to win a war • alex summers

chapter thirteen

IT WAS THE BIG DAY. It was time to stop a war, again in Teddy's case. He was, in all honestly, nervous. He truly did not believe that Charles would be able to put a stop to Shaw. The only way to stop a man like him, was death. And he believed that to the fullest extent.

He, along with everyone else, with the exception of Hank, who was nowhere to be found, walked into the lab. It looked like a wreck.

"What the hell happened here?" Erik asked rhetorically. Charles went forward, through the mess, and pulled open a box marked with an x. Everyone gathered around. "Hank has been busy," Erik commented. Everyone stared down at the contents.

"Do we really have to wear these?" Alex questioned.

"As none of us mutated to endure extreme G-force or being riddled by bullets, I suggest we suit up," Charles replied.

Next thing Teddy knew, he was at a airplane base in a ridiculous looking outfit. As the group stared up at the plane in front of them, Raven asked what everyone was thinking. "Where's Hank?"

"I'm here," Said Hank, walking out from the shadows. Except he looked... different.

Teddy exchanged a confused glance with Alex, who was standing beside him.

"Hank?" Charles asked uncertainly.

"It didn't attack the cells," Hank stated as he came into full view. He was now blue and furry. "It enhanced them. It didn't work." He looked down.

"Yes, it did, Hank," Raven said. "Don't you see? This is who you were meant to be. This is you." She put a hand on his face. "No more hiding."

"Never looked better, man," Erik said, patting Hank's shoulder.

This got a negative reaction, as Hank immediately grasped Erik by the throat and growled, as Charles called out his name in alarm. "Don't mock me."

"Hank, put him down immediately please," Charles said, as if talking to a child.

Teddy quickly his own abilities to use. "Drop him," He said, using charmspeak.

Hank did just that. Erik dropped to the floor. He looked up, catching his breath. "I wasn't."

"Even I gotta admit you look pretty badass," Alex stated. "I think I got a new name for you: Beast."

"You sure you can fly this thing?" Sean inquired, looking from the plane to Hank.

"Of course I can," Hank replied. "I designed it."

With that, it was time to take off. Straight to Cuba. On the plane, Teddy bit his lip nervously. There was a lot of pressure on him, and the rest of the team. They had to stop World War Three, and Charles would prefer to do this without any death. How were they expected to spare the ones who would hesitate at nothing to kill them?

As if sending his nervousness, Alex placed a hand on Teddy's shoulder. Showing he was there for him. Teddy sent him a grateful smile.

Charles used his powers to see into the ship that was close to crossing the line - the line that would start a war. "The crew of the Aral Sea are all dead," He reported. "Shaw's been there."

"He's still here, somewhere," Erik insisted.

"He set the ship on course for the embargo line."

"If that ship crosses the line, our boys are going to blow it up, and the war begins," Moira stated.

"Unless they're not our boys," Charles said. Teddy sent him a questioning look, but received no answer.

Soon later, a missile was fired right at their plane, thus forcing Hank to make a sharp turn to avoid getting hit. "Hold on! Hold on!" Charles exclaimed.

Teddy grit his teeth and held on tightly to the straps keeping him in his seat. This was not a fun ride, and this was definitely the last time he was boarding a plane. The plane did a full circle, everyone inside either screaming or showing their discomfort and alarm.

They did, however, manage to successfully survive getting shot at by the missile, and instead, it hit the ship that was about to cross the line. It blew up in a fiery explosion.

"A little warning next time, Professor," Hank said to Charles, glancing back.

"Sorry about that," Charles apologized. "You alright?" He asked those beside him - Raven and Sean.

Sean breathed out a "yeah," though it sounded painfully forced.

Teddy shared a look with Alex, and grabbed his hand. "I am never flying with you ever again, Charles," Teddy said, panting.

Charles just sent an apologetic smile.

"That was inspired, Charles," Moira complimented.

"Thank you very much, but I still can't locate Shaw," Charles responded.

"He's down there, we need to find him," Erik stated.

"Hank?"

"Is there anything unusual on the radar or scanners?" Hank asked Moira.

"No," The girl responded. "Nothing."

"Well then he must be underwater. And obviously we don't have sonar."

Erik sighed in annoyance. "Yes we do," Sean stated with confidence.

"Yes we do," Charles echoed, taking off his headset. Charles, Erik and Sean unbuckled themselves. Looks like they had a plan.

"Hank, level the bloody plane!" Charles shouted, gripping onto anything to not fall.

Hank did as he was told.

When Erik approached, Sean stopped him. "Woah, you back right off." Erik lifted his hands up in faux surrender. "Beast, open the bomb bay doors!" Sean exclaimed.

The doors opened, sending a lot of air through. This was definitely dangerous, but it had to be done.

Charles gave Sean a little pep talk before counting down. "Go!" Sean jumped out of the plane. He glided above the water, using his ability to keep himself up and to locate Shaw.

"This better work," Alex mumbled to Teddy, who quickly nodded in agreement.

"Alert the fleet, they may want to take their cans off," Moira said into the com.

"Banshee's got a location on Shaw," Charles informed the group. "You ready for this?" He asked Erik.

Erik gave a brief nod. "Let's find out."

Erik went onto one of the wheels to scout and try to find Shaw with his powers. He was successful in bringing the submarine up to the surface.

"I gotta admit, that's pretty awesome," Teddy said as he strared out the window, seeing the submarine floating in the air thanks to Erik.

Just then, though, a mutant emerged from the submarine and used his powers, creating a powerful tornado to throw them off.

"Erik, take my hand!" Charles said.

Hank sighed. "Hold on guys, it's gonna get bumpy."

The group in the plane were sucked right into this tornado. Hank was not lying when he said it would get bumpy. They were force to hold onto something stabled as the turbulence hit. Erik lost control on the submarine in the process.

The submarine crashed right onto the Cuban shores. To make matter worse, the plane lost an engine. Charles managed to catch Erik before he fell out of the plane and heaved him back inside. But they also crashed onto the beach. Erik threw himself on top of Charles to protect him, seeing as neither were strapped in. The plane was in pieces due to the crash, and not to mention, it was upside down.