"I broke through Creed's defenses."

"What do you mean?" Bishop asked, as he observed Blink's training from the control booth.

"I mean exactly that," Psylocke replied. "Sabretooth had very power mental defenses that I wasn't able to break down when he first came to us. But, I tried again, and I found a weak spot in them, which I exploited. I saw the man who freed Sabretooth from the facility he was in, and sent him after us."

"Who is he?" Bishop asked, looking at her.

"I... don't know," she replied. "He never gave his name, or any indication of how Creed could reach him. All I know is that it's someone we've never faced before."

"Then how does this help us?" he asked. "We're right back where we started, except now we just have a picture. That's not enough to go by, not by a longshot."

"I know, blast it..." Psylocke replied. "However, it's all we have to go on."

Bishop said nothing as his teammate exited the control room. What could he say?

"That one may be trouble, pup," the Witness stated.

"Go away..." Bishop muttered.

"Why's dat?" Witness asked.

"You're not real," Bishop replied. "You're nothing more than a figment of my imagination. After Shard's..."

"Betrayal," Witness completed with a solemn nod.

"Yes," he continued. "I started seeing you after that. This isn't real. I'm losing my mind, aren't I?"

"Not at all," Witness said. "For de first time in yer life, you startin' t' see things clearly."

"What are you..." Bishop asked, turning to face his tormentor. Instead, he found nothing. "...talking about?"

He looked all around the control booth.

"Witness...?"

Nothing.

"I must be going insane..."

Blink leapt across the training room, trying to stay one step ahead of the battle-drones which pursued her.

Reaching into her quiver, she drew a few javelins, which began to glow pink in her hands. Quickly, they flew from her hands, striking the mechanical constructs. They vanished for an instant before reappearing, disoriented. The effects of her pocket dimension seemed disorienting.

"Looks like that's all of them," she said, looking around. Then, something struck her from behind.

"Damn... spoke too soon!!" she exclaimed. Her hand immediately went to her quiver. "Empty...? No... not now..."

The robot moved closer, its hands poised to attack.

"Stay BACK!!!" she ordered, as a pink orb flew from her hand. Once it struck the robot, the drone vanished.

"........."

She quickly scanned the perimeter, searching for any other drones. It appeared that she had taken them all down. Her eyes flashed up to the control booth. Bishop looked as if he had seen a ghost, and it seemed that he was oblivious to Blink's recent display of power.

"...I did not know I could do that."

"Oh for crying out loud..." Warren sighed, smacking his forehead.

"What are you complaining about, Worthington?" Quicksilver asked, entering the comm-room.

"I've just been trying to get in touch with Muir Island for the past half hour, Pietro," Warren said. "Nothing. The server seems to be down or something."

"Why Muir?" Quicksilver asked.

"Don't forget that Moira MacTaggert was also infected with the Legacy Virus," Warren replied. "She should have the cure that Pyro needs."

"Why are you even bothering with calling them?"

"Well, Betsy seems a bit... odd, and I wouldn't feel right about Clarice making a trip to a place she's never been before," Warren replied, as he felt a gust of wind. "So, I..."

He turned around.

"Pietro?"

He continued working at the comm-link, until the image of Moira MacTaggert appeared.

"Moira!" Warren exclaimed. "Glad I was finally able to get in touch with y--"

"I'm back," Pietro stated, running into the room.

"Umm... nevermind," Warren stated. "I get the gist of what just happened."

Moira simply laughed before she cut off the communication.

"I assume you got the cure?" he asked.

Pietro nodded, and showed it to Warren.

"I'm about to take it down to Crystal in the med-lab," he said.

Sabretooth uttered a low growl as light shone in his eye.

"Up and at 'em, big guy," Rogue stated. "Time f'r your daily walk."

"Go away, frail," Creed muttered. "I'm tryin' ta get some sleep..."

"Hold on a minute, Rogue," Blink said, coming up behind her. "I wanna talk to him."

Rogue looked down at Creed, then at Blink.

"Ya sure ya wanna do this, Clarice?" she asked. "Ah mean, considerin' what he did t'you an' all."*

(* Sabretooth nearly killed Blink back in issue #6-Dino)

"I'll be fine, thanks," Clarice said.

Rogue looked back at Creed.

"Alright, ah'll be right here if ya need me."

"You know what this is?" Blink asked, a pink orb forming in her hand. "I've discovered how to further control my powers, by concentrating them into these orbs. And, if I wanted to, right now, I could completely fragment your body. I could, quite literally, blink you out of existence."

"So do it," Creed stated, staring her in the face.

"You know I won't," Blink said. "Because that would be doing you a favor."

"Then what's the deal?"

"I just thought you'd like to know that the same girl who you thought was just a 'weak frail' can now kick your ass. Think about that before you start boasting again."

The orb in her hand grew larger, until she vanished.

"Hold him down!!" Crystal shouted, as Pyro began to convulse. "His body's beginning to go into shock!!"

Bishop used all his strength to keep Pyro down, as Crystal readied a sedative.

"I'm no doctor..." she stated. "I shouldn't be doing this."

"Right now, you're the most capable person," Bishop replied. "Hurry, while I'm holding him!!"

"Wait!!" Pietro exclaimed, running into the room. "We have the cure."

He handed an injection gun to Crystal.

"Just hurry!!" Bishop shouted. "He's not going to last much longer without something!!"

"I've got it!!" she stated.

"Help me..." he whispered in a gurgled tone.

"Easy, easy..." Crystal said as she inserted the needle into Pyro's neck. Pulling the trigger, she watched as the liquid slowly sunk down in the vial, entering his bloodstream. As it coursed through his veins, he began to calm down. His body stopped convulsing.

"It's a good thing that you got here when you did," Bishop said. "I've heard about this. When the body goes into shock like that, it's one of the Virus' final stages."

"MacTaggert said we might want to do it a few times over the course of the week," Quicksilver informed.

Bishop was about to ask, "when did you go to Muir?" Then, he remembered he was talking to the fastest man on Earth.

"Come on," he said. "Pyro needs his rest right now."

"Oh man, I'm beat!" Warren stated, stretching out with a yawn. "After all that stuff dealing with the Brotherhood."*

(* The Omega team fought the new and improved Brotherhood in issue #12--Russ)

"I know what you mean, luv," Betsy said. "Why are you in here anyway?"

"Huh? Oh, I dunno. Just felt like monitoring a few broadca--"

"--reature tearing apart LA!! The creatures motives are unclear, yet it has already caused numerous deaths. And unless help arrives soon, the body count will be much higher before the day is over!"

NEXT ISSUE: Part one of "Destruction" as the X-Men face off against Craze!

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