Her eyes turned a bright yellow and a grin flew up her cheeks. Her blue complextion turned into a pale one, and long brown hair with a white stripe faded downward. She looked to her feet, to see the unconscious Rogue. "..Bitch." Mystique said, morphing her voice as well. She gave a big fake smile and walked back into the mansion. She looked to the rest of the students and waved to some of them, acting like Rogue. She passed by the Professor. "Hello Professor." She perfected the accent.

She quickly made it passed him and up stairs to the security area. She smiled and quickly transformed into Scott. She put her hand to the knob and turned it slowly. No one was in there but Storm. "Storm, I can take care of this now. Go ahead. Get some rest."

Storm yawned and nodded. "Thank You, Scott. How is Jean doing?" Mystique smiled.

"She's doing just fine." He nodded, watching her walk out of the room. He turned to the video camera's and quickly shut them off. She grabbed a radio. "..Come on in. It's all set." She said, cutting the high tech security. "Fucking stupid." She said.

Oni smiled over to Jean. "It's not a problem..." He stopped and put his hand on his head. "Someone, someone's here that's not supposed to be; and there are more... coming." He shook his head/ "That's not good, I'm too weak to do much. What do we do?"

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath. She opened them quickly. "..Mystique." She threw the blanket from her and rushed to the door. "I know I am supposed to be in bed.. But, if we don't do anything now.. Everyone will be in danger. We have to get to the Professor, tell everyone and get ready." She put her hand to her head. As soon as she stepped out of the medical facility, she felt dizzy and weak. "..Dammit." She said, turning back and looking at Oni. "We have to warn everyone." She clenched her fists. "..I can hear them... They're coming." She closed their eyes... "For you and Lacey..." She forced herself up and rushed to Lacey's room.

She burst open the door, seeing her lying on the bed sleeping. She rushed over, panting and pulled her up. "Lacey, get up. Get up!" She yelled, grabbing her hand and running back out. Her body was pulsating with pain, but she didn't care. All she cared about was getting them to a safe place. She turned the corner to go back to the medical facility and stopped, seeing Mystique with a grin on her face.

"Hello, Jean." She said, licking her blue lips.

Jean tried to take a breath, looking straight into Mystique's yellow eyes. "Mystique..." She said.

Oni stood up and looked around. He saw Logan and Oni's eyes hardened. "We've got problems." He turned and was kicked in the face so hard he swore his nose was broken. He looked up to watch Logan turn into someone else who greeted Jean with a maniacal smile. He stood and drew a sherukan, throwing four of them. "Leave, or I'll kick your ass!" He drew another. "I said leave!"

Mystique turned. "Oh, Oni.. How nice to see you too." She said, throwing another leg towards him.

Jean growled and tightened her eyes shut. No, she thought. No, dammit. You're not going to win. "Like hell I'm not!" She yelled, her eyes glowing bright as she opened them and looked to Mystique. She rushed towards her, throwing her hands and freezing Mystique right before she hit Oni in the face. "Don't fucking think so." She said, her voice was different. She grinned and threw Mystique against the wall, over and over and over again until she was limp.

Jean turned around to see Lacey and Oni. She leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. "..More are coming. They're outside." She turned and started running, grabbing Lacey and Oni and throwing them out in front of her. She growled, seeing that they had already broke down the door. She stopped for a moment, but was thrown against the wall as one of the brother hood rushed in from behind and kicked her back. "Bastard..." She said, holding her shoulder.

She looked over to see Lacey. She looked into her eyes, she was scared. "Lacey!" She said, reaching out and trying to get her before the Brotherhood did. But they had already got her. "...SCOTT!" She screamed out for him and breathed. She looked over to Oni. "..I'm sorry."

Oni knew what he had to do. "I will not let you hurt anyone! I have enough for one blast.." He put his hands together and yelled, "REPLICATION!" Five Oni's appeared and leaped into the air.
"Sherukan Spinner!"

Scott had been working; grading some reports when he heard Jean scream. He raced downstairs, and immediately joined the fight.

Professor Xavier heard the commotion and knew what was going on. He activated the communicators and said. "X-men assemble in the front and resist the intruders immediately!" He received only one answer and he proceeded to go down stairs and see the fight that was already in progress.

Jean pushed herself up slowly, seeing that the brotherhood soldier behind her was killed by one of the sherukans through his chest. She leaned against the wall, holding her shoulder. Again, her head was pounding.. All of her body was. She wanted to fight, but she was too weak. She looked over to see Lacey on the floor, crying. "L-lacey..." She said, waving for her to come closer to her to get out of the fight. "Come here.. Get out of there." She whispered.

Lacey looked over to Jean, tears rushing down her cheeks. Her heart was beating quickly and she was clutching the new cross around her neck. She didn't want to use her powers, it hurt when she did it. She didn't want to loose control, either. She looked to Oni and dodged a few dead brotherhood soldiers coming at her. She looked back over to Jean and started to crawl over to her.

Oni stopped fighting, the duplicates of himself disappeared, and he fell to the ground. "They aren't dead.. They were never alive to begin with. They're just robots!" He paused. "But that means those first bots were just a--." Before he could finish his sentence, he was slammed into the wall by someone with such insane speed, that he went through the wall and he didn't get up. "You should all surrender now, and let us take the children.." His voice was filled with amusement.

Jean looked over to Oni with tears in her eyes. "No!" She yelled, pushing herself up from the wall. She was still weak, but she had to protect them. "Fuck you!" She screamed, throwing her hands towards him. Not even a second passed, when she was rushing towards him with the speed of light. "You AREN'T taking them!" She yelled, throwing her hands towards him again. "You are not! You'll have to kill me first!" She yelled, clenching her fists.

"Very well, Good-bye, Jean." He said. He raised his hands, the magnetic abilities taking hold of a few sherukans and flung them towards her. But before they could even get close, they were caught by an outstretched hand. "Magneto.. You're a moron. You should know, never piss of a Junin." He stood, stepping Jean down as he put the sherukans's away. "I'm tired of this so let's end this.. qui--.." A metal support beam was ripped from the wall and thrown at him. THAT WAS IT.

The seal glowed brightly and he threw the beam into the wall opposite him. His clenched teeth was bared and his canines elongated; his skin paled and his hair lengthened to a charcoal black. Oni let a scream escape him, so loud that it shook the walls before he launched at Magneto himself.

Xavier's eyes went wide at the transformation and the amount of energy that streamed out of him; who was this person?

Jean closed her eyes, but nothing happened. She opened them up again to see Oni in front of her. He set her down and she dropped to the floor. She pulled herself up and looked to him. Her eyes widened at his transformation. Her heart quickened tremendously.. "O-oni?" She whispered, tears running from her eyes. She looked to the others. Most of the brotherhood was dead, it was mostly just Magneto. She tried to pull herself up, but failed miserably. "Ughn..." She said, holding her shoulder. "You.. won't.. win.." She said, opening her eyes and watching Oni.

If he had lost control, what would he do after he got rid of Magneto? Many thoughts were running through her mind and she looked over to the Professor and Scott with a look of despair and fear. "..What's.. happening?"

Magneto picked up anything he could thrown at Oni, fear showing on his face clearly. Oni tore through it easily, without any effort. Xavier tried to get into the mind of Oni to try anything to render him unconscious.. There was no other way. He closed his eyes and reared back as if it.

Scott looked to him and ran over. "What's wrong, Professor?"

"His.. mind. He's not completely human anymore.. He's powerful, too powerful."

Scott growled. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know.. I am going to try to break through his defense." Scot nodded.

There was a bright red light radiating from Oni as he hit Magneto and slammed him into the wall. As he raised his hand to hit Magneto again, a sherukan flew through his arm. He looked to it, then looked back down to Magneto.. But, he was gone. Oni stood, giving a broad smile as an insane laugh escaped him.
"Blood, finally." He licked his fingers clean and turned to them. He had lost completely control. He turned and focused on Lacey. "You-you're always so fond of your God. He'll protect you, huh? Well, where is he now?"

Lacey's eyes widened and she looked to Oni. She backed up, tears rushing from her eyes. "Oni..?" She asked. "D-don't!" She backed away faster, her heart pounding against the inside of her chest. She clutched the cross. "Oni! Please?" She said, her back now against the wall. She pushed herself up, and she looked over to the Professor, fear was visible in her eyes. "Help me.." She said, but she threw her hands towards Oni, and a few sherukan's flew at him. "Leave me alone!" She screamed, looking into his eyes. He was a different person. She swore she could of seen Satan in his eyes. "..Please! DON'T HURT ME!" She yelled, closing her eyes.

Jean looked over to Oni. Her heart skipped. "..Oni? No!" She tried to push herself up. "Oni!"

Oni laughed. "You're going to die.. You're God isn't anything but a pathetic excuse to hide behind. You know, I never had a name until someone tried to kill me.. I attacked, and you know what he called me? DEVIL! You know what Oni means in Japanese?" He grabbed her up, ignoring the sherukan's flying towards him. "Just Guess." He tilted his head to the side. "Good-bye.." He laughed before he bit into her neck.

She screamed as he began drinking from her so fast, but then he fell to the floor as the Professor finally broke through.

Scott ran down the stairs and approached Lacey; he could tell. "She's... She's not breathing." He put his hand to the side of her neck that wasn't bleeding. "Sh-she's dead."

Jean's eyes widened. "No.. She can't be." She forced herself up and rushed over to her side. She pushed Scott out of the way and put her fingers to her carotid. ..No pulse. "No!" She screamed, putting her hands to her sternum and trying to restart her heart. "No! You can't die!" She screamed, tears rushing down her cheeks. "Wake up!" She yelled, still trying to start her heart. She closed her eyes and laid her head on her chest, not hearing her heartbeat. She sobbed wildly. "Wake up.." She said again, slamming her fist on Lacey's chest.. But the only thing she did was flinch. She didn't open her eyes, she didn't breath... Nothing.

"No..." She sobbed, grabbing Lacey and wrapping her arms around her, rocking back and forth. "..You can't die." She whispered in her ear. Her body was cold, frigid.. Still. "...You can't. I told you you were safe.." She whispered. "I'm sorry.. I wish it was me." She said. "I wish it was me.." She held her close, still rocking back and forth. "It's my fault..." She said. "I couldn't save you." She put her hand to Lacey's cheek. "I'm sorry..."

Scott wrapped his arms around Jean, pulling her away from Lacey's body trying to quiet her down but in truth, he had no idea what to do.. He had never—he hadn't ever had anything happen like this before. "Professor? What do we do? What the hell do we do?

Logan, Rogue, and Storm broke through the room and gasped. They picked up Jean, Lacey, and an unconscious Oni and moved immediately to the Infirmary, shortly followed by Scott and a grave Xavier. No one knew what to do.

"Let go of me!" Jean yelled, pushing everyone off of her. She tried to get away, but she was too weak and her body wouldn't let her. She dropped to the floor, sobbing. I couldn't help her.. It was my fault. It's my fault she's dead... I couldn't save them. She closed her eyes as they flashed red. She curled up against the wall, her body shaking, trembling. She wrapped her arms around herself and let her head droop from her shoulders. I hate you.. She thought. She had always looked to God, for guidance. For hope, and for love.. But, everything she had was stolen away from her.. Was he punishing her? I fucking hate you! She thought, holding the cross that was once around Lacey's neck in her shaking hands.

Xavier did one thing he rarely did: he put Jean to sleep. It would be less painful for her. "Scott, please." But, Scott was already picking Jean up and laid her on the one of the beds.

Storm looked around. "What happened?"

Xavier told the story of Magneto's attack, Oni's transformation, and of Lacey's death.. They all stood, simply having no idea what to do. "We all need sleep.. We'll try to fix things tomorrow. Go to sleep everyone. We can't do anything right now."

Jean slowly closed her eyes as he laid her on the bed. "..no... please." She whispered, before fading off into sleep. She opened her eyes, but was fading into the darkness. Her body was still shaking and she held the cross. "You're weak..." A familiar voice came. "So weak. You couldn't even save that girl from the all bad Oni." The voice laughed.

Jean closed her eyes. "Stop it.." She whispered. "Stop it! STOP IT!" She finally yelled, throwing her head side to side.

"You know its your fault. You're the one who told her she'd be safe.. You were the one that couldn't stop him.. You were the one that couldn't save her.. She died. Her blood is on your hands." Phoenix said with a smirk.

"No.. No, you're wrong!" She screamed. She opened her eyes to see blood on her hands and Lacey on the floor in front of her.

Lacey's eyes popped open and she raised her head to look at Jean. "You lied! You said I'd be safe! You lied! I hate you, I hate you! You couldn't protect me! Its your fault. It's your fault I died!" Lacey's head dropped back down, but her voice was still echoing in her head.

"Its your fault, your fault.. You're the one who said she'd be safe.. You're a liar! A liar! I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU!"

Xavier woke; the night still on the horizon. He was so worried. What would Jean do? What would Oni do? What would they all do? He never had a student die, and he had never had another student to be the cause.

Scott awoke, hugging a pillow. He looked around remembering the events of the night. He stood up and walked down to the medical bay. He glanced at Oni, wondering what they would do about him. Then, he came to Jean's bed. She was clutching a cross, obviously having a bad dream. "Jean, wake up.. Wake up, Jean. You're just having a nightmare."

Oni opened his eyes, his head hurt like never before. He didn't remember what happened until he looked down to his bloody fingers. "No.." He looked around and found a sheet with a figure underneath. His eyes widened. It had escaped, what had he done? Why? What had happened? He stumbled to the bed and slowly raised the sheet, to show the pale body of Lacey. He flew back, slamming into the table. "No.. NO.. NO! What did it do?" He looked down, tears flowing from his eyes.

Storm looked up, her own eyes teary. Her face was exhausted. She rushed over to Oni and pulled the sheet back over Lacey. "..Oni?" She looked to him, grabbing a hold of him. "Oni!" She yelled, wrapping her arms around him. She couldn't help but cry herself. She didn't know what to do, what to say... Nothing came to mind. She looked away from the white-sheeted bed and closed her eyes, waiting for the Professor to arrive.

Jean was still trapped in her nightmare. Its your fault I'm dead! Your fault. Your fault. Weakling. Her eyes popped open to see Scott with a worried look on his face. She closed her eyes again and turned away from him. She pushed herself up from the bed and stopped, turning to look at Oni. Her eyes flashed a bright red until she looked away and walked out of the bay, without a word. She was clutching the cross so tightly she was loosing feeling in her arm. She didn't want to be near anyone.. Anything.. She wanted to be alone, and to stay like that forever. Maybe that was best. If you were alone, you could never be hurt, right? And you could never hurt anyone else... Right? Tears ran down her cheeks. Why did it have to be now.. Now, out of all times? Why did it have to happen? Why did Magneto have to attack? She opened her eyes and let her hands fall to her side.

Her eyes were hidden beneath the dark crimson hair that sheltered them, leaving her face in shadow. She couldn't get it out of her head. It replayed over and over again. She walked into the bedroom and locked the door, slamming it behind her. It rattled the school as it slammed shut, just annoying her even more.

She stood in the middle of the room, her eyes closed and rage and sorrow racing through her. A very bad combination for someone as weak-minded as she.

Oni couldn't stop crying. He knew now what happened. He killed her, that thing had killed her but it was his body. "Why does this thing have to exist? Why does everything have to get so fucked up? Why do I have to live a cursed live! Why did I have to be born? If I wouldn't, she… she… I don't deserve to draw another breath. I should die right here!" He shoved Storm away and drew a sherukan, putting it to his own chest. He was about to shove it through his own heart, killing himself but he held a hand on his arm. It was Xavier's. "No! I wasn't your fault. I saw that last second, how hard you were fighting. I saw how hard you were fighting against that thing. You fought with everything you had. So did everyone else. You, Jean, Scott, everyone! Her death is it's fault. Nt yours. Not Jean's, not Scott's, no one but that thing!" Xavier choked back tears as Oni dropped the weapon.

"I failed. It doesn't matter how hard I fought. I failed and it killed her."

Xavier shook his head. "..Don't believe it. Trust me, I know I saw everything before you passed out."

Storm wiped the tears from her eyes and sunk back into the corner. She looked to the bed and closed her eyes. She took a breath. "..He's right..." She said. "..It's not your fault.. You fought with your whole soul. You couldn't do anything else..." She choked back a sob. "..It's not your fault, Oni." She looked up into his eyes. "..Don't ever think it was."

Oni stood slowly and approached the bed. He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry. What can I do? I offer a prayer, may you find in the next life what you couldn't have in this one. May you find peace, happiness, and all things you deserved.. You deserved so much better. You deserved to live a full life, and I'm sorry that.. it ended so quickly. Even if it was against my will and even though you may not be able to hear me, I beg your forgiveness." Oni bowed his head, hoping to feel or hear some sign that his apology was accepted.

In a few moments, the lights started to dim.. Oni tightened his eyes shut, hoping.. wanting. He let out a breath as an apparition of Lacey appeared before him.. "..I forgive you." She gave a happy smile and kissed him on the cheek, before a light showered over her and she disappeared.

Jean was still standing in the middle of the room, her head still down tears rushing from her flustered cheeks. Though it did not seem like it, she was fighting an inner battle.. And she was loosing horribly. She dropped the cross and walked over to her bed, curling up into a ball on the soft surface. "...I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry I lied to you.. I'm sorry.. It was my fault." She said, closing her eyes pulling the covers up over her head. She kept her eyes closed, she didn't want to open them. Maybe this was all a dream, one of those horrible nightmares she always had. It had to be.. It had to be.

Professor Xavier sighed. "We should all try and get some sleep, again. Its been.. a very long night." They filed out of the room, some smiling to Oni giving him reassurances. He nodded when he needed to but the truth was he felt as if someone stabbed him or punched him in the stomach. He wished someone would say something, anything, to make this feeling go away. He didn't know if it was his grief filled mind, or Professor Xavier that had given him absolution but he knew it wasn't real. She couldn't forgive him, because she was dead by his hand and that, no matter what anyone said, was unforgivable.

He slowly walked into his room, tears falling from his cheeks, upset and angry at the same time. He knew the time here was too good to be true but it was too good for him. He no longer deserved anything this amazing. He packed up a few belongings and opened the window. He flew away into a moonless night. He had been a wanderer, only surviving on what he had to, and it was time to do that again.

You're weak. There it was again.. That voice that she hadn't heard for years.. It had time to become strong, it had time to overtake her. She tightened her eyes shut. It felt like her body was completely shutting down, her body tingling and swiftly making its way into numbness.. the same with her mind. She was awake, but she wasn't.. She could hear everything, but she couldn't.

Her own words were twisted around in her head.. You're weak and you know it! You can never hide who you really are, Jean.. You are me.. and I.. am you..

She laid still, not moving a muscle.. She seemed as if she was a corpse, pall and feverish.. Waiting to be embalmed. She wanted to scream out.. But she couldn't.. Not even with her mind.