Chapter 72
Magneto, despite all he has endured in his life, even he can't stop crying out at the pain caused when someone stabs you.
Live Wire leans down on where she has stabbed him, adding her weight just to make sure it really hurts, a look of joyful triumph at her success.
Magneto chokes down the pain and looks to see she has stabbed him close to his left shoulder. "You missed," he hisses through the pain meaning she missed everything vital. He'll live.
"I meant to," Live Wire retorts. "Because I don't want you to die right here and right now. I want you to live and spend every minute wondering where and when it is I will strike you down. I promise you that such a day is coming. Whenever you see a thunder storm and lightning cracks across the sky I want you to think of me, old man," she says that with as much hate as possible. "One day I'll return and you will die," she promises. "On that day all your dreams will turn to ash. I'll see everything you hold dear taken from you so you know what it is you did to me!" she hisses hatefully.
Magneto chokes out a laugh. "I already lost everything once. It's not much of a threat."
Live Wire's lips curl up into a cruel smile. "We'll see if you still think that when your precious Lorna is screaming in agony, begging for the pain to stop."
Magneto's face darkens. "Touch her and..."
Live Wire cuts him off by pushing the stone further in to him. "And you'll do what? Rape my brain? Strip me of my memories? Try being original. Take it from me that's the only way you get to stay on the air."
"This is not over Live Wire," Magneto warns her. "Let me live and I promise you that."
"Give it your best shot," Live Wire dares him. She then places her hand over his heart and shocks him into unconsciousness. That done she turns her attention back to Clark. Stranding up she yanks the stone out of Magneto first and keeps a hold of the now blood stained relic. As she walks over she spies that the teleporter is still out. She straddles Clark across his chest. "Right then where were we honey?"
Clark was never completely out. He just about saw and heard what she just did. "Leslie," he croaks.
Live Wire places her blood-stained finger to his lips, silencing him. "Shh, don't tell me. It'll come back to me. Oh right, I remember. You and your little X-Men buddies attacked me just when I was about to reveal mutants to the world and then you let Magneto snatch me and brainwash me," she summarises the last encounter between herself and the X-Men when she was truly herself. "Anything to say for yourself?"
Live Wire removes her finger and lets Clark talk. "I'm sorry," is the first thing he says. "Truly, Leslie, I never wished that to have happened to you," he means that. Yeah she's annoying as hell but Clark never wanted her to have endured what Magneto did.
Live Wire holds up her right hand and makes electricity crackles between her fingers. "I'm curious. In your current state, could I kill you?"
"You don't want to do that."
Live Wire arches an eyebrow. "Don't I?"
"No," Clark says with remarkable assuredness considering his position. His body feels wiped and he thinks he basically is at her mercy. "I know your time at the mansion didn't go well and maybe I'm partially to blame for that," he says, thinking perhaps he could have tried harder to reach her instead of avoiding her as much as he did during her short tenure as a student at the Institute. The thing behind that thought is that, back in Smallville, Clark could never help the meteor mutants and Leslie had been the 1st person he probably had been in a position to have helped but he failed utterly in that regard.
"I blame all of you pathetic wannabe heroes," Live Wire says to that. To her they have much to pay for.
"It doesn't have to be this way, Leslie," Clark tries to make her see.
"Oh, really?" she questions that.
"We can make a fresh start. New beginning. You're not a bad person," he tries to appeal to that side of her.
"Course not. I'm the greatest!" she proclaims something she often said when she was a hit radio shock jock. She leans down and brings herself nose to nose with Clark. "It's a nice offer Clark. Still the boyscout I see. Problem is you goodie goodies have all those rules and I have an issue with rules."
Clark chuckles. "Lately so have I," he says humorously at the things he has done.
Live Wire's curved lips grow into a wide smile. "I knew it! I knew deep down you were more like me than you would admit to yourself!"
"I still believe in the X-Men's cause and in helping those who can't help themselves," Clark cuts off any idea she might be getting
Live Wire smiles thinly. "Course you do. Well then I guess it is rather obvious what I have to do next."
Clark worries for a brief moment before the next thing he knows Live Wire's lips are on his, kissing him with a lot of ferocity and hunger.
"Damn, you taste better than I thought you would," Live Wire remarks after she has finished, licking her lips, grinning like the cat who got the cream. She has wanted to do that since the moment she first laid eyes upon Clark after inadvertently appearing in his room, while he was sleeping, just after she was transformed into what she is now and hadn't learned any control of her powers.
"You going to kill me now?"
"Thinking about it," Live Wire teases.
Clark gives her a sceptical look. He has a feeling she doesn't really want to. Whether she is actually capable of killing someone...that's an entirely different question.
"Not today, handsome," she says warmly while she pats him on his cheek. "You see when I choose to destroy you it won't be in some metal dome in the ass-end of nowhere. It will be in front of the whole damn world!" she declares stretching her arms out above her head. "Everyone will see me for the true star I am. The whole world will hear me!" she shouts as if it is need of hers to be seen and heard.
Live Wire then looks down at him with a sexy, impish smile. "Rest assured Clarkie boy, we will meet again and then we shall...finish this," she says as suggestively as possible, implying something very different from destroying him. "The Live Wire's greatest performance is yet to come!" she proclaims.
Live Wire rises off of him. "Oh. To show that I do have a heart, here's your little trinket back," she throws the stone down beside him. "Bye handsome!" she says with a playful wink and the blowing out of kiss from her lips. With that Live Wire transforms into lightning and shoots off...not to leave quite yet. There's one more person she needs to get some payback on first.
Clark slowly rolls himself over to his side and reaches out for the stone. Luckily for Live Wire that when he swapped back with Magneto the stone must have deactivated or she would have swapped with him when she stabbed him. Clark's fingers become smeared with Magneto's blood as he grabs the stone and a memory plays out in his head. A memory from his 3 months locked up in the cave. A memory of something Jor-El said.
"Heed this warning, my son. Human blood must not fall upon any of the elements. If this comes to pass a great darkness lost in the depths of space shall be awoken. Earth will come to the twilight of its existence and humanity will meet its Doomsday."
Jor-El is many things to Clark. Usually he's just the figure who makes Clark's life hell but one thing he is not is a liar. Something is coming. Something bad. Clark just somehow knows this to be this true.
"Superman!" he hears his name being shouted out.
Someone runs over to him and rolls him over. "Scott?" he queries in his greatly weakened state.
Scott looks into Superman's eyes trying to work out whether it is really Clark. The situation he found indicates that it possibly is. "If it's you tell me something only you know," he advises.
Clark's lips curve up into that little bad boy smirk that shows he is about to enjoy this way too much. "When you were working up the nerve to ask Jean out you spent 2 weeks practising in front of the mirror in your room."
Scott's face reddens with embarrassment.
"Is that so?" a too familiar voice asks.
Scott's face reddens more as he turns to find Jean has joined them. "Can, um, we discuss this later?" he requests to shelve that. "I need help," he says in reference to Clark and it is no doubt that it is Clark. Only Clark could possibly have known about the mirror thing.
Jean runs over and helps Scott pick Clark up. "Geez, lay off the cookies," Jean complains at his weight.
"Those are my mother's cookies. I would rather be fat!" Clark declares to be the case rather than give up his mother's cookies.
"Yeah. It's definitely you," Jean can see.
Clark groans. "I don't remember being me hurting this much," he whines.
"What about them?" Jean asks in reference to Magneto and the woman. "What happened here?"
"Long story," Clark says wearily.
Scott is trying to think of how to use this moment to take care of Magneto once and for all when the woman wakes up and vanishes in a green cloud which floats over Magneto's body and the cloud vanishes completely, taking Magneto with it. So much for that idea.
"Lets just go," Clark suggests. "We can get Magneto another day."
Scott reluctantly has to agree. They're not chasing Magneto all over this base. He activates his communicator. "X-Men, mission accomplished. Everyone fall back to the rendezvous position. We're leaving!" he orders.
Scott gets a 'Roger' from everyone including the group consisting of Sunspot, Magma and Multiple who have found Kitty...and her new friend and her new, uh, pet.
Scott wonders what that pet thing is about then notices one person who hasn't responded.
Rogue.
A short time earlier...
Rogue blinks after Dr Strange's teleportation spell. So far so good it seems. Now she should be near one of the Acolytes. Her task really is just to keep whoever it is busy. With all the powers she absorbed she thinks she can handle any of them. Rogue carefully treads forward. She stops and tenses. There's someone behind her. She spins round.
"We meet again, Cherie."
'Not this jackass again!' Rogue mentally curses as leaning against the wall, flipping his playing cards from one hand to the other, a lazy cocky grin on his face is the man known as Gambit.
Gambit looks Rogue and her reptilian appearance over. "You look different, Petit. Not a bad different," he says in his smooth tones and flashing his charming smiles.
Like the first time they met Rogue can't help it when she flushes slightly at his smile. It's so not right he can do that to her. She snaps herself out of it. "Look here, Swamp Rat, ah ain't fallin for your tricks this tahme."
Gambit looks amused. "How about you just fall for Gambit instead, non?"
Rogue scoffs. "Keep on dreamin. Ah have a boyfriend," she points out although she isn't sure why she feels the need to tell him that.
"So Gambit hear. Tell me truthfully, Petit, what does some human have d'at Gambit doesn't?"
"Charm, wit, generosity, kindness, a sense of humour...need ah go on?"
"You wound Gambit," Gambit says, mock holding his hand over his heart.
There's also the fact Clark doesn't refer to himself in the 3rd person all the time. Dear God is that irritating. What is more than irritating is the fact Rogue remembers how he almost blew her hand off last time they met. He is going to pay for that...
The present...
Rogue unfortunately discovers that making him pay is a lot harder than she thought. He's really quite good when it comes to fighting. She flips out of the way of one of his charged cards, using all the agility she absorbed from Slither, allowing her to contort her body at a humanly impossible angle.
She lands in a crouch and reaches into Lifter's power. She digs her hands into the metal floor and rips it up hard, tearing it all the way down to where Gambit is standing.
Gambit does the surprising thing and runs right at her, reaching into his coat for his retractable metal Bo staff. He extends it and uses it like a pole vaulter would to propel himself over Rogue's head and land behind her where he quickly sweeps his staff into the back of her knees, sending Rogue down onto her back.
Ok scratch what she said. He's not quite good. Rogue will begrudgingly have to admit he's really good.
Gambit brings the end of his staff to mere millimetres above her nose. "You're good Cher," he gives what is a genuine compliment for him. "But not good enough," he boasts.
"And you would know about what is good, wouldn't you lover."
Gambit spins round and finds his staff grabbed by the hand of Live Wire.
Live Wire smirks. "A metal staff? On me? Seriously?"
Before Gambit can figure out what she means she sends a huge electrical surge into the staff which travels up Gambit's arms shocking him severely. As he cries out in pain he releases the staff and collapses down.
"I'll be back, lover. You just wait there," Live Wire says with an amused cackle as she steps over to Rogue's fallen body, still holding Gambit's staff. "Hello, Roguey. Been awhile hasn't it."
Rogue is a little short of breath at the moment. "What do ya want?"
Live Wire slams the end of the staff into Rogue's stomach, hard enough to knock the air out of Rogue's lungs. An indication that the powers she absorbed are fading. "Oh you'll see what I want shortly," Live Wire responds with a dark gleam in her eye and a smile to match. She sends a charge into Rogue's body and keeps delivering it until the Goth is out for the count.
That done Live Wire returns to her sex partner, straddling him across the chest. "Now this is familiar," she says with a wicked grin.
Gambit shakes his head, trying to clear it. "What are you doing, Cher?"
"What am I doing? I think I'm doing, Cher, a little payback."
"For what?" Gambit asks.
"I remember...everything, Remy. I remember Magneto messing with my head. I remember you doing absolutely nothing about it and I remember you having no compunction in sleeping with me even when you knew I was no longer in possession of my right mind," Live Wire lists his crimes as she sees it.
"Gambit can explain..."
Live Wire places her fingers to his lips, stopping him. "Shh. There's no need to explain Remy. Certainly not with one of your little excuses...but you're good at excuses, aren't you. I'm curious which ones you tell yourself everyday that allows you to keep hanging around here. Then again I really don't care. I know what you are Gambit. You're a thief and a liar and someone who takes advantage of any situation he finds himself in for any benefit that solely helps yourself. Then again who am I to judge. After all I was only sleeping with you to see if I could loosen your tongue and spill the truth of my forgotten memories."
Gambit frowns.
Live Wire notices his expression. "Oh don't give me that look, lover. You're not that good. You only barely managed to adequately scratch my itch."
Ok now Gambit feels like he should be insulted. He's never had one woman who has ever described him as only barely adequate.
"So tell me Remy, what does a girl do after finding every one of her so-called teammates have been laughing at her behind her back about the poor lobotomised girl?" Live Wire asks him as she arcs electricity between her fingers
"Remy never laughed at you," Gambit says.
"Right and I just take your word which is worth about as much as the crap that comes out my backside," Live Wire dismisses that. She rocks her head back and forth a few times. "You know what. I'll let you live because we both know it is only a matter of time before you stab Magneto in the back when it suits you and anything that makes that old fart suffer makes me sing with glee!" she says cheerily.
"You leaving now?" Gambit asks her.
"You going to try and stop me?"
"Non," Gambit says with a shake of his head.
"Aw. You're such a sweetheart. Almost makes me feel guilty for having to do this."
"Do what?"
Live Wire answers his question by slamming her hand over his heart and shocking him hard. She leans down and kisses him on the lips. "Really sorry, lover but I don't think even you would let me do what I'm going to next."
Live Wire leaves him stunned and moves back over to where Rogue lies and a truly disturbing gleam comes over her face. She picks Rogue up and lumps the unconscious Goth over her shoulder. "Come on Rogue. Time for some girl talk," she says with a positively wicked grin as she carries Rogue away.
Lorna finds herself surrounded with only Colossus for protection. She worries about what now. For a long time no-one moves or does anything.
Cyclops' message about leaving then reaches the X-Men.
Wolverine whistles loudly. "Hex-girl we're going!" he barks out the order.
Wanda looks past her sister at him. If they're going that must mean her father is back where he belongs. Her eyes focus back in on the green haired teenager. "Want some advice, sis. Get as far away from Magneto as possible before he destroys your life as he destroyed mine," she offers the only kind advice she can think of.
Lorna looks pained at how much hate her sister is spewing. "I can't," she refuses for her own reasons, primarily her mother.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Wanda mutters, not wasting time on someone, even someone who claims to be her sister, who refuses to see Magneto for what he is. She storms past Lorna and Colossus and rejoins Wolverine, Beast, Dr Strange and half the New Mutants.
"What was that about?" Tabby wonders with Wanda calling this girl 'sis'.
"I don't want to talk about it," Wanda snaps back.
"What about you Tin-grin?" Wolverine inquires. "Ready to let us help you yet?" he asks, knowing Magneto has some sort of hold over the boy.
"Nothing has changed," Colossus says regretfully.
Wolverine wastes no more time then. "Get us out of here, Strange," he orders.
"As you wish," Dr Strange concedes to the request as he chants his spell and the whole group teleport away.
"Wakey, wakey snookums!" Rogue hears that horribly familiar grating tone of Live Wire break into her consciousness and another sound like someone knocking on a window.
Rogue wakes up to find herself curled up on the floor inside a vertical tube of some sort with one side transparent and Live Wire peering in. Rogue slowly gets back to her feet.
"Ah! Finally! I was afraid for a moment I overdid it!" Live Wire says with an insane cheerfulness.
Rogue bangs on the glass but can't break it. Her extra powers are gone. "Where am Ah?"
"Oh we'll get to that," Live Wire promises. "But tell me first Rogue how are things with you and Clark?"
"What?"
Live Wire grins. "Don't play dumb. I remember. I must say Superman is a little egotistical but then again who I am to judge."
Rogue swallows. "How did ya...?"
"Work it out? Not too hard really when I can remember what he is capable of doing yet everyone else has forgotten him. I'm curious how you guys pulled that one off."
"Go ta hell."
"You first honey," Live Wire says with deadly premise in her tone.
"What do ya want?"
"I remember everything now about my time at that shabby little mansion and what I remember, Rogue, is that you were constantly in my way."
Rogue scoffs. "Then ah say ya don't remember everything because that's a load of bull." Live Wire threw herself at Clark even when he made it quite clear he wasn't interested and only wanted Rogue.
Live Wire smiles a lopsided grin. "Did you ever wonder how I ended up the fine figure of a woman I am today?"
"Can't say ah did," Rogue admits.
Live Wire leans forward and presses her nose against the glass. "You're standing in it."
Rogue looks around her with a puzzled expression.
"What you are standing in is an x-gene enhancer Magneto stole from Lionel Luthor. Back when I had pink skin I snuck into Lionel's secret little lab trying to get him back for having me fired!" she snaps angrily, pissed as hell. Live Wire calms herself. "There was an accident and I fell into the unfinished prototype which then activated and bada bing, bada boom, Live Wire is born!" she proclaims, raising her arms out to the side.
"What is this? Share our origins day?" Rogue sarcastically asks. Considering what happened on Asteroid M it is not a huge surprise to find out Magneto got himself a new enhancer.
"In a way, yes," Live Wire says cryptically. She then walks over to a console and behind it. She flicks a few switches and the tube lights up.
Rogue's heart speeds up but she remains outwardly calm.
"You know this machine does more than enhance mutants. It can create them too. Take one normal little human, stick them inside, put on the rinse cycle and hey presto one newly minted, spring fresh mutant."
Ok. The Professor definitely needs to know about this.
"I've got to know one thing, Rogue."
"Which is what?"
"Will Clark still want you after I've done to you what was done to me?" Live Wire says with a positively evil grin as she flicks the on switch.
Little circular sections on the inner surface slide back to reveal glowing green rocks. Panic starts to creep inside Rogue. Kryptonite. Magneto is creating meteor mutants.
Live Wire wanders back as the machine begins to power up. "Well I would love to stay and see the results but you know what I'm dying for some R&R. You know relax on the beach, catch a few rays, recharge the old batteries. Being Magneto's slave dog is tiring," she says blowing out an exaggerated weary breath.
"Live Wire, don't do this!" Rogue asks of her.
"Oh let me guess. Clark will never forgive me? It's wrong? It's immoral? I'm a better person than this?" Live Wire rolls off a few things she thinks Rogue is about to say. "Here's a fact Rogue I'm not a good person. I'm a great person! Everywhere I go I leave an impression for the whole world to hear me! And now I leave my impression upon you," she says, pointing her finger at the Goth girl. "Ta! Ta!" Live Wire waves her goodbyes as she transforms into her lightning form and vanishes.
Rogue bangs on the glass as hard as she can but not even a crack. She turns her attention to the green rocks and tries to pull at them but they are fixed in firmly. Her eyes desperately scan the interior for some flaw, some weakness she can exploit. All the time the glow of the rocks increases in intensity and brightness as the machine heads towards its peak function.
The truth is that Rogue is scared. Scared as to what this machine will do for her. She sort of hopes Clark would perform one of his last second rescues.
He doesn't and the machine activates fully, flooding the chamber with green light and radiation. Suddenly it feels like every nerve in her body is on fire and needles are being shoved into every inch of her skin. She screams out as the pain worsens into the worse thing she has ever felt, like her body is being torn apart and put back together. In the end she succumbs to the inevitable and passes out. The darkness is a welcome relief.
"Ok, how did we get lost?" Sunspot complains as he, Magma, Multiple, Blindfold and Shadowcat...and little purple dragon try to find their way back to the rendezvous point.
"Not lost, thank you," Blindfold says. "Some journeys are straight lines and others are winding paths, yes, no."
"Are you confused as I am?" Magma asks honestly about their new friend that Kitty said was coming with them without much more of an explanation than that.
"I'm still trying to get over the fact Kitty now has a pet dragon," Multiple says, weirded out beyond description.
"Kitty, why did you bring that?" Roberto has to know.
"I couldn't leave him there!" Kitty defends her decision. He looked so helpless and well Kitty thought he was also kind of cute. She wasn't going to leave him there to have whatever sick experiments done on him. Kitty looks down at the little creature she was carrying and he looks back at her with sad, weary eyes. "It's ok, little guy. I'll look after you," she coos to him.
In response the dragon licks her face, causing her to giggle. Kitty holds him close.
Roberto looks to the heavens.
They turn a corner, still on alert when coming staggering towards them is Rogue, looking frankly terrible.
"Rogue!" Kitty cries out.
Roberto is over to the Goth in an instant, helping stabilise her on her feet. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah...yeah. Ah'm fahne," Rogue tries to assure him.
"What happened? How did you end up here?" Amara asks.
"It was Live Wire. She ambushed meh," Rogue explains. How she ended up here? After the machine was finished the door just opened and Rogue had staggered herself out. She feels wiped but otherwise as far as she could tell nothing else had happened to her. From there Rogue just walked to here.
"Gods do I not miss her," Amara mutters. Live Wire had been with them for like 2 or 3 days max before she went and tried to kill the X-Men and then expose them all. Worse few days like ever. Live Wire was beyond obnoxious.
"Neither do I," Jamie agrees and he generally likes most people but not her.
"We're leaving," Roberto takes charge as he continues to allow Rogue to lean on him and the group continue to head for the exit.
"We'll take the direct route," Shadowcat decides. "Sunspot, Magma, melt a hole in that wall," she orders pointing at the wall ahead of them.
Roberto hands Rogue off to a couple of Jamies before he and Magma release a combined fiery barrage and melt the metal until a large hole is formed revealing the outside world.
They head for the exit with the couple of Jamie dupes helping a still woozy Rogue.
Once outside they head round the metal dome of Magneto's base, back to the point they entered at to find most of the rest of their friends and Dr Strange and a bound up Isobel trying to speak muffled words through her gag.
"What in the world is that?!" Wolverine exclaims as he spots what Kitty is holding.
Dr Strange walks over. "May I?" he asks permission to examine the little purple creature.
Kitty nods her approval.
Dr Strange leans down slightly and spots the bandages. "Easy little fella. I won't harm you," he says in soothing tones as the creature starts to fidget. "I just want to look."
Kitty pats her little pet's head and makes soothing noises.
"Hmm...looks like a dwarf dragon," Dr Strange comments from what he can remember about dragons.
"It really is a dragon?" Jamie asks, stunned by that.
"Seems to be, yes," Dr Strange confirms as far as he is able to.
"Alright half-pint. This better be good," Logan says, wanting a damn good explanation.
"I found him in this totally creepy lab and I couldn't, like, leave him there!" Kitty insists passionately. "I mean look at him," she holds him up a little bit so he can be seen clearly and the fact he has been experimented on. "That would have been cruel. After all shouldn't you of all people understand what it's like to be experimented on!"
Logan couldn't respond to that with anything so he just growled a little. He glances at Rogue. "You alright Stripes?" he asks since she looks...terrible.
"Live Wire attacked meh," is all Rogue chooses to say about it for the moment.
Logan's face morphs a little more sympathy for his daughter. "Yeah, well I did always plan to get her back at some point. Now I have a better reason."
Rogue manages a tiny smile. That's about as much caring as you get from Logan.
Loud noises from within the base get everyone's attention as Scott and Jean, each with one of Clark's arms over their shoulders come exiting with Spyke, Storm, Domino, Iceman and Spider-Man providing cover from a group of mutants including the remainder of the Acolytes.
Wanda thinks fast and raises her hand and chants an incantation. It forms one of her scarlet-red hex spheres in front of the advancing mutants who are foolish enough to follow her father. "Cyclops! Fire into the sphere, full blast!"
Scott stops and looks at her.
"Trust me!" she asks of him.
Scott turns his head and slips his visor off his face before opening his eyes and unleashing the full might of his power. The beams slam into the sphere and what emerges is a single pulse of crimson red energy, like a bubble that encases the whole group, imprisoning them.
"That should hold them for about 5 minutes," Wanda informs them.
"That's very good," Dr Strange praises his pupil with a smile. She took that raw energy and reshaped it to a new purpose. She was learning fast.
Wanda smiles a little shyly at the praise.
"So mission successful?" Beast inquires.
Clark holds up the stone in his hand.
"We should go," Beast announces.
The whole group move through the valley towards their two aircraft as swiftly as possible. Dr Strange levitates Isobel as he brings her along as she muffles obscenities into her gag. A Countess should not speak in such a manner.
"You ok?" Kitty asks her boyfriend as he swings above them.
"You know me," Peter replies...although that chalk-skinned woman's attack smarted like the dickens. "How are yo...is that a dragon?" he asks nonplussed as he spots it for the 1st time in his girlfriend's arms.
"So Dr Strange says. Isn't he like the cutest? I really hope the Professor lets me keep him!" Kitty wishes strongly as she cuddles her new pet closely.
Clark chuckles. "Looks like you've been replaced," he jokes although weary sounding as he leans on Beast for support as he runs.
Spider-Man lets out an exaggerated sad sigh. "Oh well. It was good while it lasted," he jokily laments.
"Oh shut up!" Kitty tells them off. "I'm not replacing anyone!" she insists and she's not. She likes Peter. Really, really likes Peter.
They soon reach the two aircraft where the Professor comes out to meet them. He had had to stay behind. His telepathic powers may be immense but he is painfully aware of his physical limitations. "All went well?"
"Not entirely," Clark says in grave tones.
"In what way?"
"Live Wire...somehow she remembers...everything."
"Oh zhat's going to bite us on zhe behind," Nightcrawler gives his grim assessment.
"She attacked Magneto when we were fighting...which in its way allowed me to swap us back. My guess is that that was her way of handing in her notice. She's loose, out in the world again."
Charles closes his eyes momentarily. Live Wire remembering everything is bad. They'll have to make plans to deal with that when they get home.
"It gets worse," Clark adds.
"How?" Evan asks.
"She stabbed Magneto...not fatally, with the stone."
"So?" Bobby asks.
"Remember the warning I gave about blood not falling on the stone. Something...something has awoken in the dark...and it's coming," Clark says with this far off expression as he speaks feelings he can't understand.
"Red falls upon black. Fire rains from the sky. A great darkness shall come to the Earth to try and snuff out the light of the Star Child," a small voice says.
Charles' brow furrows as he looks round to the source of the voice and spots the young girl with the bandaged eyes...who gives off no psychic impression whatsoever. "Who are you?"
Kitty slaps her own forehead, without dropping her dragon. "I am, like, so forgetful," she lambastes herself. "This is Ruth. This is how Magneto always knew where we were. She like totally sees the future."
"You're a precog," Charles says with some wonder. He has so rarely met a precog and she is so young.
"I thought it best not to leave her there. Magneto was keeping her prisoner," Kitty explains.
"You did exactly the correct thing, Kitty," Charles praises her. "Hello Ruth," he greets the girl.
"Hello Professor. Did I manage to wait until you actually asked that, yes, no?"
"She speaks a little strangely," Kitty says.
Charles smiles. "I'm certain she does...and yes Ruth. You did wait. Very kind of you."
"I was promised blue jell-o."
Everyone looks at Kitty. "Don't look at me. She said I offered her blue jell-o in exchange for coming to the mansion before I said anything," she tries to explain.
"There will be plenty of time to go over everything when we get home," the Professor decides. "One thing though. Kitty. Is that a dragon?"
"Yep."
Charles can feel the migraine coming already. "We'll discuss that later as well."
Everyone prepares to leave when Dr Strange and Wanda stand stock still, their whole bodies shivering.
"What is that?" Wanda asks, her tone very disconcerted, as what feels like ice crawls up her spine.
"Dark magic," Dr Strange reports what it is.
Overhead black clouds roll in.
"Ro?" Logan queries.
"Not me," Storm reports.
"The darkness comes for her," Ruth chants, her tone bland.
"Isobel!" an echoing voice screeches from the clouds.
"That sounds lahke..." Rogue starts to say.
"Selene," Clark finishes grimly. He looks at Isobel and can see the look in her eyes. The look of outright terror.
Selene's booming angry voice shakes the ground. "How dare you ransack my library and steal my minions!"
Dr Strange speaks up to the heavens. "Hear me Selene Gallio! This is Dr Strange!"
"This is not your concern Sorcerer Supreme!" Selene's voice spits back.
"The girl is under my protection!" he tries to warn the dark sorceress off.
"That girl is my daughter!"
"Only the spirit within the innocent vessel!"
"No-one is innocent!"
"Do not force my hand!" Dr Strange warns her.
"Do not force mine, Strange!" Selene warns him back. "You do not wish me as your enemy!"
"Nor do you wish myself as yours!"
"This converse is ended!" Selene decrees as black lightning cracks the heavens above.
Dr Strange readies himself.
Two powerful blasts of black energy strike at both him and Isobel. He can defend himself...just but not her as the energy strikes Isobel and she screams in agony through her gag before she vanishes from sight, leaving behind a puff of smoke.
"Is she dead?" Wanda asks.
"No. It was a teleportation spell," Dr Strange reports. "Selene was reclaiming her daughter."
"I thought she was hurt," Clark says. He was certain she should be hurt for several weeks at least after their last encounter.
"She is...and yet she still managed to do that. That is the scale of the power of the foe you face," Dr Strange gives the grave assessment.
The clouds start to roll away but before they do Selene has one last message to give. "I have not forgotten you, son of Jor-El. I shall recover soon and then you will know pain!" she promises darkly.
"Some day I was really hoping to catch a break," Clark mutters, feeling a new weight crash down upon his shoulders as yet again he fails to save Lana.
"I apologise," Dr Strange expresses his sorrow at being unable to prevent Selene taking Isobel. "I did not expect that."
"There is nothing to be done, Stephen," the Professor accepts his friend's apology. "We should depart," he announces, being practical about the situation. There is nothing more they can do here.
They load back up into the two aircraft which swiftly rise into the air and are soon heading east and home.
Author's Note: So Rogue is perfectly unaffected by what Live Wire did...yeah right. That'll be the day. It won't be instantaneous but Rogue will feel the effects of the machine upon her soon. As for Isobel...I just like the idea of having it be a constant thorn in Clark's side about his failure to save Lana. Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews. Next up; The X-Men discover the consequence of blood falling upon the stone.