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DISCLAIMER

1) This material is not used for monetary profit in any manner.  It is
done solely for enjoyment purposes, and as homage to the great stories
and characters of Marvel Comics Group

2)  All  the  characters,  events,  and locations portrayed within are
recognized as property of Marvel Comics Group should they so wish.

3)  This  story  has been written by Samy Merchi <samerc@mash.yok.utu.fi>.  Any
commentary  in  the  form  of compliments or critique is welcomed, and
eagerly hoped for.  So go ahead and drop me a line telling me what you
thought, okay?  It'll make my day.  ;)

4)  This  story  is  being  archived  at  least  at  my fanfic page at
<http://www.utu.fi/~samerc/fanfic/index.html>.   Previous parts can be
found there if needed.
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                    *** FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE ***
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                         CHAPTER FIVE: Stryfe


   "HOW IS MY SISTER??"
   There  was  little  that  could  stop the oncoming freight train of
organic  steel, as it shoved aside the sliding door to the medlab, and
burst into the room together with the screeching sound of the metal of
the  door being practically mangled into so much scrap as super-strong
muscles  shoved it aside, wrecking the mechanism utterly.  The arrival
of  Piotr  Nikolievich  Rasputin, the human Colossus, was not one that
could  easily be ignored, as much because of the fury in his voice and
eyes as because of the sound the crumpled door made.
   "Damn  it",  Moira hissed to herself, as she quickly wiped the back
of  her hand across her sweaty forehead, glancing over her shoulder to
notice  Peter  before returning to applying the instrument in her hand
to  the head of the blonde girl lying on the bed before her.  "Someone
get  him  oot  of  here NOW!" she growled.  "Sharon, give me a smaller
drill,  we've got tae alleviate the cerebral hemorrhaging now or she's
dead..."
   "Dead??   What...?" Peter growled as he took a step towards the bed
where  his  sister  was  lying.  She was the mistress of Limbo, and in
that  timeless  dimension  every  aspect  of  reality conformed to the
wishes  of  Illyana  Nikolovna  Rasputina.  But in this dimension, the
laws  of  reality  were  much,  much  more  harsh  and  rigid,  to her
detriment.   The  teenage  blonde  sorceress  was  lying  on  the bed,
motionless,  her hair, matted with blood turning rusty-colored, spread
out  all  around  her  head  as limply as the rest of her body, as two
other women frantically worked around her.
   "Here!"  Sharon  said, quickly handing Moira a smaller drill, after
which the raven-haired nurse turned towards the male Russian, her eyes
flaming  angrily.   "You get the %$£@ out of here RIGHT NOW, Peter, or
your  sister  is as good as dead, is that CLEAR???" she snarled as she
grabbed  a  hairnet and pulled it over her head, stuffing all her hair
into it to be out of the way.
   "But..." Peter argued helplessly, the fury still burning within his
eyes,  preventing  him from realizing the slightest bit of what Sharon
Friedlander had just said.
   "Sharon,  we  dinnae  have  time f'r that!" Moira snapped, her eyes
wide,  her breathing shallow as she tried desperately to save the life
of  the  girl  lying before her.  "The others'll take care of him, get
here, I need you!  We're losing her..."
   "Don't  worry",  came  a  calm, steely voice, and with a crackle of
electric  blue  energy  suddenly  surrounding him, Peter rose into the
air,  and  suddenly  disappeared,  flying  out the doorway he had just
smashed  seconds earlier, as if yanked by some invisible force.  A few
instants  later,  the proud, in-control form of Magneto, the Master of
Magnetism  stepped  in  the  doorway,  his  left  arm  still extended,
pointing  outside where, as if an extension of his arm, a bluish flare
of energy kept Colossus suspended in air in the hallway.  "What is the
situation, Doctor?"
   "Illyana's  been  shot  in  th'  head", Moira reported quickly in a
feverish  tone, her forehead almost dripping with sweat.  "Clean entry
through  the  left  temple,  no  exit wound, the bullet's still in her
brain...   The cerebral hemorrhagin's the worst problem, it's creatin'
pressure against her brainstem..."
   Magneto  didn't waste time to take a deep breath, instead taking it
after  his words.  "Very well.  I can lessen the hemorrhaging somewhat
by  controlling  the  iron  in  her blood and thereby preventing blood
circulation  to  her  head", he reported, and a flare of bluish energy
crackled  around his right hand as he made a small motion, and cut the
blood  flow  to  the unconscious Illyana's head.  "I am afraid I can't
help  with  the hemorrhaging that has already taken place.  My control
is  insufficient  to  the  task, and I might damage her more than help
her.  I can, however, remove the bullet..."
   "NO!" Moira said quickly, her heart jumping, her eyes widening even
further, as she turned to look at Magneto.
   "But..." Magneto started.
   "No!"  Moira  repeated.  "The bullet willnae do any more damage now
tha'  it's  already there!  If ye try tae remove it, ye'll only end up
doin'  more damage!  Just keep at cuttin' her circulation f'r now, an'
be  ready tae let some in when I say so, th' brain cannae survive long
without at least some blood..."

   "Nooooooooo..." Kitty whimpered helplessly, as she looked down from
the  observation booth, watching her dearest friend's head be operated
on,  watching  all  the blood...  "Nonononononono..." she cried, tears
streaming  down  her  face  like  they had never before, even when her
parents  had  divorced.   "No...   Please,  God,  no..."  she spoke in
breathless  whispers  broken by a voice shuddering as she cried, cried
and cried even more.  "God, don't take her..."

   "She's  comin'  to,  darlin'",  Logan  said sharply, before a SNIKT
sound  as  he  extruded  one  claw to cut the head off a cigar, then a
SNAKT  as  he  retracted  the claw and put the cigar between his lips.
"Sure  ya  want me here?" he asked, as he dug up a match, then lit it,
and with it, lit his cigar.
   "Yes,  Logan",  Ororo  replied,  her  tone  colder than Logan could
off-hand  recall it ever having been.  "Were this an opening volley to
an  attack,  the  rest  of  the  Hellfire  Club or Hellions would have
initiated  their assault by now.  And I would like to have your senses
here to discern whether any explanation of Tarot's might be a lie."
   "Hell,  you've got Betts here", Logan pointed out, taking the cigar
between  his  fingers  and absently pointing at Psylocke with it, "fer
the human lie detector job."
   "He's  right",  Elisabeth  pointed  out  as she rubbed at her eyes,
still  blurred  by sleep.  "I can tell you anything you want about the
girl..."
   "No",  Ororo  shook  her  head,  determinedly.  "First of all, Emma
Frost is a telepath, and should this be a ploy of hers, she would have
anticipated  us  attempting  to solve this mystery with our telepathic
resources  and  prepared against it.  I trust your senses more on this
matter,  Logan.   Furthermore, I need Elisabeth's skills to keep me in
contact with the rest of the team and monitor the mansion grounds."
   "Right",  Logan muttered to himself, and then turned towards Tarot,
lying  unconscious on a couch in the living room, mere feet from where
she  had  been  standing  when she had fired the bullet into Illyana's
head.  "Rise an' shine, darlin'", he said in his gruff voice.  "Ya got
a tale ta tell."

   RING RING
   "Massachusetts Academy, Emma Frost's office."
   "Guten  Morgen,  fräulein",  Kurt  spoke  in his soft, velvety tone
matching  the  feel of his dark fur covering.  "Would Ms Frost perhaps
be available?  This is Kurt Wagner.  We are...acquainted."
   "Just a moment, please."
   "Of course."
   "...  No, Ms Frost is not currently available.  Can you call later,
or leave a message?"
   "Certainly.   Tell  her  to  contact  Xavier's  School  for  Gifted
Youngsters  as  soon  as possible?  It is urgent, regarding one of her
students."
   "Oh dear.  I hope everything is all right?"
   "Things  could be better, mädchen.  Please have her call as soon as
she is able?"
   "I will.  Thank you for calling, Mr Wagner."
   "Good bye."
   CLICK
   Emma  smiled softly, calmly, and placed a hand onto her secretary's
shoulder.  "Good work, Etta."

   "See anything, Tom?"
   "Not a thing, Rogue.  Nothing out of the ordinary, anyway."
   Rogue  nodded faintly, and turned in a wide arc, her hands carrying
Tom  Corsi  under his arms as she lowered the altitude slightly as she
changed her direction, coming down to forty feet or so, as she swooped
once around the three interconnected buildings comprising the Xavier's
School for Gifted Youngsters.  "Anything there?" she asked.
   "Nope,  just  Dani  standing  outside the front door.  Poor kid.  I
think she was pretty close to Illyana."
   "*Is*  pretty close to Illyana, sugah.  She ain't gone yet, an' she
ain't  gonna  be.   Not while Moira an' Sharon're workin' their magic.
'Sides, I'm more worried 'bout 'Cat an' Petey."
   "Yeah,  they've gotta be devastated", Tom nodded once as he let his
eyes  explore  the  treeline  some  half mile away, narrowing his eyes
slightly, his forehead furrowing a bit.
   "See somethin'?"
   "Nah, must be just my eyes playin' tricks on me..."
   "Better  go  check  it out anyway.  Ain't such a thang as bein' too
careful,  an' ain't such a thing either as too early for some bad guys
wantin' ta rassle with us like a coupl'a bear cubs, Ah tell ya", Rogue
commented as she angled her flight path towards the treeline, starting
to quietly glide towards it.

   "I  swear,  you'll  have  to  take me before I let you lay one foot
inside this house."
   "Moonstar..." the tall, cloaked form carrying a scythe and standing
before  the  New  Mutant spoke in a voice that chilled the valkyrie to
the  very core of her soul.  "You know as well as I that your quest to
deny  me  is in vain.  I have taught you that lesson with Pat Roberts,
haven't I?" [1]
   "I  don't  care!"  Dani half-screamed, her heart torn by grief, and
the  rigid,  cold, furious mask on her face kept in place by one thing
and  one thing only -- her determination to save her friend.  "I won't
let you take Illyana!!"
   "Do you intend to fight me for her sake?"
   "You bet I do!!"
   "Very  well, then", the grim reaper spoke in a charnel whisper, and
a  scythe  appeared  in Dani's hands as well, arming her with an equal
weapon.   "Defend  your  friend, valkyrie." Then, a the scythe flashed
towards Dani in a lightning-quick motion.

   Rahne  sobbed quietly, as she stood in the kitchen, huddled up in a
chair, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, as she tried to curl
up  in a little ball.  Her cheeks were moistened, but they were drying
now.   She  had  run  out  of  tears  to  cry,  and  now just gave the
occasional   quiet   sob  and  shudder,  her  face  pressed  into  her
knees. . o O (I  know  I havenae been a good girl always, Lord, but if
ye'll  make  one prayer happen, please let Illyana live...  I'll never
think  bad  thoughts agen, Lord...  Please let Illyana live...  Please
let Illyana live... Please let Illyana live...)

   First she whirled the lower end of the scythe upwards, to parry the
incoming  strike.   Then, using the force with which the grim reaper's
strike impacted onto the shaft of her own scythe, swiveling her weapon
to  take  advantage  of the impact in a move Roberto had taught her in
the Danger Room -- she cleaved the dark, cloaked form before her clean
into  two, with one swift strike.  The robe fell to the ground, empty,
like  there had never been anyone inside it, and folded into itself in
an almost frightening silence, as Dani watched all evidence of Death's
visit  disappear  into  thin air, including her scythe which without a
sound faded from her hands.
   She  slumped  down  quietly, sinking to her knees, and sobbed once.
Did  she  just  save  Illyana's  life?   Or  condemn her to a coma for
spirits know how long?

   "Rahne?"
   "SelfriendRahneWolfsbane?"
   "Huh?"  Rahne  sobbed,  lifting  her  head and glancing towards the
doorway  to  see  Douglas  'Cypher' Ramsey and the alien only known as
Warlock.  "Och..." she murmured to herself, wiping her cheeks with her
hands.   "A'm  sorry...   A  shouldna'  be  here  cryin'..."  she said
apologetically.
   "Rahne..."  Doug  said softly, walking over to her, and putting his
arms  around  her, holding her against him.  "It's okay", he whispered
into her ear.  "It's okay..."
   For  a  few  moments,  Doug  just  held Rahne quietly.  Then, Rahne
suddenly,  fiercely,  desperately hugged Doug back, latching onto him.
"Och,  'tis  so  horrible,  Doug...!" she whimpered quietly.  "How can
anyone do such a thing??"
   Of  course,  with  Warlock  around, the mood is bound to be ruined.
"Does SelfriendRahne require medical supplies?" he queried confusedly,
his head tilting slightly in curiosity.
   "Hu...whu?   What're ye talkin' 'bout, 'Lock?" she blinked, rubbing
her reddened eyes as she looked at the alien, just as confused herself
as Warlock was.
   "SelfriendRahne  is  leaking  bodily  fluids  from  ocular sensors.
Should  Self  get  medical  supplies  to  prevent  further  leakage of
Lifenergy?"
   "Och..."  Rahne murmured, as she slowly understood.  "Nae, 'Lock...
'Tis what we do...cryin'...'tis nae dangerous..."
   "Yeah, pal", Doug smiled slightly, letting Rahne go as he turned to
explain  things to his partner.  "See, crying doesn't hurt us...  It's
bleeding   that  hurts  us...   Blood's  our  'Lifenergy',  but  tears
aren't...   Remember  when we met Captain Britain?  He was crying, but
he  wasn't  physically  injured.   Humans  cry  when we feel bad about
something,  and  we  bleed  when we're injured and losing 'Lifenergy'.
Get it?"
   Warlock  remained silent for a while, and then nodded.  "Self feels
bad about SelfriendIllyana's condition as well.  Self is attempting to
be  like  humans,  so Self will attempt to cry as well." With that, he
reached  over  to  the  water  faucet over the sink, turned it on, and
after  water started gushing out, he turned his hand into a plug which
he put against the outlet, then channeling the water inside him to his
eyes,  from  which  it  quickly  started  spurting  out.   "Is this an
acceptable method of crying?"
   Doug  smiled faintly, but Rahne smiled brighter, leaping out of the
chair, and hugging the alien tightly.  "Och, Warlock, ye great silly!"
she exclaimed as she pressed close against Warlock.

   "I  am  certain  everything  will  turn  out fine, ma cherie", Shan
whispered  as  she held Kitty close against her, comforting her in the
observation   booth.   "Mam'selle  MacTaggert,  she  is  an  excellent
docteur."
   "Shan's  right,  Kitty",  Sam nodded.  "We know people've come back
from  worse." Neither of the New Mutants paid any attention to Kitty's
bleached  mohawk  hair  and  her  leather  clothes  mimicking Ororo's,
Illyana's last prank.
   "Oh yeah?" Kitty sobbed quietly.  "When?"
   "Uhh...  Well...err...  Amara fell into a lava pit", Sam said.
   "Oui.   And  I was thought dead for some time after I fell into the
ocean  when  we  saved Danielle from the Silver Samurai and the Viper,
but I have returned."
   Kitty  just  sighed  quietly, curling up into a smaller ball.  "You
never  saw  the  bodies in those cases", she said poutingly.  "This is
*real*.   Illyana's right there, on that bed, and she's got a god damn
bullet  in  her  head,  and she's bleeding and she's got a hole in her
head and she may never wake up and..." She shuddered, and another pair
of  tears  flowed from her eyes as she squeezed them shut tightly.  "I
just wish I knew why her armor didn't protect her..."
   Sam  quirked  an  eyebrow, and then looked out of the booth, to the
operating   room.    "That's   a   dang  good  question..."  he  mused
thoughtfully.   "Maybe it doesn't protect her head?" he suggested.  "I
don't think I've ever seen it on her head..."
   A dry mixture of a chuckle and a sob came from Kitty's lips.  "Just
like  her", she commented.  "Get killed because of some stupid fashion
statement..."
   Sam  smiled  slightly,  and  then  remembered  something, blinking.
"Mojo",  he  said  quietly, and put a hand in front of his mouth as he
thought  about  something.   "Just a few weeks ago, he kidnapped Bobby
an'  replaced  him  with  a  clone...  The clone died 'cuz it couldn't
duplicate  Bobby's  powers...crushed  under a tree.  Maybe this is the
same??"
   Kitty shook her head quietly.  "Illyana definitely had her powers",
she  said  quietly.   "She teleported us downstairs from our room just
before..."

   "...Tarot  shot  her",  Ororo  stated.  "Kurt almost killed himself
teleporting  her,  Moira  and Sharon down to the medlab right after it
happened."
   Logan  nodded,  as  he  blew  a  few smoke circles.  "The Elf's got
guts",  he  said.   "If  there's  something he can do ta save anyone's
life,  he'll  do  it.   It was a risk though, teleportin' with the kid
bein' in as bad a shape as she was."
   "It  was a risk we were willing to take", Ororo stated.  "Trying to
take  her  downstairs by carrying would have been slower, and possibly
even more risky."
   "At  least we were lucky enough to have Moira and Sharon visiting",
Elisabeth pointed out.
   "Yeah",  Logan  nodded.   "I  dunno  who  else  here could do brain
surgery."
   "I  can't believe she got shot in the bloody head", Betsy shook her
head.   "Aren't  you  supposed  to  die  instantly from something like
that?"
   "Nah",  Logan  said,  and  took a deep breath off his cigar.  "It's
possible  ta  survive  a  slug  to  the  head.  Done it a couple times
myself,  but  I got the additional help of a healin' factor.  Anyways,
it can be done by normal humans too, if it ain't a big caliber bullet.
Give  someone  a  Magnum  44,  an' they'll blow yer head clean off yer
shoulders, but some small arms don't do enough damage ta finish ya off
necessarily.   Which  don't necessarily mean you'll be back ta normal.
A bullet in the head's gonna damage *something*.  A friend o' mine got
the  short  end o' the stick.  Survived the bullet, but it damaged his
brain so that he's spendin' the rest o' his life in coma."
   Betsy winced slightly, wrinkling her nose, and then glanced over to
Tarot, sitting on the couch, looking ashamedly down into her lap.  Her
cheek  was  swelling from the leap kick with which Kitty had taken her
down  a  fraction  of  a  second  too late.  Ever since Slaymaster had
ripped  her eyes out, and Brian had subsequently smooshed Slaymaster's
head  into  a  pulp  with  a  boulder, she had had an aversion to head
injuries.  "Couldn't shoot anywhere else, could you, luv?" she sighed.
"Would *you* like to spend the rest of your life as a bloody retard??"
   "Ain't  like  she  was plannin' fer Illyana ta live, period", Logan
pointed out.  "'Sides, women tend to go fer head shots a lot more than
men  do.   Men usually shoot at the torso.  Women usually shoot at the
head.  It's a gender thing."
   Ororo  sighed quietly, just looking at Tarot quietly.  "Why did you
do it, child?" she simply asked.
   "I..."  Tarot started, quietly, timidly.  "I...I wasn't planning on
it..."
   "Yeah,  right", Logan snorted.  "Ya carry a loaded gun in yer purse
all the time?"
   "Logan,  shush",  Ororo said.  "Let the child speak.  You will have
an opportunity to speak when she is finished."
   "It  was  just..."  Tarot  closed  her eyes, squeezing them tightly
shut,  her  shoulders  slumping,  retracting  inwards, as if she had a
black  hole inside her that was sucking her into a little ball.  "I...
Manuel..."
   Logan  rolled  his eyes.  "How'd I guess that one'd be involved..."
he muttered.
   "Logan, shush!" Ororo repeated, a bit more harshly.
   Tarot  looked  over  to  Logan, and curled up a bit tighter, into a
smaller  little  ball.   Logan wasn't exactly the portrait of niceness
and   fluff.    "I..."  She  sighed,  and  bit  her  lip.   "The  last
month...since the ball at the Academy...  Manuel's been thinking about
just  her...   Always,  Illyana  this, Illyana that...  I...  I...  It
*hurt*!" she half-whimpered.
   Again,  Logan's  eyes rolled, and his lips parted in preparation of
saying  something,  but  a quick glare from Ororo quickly shut him up.
"You were jealous?" the dark-skinned woman asked quietly.
   Tarot  nodded,  briefly, desperately.  "I...  I..." She sighed, and
shuddered slightly in frustration, trembled in fear.  "I love him..."
   Logan  blinked.  "Ain't accountin' fer tast..." he started, but got
quickly  silenced  by  a positively absolute zero gaze from the former
Mistress  of  Weather.   "Okay,  okay..."  he muttered.  "I can take a
flamin' hint...  I'll go wait outside."
   "Very  well,  Logan",  Ororo nodded.  "I will have Elisabeth summon
you should we have need of you."
   Logan  exited  the  room  quietly,  and Ororo waited a few moments,
before  parting  her lips to ask Tarot another question.  Just then, a
telepathic message was relayed to him by Psylocke's mutant powers.
   <<  'Ro,  darlin'...   Somethin's off-kilter here.  I'm smellin' an
awful  lot  of  anger...  An' three scents headin' towards the hangar.
Moonstar, Da Costa an' Aquilla.  Somethin's up.  >>

   Shan sighed quietly.  "I wonder how Robert is taking this...  After
all,  his  love Juliana died in his arms after being shot, and Juliana
did possess a certain degree of resemblance to Illyana..."
   Sam  blinked,  and  turned  around  to look at Shan, with a serious
expression  on his face.  A few moments, he just stood there silently,
looking  at  her, trying to find reasons why Roberto would NOT fly off
the handle.  Then, he just said quietly, "Sh*t."

   "We  all  know that Empath is behind this all", Roberto snarled, as
he  stalked towards the hangar.  "And we will make him pay for all the
misery he has caused."
   "In  Nova Roma, if one kills a member of your family, you are honor
bound  to  seek  vengeance  or you will disgrace your family name with
cowardice", Amara commented.
   "I  swear, if the little Spanish twerp is behind this, I'm going to
break his bones *after* beating the living crap out of him", Dani spat
out angrily.  "'Berto, you sure you can fly the Blackbird?"
   Roberto  gave Dani a winning smile.  "Trust me", he grinned, before
turning his attention back to the few-mile hike to the hangar.
   "You'd  better", Dani muttered, and then glanced over her shoulder,
back  towards  the  mansion  thru  the  forest they were in.  "They'll
realize  we're  gone  soon.  Better pick up the pace a bit, guys", she
said, breaking into a run.
   Roberto and Amara followed suit, starting to leap over fallen trees
and  roots,  ducking under low branches, and following the forest path
leading from the mansion to the airfield and hangar.
   It took a few minutes for them to reach the edge of the forest, and
they  quickly  dashed from the cover of the trees, and to the cover of
the  air  operations  hut  from  which  the airfield's operations were
controlled,  crouching  down outside it.  Dani took a deep breath, and
glanced  around  before  starting to give out orders.  "Okay.  'Berto,
you'll  go to the hangar and try to start up the Blackbird.  I'll open
the  hangar  doors for you from the hut.  Amara, I want you to raise a
volcano  a few miles to the other direction from the mansion.  Nothing
big,  throw  in  a  few  tremors so they can't miss it.  WEAK ones.  I
don't  want  ANYTHING  to mess up the operation on Illyana.  Make sure
you won't be destroying any buildings, too."
   Amara  quirked  an eyebrow.  "Will that not alert the X-Men and let
them know something is going on?"
   "Yeah",  Dani  smiled,  and  left  it  at  that.   "Now  move!" she
whispered.

   The first low tremor hit the mansion.
   "By  the  Goddess..."  Ororo exclaimed, looking towards a window in
alarm.  "What are the children doing??"
   Elisabeth  touched  a  few  fingers to her temple.  "They're at the
hangar, Storm..."
   Kurt  entered  the  room  with a frown on his face, looking towards
Ororo.  "Was war das??" he asked.  "What is going on??"
   Ororo  glanced  at  Kurt,  and  bit  her lip.  She could ask him to
teleport  to the hangar, but after the injuries he sustained in battle
with  Nimrod,  and  all the teleporting he had done today already, she
dared not.  << Rogue >> she then called over the mindlink.

   "Storm's calling you", Tom said.
   "Darn!  Ah *hate* mah minds", Rogue grumbled, referring to the fact
that  because she had both her own and Carol Danvers' mind within her,
it created a psionic static which made her mind extremely resistant to
telepathy.   Unfortunately,  she  wasn't  able to lower the resistance
when  she  wanted,  and  that  posed  an  obstacle in including her in
telepathic communication.  "What's she sayin'?"
   "The New Mutants are stealing the Blackbird", Tom frowned, relaying
Storm's  words to the Southern belle.  "She's telling us to get to the
hangar and stop'em."
   "Well,  tell'er  we're a mite *busy*!" Rogue growled, as she landed
beside  the  volcano,  and  put  Tom down, before biting her lip in an
attempt  to think on how to put out the fires the volcano was causing.
"An'  remind  me to give Amara a damn good beatin' when Ah see her the
next time."

   Ororo  frowned  as  Tom  relayed  to  her  the situation of his and
Rogue's  makeshift  firefighting, and lifted her chin slightly, as she
turned her mind to the one man she could always rely on.

   <<  On  my way already, darlin' >> Logan responded to Ororo's call.
<< 'Bout halfway down to the hangar now.  Where's Mags?  >>
   <<  Magneto is assisting Moira and Sharon in Illyana's operation >>
Ororo  responded,  her  voice  betraying  just the slightest amount of
frustration  that  would  have  been  missed  by anyone.  Anyone...but
Logan.
   <<  How about the other kids?  Guthrie or Warlock could get ya over
fast enough...  >>
   << Just a moment, Logan...  >> broke in Elisabeth's voice.
   Knowing  the  New  Mutants'  most  likely destination, Logan didn't
bother  to  follow  their  scents  thru the forest.  He knew the woods
around  Xavier's School better than any man alive, and the kids hadn't
taken  the quickest route.  But he would.  Moving thru the forest at a
speed  and  a  grace  that would make Olympic pro hurdlers envious, he
rapidly closed in on the hangar.
   Then,  Psylocke's  voice returned to his head.  << Logan, the other
New Mutants are...  >>

   "...here, Dani?  What do y'all think you're doing??"
   "Simple,  Sam",  Dani  answered,  her  eyes narrowed.  She had just
stepped  out  of the air operations hut after opening the hangar doors
for  Roberto.   However,  that's  when the rest of the New Mutants had
showed  up,  and  Dani,  Roberto  and  Amara's deeds were interrupted.
"We're going to go get some payback.  Want to join us?"
   "You've  flipped,  Dani!"  Doug  called out across the thirty or so
feet  that  separated  one  group  of  New Mutants from the other.  "I
would  have expected this from Da Costa, but you at least used to have
a cool head, damn it!"
   "And  Illyana  almost doesn't have a head at all!" Roberto snarled,
as the three fugitive New Mutants drew slowly into a closer formation,
walking  slowly  towards  each  other.   "What if it would have been a
Magnum  44  that  Tarot had?  There wouldn't be a need to get a bullet
out  of  her  brain,  there  would be a need to get her brains off the
wall!"
   "Speakin'  of  Magnum,  Bobby",  Sam interjected, "do you seriously
think  Thomas  Magnum  would  go  nuts like this!  We need to find out
what's happened 'fore we go around bashin' peoples' heads!"
   "Sam  --" Amara snapped.  "Illyana humiliated Manuel a month ago at
the  ball.   You know as well as I do what kind of a person Manuel is!
He  has  no  doubt been plotting this for the entire month!  He merely
manipulated Tarot to carry out the assassination itself!"
   "Whatever  happened  to  'innocent  until  proven  guilty'??"  Doug
yelled.
   "Ye  don't  *know*  tha's  what  happened,  Amara!"  Rahne  shouted
harshly.  "Wha' if ye're wrong??"
   "We're  *not*",  Roberto replied with a disgusted expression.  "And
even if we were, de la Rocha deserves everything coming to him."
   "Robert --" Shan called out.  "I know how you feel!  I remember how
I  felt  like when Danielle accidentally pulled out the memories of my
parents' death!  [2] No one wishes to be reminded of painful memories!
You  brought  me to my senses then.  I know this incident has reminded
you of what happened to Juliana [3], but..."
   "That  was a cheap shot, Shan!" Dani yelled, even as Roberto winced
visibly  at  Shan's words, like an arrow fired thru the very center of
his  being.  "If you hated it so much, then how *dare* you do the same
thing to 'Berto now??"
   "Dani!" Rahne pleaded.  "Dinnae do this!  'Tis insanity!"
   "I'm  sorry, Rahney", Dani said with a firmly set expression.  "But
I'm  not  going  to  let  Empath  hurt anyone again.  This time it was
Illyana.  Next time it could be you.  And I'm not going to wait to see
that happen."
   "The  law'll  take  care  of Empath!" Sam argued.  "We can call the
cops on 'im!"
   Roberto  laughed.   "Yeah,  right!  And he'll go to jail as much as
the  X-Men  ever  have.   Or  the  Hellfire Club!  He'll *maybe* get a
talking-to  from  Frost, and that'll be the end of it!  Until he tries
to kill someone *else*!"
   "It  is a fact that political power grants many privileges with the
legal system!", Amara pointed out.  "And Manuel has as powerful allies
as one can have -- the Hellfire Club!"
   "There's no way he'll do time!" Dani added.
   "You know it as well as we do, Sam", Roberto growled.  "Even should
the  Hellfire  Club  give  up  on  him  -- which is extremely unlikely
considering  his  usefulness  --  with  his powers, he never has to do
anything he doesn't want to!"
   "Ye  spaleen!" Rahne snarled at Roberto.  "Ye've corrupted Dani wi'
yuir insane words!"
   "Time's   on   their  side",  Dani  murmured  quietly  to  her  two
accomplices.  "If we let them delay us, the X-Men will get here."
   Rahne  reacted quickly, shifting to her half-wolf form when she saw
Dani  murmuring  to  the  other  two, but not in time for her enhanced
wolfen hearing to pick up the words.
   "Understood!" Amara suddenly said, and the ground suddenly exploded
under  Shan, a blast of fire and magma shooting upwards, the shockwave
knocking  Karma instantly out of the game.  "The most dangerous one is
out.  Next?" she quickly asked Dani.
   "Dang it!" Sam cursed, and with a thought, activated his biokinetic
blast  field,  propelling  himself  towards  Magma while she was still
gloating over her easy triumph.
   "Amara!   Get  out  of  the  way!" Roberto shouted, while moving to
intercept  the  human  Cannonball.  .  o O (I don't possess sufficient
strength  to  go  up  against Sam directly...  But that doesn't mean I
can't  REdirect him!) he thought, as he powered up, turning jet-black,
the  air  crackling  and  darkening  around him, and his solar-charged
muscles  surged  with  power as he quickly tilted his body -- far more
maneuverable  than  Sam's -- and struck with all his might at the side
of Sam's blast field.
   The  force would not have been enough to stop Sam.  But it was more
than  enough  to  change  his  path.   The fist smashed into the blast
field,  and  redirected  Sam's aim.  Before the Kentuckian knew it, he
had plowed straight into the air operations hut with a THROOM!
   "Sam!"  Rahne shouted, and leaped at Roberto's exposed back when he
was    recovering    his    balance    from    the   massive   strike.
"Ye...ye...ye...BAD  PERSON!"  Though  Roberto  was  strong, he wasn't
invulnerable,  and he was attacked from behind, by someone even faster
and  more  maneuverable,  from  behind.   With one swift strike of her
claws, Rahne slammed Roberto to the ground.
   "ARGH!" Roberto growled, as he went down, his expression contorting
as  he  fought to maintain consciousness, but even with that boundless
Da Costa ego, he was unable to prevent things going dark.
   "Roberto!"  Amara  gasped  as  she  saw  the Brazilian go down, and
turned  her  attention  on  the she-wolf.  "Come, then, Rahne.  Do you
dare attack someone when their back is not turned?"
   Meanwhile,  Doug and Warlock had used a few seconds to combine into
an  effective  combat form -- Warlock had formed a battle armor around
Doug,  and  they  now approached Dani.  "We're sorry, Dani, but you're
forcing us into doing this..." Doug said apologetically.
   "Affirmative,  SelfriendDaniMirageChief",  came  Warlock's voice as
well,  from the armor surrounding Doug.  "Self suspects Selfriends are
mindcontrolled  as before by ShadowKingEntity and SpiralEntity because
Selfriends attack other Selfriends--"
   "Sorry,  'Lock",  Dani  replied,  as she concentrated, and used her
power,  knowing  there was no way even her fighting skills could be of
much  use  against  the Warlock armor, but instead decided to draw out
Doug's  worst fear, and project it.  "Just because we don't agree with
you, it doesn't mean we're possessed!"
   An  illusion  appeared,  of Tarot suddenly in the battle field, and
pointing a gun towards Rahne, preparing to fire.
   "Sorry,  Dani", Doug smirked.  "Warlock's sensors enable me to spot
illusions instantly." He pulled a fist back, grinning widely.  "Are we
the  Team  Supreme  or  what!" He prepared to punch Dani's lights out,
when suddenly something went very wrong.
   "SQWRRRRK!!!"  Warlock  shuddered,  and suddenly melted from around
Doug, into a pile of inert electronics in a half-liquid state.
   Dani did not waste the opportunity.  It took a fraction of a second
for  her boot to connect with Doug's jaw, and drop the linguist mutant
with a single, quick, decisive blow.
   Meanwhile,  Amara  was  no  slower.   The  illusion  of  Tarot  had
distracted Rahne momentarily, and it was a moment the Nova Romani used
well.   Pointing  her  hand quickly at the ground at Rahne's feet, she
let  loose a powerful lava blast, and blew the ground apart, showering
the  wolfgirl  with  a concussive tidal wave of shrapnel which knocked
her unconscious.
   "Sorry,  bunkie",  Kitty  said, looking sadly at Doug's unconscious
form  as  her  intangible, ghost-like form rose from the ground beside
Warlock.  "*We* are."
   "Kitty??"  Dani  blinked as she saw the X-Man rise from the ground,
and then glanced to the treeline, from where another X-Man was already
approaching,  as  Wolverine  sprinted  towards  the airfield.  "Amara!
Quick!    Make  the  ground  into  magma  between  Wolverine  and  the
airfield!"  she  ordered,  as  she  grabbed  Roberto  and  hoisted his
muscular  form  over her shoulder.  For several seconds, she looked at
Kitty,  as  if  not  sure  why  she  was here.  Then, "Can you fly the
Blackbird?"
   "Piece  of cake", Kitty replied, with the faintest of smiles on her
face,  as  she  turned around and started towards the hangar.  After a
few  steps,  she glanced over her shoulder, and tilted her head.  "You
coming or do I have to go kick Empath's butt all by myself?"

   <<  Sorry,  'Ro...   >> Logan said thru the mindlink, as he watched
the Blackbird disappear to the sky, and lit a cigar, taking a few deep
puffs, cursing under his breath.  << Missed 'em.  >>

                                 ***

[1] New Mutants #41, in which Dani allows Death to take her old friend
    Pat Roberts, because she is made understand that even if she
    prevents Death from taking Pat, he will never wake up from his
    coma anyway.
[2] New Mutants #1, where Shan flips and attacks Dani when she
    accidentally displays Shan's greatest fear, which is when her
    parents were killed and she was raped by Thai pirates.
[3] Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants, in which Roberto's love
    Juliana Sandoval is shot and killed by Hellfire mercenaries, dying
    in Roberto's arms.