Disclaimer: All the characters depicted in the following work of fiction are property of Marvel… I just borrow them on occasion and do utterly unwholesome things to them.

Bloodstained Machinations
Chapter Two
By N

Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. And sometimes the best offense is a no-holds-barred, beat-the-living-shit-out-of-it, full-out frontal attack.

Which was Lance Alvers' favourite course of action.

The metal platform used to hoist the Sentinel to ground level had been raised once more, hiding the underground base where the captured mutants were presumably being held. It was far too heavy for Jean Grey to telekinetically control, and there were no buttons or levers in sight. Even if there had been, they would have had a tough time finding them; soldiers clad in black were stationed furtively about the platform.

The platform was the only known entrance to the underground base, and both Storm and Mystique agreed that they didn't have time to attempt to find another way in. They weren't, however, of the same mind when it came to how they should approach the problem. Storm was determined to make sure that as few humans were hurt during the rescue operation as possible. Mystique on the other hand, couldn't care less about human life and subscribed to the motto "when in doubt, blow the motherfucker to pieces."

Lance was awfully glad he didn't work for Storm.

"Look, it ain't no problem," he interrupted the discussion between Boss-Ladies. "It's underground, right? So I just crack open the surface."

"Hold up there a second, Alvers." It was Cyclops. Of course. "We can't risk that."

"What? You kiddin me, Summers? You actually care if a bunch of people who want us DEAD get avalanched? Fuck that."

"No, what I DO care about is accidentally crushing our teammates under a ton of rock. We don't know where they are down there and bringing the entire place down on their heads certainly won't make it easier to find them." Cyclops ran a hand through his hair. "Okay. Here's what I'm thinking… That platform goes straight down, right? From what we saw there's not much activity right below it because well, it'd get squished. So… if we can drop the platform, JUST the platform, we can have Jean and Storm lower us down after it. When the platform hits the bottom it'll cause a distraction and hopefully buy us enough time to grab someone who looks official and figure out where the others are being held."

"That might just work," Mystique said. "I can see why they appointed you leader, Cyclops. You know how to use your BRAIN every now and then." She glared at Lance as she said so and he felt an angry flush trying to rise in his cheeks.

"Right." Cyclops turned to Lance. "Answer this honestly or this is all gonna be a royal screw-up: can you shake that platform loose without bringing the entire ceiling in on the people down there?"

Lance felt his lips curl into the disrespectful smirk that had replaced his smile years ago. "Of course."

Cyclops continued to stare at him for a minute. "This had better not be more of your macho posturing, Alvers," he said quietly. "I don't like it but I have to depend on you."

"Worry about getting us down there in once piece, Summers. I can handle this."

"Alright. Jean?" Scott asked, turning his attention to the redheaded telepath. "How many of us can you hold up?"

"I'd say two of you, plus myself."

"I can 'port down, and take someone along," Nightcrawler added. "Two people, even."

"Here's the plan then," Mystique spoke up. "Jean, you carry Cyclops and Wanda down. Kurt, you can teleport Avalanche and I, while Storm handles the re-"

"No," Kurt said. Mystique paused.

"What? Kurt, Avalanche has to shake the platform loose so he won't be ready to descend immediately after it begins to move…"

"Nein. I von't 'port with you, Mystique."

Mystique's lips pressed together to form a thin line; it looked more like a twisted scar than a mouth.

"Hey Kurt, I'll like, go with you and Lance, okay?" It was Kitty. "I hate floating."

Mystique looked like she was about to protest, but then she turned her back on Nightcrawler and addressed Storm instead. "Windrider, I'm with you. Okay people, let's get going!"

* * *

The fog rolled slowly in off the water; a natural phenomenon that was slightly irritating but hardly unusual. Combined with the dusk of evening, visibility above the base was becoming quite limited. A few of the black-clad soldiers adjusted their laser-sight weapons nervously, but for the most part they just grumbled about the weather and kept a half-trained eye on the perimeter. None suspected the fog of being a deliberate cover.

"Ready, Alvers?" Scott whispered. His heart was thudding unevenly in his chest. If they messed up…

"Yeah, yeah. Get off my back, willya? Gotta concentrate."

Scott watched impassively as the other boy took a few deep breaths and then fixed his gaze on the platform. His breathing caught suddenly and the ground began to shake minutely beneath their feet. Avalanche's mouth twisted into an unconscious snarl and his eyes rolled back in their sockets as the earth surrounding the platform started to quake violently. From the white depths of the fog confused, frightened shouts rang out.

"Hurry it up, Alvers," Scott murmured.

Avalanche grunted, his hands suddenly hooking into spastic claws as the ground lurched. There was a thunderous grating noise as the platform was ripped free of its moorings.

"There it goes!" Toad shouted excitedly.

"Move!" Scott yelled, running towards the gaping hole in the ground. He could sense the others backing up his charge. A bewildered soldier appeared out of the mist, gun halfway raised. Mystique delivered a swift kick to his head and moved on without a backwards glance at the meaty thud he made as his insensible body hit the ground.

"Jean!" Scott shouted. He felt himself telekinetically lifted, and then they were moving down, following the passage of the metal platform.

Kurt will have to wait until it hits the bottom before he can 'port… Hope they can fend off anyone who comes their way in the meantime… No time to think about it now.

They were coming up on the bottom level fast. Once they reached it they'd have only minutes before security was dispatched and they were outnumbered. They could only pray they could grab someone who knew the whereabouts of the captured mutants.

"Ground level!" Jean shouted. Seconds later they landed on the platform, which was vibrating slightly from the impact. Scott felt a rush of air and knew that meant Storm and the others were landing as well; seconds later he smelt the telltale sulfur scent of Kurt's teleportation. Good.

The room was large, metal and virtually deserted. A few men in white lab coats were standing on the second floor, leaning over metal railings to get a better look at what was going on. One of them, a man in his late thirties with a crew-cut and large glasses had a large badge pinned on the left side of his chest. Security identification card, and more offical-looking than the ones the other men wore.

"Kurt!" Scott said and pointed. "That guy with the crew-cut!"

"I'm on it!" Kurt shouted and teleported. He returned a second later with the man in question struggling in his grip.

"Let me go!" Crew-cut shouted.

Mystique was on him faster than Scott would have thought possible, her hands wrapping themselves around Crew-cut's throat. She brought her face close to his and hissed, "Captured mutants. If you know where they are, tell me. Or I snap your neck."

"Wha… I…"

Mystique adjusted her grip.

"Okay! Th-the muties… they took them to Level C!"

"That helps," Toad muttered.

"Where's Level C?" Scott asked. Time was getting short…

Crew-cut pointed. "Third floor! Down the hallway on the left! God, don't kill me!"

Mystique smiled. Before she could snap Crew-cut's neck anyway, however, Storm pulled her away. "No," she said. Mystique instead hit Crew-cut over the back of the head, rendering him unconscious.

"Let's move!" Scott shouted. "Jean, Storm, Kurt, get us up onto the third level!"

When he touched the walkway of the third floor, Scott noticed alarms were going off. "Great," he muttered. "Quick, down the hall!"

They ran. Alarms blared constantly, an urgent soundtrack to their pounding footfalls. Suddenly a group of soldiers appeared in front of them, guns ready. Before they could even order 'Freeze' however, they were sent flying into the walls by a strong gust of wind, courtesy of Storm. They moved on, searching frantically for any sign of where their comrades might be.

"Door!" Kurt shouted. On the left side of the hallway was a large metal door with an electronic lock. 'Authorized Personal' was written on the surface in red. Kitty phased through it momentarily, then popped back into the hallway.

"Scott, Beast is in here! He's being kept in like, this weird electric cage. I think I can short it out by walking through it."

"Go for it, Kitty."

Kitty vanished again. A few minutes later she and a very dazed looking Hank McCoy phased through the door together. Storm went to his side, shouldering some of his weight.

"Welcome back, Hank," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'll be alright in a few minutes," he said. "Let's hurry up and get out of here."

Kitty was already phasing through the next door in the hallway. "I found Evan!" she called.

"Is he alright?" Storm asked. Scott had to admire her for staying so calm; it was her nephew in there, after all.

"Yeah, he looks ok. He's in one of those cage-things too, but I don't think he's drugged like Beast was. Be right back with him!" Kitty vanished again, and then reappeared with a very happy-looking Evan.

"Auntie O!" he exclaimed. Storm's face broke into a wide grin.

"Evan! Oh thank Goddess you're alright!"

"Ah, was there ever any doubt?" He grinned. Kitty was phasing through more doors. She passed through one of the right side of the hallway and suddenly there was a shout and the sound of gunfire.

"Kitty!" Avalanche said, bolting over to the door she'd phased through. He looked about ready to try and knock it down when her head popped through the metal. "WAGH!"

"Whoa, hey Lance. Like, calm down. I'm okay. Some yahoo was in here with Rogue and he like, tried to shoot me. Lousy shot though. Be right back." She exited the room with Rogue, who was staring at the floor and hunching over a little.

Maybe she's been drugged too, Scott thought. "Rogue, you okay?"

"Ah'm fine," Rogue replied curtly. "Let's get outta here."

Kitty emerged from yet another room with an extremely pissed-off Wolverine. His hands were encased in some sort of electronic shackle device, which Cyclops promptly blasted off. "When I get my hands on that little worm," Wolverine was muttering.

"Some other time," Mystique said. Wolverine snarled at her. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here."

"What?" Avalanche asked.

"I said let's GO. We got what we came for,"

"What about Freddy, yo?" Toad asked. His watery eyes moved from Mystique to Avalanche and back again.

"No time," Mystique said. She was looking at Rogue, who was still staring at the floor. "We need to get out while we can. I saw an exit map back by the hall entrance… if we take the next right we should get to an emergency elevator. I vote we go that route instead of trying to fight our way back the way we came." She morphed into a nondescript man in a lab coat. "I'll go ahead first to make sure the way is clear, the rest of you follow. Okay, let's go."

"Hey, wait a second!" It was Avalanche. "We can't just leave him behind! It would take like, two seconds Mystique…"

"DON'T question my orders!" she shouted.

"Fuck your orders! I ain't leavin' without Fred!"

"I found him!" Kitty shouted. She'd phased through the remaining doors while the argument had been going on. "But he's like, almost totally out of it! I think I can get him through the door but he's gonna need help getting out of here." With that she vanished, then came back through practically dragging the Blob with her. As soon as she was in the hallway again she moved away so his immense bulk wouldn't crush her. Avalanche and Toad both attempted to help the massive teen stand.

"Freddy, yo Freddy, we gotta move, man! Toad shouted urgently. The Blob muttered something unintelligible in response.

"We're leaving NOW! Cyclops, you and your team had better be right behind me." Mystique roared, then ran off towards the emergency exit. The X-Men ran after her, Wolverine now helping Beast along.

Scott spared a glance over his shoulder. The Brotherhood boys were lagging behind, burdened by the barely conscious hulk that was the Blob. We should help them, he thought. They might not be able to keep up and then… But… the Professor…

Scott forced his eyes forward and ran on.

Sorry.

* * *

Author's Notes: I got a review asking me to tone the language down, which mystified me as the last chapter had virtually no cursing in it. So, a warning to you sensitive people: I have no intentions of cleaning up my filthy mouth. ^_-