"Quick thinking on that, Storm," Shine said, once they heard what happened.

"But what does it mean?" Rogue asked. "I couldn't understand it either."

"I think just what you said." Shine sipped some more water. "I think that Emma is seeing the Merging, the people... I can sense it too...some underlying error in the Reality here. It's not that potent to me, but it's like a nagging sense, like when you know you forgot to do something, but it's bugging you, not knowing what it is."

"I have it too," Wally said. "Really annoying."

"There's this sense of it not being quite real," Shine said, "which is normal for Dimension Shock, but it's glaring. Perhaps all of you feel it, you just don't realize it. Emma is more sensitive because of her powers. She probably heard people's minds calling out in distress at the strain on them. I think also she probably saw Apocalypse or some other dictator. His presence must be strong here. We call it a shadow over the land sometimes. Principalities, powers...that sort of thing."

"That's not making sense," Kitty said.

"'Things present, nor things still to come, neither height nor depth...'" Shine seemed to be quoting. "'...nor any other created thing shall ever be able to separate us from the love of God.'"

"I feel like the longer we're here, the worse it might get," Wally mused. "So we should hurry. We're at the Mansion. Where do we find the bad guys, then?"

No one had any idea.

"Well, not here clearly," Logan said. "It looks like they trashed this place. Or blew it up. Could have been decades ago."

"You guys ought to have a card to stamp for that," Shine muttered.

"Do you think the basement is still here?" Morph was looking around more closely.

"Even if it was, it might be unstable or radio active..." Hank said. "I hope not that. We'd all be exposed already. We had better get a move on. But where to?"

"Wish we had a map," Jubilee said.

"We want to find Apocalypse?" Mystique was eyeing the horizon. "Fastest way is to find his minions, same with Sinister. Whichever to both of them...and to do that, we have to go to the urban areas, where people are going to be harried by them. Which means, Manhattan."

"Is it...still here?" Kurt wondered.

Rogue flew up and looked. Storm did also.

"I see a city," Rogue said.

"Yes, but it doesn't look like Manhattan to me," Storm said. "Or NYC... I see no skyscrapers."

"Let's assume it got destroyed," Shine said, "and whatever is rebuilt is probably less focused on business empires than oppressing people... That's still our best bet--Raven is right. But...we'd be walking miles... I can't even walk for a minute, I don't think."

"And our cars aren't here." Logan frowned.

Everyone was silent.

"What if I made a car?" Kevin said suddenly.

They looked at him.

"Can you do that?" Trinity asked.

"I can make other things that move. Why not a car?" Kevin said. "It might not run like one, but...with my mind, I could move it, carry yer all."

"That's genius, Kev," Wally said.

"Yeah, that's a great idea," Jubilee said. 

"One car is too small," Emma said.

"True. Hey, can you do a school bus?" Wally said. "You've seen that, right?"

"In...some of the movies yer all watch," Kevin said. "Never been on one. A boat, yes."

"A boat will not help us unless we wish to sail there," Storm said.

"Come to think of it, would sailing there be wiser?" Emma said. "We have no idea what kind of security exists here, but I imagine it's harder to guard off the ocean than the city."

"Yeah, but they'd be lookin' fer people to come into the harbor, then," Logan said. "Probably double check 'em. We want to sneak into a city, we use the road people might normally use. If there is one."

"So a bus it is," Wally said.

The others were not so enthused about that idea, but Kevin readily pulled a huge chunk of dirt up out of the ground, and it molded itself into a bus, without logo and complete with a steering wheel, tires, and seats.

"I think Momo might be jealous," Shine mused.

"Awesome!" Wally said.

"Oh, yay, a bus," Kitty said. "How are we going to drive it if Kevin made it? Does it even have an engine?"

"I can move it with my mind," Kevin said.

"Good enough for me," Shine said. "Everyone aboard. Or would you rather walk across this country?"

"I'd rather fly," Rogue said.

"Too dangerous," Shine objected. "We get close, we have no idea what kind of patrols we could run into. We hide in this, at least it's not obvious we're mutants or...well, gifted people. What's the matter? Are you all shy or something? Think it kills your street cred?"

"Shoot, I ain't ridden a school bus since I was a kid," Rogue said. "But fine."

She flew inside it and sat down.

The others reluctantly followed.

Emma sank down into the back row. She still felt weak after Rogue's "help" of before.

Scott sat next to her. A this point, he was like those people who always want to sit by the people they've known the longest. Kind of like in school, if he thought about it.

"Well, this is kind of cool," Morph said. "No seat belts, so..."

"We're gonna want them." Kitty was eyeing the ground. "There's not really any road."

"I can just make one," Kevin said.

"Okay, Wizard of Oz," Shine said. "One thing at a time. Don't strain yourself too much. Even you are bound to get tired. Just focus on moving us along. I don't get carsick, so a few bumps aren't so bad."

"Just because you don't doesn't mean the rest of us don't," Ryan said, looking nervous.

"It's the end of the world, and you're worried about that?" Jubilee said.

"I don't need more problems!" Ryan retorted.

"Perhaps I have some medication for it..." Hank mused, looking into his bag.

"Just go." Logan was tired of this.

Kevin made the bus move so fast, the people who were standing shot down the aisle.

Rogue had to catch Storm by her arm.

"Maybe ease up a little there..." Wally called, holding Shine off the ground by her waist.

Kevin slowed to a crawl.

It took easily 10 minutes for him to figure out the right kind of movement, and everyone wanted to scream, but they held back on it. Finally, he found a balanced pace and they moved along more smoothly.

"That wasn't so bad." Morph was cheerful.

Mystique sighed.

"Actually, this is just like The Magic School Bus," Morph said. "I always wanted to be in that show."

"Oh, really? Me too." Shine leaned back over her seatback. "It was great. The song, you remember: 'Cruising on down main street, you're relaxed and feeling good. Next thing that you know, you're seeing--octopus in the neighborhood?'"

"That's totally my jam." Morph leaned forward. "Yeah, then, 'Surfin on the soundwaves! Swinging through the stars! Take a left at your intestine--'"

"Ew." Kitty made a face.

"'Take your second right past Mars,'" Shine joined in. "'On the magic school bus!' And then something about riding a river of lava and...spanking the plankton? Well, the 90s were a different time for slang, that's for sure."

https://youtu.be/1CYIlaOo3JI

[The Magic School bus theme]

"That was so much nostalgia right there," Morph said.

"There were books too," Shine said. "One actually had time travel in it. I mean, it was mostly propaganda, but, you know, still fun. They only went back in time though."

"Is it too soon to make the obvious Back to the Future reference about what we're doing?" Wally asked.

"How many references can we make?" Shine asked. "If that's the only one, it might have been too late more than too soon. Should have said it before we portalled."

"Well, I had other things I was thinking about," Wally said.

"I will never understand their incessant need to act as if these are trivial matters," Emma muttered. "We're in a post apocalyptic time zone, with one shot to stop the end of the world, and this is what they talk about."

"It does seem a little crazy..." Scott admitted. "Though Morph always was one to make light of things, now that I think about it."

"This is the perfect time," Shine was saying, "for Car Jam."

"Oh, like 'The Wheels on the Bus,'" Morph said.

Mystique leaned her forehead on the back of the seat in exasperation.

"I will come back there and phase you through the floor!" Kitty cried.

"All right, all right." Morph held up his hands. "It was mostly a joke, though I bet we could have made it an apocalyptic version of it."

"That sounds depressing," Wally said.

"Maybe something more upbeat," Shine said.

"Or silence🔇," Logan said.

"Logan, we have easily a several-hour drive, assuming that we make it that far," Shine said. "Now, you can either let us do our thing to stay positive, or you can deal with all of us being on edge that entire time. But we all know you don't like me when I'm on edge. This is our process. Deal with it."

Logan huffed but didn't argue.

"I suppose it makes sense to not try to think too much about the danger..." Storm said. "Just be considerate in your choice if you're going to use music as entertainment. We don't all have the same taste."

"So...I guess beat boxing is out." Morph was kidding.

"Dude, can you do that?" Wally said.

"Oh, sure, I'm an expert at it," Morph said. "I can make all the noises just like you'd hear them from actual instruments."

He imitated the ba-dum crash sound for punctuating a joke.

"And that's just wrong." Kitty pulled a hood over her head.

 "I mean, I could get into this," Ryan said. "Usually we sing Bible songs on the way to summer camp, so it's fun. I mean it's corny, but...what else do we have to do?"

"I now regret not bringing a book," Hank mused.

"Want to borrow my Bible?" Shine offered. "That's the only book I bring on missions, but it's interesting enough."

"No thank you," Hank said politely.

"Okay, Ryan, let's see if you know this one."🔉 Shine started singing cheerfully.🔉 "'I dig deep down deep, but there's still more--'"

"--'Deep down deep, it's like a well without a floor,'" Ryan finished.

"Okay...'deep and wide, deep and wide'--"🎵

"--'There's a fountain flowing deep and wide.'" 🎙

"This is kind of fun," Wally said. "I mean, it's like a game show. Do a harder one."

"'It's me, it's me, it's me, oh, Lord,'" Shine tried an older one.🙏

"'Standing in the need of prayer.🙏'" Ryan knew it.

"I should start tallying this," Jubilee said.

"It's kind of scary," Kitty said.

"Okay, you try one," Shine said. "I mean, I'm from the future--you might know songs I've never heard, so..."

Ryan rubbed his head. 🎤"'I've got the joy, joy, joy--'"

🎤"'Joy, down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart? Where...? Down in my heart to stay,'" Shine finished at once. "I've known that one since I was a wee toddler, feels like."

"'🎵Well, a burnin' bush told me just the other day🎶--'" Ryan tried something a little more obscure, he thought.

"'🎵That I was gonna come over here and stay,🎶'" Shine picked it up. "Oh, this one is fun. '🎵And get God's people out of Pharaoh's 🐍hands and lead them all to the promised Land...singing, Pharoah🐍, Pharoah 🐍, uh oh, oh, baby, let my people go, yeah. Na na na.🎶' You know, I first learned that song from these...I think they were Norwegian people in kids' worship. They taught us to say 'oofta' instead of 'yeah', or 'uh' after the 'people go' part. I thought that was the way you sang it for years. I have to wonder what other people thought I was trying to say."

"That's hilarious," Wally said.

"I still remember the hand motions👋👐." Shine started doing them. "'Me and God's people traveled to the Red Sea, and Pharaoh's army's coming after me. I raised my rod and stuck it into the sand, and all of God's people walked across dry land...'"

"I know the story," Kitty said. "But the song is annoying. It's too peppy. Praise songs should be solemn and respectful."

"All power to you if that's what you like," Shine said. "But it's not actually in the Bible, Torah or otherwise, that they have to be in a certain style. You can't tell me all those Psalms were super slow and serious. What about Ps. 150? It literally has the peppy instruments in the song: 'Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty heavens. Praise Him for his acts of power. Praise Him for His surpassing Greatness. Praise Him with the sound of trumpets. Praise Him with the strings and flutes. Praise him with the harp and lyre. Praise him with a crash of cymbals! Praise Him with tambourine and dancing.'"

She was singing it very fast.

Kitty had no real argument for this. She shrugged.

"And just out of curiosity," Emma asked, "how many of these songs do you know?"

"I have no idea," Shine said. "I've learned worship songs my entire life. I remember hundreds, and I've probably forgotten scores more. There's thousands and thousands of them in every major language. I know a few in Hebrew, Spanish, and even African dialects.... Went to an African church for years, actually. Dad's idea...so, I guess I have a diverse experience with worship music. Ryan?"

"Not that many, but I've heard a lot," Ryan said.

"I don't think I know that many songs in general," Emma muttered. "I suppose the constant singing is to flaunt this ability to retain all that."

"Actually, Miss Smarty Pants," Shine said, causing most of the kids to laugh, "singing charges up my powers, FYI. Which are severely weakened right now, so if you have to always have a practical justification for every single pass-time, there it is. Do you want us combat-ready later?"

Emma opened her mouth and then shut it again.

"You told her," Morph said. "Here I thought it was just for fun."

"It is," Shine said. "Who says fun is incompatible with doing the smart thing?"

They went back to singing.

"Shine didn't mean anything against you," Storm turned to say to Emma in a lower voice. "But you see it's making the young ones less afraid. They have enough difficulty coming. I see no reason not to delay some of it as long as we can."

"Is it wise?" Emma wondered. "We have to face things. There is nothing to be happy about in all this."

"We got here. That is something to be glad of," Storm said. "We have a chance. But I can give you some excuse for feeling differently, given what you're experiencing... But if we all feel that way, we might as well give up now. Some of us must try to stay strong. We mustn't begrudge them any means they can use to do so."

Emma knew Storm had basically just said she was falling apart.

It was true...and she had been for weeks. 

The worst of it? She knew Storm wasn't trying to be cruel--if anything, just the
opposite--but it still made her, Emma, mad enough to want to spit it back at her.

But she controlled herself. She would not, of all things, begin to fight over someone trying to calm her down.

It was insufferable, this being babied and taken care of by everyone. They only allowed her to come because they thought she'd just get kidnapped if they left her behind. But they must think this was only marginally better.

Everyone just saw her as dead weight on this team.

Emma thought furiously that she'd have given up a different body part just to get her telepathy or diamond form back. Anything so she wouldn't be the weak link on this team. Good gracious, the human Trinity would be more useful than her in a fight.

Storm, getting no other answer from her, assumed she was accepting her point and turned back around.

"I guess Storm is right," Scott commented. "I can't say this matches my mood about all this, but, they're just kids. I guess it's all right to try to distract them. Reminds me how differently we do things in the X-men, though."

Emma said nothing.

In truth, her heart was too heavy from all her troubled thoughts to have the energy to respond, and she had no ideas anyway.

She felt, in fact, that she might just be withdrawing into herself, able to act about as lively as stone if this kept up. She was slumping...but she couldn't help it.

That made it worse.

[Been there.]

"Emma, are you all right?" Scott thought Emma would normally say something. She was just staring into space.

"Oh, sure." Emma barely was paying attention to her own words.

"You're sure?" Scott was not good with people's feelings, that was undeniable...but even he couldn't miss how obvious it was that she was lying.

"Don't pity me," Emma said bitterly. "I just want all this to be over. One way or the other. I almost don't care anymore what happens to me. If I have to go one more day like this..."

What? What would she do?

Nothing. She sighed.

"I want to save them," Scott said, "but I'd like to be able to get home also. I wouldn't say I don't care what happens to me at this point. Don't you have any plans for when you get back?"

"No, none whatsoever," Emma said dully. "I never did." 

"None?" Scott found that hard to picture. Emma always had plans, whatever else she had.

"No, I can't say I had any reason to plan," Emma said. "While I was here alone, I had no way to get home. And now, I'd be lucky to make it at all. But in that unlikely event, I wasn't planning to go back at all."

"What do you mean?" Scott was stunned.

Emma had thought of this idea some time ago...mostly once Scott had appeared and she'd fully realized what would be waiting for her if she went home.

She bunched her cape in folds in her hand. "I have nothing left in that dimension worth going back for. One can start over anywhere. I might as well stay here. Morph did. They said a few people can without causing problems. So two of us should be nothing. Besides, I can have a clean slate here. Technically, I've not committed any crime in this world."

"But they already have an Emma Frost," Scott said.

"If she's alive at all, we're too different for it to matter," Emma said. "The X-men here are amiable enough. It seems like the best choice for me."

"You could just do that?" Scott couldn't imagine it. "Not regret it at all."

"I don't have your attachments, Scott," Emma said, looking at the floor. "No team, no friends, and no family I'd care that much to see. If anything, they'd do better without me--might solve a few problems. I already died, essentially. What more is there to do? Perhaps it's best to just leave it that way. Maybe it's fate, in its own way. There's potential here...if here even is the same world now--if were not in some odd in-between state."

She smiled thinly. "Don't worry about me. I'm sure I'll have no problem adjusting. I have all my life. Rather like Mystique, I suppose. Women like us move from one thing to another easily."

Scott frowned. "But..."

But what?

What was he supposed to say? That it wasn't right? Was that his call?

He didn't like the idea though. Emma was just trying to run away.

Then again, should she have the chance to do so? Wouldn't anyone want to if they could?

"What if you don't get the choice to stay?" he said.

"If that happens, I suppose I'll be back to square one at home. Either way, it's work." Emma frowned. "I doubt that I'll have to return. Returning may be the hard part, in fact. Surely you considered the possibility of being stuck forever."

"Not that much. I was focused on finding a way back," Scott said. "I thought you were also."

How had he missed this?

"Oh, no, I was never that concerned about that," Emma said. "I just want to know how it happened and who was after me. Whether I chose to thank them in the end for it, I wouldn't be sure. I considered going home. But what's the use in it? I'd think you'd be glad enough to hear this."

"Glad?" Scott didn't understand.

"Saves you some very unpleasant explanations," Emma said. "Not that I'm sure the other Cyclops has not filled them in." She smiled a very bitter smile. "I could see it now... They'll think I did this. It's like some final twist of my act, vanishing into another world, instead of dying. Brilliant, I almost wish I had thought of it myself. Last laugh and all that. No doubt they'll assume I arranged for your transport also. I can truly say that idea never entered my mind, but they'd never believe it. It looks too likely. If you tried to tell them, they'd only assume you were being naive. It's better this way. No explanation really necessary."

Privately, she thought that if they heard she chose to stay behind, they'd tacitly understand her message that she was done meddling in their affairs, and with Scott, and forget about her.

Sure, that wasn't a nice thought, but it beat the resentment she knew was in store otherwise.

Scott, for his part, was shocked that Emma had put into words what he and some of the others on this team had even suggested about her.

So she wasn't blind to that. In fact, she saw it more clearly than them. They hadn't thought out that far.

Shine must be right that Emma was not stupid, nor incapable of spinning this a different way, had she chose to do so.

But she wanted to just fold...not play her hand.

Was that it? She was done with the X-men. Thanks for playing.

Then Scott suddenly asked himself why he was taking issue with that. Wasn't that what they all would have wanted, given the choice? Surely some of the team had expressed doubts that trying to revive Emma at all was worth it, that it might just cause them more problems down the line if she couldn't be trusted. Did they know all her secrets?

Hank had still wanted to try, saying that you never could be sure, but it was right to save someone's life if you could.

Jean had said they owed her...though she seemed reluctant about the idea.

He hadn't really remembered all that till now, and wouldn't have thought much of it if he had, but framed this way, he started to see Emma's reluctance with more sympathy.

Who would want to face that kind of scrutiny if they could just escape it?

Hadn't he been ashamed to return to the X-men after his year-long slump for almost the same reason? And he'd been ashamed to see their pity for him--and their disappointment.

Jean's absence had shattered him the way Emma's literal shattering had affected her.

Actually, Emma had been the main reason he'd been pulled out of that, finally. Her ability to search for Jean and Xavier had at least given him hope...and, perhaps, she was the only person on the team who didn't have history with him to be disappointed by. She just took the team as she found it.

At least she never lectured...

Initially he had liked that about her...before the deception threw it all into a darker light.

But perhaps things weren't that simple. Maybe Emma just was like that, with herself as well as others. Practical.

She was tougher than him, he thought with a note of shame toward himself. At least she wasn't willing to just shut down in despair. She would find something else to do with her time if she stayed in the other world. Not do nothing.

Shine had said that tough people were either trying to cover up their pain or were trying to overcome it. One of those two things.

Which one was this? he wondered.

He'd been thinking for so long that Emma thought the conversation was over and had leaned back on the seat, still out of sorts.

Well, of course he wouldn't understand. He had family. A place at home. And Jean. He'd be rushing back.

But she had nothing. Was that so wrong? To just admit it?

"I understand," Scott finally spoke, startling her.

"What?" Emma looked up.

"I understand why you'd want that." Scott sounded like he actually did understand...maybe a little too well. "Maybe better than most people would. But I don't think it's your only option...if you had second thoughts. Why not just go back? Something might work out."

"Might," Emma said flatly. "Not a lot to hang all my hopes on. What would work out anyway? Let's not be overly optimistic. These things never go well. People never really forget. Look at how Mystique is treated here. It'd be the same for me, or worse. Likely I'd end up falling into old habits in no time at all. If I ever want to be a different sort of person, I can't give myself that kind of chance."

"And you want to be different? How?" Scott asked.

Emma closed her eyes wearily. "Different. I don't know how. I'm tired of the same thing, I suppose. They say change starts with you. I could embrace that philosophy, see where it takes me."

Mystique glanced back, like she'd been listening to this.

"Word of advice, Frost," she said, "running isn't different."

"I didn't ask you," Emma said saltily. "And don't listen to my conversations."

"Sure, Pot," Mystique said. "We're both black--you know it."

She turned back around.

"Insufferable woman," Emma muttered irritably.

"She could be right," Scott said.

"Don't start with me." Emma was terse. "You couldn't possibly understand, so don't try. What have you ever done wrong that you needed to get away from? That team of yours begged you to come back. I had to wheedle my way into being accepted even temporarily. Those are the nice people. I'd get little leniency from anyone else. You ought to be glad of a clean record, Scott. Not many people have it. That means everything in the world if you want to go one way over another. Criminals can come from any background, but the heroes are a particular breed, and everyone knows it."

"I don't think that's true... Is that what the other mutants think of the X-men?" Scott wondered.

"Not to butt in again," Mystique said, glancing at him, "but that's exactly what they think. The X-men look down on the rest of us for trying to survive whatever way we can in a world that despises us. At least that's how most of the criminal mutants understand things. Now that I know you fools, I think you just don't think about it."

"I--" Scott faltered.

"I suppose I can't blame you," Mystique said. "You get to be thought of as the martyrs of our cause. Even some of the humans like you. But they hate us. They aren't forgiving of our pasts. Only the ones like you who devote your whole lives to serving them even have a chance of respect from the world at large. Knowing this, most of us who've screwed it up in the past give up on ever being able to quit that circle. Shine would call it a vicious cycle, I suppose."

"But...you're trying to," Scott said.

"My case is unique," Mystique said. "I was pushed into this. It's still not ideal. Better than I deserve... If I live through this, I guess I can see what comes of it. Maybe the Church is one answer. Whatever you can say about their weird practices, at least some of them really do buy into the clean slate idea they have. I didn't think so, but I heard about some of their pasts, at those meetings. Everyone applauded them for coming out of it. Maybe Shine is right--if mutants turned to that, even just as a compromise, we might have the best chance. It's not many people, but I guess you don't need that many, just enough to keep surviving. The thing is, we have that here. Shine and Wally made that possible for us. They're smart enough to know we'd have had no chance without it of getting most mutants to try this idea. They'd have nowhere to go; not everyone can live at the X-mansion. But Frost is making sense in one way. Your world doesn't have that. Mutants hate religion in general, don't they? Too many bad experiences with it, and you don't have any DJs there to get involved with the X-men, the only people who'd be able to get credibility for it to anyone, to start that cause. Her better shot is here, if she's after redemption."

"Oh, please, not the pity vote," Emma said.

"It's just the facts," Mystique said. "I'd never have stuck around if not for Shine, and even her weird husband. They make no sense most of the time, but they aren't fake, and they accept all of us the same way. I'll never find that anywhere else. So, I gave it a chance. If it works or not, it may never show, not with this time-ending crisis on our hands. But nothing else would work, I know that much. You're just too straight-laced to get it, Cyclops. Other one was the same way. He thought everyone should just never make mistakes. Never seemed to think that some of us have already made more than we can count by the time we even start to hear about the reason it was a mistake at all. We don't all have those perfect, little lost lamb stories that Xavier likes to tell. You might ask yourself some time why the same kind of people always join the X-men. The new mutants, the ones who haven't gotten into the wrong things yet, or the ones like Wolverine who have been so lost to time, no one knows who they are anymore. Or Storm, the misguided but adored archetype for powerful mutants."

"The what?" Storm looked up.

"Not talking to you," Mystique said.

Storm frowned at her and then looked away.

"The rest of us see it," Mystique said.

Scott blinked at her.

"Offended?" Mystique said, amused.

"No..." Scott rubbed his head. "No, actually.... Thank you...I've never once heard one of the outsiders actually explain why they hate us so much. It makes perfect sense in its own way. I just never thought of it."

"Hmm," Mystique said. "You're less dense than the other Cyclops, I'll give you that much. Well, I'm done here."

She turned her back haughtily, like she had better things to do.

She just didn't want to keep answering questions, Emma thought to herself.

[Am I the only one who thought that was a long overdue reality check? The X-men can be pretty oblivious, but Scott especially.]

https://youtu.be/crwE3Tw_k0Q

[This is Gospel-- Panic at the Disco]