Chapter 29
Jubilee stepped beside Kara, forming an hemispheric protective force field around them as Kara concentrated.
Beads of sweat formed over Kara's body. Her limbs felt like they were made of solid lead. She was shaking with exhaustion.
Despite this, her mind's eye saw the machine. She was just systematically pulling each wire. There were so many! And she wasn't fast enough!
The radiation engulfed the top of the building and was so bright it was like an artificial sun.
She gritted her teeth. Her heart gave a small jump of joy as each wire gave a hiss as it disconnected.
Maybe she could do deactivate it without pulling on the wires… she thought. There must be a way…
The red light was fast beginning to descend the tower. Once it covers the ground, people will be exposed and killed…
Down below, citizens awoke at the red light. Screams could be heard.
Jubilee's voice was low beside her. "Come on Kara. You can do it!"
--
Royal Pain gave a hysterical scream as she saw her leader fall. Desperate, she took to the air.
"Electrix!" came Warren's anxious voice again. "Don't kill them!"
Electrix seemed to ignore him. Spinning around, Electrix shot out electricity towards Pain, electrifying her while she was in mid-air, trying to escape half-blind.
She dropped out of the sky. Heading for cement below.
Then Electric turned to Mystique who actually seemed strangely calm. Even as he electrocuted her, her yellow eyes were unrepentant.
The radiation continued to increase. If it took any longer people would suffer…
Snap! Snap! She was breaking the wires in whirlwind speed now.
People screaming. Light expanding.
SNAP!
The sphere of red light collapsed.
"Yes!" yelled Warren.
"It's over," said Pyro.
Persuasion gave a smile of satisfaction before she staggered.
Jubilee caught her in her arms. She was already unconscious.
"Get her to hospital quick!" Electrix.
--
Finally, Warren was able to be beside his father in peace. He was still lying where he had fallen only minutes ago, even though it felt like years.
The roles were reversed. Warren was cradling his father's limp body in his arms.
"Dad," Warren called softly.
If his father's life were an hour glass, the final grains of sand were now falling…
Warren's voice was cracking as he pleaded for his father to stay. His fragile mind seemed to be on the verge of shattering.
Battle was whispering so softly Warren had to place his ear next to his mouth to hear the words. Words of comfort, hope and love. Warren could feel his father's shaking hand in his hair.
"Warren…" he whispered. His loving eyes seemed to smile at Warren for an instant.
Then they closed for the last time.
Warren held his father's head as his eyes rolled back and his hand dropped from his hair beside him. The rise and fall his chest stopped. But the body was still so warm…
Someone was howling. And then suddenly, everything felt far away. Voices were telling him to let go. Hands were gripping on to his body… Medics surrounding him and his father, prying his hands away from his father's… his body jerking as though in pain as he fought the arms that ripped his father away… his voice was screaming until it was hoarse…
--
At the hospital, reality was rapidly sinking in.
Electrix saw that in the adjacent room lay Persuasion, all frail and pale with a tube down her throat and a heart rate monitor beside her.
Sighing, he braced himself before he pushed the door open to enter inside.
It was only 2 am.
--
Shocked, Layla was watching through the glass window, as the throng of nurses and doctors surrounded Will's half-naked body.
A tube was placed down his throat and a nurse was sitting behind his head rhythmically squeezing an air bag. Layla had to turn away as the doctors tried desperately to stem the bleeding and close the wounds at the same time.
It's okay, Layla tried to tell herself. He can't feel anything now…
But the images of him being stabbed by those claws would not escape. She could still see in her mind – those claws. Sharp and deadly. How painful it must have been for them to stab into him.
And she shivered.
She glanced back. And suddenly she noticed the heart rate monitor was flat-lining. Doctors were in a panic trying to jump-start his heart using shocks.
Even though he was unconscious, she could still see his body jerking and trembling as though in pain. He looked utterly vulnerable like this. Unable to fight back. Unable to even breathe for himself. And her heart was ripped open.
She felt herself slip to the floor.
"I am sorry…" Dr Manning said in a firm voice.
Through the tears, Layla heard herself shriek. "I thought… you could – you could save him!"
"Layla… we did try," came his reply. " We tried… everything."
"Everything?" Layla asked in disbelief.
"Everything in our power," he said.
Silence. Only sobbing.
