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With the Quiet Council freed and the magnetic field down, the people of Genosha were finally able to begin to flee. Roughly half of the Quiet Council dedicated themselves to the evacuation effort, leading people away from the Carousel and down towards the southern end of the island, specifically Hellfire Bay. They didn't have enough ships to get everyone off of the island, but the hope was that there'd be enough teleporters to assist - and of course that Selene would be subdued before she made Genosha uninhabitable.

Specifically, the Quiet Council members evacuating people were Destiny, Mystique (now conscious), Reeva, Esme, Mister Sinister, and Polaris.

Of course, the pounding headache afflicting all magic users - including Pixie and Max - wasn't the only side-effect of the soul gobbling Selene and now Andy were doing. No, the island itself was being damaged by this. All of the plant life in the Carousel was dead and now rapidly decaying. The destruction inflicted by the Quiet Council had left its toll on the landscape as well, the ground shaking threateningly, an earthquake that hopefully would not get any worse...

The Stage

There was a flicker of pride in Selene's cold black heart as Andy began to drain some of her energy. Whereas she had lost interest not too long ago in having any sort of active motherly role in Andy's life, Selene could see the promise now, the vision. She had been wrong about her daughter. She wasn't a little hero after all. She was a vampiric predator and Selene smiled. Selene was immortal. She had nothing to fear. And all she could see was the promise that one day, perhaps one day soon, Andy would be Just. Like. Her. Mother.

"Oh, poppet, you're going to make mummy--" Selene began to say, only to be cut off. Despite the acheron being roughly the size of a Pokéball, somehow she noticed it. "You must be joking - you brought an acheron to defeat me? A child's toy? That may work on hissy little demons, but I am SELENE!" She could see Max down there like an ant. She raised her foot up, fully intending on crushing him, only for two sharp pinpricks of pain - one in her ear, the other in her cheek.

"Urgh, all of you little pests are ruining my mood!" Selene snapped, focusing in on Zarina now. "I should've known better than to rely on the Council - they're all bark and no bite. Jacques, dearest, be a good boy and kill these pests, hmm?" Her voice was so loud and booming that everyone present would be able to hear - would be able to hear Selene give Jack an order. Was that a bright move for her to make? Probably not. But Selene wasn't particularly bright. Or detail oriented.

Selene's attention then re-focused on the shiny glowing blue daughter in front of her. As much as she was very proud of Andy right now and excited about the dark future she glimpsed for her, Selene was NOT going to let Andy ascend to divinity first. Ever a drama queen, Selene lunged forward and sank her psychic fangs into Andy's neck, throttling up the speed of power transfer. As Andy shrunk down to only being 10 feet tall and Selene reached 100 feet, she had to hold up her daughter with her hands in order to continue to feed.

Did Selene need to do this like an actual vampire? No. But it was more fun, so she did.

"Unhand my child at once!" a thundering voice shouted, as the Master of Magnetism flew up into the sky, using the metal carefully threaded throughout his suit. He flicked his hand forward and ALL of the metal in the Carousel went flying at Selene, including Lila Cheney's guitar to her annoyance. But it hardly even phased Selene. It was like just pebbles hitting her chest.

Down at ground level, Lila Cheney had gone off to assist in evacuation efforts, teleporting handfuls of mutants at a time to her Dyson Sphere in outer space and then jaunting back over to Genosha without another word.

"Do you have any experience with fighting witches?" Dazzler asked Echo, as she sent off rays of bright light at Selene. It seemed to weaken Selene somewhat, but not really noticeably.

Sunshine and Marrow then arrived, with a bloody gash across Sunshine's forehead that she seemed to be ignoring for the most part. Marrow was beat up as well, bruises forming against her pink skin that were a vivid shade of purple. "One of you assholes have a plan?" Marrow asked, looking at Max, Echo, and Dazzler.

"No offense, but I always thought you'd be the magic person that goes out of control that we have to kill one day," Sunshine said to Max bluntly. It was somewhat of a compliment - she thought that he was that powerful. She didn't wait too long though for a plan to be formed, before conjuring up her smoky green orbs of disease, and she started to just lob them as Selene. She was thinking up the most wicked sounding viruses and diseases that she could, even as doubt filled her mind. She didn't know if it was possible to make a goddess ill.

The disease orbs hit, as Sunshine had the mutant power to always hit her mark. Brief bits of green flared up against Selene's glowing blue, as the illness briefly took hold, but Selene's godly immune system quickly fought it off. Attacking one at a time seemed futile - they needed to consider a new strategy.

Mutant Underground Table -

Legion scrambled backwards as Miranda released them from the box. They stared at her uncertainly, with wary eyes. Made entirely out of swirling water, the shape was still a rough approximation of David Haller, but not quite. "S-stay away from me!" Legion screeched at Miranda. And then they sent a blast of water at Miranda, narrowly missing, before turning around and running away. Legion was headed towards the exits more of less of the Carousel, threatening to blend into the fleeing crowd that was in the process of trying to evacuate.

Shi'Ar Bartender Set-Up

Pixie stopped the chant, seeing Veil not only reappear but come to her senses. She was battling the migraine that was threatening to put her out of commission, doing her best to just ignore it and continue to function. Pixie fluttered on over to Veil and Spark Plug. "I'm going to help with teleporting people away, if you two see Max, tell him to try mutant magic, not human magic to stop her. I'll come back to help as soon as I can, just - urgh - my head is pounding and not too many people can teleport people away here," Pixie explained, before giving Veil and Spark Plug a thumbs up. She then fluttered on over to a group of mutants and in a flash of pink, they vanished along with Pixie.

Veil blinked back tears, nodding at Spark Plug's words even though she didn't fully believe them. She'd spend the rest of her life trying to atone for this night, Veil realized. She turned and stared at Selene, scarcely able to believe that this was real - that there was a woman taller than some buildings, glowing blue, and eating the souls of everyone here who they had promised were safe, who they had promised to protect. It cut deeper, knowing that this wasn't an act of hatred by humanity, but a betrayal by one of their own. It had been naive for them, Veil came to understand, to allow everyone into their mutant paradise. People could change, but some simply did not want to.

"Can you use your emotional powers on her, Callie?" Veil asked. She wished for a moment that Cyclops was there - he was famed for having insane plans for every insane possibility, and Veil was certain that this exact version of events was probably tucked away in one of his binders. "Maybe if we can mess with her mentally, it'll make it easier to take her down - I don't like just pounding away at her, I feel like there has to be something we're missing... We should find Max, tell him what Pixie said - maybe it'll help him come up with a mystic strategy."

Veil then formed a force field around Callie and herself, to protect them from harm. And she offered Callie her hand, intending on running towards Selene.

Midway Between Shi'Ar Bar and Underground Table

Ben couldn't even believe himself that he had once had a crush on Jack. There was something about how calm, collected, and nonchalant Jack was about everything happening that made Ben's skin crawl. He didn't trust a word that came out of his mouth - only liars boasted about how good they were at lying and then in the next breath promised this was the truth. Ben could feel the tentacles within him straining to come out, to grab Jack and thrash him around, and then ask him if he was still so calm and sure then.

"If you're lying about this - if Casper doesn't come back - then I'll kill you myself. You fucking disgust me," Ben promised Jack, his right eye twitching slightly. He turned to follow Max through the portal to fight Selene, when he heard Selene's booming voice asking Jacques to come and help her. He turned sharply and stared at Jack. "She better not mean you," he warned. His tentacles came out through his stomach, but they weren't grabbing anyone - not yet.

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The rest of the fight started to come back into sharp focus when Andy noticed that Zari was nearby. And weirdly small. While Selene was distracted by Max and Zari, Andy realized what was happening. She had drawn in the souls from Selene and grown. She was glowing blue too. Her stunned realization didn't get long to sit because Selene bit into her neck. Actually bit into it. The world seemed to start to grow and Selene even more so. Andy guessed she was shrinking again.

Selene was taking back the souls Andy had stolen from her. Andy had two choices. Zap or steal. She wasn't getting out of her mother's fangs without serious damage. Her mother's fangs. Andy pulled at the part of her that was pure electricity. And sent it through her neck into her mother's mouth. This was definitely going to lead to some weird complex if she survived.

Her electricity didn't come. She just didn't have enough energy for it, which was weird, considering she was still a giant. There was something weirdly reassuring about the moment. Andy almost wanted to relax. To just let herself be subsumed. Her eyes caught Zari. And anger flared through her. If she failed, Zari would never be born. It led to some really weird paradoxes. What mattered was she couldn't let that happen.

Instead of relying on her electricity, she pulled again on the energy. That intoxicating energy filled her. She felt the world grow small again. She was growing again. Then it started to slip. She felt bloated. She couldn't hold any more of the souls. Selene was taking them back, and she couldn't draw in anymore. She tried shunting them away from Selene, but Selene was like a vacuum and sucked them back up again.

She couldn't do anything more than this. Despair filled Andy. She couldn't defeat Selene and the others hadn't been able to do anything yet either. No. She couldn't allow it. But she couldn't do it alone. She needed help. Someone had to be able to take the souls away safely. One of the magic users... or...there was one person who could help.

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Callie could feel the ground starting to shake as she looked down and noticed that the grass around them was slowly starting to die and decay. She stared at Selene as she continued to drain more souls from everyone and everything that was dying around them, when Pixie came back and nodded towards her. She wasnt sure what she meant by mutant magic, but then again she didnt have any kind of mystical powers or anything like Max did. "Sure thing, good luck with getting everyone out." Callie said to Pixie as she went to help the evacuation, Callie turned her attention towards Veil and accepted her hand and quickly ran alongside her.

Callie turned to Veil asking if she could try and emotionally manipulate her, and nodded towards her. "I can give it a try, not sure if that will help or not though." Callie said as she continued to run towards Selene, she looked up at Andy, who was holding her own against Selene for now. She closed her eyes, and started to focus on Selene attenting to manipulate her emotions to make her feel remorse, and sadness for what she was doing. Though she wasnt really able to the first time but she closed her eyes and started to concentrate harder and managed to kill her mood somewhat.

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Max scooped up the Acheron, tucking it inside his coat pocket as he tried to roll away from Selene's massive foot that threatened to squash him. Luckily that hit never came as Zari preoccupied Selene with a pair of daggers, followed by Magneto displaying his feats of magnetism. He turned to his left as Sunshine and Marrow made their way onto the scene, a smile on his face as a new yet familiar feeling came about him. He'd learned to fight by Sunshines side after all this time, it only seemed right to be by it once again as their mutant paradise was threatened. Max glanced over towards the massive dragon that was careening down before looking over at Sunshine again. "Whatever gave you that impression?"

Max watched as Andy tried to match her mother, but something didn't seem right. Even though she was growing, glowing, and by all accounts combating her, he couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't doing well. He rushed in close to Selene, holding his soul staff in one hand as he swung it towards her. He let the shaft slide down his hand until the top of the staff hit Selene and he held onto the back half with both hands. He focused on what he wanted to do, focused on his staff, and reached down and felt the souls writhing inside of her. If Cripta could do it, and Selene could, why shouldn't he be able to?

There was a brilliant glow emanating from his staff as he began to siphon the souls out of Selene and into his weapon. The energy resonated within him, his body felt as if it was vibrating at a different frequency, and it just felt rightI. He could feel everything. As if all his life he'd lived in a muted world and suddenly he was thrown into high definition. The world was now so vibrant and alive it was intoxicating. He was resolved to use this new found feeling to aid him in his castings. One hand breaking free from the staff as he tried to conjure up Selene's black whip in order to dampen her mystic powers. Not even a single spark of black energy cracked between his fingers.

His hand flew back towards the staff, holding onto it as he tried to siphon more souls out of her. He needed more. How else was he expected to stop her? He didn't feel another rush, Selene was clearly resistant to the idea. The pounding headache threatened to counteract the pure ecstasy he was feeling, battling it out to see which would triumph. Grass began to die at his feet and he couldn't tell if he was leeching its life or Selene. A part of him wondered where he ended and Andy began, each pulling at Selene's soul source from different angles as they tried to drain her dry. They needed Casper, he had the power to deal with souls, but he was…

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Harry didn't have long to celebrate their little victory. Already more chaos broke loose as Selene continued her attack on them. A portal opened nearby, something flying through it before Max came following after. Whatever it was he had tried pissed of the giant woman and insulted her all the same. Regrettably however, it didn't appear to work. "Can't say I've ever had the pleasure of fighting one no." He launched a dazzling array of lasers and lights towards Selene with a snap of his fingers. The bright flashes highlighting the color leaving the land around him as they fought. "That can't be good."

Harry heard a familiar voice as he turned to see Marrow and Sunshine on the scene. They both looked the worse for wear, and it just made him wish that James was here for them. They needed his healing, but he had no idea where he was at now that he'd disenchanted them all. Maybe he'd join them soon? "Max had a plan, but I don't think it went through. All it did was tick her off more. I don't know what an acheron is but she clearly has an over inflated ego." he added as he sent another barrage of lights towards her with the final word being the catalyst for his powers. He looked towards the group, confusing riddling his face as he sent out his final blast towards her. "Who the fuck is Jacques?"

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"Join the club of people who have threatened to kill me recently. Actually pretty sure there is a line for that. Since Sunshine has hated me since day one and pretty sure at times wants me dead. And then something I did that would now looking back be considered stupid even though I was doing it for a family member, which ended up getting me stuck in between a few over powered insane people, but sure, if I'm wrong I'll let you kill me. Since basically what I'm about to tell you and do next may or may not get me killed. And at this point, pretty sure some people would be better off if you did, so if you want to, do it now. And yeah, I'm serious, if you want to, just end it because my life is so screwed up right now, which all started with me trying to do the right thing. That's always how it starts right? Me trying to help others."

At this point, Jack didn't care, things were messed up right now, and Ben knew crazy, at least somewhat really, since he had followed Casper around for the longest time. If he was going to tell anyone what was going on, despite the death threats, it was probably best to be him really. Though now Jack was definitely acting more like his old self, more of only the side that was visible to his family where he overthinks everything and trying to do everything on his own, basically back to before he even joined the Underground. "You've known me for a decent part of my life Ben, and you know that my brother, and my mom, tend to mean the most to me. Family is everything, and the only reason I don't try anything for Sunshine or whatever, is because she actively didn't want me to and frankly after waking up back from the dead here? I was fine with letting her do that because I have been seriously messed up in the head, which I will openly admit. A little while ago, my dad decided to contact me about something. Now, usually, and quite frankly at the time I told him to leave me the hell alone until he did this sort of thing where he tends to bribe or blackmail people, at times it's hard to tell what. Why would I do a damn thing for him? Because you see, turns out he has a solution to cure my mom of whatever disease it is that she has that no one has been able to cure, and him being him, of course would only help if there was something in it for him. What was that exactly? He wanted something from Selene, which I figured was not a good idea and a death wish. But hey, at the time, and still kind of now, I don't care if I die, hence why I am telling this to you right now. Because as I said, pretty sure some people would e better off if I was gone."

Yeah, Jack was going on a rant, and even though he'd been acting strange, and while around Selene he had been acting like his old self, for the most part it was a bit of an act. However at times his mind and actions were a bit clouded because of the other thing, so there wasn't much else he could really do. "It was idiotic, and stupid, I know that, but I still went. That's when I found out Selene is the other person responsible for me not being dead. I got caught, and me being me literally conned my way out of it, hence why she thinks I'm going to help her. Cause let me tell you, she is an idiot. I know I screwed up, and I seriously trying to figure out what the hell is going on in my head which is kind of this big cloudy fog thing or whatever for some reason and I don't know why. However how about we stop arguing, and go see about helping the others deal with Selene, since Casper last time came back after a few hours, not immediately."

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Well things were going even more chaotic as at this point several different people seemed to be attacking Selene now, so it wasn't just her and Andy anymore. Which was a good thing, because how were they supposed to defeat her if others weren't seemingly doing much aside from throwing a ball at her and apparently hoping that it worked? Or was it a box thing? Honestly it wasn't super clear what it was Max had thrown at her while she was flying around dealing with other things, since there was more to worry about then seeing if some weird device worked.

Circling around by Selene, and still acting as a bit of a pest to her, and started swinging at her some more with her sword. First swing, of course, missed. That was just her luck, however things worked out a bit better when she flew back around, as her next to attempts to hit her were decent hits, causing some damage. Zari saw the others seemingly all close to each other really, so she flew and landed next to the others, and turned to look at them, "Anyone have any sort of ideas, cause I'm running out of ideas."

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"David, it's okay, calm down..." she started to say to Legion, right before he freaked out even more and he turned into a water being of some sort. Though obviously she knew that it was still him, that wasn't any surprise really. She was a bit grateful that the water he sent at her missed, going past her, and he turned around and ran away of sorts from her. That likely was the best option for him really, get him out of here so that he might be able to calm down a little bit, that would be a good idea.

Her attention now turned to what the rest of the group seemed to be doing, as now that she wasn't fighting Legion or anything, she could easily see the situation that was unfolding, and once again, this was a bit over her head with regards to what is going on in general. Miranda wasn't the best at combat still, however she went over to hear what potential ideas the others might have on how to fix this entire situation. They needed to get rid of Selene one way or another. She can't die, so they had to find another situation of what to do with her.

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His voice was hoarse by the time he was shaken violently out of the mind numbing pain. The tremors wracking the island were too much too ignore and James stared bleary eyed at the damaged all around - the withering plant life, the hoard of evacuees, Ben looking like he was on the verge of tearing someone’s throat out and Jack seemingly doing his best to reassure, calm… James wasn’t really sure. Everything sounded like it was underwater and he felt a bone deep exhaustion. He looked around, trying to gather himself past the fog in his head, and fixated on the massive Selene.

Normally, he’d be angry. She’d taken away Casper, she’d taken away their future, she’d taken away a father from their son. It’d only be natural to be angry. But at this point, James was just weary. He didn’t have it in him to be angry, no spark of irritation left to foster into anything. “I’ll be back, sweetheart. Just gotta wrap this up first.” James murmured sadly, pressing a kiss to Casper’s hand. He pushed himself to his feet with a sigh and jogged towards where the fighting was happening.

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The Stage

Selene huffed, her own interest in this evil plan of hers beginning to die. People were being so incredibly irritating, constantly attacking her with their pitiful little mutant powers, and while she hardly felt the attacks, they were still annoying. It was like a bunch of ants trying to punch her at random intervals, never combining their attacks together for something stronger. For a moment, Selene wished that she had just poisoned the food at the Hellfire Gala and sucked up all of the souls that way, rather than going for this showy and climatic finale.

Selene sighed. "I try to do something nice for you all and this is what I get..." she grumbled. It didn't cross her mind that her mood was being dampened intentionally by Spark Plug. Selene started to walk forward, trying to find a spot with somewhat better lighting - each step she took left gigantic craters in the ground, and it was like the island itself was screaming in pain.

Selene turned around and peered down at the ground, aware that she was a) shrinking down to only being about 20 feet tall and b) that someone else was ruining her day! She glared at Max. She had been proud of Andy for stealing souls from her, but Max? She didn't care about Max. He could have been a worthy follower, perhaps restart her line of hereditary priests, but not anymore. "Those don't belong to you, boy," Selene sneered. She then knelt down and flicked Max, sending him flying backwards and landing on the ground, hard. The acheron in his pocket smashed on impact, the glowing bits of stone scattering on the ground...

"Shit, was that important?" Veil cursed, throwing up a hastily made force field to protect them from another godly flick. Magneto reinforced the force field with metal, two gigantic rods forming the shape of an X in the final layer of the protection. "Anyways, Max, Pixie said to use mutant magic to stop her - do you know how to do that?" Veil obviously had no idea what mutant magic was, but she was hopeful that Max would know. He had been so obsessed with learning more magic lately that she imagined he had to know.

"What if we all attacked her at once?" Marrow suggested. "You know, if we all just do our best to fuck her up, maybe it'll work..." she then flexed, more bone marrow spikes appearing, and she ripped a good handful out, passing them out to Sunshine and anyone else who wanted one.

"We cannot simply kill Selene," Magneto warned. "She is an External. Death is not permanent. She'll return from the grave before it grows cold," he explained. He was continuing to reinforce the shield of sorts they were hiding behind, fury fueling his actions - as well as fear for his adopted child.

"Well that's just bullshit," Dazzler complained. She was sending off beam after beam of bright sparkly light, using the sound of Selene's own thunderous voice to make her light beams even stronger. All she was doing so far was succeeding in blinding Selene momentarily from the flashing lights, but Dazzler figured something was better than nothing - and as a singer, she knew the show must always go on.

Sunshine was incredibly irritated, not just because Selene was currently committing genocide, but because her father was involved. Of course he was. She hated that she ever learned that they were actually related. Before all of that business, she had actually enjoyed his company - and now, Sunshine felt she'd be perfectly happy if she never saw Jack again. "The plan should be we all attack, while Max figures out the mutant magic shit. And then we put her in a box and drop her down at the bottom of the ocean or something," Sunshine argued. "And after we kill her, we kill my dad. Of course his stupid ass is involved in this." She started lobbing disease-carrying bone marrow spikes on over the force field wall, her perfect aim meaning that she hit Selene with each blow.

"Her ass doesn't seem to be getting bigger anymore, at least?" Dazzler offered. She didn't really understand what was happening, there seemed to be a lot of people randomly glowing, and Selene must've wanted the Quiet Council to kill mutants for some purpose. Dazzler assumed it was some sort of sacrifice. "Maybe since she can't kill tons of people anymore, her spell or whatever isn't going to work as much?"

Something then dawned upon Magneto - or rather, the identity of someone whose powers would be critical in removing Selene's new godlike abilities. "Where's Xavier's boy, Casper?" He pointedly did not look at Miranda.

Midway Between Shi'Ar Bar and Underground Table

Ben stared at Jack as an avalanche's worthy of word vomit spilled out of his mouth. He was torn between being angry and understanding - between screaming at Jack for being so stupid and reckless, and realizing that Jack needed actual clinical help. "You don't get to have a death wish, Jack. You got brought back to life, you need to earn that," Ben told him bluntly. "There's billions of souls who were more deserving of this chance than you - than me - so you're going to fucking pull it together and help us kill this witch. And then you're going to therapy."

Ben didn't wait to give Jack a chance to say no, sprinting off towards Selene - running straight into deadly danger.

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Max froze as Selene turned her gaze upon him. While Andy and her grew and shrank with every soul, he remained the same. Her stature towering over him as her voice boomed across the field. He could feel it resonating within his chest as she chastised him for taking from her. "Well they don't belong to you either!" He was barely able to get the words out before the hulking woman knelt down and flicked him across the field towards where Veil and Magento were. There was a loud crack as Max felt something sharp press against his side, the pieces of the Acheron pouring out of his coat pocket. His eyes shook, practically vibrating as he attempted to make sense of what he just witnessed. A lump formed in his throat, his heart pounding against his ribs, as his vision began to glaze over.

Harry looked over his shoulder, watching as Max slowly moved from laying on his back now down to his knees. The witchy boy was clearly distressed by something, but Harry didn't know what. He tapped Dazzler on her arm and nodded towards his twin sister. She didn't have to follow him, but he wasn't about to die in battle without standing side by side with his twin. He rushed over to Veil, standing to her left as he concentrated on the vibrations all around them. "Mutant magic? Isn't all magic mutant? What the fuck is that supposed tk mean? Max? Max?" He looked towards him once more, seeing how he'd barely moved. "Fuck. Ok Sunshines right, we stand and fight together until Max snaps out of it and figures out the plan. As for Casper, damn it, where is he?"

Max's hands trembled as he rapidly grasped at the individual glowing stones. Pulling them all closer into a pile towards him as he muttered to himself. "No no no no no. This can't be, this can't be it. Please." His tears streamed down his cheeks as they landed onto the ruined bits of the Acheron. Everyone was turning to him for answers and he didn't have any. He tried to think about what Veil had told him, what Magneto was saying, everything. But he felt lost in a fog. Small and helpless. But that wasn't going to help them. He faced Cripta and defeated him, he helped stop Wandaworld, and was chosen as a student by the Sorcerer Supreme. He could stop a cocky over inflated ego of a witch. His eyes darted from person to person, Zari, Andy, Veil and Harry, Sunshine, Dazzler, hell even Magneto all working together against a common enemy.

They were shielding him from harm, giving him the time he needed to figure this out. But he needed to work fast. He slowly stood up, the pieces of Acheron cradled in his arm as his free hand wiped away the tears. "Caspers dead. But if Jack isn't lying, which I hope to the gods he isn't, he should come back to life soon. Mutant Magic…give me a moment." He whispered the last sentence to himself, regaining his voice as he asked for time.

Harry nodded towards Max. If it was time he needed then it was time he'll get. He didn't dare close his eyes, the fight was too chaotic for that. But he tried to clear his mind and focus on all the sounds around him. He pulled on the distant screams of the mutants he wished to save. Turning their voices into weapons against their attacker. A dazzling display of lights showers Selene in the most unflattering way. Underlightings hitting with harsh colors and contrast threatening to give her a double chin or baggy eyes if they hit the right way. He continued his assault by both Sunshine and Max's orders. Distracting the immortal witch for as long as he could.

James and Ben joined in on the fight, arriving at the scene one by one. Max watched as everyone worked together, Magento and Veils powers working as one to protect him, Sunshine and Marrow combining their strengths to fight, each and every one seemingly teaming up with one another to create something more. It was then that Pixie's words clicked. Mutant Magic. He realized Selene had unwittingly given him the answer to how to defeat her, now he just needed to figure out exactly how to pull it off.

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Callie watched as Magneto and Veil started to create a barrier around them to try and protect them all from being crushed by Selene herself just as she had flicked Max over to them like a little bug. Seeing something shattering in his coat as pieces fell from the pocket. Callie wasnt sure what it actually was as she started to try and come up with a plan, they couldn't just kill Selene that easily. "Can't you just use magic or whatever to fix it?" Callie asked Max as she started to focus on musing her empathy again on Selene, but she wasn't able to, but she tried again and managed to dampen her hood once more like before. Callie then hurled a bolt of lightening directly towards Selene managing to hit her as she thought up as a plan.

"Even if we can't kill her we can try and weaken her in the mean time." Callie said as she looked over towards Magneto. "Can you try and send some of that metal around Selene, I could try and summon up a storm and send a huge lightening strike her way make her into a huge ass lightening rod, Andy should be able to help out with that to, Zari tell her about the plan to if you can or get her out of there." Callie suggested as she looked at Veil. "Just keep that forcefield going, Harry and Dazzler keep the lightshow going. Sunshine and Marrow keep throwing diseased bone daggers at her." Callie said, as she heard about what happened to her friend Casper, she hoped that he would come back soon.

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Andy was feeling better. She wondered if it was because she wasn't touching Selene anymore. Or if she was feeling better because she was getting used to being bloated with souls. She didn't particularly like the implications of the latter. The others were getting even more involved now. Selene was distracted by Max. Whatever he had done had pissed her off.

Andy wanted to shrink and disappear from the situation. She was tired. She felt like she had done her part trying to stop Selene. She looked around and found Zari in the group. It was made easier since she had her pegasus with her.

"Can you ferry any of the souls I have away?" She asked her. Since Zari could do the Valkrie thing, she could probably help some of the souls move on. And Andy couldn't handle anymore, really.

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The scene at the stage was intense. Bone and disease and light crashed against the slowly dwindling Selene, accounting to little more than mild irritation, but the ground still trembled with each of her footsteps. James came to a stop next to Max, who seemed to have pulled himself together and hardened his resolve after picking up whatever the fragments were on the ground.

At least that was one of them.

James stared up at Selene where she all but ignored the full assault on her. Maybe it was the lingering effects of whatever mind games someone had played with him or the toll of recent events but James’ felt like his head was in a fog, the wheels in his brain barely spinning. He felt tired, exhausted, and he had no idea how to stop someone that the most powerful mutants on the island were raging against to no avail.

“Tell me you got something, man.” James asked Max, ready to spring into action if Selene actually started fighting back.

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Midway Between Shi'Ar Bar and Underground Table

Casper gasped for air, sitting up so quickly it was as if he had been roused by a nightmare. His skin was cold and clammy, covered in a thin layer of sweat - and some of his own blood. His couture was absolutely ruined, the pink dress only a shadow of its former self. He looked like he had come straight from Carrie, rather than the Hellfire Gala. "James?" Casper called out, getting up to his feet now. His entire body was shaking and trembling, but Casper didn't remember why. The last thing he remembered was...

"Why the hell is her ass so big?!?!?!?!" Casper blurted, looking in horror (and a bit of wonder) at Selene's gigantic blue god ass that was taking up the sky. "Jackie? Ben?" Casper called out. He didn't see anyone around him - the place looked almost entirely deserted. The last thing he remembered was... He had been running off after James, going to save him. Someone must've knocked him out, Casper figured.

"Where did you all go? Honestly, so rude to leave me on the floor - besties don't do that!"

The Stage

Due to the evacuation (that Selene had been too busy slaying to really pay attention to), there weren't very many mutant souls left hanging around for her to eat. And while she was incredibly powerful right now, she wasn't finished yet - she knew that she hadn't reached all the omnis of power (omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient). She needed to eat more souls. "I s'pose this party really has ended, hmm?" Selene mused. "Time for me to go get some snacks - I think the X-Men would hit the spot," she added, speaking over her shoulder to some sort of imaginary audience. She continued to walk, heading for the western coast of the island. With each step, the island shuddered in pain like it was a living being, and with the now near constant tremors it was clear that Genosha simply could not last much longer. The island would fall apart.

Meanwhile down on the ground, well on the stage proper, Magneto considered the situation at hand. He had privately regretted not doing a better job by his first Brotherhood of Mutants - that he hadn't trained them properly before sending them off out into the world. If his adopted daughter Andy's life had not been sufficient motivation, as well as the countless mutant lives Selene had claimed and those she continued to threaten, then perhaps working with this ragtag group would be some means of atonement. "You heard your fellow mutant - we have work to be done," Magneto said to the group.

Lightning seemed to gather in his eyes, as the Master of Magnetism went to work. He pushed and pulled, working the metal surrounding them before shaping it into a swirling storm. Magneto sent the metallic storm chasing off after Selene, zipping around her like flies, the individual bits of metal so fine that the goddess didn't notice as they slowly began to adhere to her body, giving Spark Plug (and Andy, for that matter) the opening to strike with the rage of the elements.

"Any chance you could fill us in on the mutant magic plan now?" Veil asked Max. It was furiously windy now as the ground shook, and Veil's hair was practically swirling around her head, a tight mess of curls stuck in the wind. She was putting her all into holding up the force field, but it was beginning to shimmer and weaken. She locked eyes with her twin for a moment, glad to see that he was alright - and a bit sad that he had to meet Dazzler under circumstances like this. She knew he adored Dazzler. Who didn't?

"Kinda cliché to do magic to beat her, but whatever. If it works, it works," Sunshine said. She and Marrow were working together, and while Sunshine's aim was true, Selene was slowing beginning to leave her range. They'd need to get things done - quickly. Dazzler was sending off beams of light still as well, tapping her foot to an imaginary beat.

And then, a familiar face showed up, dashing up to the group, covered in blood and sweat but no worse for the wear...

"You know the last time I was abandoned on the floor at a party, I woke up in a cell cradling a tiny cactus like it was a baby."

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Callie looked at Max for a moment still wondering if he had a plan or not how to deal with Selene, she felt the ground starting to shake and tremble again as Selene started to slowly leave the stage area. "She's moving away we need to catch up to her before she leaves the island." Callie said as she watched Magneto starting to send metal shards of different sizes over to Selene, seeing them clinging to her. Callie then turned her head to hear a familiar voice coming up to them, she was surprised to see Casper was actually back from the dead, but really bloody. "What the hell happened to you? You look like someone out of a horror movie with all that blood." Callie asked him.

"Anyway Selene here is sucking all the souls from the dead to become a fucking god, can you do something about that?" Callie asked Casper since she knew that his power was controlling the spirits of the dead or something along those lines as Callie's attention turned to Selene as she started to close her eyes and summon up another storm around Selene hoping to hurt her enough to get her attention once more.

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Jack couldn't help but laugh slightly at Ben, "Oh I know I didn't, the difference between you and I is you had people who actually seemed to care. I was a lab rat brought back probably just to see if they could. That is a big difference, and everyone else in our group needs therapy lets be honest about that," Jack said to him, before he ended up following along after him to where everyone else was, just in time to sort of hear what it was that Sunshine was saying with regards to him.

"The reason she thinks I'd help her is because she's a moron. Which not sure about you guys might be able to be used to our advantage. I'm not going to explain right now to the rest of you why she actually thinks I'd help her, but how about we move on from that and add that to the list of horrible ideas that I've gotten mixed up with in the past like, year or two. And seriously Max? I'm telling you, Casper will be back. Problem is I don't know how long it'll take since last time I was kind of kept out of the loop for it. Not to mention the fact that pretty sure Selene doesn't know that since she wanted him specifically dead out of everyone." he then explained to the group, before low and behold who should walk up behind them but Casper himself, back from the dead already. "See? I did say I wasn't lying about that... Anyway welcome back to the land of the living Casper, no offense but you look like crap. But guess that makes sense since only a few minutes ago your face was kind of bashed in."

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Things were a bit awkward to say the least for her, considering the fact that she knew for a fact that Magneto was more or less refusing to look at her, and personally, Miranda was not looking his direction either at this point. The conversation with regards to what to do about Selene or how to potentially deal with her was intriguing to say the least. Though she did know that killing Selene was a lot easier said then done considering the fact that at this moment she was starting to walk away from the group.

"We aren't going to get much done just standing around, and we need to stop her before she leaves the island and before the island completely crumbles which it is starting to look like will happen sooner or later, so if you have a plan now would be the time to share it," Miranda said, looking towards Max now since it seemed like he did have an idea. Though she was a bit surprised to see Casper walk up, considering everyone else literally just told them he had died and might come back.

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Well this was a bit chaotic in general, considering the fact that Selene was still eating some of the remaining souls in the area. Zari glanced over towards Andy when she asked if she could ferry souls or whatever to help or make it easier. "Well I uh... I don't think I'm qualified to do that sort of thing..." she ended up saying with a bit of a shrug, but she climbed off of her Pegasus to see what everyone else was discussing. When her thoughts focused on the object and pieces that Max had from the box he had tried using to catch Selene with.

There was a chance it could be fixed. Though it would be a bit of a longshot really, considering the fact that it was some weird magic object, but it seemed like something could be done to at least repair or make use of it. Zari walked over to Max, still looking at the pieces of the thing. "Hey, can I see those pieces or something? There is a small chance it might be able to be fixed..." she ended up saying to him, holding out her hand waiting to see if he'd hand her the pieces.

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Everyone here needed to work in perfect unison for what Max was about to suggest next. He was still missing a crucial part of his plan, one he couldn't very well wait around for no matter how much he wanted to. Callie was right, Selene was getting away and they needed to stop her or at the very least slow her down enough to give Casper time for his miraculous resurrection that Jack was apparently expecting. He truly hoped that Jack wasn't giving him false hope in an attempt to disrupt what they were trying to do here. Max nodded towards James, thinking about Casper and his kid. He wanted to give them a future they deserved.

Harry could see why Veil had such a close relationship with Callie. She made an amazing second in command, stepping up to take the charge when Veil was at a loss for what to do. He certainly didn't know how best to keep that gargantuan woman down, but Callie seemed to find a way to do so at the drop of a hat. More and more people began to show up to the fight, as he waited for Casper to join only to hear the news of his passing. Another reason to take this with down a notch.

Zari apporached him, i quiting about the Acheron and if she could attempt to fix it. Max was about to answer when an annoyingly familiar voice piped up from behind them. "Casper!" He held a finger out towards Zari asking her for a minute as he dashed towards the newly dead man. He pulled him into a big hug, only later to realize the amount of blood that was on him. "A lots happened just follow me and I'll explain later." Max made his way back towards Zari, and looking between her and Miranda. "You two have an extremely important task. Miranda, if you could use your constructs to reinforce the Acheron and Zari I need you to use your tech powers to control it while simultaneously avoiding having it be destroyed again." Max handed her the pieces, stepping back as he spoke up a bit louder now so they could all hear him.

"We need to work together, combining our powers and allowing them to become one. Mutants have always been stronger when we stand together than when we are alone. Our bonds will help bind us together making a circuit that will empower us. To that end, Echo, Dazzler, both of you need to focus on giving this circuit its energy. Your skillsets allow you to do so with sound, so use what you have to to make this work."

Harry didn't waste any time. If it was energy they needed it was energy they were going to get. There was so many sounds to pull from, but he'd decided what better spot than as Max was giving his plan. Using the energy that he was pouring into his words, the love for his mutant brethren, and the compassion he had for all of them. It made the perfect catalyst for their mutant circuit, and a wonderful foundation for him and Dazzler to build upon.

"Andy, Casper, I need both of your help to ferry the souls out of Selene. Everytime we've taken them she's shrunk in size, let's see how small she can go to weaken her for the others. To that end, Veil, you need to make a barrier around all of us including Selene. Keep her from leaving our zone and keep the energy Echo and Dazzler create from dispersing too much." So far Max hoped that everyone was following along, and he hoped they could pull it off. But for now that was all he needed to strive on, hope.

"Ben, Magneto, and Marrow, you're all on lockdown duty. Use your powers to try and keep her down. Pin her to walls, floors, whatever you have to just keep her anchored down and remember to work together. This whole plan rides on us being able to act as one, no animosity can exist between us as we work towards a singular goal." That was addressed to everyone, but he knew how he and Ben felt about Jack at this moment, and they needed to push past that. "Sunshine, Callie, Jack, you're in charge of breaking her down. Attack her mind, body, and spirit. Slug every disease you have, assault her mind, and break down her emotions. She needs to be weakened for the final steps of the plan."

Max turned to look at James, a half smile across his face asking for forgiveness before he even stated what needed to be done. "James, you've got thr hardest part. Keep us all alive and healthy. Boost our constitution as we fight on around disease and push ourselves past our limits. You're our backbone, always have been man. But that includes keeping yourself safe and well. Now, if everyone's got the plan…" Max waved his hand as magic ripped open a portal between here and where Selene's massive steps had taken her. Allowing them to save some strength for the fight that they would've used chasing her down. "...Let's do this."

Max made his way through the portal, using its connection as a bridge between both sides. Even though technically they were a ways apart, he could extend his magic through it as if they were close by. He held his soul staff in his hands, focusing on everyone as a whole. One unit, one person. Each one's experiences now become an extension of the next. The boundaries between one person and the next, now loose and hard to define. The circuit had started, they now only needed to maintain it.

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Andy was at a loss for what to do. Selene was starting just to leave, which, honestly, Andy couldn't blame her for doing. But it made defeating her really difficult. Magento surrounded Selene with metal, and she was about to take advantage of that when Max explained that they needed to make a circuit. She didn't understand, but her part of the task she could do.

Casper was back in the fight too. She could shunt souls at him, making this whole thing a lot easier for her. She held up one hand directed toward Selene and the other toward Casper. In one, out the other. She started to pull and push at the same time. It was still an intoxicating feeling. She could swim in the feeling of soaking up souls.

But she focused on the idea of Zari. If they failed, Zari would never exist. The world was doomed. She couldn't allow that. She didn't want a world without Zari in it.

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James gaped at Casper, running up like nothing happened. He’d been dead, not even a minute ago. James had felt his life break at his feet, his heart tearing itself to shreds, it felt like his whole life had been over, and now Casper just ran up to them like he’d passed out on the field, rather than James caving his skull in. He wanted to grab Casper and fucking run, put him somewhere no one, not even James could burt him, but at the same time, he could barely bring himself to look at Casper. All he saw was his own fist in Casper’s face, the last broken plea Casper managed to get out, all the while being stuck in his own skin, unable to do anything. He couldn’t even scream.

But as Max started shouting instructions, James shook his head. He could deal with the emotions later; Casper coming back to life wouldn’t mean anything if Selene made it off the island. Max gave him his task and he frowned in response. That… was a lot of people if Max truly meant everyone. He hadn’t really tried focusing on more than one person. He’d assumed the fact that trying to sync to multiple bodies would have made him go haywire. How do you match two different people, much less those in different states of health and chemical composition, at the same time? Jesus, the adrenaline between all of them was likely to give him a heart attack trying to level it all but if that’s what Max needed, that’s what Max would get.

“Alright. Let’s finish this bullshit.” James sighed, rubbing his hands together.

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The boundaries between one person and the next were blurred at first, until they collapsed entirely. The new singular entity, comprised of a murderer's row of mutants - Casper, Andy, and Max to ferry the souls, Veil to trap Selene, Sunshine, Spark Plug, and Jack to weaken Selene, James to boost the circuit, Zari to constantly repair and reinforce the acheron, Miranda to reinforce the acheron. Echo and Dazzler to turn sound into energy to power the circuit. Ben, Magneto, and Marrow to ensnare her, preventing Selene's escape. A single member missing and this circuit would not have worked - this magical and psychic gestalt would not have the power needed to stand against a god.

The amalgam was a strange, bizarre being, pulsing with light, sound waves, and magnetism. Tentacles shot out from every surface, covered in bone spikes and laced with disease. Rather than having a face, the entity had a gigantic eye, the color of the universe. The entity was made up of more than just the sum of the powers of the individuals - it also was made up of their hopes and their dreams. Like the Phoenix Force itself, it was an ultimate expression of light and life - and Selene, the Dark Priestess, the embodiment of darkness and death.

Selene's eyeballs almost seemed to throb in anger, rage, and disbelief. "What?! No! This cannot be! The pesky little firebird isn't here, you shouldn't be able to defeat me! Not this!" Selene raged, before lunging forward, gigantic psychic fangs gleaming in her mouth as she went to do war with her cosmic equal.

The entity spoke, not with a tongue or mouth, but with its mind. It spoke in a language unknown to man, one that only those wielding fundamental forces or concepts of the universe could understand. It said -


Selene's means of escape were quickly eliminated by it. She was then pinned down and restrained, and subjected to an intense psychic and physical onslaught. The souls powering her were pulled away, diminishing her size and power with every second. The entity had her beaten, in body and in soul. The acheron was thrown, simultaneously assembling and reassembling itself in flight. It struck her body and Selene screamed as she was sucked inside of the device, a horrible banshee's wail...

And then...

And then...

Silence.

The entity had vanquished its foe; light had triumphed under darkness. The glow of the moon illuminated the being and for a moment, it was the most powerful thing in the world, perhaps even the universe. A cloud passed over the moon, dimming its light - when the cloud was gone, allowing the scene to be illuminated, the entity was gone. Instead, the fifteen mutants were collapsed on the ground, forming a circle around the still acheron. All of them were nude, their clothing disintegrated or simply vanished during the spell.

Casper, naturally, broke the hush. "That was... that was... That was intense shit!" he exclaimed. He then looked down, and realized he and everyone else present were naked. There was no blood or sweat or dirt on them, and any wounds they had had were healed. In the days and weeks to come, they'd learn during tests and examinations that they all had been put in the prime of their condition - for those like Miranda and Magneto, this meant an extended lifespan compared to what they might have had otherwise. For Casper, it meant some lessening of the abuse he had put his body through prior to his sobriety. For Jack, it meant the stain on his soul had been lifted, the corruption by the Darkhold eradicated.

"...What are we going to do with this?" Veil asked, gently picking up the acheron. It was hard to imagine that it housed an immortal being, such a small little device. They couldn't kill Selene though. Someone would have to guard it with their life. She glanced at Andy. "Andy, if you want to keep her, guard her, prevent someone else from releasing her... I trust you," Veil said, holding the acheron out to Andy. Selene was Andy's mother. Veil figured it was only right to offer that job to her. If she didn't want it though, Veil would gladly take it.

"You need not be her keeper, if you do not wish it, Andy," Magneto told his adopted daughter, his voice gentle but stern. "To think that the extinction of mutantkind would have come at the end of one of our own, had the strong not been able to prevent it..."

Sunshine had gravitated over towards Marrow, holding onto her wife. Her heart was pounding and she could feel the trauma in her body. The fight was over, but the island had been more or less destroyed in the process. No one would be able to live on Genosha again. Maybe a mutant circuit would be able to restore it, to make it be like nothing had ever happened... but Sunshine didn't want that. It didn't sit right with her. The devastation here had happened. If it were up to her, this island would stay as a memorial to those they had lost, those who had suffered due to a world that hates and fears them.

"... Where do we go now?" Sunshine asked quietly.

"The Quiet Council's emergency plans are to evacuate to the grounds of the former Massachusetts Academy," Magneto explained. "Beyond that, I do not know... but I have a thought. Genosha was not built in a day. Mutantkind's next home will not be either." Magneto gazed upwards at the stars. Perhaps up there, mutants could be free. Perhaps next time, things would be better.

For he would be better.

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Andy felt great. Her body seemed to sing. Her skin felt warm and cool at the same time. She lay on the ground, not realizing she was naked yet. She breathed in through her nose and out her mouth. She sat up after a moment and knew immediately that she wasn't 10 feet tall anymore. That was fantastic. She didn't really want to be ten feet tall. She wanted to be normal.

Looking around, she noticed everyone was naked; looking down, she saw she was too. Her face warmed up. But Veil was asking her a question. She looked over. Andy opened her mouth to respond. Did she want to care for the box that held her mother? What would she do with it? How was she supposed to protect it when she didn't have anywhere to go? But Magento was saying they did have somewhere to go.

She glanced at Zari. Then nodded. "I'll take her. One of us has to be responsible." She meant between her and Selene, but it could be interpreted differently. Andy held out her hand for the acheron.

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Callie laid on the ground as she looked up at the night sky, everything felt very quiet as she slowly started to sit up, seeing the naked bodies of her friends and allies. She took a moment and stared down and noticed that she was rather naked now herself as well to, she slowly started to stand up now, she somehow felt better than she had been in years even better than she had been after she had contracted M-Pox. Callie took a moment to look at Andy as Veil offered the acheron to Andy that now contained Selene, she gently rested her hand on her shoulder.

"I trust you as well to keep it safe, hopefully she'll stay in there forever." Callie said as she looked at Sunshine asking where they'd should go now. For now they just had the Massachusetts Academy to call home for now. "We'll figure it out on where we should settle down next." Callie said reassuring Sunshine, she had expected humans to try and kill them all, she hadn't expected it to be any of their own at all. "If we all survived this, then we can survive just about anything, it'll take time for us to rebuild." Callie said as she looked at everyone else who was there, they all will figure out on what to do next together.