Paper Flowers Chapter 16: Let It Burn, a x-men fanfic

Disclaimer: Ok, I confess. The X-Men don't belong to me. Really. I know you've all been thinking that I own them, but, well, I don't. They belong to this company called Marvel, who mistreats them horribly on a regular basis. And, since I don't own the X-Men, I guess I'm not getting paid for this either. Figures.

Warning: Remember how, last chapter, nobody died. Well, you should've known it wouldn't last. This chapter involves death. A lot of death. There will be disturbing imagery and some pretty graphic violence. The normal things that tend to happen when you have a bunch of giant, killer robots invade a country. If this will bother or offend you, stop reading now.

Note: This chapter deals fairly extensively with Sentinels. Since everyone may not be familiar with what these are, and it's hard to work an understandable history of these things into the story when the characters are in the middle of battle, I'm including a little Sentinel background history here. If you're already pretty familiar with what Sentinels are, just skip down to the story. If not, read on.

Sentinels: Ok, basically, Sentinels are large robots, usually about 20 ft tall or so, generically humanoid in shape. They were originally designed by a guy named Bolivar Trask with the intention of hunting, capturing, and sometimes killing mutants. They normally come equipped with mutant tracking sensors, catch webs, disintegrator rays, and all manner of other deadly or unpleasant weapons. Trask was killed by one of his own units which malfunctioned, but his son took over the family business and kept it going until the X-Men finally destroyed the whole works.

After that, there were various people, over a long period of time, who restarted the Sentinel program. These include Stephen Lang and the Hellfire club. As time went on, Sentinels became less prone to capture mutants and more prone to just kill them outright. These robots are self-adapting and can learn to counter specific mutant abilities as well as modify and repair themselves. Normally, they are controlled by a Master Mold Sentinel, which is sort of a leader unit that manufactures and controls the drone Sentinels.

During Operation Zero Tolerance, a new kind of Sentinel was created called a Prime Sentinel. These were human beings who were fitted with cybernetic parts (not always with their consent) and implants and used to destroy mutants. Once a human is turned into a Prime Sentinel, there is no way to change them back.

The Sentinels that we will be seeing in this chapter are also a slightly different species called Wild Sentinels. They are unique in that their Master Mold escaped from a program at some point and set up shop in the jungle, building it's drones out of whatever was available. They can, and will, cannibalize any available metal or machinery for repair parts.

Instead of all of them being human-like in shape, the Wild Sentinels look like all manner of animals, insects, and, in some cases, machines as well. There were also some of them which were significantly larger than any other Sentinel previously seen. A height of 40-50 ft would be my guess. The only purpose the Wild Sentinels have in life is to kill mutants.

So, Cassandra Nova sent these Wild Sentinels to Genosha, the largest concentration of mutants on earth, for no other purpose than genocide. In the comics, 16 million people died during the Sentinel attack on Genosha. Only a handful of the population survived. Carmen Pryde (Kitty's father) was among those who died in Magda Square during the massacre.

Paper Flowers

Chapter 16 – Let It Burn

It was only a few short minutes later that the two X-Men - along with the former Excalibur member, recently deposed ruler of Limbo, and resident sorceress all rolled into one - met back in Amanda's room, changed and ready for their impromptu visit to the Master of Magnetism.

Or, at least as ready as one could possibly be when preparing to confront Magneto, the X-Men's oldest and, arguably, most powerful enemy, to ask him for a favor.

Oh, yeah. This is gonna work. We're gonna 'port in there and he's gonna fry us all on the spot. Or die laughing.

Amanda Sefton looked at her two companions, then down at herself, shaking her head in frank amazement and wondering who, exactly, had designed the X-Men's new uniforms.

Oh, Kurt and Logan looked fine. Actually, Nightcrawler's black and gray body suit was a good choice for him. And Logan's black pants, shirt, and matching jacket, with their yellow piping trim, looked positively normal, which she knew must have thrilled him beyond words.

But hers....well, it was another story all together.

"Guys, tell me again why I have this giant, yellow 'X' plastered across my chest. Am I the designated target for this little mission and nobody told me?"

"Sorry, Liebe." Kurt tried to sound appropriately sympathetic as he choked back a snort of laughter. "It was the best we could do on short notice. We were not exactly expecting you to drop by Westchester to join us for this little foray."

Completely unappeased, Amanda stood there, hands on her hips, dressed in the black pants and top that were part of the X-Men's updated uniforms. It would have been perfectly acceptable, except for the huge, banana yellow 'X' that took up three quarters of the front of the top, stretching from her shoulders to her waist. Admittedly, it made her look somewhat similar to a walking alphabet block.

"I feel like a living 'you are here' symbol."

"Relax, 'Manda." Logan chimed in, trying not to grin. He had to admit, the massive letters plastered across the chest might not have been such a good idea in retrospect. "Just be glad yer not stuck with Betts' or Storm's new outfits. Psylocke's look like somethin' outta the Fredricks of Hollywood bondage catalogue, and Storms legs are cut all th' way up ta her armpits and there's a big, yellow lightnin' bolt across the front."

"And just exactly how drunk were you all when you were choosing the new look? Seriously, I feel like a moron."

"You look fine." Kurt assured her. "And it doubles as body armor."

"Oh. Well, then. That completely excuses the fact that it looks like it was designed by Stevie Wonder." Amanda replied in her most biting, sarcastic tone. "Come on. Tell me the truth. You let Bishop pick these out, didn't you?"

"Nah." Logan was grinning this time. He couldn't help it. "But I think it might'a been Warren and Jean."

"I rest my case." Amanda threw out flatly, mumbling to herself under her breath. "I never thought I'd say this, but I miss the spandex."

With a roll of her bright blue eyes and a resigned sigh, she let it drop and turned back to her two friends, her expression growing suddenly serious, as she put away the laughter and the teasing, focusing on what they were about to do. A little therapeutic laughter to release some of the tension was good, but it was time to get down to business.

"Are you guys positive you want to do this?"

"Ja." Kurt replied with a sober nod as Logan shrugged his shoulders, his face set.

"Ain't got much choice, darlin'. If there's anybody on this island that's likely ta know where Kit is, it'll be Mags. You just get us there, we'll handle th' rest."

Taking a deep breath, Amanda nodded. She wasn't new to the superhero game and she had a good idea what they would be in for, the kind of risk they were taking. And she hoped, with all her heart, that all of them, including Kitty, would make it out of this thing in one piece.

"You got it, boss. Hang onto your hats, fellas. Here we go."

With nothing more than an almost negligent wave of her graceful hands, a softly spoken spell, and a brilliant, incandescent flash, they were gone, their passing marked only by a few brightly colored bubbles of light that danced in the air for a moment before slowly fading away.

The day was unusually lovely, especially for this part of the world. Clear, cloudless, sun drenched, the temperature hovering in the upper sixties. A soft, almost warm, breeze blew in off the ocean, carrying with it a hint of brine as it gently ruffled the tender, young blades of bright green grass that sprang up in patches here and there along the otherwise rocky, barren ground.

It was a day that should have inspired art, poetry, songs, with it's delicate, rare beauty, it's air of peace and tranquility a balm to the soul. But, for the first time in a long while, Peter Rasputin could find absolutely nothing about the day, the scene, or the world that seemed to inspire him in the least.

He stood on one of the higher among the many steep, craggy bluffs that surrounded Muir Island, his easel set up in front of him, holding a blank, white canvass, his well used palette, dozens of tubes of oil paints, and dozens more assorted brushes and tools nearby as well, simply waiting.

Peter had come out here with the intention of painting something, anything, to take his mind off of recent events, off of the hollow, empty feeling that he'd had inside of him ever since he'd woken up alone on that last day in Westchester. But all he could do was stand there, staring out at the sun dappled water, watching the waves rise and fall, glittering in hues of gold, silver, gray, and blue as the early afternoon light reflected off the surface of the unusually calm sea.

It wasn't, however, the glittering waves, or the glass blue of the ocean, or the streaming, golden sunlight that he was seeing. No matter where he looked, no matter what he did, whether he was sleeping or awake, all he saw was a delicate, smiling face with wide, golden brown eyes, framed by a cascade of lustrous, chestnut locks.

Peter missed her desperately, ached to have her with him, but she was beyond his reach. And without her beside him, nothing worked. Nothing mattered.

Art, of any form or kind, required the artist to put their heart and soul into what they were creating, whether it be painting, dancing, writing, or any of the dozens of other forms of human expression in the world. Without that kind of commitment, the actions, the intentions, were utterly useless, conveying nothing.

How could he expect to accomplish anything when his heart and soul were no longer with him, were no longer his own? Kitty had taken them with her when she left and he was sorely afraid that he would never get them back again. Nor did he particularly want to.

So, why was he even bothering to try and pretend that anything could go on as before, when he knew that it couldn't? That it never would again.

There wasn't a moment that went by in the day or night that he didn't think of her, wonder where she was, what she was doing, if she was all right, if she was feeling as lost and alone as he felt. Dozens of times over the last days, he'd nearly left to find her. It was all he could think of and there was this constant, nagging feeling that she needed him.

But she'd asked him not to look for her and he was trying, with every ounce of willpower he possessed, to do as she'd asked. Even though it was killing him, a little at a time, a little more each day.

Logan, Kurt, and Amanda were there, now, in Genosha, looking for her. If – when – they found her, one of them would contact Rhane. Kurt had promised her that he would let her know of any news and Peter knew that the German X-Man would keep his word. But it still didn't feel right to him, sitting back while someone else did what he should be doing himself. While he stood here, waiting, and the woman he loved fought this battle alone.

When he slept, which was happening less and less, he dreamed of her. During the day, he saw her face everywhere he looked. And every day, he fought an internal war to keep himself from going down to the hangar, getting into the Midnight Runner and flying to Genosha.

It was making him restless, edgy, and ill tempered and Peter didn't like the person he was becoming. If something didn't happen soon, if they didn't receive some word from the others, he would not be able to hold out much longer.

A sound from behind him, from the direction of the complex, drew his attention, and he turned curiously, seeing Rhane quickly making her way toward him, almost running, her long, red hair fluttering in the breeze, her face grim and set. One look at her and Peter felt his heart stutter and nearly stop as his mind cheerfully whispered to him that he really should be more careful what he wished for.

Peter hurried to meet her, terrified of what the look on her face might mean, his vivid imagination gleefully supplying him with all manner of scenarios, a hundred and one different ways that she could inform him that he was never going to see Kitty again, that she was truly gone from him for good. He was expecting a myriad of things, all of them horrible, but he certainly wasn't expecting what she actually said.

"What is it, Rhane? Has there been news?"

At his anxious question, her face tilted up toward him as she stood there, her arms wrapped around herself, agitation, trepidation, and turmoil written plainly in every line and movement of her body, her bright green eyes clouded with uncertainty.

"I'm not sure, Peter. I was in the communications room just now, checkin' some of the equipment, and I picked up a transmission from a squadron of fighter jets. They were trailin' somethin' just off the coast of Africa, near Madagascar......"

Peter laid his hands on her shoulder, brow furrowed in confusion as he gave her a puzzled, look. What did fighter jets in Madagascar have to do with anything? "I do not understand. What does this have to do...."

Before he could finish, Rhane shook her head with a violent jerk, her temper flaring to life easily in her already agitated state, as she snapped out, cutting him off. "Will ye listen to me?!"

Her unusually sharp tone drew him up short and she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Panic wouldn't help anything. Hands coming up to clutch at his arms, her fingers dug into his flesh almost painfully, with a strength born of urgency, as her emerald eyes locked with his dark blue ones letting him read the fear there, as well as a keen, edgy, disquiet that he was well familiar with within himself.

When Rhane spoke again, he understood the reason for the look, the agitation, the fear. Her hesitant words were ones that Peter had never expected in his wildest imagination, but they made his blood run cold just the same.

"Peter, I'm not sure, it all happened so quickly. The jets were transmittin' one minute and gone the next, like they'd ne'er even existed. But.....what they were describin'....well....it sounded like Sentinels. Hundreds of them. And they were headed toward Genosha."

Kitty screamed out the warning as loud as her vocal cords would allow, knowing that they had only seconds to act and having no idea how many Sentinels they might be dealing with. It could be dozens, it could be hundreds, it could be thousands. They wouldn't know until the metal mutant hunters were already on top of them.

There were countless scores of people in the square. If they didn't get them out, get them under cover, very, very quickly, they were all going to die a horrible, nightmarish death.

Her eyes met Magnetos, seeing his go wide with shock and surprise, as she knew hers already were, but it only took him a fraction of a second to recover himself. They had done this too many times, fought this foe again and again, and he didn't waste time on questions or panic.

"I will try to head off as many as I can. Take the guards and get as many people to safety as possible."

Magneto didn't even bother to wait for her acknowledgment, knowing he didn't need to, before he took to the air, soaring high as he gathered power from the earth's own magnetic field, letting it fill him to bursting as he prepared for battle.

Already on the move, Kitty screamed out orders to the Acolytes around her as she felt Lockheed lift off from her shoulder, his leathery wings propelling him upward with ease. He positioned himself directly above his mistress, prepared to defend her with his own life against anything that might pose even the slightest threat.

With one graceful leap, Shadowcat completely cleared the palace steps, landing lightly as her namesake and quickly surveying her surroundings. She paused only long enough to hit another microswitch on the frames of her glasses, one that would connect her to the rest of the network Storm's team was using and transmit everything she was seeing directly into Sage's database.

In case they didn't make it out of this in one piece, Kitty wanted to make sure the world, and the rest of the X-Men, knew exactly what had happened. She had no idea who had sent these killers to Genosha, but she intended that they would pay dearly, one way or another. If she died, she knew her death, and the death of countless civilians, would not go unavenged.

The Acolytes, she noticed with some satisfaction, were already springing into action even as she was, moving quickly into the near-panicked crowd, splitting into two groups, with one herding the civilians toward whatever shelter was handy, while the rest took up position with Kitty, ready to provide what cover possible for their escape.

Of course, the Sentinels could, and would, take down the buildings, but at least it might give some of them a fighting chance. Out here, in the open commons, they were lambs for the slaughter, with no protection to be had, easy pickings for the death machines.

Even though most of the population of the island nation was composed of mutants, not all, or even most, had abilities that would be, in any way, useful in battle. And the ones that did were untrained in the use of those abilities. Shadowcat, Magneto, and the Acolytes present were the only hope these people had.

They could hear them coming clearly now, from roughly toward the west, the roar of their jet propulsion systems ringing so loudly that it seemed to worm itself inside her very skull, bouncing around in her head, refusing to leave, seeming to grow louder and louder. Shadowcat forced herself to ignore it, concentrating instead on the adrenaline pumping through her system, priming her for the fight as it shut out everything else.

Kitty let it come, encouraged it, let it wash through her, needing every edge she could possibly get. And she doubted that, in the end, even that would be enough.

The Acolytes, along with the Genoshan military personnel who had been among the crowd, seemed to be making some progress in evacuating the Square, but there was no hope of getting everyone under cover fast enough. There would still be hundreds, if not thousands, of people caught in the open when the damned things landed.

Overhead, massive explosions began to ring out and she looked up to see the formerly clear sky literally filled with Sentinels, a broken, dark, teeming mass that stretched all the way to the horizon. There were hundreds, upon hundreds of them.

"Dear God..." she heard an Acolyte nearby whisper in fearful awe, and she had to agree. It was, indeed, a fearsome, awe inspiring sight.

Into the midst of them, Magneto ascended like a rocket, pulsing out massive waves of destructive magnetic force, blowing apart dozens of Sentinels at once. It sent a rain of shrapnel down into the square and surrounding area, but it couldn't be helped. Compared to the damage the Sentinels would do, the shrapnel was a negligible danger.

Kitty phased instinctively, allowing the hail of metal to pass harmlessly through her, whirling as the first explosion shook the ground, even as she heard the screams of the wounded and possibly dying that had been caught in the blast. The first wave of Sentinels - the ones that had managed to make their way past Magneto in, more or less, one piece - landed on the cobblestone square with a dull, ringing thud as metal contacted stone, already sending out energy blasts in all directions.

Even as her body sprang into motion, her arms going behind her to pull out the adamantium bladed katana's that she wore strapped across her back, Kitty's mind registered, for the first time, that these robots were like no other Sentinels she had ever seen.

Always before, the mutant hunting machines had been humanoid in appearance, though many considerably larger than any human being, some as much as 20 ft tall. There had even been Prime Sentinels. Human/Sentinel cyborgs, programmed to seek out and destroy any mutants they found. But these.....these were like something out of a twisted, sick nightmare.

They looked as if they'd been cobbled together out of spare parts, rusty metal, ragged, exposed wiring, mismatched pieces. But that wasn't even the strangest part. Many, in fact most, of them weren't anything resembling humanoid. Instead, they looked like spiders, snakes, lions, monkeys, animals and insects of all kinds and descriptions.

If the situation had been different, Kitty would have simply stopped and gaped at them, but indulging her curiosity wasn't something she could afford to do at the moment. Any hesitation, the slightest lapse of concentration on her part, and she would be promptly blown to small, bite size, Shadowcat bits.

Charging forward, she dodged blaster fire, snaking metal appendages, and flying shrapnel as she lit into the nearest Sentinel, one that looked something like a mutated gecko. As it's tail whipped out, trying to snare her, she brought one sword down, amputating about four feet of the metal appendage near the tip, as she brought the other katana around and sliced through it's midsection.

The machine flew apart in a satisfying shower of sparks and pieces and she moved quickly to the next one.

On and on it went, as she, and the Acolytes fighting with her, went from one robot to the next, not daring to think beyond whatever they were battling at the moment. If they tried to grasp the sheer scope of the numbers, the overwhelming odds they were up against, they would never be able to continue the battle. The vast extent of what they were dealing with was almost beyond human comprehension.

Better to simply take it one Sentinel at a time, take out as many as they could while they had the chance. Because they were fighting a battle they would inevitably lose in the end. The only question was, how long could they hold out before being over run.

She was like a whirlwind, cutting, slicing, stabbing, kicking, punching, phasing, leaping, whirling, turning, doing whatever was necessary to stay alive just a little longer.

Kitty didn't dare slow down, even for a moment. The damned things were everywhere and she was only just barely keeping out of their grasp, avoiding the barrage of blaster fire, flying projectiles, catch nets, and metal cables.

Already she had dozens of cuts, bruises, lacerations and scrapes, and was thankful that the injuries weren't yet any more serious than that.

Thankfully, she saw that most of the Acolytes seemed to be holding their own as well, fighting fiercely to keep the deadly robots at bay, while even more of Magneto's followers continued to work with the panicked, hysterical crowd.

It was inevitable that they would eventually be overwhelmed. They were only human, after all, but they would buy as much time as they could. She would probably die today, but she would fight to the very last breath she had. Kitty had fought these damned machines, off and on, for almost half her life. If they managed to finally destroy her today, then she would take as many of them as she possibly could with her before it was over.

Explosions continued to ring out overhead as Magneto pushed himself to the limit, taking out whole squadrons of Sentinels at once, never giving them a chance to set foot on the island nation. He was accompanied by Lockheed - off and on between laying down cover fire for Kitty and the Acolytes on the ground - spouting gouts of white hot flame into the oncoming enemy, reducing the ones he hit to so much slag and melted electrical systems, sending them crashing into the ocean or to the hard ground far below.

But it wasn't going to be enough. Kitty knew it within five minutes into the fight. For every one they took out, it seemed that two came to take their place. And some of the ones already dispatched were reforming, repairing themselves, and returning to the fight.

Despite the fact that, apparently, the most powerful of the mutant Acolytes were fighting beside her, frying and ripping apart Sentinels with everything from raw energy blasts, to telekinesis, pyrokenesis, heat projection, super strength, and super-sonic soundwave blasts, along with more conventional weapons, the number of the enemy only seemed to grow.

And the damned things were talking the whole time, spouting out their judgments in loud, cold, electronic tones as Acolytes began to fall like dominos, and the wave of invaders began to overwhelm the defensive force.

"Non-human entity determined. Execute"

Kitty heard them repeating the phrase over and over until she thought she'd go mad. She was surrounded, Sentinels closing in all around her. And then, she heard the first screams from behind her as the killers reached the helpless, fleeing crowd.

As she dodged a cable, striking out with her katana, removing it permanently from it's owner, another Sentinel fired at her, catching her a glancing blow to the right shoulder that nearly flung her to the ground.

She managed to keep her feet by sheer force of will, phasing to avoid the oncoming rush as the enemy closed in tighter. If she hit the ground now, she was dead.

It would be no problem for her to remain phased, but she would be of little or no use to the fight that way. After the first few she'd short circuited, the whole lot seemed to have adapted to her phasing power. The last one she'd tried to walk through had attempted to deliver her a nasty shock and she didn't dare try it again. She would have to rely on nothing but her own skill and agility.

They seemed to be having considerably more trouble adapting to Magneto's power, but he was obviously slowing, the explosions from overhead coming farther and farther apart as the rain of shrapnel slowed from a downpour to a drizzle and more and more Sentinels touched down on Genosha.

Managing to maneuver several of the metal killing machines into a fairly tight group, Kitty reached out and grabbed one that looked somewhat like a mis-shapen ape, not phasing through it, but phasing it along with her and swinging it into two others, a spider and a snake, just as she let go. They solidified together into one big lump, then exploded with a gratifying boom.

With a smile of pure, grim, malice, Kitty performed the stunt a few more times, taking out about a dozen Sentinels in all, before they again adapted and she had to abandon that particular tactic.

Around her, she could hear the screams of the injured, the dying, could see the bodies fall, smell the blood, hear bones breaking, the wet, tearing sounds that flesh made as it was violently ripped asunder, but she forced herself to ignore it, to shut it all out. Later, if she lived, if any of them lived, there would be time for mourning, time to regret all the lives that would be lost today.

Right now, all she had time to worry about was staying alive long enough to take out as many of these horrors as possible.

In the next moment, though, Kitty realized that her time had just run out.

The ground shook beneath her, and she spared a quick glance in the direction of the Presidential Palace, only to see an image from her worst nightmare. Standing there, only a couple hundred yards away, was the largest Sentinel she had ever laid eyes on. Just as Irene Adler's Diary had predicted.

It was easily forty stories tall, if not more, shaking the ground with every step it took. Almost in slow motion, the monstrosity turned it's head to survey the island, the people running around beneath it appearing as ants scrambling from the destruction of their hill.

Then, it turned again, seeming to look directly at Kitty as it's electronic voice boomed out, so loud that it shattered every window within a mile radius.

"NON-HUMAN ENTITY DETERMINED. EXECUTE."

And with fire shooting from it's eyes, the fulfillment of Destiny's prophecy brought Hell to Genosha.

For at least the tenth time in the last fifteen minutes, Peter checked the gauges lining the Midnight Runner's control panel. And for the fifteenth time, they looked exactly the same. It was all he could do to restrain himself from smashing his fist directly though the middle of them.

Beside him, in the co-pilot's seat, Rhane was fidgeting, just as restless as he was, but there was nothing left for them to do but wait out the trip and hope they would be in time to do some good.

They hadn't even needed to discuss it. Both of them had known, with absolute certainty, that they couldn't sit on Muir Isle and wait when it was almost certain that a massive group of Sentinels was heading toward the country where at least three, and most probably four, of their closest friends in the world were currently located.

Though he would have much rather left her on Muir and come on his own, Peter hadn't been able to dissuade Rhane. She had been adamant, refusing to let him go without her, and he hadn't had the time to waste arguing with her. It wouldn't have done him any good anyway.

Rhane was as immovably stubborn as her mother had been when she set her mind to something.

At least she had agreed, albeit reluctantly, to stay in the plane in the event that they actually did encounter Sentinels. A normal human being, one with no special powers or abilities with which to defend themselves, wouldn't stand a chance against the metal assassins. Even the more powerful mutants could barely hold their own.

Peter only hoped, if Genosha were under attack, that they would arrive in time to aid in some way.

Currently, they were pushing the advanced little aircraft to it's limits, covering hundreds of miles in mere minutes, but both were well aware that it might not be enough. They had been far away, with an entire continent between Muir Island and Genosha. It was more than possible, it was probable, that it would all be over before they even got inside the same time zone as the island nation.

But they didn't care. It made absolutely no difference. They had to try, or they would never be able to live with themselves. If there was anything, anything at all, that they could possibly do, they couldn't stay away, no matter the danger.

As he peered out the Runner's windshield, staring unseeingly at the passing clouds, the faces of his friends swam before Peter's eyes.

Kurt, Logan, Amanda. And, of course, Kitty.

What would he do if they didn't reach them in time? How would he ever be able to live with himself if anything happened to any of them? He had made a horrible mistake by not going with them to Genosha, and now they, as well as he, might pay a terrible price for that mistake.

It was a very real possibility that he would lose his friends, would lose the one woman he loved above all else in the world. It was also a very real possibility that it had already happened. He honestly didn't think he would be able to survive it.

"How much longer, Rhane?"

The young Scots woman glanced over at him, sensing in him the same frustration, the same fear, the same nervous tension and angry impatience that she was feeling herself.

Though she knew that they were moving at unbelievable speed, it felt as if they were sitting still and she wanted to push the plane, kick it, scream at it, do anything that might speed it to their destination.

How much worse must it be for Peter, knowing that Kitty was there and what might be happening to her while they could only wait for the time and the miles to pass? Surely, it must be very near unbearable for him.

Again glancing at the instrument panel in front of her, she took their speed and distance left to travel, calculating the approximate amount of time they had left until they entered Genoshan air space.

"About ten minutes or so, I think." Reaching out, she slipped her hand into his and his fingers immediately curled tightly around hers, almost as if she were his lifeline. "I ken it seems like fore'er, but I have to believe we'll get there in time. Ye need to believe that, too, Peter."

"I am trying, little one." he replied with a sigh. "I am trying."

The two X-Men settled back once more into frustrated, impatient silence, watching the miles tick away much more slowly than either of them wanted, their hearts and minds already miles ahead.

Nightcrawler, Wolverine, and Daytripper emerged on the palace steps, into the middle of chaos and destruction, completely unprepared.

"What the flamin' hell....?!"

"Mein Gott!"

Grabbing his two companions, Nightcrawler teleported just a millisecond before multiple blaster fire hit the spot they'd been standing. They materialized to one side of Magda square and were immediately besieged by Sentinels the likes of which they had never imagined, much less actually seen.

"Amanda, get th' hell outta here! You can't fight these things!" His claws coming out with a soft "snickt", Wolverine reduced the nearest Sentinel to so much scrap metal, even as he called out the warning.

"And go where?!" the sorceress yelled back as she kicked out at something that looked suspiciously like a metal and wire monkey, as it tried to grab at her with slithering metal tentacles. She was unable to do it any damage, but at least she got it off of her. For the moment.

"Where did these things come from?" Kurt asked of no one in particular as he managed to grab the head of one Sentinel, teleporting it several feet away as the body shorted out and crashed to the stone cobbles in a heap.

"Damned if I know." was Logan's reply as he took a blaster hit to the chest that staggered him, but didn't send him down. He promptly dispatched the robot responsible, only to have what seemed to be three more take it's place. "But we're in deep shit here. There's a shit load of these damned things."

"Oh, my God."

Amanda's soft exclamation drew both men's attention and they automatically turned toward her, still fighting, to find her staring in stark horror toward the horizon. It only took a moment to understand why.

The ground vibrated violently as a Sentinel the size of Godzilla strode up to the Presidential Palace, standing almost eye to eye with the spire atop the skyscraper. In the time it took to blink, pulser rays emitted from it's eyes reduced the building to so much rubble and setting fire to everything within the immediate vicinity.

All around them, the already panicked citizen, caught in a scene beyond the worst nightmare they could have imagined, went into complete and total hysterical meltdown, running, screaming, with no order or direction. And the Sentinels were picking them off at the rate of three and four at a time.

"We're all going to die." Amanda said it in an almost conversational tone as her brain completely shut down. She didn't even have the capacity to be afraid. She was far past that, in a place where she was simply numb, taking in everything around her as if watching a movie flicker across a screen.

"No. We are not."

A few feet away, Magneto touched down, having done everything he could to reduce the number of Sentinels that were actually able to land on the island. He had taken out hundreds, but there were hundreds more still left, laying waste to his country and his people.

He was completely and totally drained, running on adrenaline alone, but he would not give up, would not let these things take over, slaughter his people. Not while he still had breath left in his body.

With only a moment's concentration, he managed to send out enough of an electromagnetic pulse to decimate all of the Sentinels within a twenty foot radius of himself and the three X-Men, giving them all enough breathing room, to take better defensive positions for the next wave that was headed toward them as fast as their legs, tentacles, tails, whatever, could carry them

"We are going to fight. And we are going to win." His voice rang with authority, a tone that said he would accept no other possible outcome. "I will not allow these abominations, nor their creators, to destroy what I have built. They. Will. Not. Win."

The last was said through clenched teeth, as the Master of Magnetism regarded his somewhat reluctant allies, even as he blew several more Sentinels into dust. His eyes briefly met Wolverine's, and the two men stared at one another, hostility plainly written on their faces, their posture, for all to see.

There was no love lost between these two men, these two powerful, aggressive personalities, but both knew now was not the time for settling old scores. That could be addressed later, if they any of them were still alive then.

In silent acknowledgment of a tentative truce, both mutants nodded sharply to one another before breaking eye contact and both Nightcrawler and Daytripper breathed a quiet, heartfelt, sigh of relief as they continued fighting for their own lives. Neither of them had any desire to play referee in the middle of a massacre.

All around them, the battle continued to rage as the massive Sentinel drew closer to their position. Most of the crowd had been either removed from Magda Square by now, or were already beyond help. With only a few small, straggling groups left here and there, and the Acolytes and Genoshan soldiers could concentrate on taking out as many of the death machines as possible before they were overwhelmed.

If they did not stop these things, they would simply continue to decimate the city, the whole island, as they searched out and eliminated the entire population. It was obviously a losing battle, but the fighters were giving it everything they had, using various mutant powers as well as more traditional artillery to dispatch their enemy as speedily as possible and with extreme prejudice.

To Amanda's horror, she watched as one of Magneto's guards sliced a Sentinel in half, only to have it reform itself a moment later and return the favor. "Dear God! They're reassembling themselves!"

"Yes." Magneto nodded gravely, dodging flying shrapnel as another robot exploded. "If not damaged sufficiently beyond repair, they seem to reform themselves out of whatever metal parts or machinery is available, including cannibalizing their fallen counterparts for spare parts."

"How in Gott's name are we going to fight something like this? Where did they all come from?" Kurt looked around in horror at the carnage surrounding them and knew it would haunt him for the rest of his life. What kind of monster would purposely cause such an atrocity to be committed against their fellow human beings.

But his mind answered his own question for him. As far as most of the world at large was concerned, mutant's weren't human beings. They were abominations, with no right to exist.

"Th' big one's comin' this way!" Wolverine called out behind him, jerking Kurt's attention back to the present as another familiar figure materialized out of the ground at their feet.

"Kurt!" Kitty called out as she emerged from the cobblestones. She was battered, bloody, bruised, but not seriously injured. Yet. Though she'd barely managed to phase into the ground before being overwhelmed by a dozen or so various animal-like Sentinels. "Catch!"

"Kitty?!" Kurt, Amanda, and Logan all said in surprised unison, even as Kurt snagged the sword his formerly misplaced team mate tossed him out of the air and began using it on the nearest invading metal monster.

"Danke, Katzchen." the demonic looking mutant called to her in thanks, completely in his element as he brandished the sword like the swashbuckler he was, separating Sentinels from their appendages right and left as fast as he could move or teleport.

It didn't escape Wolverine's notice that, although Kitty had taken himself, Amanda, and Kurt by surprise, Magneto didn't appear startled in the least by the appearance of their runaway Shadowcat. There would most definitely, he told himself, be some questions he was going to want answers to when this was over.

"Look, guys. No time for questions and answers right now. We've got people dying out there. If we're alive later, we'll discuss it then." Kitty quickly surveyed her team mates, noting with satisfaction that they seemed unharmed, aside from the same types of minor injuries she, herself, had sustained. It was good to have more help that she knew was well trained and not prone to abject panic at the sight of a Sentinel the size of Mount Rushmore.

But Amanda's presence in this melee concerned her.

A gout of flame suddenly poured down from the sky as Lockheed dove toward them, melting several Sentinels - ones that had gotten a little too close to his mistress for comfort - into little puddles of soggy metal, swooping and diving as he did so, dodging blaster fire and snaking projectiles being hurled at him by the Sentinels below.

"Amanda," Kitty turned to the sorceress next, assisting the other woman in doing away with a particularly tenacious Sentinel that was trying to wrap the other woman up in a catch net. "get the hell outta here. You can't fight these metal monsters. You're just gonna get killed."

"I can't do that. I won't leave the rest of you here to die." Amanda looked the younger woman over carefully - between time spent kicking at and dodging Sentinels, nets, and blaster fire - her bright blue eyes settling on the Beatrice Amulet, hanging from it's chain around her friend's neck. She could feel the evil, the malevolence emanating from the thing. As she'd suspected, the amulet was the real threat, not the Soulsword. "Give me the Amulet, Kitty. It's dangerous."

She said it calmly, though all her instincts screamed at her to reach out and snatch it away from Shadowcat, to get it as far away from the other girl as possible. But she couldn't do that. In fact, she doubted she'd even be able to touch it if Kitty didn't want her to. She would have to give it over of her own free will, and Amanda didn't really have any illusions about the odds of that happening.

"But, then, you already know that, don't you?" Kitty regarded her silently for a moment, their eyes meeting very briefly, but it showed Daytripper everything that she needed to know, everything that she'd been afraid of. "You have to get rid of it."

Almost immediately, Kitty's eyes flared bright red as her hand moved up to cover the amulet. "I don't think so."

She said it flatly, almost menacingly, and Amanda fought the urge to backpedal, to put distance between herself and this person she was fairly sure wasn't exactly their friend anymore. Logan must have sensed it too, because Amanda saw him begin to turn, his nostril's flaring as he caught Kitty's scent.

"Kitty, give it to me. Now." Amanda said firmly, hoping she wasn't signing her own death warrant as she stared back at the other girl defiantly.

"No. Not going to happen. Now, if you want to live, get out of here." When the sorceress held her ground, not moving Kitty only shrugged, her face suddenly hard, cold, flat, as she pressed her other katana into Amanda's hand. "Fine. Die then."

Without another word, and with absolutely no further warning, Kitty began to phase back into the ground, calling out to Magneto as she did. "Throw a shield up if you can. I'm going after the big one."

"Kitty, what th' hell...?"

Wolverine turned, even as Amanda realized what the young woman had in mind. "NO! Logan, stop her! Grab the amulet!"

Though she knew it would be nearly impossible for him to take it away from her, it was the only chance they had. At Amanda's command, Logan lunged for Kitty, but it was too late. His hands slipped through her and she was gone.

"What is going on here?" Erik Lensherr demanded of no one in particular, even as he acted on Kitty's request and threw an electromagnetic shield up around them and everyone else that was within his reach. Unfortunately, in shielding the people, it also brought quite a few Sentinels in with them.

"No time to explain, Herr Magneto." Kurt replied as he began hacking away at the nearest mutant-killing machine. "Just do as she said. And, if you believe in God, I suggest you pray."

It had, Wolverine realized, been only mere moments since they'd materialized in Magda square, but it seemed more like an eternity. As he began ripping into Sentinels left and right, his claws reducing them to so much junk, damaging them severely enough that they couldn't reform themselves, he tried to scan the commons, looking for Kitty.

He finally caught sight of her, farther to their left, near what appeared to be a group of children who hadn't been able to make it to cover, the Acolytes who'd been trying to help them lying dead and mutilated all around.

And looming over them, the massive, skyscraper sized Sentinel, the one that he hadn't even noticed passing them by, charged it's blasters up and prepared to fire.

"Oh...my dear Lord."

Though the words were whispered quietly, the underlying tone of incredulous horror in Rhane's soft voice snapped Peter quickly out of his daydreams and back into reality.

It only took one, short look at the scene in front of him to know what had put that ring of stunned terror into the former Were-girl's words.

They had arrived in Genosha and the entire city of Hammer Bay appeared to be going up in flames.

Even at a distance, they could see the toppled, broken buildings, the thick, black smoke rising in wide columns from the charred ruins of the once beautiful capitol city. And at least one Sentinel that was taller than anything else on the entire island nation, striding through the ruins like something out of a late night horror movie, blasting anything that moved and a lot of things that didn't.

The two X-Men only gaped for a second, however, before their training kicked in and they immediately got down to the business at hand, which was to figure out, as quickly as possible, what the hell was going on.

Hitting a sequence of buttons on the control panel, Peter called up the Runner's long range scanners, focusing on the area around the Presidential Palace and Magda Square – or what was left of it - as he scanned for signs of survivors among the rubble.

As the images coalesced on the screen, both seasoned fighters looking on blanched dead white, Rhane's complexion holding a distinctly green tinge as well.

The only words Peter had to describe the scene was carnage and ruin. There were bodies everywhere, littering the ground like so many discarded bundles of rags. Men, women, children, every age, gender, and race, none of it seemed to make any difference to the killing machines that had been sent to slaughter all these innocents.

It gave him only very slight gratification to see the remains of nearly as many Sentinels littering the ground around, in, and on Magda square. And more were falling as the battle raged on.

Peter was hard pressed to make any identifications among the fighters, they were too far away and moving too swiftly, too chaotically to keep track of. But at least there were still people alive down there. People who needed all the help they could get.

Fear and dread, at what he might find once he was on the ground, warred with rage and fury for emotional supremacy as the large man turned to his companion.

"Get me as close as you can, Rhane. As soon as I am clear, get out of here and wait for my signal. If you do not hear from me within half an hour, contact Storm and her team. Tell them what has happened."

Though everything in her wanted to argue with the large Russian, Rhane forced herself to nod, taking the controls of the Midnight Runner as they banked, preparing to make a low pass over Magda Square.

As badly as she wanted to go with him, as much as her heart was screaming out at the atrocities being perpetrated below, crying for vengeance, the Scot's girl knew she would be no match for the killing machines wreaking havoc beneath them. Without her shape-shifting powers, she had no more strength than any normal human and could never stand up against these strange, brutal Sentinels.

Taking his place at the drop hatch, Peter triggered the transformation to his metal changeform with the speed of thought, the solid black version of his formerly gold and red costume instantly adjusting to accommodate the changes as the young man immediately gained height, mass, and incredible strength. He had an idea he would need every bit of it before he was through.

"Get close to the big one, Rhane. I will try to take it out on my way down."

Rhane blinked at him uncomprehendingly, but did as he asked, taking position in a hover about a half mile above the massive Sentinel that was looming over a terrified group of what appeared to be civilians.

Before she could guide the sleek craft any lower, Peter hit the switch that lowered the drop hatch, preparing to step out.

"Peter! Are ye daft, boy?! Ye cann'a fly! I need to get lower."

"No. This is fine. I do not want to waste any more time." he replied firmly, then actually allowed himself a small smile as he moved forward. "I may not be able to fly, but I can land with the best of them."

Before she could say another word, Colossus stepped out of the plane, hurtling toward the ground, and the massive Sentinel, below.

She'd tried everything she knew to take the massive Sentinel down. Phased through it. The thing hadn't even staggered. Phased objects into it. The monster didn't even notice. Attempted to phase parts of it, namely it's leg, off of it's body. It had given her a jolt of electricity strong enough to light up Chicago.

Kitty had even, stupidly, tried to have a go at it in hand to hand combat. Very, very stupid idea. She'd barely been able to phase in time to keep it from smashing her into the ground so deep, she would have come out in the next galaxy.

All she had really succeeded in doing was giving it a target to focus on while the children and civilians sought safety, if there even was such a thing at this point. She was tiring. She knew it, and she had every idea that the thing hunting her knew it, too.

Almost as if they knew she didn't have a prayer, the smaller Sentinels weren't even bothering with her, leaving their big brother to do with her as it pleased. If she could only keep it busy until all of the children were out of the way.

Kitty dropped to the ground, rolling away barely in time to avoid a catch net, quickly followed by a wide beam of blaster fire that sent chunks of rock and earth spewing into the air. Behind her, she could hear the screams of the children, and the adults that were trying to get them to cover, but there was nothing she could do to help them, other than what she was already doing. She doubted there was anything she could do to help herself, for that matter.

The massive robot stopped, looked down at her and, again, began spewing out the only line it knew, nearly rupturing her eardrums.

"NON-HUMAN ENTITY DETERMINED. EXECUTE."

With a growl of rage, Kitty sprang to her feet, whirling to face the monstrosity, her face red as she began screaming at it. "I am a hell of a lot more human than you'll damn well ever be you piece of shit, over grown, fucking, pitiful excuse for a tin can!"

It didn't do her any good, of course, but it made her feel a damn sight better, and she charged at the thing full tilt, planning to try her hand one more time at phasing it into small, kickable pieces. She was sick to death of these damned things and one of them had to be put out of their misery. Right now, Kitty really didn't care if it was her or the Sentinel.

But, in the next moment, before she could reach her target, it was as if everything was suddenly moving in slow motion as half a dozen things all happened at once.

The Sentinel began charging up, preparing to deliver her a killing jolt as soon as she touched it. Kitty could feel the hairs on her head, arms, and the back of her neck, trying to stand on end as the voltage built, but her momentum was too great. She wasn't going to be able to stop before she hit the thing.

A noise above her caught not only her attention, but the attention of the metal giant before her and they both looked up in time to see a sleek, black aircraft drop into a hover pattern directly overhead.

Kitty stared, blinked, and stared some more, trying to tell herself that she couldn't possibly be seeing what she believed she was seeing. What the hell was the Midnight Runner doing here?

A few feet away, having removed himself from Magneto's shield, Logan was fighting his way towards her, taking out Sentinels left and right in a furious effort to come to her aid against the monster that only required a split second to decided that the aircraft was a negligible threat and was turning back to Kitty, moving in for the kill.

Behind her, from the general direction of the building the last group of civilians had ran into, seeking shelter, someone screamed out her name, in a voice that was oddly familiar, but that she couldn't readily place. While, at almost the exact same instant, a strong hand grabbed her arm, jerking her to the side a split second before she would have connected with the electrified Sentinel.

Before she could even turn to see who it was, her eyes were once again drawn upward, as a familiar shape covered in organic steel and black body armor dropped like a stone - or a huge, stubborn, solid metal mutant - out of the Midnight Runner and straight down toward the massive Sentinel, gathering speed at an incredible rate as he fell. He hit the steel giant on one shoulder, with such force that a sonic boom reverberated over the square, as the metal monster staggered, then quietly toppled over in a shower of sparks, burning wires, and frying circuits.

"Peter!"

Forgetting everything else, Kitty lunged toward the fallen Sentinel, which now was only so much scrap metal, her only thought being to get to Peter, to make sure he was all right, or at least alive. He'd impacted that thing with the force of a mountain, but the Sentinel had been fully charged, prepared to electrocute her on contact. God alone only knew what that might have done to Colossus.

It was only when she was brought up short with a violent jerk that she realized someone still had her by the arm.

She spun around, jerking her arm at the same time, trying to dislodge herself, but the grip was like iron and she couldn't break it. That was bad enough, but things only got worse as she came face to face with the owner of the hand that held her.

"Vargas." Shadowcat's voice showed not even the slightest hint of surprise as the two stared at one another, hostility rolling off the X-woman in waves as her eyes narrowed dangerously.

The strange man stood there, casually dressed, looking as if he was simply out for an afternoon stroll, completely unpreterbed by either the hell raging all around them, or by Kitty's obvious rage. And nothing, not one single Sentinel, approached within ten feet of where they stood.

"Enough of this, child. It is time you come with me and I will brook no opposition this time. If you stay here, you will surely die. And that, I cannot allow."

Kitty knew she must be gaping at him. Who, or what, the hell did he think he was? Did he seriously believe he could just walk in here, grab her, and drag her out, leaving her friends and all these people to die? He must be insane.

Bracing herself, Shadowcat prepared to fight the man. She didn't have time for this and she was certainly not going to allow him to do to her now what he had done before. For the moment, her soul, and her body, was still her own. At least mostly.

But, again, her attention was diverted, as someone, the same voice she'd heard before, yelled out her name. Again, she turned, feeling like a pinwheel, being spun in all directions at once, and all the blood drained down into her feet as she recognized the man rushing toward her across the Square.

Oh, God! NO! NO! Not now!

"Daddy!?"

Carmen Pryde, looking much as he had the last time Kitty had seen him over seven years ago, was sprinting toward her, leaving the relative safety of the building he'd been hiding in - along with about two dozen others who'd been evacuated from the square when the fighting started – and flying headlong into the thick of the battle that was still raging full tilt around them.

Kitty's brain went into overload, unable to handle the rapid fire succession of events she'd been slammed with in the last ninety seconds. Her friends were still fighting, maybe dying, and they needed her help. Peter was somewhere near that damned Godzilla Sentinel, probably injured, maybe severely. Her father, who had no way to protect himself, and who wasn't even supposed to be in Hammer Bay until tomorrow, was dashing heedlessly into the thick of the fighting in an effort to reach her. And this damned Vargas was just standing here, holding onto her as if he owned her, refusing to let her go so that she could help her friends and loved ones.

It was all too much and her rational mind just shut down, leaving her with only rage and instinct. And her instincts were telling her to free herself, whatever the cost.

With a feral scream that would have rivaled anything Logan could have produced, Kitty flew at Vargas, clawing, scratching, biting, kicking, punching, struggling violently to free herself, though she had no plans as to what she would do once that occurred.

If she'd been in her right mind, however, it would have soon become apparent to her that her efforts were having absolutely no effect on the man. He simply stood there, not even seeming to feel the blows that she rained on him, apparently sustaining no damage from her attack, as he simply continued to hold her arm tightly in his grip.

But Kitty only came back to her senses, at least partially, when her father reached them, the middle aged, balding, overweight man throwing himself bodily at Kitty's captor. She didn't even have time to shout out a warning before Vargas' arm flew out and, with seemingly very little effort, sent Carmen Pryde flying backwards with such force that Kitty heard the distinctive crack as several of his ribs broke.

"DADDY! NO!"

Someone was screaming, nearly hysterically, and Kitty slowly realized that it was her as she watched her father crash into a knot of animal-like Sentinels, toppling them over on impact. Later, Kitty would realize that he wouldn't even have had time to feel his injuries before the nearest Sentinel turned to him and, for all intents and purposes, vaporized him into atoms before his daughter's horrified eyes.

Then she was falling, that scream still ringing in her ears as she dimly registered, almost as if it weren't even her, that Vargas was no longer holding her. She was free, but she couldn't move. She could only curl up on the ground and scream as her mind slowly began to unravel.

Peter had only been stunned for the space of a few moments. He hadn't expected that hitting the Sentinel would be like dropping face first into an electrical substation and it had taken him by surprise.

He wasn't injured, at least not seriously, but he had been dazed. By the time he'd regained his senses, it had already been too late.

As soon as he was able, he stood, surveying the scene around him, realizing that it was even worse, seeing it up close and in person, than it had been on the scanner screen, though he wasn't really sure how that was possible.

In his peripheral vision, Colossus was vaguely aware of the battle raging around him, as Acolytes continued to battle the mass of Sentinels still wreaking havoc on Genosha. Some of them he recognized, from his time with Magneto, other's were strangers to him. But they were all fighting with everything that they had in them.

Almost absently, he registered the presence of Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Daytripper, the former slowly working his way toward Peter's position, clawing and slicing his way through whatever got in his way, as the two latter seemed to be using Kitty's katanas to dismantle the enemy, with Nightcrawler occasionally teleporting parts of the killer robots away to various points around the Square.

And, of course, there was Magneto, in the thick of the fray, keeping a shield up around a group of civilians, trying to protect them from the death machines trying to force their way in. Even from this distance, it was obvious to Peter that the man was exhausted, working on adrenaline and sheer force of will alone. He wouldn't be able to hold that shield much longer.

But the majority of his attention had quickly focused on Kitty herself, as she struggled against a man who seemed to hold her in an unbreakable grip. Peter Rasputin had immediately known something was terribly wrong, that she was in terrible danger. Not from the Sentinels all around them, though there was that, too, but from the man who was, inexplicably, holding her captive.

He had no idea how he knew this, but he knew it just the same. Without hesitation, the Russian behemoth launched himself at the man, covering ground with surprising speed, considering his formidable size. But he hadn't been quick enough to save Kitty's father.

Before he'd closed even half the distance, he saw a sight that nearly froze him in place in absolute shock. Kitty's father, Carmen Pryde, came flying out of one of the nearby buildings, his expression one of abject terror, yelling his daughter's name and launching himself at her attacker as Kitty herself began to fight the man like a tigress.

Though he pushed himself as hard as he could, Peter reached the scene a split second too late. He watched in stunned horror as Kitty let out a scream that froze his blood and stood his hair one end, while her father went flying at what appeared, to his perceptions, a slight blow from the man that held her. In the next split second, Carmen Pryde was gone, reduced to so much dust by the Sentinels he'd crashed into, even as his death cry still rang in the air.

Less than a millisecond later, Peter slammed into the man that held Kitty, hitting him as hard as he could, not holding back as he normally would against a human foe. Something told him, instinctively, that this man was far more than what he appeared. And that he was very dangerous. Especially to Kitty.

Based on what he'd just seen, he'd been expecting more than a little resistance from the tall, foreign looking stranger. But, to his stunned surprise, he encountered none at all. In fact, as soon as he touched him, the odd man let out a howl of mingled pain and rage the likes of which Peter had never heard, a sound that rivaled the wail of torment that Kitty was still emitting from her position on the ground, curled up in a ball where she had fallen.

And then, things got really strange.

The two men slammed into the ground and Peter lost his grip on the stranger as the man scrambled away from him, his face contorted in rage, but also in fear and no little amount of pain. Before Peter could even gain his feet again, the man shot him a look that should have reduced him to slag on the spot, his eyes glowing a bright, hellish red.

Then, he simply vanished, like so much smoke, leaving no trace that he'd ever been there to begin with.

She had retreated far into her own mind, shutting out the pain, shutting out the fear, the horror, the mind numbing grief. If she didn't she would fly to pieces. There was no way she would be able to hold up under it. The weight of it was too great and there wasn't enough strength left in her.

Dimly, she was aware of the on-going sounds of battle, of the screams of the injured, the dying, the sound of small artillery fire accompanied by the louder boom of blaster fire and various explosive energy discharges by the more powerful Acolytes.

There was also the vague impression of cool stone next to her skin, of the warmth of sunlight pouring down on her, the smell of broken earth, blood, charred human flesh, burning metal, wires, and circuitry, all of it mixing together into one strange, incongruous scent that stung her nose and eyes.

And there was someone calling her name as well. A voice that she knew, the touch of a hand as familiar to her as her own.

But it was all so far away, so dim and inconsequential. She was safe here. Nothing could touch her. Nothing could hurt her anymore. As long as she stayed right here, everything was peaceful and nothing bad could happen.

No one would be dead, no one would be injured, there wouldn't be monsters hunting her and the people she loved. There wouldn't be any dead children lying on the ground like broken dolls. Her father......

None of it would be real.

If she wished for it hard enough, told herself often enough, refused to acknowledge it, then it couldn't be real. None of it would be real and the world would be right again. And everyone she loved would be ok.

But she should have known it wouldn't let her rest, wouldn't let her have a moment of peace. It never did.

It was coming. She could see it, could feel it. A pinpoint of light that grew steadily brighter. A soft, whispering voice that grew steadily louder, more insistent. It knew she was weak, that she couldn't fight it this time. It was coming for her.

Then it was there, looking at her, forcing her to look at it, forcing her to pay attention, to listen, when she didn't want to. All she wanted to do was sleep. Sleep and never wake up.

The Soulsword had other ideas.

You must wake up.

Go away!

I cannot. You must wake up, or all is lost.

I don't care. Leave me alone.

If you do not wake up, you will die. Everyone you love will die.

They already have.

No. They have not. Peter is not dead. He is with you, even now. But he will die if you do nothing. Is that what you want?

NO!.... No. But what can I do? I fight and fight, but they just keep coming. I can't stop them.

I can help you, but you must call me. Neither of us can do it alone.

I can't do that. You know I can't do that.

Then all is lost. Even now, they are being overwhelmed. The older one, the one who is both your friend and your enemy, is failing. Soon, his shields will fall, and so will he. And with him, all those he protects.

But, there's too many. I can't beat them all. I can't.

You can. We can. The blue one, and the one who possesses magic, they are surrounded. They cannot fight much longer. He is tired. Too tired to transport away. And she will not leave him. Soon, they, too, will fall.

I can't. I just can't. I'm afraid.

I know you are, but you need not be. I will help you.

No. You won't. You're just trying to trick me, trying to use me. As you used Illyana.

Think of Peter. He will not leave you. He will defend you with his dying breath. If you do not wake up, he will lose his life trying to protect you.

No. Please....no. Not Peter. I couldn't stand it.

Then wake up and call to me. All will be well. I promise.

If I do, if I call you to me, if we stop the Sentinels, will you take me away then? Away where I can't hurt them? And will you promise to leave them alone? Will you promise to leave Peter alone?

Yes. If that is what you wish. But it is not necessary.....

But you'll do it? You'll promise me that?

Yes.

The first thing she was aware of was Peter deep, accented voice, calling her name. As her eyelids fluttered open, she looked up into his handsome face, seeing the fear, the worry, and, finally, the immense relief there as she awoke.

He was holding her tightly in his arms, and it felt so right, so comforting, to be close to him again. God, how she'd missed him, even though it had only been a few days.

"How long was I out?"

"Only a moment." he replied, holding her a little tighter against his chest as a flood of relief washed through him, so strong that it nearly brought the large man to his knees. "I was afraid that you were not going to wake up. Are you all right?"

Kitty nodded, blocking out everything else around her except for him. She couldn't let the horror touch her again, couldn't let herself think about it, or about what she had to do. They only had a few, precious seconds before she had to act, and she didn't want to waste them on fear, or worry, or grief.

"I'm ok." Reaching up, she gently caressed his cheek, smiling as he leaned into her touch. "How about you? That was quite a stunt you pulled. And why aren't you armored up? We're still covered in Sentinel's here, in case you haven't noticed."

But, almost as she said it, Kitty noticed that it wasn't exactly an accurate statement. True, there were dozens of Sentinels around them, and the battle raged on just as fiercely as before, but there were none of the mutant killers in their immediate vicinity. They seemed to be treating her, and Peter, as if they didn't even exist.

And, with sudden clarity, Kitty knew that the Soulsword was responsible, that it was giving her these last few moments to prepare herself, to say good bye.

His forehead creased in puzzlement, Peter looked around them, then back down at her, shrugging his shoulders almost imperceptibly, so as not to jostle her. "It appears they are ignoring us for the moment. Though, I am sure it will not last."

"No." she replied sadly. "I'm sure it won't. Are you really ok, Peter?"

"Da. The jolt the Sentinel gave me only stunned me for a moment, but that is all. I am fine." And then his gaze came back to her face, his beautiful blue eyes filling with such pain and sorrow that she could hardly stand it . "Katya, I am so sorry....your father....I tried....."

Kitty shook her head violently, closing her eyes against the image that rose up at his words, pushing it back down, out of sight. She would deal with it later. She wasn't capable right now. "I know. But...I can't talk about it. Not now. Not without falling apart." Laying her head against his shoulder, Kitty twisted slightly in his grasp, slipping her arms around his neck. "I love you. You know that, don't you?"

"I know. I love you as well." Lowering his dark head, he kissed her gently, with such tenderness, that it made her want to weep. But she knew she didn't have time for such an indulgence. Once she stared, she doubted she'd be able to stop and there was too much left to do.

When they parted, she motioned for him to set her back onto her own two feet. He seemed somewhat reluctant to do so, but finally he did as she asked, lowering her carefully to the ground. As soon as he did so, it seemed that all of the noises, the sounds of battle around them that had been muted until now, came washing over her in a loud, chaotic rush.

But she didn't let it bother her. Kitty knew what she had to do, knew how it would all end, and she wasn't worried anymore. She was no longer afraid of what would happen to her.

As Peter watched her, his expression slightly confused, she stepped back from him, just out of his reach. That was how it had to be. What she had left to do, he couldn't help her with, though she knew he would want to try. But, in this, she was alone.

Around her, on the periphery of her consciousness, she was aware of everything that was happening in the battle, as if she were hovering above, looking down on it all from a great height.

She saw Kurt and Amanda, exhausted, bleeding, near collapse, backed against a crumbled wall of the Presidential Palace, fighting fiercely with the Sentinels that were closing in on them. She saw Magneto, his strength nearly exhausted, as he fought to maintain his steadily weakening shield, the only thing between himself, almost a hundred civilians, and over three dozen Sentinels, steadily, tirelessly, smashing against his defenses.

Kitty saw the remaining Acolytes, battered, bleeding, broken, still fighting with every ounce of strength they had left to keep the Sentinels away from the people hiding in the surrounding buildings. It was a battle they knew they were losing, but they refused to give up. They would fight as long as they drew breath.

Then, there was Wolverine, slowly, steadily, slashing and slicing his way across the commons, toward her and Peter, trying to reach them, trying to reach her. She knew she couldn't let him do that. Not this time.

And there was Rhane, hovering high above them, hidden in the clouds, waiting for word from Peter, terrified that neither he, nor any of the rest of her friends, would make it out alive. Kitty was determined that they would, whatever the cost to her, personally.

There was the massive, monster Sentinel, the one that Peter had thought he'd put out of commission. But which, in reality, was now resetting itself. Even as the the knowledge came to her, she saw it sit up, preparing to get to it's feet, to continue it's rampage of death and destruction.

Lastly, there was Lockheed, flying high overhead, tired, battered, but still going, trying to lay enough cover fire to give Amanda and Kurt a chance to escape their precarious position. It wouldn't be enough, but he was giving it all he had.

All these things, all this knowledge, came to her in an instant and she accepted it, tucked it away. Just as she'd tucked away all her feelings, all the grief, and the tears, and the fear, and the heartache. She would take them out later, if there was a later, and deal with them then.

Right now, she had more important things to do.

And Kitty knew it was time.

"Peter, will you do something for me?"

"Of course, Katya. What is it?" He was still watching her, confused, knowing that something wasn't quite right, that something was happening, but not knowing what it might be, or what he could, or should, do about it. Better that he not know until he had to.

"Call my mother. Tell her what happened to my father. Tell her that I love her."

Now, his confusion was replaced by concern and he took a step toward her, reaching out his hand to her. "Katya? I do not understand. Of course, I will, but should you not talk with her yourself?"

"I wont' be able to. I would if I could." Despite her intentions, Kitty couldn't stop the tears that began to silently slip down her cheeks as she took another step back from him, her eyes never leaving his. "I love you, Peter. I always will. Please remember that. Now, armor up, because I'm not sure what's going to happen." Then, almost as an afterthought, she smiled a little, though the tears kept flowing. "And, please, take care of Lockheed for me. He'll need you."

Peter's expression turned from puzzled concern to one of shock and he opened his mouth to speak, started toward her in earnest this time, fear for her lending him speed. But Kitty neither saw, nor heard him any longer. Closing her eyes, she concentrated, picturing the Soulsword, glowing brightly amidst it's pure, white light.

And she said the words she'd been fighting for months.

I call you to me. I take you up. Of my own choice and of my own free will.

When she opened her eyes, it was there, waiting for her. Immediately, she reached out for it, vaguely aware of Peter, shouting at her, of Logan redoubling his efforts to reach her, of Amanda, screaming something from across the commons, of Kurt, summoning strength born of a panic more fierce than even the Sentinels could engender, teleporting himself and Amanda, knowing he was coming to her. And of Lockheed, turning and flying at her as fast as he could go, screeching in fear and anguish. But none of it mattered. It was as good as done.

Kitty stretched out her hand, her fingers curling around the Soulsword, the hilt molding perfectly to her palm, making it a part of her, bonding with it totally and completely, holding nothing back, opening herself to the power that was flowing through and around her. The sheer scope of it was unlike anything she had ever imagined.

It poured into her, filling her with a bright, white light, with a power that went beyond the human language's ability to describe it, that was so far beyond her comprehension that she wondered at being able to contain it all without it flowing from her like water. And in her mind, in her heart, the power of the Soulsword sang to her.

As she opened her eyes, felt herself lifting high into the air on wings of incandescent light, Kitty heard the song echoed back to her from two different directions, felt the pure, raw energy flowing from her very pores.

And she wondered, briefly, absently, if this was how Rachel felt when she became the Phoenix.

As he finally realized what she was about to do, Peter yelled out her name, triggering his changeform even as he lunged toward her. But he quickly found that he couldn't get within arm's reach of where she stood. It was as if a barrier, a shield, had gone up around her, preventing anyone from interfering in what was happening.

He heard Amanda scream out and he believed she was talking to him, saying something about an amulet, but there was nothing he could do.

Peter could only watch helplessly as Kitty called the Soulsword to her, reaching out as it appeared in front of her, taking it up, bonding it to her.

He watched as her eyes began to glow, red at first, then changing to an incandescent white as she was engulfed in a radiant light. It would have been beautiful had he not known that she had just sacrificed her own soul to save their lives.

Yes, he knew exactly why she had done it, just as he had known the man who had accosted her earlier had been far more than he appeared. And Peter would have rather laid down his own life than for her to do this.

Beside him, Kurt and Amanda appeared in a cloud of smoke and sulfur, leaping for Kitty and encountering the same barrier as Peter, spouting a stream of what the younger man was sure were curses in German as the blue furred mutant and the former Queen of Limbo pushed against the invisible shield.

Logan reached them a moment later, also crashing against the unseen wall, as Kitty began to rise into the air on what could only be described as wings of light, her long, chestnut hair billowing out around her in a silky cloud. And all around them, the Sentinels, including the large one, the one that Peter hadn't even realized had reactivated only a few feet behind him, stopped what they were doing and came to a complete standstill.

As if they were answering a call only they could hear or understand, they robots turned as one, looking directly at Kitty. Peter felt a sharp, bright stab of fear as he understood what was happening and prayed that he was wrong. But, in his heart, he knew that he wasn't.

Somehow, Kitty was calling them to her, giving them a target so tempting that they couldn't resist it. She was luring them to their destruction. Most likely, at the cost of her own life. At the very least, at the cost of her soul.

Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the barrier vanished and Logan charged toward Kitty, claws extended, lunging for her, but he simply passed through her, falling to his knees on the cobblestones as they all watched her ascend. And with her, the Sentinels, their rockets firing as they propelled themselves upward. Moths, drawn to the flame.

Almost as one, the dozens and dozens of mutant hunters that were still functional took to the air, following the glowing girl holding the sword. For a long moment, Kitty seemed to hover, high above, as, below her, those who loved her could only watch in helpless horror, waiting for the end.

She hung there, biding her time, as the Sentinels closed on her, seemingly unafraid, her face peaceful, serene. And Peter thought to himself that, regardless of what evil the Soulsword might possess, Kitty looked like nothing so much as an angel at that moment.

Strangely, that made him think of Illyana, of the way Rhane had described her at the end of Inferno, an angel of light, sacrificing herself to save those she loved. And he understood that Kitty was doing the same, was making the only choice that she could. But it didn't stop his heart from breaking as he watched it happen.

When the Sentinels were only a few feet from her, when her death seemed imminent, the light surrounding Kitty suddenly pulsed so brightly that all on the ground were temporarily blinded, forced to shield their eyes from the glow that seemed to rival the heart of a star.

There was no sound, no explosions, no crash. Nothing at all. Just light and silence.

When their eyes cleared, when they were able to see again, those left on the ground looked up to where Kitty had been, but she was gone. And so were the Sentinels. The sky was completely clear, except for a fine, powdery dust that seemed to be falling all around them.

Holding out his hand, Peter caught a few of the tiny grains, bringing them close to his face, studying them closely, curiously. Instead of dust, he found the powdery residue to be fine, powdery, flakes of metal. The Sentinels had disintegrated, reduced to nothing more than powder, without even the slightest noise to mark their passing.

What kind of power, what level of force, would it take to do such a thing? But the question was redundant. Peter knew the kind of power it would take, had seen it happen before, with horrible, tragic consequences.

Until now, he had believed, they had all believed, that there was only one force in the universe capable of something of this magnitude. Obviously, they had been very wrong. The thought was staggering. And terrifying.

The world came rushing back then, as Peter realized that Kitty was gone. Permanently. He would never see her again. Whether she was dead or alive, she would never again be the girl, the woman, he had known. The pain that thought brought with it was so powerful that it took his legs from under him and he sat down hard on the battered cobblestones of Magda Square, not even noticing when Lockheed, distraught and grief-stricken, landed on his shoulder and wrapped himself miserably around Peter's neck, whimpering softly.

A few feet away, Logan had evidently come to the same conclusion as his Russian team mate. The girl who was like his own child was gone, lost to them. He had failed her. When she had needed him most, he wasn't there to help her.

The feral mutant stared up into the sky, his eyes locked onto the last place Kitty had been, staring at it as if he could bring her back with nothing more than the force of his will alone. Still kneeling on the hard stone, eyes clamping shut as tears coursed down his cheeks, face twisted in a mask of grief, the Wolverine let out a howl of rage and pain the likes of which no living person there had ever heard, the eerie sound echoing through the rubble and destruction that had once been Genosha's capital city of Hammer Bay, seeming to repeat endlessly into the now silent day.

Rachel Summers exited the Liberal Arts building, heading the back way, across the soccer field, to her next class, which happened to be one of her favorites. Advance Fashion Design.

Who would have ever thought that she'd not only like to wear and shop for clothes, but design and make them as well? It had definitely been a surprise to her.

As a warm, breeze brushed over her, gently lifting her long, flame red, tresses to dance around her face, she laughed lightly, her green eyes sparkling. She loved California, loved the perpetually sunny, cheerful weather, loved the little college with it's interesting classes and neat little dorms, loved the other students, who had been so nice to her, who had gone out of their way to make friends with her.

Rachel even loved being out here, on her own, for the first time in her life. It had been so long, so many years, since she could say that she was happy, but she could say it now. And she could mean it.

There was only one thing missing, only one other thing that could have made it perfect. But that would come in time. It wouldn't be much longer now. It couldn't.

Carefully, she stepped onto the bright, fresh, green grass of the soccer field, making her way across it's width toward the low, sprawling building only a few hundred feet away.

The carpet of close-cropped blades was soft and springy under her feet, and she stopped near the middle of the field, kicking off her flat-heeled shoes to sink her toes briefly into the moist, cool grass, smiling to herself. She even loved this grass.

She was still smiling when the soft call came to her, brushing at the edges of her mind, and she went very still, cocking her head slightly to one side, as if listening to a voice only she could hear, her smile widening.

After a moment, she closed her eyes, happily summoning the force of nature that was as familiar to her as her own name.

When it came to her, she embraced it wholeheartedly as she suddenly seemed to be wreathed in fire. The time had come more quickly than she had expected, but she didn't mind.

The corona of golden-red light seemed to blaze up from within her, surrounding her shapely frame as it slowly formed into a bright, glowing bird of pure, cosmic, energy and power.

Raising her face toward the sky, the reborn Phoenix took to the air.

Opening her refrigerator door, Illyana Rasputin stood there, cold air wafting over her as she pushed at stray lock of golden blonde hair that was tickling her nose and stared morosely into her icebox.

It was dinner time, and she had no idea what she wanted, so she'd decided to simply stand here and stare at the contents of her refrigerator until something jumped out at her.

Though, considering that she hadn't cleaned the darn thing out in a while, maybe "jump out at" wasn't the best turn of a phrase. From the looks of the contents of a couple of containers, that might be a very real possibility. Some of it seemed to have attained sentient life.

The habit of prolonged refrigerator perusal had been with her since childhood, and her brother used to chide her for it constantly, but she just couldn't seem to stop doing it. After all, how was she supposed to know what she wanted if she couldn't see it?

Peter had never quite seen the logic in that question, but it seemed imminently sensible to her.

The last few days, it seemed she'd been thinking of him almost constantly, but she really shouldn't be surprised, under the circumstances. The time was quickly approaching when she would return home again, would revisit the places where his memory was so strong.

At least, she hoped she would.

As she often did, Illyana wondered how things were in the world she had left, how things might have changed, what might have stayed the same. Just as she wondered about Kitty, the girl who had been closer to a sister to her than she was a mere friend. She was anxious to see how her friend had fared, to see what kind of woman she had become.

If she could have, she would have kept a check on her, but her magic didn't work that way. Though scrying spells were simple enough, they couldn't reach between dimensions, at least they couldn't right now. So, for the last seven years, she'd been completely cut off, by her own choice, from the world she used to know.

She missed them all, Kitty, the survivinig X-Men, the New Mutants, had missed them for a very long time, but what she'd done had been for the best. There were things she'd had to come to terms with, things she'd had to learn, and she'd needed the time and space to do that.

So many things she'd believed to be true had turned out to be completely wrong, and the young Russian woman had not had an easy time of it, of dealing with the fact that nearly everything that she'd believed about herself, that almost everything she'd been told, since she'd been a small child, had all been a lie.

In those last moments of Inferno, the entire foundation of her life, everything that she'd believed to be true about herself from the time she was six years old, had been knocked out from under her. Now, looking back, she couldn't understand why she hadn't seen it all along, hadn't understood what was happening and why. It was hard for her to believe that she'd almost let the lies, the deception, destroy her and everyone that she loved.

Of course, that had been his plan all along. To plant the seeds of distrust, deception, and fear. To tear the circle apart from within, so that it would never be able to reform. He had succeeded before, many times, over many, many years. Had very nearly succeeded then and might yet, still, depending upon what happened in the near future. But, to a large extent, it was out of her hands, now.

She had left to fight her personal battle, her personal demons, and she'd had to do it alone. The others would have to do the same. In the end, each one was alone, each one would have to face the worst within themselves and overcome it, would have to learn to trust their own heart, their own instincts, to show them the right path. Before they could all come together as a whole, they would have to persevere as individuals.

And she hoped that Kitty would have the insight that she, herself, had lacked. Though, in her own defense, she had been very young. Just as they all had been.

Long ago, Illyana had come to terms with her brother's death, had come to understand that what she'd been shown during Inferno hadn't been Peter, but simply another attempt to decieve her, an illusion to further weaken her and keep her from discovering the truth. Because, if her brother had, indeed, still been alive, she wouldn't have been able to do what she'd needed to do, she wouldn't have been able to leave him. She'd been so young, and had needed him so very much.

She had accepted that Peter wasn't coming back, that he was gone for good. Though a part of her heart and soul would always be missing without him, Illyana had made peace with his loss. But it still made her a little wistful to think back on those days, so long ago, when they'd still been such children, when they'd all been together, Peter, Kitty, herself, and she couldn't help yearning for them, just a little.

With any luck, she would be seeing her best friend again in the very near future. And she fervently hoped that, after she heard her story, they would still be on speaking terms. That Kitty would understand why she'd had to do what she'd done. And that her friend could forgive her, that they could all come together to finish this, once and for all.

With a sigh, Illyana closed the refrigerator door, finding nothing that caught her interest, and proceeded to one of the overhead cabinets. As she'd done with the refrigerator, she opened the nearest door and stared inside, hoping for inspiration. None seemed forthcoming.

She was still staring into the open cupboard when she heard the call, not a physical sound, and not exactly a mental one, either. Perhaps the best description would be a mixture of those two, as well as something almost...spiritual.

Illyana blinked, sighed, and closed the cupboard door, turning from the tiny little kitchen in her small, but neat and comfortable, little apartment and striding toward her bedroom.

Going directly to the bookshelf across from the foot of her bed, she pulled the ancient book from it's place, holding it in both her hands. Closing her eyes, she concentrated for a moment as the book began to glow with a blue-white light. Soft, at first, then becoming steadily brighter, until it was glowing like a star, as was she.

Slowly, it almost seemed to melt into the young woman's hands, becoming a part of her, until she had absorbed both the leather-bound volume as well as the almost incandescent flicker of blue-white fire that it had contained.

As she opened her eyes, Illyana Rasputin allowed herself a small smile. It had come more quickly than she'd anticipated, but she was ready.

Though she'd not used the power in many, many years now, it came as naturally to her as breathing. With little more than a wish, a round teleportation circle of glowing, yellow light appeared a few feet away on her bedroom floor.

Standing, the girl called Magik took one last look around, then stepped into the shining disk and disappeared.

At last, she was going home.

To my reviewers: You guys are just the absolute best. You'll never know how much I appreciate the support and encouragement you've given me. I got 8 reviews this time! (Does happy dance around computer.)

Kirayoshi: As you saw, our heroes sure didn't get much of a chance to slow down this chapter. But, don't worry, they'll get some down time eventually. Whether or not they'll still be sane enough to enjoy it might be an entirely different matter. Sorry for the Peter free chapter in 15, but he got some time in this one (though I doubt he was very happy about it) and should be around for all the rest from now on. I didn't catch the 'Christ' reference before I'd uploaded the chapter. I'll probably go back and change it later since it is rather OOC for Kitty. Her star of David is still around, though she's not wearing it right now. Don't want it contaminated by that darn amulet.

T.A. Pixiestix: I'm sure you've noticed by now that I'm prone to cliffhangers. A bad habit, I know, but I can't seem to help it. And, yes, you made perfect sense to me. Glad you liked the characterization of Magneto. Way back when, he wasn't just an evil, cackling villain. He was really a lot more of a gray area character and not a bad man. Just misguided. And I really liked him then. Besides, we already have a perfectly usable evil, easy to hate, villain for this thing already. Can't figure out how to get the cookies here either. Oh, well. What can I say. We all love Wolvie. How can we not? My biggest pet peeve with the X-Men movie was that I thought they should have used Kitty's character instead of Rogue's, because that's really the relationship the movie is based on. It's hard to form an opinion of a character when her only screen time is of her screaming and running through a wall in her nightgown. Hope the Sentinel info helped.

Lia Fail: Made myself nostalgic for the old Magneto, too. Miss him a lot. Don't really know who the person was they were calling Magneto there at the last. I prefer to believe that he was some sort of pod person and that the real Magneto is hiding out somewhere in abject embarrassment. Your review had me going back and pulling out my X-Men annual to read that story with the X-babies and I laughed my head off. I really loved how Peter was carrying around little Kitty everywhere they went. I was hoping Lockheed's appearance would be a surprise. Glad it worked. I figured, as rough a time as she's had in this fic, and as much as it's only gonna get worse before it gets better, she deserved a little something to compensate. And...well...we sorta had a Kitty/Peter reunion scene this chapter, but I have a feeling it probably wasn't exactly what you had in mind. I'll try to do better later.

B: I couldn't resist a really good Magneto moment. Especially after what they did to the poor man in the comics. They left him no dignity at all and he had been such a good character, and a really interesting villain, for so long. It made me very sad. I can understand a more one dimensional Magneto in Evo, being that it's a cartoon. I couldn't understand it in the movie version. What he did to Rogue in X-1 was, IMHO, way out of character for him.

Brainfear: I couldn't possibly shoot you. If I did, how would you ever know how all this ends up? Glad you're enjoying the ride. Hope you'll hang around for the rest of the journey. It should be interesting.

Heroes for ghosts: Heheheh (cackles evilly and rubs hands together) I have lured in a Kete. Seriously, though, I'm glad you like the fic. And I understand about your Kitty/Pete obsession. I have read many Kete fics, but Kitty/Piotr has always been my first love. Probably because my very first X-Men comic was #139, where Kitty officially joins the X-Men. I went through the whole romance and breakup thing with them and have been hooked ever since. As for Pete Wisdom, just let me say that I feel your pain for what Ben Raab did to him when he took over from Ellis. It was just sad. As for whether Kitty and Pete did it, I tend to believe they probably did, but I needed for her to be a virgin for the purposes of this fic. But you're right. Claremont has no room to talk. And hang in there, I think we'll be visiting someone in a chapter or two that you might be interested in.

Random Reader: Glad you found my little fic. And Great works just fine for me, thank you. Don't think you're alone. There are several fictional character that I miss on a regular basis. Peter Rasputin being chief among them. Really glad you like the characterization of Kitty. That's important to me. I want he to be believable. Fear not. I do not abandon fics once I start them. I'm obsessive that way. I look forward to Astonishing X-Men during reload, specifically because Joss Whedon will be writing Kitty. I have such high hopes. I'm not particularly thrilled with her fellow cast members, especially Emma Frost, but I'll cope. I'm just hoping that maybe Joss can do for Piotr what he did for Buffy and raise him from the dead. Where's Willow when you need her?

Araya-Michiru: Yep, Kitty needed all the happy she could get before this chapter, cause things have gone from bad to horrible. But we love Lockheed and couldn't leave him out forever. Now, he and Peter can brood together until I can get everyone back in the same time zone again. Magneto used to be a fairly normal person, even a nice, good person. He saved Kitty and Peter's lives after the Morelock Massacre and stopped in the middle of battle once when he thought he'd accidentally killed Kitty. He just picked her up and cried over her. That is not something an evil man does. But you'd never know it from the way he was portrayed in the comics the last few years.

Coming Soon: Ok, if chapter 16 hasn't sent you screaming from your computer in horror, join us next time for chapter 17. We'll find out where Kitty disappeared to, where Rachel and Illyana will show up, and drag a whole bunch of really unhappy mutants, and one dragon, back to Muir Island. And we'll have a surprise guest. I've been giving you hints. Do you know who it will be?