Fatal Attractions [Charles Xavier | Book One]

Chapter 17: The Cuban Missile Crisis

        Shaw's submarine rested upon the beach bent yet upright still after it had tumbled so far. The jet, however, lay mostly destroyed with its scraps of metal thrown about the beach. The engines had exploded off, the body of the plane torn in two.

        "Kat!" A familiar voice called from somewhere.  'Christiana, can you hear me? Open your eyes.'

        It took an enormous amount of effort for Kat to manage to get them open, blinking as her vision blurred before finally focusing on Charles. Only he appeared upside down from Kat's view as remained strapped into her seat; their portion of the plane had landed upside down when it finally settled on the beach.

        "That's it," Charles spoke softly to her.  "Can you hear me?"

        Kat groaned, eventually nodding her head.  "What . . . ?" She looked down—or up at herself, finding the latches on the straps that kept her held in.  She pressed a button to unlock them all, and Charles immediately helped her out so as not to hit her head as she righted herself.  

        Charles looked over carefully, his fingers touching to head before pulling back. Kat's eyes widened as she saw the blood there. Her head had been struck, leaving her bleeding at her hairline on the left side.  

        "I'm fine." Kat wasn't sure who she was trying to reassure more, Charles or herself.  She reached up to touch the sound, hissing as she felt the pain.  She gave Charles a pointed look. "Go. I'm okay."

        Charles hesitated before giving a curt nod, only staying a moment longer to take Kat's hand and help her stand with him. He looked her over one more time before he rushed to look out one of the windows that faced the submarine further back on the beach. "I read the teleporter's mind," he said. "Shaw is drawing all the power out of his sub. He's turning himself into some kind of nuclear bomb."

        "We got no time!" Moira insisted from where she was still trying to make sense of the monitors that continued to glitch in and out. "The Geiger count is going out of control."

        "Alright, Moira, this is what we're gonna do," Charles began.  "Get on the radio and tell them to clear both fleets out immediately."

        Erik straightened himself up and headed towards the opening where the plane had been torn in half. "I'm going in."

        "Beast, Havok, back him up," Charles called to them, then turned to Erik.  "Erik, I can guide you through once you're in, but I need you to shut down whatever it is that's blocking me. Then we just hope to God it's not too late for us to stop him." He glanced back at Kat.

        "Got it." Erik turned to head out, followed by Beast and Havok, as ordered.

        Raven stood and began to head out after them, but Charles saw her. "Raven, stop!"

        "I'm going to help them!"

        "We don't have time for this; anything comes in that entrance, you're taking care of it, yes?"

        Raven let go of the straps she held onto that hung from their seats and the ceiling. "Fine." 

        "Kat, you can help her, but be careful."

        Kat nodded and followed after Raven, ignoring the pounding in her head and the pain that only continued to churn in her stomach. 

        Shaw's group—Angel, Azazel, and Riptide—were already waiting for a fight just outside, leaving Havok and Beast to distract the three while Erik made his way inside.