Thunderbird || X-Men

Chapter 13 ~ Being The Heroes

I watched Erik and Charles lead Sean to the back of the plane.

"Whoa, you back right off!" Sean said, pointing to Erik. Erik laughed, putting his hands up, backing off. "Beast, open the bomb bay doors!" Sean shouted. I felt the cold air rush into the plane when the doors opened.

"Remember!" Charles pulled Sean close."This is a muscle! You control it! You'll be in here the entire time! We'll see you soon!" I watched the two of them closely.

"On my mark! Three! Two! One! Go!" Sean fearlessly jumped from the plane, making me gasp. Erik and I looked back at each other as we waited.

"It's almost time, Kayla." Erik told me. "Are you ready?"

"I think so!" I responded, still clutching the seat where Erik's hand used to be.

"Banshee's got a location on Shaw." Charles told Erik.

"Are you ready for this?"

"Let's find out." Erik said, pulling off his gloves. I watched as both of them went down towards the wheel of the plane. I had no clue what they were going to do. I couldn't see Erik from where I seated. Nothing was happening for a moment, the jet was just hovering. Then all of a sudden, I looked out of the window.

A huge submarine was being lifted out of the water, turbines still spinning. My jaw dropped in awe.

"Holy shit." I said without realizing it. I heard Alex laugh next to me. I couldn't stop smiling.

"Erik, take my hand!" I heard Charles yelp, making my smile disappear instantly.

"Hold on guys, it's gonna get bumpy." Hank said from the front seat. I looked out the window again, seeing a huge tornado. The jet started turning again, shaking aggressively.

I grabbed onto the seat tightly. I heard a metallic crash as I saw the submarine roll onto the land.

"Erik, take my hand!" Charles repeated, making me even more frightened.

Alarms started beeping and blaring loudly. We were spinning out of control. I watched Charles trying to pull Erik up from below. A strange wave of bravery and also stupidity came over me, as I unbuckled myself. I instantly grabbed onto Charles by the torso, using a newfound strength helped to pull him and Erik up back into the plane.

Once both were inside all the way, I slammed the door shut. The plane was turning again, and both me Charles slid across the metal floor. I yelped, holding onto Charles' arm for dear life. I heard Erik's heavy steps run toward us both. He quickly got on top of us, gluing himself to the floor of the plane so none of us fell as it rolled.

We all just screamed as the plane rolled onto the land. I was hugging Charles as tight as I could, my fear all coming back to me at once. Finally, the plane stopped. We were all upside down. Erik lowered himself and us slowly, collapsing on the roof. Charles got up instantly, running over to unbuckle Moira. I got up as well, helping Erik to his feet. We looked at each other for a moment before I ran to go unbuckle Raven, and he went to help Alex.

"I read the teleporters mind." Charles explained once we were all safely upright on our feet.

"Shaw is drawing all the power out of his sub. He's turning himself into some kind of nuclear bomb."

"We got no time, the Geiger Count us going out of control!" Moira stated, a bit panicked. Erik and I huddled close to one another, looking out of the window.

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

"I'm going in." Erik said.

"Beast, Havok, Kayla, back him up." Charles told them.

"Erik, I can guide you through once you're in, but I need you to shut down whatever it is that's blocking me." I held Erik's hand.

"Then we just hope to God it's not too late for me to stop him."

"Got it." Erik stated, rushing out of the plane with Alex, Hank and I following him.

We were greeted by the two mutants we first saw a few weeks ago, the teleporter, and the tornado guy. Next to them was Angel. Alex immediately blasted one of them. The teleporter disappeared and reappeared in front of Hank and Alex, grabbing onto them both before disappearing again. It was chaos for a second. I saw Angel approach me. She spits at me, and I quickly dodged it. I knew if there was any time to use my powers, it was now.

I focused as hard as I could. Angel froze, and fell to the ground, her wings spasming. She screeched and gripped her head. I quickly let go and ran to her, elbowing her straight in the forehead and knocking her unconscious for now. I let out a soft "I'm sorry!" as I did. I watched Erik pull the metal wall off of the sub, knocking down the tornado guy, and running inside.

I felt the need to follow him. I didn't want to stand around and do nothing. I ran after him until Charles stopped me.

"Don't follow him. Stay and make sure no one comes in after him." He said in my head. I ignored him, running in any way. I could tell he was trying to freeze me, but I was able to block him.

I carefully stepped through the disheveled submarine. I spotted Erik ahead and sprinted after him.

"Kayla, what are you doing? You're not supposed to be here." Erik questioned, grabbing onto my shoulders.

"I'm here to make sure you're safe."

"That's normally my job." He joked. But he snapped back. He grabbed onto a nearby lever and pulled it down. I assumed this was the reactor.

Erik opened the door into a nicely furnished room and stepped inside cautiously. I followed.

"He's not here Charles." He said, sounding very confused and worried at the same time.

"Shaw's not here! He's left the sub!" I looked around quickly as Erik did the same. I ran to every wall, poking and prodding, my constant worrying making the lights flicker.

"And I'm telling you he's not! There's no one here, God damn it!" Erik shouted. I saw the wall open slowly behind Erik, and he did as well. There stood Shaw, wearing his dorky blue helmet again.

"Erik," Shaw said, his voice echoing.

"What a pleasant surprise." Erik walked towards him slowly, but this time I didn't follow. "So good to see you again. And you've brought your friend, how cute."

"Kayla, stay here." Erik told me, walking towards Shaw slowly.

"Erik, you-" I watched him enter, the large doors shutting behind him. Instantly I ran. I needed to go back to Charles and tell him what happened. Charles must've known something happened because when I reached the jet, he was running around every corner.

"What happened? Where is he?" Charles asked, grabbing onto my arms.

"It's Shaw! He's- I... Erik went in there!" I told him, a little shaken up. Charles pulled me close for a moment to calm me.

"You're alright? You're alright? Okay. Now listen, Kayla, I-" he stopped.

"He's back!" He yelped, putting his fingers to his temple as he does. "Erik whatever you're doing, keep doing it. It's starting to work. Kayla's here with me, she's safe." I watched Charles closely.

"It's working! I'm starting to see him but I can't yet touch his mind."

I waited anxiously. I had no idea what was happening in there and it worried me. Suddenly, Charles grunted.

"Are you okay?" Moira called from the back."

"Moira, be quiet. I can only control this man for so long."