X-Men: The Gifted Ones

56. MAGNETO'S JET, SOMEWHERE OVER THE PACIFIC OCEAN

Jane's mind swirled and her body felt as if it had been placed in a vise. There was another explosion and she was unceremoniously dropped to the floor. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was. Before she could make a sound, she found Emma standing over her in diamond form and smiling.

Everything turned black.

She woke up and found herself lying in bed next to Charles. She looked over at him and found herself content to watch him sleep.

"Hello, my love," he smiled, waking up. But the smile wasn't right. It looked too devious. She touched his face. It felt cold. Another sign. Charles started to kiss her, but she realized, it wasn't Charles.

She took a deep breath. You are not in bed next to Charles, she told herself, using the careful training Charles had instilled in her. The bed started to feel more tangible beneath her. Nice try, she scoffed to herself. You are on a jet, you have been abducted. You are in an illusion. You are not at home, nothing you are seeing is real. Charles is not next to you. The kisses felt more forceful and she was pushing Charles off of her. That is not Charles kissing you. No one is kissing you. Believe nothing you see! Her head throbbed and she screamed as she felt the pressure in her head pop, rendering her nauseous as her sinuses and ear canals adjusted to the change in pressure. She found a tall, svelte woman with white-blonde hair standing over her.

"I knew you were behind this! Where are we?" Jane demanded.

"A place where Charles can't find you. Not yet." Emma smirked, speaking to Jane's mind. "Oh, don't worry, he'll come for you. He'll find you eventually. Until then, I'm keeping you company! I promise I'll be more fun than Charles."

"Stay out of my head, bitch!"

Emma sent Jane into another illusion. Jane tried to fight it but it was very strong. She was seeing an image of Charles on the ground in a jungle. He was dying, and Emma was physically holding Jane back, forcing her to watch him die. He looked up at her and tried to speak and only blood came from his mouth. Emma was laughing maniacally as Jane screamed. Charles kept reaching toward Jane, begging her to help him, but she was held fast to the spot. She managed to lean toward him, getting within millimeters of touching him.

This isn't real, Jane told herself. Charles isn't dying. I'm on a jet, Charles is nowhere near me. If Charles was dying, he'd find a way to reach me somehow.

"Can't bear to see your Charles die?" Emma taunted. "Will you die for him? Or will you just have to stand back, helpless, and watch?"

Jane managed to shake the illusion and once again found Emma standing over her. Jane summoned her rage, channeled it, and waited for the right instant to release it on this vile creature. She knew this woman would kill Charles and Magneto would never be able to stop her. She kicked her foot out, all of her rage channeling into her leg to be released as she made contact with Emma's neck. Her foot hit Emma under the chin, snapping her neck back, the force of the kick broke the diamond skin with a sickening crack. Flakes of silvery skin rained down on Jane.

The kick sent Emma into flesh form and the woman staggered. She gasped for air and clutched at her throat. "Tough kick for such a goody-two-shoes!"

"You forget I was in the Army, and trained by Charles," Jane said, climbing to her feet and jerking the dying woman to the floor. Her head hit the floor with a thud.

"Trained by a man in a wheelchair?" Emma gasped, trying to hold her crushed windpipe open and struggling to get to her feet. Her fading voice was filled with venom. "That's rich! What did he teach you how to do? Roll faster?"

Jane scurried over to Emma and reached out, grabbing the woman by the foot and pulling her down. The bones in her foot and leg cracked at Jane's touch. Emma reached for her shattered limb and Jane took advantage of the moment. She lunged for Emma with an evil glint in her eye. She wrapped her hands around Emma's throat and pressed the woman down. Jane magnified Emma's pain. She could have killed her instantly, but she wanted the vile bitch to suffer. She wanted Emma to feel every second of her life waste away. Emma's eyes grew wide as she realized what Jane was doing, and that Jane seemed to be completely unharmed. Their intelligence had been wrong! Charles' wife was more than just a sponge for pain, she was a weapon in and of herself.

"Yes," Jane taunted, "I was trained to do this by a man in a wheelchair!"

The commotion alerted Erik. He raced in from the cockpit just as Emma's life expired. He couldn't believe what he was seeing: Jane Xavier was killing someone. Killing his telepath. "Emma?" Erik gasped.

Jane stood up and stared Erik in the eyes. She terrified him at that moment. "What are you trying to do, Erik? You forget that I married a telepath. I know an illusion from a mile away. Think you were going to keep me content while you lure Charles here? The game is up. You're out one weapon."

He couldn't take his eyes off of Jane. He wondered if Charles had taught her how to use her powers to inflict injuries and pain as well as heal and absorb. He knew she wouldn't hesitate to do the same to him if she could get her hands, or any part of her body, on him. "So Charles' dear Angel of Mercy can kill? That is... unexpected. And perhaps... useful. When I need you."

Erik waved his hand and manipulated the metal in the plane to restrain Jane. He was extremely troubled. Jane's new skills from the X-Men training were not part of his plan. He realized she could have killed him as soon as he walked in. All she had to do was reach out and touch him. He wondered why she didn't.

Jane examined her restraints, her chest heaving. The adrenaline was still surging through her body. She refused to feel helpless.

"I must ask, dear Mercy, why didn't you kill me when you had the chance?"

She looked at him and found his stare interesting. He seemed terrified of her yet his eyes were filled with relief, even admiration. She wondered if it was relief that he was spared, or relief that there was one less person he could trust on the jet. "Two reasons," she told him. "One being you're my husband's friend. The other being that you had said you'd keep me alive at all costs."

So she knows about that, Erik realized. "Don't make me break that promise," he warned her.

"What promise? You're not keeping me alive for his sake and don't pretend that you are. You know damn well as long as I stay alive, so can you."

Touché, he realized. She knows I can't kill her, I can't let any harm come to her. "Then you better pray that I stay alive then, no?" he asked as he walked away, leaving her alone with her thoughts and Emma's corpse.