Chapter 12

"My God, Rachel! What's that monster done to you?!" Jean cried.

"Oh, nothing much, Mrs. Summers. You see, when your daughter so conveniently walked into my trap, I drugged her rendering her unconscious… By the way, haven't you ever taught her not to trust strangers?" Sinister said, laughing tauntingly. "Anyway, it was all quite simple… I attached a self-engineered parasite to her brain to render her incapable of acting on her own free will. At the same time, I used my own telepathic talents to remove the psychic dampeners you had placed in her mind, giving her full access to her powers. Ironically enough, it was the reason she sought me out in the first place."

"You'll pay for this, I swear!" Jean yelled as she attacked Sinister telekinetically. But to her shock, Rachel counteracted her attempt with her own telekinesis… easily.

"As you see, Jean… Your daughter is quite a formidable opponent. I think you'll find it quite a challenge to collect that payment," Sinister said, smiling. "Oh, and you know what else? I forgot to mention, Rachel is very much aware of everything that's happening around her… She just can't do anything about it. If you come after me, I'll be forced to have her kill you all… Imagine her suffering through that. If you kindly let us go, we shall be out of your hair."

"You're insane if you think we'll let you take our daughter without a fight!" Scott said.

"It's your funeral, Mr. Summers. Yours and your wife's. Choose your next course of action wisely," Mr. Sinister cautioned.

"X-Men, do what you have to do to get Rachel. We'll worry about freeing her from Sinister's mind control once we have her. Do what you need to do to defend yourselves, but do your best not to hurt her," Scott ordered.

That was all the signal Peter needed. He used his vast speed to zoom past everyone and took a well-timed shot at Sinister sending him flying. He then quickly snatched up Rachel but almost instantly dropped her as he clutched his head in agony. Rachel was attacking him telepathically. Jean quickly shielded Peter from her daughter's attack.

Scott took that opportunity to fire a massive optic blast at Mr. Sinister, but Rachel anticipated it and put up a psionic shield that easily deflected her father's attack. At the same time, Kurt teleported right where Rachel was, embraced her and teleported her out of there. But a second later, Kurt teleported her right back where they were, and Kurt went flying back taking a telekinetic blow from Rachel.

"I tried teleporting her to the Blackbird, Jean, but she controlled my mind and forced me to teleport her back here!" Kurt yelled.

"Rachel's too powerful! We need to render her unconscious!" Storm cried.

"We'd have to hurt her to do that, 'Ro!" Logan yelled back.

"Do what you have to do!" Scott said, continuing to fire his optic blast, trying to get through Rachel's psionic shield around Sinister.

"Alright, Cyke!" Logan said, turning to Jean. "Jeannie, you distract Rachel while I knock her out from behind! Hank, Cyke, you guys keep Sinister busy!"

Jean tried a psychic attack on her daughter, hoping it would distract her long enough so that Logan could get through. But even she underestimated her daughter's powers. With Jean pulling her punches, Rachel easily overpowered her mother's psychic attack, and at the same time put up a psionic shield behind her that Logan crashed hard into.

Storm flew into the air and commanded the harshest wind and rain she could conjure and attacked Rachel with it. She hoped it was enough to draw her attention away from the other X-Men. But as easily as one would swat a fly, Rachel telekinetically threw Storm in mid air. Luckily, the agile Beast caught her before she hit the ground.

Rachel then turned her attention back to her father whom she easily tossed aside with a flick of her wrist. Scott landed hard against Peter sending them both pinwheeling backwards. Peter helped Scott up. "Scotty, I'll distract Rachel and you stun her with your optic blast!"

"I can't, Peter. She's immune to my powers, remember? She'll just metabolize my optic blast," Scott answered.

"Shit, that's right. I forgot… Well, that sucks that you're not immune to her powers… Life's just not fair," Peter said.

Scott glared at his friend for the ill-timed joke. "I'll blast the ground around her hopefully that'll take her off balance. You run over and try to knock her out… But Peter, be careful with her!"

"You got it, Scotty… Now!" Peter yelled. Scott tried blasting the ground by Rachel's feet, but she was a step ahead of him. His optic blast never even hit the ground, she'd cocooned herself with a psionic shield. Peter didn't realize it and he smashed right into it, hitting the ground, badly hurt. Hank took that opportunity to try and tackle Rachel from behind, but he met the same fate as Peter.

"Enough of this, Rachel! This is taking longer than it has to," Sinister said, annoyance lacing his voice. "Dispose of them and let's be on our way." With that order, Rachel sent a psionic shockwave that threw the X-Men back, incapacitating them all… All except for Jean, who was able to defend herself from a psionic attack. Unfortunately for the rest of the team, she didn't have enough strength left to protect them all.

Rachel, having realized she still had one opponent left, encircled herself and her mother with a psionic shield, preventing the other X-Men from interfering. The rest of the X-Men were completely cut off. Jean and Rachel circled each other, Jean with a pleading look on her face, Rachel with a vacant one.

Jean begged. "Rachel, please… Fight Sinister's mind control! I know you don't want to do this!" But Rachel didn't seem to hear, and she attacked Jean with a massive telekinetic blow that sent Jean flying back even as she put up a psionic defense.

Rachel took the damaged helicopter blade lying on the ground and hurled it right at her mother. Jean just had enough time to jump out of the way. She heard her husband yell, "Jean, for god's sake defend yourself!"

Jean had no time to answer back. Rachel's hands started glowing with that familiar pinkish aura and Jean knew another attack was coming her way. She met her daughter's telekinesis with her own and the two were locked in an epic battle of wills. And as much as Jean's will was stronger, her daughter's powers overshadowed her own.

Jean knew she only had a matter of seconds before her daughter would break her. She shut her eyes tight and tried probing her daughter's mind.

She came across a huge, psychic wall. She knew it wasn't a wall her daughter had put up. It was Sinister. It seemed impenetrable, but Jean refused to fail her daughter. She drew upon all the strength she had left. She drew upon the love she had for her family, and the anger and hatred she had for Sinister and Emma Frost… And with all her might, she burst through the wall.

And the psychic image before her brought her to her knees. It was Rachel, imprisoned in a psychic cage. **My God, Rachel!** Jean gasped, holding the psionic bars.

**Mom! I can't escape! I've been trying and trying! I'm not strong enough!** Rachel cried.

**Yes, you are! Focus all your strength. You can do it,** Jean said.

**The parasite Sinister put in me… It's releasing a venom, holding me hostage,** Rachel said.

**Then fight it! You have to, Rachel!** Jean pleaded.

**I can't! Please, mom, stop holding back… You have to kill me… I'm watching myself hurt all of you, one by one! Aunt 'Ro, Uncle Peter, Kurt, Hank, Logan, you and dad! I can't stand it anymore!** Rachel begged.

**You can't ask that of me, Rachel!** Jean cried.

**End my suffering! Please, mom, I beg you!** Rachel pleaded.

**I won't do that! I ahhhhh!** Jean was yanked from the psychic plane and back into her body. She was lying on the ground, completely drained of strength. She realized her daughter just destroyed the last of her defenses in their telekinetic battle.

Jean knew these few moments could very well be her last. She instinctively crawled towards her husband, but they were separated by Rachel's impenetrable psionic force field.

"Ahhh, how the mighty have fallen," Sinister said, sneering. Rachel slowly made her way towards her mother.

Scott cried, "No! Rachel no! Please, don't do this! Fight it!" He futilely tried breaking through his daughter's psionic shield with his bare hands. He banged and clawed at it, trying to reach his wife, but it was no use.

Ororo screamed, "No! Jean!" She summoned lightning to strike Rachel's shield, but that only lit up the sky and nothing more.

"Jeannie, no!" Logan yelled, trying to slash through Rachel's shield with his adamantium claws to no avail.

"Kurt! Teleport Jean out of there!" Scott yelled, desperately.

"I can't! Rachel's blocking me telepathically from accessing my powers!" Kurt answered.

Scott ripped his visor off his face and fired everything he had at the barrier separating him from his wife and daughter. He held nothing back. His blast was so powerful the force of the impact on Rachel's psionic shield blew his friends back.

After what seemed like forever, Scott's optic blast began to sputter until nothing came out anymore. The blast he let loose left him drained and weak. He fell to his knees and crawled to where his wife was on the ground, feebly placing his hand against the shield. His wife put her hand against his.

Jean watched as tears rolled down her husband's beautiful eyes. "I love you, Scott… No matter what happens to me, don't give up on Rachel. Take care of our children."

"How touching," Sinister said mockingly as he turned to Rachel. "But I've lost my patience now… Kill her."

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Scott screamed.

The X-Men braced themselves for the inevitable. Rachel took a step towards her mother. She raised her arms over her and that's when Jean saw it. Rachel's hands were trembling. And she knew then and there, some part of her daughter was trying to break through.

"Rachel! I know you're in there! Fight it! I know you can do it!" Jean said.

Rachel's eyes no longer had that vacant look. She looked from her to Scott and back again. She was fighting! Her daughter was not giving up!

"Kill her, I said!" Sinister ordered.

Rachel's nose started to bleed, and Jean knew just how agonizingly painful it was for her daughter to hold back. "I love you, Rach," Jean whispered.

Rachel's hand started to glow. Jean closed her eyes accepting her fate. She waited for the blow that would end it… But nothing came. She opened her eyes, watched her daughter turn away from her, and a loud booming sound like thunder cracked through the air! Jean watched as Sinister got slammed by a telekinetic attack. Rachel did it! Suddenly she felt familiar arms encircle her from behind. "Scott!" The psionic shield was down.

She looked back, and the rest of the team joined Rachel in attacking Sinister. Her husband's eyes started to glow, and she knew his powers were recharging. "Go get him, hon!" Jean said. And with that, Scott turned his eyes on Sinister and this time, without Rachel's protection, his optic blast hit him dead on!

Sinister's body started decaying right before Scott. Storm didn't let up on her lightning strikes either, and between him, Rachel and Storm, Sinister didn't stand a chance. In a matter of minutes, his body broke down, decaying into this green ooze, until he dissolved into virtually nothing.

Jean slowly got up on wobbly knees. She started making her way to her daughter, when Rachel swayed on her feet for a moment, then suddenly collapsed. Scott quickly caught Rachel in his arms and lifted her.

"Everyone, back to the Blackbird!" Scott ordered.

Once inside the jet, Scott gently placed his daughter on the medical gurney. Rachel started coming around. "Mom? Dad?"

"We're here, sweetie… We're right here," Jean said, taking her daughter's hand in her own.

"Are you guys alright?" Rachel asked, weakly.

"We are now, Rach," Scott said, caressing his daughter's face.

"Oh my God, what have I done?!" Rachel said, tears streaming down her face.

"It's alright, meine freundin. We're just happy to have you back," Kurt said.

"Yeah, Little Red, glad you're back on our side!" Logan said gruffly, but his voice was choked with emotion.

"My dear, your powers are truly astounding. You took us all on, and you won," Ororo said, touching Rachel's shoulder.

"Didn't I tell you your powers would one day eclipse all of ours?" Kurt said, smiling.

"I don't want you to worry about anything, Rachel," Jean said. "Just rest now, we're going home." But Rachel's nose started to bleed again, this time profusely.

"Hank, grab a towel!" Jean said.

Scott lifted his daughter in a sitting position. Jean tilted Rachel's head forward, pinching the bridge of her nose to try to staunch the bleeding. "Did you suffer an injury during the battle, Rachel?" Scott asked.

"No… I think I know what's happening… I remember now… Sinister said he controlled the parasite inside me… Now that he's dead, the creature's left unchecked. It'll instinctively inject venom into my brain, but this time, it'll be uncontrolled," Rachel said.

"My God!" Scott gasped.

"No!" Jean cried. "What do we do?"

"I don't think there's anything you can do," Rachel answered. "It's lodged at the base of my brain. It has to be removed… I may only have a few more minutes."

"Until what?" Scott asked.

"Until it kills me."

To be continued…