Wanda noted with amusement the rapid blasts of breath coming from her brother, in stark contrast to Exodus, who was breathing evenly and almost carefully. The frost in the air made it easy to see the effect; it would have been fascinating to her at another time.

This was not the time or place, though. Quicksilver was churning like an engine in high idle, and Exodus was trying to maintain the Zen-like calm he needed right now, and the frost in the air came from Iceman's apparently successful efforts to disable Sinister's biomechanisms.

"We're clean," Iceman said, his arms folded and his expression satisfied.

"Easy for you to say," Exodus replied with a shiver. feel like I just went swimming in the Hudson."

Magneto raised an eyebrow.

"Hyperspace around here feels...foul," Exodus explained.

"You can say that again," Nightcrawler agreed, wiping his swords clean of the-sap?-from the living cables.

"X-Factor," Quicksilver said evenly. "This security disruption will be detected. Let's go."

The Scarlet Witch nodded, and as she wove her hands carefully, the chances of them being detected dropped rapidly. She noticed Exodus staring at her, while trying not to look like he was staring. It was fortunate that she couldn't use her hands for a secondary function, like, say, tearing her hair out.

"I thought Richards' skimmers had cleansed the Hudson," Magneto said quietly.

Quicksilver held his forehead, and Wanda didn't need telepathy to know what he was thinking. Something along the lines of great, now father's doing it no doubt. Silently, they left the surreal 'landing pad' and moved into the portress proper.

"Two by two, standard teams, full spread," Quicksilver ordered as lightning roared in the distance. "Exodus, wait for my signal."

"And then?" Exodus asked.

"Bring the house down."

Exodus smiled viciously. Wanda followed him, watching him carefully. Paris, please keep your cool. Both teams might well be counting on you, she thought.

I know my job, Wanda, she heard, and the Scarlet Witch blushed. Behind them, Quicksilver eyed the corridors with what Wanda had come to know as his 'casual paranoia,' their father at his side. Normally, he was the odd man out, but with Magneto along that was an unnecessary risk.

Behind them Iceman and Banshee were riding on the familiar ice slide, and Nightcrawler and a fully charged Sunspot held the rear. All were alert.

Quicksilver stopped the group, and waved to the rear team. Nightcrawler took Sunspot's hand, and both vanished.

"UNGLAUBLICH!"

Quicksilver's eyes widened. "Blast! Go! GO!"

The entire team surged forward, their leader streaking past them. The remaining members saw him stop behind the first two, staring up in shock.

At a sight few on this world would understand, thank- fully. A vast chamber of things only a few people outside of Apocalypse's Prelates even knew of.

"Infinites..." Magneto whispered.

"Indeed," they heard, followed by a familiar, mocking laugh. "As ever, your grasp of the obvious is staggering."

"Sinister," Banshee snarled. "Who would've thought ye were just Apocalypse's lapdog?"

"Lapdog?" Sinister asked, coldly, one eyebrow arched as he regarded Banshee as others might look at a cockroach. "Hardly. En Sabah Nur and I have an..arrangement, nothing more, nothing less."

"Oh, suuuuure, Sinny," another voice replied, "you're a full and equal partner in world domination-" frip frip frip frip "-don't that strike you as just a TEENY bit contradictory?" FRIP FRIP FRIP FRIP "Not to mention deluded?"

"I know that sound..." Quicksilver said hoarsely.

"I just BET you do, Petey boy-love the new 'do, by the by, that buzzcut just screams 'speedster'-but it don't matter worth a damn, 'cause you're all headed for the ABYSS!" Quicksilver's fists hummed with fury as the mad mindrapist laughed.

"Damn you, Abyss...only you could have had Apocalypse and Loki trying to recruit you," Quicksilver breathed. "You are the only mutant demented enough."

"Aw, you're only saying that 'cause it's true," Abyss re- plied. "But even you have to admit I've got good taste in women. Take Ororo, for instance. I intend to."

"OVER MY DEAD-"

"That's in the plan too," Abyss laughed.

"Pietro," Magneto said, placing his hand on his son's shoulder. "I take it that you're talking instead of fighting for a reason, Sinister."

"Only a fool fights from the tactical disadvantage that I have right now," Sinister replied. "Had I attempted any- defense, even my powers would have been overwhelmed by the force you command."

"So you have something to offer, or you're stalling. Deal now, or surrender," the Scarlet Witch said.

"Ah, lovely Wanda. Most astute. I hope that things work out well for you and Paris. While you aren't quite the pair that Scott and Jean make, I look forward to-"

SKZZZzzz...

Sinister blinked and looked around. The Infinites were twitching and spewing smoke.

"No! You didn't attack!"

"Wrong," Exodus replied. "While you were stalling us, we were stalling you. Magneto and I took control of your Infinite 'birthing' system and overloaded it."

"Actually, Exodus did most of the work there. I concen- trated primarily on magnetizing your Marauders to one another. Surprising, really, how much they rely on ferrous equipment, wouldn't you say?" Magneto smiled.

Then he clutched his head and screamed.

Forgot someone, didn't you? they Heard.

"Wrong again," Exodus said, and the Shadow King's astral form became visible.

"You are a formidable combatant, Exodus," the Shadow King said, and Exodus' nose began to bleed profusely. "But you are no match for me in a battle of pure mind."

"Perhaps not...alone," Magneto hissed, as Quicksilver and Banshee charged after a fleeing Abyss. "But he is not alone.Wanda."

Wanda frowned, and pointed directly at the Shadow King.

"Oh dear, the mighty Scarlet-EYYARGH!"

"Well what do you know, an astral spike," the Scarlet Witch said as she glared at the Shadow King. "I wonder what the odds of that are."

"Stop!" Sinister roared, barely holding off the furious attacks from Iceman, a rapidly teleporting Nightcrawler, and a Sunspot who was so enveloped by his darkness field as to be unrecognizable. "Have you forgotten your diversionary force?"

Quicksilver, who had been pounding on Abyss at about one hundred punches a minute, stopped instantly. "Charles. Raven. Ororo!"

Sinister smiled. "Just so, my dear speedster. Apocalypse has taken the Dark Riders out to make proper work of your 'Red Team.' I suspect that they are having a difficult time of it about now..."

"You should be honored, Charles Lehnsherr," Apocalypse boomed as the battle raged below him. "I rarely send one of my elite hunters against a single opponent."

Captain Marvel stared balefully at his adversary. "I'm flattered beyond words, Apocalypse. But even a Nemesis is no match for me."

"More than your match, mutie," Nemesis replied, staring back at the young X-Factor champion. Behind them, the battle raged, and not a single spark of energy could be seen between them, only the faint shimmering of Cap's force- field. "I'm invincible."

"Yeah," Cap replied. "I've heard that before."

In the sky, War, Famine and Foxbat were trying to force down Storm and Sunfire, while Death and the remaining Riders attempted to surround the rest of Red Team on the ground. Blink and Mirage were not making their job easy.

Above it all, En Sabah Nur floated, Lady Marvel held in one hand...and laughed.

"Chaos. Destruction. Power. Truly, this is the crucible in which the strong shall be chosen." Barrage caught Saber- tooth in one blast, and Gauntlet's 'instant weapons' had injured Morph twice. Hard Drive and Stinger concentrated on disrupting Mirage's images, and hopefully the lady herself, while Tusk and Tower did their best to catch any stragglers. Psynapse watched eagerly, waiting for his chance to get past Mirage's defenses, and then

"Yes, my Dark Riders. Test them. Twist them. Prove yourselves-"

The mountain shook.

"About time, sugah," Lady Marvel said, smiling broadly.

Silver Team erupted from Exodus' psionic cyclone, pieces of the citadel appearing with them.

Magneto took one look at Apocalypse, and several tons of metal converged on his wrist before even he could react, tearing at his arm and prying his hand open. "Raven-!"

"Ah'm fine, sugah, just waitin' on y'all-" Lady Marvel flew up and back, "-t' join the party!" She slammed into Apoca- lypse, knocking him out of the sky momentarily.

"My fortress!" Apocalypse roared, teleporting directly in front of Exodus. "YOU!"

"Paris! Get out of there!" Quicksilver shouted, pummelling dozens of Tusk's projections. The tide of battle quickly evened, then turned.

Apocalypse hardly noticed.

An enormous hand, surrounded by blood-red energy, slammed Exodus to the ground, ripping through his badly weakened forcefield. Iceman tried to go to his aid, but ran into Death instead.

"How COULD you? You were my finest creation!"

"The power was mine to begin with, Apocalypse," Paris coughed, blood still trickling from his nose. "All you did was try to twist my mind. You failed."

"You...would have been first among my Horsemen," En Sabah Nur sighed. Tower fell quickly to Banshee, and Nemesis was suddenly enveloped in energy fluctuations so rapid that his powers couldn't keep up. "I thought that you would be the strongest of all, save for Apocalypse.

"Instead you waste your powers on my Infinite production. Soldiers. Cannon fodder, meant to cull the weak."

"If you mean I just saved thousand of innocent humans, Apocalypse..." Paris Bennett smiled. "...then I can't think of a better way to go."

"Then die."

"NO!" Wanda cried, and probability twisted, whirled, and snarled itself into a loop.

Hyperspace, even tortured by the powers of four of Earth's most powerful teleports, is still quite stable. But the tiniest of possibilities existed that the instability would turn into a spacial anomaly.

Wanda grabbed that possibility by the neck and forced it to do her bidding, and Apocalypse vanished. A moment later, his servants followed.

"Wow." Captain Marvel wiped the sweat from his forehead, and went to his sister. "you okay, Wanda?"

"Fine. Did Nemesis hurt you?"

"No, I was about to-" Wanda almost ran to Paris. "nail him," Charles finished with a rueful smile.

"Wuh-Wanda?" Paris blinked, looking up. Wanda cradled his head with one hand, weaving madly with the other.

"I'm here, Paris," Wanda replied, stroking his hair.

"Apocalypse?"

"Alive, I guess," she sighed. "I didn't send his thugs with him, so he must have done it."

Paris shrugged. "One of you will get him. Would have been nice to take him with me, though..."

"The only place you're going, halfscan, is back to Wunda- gore," Wanda hissed. "Damn it, Paris, don't you die on me!"

Paris' eyes widened. Charles, already at his side, poured energy into his teammate. Magnus and Raven did the same from above.

"Blink!" Storm called, supported by Quicksilver and holding her obviously bruised ribs.

"I'm trying!"

"Wanda...I..."

"Grr-Raven! Can ya lend the kid my healin' factor?"

"Paris has to provide the conduit!"

"...I'm sorry..."

"I'm breaking through the interference!"

"Hurry, Clarice!"

"...could never tell you..."

"Please, Paris, hold on, I know why you didn't-"

"...better me than you..."

"Just a few more seconds!"

"You're not going to get me killed, Paris, and you're not going to die!"

"...some things just aren't possible..."

"Got it! Hold on!"

"...always love you..."

Paris gasped, clutched his chest, and sat bolt upright in his bed.

I'm alive?! How?

"YOU, Paris, are a stubborn, thickheaded, intolerable-I can't think of anything reprehensible enough!" Wanda rose from her chair, stormed over to Paris, and hugged him fiercely.

Paris smiled despite himself. "I guess it was possible after all."

"Arrgh!" Wanda grabbed his shoulders. "Why didn't you call for help?!"

Paris sighed. "Have you ever tried rearranging a mountain's structure-from the inside? It took everything I had to fight off the Shadow King and destroy the Infinite production facilities. I thought I was dead the moment Apocalypse grabbed me. Taking him with me seemed like the only option."

Paris smiled. "Then my knight in shining armor came to my rescue."

Wanda blushed. She didn't have to look down to see that she was still wearing her Iron Knight armor, but she did anyway. "Well, at least I won't have to add 'sexist' to your list of stupidity."

Paris' smile vanished. "Wanda, people who care for me die. Most of my friends, everyone I've loved-except Alison, and she's alive only because I practically drove her away-"

"Dazzler was a shallow, self-centered hedonist who'd rather strut around on stage than use her powers against Apocalypse." Paris' eyes bulged. Wanda never talked like this. "Maybe that was different in another...time...but WE ARE A TEAM. X-Factor takes care of its own.

"You're not going to lose me...and I'm sure not going to lose you. Understand?"

Paris nodded.

"Good." Wanda smiled, kissed him on the forehead, and headed for the door. "Oh, and by the way, father told me that Sinister was a few seconds away from activating the Infinites when you shorted them out. So you saved all our loves-" Wanda coughed. "-lives. It'd be a shame if you weren't around the next time something like that happens."

Paris watched her, eyes still wide as saucers, as she left.

Sweet Eternal. He shook his head slowly as his smile returned. Maybe I picked up on some of Victor's suicidal feelings. No way a man just leaves someone like her.

"Wanda?" Roberto asked.

"He'll be fine, 'Berto," she replied.

Roberto sighed in relief. "What about you, though? You look a little flushed-maybe you need some sleep."

Wanda's blush deepened. "How are Pietro and Ororo?"

"Already making wedding plans," he replied with a toothy grin. "Muy bueno subject change, by the way."

"Indeed," Magnus added, walking in calmly. He was wearing hs infamous 'battle bathrobe,' as Charles had dubbed its predecessor. "Nevertheless, this victory should not make us complacent. We have won the first battle, but I fear a long war lies ahead."

"One I might have ended, if I'd been thinking clearly."

Magnus placed his hand on her shoulder. "Wanda, you did the right thing. No matter the threat Apocalypse poses-or any personal reasons that might have influenced your decision-you chose life over death." Magnus' eyes became gentle as his daughter held him close. "And no matter what Apocalypse may do in the future, so long as he cannot take that from us, he can never destroy the dream."