“Finding Faith”

Writer- Cyclops’s Supergirl

My e-mail (if you have any questions or comments): cyclopssupergirl@yahoo.com

World- Movie/comics

Rating- PG-13 for what happens to Scott

Story- Scott and some of the X-men go on vacation. They plan on enjoying themselves, but what they

don’t know, is that someone is waiting for Scott in the shadows. Scott finds out who killed his mom and then gets a chance to be in her shoes before she died.

Series- Book 1 for "World of Heroes"

Comments- I don’t swear much but, if you want a darker sort of tale, then this is you’re story, but if you want a lighter hearted story, then go on

to the website, www.dreamwater.org/scottsummers. (Go into the fan fiction.)

If you think Scott’s a hunk, then read this!!! (Or you can read a truly awesome story, Personal Demons, by Jocelyn.) Read this if you think you know who killed Katherine Ann Summers.

Disclaimer- The X-men, New Mutants, Mystique, and Scott belong to Bryan Singer and Marvel studios. I am not making any money off this story. Marriah Holmes is my own character and I claim her as my own. Anybody who wishes to use her in their fan fiction is more than welcome to with permission from me. Otherwise, enjoy the story!

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Part I; The Mansion‘s Study Hall,

Scott gave Logan a grim look. Logan sneered at him and slipped Scott a small kick on his shin. “Cut it out!” Scott whispered. Logan smiled sweetly and gave Scott another kick.

“Scott! Logan!” Jean shouted. “You’re acting like kindergarteners!” Scott and Logan drew their attention to the front of the room, where Storm and Jean were teaching.

The students all giggled. Jean smiled and turned back around to face the dry-erase board. Logan smacked Scott on the back of the head. “Gosh darn it, Logan!” Scott shouted out. The students all turned back around and looked directly at Scott and Logan. Jean looked at Scott and was smiling ear-to-ear. “Sorry, guys. It appears that my husband would like to be the center of attention today.” Storm gave a small smile, too. Scott stood up.

“Uh, sorry. Let Ms. Monroe and Ms. Summers teach your lesson on the nuclear atoms, now.” Logan couldn’t help but start to crack up laughing. Scott sat back down and elbowed Logan. The students continued with their lesson.

“Nice going, Summers,” Logan chuckled, as he popped a cigar in his mouth. Scott grabbed it before Logan could light it. “Don’t smoke in study hall!” Scott whispered, annoyed at the fact that Logan didn’t think twice, that he was around a bunch of teenagers. “Fine,” Logan grumbled, grabbing the cigar back out of Scott’s hand. “I’ll go outside.”

“Thank you,” Scott said sarcastically. “Can it, Summers!” Logan shouted. He got up and walked out of the class.

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Logan stood outside the mansion entrance with the lit cigar in his mouth. Jean stepped out onto the porch. “And you’re supposed to work with him during mechanics class? Kinda hard to believe that,” Jean said. Logan took the cigar out of his mouth and looked at her. “How are you supposed to live life married with that guy?” he asked. Jean gave him a slight smirk.

“Normally, I do something called loving him.” Logan looked at her. “How? All he does is follow the rules! Not once, I bet you, can he actually break one rule.” Jean made a face.

“You know, you have to appreciate what he does sometimes. With his personality, it’s probably a good thing that he puts it towards not breaking the rule book. Don’t you think? It’s a good thing sometimes that he is, the way he is.”

Jean put her hand on Logan’s back. “But you also know that I wouldn’t mind a courageous Scott sometimes too,” Jean said as she started to head back in the mansion.

“By the way, the professor told me to tell you, that Kurt, Scott, Peter, Kitty, and you, were going camping. So pack up,” Jean said to Logan. “Wait!” Logan shouted. “What about you?” “Oh, me? I’m not going. Somebody has to teach the students while you’re gone,” Jean said. She opened the door and went inside. Logan didn’t say anything, except, “Crap.”

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Later on that night…

Kurt, Peter, Scott, and Kitty were in the front room with bags packed on the floor. “Logan! Come on, all ready!” Peter shouted. “I may be a comrade with a lot of patience, but this is ridiculous!”

Logan stormed down the stairs and walked up to Charles. “When I get back, I’m gonna decide the next vacation! No more camping, bub!” Logan marched over to the campers. “Finally,” Scott remarked. Logan just gave him a dirty look. “Can we go now?” Kitty asked.

“Yes, Kitty. Go ahead now,” the professor said. Kitty ran for the door and shoved it open. Scott, Peter, Logan, and Kurt walked out the door. Storm walked up to the professor. “I bet you twenty bucks, that they’re all going to be killing each other within the next twenty-four hours.” The professor chuckled. “I wouldn’t doubt it,” he said as he wheeled away.

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Part II; Four hours later, out in the middle of no where,

“Gosh darn it, Peter! You call this a road?!?!” Logan shouted as Ororo’s explorer hit yet another pothole. “Sorry comrade, but I can’t avoid them. We hardly fit on this road as it is. If we were to swerve to the sides of the road, we’ll probably start driving into the field,” Peter said, annoyed at Logan’s impatience.

Kitty got to the edge of her seat. “About how much further does the map say, Kurt?” Kurt dove his blue nose into the map again. “Uh… about half an hour or so away,” Kurt replied.

Scott crossed his arms. “Just exactly where are we?” Peter spoke up. “We’re in Kentucky… somewhere. Well, I know we’re out in the country.” Scott moaned. “Is it possible to just stop for directions?” Kitty asked politely.

Logan chuckled. “The last thing we need is to ask a bunch of southern rednecks where we are, when we could just camp right outside the explorer, out in the field. It’s not like there’s much difference.” Peter turned to the backseat to face Scott, Logan, and Kitty.

“The difference is, Wolverine, that this field may not be owned by anyone, but it’s still illegal to camp on. Are you trying to get us in trouble?” Peter kidded.

Logan looked back out the window and reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a small box of cigars and grabbed one. “Do you mind not doing that while we’re in the torture of the world’s bumpiest explorer?” Scott said, angrily. “Yeah! I mind! I’ll roll down the window for god’s sake!” Logan shouted.

Scott looked at Logan again. “Logan! I hate it when you-.”

“Up yours, Summers!” Logan shouted.

Peter turned his head to the backseat. “Stop it, both of you!” Kitty looked at Scott, at Logan, then looked at Peter. “I don’t want to hear two grown men fighting like two babies on the way to our campsite!” Peter remarked. Kurt just gave a small laugh and focused on the map again.

It was about twenty minutes later before anyone besides Peter, started talking again. “Ok, I can see the campsite,” he said.

The explorer pulled up to a neat little set up. Scott looked out the window. There was a small fire pit and on one of the trees, there was a tire swing. Next to the tire swing, was a big pile of logs.

The explorer came to a stop. Peter and Kurt opened up their doors first, then Logan. Scott reached into the back of the explorer and grabbed his duffle bag. He opened up the explorer door and climbed out.

Kitty was already running around like a monkey and Peter was in the back getting the tents out. “Hey, Scotty! I could use a hand!” Peter shouted, as he struggled to pull a folded tent free from the bags. Scott dropped his duffle and walked to Peter.

Logan watched Kurt unpack the matches. “You want me to get you some logs or something, Elf?” Logan asked Kurt. “Sure,” he replied. Logan walked up to the log pile and picked up a big arm-full of logs. He carried them back over to Kurt.

“By the way, Elf, where’d you pack the beer?” Kurt went silent for a moment. “What?” he asked. Logan cleared his throat. “I said, where did you pack the beer? Come on, I need booze.” Kurt looked up at Logan. “Um… well, I didn’t think to pack beer. I must have been so busy, that I didn’t even think about it.”

“I NEED BEER!” Logan shouted. “How will I survive without it?!?!”

Scott looked over towards Logan. “Logan, calm down. Do you really think that we would forget the beer, being that you were coming with us? Look in the backseat.”

Logan walked over to the explorer and opened up the backseat door. “Hallelujah! Praise the lord!” Logan shouted. “Let there be beer!” He picked up a bottle and opened the cap. Then, Logan chugged it faster than any man he had ever seen. But yet again, Logan isn’t you’re ordinary mutant.

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Scott watched Logan pick up marshmallows with his claws and eat them, then turned his attention to Kitty, who was roasting Kurt’s and her marshmallows over the campfire with a smile on her face.

“Gosh darn it, Comrade! Can’t you roast those before you stuff all of them in your mouth! Save some for us to roast!” Peter shouted. “Fine, Petey,” Logan grumbled. He reached his marshmallow-full claws out over the fire and started toasting them. Kitty gave a small smile.

Kurt looked at Scott’s unhappy face. “Come on, mein fruend. Can’t you even pretend to be having some fun?” Scott glanced at Kurt. “I’m going on a walk,” Scott said, getting up. “I wanna go with you!” Kitty said. She handed Kurt both the roasting sticks. “Sorry, Kurt. You’re gonna have to roast them yourself… and mine too, if you don’t mind.” Scott grabbed a flashlight and Kitty and him, headed into the woods.

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“I don’t mean to be a scaredy-cat,” Kitty said. “But don’t you think we should head back, Scott?” Scott kept walking. “We can stay out a little bit longerrrrr!” Someone leaped from the bushes and knocked Scott to the ground.

The flashlight rolled in front of Kitty’s feet. Scott couldn’t see who was attacking him, it was too dark. The person started to punch Scott in the face.

Kitty picked up the flashlight and shined it at Scott and the person. Scott’s attacker was a woman. She had brown hair and was wearing all black clothes. The woman stopped punching Scott for a second. She had one brown eye… and one green eye.

Scott pushed the woman off of him. She fell onto the trail. Scott launched himself after her and he punched the woman in her chest. “Go get Peter, Logan, and Kurt! I’ll be OK!” Scott shouted to Kitty. Kitty whipped around and raced down the trail towards the campsite.

Scott could hardly see the woman anymore, because Kitty had taken the flashlight, but he could see his target because of the moonlight. Scott punched the woman more. She kicked him hard and Scott hit a tree. He lifted his ruby quartz glasses and an optic blast hit the woman. She wasn’t moving anymore. She laid still on the dirt.

Scott slowly got to his feet and cautiously approached the woman. Unexpectedly, the woman pulled a stun gun from her belt. She pulled the trigger and a huge blast of power hit Scott. He fell to the ground and everything went black.

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Kitty franticly ran out of the trees. “Kitty!” Peter shouted. Kitty ran up to him and fell in his arms. “Oh my gosh!” she said as she breathed heavily. “What is it, half-pint? Where’s Scotty?” Logan said, as Kurt and Logan walked up to her.

Kitty looked at Peter, Kurt, and Logan. She had tears running down her face. “Scott’s in trouble!” Kitty screamed. She dug her head into Peter’s arms and hugged him. “We have to help him!” she shouted.

Peter picked up Kitty and carried her to the tent. “Stay here with Kurt,” Peter said to her. “Logan and I will help Scott.” Kurt teleported over to Kitty. “Yes, I will stay here with you so we can protect our campsite.”

Logan and Peter took off running towards the woods. Peter’s skin turned from flesh and blood to steel and Logan’s claws came out of his fists. “Be careful!” Kitty shouted after them.

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Logan and Peter stopped when they spotted Scott’s flashlight lying on the ground. “He was here. I picked up on Scotty’s scent… and… someone else’s too!” Logan said to Peter. Logan took a few more steps. “Look!” Logan said. “Suddenly Scott’s footprints stop. It was a lady that must of kidnapped him! I can smell her scent!”

Peter glanced at the woman’s footprints. “Can you smell who it was, Wolverine?” Peter asked. “No, Petey,” Logan said. “All I know is that it’s not a familiar scent. Let’s follow the scent and the footprints and see where in the heck that lady took Scotty.” Wolverine and Colossus walked down the trail following all signs of the kidnapping.

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Part III; Somewhere in Western Texas,

Scott was in major pain. His chest hurt from the stun gun. He slowly opened his eyes. To his surprise, his glasses were still on, but they were duct-taped to his face. Scott could feel chains on his wrists. He couldn’t move his hands to free an optic blast. Scott looked around to see where he was.

He was in some kind of cell. It was cold and smelled of death. Scott was lying on the floor in pain and in chains on his ankles, too. He couldn’t but help to think of what Logan would do. Scott thought to himself, What in the heck would Logan do if he couldn’t move his wrists and if he had his ankles chained, too, besides dice up everything in sight?

Scott tried to concentrate hard enough to notify the professor, but his body ached too much to not think about the pain. “If only you could hear me, Jean,” Scott said.

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Back at the campsite…

Logan and Peter walked out of the trees towards the campsite. The fire was still burning and there was no sign of Kurt or Kitty. Peter walked up to a tent and peeked inside. Kurt and Kitty were lying in their sleeping bags, fast asleep.

Peter nudged Kurt on his arm. Kurt opened one sleepy eye. “Where’s Scott?” Kurt whispered. Peter took a glance at the sleeping Kitty. He looked back at Kurt again. “Scott’s been kidnapped,” Peter answered.

Kurt alarmingly got out of his sleeping bag and stepped out of the tent. “We have to warn the professor!” Kurt shouted. “Shhhh! Shut up!” Logan whispered. “Don’t wake the kid! We can call Charley and tell him to high-tail it down here!” Logan whispered to Kurt and Peter.

“How are we gonna call him. There’s no phone way out here… and the nearest town is about 30 miles away. We can’t leave the campsite anyway,” Kurt added.

“I saw Scotty sneak his walkie-talkie into his bag. I think it was the one that connects to the one in Bobby, John, and Sam’s room. We can tell them and they can tell the professor. It’s that simple,” Logan said, show-off like. Kurt teleported over to the explorer and opened up the very back door. He rustled around the bags until he found Scott’s.

Kurt looked back at Logan. “Which pocket was it in?” Kurt asked. Logan shrugged. “I don’t remember. Check ‘em all.” Logan said with a smile on his face. Kurt made a face and unzipped the biggest pocket. Kurt took a deep breath and then dug around the bag a bit until he stared back at Logan and Peter and shook his head. “No luck, yet.”

Kurt unzipped the side pockets and kept looking. Logan chuckled. Peter leaned down to Logan’s ear. “Do you really not remember which pocket the walkie-talkie was in?” Peter asked Logan. Logan gave a hard laugh. “Course I ‘member, I just can’t wait to tell Scotty, Kurt was digging around his duffle bag, looking for Scotty’s undies!” Peter gave a slight smirk. “You’re just so evil,” Peter chuckled at Logan.

Kurt held a walkie-talkie in the air. “Found it! It was in the very last pocket, no fair! That was wrong!” Kurt said to Peter and Logan. Logan just started to crack up as he walked by Kurt, taking the device from Kurt’s fingers.

“Ha, Elf! I’m tellin’ Scotty!” Logan said, smiling ear-to-ear. Kurt crossed his arms. “Just call them already!” Kurt said. “Do you think they have their walkie-talkie turned on?” Peter asked. “They always do no matter what,” Kurt said to him. “Scott calls them on it a lot.”

Logan pushed the button on the side of the walkie-talkie in. “Hello? Can anyone hear me?” he started.

It was a minute or two before a sleepy voice came on the walkie-talkie. “Yeah? Scott?” It was Bobby’s voice.

“Listen, it’s me, Logan,” he said. “Scott’s been kidnapped by some chick. I need you to tell the Professor to come right away. Go! ASAP!” Logan shouted. Sam’s voice came on next.

“Logan? How’d you find Scott’s walkie-talkie and how long ago did Scott get kidnapped?” Sam questioned.

“It doesn’t matter how I found the stupid walkie-talkie! He was kidnapped ‘bout half and hour to an hour ago! Now go tell Charley to get his mutant butt down here!” Logan screamed. “Sam just left to tell him,” John’s voice said. “Me ‘n Bobby will tell Jean and Storm!”

Peter and Kurt turned around. Kitty was standing right behind them. “Did you find Scott? Why do you have a walkie-talkie in your hand and why were you just screaming through it? Was that John you were talking to?” she asked half-frantic. Logan whipped around. “Oops. Did I wake you, Kitty?” Logan said. “I heard you shouting and since I’m part of the X-men too, I figured that I should know about what’s going on,” she said.

Kurt looked at Logan and Peter. “Busted,” he said, in a voice like one of those narrators on cops shows. “In the words of Logan, just shut up, Comrade,” Peter remarked.

Bobby’s voice came over the walkie-talkie. “Professor X knows, Sam told him what happened. The professor said he’d take some of us out there to help you guys with this whole mix up… and he also said that you guys should wait right where you are for us to get there. Storm said to get suited up before we get there, too.”

Kitty heard him. “WHAT IS GOING ON?” she shouted to the men, who were just standing there. Peter took a deep breath and calmed himself down a bit. “Kitty, we can’t hide the fact from you. That woman that you saw…” “Yeah?” Kitty said. “Well, the woman kidnapped Scott,” Peter finished.

Kitty put her hands over her mouth. “No! I knew I should of stayed there to help Scott! Why didn’t I listen to him?!?! Why didn’t I?!?!” Peter put his hand on Kitty’s shoulder. “Kitty, it wasn’t your fault for three reasons. One, you were showing respect by following orders from a fellow teammate. Two, you probably couldn’t of helped Scott much. No offence. Three, if you didn’t warn us of the trouble Scott was in, then it would have been a long, long, long time before we could of got to the scene and the scent would have been long gone. Thus, the fact that Logan couldn’t of tracked the scent of Scott or the woman. So in conclusion, you did the right thing.”

Logan’s mouth dropped. “Could you of talked faster, because I couldn’t understand you, due to the fact that you were talking so slow,” Logan said, sarcastically. “What was the part about the three monkeys in the car chase?” Kurt asked.

“Kurt,” Logan said. “Stop it, you’re scaring me.”

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Part IV; In Texas again,

Scott hadn’t bothered to try to get up. He could probably stand, but he couldn’t of much else. All he could think about was how he was going to escape… if he ever did. Jean was another thing in his mind. Scott started to think of the day they were married. It was also the day when Alex fainted while he was standing up. Alex was the best man.

Suddenly, the door to the cell opened. “Hello, Scott.”

Scott looked in the direction of the voice. “Who are you?” Scott said, watching the woman step out of the way of the door.

The woman closed the door behind her. For the moment, Scott could feel a little bit of warm air sweep through the cell. “My name is Dr. Marriah Holmes,” she said. “You can call me Mari. Most of my friends do.”

Scott looked at Mari. “Why did you kidnap me?” he said.

Mari glared at Scott. She was waiting for him to ask that question, just so she could answer it. “You see, Scott, I am an old friend of a woman named Katherine Ann Summers.” Scott’s jaw dropped.

“My mom!?!?” Scott shouted. “She already died! What are you gonna do kidnapping her son?”

Mari looked at Scott again. “I hated Katherine! I was the one that hit your plane that day, infact I was the one who took the knife to Katherine’s throat. Your father, Corsair was screaming at me not to. I gripped the knife in my hand, and then I pulled it to Katherine’s neck. Corsair was screaming his throat out until finally, Katherine was dead,” Mari finished.

A tear made its way down Scott’s cheek. Mari looked down at her feet. “I remember two boys jumping from the plane, just before it blew. I remember the parachute caught fire and you hit the ground. Your brother didn’t hit the ground as hard.”

Scott scowled at Mari with a few tears running down his face. “If you really did kill my mom, then you’d tell me why. Why did you kill her?”

Mari gave a smile. “Quite the suspicious one aren’t you?” Mari said. “I have always been the one nobody. I was always left out of the picture. I hated Katherine. She got the most attention,” Mari remarked.

“What are you talking about?” Scott asked.

“I’M TALKING ABOUT FAMILY! I was Katherine’s sister! Long forgotten!” Mari shouted.

Scott was in amazement. “You’re NOT my aunt!!!!” Scott screamed. “NO! Why would you?!?! I can’t be your nephew!”

Mari frowned at Scott. “Believe it, Scott. It’s true. Your nightmare has become reality,” Mari remarked.

Scott couldn’t believe his ears. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing! Is this murderer telling the truth? Did she really kill mom? How in the heck would Alex and I not find out about this? Why am I just learning it now and did mom even have a sister?

Scott thought in his head and he still had a million questions, but the one he thought about the most was, ‘Why did Marriah kill mom, if she really did?’

Mari chuckled and started to leave the room. “By the way, Scott. I’m bringing a surprise with me later on.” She opened the door and was out of sight.

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Part V; In Kentucky, at the campsite…

The X-jet landing wheels touched ground. Kurt teleported over next to Logan and the giant aircraft. “Finally,” Kurt mumbled. “At least they got here faster than you can take a shower,” Logan said. “And it didn’t involve using up all the hot water too.”

The ramp touched the ground and Jean appeared. She raced down the ramp. “Where was Scott kidnapped?!?!” she shouted. “We have to find him!”

“Whoa! Calm down, Jeannie,” Logan said. “Scotty was kidnapped near the back of the woods and about an hour ago. Petey and I found Scott’s flashlight on the ground.”

The professor came down the ramp. “Where did this happen?”

Logan gave the professor a serious face. “In the back of the woods somewhere. The kid came running up to us, in tears and said that Scott had been ‘napped. That’s all I know besides that the criminal was a woman.”

Jean was silent. She didn’t know what to do. She knew that somehow they would find Scott… but the question was… would it be in time?

The professor looked at Kitty. “What did the woman look like, Kitty?” he asked.

Kitty spoke up. “When Scott’s flashlight rolled onto the trail, I picked it up and shined it at the lady. I remember her having two different eye colors. One eye was brown and one was green. She had brown hair and I do remember her having a slender face. When she was fighting Scott, she was wearing all black, like a robber.”

It took a while until the professor spoke again. “No,” he mumbled. “What is it, Charles?” Peter asked.

The professor looked at Logan with an extreme look on his face. “It’s Marriah,” he said. “Marriah is a long story. Let’s just say she has something to do with Scott’s mother.”

Kurt was shocked. “Didn’t Scott’s mom die about ten years ago? What would a kidnapper have to do with Scott’s mom?”

Just then, a familiar voice, from the X-jet spoke. “Boom-Boom’s bombin’ in!” It was Tabitha.

Tabitha jumped from the X-jet ramp to the ground. “What’s everyone just standing around for? Come on! Let’s go!”

Suddenly, Bobby, Sam, John, Rogue, Jubilee, Amara, Roberto, Rahne, and Jamie walked down the ramp.

Logan sneered at the professor. “You brought the kids!” he shouted. Logan turned his attention to Tabitha for a moment and looked back at Charles. “You brought Miss Explosive!”

Kurt couldn’t help but to laugh. The professor gave a small smile. “It helps the students prepare for another mission that could be like this and it will help you prepare for future babysitting duties,” the professor said. Logan just made a regretting face.

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In Texas again…

Scott was alone in the cell. He was shivering like heck. All he wanted to picture in his head was Jean standing, waiting for him back at the mansion. He wanted to imagine that she would get him out and the only thing he wanted to think was that he was going to make it out alive.

Scott stopped thinking. He looked at the door to his cell. Memories came to his mind. Flashbacks of the past. It was the day of the plane crash.

Scott could see his dad and his mom. The plane was burning and Scott and Alex were young. Scott was ten and Alex was six. Scott’s dad rushed to the control panel of the plane. Scott’s mom grabbed Scott and Alex. She was in tears. She gave Scott and Alex one last hug before Scott’s mom pushed them out of the plane. Scott and Alex were holding onto eachother tight and they weren’t going to let go. Alex looked at Scott, scared. He was scared that they weren’t going to make it. As Scott gripped onto Alex, he made his hand reach Alex’s. He held his hand and Alex smiled. At that second, the plane exploded. The parachute caught fire and the last thing Scott could remember before hitting the ground was saying, “We’re gonna make it through, Alex. We are ‘cause we’re brothers and we’re family.”

Suddenly, it all went black. Scott couldn’t remember anymore. It was probably when Scott had gone into his coma. Scott didn’t see anything besides the plane exploding into flaming debris, so there could have been a chance that Scott’s mom and dad were teleported to somewhere else.

Scott didn’t want to believe it, but it was most likely true. Marriah probably was Scott’s aunt.

Scott looked down at the chains on his ankles. He tried to think of a way to escape, but his mind was clouded. It was full of images and memories that Scott wished he had forgotten.

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Part VI; An hour later in Texas,

Mari stepped into Scott’s cell… and she wasn’t alone. Mystique was with her. Scott went into panic, suddenly. His mind was rushing and struggling to think clearly, but he didn’t move.

Mari gave a laugh. “Told you I was bringing a surprise. I’m aware that you know my friend, Miss Raven Darkholme. I was told that you two have met.” Scott turned his body so that his chest faced the ceiling of the cell.

Mystique smiled at the sight of one of her worst foes in chains. Scott was thinking straight finally, after seeing that Mystique was planning something.

What does Mystique have to do with any of this? At some point Marriah is going to tie this all in and I’ll finally realize what she’s doing… but not till it’s too late. Let me guess, Mystique is my foster mother too and Rogue is my sister. Now there’s a scary thought, Scott couldn’t help but think. He was torturing himself trying to realize what Mari had planned out.

Mari gave Mystique a small hand gesture and Mystique walked up to Scott. “You know, you were always one of the more victorious foes of mine,” Mystique said. Mystique punched Scott in the stomach.

“It’s a shame you aren’t going to win anymore battles,” she remarked.

Scott watched as Mari stepped out of the cell. Mystique still stood there. “You almost seemed surprised that Marriah and I are friends. Evil geniuses can get along so well when they’re planning to take down the same hero. Too bad you’re mother isn’t here to watch you die.”

The only thing Scott did was lay still. He tried not to listen to Mystique’s taunts. He knew that she was trying to break him down. Still, in the slightest way, it was working. As Mystique talked, Scott started to believe her even more. He couldn’t hold out much longer. Scott was starting to give in.

Mari opened the door and stepped into the cell with a heavy whip in her hand. “Now Scott, I won’t use this unless you make me. If you don’t want to end up dead, then I suggest you listen and follow every instruction I give you.”

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At the campsite again…

Tabitha walked up to Logan. “Hey, Badger! What’s up?” Logan just growled.

Ororo stepped down the X-jet ramp. “Security’s on, Charles,” she said, as Kitty raced up to her. “Ororo!” Kitty shouted. “You don’t know how glad I am to see you!” Kitty gave her a hug. Ororo just smiled and hugged Kitty back.

The professor smiled for a second, but then his smile faded. “Storm, Kitty. This is no time to be socializing with eachother when your team leader is missing in action.”

Logan looked at the professor. “With Scott being MIA, there’s no one to look after the kids… actually, Jean could probably baby-sit, while the rest of us go find Scott.”

“No,” the professor said, flat out. “Jean will be too much help to you, to leave behind. She’s going. The students are going too. They could be of some help also.” The professor looked back into the woods, to where Scott was kidnapped. “I have no intention on waiting any longer to free Scott… but I fear that we will not be ready to deal with such armed forces Marriah has.” The professor paused for a minute. “I pray to god we won’t be too late. If we are… then our team leader could be gone.”

Tabitha stood there, listening. She sniffled for a moment, then, she sneezed very loud. With her only half-experienced pyrokentic powers, a ton of fire crackers shot off from her hands. They hit Ororo’s explorer, then burst. The explorer windshield shattered and the explorer practically jumped a few inches off the ground. The explorer dramatically bust into flames.

“MY EXPLORER!!!” Ororo shouted.

Tabitha gave a small innocent smile. “Eh-heh. Oops,” she said. Ororo just scowled.

Logan watched the explorer burn. “There goes my turn to drive.” “Forget the explorer and start trying to find Scott,” Jean said.

The professor frowned. “It won’t be as easy is it seems, Jean. Scott could be miles away and we don’t have a clue where Marriah is hiding. It could take days to find Scott.” Jean wasn’t pleased. She wouldn’t admit that they had no way of finding Scott… and Ororo wouldn’t admit that she had lost the insurance papers to her explorer.

“Cerebro,” Kurt said. The professor turned his attention to the blue elf, standing next to Kitty. “We’re too far away. I was thinking more on the lines of using our substitute cerebro, Jean and I.”

“Let’s start this telepath-fest up then,” Sam said. Kitty giggled.

The professor put his hands right next to Jean’s ears. “I have a more powerful mind and since you have a mind link with Scott, I’ll use my mind to connect myself in it and pinpoint Scott’s exact location. It shouldn’t hurt too much but it won’t be painless.” Jean nodded her head and they both closed their eyes.

The X-men and the New Mutants watched as Xavier tapped into Jean’s head. Jean closed her eyes.

Jean flinched and stopped herself from screaming. Jean made a fist and arched her shoulders slightly. “Just hold on, Jean,” Bobby said. She relaxed her shoulders again and kept her eyes closed. The pain was hurting her head. Jean felt as if her mind was going to explode at any given moment.

Finally, she gripped the professor’s wrists and yanked them away from her ears. “Please stop. No more, please,” she weakly said.

The professor put his hand on Jean’s shoulder. “I’m sorry if I was hurting you that much. It’s over. I promise it is.” The professor faced Logan. “I connected myself in the mind link between Scott and Jean. I should be able to find Scott if I focus hard enough.”

“Well, then find Cyclops already!” Tabitha remarked. Logan grumbled. “Shut up, Ms. Explosive.”

________________________________________________________________________

Part VII; In Texas…

Mari stood there with the whip in her hand. “Scott, tell me dear. This won’t be so hard on you if you listen to me. Now, kiss my shoe,” Mari instructed. Scott laid still. He didn’t move an inch.

Mari made an angry face. “Scott! Kiss my shoe!” Scott still didn’t move.

Mari walked over to Scott and whispered into his ear. “I’m not going to give you any more chances to do what I say, so I advise that you do what I say now before you get hurt,” she threatened. Scott made a scowl. “No,” he said.

Scott got to his knees and tried to stand up to get close enough to knock Mari onto the floor. Mari had almost no patience left. “Do as I say!” she screamed.

Mystique walked over to Scott and grabbed his hair. “I won’t tolerate any of this! Listen to Marriah or suffer torture, Scott!” She let go of Scott’s hair and whispered something in Mari’s ear. Mari handed her whip to Mystique.

“We can be friends, Scott… and I’ll gladly let you go. You can run back to your stupid wife. What was her name again? Jean was it?” Mari taunted. “Jean isn’t stupid, she’s more beautiful and smarter than any other person I know… especially you,” Scott said to Mari.

Mari clenched her fist. “All right! You got me this far and now it pays off, Scott! Raven, my whip please.”

Mystique handed the whip to Mari and Mari went towards Scott. “Kiss my shoes.” “No,” Scott shouted.

CRACK! A cry escaped Scott as the whip’s end hit his back. The sound was almost enough to make him cover his ears. Scott thought to himself, God I’m glad right now that Jean isn’t here to see this. She’d flip and her head would fill with rage. I know her. She’s my wife. She’d do anything to protect me… because she loves me and I love her. CRACK!

For a minute, Scott had forgotten about the event taking place at that second. He knew if he thought of Jean, then all things in his mind would be nothing but a background thought. He had to try to focus on her, and maybe then the pain of the whip wouldn’t be so bad. CRACK! Oh God, Oww! This hurts like heck, but all I have to do is think of the most beautiful woman in the world. Oh Jean, I miss you. CRACK! The pain wasn’t so straining when Scott thought of the woman he married. The idea really did work. CRACK!

Suddenly, the whipping stopped. Mari’s beeper was going off. She gave a sigh. “Drat! I wanted to play ‘mutant’ with the nephew,” she said to Mystique.

“Don’t call me your nephew!” Scott shouted. “I don’t want anything to do with a sick woman like you, let alone be related to you!” Mari scowled at Scott. Her two-tone color eyes stared directly at Scott in anger.

“Too bad, Raven. I wish I could stay longer and have fun with this… loud-mouthed nephew of mine. Too bad I have business to take care of with…” Mari looked at the screen on her beeper. “With Ms. Rhett. Come on Raven. Let’s leave Scott here, thinking about what to say to his aunt when I come back with my whip.”

With that, Mari turned her attention from Scott and walked out the door. Mystique followed her, leaving Mari’s whip sitting on the cell floor, directly in front of Scott. Mystique gave Scott a wink and shut the door.

What the? Where did that come from? Since when did Mystique, one of our most hated foes, want to help me by leaving Marriah’s whip here? Scott asked himself.

________________________________________________________________________

At the campsite (once again)…

The professor sat there, focusing on the mind link. He couldn’t feel Scott. The only person he could feel in the mind link was Jean.

Suddenly, the professor could sense Scott thinking about Jean. Professor Xavier suddenly burst into happiness. “He’s alive!” the professor shouted.

Everyone rushed over to him. “Where is he?!?!” Jean shouted. “Find him, please. Pinpoint his location.” The professor shut his eyes to concentrate on Scott’s thought. Logan stood there nervously, but wasn’t about to show it. Ororo put her hand on the professor’s shoulder.

“Come on, Professor,” Sam said.

“Yeah. Try to find Cyclops,” Rahne said to him.

Bobby started to bite his lip in hope that they would find Scott.

The professor shouted in joy. “Scott is in Texas… in a secret lab… western Texas,” he said to Jean, as he felt more of Scott’s thoughts.

Every mutant jumped to their senses and scrambled for the X-jet. The New Mutants and Jean both, were desperate to reach the jet.

Jean sat herself in the pilot’s seat. “Hurry up Ororo, Logan, Kurt, Kitty, Professor! Come on!”

As Logan started to walk towards the jet, the professor stopped him. “Logan, when I felt Scott’s thoughts, I could sense that he was in terrible pain. I know that the X-jet won’t arrive in western Texas for at least two hours… they could possibly kill Scott in that time.”

Logan looked at the ground. “Don’t tell Jean,” Logan said. That was all he could say. There was too much going through his head at that point.

________________________________________________________________________

Part VIII; Back in Texas (we’re going back and forth a lot)…

Scott tried to scoot towards Mari’s whip a little bit. He was only inches away from the handle of it. Come on, Scott thought. It’ll be a bit before Mari comes back, to the sound of it. I gotta reach the whip. If I do, I could knock it into my hand and over to where I can keep Mari from seeing it.

Scott scooted closer and stretched his chin out, until he could touch the handle with his chin. Scott pulled with the tip of his chin to get the whip around his back, close to his hands in the metal chains.

He pulled and gave the whip a big pull with his cheek. The whip slid on the floor, over to Scott’s side.

Yes, Scott thought. Almost there.

Scott rolled over, onto his back. He gripped the whip’s handle with his hands (which where still in the chains) and rolled back onto his stomach. Scott reached his chained feet to his hands and held the whip with his feet. He made his feet drop the whip in between his knees.

With a big push of the tip of his foot, the whip slid underneath of Scott’s stomach, just as he had hoped it would. Scott flattened his body completely over it, to where it was unnoticeable from where Mari would probably be standing.

Suddenly, Scott could hear someone coming down the hall. The cell door opened. Mari stood there with three big thugs who didn’t look friendly.

“Ok, now that Ms. Rhett has the security system under construction again…” Mari stopped talking. “Where’s my whip?!?!”

Scott gulped. If Mari saw that Scott was hiding the whip from her, then it wouldn’t look good. Mari didn’t want her game of fun to end just then. She wanted to know where her whip was and she defiantly didn’t want to be toyed with to get it.

“I’m only going to ask you one more time, Scott,” Mari threatened. Scott didn’t talk. He wasn’t going to give the whip back. “Scott, if I get it back now, then the future won’t look so grim for you. I can get the whip with no force and you won’t be harmed… or, you can be like this and I can give you so much pain, you’ll wish you’ll be dead,” she said to him.

“Your funeral,” Scott remarked, as he gave a small smile.

Mari looked at him. “And just why is it my funeral? Huh, tough guy?”

Scott kept on smiling. “Can you picture Jean with her TK powers, destroying this place, once she uses our mind link to find me?” he said, as he gave a laugh. “You guys had better get insurance on this dump.” Mari scowled, but had to admit, unfortunately… Scott was right.

Mari angrily looked at a thug and the thug punched Scott in his face. Scott’s smiles turned to a bloody mouth. “Shut up or you’ll get another,” Mari said.

“Never!” Scott shouted.

Mari’s thugs immediately looked at her. “Beat him! Hit his brains out! Kill him for all I care! I’m not staying to watch, unfortunately. Stand him up and beat him!” Mari angrily walked out of the cell as thugs surrounded Scott. They unchained Scott from the floor and stood him on his feet. Scott could hardly stand, but a man held his chains up, holding his weight.

One man punched Scott in his mouth. Another man hit him in his chest. A man came from behind and elbowed him in his back. Finally, a man held a gun to Scott’s forehead. “She said to kill him,” he remarked to another man.

“WAIT! STOP!!!” screamed Mystique. She was in the cell behind many other men that had come into the cell. “I won’t stand for this! As Marriah’s best friend, I call the place of second in command… and I order you to stop killing him!”

Mystique is crazy! Does she really think that she can stop these guys? I mean there’s like twenty of them now. Why is she trying to help me? Why doesn’t anything add up? I’d normally think that my ‘Aunt Marriah’ would be saving my butt from Mystique… but how in the heck does this work out? Is Mystique just getting me into some kind of trap?

Scott shut his eyes, waiting for the next blow… but it did not come. Scott opened his eyes, and to his surprise, the men were listening to Mystique. They really believed that Mari had left Mystique, second in command.

“Stop this violence and unchain him… kept his hands chained though,” Mystique said.

The men had no choice but to do what they were told. They unchained Scott’s feet, and then Mystique gave a new order. “Release him outside of this place… about 20 miles west… keep the duct tape on his glasses. DO NOT let him free, until I give the orders on the walkie-talkie.”

She made a motion with her hand and the men carried Scott to the outside of the cell. Scott could feel warm air hit his skin. It felt so good since the cell had been so cold.

Scott thought he was going to be free, but then… the unthinkable happened.

Mari came racing down the hall. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!” she screamed, as she huffed and puffed. “Take Scott down the stairs, across the hall, and to the end room. That’s where you guys are going to chain him back up, but to the ceiling. Hang him by his wrists and tie the trap I used last time on Katherine. After you’ve done that, evacuate the premises IMMEDIATELY!”

The men listened and just then, Mari stopped them. “Who told you to let Scott out?” she asked. One of the men spoke up. “Miss Raven told us to. She said that she was second in command, ma’am,” he said.

Mari scowled. “The X-men have found us. They know Scott’s here and if they come out with Scott in their hands, then kill anyone of them… but aim for Jean and Scott first. By the way, get Raven out of Scott’s cell and shoot her. I’ll be out with Ms. Rhett, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Bradley, and Mrs. Willards. I’ll be getting away with them.”

Mari ran as fast as she could down the hall towards what appeared to be the people she had mentioned.

The men separated into groups, from about twenty men, to about five to seven men per group. One group walked towards Scott’s cell and one took Scott in the directions Mari had said. The other few groups split into different parts of the building.

________________________________________________________________________

Part IX; In front of the Texas base, in the front woods…

“Scott’s inside. I saw some people get out of the base. I’m guessing that, that lady ordered evacuation,” John said to the professor.

“Thank you,” the professor said to John. He faced the X-men. “I gave the orders on the jet, on the ride here. You should all know your positions… and remember… wait until Ororo flashes her lightning bolt, then move in.”

Everyone nodded. “Let’s do it!” Jubilee shouted.

The New Mutants and the X-men jumped into action. The New Mutants split the team and got cover behind some bushes and the X-men, singly, ran to take cover in separate spots. Ororo flew overhead and summoned some fog.

The fog was very thick and then, Ororo summoned a thunderstorm. As soon as she let off the first lightning bolt, almost every mutant in the woods charged towards the base.

Jean led the attack. She was in front and was the first to reach the grass of the north entrance lawn.

Wolfsbane, Pyro, Cannonball, Iceman, and Rogue snuck to the south part of the base. Rogue signaled to Pyro and he torched a back vent cover. The cover fell off the hinges and the few students crawled into the vents. They weren’t even detected. They had a genius plan.

________________________________________________________________________

Back inside the base…

The men brought Scott into a room. Hanging from the ceiling was a set of dangling chains. There was blood on the floor. The men unchained Scott’s hands and held them tightly. They picked him up and locked his wrists into the chains.

Scott hung from the ceiling, helplessly. “You sons of –.” They taped Scott’s mouth shut before Scott could stop speaking. Some of the men left, leaving two guys in the room still.

Suddenly, something came to Scott’s attention. The sound of a gunshot came from upstairs.

They shot Mystique, Scott thought.

A man grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and taped a 12 gauge, break action gun to the chair. The man tied a string to the trigger and made it face Scott’s heart. The man tied the other end of the string to the door knob.

One of the men stepped out of the room and the other man loaded the gun with two bullets. The man closed the door and the trap was set! If anyone came through the door, the gun would go off and it would shoot and kill Scott.

Scott was muzzled by the tape every time he spoke and there was no way of warning anybody coming through the door, to stop. Jean would be looking for Scott, and she might accidentally kill him instead of rescuing him. How would she know?

All Scott could do was wait for a miracle… if one ever came.

________________________________________________________________________

In the base’s air vents…

Rogue led the way through the air vents, with the rest of her team behind her.

Cannonball looked down a vent, which he was passing over at that second. “Oh my gosh!” he said, quietly. “What is it?” Wolfsbane asked him.

“Look. It’s Mystique,” he said, pointing down at a room. Rogue made her way down to Cannonball and peered into the room.

“She’s dead,” Rogue said to the students.

Pyro got out his lighter and made a fireball in his hand. He held it up to the vent and it made a hole just big enough for one of them to get through. “We have to see if she really is dead,” Pyro said to them. He jumped out of the vent and onto the floor of what was Scott’s cell.

The others watched as Pyro felt for a pulse. “She’s barely alive,” he whispered. “There’s blood down here.”

Rogue looked at him. “So what? It’s probably Mystique’s, who knows if it’s Scott’s.”

Pyro looked at the blood on the floor. “But I think it is Scott’s. Wolfsbane, can you transform to wolf and find out?” Wolfsbane gulped. “I guess. It’s kinda creepy, but ok… for Scott’s sake.”

Wolfsbane transformed herself into a wolf and jumped to the floor of the cell. Wolfsbane (still wolf form) sniffed it. The wolf suddenly, scrambled out the door of the cell. “She’s found the scent!” Pyro said to Rogue and the other students.

Cannonball hopped out of the vent and ran after Wolfsbane. “No! Sam! Come back!” Iceman shouted. Cannonball didn’t come back. He kept on running after Wolfsbane… who was following Scott’s scent!

________________________________________________________________________

Part X; With the X-men (who were charging the base)…

Jean raced into the base. Guards ran over to try to stop Jean from getting in, but every effort was a waste when she was looking for her husband, Scott Summers.

Suddenly, Rogue’s voice came over her radio. Jean held the guards back with her TK powers and responded. “What is it, Rogue?” Jean asked.

“It’s Sam and Rahne!” Rogue said. “Rahne took off, following Scott’s scent, I think and Sam took off after her!”

Jean didn’t know what to say. “I thought Xavier told you guys to stay in the vents! You were not to come out! You were to stay put until told otherwise! Why didn’t you kids listen!?!? Now you’re an easy target for Marriah! Why didn’t you stay put?!?!”

“We would of,” Rogue said. “If we didn’t see Mystique laying in Scott’s old cell, half dead!”

After a second, Jean answered back. “Why is Mystique here?”

“I don’t know,” Rogue said.

Jean shut her radio off and proceeded into the base. She turned into many halls, but they were all empty. Jean didn’t see anyone at all. Everyone had evacuated, except the few guards, protecting the base.

Jean opened the door to a room and looked inside. There was a huge super computer and a big, long table in the room. Chairs were lined up along the table. Just as Jean was about to turn away and find the next room, she saw something and stopped.

By the super computer, was a smaller computer too. On the screen, was Scott’s name. There was loads of information on Scott. It told what kind of car he drove, his age, his mutant power, his birthday… and his wife. There was a part telling where he was born and where he grew up, but the part that caught Jean’s eye, was the part where it said, “SCOTT EDWARD SUMMERS (deceased).”

Tears came to Jean’s eyes. “NO!!” she screamed.

Suddenly, Logan came into the room. “Jeannie, I followed yer’ shout! What’s wrong?” he asked.

Jean pointed to the spot on the computer screen. “Oh no,” Logan said. “We have to find Scott… FAST.”

Jean and Logan ran out of the room and into the hall, where they met up with the rest of the X-men. Jean told them about the computer information as they continued to run down the hallways.

Jean wasn’t going to hold up any longer. She started opening every door and calling out Scott’s name.

Jean opened up a door. “Scott!” she shouted. She did the same with another door. “Scott!” she called. She did the same thing again with another door. After a while, Jean went down another hallway and started flinging doors open. “SCOTT!!!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

________________________________________________________________________

In the room with Scott…

Scott could hear Jean’s last shout, but he couldn’t respond. Scott started thinking hard. He finally, got an idea. If Scott could get the tape of his glasses, then he could fire an optic blast and destroy the gun.

Scott started rubbing the sides of his glasses on his arms. He could hear the tape start to peel, but it didn’t come off. Scott tried harder to get the duct tape off his glasses. It wouldn’t be much longer until he ran out of time.

________________________________________________________________________

In the halls with the X-men again…

Jean was running out of doors to open. She came to the last door on the hall and slowly turned the knob. She could hear some noises on the other side. “Scott?” she said, nervously. Jean turned the knob and swung the door open.

The students were sitting in Scott’s old cell, watching Mystique. She laid there, not moving. Logan rushed over to Mystique.

“Is she dead?” Logan asked Pyro.

“I think so,” Pyro said. “She has a pulse.”

“Well then she’s still alive, bright one,” Logan said to Pyro.

Jean looked at Rogue. “Rogue, before, you said that Wolfsbane and Cannonball took off to find Scott. Did you say that Rahne picked up Scott’s scent?”

“Yes,” Rogue said.

“Did you see which way they went?” Jean asked.

Rogue nodded her head and pointed across the main room, down the hall. “That way,” Rogue said.

Jean turned and ran for the door. She ran across the main room and darted into the hallway. “Scott! Rahne! Sam!” she shouted as she ran.

Pyro held Mystique’s head up and Iceman kept his finger on Mystique’s neck, trying to tell when there was no pulse. Storm and Wolverine took off her top layer of clothes and examined the bullet wound.

“Will she make it?” Peter asked them.

“I’m not a doctor. Neither is ‘Ro,” Wolverine remarked.

“Even though she was my mother, I always felt a small hatred for Mystique. It wasn’t ever easy, but I felt it just the same. Remind me why we are helping her again,” Kurt said. Rogue looked at him. “Hey! She was my mother too. I never thought it was easy having so many people not care if you were dead or alive. Mystique is one of those people where, even if you don’t live with them or love them that much… they’ll still help you when you fall or pull you out of a bad situation. We’re helping her, brother, because she’d do the same for us.”

Kurt looked at Rogue. “She just helped an enemy try to destroy Scott!”

“No,” Rogue said. “I have a feeling that Mari was forcing her to help. If Mystique wanted Scott dead, then I have a feeling that she’s do it on her own.”

Kurt had to admit that Rogue had a point. That just took most the blame off Mystique’s shoulders… but not all of the blame!

________________________________________________________________________

Part XI; With Jean down the hall…

Jean kept racing down the hall, expecting to see Sam and Rahne anytime soon, but she didn’t. “Rahne! Sam! Scott! Where are you guys?!?! Are you here!?!?” Jean shouted. There was no answer, except for her echo.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from down at the end of the hall. “Jean?” the voice asked.

“Yes. It’s me, Jean. Who are you?” Jean asked.

Sam’s face came around the corner. “It’s me and Wolfsbane,” he said. “We heard a muffled scream come from one of these doors, Mrs. Summers. We thought that it might have been Scott. We weren’t positive, though.”

Jean nodded her head, staring at every door. “You two weren’t to leave the other students alone. It was good that you wanted to find Scott, but you can do it as a team.” Jean stopped. “Which doors do you think could have been the ones?”

“The end one, the other one, the one right there, and these,” Sam said, as he pointed his finger towards a few doors. “Ok,” Jean said. “We’re going to bust through them all… and as a team, Sam.”

Jean picked up her radio from her belt. “Professor, we need medical help to the cell left from the main room. We also need some assistance down the hall to your right. We’ll need some back-up. Right now, we’re going to bust through some doors.”

The professor responded back, “All right. Permission granted. Tell me what’s in every room as you bust the doors down. Jean, also, who needs medical assistance. I didn’t hear Logan tell me an X-man was down.”

“That’s because, professor, it wasn’t an X-man, it was Mystique. She has a bullet wound in her left shoulder and Rogue, Pyro, Iceman, and the rest of the X-men are helping her out, but by the looks of her, she didn’t look like she was going to be alive much longer,” Jean said.

The professor radioed back in a few minutes. “I told Kitty to help you guys out a bit. She said she’d be there in about five minutes.”

“FIVE MINUTES!” Jean shouted. “We’re not going to wait that long! We’re goin’ in!” Jean shut off her radio. “The professor can’t stop us now. Cannonball! Start gettin’ some of these doors down!” she said. Sam gave a solute and bashed himself into a door.

________________________________________________________________________

Part XII; In Scott’s room…

Scott could feel some more tape fall off his mouth, but the bad thing was, he could hear Cannonball using his power to get doors opened. Scott had to work fast if he wanted to stay alive.

Scott violently rubbed the tape on his arm. COME ON!!! Come off! It’s my living head to pay if I don’t get this dumb duct tape off! I have to get Jean, Sam, and whoever else is out there, to stop bashing doors down!

________________________________________________________________________

Jean directed as Sam rammed into doors. None of the ones so far had Scott in them. “Come on, Sam! We’re so close! Hit ‘em faster! Don’t take too long! Come on! Go!” Jean shouted.

Sam gave Rahne a look and Rahne gave the same look back. Jean was pushing Sam a little too hard for comfort. Rahne and Sam were thinking the same thing.

There were only three doors left. They had busted through ten or twelve, at least. Every wasted moment was precious time to Scott. Every pause they took was a gift to him. Scott didn’t take the time for granted either; he was working a lot harder than Jean, Sam, and Rahne. There wasn’t a second to spare.

Kitty came racing as fast as she could down the long hall. “Jean! Stop! Wait for me!” she shouted.

Jean wasn’t going to wait. She ordered Sam to bust through the last doors.

Sam took a step back, then rammed into one. It ripped off the hinges. There wasn’t a Scott. He stepped in front of the next one.

Kitty got closer and could see them. “STOP!” Kitty shouted as she continued to run.

Scott pulled at the tape harder with a lot of nervousness. COME ON!!!! He screamed at himself. At that second, time seemed to fly by.

Sam backed up and knocked the next door off it’s hinges. It was empty. Only one more door!!!!! Sam backed up again.

The tape finally ripped off Scott’s mouth. “DON’T OPEN THE DOOR!!!!!” he screamed with every bit of air in his lungs.

Sam started to charge the door, failing to stop himself after Scott’s cry.

Kitty raced into the room, phasing herself through the door. Kitty pushed Scott’s body over and tripped. Sam barged through the door and the trigger to the gun pulled back. A bullet burst through the barrel of the gun and shot towards Scott, who was swinging on his chains. The bullet hit Scott in his bottom, right side of his ribs.

“No!!” Jean shouted. “Scott!”

She rushed to Scott’s side. He swung from the chains still. Blood rolled down his side. Scott coughed hard. There was a slim chance he’d survive with a hole in his chest. Scott’s entire right side went numb. He couldn’t feel anything but pain shooting through his head.

Rahne grabbed the radio from Jean’s belt. “PROFESSOR! Scott’s down!!! I repeat, Scott’s down! We need A LOT of medical help FAST!” she shouted.

The professor was too frantic to respond. He called Logan, Peter, Kurt, Rogue, and Ororo to help Scott. He told them to get Scott to the X-jet. They had to get to the mansion’s infirmary!

The X-men rushed down the hall. They had responded immediately to the professor’s distress call. Logan was the first to run into the room. “Scott!” he said.

At that second, Scott lost control of himself. He went into shock. There was a ton of blood lost. Scott hung there limply. His head was down. It was like he couldn’t even hold himself up.

“We have to get him out of here!” Peter said as he ran in.

Logan extended his claws and cut through the chains. Scott dropped to the ground like he had rocks weighing down his body. Scott was unconscious.

Peter went over to Scott and picked him up. “Come on, Comrade. You can fight your way through this,” he said as he looked at Scott. Peter started to walk fast down the hall. “The students said that some people evacuated. That’s probably where this great Marriah is. Some of us will go and find her after we help Scott,” Peter said.

The X-men went from walking to running. Jean ran right beside Peter. “All I want tot hear is that he’ll be all right,” she said as she stroked his hair.

The X-men got into the main room and turned out the north entrance doors. The X-jet was off the ground, hovering outside. The professor and the New Mutants waited for the X-men. Peter handed Scott to Berzerker, Multiple, and Iceman, as he got on the X-jet.

The other X-men climbed aboard as well. The jet’s door shut and the X-jet lifted off the ground and flew away.

________________________________________________________________________

Part XIII; Back in the mansion’s infirmary, a day later…

Scott couldn’t bare to open his eyes. The first thing that surged through Scott’s mind was, ‘Oh my god! Where am I!?!? Is Marriah gone!?!?’ But to Scott’s surprise, he opened his eyes to look straight at a bunch of Xavier’s younger students, who were looking back at him.

“Uh… hi?” Scott said with a weary voice.

The students all gave a small gasp. “Mrs. Summers! Cyclops is alive!” they shouted.

Jean pushed through the gathering of students and suddenly, Scott was reassured with the brightness of Jean’s face.

“Hey, Sweetie. Are you feeling any better?” she said, softly.

Scott looked at the young students, and then looked back at Jean, again. “Hardly. I feel like I just got punched in the stomach by Juggernaut,” Scott joked.

Jean loosened up Scott’s fist and put her hand into Scott’s. “You have no idea of how much I missed you,” she said. She felt around the palm of Scott’s hand. “I love you,” Scott said. “You know you were the only person who kept me alive when I was with Marriah. I thought of you whenever I was in pain.”

Scott stopped himself. Do you know how horrified she’ll be if you tell her! Don’t tell Jean you were whipped, beaten, and harmed tremendously! She’ll freak!

Scott tried to keep his torture out of the conversation. “If it wasn’t for you and maybe some of Myst...” Scott couldn’t finish. “Wait! Where’s Mystique?!?!” Scott shouted.

Jean alarmingly pulled her hand from Scott’s. “What? Why? Why’s it so important?” she asked.

Scott looked at Jean. “It’s just important, ok? I need to know what happened to her. Where is she? Is she here?”

Jean put her hand on Scott’s chest. “I know where she is, but I can’t let you see her in your condition. Stay in bed, Scott,” Jean ordered.

“Why?” Scott asked.

“Just look at your side! You’re NOT going down the mansion halls anytime soon,” Jean remarked.

Scott looked at her with a confused expression on his face. Scott put his hand on his ribs and moved his hand down. He slightly touched his gunshot wound. “OWW!” he shouted.

Jean put her hand on his head and stroked his hair. “Kids, can you excuse us for a few minutes? I need to talk to Cyclops.”

The students headed for the infirmary door and left.

Jean looked back at Scott. “Sweetheart, do know many gashes you had? Or how much blood was spilled? Scott, you were in serious trouble in that base with Marriah. The professor refuses to tell anyone why Marriah did this to you. About the only thing he’ll tell is that it has something to do with your mother, Katherine. Do you have any idea why?” Jean asked.

Scott looked into her eyes. “It’s because she’s my aunt,” Scott said.

Jean gasped and her eyes widened. “But… how… how could that be?”

“Marriah is my mom’s sister. She was the one who was forgotten about in the picture. Somehow, my grandparents almost forgot that she was their kid. Marriah got angry…” Scott couldn’t bare to finish. A tear rolled down his face.

Jean hugged him. “Marriah got angry and what?” she asked, quietly.

“Marriah murdered my mom, Katherine… and was attempting to do the same with Katherine’s son,” Scott said.

By the time Scott had explained what happened and what happened to Katherine, Jean had almost a million tears rolling down her cheeks. She was so ashamed that she wasn’t even by her husband’s side. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” she said.

Scott kissed her cheek. “Oh but you were there, Jean. You were beside me every second. You just didn’t know it. I thought of you all the time and that’s probably the only reason why I’m still alive,” Scott said.

Jean looked into Scott’s ruby quartz lenses and could almost imagine his eyes looking back at her. “I have to know what happened to Mystique,” Scott replied to Jean. “Please, it’s urgent.”

"Ok, fine," Jean said to Scott.

Jean helped Scott get his feet to one side of his bed. Scott started to stand up, but winced. "You'll need crutches. You're too weak to stand, still," Jean said. She handed Scott a pair of crutches that she found in the corner of the infirmary.

Scott put one under each arm and stood up with them. Jean helped Scott limp down the hall and onto the mansion elevator.

They got off the elevator and Jean walked up to a door. She opened it up for Scott. The next thing Scott saw, took his breath away. Mystique was lying on a bed. Her eyes were closed. Scott got closer.

Mystique had bandages wrapped around her arm and her leg. She was a mess, but seemed to have been well taken care of. She was bleeding on her face, too. There was blood seeping out of a gash on her forehead.

Scott turned to Jean. "Can we be alone for a few minutes?"

Jean nodded. "Sure, sweetheart."

________________________________________________________________________

Part IXX; Still in Mystique's room…

Scott stood there staring at Mystique. She was breathing, but she was unconscious.

Scott got closer to Mystique's bed. "Why did you help me? I'm one of your worst enemies and yet you still kept me from falling to death. If you weren't out-cold, I'd ask you why," Scott said to her.

It was a moment before the unthinkable happened. Mystique opened her eyes. "Scott, I will die. I need these last few minutes of my life to explain this to you," she said.

Scott raised his head. "You're awake?!?!"

"Yes, I am awake. I also have explaining to do. I was at one point, Marriah's best friend. Having Marriah be your mother's sister, it enabled me to see Katherine sometimes. When Marriah turned on her family and swore to kill Katherine, Katherine made me promise to keep her first son safe the day she died. When I saw her murdered by Marriah, I remembered my promise… and to this day, I have kept you safe. I made sure you were brought to Xavier, even though he's not my most favorite guy in the world, and I knew you'd win very battle against me."

Scott was incredibly surprised. "I understand almost everything, but how come you didn't stop Marriah sooner? And why didn't you prevent her from kidnapping me?"

Mystique looked at Scott. "I've told you everything you need to know, but the rest, you must find out on your own, Scott. You can find out anything more from Marriah. Find her someday, Scott," Mystique said.

"You mean go after her?!?!" Scott shouted.

There was no response from Mystique. "Don't die yet! I need more answers! I can't go after Marriah!" Scott screamed.

That was it. Raven Darkholme was dead. Shot by her old friend.

Scott lowered his head. He looked at the dead body. Scott limped away. He used his crutches to walk to the door. Jean opened it for him. "Are you done?" she asked.

Scott looked back at Mystique. "Yeah, but we're going out after Marriah Holmes."

To Be Continued…