Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men: Evolution. Warning: possible tissues required.

Chapter Twenty Five – The End of the Road

October 1998

It was late October by the time the X-Men caught up with Mesmero again, at another abandoned carnival ground, and another dome appeared, this time in Egypt.

After extensive questioning, they learnt that the situation was worse than anything they could have imagined; if Apocalypse was to succeed, just under 3% of the human population would survive.

In a last-ditch attempt to keep the peace, Professor Xavier and Storm had taken one of the jets and flown out to the Sphinx, under which another pyramid had risen to serve as Apocalypse's base of operations.

Unfortunately, their peaceful approach had had the same effect as Magneto's violent one; both leaders had risen gracefully into the air, begun glowing with a strange blue light and, by all accounts, spontaneously combusted in a flash of light.

The X-Men were currently standing in Cerebro, staring at the screen in shock, the silence broken only by stifled sobs.

Averting her gaze from the main screen, movement caught Kitty's attention and she narrowed her eyes, wiping the tears away, to identify the man exiting the helijet on the main lawn.

"What do we do?" Jean whispered, tears trickling down her cheeks as she leaned into Scott's offered embrace.

Kitty cleared her throat. "Well … we could start by letting General Fury in."

"What?" Logan followed her gaze to the surveillance cameras. "You lot, stay here."

As the door slid shut behind him, Kitty shivered, wrapping her arms around herself for comfort. Her gaze slid to her team-mates, but that didn't do much to keep her mind off the situation; they all looked terrified.

Kurt had an arm around Rogue's shoulders as her hand rubbed her stomach almost subconsciously. Counting up in her head, Kitty cursed under her breath, realising that her best friend was due in just over a week. This couldn't have waited another few days?

The door opened again, making them all jump a little.

"What kind of measures?!" Wolverine demanded, and they were sure he would have slammed the door if he'd been able.

Fury ignored the question. "Pull up a visual on the Sphinx." He barked, directing his order at Hank. "And can we get rid of the peanut gallery?"

Logan caught Kitty's arm as she moved to leave. "They're the team, Fury; they stay. Go ahead, Hank."

Reluctantly, Beast pressed a few buttons on the main computer, causing an image to pop up on the screen.

The team stared in horror as three very familiar robots flew steadily towards the fourth pyramid.

Logan rounded on Fury with what could only be described as a snarl. "You resurrected the Sentinel program?! You just made a bigger mess of this!"

"Not my choice to make." Fury insisted. "But their mutant sensors will target Apocalypse and they just happen to be our best defence right now."

"That's not true." Hank disagreed. "You have the X-Men."

"I said 'right now'." Fury reminded him. "I have no doubt that you have a plan, Wolverine, and I have no intention of getting in the way of that. This will buy you some time to set up and hopefully give you a head-start. If you pull up visuals of the other three locations …"

Now clearly interested, Hank did so, causing the screen to split into four.

"… you'll see that there are Sentinels at each of the pyramids." Fury turned his back on the monitors so he could address them. "They will break through the domes and make it easier to attack those pyramids. Now I have no doubt that Apocalypse will …"

"Hold on!" Rogue interrupted. "Something's happening. At the Sphinx."

The other three pictures vanished as the original enlarged again. One of the Sentinels had turned a strange colour and begun attacking the others.

Then the door to the ancient statue atop the pyramid opened and four figures appeared shrouded in darkness.

"My horsemen …" Apocalypse's voice boomed. "You are needed."

"Horsemen?" Jean repeated weakly. "As in war, famine, pestilence and death?"

"I damn well hope not." Scott frowned. "We've got enough to deal with as it … Oh God …" He trailed off in horror as the four figures stepped into the light and the team realised that they knew exactly who they were …

The New Mutants were in the rec room, trying to pretend this was a normal day.

Sam and Amara were engaged in a good-natured debate over whether Halloween was an American holiday or not.

Ray and Roberto were having a video game and, for once, not rowing about it.

Bobby was sitting on the couch, an arm around Jubilee's waist, her head tucked against his shoulder, as he gazed out of the window at the bleak weather outside.

Jamie was sitting on the floor at their feet, resting against their legs, but neither would make any move to dislodge him until they had to.

A sharp whistle came from behind them; a whistle that could only belong to one person. Drinks tumbled to the floor, games consoles fell out of hands and conversations dropped as the seven mutants jumped to their feet, spinning to face Shadowcat, standing almost to attention.

One look at Kitty's face and Jubilee closed her eyes, not needing to ask, just knowing what was about to happen. It's time.

"Impressive." Kitty commented, beginning to pace in front of them. "Alright, you lot, listen up. This is a crisis; a large crisis. In fact, if you've got a moment, this is a twelve-storey crisis, with a magnificent entrance hall, plush carpeting throughout and a giant neon sign on the roof that reads, "This is a large crisis." Professor Xavier and Storm flew out to Egypt this morning to see if they could talk Apocalypse out of killing everyone."

"Did it work?" Bobby asked.

Kitty stopped in front of him. "Which part of 'this is a large crisis' didn't you understand, Iceman: the 'this is' or the 'large crisis'? Of course it didn't work! They vanished in a flash of light just like Magneto. This is, as they say, it. Now, do you want the good news or the bad news first?"

"You mean that wasn't the bad news?" Amara asked rhetorically. "Maybe you'd better give us the good news first."

"They're not dead." Kitty told them, provoking several relieved sighs. "Unfortunately – and this is bad news – the four of them …"

"Wait. Four?" Roberto interrupted. "Who are the other two?"

"Magneto and Mystique." Kitty answered.

"Magneto, I expected." Bobby admitted. "But I thought Mystique was dead."

"Apparently she's gotten better." Kitty said dryly. "The four of them are possessed by Apocalypse; their powers have been magnified and they've been sent to guard the four pyramids."

"Our job just got a lot harder." Amara observed.

"Yeah, and the odds a lot worse." Kitty agreed darkly. "SHIELD has bought us some time by sending the Sentinels out there …"

Ray snorted. "Lot of good that'll do against Magneto." He rolled his eyes at the looks he received in response. "You're all thinking it; I'm just saying it."

"We fly out tomorrow." Kitty told them, raising her voice slightly. "So you'd best get ready; I've got a job to do." She reached out and put a hand on Jubilee's arm. "Jean wants to talk to you."

"Where are you going?" Jamie asked, his arms suddenly around her waist.

Kitty smiled sadly, hugging him. "I'm going to get some help." She dropped a kiss on his forehead. "It'll be okay, Jamie."

I hope.

Having broken into a run as soon as the gates of the Institute swung closed behind her, Kitty didn't bother slowing down as she approached the boarding house, phasing through the door and skidding to a halt in the middle of the living room. "LANCE, I NEED YOU!"

"Get a room." Tabby responded without missing a beat.

Unlike her team-mate, who was flipping through a magazine, Wanda had looked up at her entrance and was more concerned. "Kitty, why are you in uniform?"

It was too quiet, Kitty realised, and a scan around the living room told her that the girls were the only two in the house. "I never thought I'd say this, but please, please tell me that the boys are here."

Now, Tabby looked up. "No. Sara called; something about water leakage. She didn't want to get a plumber in and Eric's miles away. Pietro, Todd and Freddy tagged along. Why?"

Despite the adrenalin coursing through, fear was still very much in evidence and Kitty could feel her heart racing as her legs began to shake. "Oh, that's not good."

"Kitty?" Tabby dropped the magazine and hurried over to her. "Are you okay?"

"Am I okay?" Kitty repeated. "Am I okay? Of course I'm not fucking okay! It's the end of the world and everything's a hundred times worse than we expected it to be – and that's impressive considering how hard it is to underestimate that sort of thing – and we need all the help we can get and they're not here; how can you possibly expect me to …"

With a frustrated sigh, Tabby lifted a hand and slapped her hard. "Snap out of it!"

"Ow!" Kitty rubbed the side of her face. "Thanks. I needed that."

"You're welcome. Now …" Tabby grasped her shoulders. "Explain nice and slowly."

Kitty took a deep breath and turned her head to face the other Brotherhood member. "Wanda, your father's alive."

Wanda froze. "What?"

"So's Mystique." Kitty added. "And the Professor and Storm – they went out this morning; same thing happened to them. He's taken control of their minds and is using them to guard the four pyramids. We fly out tomorrow."

"Wait." Tabby shook her head. "I must have misheard you. Because if he's possessed them, he's magnified their powers, which means you're now dealing with the most powerful mutant in existence, plus the most powerful mutants of our time, with a side order of invulnerability. And I could have sworn that you said that you were flying out, implying that you're still going to fight."

"We are." Kitty whispered.

"Are you fucking crazy?!" Tabby demanded. "How the hell do you expect to survive this?! It's suicide!"

"I know." Kitty responded, even quieter; the other two had to strain to hear her. "I don't expect to survive it."

"Well, the more people you have fighting, the higher the chances of survival." Wanda pointed out logically, catching her jacket as it floated down the stairs. "Right, Tabs?"

Kitty raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you're coming?"

"Of course." Tabby took the coat Wanda handed her. "No one's ever accused us of doing the sensible thing. This life beat the shit out of us years ago; may as well go out with a bang."

Tick … tick … tick … tick …

Jubilee stared out of her window, unseeing of the scenery, barely registering the ticking of the clock or the tears streaming down her face

Tick … tic k… tick …

No amount of time would have prepared her for this.

Tomorrow morning, the rest of the team would fly out for the final battle against Apocalypse.

And she knew that very few, if any, would be flying back alive.

Tick… tick … tick …

A soft tapping at her door shook her from her thoughts and she tore her eyes away from the window. "Come in."

Bobby slipped through the door and closed it behind him. "Hey."

"Hey." Jubilee attempted a smile as he approached her, but it was feeble and half-hearted, tears still escaping her eyes.

"Jubes …" His arms wrapped around her, his fingers wiped away the salty droplets. "Baby, I hate it when you cry."

"I can't help it, Bobby." Jubilee sobbed. "This might be the last time I ever see you."

"Maybe." Bobby sighed. "Jubes, I can't promise you that I'll come back. None of us can promise that. But I can promise that I will never stop loving you. Nothing in this world or the next one could make me stop loving you." He tilted her face up to his and kissed her softly.

"I'm scared, Bobby." Jubilee whispered as they parted. "I know it's not fair for me to be scared, but … I can't imagine life without you."

"Promise me something." Bobby rested his forehead on hers. "If I die …"

"Bobby …"

"Hear me out." Bobby took a deep breath. "If I die, I want fireworks at my funeral."

Jubilee stared at him for a second. "Bobby, you know my powers don't work like that! For me to create fireworks like that, I need to have some kind of positive emotion in me! You're asking me to smile at your funeral!"

"Not exactly." Bobby sighed. "I just … I don't want my funeral to be depressing, Jubes; I want people to celebrate my life, not mourn my death. Please try? For me?"

Jubilee took a shaky breath. "Alright. I'll try. But I can't make any promises."

Bobby kissed her forehead. "What did Jean want?"

"She …" Jubilee swallowed hard. "She took me down to the mainframe … you didn't tell me you made a Will."

"We all have." Bobby ran a hand through her hair. "None of us really have anything to leave, but …"

"No one wants to be kept on life support." Jubilee commented, trying to make light of it. "You all seem to want me to walk around switching you off." She closed her eyes, willing the tears not to fall. "I'm gonna need to find a nice black dress … all those funerals …"

Bobby tightened his arms around her. "Don't think like that. We've still got tonight." He cupped her face and tilted it up to cover her lips with his, pulling back just enough to whisper, "We'll always have tonight."

The following morning, four helijets sat on the front lawn of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, piloted by soldiers who had seen their fair share of fighting, but nothing like the things these teenagers were about face.

Though they'd never admit it, all four were offering up silent prayers for their passengers, bargaining with a higher power that they'd return safely.

The entire team was assembled on the front steps, all in uniform except Jubilee. Spyke had briefly left the Morlocks, Alex and Warren had been contacted and arrived in Bayville early that morning, and Jean had managed to track down Colossus in Denver, searching hospitals a little closer to home for his sister.

The group was subdued, for obvious reasons, and more than a few tears were being shed.

Leaving Scott's side, Jean hugged Kitty tightly. "Be careful."

"I will." Kitty pulled away and put a hand on her stomach, bending to address the bump. "Now you be good in there for Mommy and don't come out until Auntie Kitty's there." Straightening again, she turned to Rogue. "That goes for you as well." Choking back tears, she flung her arms around her room-mate, holding her tightly. "You're the closest thing I ever had to a sister, Rogue."

"Anna." Rogue corrected, hugging her. "Same here." She looked over at Jean. "Last chance, Red. You coming with me to find Dorian?"

Jean shook her head. "I can't. They need me."

Rogue nodded, releasing Kitty, and the two expectant mothers embraced. Kitty moved away, intercepting Jamie as he ran over to her.

"I'm scared." He whispered.

"I know, sweetie." Kitty knelt in front of him, looking up into his face, and her heart constricted, remembering finding the young boy slumped on the side of the road a few weeks after the battle on Asteroid M and bringing him home to learn that he had been beaten and dumped by his parents of all people because of his powers.

He had quickly 'adopted' her as his older sister, but her protectiveness went further than that; in fact Rogue had once likened her to a mother bear after he was targeted by bullies at school.

"You don't have to do this." She reminded him. "You can stay here with Jubilee."

Jamie shook his head. "No. I do have to do this. If you can all do this, so can I."

Kitty smiled fondly and kissed his forehead. "I'm proud of you, Jamie."

Jamie hugged her. "I love you, Kitty. You're the best big sister ever."

"Love you too, kid." Kitty whispered, her tears beginning to fall.

Her eyes moved to the gates, willing a car to appear, but she knew it was no good. She knew Sara had no idea of what was coming; a storm in the area had taken down the phone lines as well as cut off cell phone reception. Sod's law.

"I don't want you to go." Jubilee whispered, wrapped in Bobby's arms.

"I know." Bobby kissed her forehead. "I promise I'll be carefully."

Jubilee lifted her head to meet his desperate kiss.

"Iceman!" Beast called.

Reluctantly, they parted and Bobby cupped her face. "Remember last night and that I love you. Always."

"I love you." Jubilee didn't bother hiding her tears as she watched Bobby take a deep breath, square his shoulders and follow Spyke, Beast and Berserker onto the plane headed for China.

"Jean!" Logan prompted.

Kissing Scott one last time, Jean held him tightly for a few seconds, whispering something in his ear, before gently pulling Jamie away from Kitty and ushering him ahead of her on to the jet. "Amara, Tabitha."

Tabby hugged Wanda. "Go kick your dad's butt, Scarlet."

Wanda gave her a watery smirk. "Oh, don't worry."

Amara hugged Jubilee. "When John gets home, tell him that I love him."

"I will." Jubilee assured her, accepting Tabby's hug as well. "Be careful."

"Aren't we always?" Tabby grinned weakly, slipping her arm through Amara's. "See you later, Firecracker."

Jubilee raised a weak hand in farewell. To her surprise, Colossus stopped by her as well. "I am hoping John returns with my sister." He told her in broken English. "Will you tell her I never stopped looking for her?"

Jubilee smiled comfortingly. "Of course. We'll look after her, don't worry."

"Thank you." He followed the two girls on to one of the helijets heading for Egypt; the hatch closed and it rose into the air, following its China-bound leader.

"Right, Mexico's closest, Shadowcat; you'll take off last." Logan instructed gruffly.

Kitty nodded, hugging him tightly around the waist. "Be careful."

For a second, he didn't respond, then his arms closed around her. "Just worry about yourself, Half Pint." He released her and waved Sam over. "You know what you have to do. You keep her safe."

"I will, sir." Sam assured him quietly, before approaching the helijet and offering Rogue a hand in, which she took.

Scott approached Kitty and hugged her as well, repeating the words that had been repeated all over the mansion that morning. "Be careful."

Kitty nodded wordlessly, before turning into Kurt's offered hug as well. Out of the first team, barring Scott and Jean for obvious reasons, the two had the strongest bond, probably, as Kurt liked to joke, because they'd had to put up with the aforementioned couple the longest. "You'd better survive this." She muttered. "Or you'll break Amanda's heart and I'll resurrect you and kill you again."

Kurt sniggered. "Thanks for that, Katzen."

"And I'm sorry for acting so bitchy when we first met." Kitty added as an afterthought, pulling away. "I had a lot going on."

"Don't worry about it." Kurt shrugged. "I've had worse."

Kitty nodded, stepping back as Scott hugged his brother and he and Kurt boarded the jet.

Logan approached Jubilee. "Alright. For the next week, you're in charge. The kitchen's fully stocked, you shouldn't have any problem there. You'll need to ready the infirmary and have it on hold; if we lose, you stay here. Increase the security and button down the hatches, it's your best shot."

"You're not going to lose." Jubilee stated firmly. "We can't lose."

Logan grinned at her. "Atta girl. The media's picked up on this by now; they know the risks. If they call, you say …"

"No comment." Jubilee recited.

"Exactly." Logan patted her on the shoulder and jumped into the jet a second before it too took off.

"Alright." Kitty took a deep breath, hugging Jubilee. "I guess this is it. Everyone in."

Roberto ruffled Jubilee's hair and jogged over to the helijet, helping Kitty and Wanda in before climbing in himself. Alex and Warren followed them and the hatch closed.

"Anyone else realised that we giving Magneto extra ammo just by landing in Mexico?" Alex asked conversationally.

"Yes." Kitty rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, we have."

"You okay?" Wanda asked quietly.

"I just wish I could have said goodbye." Kitty whispered.

Wanda didn't bother asking who. "Well, you could phone the Boarding House and leave a message there."

"Best we can do, I suppose." Pulling her cell phone from her pocket, Kitty dialled the familiar number, no longer laughing at the message on their machine.

"Hi, you've reached the Brotherhood Boarding House. If you're a mutant hater, want to arrest us, or just generally want to complain about us, then you can get the hell off this line. Otherwise, please leave a message and we'll try to get back to you."

"Hey, it's me." Kitty took a deep breath. "You're in Philadelphia and cell phone reception's been cut off … but I guess you know that. It's … It's time. Jubilee's still at the mansion; she can answer any questions you have. We …" She swallowed, fighting desperately to keep her composure. "We're not coming back. This is it."

Seeing her struggle, Wanda gently took the phone from her. "Hi guys. Yes, Tabby and I are with them. She's in another jet, but I know I speak for both of us when I say that we do love you. All of you. No matter how many times she's blown you up or I've hexed you into walls. Yes, Pietro, that goes for you too. Lance, make sure he doesn't repeat any of this at my funeral." She glanced at Kitty. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Kitty took the phone back. "No matter what's been said and done in the past, we're all gonna miss you lot. Well, Scott might not, but the rest of us will. It'll … It'll probably be too late by the time you get this message, so … I guess this is goodbye." Tears began falling again, but this time she didn't try to stop them. "I love you, Lance. Look after the others for us; God knows they need it. We … We gotta go." She ended the call and tucked her phone away, taking the tissue that Warren offered her.

"Well, that was a joyful conversation." Roberto commented sarcastically.

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up."

Kitty's radio crackled into life. "Ready teams?"

"Team China in position." Beast's voice confirmed.

"Team Egypt in position." Jean continued.

Kitty stood up and phased her head through into the cockpit to check their location. To his credit, the pilot didn't flinch. "Team Mexico in position."

Her four fellows stood as the hatch slid opened and the helijet hovered above the Mexican desert. Kitty joined them as Wolverine's voice came from the radio once more.

"Alright, teams, this is it. Everything you've ever learnt about yourselves; your strengths, your weaknesses and your limits … it all comes down to this moment. We're the world's last, best hope to stop this madman. So we're gonna trash these pyramids any way we can … no matter who we've gotta go through to do it."

"Good luck, everyone." Kitty murmured, seeing Magneto floating in front of the now dome-less pyramid, surrounded by the remnants of three Sentinels.

But even as they jumped from the jet, charging into battle, she knew that luck had very little to do with it.

AN: Okay, before I forget, Kitty's crisis analogy didn't come from me; it came straight from the finale of Blackadder Goes Forth. Now the next few chapters will be very close to the series finale, but I want to keep them in because some things will change; I shall try not to bore you too much :) Please review!