Night had fallen and the X-men were moving towards Alaska as fast as their jet would carry them.
" You picking up anything, yet? We should be close by now." Scott asked Emma.
" Nothing." She replied. " Which is a bit troubling."
" What do you mean?" Kurt asked the woman.
"It's a whole town fulla people, an Emma ain't hearin any of their thoughts."Logan explained.
" It's a trap." Angel stated.
" We don't know what it is, Warren. Not yet." Scott told the man.
" He's got a point Summers. We know next to nothin about this place. An' yet we're breaking the sound barrier to get there." Logan stated " Now Emma can't read any conscious thought.... Which means some device is blocking her out... Or there ain't any people down there." Logan explained.
" There is a third option, Logan." Emma stated.
" No. We don't even want to think about that." Scott told the woman.
Ian listened as the others spoke of the possibilities they were facing. However, as they began to approach their destination, Ian began to feel it. A whole lot of fire, in one place.
" Uh, guys, I can feel a whole lot of energy, It's fire. And it's everywhere." Ian stated.
Kurt stood up from his seat and looked out the window of the Jet, down at the city below, and indeed everything was on fire.
" Mein Gott... I'm afraid Scott... We may have no choice but to consider that third option." Kurt told the man.
" I can.... Wait.... I can hear them now.... There are people down there, Alive. Terrified..." Emma explained.
" Looks like a frigging Warzone." Logan stated. He slid on his mask and stood up from his seat.
" Logan, I want you and Kurt down there now." Scott told the man.
" Sure thing, Slim." Logan replied. He turned to Kurt and grabbed the man's shoulder. " Let's go elf." And with a puff of smoke, Kurt and Logan were teleported down to the city.
" Scott, you want me to put the fire out?" Ian asked.
" Can you?" Scott replied.
" Fire is energy, Cyclops." Ian told the man.
" Do it." Cyclops replied.
Ian nodded. He raised his hands and reached out to the fire below and slowly the flames began to dissipate until the only thing that remained was the smoldered remains of the town.
" Warren, Ian, Give me close aerial coverage! Find survivors and keep your eyes open for whoever did this." Scott ordered the two. He pushed a button on the jet's main console and the Hangar doors opened up.
" On it." Warren replied.
Ian nodded as well and the two flew out of the ships exit.
" I'll search the hospital first, see if there are any survivors." Ian told Warren.
" Right, I'll look for any stragglers out here." Warren replied.
Ian nodded and flew straight to the hospitals building. But something was off.
The hospital was on fire sure, but only one floor had suffered any real damage.
Ian ran up and down the halls of the building, pulling out the people that were still trapped inside. Though he did take note that some of the adults seemed to have little to no injuries, while other bodies were burned to a crisp. It bothered him. Why would whoever did this go through such lengths to destroy the town, but leave so many people alive?
" Whoever did this, clearly had the intent of wiping out everything. So, why are there so many survivors? It doesn't make sense. What was the goal?" Ian asked.
He couldn't wrap his mind around the entirety of it all.
" Alright next floor, the nursery." Ian read the sign on the wall that told him where he was going next and followed it.
When he came through the door, the smoke was thick and the smell of burnt flesh was rapid.
Ian walked into the foyer and then it hit him. Why the adults seemed to have little to no injuries. He raised his hand to his earpiece and started yelling.
" Scott! SCOTT!!!" Ian yelled through the radio.
" What is it?" Scott asked.
" Jesus Christ, the kids scott. Whoever did this, killed every single child in the nursery. No... whoever did this killed every single child in this town. This wasn't a trap for us, it was a massacre." Ian exclaimed.
" Logan, Kurt. Go to Ian." Scott told the two men.
Ian heard Logan reply and suddenly the two men popped into the room.
" Logan., kurt. Who would do something like this?" Ian asked.
" The purifiers. They were after the mutant baby. And they killed anyone who might fit the bill." Logan explained. He started sniffing around the room. " Damn it." He cursed.
" Nothing?" Scott asked the man.
He and Emma came into the building, carried by Warren.
" Nah. Too damn much smoke and chemicals in the air... I can't isolate anything." Logan told the man.
" It's not here." Emma stated.
" How do you know?" Scott asked.
" Birth Records. Three babies were born here last night. But only two newborns are here." Emma explained.
" How sure are you this baby was the mutant cerebra picked up?" Scott asked.
" Sure. This is why they collided... The Marauders and the Purifiers. They were both on a path to this hospital." Emma replied.
" But which one of em' got the kid?" Logan asked.
" I don't know." Emma told the man.
" Damn it." Scott cursed. " Come on, there's nothing left we can do here." Scott told everyone.
The X-men quickly returned to the X-Jet and prepared to leave the ruined town behind.
" This is as bad as that thing last year in Stamford." Logan explained, referring to the explosion that killed the New Warriors and over six hundred people. The same event which kick-started the Hero Civil War. " We should be taking those Marauder bodies with us. They're gonna blame mutants for this... Not Purifiers." Logan told Scott.
" The survivors will remember we got them to safety." Scott replied.
" That's not how it usually plays out, slim and you know it." Logan replied.
" Well, we have bigger problems anyways... The first Mutant birth in years... A Mutant so powerful it blew out Cerebra just by being born... Is most likely in the Sinister's hands. I have a feeling the Government is going to be the least of our worries." Scott explained.
" Ah Hell. This is just going to get more complicated." Logan groaned.
" It is. I'm calling everyone in on this. As soon as we get back, I want all of our teams notified. X-Factor, Bobby's team, Storm in Wakanda. Everyone." Scott explained.
" What about Noriko and the others?" Ian asked. " They're gonna want to know about this Scott." Ian told the man.
" I will tell them in the morning. For now. We have more pressing matters. Logan, Kurt, Warren, Ian. Get some sleep. Tomorrow, I want all of you and Colossus to find as many of the Marauders as you can." Scott told the men. " All of them. Former, present. I don't care, who. Just find someone who can get us the information we need." Scott ordered.
" Right." They all replied.
A little while later, the X-men returned to the mansion, and began gearing themselves up for the worst battle of their life.
Scott began reaching out to every ally the X-men had.
Ian on the other hand quietly returned to his room, where Noriko had been waiting for him.
The moment, Ian walked in, Noriko quickly jumped up and greeted him.
" Ian, welcome back." The girl spoke. " What happened?" She asked.
" Scott, will tell you in the morning. For now, we need to rest. We got a long road ahead of us." Ian told the girl. He took his suit off and threw it to the side, before collapsing onto his bed.
" But..."
" Nori, I'm sorry. It's been a long night. I promise you'll find out. For now, I just want to rest, okay?" Ian told the woman.
Noriko sighed heavily. But she nodded, nevertheless.
Noriko took her clothes and her gauntlets off and joined Ian in bed. She laid down on his chest and sighed once more.
" I promise, you'll know tomorrow. Just promise me one thing." Ian asked.
" What is it?" She asked.
" Don't do anything reckless." He said to her.
Noriko chuckled.
" I'm serious. If I tell you not to do something, you have to promise me you won't." Ian told the girl.
" Okay, I promise, I won't do anything reckless." Noriko repplied.
Ian leaned over and planted a kiss on the top of the woman's head.
" Thank you. Now, go to sleep. We have much to do tomorrow." Ian told the girl.
He quickly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, leaving Noriko to question exactly what was going on alone.