Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men: Evolution

Chapter Twenty Seven – The End of the World II

October 1998: Day Three

Connecticut

There are some things that will undoubtedly attract attention and a jet flying low overhead to come to hover above a children's home is one of them.

As nearby residents left their houses and several children leaned out of window, open-mouthed at the sight, the two pilots were oblivious to the interest.

"Why aren't we landing?" Rahne asked. "There's a nice playing field below us that should do."

"We can't yet." Jubilee muttered absently, holding the jet steady with one hand and searching the radio frequencies with the other, trying to find the home's PA system.

Suddenly, a woman's voice entered the jet and she recognised it from the phone call. "… put a live frog in my tea this morning is expected to …"

"That's the one." Jubilee flicked a switch. "Sorry to interrupt, Ms. Roberts, but this is Jubilee from the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters; we need your permission to land."

"Permission to land what?"

"The Velocity." Jubilee answered. "Our jet."

"Oh. Very well; you have our permission to land."

"Thank you." Jubilee cut out of the frequency and shut off the engines so the jet dropped the last few feet onto the field.

"Bumpy landing." Rahne commented. "Donnae do that again."

"Sorry." Jubilee smiled sheepishly and undid her seatbelt. "C'mon."

When the hatch opened, they were met by a small crowd of children and residents, but paid them no attention, unwilling to get drawn into a conversation about the current situation. Instead they locked the jet and made their way to the building, pretending not to notice the spectators parting like the Red Sea.

Marion Roberts turned out to be exactly how Jubilee had pictured her; a greying woman in her fifties, who looked, and sounded, exhausted.

Judging by her look of surprise, they weren't who she had expected at all; then again, they both looked normal for mutants and were wearing spandex uniforms.

Neither party commented on these observations and Ms. Roberts led them through the premises, explaining Lorna's past. "We got her when she was four; one of our staff found her on the doorstep when they arrived for work in the morning. She told us her name, but couldn't tell us anything about her parents or where she lived. As far as I can tell, they abandoned her here, probably because of the colour her hair was turning, but there was no way of tracking them."

"You mentioned foster parents." Jubilee prompted.

Ms. Roberts nodded. "She was a delightful child; well-mannered, intelligent … everyone who saw past her appearance loved her, so she was fostered several times, but … things happened."

"And I'm guessing the parents thought that they were cursed or she was cursed or it wasn't safe to have her there …" Rahne trailed off, seeing her nod.

"She's given up on ever finding a family." Ms. Roberts sighed. "Plus she didn't get accepted into the local college, which is a shame, because she's a clever girl. It wasn't until I saw the news the other day that I even thought about calling you, but I'm so worried about her." She stopped outside one of the doors and knocked sharply. "Lorna, you have a visitor."

There was no response.

"Just go in." Ms. Roberts advised. "I'll be in my office."

Tentatively, Jubilee pushed the door open. Disparate to the rest of the house, which was messy and chaotic, this room was neat and tidy.

A girl their age sat on the window seat, gazing out of the window, which, in contrast to the other side of the house, looked out upon row upon row of houses. Next to the bed was a desk, which was swamped in pieces of paper that were covered in sketches of clothes and dresses.

Unlike Rahne and Jubilee, Lorna had a very obvious physical mutation; her hair was a stunning jade green colour, streaked with black. She still hadn't turned to face them.

"Hi." Jubilee greeted. "I'm Jubilee; this is Rahne. We're like you."

Now Lorna's head turned. "I doubt that." Her voice was flat and toneless, not intentionally rude, but filled with the memories of being abandoned so many times.

"Nae, we can't move metal." Rahne agreed. "But we are mutant. Just like you."

Lorna sat up straight, clearly interested. "Mutant? You mean there's a reason behind what I do?"

"Oh yeah." Jubilee nodded. "I'm not the expert, but there are loads of us about. Watch." She held out her hand and concentrated, causing sparks, then pops, then a miniature fireworks display appeared, dancing above her hand.

"Wow …" Lorna breathed.

Rahne rolled her eyes. "Show off. You aren't scared of dogs, are you?"

Lorna shook her head. "No. Why?"

Rahne disappeared from Jubilee's side and a reddish-brown wolf trotted over to Lorna's side, sniffing her hand a few times just to get her scent. Then she sat down, cocking her head at her team-mate.

"You act too canine sometimes." Jubilee commented, scratching her head as she took the seat next to Lorna, bracing herself against the wall. "We're from the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters; you heard of it?"

Lorna shook her head again. "No."

"Okay." Jubilee took a deep breath. "First off, have you been watching the news."

"No." Lorna smirked. "Ms. Roberts won't let anyone here watch the news; thinks it might give us ideas."

"Well then," Jubilee took a deep breath. "This could take a while."

It took fifteen minutes to explain what the Institute was, who the X-Men were and all about the Brotherhood, the Acolytes, Apocalypse and what they were doing.

When they'd finished, Lorna let out a low whistle. "Talk about your superheroes. So what are you doing here?"

"Ms. Roberts called us." Jubilee admitted. "Thought we might be able to help. Obviously Professor Xavier will make the final decision …" she reached out and tapped the wooden nightstand "… but if they lose, it won't be safe for you; since we have an extensive security system, I made the executive decision to come here and offer you a place now."

"Why won't it be safe if they lose?" Lorna asked.

"Well, that's more an assumption than anything else." Rahne explained. "Like we said, just under 3% of the human population will survive, so there's a good chance they'll come after us."

"Guilty by association." Jubilee added. "So what do you think?"

Lorna grinned at her. "I think it's the best idea I've heard in a long time."

So within a couple of hours, the Velocity was taxiing to a halt in the hangar. As they exited, the walls shivered slightly and Lorna looked confused. "I thought I could feel my … powers. Why wasn't the jet affected?"

"Remember Magneto?" Jubilee asked. "He has similar powers. The Velocity is made purely from non-metallic substances so …" She trailed off looking distracted.

"So he can't use it against us." Rahne finished. "Obviously, this is the hanger. It's part of the lower Institute. The main house is where the school is; down here are things like Cerebro, the mainframe, the Danger Room, the infirmary …" Now she trailed off as well. "Jubes, what is it?"

Jubilee shook her head with a frown. "Where's the Blackbird?"

Egypt

Xavier was under fire; an entire army of Multiple-clones was using sling-shots to fire Tabby's bombs up at him, doing little damage, but distracting him long enough for Colossus to break through and begin pounding on the base of the pyramid.

Shooting a mental bolt through the army, knocking them and Tabitha off their feet, Xavier turned and blasted Colossus in the back; the metal mutant continued to weakly hit the stone a few more times before collapsing.

Amara knew that Jean was formulating a new plan and that she needed just a little bit more extra time, so attempted to buy her some by forming a ball of fire and tossing it up at him, but he deflected it and knocked her out as well.

But it was all the time Jean needed to fasten the Cerebro helmet on, flying out of the jet to confront her mentor. It was risky, she knew, but linking with the computer would help her even the odds and possibly even give her the advantage.

The two of them faced off in mid-air. Xavier created a psychic projection of himself with scythes for arms, which leapt at her; Jean created her own projection as a shield and the mind-battle began.

Sphinx

Still pursued by the bats/Mystique, Wolverine, Cyclops and Nightcrawler sprinted through the corridors searching for an escape.

Finally giving up on that idea, Kurt grabbed his two team-mates and teleported them behind the next door.

"We're running out of time." Scott warned.

Logan sniffed the air. "Nightcrawler, scout the other side."

"Be right back." Kurt disappeared, leaving behind a smoggy cloud.

Scott and Logan approached the door opposite them, but Kurt didn't reappear. They waited, minutes seeming to stretch into hours, time they didn't have.

"Come on; where are ya?" Logan growled, more out of worry than impatience.

There was no response as, unbeknownst to either man, Kurt lay unconscious on the control room floor while Apocalypse went back to his business.

In the outer chamber, Wolverine gave up on waiting. "Cyclops, blow the doors!"

The command had barely left his mouth when a cry caused him to spin around in time to see Scott fall to the floor as Mystique morphed her arms into two blades and took a swing at him.

Mexico

A huge holographic image on Apocalypse's head appeared above the pyramid. "Magneto!"

Somehow instinctively know what he meant, Magneto took off, soaring into space to deal with the Sentinels up there, leaving behind five unconscious mutants.

Wanda was the first to come around, pushing herself to her feet with a groan. As her mind cleared, she looked around, realising the absence of any adversary. "Huh? Guys, he's gone! This is our chance!"

She got no response.

Steadying herself, Wanda scanned her surroundings, seeing that Kitty was still trapped below the giant arm. She sent a hex bolt in that direction, lifting the metal away, before focusing her attention on the pyramid.

Just as the beam began to weaken, she was distracted by an ear-splitting scream of what could only be described as pure agony.

Dropping her concentration and spinning around, Wanda saw that Kitty had woken up and evidently tried to get to her feet, only to be forced to give up. She silently scolded herself for not checking; she had assumed that Kitty's powers would protect her from any serious injuries. Hurrying over to check on her, she bit back a scream herself, this time of horror.

Kitty was lying on her front in a pool of blood, her uniform shredded by the jagged metal that had trapped her. Her legs seemed to have taken the worst of the damage and to say that they were broken would be an understatement. "Wanda …" She gasped through the pain. "Is it as bad as it looks?"

Wanda hesitated, torn between being honest and keeping her calm. "Well … to be perfectly blunt, you look like you stuck your legs in a giant blender."

"Oh." Kitty gritted her teeth, hands clenching at nothing. "Won't be trying that again then." She took a few deep breaths in an attempt control the pain and, to Wanda's complete astonishment and admiration, she was Shadowcat again, calm, collected and seemingly oblivious to everything but the battle. "You're the best chance we have, Wanda. Pyramid, go!"

Reluctantly, Wanda left her side and returned to the base unit, firing at the beam shooting up into the stratosphere. Once again, the beam began to weaken, but her energy was being steadily drained and, finally, she had to give up, collapsing with exhaustion.

A shadow fell on her and she looked up to realise that her possessed father was looming over her, his face in shadow, a huge ball of scrap metal poised behind him. "Father, please … don't …" She closed her eyes, knowing her pleas were futile, knowing that she had seconds, if that, to think of some way to move, but the repercussions of her last stand had left her weighed down and, even if she could move, she didn't have the power to save herself.

With an almighty crash, the metal dropped from the sky. A scream pierced the air, but it wasn't hers and all Wanda could think was that dying wasn't as painful as she'd thought.

"Hey, sis. You look like you could use a hand."

As her senses caught up with her, her eyes flew open and she realised that she was no longer slumped on the ground next to the pyramid, but several metres away, in her brother's arms. "Pietro!"

"In the flesh." Pietro put her down with a smile. "Got your message. Figured we'd come and help."

Wanda turned around to see the rest of the boys exiting a jet. "Isn't that the Blackbird?"

Pietro shrugged. "Eh, we borrowed it."

"Right, borrowed." Wanda shook her head with a smile. "Hey, Kitty, the cavalry's here!"

When the metal had fallen, Kitty hadn't been able to prevent her scream as she averted her gaze, unable and unwilling to watch. Even the slight movement that had caused sent pain shooting through her, starting from her legs and travelling up her body to every nerve ending.

Somehow Wanda's voice cut through that and she looked up, feeling tears of relief escaping her eyes. "Thank God …"

"Kitty!" Lance sprinted to her side, faltering slightly when the extent of her injuries became apparent. "Shit."

"It … looks worse … than it is." Kitty lied, grasping the hand he offered.

"Bull." Lance stated bluntly. "Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay to you?" Kitty demanded without any real bite.

Lance managed a weak smile. "Alright, stupid question. You're gonna be fine, Kitty, alright? You'll be fine."

"Not if you're worrying about me instead of helping them." Kitty pointed out shakily. "Leave me here; I'm not going anywhere."

"Kitty …" Lance began.

"Avalanche!" Pietro called. "Bring him down!"

Lance sighed, releasing Kitty's hand to stroke her hair softly, before turning and slamming his fists into the ground. The tremor travelled away from them – much to Kitty's relief, since she didn't feel it at all – and uprooted trees and rocks, bringing them down on top of Magneto, burying him.

Sphinx

Magneto had done his work and the Sentinels up in space had been destroyed. There was nothing standing in Apocalypse's way any more and he lay down in the Eye of Ages, causing it to power up.

"And the evolution … begins."

AN: Review please!