Wildcat knew from the start that the rescue mission was going to be difficult, and that it would rapidly turn into a fight. If what Vicky had said was true, these people were going to know the X-Men were there—and possibly find a way to block their powers. Wildcat decided to bring the whole team with her, aside from the still-injured Rebecca and Mac Fury, who agreed to stay behind and look after her.
Wildcat divided the X-Men into two groups, telling one to go after their captured teammates while the others watched their backs. Once the team was whole again, they could concentrate on stopping a war.
Vicky Creed—now dubbed "Slayer"—was heading up the rescue side of the mission. She'd asked Logan if she could, seeing the guilt of their capture resting on her shoulders. She'd been the one to leave them behind—it was her duty to get them back. Logan tried to assure Vicky that she'd done what she had to do, but agreed to let her take the mission.
Logan knew all too well the guilt brought about by leaving a teammate behind.
The X-Men were about to leave when Logan heard someone call her name. She turned around.
"Let me come, please? I know I'm not an X-Man, but I could help…"
Logan looked at Kimmy, the girl's eyes pleading. "It isn't safe. You need to stay on the Blackbird."
"But Alex is my brother, and he's in trouble! Besides, I know these people. I was one of them, remember? I can help!"
"I don't know…I don't know if Twister would want you coming with us like this."
"But Logan, I have to! In a lot of ways, this is all my fault! I followed Magneto. I have to make up for that!"
"This isn't your fault, Kimmy. We'd be involved in this with or without you."
"I have to come, Logan. I need to help rescue my brother."
Logan frowned, thinking about how she'd feel in Kimberly's situation. "This is going to be dangerous."
"I know."
"Stick by one of us at all times, all right?"
The girl's face brightened. "I won't let you down. I promise."
Wildcat nodded, then turned back to the rest of the team. "Let's go, X-Men. We have work to do."
*** *** ***
"Could you just be quiet, Warren?" Rachel snapped. "We're stuck in some shack, tied to chairs, and the guard's cutting off our powers. Your whining is not helping matters, rich boy."
"Leave my money out of this! And I'm now whining."
"Hey, think y'all could stop fighting for five seconds?" Twister asked. "I think I hear something."
The three captured X-Men grew completely still. After a moment, Vicky Creed walked in, followed closely by Kacie, Billy, and Kimmy. Vicky extended her talons to cut Warren and Twister loose. Finding her powers restored and figuring the guard must be either gone or unconscious, Rachel telekinetically freed herself.
"Miss us?" Vicky asked.
"Honestly," Rachel said, rubbing her wrists, "yes."
Kimmy ran to Twister and threw her arms around him. Twister hugged her back for a moment before moving away a little, his hand still firmly on Kimmy's shoulder. He looked Vicky in the eyes. "Where's 'Becca?"
"She's on the Blackbird," Vicky replied. "She was shot, but she's going to be okay. Mackenzie knew what to do."
"Vicky saved her life, getting her back to the 'Bird," Kacie said. "If she hadn't gotten her there as quickly as she did, Rebecca would've lost too much blood, and Mac wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. Not enough blood on the plane for a decent transfusion on the plane."
Twister looked back over at Vicky, meeting her gaze again. "Thank you, Victoria. No matter what happens, I'll remember this."
Vicky just nodded.
"I hate to kill the moment, but we need to get out of here," Billy said. "The others are outside, and from the sound of it, the fight's getting pretty bad. If you guys are all in one piece, we need to go help them."
"We're ready," Warren said. Twister and Rachel nodded their agreement.
Rachel walked out and almost tripped over the guard lying in front of the door. "He's not…dead…is he?" she asked.
"Nah," Vicky said. "Although he's gonna wish he was when he wakes up with that headache."
Rachel figured that was good enough and stepped over the guard.
*** *** ***
Billy had been right in his assessment of the sound of the battle. Although the X-Men were fighting their best and were lucky enough not to have their powers negated, things were looking pretty grim.
Slayer made her way though the battle over to Wildcat. "The team's whole again, boss," she said, kicking a small man who tried to lunge at her.
"Good," Logan said, ducking to avoid some sort of plasma blast. "We can use all the help we can get right now."
Slayer and Wildcat fought side by side, as if they'd been a team their whole lives. They didn't have to say a word, but seemed to each know what the other one was thinking, know how to move instinctively as two halves of a whole. As enemies, it would've been quite a bloody battle. As teammates, it was like a well-rehearsed dance.
The Dark Angel watched Wildcat from the other side of the battlefield. He'd never really seen her that way before, so entirely in her element. Even before, when they'd fought the Dark One, it had been as if something was missing. But here, she was completely in control, completely self-assured. She knew who she was and why she was. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. And it tore him up inside.
Charger found herself surrounded by a cluster of Magneto's men. She pulled out a playing card, ready to charge it, when suddenly she heard a high-pitched wail inside of her mind. She clutched her head in pain and fell to the ground. One of Magneto's soldiers pulled a bone spike from his arm and prepared to stab Charger with it. Before he could, a metal pole flew at him, knocking both him and the person beside him to the ground. Renegade ran up and grabbed the next man who came after Charger, punching him hard. "Don't fuck with my sister," he said, his voice a menacing growl. The one man left standing started to go after Renegade, but the look in Ric's red eyes made him think better of it.
Renegade helped Charger to her feet. "You okay, kid?"
"I think," Charger said, rubbing her forehead. "I just…" She stopped and pointed up to the sky. "Ric, what's that?"
Renegade stared up to where his sister indicated. What appeared to be a man in a bubble made of lightning floated down to the ground. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that's the crack who thinks he's Magneto."
"You're one to call people who think they're the Master of Magnetism. 'cracks,'" Charger muttered. Renegade gave her a dirty look.
"Fine thing to say to someone who just saved your life."
"Cease and desist this petty warfare, mortals!" Magneto bellowed as he floated down to the ground. "I have grown weary of this battle. Are we not all mutants? Should we not join together to rid the world of the mere Homo sapiens that make this planet perilous for our kind?"
"But these are the X-Men, master!" someone shouted. "They think we're no better than the flatscans."
"Silence!" Magneto bellowed. "No one is to argue with me!"
Suddenly, Charger realized why "Magneto" looked so familiar. "Ric," she whispered to her brother. "Look closely at the guy in the bubble."
Renegade turned pale. "Mon Dieu! It's Zach!"
Charger nodded. Zachary Tyson had one been one of their classmates, but had fallen prey to Sabretooth's New Brotherhood after Creed forced Ric to permanently absorb Zach in order to create "Magneto Reborn."
Renegade started to walk off. "Where are you going?" Charger demanded.
Renegade turned around and looked down at his sister. "I think it's safe to say I know Zach better than anyone else here. I can stop him."
"Ric…"
"I'll be fine, 'Rie."
Renegade pushed his was though to Zach as Charger ran over to where the other X-Men had clustered.
"Hey, Magneto!" Renegade yelled as he got closer to Zach. "Remember me?"
Zach's eyes grew wide as he saw Renegade approaching. "Get away, soul-stealer!" He screamed. "Get the hell away from me!"
A few of Magneto's more loyal soldiers ran forward to protect their leader, but Renegade hit them with a magnetic pulse strong enough to send them flying backwards. No one else moved.
"What the hell is he doing?" Wildcat hissed.
"He's trying to talk to him," Charger said in defense of her brother. "In case you people haven't noticed, that's Zach Tyson."
"Zach!" Ice Queen said in a voice that managed to be a cross between a screech and a whisper. "Oh my God!"
"I thought he was dead…" Phoenix added.
"Who's Zach Tyson?" Slayer asked.
"The guy your dad made Ric absorb," Wildcat said. Slayer started to argue the point, but settled on rolling her eyes instead.
"You know you're not Magneto." Renegade continued, moving closer to Zach. "You're just some kid on a power trip."
"I said to stay away!" Zach took a metal spike from off of his belt and threw it. Renegade stopped it in midair, making it crumple and fall to the ground.
"You can't hurt me, Zachary. I can do anything you can—and I can do it better."
"I'm Magneto!" Zach yelled. "I'm Magneto! I'm the greatest mutant who ever lived! I'm all-powerful! No one can stop me!"
"You're just a scared little boy who no one ever loved," Renegade said, taking another few steps closer. "You were just another possession of your parents. Something they could show off. But then it turned out you weren't the perfect son, and they hated you. They hated you for being a mutant. You were supposed to impress, but you were nothing but a freak."
"No!" Zach screamed, throwing his hands over his helmet, trying to cover his ears. "You're lying! This is all a lie!"
"They tried to send you away. But no one wanted to take a 'problem child.' So you had to stay home and be reminded everyday of why your parents didn't love you. The called you the 'gene joke.' The 'mutie.' No one knew what went on behind closed doors, but you did. You were mommy and daddy's filthy little mutie."
"No!" Zach fell to the ground, sobbing. "I'm a good boy!" he screamed. "I'm good!"
Renegade turned to face "Magneto's" followers. "This is who you put your faith in? A sniveling child who can't even stand up for himself? You say you want empowerment—supremacy for mutants." He shook his head in disgust. "Maybe next time you go looking for power, you should take a closer look at who it is offering it." Renegade stepped away, a defeated Zachary Tyson still crying in a heap on the ground.
Renegade went straight to Wildcat. "You're the leader; you take it from here, babe."
He walked away, finding a place where he could be alone.
*** *** ***
I know it's been a looong time since I updated this, and this is a really short chapter, but I've been dealing with lots of school pressure and a bad case of writer's block. However, school's almost done (for three weeks at least) and I've finally come up with how I want to end this fic, so it shouldn't be too long until I get to writing more.