Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men Evolution. G-g-gasp!

Sooo...here it is. The last real chapter. I'll include an epilogue/explanation chapter a little later.Thanks to all of my reviewers: L'ange-Sans-Ailes, Remy's Chere, RustCheck, QueenOfElectricity, Riye Link Reue, and Amelia Glitter. And thanks to any others who might review next or someone I forgot to credit.

Chapter 8: Lost Friend

One hard bump was all that happened.

One hard bump was all that was needed.

Cyclops' visor came off from it. Optic blasts came spiraling out of control form Cyclops's eyes. They came so fast.

So fast that the X-Men could barely comprehend what was going on.

So fast that the Brotherhood almost froze in shock.

So fast that Pietro himself wondered if he could dodge it.

So fast that Jean, the telepath, could not stop it in any way.

So fast that Ray could not get out of the way in time.

The optic blast came spiraling across the docks, and hit Ray in the torso with a sickening sound. He let out one shout of pain as he was blasted off the pier. The part of the dock he was standing on began to burn, and the fire grew very, very quickly. In no time the burning wreckage collapsed over him.

A few different people jumped in to save Ray, but realized it was futile due to the burning wreckage of the docks.

Pietro used his superspeed (he is able to run on water for a short time) to scan the water, but saw nothing.

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"Hey, Bobby," Amara said the following day.

"Yeah?" Bobby was sitting on the couch pretending to watch T.V.

"Are you sad?"

Bobby sighed before answering. "Yeah. And before you say anything else to me, I don't want to hear anything like 'everyone is taken away for a reason' or about Ray having his time, like, preset or something, like predestined...or whatever." Bobby sighed again. "It was too early for him."

"Do you think he would've wanted you to sulk all day?" Amara said.

"Don't start. I've heard that one, too." Bobby responded dryly.

Amara paused. "You know what? I think sulking is the kind of thing he would've done!"

Bobby chuckled. "Yeah, you're right." They sat still together for a minute before Bobby spoke up again. "You know what the worst part is? They didn't even find the body. For all we know, Ray is-"

"He's not still alive, Bobby. That's impossible. You were there. You saw what happened."

Bobby sat in another short, silent moment. "I wonder what the Brotherhood is thinking."

"They're probably confused." Amara replied.

"Like us?"

Now it was Amara's turn to sigh. "Like Ray was."

Bobby turned to Amara. "Where does he belong? He didn't know. I didn't know..."

"Wherever he's happy, Bobby." Amara replied, smiling at Bobby a little.

"Wherever he's happy." Bobby returned the smile.

Oy. You do not know how forced that ending was. I rewrote that about a million times. And I probably didn't go with the bestchoice either. Stupid Yellowfur! -pounds head on desk- Hmmm...wow, what a hideously dark ending. Oh, and I'm SORRY for killing off Ray. Once again, before you tell your friends to never, ever read my story, read my next post in this story, it will be explaining things.