THE FRIEND THAT WAS LOST
Prologue:
JULY 2003
Three figures, clad in black, slipped through the darkness of the night towards the near-deserted building. It loomed before them, no more than a shadow in the dim light, as the two men and one woman paused before the entrance. The smallest of the three mutants, one of the males, sniffed at the air for a few moments, then said, "We're safe. Nobody's near."
"All right, let's begin," the woman said. "Rat, go."
The small man nodded. Sniffing tentatively at the wind once more, he pulled up the drain covering at their feet, and dropped down into the sewers below.
"I don't understand why we can't just blast the door down," the second man complained, fiddling with his cigarette lighter.
"Because it will set the alarm off," the girl said impatiently. "We can't let anybody know we're here until we are ready to leave. Rat will get the doors open from inside without tripping the alarms."
"I thought we were supposed to be destroying this place!"
"We are, but we can't let ourselves be discovered too early. Shut up and stop asking stupid questions."
Pyro flicked on the lighter, and resisted the temptation to send a ball of flame at her head, "I still don't understand why Magneto put you in charge of this operation. I've been here longer than you have."
Jacqueline Cartier, alias Psyche, didn't make any response. She closed her eyes and used her telepathic power to sense the location of Rat, the smaller mutant.
"He's in," she said. "He climbed up through the sewers, just as we planned. He'll have the door open at any moment. Get ready."
"Any time."
A few moments passed, then the security door was pulled open from inside, and Rat poked his head out, glancing around furtively to make sure nobody was trying to sneak up on them. Sniffing at the night air, he hissed, "Come on."
Psyche and Pyro followed him inside, and Psyche faced the two of them, "OK. You two find as much flammable material as you can. You know where to look: chemistry labs, cleaning supplies, that sort of thing."
"What are you going to be doing?" Pyro demanded.
"I'll be working on Magneto's message, the one he wants us to leave behind. You know, the whole reason why we're doing this?"
"Huh. Whatever. I don't see why you get the easy job."
"Shut up, Pyro. Just get on with it."
He glared at her, and flicked his lighter on once more, gleefully picturing in his mind a huge tongue of flame arcing through the air towards her, but knowing she was too powerful to be destroyed that easily. Rat elbowed him in the side and snapped, "Stop wasting time. Let's get to it."
Psyche heard the two of them hurry off down the corridor, and she set off at a slower pace to one of the classrooms.
An hour later saw them leaving the building, Pyro still moaning about something or another. Psyche wasn't paying any attention. She focused her thoughts on locating Magneto - waiting in the helicopter nearby - and telepathed to him, We're set. We can destroy it any time you like.
Now.
As ordered.
"Pyro, do it," she said.
A twisted smile crossed John Allerdyce's face, and he switched on the lighter again. Lifting his other hand and concentrating hard, he aimed a burst of flame at the entrance to the school. His grin widened as the chemicals he had poured on the corridor inside caught fire, and the blaze began spreading. The three mutants hurried away from the building, and watched from a safe distance as the fire began to consume the entire building. The first of the explosions blasted through the silence of the night, as the flames reached the first of the caches of flammable materials which Rat had placed at strategic points.
It's done.
Good, Magneto responded, if this doesn't get Charles Xavier's attention, nothing will. Mystique is landing the helicopter not far from you. Get on board.
On our way.
Psyche, Pyro and Rat took one last look at the burning inferno that had once been an elementary school, then turned and ran to meet the chopper.
