Chapter Six

The group walked out of his office and towards the area where the suits were hung. Oriana took hers out and looked at it.

"I think I'm going to start hating this thing..." she muttered as she walked off to a room to put the thing on.

She walked out a few minutes later, tugging at the collar around her neck as she headed for Luna who was also in her uniform.

"This thing is annoying..." she growled.

"You'll get used to it. It will loosen the more you use it," Cyclops said, walking out and looking comfortable in his uniform.

Once everyone was dressed they headed down to the jet. Xavier was just wheeling out of the jet as the group entered.

"Your coordinates have been entered. I would suggest moving as fast as you can." He smiled at them. "Good luck."

“‘Good luck’, he says,” Luna sighed. “I guess we’ll be needing some of that…”

They boarded the jet, and Storm and Scott took to the cockpit while the rest strapped themselves in. Luna shifted in her seat before speaking up toward their pilots.

“Where exactly do we start?” she asked. “I mean, we fought him once. What good did it do?”

“Perhaps we can find a weakness,” Storm said. “And exploit it.”

"Does something like that actually have a weakness? He took on ALL of us, and it didn't even seem to faze him," Oriana spoke up, leaning forward in her seat and resting her elbows on her legs.

"No matter how strong something seems, it has a weakness. All we have to do is find it," Scott said.

"Yeah, find it while keeping ourselves alive." Oriana sat back and looked at Luna.

Luna pursed her lips and shrugged. “In the words of the all-knowing Professor, ‘good luck’.”

Scott shook his head in a peeved gesture. They flew on for some time, saying nothing. Then Scott appeared to do a double-take.

“Something wrong?” Logan asked, noticing the twitch that went over Scott’s features.

“I’m just not sure about what I’m seeing…” he muttered.

Luna unhooked her seatbelt and moved toward the front view, peeking out.

“Sit down,” Scott said. “You really should be strapped in.”

“Oh my God…” Luna said, ignoring him as the sight before her threatened to steal her sanity.

They were passing over the Atlantic, and their enemy was tramping through it, waist deep. They swooped past his cheek and around his ear, Scott pulling drastically to the right. Luna stumbled and leaned on Storm’s seat, covering her mouth with one hand. When Apocalypse’s hand came up to swipe at them, the wind caused them to lose control momentarily. Logan was up from his seat like a shot, grasping Luna and the seat nearest him to stay balanced.

“I thought flying scared you,” Luna commented. “Least it seems to…”

“Terrified of it,” he grunted, holding on tightly. “But would you rather I grip my seat and let you get slammed into the floor?”

“I like it better your way,” Luna confirmed.

Oriana shook her head slightly then turned her attention to the small window next to her seat. Scott was bringing the fighter around, and she gasped at the huge figure of Apocalypse.

"How in hell are we supposed to defeat that?" she asked.

Luna huffed, pulling out of Logan’s grip to lean toward the front view as they circled toward their enemy again.

“I think I have an idea,” she muttered. She moved back toward Rogue’s seat and crouched down beside her. “Your mutation is that you steal from others, right? That’s what you tried to do to him.”

Rogue bristled slightly. “I wouldn’t call it stealin’…”

“Whatever,” Luna said, waving her hand in the air. “Can you use another mutants powers when you do that?”

“Yeah,” Rogue said.

“Good,” Luna smiled. “Just what I wanted to hear.”

She snatched at Rogue’s hand and pulled her glove off, then clamped their hands together.

“What are you--!?”

“Just hold on,” Luna said, grasping hard enough to make their bones grind. Her veins began to stand out on her skin, and she felt as though she couldn’t take anymore than a few, light puffs of air at a time. Her chest felt so tight. Her mind was leaving, slipping out through her hand. It felt like dying.

“Luna, let go!” Logan shouted.

“Don’t… touch me!” she forced, shivering and blinking wide, wet eyes at Rogue.

The two stared fixedly at one another until Luna could take no more. She slammed herself back, her hand flying away from Rogue’s as her back slammed against the arm of Oriana’s seat. She gasped in air, filling her lungs over and over as her body quaked. She pushed herself up with arms that shook.

“Think you can help me now?” Luna asked softly.

Rogue nodded and stood, slipping her glove back on as she did so.

“Open the hatch,” Luna said, pointing toward the ramp.

“What?” Scott asked, glancing back at them. “Are you insane?”

“I know what I’m doing,” Luna growled.

“We both do,” Rogue said, sounding eerily like her. “Open it, Red-Eye.”

Scott tilted his head slightly and hit the button. The hatch on the jet opened, and Oriana turned her seat, shaking her head at Luna.

"You're nuts! You can fight him and win!" she cried, but it was too late. Rogue and Luna had both jumped out. "I can't believe you let them do that!" Oriana turned to Scott as she unbuckled herself and stood up. She grasped the back of Scott’s seat and peered out over his head to try and find Luna and Rogue.

They hit the water and transformed, forming gills to breath, fins to beat against the ocean currents. Two great white sharks prowled beneath the surface, one black with pink stripes and the other reddish-brown with a white streak down its left side. They circled one of Apocalypse’s massive legs, opening and closing their maws menacingly. Luna lunged first, tearing at his calf. Rogue followed, grasping, jerking her head back and forth, then pulling back when she felt a surge of energy fill her. It was not enough to drive her unconscious, but it caused her to balk.

Apocalypse pulled his leg forward, causing Luna to clamp on even harder. She was pulled through the water at a bone-crushing pace, finally being loosed and tossed into the current again. The behemoth looked up toward the jet that still circled him and smiled.

“What’s he doing?” Scott asked quietly. “Why is he smiling?”

Oriana's eyes snapped shut, her breath jerking in slightly as something entered her mind. A new presence, a new voice. It demanded control, and there was nothing she could do against it. Her hands jerked forward and grabbed Scott around the neck, yanking him back in his seat. Her fingers tightened, cutting off his flow of air.

“Ori…” Scott gasped, clawing at her fingers.

Storm sat wide-eyed, but only for a moment. She reached over and grabbed Oriana’s right arm, yanking at her forearm.

“Don’t do this…” Scott strained. “Storm, don’t… hurt her…”

“She’s going to kill you, Scott.”

Logan moved forward, grabbing Oriana by the shoulders, readying himself to jerk her backwards.

She spun, jerking her hand from Storm and bringing it forward. A ball of fire shot out and hit Logan square in the face. He stumbled backwards, and she advanced on him, her left hand coming forward and freezing the floor of the jet. She kicked Logan in the chest and sent him sliding backwards on the ice.

"Ori, stop!" Scott yelled to her, and she turned towards him, sending a stream of ice at his face.

Scott’s hand snapped to his visor, blasting the ice stream as it rushed toward him. Water pooled between them as his optic blast met her attack in midair. He closed his visor again and ducked down, kicking a leg out and sweeping Oriana’s legs out from under her.

Logan sat up groggily, the charred skin on his cheek healing as he winced. He got to his feet and snarled.

“Logan, stay back,” Scott warned.

"Yes, Wolverine, stay back," Oriana spoke, but her voice was different. It was deep and raspy, almost mechanical sounding. Her left hand flew back, and a thick wall ice formed over Logan's feet.

Oriana smirked at Scott, her feet flying forward and kicking him in the chest. He flew backwards and slammed into the control panel, causing the jet to jerk violently.

Storm slammed against her own controls, then fought to gain her balance as well as control of the jet. She gritted her teeth as they narrowly avoided crashing into the ocean. She watched Luna and Rogue’s ineffectual attacks, then leveled the jet out and put it on autopilot.

“That is enough,” she recited coldly, her eyes losing their color.

The ocean rocked and churned, rising as clouds gathered. Waves pulled in all directions, the two sharks fighting against vying currents. A massive wave, large enough to swallow even Apocalypse, rose and crashed over him, sweeping him underwater.

“Kurt,” Storm ordered, looking to him with her ghostly gaze.

The blue man nodded and disappeared. When he reappeared, it was with a nearly human Luna in his arms. She reached full human form and slumped to the floor. She was soaked from head to toe, her suit clinging to her skin in a damp way that it hadn’t before. Kurt disappeared a second time and came back with a very confused and thrashing shark. It appeared to be smaller than it had been while battling Apocalypse, but it was no less a shark.

“Rogue!” Luna shouted, watching the horror move across her black eyes as her gills struggled. “Calm down! Don’t panic!”

Oriana stood, her eyes jerking across the scene before her as Rogue's shark form jerked and turned human again. Her hand raised, but before she could send the flame towards Luna and Rogue, she was slammed forward as Logan tackled her.

“Logan!” Luna shrieked. “What’s wrong with you!?”

“You don’t understand!” Logan shouted back, wrestling with her, his claws popping out dangerously close to Oriana’s face.

“Stop!” Luna cried.

She turned quickly into a lioness and lunged at him, shoving him away as gently as she could. When he turned on her and glared, she roared a warning and looked back at Oriana. She slipped back into her human skin, watching her friend closely.

“Ori,” she whispered. “It’s me. Whatever you’re doing, just stop.”

Storm was helping Scott to his feet, and the two looked out over the ocean. Apocalypse was rising again, further out than he was before. At least they had bought some time.

“He’s coming back this way,” Scott said. “We have to get moving.”

“He’s still got Ori,” Logan snarled.

“All of you shut up,” Luna grunted. “Ori, listen to me…”

"Ori's not here," came the deep voice that had replaced Oriana's normal one, and something seemed different in Oriana's eyes. A sharp breath escaped her lungs. "Luna... help me..."

“Ori, hold on,” Luna urged her. “You can beat this.”

“Luna, get away from her before she blasts you,” Logan insisted.

“She won’t hurt me,” Luna said. “Ori, come on… Don’t let him do this.”

"Too strong, he's too—” Oriana clutched her head with both of her hands and rocked backwards, moaning, her eyes shut.

Luna grabbed her shoulders. “Apocalypse, let her go! Can you hear me, Ori!? We’ll get you to Xavier. He’ll fix everything… Oh, God…” She could see a thin line of blood dripping from her ear. “Scott, get this heap moving!”

Scott slammed into the pilot seat, rocking the jet as he whirled it back toward New York and blasted through the sky. “Hold on, Ori…”

"It hurts... God..." Oriana gasped, her fingernails digging into the sides of her face, blooding dripping out from under them.

She suddenly jerked backwards out of Luna's grip. Her eyes shot open, and her hand moved forward, blasting Luna with a stream of ice.

The stream hit Luna’s arm and traveled up her shoulder. She shrieked at the sudden, clenching pain of her muscles as the cold seized her. Logan jumped forward and knocked Luna out of the way, then took the ice blast on himself. He growled at the cold that struck his chest, then took hold of both of Oriana’s arms. He pinned them at her sides, effectively disarming her.

“That’s enough,” he heaved.

Luna shivered and held onto her numb arm, praying it wouldn’t fall off. “Don’t hurt her, Logan,” she called softly as tears formed in her eyes. “Ori’s still in there. Scott, fly faster. Please…”

“Hold on,” was all he said as the jet broke the sound barrier.

Oriana jerked in Logan's grip. Then her body gave an involuntary jerk, and her head slammed into the steel of the Jet's wall. Her head fell sideways, her body going limp.

Logan caught her and pulled her into his arms. “She’s out cold,” he said.

“We’re here,” Scott announced as he brought the jet down into the basketball court, not caring who might see. He leapt up and gathered Oriana into his arms, rushing toward the ramp as Storm lowered it. “Professor!” he called as he ran.

In his office, Xavier clenched his eyes shut and put a hand to his head. Scott was calling to him, and rather loudly. I’m coming… As he reached into Scott’s mind, he saw the predicament. Put her in the nearest room, Scott. Hurry…

He followed the Professor’s orders and laid her across an examining table in the first room he found. He was panting desperately, the seconds ticking by like hours as he awaited the Professor. He took one of Oriana’s limp hands and held it, trying to keep his head cool.

Xavier wheeled in with the other X-Men, battle-worn and still in their uniforms, behind him. His chair stopped at the very end of the table where he placed his hands on either side of Oriana’s head. After a moments concentration, he broke away with a gasp.

“What?” Luna asked. “Is she all right?”

“She is in a great deal of pain,” Xavier said. “Apocalypse has warped her mind and bent her to his will. She attempted to fight him, and her struggle has resulted in what you see now.”

“Which is?” Luna asked.

“A total shut down of her conscious systems,” Xavier said. “She breathes and her heart beats… but otherwise she is gone.”

“But she just hit her head,” Logan said. “She’ll come to, right?”

“That blow to the head jogged her in such a way as to make her battle with Apocalypse an internal one,” Xavier said. “Until she defeats him, she will be trapped.”

“Well, help her!” Luna shouted. “Go in there and fix it!”

“I’m afraid I can’t,” he said. “I would risk destroying her mind along with Apocalypse.”

“There has to be something we can do,” Scott insisted. “We can’t let her stay this way! Trapped in her own mind!? That’s like condemning her to Hell!”

“Please, calm down, Scott,” Xavier said. “A solution will present itself. For now, we must allow her to rest.”

“She can’t rest,” Luna said, snuffling as her eyes spilled. “Not like that.”

Logan’s arm went around her, and she leaned against him, covering her face.

“What do we do in the meantime?” Rogue asked quietly.

“Maybe finding a way to defeat Apocalypse is the only way to save her,” Scott said.

“Good luck,” Logan grunted as he rubbed Luna’s shoulder.

“Let’s disperse for now,” Xaiver said. “Scott, make Oriana comfortable. When you’ve done so, I’d like some time alone with her.”

“Should I take her upstairs?” he asked.

“No, it would alarm the children,” he said.

“Here,” Nightcrawler said. “I could move her to the recovery room. It has a bed.”

“Good idea, Kurt,” Xavier commended.

Nightcrawler nodded and put his arms gently around Oriana and poofed away. Xavier followed after in his wheelchair while the others dispersed. Logan squeezed Luna for a moment, then asked her in a whisper if she wanted to go with him. She shook her head no, and he quietly left her with Scott, the only other to stay behind. He was running his hand along the table where she’d lain, his jaw clenching silently.

“What do you think Xavier will do?” she asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said. “He’ll do whatever he can. He didn’t bring her here to die.”

“You don’t sound as sure as I’d thought you would,” she murmured.

“Not really sure of anything at the moment,” he sighed.

“You know…” She paused. “We do have something in common. You and I.”

He glanced up at her. “What’s that?”

“We both love her.”

And with that, she left him to move upstairs. She did need to join Logan. She needed to be near someone who would comfort her.

* * * * *

Xavier rolled up beside Oriana and placed his hand on hers. Her eyes seemed to roll around under her closed lids, and he sighed.

"You can beat him," he said softly.

Inside Oriana's mind she felt trapped, cornered. She couldn't move; she couldn't get free. She struggled, but it was as though her body was paralyzed.

"Let me go, Apocalypse!" Oriana screamed.

Apocalypse's voice rumbled through her mind as he appeared, standing before her and looking smug.

"You will give in to me," he said.

"I won’t. You'll have to kill me."

"Which is exactly what will happen if you don't give me full control." He laughed and reached towards Oraina.

Back in the room, Xavier watched as Oriana gave a violent jerk, shrieked slightly, then laid still again.

Chapter Seven

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