For Better or For Worse

Chapter 9

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"Approaching Cairo!" Hank yelled over his shoulder from the pilot's seat.

The group startled awake, grogginess quickly leaving their eyes as they fumbled to unbuckle their seatbelts, wishing to see their location.

Their footsteps quickly began to sound as the team of new X-Men stumbled to the front of the jet – affording them a better view of the once flourishing city...

Key word being "once"...

Now, instead of a lavish and densely populated capital, packed to the brim with buildings and the hustle and bustle of city life, they rested their eyes upon a leveled scene.

A scene of chaos and death.

Even from the jet, high and safe in the air, they could hear the screams of terrified citizens and the awful groan of collapsing buildings and crumbling architecture.

Amidst all the destruction stood the entity that had been burned into the group's mind ever since the destruction of their school... their home...

There, in the epicenter of all the chaos, pain, and destruction, stood the blue man, the one who called himself, "The First", "God", and many other abhorrent titles, but they knew him as En Saba Nur. The one who had abducted their beloved professor.

Raven, at the forefront of the group, shoulder to shoulder with Hank in the cockpit, seemed to bristle at the sight of their enemy.

It seemed that En Saba Nur noticed their presence, even though they were hovering miles above the decimation.

He looked up, seemed to nod at their company, and began to slowly head into a giant pyramid.

The structure was new but looked ever so ancient all the same.

As the false god began to head into the massive edifice with purpose, other figures emerged out of its main entrance.

However, as Raven squinted down trying to identify the people, she only spied three... She recognized two of them under their aliases as Psylocke and Angel – notorious in their own areas – however the third was a new face to her.

The woman had a young face, adorned with a head of close-cropped white hair. In fact, the longer raven stared upon the girl from her vantage point up in the jet, the more she realized that the girl was, just that, a girl. Still young and naïve. Easy prey for the god Apocalypse.

Nervously, Raven realized that the false god had chosen his four horsemen based on their extraordinary powers. The powers of this young girl were still a mystery to Raven, causing an obvious threat to her, Hank, and their young X-Men.

Speaking of the horseman... There were supposed to be four, and the fourth was nowhere to be seen.

In other words, Erik was nowhere to be seen.

It seemed that both Hank and Raven came to this realization at the same time as they both quickly swiveled to look at each other. The obvious concern in both their eyes.

"Get the jet out of sight!" Raven yelled, "Pull up!"

"There is no point!" Hank responded in a panicked voice, "He will still be able to sense the metal and its pull!"

"What is going on!" Scott yelled, obviously concerned at the sudden change of mood from solemn confidence to open panic.

"We aren't sure where Erik is... He is not with the rest of their group" responded Jean unexpectedly, only knowing this by having read the currently chaotic minds of both Hank and Raven.

"Yes, and that means he could be anywhere. Besides, they probably already knew that we were coming due to the professor's message which means that could have already planned something. Maybe even planting Erik at a vantage point." Raven said with a shake of her head.

"I can't believe we are so grossly unprepared for this" Hank huffed with an angry expression.

"No, we are prepared, Hank. We are the X-Men and one of our team is missing. We will not fail. We can't..." responded Raven, always ready with one of her famous pep talks.

As if on cue, the jet was suddenly jerked downwards from its steady ascent.

"Agh! " yelped the whole group in unison.

"ugh here we go!" yelled Raven angrily as she stomped back towards the cockpit, "the bastard! Always gotta be so damn dramatic! It's almost as if he heard us!" she snarled.

The jet began to shudder and quickly drop as though its machinery had stopped working.

"Thrusters! Use the thrusters to steady our descent and land this bird as best you can!" Raven yelled at Hank. Then she yelled over her shoulder to Scott, Jean, and Kurt, "You lot! Get in your seats and buckle up! Get ready for a rough landing!"

Kurt began his fervent prayers as the group buckled up and tried to contain their fear.

Maybe his prayers helped because shortly their craft was skidding across the dirt and rubble of Cairo, shuddering as it eventually came to a stop at an odd angle.

"Jeez" Hank rasped as he slowly raised his head from a brace position.

Raven, having fallen to the floor upon impact, steadily stood up, brushing the dust and debris from her flight suit.

"Is everyone alright?!" she called, receiving the grumbled and annoyed responses of her companions.

They were all alright. Good.

"Okay, listen. I hate to rush you all after such an awful landing, but we are now officially in a state of war. It was proclaimed when they took Charles, but they – or should I say Erik – just added insult to that injury by crashing our plane." Raven's tone was flat as if she were just stating facts – which she was. She made eye contact with each of them in turn, Jean, Scott, and Kurt. Then, as if remembering that they were still just teenagers, she sighed and excepted her responsibility as their official mentor. She resigned herself to keeping them safe. They were just kids after all... "I'm sorry for being so rough with you guys. I know you are still young, but you volunteered to come on this mission. You all volunteered to help save the Professor. I believe in you guys, and I know we can win this, we just all have to work together and watch each other's backs..."

"But Raven..." stammered Jean, "most of us still can't fully control our powers..."

"Then don't." Raven said confidently, "show those bastards what you can do... we shouldn't have to hide anymore, so we won't". Raven spared them a kind and reassuring smile as she transformed from her costume and fake persona to her true self. Her true, beautiful blue self.

Hank smiled.

Hey guys, so I know this chapter wasn't much, but I wanted to further the story a bit more and give yall a little something. The next chapter should be out soon, and as a heads up, this story is about to get crazy. So, until then, Stay safe and lots of love!

~Live-Laugh-Die <3