August 19, 1992
Angel could feel the cut burning across her face. It hadn't cut deep enough to damage her eye directly, she was lucky in that respect, but blood was pooling in the eyelid. She wiped it away and took off into the sky.
She'd seen the creature take Luna. Angel had no desire to know what he wanted with Luna, and Luna was never going to know either. Her wings felt rusty, and she felt tired, but she knew that she could catch him.
Angel increased her altitude to where she was over the creature. She could see Luna struggling, but his grip was iron. Angel took a deep breath and tucked her wings in, allowing her to drop.
She hit the creature's back in full force. He dropped several feet and Angel wrapped her arms around his neck. She wouldn't be able to hold onto him for very long, but a few seconds was all that she needed.
She spit fire onto the back of his neck. He swatted at her and dropped several more feet. Angel swung to avoid his arm, throwing off his flight pattern. She knew what it was like to have someone disrupt her like this, and she knew that he would be desperately trying to get her off his back.
Angel spat more fire. One of her hands scratched at his face, searching for his eyes. It made her grip tenuous, but she needed to do something to hurt him. When he went to swat at her again she flipped over him and grabbed the arm that was holding Luna. She spit fire onto it, careful not to get any on Luna. He let go of Luna and Angel dived after her.
She unfurled her wings just as her arms wrapped around Luna.
"Angel," Luna whispered, her voice faltering.
"It's okay," Angel said, "I've got you honey, I've got you."
Luna looked behind Angel and screamed. Angel did a barrel roll, feeling something tear into her legs. She glanced behind her and saw that he was on her heels, his metallic wings cutting into her.
She pulled her legs up towards her chest, knowing that it would hurt her flight pattern to do so. Angel wobbled as he dived down further, trying to cut her off. She pulled back at the last minute, feeling the blood still dripping down her legs.
Down below her she could see the cabin. She could still make out some of the students. Piotr, Kitty and Bobby were running along the ground, obviously following her. There wasn't anything that they could do though. Not at this altitude.
The creature circled them. Angel tried to outmaneuver him, but he was too fast. She wished that she had managed to do some more damage to him, but it was all speculative now. She had to figure out how to outrun him.
It was obvious that he was faster than her though. Luna was also slowing her down, making it difficult to outmaneuver him and outpace him. A thought occurred to her, and she clutched Luna tighter.
"Luna, hold onto me, and don't let go," Angel said, "Whatever you do, don't let go."
The creature soared up towards them. Angel furled her wings and allowed herself to go into free fall. She felt Luna burry her face. Angel didn't blame her: she was scared too. Only their combined weight gave them a chance of getting to help though. Angel didn't think that she could fight him by herself for long.
The trees rushed up to greet them. Angel unfurled her wings, allowing them to slow her down a bit. Behind her she heard the flapping of wings. He was close, and she wasn't about to let him catch her when they were so close to the ground.
She tucked her wings in again and they continued to plummet. Piotr waved to her, Kitty and Bobby by his side. Angel unfurled her wings for one last break so they wouldn't hit the ground too hard.
A hand gripped one of her wings and pulled. Angel could feel the delicate flesh tear, and she couldn't stop from screaming. She remembered when, lifetimes ago it seemed, Alex had burned off part of her wing. The pain from that had been too fast, like losing a limb and having it cauterized immediately afterwards, to scream. This felt slower somehow.
She pulled forward though, kicking blindly behind her. She hit the ground hard, trying to shelter Luna. Angel heard something snap in her foot as they tumbled across the ground. With each rotation her foot began to hurt worse and worse. Something hit her heard, a rock perhaps, and her vision began to blur.
They stopped finally. Angel managed to look up and see Luna staring down at her with her wide green eyes. The image of another little girl superimposed itself over Luna. Was it Luna looking down at her with that expression, or was it Lorna on the night her mother had died?
Angel pushed herself up. There was blood coming from her head, and she felt dizzy. Piotr, Kitty, and Bobby were flanking the creature.
"Luna, you have to get out of here," Angel said.
Her words sounded woozy. Luna grabbed her hand.
"Okay," she said, "Let's go."
"No, go without me," Angel said.
Luna shook her head.
"Please," Angel said.
She knew that she was begging now, but it wasn't going to do much good. Angel had to get Luna out of there, but she couldn't fly, and she couldn't walk on that foot. What was she supposed to do?
The creature hit Piotr into another tree. Kitty phased through his arm and Bobby sent ice at his feet. He dodged the ice and punched Bobby to the ground. Angel could see that he was fixated on Luna, for whatever reason.
He ignored Kitty as he advanced. Piotr got back up and ran towards the creature.
"Luna, run!" Angel screamed.
Luna bit her lip.
"Please, please," Angel said.
Hot tears began to flow from her eyes. Luna took a stumbling step back. Good, she understood. Luna gave her one last anguished look before she tore off into the woods. Angel smiled at her retreating form. She was going to make it.
"Blood smell's getting stronger," Logan said.
Max chewed on his lip. He touched his coat pocket where his mother's old knife was. Every breath felt like he was stabbing himself with that knife. Part of him wished that he hadn't asked Logan what he had smelt, but Max knew that he'd had to. It wasn't in his nature to live in ignorance.
Logan stopped and the claws came out of his hands.
"Everyone stay back!" he hissed.
Max froze. He could hear the sound of a struggle, as well as pounding feet. Remy began pulling out cards, and the Brotherhood began to look into the woods. Max wondered where he fit into all of this. Was he just some bystander that had gotten in over his head? He certainly felt like one.
The branches in front of them shook. Logan snarled. A small, dirty form tripped and tumbled down onto the ground. As soon as she saw Logan her eyes lit up in recognition. Max's own brain stuttered in shock.
"Luna!" he said.
She looked at him, her eyes smeared with tears.
"Max!"
He pushed past Logan and carefully wrapped his arms around his sister. Luna began crying.
"Luna, are you okay?" Max asked.
She nodded.
"Aunt Angel...she's still back there," she said, "There's this thing with wings, he's gonna hurt her Max! He's already hurt her..."
Rogue knelt beside him, one of her hands on his shoulder. Despite the comfort the touch was meant to convey, Max felt like something was pushing him into the ground.
"Luna," Max said, "We're gonna go get her."
"Don't leave!" Luna said, "When people leave they don't...they don't..."
Max swallowed again. He looked at the sky, praying for inspiration. It didn't offer any. He didn't see any help on the faces of the X-men, or the Brotherhood for that matter. Logan, Emma and Remy were looking away. Toad was goggling again.
However, Magneto was giving him another strange look, his eyes filled with something distant. Max looked back down at his sister.
"But I am," he said, "Okay? Just stay here with Rogue."
He looked up at his friend, silently asking permission to honor his suggestion. Rogue was the only one that Luna really knew, the only one she might not be frightened to be alone with. Rogue nodded and Max began to let go of Luna. He put his coat over her shoulders and, using the cloth as a medium, tossled her hair.
"If anything goes wrong, just call for us," Max said.
"We shouldn't leave em alone," Remy said.
"Ah can handle it," Rogue said.
She smiled and knelt by Luna. Luna's eyes were swimming with tears now and Max wondered what had happened to her. He smiled at her before getting up.
"Are we leaving yet?" he asked.
Logan rolled his eyes and charged through the trees. The rest of the Brotherhood followed. Max thought he saw Magneto look back for a moment before following him. Max didn't think about it as he and Remy moved forward. He needed to help his aunt.
It didn't take him long to find his her. Angel was on her feet, although she was clutching a tree for support. Her wing was shredded and there were cuts up and down her legs. Max saw blood dripping from her face from her head.
A few feet away a man with metal wings and blue-gray skin hit Piotr, an older student that Max had seen around, into the ground. His metallic skin was dented, which alarmed Max. He hadn't thought that that was possible.
At once he moved towards his aunt. He wanted to help with the fight, but he couldn't leave Angel like she was. She was injured, and she was family. He'd always been taught that that was the most important thing in the world.
The creature saw them at the far side of the clearing and took off into the sky, zipping around above them.
"Feel like taking that thing down Mags?" Logan snapped.
"I'm trying," Magneto snapped, "It's barely metallic at all! There's some other element in it."
Max reached Angel's side. He saw that her eyes were glazing over a little, her breath heavy.
"Angel?" he asked.
She started, looking at him with fear. Alarmed, Max pulled away. The fear in his aunt's eyes subsided and she seemed to recognize him.
"Max...is...is Luna okay?" she asked.
"She's with Rogue," Max said.
"Good," Angel said.
Her eyes glazed again and Max took a closer look at the gash on her head. She was heavily concussed, and he didn't know just how much of what his aunt was seeing was real, and what was imaginary.
Max put his hand on Angel's shoulder where her sleeve protected her skin.
"Let's get you out of here," he said.
He began to lead her away. She stumbled and Max caught her, careful not to touch her skin. To his dismay he saw that her foot was facing entirely the wrong way. She'd been in battle, and she'd received the brunt of it.
The creature slashed at Logan, different metal feathers flying through the air. Max stared at everything, feeling his heart pounding. He began to leave, taking Angel with him. The creature took off into the sky again. It looked like it was going to dive-bomb the combatants, but it changed direction at the last moment.
It came for them instead.
Angel had to keep reminding herself that it was Max with her, not a much younger version of his grandfather. She had to remind herself that she wasn't at a convenience store, that Lorna wasn't waiting for her to paint her nails downstairs.
She struggled to focus her eyes. When she did she saw the winged creature fly down towards them. Angel remembered that Max was there, remembered how the thing had come for Luna too. It wanted Lorna's children, her niece and nephew.
Angel pushed Max to the side just as the creature dived. She felt it tackle her, heard the way that hit screamed in rage. She clawed at its face, but one of its wings turned and slashed downwards.
She spit fire, but this time it was involuntary. The creature let go and Angel fell to the ground, her hands over her stomach. She could feel the warmth there, warmth caused by her blood. Her head hit the ground, and once again the images began to swirl.
