The X-Men let me have one more pancake before we took off.

It was a very good pancake. Maybe because the thought of imminent death makes things taste better. That being said, I could have lived without the secret spice of mortal danger added to my breakfast.

The X-Jet—Cyclops called it "The Blackbird"—took off vertically with almost no noise whatsoever.

"Shi'ar technology, sugah," Rogue told me when I asked about it.

"Cher makes jets?"

"Shi'ar. An alien race of bird people, mon ami. Once upon a time, they were allies of the X-Men. Now, not so much," Remy commented.

"Okay …"

"Don't look so shocked, sugah. Remy didn't even tell you about how Professah X used to be engaged to one of them."

"Your Professor X was engaged to a bird?"

"Technically, the Shi'ar are no more birds than we are simians," the Beast commented as he scratched underneath a furry arm. "They are simply descended from avian ancestors …"

I looked at the blue furred gorilla-like mutant telling me this. "Right …"

"Cut the unnecessary chatter, people," Cyclops barked at us. "Kyle, are those psi shields in place yet?"

"I cast them when we left, but it won't hurt to reinforce them." I closed my eyes. "Shield of Seraphim!"

"Maybe you should have Kyle cast this spell upon you more often, Cyclops," Remy grinned. "Would it make it easier to surprise Emma with her Christmas gift, no?"

Cyclops snorted.

"It is perhaps not wise to needle our esteemed leader," the Beast murmured to the rest of us. He was wearing a backpack and thick belt that literally screamed "High Tech Devices"!

Well, not literally, but you get the picture.

"Cyke, how much longah?" Rogue asked in that Southern Honey voice of hers again.

"Engaging the cloaking device now. For what it's worth, sensors aren't reading anything out here either. Are you sure we're at the right spot?"

"These are the coordinates Lil Miss Psycho implanted in mah brain." She looked over at Beast. "Your fancy doodads read anything the Blackbird's not?"

"No," With his face, it was hard for Henry McCoy to smirk, but he nevertheless pulled it off. "However, by reading what they aren't, I'm confident we're at the right location."

"Come again?" I blinked.

"If there were nothing there, the air currents at this height would react in a different fashion. They aren't, so clearly something invisible is affecting localized wind patterns."

"Oh."

"Rather fascinating, actually. I wouldn't think of this myself if I hadn't made an extensive sturdy of the Shi'ar cloaking device we are using now."

"Hank, based on your calculations, how close are we now? I don't want to fly into that thing."

"Now would be a good time to stop, fearless leader."

Cyclops deftly eased back on the throttle and feared up the VTOL jets. "Done."

"Now how are we going to find our way into something we can't see?" Rogue asked.

"Guess that's where I come in." I got up. "If I use the Eye of Agamotto I should be able to 'see' this thing and hopefully locate a door."

"Can you do this from inside the jet?"

"I should."

"Ah could fly you outside," Rogue offered.

"Um, wouldn't they spot us?"

"That is indeed a possibility," the Beast noted. "Perhaps we should let Kyle make his attempt from inside the jet."

"You mean you don't wanna fly outside in mah arms, sugah?" Rogue's eyes twinkled at me. "Ah'm hurt."

"Some other time, Rogue." I smiled. "Eye of Agamotto!"

The Silver Eye on my chest opened up, and … well… picture a searchlight effect and you get the idea. As I played the beam across the Blackbird's cabin … "Um, Rogue? Please get behind me."

"Why is that, sugah?"

"Let's just say that I'm seeing enough of you right now to make Remy jealous …"

Rogue mock glared at me as she sauntered out of range. "Boys …"

"Cyke," part of me was surprised at how easily the nickname flowed off my lips. "Can you move the jet around? We seem to be right behind it, and I'm not seeing any sort of entrance here."

"Roger," Cyclops murmured. "Does it look like anything you've ever seen before?"

"Hard to say from this distance, but it kinda looks to me like someone took a good chunk of an aircraft carrier and stuck propellers on it."

"A helicarrier?" Beast asked me.

"Guess that's as good a name as any," I replied.

"In that case, it is quite possible that Lady Luck has chosen to smile at us," he said. "During my time with the Avengers, I saw quite a bit of the standard Shield Helicarrier. Assuming this one is constructed in a similar fashion, I believe I know our best point of entry. My good Cyclops, if you could but fly us under the great aerial contraption I believe I can locate a maintenance hatch that Remy will have no problem opening to gain us entry."

"Remy believes he knows the spot you are talking about, Henry." The Cajun smiled… well, smirked actually. "And Remy believes he knows where they would most likely be holding our Mademoiselle Blythe as well."

"How would you know that?" I asked him.

"Remy has been known to … explore … a Shield Helicarrier before, mon ami."

"He only refers to himself in the third person so much because girls dig his accent, right?" I asked the Beast.

"Indubitably, Kyle. Indubitably."