~

"She hit that guy instead," Scott whispered. River looked up.

"What?"

"Look," he pointed. River looked out the metal window in shock. The lady had not hit Peter at all, but had sliced into the man's neck.

"But wha...why..." River didn't get to finish because the man wasn't affected at all. He let go of Peter, who  fell onto the ground in pain, and then grabbed the lady's neck, choking her. He looked at her intently as the wound on his neck healed fully. Using some superhuman strength, he pulled her up above the ground by her neck. Choking, her skin changed to blue and her black hair changed to redish orange. "Raven!" River said, with worry.

"Raven...." Charles muttered. His eyes had tears in them. Hank looked as if he wanted to punch someone in the face. Moira started to breathe quicker, and Jean looked like she didn't know what to say.

"Oh my god..." River put her head back into Scott's arm when they saw Raven being choked even more. He hugged her, and she felt herself cry a little.

"The great hero," the man said with disgust.

"I'm going out there," Hank said, walking towards the door.

"I'm going with you," said Scott almost immediately. River put her hand on his shoulder.

"Scott, you could get seriously injured!" she said. "I'm coming with you two."

"River..." said Hank.

"No, Hank, I'm coming along," she said firmly. He sighed.

"Ok." She looked at Scott, who nodded. The three started to walk towards the door, when the professor spoke.

"No," he said, sitting up more. Hank stopped and looked back. "It's me he wants."

"Charles, you can't give yourself up," Moira said. "If he has you, he has us all." Scott watched her then the professor. "The whole world even."

"It's true..." River murmured. The professor sighed. There was a silence. River went over to the window again to look outside, and Scott followed her. The man still had Raven by the neck.

"You are feeble," he snarled. "Just like the others." River looked at Peter, who looked like he wanted to punch that guy very badly. She took in a breath. She was very mad but also very scared. She hated this feeling - the feeling of not knowing what to do.

Raven's skin flickered and waved as the man tightened his grip. She grabbed at his hands and gasped for breath.

"Charles! Come! Rescue your weaklings!" he yelled. The professor looked like he was about to burst of stress and anger. Jean, who was by the other window, was wringing her hands, and Moira was chewing her lip. "Give your life for theirs!" Raven's skin began ripple even more.

"She's dying," whispered River. Charles had tears in his eyes, and his hand was in a tight fist.

"No..." he sobbed. Raven's grip loosened, and her hand slowly fell, skin still waving and spiking. Charles angrily sat up, ready to stand, but then stopped. Hank, who was still by the door, turned again.

"What's wrong, Charles?" River asked. He looked at her.

"He was right," he replied. "There's still some part of me connected to him." Moira looked at Jean, who was looking at the professor with curiosity. He looked at Jean. "I can get inside his head."

"Charles! Will you do nothing?" They heard faintly in the window. River and Scott watched as the professor lay down in concentration.

"Thank you for letting me in," he murmured. Jean sat near him, observing as he telepathically entered the other man's head.

"Go Charles," River whispered. Scott smiled slightly. Hank leaned onto a wall, and Moira sat down near Jean and Charles. River looked out the window again, and Scott looked from behind her. The villain had a faraway look in his eyes but was still holding onto Mystique. "Let go of her, you dirtbag," muttered River. She heard Scott suppress a laugh.

"Dirtbag?" he asked, amused.

"Don't judge me, Summers," she grinned. Jean looked over at them, and River waved. "Are you ok?" she mouthed. Jean nodded.

"Look!" Scott pointed. Hank and Moira went over to the other window and looked out. The man looked like he was about to faint, and he dropped Raven. She fell down, unconscious because of the lack of oxygen.

"It's working," River said. "It's working!" Jean clapped.

"Don't cheer too soon," Hank said but he smiled also.

All of a sudden, the professor started to breathe quickly. His face contorted into one of pain. Jean's face turned into one of complete worry. Dust blew from one of the walls, the one with the windows. Scott pulled River back before they got covered with the sand. The wall seemed to...disintegrate. They all turned to cover their faces, and when they looked up, the whole wall had blown away. It revealed the wasteland they had just been in.

"Holy crap," Scott muttered. River walked backwards into him by accident. They saw the man wave his hand to wave away the last bits. Mystique and Peter still were on either side of him, her on the ground and him trying to escape as best he could. Peter looked up at River, and they exchanged glances of panic. She wished she could do something; he looked so helpless, stuck there against his will. Charles looked like he was in immense pain. She wished she could do something to help him too. The man walked towards them. I'll show you what happens when you mess with my family. River started to walk forward when Scott put his arm in front of her.

"River, don't do it. Not yet," he whispered into her ear.

"I hate that you're right," River whispered back. He kept his arm on her to keep her from attacking the guy. She looked back at Charles, who was started to breath heavily as if injured. Moira and Jean both sat by him, anxious.

Suddenly, a huge metal bar cut the man off. They all jumped a bit as it slammed into the ground. A second bar slammed in front of them, making an x. River thought it ironic, as they were a sort of X-Men team. Sort of. She looked up and saw Erik flying, hands out to collect metal. Other metal objects fell from the sky behind him. The man looked behind him in shock. River looked back at Hank and grinned.

"He's on our side," she said softly. Hank nodded in disbelief. Scott let go of River and observed Erik Lensherr. Erik was wearing the helmet he had on in DC but had an upgraded suit. It was still magenta and had a cape, but it was more armored.

"You betray me?" the man asked in shock.

"No," Erik replied. "I betrayed them." River let out a breath of relief. Behind him, metal started to rise dangerously. Metal bars, pipes, bricks, wires, and more rose behind him and stayed midair. He raised his hand behind him then thrust it forward. All the metal flew at the blue man, but he deflected them with a shield made of fire. It was a good try, Erik. He kept colliding a stream of metal into the shields, even though it had no effect. The man slowly moved closer to Erik, looking furious.

"Let's jump," Hank said to River and Scott.

"What?" Scott said. River readied for the jump.

"Now!" Hank yelled. The three jumped down onto the sandy ground below. Hank helped them up. "Cover me." He ran out before they could stop him. River and Scott exchanged glances. She was scared but ready to fight. Scott looked the same. Hank went over to Raven, and she looked up drowsily. He picked her up and slung her across his shoulders. He ran over to Peter, and River followed closely. Hank punched the dirt around Peter's leg, making it crumble slightly.

"Scott, use your eyes!" River shouted over the noise of the fire. He nodded and pulled off his lenses. River watched as the red lasers shot towards the shield then bounced off. He kept his glasses off, trying to break the fire.

Scott fell down under the pressure of the lasers, cutting a car in half. Shit, thought River. She went over and pulled him up. He yelled as she kept him steady while he shot at the man. She looked over and saw that Hank had released Peter. They went to take shelter by a concrete slab, as Peter couldn't walk much. Hank set Raven down gently.

"Keep going, Scott, keep going," River encouraged. She could tell he was in slight pain and was getting a little tired. She held onto his shoulders to make sure he didn't fall over again. Erik kept the metal spinning towards the shields. Hank was now running and climbing over concrete buildings and then jumped towards the man, trying to tackle him. The man simply waved his hand and pushed Hank away. He smashed into a car and didn't get up. "Hank..." River whispered. That was the last straw. I'll show you what happens when you mess with my family and friends, asshole. She faintly heard Scott's screams of pain as she let go of him.

Pushing her hands up, her mind went into autopilot. Wind gathered around her, swirling her hair around her face and levitating her slightly. She pushed her hands out with a yell, and the wind blasted at an incredible speed towards the man. He got pushed back a bit before steadying himself. She kept her hands out, creating more wind and making it go faster. The wind seemed to slowly affect the man, pushing him slowly but surely. She looked down and saw that Scott was closing his eyes in pain. He put his glasses back on and looked up at her. Before she could say anything to him, he was pushed back into a wall by the man. He was about to pull his glasses off when he was pushed back again. The wall suddenly started to slowly swallow him.

"River!" he yelled. He struggled to get out. "Hank! River!"

"Scott!" River screamed. The panic made her stop the winds and dropped her on the ground. Standing up, she ran over but got pushed back also into another wall across from Scott.

The dirt solidified into balls around River's hands, cutting out her ability to control the wind or any water in the air. It solidified around her legs too, not letting her run. She struggled and tried to kick, but the dirt was too tough. Suddenly, River felt dirt solidify around her neck, cutting off her oxygen. She felt herself hyperventilating.

"No no no no!" She pushed herself up as best as she could, but the dirt slowly tightened. It also was slowly traveling up her arms and legs. She felt herself choking, and tears of pain blurred her vision. She blinked them away as best she could. River looked at Scott who looked like he was in a panic also. Am I going to die? she thought. She tried to stay conscious as the dirt closed around her throat. She thought about Scott and about Jubilee. About Jean and Kurt. About Hank and Charles. About Alex. She started to cry. Someone help us! Hurry! She tried to reach out to Jean or Charles for a response. Please...

All of a sudden, River vaguely saw someone with red-hair walk out in mid-air. Jean? She looked up and saw Jean open her arms. A blurry, fiery figure appeared, and River heard something like a shriek. The figure looked like a...pheonix. They had always been Jean's favorite animals for some reason. The dirt stopped closing around her. River looked down and saw that the man was being blasted away slowly. His armor was slowly being blown away too. The man's shield disappeared, and he was being lifted up. He looked scared. Come on, Jean, keep going.

River felt herself choking again when she realized the dirt around her neck was still there. Feeling herself go unconscious, River closed her eyes in pain and started to cry again. All of a sudden, she felt the dirt around her hands crumble. She opened her eyes and saw Hank and Scott looking back at her. Hank pulled the dirt off her neck and then her legs, and she fell into Scott's arms.

"Thanks," she panted. He nodded and helped her stand. She stood up slowly and a bit shakily. They saw Erik stab metal spikes into the man. "Glasses, Summers." River stayed next Scott to make sure he didn't fall again, and he took his glasses off, blasting the villain with lasers. The man started to make a purple circle around him even though he looked like he was in pain.

"He's getting away," Hank said. All of a sudden, the circle was blasted with lightning. River looked up to see the girl with the white hair pulling lightning from the sky and shooting it down on her ex-boss. I think I like this girl, River thought. Jean kept telepathically blasting him with energy. The force field burst; he was vulnerable.

"Don't fall, Summers," River said into his ear. Scott nodded. She pushed out her hands, and the wind came back again. It blasted faster and faster at the man. She saw bits and parts of his skin peel off because of the wind and because of Jean. Ew, but it's working! Jean's phoenix got bigger and brighter. The man's skin was now fully blowing off. They could even see his skeleton.

All of a sudden, the man completely disintegrated and everything stopped. Scott put his glasses back on. River put her hands down, and the winds stopped. She and Scott were panting, tired. They exchanged looks with Hank, who also looked tired. The white-haired girl and Erik slowly dropped down to the ground. Jean backed off onto the floor of the room where Charles and Moira still were.

"We did it," Scott said softly.

"Yeah," said River. "We did." Holy crap, we did.

"Let's go check on Charles," Hank said. River and Scott held onto his arms, and he jumped back into the room. Hank and River ran over to Charles, who Moira was giving CPR to. He laid on the floor, unconscious and not breathing.

"Charles, c'mon, breathe," River muttered.

"We've lost him," Moira whispered.

"No," Hank said, voice breaking. "No, Charles! Charles!"

"He's gone," said Moira. River teared up.

"No...Charles..." 

"He's not gone." They all looked up at Jean, who was walking towards them. "I can still feel him. River stood up with Hank, and he hugged her from behind. They were both hoping with all their might that he was still alive. Jean put her hand on the side of Charles' face. She closed her eyes. Please be alive, please be alive. Suddenly, Charles began to breathe again.

"Yes!" River said, a bit too loudly. She turned around, and Hank hugged her and she hugged back.

"Thank you, Jean," Charles mumbled. She smiled.

"Charles," Moira said. "Charles, do you know where you are?" Charles looked around at them slowly.

"I'm on a beach," he said. Hank realized something and looked up at Moira with nostalgia. River walked over to Scott. A beach? Cuba? "In Cuba." Charles looked at Moira, his eyes full of nostalgia and hurt. "With you." Moira smiled, confused.

"Which beach?" she asked. Charles reached out and touched the side of her face. She looked up in awe.

"What's happening?" Scott asked River softly.

"He's giving her back something, I think," River said. She was actually never sure what had happened to Miss Moira; she had only heard stories and seen pictures. Tears appeared in Moira's eyes. River wondered what Charles was giving back; he was smiling slightly.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I should've never taken those from you. She smiled back.

"Hold on!" Kurt yelled as he sat straight up. Scott and River both jumped.

"Jesus, Kurt!" said Scott. River laughed. She suspected that would be a normal phrase now. Kurt looked around, very confused.

"W-what did I miss?" he asked. Everyone exchanged glances with everyone else.

"Well..." River started. "You can catch up on the way back."

~

One more chapter before the movie ends and then we're officially going off script yay!

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR 500+ READS HOLY SHUCK