Chapter Eighteen, Part I

"Come on, Kurt, pull out of it!" Ororo cried, clutching the edges of Cerebro's control panel as she watched him tumble through the dark smoke toward the boiling lava spurting and bubbling at the bottom of the cavern. "Think yourself somewhere else!"

"You do realize he can't hear you," Xavier said dryly, although the drawn look on his wrinkled face showed he was just as worried as Ororo. "It's important he works this out on his own. He'll get it. We just have to be patient."

"Patient!" Ororo exclaimed, incredulous. "Where's that helmet? We have to do something before—"

"There, look!" Xavier said, his excitement growing as the scene on the monitor began to change. As it did, the screen displaying Kurt's brain patterns broke out in a burst of green, overshadowing the straight orange lines that depicted Belasco. "He's doing it! He's taking control!"

Ororo kept her eyes fixed on her friend's image as, on the monitor, the thick smoke slowly whitened and the atmosphere cleared until, instead of falling through a cavern, Kurt was tumbling through the clouds. The sky around him was a bright, summery blue, and flying toward him in the near distance was something that looked strangely like a sailing ship—

BAMF!

Ororo and Xavier both jumped at the soft explosion of sulfur-scented smoke behind them. Their startled expressions fell to annoyance when they saw who'd accompanied it.

"What are you two idiots playing at?" Azazel demanded furiously, his russet face darkening in his anger as he advanced toward them over Cerebro's suspended ramp. "I sent you up here to help my son, not to kill him!"

"What are you talking about?" Ororo retorted, her own anger mingling with a rush of sharp concern.

"How much stress do you think my son's system can take?" the demon snarled, bearing his fangs. "No sooner does my serum complete the regeneration process and return his metabolism to normal, than his heart rate and brain activity shoot off the scale! It was all your Dr. McCoy could do to keep him from going into cardiac arrest! Now I ask you again, what are you playing at?"

"Bright Goddess..." Ororo gasped, feeling the blood drain from her face. "I knew I shouldn't have left him. He isn't strong enough for this! He hasn't had time to come to terms with the memories—"

"Don't start doubting him now, Ororo," Xavier said firmly. "Look at this."

He nodded his head toward the flickering monitor screens on the control panel, indicating the squiggling mess of colored lines beside Kurt's image.

Ororo leaned closer, her eyes widening as she realized what the readings meant.

Azazel frowned and leaned over her shoulder, his muscular arms crossed over his armored chest.

"What is being displayed there?" he demanded of Xavier.

Charles glanced up at him with a bland look.

"It is a scan of Kurt's brain patterns," he explained, keeping his cultured voice as flat and even as possible. "These ordered orange lines indicate the Belasco 'virus'. The more organic, green lines represent Kurt himself."

"It's working..." Ororo said in amazement, a growing smile brightening her wide, sapphire eyes. "The green lines are weaving around the orange, like a basket! And there are so many more of them than there were before."

"Yes, he's starting to pull himself together," Xavier said. "But, even though he is growing stronger, the Belasco program is adapting itself to the changing environment."

He looked over to Azazel, who was staring at the screen with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"If you're still planning on bringing in that telepath of yours," he said, his expression twisting ever so slightly. "I would do it soon. Even with our help, this is going to be a close fight, and I want to be sure we don't miss our opportunity to trap Belasco."

"Never fear, old man," the ancient mutant sneered. "My daughter is already here. We are ready to do our part. All we need is the correct sign from Kurt himself."

"And what sign is that?" Ororo demanded, scowling up at him from her stool.

Azazel looked straight past her.

"Continue your monitoring," he ordered, turning on his heel, his long cloak swishing around his ankles. "Be sure to contact me if anything should go wrong. I shall be in the medical bay with my son."

A flaring puff of sulfurous smoke, and Azazel was gone, leaving Xavier and Ororo to watch the battle playing out in Kurt's subconscious mind.


To Be Continued...