Disclaimer: all the characters belonging to Sky High and Xmen are not mine. I am only borrowing them.

Chapter 18

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Pst. Pst.

Two shots from Mystique.

At that instant, Pyro's terror was slowing everything – even time.

A haunting inhuman shriek reached his ears from far away…It was Layla... a part of the needle had scraped her skin…she was falling to the ground…Will was shouting...and leaping to catch her in his arms… he was bent over her, protecting Layla with his body, shouting for help and staring at him with his eyes wide all at the same time… Will gasping as a needle struck his shoulder… in rage he reached over to yank it out…

Will's thicker than normal skin had protected him!

Then… chaos.

Mystique looked surprised as Will took flight and collided into her. Momentarily winded, Will punched her and she landed on the sidewalk. Her gun kicked to the side.

Then Will leapt on her and began pounding her with punches.

"Pyro!" she screamed over the barrage of bunches. "Shoot him!"

Pausing, Will's horrified eyes pleaded at him. Layla's still body lay close by.

Pyro froze. His finger was at the trigger. But his hands were shaking too much.

Fighting resumed. More yells, punches, screams.

Somehow, Pyro's finger had gone limp. He couldn't – wouldn't – pull the trigger.

"What is wrong with you?" yelled Mystique who was struggling to defend against Will.

But Pyro was slowly lowering his weapon.

"What?" she gritted her teeth. "What are you doing?"

He felt an edge of panic rise to his consciousness. The drastic consequences of his actions was just slowly dawning on him.

He would pay – with pain and death.

Mystique gave a snarl as she dodged Will's attempt at grabbing her and smashing her into a tree. She leapt away.

A chance to escape!

Will flew beside Layla and held her limp body in his arms. Carrying her, he took flight.

Watching them escape, Pyro felt a weight lift off his shoulders.

Pst.

A needle struck in his shoulder. Staggering, he could feel Mystique's sardonic grin taunting him behind his back. She laughed softly.

The stun gun was held triumphantly in her hand and still smoking.

Then he grimaced. His gun clattered to the ground as pain spread all over his limbs. Paralysed, his knees hit the hard cold pavement and his body began to fold over.

As he fought to hold onto his consciouness, snippets of conversations crossed his mind…

I'm going to crash in on their little party… when they are least expecting it. Magneto had said.

What was Magneto referring to?

Homecoming, Pyro realised. That's what it was. Magneto is going to attack there...

He needed to warn Will. Or die trying.

Could Will even hear him? He was already so far away...

But he couldn't give up."Homecoming… danger…" was all he could say as he looked at the darkening sky.

Then his world went black.

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Midflight, Will saw Pyro grimace before he fell.

In a flash of sympathy, he shouted, "Pyro!"

Yet he was powerless to help with Layla still in his arms... He needed help. And he needed it quick.

"HELP!" he shouted. He screamed at the top of his lungs as he flew towards the nearest house.

Landing on the doorstep, he began frantically knocking on the door.

Wham! A kick in his ribs. Mystique!

Even with his superstrength and thick skin, pain jolted through his chest. He staggered.

Whack! Her fist smashed the side of his face and hit his nose.

Will reeled at the force. His vision blurred. He almost dropped Layla.

"Be quiet!" she commanded. "Or your girlfriend pays!"

"No!" he yelled.

His face must have been a mess. His nose was sticky with blood and some of the blood had dripped onto Layla.

There was no way he can keep holding her. He didn't want her to be attacked with him too.

Stubbornly, he placed her quickly on the ground and covered her body with his own.

If you want her, he thought, you will have drag me along too.

"Stop!" a neighbor was screaming. "Stop her!"

Another was rushing out into the street with a gun aiming at Mystique. "Stop or I shoot!"

Finally, help had arrived.

Mystique's head turned to glare at the strangers. Her yellow eyes were dark slits of anger. "We will meet again."

With that she lifted Pyro's prone body over her shoulders and ran, leaving a shaking Will and an unconscious Layla behind.