of metal.

"Hm that was unexpected." He spoke.

"What do we do?" Mystique questioned.

"Flayre, Azazel, take out the one on the left, Mystique, your with me!"

They split up into two teams and headed further towards the sentinels .

Jean snapped back to attention.

"You guys should get out too, whilst you still can." Looking around the group but focusing her attention on Blacklust.

"Jean, your scaring me!" Spoke Cyclops, looking around the others to see they were just as worried about her as he was.

"Listen, I'm fine." She replied, smiling strangely.

The professor saw two of the sentinel's getting distracted but the third was still on the move towards them.

"Target acquired...mutant x gene located..." The sentinel screeched. It raised its arm and a revolving gun rotated around its hand.

Bullets suddenly begun spraying out of its gun and to the teams location. They all rushed for cover. Wolverine however was hit quite a few times in the back, making him collapse.

"No Logan!" Storm shouted in panic.

The bullets suddenly stopped firing.

Wolverine begun to rise to his feet, the empty bullet shells forcing their way out of his body, before his flesh miraculously started to heal itself.

"Yeah...that hurt!" He joked before joining the others in cover.

Cyclops let out a blast of energy from his eyes spontaneously before returning to cover as well. The sentinel seemed unaffected by the chunk of its body that was falling off from the blast.

All of a sudden Jean stood up and walked out in front of the sentinel. The team gasped, Cyclops attempting to force his way towards her, but begin brought down by Wolverine.

"What are you doing Logan, it'll kill her!" He screamed.

"Wait to see what she does." Wolverine replied.

Blink suddenly opened another portal to the same place she had before.

"We cannot stay here, Magneto can handle these!"

The professor agreed this time and beckoned his team to leave for the portal. The professor, Storm, Colossus and Wolverine went through first followed by Blink, but only to see Blacklust, Cyclops and Jean not moving.

"Vanessa! Get through now!" Shouted Storm.

"We can't leave her!" Replied Blacklust, who begun to walk towards Jean, who was then followed by Cyclops.

The portal closed.

Magneto begun raising metallic rubble from the mansion and tossed it to the sentinel. It raised its arms in defence.

"What can I do against these things?!" Shouted Mystique.

"I'm not sure my dear, it may be best for you to leave!"

"I am not leaving you here with them."

"Listen, I can handle myself, you cannot."

Magneto called over Azazel who teleported to their position instantly.

"Get her outta here now."

Azazel took hold of Mystique's arm, and vanished.

Flayre was in the midst of battling the second sentinel. He had never before seen such a creation. He suddenly raised off of the ground in a cloud of mist and lingered quite a few meters off of the ground.

"C'mon big boy, lemme see what you got!" He taunted.

The sentinel made its was to Flayre's position and released an energy blast similar to that of Cyclops' from its eyes. Flayre swiftly moved right of his position in the cloud of mist. He laughed.

But from out of no where, the first sentinel appeared and snatched Flayre in its grasp.

"Argh! Let me go!" He screamed in pain as the sentinel tightened its grip.

Magneto caught sight of what was happening and headed to help.

Flayre suddenly let out another scream before emitting a mist from his entire body and circling it around his position. The sentinels hand begun to dissolve and bubble from the mist, just enough for Flayre to escape. He fell to the ground and landed on his ankle.

"God, this ain't good!"

Magneto had reached Flayre's position only to see the two sentinels hovering above them, ready to strike.

"Jean!" Shouted both Blacklust and Cyclops as they reached her.

Once again she was stood completely still and staring at the sentinel. It suddenly raised its arm to fire.

"Get down!" Cyclops screamed, him and Blacklust leaping to the ground to avoid being shot.

Jean stood on the spot still, even though the sentinel was ready to fire.

"Target acquired...firing." The sentinel screeched and released a barrage of gun fire on their location. Cyclops and Blacklust closed their eyes in fear.

As the firing came to a halt, it was a surprise to Cyclops and Blacklust to see Jean still standing still, but with her arm out. In front of it was every single bullet that the sentinel had shot, poised in the air.

"What...the...hell" Blacklust spoke, a little worried at the amount of power that must have take to do. Cyclops remained speechless.

Jean suddenly turned to face them both, her eyes were lit up in a strange pink and red colour. She smiled to them both, before turning her attention to the sentinel and throwing her outstretched arm forward. The bullets sieved through the air and pierced every part of the sentinels body. It came to the ground with a crash, before exploding. Cyclops and Blacklust stood, but Jean fell. As they ran to her position, they could see that one bullet unfortunately got passed her powers and embedded into her chest.

"No Jean...why!" Cyclops whimpered.

"Don't worry Scott, it was the only way..." She seemed to be smiling, yet she was dying.

Blacklust remained a bit back, holding back her tears.

"I love you Scott..." Jean spoke, before eventually resting her head against the ground and dying.

Cyclops let out a roar of anger and pain.

There was then a moment of silence.

"This cannot be...I mean...she...she..." Blacklust suddenly broke down in tears, clinging onto Cyclops as she collapsed to the ground.

Flayre attempted to create a mist to distract the sentinels but it shot at his feet.

"What are you waiting for?! Kill us!" Flayre taunted, but the sentinels did not follow through on their attack.

"Capture if possible" One of them screeched, releasing a stun ray from its eyes, knocking both Magneto and Flayre out.

The other sentinel took a hold of their bodies, before both begun to hover a little and eventually take off.

Cyclops stood up at the sight of the sentinels jetting away with Magneto and Flayre.

"Should we go after them?" Blacklust questioned.

"No...not today." He replied, taking up Jean's body in his arms.

All of a sudden, a flash of pink appeared in front of them and another portal opened. Blink and Wolverine rushed out, and suddenly stopped as they caught sight of Jean's body. Blink covered her eyes.

"But, this cannot be! Not Jean, please not Jean!" Wolverine spluttered his words.

"Can we just get outta this place...please." Cyclops replied, making his way through the portal.

Blacklust turned to face the mansion to see the remains of the fallen sentinel.

"Should we not take that with us, so we can avoid situations like this again?"

Wolverine took Blacklust in his arms.

"It'll be here tomorrow, but right now we gotta get y'all to safety."

Blacklust nodded and made her way through the portal, who were soon followed by Blink.

"Ah welcome back x-men, I see we-" The professor stopped in his tracks as he saw Cyclops holding Jean's body.

"Oh god no" He covered his eyes before resting a hand upon her head.

"I am so sorry Jean..."

Cyclops was still heartbroken, and could feel himself getting weaker.

"Here, lemme take her!" Wolverine offered, and Cyclops agreed, passing Jean to Wolverine.

Storm could see what was happening and was to distraught over losing her friend to get closer.

"Vanessa, I am sorry you had to see this." The professor spoke.

"We gotta make them pay professor, for Jean!" She replied, tightening her fists.

"I understand your pain child, but I fear this will not be the only casualty if we decide to go to war with these machines." He replied.

Another person suddenly appeared at the side of the professor, who had a confused look on her face.

"Yukio, what's up?" Questioned Wolverine.

She did not reply, only staring deeply at Jean's body.

"You saw this coming, didn't you?" Cyclops spoke.

Again she did not reply.

Blacklust charged up to Yukio and took a hold of her jumper.

"If you saw this you could have said something, you could have prevented this!" She begun cursing at Yukio, Cyclops forced them apart. Yukio finally spoke.

"Yes...yes I saw her death, it wasn't clear, I cannot get a full picture, but...but this isn't right..." She commented, still her eyes focused on Jean.

"What do you mean?" Questioned the professor. Everyone gathered around Yukio, sweat poured from her brow.

"This is not how she died...not in my vision...and my visions are always true..."

The team gasped.

"You mean she-" Cyclops was cut off by the professor.

"There may have been a reason she was acting weird earlier, as if she was...invincible, Yukio, tell me what your vision showed you?"

Yukio looked at a nearby camp fire that was set up by the students.

"I saw...I saw pain, darkness was covering most of my vision, and I could hear some sort of...bird or...and...and"

The professor moved closer and raised his voice.

"Tell me what you saw!?"

"I saw...I saw a PHOENIX!"