The swim from the lake to land was quite short. At least, shorter than I had first thought it to be. I was almost sure that I would be spotted by the other boats on the lake or by someone nearby. Thankfully, I wasn't, and I probably had the fog to thank for that. And the murkiness of the lake that blended in perfectly with the alligator's scales.

Upon reaching the shore, crawling up onto land so that only the tip of my tail was touching the water, I thought about what to do next. It wouldn't be smart to just barge in and attack. It would be the complete opposite of smart; it would be downright reckless.

Deciding that going by instinct would be best, I changed back into my wolf form, thankful that it wasn't as painful as changing into the alligator. What I wasn't thankful for was how slow the shift was going. I had to hurry to help Rogue before it was too late. As soon as the last scale disappeared under my white fur, I took off towards the giant statue that still looked REALLY familiar. I snarled, shaking the annoying thought from my head. I would take care of it later. But right now, I had to save my pack.

The sound of Logan's claws clashing against something is the first thing I heard, making me run even faster than before. I darted through the front doors and down the hallway before pausing in my running, trying to pinpoint where everyone was. The sharp scent of swamp touched my nose and my hackles rose. Toad. I followed that scent first, knowing that where he was, the others had to be as well. Turning a corner I saw that I was right.

Toad had just thrown Scott into a different room, shutting the door with his disgustingly long tongue to separate him from Jean. Storm and Logan were no where to be seen.

I stayed where I was, hidden by the wall. I didn't want to reach out to Jean just yet, in case I messed up and alerted Toad to my presence. I watched to see how things would play out. Toad leaped forward, probably hoping to take Jean by surprise and tackle her, but Jean caught him in mid-air with her telekinesis. Toad tried to get himself unstuck, for a lack of a better word, but to no avail. He soon just looked at Jean and a foul smelling green liquid erupted from his mouth, landing on Jean's face. I lowered myself to the ground and started to stalk forward as Toad dropped to the ground, Jean's concentration broken. Once I saw that the green liquid had hardened over Jean's nose and mouth, I snarled loudly and lunged forward, just missing Toad as he leaped up onto the second floor, probably looking for the others. Seeing me, his eyes widened and he moved away quickly. Oh yeah, I was supposed to be dead to him. I gave a snort to where I had last seen him before rushing over to Jean, ignoring the sounds of battle from above.

Unlike Toad, Jean had yet to see me, still trying to claw off the green-stuff-that-had-been-liquid-and-was-now-hard that covered her face. I could smell the panic rolling off of her as she struggled to breathe. Just as I was about to go up to her, the door that Toad had shut earlier blasted open, accompanied by a red light. Scott!

"Jean!" he shouted, rushing over to her as she fell to the ground. He, like Jean, tried to claw off the mucus smelling stuff and, again like Jean, was unable to.

"Oh god," he hissed under his breath. I could tell from the look on his face that he was thinking of what he could do.

'Use your blast, moron!' I hollered at him, hackles lifting slightly as I started towards them.

Scott jumped about a foot in the air when he heard my voice in his head, whipping around to look at me.

"Spirit?" he exclaimed, making the one word a question.

I rolled my eyes. 'No, it's Smokey the Bear. Yes it's me you dimwitted mouse! Now, use your red blast or whatever and blast the stuff on Jean's face.'

A look of understanding crept up onto Scott's face, along with a bit of confusion at the terms I had used, before he looked back over at Jean.

"Hold still," he told her, standing up and taking a few steps back before twisting a knob on the side of his glasses and shooting a small beam at the green stuff. It shattered once hit by the beam and Jean immediately started coughing and drawing in air. Scott went back over to her, tenderly brushing away the pieces of mucus away from Jean's face. I ran over to the pair, wagging my tail happily.

'Jean!' I exclaimed, licking her face with joy.

Jean smiled and stroked my dirty fur. "Spirit, what are you doing here? How did you get away from Magneto?" she asked, Scott helping her to her feet.

I started to think up a reply before another door opened and Scott pushed Jean behind him, hand going up to his glasses. I took up on his defensive posture and snarled, hackles raising.

"Hey, woah! It's just me," came a familiar gruff voice.

"Prove it," Scott said, tension rolling off of him.

"You're a dick," Logan replied.

"Ok," Scott said, relaxing his hand. I chuckled at Jean's expression before charging towards Logan, changing into my human form as I ran.

"Logan!" I cried, grabbing him in a bear hug.

"What the-?" Logan stuttered before realizing that it was me. "Sprite?"

I smiled and pulled back, not even getting mad at the use of the annoying nickname. "Who else?" I asked.

"How did you-?" Logan was cut off from Storm as she looked over the rail from the second floor.

"Hey. You guys alright?" she asked, a question to which everyone nodded 'yes' to. With a swift nod, she disappeared.

Logan looked back over at me, a stern look in his eyes. "We'll talk later," he said. "Until then, stay here."

I gave a snort, rolling my bright blue eyes. "I coming with you," I told them. "Magneto owes me."

Logan took one look at my eyes and knew that going against me on this would be helpless. My mind was made up and I wasn't about to change it.

"Fine," Logan growled. "Come on."

I give a happy smile and jog after the others.

I stayed behind the others, listening carefully for any danger. Though a humans' senses were much more weaker than those of a wolfs', I was safer in this form. Magneto knew my wolf form, but not my human one. There were a lot of stairs to climb to get up to the torch of the statue, but I relished in the exercise, in the pull of my muscles. It felt wonderful!

When we came up to the torch, I was surprised when I didn't see anyone. Or smell anyone. Logan's voice quickly broke the silence.

"Everyone get out," he said, hiding what sounded like panic in his voice. I unconsciously bared my teeth and took a step back.

"Why?" Storm asked.

"Because I can't move..." he said before his body lifted up into the air and he was slammed against the wall.

I started to back away before a scrap of metal wrapped around my waist and pinned me next to Logan, other scraps pinning my arms and legs. I snarled, struggling in vain.

Magneto lowered himself to the ground and I snarled at him, though it wasn't as impressive as it was in a wolfs' body. He just gave me a dismissive glance before looking over at Scott.

"You better close your eyes," he warned him, Sabertooth dropping to the ground and taking off his glasses. His eyes were screwed tightly shut as he was facing Jean.

"And you," Magneto continued, looking at Logan. "Let's point those claws in a safer position." He lifted his hand and I watched as Logan's hands were forced to face his chest. Logan's gaze turned deadly.

"You have a new team member do you?" he asked, looking at me. "And what are her powers?"

"Cutting your throat," I growled at him, struggling again.

"Now, now. That isn't very nice," he said, giving a small smile and starting towards me. Once he was close enough, I growled at him and I spat in his face.

He slapped me full across the face before backing away, wiping my spit from his face. Though my face stung from the blow, I was quite proud of myself. Even Logan threw me a small smile before talking with Magneto. While they talked, I closed my eyes and did my best to see if I could find Rogue. She had to be here somewhere...

"Help! Somebody please help me! Help me please! Somebody...help," came Rogue's sobs.

At Rogue's sobs, my growls were louder than Logan's swearing. I started to struggle even more, pressing against the metal in an attempt to get it off of me. But it was useless. The only way I would be able to escape was to change forms, but I knew that as soon as I did, Magneto would have me back against the wall, trapped tighter than ever.

I looked up from my struggling as Magneto left to go back to Rogue, most likely to start his plans. Sabertooth started towards Storm before he caught my scent, turning towards me as his nose flared. I knew that it was no point denying what blood smelt like, so I just gave him a little smile and mimed throwing up. That set him off. He was by me in an instant, showing his claws by my eyes.

"I killed you, you little bitch," he snarled.

"Guess you fail," I managed to say before a cry from Logan caught my attention, just as his claws jutted through his back.

"Logan!" Jean cried out as his body fell to the ground.

Sabertooth left me to pick up Logan. The scent of blood diminished and I hid a smile when I saw Logan's eyes open. As soon as Sabertooth lifted Logan up, he stabbed the larger man in the gut, Sabertooth roaring in pain. Cold adrenaline entered my veins when I saw Logan fighting for his life. I struggled against my bonds again, eyes flashing dangerously. The picture of a sabertooth came to mind and I gave a feral smile, relaxing as I prepared myself. The best way to kill something was to use their own strengths against them. Jean, probably picking up on my thoughts, shot a look towards me.

"Spirit, no! They don't exist anymore! You'll kill yourself if you try!" she tried to warn, but it was too late.

I screamed in pain as the transformation started to take place. If I thought the alligator had been painful, man was I wrong. This was excruciating. Muscles tore into pieces and bones snapped in multiple places, all at once. My screams turned into savage growls as my vocal cords ripped and repaired themselves into something much more powerful. The metal bands that had been keeping me in place were now too big to hold my form and I dropped to the ground, writhing in agony. I closed my eyes and waited for it all to end. What felt like eternity was only a few seconds as the change completed itself. I opened my eyes and snarled angrily, getting shakily to my feet. Powerful muscles rippled under short, tawny fur and it was only too easy to feel the gigantic canine teeth that protruded out from my upper jaw. Lethal claws extended out from the fur on my paws. All in all, I was a powerful predator that should have been left in the past.

I let out a loud roar and allowed my hackles to lift before running out after Logan and Sabertooth, hatred in my eyes.