After the zoo, Wally and Morph both had one last idea for ending the vacation; it converged on heading back to New York. They'd worked their way back that direction anyway, so it was just a few hours away, counting traffic.

"We should hit up Coney Island," Wally said. "I've somehow never been." [See above image.]

"And I haven't been for years," Morph said.

"Coney Island?" Logan said. "That crackshow? No way."

"But I've never been either," Shine said. "And we live in New York--I mean, that's like how I live in California and have never been to Universal Studios. It's just wrong."

"Eh, all dat dere is a bunch of humans goin' around doin' nothin' but ride rides," Gambit said. 

"There's other stuff," Wally said.

"It's not that far out of our way..." Storm had never been either.

"Do they even allow mutants there?" Logan growled.

"Here's the thing," Shine said. "If you don't whip out those claws, no one is going to know you're a mutant. You can just walk in."

"You know what ain't right?" Rogue said. "Is that we have not gotten a call from Scott. Makes me jumpy, nothing going wrong for this many days."

"That sounds like something a 1-A kid would say," Wally said.

"Major UA vibes," Shine agreed.

No one knew what that meant.

In the end, though, Logan gave into to all the cajoling.

It was also the perfect place for Wally and Shine to get ice cream, as they'd planned, and discuss problems.

The discussion part was short, and the making stupid jokes part long, as it turned out.

Shine then waited with Mystique while the others went to try more rides.

Gambit didn't have a great tolerance for rides, as it turned out, and Rogue and Storm did, so they went off with Morph.

Logan said the whole thing was stupid.

"You really are allergic to fun," Rogue said to him.

Coming from the person who'd been in a bad mood most of the day up till this point, Logan thought.

"You can join us," Shine offered. "We'll just going try the non-panic-inducing stuff."

"How can you even have energy left?" Mystique said.

"I'm not old like you," Shine said.

Mystique swatted at her indignantly. "You don't know how old I am, you little minx!"

"Older than me." Shine dodged. "Guess that struck a nerve. Come on, you have three kids. How old did you think I'd think you were?"

"Technically she has two kids," Logan said.

"You don't know that, Logan," Shine said archly. 

Mystique shot her a look. "I have 2."

"Decide ya struck out enough after Creed?" Logan said.

"Kurt's the younger one, Logan," Shine said. "And don't talk about them like that."

"Oh, you're not gonna say Creed is yer friend now." Logan made a face.

"I'm afraid I can't claim that yet," Shine said, "but it's still rude."

"Likstar, up to a point I tolerate this, but if you're gonna become a priss about it," Logan said, "then forget it."

"Very well, Logan," Shine said, with the exact tone Storm would have used. "Go ahead and be disagreeable then. I won't stand in the way of your freedom."

She tossed her hair and sped up.

Mystique tried hard not to find that funny.

Maybe it was that 76 hours was just too long, and it was wearing her down to keep up this hostile approach for so long, but it was getting harder and harder to be snide. Especially since it was not working.

But if she softened up, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to get back out of it once it was over. And she was not going to weaken, not toward them.

"Dis is no fun." Gambit had to follow them since he had nothing else to do.

"Does buzzkill run in this group?" Shine said. "We should try one of those games that you win prizes at.... Of course, I suck at them, but still."

"This is a waste of time," Logan said. "We should have gone straight home. I don't like being away this long. Things might go to pieces."

"You know, you could just call them," Shine said dryly.

Logan apparently didn't want to look that needy.

Still, it was true everyone was a little tired, and the carnival scene got a little old when you'd already been out for hours. They regrouped not that long later.

Wally said he wanted to come back some other time and explore more, but for now he was okay with heading back.

On their way out, though, they noticed some trouble.

As luck would have it, it was around a few mutants who were getting picked on by some less savory park goers.

The mutants were both visible ones, though they were not that pronounced. They were looking scared.

"Ah, just what I thought." Logan sounded way too happy to get a chance to knock some heads.

"What a shame," Storm said. "Even here."

"Bigots will pop up anywhere," Morph said. "But should we make too much of a scene here?"

"You know you don't have to solve everything with violence," Wally said. "Why not just talk to them?"

"Oh, sure, talkin' will make them change their whole worldview," Logan said.

"Well, it changed yours," Shine said quietly.

"Perhaps she's right," Storm said. "We could at least try not fighting. They look like foolish, young people is all."

They edged over that way.

Mystique hung back.

In fact, things had almost died down on their own, but one of the mutants had picked up a can and thrown it at the humans who were calling them names and had also knocked their snacks out of their hands.

The humans turned back, only too glad to have an excuse, and no security was in sight.

"Big mistake," one sneered. They shoved the mutants down.

They might have been twins, definitely siblings, from the look of them. They held up their arms, looking both scared and angry.

"Hey," Logan called. "Break it up."

The other teens turned to look at them. They had the look of probably being not too well brought up, from their style and tattoos.

"Hey, buzz off," one said. "We're just having a little fun."

But then they saw how many adults there were.

"That is enough," Storm said.

"Wait, are you mutants also?" the kids pointed at them defiantly. "Are you all just coming out now and messing up our fun?"

"Who was doing that?" Morph tried to play it off.

Logan took a step closer, and the kids started yelling, "Hey! Mutants! We're being attacked, hey!"

The X-men frowned.

Other people started looking their way.

"Every time," Wally sighed.

Shine stepped forward.

"Stop that yelling," she said in a commanding voice.

The teens looked at her like they might hit her with a stick. "Or what?" one sneered.

Shine raised an eyebrow. "Where are your parents?" she asked.

"They don't care what we do," the same kid said. "We're here on our own."

"That's a shame," Shine said. "A bunch of high-schoolers in a place like this, alone."

She was looking at the other people who were watching.

"Do you kids need help finding your way home, then?" she said smiling politely.

"What? No," they said bizarrely.

"No? Because we can call someone for you," Shine went on, "or a taxi. It's dangerous to be out too late, especially around here. All kinds of people haunt park grounds at night. You kids seem a little young to be out on your own like this, if you spook that fast about something like mutants." She shrugged. 

"Yeah, really." Wally imitated her tone. "Come on, guys, that's just dumb. You think anyone's gonna take that seriously? This is New York."

The passersby started to look a little annoyed, like they did think the kids had cried wolf.

"Wait a minute," said the teens angrily. "We--wait a minute." One of them frowned. "I know you... You were at the church."

Shine did a double take. "Oh my gosh," she said. "I remember you."

Logan wanted to gag her.

"So they really are mutants, huh?" the kids said.

Shine put her hand on her hips. "Look," she said, "you want to get arrested for harassment? I can tell the cops that you harassed people at a church, including kids."

The teens saw some of the onlookers were now giving them disdainful looks.

"Hey, we were just messing around," they shrugged. "Nothing to get all excited over. Geez, lady."

People started walking away.

Storm let out a sigh of relief.

"Wow, she's good at this," Morph said.

"You're the one who sang that dumb song," the teenaged boy of before said. "You made us look like fools."

"I do not have to help you with that," Shine said. "Picking on people who aren't bothering you is foolish enough. You ever hear that you shouldn't start trouble?"

"And mutants shouldn't come out in public," the kids answered.

"Why, you little--" Logan began.

"Logan." Storm grabbed his arm. "This was just settling down. Let's not start it up again."

The young mutants had gotten behind the X-men and were trying to slip away.

"I bet you're a mutant too," the boy accused Shine.

"No," Shine said. "I'm just smarter than you."

He frowned.

"Look, kid," Shine said, "I don't know what your history is and why you feel the need to do these things. You could just be a jerk, or you could have a hard life, who knows? But you're not gonna make your life any better by picking on these people." She eyed them all. "And we can call the cops if you insist on pushing it. I think they'll listen to us. We've even been in the news. So you can either deal with that, or you can apologize to these people for what you did."

"Apologize to muties?" said one.

"I think I see a pay phone," Wally said. "If you want to do this the hard way." He looked pretty mad.

"Yeah, well, you're just harassing a bunch of kids," said one who must have been a little smarter. "You can't prove we did nothing."

Morph turned in to one of them. "Maybe you could just confess," he said.

They all looked scared.

Then they scowled.

"Whatever." They tried to run.

"Oh, no you don't," Shine blocked them. "Enough. You owe them an apology."

"We ain't apologizing to nothing, lady!" they said. But they looked scared.

"You're harassing people repeatedly," Shine said. "We can't just ignore this. If you're going to be menaces, then we ought to report you. If you don't wish to apologize, how about just telling us your names, then?"

"You b----," One of them said.

"I wouldn't talk to her that way," Wally said.

"Well, ya better do what the lady says." Logan was interested to see how this would end now. "If ya know what's good for ya."

The teens exchanged looks.

"Sorry or whatever, then," they finally said. "We weren't even doing anything."

"Wally?" Shine said.

"I'll take it from here," Wally said. "Come on, boys. I'll walk you out."

"Walk us out?" they said.

"Yeah, I think you've had enough excitement, haven't you?" Wally said. "I'll make sure you get safely out of this park."

"What? We're not going anywhere with you!" they said.

"It's him or them." Shine gestured at the X-men.

The teens twitched.

"This way, fellows." Wally herded them away.

"What is he doin'?" Rogue asked.

"He's going to have a talk with them," Shine said. "Wally is real good with kids and teens like that." She tugged her hair. "Hopefully those boys will learn not to cause trouble for people. But that's a hard age to understand consequences or empathy."

The two young mutants were quite surprised.

"Were you from that church that was on the news?" they asked.

"Yeah," Morph said. "They're famous now."

"Whoa, cool..." The mutants had stars in their eyes practically. 

"I want to check that place out," one, a girl said. "But we're not really religious...so..."

"Neither are we," Shine said. "Not in the way you're thinking, I suspect. You should come by. It's a real nice place. Once it's finished being rebuilt, that is..."

"And you're really human?" said the boy.

Shine was silent for a moment.

"Does is matter?" she said oddly.

"We just didn't think any humans would ever, you know...care about mutant rights," said the girl. "I mean, it's pretty cool of you."

Shine seemed to force a smile. "Well, it's nothing much, really. Winging it mostly.... I think we should probably follow Wally. He can handle them, but I wouldn't want them to make a scene and get him in trouble."

"Did...we say something wrong?" the boy asked as she walked away.

"Not all humans care to be spoken of like it's one category," Storm said. "That is all. She knows you meant well."

The kids didn't really seem to understand.

They went on their way, and the X-men caught up with Shine and then Wally.

"I think they'll not cause any more trouble," Wally said. "We made friends."

"Did you tell them your Grod story?" Shine asked.

"Wasn't sure it would be the best story to tell them," Wally said. "I thought the story of the aliens' invasion was better."

"I don't know why we even bother anymore," Storm said. "The two of you seem to handle these situations with an ease that astounds me."

Shine and Wally looked at her oddly.

"Well, we won't always be here, Storm," Shine said. "Take it as a gift...a little less to worry about. Anyway, it's nothing any of you couldn't do--you just don't."

"Makin' nice with people who treat us like garbage isn't really a priority," Logan said.

"I have to wonder at times," Shine said soberly, "just how well you think you treat humans, that they should particularly like you. I can get treated badly walking into a store on any given day, regardless of my race, if the people there are jerks. But I usually am not, because I try to be polite and considerate."

"And they were bein' real polite and considerate," Logan said.

"Even if they are always like that, is that any reason to be the same? Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth...and then what?"

"I've heard that before," Logan said.

"But it get no better," Gambit said, now bitter. "We fight and fight for it, but things don't change much. People not want to change."

Wally sighed. "Tell me about it...but I don't think everyone is so bad, you know. They just get distracted from what really matters."

"But what did we ever do to them?" Morph said.

"Morph, what did any of us ever do to each other?" Shine said. "For you, it's being a mutant, for the rest of us, it's whatever else is convenient. You fight and fight, you say? But what do you fight for? Fairness? Nothing is fair. Not for anyone. Changing people's minds happens one person at a time, and that's the truth. But, if I may say so, spending your life trying to change people's minds about you is a pointless endeavor. I don't know that's it's ever worked for anyone. You can't do it. All we can do is be the best we can be, and let them decide if they like it or not."

The X-men dropped it because they were either too upset or too uncertain to want to continue.

* * *

After that they got in line for the ferry to get back. Rogue could have just flown, but she wasn't really in the mood now, and the others were tired. 

Anyway, the ferry was kind of fun, all lit up at this late hour.

[But I couldn't find a night picture, sadly.]

They rode up at the open part, though it was chilly over the water at this time.

"This is nice," Wally said.

"Mmm," Shine agreed. "Well, I think I'm all vacationed out."

Rogue was down a ways from them, thinking--wondering if she should have just tried to work it out with Shine instead of avoiding her. Did she really do that so often? She didn't think she did.

[Rogue didn't roll a nat 20 on self awareness.]

She glanced at Mystique, who was still in disguise. She was pretty sure she'd purposely picked a form that looked kind of like the one Rogue knew her as. It was so annoying.

Rogue frowned.

"Ah, cheer up." Morph tried to help. "At least we get to sleep in our own rooms tonight, right? No more run-down motels."

"I don't really mind that part," Rogue said. "I've slept worse places." She shrugged. "But I did miss Hank and Jean and Jubilee and the Professor."

Not Scott, Morph noticed.

"It's weird--I haven't been back that long, but it already feels weird being away." He shrugged.

Rogue finally perked up a little. "Yeah, it feels like home, huh?"

"What you two talking about?" Gambit joined them.

"Relax," Morph said. "We're just talking about going home."

"Gambit be glad to get off dis ferry," Gambit said.

"Oh, don't tell me that's another thing you can't handle," Morph said.

"Gambit can handle de ferry jus' fine, but not de company." Gambit jerked his head.

They looked and then they frowned.

The same kids as before were loitering around the top of the ferry.

In hindsight...it made sense they'd have had to get on the same one, since they'd been made to leave.

Unfortunately, a couple of them saw them looking down and scowled.

"Just don't look at them," Morph said, trying to look nonchalant. "Maybe they'll go away."

"Ain't never seen no hunter give up dat easy." Gambit fingered a card.

"Now ain't good time to fight," Rogue said. "Too many people could get hurt if we damage the ship. They ain't that dangerous. Better to just ignore 'em."

"And if you could not blow stuff up when there's smoke pipes not that far away..." Morph added.

Gambit didn't seem eager to listen, but he knew better than to start something.

They hoped Logan didn't notice.

Logan sniffed 'em out, but didn't go that direction.

"You know it was better to let it go earlier." Storm seemed to read his mind. "Better for us and them, the younger ones, I mean. They could have gotten in trouble."

"I don't like just takin' it," Logan said.

"Perhaps Mr. West handled it best," Storm said. 

"They're here," Logan said. "Better just hope they learned their lesson."

In fact, the bunch of teens had no intention of approaching the X-men themselves...but, being dumb kids and still antsy about it, they did make the blunder of mentioning what happened to some of the people around, in lower tones, but with the clearly injured sound of whiners.

Most of the crowd on the ferry were far too tired to care if mutants and teenaged punks had had some cross words, but there were a few somewhat inebriated, rough fellows who were just as eager to star trouble as the teens--and not as easily intimidated.

"Hey." They came up to Logan and Storm. "These kids told us you were bothering them. What the matter with you, Mutie? Can't let a kid have a good time? Gotta come and ruin even a fun park for 'em?"

"We ain't ruinin' nothin'," Logan said. "Kids got into trouble on their own."

"Sure they did," the guys jeered. "We don't need your kind around here, especially if you're gonna start picking on our kids."

One shoved at Logan.

Logan drew his claws. "Ya might want to watch where you're shovin'."

"Logan, I believe this is unwise," Storm said.

"Oh, what? I should wait for 'em to go away this time?" Logan said. "These punks are itchin' for a fight, and I'll give it to 'em."

"Hey, this ones gotta lotta attitude," said one of them to the others. "Maybe we should take him down a peg or two."

The staff of the ferry were, unfortunately, not close enough to hear what was going on, and most of the passengers were just steering clear of the commotion.

"Bring it, pint size," Logan said. Though they weren't really smaller than he was.

"Logan!" Storm's eyes turned white, and a chill wind blew the jerks back. "I think a full on fight at this location would only lead to an unhappy accident. How about all of you settle this later?"

"She's one too!" was the not very rational response.

"We ought to know, with that white hair."

"She's a witch is what she is. Did she just control the air?"

"I think I may have just made this worse..." Storm said uncertainly.

"Ya think?" Logan couldn't help but say.

"Hey, there's a witch on board!" some of the punks started yelling.

People began to get annoyed and some began to spook.

"What do you mean a witch?"

"Go sleep it off, morons."

"Where?"

"Right there, the mutants!" They pointed.

"Mutants!"

"I think maybe we need to get involved now," Gambit said.

"Oh crap," Morph said.

"Ah, man, we couldn't make it 3 days without a fight?" Rogue groaned. "People just never let up, do they?"

Wally and Shine finally heard the commotion.

By the time they got there, Logan had already slammed a bunch of guys into the deck, and more were swinging at him.

Storm restrained them. "Please," she said, "we have no wish to fight. Let us settle down. We could throw the boat off at this rate."

"She's sinking us!" was the response. "You hear that? She's going to sink us. Get her!"

Storm backed up and rose into the air. "I have no intention of sinking this boat."

People started throwing things at her.

She tried to knock them aside.

One object she didn't see clipped the side of her forehead, and she fell, dazed, into the water.

"Uh oh," Wally said.

"I got her!" Rogue dove off the side and called, "Storm...Storm? Where are you, gal? Uh oh...I hope she didn't go under."

"Rogue!" Shine called. "Watch it, the motor could cut you to ribbons if you get sucked under there--or Storm. It's too dark. You need a light. Wait a moment." She pulled out her sword and lit it up.

Not a lot of people were near her, but a few gasped.

Shine tossed it to Rogue. "Use this."

"Thanks," Rogue said uncertainly. She dove into the water.

"Storm'll probably come to on her own," Morph said. "She's tough...but what about us?"

Mystique had gone closer to the side to see what happened to Rogue.

"She's one of them too!" one of the teens said helpfully.

More people were now scared or angry enough to be ganging up on them.

Gambit had cards ready.

"Don't," Shine warned him, "You hit the wrong thing, you'll blow this whole thing up. You're the last person who should be using their power."

"Gambit jus' supposed to take it?" Gambit said.

"Don't you have a staff or something?" Shine said.

Gambit sullenly pulled it out. He didn't like taking her suggestion.

"Right, so what do I do here?" Morph asked.

People were throwing things at them.

"Well...this escalated quickly," Shine muttered, ducking.

"Shine," Wally called, "I'mma just get Logan, okay? Before he really breaks something. I'll be right back."

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Shine said.

Wally dashed down to where Logan was.

By now the ferrymen had noticed what happened. A few of them tried to break it up, but the people were getting too riled to listen.

"Maybe we should call the coast guard...?" one said.

"Well, I guess your speeches don't work on everyone," Gambit said to Shine, as they and Morph and Mystique all tried to get behind some of the ship's equipment to get away from the angry knot of people chasing them.

"Never said they did," Shine said.

Mystique transformed into one of the crew members.

"Maybe she's got the right idea," Morph said, doing the same. Then he dashed around the corner to meet the people. "Hey, they went that way!" He pointed.

The people turned and looked. "Where?"

"Over there." Morph pointed the opposite direction.

They started to move.

"You know, call me naive, but shape-shifting is easily the most dangerous mutation I know of next to telepathy," Shine said.

"Gambit might not argue dat," Gambit admitted.

Shine realized Mystique had left. "Dang it, where is she?"

"Where else? She saving her own skin, getting away from us," Gambit said. "Typical."

"She'll be stuck here if so," Shine said. "Until we can get off."

"So she can hide. Forget her," Gambit said. "Get her later."

While this was probably the wisest idea, Shine was concerned that Mystique was going to try something dumb, and she ran after her anyway.

Gambit swore and followed, since he couldn't go the other way.

Morph followed them also.

Mystique had tried to go back around the other end of the ferry, by climbing over part of the top.

Several things happened at once.

Wally ran that direction, dragging Logan, and getting followed by more of the angry passengers.

One of the crew fired off an actual gun into the air as a warning for everyone to stop panicking.

The X-men stopped, not sure what to do now.

Then the whole boat jerked, like some huge swell had moved under it.

Storm had, in fact, panicked when she'd come to and been sucked under it, and in her effort to get free of the current had overcompensated, making Rogue also shoot off into the water.

Mystique was trying to slip around the the crowd, and the jerk sent her ramming into the rail hard enough to startle her, and she reverted back to her blue form.

This gave the already nervous people quite a turn, and they jumped back.

"Ahh, what is that!"

"Monster?!"

Mystique froze, not sure whether it would be worse to transform again or to stay this way.

"Crap." Shine stumbled toward her. "Stupid...come on." She tried to grab her.

"Hey, another one!" said one fellows, one of the drunk ones of before. "Where do you think you're going, mutie?"

"I'm not--" Shine began, but she was grabbed by the arm and yanked forward.

"Hey!" She kicked at the guy hard.

Mystique took the opportunity from this distraction to try to slip into the crowd, but her path was blocked.

"No you don't!" they said. "We saw you transform. You're not fooling us with that disguise."

Mystique backed up.

"Well...dis is bad," Gambit said.

"Yeah..." Morph said.

The crew member with the gun looked uncertain of what to do now; they didn't want to shoot anybody, they were just trying to scare them.

"Let's toss them overboard," one brilliant person said suddenly. "Let them swim the rest of the way."

By now, that wasn't even that far, but in the dark, with other boats around, it was a crazy idea to attempt to swim to shore.

"I'm not a good swimmer..." Shine said, "and I'm not a mutant, and this is a bit overkill, isn't it?"

"Come off it! We saw that glowing wand!" they jeered.

"Wait a minute." The captain of the ferry tried to intervene. "I don't think we should be tossing anyone over board."

But no one listened to him.

"Shine!" Wally called. He tried to run to her and tripped over something.

Mystique was pushed to the edge.

"Brutes!" she said angrily.

Shine decided a portal would be unwise at such a moment, in front of so many people. She'd be sure to make the news that way; she couldn't have that happen.

She'd just have to wait till she was in the water... Where was Rogue?

The angry passengers tossed her overboard like Jonah.

Shine hit her head on the boat partway down. Unfortunately, she was too dazed to make a portal. She hit the cold water with a shock, but was pulled towards the motor.

She tried to scream for help but water choked her.

Mystique had a bit more luck defending herself. She managed to use the rail to elevate herself and slip out of the grasp of the people trying to shove her off. She slammed one into the rails.

The others charged her.

She turned herself into something much scarier looking, and they backed off.

Then she ran between them.

"Drat dat coward!" Gambit was mad. "Nevermind her--where're de girls?"

"I can't see a thing." Morph was peering over the edge.

"Rogue!" Mystique called over the edge.

"Momma?" Rogue appeared, dripping. "I lost the sword. Storm done lost it--I think she's jamming the engine or somethin'."

As if to confirm this, the engine suddenly stopped whirring.

People became more spooked than before.

"Likstar was tossed in there," Mystique said. "As luck would have it, your friend's reckless action might have just saved her from being chopped to bits by the engine, but she'll still drown, the idiot."

"Right, Momma. Fine, I'll get her," Rogue said. "Where did she get tossed in?"

Mystique pointed.

"I can't see a durn thing." Rogue dove for the water to try to find her.

Wally was up now and had jumped over the edge to do the same thing.

Mystique was watching so closely she didn't notice that some of the passengers had followed her.

"You! Witch!"

She turned a little too late and got shoved down the steps to the lower deck, hitting the wood painfully.

Mystique was pretty resilient, so that didn't hurt her nearly as much as it should have. She scrambled to her feet.

Gambit and Morph heard the commotion.

"I think they might have found her," Morph said.

"Far as I'm concerned, she deserve it," Gambit said. "Storm and Rogue need our help."

"Yeah." Logan had finally found them. "I'm goin' in there. Either of you two got a light?"

"Isn't there an emergency light or something on this ship?" Morph said.

Gambit looked around, then he threw a card at the captain's room and blew the window out. Reaching in, he pulled out a couple of underwater flares. "Dis might work."

"This is one time stealin' is somethin' I agree with," Logan said. 

He took one and jumped into the water.

"We're all gon' be swimming back at dis rate," Gambit said. "Morph...wait, Morph? Where'd you go?"

Morph had decided to just go see for himself what was going on.

Mystique had managed to evade her pursuers up to the other end of the boat, but she was now out of places to run.

"You run out of luck," one said snidely. 

Mystique spat at him.

"Dirty mutant!" They plucked her up and shoved her off the rail.

Mystique managed to catch it one rung from the bottom, and her skin was so dark, they didn't see her hands on it, not in that light.

"Let's find the rest of them," they said, turning away.

At least they didn't wait for a splash.

Mystique gritted her teeth and tried to pull herself up.

"Rogue!" she hissed. But Rogue was no where close enough to hear her over the wind.

Well, it was going to take more than some drunk idiots and a boat to be the end of Mystique! No way was she just going to slip.

She managed to get a better grip on the rung and hoisted herself towards the next one, then something suddenly grabbed her and yanked her up the rest of the way.

Assuming it was one of the passengers, Mystique swung blindly before realizing it was Morph.

"Ow!" Morph said. "What was that for?" He rubbed his face.

"I--" Mystique didn't get a chance to answer. The engine roared back to life, and the whole boat lurched, slamming both of them into the rails again.

"Oww..." Morph mumbled.

At least no one could hear them now.

* * *

Rogue found Shine just in the nick of time, almost by accident.

Shine had had as narrow an escape as Mystique predicted but had got out from under the boat before she'd lost consciousness completely. Rogue finally spotted her pale skin against the water and yanked her out of it.

Wally came rushing up, using his speed to keep on top.

"Is she okay?"

"I think she's alive," Rogue said. "We gotta get her back on deck or somewhere, Mr. West. She might need CPR."

"I've got her." Wally took her. "Better get Logan."

He dashed away.

Logan was looking for Storm.

Rogue wasn't sure what had happened to Storm after she stalled the motor. At least for a short time, she'd seemed to disappear.

In fact, Storm had zapped herself in the process of doing that, and the cold water didn't help how numb she felt. She was floundering like crazy...but she actually wasn't that strong of a swimmer even normally, since she usually could use her power to manage herself.

She might have managed to get herself out of the water even so, but the angry passengers were watching, waiting for anyone to try to get back on deck.

Logan finally found her and started to tow her towards the shoreline.

Storm was shivering by now. 

Gambit was trying to figure out how to get away, when one of the punk kids from before noticed him.

He looked at him. The kid looked back. Then he just kind of shrugged and turned away.

One word and everyone would have turned on Gambit and known he was mutant, but the word didn't come.

Gambit wasn't sure what to make of that but used the chance to slip away unnoticed.

He finally found the two shapeshifters, both in disguise. They all just waited it out till the ferry reached the shore.

Rogue met them there.