Professor Xavier Goes to Washington

Washington D.C. outside the Patriot's Heart Veterans Hospital; 5:22am...

"So what's the plan here? Do we just ring the bell and leave her on the door step?" Bobby asked half joking. They were given the seemingly simple task of taking Carol Danvers' body to a care facility, but it was proving to be rather difficult.

"Not as respectfully as that Ah don't think, but do ya have a better idea?" Sam asked.

"We have to make sure she's safe, then we scout around for Mystique as well as we can and most importantly not draw any attention to ourselves. And let's hurry it up." Scott said. Trying to figure out a way to deliver Danvers without actually having to go inside the building. He thought for a moment about going in through a window and putting her in a room with an empty bed. He was sure one of the nurses would find her eventually, but he wanted to make sure she was safe and, most importantly, he wanted to be done quickly.

"She won't be hard to find, right?" Bobby asked. He didn't understand Scott's rush, they had a good handle on the situation for now. He was growing increasingly up tight, it was almost like he was forcing himself to act like an old Sargent. Bobby remembered a time when Scott would joke and stop to have fun once in a while. Bobby couldn't remember the last time Scott played a game of ball or cracked a smile for that matter.

"She's speakin' ta the public enough where findin' her will be the easy part, but Ah ain't lookin' forward ta confrontin' her." Sam added as he looked all around them, they were alone, it was still very early, the streets were dark and vacant. The only signs of life was the warm glow of the hospital entrances. No doubt the nursing staff was up and about inside.

"First things first. We deal with Danvers, then we go after Mystique." Scott was impatient, ever since they had landed in DC Scott was determined on getting and taking down Mystique. "Bobby, get a wheelchair."

Washington D.C. inside the offices of the United States Department of the Interior…

"Miss Danvers, I appreciate all you're doing in regards to mutant issues, but you're asking for a lot of money." Senator Trask commented, Carol Danvers had been in his office barely a month ago asking for access to an abandoned mine and man power for some unknown project. A project that had resulted in flushing out nearly four thousand mutants living among the non-mutated population, some of which were incredibly powerful and a threat to the country. The only reason he had approved the project was because she had made a very convincing argument that the job could be done quickly, cheaply, quietly and yield impressive results. Not to mention that it was proving to be a quite the positive status builder here on the hill.

"Hey, I've made you look like the hero here! You signed the order, you got the credit and I've flushed out more mutants with almost no resources, than you have with unlimited funds at your disposal!" Mystique played Danvers very well. After she had the word spread to various anti-mutant groups and given them the tools necessary to carry out their mission. It had worked to clear out the mutant-kind that would not be beneficial to her plan; phase two was to extract powers from the exceptional mutant crop that would not comply with her accomplice's orders and to either reap their abilities or render them powerless; phase three was yet to be seen, but she was sure she was going to need money this time.

"Yes you did, and I have great confidence in you and whomever you are working for, but this is very shady, Carol. I don't know enough-"Trask knew Danvers and whomever she was working with was using him for authorization, and though very successful, it made him anxious as he eyed the form that Danvers pushed in front of him.

"What do you need to know as long as you get results and I make you look good? I had the proper paperwork, and please forgive the cliché but: This is top secret and you're on a need to know basis-"Mystique sat on Trask's desk, showing off Danvers' long legs and smiled with annoying smugness.

"-And I don't need to know. Yes, yes I know the line. But now you're asking for more than a rundown mine, lab equipment, and man power that no one will miss. Now you're asking for money, and that people will notice!" Trask warned. Money, after all, is what put an end to his project and surely the amount Danvers was asking for would demand an explanation, and it was his signature on the dotted line.

"All in the interest of keeping the public safe from the mutant threat, Senator Trask. The secret is out, mutants exist and are living next door. The people of this country will understand tax money being spent on this, so belly-up!" Mystique knew that Trask wouldn't stay obedient for long, but she didn't need much time to accomplish her goal of taking control over territory with the help of her notorious partner.

"I don't understand why we can't revisit the sentinel project." He reasoned. Project Sentinel was Trask's brain-child for mutant control. It had sounded like bad science fiction: mechanical soldiers the size of buildings that possessed artificial intelligence, whose only mission was to capture and contain mutants. Trask thought it was brilliant, and taking a job in politics was just a way to get closer to making it happen on a global scale. He had been allowed small test trials, but it wasn't nearly what he had hoped.

"Because giant lethal robots are more difficult to explain than human soldiers shooting things that look like monsters. Get your head on straight and give me what I want, I'm not done cleaning house, our major cities are next; starting with New York." Mystique tapped the form on Trasks desk with Danvers' manicured nail, urging his signature. She had work to do and was eager to return to Irene's side and just as importantly exact her own personal revenge.

"New York? I thought you said you already swept New York?" Trask said eyeing her suspiciously. He had been looking for any holes in Danvers' recent project; she had assured Trask that after her quiet flushing out of the mutant problem from selected rural and suburban areas she would end the first phase of her plan in an abandoned borax mine and burn all of the evidence. Which she did, but after the interviews from the men that occupied the mutant-mine job, he had good reason to not trust the woman's word. The men involved almost made it sound as if they hadn't done anything while on assignment under Danvers' command. It was strange, though some of the men came back with strange injures, such as burns and frostbite, none of them could recall anything eventful. The only explanation offered for the more serious injuries of the soldiers involved was the lack of light in the mine and carelessness.

"Dirt comes in layers, and we only took care of the surface. I'm starting with New York." Mystique said calmly. Trask had been asking a lot of questions after she had come back from New York and the destruction of the mine. Mostly because she had come back so far ahead of schedule with no explanation.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with not actually getting the job done, would it? It would explain why you returned two months sooner than you said you would need. Did you-"

"Did I what!? Fake my completion?! Did I fake making you look like a man that got results? Or the mutant subjects I provided you, are they bogus?! You saw them with your own eyes! I accomplished everything ahead of schedule and you're upset?" Mystique allowed that to sink in before she grabbed a pen and slammed it down on the solid oak desk. "The more that you invest the more I can give, or do you have any more stupid accusations to waste our time with?" Mystique hissed with the angriest Danvers could sound.

"Fine! But I do this and I'm finished! I'm stepping down and we can bring in your man, what's his name? Sally?"

"Kelly, Robert Kelly. And if you don't want to play ball anymore that's your loss, but with a platform like this you could have rode it straight to a presidency." Danvers smiled, as the Senator caved into her demands and took the pen into his hand.

"You say presidency, I say patsy! I know you're using me for something, Carol and I'm getting out before you blackmail me or set me up for a fall. I almost feel sorry for this Kelly of yours, but if he's been in bed with you like I have than it's his own fault!" The Senator angrily confessed. In the short time he had known Danvers she had not lived up to her, supposedly, sterling reputation. In her years of service he had only heard of her to be a by-the-book soldier, it was almost as though he were dealing with an entirely different person. Smartly, he was stepping down as Senator before the hammer could fall, he had personal work of his own to take care of.

"No need to be rude Senator, but no man who's ever been in bed with me has ever been sorry. Now sign!"

The Hay-Adams Hotel Washington DC 5:50am…

"You did what?" Professor Xavier asked, confused and a little disappointed.

"We put her a wheelchair and rang the bell…we didn't leave until someone brought her inside!" Bobby said, trying to make it sound better than it was. The professor sighed and tied his tie, readying himself to meet with heads of congress in regards to the recent mutant activity sweeping through the country.

"Though not the best way of dealing with it, I'll admit, but she's okay and in the right hands, sir." Scott assured him.

"I suppose we have more important matters before we can afford to pay attention to anything else. Have you spoken to Jean?" The Professor asked, as he tackled one problem at a time.

"Um, well, no. But she has made it very clear she can handle herself." Scott was embarrassed that his personal life was interfering with his work.

"Be that as it may, get in contact with her and ask her of her and the other's status. I would like to know if they found anything. The worst case here in Washington, means we could use a place to retreat to and Genosha might be that place. Depending on what Jean and the other's find, of course."

"Yes, sir." Scott answered as he went to the next room to call Jean. Bobby waited until Scott was out of the room before he approached his mentor.

"Professor?" Bobby asked as he looked down at his hands.

"Something on your mind, son?" The Professor asked warmly. Bobby watched him put on his expensive onyx cuff-links for a moment before speaking.

"Sir, you were talking about an exodus."

"We must prepare for the worst, Bobby." The Professor said thoughtfully. Bobby had been hanging in the back of the room, listening to Scott and the Professor and what was being said was frightening. The word 'exodus' was especially disturbing. The idea of having to leave the country sounded crazy and he couldn't stand the thought of leaving his dad behind. What would happen to him?

"I'm ready…"

"But?"

"But what about my dad? I mean mutants sure, but what about our non-mutated family? Friends? History is pretty unfair to people that cross picket lines." Bobby said, his voice worried and unsure.

"I'm taking a lesson from history. We should be proud of what we are, but we aren't the majority. For now it is best I appear as their own in order to make change for all of us, in order to spare the people we love and ourselves. There will be a time for your father to speak up for you, but not now. Give me and others like me a chance to lay ground work before we take to the streets and start our marches."

"So, like, hide?" Bobby knew that was the cowards way out, but he would stay hid if it meant protecting his Dad.

"The rational would call it being patient, perhaps we will not save everyone, but this way we save more. The outcome will however be the same, good or bad, but we will be prepared."

"Do you think you'll really be able to make a difference? I mean, you know, without people getting hurt?" Bobby couldn't even handle thinking about something happening to his Dad because of him.

"We have an advantage that past movements don't: We exist in every corner of the world and we are powerful. We will see ugliness, I wish I could tell you otherwise, but I truly believe we have more than a fighting chance." The Professor said what he could to Bobby to console him. He looked up at the young mutant in front of him and understood his apprehension. As a young child he had no control over anything, but now as a young mutant he had more power than he knew.

"I think I'll go call my dad."

In the other room Scott tried to get a hold of Jean, the last time they had heard from her was yesterday morning, about 19 hours ago, when her plane landed in Genosha, she had said that so far everything was better than normal. She called the place a paradise, and that she wouldn't mind staying as long as the Professor wanted her there. He had promised himself once this was all over that he would go to Jean and that they would vacation there for a least a week. They weren't in the best place right now, but once all this stress died down a bit they could get back to being in love and everything would be as it should, at least, for a little while.

"C'mon, Jean." Scott grumbled, as he got a second busy signal. She should have been checking in every eight hours as he instructed her to on a low risk mission like hers.

"No word from your girlfriend?" Betsy 'Psylocke' Braddock walked silently into the room, in a white form fitting button-up shirt, and a curve hugging navy colored pencil skirt, her hair was pulled back in a tight, high ponytail. She was a hot-for-teacher fantasy come to life, complete with black rimmed reading glasses and black heels. She had made a place for herself among the X-men in a very short time. Initially Scott thought that she was staying with them to help the cause because she felt obligated for the help he and his team had given her. Now, however, it was clear that she wanted to be there.

"Oh…um no." Scott said clearing his throat uncomfortably. "W-where are you going?" Scott tried not to leer as she pulled on a flattering navy colored blazer, and buttoned it right under her ample chest."

"With Professor Xavier, we're set to meet the secretary of interiors this morning, and with another telepath running defense for him…all the better for the cause." Betsy said pulling out a stick of crimson lipstick.

" I-I see. Thanks, that is, thank you for the help. Thank you." Scott was a little more than concerned that it was so easy to forget about what he was doing when she walked into the room. Speaking was far more difficult, especially when she insisted on slowly applying her lipstick in front of him. She would carefully slide the rich color over her bottom lip first and then her top lip; one side at a time until she had a delicious bow that caused Scott to become nearly mesmerized.

" Really, Scott…no need to thank me at all. If we can change things here then it will be the first step to making this world right. I was very impressed with the Professor…and you." Betsey smiled.

"Um, uh huh." Scott said without opening his mouth. He was convinced that this stunning woman was just impossible to talk to. It was one of the only times he was envious of Gambit.

"You should try calling Jean again." Psylocke said, as she perfected the lipstick line of her bottom lip.

"What?"

"Jean? Calling her again?" Psylocke couldn't help but smile at him.

"Oh, right, yeah….well we had a disagreement before she left and she's…well she had a good reason to be upset. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't just see her once she got back to the school."

"Surely she wouldn't be that childish. This is serious work we have to do here, perhaps something is wrong?" She reasoned. Scott smiled at her, it was the first time he had smiled in a long time, it was a great feeling to have someone to impress. She understood the big picture-his big picture.

"I agree with you but, she's been out of sorts lately. I'm sure she's fine." It was such a relief to have someone that understood the severity of what was happening. Relief from Betsey wasn't just relief, it was comfort, and comfort coming from a beautiful women to man that needed it was a dangerous combination.

"I'm confident you know what you're doing. Perhaps we can continue our discussion of what I experienced in the mine, I think you would be very interested."

"Yes I would be-"

"Over dinner?" Psylocke suggested.

"Very interested in dinner, er yes." Scott agreed before he could grasp what he was agreeing to or all of its potential consequences.

"Good. This hotel is breathtaking, I'm sure we can find a quiet corner to talk."

Hours of crossing the Atlantic and finally to dry land; Jean Grey had been in pursuit of her friend with the mind of an enraged woman with a vendetta.

"Why did the ocean have to be so damn big!?" Jean thought tried and angry, as she followed the tiny spec in front of her. Rogue's essence throbbed in a low slow light within her body; Jean could see it but it was becoming dim, and buried.

Washington must have been near, she could faintly sense the Professor, but she was too concentrated on not losing Rogue to call to him. Jean prayed for luck, because even if she could physically take down Danvers, if Rogue was suppressed deep enough there would be a very good chance that she wouldn't be able to bring Rogue to the surface. Jean was definitely right about one thing: Washington DC was close and Danvers clearly though Jean had been close enough.

"What-?...Uh Oh." Jean gasped as that tiny spot she had been following was now turned around and heading straight back at her. She was prepared to face her, but not without a protective telepathic barrier around her. It would be seconds before she was face to face with Danvers so she quickly thought of the most effective thing to say, "I know why you're here-HEY!" Jean foolishly thought that Danvers would actually stop to speak to her, instead, she simply used her sheer strength to punch Jean's telepathic dome several miles backwards.

"This is my business, and I don't need some mind-prancing mutate on my ass." Danvers thought angrily. The moment she entered the air space over DC she had a sense of oneness, she felt closer to normal than she had felt since before she was separated from her body. The connection a soul has to their flesh and blood body is undeniable, Danvers almost had no issue finding herself.

Patriot's Heart Veterans Hospital...

"I can't believe someone just left her here. What kind of person does something so awful?" A young nurse in pink scrubs said, she was recounting their newest patient's condition, she had been a nurse for five years now and had never seen anything like this, "But no ID at all?"

"Nothing, but the good news, she doesn't appear to be hurt in any way. We had three different doctors look her over for trauma, stoke, sexual abuse, brain and heart damage; nothing." The older nurse responded, as she paged through "Jane Doe's" file.

"Drug abuser?" The younger nurse asked.

"She clean, but I could have told you that even without the report. Nothing about her remotely says 'junkie', great muscle tone, great skin, even her nails had an expensive manicure. It's a total mystery." The older nurse said gathering a clean hospital gown and form to go check on Jane's progress.

"I hate to say it but no one that beautiful and healthy will go unclaimed for long, she has to have a life somewhere." The younger nurse reasoned, she worried for Jane. She figured that she had to have a family or at least friends that were worried sick about her.

"The police will be here in a few hours with a sketch artist for a missing person's report. Until then she's ours." The older nurse said walking down the hall toward Jane Doe's room. She was making sure to make extra visits to her room, she felt sorry for her; abandoned on their doorstep with no one. Which is why the person, covered in a floppy hoodie, at Jane Doe's bedside surprised her.

"Oh! I'm sorry I didn't know there was a visitor-wait, do-do you know her?" The nurse asked suddenly happy that their Jane Doe had someone in this world who cared enough to sneak in before visiting hours to be with her and was clearly upset. She spoke to the distraught huddled mass near Jane Doe's bedside, she couldn't see her face. She wasn't sure if this was a woman or young girl, family or friend.

"I- I know her very well." Danvers said, though she had no idea how she was able to understand anything with her body lying in front of her. The sight was enough to feel as though her soul was being shred to pieces. It was as if you were made to witness your childhood home being torn down, or thrown out alone into the street with nowhere to go or even losing your mother in a crowded place. Lost, without a home, no anchor or origin; it was an inexpressible hollow feeling.

"Oh, are you family?"

"Yes…were related." Her voice raspy and slow.

"I'm so glad she has you here-"

"What happened to her?" Danvers said cutting her off abruptly.

"The doctors aren't sure... You can speak to her if you like, she can hear you." The nurse said gently, she was so glad there was someone here to identify their sleeping beauty that she decided not to call security.

"No, she can't." She said, her voice angry and cracking with pain.

"Don't be so sure-"

"I am sure!" Danvers demanded as she sprang up and pushed the nurse against the door. "Don't you get it!? She won't hear anything because she empty! I'm empty!" Her pain was as enraging as it was unnatural. No living being was meant to be in the presence of their own lifeless body. She was powerless to help herself, and it was unlikely anyone could.

"My God! Julie!" The nurse called out for the other nurse and recoiled in horror, the girl's face was so beaten and swollen she looked monstrous. The one clear blue eye she could see looked crazed and dilated. The smell of blood was undeniable, as she angrily raged only an inch from her face.

"Don't you see it? There isn't anyone there because I'm in here! And-and…" Danvers could no longer hold herself together and dropped to her knees, releasing the frightened nurse. "I can never get back!" Danvers held the sides of her head, overwhelmingly lost, like the feeling of flowing through the blackness of space with no chance of rescue.

"Julie! Call the police!" The nurse called out down the hall, but Danvers would be long gone before the phone could even be dialed. Danvers realized that she could not do anything to help herself, but there was only one person that truly deserved her anger, her blame and that was Mystique.

The Hay-Adams Hotel Washington DC…

"We've been very lucky, we have been able to sit down with the secretary of interiors along with three very influential senators." Professor Xavier smiled to his group of students.

"Finally some good news! That might mean we got all a'the makings of a gettin' some rights fer mutants." Sam said excited to actually hear something positive.

"It's hope." The Professor smiled. It was more than hope, it was the chance for ground work for lasting laws that would provide protection for mutant kind. Storm and Psylocke smiled at each other as they got ready to accompany the Professor at his meeting. They had just met each other but were a very impressive team.

"Good luck, Professor. Do you guys really think you could make it so we can go back to school? And walk in the city and stuff?" Bobby almost couldn't believe how much he missed going to school until he lost it. The phone rang, it went unnoticed by everyone but Scott who got up to get it. Everyone that was staying back to look for Mystique was saying good luck to the Professor before they went out.

"There are no promises in politics, Bobby, but like I said: its hope-" The Professor was suddenly interrupted by the urgency he felt from Scott's phone call. "Scott?" The professor asked.

"Kitty? Where have you guys been!?" Scott said loudly enough for everyone to hear what was being said.

"Scott! It's so bad! Genosha is a total lie!" Kitty said. She and Peter had made a tricky landing into the institute's cliff-side hanger. Dr. McCoy had to restart Gambit's heart twice. Jean's blood type was O- and she had donated several pints to the school's infirmary; without it Gambit would certainly be dead.

"What happened!?" Scott asked urging for all the details. Everyone's attention was up, they were silent as they waited eagerly for the status of their teammates.

"Scott?" Storm asked, suddenly worried and bracing herself for bad news. Scott listened intently as Kitty speed-spoke the highlights of the entire ordeal. He repeated whatever bits he could between Kitty's breaths.

"Gambit's been shot." Scott repeated firmly and in-control, he was having difficulty interjecting questions; He had no idea Kitty could speak so fast.

"What!" Both Bobby and Sam exclaimed. Their understanding was that their mission was supposed to be a cake-walk; fun, sun and recon. They were actually jealous, and now they were listening to a terrifying abbreviated account of what their friends were going through.

"They're at the school…he's in medically an induced coma…Genosha's enslaving mutants…You guys stole a plane?!...Rogue is hurt and AWOL…Kitty! Kitty! Kitty, slow down! Where is Jean?!" Scott could no longer stand it, he needed to hear Jean's voice.

"She went after Rogue! Danvers is back and she's coming right for you guys!"

"How long ago?!" Scott said nearly losing his composure.

"Hours! I don't know! I don't even know what time it is now! I just know she's coming with Jean close by!" Kitty said anxious to get back to the infirmary to help Dr. McCoy and Peter.

"Ok, keep me up to date about Gambit and I'm taking the team out for Mystique and Rogue." Scott hung up the phone and looked to his team, "We need to roll out, we have a situation..."

The Office of Carol Danvers...

"How soon can I expect my funds…everything is already signed and set by Senator Trask... Well, get it done." Mystique was getting tired of Danvers' voice, as she slammed down the phone. The bitter history they shared was long and vicious, Mystique didn't deny that she was the first to cross Danvers, but Danvers was a long-time bigot of mutants. She, herself, was endowed with superhuman abilities, but since those abilities weren't a result of mutation, she thought she was superior. The heads of the armed forces and government officials only fed her ego by making the separation between Danvers' abilities and mutants; mostly because she had acquired her abilities on a military mission and she had only ever used her extraordinary powers for the sake of her country. Mutants, however, were everyone: heroes, criminals, and the average civilian; mutants weren't all the already established, proven patriotic soldiers Danvers was. It also didn't hurt that Danvers was a stunning woman, tall, blonde, blue eyes and a personality and background to match. Had it been Mystique with her blue skin, unnaturally red hair and yellow eyes, the government would have made strides to hide her.

"Those better be my clearance orders!" Mystique said as she heard her office door open, she was annoyed that they hadn't knocked. Normally she wouldn't look at the administrative staff as they buzzed around the office, dropping off or picking up paperwork, but something wasn't right.

"Long time Raven." Danvers said as she pulled back her hoodie, she had closed the door and locked it behind her.

"Who-Rogue!?" For a moment Mystique didn't recognize her daughter, and once she did, she couldn't compose herself to keep Danvers' voice or eyes. To Danvers, the concern in Mystique's voice was a joke, "What happened to you! Who did that?!" Mystique asked her voice shaking, as she looked over the girl she raised: Her eye was grotesquely swollen shut, her chin, eyebrow, and cheeks all with gaping cuts, deep black and purple bruises tattooed her face, neck and bare legs and feet. She was wearing only a long moss green hoodie that fell just above her blood streaked knees, it was obvious she was naked beneath it. The clear hand prints beaten into her neck made her want to scream, and mad enough to destroy. "Talk to me! What happened!?"

"You a mother? How horrible… you're a monster. You ruined this kid as badly as you did me." Danvers said before Mystique could get any closer.

"Danvers!" Mystique gasped, "Let her go! If I find out you had something to do with this-!"

"What? You'll kill her to get to me? Give it up, mutant, you lose. You had to know this day was coming." Danvers said, her hands balled into fists. One thing Danvers had to admit Mystique had serious balls, balls enough to make herself at home in her office, encase her inside her own daughter's head and take her place, so it shouldn't have surprised her that she also kept a healthy array of weapons in her office for just such an intrusion. Mystique wasn't stupid, she knew she was out-strengthen in this fight. She needed to be smarter and faster if she had a chance of fighting another day. She pulled out a gun looking weapon from her desk and shot a type of electrified webbing that only served as an annoyance to slow Danvers down.

" You can't run Darkholme!" Danvers threatened as she tore off the tangled webbing, and furiously watched as Mystique changed into a type of winged man and jumped out the window. Mystique did not have the ability to fly, but when transformed into a something winged she had the ability to glide from the 14th floor window and down to the street. "You can't run!" Danvers said to herself as she followed flying out the same window. It was still very early and the few people that were on the streets heading toward their early morning jobs looked up to see a bloody girl attack an angel. They screamed at the impossible sight and called the police, others hid themselves. The girl tackled the angel in midair and they tumbled together down to a grassy park nearby. Mystique abandoned her angel form and was once herself for the moment. "It's not going to be that easy!" Danvers screamed into Mystique's face as she pulled back a fist, she had every intention of slamming her fist down between Mystique's eyes and watching it explode like a watermelon. Mystique could clearly predict Danvers' intention and became the mutant Colossus, made of pure organic steel, in order to withstand the force of the punch. She was successful in surviving the blow, she then immediately became the super-soldier Omega Red and used his electrified metal tentacles to wrap around her daughter's body and throw her into a stone wall monument. The wall cracked under the sheer force of Mystique's throw.

"Rogue is stronger than you could ever begin to understand, and she will beat you! Even if I don't!" 'Omega Red' threatened in his deep Russian accent.

"She can if she's able. I don't care, as long as I get you!" Danvers said flying straight at her, and catching Mystique over her shoulder and swooping up to the morning sky above. Danvers knew since she couldn't simply be knocked out by Mystique that she would just keep morphing into every form she could think to, to slip away like the snake she was.

"W-what …are you…!" Mystique felt like she was being crushed by the sheer pressure of Danvers' propulsion upwards, the air was growing thin and the air in her lungs was being forced out of her. She was suffocating, this was Danvers' plan, and you can't fight when you can't breathe. Danvers stopped just short of 45,000 feet up, it was always her preferred altitude when she was flying, but Mystique would pass out in no time. Danvers pulled Mystique off her shoulder and grabbed her by the collar of her suit and looked into her eyes to watch her die.

"I've been waiting for this for a long time, but I never wanted it so bad!" Danvers smiled. Even if she tried to fight it wouldn't matter now. Mystique did the only thing she could think to do, she couldn't fight but she could still morph. "Since you're already blue I wonder what color you'll ch-change-Oh God…" Danvers watched in terror as Mystique changed into Carol Danvers once again. She saw herself beautiful, smiling and healthy, Mystique made her version of Danvers more gorgeous and lovely than she actually was. The real Danvers' eyes began to tear as Mystique made her age rapidly, her hair became gray, her eyes became cloudy, her skin became dried and withered; she was growing older and older until Danvers was holding onto a dried dead corpse of herself. Mystique was showing her, her mortality. She was showing her how even though she could kill her now, Danvers was staying here, trapped, while her body aged, and rotted away. "No! You're not getting the last word, bitch!" Danvers screamed, she had thought of a much more fitting punishment for Mystique, death was too easy for her.