Chapter Nine

Wanderess

Yoshiko woke with a killer headache, she was in a liquid of some sort.... her eyes couldn't adjust to the blurryness around her. She had needles in her main veins, and a mask was strapped onto her face that was giving her oxygen. She didn't dare to take it off, she knew it was the only thing that was keeping her alive. Her eyes focus a bit more when she saw a person standing outside the tank she was in, her eyes still couldn't see very well. The voice however was loud and clear.

"Hello Yoshiko," A voice to a faceless person, "How are we doing?"

Yoshiko squinted her eyes, she tried to move her arms and legs but she felt weak all over. Tears came from her eyes, nor seen nor herd.

Xavier sat before the rest of the X-Men team, all looked severally depressed, Ororo was the worst of them all. To loose Yoshiko was like to loose a daughter, Rahne had broken down in tears when she found out the news and ran to her room, she hasn't left her room since. Rahne and Yoshiko were best friends, and now, gone.

"What do we do..." Kitty asked in a small voice, "We don't even know where Magneto's new base is located...."

Dekua entered the room. He looked extremely tired, like he hadn't slept in days. Scott looked up, he jumped out of his seat when he saw Dekua and grabbed him around the collar.

"YOU! Why didn't you tell us!?!" Scott slammed Dekua up against a wall, "We could have prevented this all!!!"

"Scott!" Jean got up from her seat.

Logan grabbed one of Scott's hands from Dekua's collar, he twisted it behind Scott's back and held it there. He tightened it when Scott wouldn't let go of Dekua with his other hand. His arm that was pulled behind him felt like it was about to break, he let go of Dekua. Dekua slid to the ground gasping for air.

"Bastard..." Scott spat out as he glared at Dekua.

"Cool off kid, you killing the guy won't solve anything," Logan loosened his grip on Scott's arm.

"Then what the hell will!?" He snapped back, "Us sitting here whining that she's gone!? Professor, we have to do something!! Now! Before Magneto can do anything to her!!"

"T-there is something we can do," Dekua managed to say, his voice raspy and dry, "But I'll need some time."

"Time we don't have Bub..." Logan fully let go of Scott's arm, "Any other suggestions?"

Scott rubbed his wrist, he took his seat back at the table by Jean. Jean looked at him, she quickly looked away. She'd never even dreamed Scott would attack an innocent man like that... on the other hand, Scott has always been known for his short temper....

"I-I can feel for her..." Dekua said, his voice small, "I've always had this odd connection with Yoshiko... I knew when she was scared... I knew when she was sad, happy, lying.... if she was lost and confuse I'd know where she was and what she was confused about...."

"Okay, if this is so," Ororo spoke for the first time since she let Quicksilver get away, "Then where is she now hm?

"That's what I meant by I needed time..." Dekua said, "If she's in a far distance from here I'll need a place where I can meditate..."

"Use any place in the institute," Xavier said, "But remember, every second you use to find her is every second not used to save her..."

Dekua nodded, with that he turned and left the room. He was going to go to the garden to meditate but he figured he'd get a better reading from Yoshiko's room, he walked down the long halls to her room and took a seat at the foot of her bed. He'd been the youngest of all the Monks, none of them really respected him and they were always saying he'd never amount to anything in this life or another.... this would be his chance to prove them wrong, this would be his chance to help Yoshiko....

He crossed his legs and folded his hands in his lap, he took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, inhale, exhale. He was quickly in a small trance, still well aware of his surroundings but he was also aware of a different surroundings. It was warm, he felt like he was just dunked into a pond. He opened his eyes and saw water of some sort around him, he also saw a man standing outside of where he was... where am I? His mind leapt out of Yoshiko's, out of the tank, out of the room, out of the building, out into the highest of the skies until he could see a bird's eye view of everything. It was cold.... his mind soared higher until he could see all the land. He looked down to were he had came from.... The place he came from was covered with glaciers and mountains and penguins -- penguins? Antarctica!

Dekua snapped out from his trance, his body was numb all over. He swore he was still part of the icy winds, he looked to his hands. They were blue and his feet were cold and pink, he looked to his foot and saw a black and blue spot. Frost bite.

"H-hello...?" He forced the words from his blue lips, "P-Professor...?" He herd foot steps coming from the hall way, "A-anyone..."

It was Roberto, he herd a voice come Yoshiko's room. He thought for a moment it might have been Yoshiko so he dashed into the room only to find a man lying on the floor. His skin blue and pink, Roberto tried to take the man's pulse but his wrists were severally cold. He took the blanket off of Yoshiko's bed and wrapped it around the man, he dragged the man onto the balcony. With just a few rays of sunlight, Roberto was charged and already aflame with the sun's energy. He touched the man's cheek as he released warm energy into the man's blood stream, almost thawing him out. After the man had gained back most of his coloring Roberto pulled him back into the room and sat him up on Yoshiko's bed.

"You okay man?" Roberto asked, "Your colder than Bobby! And Bobby's Iceman for crying out loud!"

"Yo-Yoshiko," Dekua stammered, "Ant-Antartic-tic-ca...."

In less then ten minutes the X-Men team was in the X-Jet and already flying to Antarctica at mock speed, Xavier usually staid at home when missions came about but he felt that he'd make an exception this time considering it was Magneto. It didn't take them long to find Magneto's base, it was however tucked right between two very large glaciers. It was huge, almost as big as Asteroid M.(One of Magneto's older bases that the X-Men team managed to blow up) The only way to get in, or out, was if you had magnetic abilities to bend the giant steel doors open... or teleportation.

"I want Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Cyclops to go in first," Xavier said, "You two stand guard while Nightcrawler teleports the rest us in." Xavier looked to Beast, "I'm sorry Hank, but I want you stay here and watch the Jet."

"No problem." Beast landed the X-Jet about half a mile away from the base, "I don't suggest we get any closer if you want to be stealthy..."

"Perfect," Xavier pressed a button and the back of the X-Jet opened, sending in a cold and brutal gust of wind in, "X-Men, let's move out."

Magneto stood outside the large tank where Yoshiko was floating, his smile was smeared across his face. He couldn't help but think of the abilities this mutant was capable of... under his control.

"So, what are you going to do with her?" Quicksilver asked his Father, "Just let her float in that tank like a prized fish?"

"Hardly..." He walked over to the main control board and typed in a few things, charts and wave patterns started to pop up on a giant screen, "Do you see these wave patterns Pietro?"

"Yea, so?"

"They're mine..." He smiled that wicked smile again, "I can implant these wave lengths into her mind so that she will only recognize these as my own."

"...yes?"

"I will have complete control over her..."

Magneto typed in a few more things and the charts disappeared and the wave lengths dominated the screen, a small grid appeared with 0% at the bottom of it and 100% at the top. He typed in one more thing, the water around Yoshiko started to grow colder. Her lips started to turn a light blue, the temperature stopped decreasing when it got to 10 degrees silicoses. Yoshiko's eyes snapped open and fear shot up in her eyes, a loud humming sound invaded her head. It got louder and louder until she swore her head would spilt into two at any moment, she tried to block out the sound but it didn't work at all, it just got louder. The chart on the screen was rising quickly, 25%, 40%, 60%, 85%. Her right ear drum popped and blood flowed from her ear, she screamed a silent scream. She couldn't hear herself, nor would Magneto. The pain in her head got too much for her, she just stopped resisting, she-- passed out and the sound consumed her. The chart was now at 100%.

"That's the last of us," Nightcrawler shivered, "Berr!! It's freezing in here!"

"Dude, it's Antarctica," Spyke said, "It's not going to be all palm trees and warm beaches you know!"

"I know," Kurt shivered again, "But you'd think he'd have a heater or something!"

"Let's not think about that right now," Cyclops said, "Jean, Shadowcat, Spyke, Professor, and Storm. I need you five to take the west wing, report immediately when you find anything. Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Rogue, and I will take the east." He paused, no one did anything, "Let's go already!"

With that they split up in their given directions. Xavier sent a message to Cyclops telepathically, he didn't want to embarrass him in front of the others.

"A bit eager to find her, considering you just gave me an order..."

"Sorry Professor, I just want to find her and get her home."

"Understood."

Xavier gave a small sigh as he followed the others, just don't let that cloud your judgment Scott....

Wolverine jogged down the halls, he had a strong scent on Magneto and tried to follow it as best as he could. All of a sudden he caught a different scent, it was so familiar, yet not.... Sabertooth.

"RARAGH!"

Sabertooth jumped down from the seconded story and tackled Wolverine to the ground, Wolverine tucked in his legs quickly and flung Sabertooth across the room and slammed him into a nearby wall. Wolverine quickly got up and grabbed Sabertooth by the neck, he had him in a headlock for the time being.

"Go!" Wolverine snarled, struggling to keep Sabertooth under control, "Keep going down that hall! She's in there! So is Magneto!-- GO!!"

Cyclops, Rogue, and Nightcrawler took that invitation and raced down the long corridor. It was getting colder and colder, Rogue could almost feel some sort of darkness surrounding her. Cold chills broke own her back, along with the others. What was that weird presence?

"Nightcrawler," Cyclops yelled to him, "Go get the others, get them here!!"

"On it!" With a puff of smoke he was gone.

"It's just you and me Rogue," Cyclops gave a sly smile, "Ready to do this?"

"Let's do this!"

The door at the end of the corridor opened before they could even reach it, Quicksilver stepped out and then Magneto. They stood to the side of the door as Yoshiko appeared, she dressed in black pants, black shirt, and a black leather jacket. For a strange reason, Yoshiko's white half of her hair was dominated by black. She walked forward, her head looking to the ground. When she looked up and opened her eyes, they were totally black and seemed to have a small glaze over them as if she was blind. Cyclops stopped dead in his tracks and so did Rogue. Yoshiko walked past Magneto and Quicksilver and walked right up to Cyclops, her childish smile was gone, all her innocence along with it.

"Let me be the first to introduce," Magneto said, Yoshiko looked up at Cyclops, "Wanderess...."

A burst of black lightning shot from her, she grabbed Cyclops's arm and the lightning eloped around him. He screamed in pain as the darkness clouded his mind and broke his body, it was worse then being in an electric chair. She sent wave after wave of dark lightning into him with no seconded thought, Rogue stumbled back in horror.

"Yoshiko!" Rogue cried, "It's us! We're your friends!" She shook her head, Yoshiko wasn't going to listen, "Let go of Scott!! Now Yoshiko!!"

Yoshiko let go of Cyclops, he fell to the ground in a heap of burnt and blacken material. His wrist where Yoshiko was holding him was charred bright red and dark black, it oozed crimson blood. He laid there, practically dead. Rogue looked to Scott, she was about to break into tears, she took her sadness and molded it into peer anger. She rushed at Yoshiko and grabbed her wrist instead in hope to knock her out, but the memories never came. The weird sensation whenever she touched someone never came... Yoshiko looked up at her. A small childish smile appeared, as if she wanted to play... she sent a surge of dark lightning into Rogue. Rogue hand slip as she was sent flying across the hall, she was about to slam into a wall when all of a sudden she was caught. An invisible force lowered her down to the ground and settled her there, Jean ran up to her and helped her sit up.

"Rogue! Are you okay!?" Jean helped Rogue to her feet, "Where's Cyclops?"

Rogue looked over to the disheveled heap on the ground, she winced, her hand hurt so much. She looked at it, Yoshiko had burnt it to the bone. Her hand was pouring out blood, pieces of charcoal skin hung from her hand.

"D-don't touch her," Rogue managed to say, tears ran down her face, it hurt so much, "Don't let her touch you e-either..."

"Wanderess.... go," Magneto said, "Destroy them all..."

"What did you do to her Magneto!?" Xavier snarled, "She's just a child!"

"Child? Not anymore..." Magneto smiled, "She's not a lethal weapon not only to human kind, but to mutant kind as well..."

Yoshiko raised her hands and slowly brought them down to her sides, as she brought them down a wave of shadows covered the hallway. Darkness eloped them all, Shadowcat looked around for Yoshiko but she could only find her own team, even Magneto was out of sight. She looked around some more, which way was up? Her head started to spin as she got confused, she felt a weird presence... but she couldn't recall it. She then felt a tiny hand take hold of her wrist. She looked down, it was Yoshiko.

"Yoshiko!" Shadowcat bent down and hugged her, "It's okay! We're here to help you! Come on, I'll get you out of here!"

"Kitty, no!!" Xavier yelled, but was too late.

Yoshiko hugged Shadowcat back, only to send lighting through her whole body. Shadowcat was too startled to phase through her as the darkness clouded her mind and lightning filled all her veins, she quickly gathered her senses and phased through Yoshiko. She stumbled to what seemed to be the ground and stood back up. Her back hurt, where Yoshiko had placed her hands, Shadowcat couldn't see the welts and blisters on her back but she knew they were there.

"Kitty, are you okay!?" Nightcrawler rushed up to her and helped to keep her balance.

"I-I think so," Her knee buckled underneath her and collapsed.

Nightcrawler caught her and slowly laid her down on the ground, he looked to Xavier.

"Professor, what do we do!?" Nightcrawler yelped, "We can't even touch her! She's going to knock us down! One by one!!"

"Don't panic Kurt," Xavier looked around for Yoshiko, she was no where in sight. He tried to reach out to her with his mind but her presence was not found.