2014.09.24 - Shadow King: The Last Battle

It had been a hard few months at the Xavier mansion. Multiple attacks had occurred, ordered by the Shadow King. People had been injured, and parts of the mansion been destroyed. Even a student had been taken whilst possessed by Shadow King.

Search for the student had begun with Xavier himself, he then elected two senior members of the X-men to use their resources to continue the search. However, on both accounts not much information had turned up about Shadow King's plans; never mind about the missing student. When all else seemed lost, Xavier turned to help from outside of the X-teams. This unfortunately also did not get desired results.

Nevertheless, it was discovered that Shadow King was forming an army of mutants possessed by Mummudrai. Mutants all over the world were taken. And at large groups of these mutants were left to guard buildings. Unfortunately, conclusive information about what purpose they were being used for, by Shadow King, had not discovered

Today, as the sun was setting in the sky, Xavier had called for a meeting of his X-men, and astro projectors. They were going to plan for an all out assault on one of these locations. Xavier's basic idea was that the astro projectors would go in first, to see if they could destroy the Mummudrai possessing the mutants without harming the host. If they couldn't then, others would go in and help on the physical plane. And whilst this was going on, Xavier would sit safely in the X-jet, coordinating the whole battle.

Nate has been a bit busy fighting Intergang and trying not to die to pay much attention to the search for the Shadow King. But since Xavier has specifically requested telepaths for this operation, he felt duty-bound to come to help. He is still unable to use his telekinesis for anything heavier than a paper-clip, so instead he brought the handgun he borrowed from an Intergang thug a couple days ago. Mental note: raid Rose's armory.

Jubilee missed some of the prelude to this, but recently when Logan filled her in on some of what happened, she became enraged. Whether she was expressly invited or not she shows up today in her battle suit. Armored joints, subdued colors. Her lips pursed tightly together, she looks around, sizing up who's here.

Andrea's power is only technically mental, the mental ability to exchange her organic body for an equal volume of a hyperelastic polymer and to manipulaste said polymer to stretch, flex, morph, and move in various ways. She certainly has no ability to do astral stuff, and is a bit worried because she has no real resistance to being possessed either. She is in her elastic form already, because in that form she does not sweat and can hide how nervous she is.

Rachel only found out about the situation with the Shadow King on her return to the X-Mansion from an extended vacation in Alaska. As a result she went from feeling relaxed and recharged to feeling guilty about ever having left in about five seconds flat. But that was then, and this is now - and now, hopefully, she has the chance to make up for her earlier absence.

So Rachel arrives decked out in her X-Men uniform of reds and yellows, a black leather jacket adorned with silver spikes thrown on over the top, and a serious expression on her features. She glances around at the others present as she enters, a bit of a look of concern that she immediately hides touching her features as her gaze hovers on Nate, but then she turns her attention toward the Professor.

Xavier begins, "Okay this is a smaller team than I expected. But hopefully, we'll manage." He furrows his brow, and sighs as he looks around the room. "Hopefully, all of you have heard by now the recent happenings at the mansion, even if you haven't been around in a while." He glances to Jubilee, and Rachel for a response.

Jubilee smiles a little when she sees Xavier, her hard mask breaking. "Hello, yes I have, and it's good to meet you," she says. "I don't know if you've heard what's going on with me, but I've heard so much about you, and everyone tells me I and so many owe so much to you. It's an honour to fight alongside you today."

Andrea was not really here for a lot of it either, being in physical therapy following her accident. She has heard about the attacks though. She heard about how a group of heavily armed people attacked the Mansion, to be fought off by those here plus a stranger from SHIELD who evidently has some pretty major level powers. Said stranger was also here when our fellow student wound up possessed by the Shadow King and was having a bit of trouble figuring out how to use his powers without seriously damaging the student.

"We told Ray about the Shadow King," confirms Nate, nodding to Jubilee and grinning to Rachel. "Hmm, I expected Berto would join us. But between Ray and us, looks like we have enough telepathic wattage to take over a small country. So we will be okay."

A very faint wince creases Rachel's face at the Professor's words. There's the guilt about taking a little 'me time' being brought to the surface again. She gives a sharp nod, confirming Nate's. "I've heard. Roberto and Nate told me the basics when I got back." Her expression's back to being something a lot more businesslike now that she's confirmed she hasn't been slacking off /that/ much. "Don't worry, Professor." She says, backing up what Nate says, perhaps with more confidence than she truly feels. Two people she doesn't know, and while having Nate on your side is usually like having a friendly atom bomb in your back pocket, he's a bit... broken right now. It's faintly unsettling. But Rachel doesn't let that filter through into her tone. "We won't let you down."

Xavier looks scornfully at Jubilee, "Yes... well... now is not the time for gushing. This is serious business; we are practically planning on entering into a war." He pauses a moment to let that sink in, then turns his attention to Nate with a look of concern, "Are you sure you will be able to manage? We're talking of a couple of hundred, easily, of purely psychic entities at some of these locations. And Shadow King could ambush without much warning."

Hundreds of possessing entities? That sounds worrisome to Andrea, "Do you think we will be safe? I mean, if they send a possessing entity to take us over so as to turn us against you?"

Jubilee looks around, and leans on a wall. "Right Professor," she nods. "I've been in war before. I'm ready for this, even if it is a different kind of fight than I'm used to."

"I am fine. My telepathy is as strong as ever," replies Nate with his usual cocky smirk. "Those are a few hundred psychic entities that have not attacked us yet because they aren't strong enough to deal with us, Professor. I think we better take them out when they are scattered and not if they all come here at once. And if we can nail the Shadow King, it is over, right?"

Rachel doesn't try to reassure Andrea - she doesn't know her and she figures the Professor must have a good reason for including her, so it's not her place. Jubilee's evident self-assurance is good to hear, and Nate... Rachel looks over at him when she hears THAT tone in his voice, as if she might say something, but then she just shakes her head at him with a bit of a smirk. If he's still feeling confident, who's she to tell him that he shouldn't? "I agree with Nate. We're not going to back out now, and we've got a better chance now, when we're all together. Let's do it."

"Safe? No, this is a war. There's every chance of you being killed out there. Will you be possessed? No, the Mummudrai that are involved have already taken their hosts. And Shadow King for the moment is too busy with Alison. But I'm glad the rest of you seem confident we can pull this one out. Now, I believe we should try to do this by hitting as many of the locations as we can before draw Shadow Kings attention, if we are swarmed with the Shadow King things will be a whole lot riskier."

Suddenly, sirens go off alerting them to invaders in the mansion above them. Loud bangs are heard and there's screaming and shouting of many voices.

Physical attacks Andrea can handle...well to some extent. Bullets and blunt weapons can usually not hurt her. She does have trouble with edged weapons and fire, but no one is perfect. She says, "Sounds like they have the same idea, attack while we are busy. I will handle the close in defenses." She heads for the door, not opening it but stretching through the cracks, just in case there is someone waiting outside.

Nate tilts his head to Rachel, then sighs. Maybe he should have kept his problems to himself, but he has a big mouth. Then the alarms derail his train of thought. "On the other hand, if this is them, we just lost the choice of battlefield. But at least we are in home ground, uh? Want to go to Cerebro, Xavier?"

Jubilee jumps to her feet when she hears war. Her head up, lowering her sunglasses, she gets into a ready posture. Knees bent, she looks around. Checking for intruders right here, then to Andrea at the door, and finally to the Professor for orders.

As if Rachel wouldn't have noticed, Nate? It's a little obvious that you're not the telekinetic powerhouse that you should be...

There's no more time for such thoughts, however. Rachel looks up, startled, as the sirens start up, followed by the screams, shouts and other sounds of what's apparently a full-scale battle getting underway upstairs - and not even a telepathic flicker to alert her before it all kicked off. That's more than enough to put Rachel on notice that things are just as grim as the Professor's been saying. She frowns, her eyes going from green to white-hot blankness as she reaches out telepathically, trying to get a read on the situation above them, hunting for the hostiles, seeking numbers, locations... it's all automatic and instinctive, and doesn't occupy enough of her attention that she misses Andrea oozing out through the door - and the idea of her going out there, alone, doesn't sit particularly well with Rachel. She takes a step toward the door, instinctively switching to telepathic contact with the others. << Professor? Do you want me with you or kicking out our uninvited guests? >> She sounds tense, but confident.

Xavier pauses to make psychic contact with everyone <>

Logan was in the blue and yellow costume, the modern one that was homage to the uniform he wore for ages. His eyes went toward some of the sirens. Taking a few sniffs of the air he was trying to get a scent on the enemies. His mind screamed, << "Patch me in!!" >> He worked too many times with Rachel and Jean in the past. If there was a telepath present there were probably out there scanning the thoughts of the many and willing. Rushing toward the war room he let out all six claws. Two "Shnkts!" cut through the air. The panic amongst the students was almost palpable. Fear lingered in the air and that made his blood boil. It was one thing to scare someone that was combat ready. It was another to frighten people that had no intentions of fighting. Add in the fact they were invading the institute was fighting on holy ground to Logan. << "Where do ya want me!?" >> Logan thought the second he felt anyone go in his mind. He connected just in time to catch the dozing remark, <<"Ain't dozin' Chuck, just waitin' for a target. Jubilee, take point if things go South during the investigatin'.">> Charles was the leader, but he knew of Jubilee's combat capabilities. She would have been good to take charge during a fight.

Jubilee nods to the professor when she gets her orders, and decides to follow behind. She can't just ooze through the door like Andrea, so she has to carefully open it, look for anyone outside, then step out and close the door behind herself. If she sees Logan there, she nods "The professor has us investigating above. What have you seen?"

"Alright, I'll get you to Cerebro," states Nate, reaching for the wheelchair. "I think the others should go up there to protect the kids. We can provide distance telepathic shielding if the Shadow King shows up, right?"

Xavier sights, << OK fine, Rachel can go join the others upstairs. You and I will go to cerebro. I'm glad to see that you're not completely absent from the mansion when you said you was going to be at the meeting, Logan, but where have you been?>>

Rachel checks her stride toward the door at the Professor's instruction to stay with him, a bit unwillingly to judge by the tension in her posture. She remembers the mansion being attacked - and levelled - in her own timeline. She was a kid then, unable to fight back. But now? She'd dearly like to lend her strength to the defence of her home. But the Professor's in charge, and she has to trust that he's looking at the bigger picture.

But then Nate intercedes, and Rachel's free to get her hands dirty. She flashes him a quick grin, then nods an acknowledgement to the Professor. Picking up the familiar feel of Wolverine's mind, and 'hearing' his demand to be patched in to the psi-net that the telepaths are weaving between them, Rachel smiles a nasty little smile, and reaches out to him. << Good hunting, Wolverine. I'm on my way up, try to leave some for me. >> She could almost feel sorry for the intruders...

Bare moments later, Rachel's heading out of the War Room, making her way upwards as fast as she scan, mind scanning for targets.

Andrea reforms on the other side of the door, seeing no immediate threat. She steps out of the way as it opens so Jubilee can exit. Then Rachel joins in the group headed up.

She inquires, "Do you think someone should stay here to defend, or will the automatic defences be enough while we go find the attackers?"

Seeing Jubilee head toward the rough Logan followed in pursuit, "Seeing? Nothing. I'll stay with you two. If we separate ball's in your court if things get hairy Jubilee, got it?" he was moving with the two girls heading up stairs. Randomly he took sniffs trying to get a scent of who the invaders were and if they were armed with any type of gun or explosive. "Remember when I said you'd get a chance to do some fightin'? Now's your chance," he looked to Andrea, "What can you do again?" Sometimes he lost track of what mutant had which power. So, he was double checking to see how that one would have done.

In his mind he felt the familiar presence of Rachel, <<"Make your Mom and Dad proud, kid.">> Sure that was meant more as "Make your Mother proud," but as much as Logan hated to admit it, Cyclops was good in a fight, maybe not as good as other members of the team. Still, Cyclops had to be given -some-credit. Seeing frightened students on his way up he looked around, < "We need a place to hide the students in case the intruders get through."> Thinking on it he thought over the network, <<"Rachel, open up the danger room. You, Jubes, Andrea, and anyone else keep forward. I'll make sure the students are safe. Anyone tries to harm em' they gotta get through me,">> the tone in his mind spoke of a man willing to mame, harm and hinder anyone willing to harm a child. <<"Keeps me on defense before anyone makes it to the war room too,">> Andrea had a point about someone staying guard. Seeing the first batch of students Logan pointed entrance leading to the usually unseen parts of the mansion, "Move!" he screamed at them. Pulling up his mask he sheathed all six claws. They'd only come out if someone tried to break in. Spotting a younger mutant that made it to the danger room once or twice before, "Make sure everyone else makes it to the Danger Room."

<> Xavier and Nate arrive at cerebro's external door. He passes through the doors security and waits.

Jubilee shakes her head at Andrea. "No, we have our orders, let's find them. The Professor surely has defense in mind his own way." Staying in front of the younger mutant, assuming she has less war experience. Which may or may not be true, but it's just her assumption. She's got her hands up now. "I don't want to split up. We need to find them, but I don't want to split up to find them faster. I don't know what we're facing here."

Nate is 'listening', trying to pinpoint all the minds in a mile area around the school. Friendly and enemies. Not much more he can do while taking Xavier to Cerebro. He is not as dexterous at Xavier or Rachel with his telepathy, much less multi-tasking, but his raw power is unmatched, and once he is in the Astral Plane, he won't be hindered by his human body.

<< I'm on it. >> Rachel acknowledges Logan's instruction as soon as it's given, and pauses only a moment to look over at Jubilee and Andrea. "Good luck and stay safe." She tells them, before turning away and heading for the Danger Room. A moment later and her telekinetic powers ignite, and she lifts into the air. It's a bit cramped for flight down here, but she knows the corridors well enough that she's in no danger of crashing into a wall. And it means she can get to the Danger Room that much faster.

It's only a matter of seconds later that she's dropping back to her feet, boots skidding on the slick floor, and slapping her hand against the Danger Room's access panel. As the reinforced doors begin to slide apart, Rachel's already moving again, heading for the upper levels. << Danger Room is open and ready to receive guests. >> She passes on.

Glass is heard shattering all around mansion on all levels. Wood is heard splintering at the front entrance. And menacing laughter is heard shortly after.

Andrea nods, she knows she is inexperienced, so she will defer to the more experienced mutants. She says, "I can find some things, by changing my eyes or ears or nose to sense better, but I am not exceptionally good at it. I can also stretch parts of myself ahead...say send an eye to look around corners first."

Hearing Xavier's orders to press on Logan turned to another mutant then pointed. "Keep em' going that way," rushing toward Jubilee and Andrea. He smirked, "Wanna see me fight that badly?" Logan asked softly. Deep down he knew damn well that wasn't it. "Three of us are one group," Logan kept up with the two of them. Keeping the claws inside he looked at Jubilee, "Non-lethal. You heard the professor." Hearing wood groan as it broke, the glass turning to shards he stopped and held an arm out to stop the other two. Putting a finger to his lips he sniffed a few times trying to figure out where they were in relation to the three of them. A finger pointed to his ears as he was trying to signal to Andrea to listen close. Maybe between his nose and her hearing they could have pinpointed the location.

Andrea alters her ears, enlarging them and making them able to swivel and focus directionally so that she can pick up more sound and pinpoint the source better. She tries to focus on the source of the sounds and of the laughter,

The alarms continue, becoming a persistent distracting nuisance, especially to those with heightened or sensitive hearing. If anyone should look outside they'll see a large number of mutants. None of them have been able to resemble their natural features. Even the ones, who could hide amongst humans, have been horribly deformed by the will of the Mummudrai.

Xavier and Nate continue up the walkway to the centre platform with the main controls for the psychic power enhancing machine affectionately known as cerebro. "I understand that you probably have a strong desire to join the others up in the mansion, to protect this place. However, we will need to be away from the fighting if Shadow King makes an appearance here today. It would do us no good to fight on the astral plane, leaving our bodies in the chaos, in harm's way."

Jubilee can't help but laugh a little at Logan's comment. She keeps moving, her hands up, ready to 'shoot fireworks' when necessary. "I would like to see you fight like the old days, but... I think you know more about who we're facing than I do. If these were Exos I'd just go charge in." Her attention then turns to Andrea. "Maybe you should lead the way, if you can hear where they are."

Rachel emerges from the sub-levels to the sound of the mansion being besieged. Hearing glass shattering all around her, she hesitates. The Mansion has so many windows and exterior doors, they're not going to be able to hold all of them, not considering how few they are. The sound of wood splintering makes her decision for her. <> She drops the words into Wolverine's brain, and then takes flight once more, a haze of telekinetic fire forming around her body as she draws on her powers, pushing a telekinetic shield out ahead of her. If anyone's breached the doors, she aims to throw them right back out!

Andrea's head splits in half...sometimes her morphing is not entirly conscious. The alarms are giving her a splitting headache, so her head splits. She concentrates, rotating her ears so as to focus on places with fewer alarms and more other noises...then fuses her head back together as she realizes the shape it is in. She says, "Any way to turn off those alarms, or tone them down? It is hard to hear past them."

Nate grunts in assent to Xavier's words. Besides, Rachel is out there, he is a little worried. "But I can go hit them telepathically the second you are linked to Cerebro. If they are all psychic spirits, then they are all vulnerable, right?"

Spotting the sight out the window Logan's mind began to work. Then seeing Andrea's head split in two Logan's head jerked slightly. He stopped pointed to his ear then made a kill motion. Quietly he raised the window. Pointing at Jubilee then to the group outside, "Think about the muggers," she injured a large group of muggers in one blow. "They're mutants, they're possessed, but a blow like that will only bruise n' cut. Right now somethin' is controlling them. If they make it into the mansion they ain't gonna hold back. Disable em'. All I ask," Logan's voice was firm as he looked at her. His gaze went to Andrea, "Need a headcount when she's done. They're gonna be comin'."

Jubilee nods quickly to Logan, then goes to the window, and leans in to open it up, at least enough that she can poke a finger out. "Right, they're the victims as much as anyone." She takes a deep breath, face hardening. "If they're mind controlled, deafening them won't really help but.." she says as she pokes her hand out, and fires off a single 'firework', veering it up over the heads of the controlled mutants, and exploding it in a burst, trying to shock and daze them, without doing serious damage.

Andrea reverts her ears to normal. Enhancing her senses is not really her forte anyway, and she is just as glad to stop hearing the alarms amplified. She alters her eyes instead (so far at least, she can only do one of this kind of morph at a time), she can now see clearly at a distance so as to count how many of the foes there are. She keeps her eyes turned away until after the blast so as not to be blinded and quickly counts bodies.

A dozen or so mutants go flying back through doors, from which they entered as a result of Rachel's attack. Whilst Jubilee's firework is mostly ineffective; a few are distracted but nothing more. However, more quickly follow through the doors. In other places around the mansion, the possessed mutants have made it into the place. They quickly look around for the person they can find and attempt to attack them.

"It takes more than just brute force to defeat the Shadow King. So I would like your assistance in the case that he does make an appearance." explains Xavier. He then reaches for the head piece and places it on his head. He then sends his mind out to the upper levels. He doesn't like sight he sees before him. The mansion is completely surrounded.

As Xavier is already with Cerebro, Nate sits down on the floor, crosslegged, and lets his astral form go. It is pretty noticeable to anyone with access to the Astral Plane, because Nate makes it flare as it was on fire.

Then he races up, ghost-like, and reaching to the spirits possessing the mutants to tear them from their hosts bodies and set them burning with astral fire.

As Rachel engages the mutants, anyone linked with her will feel an echo of the satisfaction she feels when the dozen or so who'd made it through the sorry, shattered mess of the doors are flung right back out into the gathering dusk. It gains her a breathing space if nothing else. Rachel drops to the ground, boots crunching through the debris on the floor, and she takes a cursory look at the doors, immediately seeing that they'll be of no use as a barrier. But then, she should be able to put up more resistance than mere wood!

Rachel squints at the sudden light as Jubilee's firework goes off, blinking the dazzling spots out of her vision. If nothing else, at least it gave her a glimpse of the numbers opposing them - and it's not an encouraging sight. As more mutants begin to rush forward, Rachel sets herself in the shattered doorway and stretches out her arms. Telekinetic fire catches around her body, and she begins methodically punching mutants off their feet, sending them flying backwards. She'll hold them as long as she can.

Andrea reports to Logan, "They are moving around too much, I lost count at five hundred. It seems to be quite a lot..."

"Keep the shifter safe," Logan said out loud before he rushed out ahead of two, about two feet. First possessed mutant that approached Logan got a right hook. Then an open palm strike with the left hand drove into the same possessed things throat.

The next one was drives to the ground with a series of grapples that hyperextended the elbow. Pulling away he drove an elbow into the third, "THEY'RE GONNA KEEP COMIN' JUBES!" Logan yelled knowing damn well that Jubilee could have helped the situation a little. All of his strikes were non-lethal, but he was trying very hard to make sure each one stayed down.

Nate's efforts are not in vain. The mutants drop to the ground after the onslaught. It is hard to tell whether they remaining host, is still alive or not. Even to the psychics. If they are alive, they're in critical condition

Suddenly, a powerful psychic presence is felt. Shadow King has arrived on the battle field, as if from nowhere. <> Xavier shouts at him telepathically. <>

Rachel feels Nate's psychic presence as it rises up to join the battle, and she's able to telepathically appreciate his efforts. << Glad you could join us. >> she sends privately to him, the words not 'spoken' sarcastically - not now that she's aware of how utterly, impossibly outnumbered they are. Having Nate by her side, even in astral form, buoys her confidence considerably.

It's enough to make her do something reckless. After all, the more bad guys who're focusing on her, the fewer there are to go after the others, or the Professor. Giving up her position at the doors, Rachel pushes herself into flight, becoming a fiery streak as she barrels forward, crashing into the mass of mutants before her, and then throwing out a wave of telekinetic force in an expanding circle around her. She's about to try Nate's telepathic trick when the Shadow King's presence suddenly appears, so dark and potent that it almost seems to press down on her like a physical weight. She reaches out urgently. << Professor? >>

Jubilee decides that she's not going to be able to do a whole lot the way she tried. She's going to have to get toucher. So she grunts, and just runs over to where Logan is. She gives some kicks, trying to push back, and this time fires a bigger boom. Trying to physically blow some mutants back now, trying to stall while the psychics do their thing. "This is hard, having to fight not to kill," she complains, adding in some quiet Cantonese muttering.

Unaware of Shadow King and the battles going on the Astral Plane, Andrea decides it is time to get involved. She needs to move fast, but not hurt the enemy. Time to have a ball.

Andrea coils her legs into a spring and inflates her body before launching herself forcefully forward. She is going to be too soft and spread out to do lethal damage, but the impact will knock people over and possibly even out...and she will be bouncing to fast to get an easy bead on.

<> projects Nate to Rachel. Then he concentrates in hitting the possessing entities, starting by the ones getting inside the school and trying to cause the least damage to their mutant hosts.

Then the Shadow King announces his presence, and Nate shifts fully to the Astral Plane. <>

Having already enter this level of existence, Xavier turns to Nate, <> He pauses, he looks down at himself, enjoying the full functionality of his astral body <>

Shadow King appears before them, looming over them. His eyes glowing yellow, contrasting against his dark body. His bears his sharp teeth, and flexes his hands showing off his even sharper claw-like nails.

The Professor - and no doubt Nate as well - will feel just how much Rachel wants to argue with that command - but only for a moment, and then her telepathic presence vanishes, as she slams her shields down tight. She HATES doing it. Hates not knowing what's happening. But she has no choice but to trust the Professor. And, surrounded by mind-controlled mutants (which is her own fault) and now unable to use her telepathy to back up her telekinesis, she doesn't have time to second-guess him either. She continues striking out with her telekinesis, slamming possessed mutants into one another, or just seizing them in telekinetic claws and tossing them aside. She's powerful, but there's so many...

Andrea cannot really do much about large numbers. She can take on say five people at a time without much trouble, but she cannot deal with dozens at once, let alone thousands. So she does not try, keep them busy, keep them distracted, and keep moving. Bounce off one group, thrust away on impact to double the effect and to launch again...and then repeat. An annoyance is all she can be, but an annoyance can still be useful if it distracts at the right time.

Jubilee nods to Logan, and then puts her back toward his. At this point, the safest thing they can do is go back to back and take on what they can take on, together. Together, just doing what they can. She starts using her armoured bits in her outfit, but sparingly, just mostly to cushioning herself as she does her best non-lethal blows, just trying to knock'em down before the next ones come up.

Nate snarls at the Shadow King's appearance. Yeah, very impressive, but they can mold the Astral Plane to their will, so the imagery is mostly smoke and mirrors. Nate is not an expert in changing quickly the Astral ectoplasm, so he just summons his power and charges the Shadow King large form like a golden comet.

As Nate makes contact with the Shadow King, it is revealed that it is indeed an illusion only. The Mummudrai possessed mutants focus most of their efforts on Rachel, and on Jubilee and Wolverine, but to a lesser extent. Fewer still pay any attention to Andrea.

Xavier ignores Rachel's feelings as not to be distracted. After all she wanted to protect the mansion, and so she is doing so. Xavier watches as recklessly charges into Shadow King, before the form disappears.

Staring toward Shadow King Logan just kept on mutants. He smirked taking down the next one, "Remind ya of home?" Logan asked Jubilee. As a few tore at him wounds began to heal over time. His healing wasn't instant. Red stained a few parts of his body. Ignoring every urge to pop the claws Logan's fist went into one mutant sending him back. A kicked stopped another as it hit them in the gut. << "If the telepaths got an ace in the hole now's the time!" >> he said via the link created from before. Their numbers were just so massive. He was worried about someone tiring down and getting pinned by tens of controlled mutants. << "What's the plan?" >>

Ducks, dodges, blocks were given in response to several blows. A kick was countered and Logan held onto the ankle then gave it a sickening snap. Sure, it was painful but still nonlethal. Easier to fight an opponent with a broken ankle than one that had both legs working.

Yes, 'be careful what you wish for, you may get it' does pretty much sum up Rachel's current situation, as she's buried under an avalanche of possessed mutants. For a few moments it looks like she might actually be down for the count, but then a blast of red-gold telekinetic power blasts the pile of mutants that she was at the bottom of apart, sending her assailants flying in all directions. She scrambles back to her feet, shakily, her hair mussed, her uniform filthy, and with a trickle of blood seeping from a split lip. Not wanting to go through that again, Rachel flings herself skyward, looking back down once she's reached what she hopes is a safe altitude, and makes a decision. Striking out telekinetically, she blasts a curving trench across the lawn, as deep and wide as she can make it. The landscaping bill will be horrendous, but it might slow them down. Her shields still locked tight, she doesn't hear Wolverine as she falls back to the Mansion proper.

Jubilee notices Logan's idea, and makes a pained face. It's... unpleasant, but she realize she'd better learn from it. "Ugh.. disabling is not killing, but they're mutants... That's the big way this feels completely different from home." she grunts. So now she starts aiming her elbows and feet toward joints, especially the knees. "I hope we can do some good healing after for these poor..." she adds with heavy breaths, as this is hard work. The rest is trailed off in Cantonese.

Andrea tries to think of something more effective she could do. Oh sure, she could kill a few...killing is easy but we try not to kill...that is the difference between heroes and villains. She tries compressing herself while in flight, and expanding rapidly on impact. It seems to work better at knocking people around, but is more tiring than just bouncing. She is not sure how long she will be able to keep it up. She is just glad that, so far, these mutants have not used whatever powers they have.

Even though fighting had been going on for a while on the physical plane there was still many more possessed mutants to fight. The numbers certainly are less than they were originally, mostly thanks to psychic attacks of Nate, Rachel, and Xavier. However, unfortunately the Mummudrai, that remain, are fixing the bodies of their hosts, and returning back to the fight.

As the fight continues, time passes and the sky becomes darker, making it harder to see at a great distance amongst the crowd of mutants

Back on the astral plane, Shadow King had begun playing around with minds of both Xavier and Nate. Each time they turn to see the other, they had disappeared, only to reappear moments later once their back was turned.

Logan, dressed in his costume, was working on a group of mutants. Seeing Jubilee break bones he gave her a nod, "Gonna have to get yer hands dirty sometime. People ain't gonna have yer code, mutant or not. Bend it when yer life depends on it," he didn't say break. Honor codes were a thing Logan knew a thing or two about. His time in madipoor caused him to develop one.

Looking at Andrea he asked, "Can ya make yer hands and feet bigger too? Could come in handy!" There were so many changed mutnats that were Thralls to the Shadow King. Patching back into the mental link established by the group, <<"Anyone mind punchin' Shadow King in the face? His troops are outnumberin' us out here! We could stand to see his grip slip on these people!">> Even in the mental link his voice sounded strained. There were just so many people on the ground.

Jubilee has her back to Logan. She's in her battle suit, and the armored joints on it were getting some work. But now, with Logan's encouragement, combined with the urgency of the situation, she's having to get rougher with these mind-controlled mutants. It's against everything in her, but she's forcing herself to do it. At least it's non-lethal, and she's hopeful that this damage will be easily repaired. "Well worst case we ask Genosha to help with healing this many or something. I'd think they'd be happy to help after this scale of attack on mutants." she offers, before damaging another knee, and then another ankle to disable two more.

Rachel is a bright streak of telekinetic fire in the darkening sky as she flies back to the mansion, dropping back to her feet just outside the main doors and stumbling forward a step before she catches herself against the X-Mansion's outside wall. She's not recovered from her reckless attempt to take the fight to the possessed mutants on the lawn, and although she gave a decent account of herself she hardly came off unscathed. However, as much as she'd like to rest her head against the sturdy brickwork that's currently holding her up and take a moment to get her breath back, that's just not an option. Gritting her teeth, she pushes away from the wall and plants herself in the doorway once more, the shattered remains of the doors themselves to either side of her. She looks out into the gathering darkness and realises with a sinking feeling that the trench she blasted across the lawn is only going to buy her seconds at best. Steeling herself, she flings out a wave of telekinetic force, trying to throw back as many of the possessed mutants as she can.

Nate first attempt of hitting the Shadow King meets with a big cloud of nothing. He shouldn't be too surprised, and actually he is just angry. So the telepathic ghost wants to play hide and seek? Not good, because there is a fight going on in the physical world and they are badly outnumbered. <> Meanwhile, he begins directing psychic blasts to the Mummudrai trying to get inside the school's main building.

Andrea hanges form, rooting herself to the ground she twists her body sand makes her hands bigger, stretching her arms she whirls about, unwinding and the rewinding her body. She strikes every mutant close enough with her enlarged fists.

Looking back to Jubilee, "We've got a couple of healer 'round here. Ain't gonna let em' suffer. Poors bastards ain't even in control of themselves. We'll help em', got my word!" the last bit came out with a grunt as he pushed back a mutant. As the mutant vaulted back a little Logan delivered a stiff kick knocking them down.

His gaze went to Andrea who became a whirlwind of disorientation as giant sized fist slammed into mutants. He gave an approving nod, "There's hope fer ya yet, kid. Keep it up!" Andrea had potential to be a real help in a fight. "Do yer research on The Fantastic Four. Leader has powers like yers!"

Illyana appears in a bright flash of light where a group of advancing Mummudrai were moments ago, dressed in a rather out of place red sorceress' robes, her eyes glowing, "you might want to double think your assault on our home, we don't take kindly to it," she warns depsite being more than fashionably late to this battle. Though it's unclear what happened to those she just whisked away, before there's any doubts, she announces on comlink, <> While it may not be of much use in this particular battle, the soul sword held in her hand is quite impressive, glowing etherally as it does. Xavier scans the surround areas searching for anyone with particularly high levels of power, not including those in his team. He is pleased to see Illyana join in the fight. <> He continues his search but it's difficult keep track of the most powerful out there, it seems that the mummudrai are dampening the mutants powers any time he found one, only to increase them again, when he focused his attention elsewhere. <>

Taking advantage of Xavier's distraction, Shadow King releases a psychic barrage at Xavier. <> Xavier's scream is loud that everyone in the surrounding area can hear him.

Andrea instinctively flattens to the ground at the scream, seemingly melting into a spreading puddle. As soon as she collects herself, she wraps tendrils around the feet of any enemies she is touching and slams them together forcefully.

Feeling the psychic scream rake at his senses Logan screamed out then fell to one knee. Mutants began to dogpile on top of him. Before long a large pile have him completely smothered...at least for the moment. Whenever the noise would stop he'd claw his way out, literally if it came down to it.

<> greets Nate to the newly coming teleporting sorceress. Xavier scream. Oops. No distractions. But he was expecting the Shadow King would do that, stab them while they were paying attention to the physical world. He actually hoped he, and not Xavier, would be the first target.

But the important thing is the Shadow King just 'uncloaked' and Nate can pinpoint the evil telepath's mind in the Astral space. He immediately sends the information to Rachel and then blasts back at the Shadow King with all his might.

Rachel grins a bit savagely as her telekinetic wave blasts the closest of the Mummudrai back off their feet. It's probably not a very appropriate reaction for an X-Man, but she feels rather a lot better for having thrown some more of the attackers back. She spins around as she sees a flash of light, expecting an attack - and that grin she's wearing just gets a bit bigger as she sees the new player in the game is on their team. They're still heavily outnumbered, but she'll take anything that evens the odds up a little. She's about to reply to the message that comes in over her comlink when she feels Xavier's psychic scream even /through/ her tightly-closed shields, making her gasp in pain. Even though those shields are the only reason the scream didn't knock her for a loop, she /can't/ cut herself off any longer. << Professor? >> She calls telepathically, the single word an unspoken question, asking whether he wants her to fall back and assist him. She just hopes she gets a response - and she does, though it's from Nate. << Got it. >> Her mental voice has a vengeful tone to it, before she calls hurriedly to the others, << Someone watch my back, I'm going to be busy! >>

Rachel's eyes go to blank, white heat, and she pushes her consciousness out of her body, aiming right where Nate told her. On the astral plane, Rachel's form coalesces - Hound marks, spiked red costume - and a bird shaped aura of flame surrounding it all. She strikes hard, lashing out for the Shadow King's presence, hoping to take him by surprise.

<> but as the telepathic scream echos not long after, Illyana adds, <<Professor!?>> Though for the time being, she stays outside, brandishing her soul sword threateningly at the advancing Mummudrai, flashing white discs starting to pop one by one as she whisks more of their numbers away from the field.

Jubilee naturally notices when Logan goes down. Not being a psychic... she starts kicking knees and wrists trying to help him get up, and once he's up, she winks "No napping on the job, lazy bones." before getting back to his back and resuming keeping them off of HERSELF.

Several "CLANGS!" echoed. People forgot getting hit by Wolverine was like feeling a metal hammer come at you HARD. When the assist came from Jubilee he got up more. Then all of the mutants came out and almost took her down.

Throwing a few punches the "CLANGS!" continued. Mutants fell back and he looked at her, "Watch yer ass!" A single nod of thanks followed. The assist was appreciated, she could tell that much he would just never say it was needed. "Not in the network?"

Nate's and Rachel's attacks land on Shadow King, unfortunately, he was prepared for attacks from them both. He grunts as he hit lands, and shakes himself off. He laughs deep to himself. <<You're on the astral plane, my realm, the realm of the Shadow King.>> He then seemingly replicates himself a number of times scattered around the two mutants. <<This is where I get to enjoy myself.>> Two psychic blasts are then sent towards both Nate and Rachel, but it's uncertain from which direction they come.

Andrea throes the ones she just bumped together back into the mass of possessed mutants. She really is not physically strong enough to hurt anyone tougher than human, but not all of these are that tough. She just hopes none of them figure out that her powers are limited to certain specific forms of defense.

Hearing Rachel, Andrea springs herself over to where the telepath's body is and forms a spike-covered igloo over her, with a few tendrils outside for attacking with. It will give Rachel some defense against at least physical attacks.

Jubilee shakes her head. "I just showed up ready to fight, that's all I know," she shrugs, then whirling around to plant another shot to another knee. Once the initial stress of doing that was alleviated, it becomes routine for her. War is war. "Hopefully the rest are doing their thing, we'd need an army to match this army."

<<The hell this is your realm, parasite,>> replies Nate. The Shadow King's blast cracks his psychic shields, but he rebuilds them very quickly, drawing energy from the Astral Plane. He strikes back against the images, although scattering his power among so many makes the attacks weaker, the real Shadow King will still have to block it. And that means Rachel will 'see' him too.

Rachel's brief moment of triumph as her telepathic attack hits home lasts only as long as it takes her to realise that the Shadow King's barely even shaken by it. And then comes the laughter, that sets her every nerve on edge and has her gritting her teeth. << Your realm? Better get ready to be evicted! >> She telepathically yells back at him, defiantly, but then she's facing not one but multiple Shadow Kings, and her astral eyes go wide. Scrambling to shield herself, she's blindsided by the telepathic bolt, almost blasting her right back off the astral plane.

Back in the real world, Rachel's body shudders, a trickle of blood beginning to seep from her nose, and then she crumples to the ground. It's a good thing that Andrea finds her, and protects her.

On the astral plane, Rachel's form flickers, but then the flames around her burn brighter and she seems to solidify once more. She's about to cut loose with a telepathic burst of her own, when she realises just what Nate's trying to do. << Sneaky. I like it. >> Shielding herself from any further attacks that come her way, she watches for her opening. Any attacks he makes that aren't defended are ignored, but any that aren't? Rachel will send a powerful psi-bolt at the source of the shielding.

Unfortunately, with all the magical things one could wield with Belasco's entire library of tomes at their disposal, telepathy is something Illyana can't quite manage outside her home realm. And so unable to help her friends fend off the dastardly Shadow King, she lingers on the outside, protecting the Mansion by whisking away groups of would be invaders, so the hosts could be released in ways not entirely considerate to their possessors.

"Yeah. We're gonna need a damned miracle," Logan admitted. The one thing he hated about people like the Shadow King was the armies. They were drones, but there was lots of them. Each one of these villains went on the quantity over quality principle.

Seeing Rachel down he looked at Jubilee, "Press forward! Cover Andrea!" he yelled over the group. Rushing forward shoulder first he pushed some of them back. The journey wasn't quick, but he punched, kicked, broke and cracked bones, and did what non-lethal techniques he could to make it to Andrea. Rachel needed to be shielded at all cost.

Jubilee did what she can not far from Logan. Not one to just try to plow through, she puts her hands out and starts firing bursts, trying to dow hat she can to help create a path through. It's not fast either, but he's not going fast either, so by firing these off she should be able to keep up, though taking some shots in the meantime.

Nate's psychic attacks disperse the false images, leaving the real Shadow King standing there. <<You're talented boy, I'll give you that.>> He grins bearing his teeth to intimidate the mutants in front of him. <<But I'm going easy on the pair of you, I just so love to play games.>>

Andrea wraps a tentacle around the first mutant to come close and throws him away. She does so with the next as well, but it is clear that her only having two eyes is limiting her. However, the first to reach the igloo find out it is pretty much impervious to blunt attack. (and to bullets from those further away). She is worried though, Someone is going to think of using knives or fire soon enough...

As the false images are dispelled by Nate's attacks, Rachel starts to feel like they might actually be able to win this. Having abandoned her body to join in the fight on the astral plane, she can only trust that the others in the physical world are looking out for her - if they're not, she's probably going to have a fatal surprise in the not too distant future... she banishes the thought. The fight's here, and any distraction will be just as lethal in this realm as it would be in the real world.

As the Shadow King stands revealed once more, at least Rachel has a proper target. But if he absorbed her earlier strike so easily... maybe it's her turn to give Nate an opening. << We're full of surprises. >> She replies, in as ominous a tone as she can muster, and the aura around her grows, the wings opening wide, the raptor's beak coming into sharp focus as it reaches forward hungrily, still growing, still ever larger. << But you think to toy with /me/? >> Rachel's avatar smiles, and she thrusts forward a hand, fingers clawed, and a fiery talon echoes the movement, lancing forward, attempting to close on the Shadow King. << BURN! >>

Of course, it's all a bluff. Rachel ISN'T the Phoenix. She can't back up the image she's projecting. But maybe, just maybe, she can make the Shadow King worried enough to leave himself open to Nate.

Nate is aware Rachel is trying to trick the Shadow King. And really, it is only fair since he likes tricks so much. However, Nate very much prefers the direct approach. And since the Shadow King is so fond to vanishing, instead of a regular telepathic blast, he aims to tackle him and tries to grab him by the 'throat', to keep his astral from escaping again.

Logan pushed forward getting back to back with Jubilee again. "Beers if we survive this!?" Logan yelled to Jubilee before he gave a hip toss to knock down a mutant. Another had their elbow hyper extended then broken as he countered a punch. Driving a knee to their face Logan watched that mutant fall before getting struck in the face by the next one. Grunting in pain he let out a head butt that caused a "CLANG!" as metal met bone. His eyes went to Andrea, "How ya holding up?! How's Rachel!"

The sight of the fiery talon, does give the Shadow King pause for thought. Even he, who resides mostly on the astral plane, is aware of the phoenix and its power. As a result he does not see Nate's tackle until it's too late. <<You know, you can't strangle me don't you?>> He snarls, and tries to throw Nate off him

Suddenly, Xavier appears back on the astral plane. <<That attack did a number on me. But it seems that you two have managed to keep him busy.>> With that he launches an attack of his own at the Shadow King.

Jubilee snorts, and lets out a huff of a laugh, as this is hard work, and she doesn't have the kind of regeneration you need in a situation like this. She tries to make her way back toward Logan, because getting together only makes things easier, since it means one fewer direction you can have an enemy from. If Andrea is with them too then, all the easier. Yeah, good thing she wore the battle suit.

Andrea comments, "I cannot really see inside without moving my eyes from defending outside, but Rachel is still breathing, I can feel that much."

She allows the dome to collapse inwards slightly under the pressure of a group of attacks, then suddenly expands outwards, driving the spikes on the surface into several of the foes.

Nate clings to the Shadow King <<I am aware this is a mindscape, and I can do anything I can force you to believe I am doing. Like, say, not letting you escape and hide anymore.>> His hands become oversized claws and dig into the Shadow King astral form. <<No more tricks, Shadow Thief. Just you, alone, against three top telepaths. What do you think is gonna happen now, little ghost?>>

The raptor-talon of flame shoots toward the Shadow King, and then, as Nate lunges forward - it evaporates, and Rachel resumes her normal form. Her projection did what she intended it to, give Nate his opening. She trusts his power will carry him through - although she might not have gone for the Shadow King's /throat/.

Despite the intensity of the fight, Rachel's heart lifts as Xavier is suddenly back beside them once more. << Good to have you back, Professor. Lets finish this! >> She draws as deeply on her powers as she dares, and back in the real world her body's breathing becomes shallow and labored - and cuts loose with everything she can muster in the form of a psi-bolt. With Nate locking the Shadow King in place, it's the best chance she imagines she'll get.

Shadow King turns to use Nate's astral body as defence against Xavier's and Rachel's attacks, but roars in pain as the claws dig into him. He buckles to his knees from the pain. <<I'm well aware of how this plane of existence works.>> With that he uses his psychic powers to increase his astral body temperature so that to those touching him it feels like they are being seared. He then sends a massive clawed fist towards Rachel.

Xavier tries to stop his attack, or at least change its direction but it's too late, and Nate is too near the bolt already. And it seemingly aims straight, dead centre of Nate's back.

Grunting, breathing hard Logan was starting to slow. Regeneration worked on injuries, not energy. Fatigue made fools of everyone, even the man with the codename Wolverine. Trying to get back into the mental link Logan thought, <<"Take em' out. Only got so long before we can't protect Rachel anymore.">> The tiredness showed in Logan's thoughts. This fight would have been a thousand times easier if the claws could have come out.

If Jubilee staggered Logan was there to help keep her up, "How ya doin'?" They weren't going down, at least not today.

Jubilee isn't quite staggering. She's got endurance form all the fighting. But she's breathing by now, most definitely. And trying to pace herself a bit better now, but at some point you're robbing Peter to pay Paul, and there's only so long you can keep that up. "This... well whoever's doin this... they'd better take care of this," she pants, pausing every time she takes another kick. "So many, so many."

Andrea is doing all right...as long as Wolverine and Jubilee are holding off the ones with edged weapons or fire powers she will be all right. Holding a form does not take much energy, when she needs to rest all she has to do is stay in one form a bit. The dome works well when defending another, a rubber ball when just defending herself. She cannot keep it up all day though...eventually she will exhaust her available reserves. It is not yet, but eventually...

Welp. Fire. Hot! Nono... Not fire. Nate has to remind himself the 'fire' is just another form of psychic attack. So he reinforces his psychic shields and tries to ignore the fire. He also tries to twist his body out of the way of Xavier's bolt.

Rachel's attack was launched a fraction later than the Professor's, and although she's just as shocked when the Shadow King thrusts Nate's astral body into the path of the Professor's attack and her own, she has just a little more time to react. Her psi-bolt, containing almost all her reserves, dissipates into the ether, and then she throws what scraps of power she has left into trying to deflect the Professor's attack, instinctively trying to protect Nate with a psychic shield.

All of which leaves her utterly defenceless when that fist strikes her. She crosses her arms in front of her astral body in a futile, instinctive reaction, but then she's smashed right out of the astral plane and back into her body. She goes rigid, a choked scream escaping her. "No." She gasps. "No. Wasn't strong enough..." And then her eyes roll back in her head, and she's out.

Nate snarls in rage when Rachel gets injured trying to protect him. <<You. Bastard.>> His claws try to dig deeper into the Shadow King's astral body, this time not as much as to cling to him as to rend him. <<I am going to... kill you.>> He promises. Technically Xavier already killed him decades ago, but maybe with killing him twice, it will stick better.

Hearing Rachel's words Logan looked back to Jubilee, "We gotta move Rache back!" His gaze split between her and Andrea, "Cover Andrea and press forward to the mansion. Get her to the med Bay. I'll cover the rear!" Two "Shnkts!" cut through any silence in the air as Logan let out the claws. "Just going for grazin' cuts! They'll hurt, n' bleed, nothin' permenant. No killin', got my word!" the thing about being specially trained at how to kill a man with precision was using that precision to go for simple cuts. Hopefully giving his word would have been enough for Jubilee to trust him on this one. With Jubilee covering Andrea's front and Logan at the rear, it should have been enough to get Rachel's body back inside.

Jubilee looks with surprise when he does his thing, but she trusts that he'll be able to control them as he says. She does what she can to over, to protect, still doing her kicks on joints to try to keep going. This is work, having to up the pace in order to move, being offensive and not purely defensive, but she has enough in the tank to do it.

Xavier's attack is stopped by Rachel's shielding. As the claws dig deeper into his body, he roars again. But rolls onto his back, hoping to crush Nate under his perceived weight. Xavier takes advantage of Shadow King's vulnerable front, and slashes at him with psychic dagger down his front. Again Shadow King roars in pain. Xavier continues his assault on the Shadow King, slashing again and again. The cuts are deep but blood does not poor like with a normal physical body, instead there is just blackness behind those wounds. Shadow King begins to weaken and Xavier turns to Nate <<Let's seal him away hopefully this time for good.>>

If Wolverine wants Rachel inside Andrea can do it, he is under estimating her on that at least. First she forms a rigid support capsule with cushioning to keep Rachel from getting hurt by the move, them she changes the dome into a parasail and the tentacles into a launching spring and a squid-like pulse jet. She Launches herself into the air and flies to the door...landing and converting into a four-legged gurney and running towards the medical bay.

It is funny how much can weight a ghost when backed by enough psychic power. Nate struggles against the Shadow King's 'weight'. Okay, maybe 'funny' is the wrong word.

Instead of trying to get free, however, Nate opts for dissolving the surface where they are fighting and keep clawing at his enemy. Now they are falling and he is not getting crushed. Except the Astral Plane has no real directions, so they are not falling anywhere.

As mutants came at him Logan went for places that would bleed, be painful, but not cause any permanent damage. Growling a little he stabbed and slashed at those places with precision. Thralls went down with ease thanks to the claws. When they made it to the mansion Logan shut the doors and tried to barricade them to buy more time.

Blood began to stain the yellow and blue of his uniform even as they made it down to the medbay. Once inside he locked the doors down. "Jubilee. Know any field medicine?" he wasn't sure if all the fighting gave Jubilee any medical prowess. "Stop the bleeding, keep her stable if ya can." IF she didn't Logan would have guided her through it. The solutions were simple, they wouldn't have helped Rachel much in the short run. Hopefully it would have been enough until a real medic arrived.

Jubilee shakes her head, looking at what Logan's talking about. "I wouldn't know a thing about that," she mutters. But when Logan tells her things to try, she tries them, being as careful as she can, but science never really was her thing you know.

Xavier continues to place psychic traps and barricades in an attempt to seal away the Shadow King within the astral plane. Once he and Nate have finished their attacks, and the Shadow King is locked up in a weakened form. He returns to his body back on the physical world. He looks down at himself, and feels a pang of sorrow towards his crippled body.

Back on the surface of the mansion grounds, the mummudrai have noticed that they can no longer sense their master. The siege of the mansion stops, and mutants bodies drop to the floor. It seems the mummudrai have left for the astral plane.

Andrea says, "I can heal myself...it is a bit of effort but even though it can be nearly liquid or almost as rigid as steel, my body in this form is all made of one substance. I simply need to move it around to heal myself, and then once repairs are made when I return to human form I am healed there too. I do not think that works for others." When everything ended Logan called for a medic. He was getting ready to head out alone, much to Jubilee's dismay. The last time he tried it she was behind him. Logan expected a similar reaction. Pulling back his mask, which was filled with various knicks and tears he held up a hand and looked around. When he saw the mutants bodies on the floor his eyes went to the two in the room, "I think Chuck won. Mutants are back to normal." Relief ran over his face for a moment. At least it was over for the moment. Shadow King never stayed down too long.

Nate is not very happy at realizing Xavier is trying to bind and trap the Shadow King and not to destroy him. But he is also worried about what is going on in the physical plane and returns with Xavier as soon as he is able. Contrarily to Rachel, his body is as healthy as when he left it. The way his powers work makes him stronger in the psychic plane, where unburdened by flawed flesh his full potential is realized.

He is not really feeling very well. But lately that is normal. Still, he scrambles to his feet and runs out of Cerebro, to the medlab.