It was silent in the small space then. Both of them just looked down at the lifeless form now laying on the floor, a small pool of blood now forming underneath his head. After a few more seconds Liesel let out a breathless sound and placed a hand to her chest. Shock, she was in shock. Stepping backwards she turned out of the room and leaned her hands against her knees. Breathing deeply she looked up to the side when Erik appeared by her side and placed a hand on her back.

Standing up she reached up suddenly and wrapped her arms around his neck. Erik got pulled down slightly from this action but encircled her with his own arms regardless. She rested her head against the cold helmet and shut her eyes. "It is over now, yes?"

"Almost."

"Almost?"

Erik pulled away and looked at her. "There is still fighting happening outside, remember? We're not just in here, in our own little bubble. There is...there is something big happening outside, and we're needed out there."

"What is it?" Liesel stepped back from him, Erik seemed reluctant to answer her. He continued walking back to the small room they had just left. "Erik, what is it?"

He gestured to Shaw's body and raised it from the ground. Turning slowly, he looked to her. "They're aiming for us." Liesel looked confused by his words. Yet she was more confused as to why he was manipulating Shaw so he now levitated in the air behind him. It was a rather gross image, she had to admit. His head lulled to the side, which caused blood to change direction and now travel down his forehead, as well as continuing to run down his neck. His arms and legs were limp, yet with a simple wave of a finger from Erik they became rigid and stretched. "You can't feel it, Liesel. But there are two fleets out there, with a lot of guns, now aiming our way."

"Right, and...parading Shaw around comes into this how?" Liesel wasn't going to call Erik out to be a liar, after all he was the one who could tamper with metal, not her. If he said that the navy, both American, and Soviet, were now turning their attention their way, then sure, she would believe him. He had, after all, never really lied to her before. Why would he start now?

Erik tilted his head to the side, with a slow growing smile he stepped past her. "He was supposed to be the strongest, was he not? A figure of almost unthinkable power, and intellect. He is the reason we are all here, isn't it?" He glanced her way as she stepped forwards to follow him, he moved the lifeless body around so it was in front of them. She pulled a face at the blood splatters which were dripping from it, and ultimately leaving a trail. Yet slowly looking away, she looked to him as he watched her simply. "And now he is dead. And now, through his death, he will unite us all."

"What?" Narrowing her eyes, Liesel stepped through the doorway and followed after him towards the hole in the wall that he had earlier created. She half wondered if Riptide had managed to get himself free, or if he was still stuck wiggling about underneath it.

"Sometimes it takes one event, one specific thing to bring everyone together. That's all it takes, Liesel. With Shaw's death, he could have created something better and more brilliant than he had ever truly thought over."

"A united force?" She sounded sceptical, Erik could tell she probably felt it too. But he nodded regardless. She may not totally understand what he meant now, but he was certain that after a small while she would. "But...what for?" Liesel asked with a frown. "We don't have an enemy anymore. Shaw was, and now...well, he isn't much of a threat anymore, is he?" She glanced at the body suspended in the air and then to Erik. She looked a little worried over that fact that an expression which was hard to decipher flickered over his face.

"Come on," he said instead, deciding not to actually answer her words. Liesel hung back and watched as he simply hung Shaw's body in the air before letting it fall to the ground with a quiet thud. She winced, sure, she didn't really care about what was going to happen to him. But parading the corpse around like some sort of trophy just seemed...wrong. It didn't settle with her. Shaw was her enemy, yes, she hated him beyond anything, but even she couldn't quite fathom out why anyone would do what Erik was doing. To send a message, perhaps?

Liesel honestly did not know. It was brutal in a way, adding further insult to fatal injury. Rubbing her forehead, she shut her eyes and groaned. What was this sudden feeling of contradiction? Where was this coming from? Wherever it was coming from, and whatever the reason for it; she really didn't like it and wished that it would go back to wherever it came from. With a sigh she opened her eyes and moved forwards. Even as she stood in the silent shell of the submarine, she could hear Erik saying something. Cautiously moving forwards, she climbed out of the hole in the wall and suddenly found herself back in the bright sun beside Erik.

He glanced at her, a small smile now on his face. His expression vastly different to the hard to figure out one from moments ago. "The real enemy is out there." He moved slowly and away from the submarine, simply stepping over Shaw's corpse and making his way around both to look towards the blue sea. "I feel their guns moving in the water. Their metal, targeting us. Americans, Soviets, humans. United in their fear of the unknown. The Neanderthal is running scared, my fellow mutants." Erik said loud enough for those still near the ruined jet to hear, and for those who followed Shaw, who were loitering close by, to hear too. He pointed swiftly to the fleets on the horizon which could quite easily be seen. The ships were big enough that it was impossible not to see them. They seemed to have drifted and moved positions since the last time Liesel had seen them.

He was right. Whatever problems the people had between themselves, they were seemingly putting it to the side because of them; because they were here, and because they seemed to be a newer, and bigger threat than Shaw ever apparently was. Erik slowly started to make his way along the beach, Charles moved away from Moira's side with a serious look on his face. Everything Erik had said was not sitting with him at all. He always knew that Erik had a way with words, but this was really too much. The preaching, Charles frowned even more. The preaching and holier than thou attitude which suddenly appeared was something which he feared would appear once Shaw was out of the way. After all, when someone's been hunting for a target so long, what are they going to do once that target has gone? It was natural to turn attention to something else. And it just so happened that Erik's attention seemed to be turning towards the human race. Which, also, was something he had secretly been dreading. It all seemed like such a natural flow of things, which really, really didn't sit well.

"Go ahead, Charles," Erik's voice continued on, pulling him from his thoughts as they stopped a small distance now between them. "Tell me I'm wrong." Erik smiled at him, knowing full well he was right it seemed like a pointless thing to ask of Charles. Yet he asked so he could put the point across, make it clear that they were all now a target.

Placing two fingers against his temple, Charles concentrated and frowned slowly from the information which he was seemingly finding out. Narrowing his eyes against the sun, he eventually lowered his arm with a low sigh. Turning and looking to Moira, he shook his head slowly. She suddenly looked worried as she turned and darted off towards the radio. The silence which enveloped them all then was heavy with apprehension. 

Eventually though the silence was ripped apart by the echoing sounds of missiles launching. One after another the ships fired, each missile heading their way with deadly speed and accuracy. Streams of smoke and fire trailed through the blue clear sky; the only marks on the cloudless sky were those of deadly weapons. Sailing in a perfect arch to get enough height, the missiles suddenly changed direction and readjusted to fly back down and towards the island, straight towards the beach. A few broke off from the main units, but even still, all of them continued to head their way. That was until they were getting a little too close, and Erik lifted up an arm and splayed his hand in the air and the missiles ceased moving.

Staying still and rotating in the air, their momentum was taken away and the immediate threat for the moment had vanished. It was an effort, that Erik couldn't even deny. There were so many to stop, and even though he had, he hadn't completely because some still edged slowly forwards. Turning and looking over his shoulder, he sent a look in Liesel's direction. Surely her electrical skills could tamper with the inner circuits within the missiles? If she tampered with some, he could merely drop them without incident. She looked puzzled, yet when his eyes narrowed dangerously at her and he nodded slyly over to the missiles, she looked at him with wide eyes. 

She shook her head slowly. The disagreement to his idea caused him to look at her spitefully. Liesel hung her head, lifting up an arm she fisted her hand and disappeared from the spot. She had to be quick, if she wasn't quick she would die. If she screwed up, she would die. If she didn't short circuit the inner workings of the targeting systems within, then it would blow up underneath her. From one missile to another she found the access hatches on some, they were only small and all were screwed shut. But even still, she pressed her hand against them and once a satisfying fizz happened, she leaped off and went to the next.

In total, she got to about six, six out of how many seemed pointless. Yet it seemed to lessen the strain for Erik, as he readjusted his hold on the ones still in the air. Standing on one missile, Liesel looked out to the sea, and to the ships. Turning slowly she looked back to those standing on the beach. Shocked, confused, worried and scared. The emotions were varied. Stepping forwards she reached the nose of the missile before shooting towards the ruined submarine. Locking on and pulling back she vanished only to reappear on the beach near to Erik. She looked at her hands, these gauntlets did wonders for focus firing.

"Erik, you said it yourself: we're the better men." Charles said after recovering from their little display of coordinated take down. He looked hesitantly to the missiles, those still active, and watched as they were turned in the air to face the other way. Erik was planning on making the missiles go back to their owners. "This is the time to prove it. There are thousands of men on those ships. Good, honest, innocent men! They're just following orders." Charles said seriously and a little desperately. He wanted for his friend to see sense, yet the more he spoke, the more Erik seemed to concentrate on his task.

"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders." Erik replied at length in a quiet tone, he looked briefly at Liesel, to Charles. They both looked to be in a similar state of despair. "Never again." He waved his hand simply in the air, and with that the missiles shuttled off slowly at first in their new corrected position. After a few seconds they picked up speed, and were soon speeding through the air.

"Erik, release them!" Charles shouted over the distant sound of the missile engines. He kept looking from the retreating missiles to Erik, and then back again. It seemed his words were falling on deaf ears, Erik had no intentions of listening to him. And it was probably because this, as well as the undertaking he was doing, that Charles found himself taking drastic measures to stop the destruction of the ships, and the loss of many lives. He vaulted forwards and tackled Erik to the side. Having his concentration suddenly taken up by something else, Erik lost control of the missiles. They lost the momentum and began to crash and hurtle into each other, exploding on impact, fire and smoke sailed into the air from those which crashed into another.

----

Edited: 13/June/2019

Reedited: 20/August/2021