Through all the chaos and panic I couldn't make out the nature of the threat against New York City, but I knew it was serious. I tried to telepathically contact my students at the school but everything was silent. I looked around the mall parking lot for a way to get into the city and I found it. A converted Ford Econoline parked in a handicap spot.

"But Professor, we can't just take a handicapped persons car," Cyclops whined.

"Now Scott, how many times do I have to give you the means/ends/justification lecture? Besides, the van's owner's handicap is probably just partial deafness in one ear. It's horrible what people get away with these days."

"But then why does he have a retractable wheelchair ramp installed?" Scott asked, peering in the window.

"Just being precautious, I'd imagine. Now stop asking so many questions and get that door open."

With a shrug, Scott fired a thin, short optic burst at the lock of the door and opened it. Once I was onboard, he required the ignition and we headed into the city.

We made excellent time as there was literally no other cars going to the city. There was quite a long backlog leaving though. The columns of smoke got thicker as we approached Manhattan. The minds of the people running and screaming on the street were actually harder to read, so paralyzed with fear were they.

When we finally rounded the corner into Times Square, we learned why.