A/N: this chapter contains X2 spoilers!

Chapter Ten: The Unlikely Alliance

Chameleon's grip around my neck tightened and I fought desperately for breath. My left arm was trapped underneath me, but my right arm was free and I tried frantically to loosen his hold on my throat. My vision was beginning to blur and I felt myself becoming dizzy from lack of oxygen. I couldn't budge his arm one bit, he was too strong. I knew there was only one thing for it. Relaxing my body and closing my eyes, I focused with my entire concentration and used my telekinesis to push him away from me. He gave a cry of surprise as he was thrown backwards, and I gasped for breath as my windpipe was released.

"Telepathy," he snarled. "He never gave me telepathy."

I was tempted to make some sarcastic remark, but I was still getting my breathing under control and couldn't speak.

"Well, I guess it'll just make killing you that much more interesting," he said, getting to his feet and camouflaging himself.

His body blended in perfectly with the wall behind him, and, even with my eyesight, I struggled to make out the shape of his figure. I saw him coming towards me, and backed off.

Jacqueline? I called, where are you? I've bumped into Chameleon and I could use some help!

Sorry, we're a bit busy, she responded, we've just met Inferno.

Where's Chloe?

Dunno. Got to go!

We cut the link and I ducked to avoid a punch from Chameleon. Raising my hand, I used my power again to throw him backwards into the wall. My power wasn't yet that strong, and it didn't appear to have done much more than make him angry. I backed away once more, heading back towards the stairs where it wasn't quite so dark, where I'd have a better chance of being able to see him. He realised my intentions, and refused to venture out of the dark corner in which he had ambushed me.

A noise from my right grabbed my attention and I risked a glance in that direction. I could see Chris! He was grappling with Inferno: punching, chopping, ducking, dodging, never allowing himself to remain in a position where the fire-breather might be able to flame him. I turned my attention back to Chameleon, who had taken up a crouching position at the bottom of the stairs, obviously unaware that my eyes could still see him while camouflaged. I looked over at Chris again. He was definitely winning. Inferno was neither weak nor slow, but he didn't have the agility or reflexes of his brother, and Chris was quickly getting the better of him. As I watched, a fast punch to Inferno's jaw sent the taller twin stumbling backwards to hit the wall.

Jacqueline? Where are you? I asked.

Looking for Chloe, she responded, I don't understand how we managed to lose her.

OK. Let me know if you find her.

I wondered what had happened to Chloe. She'd been right behind me when we'd come down the stairs into the station, but the rushing crowd had swept her away from me and I'd lost sight of her. Then I'd run into Chameleon and hadn't had a chance to search. I turned my eyes back towards the reptilian. He was still camouflaged and lurking in the shadows at the bottom of the stairs, probably hoping that I would walk past without seeing him, so he could attack me from behind. I raised my hand and used my power to fling him backwards again. He gave a snarl of fury and came rushing up the stairs towards me. I heard Chris give a cry of pain, and I instinctively looked over to see what had happened to him. Somehow Inferno had managed to get the upper hand in their battle, and was knocking Chris about with blows that were faster and harder than before.

I'd been distracted for too long, and felt an explosion of pain as Chameleon slammed his fist into my face. I hit the ground and rolled aside to avoid the kick he aimed at my side. I got to my feet and dodged another punch. Chameleon feinted with his right, then smacked his left fist into my jaw. Lifting my hand, I tried to use my telekinesis to push him away, but nothing happened. My power was used up and I would have to wait until it recovered. Where was Jacqueline? I needed her help. Backing away from Chameleon, I headed over to where Chris was. Hopefully Jacqueline wouldn't be too far away. The reptilian followed me at a cautious pace, in case I was leading him into a trap, but always remained close enough that I couldn't turn and make a run for it.

I heard Chris yell again, and glanced round to see Inferno throwing him against the wall.

Jacqueline? Where are you? We need your help, they're too powerful!

No response.

Jacqueline? Are you there? Can you hear me?

No, of course she couldn't. My power was used up. I couldn't telepath. I looked up to see Chameleon approaching me, walking in his unusual crouching gait. Quickly looking around for a weapon, anything to defend myself with, I couldn't see a thing. I was in trouble. I knew I couldn't possibly stand up to him in a fist-fight.

Or could I? A memory cropped up from our first battle, at the facility. Twice I'd managed to get the better of both Chameleon and his brother, if only for a few moments. Both times it had happened right after one of them had tried to hurt Chloe. I'd responded in anger and it had given me extra strength. Or had it? Had it been coincidence? Was there a direct connection? It was worth a try. As Chameleon got closer, I tried to make myself become angry. I remembered what it had felt like to see him hit Chloe. To see her fall to the ground, crying out in pain, innocent and defenceless. Fury rose in my veins like an electric current, and I felt adrenaline surging through me. I ran towards Chameleon and swung my fist.

He raised his own arm to block, but my punch was far too powerful, and it sent him flying, losing his balance and falling on to his back. He looked up in shock and surprise, and more than a little fear. I risked a glance behind me. Chris had picked up an iron bar from somewhere, and was using it to keep Inferno at arm's length, swinging it in a wide arc every time the fire-breather got too close. Inferno exhaled a burst of flame, but Chris ducked and Inferno had to jump back to avoid being hit by the metal bar.

Then it happened. Inferno attacked in anger, just as I had. He gave a growl of rage, then reached out with both hands to cleanly snap the iron bar in half.

"What the hell?" Chris yelled. "You can't possibly be that strong!"

"My fury attack," Inferno smirked. "One of the gifts I was given. Now it's time for you to die."

"Not so fast," I interrupted, making my way over. "You're not the only one with that gift. "

Inferno looked at me with an annoyed expression, "You again? Why are you still alive? Can't Chameleon do anything right?"

I thought of Chloe, of her being hurt. My anger rose. I threw a punch at him, but he had already entered his own fury attack, and blocked me easily. He swung his other fist at me, and I ducked.

"Not bad," he said. "I guess you weren't a complete failure, after all."

Chris hit Inferno from behind and he stumbled. I punched him in the jaw and he fell, blood trickling from between his lips.

"Not looking so hot now, is it, fire-boy?" Chris taunted him.

Chameleon crashed into my back, knocking me into Chris, sending both of us sprawling. From a grounded position, I swung my leg at the reptilian's ankles, forcing him to jump to the side to avoid me. I rose to my feet and slowly approached him. He hesitated, looking a lot less sure of himself than before, now that he had seen me use my rage attack. What was it that enabled me to do that, anyway? Another mutation? Another 'gift' from my father?

Inferno was still lying on his back, holding his painful jaw, looking up apprehensively as Chris towered over him, his fists clenched.

Chris! Get away! He's going to –

Jacqueline's warning came a second too late, as Inferno leapt up from the ground with astonishing speed, a huge column of fire erupting from his throat, directly towards Chris. There was no way my friend could avoid the flame, and as such he had only one choice. Calling upon his power, Chris changed to liquid, melting to the ground as the fire passed over him. The flame died away, and Chris solidified once more.

Jacqueline appeared from behind Inferno, and used her power to throw the fire-breather high over our heads and into the wall. He hit the bricks with a painful-sounding thud, and fell to the ground, not moving. Chameleon screamed in fury, and came speeding towards me. Jacqueline calmly raised her hand, holding him in place, his flailing arms and legs beating helplessly against the air.

"I couldn't find Chloe anywhere," she said. "I don't know what's happened to her."

"She must be here somewhere," I said, though I was beginning to worry. "We just need to search a bit harder."

"What do we do with these two?" Chris asked, indicating the unconscious Inferno and the telepathically-stopped Chameleon.

"I don't know," said Jacqueline. "We could hand them over to the police, I suppose. Thought I'm not sure if that's such a great – "

Suddenly she screamed in agony and began clutching her head. Her power failed and Chameleon was free. Caught by surprise, he fell on to his face. Then the pain, whatever was hurting Jacqueline, hit me too. It came from nowhere; one second I was fine, the next it felt as if my head was being ripped apart by forces far beyond my power. I fell on to my hands and knees, unable to cope with the pain. Screaming in anguish, I couldn't see what Chameleon or the others were doing, and right now I didn't care. My entire being centred on the pain. Forcing myself to look up, I saw the others in similar condition. Chris was yelling in agony, Chameleon writhing on the ground with his head in his hands, his camouflage deactivated. Inferno, who had just regained consciousness, was curled into a ball, holding his head, groaning loudly.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the pain was gone. I slumped forward in relief, and found myself breathing heavily. I was exhausted.

"What the f**k was that?" Chameleon snapped.

I looked at him. He too was panting and wheezing with exhaustion, and looked as if the last thing he wanted to do was start fighting again. I heard Jacqueline take a deep breath and say in a disbelieving voice, "It was Professor Xavier."

"What?" I demanded.

"He was…using Cerebro. He was using his power to kill every mutant on the planet."

"I knew we couldn't trust him!" Chris declared angrily.

She shook her head, "No…no, he was being manipulated. I don't know what was going on, but…he was being used against his will."

"How do you know?"

"I could…sense it. I told you I could recognise his thought patterns. I could tell where he was and what was happening to him, even if he wasn't in full control of his mind."

"Who was manipulating him? My father?" I asked.

"What? No, no. It was a human. Someone in the military."

"Who's Xavier?" Chameleon demanded.

Chris snapped at him, "Shut up, you. We didn't ask your opinion. Neil, let's finish this guy, then cart them both off to the cops."

"Wait a minute," said Jacqueline. "I can sense Chloe. She's outside somewhere. She's – "

A voice came from the top of the stairs, amplified through a megaphone, "THIS IS THE POLICE. WE KNOW YOU FREAKS ARE IN THERE. WE'VE GOT ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS. COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP, OR WE ARE AUTHORISED TO ENTER AND SEIZE YOU BY FORCE. YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS."

"Damn it!" Chris snapped. "They've got Chloe! We've got to get her back!"

"How?" I asked.

He frowned and looked blank for a moment, then an idea occurred to him, "Hey, you! Chameleon!"

"Yeah, what do you want?" Chameleon said irritably.

"Get out there and make yourself invisible. Get our friend back."

The reptilian snorted, "Yeah, right. Why would I want to do that?"

"To save your brother's life?" Chris said, pointing towards the semi-conscious figure of Inferno. "If you don't go and help our friend, I promise you that your twin's breathed his last flame."

I knew Chris was lying. I knew he wouldn't kill Inferno in cold blood, but Chameleon didn't know him as I did. He shot us a look of pure venom and spat on the floor, "All right. But if you so much as touch my brother, I'll snap your little friend's neck and – "

"Whatever. You're wasting time. Get out there and do it."

Chameleon glared at him with hatred, then turned and ran for the stairs, activating his camouflage on the way. I looked up at the entrance to the subway station, and forced my eyes to focus beyond the wall to see outside. Chloe was being held in the grip of two police officers, looking tired and helpless. I seethed with fury as I realised I was unable to do anything to aid her. I couldn't believe we'd just made a deal with our worst enemies to get her back, but it was the only way. I just hoped that Chameleon's desire to keep his brother alive would prove to be greater than his desire to kill Chloe.

"YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO COMPLY," the policeman with the megaphone called down the stairs. "FOUR, THREE – "

I could see the shape of Chameleon as he neared the police officers holding Chloe, though clearly he was completely invisible to all of them.

" – TWO, ONE, ZERO. ALL RIGHT, YOU LEAVE US NO – "

He was cut off as Chameleon's invisible form knocked into the two cops holding Chloe, then grabbed her arm and began pulling her towards the subway station. Chloe was bewildered, taken completely by surprise, then she realised what was happening and began struggling. She obviously thought Chameleon was going to harm her.

Chloe! It's all right! He's helping you escape! Jacqueline told her, we made a deal with him!

Chloe stopped struggling, and she and Chameleon hurried down the stairs just as the policemen grabbed their weapons and began running after them.

"We've got to get out of here!" Chris said. "Inferno, is there another exit?"

The fire-breather had got to his feet painfully and nodded, "Yes. One of the old abandoned railway tracks. This way."

Chameleon ran to help him stand up, while Chloe hurried over towards me. Flinging her arms around my neck, I could sense her relief flowing through her body.

"We can't stop now," I said. "We've got to run for it. Come on!"

The two of us turned and fled after the others. Inferno, supported by Chameleon, led the way, with Chris and Jacqueline right behind them. Yet again I couldn't believe it. Here we were, temporarily allied with our worst enemies, in a desperate attempt to escape the clutches of the NYC police. I turned round to see the pursuit. Police officers. And dogs.

"Chloe!"

She saw the dogs, and cried, "Leave us! Help us! Get in their way!"

The dogs began to bark and howl and snap at the ankles of the police officers, causing several of them to trip and fall on to their faces. Chaos ensued, but several policemen were still running after us, their longer strides enabling them to close the gap.

"Nice one," Inferno said grudgingly. "All right, take a left here."

Chameleon pushed open a door that read Danger – No Entry and we hurried through. The corridor beyond was dark and cramped, but we soon emerged into a larger chamber, though one that was poorly lit.

"Where are we?" asked Chloe.

"The abandoned railway line, like I said," Inferno replied. "Don't stop, keep going! The cops are still behind us!"

We followed them down the dark tunnel, until they turned left and entered a nearly invisible crack in the surrounding rocks. Looking through the wall for a moment, I ascertained that we were not being led into a trap, and went through the gap after them.

"We should be safe now," said Inferno. "We're in the city sewers. Once we block up that hole, they'll never find us. Help me move this in the way."

Chris and I helped Inferno and Chameleon manhandle a large rock in front of the hole we'd just come through, then we backed off into our respective parties and Chris said, "Well, what now?"

"Now we find a man-hole and go back up into the street. There's one just along here."

"I didn't mean that. I meant once we're out of this – "

" – we go back to killing each other," Inferno finished for him. "I know. Don't worry, we have no intention of becoming your friends."

"Good. Just so that's clear," said Chris, then he smirked. "Admit it, though, you'd be trying to kill us now if it weren't for the fact that you know you don't stand a chance against us."

Chameleon reacted angrily, and stepped towards him, but Inferno put his hand on his twin's arm and pulled him back, saying, "He's right, you know. They've grown more powerful since we last met."

"Maybe so. This isn't over," Chameleon spat at us.

"Of course not," said Chris. "We'll be back to help you learn your ABCs before long."

"All right, Chris, shut up," said Jacqueline. "Let's just get out of here."

We found the man-hole Inferno had mentioned, and Chameleon climbed up into the street above. Inferno was about to follow, when Chris grabbed him, "Uh-uh. You two aren't going up there first to prepare any little surprises for us. You can stay down here till last."

Inferno shrugged and said nothing, but moved away from the ladder. Chris went up, then Chloe and Jacqueline.

"After you," said Inferno mockingly.

I gave him an indifferent stare, and climbed the ladder to the street.

As soon as I saw the girl standing beside Chameleon, I knew it had been a trap. We'd been tricked, and deliberately led along this path.

"We brought them here, just like you planned," Chameleon was saying to her.

The girl nodded to him, and I took a closer look at her. She was about sixteen or seventeen, had long, jet-black hair, and was short, probably no more than five foot three. She was also stunningly beautiful. I could sense Chris' feelings ranging from fear to anger to lust to curiosity.

"Who are you?" he demanded, as Inferno ascended the ladder and went to stand beside the girl.

I am Mindstorm, her voice came into my mind, I am one of the four.

"Oh, great. Another telepath," Chris muttered. "Just what we needed."

Jacqueline looked at the girl, Mindstorm, and said, "You're the telepath who was trying to get into our minds when we first arrived in the city. I recognise your thought pattern."

Yes, Mindstorm replied, I have been following your progress for some time.

"You don't say much, do you?" Chris asked sarcastically. "Cat got your tongue?"

There is nothing to say. You are going to die.

Mindstorm easily, almost casually, raised her arms, and I felt an unseen force lifting me off the ground. She threw her arms forward and used her power to fling the four of us across the street. I could feel Jacqueline using her own power to slow our movement just before we collided painfully with a brick wall. We slid down the wall towards the ground, and both Jacqueline and I used our telekinesis to allow the four of us to hit the concrete gently. Getting to our feet slowly and painfully – we'd still hit the wall at a good speed – we faced the three mutants who were now approaching us.

So two of you are telepaths, came Mindstorm's voice, yet the two of you together still do not have enough power to challenge me.

"We'll see," Chris snapped. "Neil, Jacqueline, return a favour for me. Throw her clean aross the street."

Both of us raised our hands to use our power, and Mindstorm's body began to rise from the pavement. But only for a few moments. A smile, calm and unworried, crossed the girl's face, and she casually raised her own hand to bring herself back down to earth.

"I guess she wasn't lying," Chris said.

"What do we do now?" asked Chloe.

"I dunno. If we're lucky, we might be near a zoo. A few elephants and tigers on our side would help."

"Very funny. What's our plan?"

"I…can't think of one right now. Just stay alive until I think of something."

I watched with mounting fear as our three enemies came towards us: Inferno, still in pain, limping; Chameleon, still walking in his strange crab-like way; and our new nemesis, Mindstorm, walking calmly, without a fear in the world. Staying alive would be easier said than done.

A/N: OK, I'm sure you all realised what was going on there with Xavier and Cerebro, but for those of you who didn't, I've taken events from X2 and combined them with this story. For legal purposes, I should probably point out here that I don't own X2 or any of its characters or ideas, and am merely borrowing part of its storyline.

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