Cleo had kept a low profile since the appearance of the guy holding Uná , she didn’t know what to do while the scene had started to unfold before her, it eventually clicked to her that right now the pale individual was not aware of her presence and this presented a golden opportunity.

A crazy idea had popped in her head. Sure it was probably stupid, crazy even, but she had been fighting a monster drunk tonight so what would be different this time round? More of her friends were here this time.

Concentrating, Cleo closed her eyes for a moment, soon she would become invisible, her powers kicking in, she stood up from behind the car, and quietly as possible was making her way round through the other entrance while the others where keeping the man preoccupied with talking, it seemed the only thing to do until she could do her plan, hopefully not harming Uná or Heidi in the process. The plan was to flank and use the element of surprise, but that was a far as she got in her mind so she’ll make it up once inside.

It took a while to figure a way around the place once in, but soon enough the mutant had found herself behind the figure holding Uná just standing within the doorway. But now that Cleo was there she was freaking out in her mind what to do next as she observed what was going on still, she had to get her friends away from him, but then there was another crazy idea. * Yeah that’s it, you can do, just knock them out of his grasp and out the door, how hard can that be?* she was mentally preparing herself.

Pacing back and forth, Cleo battled in her own head how she would do this and simply ended up with a ‘Fuck it’, facing her target, Cleo focused, putting her hands together for a moment against her forehead. *You can do this.* changing her stance to get ready to make the flanking run… She went for it. Full speed, fast as she could before he could realize what was happening, as she got to Uná , Cleo made the grab, using her own momentum and weight to shove into him and take Uná , knocking her out of his arms, it must have looked and felt strange for the person you are holding to suddenly fly out your arms and hit the ground outside the door your standing in.

A few seconds later, it became apparent what just occurred, mainly because in her effort to take Uná , Cleo collided with Heidi in the process which had knocked them out of the doorway, but not by much, Cleo had fallen on Uná by accident; but ultimately, Cleo was visible again and the blonde had realized it too, she can only apologize later to the girls for her actions, if she hurt them but for now, she turned facing Lex. “Think I will keep hold of Red for you darling” She smiled placing herself between him and Uná , turning her head to the others. “Now!!” she yelled urgently.

Nik gave a devilish grin as his hand slipped out of his pocket, revealing a glowing chunk of wood in his grip. With an aim and windup he had trained since he was eight, Demo launched the chunk of wood directly towards Lex’s exposed chest before rushing forward, his right fist cocked back and ready to plant one right in the bastard’s kisser… with a bit of a charge prepared for the son of a bitch.

Lex grabs Nik’s wrist as he staggered a bit under the impact of the small explosion that came off of the splinter. “You’re about to pay dearly for that one pip squeak.” Lex then grabbed the front of Nik’s shirt and tossed him directly into Nathan.

Nathan who was dressed in one of the suits and weilding a pair of knives made out of blood. Quickly he banished the blades as he caught Nik. Well sort of caught Nik. More like broke his fall...with his body. “Damnit Demo!!! Let’s kick this guys teeth in!! We should be working together not trying to do this on our own.” Nathan pulled Nik to his feet offering his left hand noting that his right was glowing.

Uná fell into Heidi and Cleo as a mass of tangled limbs. “Ouch!! That hurt!!! Ugh!! Off!! Now!!! Before I stuff you in a barrel you Kook!!!” Her temper was showing as well as falling into old habits of using surf lingo.

Heidi groaned, at the bottom of the pile. She couldn’t see on account of Uná and Cleo, so had literally no idea what was happening. There were many possibilities. Was everyone okay?Was anyone hurt? Heidi tried to struggle free of the pile which wasn’t easy when her body was already tired. ”What’s going on?” she asked aloud. ”Are you two alright?”

Jasper hadn't known what she would be getting into when she stole a car and rushed to Avalon. But she had known it would be exciting, different, and perhaps a chance to show off. She hadn't planned to suddenly become a super hero, and likely wouldn't stay as such. Jasper wasn't a good person by nature, but by effort she managed to be a decent human being.

Well… not exactly human, but still.

Nik and Nathan were closer than her to begin with, but it was Cleo that randomly appeared, knocking Uná out of his grasp and tackling another girl she couldn't immediately name. Shortly after Nik went after the albino, only to be thrown back into Nathan, leaving Jasper as the only one of them actually standings.

That's awkward.

Rolling her shoulders, Jasper lilted every so slightly to the left, tilting her head as if listening to something. She blinked, and through the material of the suit a faint neon green glow could be seen along her arms to her fingers. Fingers that crackled still with the overcharge. Finally she stepped forward, unhurried, patient, measured steps. By the time she reached Nik and Nathan, she could speak without Lex hearing her.

“Cover your ears boys.”

Seconds later every network connected car in the area had its headlights on, and radios blaring static. Jasper stood barely three feet from Nik and Nathan, but her attention was on Lex. Her mouth moved, but the sound came from the radios, the cameras she could reach.

“So sorry for the interruption everyone, but it's important. This guy right here, the one with the gun obviously, not the tumble of girls beside him. He kidnapped a girl from a club tonight. No clue why, but she's clearly not old enough for him. Don't talk to strangers kids, especially creepy albino dudes with guns.”

The radios all simultaneously stopped, headlights fading out. The furthest away stopped first, until the only lights were the street lamps and the glow from Jasper's skin. To Lex, she flashed a grin.

“I hope you like being famous.”

Nik placed fingers in his ears for a moment as Jasper did her thing. He was a little disoriented from charging forward one second and being tossed aside like a newspaper the next. As the broadcast played, Nik stared in bewilderment. This… this was a new power. And it was intense. Once it was over, Nik tried to take Nathan’s hand again to get back to his feet. His right hand was still charged up and ready to go. He just needed a good shot.

Cleo groaned a little from her rather amazing collision with Uná and Heidi. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry guys, I didn’t mean to trip over you Heidi!” Cleo began untangling herself from the other two so it would be easier to move and pull away from Lex. Watching the scene begin to unfold in front of her with a smile when Hiedi asked what was going on as Nik had charged. “Haha, Demo just kicking his… No he’s not” as she watched him fly back into Nathan.

“Come on we need to move” Cleo motioned to the two girls as she began falling back when… What’s her face was up to something, suddenly every car lights and radios came on loud, Cleo immediately covered her ears as it was totally unexpected as the announcement played out, honestly except for the ear ringing, that was pretty awesome.

It was still a little disorientating when she managed to gather her bearing and make her way over to Jasper, standing by her side facing Lex. Cleo was feeling rather confident right now, there was more of them and that guy and now it seemed he was famous too now. “Surrender… Leave… Or don’t, either way Uná is coming with us” her smile on her lips had formed before she looked over to the others a couple of times before speaking again. “Hey guys, what’s a kook?”

Kaylee watched at the “kids” took on Lex with a bit of satisfaction. Her powers were not for combat. She could kick ass with the rest of them if we were talking about martial arts but the walking wall masquerading as an albino gorilla was something she might break her foot on if she kicked it. Kaylee froze for a moment as she looked at the building on the Astral Plane.

The colors were almost hypnotic. Vivid greens, pale pink, neon red, bright blue, gold, white. The swirling patterns made it hard to look away from. Tearing her eyes away she pulled energy from the area in general as she strode over to the other car in both planes. Opening the door she then wrapped her hands in energy from the Astral Plane.

This would only work on people who could cross planes like herself and Aya, whom she was in front of right now. She looked like she was rubbing lotion into her hands as she spread the energy evenly. She leaned over and touched Aya’s temples at the exact same time. The energy sank into Aya. It was a temporary fix and the girl would be able to wake up. Luckily, Kaylee had practice with this technique so she had mitigated any backlash that had originally come with it. That had been years of practice.

Sinking back into the Material Plane fully Kaylee opened her eyes and gently patted Aya’s cheek. “Aya? Aya wake up.” The radio blared out static making Kaylee wince then pumping out Jasper’s speech out. She looked back to Aya.

Lex threw back his head and laughed. “Honey that makes no difference. Carrying a gun isn’t a crime and kidnapping is harsh when I saved her life. As I see it you have attacked me. The gun? I was outnumbered and in the middle of the night. Not to mention that I know quite a few of our wonderful LAPD. They do good work. Now we can work this out. Red and I need a little bit longer to get to know each other. Or I can just do things the hard way. Whichever is fine with me.” Lex smirked and pointed the gun at Heidi while looking at Uná . It was center mass practically point blank range. “Your choice. She has five seconds before I pull the trigger. Or less if I prefer. Chose Red. Them. Or me.”

Heidi was finally on her feet and felt able to move. The gun was pointed right at her, but she wasn’t scared. This was a bluff. ‘Kidnapping’, which Heidi was sure this situation was more complicated than, could be talked out of. Shooting a fifteen year old girl? That would be a little harder to justify. She looked Lex dead in the eyes with a raised eyebrow. Was he always this short-sighted or was he just a desperate man putting on a facade?

Uná sat up and pushed herself up from the ground. She helped Heidi to her feet as well. She looked around. “What happened? How did we get here?” Uná winced and covered her ears at the static. “Criminey... talk about a rude awakening.” Uná was shocked at the fact that Lex pointed the gun at Heidi and made his ultimatum. Uná shook her head. “Don’t do this. You prom-”
Lex shook his head. “Promised? I never promised you that I wouldn’t change the rules Red. Besides we need to finish having our conversation. You can end this. Right here. Right now.”

Uná narrowed her eyes. “No.”

“No? Really? Maybe I have the wrong target then?” Lex turns the gun to Nik and Uná’s eyes go wide. “Ah, there we are Demo. The one who you said was going to save you.”

Uná planted her feet. “ENOUGH!!! I’m not going with you!!” Uná’s eyes flashed from full black to normal as a pulse went out from her. It was like thunder without sound. As if a rumble was felt deep in your chest but the sound that normally came with such a rumble was not present. “I’ve had enough of being an object to be fought over!! You others you’re all the same!!” The air became heavy and cold enough to be felt bone deep. It was as if more pressure suddenly coalesced and it became harder to breathe. It was as if Api had increased gravity and Khloe had super cooled the air.

Nathan slid in front of Nik ready to take the bullet. He concentrated and went to freeze Lex to the spot making him imoblie. Softly so that only Nik could hear him. “Nik something is up with Unà. Fix it. I have the big guy. That pulse came from her. Talk her down or this might get ugly. Something isn’t right. You know her better than I do, sad but true. And this is feeling like bleed over onto everyone when she should just be mad at, well me and apparently him.”

When Aya woke up this time, it was gentle – a muffled rise to the surface rather than the crashing, desperate experience it’d been the last time.

Everything hurt. Why did everything always hurt? Dull pain echoed in her body and mind, drowning out everything else. There was a voice. Aya wondered if she was supposed to be scared. She thought she was – she remembered being terrified. She remembered dying.

Her eyebrows pulled together weakly and there was a small sound in the back of her throat. She didn’t want to be awake.

Nik looked about at the scene before him. A strange albino with a gun, half of his friends were bloody and beaten, and the adrenaline was somehow starting to wear off. Nik’s muscles were aching more than they ever had before. He turned his gaze towards Unà, and he could see the rage. The air had become thick, and he could tell that she was the cause. He took a very brief moment to try and catch his breath before finally calling out. ”Unà! Stop… Please. You’re hurting us, Unà… let’s just go home. We have a Calc test coming up and I’ll be honest, I need help with derivatives.” Nikolai turned his gaze towards the rest for a moment, before turning his gaze back. ”You still owe me a favor, from the chamber. Vanilla and Jasmine. Well, I’m calling it in: Walk away. He’s not worth it.” He held out his right hand, the energy seeming to dissipate from the cloth wrapped around his knuckles.

Unà looked at Nik eyes flashing back and forth from blue and normal to a solid alien black. “This is what is right. This moment taking the bad guy out. If we let him go then it happens again. THIS is why we are here.” Unà looks over at Lex. “Give me one good reason we shouldn’t end it now Demo.”

Nik opened his mouth to speak for a moment, before shutting it again. He stared at the ground for a moment, before the corner of his mouth lifted up for a tiny grin. ”Return of the Jedi.” He spoke it with a confidence that almost suggested that it was an obvious answer, the brief moment of dead air afterwards punctuating the statement. But then he continued on, ”You can’t accept that deal, or go down that path. It only leads to the dark side, Unà. It doesn’t matter if he continues doing bad things, it’s about whether you do something evil to him.”

Kaylee looked over and saw Nik approach Unà. She and Aya were farther away but it looked like Nik was worried and that “man” had a gun on Nathan. “Aya are you alright? I know this is hard but I need you to focus. Did you see anything when you were in the Astral Plane? Anything weird or out of place?”

Aya winced against the voice, though the movement was subtle with how little energy she had. It made the pounding in her head grow louder. But she recognized that voice. It was kind and gentle and soothed some scared part of her. It was asking for help. She had to help.

“...Unà… ‘s taking Unà…” Her voice was as weak as she felt, barely even leaving her throat. “The monster… it was real.” A memory burst in Aya’s mind of fangs and claws and a seething, consuming pain.

Kaylee’s eyes widened. “Real? No. Not an illusion? Quickly what happened? How did you find this out and know where she was?” Kaylee split her consciousness and reached out to the Astral Plane and gathered more energy, then dropping back to the Material Plane. Quickly but gently she grabbed Aya’s hands feeding her energy slowly. “This will ease the backlash, not get rid of it, and you’ll be able to talk but you’re still physically exhausted so no moving.”

There was a soft gasp from Aya as more energy flowed into her. The pain became more distinct as the world began to unmuddy. Her eyebrows pulled closer together. One breath. Then a second.

Aya’s eyes fluttered open to focus on Professor Everose in front of her. The image was still slightly blurred and doubled. “I… I followed her from the club.” She paused. “Something was wrong though. She wasn’t Unà. She was…” Aya squeezed her eyes shut, the image and words floating ephemeral through her mind. She remembered the fake Unà’s eerie warning to tell no one what she’d learned. “The monster – the Sluagh. It wanted to bring her back, it said. To the… the Fairy Court.”

Kaylee didn’t know what to say. She latched on to the one thing she understood. “You went too far but I understand why. You had to find out where they were taking her. Good job Aya. Unfortunately I have no idea about this Fairy Court thing but something seems to be off about Unà… she’s different. Do you remember anything about the not Unà?” Kaylee nodded over to the quarrel that looked like it was getting intense.

“It’s like… a different personality. Like a side she’s suppressed until now.” She opened her eyes again to look at her mentor. “She warned me not to say,” Aya murmured.

Kaylee nodded. “Alright. We can get into that at a later date but I think you’re onto something here. Rest now. You’ve earned it.” Kaylee gently slid away from Aya and stood up. The air was icy the air pressure increased as she closed the car door gently and made her way over to the other students.

Kaylee announced in a clear no-nonsense voice. “Something isn’t right here. Something is off we should leave. Now.”

Unà was about to speak as Professor Everose cut in. “We’re just about done here Professor. Go back to the car and tell Aya to keep her mouth shut.” Unà snarled her eyes completely black.

Kaylee was stunned. This wasn’t like the bubbly sweet teenager that she knew. Her countenance was off and her personality an about face from the girl she knew. “THAT’S NO-”

Unà stretched out her arm toward Kaylee and closed her fist cutting Kaylee off. “I’m done talking and you don’t really want to finish that sentence.” Unà looked back at Nik and everyone else. “Fine. We won’t kill him but we can make a point. I think we owe him that much don’t you agree? Guarantee he’d never mess with us again.”

Nathan looked at the others. “I can hold him for a little longer. He can’t do anything I don’t allow right now. If you want to punch him better make it quick.”

Nik’s eyes were wide. This wasn’t right. Professor Everose had tried to say something that Nik was beginning to realize. This isn’t the Una I know. She’s going Vader. Nik only had a moment to try and do… well, the only thing he could think of. He turned his gaze towards Lex, and began sprinting at full speed directly at his target. The cloth around his right fist arced with energy, and seemed to grow brighter as he got closer. Hoping this would satisfy Una’s desire to teach him a lesson as Nik’s fist collided with Lex’s skin, and Nik expended the charge on the cloth in an attempt to rocket Lex back through the club.

The moment of confidence that Cleo had quickly faded, she really hoped Lex would of just left at the very least, come back another day, preferably when not half of them were drunk at the least. But as soon as he raised the gun to Heidi and then Nik, things just went faster than Cleo could even process and just simply generally went to crap. The air seemed to go from warm to icy as the air pressure increased, everything just started to feel off and Cleo was slow starting to freak out over it.

Una just wasn’t… Una? Just everything she was saying, acting and those eyes… *Yep totally freaked out right about now* Cleo thought, if she was being honest, the mutant simply wanted to go and be thank you she was not dead or dying in a gutter somewhere, but nope she’ll stay with her friends, she just needed to think of what to do next.

The professor tried to get a handle on the situation, telling everyone that it was time to go and who were they to argue? Everything went to shit tonight and it would no doubt be only a matter of time before to much attention came there way. But it was what Una had done that made Cleo do a double take and step back, she did some crazy Jedi trick and stopped the professor from talking and she freaked. “Professor! Oh my god.” Cleo went to Everose quickly forgetting everything else, she needed help but how, what was that girl doing to her?

“For christ sake Una, Stop! You made your point! Why are you doing this to us? We are your friends trying to help you!” Cleo pleaded as she could help the professor, she simply didn’t know how and turned to the redhead, forming an idea she knew would be an instant regret one as she tried to fight this new inner battle, Una was her friend, but she was not her right? And she was doing freaky things that Cleo didn’t even know she could.

Was she scared? Damn right she was, she was anxious as she worded sorry to Everose before turning round and looking dead straight at Una. it was now or never, everyone seemed focused on Lex and after a deep breath Cleo went for it and ran for Una just like she did when the blonde was trying to save her earlier, only slowing down enough to make sure she wouldn’t miss. “Hey!” was the only warning she would get as Cleo using her momentum, proper punched Una in the face, hoping that it would force the redhead to break her hold on the professor, she only hoped the others can forgive her for this action that even she was not proud off.

As Nik came flying at Lex making contact with his solar plexus. He doubled over in agony then dropped to his knees. His grip on the gun had loosened and in the scuffle he'd lost it. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth slowly and nodded.

Uná's head snapped in the opposite direction of the punch from Cleo. The air pressure lifted and the coldness disappeared. The alternate effect of knocking Uná's hold on Professor Everose off was an added bonus.

Uná turned back to speak but an unearthly howl was heard. It was spine tingling in its etherealness. The pure undiluted raw rage and satisfaction within the howl made birds take flight and small animals freeze in sheer terror. This sound made the scariest movie noise sound tame.

Uná and Lex both flickered and faded away as where once Lex stood the real Uná did now. She turned back to everyone and you could see where she was a little battered and bruised but alive. Here eyes were wide with terror as the building behind her collapsed in flames. “We need to leave. I wanna go home and watch a romantic comedy. With popcorn and ice cream.”

Sometimes he could see visions of what seemed to be the past. Times where others had taken on the mantle before him flashed through his burning psyche like a remembrance that was meant to be his own: The Bataan Death March, the Boer War and others large and small through centuries felt like a culmination of purpose that flowed through his spirit. Most often he could vividly feel the haunting absolution of a Seminole Chief along the Trail of Tears. The crash of musket fire, the war-cry, and the terrified screams of women and children as vengeance was satisfied through fire on their oppressors. The crushing of bone and the smell of blood was so vivid he could taste it. It was a sensation like every essence of his humanity had gone and his only existence was as a force of nature. As he entered the upper office, the chain dragging behind his heavy steps, the flames continued to spread, lighting the room as the sprinklers finally exhausted themselves. There was silence for a moment save for the airy howl of fire spreading.

Facing Lex with only the mask of his flaming visage covering the complete blackness behind, he turned slowly with a gaze that pierced through the cover of Unà’s illusions finding her lying unharmed and unconscious. Her aura seemed somewhat confused and defensive at his arrival, but curious that he was able to see through it. The fire around him cackled and snapped as he turned back to Lex seeing Heidi standing nearby. The other that was with her had gone, but the blood called out for him. Unà’s illusions seemed to form a sense of what was impending and joined in the ethereal chorus.

As Lex’s face flickered with illumination from the dancing flames of the rider’s skull, he couldn’t help but be taken aback by what he was seeing. Fear would not be the word for it. What he felt was more like awe. He’d heard tales of people with flaming heads that went after bad men, but he never really believed until now. Despite hearing the rumors of such vigilantes, his research into them was quite shallow. He wasn’t very sure what the next best step should be.

“Yet another guest,” he forced himself to say, finally. “I suppose you’re after Red, too?”

The darkness behind the flames only stared back at Lex, unspeaking and unmoving, like looking into a black hole that only absorbed his shock and surprise. At his mention of Unà, the fire that spread through the room crept around her unconscious body and the pocket of illusion that surrounded her. Bone cracked under a gloved fist that tightened around the heavy chain and the air instantly became thick and distorted as if it boiled with static heat. A tortured, otherworldly howl of approval went up from the shadows as he advanced.

Heidi forced herself to look away. Neither Ayel or Lex had truly terrified her like Ghost Rider did. There was no way to outthink that kind of power. In fact, Heidi’s brain might make it even worse if the power was ever used on her. The plans, the scenarios played out in her head. The guilt she felt from them. Would those count as sins? Heidi didn’t want to find out. What she needed to do was take Unà and leave. Let Lex and the Ghost Rider fight. It wasn’t her business. She had come here for only one reason.

Due to the way the fire was creeping around the illusion, Heidi had a rough outline of where the illusion started and stopped. Unà’s body would be in the center. She hopped over the flames and entered the affected area. At once she noticed that the feel of the air on her skin felt...somehow different. She reached down, feeling for something solid, and then feeling around that area, using her imagination to work out the shape and position of Unà’s real body. When she was confident, she scooped the body up and stood up. She looked rather silly, appearing to be holding her empty arms out, cradling nothing, yet there was a clear strain on her face. She didn’t have super strength. She didn’t know how far she’d be able to carry Unà before she’d have to put her down. Hopefully she could at least make it out the building.

”Lex. I’m going to take Unà out of here and back home. No offense, but I feel she’d be safer with me given the circumstances. Don’t try to stop me.” she spoke to Lex, before heading for the door, trying to get past Ghost Rider, and praying that neither he nor Lex would stop her for any reason.

Lex’s face was unmoving. He heard every word coming out of Heidi, but was reluctant to react directly. Her logic was sound; this was not the safest place for Unà. All things considered, he didn’t dare take his eyes away from the monster before him. It was time to experiment, to poke around for weaknesses. Lex whipped out his twin guns and carefully aimed them. He began letting loose rounds, looking on in wonder at what affect his bullets might have as they arced around the profile of Heidi and Unà deliberately missing the two of them on their journey to the Ghost Rider.

From both being unable to hear the sound of the gun cocking, and focusing her attention on Ghost Rider, Heidi didn’t know she was going to get shot at until the bullets whizzed past her. Panic didn’t even register before the logical part of her brain kicked in. If he wanted to shoot her, at this range it would be so easy. He was aiming past them, at the Ghost Rider. He must be one very good shot to pull off such a trickshot. Heidi didn’t want to be here for the rest of this encounter. She leaned left and faced right to let Lex know which direction she was about to dart, before leaping to the side and then sprinting to the door as fast as she could whilst carrying the invisible body of a girl who was slightly taller and heavier than she was. Once she was out of the office, she bolted to the stairwell, but didn’t even make it that far before she had to stop and put Unà down. Her muscles were aching. She needed a minute.

The high caliber rounds pockmarked against his jacket like stones falling into lava. The tattered and scorched black leather only seemed to absorb them unflinching as he moved past Heidi and Unà with the heavy sound of gunfire filling the room. The chain dragging the floor behind rolled up obediently around his clenched fist glowing with heat as the desk between them was thrown away through the large window that overlooked the main floor sending shards of glass and splintered hardwood below. No sooner had the desk cleared the room than the searing iron came crashing across Lex’s face like a freight train.

The burn was instantaneous and intense. His mind screamed in reaction to his skin melting beneath the force of the supernatural heat. Flesh parted ways to expose bone. The blood that would usually come trickling out was instantly cauterized, leaving Lex’s arguably flawless face with a mark that he would likely live with the rest of his life. The chain kissed the upper left half of his eyebrow and spread its love all the way down the side of the opposite cheek, leaving what looked like half an ‘X’ across the center of his face.

Lex reeled back, finally showing signs of panic. Perhaps even fear. He instinctively pointed the gun again, ready to squeeze, but knew the folly. He tossed his weapons away and, instead, charged at the thing like a linebacker, his shoulder taking the lead towards the Ghost Rider’s midsection, closing the gap between the two.

Unperturbed by Lex’s inhuman durability, the futility in the man’s charge only brought forth another memory of a similar scene that had unfolded within the same room. A faint glow began to raise in the darkness within the Rider’s skull, building behind the empty eye sockets. The scene of a young mutant beaten to death and tossed away like garbage, a waitress at Avalon suffering the same fate and others, many others. Somewhere, far deep within the dark sepulchre of the Ghost Rider, Cole could feel the excruciating pain of those living souls torn away from reality roaring, screaming for retribution like so many before. As Lex careened forward, he wanted the monster that was underneath the man’s frail facade to come out, to feel their final suffering and the loss of their loved ones. The hole of their existence, left behind for others to mourn by graveside without closure. He caught Lex by the throat and gripped like an industrial vice, feeling the vertebrae within his boiling grasp. Lifting him from his feet, he studied the man’s face briefly, the flaming skull tilting slightly, giving the man a small glimpse into the burning finality that was unavoidable. With one motion he hurled Lex through the office wall, crashing through the corridor where the broken bodies of his slain workmen remained from their earlier encounter with the intruder. The building groaned from the shattering of load bearing walls as Ghost Rider’s steps advanced towards Lex again.

Heidi wheeled round as she felt the sudden rise in heat on the back of her neck. Lex had been thrown through the wall and into the same corridor where Heidi was currently resting. The time for recovery was past. She had to get Unà out of harm’s way as soon as possible, for the combat was uncomfortably close to her. Heidi felt around to determine the exact position of Unà’s body again, before scooping her up and slinging her over her shoulder before taking slow, shaky steps towards the stairwell. When she got back, *if* she got back, she would really need to work on her upper body strength.

Heidi had decided against leaving by means of the fire escape, barely having the strength to maneuver Unà through the open window. She carried on down the stairwell, onto the club’s dance floor, and towards the entrance. When she got to the front doors, she put Unà down at a place she’d remember, and opened the doors before taking another few seconds to rest. Her body was screaming, and adrenaline was the only thing keeping her upright.

The wind was knocked out of Lex’s lungs but as he stared into the devilish eyes of the Ghost Rider, the young man forced himself back to his feet. His confidence was waning, but his tenacity was ever present. The sting of his singed flesh was beginning to subsite, but the smell of it filled his nostrils. Beads of sweat began to roll down Lex’s brow as he considered the inevitable future. Lex looked to his right and one of two waiting chairs that sat outside some office doors. WIth a battle cry, he hurled the black metal chair at the Ghost Rider, leaping forward a second after, sending himself down the same trajectory with a fist that arced through the air like a hammer, set to fall upon the Rider’s crown.

The office chair shattered on impact like a glass vase cast against the front of a tank. As Lex hurtled himself forward yet again the finality of the encounter was completely apparent. The blow turned the Rider’s glance briefly, but the motion was no more futile than attempting to stop a tidal wave from crashing ashore. Two gloved hands snapped hold of Lex’s once exquisitely tailored shirt, now covered in sweat and blood as the flaming visage of weathered bone slowly turned back to face him eye-to-eye. An unholy growl echoed through the collapsing building as the distant fire inside the Rider’s eye erupted in connection with Lex. He pulled the man closer, towering over his broken body and the vision was no different than staring into the center of an afterburner. The skull’s jaw dropped wide open roaring an elemental howl so vivid that it broadcast across dimensions, echoing through time and space as the life of Alexander Stagnum was collected.

Cole watched as the flesh was blasted away and the memories and the agonies of the man’s victims were cast onto him all at once. The sheer volume of emotion condensed to a single moment of transfer was incomprehensible. People he’d never known, moments in time frozen flashed by him at what felt like the speed of light crashing through the physical body of the man in his grasp and pouring directly into the soul, tearing it away from reality like a forlorn house in the path of a tornado.

It was satisfying, deeply satisfying. Perfect. Like an error or a blemish in the fabric of reality had been erased. He was himself again for a moment as the natural and super-natural worlds around him seemed to bend and retract with the completion of the task. He dropped the charred husk of what was left of the man as the building continued to burn around him, finally giving way as beams fell in a clamor and walls buckled, seeing Unà standing outside the destroyed entrance as the walls caved in and the building collapsed.

Unà turned and looked over her shoulder as the howl went up. She saw and briefly locked eyes with the burning eyes of the entity that had attacked Frost. She could see that it wasn’t there for her and not a threat but that didn’t stop the fear that ran up her back. That fear was enough to make the illusion that she was trapped in fall apart. As Unà was revealed from behind the mask she had been forced into the walls of the building caved in and it collapsed.

---

---

---

---

---

Heidi watched both Uná and Lex disappear, and Uná appear at a different place, and knowing what she already knew about Uná’s abilities, instantly clocked on what was happening. Illusions. That also meant that Lex hadn’t escaped or beaten the Ghost Rider, which also meant that he was probably dead right now. Heidi felt a little sick with that knowledge. So many were men were dead, and those that weren’t killed by Ayel...No, even those men. Their deaths. Their blood was on the hands of this group. Even when fighting illusions, their violent and chaotic approach made Heidi fundamentally uncomfortable. This is the kind of behaviour that schools for mutants should be preventing, and punishing! But a bunch of teenagers looking up to the X-men? A group of vigilante mutants who fight the bad guys? What else was going to happen?

Heidi wanted to walk past everyone and be done with them, but there were several people she had no issue with. Uná, while clearly demonstrating that she does not have enough control over her mutation, hadn’t acted with any deliberate malice or aggression. As far as Heidi was concerned, she was innocent. She just needed to be taught more control. Heidi approached Uná, And touched her on the shoulder. She then looked at the rest of the group. ”Uná’s right. We need to leave. Now.”