Chapter 16 – The Consequences of War

"We got no time, the Geiger count is going out of control!" Moira exclaimed.

"Alright, Moira, this is what we're going to do," Charles responded efficiently, "Get on the radio and tell them to clear both fleets out immediately."

"I'm going in," Erik announced, leaving no room to argue.

"Beast, Antheia, Havok, back him up," Charles instructed. Alex and I separated from each other and moved over towards Beast, the three of us sharing a look of determination. "Erik, I can guide you through once you're in," Charles continued, "but I need you to shut down whatever it is that's blocking me, then we just hope to God it's not too late for me to stop him."

"Got it," Erik replied, making his way to where the jet had split in two.

"Good luck!" Charles called after us as we followed.

The four of us stepped out into the sun, immediately looking across to the three mutants standing in Erik's way. My gaze flicked between them, lingering reluctantly on Angel's face. We hadn't seen her since she had turned her back on us at the facility and went with Shaw, and looking at her now felt like a punch in the gut. She looked different – and not in a new clothes kind of way, but in a way that suggested she had successfully integrated into Shaw's team and would not hesitate to take us down. We had to be just as ready, so I needed to let go of my empathy and lingering fondness of the girl. She was our enemy now, and she needed to be stopped.

As Angel's wings started to flutter, lifting her into the air, the man in the grey suit raised his hands and small tornados began to form in his palms, and the red monkey readied the deadly blades in his grip. I rolled my shoulders back, fingers twitching as I felt for the thrum of life once more. I closed my eyes, trying to access as much as I could of the plant life to our right. Content with the grasp I had on the thrum, I opened my eyes, watching as Alex sent a beam of his red energy into the grey suited man's chest. The red monkey disappeared, leaving some smoke in his place, and reappeared to our left, behind Alex. Hank instantly blocked the mutant's attack, and before I could even think about joining in, the red monkey's tail wrapped around Alex's neck, and all three of them completely vanished from the beach.

"Antheia," Erik's cold voice snapped from my right. I looked at him quickly, my fear evident on my features. Alex and Hank were nowhere to be seen – how the hell was I supposed to help them? "Focus," Erik finished, before setting off at a run towards the submarine.

I glanced between him and the spot my friends had occupied seconds before, bitterly accepting that there was nothing I could do for them. Erik, on the other hand, needed my help. I ran after him, watching as the grey suited man slowly lifted himself from the ground, shaking off Alex's attack. Erik ripped out the side of the submarine, letting the metal fall to the ground at his feet. Our enemy lifted his hands again, and I quickly pulled my own into the air in an arc, tearing roots through soil and sand, bringing them bursting into the air, before stabbing downwards between Erik and the other mutant, blocking them off from each other.

Erik faltered briefly, turning to look at me. "Go!" I shouted at him, eyeing the suited mutant as he turned to smirk at me. "I've got this." Personally, I didn't think I sounded that convincing, but apparently it was enough for Erik. He disappeared into the submarine, and I took a deep breath, readying myself. A quick glance skyward let me know that Angel was flying out towards the ships in the water, and I wondered briefly if Sean was okay.

The suited mutant started to spin in the sand where he stood, making the wind pick up around him at an alarming rate. I stood, terrified but determined, trying to figure out how the hell I could defeat a tornado. When it grew further, to the point that I couldn't see him anymore, I had to shield my eyes, feeling sand whipping out from where he stood towards me. Risking a glance, I saw that his tornado was getting closer, and the wind was pushing so hard against me I wasn't sure how long I'd stay rooted to the spot.

Then I got an idea. Using my left arm to shield my face, I grabbed onto the thrum in the back of my mind and pulled on it, flinging my right hand towards the tornado. I could no longer see, so I closed my eyes and felt as more roots shot out of the sand and collided with something in the centre of the tornado. I clenched my hand into a fist and felt the roots wrap around something, tethering it to the spot. Throwing my hand to the side, I felt the wind lessen around me, along with the noise and the sand, and looked over to see the roots wrapped around the mutant, pulling him down towards the ground. His tornado was faltering around him as he tried desperately to shake the roots off his leg, but I knew they wouldn't let go. He shouted out in frustration and perhaps pain, and shot an enraged glare in my direction. The tornado shrunk from around his body to a smaller version in the palm of his hand again, and for a moment I allowed myself to feel proud of my achievement.

But then he threw his hand towards me and I barely had time to blink before a harsh, unforgiving wind attacked me from all sides, surrounding and enveloping me. My feet left the ground, the wind picking up, harsher and harsher, until I was struggling to breathe. Panic sparked in my chest, voices I hadn't heard in days whispered and then suddenly shouted in my ear, and the memories of electricity searing my nerves flashed through me painfully. I closed my eyes against the white walls and black eyes, clutching instead to the deafening noise of the wind in my ears, the sand I was accidentally inhaling when I struggled to get a breath in. I felt like I was going to die.

And then I was free of the wind, the noise, the sand. But I was flying through the air, flipping over myself again and again, towards the treeline at the edge of the beach. The world was spinning around me and I couldn't concentrate enough to figure out where I was to call some roots to my aid. In a matter of agonisingly long seconds, I had been pulled from the solid ground, nearly suffocated, and launched away from the battle. Rage ignited in my chest at the thought that I could barely even defend myself, let alone my friends. But it was short-lived. I fell heavily to the ground, hitting my head worryingly hard, and saw black.

Somehow, in the darkness, he was there.

"What's wrong, Evelyn? Bumped your head? Let your friends disappear on your watch?" he taunted.

I couldn't see him, but I could feel the way his black, beady eyes bore holes into me. I felt disgusting and pathetic.

"You're a failure, sweet Evelyn. Your friends trusted you to have their backs. Now look at you."

I tried to move, to shout, to scream, but I couldn't do anything.

"You're weak. You can't do anything. You can't even accept that there's something wrong with you."

There was something wrong with me, and I had accepted it: I was a mess. But it wasn't my fault, and my friends stayed by my side regardless.

"You don't deserve to have those people, Evelyn. You deserve to be back home, with me. I'll fix you."

There was something different in his voice – an uncertainty. I latched onto it.

"You're ill. You're broken. You know you are! You deserve to rot in a cell for the rest of your life!"

He sounded desperate. He sounded scared.

"Leave me alone," I managed to mutter.

He laughed, but there was no humour in it. "You think people will love you? They will always hate you. You don't deserve love!"

I stopped for a moment, reflecting on the exchange. It felt as though he was powerless… like, for the first time, I was the one who had the power. The memory of the battle suddenly came back to me, and I acknowledged the fact that I had been knocked unconscious.

"You can't touch me anymore, asshole," I snapped.

Suddenly, my eyes were opening, and I realised I was lying face down next to a rock. There was some grass underneath me, so I knew I had cleared the beach when I had been thrown. Judging by the pain that blossomed at my forehead and the slight dizziness I felt as I rolled over, I had hit my head on the rock when I landed. I could feel the blood trickling over my skin, but I knew I had felt pain worse than this, ten times over, at the asylum. This wouldn't stop me.

I slowly pushed myself up into a seated position, wiping away the blood threatening to fall into my eye. When I looked towards the beach, I saw the suited mutant freeing himself from my roots around his leg.

"Evelyn!"

My gaze snapped to the jet. Raven was standing out in the open, struggling to see me in the treeline. The suited man turned to face her, and I felt an anger like no other consume me.

Within seconds I was on my feet again and running towards them. As I ran, I reached out my hands and my mind and pulled everything I could with me. I could feel the life tunnelling through the soil under my feet and twisting through the air around my head and hands. I felt at one with nature, and we had one target, one enemy.

When my feet hit sand again I slid to a stop and threw my hands forward, releasing an enraged yell. The suited mutant barely had time to react, turning away from the fresh tornados he was creating, to see the roots and branches and vines hurtling towards him. They slammed into him, pinning him to the ground, as those beneath him burst through the sand and curled around his body, pulling him down further. I could vaguely sense some more activity on the beach as I held him there, but I was too angry to pay it any attention. He had tried to kill me, and he had tried to kill my friend. I was ready to try to kill him – I was done letting people hold power over me through intimidation and violence. I was done.

I clenched my fists as hard as I could, feeling my nails digging into my palms. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the scene as the plant life wrapped itself around him time and time again until all that was visible was his head. I stalked towards him, relishing the look of agony and fear on his face. And then I watched as a single branch, about as thick as a fist, curled around his neck, and I felt it squeeze. His skin was starting to go red, veins bulging underneath the surface, when I heard my name.

"Evy! Evelyn, stop!" someone shouted.

I looked up, seeing Alex standing a few feet away. His pleading gaze flicked between me and my prey, and he took a step forward.

"I know you want to kill him," he said gently. "I know you do." His glance took in the mess of my forehead, and he frowned. "I want him dead too." I wasn't sure how I felt about that. "But we can't kill him, or we'll be just as bad as him. As Shaw."

I looked down at the mutant again, at the branch wrapped tight around his neck. I remembered the look on Darwin's face before he disappeared from our lives, I remembered when Shaw took him from us. "This is fair," I heard myself tell Alex. "Shaw took Darwin. It's only fair we take one of his."

"Killing him won't bring Darwin back," Alex replied. "And you know that Darwin wouldn't think that this would make things right."

"Don't do that," I frowned. "Don't use him against me."

"I'm sorry," Alex winced. He glanced again at the dying mutant. "Evy, Shaw probably doesn't give a damn about the mutants that follow him. They're tools, weapons; they're not friends. Not like Darwin was to us. Besides, who knows if Shaw will even survive after Erik's through with him?"

I stared at the mutant I was squeezing the life out of, listening to him gurgle and strain for air.

"Fine," I muttered, letting go of the thrum.

The plant life slowly loosened on the mutant and retreated away from him, allowing him to curl onto his side, gasping and coughing and clutching his neck.

I walked away from him, towards Alex and Sean, who was watching fearfully a couple metres away. "Are you two okay?" I asked, hoping that they wouldn't treat me differently, but refusing to regret my actions. I did what I did because I had taken back the power from those who would hurt me; I was starting to feel free from my trauma, from my fears.

Alex took my hand in his, noticing the frown on my face as I realised his chest piece was missing. "We're fine," he replied, with a small smile.

"Look what Alex did," Sean called excitedly, pointing to somewhere away from us.

I looked closer and noticed Angel lying in the sand, her wings singed and broken. "Did you do that without your chest piece?" I asked, amazed. He nodded proudly. "Alex, that's-ʺ

Suddenly Hank appeared back on the beach, next to the submarine, with the red monkey on top of him. The mutant's sharp tail was centimetres from Hank's eye, and when he drew it back, ready to stab, we all attempted to spring into action.

But then Shaw was suddenly at the hole Erik had made in the submarine. "Azazel, stop," he commanded.

The mutant obeyed, standing up off Hank and staring at his leader. We froze in rage and fear, and I imagined Erik lying dead somewhere in the submarine.

Hank rose too and grabbed the mutant's chest, flinging him towards the submarine. The mutant teleported behind Hank, but he had anticipated the move and slammed his hand into him, knocking him to the ground. We collectively turned to look back at Shaw, who morphed into a smiling Raven.

"Oh, thank fuck," I sighed, relieved that we hadn't actually lost.

I looked around at my friends, and the three mutants we had managed to overcome together. We had survived, somehow, and I squeezed Alex's hand in pure, uninhibited elation.

Suddenly, we heard something from the jet. Charles was screaming loudly in agony.

"Charles?" Raven shouted, scared for her brother.

My attention went to the submarine beside us, wondering whose pain Charles was feeling. Was it Shaw's? Or was it Erik's?

I made to walk into the submarine, but Alex held firm to my hand.

"Alex, if Erik's in trouble, we have to help him," I insisted.

"No, Evy, it's too dangerous," he replied. "If Shaw can take Erik down, we don't stand a chance. We have to stay together."

"We can't just leave Erik to die!" I retorted.

"He wouldn't want you risking your life for him. You can't go in there alone."

"Then come with me."

He looked pained, and scared. "I don't trust myself around you in that small a space," he said quietly. "If I hurt you…" he trailed off. "We stand a better chance in the open, together."

I looked around us, conflicted, and noticed that the three mutants we'd been fighting had recovered enough to regroup opposite us. "Shit," I muttered, making the others look too.

Suddenly, above us, there was the sound of bending metal as Erik appeared in the hole. He had Shaw suspended in the air in front of him, dead. I felt dread seep into my bones when I noticed Erik was wearing Shaw's helmet.

"Today, our fighting stops!" Erik shouted. He pushed Shaw out further before letting the limp body drop to the ground. My eyes followed Erik as he lifted himself out of the submarine and floated downward until he stood on the sand with us. "Take off your blinders, brothers and sisters. The real enemy is out there," he said, pointing towards the ships. "I feel their guns moving in the water. Their metal targeting us." He started walking towards the water, Charles appearing not far from him, copying his movements. "Americans, Soviets. Humans."

I couldn't help but move forward with everyone, looking to the ships belonging to our own military, feeling unsurprised but still deflated.

"United in their fear of the unknown," Erik continued. "The Neanderthal is running scared, my fellow mutants!" He looked over at the telepath as Charles walked alongside him. "Go ahead, Charles. Tell me I'm wrong."

Charles pressed his fingers to his temples. I could feel the others watching him with bated breath, still hoping that it might not be true. He started breathing heavily, and slowly lowered his fingers. Turning to Moira, he nodded solemnly. She immediately turned to run back to the jet, presumably hoping to change their minds.

We could see the missiles being launched before we heard the haunting sounds boom across the water to us. It was terrifying. Every single ship had fired every single gun they had, on both sides, Americans and Soviets. They didn't just want to kill us, they wanted to obliterate us.

We took a collective step back, watching the missiles soar into the air. Alex's grip on my hand tightened tenfold. "Jesus Christ," he muttered.

The missiles hurtled towards us as we stood there, knowing there was no chance of us escaping to a safe distance. We were going to die here after all.

Suddenly Erik threw his hand into the air, two seconds before the missiles were to hit, and they halted where they were, suspended above us. I sighed a breath of relief, leaning in to Alex, in awe of Erik's power.

And then he was turning the missiles around.

"Erik, you said yourself, we're the better men," Charles instantly pleaded. "This is the time to prove it."

The missiles had all turned to face the ships completely. My heart was thundering in my chest, fear swelling uncontrollably.

"There are thousands of men on those ships," Charles continued. "Good, honest, innocent men! They're just following orders."

"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders," Erik replied quietly. His head turned to look at Charles, and my stomach dropped. "Never again."

He brought his hand behind his head, and then thrust it forward again, sending the missiles flying towards those who had launched them.

"Erik, release them!" Charles shouted.

Erik did not relent.

"No!" Charles yelled, sprinting forwards and throwing himself onto Erik.

The men collapsed to the sand, the missiles falling and some exploding as they did. Charles tried to remove Shaw's helmet, but Erik was making it difficult for him.

"I don't want to hurt you," Erik grunted, elbowing Charles in the face. "Don't make me!"

We instantly started towards the two, hating that they'd been reduced to physically fighting, but Erik held up a hand to stop us. "Stand back!" he shouted, throwing the boys into the air and away from us, leaving Raven and I standing there, conflicted.

"Charles, that's enough!" Erik ground out, holding his friend down with one hand as the other sought out the missiles again. I looked up, watching them resume their path towards the ships.

"Erik, stop!" Charles shouted, trying again to push the helmet off.

Erik defended himself easily, punching Charles in the face. He left the telepath on the ground and stood, walking sideways as he lifted his hand again.

Suddenly, I wasn't so conflicted. "Erik, this isn't right!" I shouted. "We deserve a chance at peace!"

He wasn't listening. I knew there was no chance of me taking him physically, and I also knew that I didn't really want to, even if I disagreed. He had helped me, I couldn't ignore that.

The missiles were seconds from hitting their targets when, again, they were interrupted. Moira shot at Erik, the bullet ricocheting off the helmet. I flinched, outraged that she was trying to kill him with a headshot. He turned his attention away from the missiles so that he could deflect each bullet she shot at him. My anxiety doubled and tripled each time the gunshot rang out, knowing that this was bound to end horribly.

What I didn't anticipate, was that it would end that way for Charles. One of the deflected bullets hit him in his lower back as he had stood, and everything seemed to freeze.

He immediately fell back to the sand, landing heavily. I was in shock, unable to move. But Erik was by his side in an instant, pulling the bullet back out again. I could vaguely hear explosions in the distance, but I couldn't have cared less. Erik was pulling Charles into his lap.

"I'm so sorry," he said as Charles grunted in pain. The others tried to go to the telepath, but Erik shouted at us again. "I said back off!" He then turned his attention to Moira, who had hurried over. "You," he hissed, "You did this."

Erik lifted his hand and Moira's dog tags tightened around her neck. She instantly started choking, trying desperately to loosen the chain.

"Erik, please," Charles struggled. "She didn't do this, Erik. You did."

Erik looked down at his friend, and slowly let go of Moira. "Us turning on each other," he said, placing his hand on Charles' chest, "it's what they want. I tried to warn you, Charles. I want you by my side. We're brothers, you and I. All of us, together, protecting each other. We want the same thing," he insisted.

"My friend," Charles chuckled sadly. "I'm sorry, but we do not."

Erik stared at Charles for another moment longer, accepting that they would have to part ways and go against each other. I wiped at the liquid on my face, unsure of whether it was blood or tears, or both. Finally, Erik looked up and gestured for Moira to approach.

She ran over, taking Charles in her arms. "Charles! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" she cried.

"It's alright, it's alright," Charles assured her as Erik stood and stepped away from them, turning to face us.

"This society won't accept us," Erik stated, gesturing to Moira and the fleet of ships on the horizon. "We form our own. The humans have played their hand! Now we get ready to play ours." He stood there, observing us. "Who's with me?"

I inhaled sharply, my heart tearing. Erik had been such a grounding figure in my instability. He had been there for me from the beginning, had watched over me, protected me. I had taken hope from him, from his solidarity after suffering such cruelties at the hands of humans and mutants alike. I had looked up to him.

As much as I didn't want to disappoint him, I didn't want to disappoint myself. I knew now in my heart that violence and antagonization wasn't the right path to go down. Ours would surely still have violence, mistakes, and hatred, but at least we would be trying. Erik had taught me how to have hope that things would get better, and I didn't want to throw that away. I couldn't.

"Evy?" Alex whispered. I could hear the uncertainty in his voice, I could see the fear in his eyes, and I knew what he was asking. In answer, I took his hand in mine and threaded our fingers together.

"No more hiding," Erik said gently, and I looked to see him holding a hand out to Raven.

She started limping towards him, looking between his outstretched hand and Charles, lying broken in Moira's lap. We watched her go, silent, knowing that whatever choice she made, we wouldn't be able to sway her.

She crouched down beside Charles, taking a hold of his hand.

"You should go with him," Charles told her. "It's what you want."

"You promised me you would never read my mind," she replied, stroking his hair.

"I know. I promised you a great many things, I'm afraid. I'm sorry," he said, bringing her hand to his lips.

Raven kissed his forehead and looked to Moira. "Take care of him," she said. She looked up as Erik held his hand out to her again, and she took it as she stood. The three who had followed Shaw, even our own Angel, went to join her and Erik.

Alex, Hank, Sean, and I, stood where we were, broken and exhausted, wanting nothing more than for everything to go back to how it had been.

"I'll see you around, Eve," Raven called out, smiling, but sounding sad. "And, Beast, never forget: mutant and proud."

Erik met the red mutant's gaze and nodded, and in the blink of an eye, they were gone. Erik, Raven, and Angel, they were all gone.

The boys immediately rushed forward to Charles, but my movements were slow and sluggish, and my heart was shattering. What would Darwin think if he saw us now, broken and divided as we were? How did we continue from here? How would we navigate our relationship with Erik and Raven? Were they now our enemies too?

Their voices were muted and distorted as I approached them, feeling completely lost.

But then, suddenly, Charles' voice was as clear as a bell. He was stammering and stumbling, but he got the sentence out, and I sank to my knees, distraught. "I can't feel my legs."