I'm not sure how good this chapter is. I'm not brilliant with fight scenes and although I haven't lost my muse completely I may have misplaced it. And I have to admit to being slightly influenced by The Matrix Reloaded (didn't understand a word of what anyone was saying but the action...) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Caleb, Rhona, the vineyard...go figure.) So thank you to both of them.

I'm also not sure as to whether Gabriel has telekinetic abilities or not but its my story and if in the real Mutant X he doesn't I will be sure to take it away from him before I give him back.

Have a nice day.

***

Emma's eyes flickered open. She was staring across a cement floor at Jesse's face. Lying just next to him was Sara. Emma had been fighting Mac's mind control ever since it had started. She was powerful granted but Emma could still work against anyone's mojo if she felt it required that kind of strength. She had been telempathically pushing for a while and had found chinks in the strong wall that Mac had put up, chinks that if widened could bring the whole thing down but it was like suddenly the wall had disappeared... But not disappeared. It was like Mac had stopped concentrating and the wall had become smaller and Emma had just stepped over it.

She could hear faint noises in the background but was reluctant to get up until she knew what was going on. She focused her still foggy mind on Mac's. She knew Gabriel would recognize someone poking around inside instantly but either Mac wasn't trained enough yet or she wouldn't really care. It wasn't like Emma was her enemy.

The lids of her eyes shut closed and then snapped wide open again. But when they flicked open she wasn't looking at Jesse and Sara, she was looking at Mac. Emma looked at her through a mesh wire fence. Mac was pushing on it, the anger and frustration at not being able to push it down or tear through it evident on her face. But she kept on trying, even though her hands were stinging from the beating she was giving them.

Emma's eyes shut closed and she was out. She wasn't sure whether she had made Mac aware of her presence or not, she had seemed too caught up in everything else that was going on around her. Understandable. She was facing Gabriel Ashlocke, first ever new mutant, and most powerful...supposedly.

***

Mac stared at Gabriel. She didn't know what to do. She knew Gabriel was the bad guy and it made a heck of a lot of sense to beat the crap out of him but somehow she just couldn't find it within herself to do it. Maybe he was controlling her mind but she didn't think so. No matter how much she hated him she couldn't kill him. She breathed deeply.

Gabriel raised his hand quickly and Mac sailed backwards into the wall at the other end of the warehouse. She smashed into it and fell to the floor. Pieces of paint and plaster came with her and a small whimper escaped her lips. Now she had no problem with hurting him.

She pushed herself off the dust-covered floor and rolled her shoulders back, trying to work the kinks out of her muscles. She started to walk forward but then had to make a detour as a bolt of energy came flying straight for her. She jumped to one side and as soon as she landed on the floor she started running down one side of the long warehouse. Gabriel continued to fire energy at her but all his blasts hit were the walls where she had been. By the time he realized what was going on Mac was behind him and she delivered a swift kick to his knee. He buckled and she kicked him in the head. He dropped to the floor but wasn't there for long before getting up. Mac was standing in front of him, taking a defensive position, ready to fight.

She stepped forward on her right leg and kicked at his chest with her left but he blocked it. She then did the same with the opposite legs and again Gabriel managed to block the move. But she swiftly stepped onto her right leg and swung her left one round. It hit Gabriel in his temple and knocked him back. His eyes flashed golden in reply. He somersaulted forwards into the air and brought his right leg down on the top of Mac's head. She fell forwards. He had stunned her, she hadn't been prepared for such a comeback.

Doubt filled her mind. Maybe she wasn't ready to fight Gabriel, this had been a bad idea. She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees and from there intended to get back onto her feet but Gabriel slipped in with a rib breaking kick to her chest. She flew into the air and landed on her front breaking a couple more ribs in the process. Her head was throbbing and she knew she had to get up and carry on. But there was so much pain and she was running out of energy.

Again she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees but this time made it to her feet. She was met by a couple of quick punches but managed to block them. She flipped backwards catching Gabriel on his jaw. He fell onto the floor behind him and Mac took the opportunity to issue some kicks to his ribs. He caught her foot though and stood up off the ground. When he was balanced he let go of her leg and swung one of his to knock her off both of hers. She landed on the ground, her head slamming against the floor. A sharp intake of breath could be heard as she tried to breathe through the broken ribs.

Her whole body was aching as Gabriel grabbed hold of her left hand and pulled her up, back onto her feet. He twisted her arm round till it was nearly pulled out its socket and then slammed his palm into the elbow. A satisfying crack came from the arm and a scream escaped from Mac's lips. He let go and she dropped to the floor. Gabriel smirked. He always loved breaking peoples spirits, so fulfilling. But in the absence of a spirit to break bones did just as good.

***

Emma rolled over onto her back and watched as Mac and Gabriel fought it out. She was trying to work out if there was anything she could do to help and if she even wanted to. If she telempathically stopped them chances were neither of them would thank her. Mac had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. She had only just made the decision to fight Gabriel anyway. But another part of Emma was nagging at her to stop them both. She knew she shouldn't care if Gabriel got hurt or killed but she did. He was a person after all, granted an extremely psychologically unhinged person but... And Emma really didn't want Mac to get hurt. She didn't deserve the life she got. She didn't deserve to have Gabriel be her brother. She didn't deserve all the crap that came along with that.

Emma had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed what was taking place in the fight and her attention was rapidly brought back as she heard Mac's blood curdling scream.

***

Shalimar's eyes shot open. And the pain came flooding back. She whimpered quietly, trying not to draw attention to herself. She couldn't see anything but her hearing was still near enough to perfect and she could draw some pretty neat pictures in her head based on the vibrations coming through the floor. She could practically see Mac lying on the ground, Gabriel standing over her like some sort of God. He was beating the crap out of her and much as she wanted Mac to be the one who finally beat Gabriel she didn't want her to get taken down with him.

She looked up to see Emma looking straight at her with concern written all over her face. Shalimar smiled a small smile, trying to reassure her friend. She motioned to Gabriel, who had his back to them and Emma nodded. Unsure of what to do but knowing that something had to be done. There was no way they could leave Mac to deal with Gabriel by herself, especially not now she had a broken arm.

Emma stood up as quietly as she could and started to make her way over to Shalimar. Shalimar began to push herself up and managed to get to her knees before the pain of supporting herself became too much. She wrapped her arms around her chest, hoping to control some of the agony.

'Good plan ladies but Emma you're not a feral, creeping is really not your thing. And Shalimar, honey, you're breathing so loudly the unconscious people heard you.'

They both looked up slowly, knowing they had been caught.