CHAPTER 158: SHADOWS IN CHICAGO
The Blackbird skimmed low over the city, but by the time they were on the ground Jean was already stiff in her seat, her head tilted like she was listening to a frequency no one else could hear.
"I feel her," Jean said quietly. Her voice had that Phoenix undercurrent — low, resonant, like fire barely leashed. "She's terrified. It's Kitty… she's running."
Scott adjusted his visor, tension tightening his jaw. "Where?"
Jean's eyes snapped open, glowing faintly. "That way." She didn't wait — she rose into the night sky, cloak of telekinesis carrying her toward the heartbeat of fear.
Nightcrawler muttered, "Ach, I do not envy the poor girl — having her mind found by Jean right now. She must feel like a candle in a hurricane."
Dazzler gave him a sideways look as she hopped out of the car. "We're seriously about to go after a teenager being hunted by thugs with guns?"
"Welcome to the X-Men," Scott muttered.
---
Kitty ran. Shoes slapping asphalt, lungs burning, her breath short and ragged. Behind her, headlights swerved, a car barreling too close, too fast. Two men in suits inside, one leaning out the window with something heavy in his hands. Not a pistol — a rifle.
Her chest tightened. She stumbled. "God, no—no no no—"
The car roared closer.
And then the sky fell.
A red-haired woman descended in a blaze of telekinetic force, her boots hitting pavement between Kitty and the car. The sedan screeched to a halt an inch from her outstretched hand. Metal groaned as the entire vehicle lifted off the ground, wheels spinning uselessly.
The two men inside screamed. One pulled the trigger. The bullet flattened against an invisible wall.
Jean's eyes glowed as she flicked her hand. The men slumped unconscious like puppets with their strings cut.
Kitty dropped to her knees, staring. "You—you stopped a car with your mind—"
Cyclops was there in seconds, his voice firm but calm. "Easy, Kitty. You called us. We're the X-Men. We're here."
That broke something in her. The tears came hot and sudden. She clutched her arms tight, sobbing. "They—they took them! They took Storm and the others and I—I tried to help but I couldn't, I was so scared and—"
Dazzler crouched beside her, surprisingly gentle. "Hey. Hey, it's okay. You did more than anyone expected. You're still breathing, aren't you? That counts."
Kitty sniffed, wiping her sleeve across her eyes. "You're real? You're all real?"
Nightcrawler popped into view in a puff of brimstone, making her yelp. He gave a little bow. "Real as nightmares and just as stylish."
Scott cut in, keeping things focused. "Where?"
Kitty pointed weakly back toward the south. "A big building… white-haired woman… cages. They hurt Professor Xavier. They… they hurt him."
Jean's gaze turned to the unconscious men in the levitating car. Her voice was ice. "They'll tell us everything."
---
The team was silent as Jean pressed her fingers to the goons' temples. Their heads lolled, faces twisted in silent screams. Scott's hand twitched toward her shoulder, then hesitated.
'She's pushing too hard. Dammit, Jean…'
Finally she exhaled, opening her eyes. "I have it. Their base. The defenses. Every corridor, every guard. All of it." She didn't sound winded — she sounded thrilled.
Dazzler muttered, "Kinda scary, actually."
Jean ignored her. With a flick of her wrist, the two men's bodies straightened, stiff and unnatural. Like dolls on strings. They shuffled toward the car.
Kitty whispered, horrified, "You're… you're making them move?"
"Yes," Jean said simply.
Scott stepped in, trying to soften the edges. "We're going to use them to walk us in. Kitty, stay close."
So they did. The four of them — Scott, Jean, Kurt, and Dazzler — climbed into the back, feigning unconsciousness as Jean's puppets drove. Kitty huddled between them, shaking.
The car approached the Hellfire facility. Guards stepped forward. "Authorization?"
Jean's puppets froze. One stammered, "They… they are mutants… captured."
"No entry without White Queen's approval," the guard snapped.
Scott cracked his eye open just enough. "So much for the subtle approach." He tapped his visor, releasing a thin, precise optic blast that sliced through the car roof like paper.
Light exploded as Dazzler thrust her hand up. A blinding pulse of strobe and color slammed into the guards, making them howl, clutching their eyes.
The X-Men burst from the car.
"Subtlety's overrated," Logan would've said. But he wasn't here yet.
Now it was Cyclops, barking orders. "Hit hard, hit fast! Jean, Dazzler — with me! Kurt, keep Kitty safe!"
The Hellfire base loomed, alarms already screaming.
Inside those walls — cages, pain, and the rest of the family waiting.
And Kitty, trembling but lifting her chin, whispered: "I can do this. I can save them."