It's All Relative

Chapter Seven

"Confirmed mutant activity," Cerebro's voice echoed throughout the room. "Mutant identified: John Allerdyce. Affiliation: Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Codename: Pyro."

Cerebro continued on, listing the, luckily, unnecessary information, as it fell upon deaf ears. The only two in the room - Jean Grey and Psylocke - were so deep in concentration that their brains didn't even register that they'd heard the words.

Mentally, they weren't even in the room at all.

Jean looked around the blackness of the Astral Plain, seeing only the vast legions of twinkling stars. Professor? she called. Where are you? She turned around to face Psylocke's glowing outline - the mental projection of herself in this place. Betsy? Do you see him?

All I see is a whole lotta nothin', sister, Psylocke shook her head.

I know he's here, Jean frowned. I can sense him... Her attention focused on a star as it suddenly began to grow bigger and brighter, eventually taking form.

Professor! Jean exclaimed happily, rushing over to the man who'd watched her powers develop as she matured from a child to a beautiful young woman. You're really here!

Professor Charles Xavier smiled, his eyes filled with tears, as he embraced Jean warmly. At his side, Empress Lilandra of the Shi'ar stood proudly, one hand resting gently on her soulmate's shoulder.

Pyro struggled against Sabretooth's grip. His scalp screamed its excruciating pain, presenting itself as blinding white light behind the lids of his tightly shut eyes.

Sabretooth could hear the skin on Pyro's head being slowly ripped out with his hair; could smell his terrible fear and his intense pain; could almost taste the blood as it mingled with his sweat and ran down his face...and he sneered gleefully. Sabretooth was getting an incredible rush off the mere idea of killing this little shit. He would have to savour this moment; it would be sweet.

With a quick flick of his wrist, he could snap Pyro's neck. But that wouldn't be nearly satisfying enough. No, no, he wanted to hear him scream.

Sabretooth lifted him a little higher until he was at eye level, and Pyro continued to desperately claw at Sabretooth's arm in hopes to pull himself up just enough to ease the strain on his neck and hair.

"Look at me," he growled sadistically, and Pyro painfully forced his eyes open. As Sabretooth slashed open Pyro's shirt and traced a bloody design on his chest with one razor-sharp claw, however, his eyes rolled back into his head. "You have about two seconds for any last words."

Pyro managed a few strangled groans and frantically kicked at Sabretooth's crotch, but to no avail. The big mutant thrust the five clawed digits of his free hand into his victim's stomach, wrenching and burrowing deep into the soft flesh there. Pyro's eyes bulged and he clenched his teeth as the sticky red blood oozed from his abdomen. His breathing was ragged and he emitted horrible hurting moans in his throat, but he still refused to give Sabretooth the satisfaction of a scream.

"Bye, bye, Jackass," Sabretooth hissed.

Velocity, Toad, and Morph emerged from the main building of the military base with Creed in tow, heading for the helipad. Velocity stopped suddenly, her mouth open in a look of utter horror.

"John-"

Toad followed her gaze. "Oh, God."

Velocity dropped Morph's gun and bolted all-out to where Sabretooth stood with Pyro in his clutches, Toad and Morph following as fast as possible. She drove a high-speed shoulder into his stomach, causing him to drop his victim to the snowy ground and take a few steadying steps backward. Gripping her still-tender ribs that had been jolted in the impact, Velocity dropped to her knees and wrapped Pyro in her arms, her eyes settling on the bloodstained snow that lay where his chest had landed.

"Very heartwarming," the feral voice behind her stated. "Now get out of my way so I can finish the job."

"How dare you?" she hissed over her shoulder. "How dare you?! Does being a member of this team mean nothing to you?"

"He pushed me to it," he replied simply, and she noticed the quickly-healing raw burns on his face and body. "Now, I'm ordering you to get the hell out of my way."

"You're ordering me?" She stood up and faced him, carefully shielding Pyro. "I outrank you!"

"Not in size, little girl."

"Back off, freak," Toad bounded to Velocity's side. "You don't even wanna mess with me right now."

"Ooh, two on one," Sabretooth taunted. "I think I can handle that."

"How 'bout number three with a bullet?" Morph asked, stepping around Velocity's other side and aiming his recovered gun squarely between Sabretooth's eyes.

"Who do you think you are?" the big man snapped.

"Oh, just your friendly, neighborhood shapeshifter, here to stand up for the little guy."

The comment prompted a muffled reply from Pyro, who was still lying curled on the snow which sounded an awful lot like, "rip-off."

"Get in the helicopter," Velocity's furious green eyes locked with Sabretooth's. He regarded her, and then looked briefly at the other three before him, settling his gaze on Pyro.

"Ah, he ain't worth it, anyways," he waved his hand in disgust in their direction, and then climbed aboard the helicopter.

Velocity dropped to her knees and held Pyro close to her, staining her jacket with his blood.

"Nadia-"

"Ssh," she put her finger to his lips. "You'll be okay. I've got this under control."

"No, love, I've gotta say," he continued, "what I said, y'know? I didn't mean it. I was just stressed. I know you'd never do that. I'm sorry."

"I know," she ran her fingers through his blood-slick hair. "It's alright."

Toad turned to Morph, scratching the back of his head. "Hey, man, thanks, y'know? Standing up to him is risking your life, and you didn't have to do that for us."

"Well, y'know, I was still a little peeved over when he threw the Institute's gate at me, so consider it a favour," Morph grinned knowingly, and extended his hand, which Toad shook gratefully.

Cyclops, Wolverine, Beast, and Jubilee crowded around the door to the room where Cerebro was located. They were all anxious to know what Jean had meant when she and Psylocke had rushed off. Could they really be talking to the Professor?

Cyclops remembered the instance where Jean had met the Professor on the Astral Plain before, to bring him out of the Shadow King's control. Not being a telepath, he didn't exactly understand the whole concept of astral-projection, but he imagined it to require a great deal of concentration. Could Xavier, in his weakened state, really be able to accomplish such a mentally strenuous task?

He leaned against the wall and heaved a tired sigh. Of course he could. He was the most powerful known telepath in the world, and one of the most powerful in the universe. With Lilandra at his aid, why couldn't he do it? After all, that rock or crystal or whatever it had been that the Shi'ar Empress had put on Xavier's forehead before they'd left had visibly given him strength. Who knows what kind of technology they had across the galaxies to re-build his mind? A wide selection, he guessed; they were a powerful Empire, after all...

Cyclops cast a wistful look at the closed door and frowned. They were taking an awful long time. How long did it take to astral-project oneself? He couldn't even fathom a guess, though he supposed it would take quite some time to achieve the desired level of meditation. He shrugged inwardly, and silently prayed that, whatever the Professor had to tell them, it could assist them in stopping the Brotherhood before it was too late.

Jean released the Professor from her embrace and looked at him, still smiling. Your condition is improving then, Professor?

He nodded, but also caught the meaning beneath her words. Under the care of the Shi'ar, my neural-kinetics are nearly fully restored to normal functioning. Unfortunately, for my condition to remain stable, I must continue to reside with the Shi'ar.

Jean nodded sadly. I understand, Professor. I j--we miss you so much.

Not a moment goes by when I do not think upon each and every one of my students, Xavier replied comfortingly. You are all strong, and smart enough to recognize when a problem is beyond your control. He turned to Psylocke, and the ninja approached him and bowed respectfully. Betsy Braddock. I am honoured to call you a friend, and your help is greatly appreciated.

You know what's been going on? Psylocke inquired.

My people have been monitoring the actions of your planet closely, Lilandra explained.

And it deeply saddens me to see that mutants have reacted so violently to my unfortunate attack, Xavier nodded.

I sensed that you had information to tell me that would help, Jean urged them.

I regret, Jean Grey, that my jurisdiction over my Empire forbids me to directly interfere with outside affairs.

I understand, Jean nodded sadly.

There is, however, a way that Charles and I have thought of that I can help you that would not be considered 'interference', Lilandra continued. Are you prepared to accept the responsibility of what I am about to tell you?

I am ready.

Rogue flopped down on the worn couch in Toad's apartment after discovering absolutely nothing helpful as to where the other Brotherhood members were going, while Gambit and Storm continued to search the rest of the near-empty cramped dwelling. She figured that it suited him well enough since he lived on his own, but she couldn't imagine Mystique, Avalanche, and the Blob all taking refuge within the tiny area. It would have been impossible to turn around without bumping into one of the other two.

The Brotherhood's survival tactics, however amazing as they were, were not foremost on Rogue's mind. The first time she'd actually seen her sister during this fiasco, not including the trail of dust behind her as she ran, had been that transmission to President Kelly. During which she'd threatened the life of an X-Man - and one they'd just gotten back at that. And to top it off, during the week of unsuccessful searching for the Brotherhood, Jean had told Rogue about the massacre in Russia; the one Velocity was responsible for along with Sabretooth.

Rogue had never imagined that her sister was capable of such atrocity. Mass murder was far worse than anything they'd ever done back when she was still with the Brotherhood. Whatever Mystique had done to her over the years had turned her into a stone-cold killer. Rogue wanted her sister back so badly, but she knew that she would have to pay for her severe crimes.

"It ain't fair," she muttered to herself, allowing her head to flop forward into her hands, elbows propped up by her knees.

"Pardon me, Rogue?" Storm asked from her left.

"Nothin'," Rogue shook her head. "Ah was jus' talkin' ta myself."

"Under such stressful conditions, I suppose it is only natural," Storm smiled knowingly.

"Ah guess," she shrugged off the comment, not really feeling ready to unload her troubles on Storm at the moment. It wasn't that she didn't trust the wind rider, but that her thoughts were such a jumble already, so she didn't have any idea how to put them into words. "This hole's deserted, Sugah. Ah say we high-tail it on outta here."

"Gambit agrees, chère," the Cajun emerged from the adjoining bedroom. "Dis be getting us nowhere."

"Alright," Storm conceded, and switched on her communicator.

"Storm to Cyclops," her voice broke in over his communicator, disturbing the already uncomfortable silence outside Cerebro's room.

"Go ahead, Storm," he acknowledged her.

"The Toad's apartment has been abandoned," she informed him simply.

"I thought as much," Cyclops frowned in disappointment. "Is there anything there at all?"

"Emptier'n the swamp rat's head," Rogue's voice stated in the background, and Cyclops and Wolverine exchanged an approving grin.

"You'd better just get back here, then," he ordered, explaining what they had discovered. "If my suspicions are right, Jean is learning how to stop them as we speak."

"We are on our way."

Henry Gyrich looked up as a man approached the Friends of Humanity head council. Gyrich was standing before them in the darkened theatre-like room, explaining how Trask's invention worked. Their attention was immediately diverted to the new man, and Gyrich felt a slight pang of jealousy.

"I have information from our plant in the Whitehouse," the man announced.

"Excellent," the first council member replied.

"Tell us what you know," the second demanded.

"Kelly has the X-Men on a covert operation," he relayed the news.

"Mutants on Special Forces," the third sneered. "Disgusting."

"That's not all. They've been sent to stop another group of rebel mutants - the Brotherhood - who say that they will declare war on mankind if you are not turned over to them. As of now, half of the members are in New York, and half are missing. They are also-" he hesitated for a split second, "-threatening to execute Graydon Creed."

If the council hadn't been wearing their hoods, Gyrich and the messenger would have been able to see the tight-lipped frowns on each man's face.

"Creed's mission was to cleanse his reputation and his soiled ancestry," the first finally said. "Obviously he failed, and we now stand to lose a powerful ally."

"Undoubtedly, those of his lineage are part of this Brotherhood?" the fourth asked.

"Mystique and Sabretooth are both involved," the messenger confirmed.

"I would wager that the 'missing' members plan to make contact with those in New York," the second thought aloud. "Perhaps we should find out where this mysterious rendezvous point is located."

Rogue, Storm and Gambit hurried through the maze-like halls of the Institute toward Cerebro's lab. Each wondering with half-excitement and half-apprehension about what the Professor was telling Jean. Was it good news or bad? What was in store for their team - nine mutant freedom fighters who had never faced anything quite this severely important before?

"Cyclops?" Rogue called his name as they rounded the corner to see four of their teammates by the door. "Heard anythin' yet?"

"They've been in there for hours," he shook his head. "I don't know-"

The door clicked open.

"Scott," Jean began. "I know how to stop them." She had their undivided attention. "Lilandra gave me the codes to operate the Shi'ar prison ship located in the Morlock tunnels. We can use it to intercept the Brotherhood."

"How do we find them?" Jubilee asked.

"Now that we have isolated the Toad's brain waves, we can use Cerebro to track them," Jean replied.

"In other words, they can run but they can't hide," Psylocke simplified.

"Ah hear ya, girl," Rogue nodded.

"All right, here's the plan," Cyclops spoke up after working everything out in his mind. "Psylocke, you operate Cerebro. We'll contact you for their position when we've got the ship operational. Jubilee, we'll keep an open channel to you here. If something goes wrong, you need to contact Kelly. We may need some presidential influence."

"Check, Cyke," Jubilee gave a thumbs-up, neglecting to complain about being left behind again. She knew enough not to push in such a serious situation.

"Beast, continue repairs on the Blackbird," Cyclops went on. "Also, prep the Infirmary. We have to be ready for anything." There was a unanimous round of nods. "The rest of us are going to the Morlock tunnels."

The Russian helicopter glided through the chilly ocean air. The Brotherhood - namely Toad - had rigged the machine with an extra gas tank, and had also increased how fast it could go by rewiring it with a jet engine. Now the sound of the motor and the whirling rotary blades was the only thing to hear for miles. That was because, even after hours of flying, the only spoken words from the six passengers were the barely audible mumblings from the crazed Graydon Creed Jr.

Velocity was leaning against the back of the pilot's seat, which Toad occupied. Her furious green eyes bore into Sabretooth as she gently caressed Pyro's hair, his head lying in her lap as he feverishly slept.

"What?" he finally exclaimed. He sounded like he was asking an honest question, as if he didn't even think he'd done anything wrong.

She turned away, disgusted with him. How could he be so blatantly uncaring about his actions? His one thought in his mind seemed to be centred around killing. He had no respect for life. And in that moment the hypocrisy of the thought hit like a slap in the face, following by a overbearing wave of nausea. Was she any better than him? Had she not murdered those Russian soldiers at the base? She remembered the boyish good looks of the young guard she'd sent out to the truck; out to Sabretooth; out to death.

That was different, she desperately tried to convince herself. Pyro is different from that guard. The sensations he made her experience were drawn to the front of her consciousness: the feathery feel of his blond hair, the erotic twinge she felt when he spoke in his thick Australian accent, the sensual pleasure of his soft lips as they gently brushed over hers, then focussed on her neck and shoulders. Yes. He was different because of how he made her feel; because she loved him. Somebody loved that boy. Even if it wasn't like that, he was somebody's son. Stop it. Somewhere, there is a poor woman who has lost her child.

Velocity clenched her teeth, willing herself to stop thinking, forcing the tears of remorse to stay inside. She focussed her glare on Sabretooth again; it was easier just to blame him. But the thoughts kept coming, along with the haunting images of the boy's honest face. I killed him.

It wasn't hard convincing the Morlock guards - Ape and Leech - of their mission, and then Gambit and Wolverine led the way through the tunnels, having been the only currently present X-Men to have been to the crash site back when the Spirit Drinker had accidentally been released. Wolverine sniffed out their path, and Gambit lit the way with a kinetically charged playing card.

"Dare it is, mes amis," Gambit announced as they emerged from the tunnel into an enormous cavern. The Shi'ar craft glowed a dull green as it lay on the cool rock.

"Huh, talk about a fixer-upper," Rogue eyed the three large slashes in the ship's hull. "Sure looks like familiar handiwork."

"Yeah, yeah," Wolverine griped. "So how we gonna get this bucket o' bolts ta fly, anyway?"

"With a little faith," Jean replied and entered the ship via the hole. The rest followed her. The interior of the spacecraft was in disarray. Piles of scrap metal lay at the back where the Spirit Drinker had apparently taken out its frustrations on parts of the machinery. The main controls, however, were still intact. "Rogue, would you get the door?"

Rogue followed Jean's hand gesture to the scrap metal and understood. "With pleasure, Sugah." She flew over and picked up a large sheet. Carrying it over to the gaping hole, she folded the edges of the metal together, pinching tight shut any gaps between them. When she stepped back, it was sealed like new.

"All right, everyone," Jean approached the main controls. "Keep your fingers crossed." As she touched the keypad, Shi'ar symbols appeared on the screen, and Jean understood them as asking for a security code. She punched in a series of glyph-like characters, and the screen glowed green as the ship's engines hummed to life.

"Good work, Jean," Cyclops breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hang on, guys," Jean said as she gripped the steering mechanism and prepared for departure. She absently moved one hand to a nearby lever and, as if guided by some unseen force, slowly slid it upward, subconsciously knowing that she'd just activated the cloaking device. That would get them to the surface without causing too much of a commotion.

Jubilee nervously tapped her foot from her spot behind Psylocke. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. They should have found the ship by now. The more anxious she got, the louder she chewed her bubblegum, and Pyslocke was struggling to remain chilled.

"Listen, kid, just relax, okay?" she tried to sound friendly. "The guys'll have this under control before you know it."

"I hope you're right," Jubilee replied, not sounding to sure. "I just have this icky feeling in my stomach, y'know?"

"And that gave you the urge to come and bug the hell outta me?" Psylocke muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothin'."

Jubilee shrugged, then heard Cyclops's voice through the two-way radio in her ear. "Jubilee?"

"I'm here, Cyke."

"We're ready. Have you guys got the Brotherhood's location?"

"Um, Miss Braddock? They need to know where the 'copter is," Jubilee relayed.

"I've got 'em pegged," Psylocke nodded. "Moving due west over the Atlantic Ocean. Toynbee's got Times Square on the brain. I betcha that's where they're meeting up with Blob and Mystique."

Jubilee told Cyclops what she'd said. "Okay, we're on it," Cyclops replied. "Jubilee, I'm leaving the radio on, now, and I'm counting on you if something goes wrong."

"Aye, aye, Captain," she made a salute, even though he couldn't see it.

Morph was sitting in the front of the helicopter with Toad, thoughtfully twiddling his thumbs. He'd spent most of the trip pondering the recent events, his attention having only swayed with Sabretooth's one-word question a few hours back, in hopes of a possible conversation to overhear. Now, he looked out the window, and beheld only water as far as the eye could see.

He put his feet up and crossed his arms, an uncharacteristic frown on his face. He wrinkled his nose at the calmness of the water and, in a sense, at how peaceful the world was before chaos would break loose. He didn't know what the Brotherhood was planning, but he wasn't so ignorant not to have noticed the nuclear radiation warning labels on the crates they'd loaded into the helicopter.

Toad coughed to clear his throat, and Morph turned his head to look at him, hoping he would break the silence. He was not disappointed.

"You weren't part of the original plan, y'know," he stated it more as a fact than a question of Morph's knowledge. "Kidnapping you, I mean. We kinda had to improvise on that." He snorted. "Blame the big bastard if you want, I dunno, but I heard he was just protectin' Nad."

There was a displeased grunt from behind them, and Morph raised an eyebrow in that direction before replying. "Protecting her from Wolverine, who was trying to protect me. An ironic double jeopardy, as it were," he chuckled lightly.

"Yeah, well, jus' thought you should know," Toad abruptly tried to end the conversation.

"Why just now?" Toad didn't reply. "I'm getting the feeling that I play a larger role in this now, am I right?"

"A mite larger, yeah," he nodded. "Till we get to Genosha anyway. Then...um..." he trailed off, then turned to look at him. "Well, listen, mate. You're all right, and it's a sodding shame you had to get mixed up in all this."

Morph nodded. "Thanks, man. I really am glad to hear that in a way. Good to know that you guys haven't wanted to bump me off the whole time, and now decided to kill two birds with one stone, y'know?" he chuckled again, trying very hard to keep the situation light. Brooding over the future wouldn't help.

"I guess."

Velocity leaned over between the two seats and squeezed Toad's shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Nad," Toad shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've been flying for hours without a break," she replied. "I don't want you to burn out."

"Nah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

A moment passed, and he shook his head. She leaned closer to him, and he spoke in a hushed voice. "Look, Nadia, do we really gotta go through with this and waste the guy?" Her face fell, and he continued. "I mean, it's not like it's a vital part of the plan that he goes. Sabretooth doesn't even know you said we would do it, so why the hell can't we just, y'know, dump him off in the Big Apple before we hit Genosha?" He looked up at her, and saw in her eyes that she was struggling with the exact same question, especially after he'd helped protect Pyro. Toad turned back to the front, and she squeezed his shoulder again before returning to the back.

It was dusk when the X-Men finally located the helicopter about ten miles off the coast of Staten Island. They were relieved; they'd been worried that the hours spent contacting the Professor, and then actually finding the Shi'ar ship, and getting it to operational status, had counted against them. But the sophisticated technology of the alien spacecraft had made up for the lost time, and its abilities surpassed by far the gunship's even after the upgrading.

"We got 'em," Wolverine snarled.

"We have to do this carefully, team," Cyclops warned. "Remember: Morph is with them. We can't risk getting him hurt."

Jean maneuvered the ship, flying beside the chopper. She was surprised at how fast it was moving - much faster than any normal helicopter. Toad must have done a hell of a job on the modifications.

"All right, Jean," Cyclops nodded. "Decloak us."

Morph snapped his head up for the third time in five minutes. He was so tired; how long had they been flying now? He couldn't even fathom a guess. That would require the problem-solving kind of thinking, and he was having enough trouble trying to keep his eyes open. He absently hoped that Toad wasn't having the same trouble.

He could now see New York City out of the front window. It looked so beautiful, all lit up against the coming night. It was then that he felt a twinge of homesickness. So close, and yet so far away. He turned his head to gaze out the side window, feeling himself drift off again, when the entire window was suddenly filled with green glowing lights.

Morph jumped back in surprise and succeeding in whacking his head against the top of the helicopter, and then fell back, crashing into Toad.

"What the hell's gotten into you?" Toad struggled to keep control of the copter. He turned to face Morph, and his jaw dropped. "Nadia? I think we might have a problem 'ere."

Velocity appeared between the seats again, eyes widening at the sight of the green glowing machine. "Where did it come from?"

"It just appeared out of nowhere!" Morph was still a bit freaked out.

A voice projected from the ship over the sound of the two engines; a very recognizable voice. "Velocity, it's over. There's nowhere to go."

"Summers," both Velocity and Toad hissed, and Sabretooth's snarl could be heard from the back. Morph let a smile of relief creep across his face as he turned complete attention to the outside.

Rogue's voice was heard next. "So why don't y'all jus' play real nice and give yourselves up, sis?" It wasn't a question so much as a taunt.

"Not likely," Velocity spat, and she moved back to the rear of the helicopter. She forcefully slid open the side door to reveal the gunship's huge mounted machine gun.

"Holy hell!" Rogue exclaimed as Velocity started shooting. "They ain't kiddin' around!"

Jean clenched her teeth, concentrating on flying the ship. "I don't know how much damage we can sustain. This is a prison ship, not a warship."

"Then mebbe us gals should let 'em know that we mean business, too, huh Storm?" Rogue turned to the weather witch.

"I am right behind you, Rogue," Storm nodded. Rogue opened the top hatch, and the two flew outside.

Pyro was wide awake now, and he painfully pushed himself up to see what was going on. Velocity was shooting at a big green spaceship, and he wondered momentarily if he really was awake. He noticed two figures fly out of the top of the ship before he stumbled to the front of the copter, where Toad was cursing at anything and everything.

"What's going on?" he asked, supporting himself with the backs of both seats as the copter lurched in the wind that had suddenly picked up.

"Bloody X-Men tracked us down," Toad snarled, then had a thought, and turned to look at him. "You should have a seat. This is gonna get rough, and you can't even stand by yourself."

"I'm fine, but I thought I just saw...Rogue!" he pointed out the front, and Toad whirled around in time to see the Mississippi-born mutant's fist connect with the windshield. Pyro ducked, wincing at the pain of that action, and both Toad and Morph protectively held their arms in front of their faces, throwing themselves back into their seats. Luckily, it was newly installed plexiglass, and it did not shatter. There did appear a chaotic web of white fracture lines, however, and they could no longer see out of it.

"Y'all gotta learn ta keep your eyes on the airway, Sugah," Rogue flew outside Toad's window, then caught sight of Pyro. "Long time, no see, Hot Stuff," she winked mockingly at him. "How's the nose?"

Pyro snarled in fury, and she flew off.

The machine gun had begun to penetrate the hull of the Shi'ar ship, and Cyclops, Wolverine, and Gambit dove out of the way of the oncoming bullets.

"Rogue, Storm!" Wolverine yelled into his comm. "Do somethin' 'bout that machine gun, would ya?" Cyclops dropped to the floor with an agonized cry after shielding Jean from the barrage and taking a bullet in the thigh for it. "And quick!"

"On it, Sugah!" came Rogue's reply.

"Cyke, you okay?" Wolverine hurried to his fallen teammate, followed by Gambit. Jean was casting worried glances at her husband, but she could not go to his side. She was having enough trouble trying to keep the ship in the air with Storm's infuriated winds outside tossing it around.

"I'll live," Cyclops replied through clenched teeth, in obvious pain. "Just stop the Brotherhood before they make it to Times Square."

"First things first, Bub," Wolverine shook his head and turned to Gambit. "Gumbo, gimme your jacket." The Cajun complied, and Wolverine tore a long strip off the bottom of the coattail and used it as a tourniquet, tying it tightly around Cyclops's leg to minimize the blood loss.

Gambit put his trenchcoat back on, and smirked. "Gambit tinks you owe him a new jacket, mon ami."

"When this is all over, I'll even buy ya a beer," Wolverine said, and stood up. "Now let's figure out how to stop these clowns."

"Gambit knows just what to do," he nodded, pulling a handful of cards from his inside coat pocket.

Storm already had the wind raging when Wolverine radioed them, and Rogue flew straight under the copter and came up beneath the machine gun, which abruptly stopped shooting. The sisters stared at each other; the first time they'd actually seen one another in about six years. Velocity went pale, looking completely spooked and disbelieving. Rogue - who had seen the other during the call to President Kelly - showed her inner turmoil on her face. She knew the woman before her had to be stopped, but she longed so much to hug her sister and talk to her again.

"Nadia," Rogue spoke. "Ya can't do this, gal! Ya gotta stop!"

"No, we have to lead our oppressed brothers and sisters," Velocity shook her head. "Humanity will never accept us! You should know that better than anyone, Rogue! Your own father disowned you when he found out what you are!"

"Ah know that, but not all people are like him," Rogue argued. "What y'all are doin' is givin' humans a reason ta hate us. Killin' Creed'll jus' make him a martyr. Sis, Ah remember a time when we both jus' wanted ta be accepted."

"Childish ideals. I've grown since then."

"Into a murderer."

Velocity's mouth hung open, and the two stared into each other's sad eyes. A savage snarl erupted from within the helicopter, and Sabretooth shoved the speedy mutant to the side and pointed at Rogue.

"Sorry to interrupt the tender moment, girlies," he mocked, "but now I take charge!" He leapt at her.

Rogue swung around in the air, trying to fight off his strong grip. Gambit emerged from the top hatch of the ship. Both he and Storm saw Rogue's peril and both made a quick decision to come to her aid.

"Hurricane, heed my command!" Storm cried, the black waters below beginning to swirl.

"Leave dis one to Gambit, chère," the Cajun charged the playing cards in his hand.

"The nukes!" Morph gasped, the only one seeing what Gambit was about to do. "Gambit, don-"

He was cut off as a powerful blast of water from Storm's hurricane hit the copter, knocking it sideways and breaking the remaining windows. Morph shielded himself from the shower of glass and ocean, pressing his face against the seat. Beside him, Toad cried out in frustration, sure that they were seconds away from plummeting into the Atlantic.

The rush of water through the side door had knocked Velocity and Pyro backward and both slammed their heads against the opposite side of the copter. She coughed out the salt water she'd swallowed, and then glanced over at Creed, who was huddled amongst the crates. Then the copter lurched back the other way with the sound of an explosion from outside. The water poured back out the open door, dragging both Velocity and Pyro with it. She managed to grab hold of the machine gun, but Pyro, who still had minimal balance, slid out of the copter.

"Pyro!" she cried as he barely grabbed hold of the gunship's skis. The copter leveled out and she pulled herself back inside. Turning and looking back at him, she realized that he couldn't do the same; with the injury to his stomach, he lacked the abdominal strength to lift his own weight. He didn't even have the strength to hold on for very long.

"What in God's name are they doing?" Toad exclaimed, fighting with the copter's controls as it was beginning to slowly spin.

"Gambit just took out the tail rotor," Morph was leaning out the window opening, looking back to where the tail was smoldering. "We're lucky he didn't blow us sky high."

"This is what you call lucky?"

Morph turned around to smirk in agreement, and then looked back out the window. "Oh, shit."

"What's wrong?"

"Don't make any quick movements."

"I just lost stability. I'm kinda running out of options, 'ere."

"If you don't fly as level as possible, you're gonna lose Pyro, and possibly Nadia, too."

"What?" but Morph was already scrambling to the back.

Velocity dropped to her stomach and reached down to grab Pyro's hand. He looked up at her, his eyes full of agony. Hers were intense; the adrenaline was pumping through her veins. She had no leverage this way, though, and all she could really do was prevent him from falling.

There was a shuffling beside her, and she looked over to see Morph as he reached down and grabbed Pyro's other hand.

"Pull," he said, but before they could, Rogue was finally able to whip Sabretooth off of her, and he crashed into the copter. Hanging by the skis as well, he saw the opportunity, and used Pyro as a foothold to pull himself up.

"Bastard!" Velocity spat at him, unable to do anything about it.

"Shut the hell up, bitch," Sabretooth replied coolly.

"Nadia, just pull!" Morph ordered, and the two exerted every bit of strength, and pulled Pyro back inside. They helped him sit down, and when Velocity moved her hand, which had been against Pyro's stomach, it was covered in blood. The wounds had re-opened, and she looked up at Morph with deep worry in her eyes.

"Morph!" Rogue flew to the door. "Let's get outta here!"

Jubilee was listening intently through the communicator, hearing, and reacting to, everything that was said, from her fear when Cyclops was shot, to her tension with Rogue urging Morph to hurry, to the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach when she registered what Wolverine's oddly hushed voice was saying.

"Jesus," he breathed. "They're gonna crash."

This was it. This was what Cyclops had been talking about when he had said, "If something goes wrong..."

Jubilee raced to the War Room as fast as she could, and ordered the computer to contact President Kelly. A moment later, his image appeared on the multiple screens.

"Jubilee?" he looked concerned. "What's wrong? What is the status on the mission?"

"Trouble, I think, sir," she admitted. "They're close to Manhattan, but the helicopter is damaged. Wolverine thinks they're going to crash!"

"All right, now settle down for a minute," Kelly replied. "They'll probably try to land in an open area, most likely close to where they were going in the first place. Do you know where that is?"

Jubilee took a deep breath and ordered her thoughts. "Times Square," she nodded, remembering what Psylocke had seen in Toad's mind.

"Good work," he smiled. "I'll give the order, and Broadway will be blocked off from 45th to 46th. Thank you, Jubilee."

"We have their position."

The FOH Head Council smiled collectively. "Where?"

"They're going to Times Square."

One of the hooded men turned to Henry Gyrich, who was still in the room. "You know what to do." Gyrich smirked evilly and nodded.