The Renegades

For Ellie and Christina, this is the end of the road.

[Author's Note: This story follows the story Sanctum, and concludes The Renegadesseries.]

Ellie looked around the garden, at the grounds of Sanctum. In the seven months since she had left the Xavier mansion, much had happened. Aside from Enrico and the eight from the brothel another seventeen mutant slaves had been located and rescued. They had all been brought to Sanctum, the farmhouse owned by Enrico. Most of them, after a period of recovery, had left, hoping to re-connect with their former lives somehow. But some had stayed, and a few had participated in other rescues.

The farmhouse, once dilapidated, had been resurrected, with the money from City Light and Electricity and whatever cash they had been able to grab on various missions, plus a lot of sweat. Gardens to grow vegetables had been established, and a tribe of chickens clucked about. Enrico had said that working on the farm would be good therapy and he had been right. She smiled: it had been therapy for her as well. Her life, prior to going to the mansion, had not had much joy in it. The mansion had been a better place than any other she had known but she had nevertheless felt that she didn't really fit in. Now she felt she had a purpose. She had a home.

It was, she readily admitted, hard work. The rescue missions were always dangerous, and she had been hurt several times. She had the scars to prove it. Some of the refugees recovered faster than others. There had been plenty of times when she had spent hours, or days, holding someone tight while they cried and screamed and vomited. It was physically and emotionally draining but there was no other way. Despite the fact that she was a teenager she had found grey hairs on her head.

Christina walked past, carrying a huge amount of timber, on her way to the site of the new barn. She smiled at Ellie. She was sweating; her thin shirt was stuck to the contours of her body. As she started to work, a few beads of perspiration dripped from her dark hair and rolled down her chest. Her breasts swayed rhythmically as she worked. Ellie sighed.

Enrico came up to her. "Well," he said. "When are you going to do something about it?"

"About ... what?"

He nodded in Christina's direction.

"Uh, er ... I'm sure she wouldn't ... she might like me but not in that way ... "

"Huh," said Enrico. "You don't even see it, do you? When she's done everything but stand in front of you and do a striptease. For someone smart enough and tough enough to be the leader of our little community, you can be very stupid."

Ellie stared at him. "Leader? No, I'm not – "

"Of course you are. But don't change the subject. And the subject is ... over there, with a hammer."

"I ... I ... she ... "

Enrico shook his head. "Stupid," he said. He walked away.

Ellie was lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling.

Fuck, she thought. Fuck fuck fuck ...

She got out of bed and headed for the farmhouse kitchen. Enrico and Pietro were there, sitting at the table with cups of tea. She stopped in the doorway.

"Wrong room," Enrico said. "You want the one at the end of the hall."

She hesitated.

"Do we have to drag you there and throw you in?" said Pietro.

She began to walk along the hall. She reached the door. She realised she was trembling. But she gathered her courage and went in. In the semi-darkness, she pulled off her the long shirt she slept in.

Christina lifted the sheet. Ellie climbed into the bed. She felt Christina's muscular arms go around her.

"About fucking time," whispered Angel Dust.

It was the next day. Ellie was up a ladder, nailing planks on the roof of the barn. She looked down, and saw Christina at work. From this angle, the curves of her body were ... particularly voluptuous.

I am a lucky, lucky girl, she thought. I wonder if she would be up for –

Then a movement on the dusty track that connected Sanctum to the main road in the distance caught her eye. There was a figure walking towards them. Wearing a yellow jacket.

She climbed down and went to meet JL. Christina joined her. JL, not an especially large human being, looked up at Christina. "I'd heard you were big," she said. "But ... whoa."

"Jubilation Cross-Referencing Lee, meet Christina, aka Angel Dust, aka world's best fuck," said Ellie. Christina laughed.

JL looked at them in surprise. "Yes, I said 'world's best fuck'," said Ellie. "Do I need to say it again?"

"I've got the concept," said JL. "But Ellie, I've got a message for you. From the X-Men. They say: stop."

"Thanks for delivering the message," said Ellie. "Fuck you. Uh, that's my message to them. Not you. I'm really glad to see you."

"That's what they thought you would say. Although perhaps not in those words. The follow-up message was that if you won't stop they'll stop you. Take you in. It's either them or the authorities. The Special Forces will be much less gentle."

"No-one takes my girl anywhere she doesn't want to go," said Christina. "By the way, how did you find us?"

"I think Caldwell used a military satellite. Well, he's a senator, so I guess he can do that."

"So now the X-Men are getting into bed with Caldwell," said Ellie. "JL, you can tell them that if they want to do the job they should be doing – saving mutants from slavery and worse – we can give them some pointers. Until that time, well, I've already said 'fuck you', haven't I?"

"I don't think it's the saving part that causes them concern. It's the amount of damage that goes along with it. Bodies. Explosions. Blood on the floor. Subtle as ... something really unsubtle."

"Heh, yeah, that's pretty right," said Christina. "The fun part."

"There's a purpose to it," said Ellie. "It's a message to anyone who's thinking about doing some slave purchasing. Don't."

"The X-Men see you and the ones helping you as renegades," said JL.

"Hey, we should use that name," said Christina.

Ellie was thinking. "When?" she said to JL.

"Soon."

"Bring it," said Christina.

Part II

"Yeah, I thought she would refuse," said Anna.

"Actually," said JL, "what she said was – "

"Unfortunate," said Nikolai. "But if we do not act, others will."

"I should say," said Ororo, "that a lot of people around here are not happy with the idea of moving against her. They see that she is doing something that we should be doing. Kurt, for example. Warren. Elizabeth. They understand that if we don't do it the Special Forces will be called in, but still ... "

"And Scott and his team won't be back for a while," said Anna. "That means me, Hank, Kitty, Joanna, and you two." She looked at JL.

JL looked straight back. "No," she said.

"So, six of us," said Ororo.

Nikolai grunted.

The X-Jet landed a half-mile from the Sanctum farmhouse. Rogue, Beast, Frenzy, Storm, Shadowcat and Colossus walked down the ramp and started for the farmhouse. There was a group waiting for them, Negasonic in the middle. A grey-haired man stepped forward.

"This is our home," he said. "If you have come to cause trouble, you are not welcome."

"You know why we are here," said Rogue. "We have to take her."

"Don't think so," said Angel Dust.

"You really intend to fight?" said Storm. "Fight ... us?"

Christina looked at the Renegades. Aside from herself and Negasonic, there was N-Dure, Silva, Talon, and the boy, Robert, who had taken the name Gener8. An untested team – not even a team. A bunch of amateurs. Against seasoned professionals. Yet they had an advantage. The X-Men didn't want to be here. Didn't want to be doing this. You could see it in their faces.

But, thought Angel Dust, the Renegades had their hearts in it. They all owed Ellie. The X-Men would not have her. Not this day.

"We do."

"Then ... fall!" shouted Storm. She was in the air, riding a current of wind, lightning sparking around her.

"Talon!" shouted Silva. In a moment, Talon lifted Silva and threw her. At Storm. Silva whacked into her, and immediately wrapped her arms around her. Storm gasped in surprise. But she conjured a bolt of lightning, and directed it at her opponent.

But Silva was liquid metal now. The bolt struck her. "Heh, that sort of tickles," she said.

Thrown off by the extra weight, Storm lost control of the wind under her. She started to go down.

Frenzy charged at Talon. She smashed into him, punching. He went sliding backwards. Then someone picked her up from behind – by the hair. She gave a yelp of pain. "That's my brother you're slapping around, and I'm the only one allowed to do it," Angel Dust said. She hurled her. Frenzy landed with a thump a hundred metres away.

"The hair?" said Talon.

"Maybe she should wear it short," said Angel Dust. "Short hair is always sexy."

And then Beast slammed into them.

Shadowcat was looking at the boy.

"I hear you can walk through walls," he said.

"Through anything," she said. "What can you do?"

"Well, I used to have a job, sort of, in a swish apartment building."

"Doing what?"

"This."

Shadowcat felt her skin start to tingle. Then her hair began to crackle. And then, suddenly, there was an electrical field around her. Yes, she could phase through matter. Energy, however, was a different thing.

N-Dure walked up to Rogue. "Pleased to meet you, young lady," he said.

"I don't know what your powers are but I can copy them." She touched him.

"Huh. Did that work for you?"

She examined herself. No sudden surge of strength or energy. She merely felt a bit ... odd.

"The thing is, I don't have much in the way of powers," he said. "I don't need to sleep or eat. That's it. Which isn't that big a deal when it comes to a fight. You agree?"

Desperately, Rogue glanced around, hoping to reach one of the other X-Men. But then she looked down. And realised that N-Dure had handcuffed them together.

"You're not going anywhere," he said. "Sorry."

Storm felt metal wrapping around her, encasing her. A silver hand flowed over her face, over her nose and mouth. "You might be able to control wind and lightning," said Silva, "but you still have to breathe."

Storm tried to prise the metal away from her. But when she did, her fingers merely sank into the liquid. And then stuck there. The more she struggled, the more she became entrapped.

And the next breath was becoming an issue.

Beast was agile and strong, and he pounded Talon and Angel Dust with his feet and his fists. To no apparent effect. He managed to dodge the swinging punches from the woman – and then the man's bone claw whacked into him. He went flying.

Colossus was striding towards Negasonic. He pulled the cuffs he carried from his belt. Then he stopped.

"Ellie," he said. "I do not want to fight you. Come quietly."

But her eyes were glowing. "Do you remember that time in the training room? When I smashed a steel target dummy in two?"

"Yes. I remember."

They both looked around. All the other X-Men were down or neutralised.

"Will you yield?" said Negasonic.

"I cannot. You know that."

Balls of energy appeared in her hands. A swirling field began to form around her.

"I can kill you, Nikolai."

"Then that is what you will have to do."

She stared at him.

Slowly, the field began to fall away. The balls of energy vanished.

A tear ran down her cheek.

She held out her wrists.

"I am sorry," said Colossus. He stepped forward, the cuffs in his hand.

And then Angel Dust jumped between them. She struck out.

Klong!

Colossus went sailing through the air, landing with a crash fifty metres away.

"Sorry, Nikolai!" shouted Angel Dust.

"I'm not," said Talon, as Colossus skidded to a halt at his feet. He picked up the metal giant and threw him again.

N-Dure and Rogue were watching the spectacle. "I think it might be time for you to admit that this day is not yours," said N-Dure.

"Yeah, I agree," said Anna. She called out to the X-Men. "We can't win this! As team leader, I am signalling that we yield!"

Storm, gasping behind a layer of metal that all but covered her face, gave a sigh of relief. Colossus, Frenzy and Beast limped back. As Gener8 lifted the field, Shadowcat slumped to her knees, her skin smoking. He helped her up.

"So now you can get rid of the cuffs," said Rogue to N-Dure.

"Uh, yeah, about that. The key is ... somewhere. I think."

Angel Dust sighed. She took hold of the cuffs and snapped the chain.

"Now what?" said Shadowcat.

"Now, you go home," said Angel Dust. "And you might want to, I don't know, put out a media release or something saying that you got beat by the Renegades."

"Let's not push our luck," said Negasonic.

Colossus was looking at the horizon. "Perhaps no longer relevant," he said.

There was a squadron of large, dark helicopters coming towards them.

"Someone must have been watching," said Rogue, pointing to the sky.

"They're not marked," said Storm. "Mercenaries. Caldwell's private anti-mutant army."

The helicopters stopped, hovering a few metres from the ground. Their guns traversed towards the Renegades. Rockets, cannons, machine guns, lasers.

One of the helicopters peeled away from the others. It landed. Senator Caldwell, flanked by guards, stepped out. He came over to the X-Men and the Renegades.

"That worked out well, I think," he said. "It means that we have to act. To protect the community."

He pulled a radio out. "Kill them," he said. "Then destroy the farmhouse. In fact, destroy everything."

But now Negasonic was running forward, charging for the choppers. The shield around her was glowing, growing, burning with energy.

"Everybody down!" shouted Christina.

Negasonic.

Teenage.

Warhead.

She was a nuclear fireball. The fireball exploded, a wave of flame-hot destruction spreading upwards. Engulfing.

And then it was over. Ellie slumped down. Christina ran to her. She lifted her and carried her back to the others, through the smoking wrecks of the seven choppers.

Ellie moaned and opened her eyes. "Did I get them all?" she said.

"Oh yeah," said Christina, as she put her down.

"Now that," said Kitty, "was pretty impressive."

There was a shout. Caldwell. He had grabbed a machine gun from one of the guards and was aiming at Ellie. He fired.

There was the sound of bullets slamming into flesh.

Christina, who had leaped in front of Ellie, sagged to the ground.

"Fuck me," she gasped. She touched the wounds, where blood was flowing from her.

Caldwell was struggling to put another clip into the gun.

Nikolai stepped forward. He stared at Caldwell. He raised his massive metal fist. "Screw the five moments," he muttered. He punched.

Anna turned to the guards. "Go," she said. "And forget absolutely everything that happened here."

No need to tell them twice. They jumped into the chopper and it lifted off.

Ellie was cradling Christina as her life leaked away. "You can't die," she husked. "Not now. You can't."

"Oh, I think I can," rasped Christina. "Would you give me ... a last kiss?"

Ellie kissed her on the lips, tenderly.

Christina smiled at her. She squeezed Ellie's hand. "My redemption," she whispered.

Coda

"What will you do?" said Enrico as Ellie loaded her bike.

"Go ... somewhere," she said. "I don't know where. I can't stay here. Not now. And I might bring more trouble down on you. It sort of follows me around."

"What will you do about the mutants who are still slaves?"

"What I can, I suppose."

"I'll be here, if you need a place to send them."

She got onto the bike. She looked at him. "Thank you, Enrico. Thank you for showing her compassion when she most needed it."

He nodded. "Goodbye, Ellie."

She started the bike. Then she rode down the dusty track, and away, leaving behind Enrico, and Sanctum, and the people there, and what she had loved.

END AND AMEN

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This is the story of Viridian: supervillain, fan of Shakespeare, owner of many sexy shoes, carefree and irresponsible at the competitive level, bearer of a mystical gem that gives her incredible powers.

Raised by thieves to be a thief, she was never really a child, or never grew up, she doesn't know which. When she washes up on the shores of Oklahoma City, pursued by shadowy forces and an unknown enemy, she links up with an oddball gang of would-be supercriminals: mastermind Monk, samurai Tantō, strongman Cave, and the remarkable Flux.

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