"It's foggy out, isn't it?" I asked.
Ororo craned her neck around. "Even with your eyesight Warren?"
I nodded.
She smiled tightly. "Don't worry, this baby's instruments are finely tuned. I could fly this with my eyes closed."
"Very reassuring," I replied and leaned against the seat. The Blackbird descended a few feet against the rushing winds. "How far away are we?"
"About an hour."
"Anyone else notice the smoke?" I asked, squinting against the whiteness of the fog. In the distance, plumes of black smog were ascending from the ground.
"What smoke?" Logan asked.
"There, about thirty miles off."
Everyone stretched their necks forward to get a good glimpse at the smoke.
"I don't see anything." Logan's voice was laced with frustration.
"Just on the horizon. I'd be cautious Ororo."
She said nothing, and leaned back in her chair. Uneasy, I folded and unfolded my hands in my lap, a habit I had grown into. My thoughts drifted to Daniella. Could she even handle the children at the mansion? She of course had the older ones helping, but the thought of screaming mutant children running around her, chaos dominating the atmosphere was quite a funny picture. A smile played at the corner of my mouth as I stared out the window.
When black, dusty clouds drifted around the perimeter of the Blackbird, I sat up straighter in my chair.
"I think we're here," Ororo commented and throttled the engine, causing us to slow our pace. The machine smoothly glided downwards, the thickness of the smoke increasing. When we were nearing the ground, I could barely see anything within a ten foot radius.
"Alright, who get's to be the dummy?" Logan said.
I smirked. "I'll go. My lungs are more equipped for this."
He raised an eyebrow. "Well, so are mine kid."
"Yes, but you're not the one who's flown to extreme heights with hardly any atmosphere. I can handle this."
I unbuckled my seat belt and neared the back of the Blackbird. I heard Logan mutter something along the lines of, "Okay, good luck handling smoke inhalation."
I inhaled deeply as the door was released with a hiss from the hinges and swung downwards towards the ground. Black smoke filtrated inside the ship, and coughs followed suit. I quickly ducked my head and bolted outside. My eyes stung from the acrid chemicals in the air, the smoke billowing around me. Around the area, small fires were still aflame, sucking out any energy they could with their toxicity. The wind blew the puffs of blackness around, revealing small crumbling structures. My gut clenched as I walked on further.
"Do you see anything?"
Ororo's voice penetrated the small ear piece. I pressed the button and muttered a reply. "Yes. Nothing but charred buildings. I don't see anyone either."
"Be careful anyway," she spoke.
I lowered my hand to my side and glanced around. The ground was broken in small fissures, trees stood lifeless like black upon brown. The sky above couldn't bee seen from where I was standing. Coughing out bits of smokey flakes from my lungs, I trudged across the flame charred ground. The only promising thing I could see that suggested human life were the burned remains of structures against the earth. The only sounds that could be heard were the crackling fires dying away from the previous battle.
"Kid, why don't you get back in the ship? Ororo thinks she sees something."
"I don't see or hear anything Logan. It's dead out here. Ororo, can you clear it out or what?"
"I'll try," she replied.
It took a few seconds, but soon gusts of wind rolled around the landscape, whipping up the flames and smoke in their wake. I ducked my head and closed my eyes, the bits and pieces of charred remains stinging my eyes.
"Thanks," I coughed into the ear piece.
Straightening my spine, I focused my eyesight around the now clear plain. In about a five mile radius, the entire area was scorched from fires. The smoke was whithering away, and more shapes were revealing themselves. A shape I didn't expect to see stood out against the brownish background. I blinked my eyes, for I thought that I saw a human figure a few feet away.
"Ororo...do you see that?"
"What?" she replied.
The smoke billowed around the figure, departing around their frame. "That person, in the distance."
"I don't."
I took a few steps further. "You, over there!"
The figure didn't move. As I took a few steps closer, I realized they were entirely black, as if they were a silhouette.
"Hello?!"
Finally, they moved. It reared it's head back, arms starting to rise in the air. Confused, I watched as they started walking closer. In the palm of its hands, red matter and light started to build up, small flickering flames dancing around their fingers. The flames travelled from their hands up their arms, cascading like molten waterfalls across the rest of their body.
"Warren get out of there! The UV Rays of this thing are out of control!"
I retreated, starting to run towards the ship. The air around me started to heat up to incredible degrees. Pumping my wings, I took three giant leaps towards the ship, rocketing forward. As in the temperature increased, out of the corner of my eye I saw a ball of flame rush past me and hit the side of the ship. I lurched my body to the right, avoiding the ship. What was this thing?!
"Warren!"
"Get out of there now!" Logan shouted in the ear piece.
"I can't, if I go near the ship, this thing will blow you guys apart!"
"Dammit kid!"
I turned my head and saw the figure approaching the ship, Logan stepping outside.
"Logan!"
He turned his head to the side, his claws bursting from his hands. "Let's dance."
The black figure, which I realized now was much larger then I anticipated, flared brighter then it did before, the flames melting the ground at its feet.
Taking chances, I flew to the side of Logan as Ororo emerged from the ship.
"Ororo, make a funnel. I think if we take away its air supply, it'll go dead." I spoke and watched as Logan took a lunge at the figure. A screech emanated from it's gaping mouth as Logan's claws penetrated its flaming skin.
He grunted and pulled away, pieces of flesh around his face repaired themselves from the flames. "Anytime now Storm."
Ororo's eyes misted as the wind roared in my ears. The dust picked up around the figure and started to circle around it. It paused for a moment, as if assessing its situation. Then, without warning, it jumped out of the funnel and landed two feet away from me. Without having time to react, I saw as its hand rose up, fire building up in a massive ball.
Trying to jump sideways, I watched as the flames exploded around me, their heat incinerating my flesh.
All I saw before I blacked out were the orange and red flames burning away at my body, and the shouts of Ororo and Logan like whispers in my ears.
________________________________________________________
My head snapped up, the book dropping from my hands onto the floor. Something didn't feel right. My neck prickled as I heard pounding feet from upstairs. Tanya emerged from the staircase, an urgent look on her face.
"Tanya, what is it?"
It took a moment for her to speak, her mouth twitching. "Daniella it's...it's Warren."
I jumped out of my seat, running up to her and taking her shoulders between my hands. "What? What happened?"
"He's..."
"He's....? He's what?!" I demanded, the panic clenching my throat tight.
"Ororo thinks he might be dead."
The world around me paused, as if the air itself were frozen. Backing away slowly, I had no other thought on my mind then getting to Warren. Grabbing my coat off the coatrack, I slipped it over my shoulders and bolted out the door.