Prime Target
The Solar System. Gigantic spheres of substances and materials, all caught in the gravitational force of a star and hurtling around at great speed, falling through the vast emptiness of space.
There is no sound. Only the cold nothing that makes up the universe and surrounds the planets, moons, stars and nebulas. If only we could take the time to admire it's wonders. If only we could stop and gaze in awe at the colours of a nebula, or watch in amazement at the power of a supernova. But at this moment in time there is but one place in the universe that I draw your attention to. A small blue planet in the Solar system. The only planet for light-years around that is able to sustain life. It is this planet that plays the biggest part in the story I have for you.
More specifically, it is a country located on the planet's northern hemisphere that I would like you to observe. The inhabitants of this planet, 'Earth' as they know it, have named this country 'England.'
To be perfectly specific, the story begins (or, rather, continues)in a small town called 'Grantham.' There is nothing special about this town, for it is a perfectly normal, perfectly human location. At the moment.
'BAMF!'
The sound tore through the colourful crowd of people, busily heading to their chosen destinations (assuming none of them were actually going nowhere in particular). Some of them turned, searching for the source of the noise. Some of them ignored it completely and continued to walk with their faces as blank as stone. Upon closer observation, there were figures in the crowd that were paying total attention to the noise.
Weaving through the maze of people, like a stream would make it's way over pebbles in the riverbed, were two relatively young males. The first, who was seemingly leading the pair, was dressed entirely in black and was relatively thin. He wore reasonably baggy combat trousers that partially covered a pair of blurred trainers. The belt around his waist had a fairly large buckle with a small gold 'X' in the middle. Most of his shirt was covered by a long black trench coat that flowed out behind him as he ran. His dark, bluey-grey eyes were slightly exaggerated by his pale, angled, emotionless face. His brown hair was untidy and spiked up in several places, in need of a hairbrush.
The second had a slightly larger build and was also dressed in mostly black. He wore a pair of baggy black trousers and a tight t-shirt emblazoned with two 'X's on either shoulder. His face had more colour then the first, but was rounder and his dusty brown hair was cut short.
"Target identified, heading to rooftop level. Planning interception route," the thinner of the two spoke into a small, wrist mounted device. His voice carried the same blank tone as his face but was almost hypnotically smooth.
"There's a set of stairs on the other side of that shop. I'll meet you up top," the larger boy explained. His voice was deeper, but firm and sharp.
"We have to move fast. He's panicking and the Sentinels are on approach," said the other boy, raising his voice slightly so that his companion could hear him over the crowd as they ran.
"You'll have to fly, otherwise we'll never catch him in time!" the other boy said, also having to raise his voice.
"I'm on it. You'll have to find another way up," the first boy stated before disappearing into an alley.
The second boy darted over the road and vanished up a set of metal stairs leading to the roof.
'BAMF!'
The sound came again, closer this time. A burst of static over the intercom on the fist boy's wrist signalled a message from his ally.
"Entity, I just saw him. He's on the roof!"
"Follow him," Entity replied, not using the wrist com but talking by some other means.
He whipped round the corner of the alley, his trench coat swishing out behind him. He skidded to a stop and directed his gaze upwards, scrutinising the sapphire sky above him. A dark blur passed over head, leaping from one side of the alley top to the other at amazing speed.
"Found him," Entity told his companion.
He directed his palms towards the ground beneath him and pushed against the air. The space around his hands seemed to ripple with an invisible energy and his body lifted towards the sky.
His cloak billowed out behind him as he touched down gently on the surface of the rooftop.
In the distance, the blurred figure was still leaping from roof to roof in a desperate escape attempt. After seconds of surveying the area, Entity blasted forwards, diving into the air and lifting higher and higher.
"Sub-zero, full speed north then circle round when you reach the park. Slow him down but remember, don't hurt him," Entity ordered, dropping to mere metres above the roof level.
"On my way," replied the second boy, who had been watching the pursuit from a distance. He shunted his hand forwards as if pushing something over. A burst of pale energy erupted from his hand and formed a solid ice slide on which he began to race forwards, lifting higher into the air. Numerous buildings raced by below him and the crowds of people seemed to either not notice, or not care. This effect was created by a device that Beast had designed. Providing Sub-zero did nothing to directly affect the humans, they wouldn't notice him. A voice suddenly pierced his train of thought.
"You've been practising. You're faster then usual," commented Entity, despite being so far away.
Concentrating, he sent a mental reply back, "The Danger Room Speed courses are responsible for that."
"Depending on wether we get to him first, this guy would do well in the speed courses," replied Entity, still gliding through the air after the mysterious dark shape.
"Okay, I'm circling around. Can you get me a mental lock on him?" asked Sub-zero through their mental connection.
"I'm three steps ahead of you," thought Entity in reply. Sub-zero could suddenly pinpoint exactly where the subject was, as if his mind was being drawn to it.
"As usual," commented his companion.
"Would you rather me not be prepared?" asked Entity, swooping lower over the town.
"I wouldn't want it any other way," he replied.
"Cyclops to Entity, we have Sentinels closing in on your location. What's your status?" asked an urgent voice over the intercom.
"We have a lock on the target but he's on the move. We're gaining on him but he's fast," Entity informed, close enough to the rooftops to land. As soon as he felt the solid surface beneath his feet he began to run as fast as he could in the direction of their target.
The intercom crackled into life again, "As much as you like to practice long distance links with telepathy, I'd prefer you to use the intercom to communicate with us please, Entity."
Frowning, Entity lifted the communicator to his mouth to reply, "Understood Cyclops. Are you able to slow the Sentinels down?"
"Negative. Storm's been trying for the past ten minutes to bring them down but it appears that they've been modified with insulation against lightning," replied Cyclops, sounding bitter.
"I can see the storm clouds from here. Tell her not to bother, we're almost on him anyway," Sub-zero explained, looking into the distance, where a group of bulging grey clouds were beginning to dissipate.
In a sleek, clean 'swish' of ice, Sub-zero flipped himself around in the direction of the escaping target.
"Do we know his name, by the way?" he asked over the intercom.
"His name's Stephen Blanchard. He goes to the same school as us but he's younger by about a year," informed Entity, vaulting over the side of another building and landing on top of a smaller building's ventilation block, "He's thirteen years old, in case you don't have time to work that out."
"Okay then, I think the only way we're going to do this is if one of us incapacitates him. Can you reach him psychically from here?" asked Sub-zero, ignoring the comment and veering around various chimneys with expert skill.
"Yes, but he might fall. It may also be an adequate time to mention that he can teleport," explained Entity, flipping over another alley.
"He's a teleporter? That explains a lot," commented Cyclops with another buzz of static.
"Yes it does. That explains why he's now about two miles ahead of us and he's gaining an average of fifteen metres per second. He's almost at Somerby Hill," stated Sub-zero, impressed.
"Entity, you have no choice. Fly after him and bring him down telepathically. Sub, I want you to make sure he has a soft landing," ordered Cyclops.
A new voice sounded over the intercom, "I shall create a blanket of fog to conceal your efforts." By what she said, it was obviously Storm.
"Understood," replied both Entity and Sub-zero simultaneously.
Entity stopped at the edge of a large post office. Closing his eyes and concentrating, a familiar ripple of energy surrounded him, he lifted high into the air in a perfect vertical motion. He brought both his arms back and punched forwards, blasting through the air like a bullet. As he moved, a brilliant fiery aura built up around him, as if he were a comet entering Earth's Atmosphere. From where Sub-zero was, it looked as if a thin bird (composed entirely of fire) was screeching though the air in the direction of their objective.
"Entity, please keep an eye on your power output. I don't want another manifestation," Cyclops called over the com device.
"It looks bad, but he's not actually using up much energy," informed Sub-zero, crouching lower on his ice-slide and pelting along faster.
"I can feel his mind... he's terrified of us... I'm slowing him down but he's struggling... becoming more frantic... are you ready to catch him?" Entity asked, hovering above the paralysed body of the boy they had been chasing. He was younger, that was certain, but instantly recognisable as a mutant. A deep blue fur coated his entire body and a thin, wiry tail whipped around violently.
"This guy's almost an exact replica of Nightcrawler," Entity muttered into the com device.
"His landing strip is ready," quipped Sub-zero, "You're clear to land."
Entity released his hold on the boy's mind and he dropped, unconscious, from the air, sliding down a thin slide of solid ice before coming to a stop, gently, in a mound of snow.
"Good job, guys. We'll get him to the Institute but first we need to take care of the uninvited robots, otherwise, we can't take off," instructed Cyclops over the com. A huge black stealth jet suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the middle of a nearby field, as if it had just been painted onto the environment. A small ramp lowered and out hurried two more figures, both with the letter 'X' marking their uniforms. Cyclops, carrying a stretcher, was the first to make it to the fallen boy. Storm glided over and aided him onto the stretcher before both of them carried him into the jet. Seconds later, they both re-emerged and made their way over to Sub-zero and Entity.
"The Sentinels have landed!" Storm exclaimed, rising into the air, ready for battle.
Cyclops, Entity and Sub-zero spun round and dropped into battle positions. All three of them rolled out of the way of a burst of plasma fire from the group of mutant-hunting robots.
"TARGETS IDENTIFIED. REVERT TO PRIMARY OBJECTIVE. ELIMINATE MUTANT TARGETS," they droned in unison, lumbering towards the mutants.
"Entity, get into the air! Sub, you're with me! Take them out!" ordered Cyclops, unleashing a blast of red energy from the visor covering his eyes. The beam hit the lead Sentinel square in the chest but only left a scorch mark.
"Remember," Storm said, "They are shielded!"
One of the metal brutes reached towards the now air-born Entity in an attempt to crush him.
Entity raised his hand, level with the robot's head, and closed his hand into a fist, as if crushing a fly. The Sentinel stopped and, as if tonnes of pressure had been applied to every angle of it's face, it imploded. A shower of broken components hit the ground, followed by the body of the Sentinel.
Metres away, Sub-zero sent shards of ice hammering into the legs of an approaching robot. As it toppled to the ground he fired a beam of ice at it's upper half, freezing in through. Using the immobilised Sentinel as a ramp, Sub-zero slid up into the air and brought a single frozen fist down into the Sentinel's chest. With a sound like splintering glass, the entire structured disappeared into fragments.
Storm sent spikes of lightening in all directions, but it harmlessly bounced off the remaining Sentinels. Cyclops continuously shunted it backwards with jolts of energy but it was beginning to loose it's effectiveness.
"Sub! I'll hold him, you freeze him! Cyclops and Storm, when he's immobilised, smash him!" called Entity, swooping at the last Sentinel. He used a potent telekinetic field to hold the robot still.
"NOW!" he yelled.
Sub-zero sent waves of ice-energy at the machine, freezing it in place.
"Your turn!" Sub-zero yelled to Storm.
Strom flew up and charged a bolt of lightening whilst Cyclops took his visor off completely.
With an explosion that shook the ground, Storm's lightening and Cyclops's energy beam shattered the robot into thousands of small parts that rained down upon them like snow.
"Niiiice," commented Sub-zero, admiring the scorched ground and molten metal.
Cyclops replaced his visor and both Storm and Entity floated back to the ground.
"I think we ought to leave before more arrive," suggested Entity, turning around and heading for the jet.
"No arguments there," replied Sub-zero, following him inside.
"Good job team," commented Cyclops, walking into the jet and sitting himself down in the pilot seat of the jet. Sub-zero rolled his eyes and sat down heavily in the chair behind Storm's.
Entity sat down last in the corner seat at the back, secluding himself from the others and gazing blankly out of the window as the engines roared to life.
"Engaging stealth mode," informed Cyclops, flicking a switch above him. The jet cloaked and the sound of the engines dimmed as they rose into the air. With a slight screech, the engines flared and the vehicle raced into the distance, leaving Grantham, leaving England and heading back home.
My first ever X-men Fanfiction. Loosely based on the X-men Legends Games but set just after Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Later chapters may answer any questions you have regarding the story and/or characters. If you have a question that's just too urgent to wait though, e-mail me and I'll be happy to try and answer.
I do not own anything from the Marvel Universe. I own the characters in my story that do not appear in the Marvel Universe. I own the story line and certain places in the story. Providing you ask my permission first, I would be happy for you to include my characters in a story of yours. If you don't enjoy my story, don't tell me and go read something else.
Just so you know, this story will probably contain many crossovers and/or items/characters from different things. If you don't like the crossovers... just don't tell me and go read something else that you do like.
Well, with that out of the way, I really hope you enjoy this story and please read 'n' review the chapters :)
P.S. There are some chapters that will be written by my friends rather then me (It's a joint effort). I'll let you know at the start of those certain chapters that it wasn't written by me.
Enjoy!