The motorcycle burst out of the tree line. Suddenly Forge and Brian could feel the breeze more fully than before and the engine noise seemed to be straining more than it had been.

We're solid again. Forge realized, slowly becoming conscious of his balance on the bike. While phased all he worried about was holding on, but now he grew nervous.

Kitty hit the brakes slowly and rolled up to the steps of the lighthouse.

She turned, and stepped off the bike. "Here, Forge…" She took Brian's other arm and lifted. "Let me help."

A loud bamf sounded behind the door and Kurt swung it open.

"Is everyone okay?" He asked.

"We're all right." Forge said softly. "We need to get him inside."

Kurt held the door and eyed Forge.

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked him.

Forge shook his head 'no'.

What do I do now? Forge wondered. What if I misread the signs?

Brian screamed as they carried him inside.

He twisted and writhed and they dropped him but he didn't fall.

Brian hung there, suspended in mid air, writhing in pain and torment.

"Do something!" Kitty screamed at no one in particular.

Right. Forge thought, bringing his focus to the astral…

Dear God! His bonds have gotten so much more solid!

And indeed they did seem to glow with a brightness in color that obscured all else around them.

I need to… Forge reached out and tried to touch one of the large spear-like shafts that ran through Brian, pinning him in place.

And he felt it. It was cold and rough.

Wow.

He didn't think twice, He grabbed it and pulled it out.

Brian screamed again.

The shaft solidified in to a large stone needle in Forge's hand.

"Whoa." Kurt and Kitty looked shocked.

"M..rrr….eee…" Brian was crying and trying to speak.

Forge dropped the great stone needle and it shattered on the floor. His eyes went wildly to Brian's mouth. It was pinned closed by a thick shaft that had been jammed in under his chin.

Forge grabbed his hair and then the next needle. It too was rough and cold like concrete. He pulled it out and it too solidified. Kurt caught it as Forge dropped it.

"More! God, please help me!" Brian screamed out loud.

The sound of his voice startled all four of them.

Tabby and Lucy began rushing down the stairs but stopped when they saw what was happening.

"Right." Forge muttered, looking for the next needle. It ran through Brian's knee and in to his hip, pinning them in place so he couldn't move either.

Forge ripped it out and Kitty and Lucy gasped as the needle became solid.

"Whoever did this used real objects." Forge said, finding a needle coming out the back of Brian's neck that must have pinned his spine in to it's curved shape. He ripped it out and Brian's eyes went wild in pain as he screamed.

"It's like someone phased them in to him." Kitty said, clutching her hands to her chest.

"Exactly." Forge said. "But magically instead of scientifically or by mutation. The actual damage is all on the astral level."

Kurt nodded. "How bad is it?" He asked.

"Two more…" Forge said, his focus obviously beyond anything they could see. "And the chains…"

"Chains…" Lucy swallowed. She had been chained before. She didn't like it.

Forge ripped out a needle that went in through the head, through one eye and down through the neck. It was much longer than it had to be and Brian almost fainted from the strain.

Forge quickly ripped the last one out through his hip and he fell to the ground with a large thud.

Brian took a huge breath of air.

"I… I'm going to pass… out…" He gasped.

Forge looked down at him. "I need to…" He swallowed. He wasn't sure what to do next.

And he looked at the chains. He slowly realized that the chains had been threaded through Brian's body by the needles.

"Great Spirit…" Forge shook his head. "Who did this to you?"

He knelt down and tugged experimentally at the chains. They were as solid to him as anything he had ever touched.

Soon he found a loose end and began slowly retracing its route and drawing it out of the boy's body.

It took several minutes, but soon Brian was sitting up. He never had passed out. And he looked with interest at Forge as he motioned around Brian's body.

"Not to sound ungrateful…" Brian said softly, breathing heavily. "But what are you doing?"

"Invisible chains." Forge said softly, not wanting to break his own concentration with a lengthy explanation.

And just as he said that he drew the last bit out and the chain became solid in his hands.

"No!" Alistaire gasped from behind Lucy and Tabitha, having arrived too late to have seen the needles come out.

Brian blinked.

"I feel…" he flexed his fingers. "Wonderful. Like…"

His body began to pulse and throb.

"What's …"

Forge swallowed. What now?

And then it hit him.

"The chains were cursed too." He nodded. "Kept you from getting any better."

Brian fell to his knees and then on to all fours. His muscles were bubbling in place on his bones.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?"

Forge shook, knowing there was nothing he could do to help.

"Your confinement… It might have…" Forge winced painfully.

"Triggered a mutation." Kurt finished, the horrible understanding breaking across his face like the dawn. "You mutated in response to the captivity…"

"Which probably caused the curse to get stronger to keep you pacified…"

"Which spawned an increase in the mutation…" Kurt nodded, growing angry. He looked to Forge and demanded to know: "What can we do?"

Forge just shook his head.

Brian grabbed one of the stone needles from off the ground and squeezed it tight, trying to cope with the pain. It burst in his grip and dust and pebbles flew everywhere.

Brain arched his back with a grunt and rose in to the air.

"Whoa." Lucy's eyes went wide. He's super strong and he can fly?

Brain hovered in place and began slowly spinning to the right, tumbling over himself in place as he hung there in agony.

"Hold on." Tabitha told him. "It's getting better… or… " She sniffed. "It looks like it's slowing down … anyway."

"Yeah." Kurt nodded, his eyes wide. "It is."

He's increased his body mass by at least 400 percent! Forge shook his head. Incredible!

Brian suddenly quivered in place and fell from where he was hanging.

Kurt came in under his shoulder and tried to catch him, but he was quite heavy. Forge jumped in and together they got a hold of him.

Forge looked Brian in the face and took his pulse on his neck. "He's passed out, but he's breathing." Forge put his hand on Brian's forehead. "And he's burning up."

"Let's get him to a bed." Kurt said.

And everyone cleared the way.

Forge looked around. "We need to throw the chains and needles in the ocean." He told them. "The salt will dissipate the evil energies."

"I'm all over it." Kitty said with disgust, gathering up the needles delicately.

"I'll get a broom." Alistaire said, eyeing the broken pieces.

Lucy looked at the chain and began raveling it up. This must weight eighty pounds! She shivered and followed Kitty out the door towards the ocean as Forge and Kurt fought to get the large man up the stairs.