Chapter Three: The Brotherhood of Mutants

In the space of a few days, Annie and I had already settled into our new environment. Everything about this place was better than the life I had known before: I was among friends, people who could understand my feelings and my problems; our classes were taught by people who did it because they genuinely wanted to help us, rather than because they were paid for it; there were no humans and their bigoted hatred of our kind; there was always something interesting to do or learn, and I had friends to share it with. There was only one thing missing: my parents. I was a little upset that they weren't keeping in touch, but Annie had said they would be too busy – their task was a huge undertaking – and she was probably right. And despite their lack of contact, I wasn't lonely. Dominic and I had become great friends, while Annie and I were together a lot, if not most of the time.

I should have been happy. My life was finally following a path that felt right, leading me somewhere I knew I wanted to go, giving me the chance to grow up and use my powers to improve the world. And I was happy. Yet still, as hard as I tried, I still couldn't shake the feeling of worry that had set in since the moment the jet carrying away my parents had disappeared into the distance. This shadowy, enigmatic enemy called the Brotherhood – about whom I had been told so little – just how big a threat to our peace and security were they? It occurred to me that the reason why I hadn't been told much about them may be quite simple: nobody knew very much about them.

Still, the X-Men were on our side. I had met all of them by now, and Dad's original assessment seemed accurate: nothing on Earth could possibly get past my protectors. I was certainly glad they were on my side. They were an unusual group, to be sure: Cyclops, the leader, always calm, composed, a perfectionist. He was responsible, caring, like a father figure to some of the younger children, yet always slightly aloof, holding back a part of himself, as if some terrible heartache were eating at him from within; Wolverine, the sullen, silent loner, a person I found myself relating to straight away, but who refused to become close to anyone, a fact which I understood and respected; Iceman and Shapeshifter were the two jokers, two of the youngest, a day didn't go by in their classes without someone playing a practical joke of some kind. Rumour had it they were putting people up to playing pranks in each other's classes, as some kind of competition; Shock was the one I found it easiest to talk to, she was still like a child herself in many ways, enthusiastic, fun-loving, and impetuous. She also had that rare gift that so few adults possessed, the ability to talk to children like an equal. Sometimes it was difficult to believe she was almost the same age as my mother; Rogue was the quiet, mysterious one, who I didn't know very well, I could only begin to imagine the difficulties she must have gone through in life because of her 'gift', rendering her unable to experience physical contact with the ones she loved, which understandably made her reluctant to get to know people; Storm was probably the one I knew the least well, another quiet person who preferred to keep to herself, but was probably the most naturally gifted teacher out of the group; and Nightcrawler, who was probably the most interesting, and certainly the most unusual, of the X-Men. As honest, kind-hearted and friendly as he was, he also possessed a deep sorrow, which Annie reckoned was unhappy memories of the way he had been treated by humans due to his outlandish appearance.

Even alone, each of them was a frightening proposition, though Wolverine was probably the one I would least liked to have faced in a fight. Together they were a hugely formidable, powerful force, but invincible? That was impossible to say. Hopefully it wouldn't need to be put to the test. Nevertheless, my curiosity overcame me, and I decided I wanted to find out more about our enemies, about the Brotherhood. Shock was probably the best person to ask, since she was always ready to take time out to talk with Annie or myself, happy to be fulfilling her role as a sort of temporary mother while my parents were away.

When I got to her office, the door was open, and Shapeshifter was there too, a wide grin on his face as he shared a joke with her. She rolled her eyes, sighed, and told him he was absolutely incorrigible. Both of them looked over as they saw me standing in the doorway, and I said, "Um…I don't want to interrupt, but I was wondering if I could ask you something."

"Sure," said Shock. "Take a seat."

Shapeshifter moved away from the chair he was leaning against, allowing me to sit in it.

"So what's on your mind?"

"I was wondering if you could tell me about the Brotherhood," I said. "I've heard a lot of people talk about them; I know they're our enemies, and I know they're the reason why I've been brought here – I just want to know more about them, about what we're up against."

"OK," said Shock. "I'll tell you what little we know. As far as we can tell, there are eight or nine people in the Brotherhood, but we only know who one of them is: their leader, a man who calls himself Pyro. He has the ability to control fire. It's like my own power over lightning, but unlike me, he can't create the fire himself."

"Have you ever met him?" I asked.

This time it was Shapeshifter who spoke, "He was a close friend of mine once. Believe it or not, he was once a student at this school. When he was a young man – a year before your sister was born – he decided he didn't agree with the principles taught here, and he joined the Brotherhood. Since then he has risen to become their leader."

"How can he be the leader of the enemy if he was once your friend?"

The two adults looked at each other, then Shapeshifter said, "Gary, I know this will sound condescending…but you're a bit too young to really understand. When you're young, most things appear as simple black and white, right and wrong, good and evil. When you get older, you realise it isn't as simple as that. When you're a child, either you like a person or you don't. When you're an adult, it's more complicated. You can love and hate a person at the same time. They can be your friend and your enemy at the same time. It's difficult to explain – but it's something you have to understand."

"So this Pyro is still your friend?"

"I haven't set eyes on him in sixteen years. I guess the answer is: I don't know. What he's done, what the Brotherhood have done under his leadership, makes us enemies, but on a personal level, I don't know…I certainly don't hate him."

"But he's the one responsible for starting this plague, isn't he? And the assassination of America's President?"

"As far as we know, yes," said Shock. "But…oh, it's difficult for me to explain. It's unfortunate you never knew the Professor or Magneto. They were the perfect example of what I'm trying to tell you. OK, imagine you and Annie had a disagreement over something that you both felt strongly about, something that put you on opposing sides. You'd still love her, wouldn't you? But at the same time, she'd be a rival, possibly even an enemy. Does that help?"

"Yeah…I think so," I said, then asked. "So we don't know anything about the rest of the Brotherhood?"

"Nothing concrete. Cyclops, Rogue and Iceman are working on trying to find out about the other members. They're trying to find any information they can – from old news articles and such – that might give us some clue of who might be in the Brotherhood today. Specifically they're trying to identify the President's assassin, so far with no success."

"So what are the Brotherhood trying to do, exactly?"

"We don't know that either," she admitted. "When Magneto was in charge, their goal was protecting the welfare of mutants – at the expense of the welfare of humans, if necessary. We don't know exactly what Pyro is planning to do, but if we're right and they started the Plague, it's an obvious indication they aren't willing to share the planet with humans. They're trying to destroy the human race, something Magneto once tried to do."

"And it's our goal to stop them?"

"Yes. That's what your parents are doing right now. The rest of us are here to protect the school, in case the Brotherhood launch an attack against us."

"Why would Pyro do that if he's your friend?"

"We're not saying he would. All we're saying is that it's possible, and we're guarding against the threat. They know we'll oppose their actions, and they may try to get us out of the way as quickly as possible."

"Can they do that?" I asked. "I mean, if it came down to a fight, who would win?"

"In a straight fight between them and us, I've no way of knowing what would happen. We don't know enough about them, what powers they have."

My concern must have shown on my face, as she added, "Gary, don't worry. An attack made on the school itself would be unsuccessful. The estate is surrounded by security detectors, so we'd know the second they got here. Our radar system would warn us if they arrived in any kind of vehicle or aircraft. The underground levels are shielded by walls made of adamantium, so there's no way that anyone could tunnel in. The school came under attack once before, and the security has been vastly improved to prevent it from happening again."

Afterwards I was on my way back up to my room, if anything more confused than I had been before. All this talk about having enemies you loved, and friends you hated, was really bizarre. At least I knew a bit more about the Brotherhood and what it was they were trying to do. Their Plague was an attempt to wipe out humanity.

Can't say I blame them, was the first thought that entered my mind. Then I admonished myself for having such a thought, and decided it was time to eat. I wasn't really hungry, but I wanted to take my mind off things. Despite the assurances Shock had given me, I was still not convinced that we were entirely safe here. As good as the security precautions might be, there was no guarantee that they would stop our enemies. The Brotherhood had killed the President, hadn't they? To do that they must have got through some of the tightest security in all of the US. Was Shock putting too much faith in the security here? I didn't know. There was no doubt that she knew more about the situation, and the dangers involved, than I did, but I felt adults had a tendency to overlook things and to make too many assumptions. Age and experience were all very well, but in my view they engendered complacency, and a tendency to think along the lines of "it's never happened before, so it's not going to happen now."

I shrugged to myself. Maybe I was just being a kid who thought he knew everything. Maybe I was just a pessimist after too many years of being on the receiving end of hostility. Maybe it was natural for me to assume that things would go wrong. As much as I wanted to follow my instincts, maybe I should have more faith. I decided to put my trust in my protectors, and stop worrying.

It wasn't the first time I had made a mistake. If I had known that within a few short hours I would be fighting for my life, what might I have done differently? What steps would I have taken? Would it have made any difference to the eventual outcome? Could it have prevented unnecessary pain and suffering? I would never know.

I hadn't slept well that night – I was still nervous, despite my decision not to worry – it was after midnight and I was still awake. I'd wanted to talk to my room-mates about my fears, but I didn't want Dominic to think I was a coward, and Annie was still devoting most of her time to helping Marina. We still didn't know what was wrong with our youngest friend, and I still hadn't heard her speak to anyone, but Annie seemed to think she was improving. She was certainly spending less time crying or shutting herself away, and seemed to be taking more of an interest in life. Whereas before she didn't appear to care whether she was alive or dead, she was now eating properly and beginning to take more pride in her appearance, spending time in front of the mirror grooming her hair, and trying to dress more attractively. I myself had yet to speak one word to her, but I wouldn't have known what to say even if I had wanted to. I had no experience of girls, other than my sister, and I didn't want to say anything that might hurt Marina and send her back into her shell.

The three of them were asleep now, as I still lay awake, staring at the ceiling, tired but unable to drop off. I just couldn't shake off my fears. Every time I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, my mind began to imagine all kinds of terrible things, all kinds of imminent threats, that might be creeping into our room at this very moment, and I was forced to open my eyes again to check that they weren't there. Eventually I was sick of it, and decided to get up and go for a walk. If I couldn't sleep, I might as well do something. I was hungry too – I hadn't eaten much that day – and I decided to head down to the dining room, to see if there were any left-overs from dinner.

It was a warm night, and there was no need to put on any extra clothes to go downstairs. The T-shirt and shorts I wore to bed would be fine. I glanced at the clock next to Annie's bed, but in the darkness I couldn't make out the hands. It was probably about two o'clock. I walked as quietly as I could to the door, and made my way down the corridor to the staircase. It was then that I heard the first of the noises from downstairs. I stopped. What had made that sound? More noises came, and it was clear that there was somebody downstairs. That in itself was not enough to worry me. Sometimes the adults stayed up late, or maybe somebody had had the same idea as me, and was going for a midnight snack.

It was when I reached the stairs that I began to worry. The noises weren't what I might have expected, certainly not the sound of somebody quietly moving around their study, or somebody stealing food from the kitchen. It was coming from the ground floor, I could tell that now. I couldn't immediately think what the noise might be, but my curiosity was piqued, and I decided to go and investigate. Taking the stairs down to the first floor, I decided to go to the dining room after I had checked on the noises, and began to make my way down to the ground floor.

I could hear voices. They were not voices I recognised. This worried me. Although I didn't know everybody in the school on a personal level, I knew what they all sounded like. Whoever these people were, I had never met them before. There were at least three different voices – two male and one female – and I moved closer to find out what was happening. The voices were coming from the main hallway, just inside the entrance, and I headed that way. The lights in the hallway were on, and I tried to find a place where I could take a look without being seen myself. One of the big support pillars, which helped to hold up the first floor, was the perfect cover. I ducked behind it, and looked around the side, my heart beginning to beat more quickly.

There were four people standing in the hallway. All of them were strangers to me. Presently I heard a door open, and a fifth joined them. I shifted my attention to the newcomer – a short man who walked with a slight hunch, but was heavily muscled, and who looked to be slightly older than I was – and listened as he spoke, "So far so good. Seven X-Men neutralised; we're still hunting for the eighth."

There came a metallic flick, and I realised one of them was holding a cigarette lighter, having just ignited it.

"Who's on it?" he asked.

"Overlord and Cassandra. I told them to come back here once they've neutralised the last one."

Neutralised? What did that mean? Did it mean…could it mean…dead? How could seven of my protectors have been – 'neutralised' – so quickly? Which of them was still active? What the hell was going on?

The lighter was flicked off, and the man holding it said, "Good work, Scarab. All right, it's time to collect what we came for. They'll be upstairs. Gemini, Vertigo, start looking for them."

The woman standing beside him nodded her assent, but the man on her left – Vertigo or Gemini? – didn't seem keen. He said, "Is this really such a good idea? Do we really want to piss off Oculus and Gaia by kidnapping their children?"

What? What had he just said? He was talking about my family! What the hell was going on? Who were these people, and what did they want?

"We've been over this already," snapped the man with the lighter, flicking it back on. "They can't touch us in any way if we have their children. That's the last time I want to hear you arguing with my orders! Is that clear?"

The man who had spoken out nodded quickly, "Yes. Sorry, Pyro."

My eyes went wide. Pyro! This was the man Shock had told me about! Which meant – oh, bloody hell – these people were the Brotherhood! They had launched an attack on the school! My worst fears had come to pass! Somehow, I didn't know how, they'd managed to get through the security measures Shock had spoken so highly of, and now they had all but defeated my protectors, the X-Men. How was this possible?

I didn't have any time to think about it. Two of the Brotherhood – the woman and the man who spoken out – were walking away from the rest, presumably heading upstairs to look for me and my sister. They were moving directly towards my hiding place. I was frozen with panic, and I couldn't think what to do.

"We're almost done here," Pyro said, flicking off the lighter once more. "Scarab, go and find Mole. Tell him we'll be moving out soon."

The small man with the slight hunch in his back disappeared back the way he had come, closing the door behind him. This left Pyro, their leader, with the one man who had not spoken yet. The silent one stood with his arms folded, his face emotionless, as he waited for action. He was not my immediate concern. My immediate concern was the two members of the Brotherhood who were heading towards my hiding place. I got a closer look as they approached – both of them were in their teens, probably about Annie's age – and I knew I had to think of some way to escape detection. My mind was in such a turmoil of fear and confusion, that it was almost too late when I remembered about my camouflage mutation.

I activated it, and felt the slight tremor in my skin that told me I was now virtually invisible. Only somebody who had inhumanly good eyesight, and who knew I was there, would be able to see me. I stood behind the pillar and breathed a sigh of relief as the two of them walked past me, completely unaware of my presence. But I knew I couldn't relax. They were on their way to look for Annie and me. I had to get upstairs and warn my sister! But how? I only knew of one way to get up there, and the Brotherhood were already using it!

I almost swore out loud as my camouflage dropped. I had real trouble maintaining my near-invisibility when I was scared or stressed – I was both right now – since it required concentration. I had to calm down, and re-activate it. I could only hope that nobody would see me in the meantime. It was a hope that lasted about three seconds.

"Hey! There's somebody there!"

They'd seen me. Stealth hadn't worked, and the only option left was to fight. I flexed my arms and held my muscles taut as the two of them – the teenage boy and girl –moved towards me. I tried to come up with some kind of plan for fighting them. What were their names? What had Pyro called them? Gemini and…Vertigo, that was it. What did that mean? What kind of powers did that suggest? I couldn't think of anything on the spot, and I decided just to throw caution to the wind and go in with both fists flying.

It wasn't a good idea. The boy dodged effortlessly, spinning 90 degrees on one foot to kick me in the ribs with the other. I stumbled, regained my balance, and moved in once more. This time I feinted a punch with my left fist, and sent my right fist flashing through the air towards his head. Or where his head had been, at any rate. Lightning-fast, he moved out of the way, and slammed a pile-driver of a blow into my chest, knocking the breath out of me. The girl hadn't even moved, confident that her compatriot wouldn't need her help to defeat me. She smirked and laughed as he got the better of me again, dodging my next attack and kicking me in the side.

It was the laugh that got to me. Of all the annoying things in the world, being laughed at by a girl was the one that I hated most. My anger rose, adrenaline pumping through my veins, as I entered my berserk state. Like a bull shown a red rag, I flew out of control, launching another devastating punch towards the boy. For once I was faster than him, and my fist hit him solidly in the chest, throwing him into the wall, stunning him. The girl's mouth opened in shock, and I turned on her. She backed away, still startled at what I had done to her friend.

Then she did something very strange. Clenching her fists, closing her eyes, holding every muscle taut, she screamed – and something very odd happened. Just as she relaxed, breathing hard from the exertion, another girl had appeared from nowhere beside her. The second girl's appearance was an exact likeness of the first, almost as if they were twins. Twins…Gemini…that explained where her name came from, at least. I didn't know exactly what she had done, but all that mattered right now was that there were two of them instead of one. Things were not going well. My adrenaline rush had dissipated, and I felt my body slow and weaken as I dropped out of my berserk state.

By this time Pyro and his silent companion had noticed what was going on, and both were hurrying towards us. Great. Things were really not going well. The sensible option would be to run and find help, but I had never backed down from a fight, and common sense wasn't high on my list of priorities right now. I gave a scream of rage, more to reassure myself than to intimidate anyone, as I surged towards the Gemini twins. They acted as one, tensing to avoid my attack, but I was an unstoppable juggernaut, and I knocked both of them to the floor. One of them rolled over and aimed a vicious kick at my groin. I had never been more grateful for my inability to feel pain.

Grabbing the other twin, I lifted her bodily, and flung her to the side. She hit the wall, and before she could fall to the ground, her body disappeared into thin air. I didn't know what to make of that, but I could only assume that Gemini's power enabled to her summon a duplicate of herself. Right now I had other things to think about. The original Gemini was on her feet again, backing away from me, her earlier confidence gone. I glanced behind me. The boy – he had to be Vertigo – was still stunned, holding his head where he had hit the wall. Pyro and the other man – who was also not much older than my sister – were almost upon me.

"Come on!" I yelled, determined to show no fear.

The silent man opened his hand to reveal a throwing knife, which he hurled through the air towards me. Instinctively I ducked, and it hit the wall behind me, penetrating deep into the wooden panelling, the blade still quivering. Another knife appeared in his hand, and I had only one choice. Taking a deep breath, I called on the mutation that was in my lungs, as I used the power I had promised my parents I'd never use again. A huge jet of flame burst forth from my throat, searing through the air towards the knife-thrower. He tensed himself to leap to one side, but he knew he had no chance of avoiding it.

Pyro lifted his hand, and the fire deflected away from them, burning itself up in the air and disappearing. The man beside him raised the second knife, but Pyro said, "Wait. This is one of the ones we want. We don't want him dead."

The man nodded. His hand returned to his side, the knife vanishing to somewhere on his person, and I relaxed. But only slightly. Gemini had gone to stand beside Pyro, as he looked me up and down and said, "So you're a Rosiçky?"

"What's it to you?" I snapped.

He sounded amused as he said, "Everything. You are the key to everything I have planned. As long as I have you and your sister, your parents can't do anything to me."

"My parents could destroy you without even using any effort!"

"Perhaps. The point is, they won't dare to, if I have you in my 'care'. If you are a Rosiçky."

"I am," I said proudly. "What are you? Apart from a murderer?!"

"Oh, righteous anger, I like that. Very impressive. They'll make an X-Man out of you yet."

I was going to reply with a choice selection of four letter words, when there came the sound of a door opening, and footsteps came hurrying towards us. I risked a glance in that direction, and saw the small man, Scarab, with two others behind him, a guy and a girl also in their late teens.

"Overlord, Cassandra," Pyro acknowledged them. "Success, I presume?"

"Naturally," said the guy. "What's going on here?"

"We found a Rosiçky without even having to look for him," Pyro grinned, indicating me with his hand. "Once we've got the other one, we can get out of here. Scarab, Recyclo, Gemini – go upstairs and find her. This one put up a pretty good fight, so call if you need backup. We'll be waiting down here."

"Leave my sister alone," I spat.

"Shut up, you," Gemini sneered. "Can't we just kill this one now?"

"No," said Pyro impatiently. "The plan won't work if we kill them. Now get on with it."

Gemini shrugged, and began to head for the staircase, followed by the hunchback, Scarab, and the silent knife-thrower – that had to be Recyclo. I had to find a way to stop them. I had to get up there and warn Annie. If she was still asleep, she would have no chance. Suddenly I knew what to do.

"'Bye, Pyro," I said, as I activated my camouflage.

My adrenaline and my conviction had given me the necessary concentration to do it, and as the seven Brotherhood members reacted in surprise, I was ploughing straight towards them, knocking Pyro and Cassandra to the floor. The others responded angrily, trying to guess where I was, aiming punches and kicks at thin air, and I dodged through all of them, running to the stairs. As I passed Gemini, I used all of my mutated strength to shove her to the side, knocking her into Recyclo and Scarab, sending the three of them sprawling on the ground.

That ought to slow them down for a while, I told myself, as I fled up the stairs, but I knew they'd be after me within seconds. The only advantage I had was that I knew where Annie was. Sprinting up the next flight of stairs, to the second floor, I began yelling her name as I ran towards our room.

"ANNIE! WAKE UP! DOMINIC!"

I got to the room, and threw the door open. Dominic had awoken, and was looking at me through bleary eyes, "What?"

"Get out of bed; get dressed; we're in trouble!" I told him.

"Huh? Gary, what – ?"

"Just do it!"

I moved over to Annie's bed, and shook her hard. Her eyes snapped open and she stared up at me. I was about to tell her to get up, but she sensed my fear, read my mind, and knew the situation. Taking charge, Annie said, "We can't go out the front door, they'll stop us. Gary, push some things up against the door to block it. Dominic, get the windows open. We'll go out that way."

Dominic had just struggled into his clothes, and he pulled the window open, as I manhandled one of the beds in front of the door. It wouldn't keep the Brotherhood out for long, but it would have to be long enough. Annie woke Marina, and the two girls began to get dressed. Dominic and I had enough presence of mind to look the other way, and I threw on a pair of jeans while pushing a table in front of the door. They were outside now, and the door-handle turned, but the bed held the door closed.

"Knock it down!" I heard Pyro's voice yelling.

A fist smashed clean through the wooden door – I could only guess whose it might be – as I pushed another item of furniture in front of the door.

"We're ready!" Annie said. "Let's go!"

Common sense finally took root in my thoughts, "Annie, we're two floors above the ground! We can't jump out of the window!"
"Trust me!" she said. "Go! Now!"

She and Marina were already at the windows, ready to climb out. This is madness, I told myself, as I moved over towards another open window. Dominic was at the last. The door buckled, and the furniture began to give way.

"We've got them!" I heard Gemini's voice crowing.

"All right!" Annie yelled. "Jump!"

I closed my eyes, prayed, and jumped. Fully expecting to fall through the air to my death, or at least serious injury, I was slightly surprised when a whole second passed, and I wasn't dead. I opened my eyes, almost afraid to do so, unable to think why I hadn't hit the ground. For a moment I couldn't make sense of what I saw, then I understood. Annie had both arms outstretched, and was using her telekinetic power to lower the four of us safely to the ground. Of course. I should have known she wouldn't tell us to commit suicide. Glancing up, I could see faces peering down out of the window, faces twisted in anger, Pyro's among them. They would be down here and coming after us soon enough.

We touched down on the ground, and Annie said, "Run!"

"Wait a minute!" Dominic cried. "What about the other kids?"

Annie had read my mind; she knew everything I had heard Pyro saying, and she said, "They'll be OK. The Brotherhood aren't interested in them. They're only interested in us."

"Us? Why us?"

"Not you. Gary and me."

"All right, why you?"

"I'll explain later. We have to go!"

Like sprinters from the starting block, we hurried away from the school, never looking back, heading nowhere except away from our pursuers. Marina tripped over something in the near pitch darkness, stumbled, and fell on to her hands and knees. Annie helped her to her feet, but the younger girl screamed in pain, and couldn't even walk, let alone run. She must have twisted her ankle when she fell. There was nothing else for it; I grabbed Marina and lifted her over my shoulder. With my mutated strength I didn't even notice the extra weight, and we quickly caught up with Dominic.

"Where are we going?" he asked the obvious question.

"Into the forest," Annie panted. "They won't find us there, it's too big."

"Then what?"

"I don't know. We'll worry about that later."

I glanced behind me at the mansion, which grew further and further away as we ran, and could just make out the shapes of the Brotherhood running out of the front door. They were too far away to see us…weren't they? I increased my pace, and we reached the tree-line. After a couple of minutes fleeing through the trees, Annie stopped us, and turned back to face the school. With her telescopic eyesight, she looked back along the route we had just taken. Eventually she turned to us and said, "They're looking for us. None of them are close."

"So we're safe?" I asked.

"At the moment. We can't stay here for long."

I gently lowered Marina to the ground – she flashed me a grateful smile – and Annie knelt by the young girl's side. Marina's ankle was clearly giving her agony, but she gritted her teeth and bore it well. Annie placed her hands lightly on the injured leg, and used her healing power. Marina's ankle mended, and her face showed her relief at the cessation of the pain.

"What's going on?" Dominic demanded. "Where are the X-Men?"

"I don't know. They've been taken out," I said.

He gaped, "All of them? How?"

"I don't know," I repeated. "Annie – what are we going to do?"

"There's only one thing we can do," she said. "We can't defeat the Brotherhood alone…the X-Men have already tried and failed…we have to find Mum and Dad."

"But they're in Argentina! We're in New York!"

"I know. I didn't say it would be easy. I said it was our only choice."

"So what are you saying?" said Dominic. "We make our way to the airport – hard, considering I don't know where the nearest one is – and without money or passports, we somehow get on a plane to Argentina. Once there – it's not a small country, by the way – we find your parents. Simple as that, eh? I wish."

Annie shook her head, a thoughtful expression on her face, "No. We don't have to do that. It's risky, but…I think there's another way."