Our charge reminded me of one you would see in a low budget Roman gladiator film. Though no one actually screamed the words, we advanced rapidly in a long flank, each of us harnessing our mutation and weaponizing it. Scott made the first shot, firing his red laser in Magneto's direction. Magneto effortlessly lifted a junky RV and flung it in response. My senses kicked into overdrive as we dodged the flying, metal mobile home. I saw Bobby shoot ahead of us, gliding on a wave of ice. I heard Logan unsheath his claws next to me and immediately impaled several metal soldiers, then took off towards Sabertooth. Sprite began to strangle each knight with various vines and thorns, while Ray used his strength to defend her. The whole battle was a flash of silver and various laser beams, but for a while, no one seemed to be gaining an advantage. Magneto had the upper hand with his numbers, but our skill as X-men was unparalleled. Where we lacked in numbers we made up for with sheer physicality and determination.

Suddenly, by my side, one of Magneto's metal men flew by, pierced by a dagger. I looked behind me and saw a small tornado maneuvering around each bus with incredible agility, every now and then shooting another dagger which hit a target with incredible accuracy. I then realized Swirl's mutation was the only one I hadn't actually seen in practice, and I was amazed.

"Rhodie!" called a voice above me. "A little help?"

My eyes shot upwards and saw Hypnos taking on a mass of soldiers all on her own. Immediately I summoned water from the soil underground to carry myself to her level.

"My power doesn't work on them because they're not human," explained Hypnos, taking out a handsy knight with a firm kick. I nodded and blasted the whole mass with the water I had summoned. The knights were knocked backwards, but quickly recovered and continued their pursuit.

"Well that didn't work," I observed.

But slowly, each soldier began to slow down. Their movements became rigid. "They're rusting," Hypnos realized. "Keep doing it!"

I obeyed, summoning water from the ground and everywhere in the building and drenching each new threat. Hypnos joined in, finding a vicious confidence and throwing kicks and punches the likes of which I had never seen out of her. We had finished off the mass that Hypnos used to be surrounded in, and I turned to congratulate her but she was no where to be found.

"Rhodie!" she cried. I looked and saw Hypnos trapped in Wolfe's air along with Warpath, Rogue, and Bobby. Wolfe turned towards me and glared; she had locked on her new target. I jumped off of the roof of the bus and took off running, with Wolfe flying behind me in hot persuit. My tactic was similar to one I had used on Loki when he was controlled by the Tesseract: make Wolfe think that she had the upper hand, all the while forming a plan in my head. If I could keep her on my trail, she would not be able to entrap the rest of the fighting team. I could keep her distracted long enough for someone to get to Magneto.

Ever so often I would throw dense balls of water back at Wolfe, but she easily dodged each one. I was in great physical shape, but even the greatest grow tired sometime. I began to feel fatigued as I ran, but Wolfe showed no sign of tiredness.

"Give it up, Halle. I'm the strongest mutant alive," demanded Wolfe behind me. "No one can control the elements like me."

"Challenge accepted!" shouted Swirl, jumping in front of me and launching into a tornado so strong, I felt myself being blown away. "Try to control this!"

Wolfe laughed and brought her hands together. I saw Swirl's spin slow down, but not stop. Wolfe looked confused.

"Is that all you've got?" taunted Swirl.

Wolfe growled, cupping her hands together. She began to shake as she attempted to control Swirl's spins. With great effort, Wolfe had slowed her tornado down so much, that it looked like Swirl was doing a pirouette. But she didn't stop spinning.

"I...don't...understand," gasped Wolfe, still struggling to contain Swirl.

"I'm stronger than you think."

In one quick motion, Swirl broke Wolfe's grip. The sheer forced of her spin shot Wolfe and I flying backwards. Pushing aside the rubble, I noticed Wolfe had collapsed from exhaustion. Swirl and I both stood breathless over her limp body, wondering if she was dead or alive.

Sprite and Logan slid beside us on a thick green vine. "What happened here?" asked Logan.

I beamed at Swirl. "It was all her." Logan nodded with approval, Sprite gave her a hug.

"Logan," I said, turning back to the matter at hand. "None of this is going to make a difference if we don't take out Magneto. He's the one controlling everyone."

Logan paused and surveyed the large garage. "I know just the person."

Logan left Swirl, Sprite, and I standing in confusion. Sprite cocooned the unconscious Wolfe in a giant leaf so that she would neither escape or be injured; I would never be able to look Hypnos in the eye again if she got hurt.

We rejoined the team who was still struggling to fight off Mangeto's army of mutants and soldiers, but with Wolfe out of the way, nobody was trapped anymore. I joined Colossus and Warpath who were double-teaming Sabertooth. Every now and then I would turn and see Sprite, Hypnos, Kitty, and Bobby fighting off threats. It hit me how matuer they had to be to handle this kind of combat and still stay composed. It took me years at the Academy to hone my focus, but for these guys, they had no other option. It was either kill or be killed.

Reptilla entered our group and made short work of Sabretooth with her paralyzing venom. I stepped back to the outskirts of the garage to survey where I was next needed, when I was grabbed by the next. The smell of old alcohol and sweat gave him away.

"It didn't have to be this difficult, Halle," he whispered, tightening the grip on my neck. "You shouldn't have tried to escape, now your friends will die."

"Not if I can help it," I growled. I bent over rapidly and flipped James over my back. He rolled over some metal debris and I started to run.

"You know I can still find you, Halle, no matter how far you run," called James.

I stopped. I knew he was right. No matter how long I kept running, he would always find a way to find me. He did it when I went to Asgard, and he was doing it now.

"Coulson never told you what my mutation was, did he?" James asked, rising slowly from the debris. "I'm a tracker. I can find anything; the closer I am acquainted with the item, the easier it is for me to find."

This was how he did it. Finding the new phone numbers, knowing my location: it was all part of his mutation. I turned back to look at him, horrified. He laughed a slimey laugh.

"Coulson was intrigued by mutants. That's why he brought us on," James explained, as the thought of Coulson set my stomach on fire. "You never used yours, but mine was very helpful for our field of work. Coulson-"

"Don't say his name again!" I shouted. James never felt as close a bond to Coulson as I had; he was like a second father to me. I couldn't believe, after all the years of working together at S.H.I.E.L.D., that James felt absolutely no grief or remorse over what happened to Coulson. It showed how cold hearted he really was, and I couldn't believe I actually wanted to marry this man at one time.

"This ends now, James," I spat.

He smiled.

But suddenly he was immediately tackled by one of Magneto's metal soldier.

"What?" James shouted out of surprise. I stood in awe as I watched the two wrestle.

"Rhodie!" called Storm to my right. She was standing by a plane as the rest of the team scurried aboard. I didn't understand; why was Magneto letting us go?

After hopping aboard the plane, I found Logan sitting next to a still unconscious Wolfe. He looked tired, but happy to see me.