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Kristina stood kind of bored, she didnt want to attack him without revealing their location just as Sunshine attacked the X-Cutioner she didnt have much skill with what was going on. "I can try and get people out of the area if needed." She said, having no idea what else she could do attacking him would be way to risky and detonating the bomb.

"Or I can try and contact my sister again to." Kris said, she knew that SHIELD would most likely take on the task if things did end up going south, they had better resources than they had. She more or less just felt kind of useless as she looked towards the others as Max and Sapphire became visible shortly after Sunshine's attack.

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Callie looked over towards Sapphire for a moment letting out a slight sigh and shook her head, it was the only plan that she could come up with. "Well thats the only thing I came up with." Callie said as she thought for a moment as Sunshine used her power and attacked the X-Cutioner, revealing their location. There goes their cover as Callie tried to think of another way and quickly came up with an idea, she tried to reach out with her empathy and attempted to calm X-Cutioner to make him stand down. She reached out to him, but couldnt feel any emotions from him. "Well empathy isnt going to work on him." She said to Veil as she looked at her for a moment.

"I'm going to try and EMP the bomb on him, if it fails focus on a shield around X-Cutioner try and go with what I suggested." She just hoped that it would work, as Callie held her hands together as electricity built up into her hands revealing her location as she sent the EMP blast towards him. Realizing that her attack wouldnt reach in time her eyes going wide, just as X-Cutioner pressed the trigger detonating the bomb.

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The entire situation that was going on. Everything was not going to happen in their favor, she could see that clearly now. Everything they could do likely would make the situation worse, and no matter what they were going to lose. She wasn't much of a geek, but she could see a Kobayashi Maru scenario, and this currently was that dreaded no win scenario that was impossible to beat. They could try all they wanted to, but... She just could not see a way through this situation where the bomb actually didn't go off, that they managed to save the day and every other mutant in the DC area. There just was no way. Everything started to happen in slow motion as she watched the X-Cutioner trigger the explosive.

And the bomb went off.

Sapphire's mind was racing, as her brain went to the sort of plan that Callie had come up with in case the bomb went off. Problem was she doubted everyone had been ready for it to go off so soon. Racing for a way out of this, she only could come up with one solution. Her idea wasn't the best, she knew that, especially considering what had happened the last time she had done it. But she couldn't see anything that might work other then that insane idea. There were other problems that could arise from this though, she knew that Jack's body was essentially made of rubber, and if you make rubber insanely cold, it tends to break. Sapphire in an instant, cold whirling around her as she took a few steps in front of the group.

There wasn't any other way though as she threw her hands up into the air, and a small blizzard started to form around the entire area. The cold enveloped everything in the area, and her mind was racing, her head pounding, just as it had done when she had saved Kristina's life. Sapphire didn't put a hand to her face, she already knew that there was blood coming from her nose as she felt it start trickling down. With her head about to explode at the moment, and the sense of slight dread creeping up her stomach, she knew that she wasn't going to last. Not like this.

Glancing around, she eventually looked right at Havok, the one thing she was somewhat regretting at the moment was never having mentioned to him the fact that she had feelings for him. Her lower body had gone numb at this point, and when she glanced towards the ground, she realized that her entire lower body was frozen, not in a big block of ice, but more like an ice sculpture. Everyone else was starting to get frozen into blocks of ice with what Sapphire was doing, and she looked back at Havok again, even as she felt that the ice was creeping up her body even more. "Havok... Never said this but despite the fact that you annoy me to no end...I love you," she said with a slight smile. In another moment everyone was going to be incased in ice, and after another she stopped trying to fight back against the ice that enveloped her entire body. The blizzard died down after everyone was encased in ice.

And when that happened, Sapphire's entire body shattered.

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Andy felt awkward. The fight between them was bound to happen. She didn't want to be the one to pull the trigger. Didn't want to be the one to throw the first punch. Her dad would be proud of that. Wait for the opponent. Let them wear themselves out. You're fast and small use it to your advantage. He was in her corner pep talking her.

She took a long slow breath and felt electricity crackle around her. It wasn't her electricity. Callie was blasting it out toward the bomb dude. And he was pressing the button, faster than the blink of an eye, even with her fast reflexes. The mist of the M-Pox started to spread out from him. Everything was frozen, snow spreading around her as she reflexively ducked and tried to cover her head. And then she knew nothing else.

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Max couldn't help but roll his eyes at Sapphire. Sure the odds were against them but they didn't need a pessimist at this time. They needed focus and determination, something he wasn't sure she had. "We worked great in the sewers together and coordinated a rescue with little to no time to prepare. So I think we can handle a bit more than you believe." Max looked down at his robes, trying to feel some confidence in himself as a student of the mystic arts and looking for an approach that would lower the risk of the bomb detonating. So far Callie was the only one with a plan, one that sounded very good right about now. Well with the exception of sending Jim to space, Max wouldn't kill him but he may send him off to the Raft it able to. He was in thought he hadn't noticed Sunshines wisps of green smoke until the X-Cutioner began to call them out.

Panic ran through his mind, trying to find the solution faster but he kept coming up with the same thought. What if I just teleport him away with me? So if it goes off it won't hurt anyone.If it only hurt him, that would be OK. But then he recalled that James mentioned his ability to teleport and all it would do is remove Max from the playing field and have the team one person down. Veil dropped everyone's invisibility but his and Sapphires. He looked towards Veil confused, trying to see if this was the signal to call for backup. But it felt too early. Before Max could even look to Sapphire for advice, Callie had sent off a blast of electricity towards their enemy and not even a moment later did the bomb go off. In that split second Max began to instinctively cast a barrier spell, but all that he managed was to twirl some snow before the magic vanished from his hands and his body became frozen.

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It broke Harry's heart to hear his sister speak those words. Fear panging him that it might be the last words he hears her speak. There was a dull sensation on his lower back, a ghost pain from when he was paralyzed. Letting him know that things could go very wrong very fast. He tried his best to ignore those who were being vocally negative. That never helped in situations like this, but neither did talking back to them. They didn't need infighting right now. So he focused ok what he could do. He listened to the sounds of the area around them, trying to see if he could find the X-Cutioners heart beat and see what kind of music it played. He wished it wasn't one of mayhem and blood, that perhaps inside the man was a scared child waiting to be coaxed into the light. But as he listened he heard two interesting sounds.

The first was the X-Cutioner calling them out. Having been made, only to have Callie almost instantly attack. He could hear the beats of her heart, almost overshadowed by Sunshines song that played until he heart something a bit more somber. The melody was overpowering and it was only too late that he realized it was Sapphires song. He didn't even have time to turn and se her, to ask what she was doing, when suddenly the air got bitterly cold and then there was nothing. Only snow and ice and statues of friends encased in ice. And Harry was frozen, his eyes darted towards his sister to make sure she was the last thing he saw if he was to leave this world.

---

Anyone who said things moved in slow motion at the end was a fucking liar.

James had let out a sigh of relief when Sunshine managed to send the X-Cutioner reeling. It would give them a few seconds to shut his bombs down and disarm him even if it didn’t completely neutralize the threat. Thank God for Sunshine’s lack of impulse control because they’d gotten bogged down by a gaggle of the group claiming that there was no point in doing anything because their plans sucked. Everyone walked into this knowing there was almost no chance of survival but they had to do something and talking in circles and shutting down things with no alternates was the opposite of helpful. But Sunshine fixed that and now they had to act.

Of course, it wasn’t that easy. The X-Cutioner shrugged off whatever Sunshine threw at him and James felt his blood run could. He pushed out the conversation, wracking his brain for any idea that could possibly help them out of this god forsaken situation. He glanced around, noting Sapphire and Max’s absence, and that sparked a thought. He wasn’t entirely sure how Max’s portals worked but if they could create a pressure differential…

He hadn’t realized the Mutant Underground were already making their move. His head snapped up at the tell tale crackle of electricity, the EMP pulse racing towards the X-Cutioner, and everyone knew, there was no lingering doubt: They’d lost. James felt like he was suffocating as he saw everyone he’d worked with, suffered with, cried with since the beginning of this whole ordeal, gathering around their certain death and he didn’t have enough time, he couldn’t let them die dealing with this bullshit. But he didn’t have time as the X-Cutioner detonated the bomb.

He didn’t think, he just did. He latched onto Casper, knocking him to the ground, and hunched over him, covering him as best he could. He distantly registered the cold, bitter and harsh, as he did his best to memorize the face of the man he loved, to apologize for not taking him up on his offer, to let him know that he loved him with everything he had until the every end and he’d never want to change him for the world, as everything came to a frigid halt.

He wished he had more time.

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"Casper just stop with the rambling already," Jack couldn't help but comment towards his brother. He was really starting to ramble a bit, as he usually did. That wasn't all too surprising, but was now really the time for him to be going on and on about Moriarty or whatever it was that he was going on about. This wasn't going to end well for the situation at all, and Jack wasn't too sure about whether or not they would actually make it out of this situation. Based on what he could see, probably not, but they could try to be optimistic about it.

Zari was beyond bored with what was going on around them, like insanely bored. She just wanted to go and run her sword right through the X-Cutioner and just be done with this. Plus she still owed him for him ripping apart Mr. Eyeball the first time she ran into him! "Wow isn't this guy full of himself?" she commented, muttering it under her breath. This was a bit ridiculous, she just wanted something to happen. Anything at this point would be acceptable, it would give her something to do at the least. Hopefully anyway.

Then of course, the world had to answer her request to have something happen, by the X-Cutioner noticing that they were all there. Well, kind of anyway. Soon, most of them were revealed to the guy which was perfectly fine to her. That's when all hell broke loose with Callie sending a bit of a surge of electricity out. And then the bomb went off. There was chaos and what felt like a snow storm for a few moments, and Zari only really knew that she was insanely cold. That at least was the last thing she knew was this insane cold feeling, before she lost consciousness completely.

The thing with for Jack, this was something that he knew completely. What was that? He knew that his body did not do well under extreme cold. This because his body essentially was like silly putty or rubber, and typically that ends badly for him. When the bomb went off and he suddenly got surrounded by the cold, the sensation wasn't very pleasant, that was for sure. All of the thoughts that were running through his mind disappeared though as he completely froze and everything went dark as he was no longer able to really move or think anymore.

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Waverley watched on, camera in hand, the light blinking away as the looming figure's voice boomed out, giving his hateful monologue. This was it. Their penultimate moment. What it was all leading up to. It was their darkest hour, and shortly, it would give way to the dawn. She watched, stood with her friends, getting ready to do what she could to help them defeat the monster of a man. Then, light flashed from Callie's fingertips, streaking out towards him.

Even through the crackling of Callie's lightning, Waverley could hear it. More so she could feel it, reverberating through her bones, rocking her to her core. The clicking of that button was the most horrifying collection of soundwaves she'd ever felt, carrying more weight than any scream of agony or gunshot could ever hope to. It all happened so fast. Waverley's forehead wrinkled in an expression as confused as it was terrified.

"This isn't how it's supposed to...we're the heroes..." Waverley croaked out in disbelief, or perhaps she didn't. She certainly thought it, and she felt her lips move to form the syllables. But in the detonation, and through the sudden whipping of icy wind around them, combined with the general chaos, she couldn't tell whether or not the words had made it up her throat. It didn't matter. The sentiment was clear in her teary eyes. They failed. They weren't able to save anyone. But that's not how it was supposed to go, they were the good guys, they were supposed to win. Every story she'd read, every movie she watched, everything that had pulled her into this life of altruism, they always taught that as long as you were willing to sacrifice anything and everything, then you can save the day. Well she was willing. She whispered to the universe that it could take her and everything she had if it saved even one mutant child. But it didn't listen.

The ice had made its way up her abdomen, and was creeping down her arms. Almost instinctively, she reached out for something, someone, some form of comfort as the cold took her. She found Sunshine's hand, grabbing hold of it, the warmth of her palm the last thing Waverley felt before her fingers went numb. She could feel the ice creeping up her neck, her eyes squeezing tightly closed, causing a tear to slip out onto her cheek. Her lips trembled inaudible words as the ice began to encase her head. In seconds, she was frozen, her prayer left unfinished in her now quiet mind.

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Welcome to the island paradise of Genosha, the homeland of mutantkind! No matter where you came from or who you are or what you did, you are valued, appreciated, and wanted here. Our Marauders are standing by at major ports across the globe to bring you here. Bring as much or as little as you like - everything you need will be provided for you! Your money is no good here, as we are beyond such petty human systems like capitalism. Live in a community made by mutants and for mutants, where your only concern will be finding true love - or getting your perfect tan by the beach! Our world class telepaths can download anything you want to learn how to do - time to say goodbye to Duolingo and wake up fluent in French, German, and Italian! And of course, we offer exclusive, cutting edge training sessions to help you master the gifts that make you special!

What's the catch, you ask? It's easy! All you have to do is provide proof of an X-gene* and you're in.

We're so excited to meet you and see you on Genosha!

_{* artificial X-genes will be considered on a case by case basis by the Quiet Council. Human family members are welcome. Individuals may apply for asylum on Genosha and should contact the House of Frost for more information.}

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Everything had happened too fast for Veil to react. In a matter of seconds, their situation had escalated from bad to worse to nightmare. She could only blink, a blast of blue coming in front of her vision, before an intense chill came over her. And then... Darkness. Nothingness. She didn't even have a chance to wonder if this was death coming for her or to mourn all of the lives that they had failed to save. They were out of time. They failed.

It felt like only seconds later that her eyes fluttered open, a harsh light shining down on her. She squinted out of reflex and held up her hand, figuring that it must have just been the glare from a ceiling light - only to smack something hard and metallic. The light vanished and everything around her was a blur. She could vaguely see the outline of a tall man in front of her, dressed all in white. Veil opened her mouth and tried to find her voice, only to start to cough, her throat feeling incredibly clogged.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Veil," an unfamiliar man's voice said. "Your vision should return to you momentarily. You've been on ice for some time."

"What... happened..." Veil coughed out, her voice incredibly weak. It felt like she had been silent for years. She was so incredibly confused. Had X come for them after all? Had they been saved? Was it all just a horrible dream and the X-Cutioner had been defeated? Who was this person talking to her? Why had she been on ice - she wasn't Captain America?

"You were frozen, were you not listening?" the man chided. He was slowly coming into focus, although the light hurt her eyes. Veil realized he'd been holding a small handheld light previously, the sort used to check people for a concussion. And he was all dressed in white - he was wearing a suit, fedora, and a mask. "You should thank Caduceus. He managed to heal you enough that it was safe to bring you out of cryostasis."

"James?" Veil asked, her voice still hoarse. "Where is he? What about the others?" She then became aware that she was wearing what felt like spandex - a tight body suit, completely white as well, like she was cosplaying Princess Leia. "Where are we?" There weren't any mutant friendly hospitals in D.C. Had James gotten them forth maybe to New York?

"Oh, he's here," the man - the doctor, Veil realized - said. "Now, I need to go attend to the others, they should be waking up any second now. Don't try to walk just yet, you're still disoriented." There was then the sound of a loud THUD across the room and the doctor sighed. "See? Now stay put."

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Casper was incredibly confused. The last thing he remembered, they had been facing down a third string X-Men villain at the Lincoln Memorial, and now, he was suddenly falling. His fall wasn't long as his body slammed into something - the floor? It felt like cool tile against his face. His clothing was entirely too modest for his taste, he could feel a flexible fabric covering almost all of his skin save his hands, feet, and face. He was about to complain about the color choice when he realized something horrifying - he couldn't see! "I'm bliiiiiiind!" Casper squealed, although his voice sounded like a heavy set 60 year old smoker and not at all like his usual pitch.

"You're not blind, calm down," Ben's voice said near his ear.

"Ben!" Casper coughed, before hearing the sound of footsteps coming near. Things were starting to blur into focus and he blinked rapidly, trying to get his bearings. He wasn't too panicked by being confused and waking up in a strange place in clothes that weren't his - it had happened to him fairly often in his life.

"C'est pas grave, ça va bien," another voice whispered in his other ear.

"Maman?" Capser cried, seeing a ginger blur next to him, helping him off of the floor. "Is James here? You're going to love him, he's so strong. You can really tell he works out," Casper said. He couldn't really make out any images - why was his eyesight so horrible? But he was really hoping that James was there. It was the perfect chance to introduce him to his mother. "James? Baaaabe?"

"I'm afraid I am not babe, but my name is James," a new voice said - the figure looked like a white blob to him.

"Not the KKK!" Casper cried.

"Non, c'est le médecin," his mother explained quickly. "Il s'appelle James aussi."

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Sunshine hadn't wanted to tell anyone how nervous she was about today. It had been so long since what happened with the X-Cutioner, and she had largely gotten used to Genosha. She had friends here. And her old friends were finally going to wake up, as James had managed to heal them from the massive overdose of Terrigen they had encountered. Doctor Nemesis had just finished the defrosting procedures, so any second now, they'd all be awake. And instead of being inside the ward itself waiting for them, Sunshine was out in the hallway, pacing back and forth.

She was scared that something would still have gone wrong - that Sapphire's sacrifice hadn't managed to save the rest of them. She had grieved for Sapphire intensely when she had first woken up. When she closed her eyes at night, sometimes Sapphire was present in her nightmares. So she didn't sleep. She would go out with the other mutant kids at night, finding creative and dangerous ways to combine their powers together. She knew James didn't approve of the crowd she hanged out with, so she hadn't told him about her girlfriend. She didn't talk to Jack much, mostly since he seemed to have more or less checked out. And she wasn't even sure if it was really him.

Sunshine took a breath, before opening the doors and walking into the ward itself, seeing a few people moving around and talking - but not everyone. "Morning, losers - and welcome to Genosha."

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The last thing that she remembered was sending out the EMP and then X-Cutioner triggering the bomb, which she instantly regretted the decision, and then the brought flash of light and then nothing. Callie slowly opened her eyes and the voices and sounds around her sounded muffled and blurred, she let out a slight groan as she slowly started to look around the room. She looked down at herself seeing that her clothes were suddenly changed from what she was wearing before. Callie looked around and it looked like it was some kind of hospital of sorts, she had no clue how or why she even got here in the first place. "How long have we been out?" Callie asked softly her voice cracking slightly as she rolled over onto her side.

Callie's vision cleared slightly as she blinked several more times seeing Veil, and Casper who had flopped onto the floor and started to scream. Her head was pounding and wanted to chuck a pillow at Casper for being to loud but she didnt have the strength to do it, as Callie slowly started to sit up. And then a door opening seeing Sunshine coming in announcing where they were now, and somehow she was completely fine by the looks of it.

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Kristina remembered seeing the bright flash of light and then a sudden freezing cold around her like she had been put into cryosleep after she had been shot not to long before that. her head was pounding as she slowly opened her eyes she couldnt see what was going on around her, she slowly moved her legs ever so slightly. They felt incredibly heavy and had a hard time moving them at all, she groaned loudly as Kris could hear Casper yelling. Her clothes felt off to as she looked down her vision clearing now as she tried to sit up again, but didnt have the strength yet really.

She was about to ask where they were when the door opened and Sunshine coming in turning her attention to her and gave Sunshine a slight smile and wave. [color=3CB371["Hey there Sunshine.."[/color] Kristina said to her, as Callie had asked how long they had been out and wondered if Sunshine could answer that. She was suddenly worried to, she hadnt called her family really and wanted to call them and let them know that she was okay.

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Everything hurt. Andy knew what being in a burning building was like and this was very similar. She could hear Casper talking, which meant he was still alive. Her experience with Casper was he basically never stopped talking. She turned onto her side and curled up not opening her eyes right away. The pain had subsided but she hurt in her heart. She had hoped she would die. She had hoped that she'd be joining her parents.

Andy took a deep shaky breath and sat up. She opened her eyes. She hadn't ever been afraid of losing a sense but as she opened her eyes and everything was super blurry. Andy resisted crying out. She gripped the sheets of the bed listening. Trying to pick out everyone's voices. She wanted to make sure everyone was okay.

---

It’d been too much time.

Four months. James had awoken, alongside Sunshine, four long months ago to unfamiliar walls and a pervasive, profound grief that ached in his very bones. Tears spilled down his face before he’d even sat up. He’d been confused and frightened, not sure why he felt so awful, until he’d sat up and seen his friends, his boyfriend, all deep in cryostasis and he could only watch in horror as everything came rushing back. The X-Cutioner, the bomb, Casper. He wasn’t sure what was happening, where they were, who saved them, he couldn’t hear what the Doctor was saying, he couldn’t get enough breath, he couldn't breathe, he couldn’t breathe...

Sunshine had been his saving grace. He found it amusingly awkward in hindsight but at the time, all he could think was how fucking happy he was she was alive and safe and he clung to her, insistent long after he’d usually have backed off for her comfort but in that moment, he needed to feel that she was okay. He just needed reassurance in some form, in some manner, that not everything was fucked over. The entire way to their new apartment, he’d randomly hug her just to remind himself she was there and safe and not back in the fucking hospital, locked away with poison trapped in her veins.

Maybe that was why everything was… rough after that. That need to know that everything was okay, that the only other person to come out of that was still alive, drove him to hover and he knew Sunshine hated it, he knew, but he was just so worried. He barely slept for the first month, nightmares obliterating any hope at a steady sleep schedule, and so instead he focused on her. Making sure she ate, making sure she was okay and maybe pushing a little too much to open up (that conversation still ate away at him. How could she feel guilty?!), voicing his concerns about the violent friends she’d integrated with and suggesting other ways to go around feeling better. He knew it wasn’t healthy for either of them. Their coping mechanisms were garbage, that was fact, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop hovering. It was infuriating that he could see it, objectively and apathetically, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop even now.

But that was ages ago. He still had nightmares, of ice and mist and bombs, he still fretted over Sunshine and her friends but he’d made some friends himself, learned more about his abilities, and found ways to relax that didn’t involve running the situation over and over and over and over, trying to find something, anything, they’d missed that could have helped them. He found little things that let him reclaim some sense of control over his life and he’d been doing better. Not great, maybe not even good, but better.

And now, everyone was waking up. When the doctors told them the rest of the Mutant Underground would need an omega level mutant healer to safely escape cryostasis, James lost hope. He hadn’t known at the time what omega level was but the fact that it wasn’t readily available on an island full of mutants made him believe it would take years, if they were lucky, to find someone. He certainly hadn’t thought that he’d be the one to wake everyone up.

As the first few people roused, James covered his mouth as he fought back another round of tears. The process had been intense but he’d put the island’s Academy to good use; they’d had some fantastic ideas of how to help develop his regenerative abilities and, more importantly, do so in others without exhausting himself in the process. And it had all paid off, watching as Veil shook off the cryostasis.

Casper’s voice snatched his attention away and it took everything to keep himself calm and collected as the man he’d never thought he’d get the opportunity to hear again woke up full of energy. Something always settled dark and heavy in his stomach whenever he visited Casper here. Casper was energetic and loud and bright, demanding every moment of your attention in whatever way he could get it. Seeing his face blank and shuttered felt so deeply unnatural that it’d become a regular feature of his nightmares.

But here he was, gripping onto Renegade as he wobbled, still weak from months of sleep, and James’ heart lurched at the sight. James all but ran as soon as Casper called his name, drawn like a moth to the flame, and he felt tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. He ignored Dr. Nemesis, he ignored Renegade (which he would apologize for later), and just focused on the feeling of wrapping his arms around Casper again as he stepped in to help Casper stand.

“Morning, babes.” James’ voice cracked, heavy with emotion, as he soothed a finger across Casper’s cheek. “Give me a second to get you functional again.” James pressed a soft kiss to Casper’s lips, indulging in the feeling again, as he sunk into Casper’s heartbeat, James syncing up to his favorite rhythm as his healing factor soothed away Casper’s cryostasis aches and pains. He’d get to everyone in just a moment, Dr. Nemesis having kindly explained what the sleepers would be experiencing, but for now, he let himself drown in the man he loved again.

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That moment, that second, felt like an eternity to Max. The feeling of helplessness, of letting everyone down as his magic fizzled and failed before a bitter cold sensation took over him. As he started to go back into consciousness, started waking up, he twirled around in his bed, his body trying to react to the blast of terrigen gas in an attempt to swirl the barrier around everyone. The spell had been long since failed, time having passed in mere seconds for who knows how long. Max fell to the ground, his arms barely capable of breaking the fall as he now faced the ground, all his weight on his forearms that now shook from un-use. His breathing was labored as he stared into darkness. Words he wished to speak didn't come out. He moved onto his back, reaching a hand up to his throat as if to coerce the words to come out.

When they finally did they were raspy, dry. Max had an urge to drink some water, quench his thirst and hope it helped with whatever was going on with him. His vision pulsate and faded from black, to blurs, never fully getting anything into focus as he continued breathing, trying to slow it down and get himself back to normal. He could hear Casper, rattling on to someone, but even he wasn't talking as much as usual. Callie's voice piped up and then finally Sunshine. Max didn't know why, but hearing her voice made him so happy. It was weird, and something nobody would expect, but he was genuinely happy to hear she was alright. "Morning Sunshine, talking to yourself again?" His voice was raspy and dry, but he couldn't help but smile to be surrounded by such familiar voices.

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As Harry awoke he noticed a severe lack of Veil. Last he had seen here she was close-by, in sight, and telling him she loves him. Now all he could see was a blur of the world around him. He went to reach up, feeling his was now laying down in a bed, and immediately noticed the change in attire. He couldn't see what he was wearing, but he could tell by the feel it was spandex, a material he wished had never touched his body. He could hear his little sisters voice nearby, causing him to stir from his bed and attempt to make his way over to her. Harry's legs were shaking, his hands outstretched before him as he tried to find his way around. "Veil? Veil?!"

When he finally spoke he heard just how hoarse his voice was. Panic began to set in more as he began to wonder just how damaged his vocals were. Singing was literally his career, and a bulk of his powers. Living life without it...he tried not to dwell on that thought long as he reached up and felt his skin. It wasn't as dry and cracked as he thought it would be. How long had they been out? What happened? Where was the X-cutioner? Harry tried to find his twin, singing a song he had used often when looking for her. "Well, sometimes I go out by myself
And I look across the water
And I think of all the things of what you're doing
In my head I paint a picture

Since I've come home
Well, my body's been a mess
And I miss your curly hair
And the way you like to dress

Oh, won't you come on over?
Stop making a fool out of me
Why don't you come on over, Valerie?
Valerie"

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Jack didn't remember anything. At least, not anything relating to what had happened with the X-Cutioner. He had a vague memory of them stepping through the portal, but that was it, he didn't remember anything else. The first thing he really remembered after that portal was waking up someplace he had no idea where, a large clearing of trees or something like that, in the open. Of course, later when seeing the map of Genosha would learn that it was Voltus Glade, but at the time he didn't know. And no one would answer him, no one would tell him how he had gotten there. The only thing they did was introduce him to the country he was in, Genosha.

Despite having asked questions as to how the hell he got there, he only really was told that the bomb had gone off and everyone was frozen or something like that. There wasn't really any explanations, and it wasn't until later, when he saw the others in the hospital that he really understood that it had really happened that way. How he got to that tree clearing or whatever it was, if he should have been a popsicle like everyone else. Then again, that added another question in his brain as to a few things. After all, there was one thing he knew for certain about how his powers worked was that when he got insanely cold, as in cold enough to turn into a popsicle, his body tended to crack, so now he was confused for other reasons. However he was happy to learn that he wasn't the only one conscious, nope, Sunshine and James were too. They weren't necessarily the two he'd want to be stuck with, considering one was his brother's boyfriend and the other was his daughter who had more or less made clear that she didn't want much to do with him, but it was better then no one.

The problem is, it sort of resulted in him retreating into his own thoughts to try and figure out what was going on, or how everything fitted together. This was his sort of coping mechanism, going deeper into his own thoughts and such that he almost is pushing people away. Jack didn't care that James was a bit annoyed with him over it, he knew that, but the thing was that Jack hardly ever told anyone if something was bothering him. His mother probably could figure out if something bugged him, the other person who might have was currently doing time as a popsicle, that person of course being his brother. No, things just weren't adding up and no matter what he did no one would tell him what was going on, which resulted in him more or less being by himself until he hopefully figures it out.

It didn't matter though, at least not now. No what mattered now was going to the hospital to be there when everyone woke up. That was something he couldn't miss. He waited for a little while until he glanced into the room and saw the figures on a few of the beds moving around, and he stepped inside looking around the room somewhat, and noticing his mom helping Casper off the ground. "...You have been awake a whole five minutes Casper and are already sort of making a fool of yourself aren't you," he couldn't help but comment with a slight laugh.

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The cold, that was the last thing she really remembered. The bomb going off before she could safely really do something, or even attempt to do something. Then again she was in that split second confused as to why someone openly used an electrical blast or whatever towards someone with a bomb. However she still felt someone cold when she started hearing the voices of others, the voices of people she didn't recognize. Her eyes started to flutter open somewhat, and she was instantly freaked out by the fact that she couldn't see anything! Her hands started moving somewhat and she felt what seemed like her sword, or well technically her flashlight, the perks of having a weapon that automatically came back to you whenever you lose it.

She felt insanely tired as she sat up, her mind racing even though she couldn't really see anything, and now she was panicking. Which then resulted her in powers freaking out. Oh the joys of panicking so much. There was what sounded like mini explosions as several of the monitors in the room started freaking out before there was a loud boom as they fried and exploded. That wasn't the only bit of tech that started freaking out. Doctor Nemesis' eyeball, as apparently one of his eyes was robotic, shot out of his socket and plop hitting Casper on the head, but not enough to hurt him, before it fell to the floor and started freaking out and sparking all over the place. Then there also was the annoying singing, "Whoever the hell is singing or wherever that music is coming from shut the hell up before I go over there and make you shut up."

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Miranda was mainly there to help others with any sort of confusion, and more or less just moral support. She of course didn't exactly stay in the same place as the other three who had clearly been waiting for this day for a while since they all woke up several months before hand. She also knew that Ellie had more or less been wanting her other kid to wake up too. Then again, based on what she knew about this group chaos tended to follow them everywhere, though that wasn't saying much, chaos and mayhem tended to follow mutants everywhere.

She stayed out of the room for a while, while the others went in and started talking to the group, but after a few moments, she headed in after them, as of course the group instantly started asking what seemed like a few questions. Sunshine answered the basic one of where they were, now she might as well elaborate a bit, "As Sunshine said, welcome to Genosha. As for how long, well, you all were brought to us around 5 or so months ago, you've been in a cryofreeze ever since then, we've been trying to figure out a way to awaken the rest of you without killing you because of the Terrigen as Dr. Nemesis was explaining, though I do think he needs to work a little bit on his bedside manner. Caduceus, Sunshine and Stretch all woke up a few months back. Oh, and uh, one more thing. I was told to let you all know that once you have been given a clean bill of health that they want to hold a ceremony for you all for what you did and for how it helped Genosha..." Her attention got drawn away when all of the monitors started popping and exploding, as well as Nemesis' eye popping out. "Oh dear there goes your eye... Do try to put that back in, it's a little odd and creepy," she commented to Nemesis.

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Waverley Watts considered herself to be well acquainted with fear. She'd carried it in varying quantities with her all her life. But she'd never felt terror quite like that which she felt coming to in darkness, trapped within a body that could barely move. That wasn't to say it was the most scared she'd ever been - she didn't feel a panic attack coming on, though that could've very well have been due to the fact that physical exhaustion seemed to have a tighter hold on her body than her own mind. But it was certainly different.

'Whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck,' the thought ran through her mind on repeat, though only one quiet, croaked, "What...the...fuck?" made it passed her lips. After a moment, her eyes fluttered open, and she was assaulted by bright white that made her eyes go bleary. Was she dead? As the memories came back to her, that seemed likely. The white light put her in mind of heaven. She slowly began to flex her fingers, then her wrist, and eventually her arms, and as she did, the image of the room around her sharpened into something more akin to a medical office than the Pearly Gates, followed quickly by a cacophony of noise, a god-awful combination of shouting, angelic singing, and explosions, assaulting not only her ears, but her vulnerable mind, her weakness dampening her ability to properly block the waves out from her brain.

"Can everything just...be quiet please?" Waverley managed to whisper out, getting a better hold on her voice. As function returned to her arm, she lifted her hand to her face, rubbing her forehead. Her eyebrows furrowed under her hand as she heard the familiar voice of Sunshine make mention of Genosha, followed by an unfamiliar voice explain further. "Genosha? You mean...that place the flying car lady with the pretty hair was talking about?...What did we ever do for Genosha? Did we...Were we able to save D.C. somehow?"

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Veil didn't have a lot of energy, as her body felt incredibly fatigued, but she had enough strength to roll her eyes slightly at her brother's antics. He used to sing that song as kids when he was looking for her. It was sweet, but Veil was also a rather private person. She didn't advertise details of her personal life with the Mutant Underground, even though she treated them like family. Most of them hadn't even known she had a brother. "Je suis ici, Echo," Veil called out softly, pronouncing her brother's mutant name with a soft French accent - like Ey-koh.

She frowned then, hearing monitors popping around the room. She sat up ever so slightly, looking across the room at Zarina, one of the youngest. Veil didn't want to have to scold her and play mother, but people were gaining a serious problem when it came to threatening each other with violence. "Hey, quit it. We're better than that. We don't need to threaten each other." She then looked around the room, noticing two people were missing. Havok and Sapphire. "...Did Havok and Sapphire already wake up? Are they in another room?"

"Fuck! I knew I forgot something!" Nemesis spat. He snatched his eyeball off the ground and spun around for a second, looking around wildly before he saw Zarina. "You! Stop that!" he shouted at her, before rushing down to the very end of the room. He pressed up against the wall and it spun around to reveal Havok, completely frozen solid in a tank. "I mean it, technopath. Don't do anything to this or he'll die, and you'll be the one the Quiet Council'll put on trial for!" He then started pushing buttons at random, clearly initiating a defrosting process.

Casper was feeling at 100% - his mother and his boyfriend had clearly met, James looked amazing as always, and of course, he was being held up by his boyfriend. There was also something that always felt intimate when James would heal him - even more intimate than sex. His mood was dampened slightly when an eyeball popped out and hit him in the head, his brother teased him, and then some Winona Ryder lookalike said they'd been asleep for months. "What the fuck kinda messed up thing is this?" Casper whined. "This feels like the stupid shit Dad's wonder kids would claim so they could pretend they weren't off in Alaska fucking their mistress who just happens to look exactly like their dead girlfriend!"

"That's incredibly specific," Ben commented, leaning up against the wall now.

"Salut, Moneta," Renegrade greeted, waving at her old friend. She had stepped back slightly to give Casper and James some room. While her older two kids had inherited their father's mental instability, Casper had definitely gotten his more promiscuous nature from her. "Ceremony should be real nice, it's ta show our appreciation, y'all saved DC and all the mutants in it," Renegade explained, looking over at Waverley.

"Oooh, let me guess, the X-Men never showed up and Daddy Dearest left us all for dead?" Casper guessed. Waverley had brought up a good point, Polaris was definitely related to this Genosha thing, but James seemed to trust this place so that was good enough for him. Besides, he was pretty sure his father wouldn't have been welcomed here, which automatically gave it a gold star.

Renegade shrugged. "Eh... Oui."

Sunshine waved slightly to Stareyes - she didn't really know her that well, and it wasn't like they had had time to get to know each other while Stareyes was a popsicle (again). Max, however, she had a long history with. She had thought a lot about what this moment would be like. Somedays, she had planned on bringing him a thing of dirt and placing it in his mouth. Others, she had been intending on going by Voltus Glade and seeing about getting him some sort of magic rock thing.

Instead, she walked over to him and wrinkled her nose, as if smelling something horrible. "You'd think all of the ice would've made you smell better, not worse, but I guess you always liked to try to do the impossible," she taunted. She was glad to see that he was alright, but she wasn't going to admit it. She had learned to be a bit more secretive in her time on Genosha. Case in point, she was doing something later that evening that she knew James wouldn't approve of at all - so she just wasn't going to tell him.

"There, Havok should be dethawed shortly... I hope it won't delay the ceremony," Nemesis muttered, popping his eyeball back in.

"... Where is Sapphire?" Veil asked again, feeling more apprehensive. "Where is she?"

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Callie flinched slightly when a bunch of tech in the room started to explode, looking over at Zari the only person in the group who could mess with technology shook her head slightly when she threatened Echo with bodily harm for singing. Though she wasnt sure why he was singing for her when he could clearly hear Veil speaking. She looked at Moneta as she told them that they had been out for five months, Callie shook her head slightly it felt a lot shorter than that actually.

"How did you guys get us here?" She asked, as Dr. Nemesis quickly went to reveal Havok still frozen in a block of ice, but no Sapphire. Which she started to worry, she was the one to attack X-Cutioner which caused him to trigger the last bomb. "Is Sapphire okay?" Callie asked, she didnt really care or was interested in the whole ceremony thing at all honestly she wanted to know that everyone else was alright.

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Kristina jumped slightly when stuff in the room started to explode she sighed slightly when she realized that it was just Zari and started to lay back down and relaxed somewhat now. She shook her head slightly they had been in ice for five months that was something she was having a hard time processing. She watched as the robotic eyeball in Dr. Nemesis's head popped out and hitting Casper in the head was kind of entertaining to watch.

She looked as Dr. Nemesis revealed Havok and started to thaw him out, she wanted to know where Sapphire was as well to and wanted to thank her again for saving her life again. "If she's okay I want to see her, and thank her again." Kristina said, though she didnt want to experience getting frozen like Captain America again anytime soon.

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It was jarring. Most of the group could at least find comfort in each other. Andy barely knew them. She wrapped her arms around her legs curling up. Her muscles hurt in a way they never had before. Even when she had been training for boxing. She looked over at Zari wanting to comfort her. "Zari, it'll be okay." She tried to say reassuringly, trying to reach back to the conversation they had had just before they had gone looking for the bombs. It had all been so fast.

Five months had passed! Her mind did the quick mental math. "What is the date?" She had had plans for her birthday. She had wanted to find a boxing ring and box to her heart's content. If it was past her birthday...Well, maybe she could still do it. But it wouldn't be like the previous year. The year she had had the best birthday ever. Her jacket was gone too. She really hoped that these guys had her clothing. For all of that to have happened she didn't want to lose her jacket this way. And god she wanted a coffee despite not having had in for the longest time in her life since she had started drinking it.

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“Fuck, I love you.” James rested his head on Casper’s shoulder as laughter shook him at the familiar pandemonium around them. It wasn’t appropriate, not with the oncoming storm Sapphire’s fate would release and the confusion and fear and frustration that lingered in those who had just awoken (and those who’d had the dubious pleasure of returning early), but James couldn’t help it. The immediate threats of bodily injury, the haywire powers, the absurdity of the conversation- the familiarity left James feeling light and giddy, a respite from the turmoil that’d plagued him for months, and while he knew it wouldn’t last, he’d savour every second of relief he could snatch away. But he’d lingered in one place long enough and he forced himself to unwind from Casper. Everyone else needed some help to get back on their feet, especially if there was going to be a ceremony.

What a joy.

Still, James couldn’t help but take one last look at Casper―he could feel the dopey smile on his face but Casper was up and alive and breathing so he couldn’t really bring himself to care―before forcing his attention to the others. “Sapphire… Sapphire didn’t make it, guys.” James sighed, starting the rounds as he explained so he could get everyone on their feet in a timely manner. He stopped at Veil’s side first, taking her hand in his and letting his healing factor seep over. “Whatever she did took too much out of her. She gave her life to save us. I’m sorry.” James explained sympathetically, giving her hand a squeeze once he’d finished soothing away the after effects of their long sleep.

He moved on to the next person, Callie. It wasn’t that he was running away from the situation, it was just that... He wasn’t ready to handle processing what Sapphire did. He already had enough on his plate, enough stress, enough guilt, enough anger, that Sapphire’s sacrifice was going to have to wait second for him to regain his mental footing. Focusing on it too much right now would break the fragile peace he’d managed to find and he desperately needed that right now. So no, he wasn’t running away. He was making a tactical retreat.

“It’s good to see you up again.” James said, taking Callie’s hand in the same way he had with Veil and letting his healing factor ease away the aches. Every person healed let him breathe a little easier, let him relax a little more. He felt guilty that he was feeling a little better. After all, someone died and that was the only reason they’d all survived but he needed it. After this past five months, after the awful retaliation that Sunshine blamed herself, after the nightmares and the creeping insomnia, he fucking needed it.

Max was the next one James reached and he took a moment to collect himself as wetness prickled the corner of his eyes. “Can you believe we got into this mess together and we’ve somehow still managed to make it through with each other?” James chuckled, thinking back to what felt like a lifetime ago as they used the sewers to flee the cops. He grabbed Max’s hand as he had the other two, syncing up to the heartbeat of his friend. “I don’t think ending up in a mutant safe haven was on my becoming a fugitive bingo card.”

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Max could hear someone coming closer to him. He heard Sunshines voice, this time it was louder than before now that she was next to him. He raised one arm up to sniff himself and he began to feel the new outfit stretch at his movements. He decided that was a worry for later. For now he simply got up, and turned towards the direction Sunshines voice had come from. Seeing a blurred silhouette he leaned forward and gave her a huge hug. "Yeah well you'd smell this bad too if you trudged around sewers just before being incased in ice for...how long did you say?" The words were pained as each felt like a knife slicing up his throat. But he was too happy to care. He let go of Sunshine and made his way to sit back down at the bed he had been laying in.

Max recognized the voice speaking, it sounded so much like the Queen from WandaWorld. The woman who freed his mind and helped him start the process of undoing the magics that were at work there. To an extent he felt at ease knowing she was there, but them came the worry that Magneto wasn't too far behind. After all, they were at one of his clubs newest developments. One that Max had once tried to help make reality. When James came by, explaining bit by bit what had happened with Sapphire, with them, it all seemed to make sense. "Can you believe that it all started because I asked Sunshine not to flaunt her powers?" Max joked before returning to the matter at hand. "We were branded as martyrs weren't we? That bomb, that isolated attack against an entire race of people. It helped create the perfect political storm needed to finish off Genosha didn't it?"

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Harry's throat felt as if he had just gargled sand. It felt too weak to send any real waves out, but he tried none the less. When his sister finally spoke out, he looked up towards the sound of her voice and tried to make his way towards her. He ran his hand alongside the medical beds, using them for stability as much as he could to make the trip easier. He was about to Crack a joke about cryotherapy when his sister began to ask about Sapphire. There were more blurry blobs than voices that spoke and he couldn't tell one from the other. But if Sapphire wasn't among them then where could she be? He was beginning to think that she may of unfrozen before the rest, given her powers. Maybe she wasn't one to say goodbyes or do hospital hellos.

All that could run through Harry's mind was his worry for his sister and if she was OK, and a huge part of that was making sure Sapphire was OK. He didn't know all the specifics or the whys, but he did know they were close. Losing her could break his twins heart, and that was something he never wanted to see happen. By the the time James had broken the news, Harry had finally gotten his vision back in full. He made it to Veil, holding onto her hand and patting it slightly to try and comfort her. He was too weak to pull her into a hug, too weak to even think he might be able to support both their weight if she leaned into him and started crying. So for now he just held her hand in silence, his eyes saying a thousand apologies as he looked into hers, knowing no words could possibly make this feel fine.