Thorn • Scott Summers

twenty seven

The group was on the plane, hovering over the front where Scott and Hank were seated. Florence kneeled next to Scott's seat, turned to the others. They were all discussing their plan, all of them adding ideas and input to it.

"So, when we land," she started, and Scott spoke up.

"We're just about to do that,"

"Peter looks around finds him, comes back, then we go to him. Try to talk, try to reason. Thing turn sour, and Peter, Kurt and Warren can get us out." Florence said, confirming.

"So, our main goal is to just get him to stop." Scott said.

"Exactly."

"After that?" Warren asked.

"Well, should we turn him in to the-"

"Everyone, you need to turn the plane back around immediately!"

They all looked up at each other, realizing they all heard Charles's voice in their heads.

"Professor, what's going on?" Jean said, and his voice echoed in their heads once again.

"The person creating is not Grey Gargoyle! It's Medusa!"

"What?" Florence asked, her eyes wide in confusion. She looked at the others, wondering why they hadn't reacted the same.

"Medusa, Florence. She has the mutation of petrification, with her eyes-"

"Medusa is a mutant? She's from Greek mythology!"

"That's how human history interpreted her. She also ages slower than the rest of us. That's why she's still alive."

"So, it wasn't mythology?"

"Florence, that's not what's important right now. You need to turn the plane around and-"

"Yeah, we sorta just landed, Professor," Scott said.

"Well, you need to leave right now,"

"She knows." Jean interrupted.

They all turned to the redhead, her fingers at her temple. "I found her. She heard the jet and she knows someone is here."

"Do we leave?" Scott asked, urgency present in his voice.

"She's coming," Jean said, and he turned some dials on the control board. Hank pulled back a lever, and the plane began to lift up. Florence stood, looking out the windshield of the jet. As they were about to depart, Florence saw a woman in a trench coat, her hair giving it away. The others saw her, too, and they ducked.

"Close your eyes!" She screamed, and the others did. As a result, the jet dropped, but it was only a couple feet up.

"Kurt, get us out of here!" Scott said, and everyone blindly grabbed onto each other. Kurt strained, but he managed to bamf them all.

In a second, they were standing on grass. Everyone turned around, realizing they were in the same forest, Medusa behind them.

“Kurt!” Florence yelled, panic seeping through her voice. He looked drowsy, clearly nauseated from the amount of people he had to bamf.

“Come on, let’s go!” Hank said, now big, blue, and furry. He picked Kurt up, carrying him as they all ran.

“Holy shit,” Florence whispered, never having seen him in beast mode. Scott grabbed her wrist, and they all ran away into the forest, away from Medusa. As they reached farther in, they became surrounded by stone statues of people. All of them frozen with a look of terror on their face.