Alex

I grab up Forge and make sure that I've got him in a secure hold. About to go off, I hear Traci say, "Wait. I want to take Katherine as well."

I roll my eyes. "Fine, Traci, but I'm not taking her."

She glares at me, and I sigh. "She's too young to be much of a hostage, and it isn't right to take someone who isn't a good fighter."

Conner sighs. "I will take her, then. Can we just go?"

I grab up Scott and ready my power. Traci walks around Logan and turns to Conner. "Can we switch? I won't keep up if I have to carry him; his adamantium skeleton will weigh me down."

Conner rolls his eyes but hands Katherine to her and hefts Logan onto his shoulders. She grabs Katherine around the waist and scoops Remy up, keeping a tight grip around his neck.

Opal lifts Jubilation and soars into the sky. I glance at Traci and ask, "Ready?"

She nods. "I like the trick you pulled, with that info."

I smile. "I like the way you tied up those two."

She smiles gratefully, and we take off. It has been a longstanding dispute on who is the fastest, and we race, running and leaping, using obstacles as ways to get ahead. Conner follows us—for a giant tin can, he does run fast. He isn't that fast; he is behind us by five minutes, but he is moving fast enough that he clears the lot in two minutes.

Forge starts to kick a bit, but I twist his arm just enough to stop him from doing anything important. Scott moans, and Katherine moves a bit.

"They're wakin' up!" Traci shouts.

I veer sideways, at her, and she meets me. Forge, on my left, and Katherine, on her right, slam heads, and they'll be out for a while.

Sean

"Sean."

Someone's calling me . . .

"Sean."

I should get up . . .

"Sean!"

That's Opal!

I sit up, becoming insubstantial immediately. Opal is standing before me, Erik behind her. She leans down to me and snarls, "If you forget to watch your back again, I'll kill you. If you're not already dead."

My head is pounding. I try to make sense of what she said, but it's all fuzzy.

"Opal, it's best to leave him. He still needs to recover from the attack."

She brushes my hair back and pushes me down onto the bed, specially designed so that I can't slide through it. I gratefully fold my wings around my body and drift off.

Opal

I walk to the special holding cells Erik put our captives, trying not to think about Sean. I stop at the one holding Jubilation and watch her.

She doesn't know I'm there; she's got her back to me and feeling around the edges of the room. Taking a step back, she puts up her hands and slams out her little 'fireworks', birthed from kinetic energy.

"You won't do a thing with that, you know?" I mock.

She whirls around to glare at me. "Why are you here?"

I smile toothily. "I've come to gloat. I don't know why Uncle Erik wants you, but it will be fun to spar against you."

"Spar? I don't think so."

I condescendingly smile and tell her, "Well, if you manage to beat two of us in a sparring activity, we'll release you. But, then again, we have to choose to spar against you."

"So, if I want ta get outta here, all I gotta do is fight two o' ya?"

I turn around to look at Logan, who had spoken. "Yeah. But Traci asked special for you, and she'll be the one who wants to whip your butt. Come to think of it, you and Remy didn't do to good against her last time."

He spits on the ground. "Beginner's luck."

I lean around the corner, where Traci is sitting in front of Katherine's cage. "Old-timer here says he can bring you down."

She ignores me, and I turn back to him. "Uncle Erik oughta be down here soon, and you can tell him what you want then."

"What do you mean, 'asked special'?"

I turn to look at Jubilation. "Traci is the one who wanted Remy, Logan, and Katherine to be here. So they're here. Alex asked for Forge, and I asked for you and Scott."

"Why did you ask for me?" Jubilation asks.

My eyes narrow. "I don't like you. I want a crack at you."

She rolls her eyes and sits down. I leave.