"Did you see that?" asked Toad. Just then, the lights on one of the
computer lit up brightly, then fade again. A second later, another computer
lit up and faded. Electra seemed to be jumping from computer to computer.
"Is she, inside the machine somehow?" asked Kurt.
A moment later, Electra reemerged from the wall. "It's that one," she said, pointing at a particular machine.
"How did you do that?" asked Wanda.
"I figured that since I'm pure energy now, I should be able to travel across electrical circuits and enter machines," Electra replied.
"Well, now that we know which one's the right one," said Kurt, reaching for the package Logan had given him.
"Don't bother," Electra said. "I'll handle it," She raised her arms and shot electric bolts into the machine. A few moments later, it exploded.
X
In Magneto's chamber, an alarm began to sound. "Warning. Security measures compromised," a voice called over the intercom.
Magneto looked at his monitor and saw the scene unfolding in his lab. "No!" he screamed. He hit the intercom and summoned his acolytes to the lab. Then he levitated himself off the floor and quickly soared out of his chamber and down the hall.
X
"Can you teleport now?" asked Toad.
"Let's find out," said Kurt, grabbing Toad's wrist. A moment later, they were standing on the roof.
Kurt pulled out a flare and lit it up. A few moments later, the X-Jet appeared overhead and landed on the roof. The hatch opened and the X-Men and the Brotherhood dashed out.
"Kurt, are you and Toad alright?" asked Xavier.
"I'm ok, but Toad needs help," Kurt replied.
"Get him onto the plane. We can treat him there," said Xavier. "Where is the mutant?" he asked after Kurt got Toad strapped into the surgical bed on the plane.
"She and Wanda are still in the lab. We need to get back and save her before Magneto arrives,"
"Let's hurry!" said Scott. Kurt grabbed him, Rogue and Logan and teleported, while Storm and Jean flew up to the skylight above the lab. Storm blasted it apart and she and Jean floated down into the lab. Kitty took hold of Lance, Fred, and the Professor and phased them gently through the roof and down to the lab.
X
They emerged in the middle of a firefight. Scott, Wanda, Storm, and Electra were all firing energy bolts while Gambit and Pyro countered with exploding cards and flame jets. respectively. Jean was doing her best to deflect the damage away from her teammates while Kurt and Logan squared off with Colossus. Colossus roared and charged at Kurt. Kurt deftly jumped out of the way and Colossus' fist hit empty air. Logan roared as he jumped on his back.
"Time to see what's under this big tin can!" he shouted, and tried to stab through Colossus' armor with his claws. Sparks flew as he swung his claws but he could not cut through the Russian's thick body plating.
Colossus reached back and threw Logan off of his back. He shouted and tried to press his advantage, but ran into Fred.
"Remember me? I'm the guy who kicked your metal butt!" he shouted. He picked Colossus up and threw him through one of the castle's thick stone walls.
Lance caught sight of Gambit and clenched his fist. "You're mine, Gambit!" he shouted. He stamped his foot on the ground and the roof began to shake. Gambit looked up and saw the doorway he was standing under collapse. He dove out of the way to avoid being crushed by the falling debris. He managed to avoid being injured, but he saw that the door back to the lab was completely blocked by rubble. He swore under his breath and headed for the lab's other entrance.
X
Outnumbered, Pyro turned to flee. As he did, he ran right into Rogue. Rogue placed a bare hand on Pyro's cheek. "Sweet dreams," she said as Pyro's eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed, unconscious.
"Is everybody alright?" asked Xavier. Everybody nodded that they were fine..
Xavier wheeled up to Electra. "Hello, Electra. I am Professor Charles Xavier. We're here to help you," he said.
"Hello, Professor," Electra replied. "Kurt's told me a little bit about you,"
"Good. I can tell you more about us later. For now, we must get you out of here. Please come with us,"
X
Before anybody could move, there was an angry metallic humming and Magneto floated down through the hole in the ceiling. His eyes were glowing bright yellow underneath his helmet.
"Erik, what have you done?" Xavier said, glaring at Magneto.
"What I had to," Magneto responded. He waved his arm, and all of the mutants went flying back against the wall. He gestured again and a large force field snapped up, imprisoning them. Scott raised his hand to his visor to try and shoot through the field.
"Do that and your blast will reflect back and kill all of you!" Magneto warned. Scott lowered his hand. "All of your powers are useless now," Magneto said.
Electra refused to be intimidated by him. She placed her hand against the force field. The field lit up, and then Electra pushed herself through.
"Livewire, daughter, what are you doing?" Magneto asked as she walked towards him angrily.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!!" she yelled. Her electric voice filled up the whole room. "You aren't my father! You lied to me and you turned me into a freak! And I'm going to make sure you don't hurt anybody else ever again!" She turned and walked towards his massive surgical machine.
Magneto reached out to stop her. Electra put her hand on his chest, shocking him as she pushed him back. She raised her arms and shot bolts into the machine, but nothing happened.
Magneto cackled. "You'll have to try harder than that," he said.
"Whatever you say," she said, and walked back to the power socket and disappeared into the wall.
The massive machine suddenly came alive and began to whine and shake apart. Magneto looked on helplessly as parts of it started to fall off. Suddenly it exploded in a massive fireball.
"Noooo!!!" he shouted in anguish as he saw his dream of becoming all- powerful go up in flames.
Debris bounced off the force field protecting the X-Men and the Brotherhood. Magneto rolled under a table as a large piece of flaming metal whizzed past his head, nearly decapitating him.
The fireball filled up the room, and the force of the explosion blew out the walls of the lab. Magneto crawled out from under the table and saw the sun rising over the horizon. He looked around for Electra, but the only sign of her was her collar lying on the floor, singed and burned.
"She's not dead, is she?" Kitty asked Xavier discreetly. Xavier closed his eyes, trying to sense the mutant.
"Trying to find her, Charles?" asked Magneto. "Yes, she's still alive, and I know exactly where she'll go. Go ahead and try to save her. We'll see who gets to her first,"
He pointed at the remnants of the floor. The floor cracked apart as a large metallic sphere floated up. The rest of Magneto's mutants returned to the lab and they all climbed inside the sphere. The sphere sealed up and took off into the morning sky. A moment later, the force field vanished, leaving the mutants alone in the wrecked lab.
"Where is she?" asked Scott.
"She's still alive," said Jean. "I can still sense her. I think she's moving somewhere. Through the power lines around here,"
"Where's she headin' to?" asked Logan.
"I think I know," said Wanda. "She'll need to absorb a lot of energy after that. There's a power plant in a city near here, and that's the only place that she'd be able to get that much power from. That's got to be where she's headed,"
"Let's go," said Scott. They made their way back up to the roof and boarded the X-Jet, and they took off.
X
The inside of the jet was cramped but everybody managed to fit onboard. Wanda was sitting in the surgical bay with Toad as Scott performed sonic surgery to heal his wounds. A moment later Toad sat up, touching his chest. Aside from a very slight scar, he looked perfectly healthy and there were no signs of the traumatic injuries he had sustained a short time ago.
He looked over at Wanda. "Hey, thanks," he said.
"For what?"
"For keepin' me goin' when we were locked in there. I wouldn't have made it through without you. I mean it,"
"You're welcome, Toad," she said. "Why didn't I trust myself?" she asked. "Why couldn't I see through those false memories they put in my head?"
"Hey, you can't blame yourself," said Toad. "If you think about it, Magneto gave you the memories you were looking for so much. You having a happy life and growing up together,"
"I know," said Wanda. "But that's not what happened, and I'm never going to forgive my father for what he's done. So thank you, Toad, for helping me see what's right, even though it is painful to think about,"
"Sure thing. Hey, answer me somethin', will ya?"
"What?"
"Did you mean all those things you said earlier, about needing me?"
Wanda leaned down and brushed Toad's hair away from his face. "Yes, Toad, I meant it. You may be a slimy, repulsive creature, but I still like you," she said. She leaned down further and planted a kiss on his lips.
Toad's eyes went as wide as tires as his heart monitor began to beep faster and faster.
"Wow!" he said as Wanda pulled away. "I gotta be the luckiest frog in the world right now!"
Wanda cringed, but then smiled at him and laughed. "Aww, Toad," she said, and kissed him on the cheek again before walking back up to the front of the plane.
X
The new lovers didn't realize they were being observed by Fred and Lance.
"No way. I did NOT just see that!" said Lance. "She's gonna be chewin' on breath mints for a week after that,"
"Who woulda thought?" asked Fred. "She's been tryin' to kill him since the first day she saw him, and now she's in love with him. What a world,"
The jet flew on as the sun slowly climbed above the mountains, filling the sky with bright light.
X
"Is she, inside the machine somehow?" asked Kurt.
A moment later, Electra reemerged from the wall. "It's that one," she said, pointing at a particular machine.
"How did you do that?" asked Wanda.
"I figured that since I'm pure energy now, I should be able to travel across electrical circuits and enter machines," Electra replied.
"Well, now that we know which one's the right one," said Kurt, reaching for the package Logan had given him.
"Don't bother," Electra said. "I'll handle it," She raised her arms and shot electric bolts into the machine. A few moments later, it exploded.
X
In Magneto's chamber, an alarm began to sound. "Warning. Security measures compromised," a voice called over the intercom.
Magneto looked at his monitor and saw the scene unfolding in his lab. "No!" he screamed. He hit the intercom and summoned his acolytes to the lab. Then he levitated himself off the floor and quickly soared out of his chamber and down the hall.
X
"Can you teleport now?" asked Toad.
"Let's find out," said Kurt, grabbing Toad's wrist. A moment later, they were standing on the roof.
Kurt pulled out a flare and lit it up. A few moments later, the X-Jet appeared overhead and landed on the roof. The hatch opened and the X-Men and the Brotherhood dashed out.
"Kurt, are you and Toad alright?" asked Xavier.
"I'm ok, but Toad needs help," Kurt replied.
"Get him onto the plane. We can treat him there," said Xavier. "Where is the mutant?" he asked after Kurt got Toad strapped into the surgical bed on the plane.
"She and Wanda are still in the lab. We need to get back and save her before Magneto arrives,"
"Let's hurry!" said Scott. Kurt grabbed him, Rogue and Logan and teleported, while Storm and Jean flew up to the skylight above the lab. Storm blasted it apart and she and Jean floated down into the lab. Kitty took hold of Lance, Fred, and the Professor and phased them gently through the roof and down to the lab.
X
They emerged in the middle of a firefight. Scott, Wanda, Storm, and Electra were all firing energy bolts while Gambit and Pyro countered with exploding cards and flame jets. respectively. Jean was doing her best to deflect the damage away from her teammates while Kurt and Logan squared off with Colossus. Colossus roared and charged at Kurt. Kurt deftly jumped out of the way and Colossus' fist hit empty air. Logan roared as he jumped on his back.
"Time to see what's under this big tin can!" he shouted, and tried to stab through Colossus' armor with his claws. Sparks flew as he swung his claws but he could not cut through the Russian's thick body plating.
Colossus reached back and threw Logan off of his back. He shouted and tried to press his advantage, but ran into Fred.
"Remember me? I'm the guy who kicked your metal butt!" he shouted. He picked Colossus up and threw him through one of the castle's thick stone walls.
Lance caught sight of Gambit and clenched his fist. "You're mine, Gambit!" he shouted. He stamped his foot on the ground and the roof began to shake. Gambit looked up and saw the doorway he was standing under collapse. He dove out of the way to avoid being crushed by the falling debris. He managed to avoid being injured, but he saw that the door back to the lab was completely blocked by rubble. He swore under his breath and headed for the lab's other entrance.
X
Outnumbered, Pyro turned to flee. As he did, he ran right into Rogue. Rogue placed a bare hand on Pyro's cheek. "Sweet dreams," she said as Pyro's eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed, unconscious.
"Is everybody alright?" asked Xavier. Everybody nodded that they were fine..
Xavier wheeled up to Electra. "Hello, Electra. I am Professor Charles Xavier. We're here to help you," he said.
"Hello, Professor," Electra replied. "Kurt's told me a little bit about you,"
"Good. I can tell you more about us later. For now, we must get you out of here. Please come with us,"
X
Before anybody could move, there was an angry metallic humming and Magneto floated down through the hole in the ceiling. His eyes were glowing bright yellow underneath his helmet.
"Erik, what have you done?" Xavier said, glaring at Magneto.
"What I had to," Magneto responded. He waved his arm, and all of the mutants went flying back against the wall. He gestured again and a large force field snapped up, imprisoning them. Scott raised his hand to his visor to try and shoot through the field.
"Do that and your blast will reflect back and kill all of you!" Magneto warned. Scott lowered his hand. "All of your powers are useless now," Magneto said.
Electra refused to be intimidated by him. She placed her hand against the force field. The field lit up, and then Electra pushed herself through.
"Livewire, daughter, what are you doing?" Magneto asked as she walked towards him angrily.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!!" she yelled. Her electric voice filled up the whole room. "You aren't my father! You lied to me and you turned me into a freak! And I'm going to make sure you don't hurt anybody else ever again!" She turned and walked towards his massive surgical machine.
Magneto reached out to stop her. Electra put her hand on his chest, shocking him as she pushed him back. She raised her arms and shot bolts into the machine, but nothing happened.
Magneto cackled. "You'll have to try harder than that," he said.
"Whatever you say," she said, and walked back to the power socket and disappeared into the wall.
The massive machine suddenly came alive and began to whine and shake apart. Magneto looked on helplessly as parts of it started to fall off. Suddenly it exploded in a massive fireball.
"Noooo!!!" he shouted in anguish as he saw his dream of becoming all- powerful go up in flames.
Debris bounced off the force field protecting the X-Men and the Brotherhood. Magneto rolled under a table as a large piece of flaming metal whizzed past his head, nearly decapitating him.
The fireball filled up the room, and the force of the explosion blew out the walls of the lab. Magneto crawled out from under the table and saw the sun rising over the horizon. He looked around for Electra, but the only sign of her was her collar lying on the floor, singed and burned.
"She's not dead, is she?" Kitty asked Xavier discreetly. Xavier closed his eyes, trying to sense the mutant.
"Trying to find her, Charles?" asked Magneto. "Yes, she's still alive, and I know exactly where she'll go. Go ahead and try to save her. We'll see who gets to her first,"
He pointed at the remnants of the floor. The floor cracked apart as a large metallic sphere floated up. The rest of Magneto's mutants returned to the lab and they all climbed inside the sphere. The sphere sealed up and took off into the morning sky. A moment later, the force field vanished, leaving the mutants alone in the wrecked lab.
"Where is she?" asked Scott.
"She's still alive," said Jean. "I can still sense her. I think she's moving somewhere. Through the power lines around here,"
"Where's she headin' to?" asked Logan.
"I think I know," said Wanda. "She'll need to absorb a lot of energy after that. There's a power plant in a city near here, and that's the only place that she'd be able to get that much power from. That's got to be where she's headed,"
"Let's go," said Scott. They made their way back up to the roof and boarded the X-Jet, and they took off.
X
The inside of the jet was cramped but everybody managed to fit onboard. Wanda was sitting in the surgical bay with Toad as Scott performed sonic surgery to heal his wounds. A moment later Toad sat up, touching his chest. Aside from a very slight scar, he looked perfectly healthy and there were no signs of the traumatic injuries he had sustained a short time ago.
He looked over at Wanda. "Hey, thanks," he said.
"For what?"
"For keepin' me goin' when we were locked in there. I wouldn't have made it through without you. I mean it,"
"You're welcome, Toad," she said. "Why didn't I trust myself?" she asked. "Why couldn't I see through those false memories they put in my head?"
"Hey, you can't blame yourself," said Toad. "If you think about it, Magneto gave you the memories you were looking for so much. You having a happy life and growing up together,"
"I know," said Wanda. "But that's not what happened, and I'm never going to forgive my father for what he's done. So thank you, Toad, for helping me see what's right, even though it is painful to think about,"
"Sure thing. Hey, answer me somethin', will ya?"
"What?"
"Did you mean all those things you said earlier, about needing me?"
Wanda leaned down and brushed Toad's hair away from his face. "Yes, Toad, I meant it. You may be a slimy, repulsive creature, but I still like you," she said. She leaned down further and planted a kiss on his lips.
Toad's eyes went as wide as tires as his heart monitor began to beep faster and faster.
"Wow!" he said as Wanda pulled away. "I gotta be the luckiest frog in the world right now!"
Wanda cringed, but then smiled at him and laughed. "Aww, Toad," she said, and kissed him on the cheek again before walking back up to the front of the plane.
X
The new lovers didn't realize they were being observed by Fred and Lance.
"No way. I did NOT just see that!" said Lance. "She's gonna be chewin' on breath mints for a week after that,"
"Who woulda thought?" asked Fred. "She's been tryin' to kill him since the first day she saw him, and now she's in love with him. What a world,"
The jet flew on as the sun slowly climbed above the mountains, filling the sky with bright light.
X