X-Force #8 - July 2006

Moira MacTaggert pulled against her restraints, but it was all for naught. The bonds were too tight and she simply didn’t have the strength to break free. In fact, what little strength she did possess was sapped by the gravity of her current predicament.

Moira was strapped into the center of the large device that Meyer was so desperate to keep X-Force away from. The orbs were slowly circling her and electricity continued to spike off the metal and lash out at her.

“You’ve gone off the deep end, General,” said Moira. “Sean will find out about this and then more than your career will be over, you perverted bastard!”

“Sean? You mean Sean Cassidy?” Meyer asked, his one eyebrow raised. “Our esteemed Head of Special Operations? Of the Byron Agency?” Meyer continued to ask, rhetorically and sadistically. “Didn’t you know? He’s the one who authorized this. He knows exactly what we’re doing with you!”

“He wouldn’t sign off on this,” Moira protested. “Sean Cassidy has been a friend of mine for years. Lying isn’t your strong point, General.”

“Oh, but he did sign off on this. Personally,” Meyer insisted. “He said the words directly to my face. The Byron Agency doesn’t take kindly to moles in our organization. Yes, we know you thought you were playing us for fools so your mutant friends could gain access to our intel, but it was us who manipulated you into letting us on this little island of yours,” Meyer explained. “And Sean Cassidy is the one who told us to use you as our guinea pig for our little experiment today.”

“Start the procedure,” Meyer said before turning back to face Moira from his spot on the floor. “Believe it. Why would I lie?”

The orbs started to spin faster and faster around Moira. Blue energy sparked off of the giant machine and arced across her field of vision. She began to feel like she was being tugged inside of her restraints, but not in a physical sense. She couldn’t quite explain it, but it felt like something was pulling at her very soul from the inside of her body.

Just as quickly as the pain started, it began to fade away. Moira let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding in. The pressure was much lighter now and she could open her eyes. She could see that the orbs circling her had slowed and were almost stopped completely. They then started to vibrate slightly, as if something were forcing them to contain more energy than they were meant to handle.

“What’s happening?” shouted Meyer over the noise of the machine. “Did you fuck this up? Give me some answers, soldier!”

“No, sir!” the technician answered. “Something is interfering with the equipment. It’s functioning, but not like it’s supposed to. We’re only getting a partial breach. The energy is feeding back into the orbs, sir!”

The unmistakable noise of gunfire reached Meyer’s ears and he turned away from the console to face the source. The hallway leading to the large room they were currently in spilled a small amount of light out. It was just enough for Meyer to see shadows of full-grown men getting tossed around like rag dolls.

“Double up the guard on the entrance!” Meyer ordered. “We’ve got incoming!”

Several squads rushed to the hallway to obey their general’s order. No sooner had they reached the end of the hall than a sonic cry rippled across their bodies, amplified slightly by the narrow passage. All of the soldiers flew back several meters before hitting the ground hard.

Siryn, Raven, and

Lydia

all came charging out of the hallway and into the large room. They each paused for a moment, shocked at the sight of Moira strapped into a giant device, reminiscent of a scene from a James Bond movie.

“Help!” cried Moira upon seeing X-Force rush in. She almost sounded, silly but this wasn’t a time to worry about things like that. “Get me out of this bloody thing!”

The three X-Force members jumped into action, quickly taking down as many soldiers as they could while making their way across the room. The soldiers retaliated, but were no match for the ferocity of the three outlaws. General Meyer could tell that in moments X-Force would be standing in front of him.

“Keep the experiment going - that’s an order!” Meyer said to the technician. “Abandon your post and I’ll shoot you myself!”

Meyer turned away before the technician could respond. He had had enough of X-Force. Too much was at stake for these terrorists to barge in now. He wouldn’t stand idly by and allow his hard work to go completely to shit. Swallowing his anger, Meyer relaxed his arms so his long coat fell to the floor, revealing a shiny exoskeleton that covered his entire body up to his neck. He took a deep breathe and clenched both his fists, activating the suit. Crimson energy spread over his body, a slight hum now emitting from the exoskeleton.

General Meyer, who had seen more combat action than most of the Byron agents in the room combined, took off at full speed for the enemy closest to him: Marcus Raven.

Pain reeled through Maverick’s body as he was forced back from Weapon Chi’s brutal assault. His powers allowed him to absorb most of the impact, but Elektra was well-trained. She knew just where to hit him so his powers only eased the pain. Knowing pressure points was like second nature to an assassin.

“Could use some –argh!- help here, Peter,” Maverick said through gritted teeth.

Maverick heard Wisdom let out a murmur of pain from behind him. Chancing a look over his shoulder, he saw blood seeping out of Wisdom’s arm from where he just pulled out Elektra’s sai. It looked like it hurt. A lot.

The small distraction proved enough for Weapon Chi to land a kick to Maverick’s solar plexus and grab his outstretched arm. The assassin shifted her weight and tossed him over her hip, sending him face-first into the concrete with a perfectly executed Judo maneuver. He tucked his body slightly at the last second, which probably was the only thing that saved his neck from snapping.

From his position on the floor, Maverick gazed up at Elektra, who was preparing to stomp down on his face with her red boot. Her own face remained totally emotionless, as if she had no feelings whatsoever about murdering someone.

She raised her heel, ready to crush Maverick’s head beneath it. Suddenly, a steel sai went flying passed her head, and for the first time, she showed an emotion: surprise. Maverick didn’t hesitate in taking advantage of her distraction like she had done to him moments before. From the floor, he pivoted on his hip and swung his left leg out to catch her feet and push her off balance. He connected, but didn’t knock her over. He wasn’t really sure how she did it, but she sort of moved with the hit and he only succeeded in moving her away from him.

At least a dozen hot knives pierced the air around Elektra, the majority of which hit her in the chest. She was pushed back further by the assault, giving Maverick enough room to flip up onto his feet. The mutant soldier charged the assassin, plowing his fist into her face. She rolled with that punch, too, but not nearly as much as she had past ones. Wisdom’s hot knives had dazed her.

“Fall over, already!” Maverick yelled as he gave her yet another uppercut.

Ducking to the side and dodging another of Maverick’s punches, Weapon Chi caught his arm with her left hand, holding it steady. With her remaining hand, she shoved the palm of her fist into Maverick’s nose, breaking it instantly. Blood dribbled out of the orifice, silently dripping on the floor. Without hesitation, Elektra used the same hand to hit Maverick’s caught arm at a lateral angle, snapping it in two places. Maverick cried out in both shock and pain as Elektra proceeded to flip him onto the ground once again.

“Your number’s up, luv,” Wisdom hollered from somewhere behind Elektra. “You’re tough, I’ll give you that. But you’ve got no real motivation anymore. I saw it in your eyes. You’re just running on autopilot and that’s going to be your downfall.”

Suddenly, a stream of solid, white hot energy wrapped itself around Weapon Chi’s throat, a small amount of steam rising up from where it touched her sweat. Her nerve endings sizzled where the energy thread rubbed against her skin, causing her neck muscles to tighten. She found it harder to breathe and she squealed just a bit. It was the first sound to pass through her lips in longer than she could remember.

“You see,” said Wisdom, his level of concentration showing in his voice, “if I focus hard enough, I can make my mutant power form more than just energy shards. Take this hot whip for instance. You’ve felt my knives, so you know how they sting... But just imagine this whip being in direct contact with your skin for a prolonged period of time. It’s like you’re getting a tan and the sun is right on top of you.”

Weapon Chi buckled against Wisdom’s grip but he didn’t let go. He clenched his teeth and doubled his concentration. Bullets of sweat poured down his face; it took all he had to maintain the hot whip. Sensing that Elektra might snap free, he quickly closed the distance between them to get better leverage and then kicked her hard in the kidneys.

“It’s…been fun,” said Wisdom. “Maybe we’ll have this dance again sometime.”

Yanking hard on the whip, Wisdom forced Elektra to stumble backwards with him over to a window. A few meters from the opening, he used all of his strength to hoist her off the ground and fling her over his back and out the window. The hot whip dissipated as Elektra sailed through the night’s air, the rain pelting her all the way down. At the base of the island a few hundred feet down rested several rocks, the edges dulled by the waves viciously lapping against them over the years. Elektra struck one with a loud crack and disappeared beneath the waves.

“Your one-liners are coming along better,” Maverick said.

Wisdom turned around and quickly moved over to his teammate to help him to his feet. The damage Maverick had was severe: a broken arm, probably a broken rib or three, bruises, possibly internal bleeding…he didn’t look very good. Despite it all, Maverick stood up tall once Wisdom helped him up and didn’t limp when he walked to the window.

“Think she’s dead?” he asked.

“Are they ever?” Wisdom responded.

“Right,” Maverick blurted out, a soft chuckle under the word. “So, what next, fearless leader?”

“Moira and the others. Then we shut the place down in a very loud and fiery way.”

Maverick stole one last glance out the window to Weapon Chi’s newly christened grave. As a man who had killed more than his fair share of opponents over the years, he felt no guilt whatsoever over the death of an enemy. Elektra, while seemingly not of her own mind and a one time alley, didn’t pull at Maverick’s conscience one bit.

The only thing he felt for her was pity.

The crimson energy of General Meyer’s suit condensed itself into a personal force field, granting Meyer limited strength and enough protection to repel just about anything X-Force could throw at him. Not that the trio wasn’t trying their hardest. Marcus Raven had been the first to fall at Meyer’s feet, his telekinetic blasts simply washing over the veteran.

“There’s always someone like you!” Lydia said as she aimed a kick at the General’s head.

Lydia del Ruiz wasn’t fairing much better then Raven. Her mutant ability to absorb sunlight and convert it to increased strength, agility, and stamina wasn’t doing her much good at night. The reserves she had built up had seemed to be depleted while she was recovering from her “psychic episode.”

“Call yourself a revolutionist, an insurrectionist, or even a futurist,” she hollered, rolling along the ground to avoid Meyer’s sledgehammer fists. “The truth is you’re a dime-a-dozen. I can’t swing a dead cat without hitting one of you assholes!”

“None of those descriptions fit me at all!” Meyer replied. He leaped forward to try and catch Lydia in a scissors kick but she did a back hand-spring that cleared her of his legs. “I’m merely a solider doing his duty. Mankind is making giant steps forward every day as far as technology goes, and the Byron Agency plans to be there to take mankind further. We’ll be the ones to break through into the other side and learn the secrets stored there, the secrets of immortality! Once we do that, we’ll be another step closer to taking this world to new heights, a world that’s spiraling down so fast that we can’t see the top of the well anymore.”

“Sugar coat it all you want, but you’re not doing this for anyone but yourself!" Lydia said.

Meyer didn’t get angry at Lydia’s accusation, he just smirked. His soldiers, since he had joined the brawl, were slowly gaining ground on X-Force. A few more shoves and the rogue team wouldn’t be able to stand on their own feet anymore. This “witty” banter was just a way of stalling until her teammates showed up to save the day.

“How do you like the suit? It’s a prototype of a design that we stole from SHIELD," Meyer explained. "I’m sure you’ve noticed the increased strength and energy shield, but check out this little feature. I think you’ll really like it.”

Meyer raised his arms together and focused the force field surrounding his suit. Pressing the palms together sent a signal to quickly build up a small amount of power and release it in one big burst. The red energy flashed across Lydia’s face and she flew back into the wall, her spine twisting at an odd angle when she hit the ground. As soon as she felt the impact she knew she had slipped a disc in her lower back. Walking was going to be a painful adventure.

“Ahhhh!” screamed Moira on the other side of the room. “What’s going on? Oh lord, it burns!”

Meyer, satisfied Lydia was down for the count, turned back to look at the technician desperately trying to get the large machine working how it was supposed to. At the center of the madness, Moira still stood strapped to the device, a look of pure terror draped across her face.

The two orbs floating around her had finally returned to their appropriate paths, albeit a bit slowly. The change in velocity this time, however, was to be expected. The two orbs began to open slightly as they spiraled closer to Moira. Inside each of them she could see a swirl of images that blended together. It looked as if she could reach a hand through and grasp whatever was on the other side. As the two orbs drew closer, the tugging sensation in the pit of Moira’s stomach grew stronger.

“Don’t ya worry,” Siryn cried as she took to the air once again. “I’ll toss that thing on its ear and have you out of there right quick.”

Siryn sent a shrill sonic blast at some nearby soldiers as she swooped in toward the large platform, bowling them over. She was almost able to touch down next to Moira when she was knocked down by another of Meyer’s crimson energy blasts. He had hit her square in the back and ripped off part of her uniform. Several sever lacerations graced her lower back where the energy had scraped against her skin, the blood beginning to flow freely. It was all she could do not to pass out.

“Like shooting a very large pigeon out of the sky,” said Meyer, the satisfaction in his voice showing.

Just as Meyer was about to launch another blast at the now helpless Siryn, a powerful force slammed into his side and caught him off balance. He tumbled head over heels before springing back to his feet to eye up the source of his trouble: Maverick.

“I’ve got a lot of payback to deliver to you,” Maverick sneered.

The General met Maverick’s gaze and charged his enemy while letting out a primal battle cry. Maverick accepted the unspoken challenge and caught Meyer’s fists in the air, pushing against them. The crimson energy of Meyer’s exoskeleton washed over Maverick’s body but didn’t cause him to so much as a twitch. The two-handed arm-wrestling match continued with neither opponent showing giving or gaining any ground.

“I’m gonna fry you, mutant!” Meyer said between his gritted teeth.

“I would say to give it your best shot, but something tells me you already are,” Maverick replied. “You call me a mutant like it’s an insult, but right now my mutant power is keeping me on the same level with your fancy suit. You’re probably maxing out your power supply and I’m just getting warmed up.”

It was true. Meyer was pouring all the power his suit gave him into his struggle with Maverick. Sweat was beginning to bead on his brow but he refused to give up. He wouldn’t allow anyone to stop him; he was passed the point of no return.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bluish blur streak passed behind Maverick. It was Wisdom, heading straight for Moira MacTaggert.

“Stop him!” Meyer yelled back over his shoulder. “Stop Wisdom! Concentrate your fire on him! Don’t let him reach the machine!”

The two technicians manning the console turned just in time to see two hot knives fly into their chests. They both fell to the ground, immobile. Moira called out a warning to Wisdom to take cover. As he ducked behind a pair of large generators, bullets seemingly rained down all around him.

Wisdom swore, quickly formulating a plan to take down the remaining soldiers and reach Moira on the elevated platform. Before he could figure the whole situation out, however, the gunfire paused and then sounded like it changed targets. Peaking over the generators, Wisdom saw the reason the troops had decided to start firing at a more immediate target. Lydia had flanked the group and taken down at least half of their number using two assault rifles, one in each hand. Her face was bruised badly and dried blood was crackling around her lips, but she was holding her own in the firefight.

“Bless you, luv,” Wisdom whispered as he leapt onto the large platform.

Wisdom reached Moira with just three spaced steps and began pulling at her restraints, readying a hot knife to cut them off.

“This thing feels like it’s tearing off my bloody appendages!” Moira whimpered. The struggle against whatever force was prodding her had taxed her emotions greatly.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be free in just a tick. Then we’ll all jump ship and --”

Wisdom’s mouth opened but no sound came out. His face went pale and his body began to glow the same color as the radiating energy from the floating orbs. The orbs had floated close enough to Wisdom that the energy had lashed out from one of them and struck his back.

His vision began to blur. Moira’s face blended in with the background. It was as if someone had taken the three-dimensional world and crushed into just two dimensions. Color swirled all around him and then deadened into grey and white hues. The blur that used to be Moira smeared away and was replaced with an empty void.

Then, just as fast as the burning sensation in the back of his mind had started, it stopped. All the blurs snapped back into perfect clarity but the colors remained dimmed with grey and white, like someone had adjusted the television settings. He looked up to see that he had fallen over onto the platform and Moira was screaming at him, but he couldn’t here her. In fact, on closer inspection, she didn’t look like she was actually looking at him. It was hard to tell because she had slowed down and her head was bobbing. Stepping back and taking in the whole machine she was tied to, she wasn’t the only thing that had slowed down. The floating orbs were barely moving and the energy arcing off the metal was almost frozen in place.

“Peter….Pete…I’m over here…”

The voice was soft and distant. He wasn’t quite sure where it was coming from. Looking beyond Moira and the platform for the first time, Wisdom saw that there wasn’t much anything else. Just an empty nothingness.

“Peter…turn around…”

Following the voice, the rogue operative turned to see a shocking sight. Standing right behind him, yet looking just as distant, was the last person he expected to see at that moment. Sarah Bane.

“Sarah? But, I thought--”

“We haven’t much time, Pete. Just listen.”

Wisdom nodded. He wasn’t totally sure he actually understood what was happening but he believed Sarah that he didn’t have a lot of time. It was par for the course, after all. He trusted Sarah.

“This place, Peter. You shouldn’t be here. You can’t stay, you need to go back. Destroy the machine, save Moira, stop the Byrons. I would say it’s not your time or some rubbish like that, but you would just roll your eyes, wouldn’t you?”

He wanted to laugh or smile or say something clever…but he couldn’t. He started to realize where this place actually was. He didn’t like the thought.

“Hell? Heaven?” Sarah said, her eyebrows raised. “No, Peter. Not exactly. And yes I just heard your thoughts. You see, when in this place, thoughts and speech work differently. We’re on another plane of existence. It’s why Marcus was able to pick up Moira’s pain so easily. This place, this realm, functions differently.”

“Is that how Lydia had her vision? Was it you sending her a message?”

“No. That wasn’t me. It was them.”

Sarah pointed off into the void to a small floating rock. Wisdom could make out a single figure holding a tiny child. It was Elektra and he had a good idea of who the baby was.

“It was a way for them to ensure you could get to the machine. You have to destroy it, Peter.”

“Come back with me,” Wisdom pleaded. “We need you with us. You shouldn’t have to stay here.”

“I can’t,” she responded. Her voice was bitter and cold. “My body…they hurt it too much. I’m trapped here in this…this living death.”

“But if I destroy the machine we definitely won’t have any way of bringing you back.”

“My body is too damaged and enough time has passed for anything to be done by it. Modern medical science is advanced but not advanced enough. Look, Peter, we’re running out of time here. In this place I’ve able to halt the machine and keep the Byrons out of here. But it’s like tensing a muscle and I can’t hold it forever. You have to go now.”

“What do I do?”

“Concentrate and focus your will. Wake yourself up like you would in a bad dream.”

“Okay,” Wisdom nodded in understanding. “Sarah…I…”

“I know, Peter. We’ve known each other a long time. So don’t say goodbye. Just…don’t tell Lydia about this.”

Before Wisdom could figure out her words, Sarah moved in close to him and kissed him passionately. It was a weird experience as their surroundings affected the way a person perceives physical contact. But it was not an unpleasant experience.

The kiss faded away as did the realm and Wisdom opened his eyes to find himself staring up from the floor, Moira screaming at him, still strapped to the machine. Gunfire echoed around him, snapping his attention back to the matter at hand. He had a job to do.

“Relax, Moira,” he said. “I’ll cut those restraints off. When I do you need to run out of here as fast as you can. Can you do that? Can you run?”

“Aye.”

Wisdom created a longer version of his patented hot knives and easily sliced through the bonds. Moira fell forward into his arms and then stood upright, the day’s events obviously taking their toll on the woman. Their eyes met briefly before Moira slid off the platform and made her way to the door.

Stray weapons fire was still ricocheting all around her, but the rest of X-Force was keeping the Byrons occupied enough for Moira to make her exit. Maverick had tossed Meyer through one of the generators supporting the large machine and even though it was enough to stop the General, the machine still lumbered on.

Wisdom backed up on the platform to take in the whole contraption. Sarah, Elektra, and the baby would never be brought back if he did what he had to do. He swallowed the lump in his throat, took a deep breathe, and charged up several hot knives. His personal thoughts and feelings shouldn’t interfere with what he had to do.

Again and again he tossed the hot knives into the machinery. The rings, the computers, the orbs, even the restraints that had held Moira, all of them were quickly stabbed with the energy projectiles. Sparks flew and the orbs fell to the platform. The loud screeching noise that almost deafened Wisdom was the heavy metal bending and collapsing on itself.

“No!” cried Meyer as he pulled himself out from inside the generator. “Stop!”

Meyer tried to fire at Wisdom using his exoskeleton’s ranged attack, but when he struck his palms together, nothing happened. Maverick had damaged the suit too badly.

Wisdom leapt down off the platform as the giant metal rings fell over, rocking the whole platform off its base. The machine was destroyed. Meyer was finished. Wisdom eyed up the General and began walking over to where he kneeled, bloodlust in his eyes.

“You son of a bitch!” swore Meyer. “I swear to God you’ll pay for this. I’ll make sure you never breathe fresh air again because I’m going to tear out your throat with my own hands!”

Peter Wisdom had no witty come back, no clever one-liner, no banter at all…his eyes spoke volumes and it chilled Meyer.

“Your day is coming, mutant. Everyone fall back and retreat!” Meyer slapped a switch on his chest and his suit began to glow a bright red, more vibrant than the crimson energy of his suit from before. As Wisdom rushed forward to grab at Meyer, the General faded from view and disappeared in a brilliant, red flash of light.

“Peter!”

Wisdom turned to face the direction Siryn’s voice had come from to see her being supported by Marcus Raven with Maverick walking beside them. All of the Byron agents were gone, even the dead and unconscious ones, probably teleported to the same place Meyer had ran off to. Bullet holes lined the walls and drying blood dotted the concrete floor.

“Peter, I saw Moira get out okay,” said Siryn.

“Yeah. She’ll be fine. It looked like she just had some bruising.”

“What the hell happened up there?” asked Marcus. “For a minute your mind was coming over sharp as a thumbtack. Like you tapped into something.”

Wisdom didn’t answer their questions. He just didn’t have the emotion strength left. He would tell them later, of course, but not right now. Right now, he needed to get out of that godforsaken place.

He reached into his uniform, pulled out a cigarette, and went to light it. Just as the flame was about to ignite the tip of his smoke, he pulled back. Pulling the cigarette out of his mouth, he eyed it up and then tossed it on the floor. Meeting the questioning gazes of his teammates, he brushed passed them and headed for the exit.

A few days later, Terry and Marcus were helping to load some supplies onto their borrowed aircraft, the Midnight Runner. Terry couldn’t help but see the irony in taking the supplies from Moira. They had come here suspecting her, then thought she was totally guilty, then found out she was actually sort of helping them, and now she was supplying them with equipment they desperately needed for their mission.

Eye of the beholder and all that, she thought to herself.

Siryn also couldn’t help but notice how much better Muir Island as a whole now looked. When Meyer and his troops all teleported out a few days earlier it seemed like the entire facility had gotten a facelift. Even Moira was perky and friendly.

“I want to thank ye again for staying on and helping clean up the mess,” Moira said behind Terry.

“Thank you for letting us stay and lick our wounds,” she replied.

The two women smiled at each other and finished moving the rest of the supplies in silence. Marcus had a similar demeanor. He had questions and things he wanted to discuss with Terry, but he knew that now wasn’t the time. The last few days had been enough to wear down all of their emotions; he didn’t want to spoil a pleasant moment for his friends.

He couldn’t help his own mind from wandering however. Wisdom had finally told them of Sarah’s death. Add that with the physical damage done to the team, Elektra’s missing body, Meyer’s whereabouts, and what Pete had described from being on the other side… the team still had a lot to worry about.

“About ready there, Marcus?” Maverick called out. He and Lydia were exiting the hanger bay to the launch pad where Marcus, Moira, and Terry were all putting the finishing touches on the Midnight Runner. His arm was covered in a metallic cast that not only supported the appendage, but allowed it to bend and flex like normal, as to not be totally useless while it healed.

“Things all are loaded up and the ship’s had a full diagnostic,” he answered. “We’re ready to leave.”

“It’s time we left then,” Lydia said as they approached the rest of the group. “Thanks again, Moira. We appreciate all the help you’ve given us. You’re a good hostess.”

“Think nothing of it. Just come visit again under better circumstances.”

“Where’s Peter?” Maverick broke in, looking around. “I haven’t seen him for hours.”

“I don’t know for sure,” Lydia responded with a sigh. “But I have an idea.”

On a ridge overlooking the entire Muir Island facility, Peter Wisdom stood in front of a makeshift tombstone with Sarah’s full name carved into it. While the island rested at seas level, the ridge was high enough that the moisture got caught around the higher altitude. A slight fog rolled across the ground at Wisdom’s feet, almost covering the tombstone.

“I wish I could have given you a better funeral,” Wisdom spoke. “We’re wanted fugitives for now and since we don’t have many allies who can openly claim us, this will have to do. Don’t think this is permanent, though. I’ll come back and give you a proper burial as soon as I can. You deserve that at the very least.”

The leaves rustled a bit behind him and he knew it wasn’t just the wind kicking up. He had thought to bring the others here with him, but he wanted a moment alone to say the things he felt he needed to.

“We have to get going, Peter,” said Lydia, Peter’s fiancé.

Wisdom nodded in understanding. He hated to leave in this fashion, but he knew there wasn’t much of a choice. Meyer as still out there, hunting them. They shouldn’t have even stayed at Muir Island for this long. They had to get moving.

“Goodbye, Sarah,” Peter whispered.

Wisdom turned and took Lydia’s hand. The couple walked back down the steep ridge to join the rest of X-Force. The fog rippled around Sarah Bane’s grave as Peter took Lydia’s hand in his own, leaving Sarah to rest in peace while they would continue to fight.

THE END