I crouch behind a crumbling wall, my legs cramping after staying frozen in this position for too long. The U-Women's base sits about fifty yards away, nothing but a nondescript concrete building with blacked-out windows and a single metal door that the truck disappeared into twenty minutes ago.
"I hate waiting," Magik mutters beside me, her soul sword humming faintly as she traces patterns in the dirt with its tip. "Mystique better find something useful in there."
I nod, trying to ignore the gnawing anxiety in my gut. This mission has been nothing but hurry-up-and-wait since the get go. All to end up here, in the middle of nowhere, waiting for Mystique to report back.
"You think they're doing the same stuff here that they were doing on that boat?" I whisper, remembering the operating theater where we found Firestar, the little shark-fin girl trembling in that cabinet.
Magik's eyes harden. "Probably worse."
Kitty phases back through the ground between us, making me flinch despite knowing she was coming. "Perimeter's clear," she reports, brushing dirt from her uniform. "No guards outside, which is weird. Either they're incredibly confident or incredibly stupid."
"Or it's a trap," Firestar adds, her voice low as she huddles closer to our little group. Her hair isn't flaming right now, but I can feel heat radiating from her like a human space heater.
The comm unit in my ear crackles to life, and Mystique's voice comes through, tinny but clear.
"This place is fucking horrifying," Mystique's voice hisses through the comm. "Just a few makeshift operating theaters, but they're all bloodied. Like slaughterhouses."
My stomach twists at her description. I glance at Magik, whose face has hardened into a mask of cold fury.
"Any sign of other mutants?" she asks, gripping her sword tighter.
"No indication of any others besides Xorna," Mystique replies. "There's only maybe ten U-Women here total." There's a pause, and when her voice returns, it's lower, almost casual. "I could probably just kill them all on my own if you want? Wouldn't even be hard."
Before I can process that casual offer of mass murder, Kitty's voice cuts through the comms.
"No! Don't!" she says sharply. "We don't kill people, Mystique."
"Are you kidding me?" Mystique hisses back. "They take apart mutants. They deserve it."
Firestar joins in, her voice tight with restraint. "That's not our call to make."
"If we kill them, we're no better than they are," Kitty adds firmly.
I can practically hear Mystique rolling her eyes through the comm. "You're wrong, but whatever," she scoffs.
Magik rises to her feet beside me, already moving toward the building. "Let's go. Mystique will open the door for us."
I follow, my heart hammering against my ribs as we sprint across the open ground toward the concrete structure. Sure enough, just as we reach it, the metal door swings open, revealing Mystique's crimson form. The deep red of her skin looks almost black in the shadows, her yellow eyes gleaming with something dangerous.
"Welcome to hell," she mutters, stepping aside to let us enter.
The stench hits me first, antiseptic mixed with something metallic that can only be blood. I've smelled enough of it in my life to recognize it instantly. The corridors are narrow, utilitarian, with harsh fluorescent lights that flicker overhead like they're struggling to stay alive.
Mystique leads us through the maze-like hallways with the confidence of someone who's already memorized the entire floor plan. We move in near silence.
"Get down," Mystique suddenly hisses, pulling me behind a wall with surprising strength. The others follow suit, crouching beside us in the shadows.
"There's five guards to the right and five to the left," she whispers, her yellow eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. "Xorna is in…"
A blaring alarm cuts her off mid-sentence, red emergency lights suddenly bathing the corridor in crimson.
"Huh?" Mystique looks genuinely confused for once, her crimson brow furrowing. "We didn't trip anything..."
Before any of us can respond, a woman in one of those black environmental suits comes tearing around the corner.
"SHE'S COLLAPSING THE STAR IN ON HERSELF!" the U-Woman screams, not even noticing our group huddled against the wall. "SHE'S GONNA TAKE US ALL WITH HER!"
More footsteps thunder down the corridor as other U-Women appear, running in the same direction with the same blind panic. They barrel past us like we're invisible, their faces showing the same primal fear.
"What the fuck?" I mutter, watching them flee like rats from a sinking ship.
"I think we just found Xorna," Magik says grimly, already moving in the opposite direction of the fleeing women, toward whatever chaos they're running from.
Magik's eyes narrow as she takes command, pointing her sword at Firestar, Mystique, and Kitty.
"You three, go deal with the U-Women. Don't let them leave," she orders, her voice cutting through the chaos like her sword through armor. "We need answers."
Mystique's yellow eyes flash with indignation. "Wait, but you and Jack…"
"You'll just get in the way, Mystique," Magik cuts her off, leaving no room for argument.
Mystique grunts. "Fine," she spits before turning to follow the others.
"Jack, you're with me," Magik says, grabbing my arm. "Come on."
I follow her down the corridor, away from the others who are already sprinting after the fleeing U-Women. The hallway gets colder as we move deeper, and I can feel something in the air, a pressure that wasn't there before, like the atmosphere before a massive storm.
"What do you think 'collapsing the star' means?" I ask, jogging to keep up with Magik's determined stride.
"Nothing good," she mutters, her sword glowing brighter with each step.
We round a corner and stop dead in our tracks. The hallway ends at a massive reinforced door that's been blown completely off its hinges. Beyond it lies something truly awe inspiring.
A pulsing blue orb hovers in the center of the room, about the size of a car but somehow feeling infinitely larger. It's like looking at the heart of a star, brilliant blue light that hurts my eyes even from here.
"Holy shit," I whisper, feeling my body being pulled toward it and pushed away at the same time. It's like trying to stand in two different directions at once.
"This is bad," Magik says, bracing herself against the doorframe. "Really bad."
The blue light surges, sending out waves of energy that make my teeth vibrate in my skull.
Then I hear it, a voice coming from within the star itself. Not English, but something melodic and desperate.
"Wǒ tài lèi le... wǒ bùnéng zài jìxù le..." The words drift out of the pulsing blue orb, barely audible over the humming energy. "Wǒ zhǐ xiǎng ràng shìjiè biàn de gèng hǎo..."
"Fuck," Magik growls, bracing herself against the doorframe as another throb nearly knocks us off our feet. "She's speaking Chinese."
I squint against the brilliant light, trying to make out any shape within the miniature sun. "Maybe she knows English?"
Magik shakes her head, blonde hair whipping around her face. "Probably not."
The star pulses again, stronger this time. The concrete beneath our feet cracks with a sound like gunshots. We're running out of time.
"EXCUSE ME, XORNA!" I yell at the top of my lungs, cupping my hands around my mouth. "DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?"
The Chinese words cut off abruptly. The star's vibrating intensifies, the blue light shifting to something deeper, angrier, like the heart of a flame. The humming grows louder, a physical pressure against my eardrums that makes me want to curl up on the floor.
Then a voice, clear, female, and unmistakably English, cuts through the chaos.
"Yes," it says, the single word dripping with venom. "And I'm ending it. It's over. I will no longer be anyone's creature to poke and prod."
The azure ball expands suddenly, pushing us back several feet. I slam against the wall. Magik's sword flares in response, creating some kind of shield that keeps her from being crushed.
"I'M NOT A SCIENTIST!" I scream over the deafening roar of the collapsing star. "I JUST WANT TO HELP YOU! I'M WITH A TEAM OF MUTANTS HERE TO GET YOU OUT OF THIS PLACE!"
The expansion pauses, hovering at the edge of what feels like total annihilation. I can feel sweat pouring down my face, my muscles straining just to stay standing in the presence of whatever cosmic force Xorna's controlling.
"Liar," the voice says, quieter now but somehow even more terrifying.
"Wait, wait…" I push off from the wall, my hands raised in a desperate attempt to connect with her. "Are you trying to kill yourself? Is that what this is?"
The star pulses, a ripple of blue energy that's almost... hesitant.
"Yes." Her voice is flat, emotionless, yet somehow contains an ocean of pain. "I'm tired."
My heart pounds against my ribs, but not just from fear anymore. Something in her tone hits me right in the chest, a familiar darkness I know all too well.
"I wanted to die for most of my life too," I say, the words tumbling out before I can think better of them. Magik shoots me a sharp glance, but I keep going. "I get it. I really do."
The star's beating slows slightly, like it's listening.
"Every morning I woke up feeling trapped in a cage with no way out," I continue, taking a cautious step forward. "Like the walls were closing in, and no matter how much I screamed, nobody heard me. Nobody cared."
Another pulse, gentler this time. The concrete stops cracking beneath our feet.
"But then someone offered me a hand," I say, thinking of Scotty, of Xavier, of Jubilee, of Emma, of everyone who pulled me from that darkness. "I was lucky enough to get a way out. And now..." I gesture around me, at this insane mission, at my life that somehow became worth living. "Now I'm here. Trying to be that hand for you."
The blue light dims ever so slightly, its expansion halting completely.
"You know nothing of what I've endured," Xorna's voice whispers, the venom replaced with something more vulnerable.
"You're right," I admit, taking another step closer despite Magik's warning hand on my arm. "I don't know you, and you don't know me. I can't even imagine what you've gone through in this hellhole. But I'm here now, and I want to help you."
"Even if I were free, what purpose would I have?" Xorna asks, her voice wavering between resignation and defiance. "What place is there for someone like me?"
"That's actually great news," I say, taking another step forward despite feeling like I'm walking through quicksand. "We're literally a team that finds missing mutants. Someone with a star for a head would fit right in with us."
I glance back at Magik, whose eyes have gone wide with what looks like horror at my impromptu recruitment pitch. Her mouth opens slightly like she wants to object, but she remains silent, her knuckles white around the hilt of her soul sword.
"Plus," I continue, turning back to Xorna, "have you ever seen Star Wars? Or tried pizza? There's so much cool shit out there."
"No," Xorna's voice comes softer now. "I've been... locked up... for as long as I can remember."
"There's a whole world out there waiting for you, Xorna," I say, holding out my hand toward the star.
For a moment, nothing happens. Then the star begins to contract rapidly, folding in on itself like origami made of pure light. The blue glow dims, shrinks, compresses until it's barely the size of a basketball. Then, with a final pulse that feels more like an exhale than an explosion, it disappears entirely.
In its place sits a woman strapped to a metal chair with dozens of chains. Her body is completely naked beneath those restraints. The metal helmet covering her head looks even more sinister up close, burnished steel with those eerie blue eye holes glowing from within.
"And you want to show me this world?" she asks, her voice no longer cosmic and overwhelming, just tired and cautiously hopeful.
"Sure," I say, taking a final step toward her, close enough now that I could reach out and touch the chains binding her. Looking at her, I'm hit with a wave of doubt. I barely know what I'm doing with my own life, let alone how to guide someone else. But something about her reminds me of myself, lost, trapped, desperately in need of help.
"First things first," I tell her, my voice steadier than I feel. "Let's get you out of these chains."