Myst could notice the face of disgust she hid behind her mask.
*This wasn't my idea, Faye, dear,* he thought. *I helped you with as much as I could. Everything else was up to you.*
"Well, let's see what you guys are really made of," she said, conjuring up two enormous tentacles.
She released her scythe and waited.
"Out of the way," said Avalanche.
With his powers, he shook the earth, trying to get Raven to fall down. She pulled up the floor beneath her feet and made it smooth and soft, that way it could take the impact of it and she could still hold her ground. He growled; Raven shot a small blue blast on his foot and enjoyed seeing him recoil.
"Fools, it'll take more than that to take her down," said Sabertooth.
"I don't think you'll be getting anywhere like this," said Raven, coming back down.
Magneto landed in front of them and walked up to her.
"Tom. Shields," she quickly asked. Tom complied and released psychic shields around her mind. She stood up straight, waiting for him.
"Do you really think that lowly trick will work against me?" he asked.
"It has before."
"Step aside, foolish girl," he thundered.
He took flight once more and went toward the Institute. Raven followed him with her eyes, never moving.
"Well? Isn't she gonna do anything?" asked Quicksilver.
"Maybe," said Master Puppeteer, but Sabertooth just growled.
Her body started glowing black and gold, and Sabertooth's eyes widened.
"Look out!" he cried, dodging out of the way.
The others did the same, each going to a different side, as an enormous blast of energy unleashed from Raven's headband. Sabertooth got up and looked at her, she was still in the same position as before. He walked up to her and touched her face; he saw her eyes close, but she didn't move.
"Let's go," he said.
"What about this one?" asked Juggernaut.
"She can't move," Sabertooth answered.
They walked past her, going up the driveway. Still controlling the two tentacles, she tried stomping them. However, without being able to see behind her, she just made them break up into two teams. The first, with Avalanche, Toad, Monarch, Myst, Quicksilver, and Shocker, took on Storm and the X-Men. The other, with Blob, Dome, Brawn, and Master Puppeteer, took on Beast and the new recruits.
"Tom, do something," she pleaded.
"Don't worry, I'll help you," said Juggernaut, hitting her in the stomach. She flew backward and landed on the ground, a couple of feet away from them. Sabertooth growled at him, but Magneto came down and stopped them. He motioned for them to attack, which they obediently complied, then turned to Raven, extended his arms in front of him and sent her flying into the Institute. Logan saw her coming, jumped up and caught her.
"They're coming," she groaned.
"They're already here," answered Professor X.
She looked around and saw that, on one side, Beast had taken on Brawn--the two fighters punched and kicked, but neither backed down. Iceman was rather successful on fighting Dome. Multiple, teaming up with Jubilee and Beserker, took on Master Puppeteer. Sunspot, Magma and Cannonball fought Blob. On the other side, Monarch fought Jean in the air; Storm and Shocker were having a thunder battle with each other; Myst was giving Nightcrawler and Shadowcat a hard time, making him teleport to the wrong places and her get stuck on walls and such; Quicksilver took on Cyclops; and Avalanche rocked Spyke on.
Raven got up and saw Sabertooth charge up to Wolverine.
*They can take care of each other,* she thought and looked at Xavier.
~*Don't worry, Professor. I've got you,*~ she told him.
~*I know,*~ he answered.
She took out her scythe and charged up to Juggernaut. Even though he was much stronger than she was, she held out to fulfill her promise.
Magneto touched down and confronted Professor X.
"Is this battlefield what you intended, old friend?" asked Xavier.
"No, I actually intended to have your students fight with us and not against us."
"It is not our wish to fight. We are here to teach humans not to fear us."
"Don't be foolish, Charles. Humans will never accept us. We will always be inferior to them, when, in reality, we are the superior beings."
"We are al equal, Magnus. You have the power to stop this. Do it before it's too late."
Ah, but I won't," he said tumbling Xavier's chair.
Raven released another wave of energy from her jewel on Juggernaut, and, seeing that it had slowed him down a bit, she jumped back and aided Professor X.
"There's nothing you can do to stop me," Magneto warned her.
"Maybe, but I'll still try," she said.
He shot his arms out, making her fly back and hit the stairs, then took flight. Raven lay in the stairs and looked up. She saw an upside-down Juggernaut running toward her. She quickly raised her arms, tentacles followed them, and tried to stop him. Two tentacles wrapped around his arms, another two around his legs and a big one around his waist. She raised him from the ground and held him in the air.
She got up and looked around to see who needed help the most. Magneto had decided to take Shadowcat.
"Coward," she growled.
He had wrapped a stick of metal around her and held her in the air. He saw that Raven was coming up to him and threw Shadowcat down. She started struggling to get out of the metal bar, as she plummeted down, and Raven boosted herself up with a matter pillar to catch her.
"Uhh...," Shadowcat groaned as she tried to phase through.
"No, Kitty! Don't use your powers!" Raven screamed, noticing what she was about to do.
She didn't hear her and phased through both the metal and Raven's body. The computer chips she had on her head and arm short-circuited and crackled. Raven fell to the ground screaming in pain, as electricity ran down her body.
"Faye!" both Sabertooth and Wolverine screamed, without thinking.
Brawn had thrown Beast across the lawn, so he, hearing Wolverine's scream, jumped up and caught her.
"Oh, dear. Faye, what have you done?" he said as he gently held Raven and took her mask off.
Her face was distorted with pain, her eyes were wide open, as a single tear ran down her cheek; her body twisted and trembled with seizures. Sabertooth tired running to her, and Wolverine tripped him, and, then, went on her direction, but Sabertooth stopped him. The two started fighting and punching each other again.
Brawn went to attack beast, but Beserker stopped her. Raven's seizures died down and she lay limp on Beast's arms.
"Breathe, Faye. Come on," Beast slapped her face slightly.
Myst walked over to him and Storm flew down ready to attack. Shocker saw it and threw two bolts of electricity on her, which hit her down and knocked her unconscious. Myst nodded to her and she went to attack someone else. Suddenly, Raven gasped deeply, looked around her desperately, and got up. She fumbled back and forth and stopped, focusing her sight on one point in the horizon. She closed her eyes and straightened her body; when she opened her eyes again, everyone could see that they had a misty complexion over them, like she was in a trance. Only one person knew what that really meant.
Myst looked around him for the rest of the troupe. Brawn used Sunspot to knock Beserker down; Master Puppeteer was having a hard time figuring out with one of the multiples was the real Jamie; Dome had locked Magma inside on of his barriers; Monarch, on the other side of the Institute, having been left alone by Jean, who was now helping Cyclops and Iceman stop Juggernaut, kicked Shadowcat and started a good fight with her; Shocker was having fun trying to hit Rogue and Spyke. He turned to look at Raven and found himself staring deeply into her dead eyes.
Startled, he stepped aside and let her pass. She took thee steps, and, as she was about to take her fourth, a portal opened and she stepped through.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The machinery around Tom's tank crackled and exploded. Being a direct link between all his systems and her body, the destruction of the computer chips resulted in a large number of mixed signals going through and destroying Tom's machines.
She walked up to Tom's tank and stared at him. He laid unconscious on the light blue water, no bubbles streaming up, which meant he wasn't breathing. She placed her hand on the glass, as she'd always done, and waited, but nothing happened.
"Tom...," she whispered and knelt down, as warm, salty tears streamed down her face.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, outside, some of the new recruits got badly hurt trying to stop Juggernaut. Brawn and Monarch were no longer fighting, it had gotten too confusing, and the rest of the students had to hold off the Brotherhood. Myst was now fighting Magneto, and praying for a miracle to come.
"Traitor," snarled Magneto.
"Our contract is officially over Magneto. You're going to have to find someone else to do your dirty work," Myst screamed, throwing energy daggers at him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Raven got up with rage in her eyes. All reason and common sense had gone with Tom and the chips. She touched the glass on Tom's tank again, turned, and walked toward the opened portal. As she was leaving, a machine popped, startling her. She jumped back and kicked it; seeing that it was only a machine, she sighed and left.
The machine exploded slightly and sent a current down its wires. Every machine that was connected to it short-circuited, including Tom's tank. This sent a current down Tom's body and his heart started beating quietly. Newly pumped blood ran down his veins, into his lungs, as small bubbles popped out of his oxygen mask.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As soon as Raven walked out of the portal, her scythe twisted and flew into her hand. She held it loosely, dragging its blade on the floor, as she walked towards Magneto. Myst looked at her and turned to Brawn.
"Cathy, leave! Take the kids and go. Irvine, you'll stay here, I may need your powers," he said.
"But...," she started to argue.
"No, 'buts.' Now! GO!"
"Come on, kids. We're leaving, our work here is done," she called out.
"I'm staying with Jeff," said Shocker.
"NO! Go on, all of you," he said.
"Go on, dearie, we'll be fine," reassured Master Puppeteer.
They left them, reluctantly. The two of them ran up to Xavier and called the remaining kids back.
"We're here to help you," said Master Puppeteer, seeing all the kids rushing to an attack.
"A bit late for that," said Nightcrawler.
"Well, now we're dealing with something much worse," said Myst.
"Daniel has taken over?" asked Cyclops, looking at the way Raven was moving across the lawn.
"No, Daniel is a madman, without any thoughts, feelings, or reasons. This is much, much worse. Faye's mad."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Juggernaut started walking up to attack Xavier. Raven continued walking towards Magneto, and, as she passed by Juggernaut, she stopped and turned to face him. He continued walking with no fear, and then he rushed to attack her. Without moving, she conjured up thin tentacles that wrapped around his wrists, arms, ankles, legs, all over his body, and started dragging him backwards, where the ground started swirling. He tried pulling and keeping his ground, but she had become very strong all of a sudden, too strong. He was dragged back, but stopped before reaching the pool. She raised his hand and fired a blast of energy that pushed him back a little; he continued to struggle to move forward, but couldn't. She fired another blast, and another, until he reached the pool. Like quicksand, it started pulling him down, as he struggled to pull himself back. The more he struggled, the faster he sank.
"Faye, stop, please," said Professor X. "He may hate me, but he's still my brother."
As soon as he said that, Juggernaut stopped sinking and the ground around him hardened; all that was left out were his shoulders and head.
Blob picked up Multiple and threw him across the grass. Raven turned and he fell on her arms; she picked him up and looked closely at him. She brought him closer to her, and, as he whimpered back, scared, whispered something in his ear. She put him down and nodded, as he looked at her curiously. He looked at Juggernaut, gulped, and concentrated. Many copies of him started appearing. She, then, motioned for Sunspot to come but he was all out of energy. She looked around for anybody else; however, the scene was deplorable. Beserker was still out cold, Sunspot was too tired to fight, and Cannonball and the others were doing all they could to stop the Brotherhood. Spyke, Shadowcat and Beast were slowed down a bit, since they got hurt trying to stop Juggernaut's ranting.
Many Multiples walked up to Juggernaut, unlatched his helmet, and disappeared. She looked at Myst, and, immediately, he understood what she needed.
"Jean, use your powers to take Juggernaut's helmet off," he said.
Jean concentrated and it started moving. Magneto knocked Master Puppeteer down and concentrated on Juggernaut's helmet as well; now Jean couldn't lift it anymore. He looked around for Raven, but she was nowhere to be found. Myst's eyes widened, he concentrated on himself and disappeared, reappearing in the blink of an eye next to Jean. They all jumped back, startled, but Jean kept on concentrating on Juggernaut's helmet. Myst moved closer to Xavier's chair, as Magneto dodged one of Cyclops' blasts and closed one of the latches on Juggernaut's helmet.
"Professor, help me get a message to all your students at once," he whispered.
Professor X. nodded and concentrated. Multiple began making copies of himself once more, but Master Puppeteer stopped him. Once the message was sent everyone nodded; they knew exactly what to do. Magneto closed another latch and wondered what Xavier was up to.
Master Puppeteer ran up to Quicksilver and distracted him with his powers. The new recruits, or what was left of them, teamed up and took on Blob. Beast, Shadowcat, and Rogue protected the wounded students from Toad and Avalanche's attacks. Cyclops and Storm kept Magneto busy with their powers. And since Sabertooth was still busy with Wolverine, no one worried about them. Without anyone noticing Nightcrawler teleported above Magneto, Jean held him in the air and, slowly, brought him down. When he was right behind Magneto, she stopped him and held him in the air.
"NOW!" screamed Myst, and Nightcrawler took Magneto's cape, threw it over his head, and teleported away.
At the same time, Raven jumped out of the floor and held on to Juggernaut's helmet. With every bit of strength she could find, she tugged and pulled.
"Ahhh....," she screamed, as the latches gave in to her will and the helmet came off.
Xavier tried to concentrate on reaching his brother's mind, but Myst stopped him. It would be necessary to have Xavier's powers, lest things get out of hand. Raven, quickly, threw the helmet aside and reached for her scythe. She snapped the blade and arrowhead out, and pulled a sai out of her belt. She, then, broke into a run towards Magneto, who was still fumbling around with his cape. As he pulled his cape out of his eyes, he saw Raven attacking him and held out his hand. He stopped her blade an inch from his face.
He heard Cyclops preparing for another blast, and, quickly, turned around, holding up Raven' s body as a shield. She growled at him and tried to free herself, but couldn't. He pulled her arms apart and held them straight out; took her say and scythe away, and, pushing the blade back in, he held the arrowhead to her neck.
"Join me," he said.
"Never," she answered.
"Very well," he said, pushing the arrowhead into her shoulder.
She screamed in pain, as the sharp weapon tore through her flesh and got pulled back. Then, he held out her sai and started scratching her skin. Tears of pain streamed down her cheeks, but her face was distorted with anger.
"Can you get to her?" Jean asked Myst.
"No," he answered. "He's too powerful."
"We have to do somethin'," said Rogue.
"We can't," said Xavier, darkly. "Scott, you and the others take care of the Brotherhood. We'll think of something to stop Magneto."
She continued to fight magneto's attacks with a solemn face. He paused and looked closely at her.
"Ya wanna kill me?" she asked. "Well, go ahead. I ain't afraid o' ya."
"Will you die trying to save those who don't understand you or have hurt you?" he asked.
"I'll do whatever it takes."
Angrily, Magneto dropped the weapons and concentrated all his power on Raven. She howled with pain, as her bones were pulled apart and twisted together. Her screams caught the attention of both Sabertooth and Wolverine, who had stranded away from the others in the heat of their fight. They watched Raven's torture incredulously. Sabertooth's coat was stained with blood and Wolverine's uniform was in pieces, but the two fighters remained unscathed, since their wounds had already scabbed.
Sabertooth looked at Wolverine, who looked back, and they both nodded. They started running towards Raven and Magneto, and, as they reached them, they both jumped up. Startled, Magneto popped Raven's bones back into place, and everyone heard the sickening crack that came from her body. Magneto turned to face Wolverine; he released Raven and concentrated on his body, as Sabertooth caught Raven and landed safely on the ground.
Sabertooth held Raven and looked at her--blood was coming out her mouth and nose. He hugged her tightly, wishing he could somehow give her some of his healing abilities. Suddenly, he felt a hand close in around his head. Energy started leaving his body quickly, and his wounds opened up once more. He looked back at her and found hatred and anger in her eyes. She dropped him, and looked at Magneto, as Sabertooth collapsed. A wave of green energy ran through her body, as she used her healing powers to heal her internal organs and the inside of her body; her shoulder continued bleeding and her legs gave in on her.
Magneto threw Wolverine aside and went after her, when she transformed her body and went around the Institute. As she reached the edge of the waterfall, she turned and waited for him to come. She saw him flying toward her and got ready. Right behind him were Storm and Wolverine.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He rushed to get to her, and, as he pushed his entire body mass into her, he picked her up and held her over the water. Her legs dangled around as he held her by the collar.
"You think you can play with me?!?" he screamed at her. "I will show you now why you're nothing more than an experiment."
Wolverine, who had reached the waterfall, jumped from the edge and caught Magneto's cape. He climbed his way up, still pulling his cape.
"Leave 'er alone," Wolverine cried, tugging the cape.
Raven pushed herself up and tried to reach for Magneto's face with her left hand. He dodged and she caught the side of his helmet instead. She pulled him closer to her and looked deeply into his eyes.
"Experiment's over, bub," she said, raising her right hand.
She brought it down heavily into his chest. Because of her powers, the three of them got hurled into opposite directions. Raven fell into oblivion toward the river, and Magneto and Wolverine fell back on the edge of the waterfall. Storm took a nosedive into the air and flew down to catch Raven.
"Get Logan," she said, as Storm caught her arm. "I know you're tired, you won't be able to save the both of us."
"But...," Storm started.
"Trust me. Logan will jump, I know him. I don't think I'll be able to survive anyway."
Storm looked at her, not knowing what to do.
"Ororo, please, save him. Save Logan."
Reluctantly, she let Raven go and turned around. As she turned, she saw Wolverine falling down toward her. Using all the strength she had left, she caught him and flew back. She dropped him into Beast's arms, who, despite the bruised ankle and the sore muscles, held on to a deranged and desperate Wolverine.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
No one saw Raven's body hit the water; somewhere, on the other side of the river, a thunder crashed into a tree branch. The large limb fell on the water and succumbed to its rage. Thick rain began pouring down, as the spirits of the X-Men were broken once again.
About fifty feet away from where the waterfall hit the rocks, the tree bough held itself on the currents. Suddenly, a thin, metal hand grabbed one of its sprouting stems. Alone, and cold, the girl pushed herself upon the branch's thick body. It looked like a large hand consoling and protecting the tired girl. She laid down on it and looked up at Xavier's Institute, its lights were beginning to flicker on. As she slipped into comforting unconsciousness, she smiled, relieved, knowing the battle had been won, and the branch, with her on top, continued to wander aimlessly with the river.
(To Be Continued...)
*This wasn't my idea, Faye, dear,* he thought. *I helped you with as much as I could. Everything else was up to you.*
"Well, let's see what you guys are really made of," she said, conjuring up two enormous tentacles.
She released her scythe and waited.
"Out of the way," said Avalanche.
With his powers, he shook the earth, trying to get Raven to fall down. She pulled up the floor beneath her feet and made it smooth and soft, that way it could take the impact of it and she could still hold her ground. He growled; Raven shot a small blue blast on his foot and enjoyed seeing him recoil.
"Fools, it'll take more than that to take her down," said Sabertooth.
"I don't think you'll be getting anywhere like this," said Raven, coming back down.
Magneto landed in front of them and walked up to her.
"Tom. Shields," she quickly asked. Tom complied and released psychic shields around her mind. She stood up straight, waiting for him.
"Do you really think that lowly trick will work against me?" he asked.
"It has before."
"Step aside, foolish girl," he thundered.
He took flight once more and went toward the Institute. Raven followed him with her eyes, never moving.
"Well? Isn't she gonna do anything?" asked Quicksilver.
"Maybe," said Master Puppeteer, but Sabertooth just growled.
Her body started glowing black and gold, and Sabertooth's eyes widened.
"Look out!" he cried, dodging out of the way.
The others did the same, each going to a different side, as an enormous blast of energy unleashed from Raven's headband. Sabertooth got up and looked at her, she was still in the same position as before. He walked up to her and touched her face; he saw her eyes close, but she didn't move.
"Let's go," he said.
"What about this one?" asked Juggernaut.
"She can't move," Sabertooth answered.
They walked past her, going up the driveway. Still controlling the two tentacles, she tried stomping them. However, without being able to see behind her, she just made them break up into two teams. The first, with Avalanche, Toad, Monarch, Myst, Quicksilver, and Shocker, took on Storm and the X-Men. The other, with Blob, Dome, Brawn, and Master Puppeteer, took on Beast and the new recruits.
"Tom, do something," she pleaded.
"Don't worry, I'll help you," said Juggernaut, hitting her in the stomach. She flew backward and landed on the ground, a couple of feet away from them. Sabertooth growled at him, but Magneto came down and stopped them. He motioned for them to attack, which they obediently complied, then turned to Raven, extended his arms in front of him and sent her flying into the Institute. Logan saw her coming, jumped up and caught her.
"They're coming," she groaned.
"They're already here," answered Professor X.
She looked around and saw that, on one side, Beast had taken on Brawn--the two fighters punched and kicked, but neither backed down. Iceman was rather successful on fighting Dome. Multiple, teaming up with Jubilee and Beserker, took on Master Puppeteer. Sunspot, Magma and Cannonball fought Blob. On the other side, Monarch fought Jean in the air; Storm and Shocker were having a thunder battle with each other; Myst was giving Nightcrawler and Shadowcat a hard time, making him teleport to the wrong places and her get stuck on walls and such; Quicksilver took on Cyclops; and Avalanche rocked Spyke on.
Raven got up and saw Sabertooth charge up to Wolverine.
*They can take care of each other,* she thought and looked at Xavier.
~*Don't worry, Professor. I've got you,*~ she told him.
~*I know,*~ he answered.
She took out her scythe and charged up to Juggernaut. Even though he was much stronger than she was, she held out to fulfill her promise.
Magneto touched down and confronted Professor X.
"Is this battlefield what you intended, old friend?" asked Xavier.
"No, I actually intended to have your students fight with us and not against us."
"It is not our wish to fight. We are here to teach humans not to fear us."
"Don't be foolish, Charles. Humans will never accept us. We will always be inferior to them, when, in reality, we are the superior beings."
"We are al equal, Magnus. You have the power to stop this. Do it before it's too late."
Ah, but I won't," he said tumbling Xavier's chair.
Raven released another wave of energy from her jewel on Juggernaut, and, seeing that it had slowed him down a bit, she jumped back and aided Professor X.
"There's nothing you can do to stop me," Magneto warned her.
"Maybe, but I'll still try," she said.
He shot his arms out, making her fly back and hit the stairs, then took flight. Raven lay in the stairs and looked up. She saw an upside-down Juggernaut running toward her. She quickly raised her arms, tentacles followed them, and tried to stop him. Two tentacles wrapped around his arms, another two around his legs and a big one around his waist. She raised him from the ground and held him in the air.
She got up and looked around to see who needed help the most. Magneto had decided to take Shadowcat.
"Coward," she growled.
He had wrapped a stick of metal around her and held her in the air. He saw that Raven was coming up to him and threw Shadowcat down. She started struggling to get out of the metal bar, as she plummeted down, and Raven boosted herself up with a matter pillar to catch her.
"Uhh...," Shadowcat groaned as she tried to phase through.
"No, Kitty! Don't use your powers!" Raven screamed, noticing what she was about to do.
She didn't hear her and phased through both the metal and Raven's body. The computer chips she had on her head and arm short-circuited and crackled. Raven fell to the ground screaming in pain, as electricity ran down her body.
"Faye!" both Sabertooth and Wolverine screamed, without thinking.
Brawn had thrown Beast across the lawn, so he, hearing Wolverine's scream, jumped up and caught her.
"Oh, dear. Faye, what have you done?" he said as he gently held Raven and took her mask off.
Her face was distorted with pain, her eyes were wide open, as a single tear ran down her cheek; her body twisted and trembled with seizures. Sabertooth tired running to her, and Wolverine tripped him, and, then, went on her direction, but Sabertooth stopped him. The two started fighting and punching each other again.
Brawn went to attack beast, but Beserker stopped her. Raven's seizures died down and she lay limp on Beast's arms.
"Breathe, Faye. Come on," Beast slapped her face slightly.
Myst walked over to him and Storm flew down ready to attack. Shocker saw it and threw two bolts of electricity on her, which hit her down and knocked her unconscious. Myst nodded to her and she went to attack someone else. Suddenly, Raven gasped deeply, looked around her desperately, and got up. She fumbled back and forth and stopped, focusing her sight on one point in the horizon. She closed her eyes and straightened her body; when she opened her eyes again, everyone could see that they had a misty complexion over them, like she was in a trance. Only one person knew what that really meant.
Myst looked around him for the rest of the troupe. Brawn used Sunspot to knock Beserker down; Master Puppeteer was having a hard time figuring out with one of the multiples was the real Jamie; Dome had locked Magma inside on of his barriers; Monarch, on the other side of the Institute, having been left alone by Jean, who was now helping Cyclops and Iceman stop Juggernaut, kicked Shadowcat and started a good fight with her; Shocker was having fun trying to hit Rogue and Spyke. He turned to look at Raven and found himself staring deeply into her dead eyes.
Startled, he stepped aside and let her pass. She took thee steps, and, as she was about to take her fourth, a portal opened and she stepped through.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The machinery around Tom's tank crackled and exploded. Being a direct link between all his systems and her body, the destruction of the computer chips resulted in a large number of mixed signals going through and destroying Tom's machines.
She walked up to Tom's tank and stared at him. He laid unconscious on the light blue water, no bubbles streaming up, which meant he wasn't breathing. She placed her hand on the glass, as she'd always done, and waited, but nothing happened.
"Tom...," she whispered and knelt down, as warm, salty tears streamed down her face.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, outside, some of the new recruits got badly hurt trying to stop Juggernaut. Brawn and Monarch were no longer fighting, it had gotten too confusing, and the rest of the students had to hold off the Brotherhood. Myst was now fighting Magneto, and praying for a miracle to come.
"Traitor," snarled Magneto.
"Our contract is officially over Magneto. You're going to have to find someone else to do your dirty work," Myst screamed, throwing energy daggers at him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Raven got up with rage in her eyes. All reason and common sense had gone with Tom and the chips. She touched the glass on Tom's tank again, turned, and walked toward the opened portal. As she was leaving, a machine popped, startling her. She jumped back and kicked it; seeing that it was only a machine, she sighed and left.
The machine exploded slightly and sent a current down its wires. Every machine that was connected to it short-circuited, including Tom's tank. This sent a current down Tom's body and his heart started beating quietly. Newly pumped blood ran down his veins, into his lungs, as small bubbles popped out of his oxygen mask.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As soon as Raven walked out of the portal, her scythe twisted and flew into her hand. She held it loosely, dragging its blade on the floor, as she walked towards Magneto. Myst looked at her and turned to Brawn.
"Cathy, leave! Take the kids and go. Irvine, you'll stay here, I may need your powers," he said.
"But...," she started to argue.
"No, 'buts.' Now! GO!"
"Come on, kids. We're leaving, our work here is done," she called out.
"I'm staying with Jeff," said Shocker.
"NO! Go on, all of you," he said.
"Go on, dearie, we'll be fine," reassured Master Puppeteer.
They left them, reluctantly. The two of them ran up to Xavier and called the remaining kids back.
"We're here to help you," said Master Puppeteer, seeing all the kids rushing to an attack.
"A bit late for that," said Nightcrawler.
"Well, now we're dealing with something much worse," said Myst.
"Daniel has taken over?" asked Cyclops, looking at the way Raven was moving across the lawn.
"No, Daniel is a madman, without any thoughts, feelings, or reasons. This is much, much worse. Faye's mad."
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Juggernaut started walking up to attack Xavier. Raven continued walking towards Magneto, and, as she passed by Juggernaut, she stopped and turned to face him. He continued walking with no fear, and then he rushed to attack her. Without moving, she conjured up thin tentacles that wrapped around his wrists, arms, ankles, legs, all over his body, and started dragging him backwards, where the ground started swirling. He tried pulling and keeping his ground, but she had become very strong all of a sudden, too strong. He was dragged back, but stopped before reaching the pool. She raised his hand and fired a blast of energy that pushed him back a little; he continued to struggle to move forward, but couldn't. She fired another blast, and another, until he reached the pool. Like quicksand, it started pulling him down, as he struggled to pull himself back. The more he struggled, the faster he sank.
"Faye, stop, please," said Professor X. "He may hate me, but he's still my brother."
As soon as he said that, Juggernaut stopped sinking and the ground around him hardened; all that was left out were his shoulders and head.
Blob picked up Multiple and threw him across the grass. Raven turned and he fell on her arms; she picked him up and looked closely at him. She brought him closer to her, and, as he whimpered back, scared, whispered something in his ear. She put him down and nodded, as he looked at her curiously. He looked at Juggernaut, gulped, and concentrated. Many copies of him started appearing. She, then, motioned for Sunspot to come but he was all out of energy. She looked around for anybody else; however, the scene was deplorable. Beserker was still out cold, Sunspot was too tired to fight, and Cannonball and the others were doing all they could to stop the Brotherhood. Spyke, Shadowcat and Beast were slowed down a bit, since they got hurt trying to stop Juggernaut's ranting.
Many Multiples walked up to Juggernaut, unlatched his helmet, and disappeared. She looked at Myst, and, immediately, he understood what she needed.
"Jean, use your powers to take Juggernaut's helmet off," he said.
Jean concentrated and it started moving. Magneto knocked Master Puppeteer down and concentrated on Juggernaut's helmet as well; now Jean couldn't lift it anymore. He looked around for Raven, but she was nowhere to be found. Myst's eyes widened, he concentrated on himself and disappeared, reappearing in the blink of an eye next to Jean. They all jumped back, startled, but Jean kept on concentrating on Juggernaut's helmet. Myst moved closer to Xavier's chair, as Magneto dodged one of Cyclops' blasts and closed one of the latches on Juggernaut's helmet.
"Professor, help me get a message to all your students at once," he whispered.
Professor X. nodded and concentrated. Multiple began making copies of himself once more, but Master Puppeteer stopped him. Once the message was sent everyone nodded; they knew exactly what to do. Magneto closed another latch and wondered what Xavier was up to.
Master Puppeteer ran up to Quicksilver and distracted him with his powers. The new recruits, or what was left of them, teamed up and took on Blob. Beast, Shadowcat, and Rogue protected the wounded students from Toad and Avalanche's attacks. Cyclops and Storm kept Magneto busy with their powers. And since Sabertooth was still busy with Wolverine, no one worried about them. Without anyone noticing Nightcrawler teleported above Magneto, Jean held him in the air and, slowly, brought him down. When he was right behind Magneto, she stopped him and held him in the air.
"NOW!" screamed Myst, and Nightcrawler took Magneto's cape, threw it over his head, and teleported away.
At the same time, Raven jumped out of the floor and held on to Juggernaut's helmet. With every bit of strength she could find, she tugged and pulled.
"Ahhh....," she screamed, as the latches gave in to her will and the helmet came off.
Xavier tried to concentrate on reaching his brother's mind, but Myst stopped him. It would be necessary to have Xavier's powers, lest things get out of hand. Raven, quickly, threw the helmet aside and reached for her scythe. She snapped the blade and arrowhead out, and pulled a sai out of her belt. She, then, broke into a run towards Magneto, who was still fumbling around with his cape. As he pulled his cape out of his eyes, he saw Raven attacking him and held out his hand. He stopped her blade an inch from his face.
He heard Cyclops preparing for another blast, and, quickly, turned around, holding up Raven' s body as a shield. She growled at him and tried to free herself, but couldn't. He pulled her arms apart and held them straight out; took her say and scythe away, and, pushing the blade back in, he held the arrowhead to her neck.
"Join me," he said.
"Never," she answered.
"Very well," he said, pushing the arrowhead into her shoulder.
She screamed in pain, as the sharp weapon tore through her flesh and got pulled back. Then, he held out her sai and started scratching her skin. Tears of pain streamed down her cheeks, but her face was distorted with anger.
"Can you get to her?" Jean asked Myst.
"No," he answered. "He's too powerful."
"We have to do somethin'," said Rogue.
"We can't," said Xavier, darkly. "Scott, you and the others take care of the Brotherhood. We'll think of something to stop Magneto."
She continued to fight magneto's attacks with a solemn face. He paused and looked closely at her.
"Ya wanna kill me?" she asked. "Well, go ahead. I ain't afraid o' ya."
"Will you die trying to save those who don't understand you or have hurt you?" he asked.
"I'll do whatever it takes."
Angrily, Magneto dropped the weapons and concentrated all his power on Raven. She howled with pain, as her bones were pulled apart and twisted together. Her screams caught the attention of both Sabertooth and Wolverine, who had stranded away from the others in the heat of their fight. They watched Raven's torture incredulously. Sabertooth's coat was stained with blood and Wolverine's uniform was in pieces, but the two fighters remained unscathed, since their wounds had already scabbed.
Sabertooth looked at Wolverine, who looked back, and they both nodded. They started running towards Raven and Magneto, and, as they reached them, they both jumped up. Startled, Magneto popped Raven's bones back into place, and everyone heard the sickening crack that came from her body. Magneto turned to face Wolverine; he released Raven and concentrated on his body, as Sabertooth caught Raven and landed safely on the ground.
Sabertooth held Raven and looked at her--blood was coming out her mouth and nose. He hugged her tightly, wishing he could somehow give her some of his healing abilities. Suddenly, he felt a hand close in around his head. Energy started leaving his body quickly, and his wounds opened up once more. He looked back at her and found hatred and anger in her eyes. She dropped him, and looked at Magneto, as Sabertooth collapsed. A wave of green energy ran through her body, as she used her healing powers to heal her internal organs and the inside of her body; her shoulder continued bleeding and her legs gave in on her.
Magneto threw Wolverine aside and went after her, when she transformed her body and went around the Institute. As she reached the edge of the waterfall, she turned and waited for him to come. She saw him flying toward her and got ready. Right behind him were Storm and Wolverine.
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He rushed to get to her, and, as he pushed his entire body mass into her, he picked her up and held her over the water. Her legs dangled around as he held her by the collar.
"You think you can play with me?!?" he screamed at her. "I will show you now why you're nothing more than an experiment."
Wolverine, who had reached the waterfall, jumped from the edge and caught Magneto's cape. He climbed his way up, still pulling his cape.
"Leave 'er alone," Wolverine cried, tugging the cape.
Raven pushed herself up and tried to reach for Magneto's face with her left hand. He dodged and she caught the side of his helmet instead. She pulled him closer to her and looked deeply into his eyes.
"Experiment's over, bub," she said, raising her right hand.
She brought it down heavily into his chest. Because of her powers, the three of them got hurled into opposite directions. Raven fell into oblivion toward the river, and Magneto and Wolverine fell back on the edge of the waterfall. Storm took a nosedive into the air and flew down to catch Raven.
"Get Logan," she said, as Storm caught her arm. "I know you're tired, you won't be able to save the both of us."
"But...," Storm started.
"Trust me. Logan will jump, I know him. I don't think I'll be able to survive anyway."
Storm looked at her, not knowing what to do.
"Ororo, please, save him. Save Logan."
Reluctantly, she let Raven go and turned around. As she turned, she saw Wolverine falling down toward her. Using all the strength she had left, she caught him and flew back. She dropped him into Beast's arms, who, despite the bruised ankle and the sore muscles, held on to a deranged and desperate Wolverine.
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No one saw Raven's body hit the water; somewhere, on the other side of the river, a thunder crashed into a tree branch. The large limb fell on the water and succumbed to its rage. Thick rain began pouring down, as the spirits of the X-Men were broken once again.
About fifty feet away from where the waterfall hit the rocks, the tree bough held itself on the currents. Suddenly, a thin, metal hand grabbed one of its sprouting stems. Alone, and cold, the girl pushed herself upon the branch's thick body. It looked like a large hand consoling and protecting the tired girl. She laid down on it and looked up at Xavier's Institute, its lights were beginning to flicker on. As she slipped into comforting unconsciousness, she smiled, relieved, knowing the battle had been won, and the branch, with her on top, continued to wander aimlessly with the river.
(To Be Continued...)