The staff member froze when they felt Sierra inside them.

"........well, well." they said.

"Looks like ghost girl is here." they commented.

"Commander?" one of the men asked.

"She's entered my body." the leader replied.

"Well, Sierra." he then said, seeming to be calm.

"Looks like you've caught me."

His eyes widened when he felt what he did.

"It seems she is set to kill me." he said.

"COMMANDER!" one yelled.

"Continue with the destruction of everything and everyone here." he told them.

"This was to be MY fate as well, after all." he said, which seemed to confuse them.

"Farewell, comrades." he finished, before they all started to scatter, to do as they were ordered.

"...my, my... the pain you cause is... exquisite." he then told Sierra.

As she looked around, she heard the destruction that was happening around her. She heard more people dying, more of the building being demolished... it was death and destruction all around.

And in the end, it pretty much was. Several agonizing hours later, the place had been turned into nothing more than a shell of a shadow of its former self. And anyone that hadn't been in the shelters were dead.

Or missing, in Jackson's case.

His body hadn't been found, dead or alive. He seemed to be missing, completely.

She was... alone.

No matter where she looked, she didn't find him.

Nor any evidence of him.

No matter where she looked, she couldn't find any trace of Jackson. Nothing. Nada.

The only hint she found... and even then, it was a slight one... was overhearing someone say they saw a group of the soldiers running away from the grounds.

And they appeared to have someone with them. But they didn't see who.

Unfortunately, everywhere she looked, she saw death. Death and destruction.

And it all came to a head when she saw a familiar blue body.

There was no doubt about it. It was the headmaster. And he had not survived.

He'd died like the rest of the staff... protecting the students.

But that meant there was nobody in a position of power or influence to tell anything to.

-7 years later-

The school had been rebuilt. But things were never the same. The attack had taken its toll, and the example it set had been a turn for the worse for mutants.

The attitudes towards them had soured immensely, and they were persecuted even more violently now. So much so, the school was nothing more than a monument to the attack.

And Jackson still hadn't been found.

However, Sierra had heard something that was promising, and yet horrifying.

There were rumours that the army had a secret weapon... one that turned rebels to stone statues.

The ones that she had been talking to just shook their heads.

"A shame." one said.

"I have nothing against mutants." he commented, before he paused.

"D-don't tell anyone that." he told her.

"Please. A statement like that can get one targeted." he muttered, fear in his tone.

"They say all these statues are either mutants, or mutant sympathizers."

The ones she had been talking to had backed away from her, just as an official-looking man approached.

"Excuse me." he said to Sierra.

"Did you just say that 'recent medical advancements, or scientific advancements, are because of mutants'?" he asked her.

"That sounds a lot like mutant praise." he said further.

"Which is on par with mutant sympathizing."

The man just growled, as a few other uniformed soldiers showed up.

"So you admit to mutant sympathizing." he said.

"Very well." he said further, more quietly.

"Take her away!" he ordered those that had just joined him... to which they stepped up and grabbed her arms.

"You'll serve as another reminder to those that would betray us." he said cruelly.

The man responded by swiftly slapping her across her cheek.

"Silence!" he snapped.

"Take her away! Now!" he barked.

She was then yanked over to a van, her hands cuffed behind her back, and shoved into the rear of the van, the doors slamming behind her.

After a few minutes, the van pulled away roughly, jostling her about.