[Reviews - 27]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story |
Printer Chapter or Story |
ePub eBook Chapter or Story |

Has been viewed 1258 times

- Text Size +




04. Going Down

Summary: What happened to cause Jean to breakdown? And where is everyone else…including the soldiers?

“Oh my…oh…ulp.” Ever the talker, the lively living walking fireworks show, Jubilation ‘Jubilee’ Lee, found herself tongue tied at the sight before her, or more like at the shadowy figure that was skulking down the corridor.

Though on the outside words evaded her, and thankfully so, on the inside both Jubilee and her partner were blaring out aloud, ‘Oh my freaking GODDD!!’ Well, at least Jubilee was. Kitty’s reaction was a much subtle, ‘eeep.’

Already on a hair-trigger the two girls near about lost it when all of a sudden the figure stopped and turned towards them. Lost it not because of his naked state, although Jubilee did take note of it, filing it away for later…umm, personal use, and not only because of the blood and gore literally flowing and falling off him, from the looks of it, a lot of it his. What drew their attention and almost caused their hearts to stop, right at the same time as their minds grappled whether to empty the contents of their stomachs or their bowels…at the sight of some-thing…some-things that in spite of the crimson on them stood out as clear as day.

‘C-Cck-Bucb-Cl…’ Even their thoughts took wings and fled at the sight of the six metallic blades that turned in their direction, the stranger’s probing eyes (and their other senses) just missing them, both because of the rage clouding his mind and because of Shadowcat’s (fortunately) untimely phasing through the floor.

“Did you see that?” Not even caring where they were, Jubilee turned to the other girl. “Tell me you goddamn saw that, them, those…those….”

“Knives? Blades?” Kitty provided, her not quite sure about what she had seen with her own eyes. Who was that? What was that? The Professor didn’t tell them any such thing being here. According to him, the only person here, other than the soldiers, the doctors and the technicians was…

“Hey!” The slim X-Girl exclaimed. “That-That’s…”

**Sorry Scott….everyone.** Whatever she was going to say got lost in Jean’s intrusion. **I need you to come out. NOW!! Wolverine’s escaped.**

Things had just taken a turn for the worse, the feeling of dread compounded by the revelation that came a few thoughts later.

Storm had been injured…she had been shot.

---

A few minutes ago,

“Bitch, get back,” still brandishing his gun and putting on a show of bravery that he sure as hell didn’t feel at the moment, Corporal William ‘Bibo’ Stronsky yelled (whimpered rather) at the thing floating a few feet from him.

As if things weren’t bad enough being stationed in his hell hole doing the unenviable and potentially fatal job of trying to keep inside whatever it was that the bald-freaks were working on, now he had to go up against freaks like this one here.

“Get AWAY!!” He snarled again, his feeling of ‘ready to pee his pants’ growing even more as he realized that he was all alone here. And if there was anything that had been beaten into his mind, especially when dealing with these freaks, was to never confront them alone…or for that matter, in pairs. ‘Nothing less than a dozen normal, real human-beings.’ That is what their superiors used to tell them…everyday at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

And the way things were right now, Bibo was seriously considering giving up the fight and going the way of his teammates, all of whom were lying all around him, knocked out by the lightening shooting out from the hands of this white haired mutant whore. (A/N: Please allow for the language as it is from the mind of a prejudiced, scared S-less soldier.)

*BANG BANG…Click Click Click…Click!!*

“You might want to give up now,” the bitch spoke to him, her even tone rubbing his defeat in his face.

‘How the fuck do I kill someone who just stops my bullets.’ Although he had seen her do it before with his colleagues, Bibo had nevertheless used the last two bullets in his clip to try to take her down, only to have the electricity or lightening or whatever it was around her stop the lead projectiles in mid-flight.

Maybe he could…

As his old pappy taught him, ‘When the going gets tough, the Stronskies get on their hands and knees and dig into the trenches.’ Granted Old Pappy wasn’t necessarily talking about what Bibo was just about to do, but hey, its wasn’t like it was the old fart whose butt (and other body parts) was the on the line here.


“Please. Don’t do it.” Ready to let another burst of lightening go, Storm stopped at seeing the man fall onto his knees. “Please…I beg you. We’ll all d-di…please don’t.”

What was it that had a grown man groveling like a child? Had she waited for the answer to that question, Ororo would have understood that the electrical generator she was about to short-out, not only did it power the external security-perimeter but it also acted as a secondary back-up for the insides too…including the ‘dungeon’ which held the Wolverine.

Her eyes crackling with electrical energy, the weather witch brought her hand back down. “What do you…”

*BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG …*

As with her words, Ororo’s world too went for a spin as all of a sudden not one but three bullets tore through her midsection, a fourth one just missing her jugular as it grazed her skin on her way down.

“Take that you muta…” Rather happy at his double cross, Bibo didn’t even get the time to complete his gloating as, finally free of the strict control that was keeping it contained, the lightning that Storm was wielding, finally broke free…going in all directions including the power grid.

“…nt. Fuck,” renewed fear shot up through the man.

---

A couple of hundred feet below.

ZZzzzzz….

Zzzz…

…

…

‘Huh?!’ The Wolverine realized something.

The constant flow of the electricity that his captors used to maintain through his bonds…it was no longer there.

Thunk! One pull.

Thunk! A second.

THUNKKK-THUDD!! And he was free, free to escape….

…but not before killing every last one of them.

---

Back to the present,

Rushing to exit the building, the three X-Men, Cyclops, Beast and Colossus rounded the corner only to stop short in their steps, with Scott who was bringing up the flank nearly plowing into the much larger Piotr.

“Oh my stars…” That Henry couldn’t even get his trademark phrase out told Scott that whatever it was…

“Fuck!!” A second later he supplied his own reaction, his already (thanks to Jean’s emotional feedback) frazzled mind all but breaking down at the blood, death and human body parts laid out before them…as also the corridor coming from the other side.

“What happened here?”

“A-Ay-…” Had he been in his organic form, Piotr surely would have thrown up as he grappled with something to say, some way to explain all this carnage. And he had thought that seeing cows being slaughtered and hung out to drain on his farm back at home had been bad.

**SCOTT!** The panicked cry came out loud and clear. **Hurry up. I can hold for only so long.**

Though the other two might have missed, Scott easily caught the strain in his girlfriend’s thoughts, a direct give away that she was splitting her attention…meaning using her telekinesis.

But for what?

“Oh shit.” A second of a mental projection and it was as if he himself was there using tk to stop Ororo’s bleeding, the multiple bullet holes making it all the more difficult.

“Henry hurry!”

---

Elsewhere,

Rushing back from their own perimeter check, both John and Bobby came to a halt at the sound of an approaching vehicle.

VROOOMMM!!

Barely had they adopted a fighting stance when, a motorcycle with a single rider flashed past them, gathering speed with each second.

“Wow!” Bobby let out an exclaim of appreciation, both at the bike and the way that the rider was handling it. “Nice wheels.”

“Come on man!!” Pyro tossed over his shoulder starting to run after the rider. “Fearless told not to let anyone get away.”
“Huh? Wha-Oh. Oh yeah.”

“Hey!! You two. Stop. Wait for us,” both screeched stop at the shrill cry.
“Oh no, not you two,” Bobby lamented at seeing Jubilee running towards them, followed by a rather tired looking Kitty. Phasing for such a long time and that too for two people had taken a lot of her and had it not been for the importance of the person they were following, Kitty would have surely taken a breather.

There was no time for that now. Not with their target getting away from them.

“What do you want?”

“That. Him.” Panting loudly, Jubilee pointed to the now vanished bike. “Tha-that was him.”
“Him? Him who?”
“Him him jackass.” The pint sized, red in the face, Kitty snarled true to her name. “As in Wolverine. Him.”
“Wha-he…that…you mean…oh man, Scott is so gonna be pissed.”

“Iceman. Pryo.” And sure enough, as if drawn up by magic, the man in question’s voice blasted through the previously silent communicators. “Where are the two of you? Get here NOW.”

“Oh, uh…we found Wolverine.” Bobby blurted out, getting a rather frowning ‘we’ from both Jubilee and Kitty.

“We found him.” Jubilee activated her own ear-device. “We tried to catch up with him but he…”

“He what?!” The way he snapped at them made it all the more clear to the four teenagers that something was seriously wrong on the other end. Although they knew that Storm had been hit but from what Jean had told them it was all that bad.

What they did not know was that Jean had kept the complete truth about Ororo’s injuries from them, conveying it only to Scott and Henry.

“He...uh, got away,” Kitty completed meekly, her (and the others’) eyes widening at the ‘Fuck,’ that came from Scott’s end.

A couple of seconds’ silence and then, “Where are you?”

“We-We…” looking around, almost as if he expected to see a direction marker, Bobby quickly pulled his shirt sleeve back to reveal his standard x-men issue watch-cum-compass-cum-barometer. “We’re about,” a quick look at the base and he carried on, “About a hundred and fifty feet from the base at about twenty-three degrees North and…”

“Wait right there,” Scott didn’t even let him finish. “And don’t move an inch. We are coming.”

As bad as things were, there was no way Scott was letting this mission go down as a complete failure, and thanks to their resident super-genius doctor and his emergency (for him) medical center in the Blackbird, he wouldn’t have to.

And if the need arose, Henry and Piotr had standing orders to take off without them.

---

A few kilometers away,

“Step on it soldier,” yelled the angry Major, his voice betraying all of his panic. Panic for his life, and rightly so. After all, he more than anyone knew what the ‘thing’ following them was capable of.

“I am going as fast as I can Major Wraith sir,” blubbered the young man in the driver’s seat.
“If you want to stay alive – private,” Wraith threatened. “Then I suggest you go faster…even if you have to get out and physically push this pile of shit.”


“Excuse me sir,” it was as if the man hadn’t even heard him, the color all but run out from his already sweaty, pallid face. “Buh-But there…there’s some block in the road.”

“Its is blocking, the blow it….” Wraith’s eyes followed the soldier’s hand, widening to saucers as he saw what or rather who it was. ‘How’d he get here so soon?’ he gulped.

“Floor it,” he commanded.
“Sir, we can’t go any faster. If we try, we’ll skid on the snow,” tried the private. He had recently been posted to the lab and had heard tales about its prize possession. It was said that, this thing couldn’t be killed, no matter how hard…or what you hit it with.
“You fuckin’ retard,” yelled Wraith. “I said – FLOOR IT. Ram it as hard as you can.”

The private floored the gas pedal, causing the truck to accelerate and pick up speed.

---

“Oh my….” That was all Beast could manage as the truck barreled towards and into the lone figure, calmly sitting on the bike in the middle of the road.

However, just as the last second, almost as if a key was turned to start him, the mutant known to as Wolverine snapped into action, jumping off the bike and crouching low on the ground.

-SNIKT-

Six metal blades shot out of his hands and as the truck came within arms’ length, he extended his hands forward, the metal of his blades cutting through the lower carriage and front axle causing the truck to dig into the ground, Wolverine trapped under it.

The impact broke the private’s neck, killing him instantly. He hadn’t noticed his commanding officer jump out of the truck at the last moment or thought of doing the same.

“No one could survive that.” a wide eyed Iceman stated, gesturing towards the remains of the truck.

The words had barely left his mouth, when there was movement from the wreck and a smoldering figure crawled out from under what remained of the truck.

“What the…”

“Sweet Jeezus!!”

“Holieee….shit on a….”

“What is he?” Even though he had just seen it with his own visor-covered eyes, Scott didn’t quite believe it.

---

Wraith knew that a small thing like a two ton truck wasn’t going to stop Wolverine. At the most it would slow it down…for a few minutes.

Just enough for him to get ready.

With his hand on the gun’s trigger, he smiled menacingly as he saw movement under the truck. The gun in hand was a special one. If he managed to get enough shots, it would take care of the animal, once and for all.

“Wrrrrai…ddhhh” wheezed Wolverine, his face twitching as new muscles grew on it. Lifting one still burning hand up, he pulled out the metal bar that had skewered his right eye. “GnnaAAHH!!”


The X-Men watched in horror as the human soldier let loose a barrage of bullets on the injured mutant. The bullets exploded on contact, blowing away chunks of his still healing skin and muscles.

---

Suddenly the gun was yanked away from Wraith’s hand. Looking up he saw a redheaded woman floating in the air, her one hand on her forehead and the gun rising towards the other extended one.

“Enough.” Her commanding voice sounded both out aloud as in Wraith’s mind.

“Fuckin’ great,” he mumbled. “More muties.”

His lapse of concentration and the gun was his undoing as the next instant he found himself on his back, a hairy and bloody face inches away from his, three claws on the left side of his head.
“W-Wrrraith,” growled Wolverine. “I promised I’d kill ya.”

“Go-uh…t’ugh hell,” Wraith winced feeling his his ribs cracking under the weight of the mutant straddling his chest.
“First ya try it out,” Wolverine bared his fangs, drawing his claws across Wraith’s face.

Already suffering under the four hundred pound plus weight, Wraith cried out as with one slip-of-a-claw Wolverine nicked his eye.

An eye for an eye.

“NO!” A cry from the redheaded woman, halted Wolverine’s hand.

“Don’t kill him.” she spoke.
“Why?” What the fuck did she want. “You fuck him or somethin’.”
“We don’t kill.” Jean disregarded the rather crass comment.

“Hn. Don’t have tha guts?” Wolverine snorted at her. ‘Well then its good that I do.’ he finished turning back to Wraith.

“We can’t let you do…” Scott interjected, drawing Wolverine’s attention to the other x-men.

“What are ya bunch of fetish freaks gonna do ta stop me? Scare me with yer leather uniforms, while Red here gets down and blows me.” The last comment was more to press the red-eyed man’s (Scott’s) buttons than anything else. Heck, what had the woman and him done? Just finished fucking? Their scents practically sang of the other.

“No.” Jean scowled at his jibe. “This is what I am going to do.” she hissed.

The next instant, Wolverine found himself suspended ten feet in the air. ‘Mutants’ his mind cried out. ‘These fuckers are mutants.’ He tried to break free from Jean’s telekinetic grasp, but his injuries along with the immense blood loss had weakened him greatly.

Wraith had shot him point blank. His special gun had an explosive charge along with the usual tranquillizers. He also sensed an intrusion into his mind. He could sense his world going black as his healing factor kicked in full force, knocking him out.

“Red! Bitc…hhh,” was the last thing he said before unconsciousness overtook him.

---

Setting Wolverine down, Jean turned to Wraith, who was trying to crawl over. Rising to the air and reaching for him, she caught hold of his shirt collar.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t just snap your neck right now,” she threatened.

Wraith smirked at her through his bloodied face. “You can’t,” he stated calmly. “The animal was right; you people don’t have the guts. None of you pansies do. An’ you know what else…”
“What?”

“You should have let him do it.”
“What!!”

“Yes.” Even with one eye gone, the hate shone clear in the man’s gaze. “You should have let him kill me. Especially now. Now I have seen all of your faces…meaning…you all are as good as dead.”

Jean let go of his collar, dropping him back into the snow. “You make me sick. You people are the animals. Treating another human being like that,” she said starting to walk away.

“You things are not human,” Wraith yelled after her retreating form. “NOT human”

Note: Though the last part (with Wraith) isn’t quite different from the first time (its originally from the Ultimate X-Men) the rest of it is an (almost entirely) fresh change/addition.

Next? Well, Wolverine in da House…uh, School.

Please Review!!





You must login () to review.