Thunderbird || X-Men

Chapter 21 ~ Stopping Raven

I really wished we could be in Paris for a different reason. The first visit to the City of Lights should be cherished, but I hadn't the time nor mindset. I was getting worried. Loads of what-ifs clouding my brain. What if we mess up? What if we can't change the future? What if we make a worse future? It was scary.

I'd be lying if I said Erik's presence wasn't calming me. He didn't need to really say anything either. He was there, and it helped me. He sat next to me in the backseat, along with Hank, on our way to the Hotel Royal. We knew this was where Raven was going to murder Trask.

I actually had a bit of time to think before I went into a battle I knew I wasn't ready for. 10 years without a fight does some bad stuff to you, and my anxiety about the situation, in general, didn't help. But I did sign up for this, Charles tried his best to warn me. But I'm stubborn, and I got myself into something insane. It was finally dawning on me, this was happening... What I do today is important. Please, Kayla, don't fuck this up.

"So what are we going to do?" I ask Charles, who was sitting in the passenger seat in front of me.

"Not too sure.." he turned to face me, Erik and Hank.

"I think we should skip the planning, there isn't time for that." Erik piped up, seeing that we were approaching our destination.

"Maybe bursting in is our best shot." Hank told us. We all nodded but said nothing further on the topic. Erik and I exchanged glances. He looked like he had a lot to say, but didn't have the time or courage to. Or he just didn't know how to say it.

"I-"

"Erik, gates!" Charles interrupted. Erik snapped back, flying the metal gates out of the way of the car as we entered, pushing a guard back in the process. Logan kept his foot on the gas as we sped through the parking garage. He quickly found an empty spot at the back. We all hopped out of the car and sprinted toward the nearest set of stairs.

"How long do we have?" Logan asked Hank, as all of us jogged up the stairwell.

"2 minutes."

"Great, plenty of time." We all picked up our pace a bit. Once we were officially in the building, Hank led the way. This place was so easy to get lost in, and I was terrified we would. The fear started to come back. We looked in a bunch of rooms, but couldn't seem to find her anywhere. We ran into another random room when we saw her.

"Raven!" Charles yelped. Before she could respond a man laying on the ground shot some kind of taser device on her. She began spasming on the table as Charles ran to her. I was about to turn the tasers off, but Erik beat me to it, pulling them off of her and onto the man instead. Trask stood there, his device beeping, as he stared at us in awe.

"Charles?" Raven murmured.

"We've come for you, Erik and I... together."

Just when I thought everything was going okay, something happened to Logan. He was leaning against the wall, clutching his head. I didn't really know what to do. He looked afraid, which made me even more afraid than I already was. Charles was comforting Raven when I saw Erik levitate the gun to his hand.

"Erik, what are you doing?" Charles's voice cracked a bit. He and I thought the worst.

"Securing our future." Erik replied. No one spoke. I could feel my hands start to shake. "Forgive me, Mystique. As long as you're out there we'll never be safe." Instantly I could feel a panic attack coming on. I took a deep breath to try and suppress it for the time being.

"Erik..." I tried to stop him, but the words wouldn't come out. I felt like I was physically choking on them.

"Use your power, Charles. Stop him." Raven squeaked.

"He can't." Raven took a moment. She looked almost as panicked as I was. She got up off the table and ran, breaking through the glass window at the other end of the room. When I looked back, Hank and Erik were on the ground. Erik gave him a good punch, knocking Hank onto the floor next to him. Charles came to his aid, punching Erik back. I watched as Erik pulled Charles off of him roughly and bolted out of the window to follow Raven.

I could feel myself getting lightheaded, so I slapped my self to stay conscious. I ran to the window, looking down to see Erik, floating down as the crowd below moved away from him in fear. I assumed he shot Raven in the leg because she struggled to limp away. I glanced back at Logan. He was standing up again, looking very confused.

"Who are you?!"

"Charles Xavier!" They shouted at each other.

"I don't know you." I saw Hank was turning blue. I turn my focus back to Erik, forcibly pulling Raven to him using the bullet still in her leg. Just looking at it hurt. I wasn't sure what to do at that point. I wasn't much use to anyone.

I tried getting into Erik's head to make him stop and pass out. I focused, but nothing was happening! The lights in the conference room flickered as I struggled, and Charles noticed.

"Kayla, are you alright??" He called to me from the other side of the room.

"Yea, in the middle of something!" I called back to him, strain in my voice.

I squeezed my eyes shut, tears falling from them. I was panicking like never before. I needed to do something but I couldn't. My hands were shaking and my heart was pounding. My knees were weak. I couldn't seem to catch my breath. I instinctively fell to the ground, hunched over, crying heavily. I was having a panic attack, and it got so much worse when I realized what was happening to everyone around me.