Chapter Twenty-Six:

Cerebro Attack

Mystique was working fast hearing the men working to open the steel doors. She couldn't help but wish her mutation gave her an edge in physical combat. Like with Logan, when she had posed as him, she had been able to craft a pair of makeshift claws, but she couldn't use his healing powers, and that would be very useful right now.

She could hear the sounds of combat outside before the steel doors were pulled off their pivots. Magneto and the X-Men stepped into the control room.

"There's an open chamber on the opposite side of the complex," explained Mystique as she brought up the visual image.

"Cerebro," said Jean.

Storm looked at one of the screens.

"The kids," she said in alarm. "Kurt come with me."

"We're going to shut it down," said Magneto.

"Not alone," said Jean and looked around. "Where's Logan."

Logan had followed Stryker's smell to some kind of operating room. Cruel looking tools were set out on the tables. The tank in the center had three evenly spaced slashed in it. He slid his claws from their sleeves and set them in the gashes, a perfect fit.

So this was where it all began, where Stryker had reduced him to an experimental lab rat. The thought of vengeance made his blood run hot as Stryker's distinct, unwashed smell drew closer, near enough to touch, but Logan waited. He turned and waited.

Stryker stood with his pet woman, gazing at him tauntingly.

"Adamantium is very tricky, because if you ever manage to produce its raw liquid form you have to keep it that way. Keep it hot, but of course, you already knew that. You know Wolverine," he said. "I used to think you were one of a kind, I was wrong." With that he left leaving Yuriko to do his dirty work.

Logan popped his claws. Yuriko raised her hands, fingers spread as chrome nails elongated and sharpened into five, foot long daggers to each hand. Logan let his mouth hang open for a moment before:

"Holy shit."

She lunged at him, he went for her, she blocked, and he tried again. Her nails cut through his suite as if it was no more than paper.

Making there way around the room, banging into stands, and trashing the room like two quarrelling children.

At length Logan's claws and Yuriko's torso melded, with her electric blue eyes gazing into his. Cuts began to fade from her face. Dammit, she had a healing power, like his. She pulled his hand away from her body.

She hit him fast and hard. Her curative factor as effective as his, except he was giving it less to do.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jean, Magneto, and Mystique were on their way to the other side of the complex. Jean had a foreboding feeling as they passed another hall. She shoved Magneto and Mystique forward and went into a surface dive as a beam of red light shot through the hall.

"Keep going," she shouted to them and headed down the hall after Scott.

He shot another beam at her; she deflected it with her teke powers and swept him into the air. He struggled to break her hold to more avail than the guards outside the control room. She sent him flying into a row of parked Humvees, hoping to knock him out.

Scott came back even harder. He sent a blast at her. She held it off with a telekinetic shield. Fire burned in her emerald eyes.

"Scott," she called him out of the darkness. "Scott!"

With a last dying effort she forced him away and sent herself flying as well. Her leg hit a pipe, bone cracked, she fell with a shout of agony.

Scott was up again. Rhythmic steps, so unlike him. Ten steps form her, three.

"Scott, its me," she called. "It's Jeanie, fight it. Remember."

She let him into every part of herself, holding back only the part that still thought only of Logan, that's the part she would use if left only the choice to kill.

He dropped to his hands and knees crying, burying his face in her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, so sorry," he said. "I could see everything going on, but I couldn't stop myself." He cried and begged like a scared puppy expecting only beatings. That angered Jean. He was her love, and he was so much stronger than that.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Marie, Bobby, John, Fallon, Ruby, Cameron, Carmen, Opal, and Katherine were trying to get through a game of cards.

"That's it," said John getting up. "I'm sick of this kids' table sh*t." He pulled on a jacket and made for the ramp.

"I'm with John," said Ruby getting up.

"We're supposed to stay here," said Bobby.

John looked back at him. "Do you always do as you're told?"

"Come on John," said Ruby looking back at him. "Are you coming or not?" John smiled inside himself and followed her out. Ruby, not remarkably beautiful, but perfect.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Logan forced Yuriko into the tub of chemicals and let the grate fall on top of her. He relaxed slightly not realizing she could cut through the iron grate. She sprung up, all five nails catching him in the back. He broke free with a howl of pain and grabbed a hold of a syringe connected with the tub of molten adamantium.

With one last dying thought: *I'm sorry* he forced the nozzle into her stomach and switched it on. The container drained as hot metal tears leaked down her face. She fell back.

As Logan continued to track Stryker down he wondered if he and Yuriko were very different. Had he gotten off easy? If he hadn't escaped, would that have been him? He touched his neck just to make sure he wasn't branded as Stryker's slave.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Scott helped Jean down the hall. Using her telekinetic powers she had crafted a splint for herself. Suddenly she shrieked in pain.

"Jean," he asked. "Jean what's wrong?"

"Those voices," she said covering her hears. "Can't you hear them." She moaned dropping to her knees. "Oh what am I saying, of course you can't."

He could feel the force of his optic blasts building up behind his visor, until it could no longer hold them back. He curled up on the floor struggling to contain the beams.

"Don't worry, Jean," he whispered. "I won't hurt you any more."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

John and Ruby didn't make it to the base before falling victim to Cerebro.

John collapsed on the snow-covered ground, the ground beneath him turned to shush as he melted the snow for a five-foot radius as he writhed in pain. His faced blushed as his body reached unthinkable temperatures.

Ruby wasn't far away. Her body had made the transformation to the liquid chemicals and she was starting to freeze. She couldn't take her human form anymore; she couldn't take any form any more. She couldn't move, it was so cold.

Marie was hearing every person she had ever imprinted demanding that she let them take control.

Bobby was quite literally turning into an iceman. Cameron glanced at him and found she could see through his skin to must have been a heart, lungs, and stomach. Could he deal with that, could his mutation handle that?

She screamed in pain as five years of growing pains compressed themselves into thirty seconds. Her mutation was taking her through the stages of her life and back again as she grew older and younger.

Carmen was flashing in and out of sight like a strobe light. Her arm would disappear, then a leg until she would blink out completely. Going on like this would cause a serious meltdown.

Fallon was intercepting everyone's pain. She wanted to cry, wanted to scream, but couldn't, it didn't matter. No one cared enough to help her, or anyone of them. There was no more love left in the world. They were all going to die.

Opal felt as if half of her was staying on the ground and the other half was floating off into space, like she was being ripped in two. She would have been crying if she could have mustered enough breath to do so.

Katherine had manifested scales and gills, she couldn't breathe and she couldn't move. She needed water, it was too dry, her pores were sucking in any moisture they could causing her to stick to the floor.

With one hand Cameron felt around along the floor. She just wanted something to hold. She touched something cold, Bobby's hand. She closed her fingers around it; she didn't even mind the frost. He smiled ever so smally at her, as if to let her know, one way or the other they'd get through this together.

Suddenly the sensation was over, just as quickly as it had come.

"Let's get out of here," Opal pleaded.

"We aren't leaving them behind!" Marie said.

"How are we supposed to help them," Opal asked. "We're just kids! We can't even fly the jet!" At the latter statement Cameron cocked an eyebrow.

She slid into the pilot's seat and began pressing buttons as though she knew what she was doing.

"What *are* you doing," Opal demanded.

"What does it look like," she asked. "I'm starting the jet."

"And you know how to do this, how?" Asked Bobby.

"Easy," she replied. "Cars aren't the only thing Scott an I talk about."

"The X-Jet!" Carmen exclaimed.

"Among other things," Cameron shrugged.

"Dear God Cameron's flying the jet," Fallon stated in shock.

"Just buckle up, Kay?" Cameron suggested. The seven teens complied as the jet lifted off the snow-covered ground.

"That way, that way," Marie yelled pointing. "Come down over here."

"What's up with that patch where all the show's melted," asked Cameron. Lowering the jet.

"Look there they are. Ruby's with them, " Bobby shouted pointing out the window. They've got the other kids!" They latter was accompanied by whoops of triumph.

Cameron lowered the ramp and the teens all rushed out to help.