X Men: Redemption
Issue 3
Highlands Ranch
Denver Metropolitan, CO
9:05 p.m.
Britnie felt the twinges of sharpness as she fired volley after volley at the attacking mutants. Shadowcat was behind her, Colossus in front. He was blocking, taking hits, as Britnie fired and Kitty continued relaying information to the Professor. It had been an ambush of secret endeavors. Storm and Midnight were not back yet, and Kitty and Nova were pinned. If they had not been drawn outside, the Blackbird might have been destroyed.
At first, it was a simple quiver, then a tremor, then a raucous disturbance that the three had decided to investigate. The lack of earthquakes in Denver's history made them uneasy. Sure enough, they had visitors.
"It's Avalanche for sure, and Max. Um, Max Taylor." Kitty kept peeking around the tank and blaster. "I think there's more, Professor, but I can't tell."
"Take him, Blob!"
A voice yelled from the darkness. Two frames came charging toward the girls and the tin man. Dark hair, chiseled chin and chest, it was Max. On his wing, massive and powerful, was the Blob. The two punched and deflected the concussive blasts from Nova, squaring up with Colossus. Max punched, his arm caught by an enormous, metal arm. Seizing the opportunity, Blob charged, hitting Colossus so hard, his body flew back in a silver sprawl. The Russian landed far from sight.
Britnie froze, looking at Max, eye to eye.
"Hello, Beautiful. I haven't seen that body for some time…" Max's snide grin might have wilted a flower.
"Blow me, Taylor. You still fight like a pussy!" Britnie Scowled, widening her arms.
Max shook his head. "What a mouth! Wait, you are still head-over-heals for that matchstick, Jon, huh?"
"At least he has a stick, Asswipe." Nova threw her head skyward and launched over two dozen blasts, rippling with faint white glow, straight at Max. The multiple contacts of the blasts sounded like the world's largest subwoofer, hitting over and over again, but louder.
Max's body hit the ground, then each subsequent contact pushed his frame deeper into the soft earth of the field they were skirmishing in. He stayed motionless for a few moments, then his arm reached up, pulling himself out of the deep indent.
"That wasn't nice." He wiped dirt and mud from his black jumpsuit. "My turn to be mean."
She arched her back, Britnie wincing as another wave shot from her back and obliques. "My name is Nova!"
Max charged, the high-arching blasts acerbating, hitting him as he was only feet from Nova. The blasts sent both of them flailing apart, each hitting hard. Their bodies remained motionless.
"Professor!" Kitty ran over to Britnie, cradling her unconscious head in her arms. She sat, ready to dematerialized them both to avoid more attacks.
Skies above Northern Illinois
9:23 p.m.
"BRITNIE IS DOWN. PLEASE ADVISE." Kitty's voice trembled.
Jon flipped the afterburners on the Blackbird Mini. The single-seat jet with glass canopy cut across the sky with deafening speed. Jon had never flown so fast, even in the simulator.
"KITTY," Xavier spoke over the com. Jon listened, helpless. "ARE YOU AND BRITNIE SAFE?"
"Where is Storm and Drake… Dammit! Where is team Alpha!" Jon was boiling, keeping his temper as low as he could. Turning into a fireball and falling to his death was not a good idea.
He flicked the switch on his headset. "This is Nightfire. I'm over Illinois. Where is the Blackbird and Team Alpha? This is bullshit!"
Cyclops spoke. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, JON? GO BACK TO THE MANSION. WE ARE ABOUT TO LAND."
"Kiss my ass, One-eye." Jon throttled up, his head plastered against the pilot seat. "I'm coming."
"SCOTT, THIS IS THE PROFESSOR. JON WILL HELP." Xavier new how to calm the situation.
"I DON'T THINK THIS IS A GOOD IDEA." Cyclops sounded preoccupied, piloting no doubt.
Kitty interrupted. "THE ASSAILANTS ARE APPROACHING. NO SIGN OF COLOSSUS. IT LOOKS LIKE ITS AVALANCHE, AARON ERICSON, TOAD, BLOB, MAX, AND UNUS. PLEASE, HURRY. I'M PINNED!"
Jon screamed, crossing the border into Iowa. "DAMMIT!"
Xavier tried to console her. "KITTY, STORM AND DRAKE ARE ALMOST THERE."
Then, over the radio, thunder cracked and made Jon flinched with pain in his ear.
Denver, CO
9:28 p.m.
"You will ask forgiveness when I am through!" Storm floated down, the entire field illuminating like daylight. Lightning coursed through her strands of blowing hair. Her arms were extended, hands shaped like claws as she directed bolt after bolt at the approaching mutants.
"Shhhitt!" Max screamed, a lightning arc hitting him on the ground, then connecting to Toad and Blob. All three stayed down, charred earth and glass underneath them.
Aaron Ericson turned, facing Storm in the air. "A weather witch. Can she fly in a gravity well?" He extended his arms and Storm fell fifty feet, straight down and flat. She couldn't move.
"Drake!" Storm called for her teammate.
In a black streak, Drake dove in, colliding with Gravix. Both mutants rolled, muffled thuds sounding as the ball of limbs continued to tumble. Colossus returned, crouching and stopping both. He pulled Drake free and gently set the young man over his metallic shoulder. Colossus launched Gravix over to where the three enemies laid, where Storm had incapacitated them.
"He is very gutsy." Storm stood, dusting off her uniform.
Colossus grinned. "He is an X Men."
They both nodded, grinning.
Behind them, a bright light in the sky descended. The second Blackbird with Team Alpha set down, adjacent to Team Beta's jet. Cyclops stepped out, Rogue following. Jubilee and Spark looked around, trailing. A puff of smoke dissipated around Storm and Colossus, Kurt appearing in front of them.
"Would you like me to set him inside?" Nightcrawler stretched out his arms to receive Midnight.
Storm nodded, Colossus handing him over. Both vanished in a second cloud.
"Ororo, are you guys okay?" Cyclops glanced around, then focused on Storm.
She nodded. "According to Kitty, Avalanche and Unus are around here somewhere."
Cyclops nodded. "Do we know why they attacked? What they were doing?"
Colossus shook his head, "Kitty, Nova and I were waiting in the jet when the tremors alerted us. We ran out and were attacked by them." He motioned to Blob, Max, and Toad.
Rogue swayed over, winking at Colossus. "Want me to scout around?"
"Yes. You and Kurt make a round." Cyclops pointed, shaping a route in the air.
A cloud of smoke appeared. "I heard. Drake Ramsey is secure in Team Alpha's Blackbird. Let's go, Sister."
Rogue smirked.
Blue smoke swirled as wind from Rogue's takeoff flipped Nightcrawler's exit.
"Take Britnie into our jet, Peter." Storm pointed to Nova, still cradled by Kitty. Colossus nodded.
"Cyclops, I will join Rogue and Nightcrawler, if you are okay setting a perimeter until we return." Storm's blank stare was emotionalized by her brow, slanting in subtle rage for being caught off guard. After years of working together, what they had been through, Scott knew what Ororo was saying, even when she didn't.
He nodded. "I will make this area safe. Go, Ororo."
She nodded. As soon as she floated up, a massive quake dropped everyone to their knees. Colossus almost lost hold of Britnie as he walked to their Blackbird.
"Its Avalanche!" Jubilee screamed, pulling her hood on. "Let me give us some light!" She reached her arms up, firing her pyrotechnics into the sky.
Sure enough, encased in his metal suit, Avalanche was almost a football field away, Unus the Untouchable behind him.
"Aim for him!" Cyclops ordered, firing his focus blast. Ruby light illuminated everything.
The random lights from Jubilee gained correlation, focusing on the two enemies. Storm turned, safe in the air from the quakes. She brightened the sky with crackling lightning. All the energy blasts flashed in the night like a ferocious fireworks celebration. All met a large force field and nothing cutting through.
"Spark! Kitty!" Cyclops pointed towards the bright dome over Avalanche and Unus. The two girls nodded.
Spark ignited, her plasma-energy body running, leaving a trail of glass footprints in the earth. Kitty followed, sinking lower and lower, into the ground, as she gained speed. The entire time, they struggled. The quakes from Avalanche grew more tremulous. Reaching the dome, two energy weapons from Val's arms clamored on the force field, but to no avail. Kitty came back up, through the floor, holding her head.
"Cyclops! it's a bubble! No way through!" Kitty struggled to her feet, trying to put distance between her and the hostile mutants.
"Get back! Spark! You too!" Cyclops couldn't even stand, the ground now too unstable to walk without falling. "Colossus! See if you can penetrate it!"
He nodded, setting Britnie on the quaking earth. Her body moved with the shaking as Colossus started a slow run, growing in speed as he adjusted to the quiver of the soil. He too, did not break through, pounding on the dome like Spark had.
"No use, Scott!" His accent was frustrated. A sudden upheaval of earth, like a catapult, shot up from underneath Colossus, sending him flying through the air, and away from Unus and Avalanche. Rogue caught him midair, returning to the group.
Kurt appeared, hanging tightly onto the nose of the Blackbird. "How are we going to get through, Cyclops?"
Scott slipped, landing on his stomach. He couldn't even return to his feet. Crackling on both Blackbirds caught his attention as the landing gears started to buckle under the tension.
Britnie Terrance's body lay still, underneath Team Beta's jet.
Skies over Brighton, CO
9:41 p.m.
Jon's eyes were blurry. The speed of the Blackbird Mini was making his vision fade in and out.
"APPROACHING DESTINATION."
The computer snapped him into reality, his cloudy mind struggling to stay alert. Finally, the light of Denver was bright on the evening horizon. The transponders of both Blackbirds were at Highlands Ranch, southwest of Denver City-Center.
"Auto land, Computer." Jon fumbled over his words, speaking as well as he could.
"CONFIRMED. AUTOLAND IN PROGRESS."
He couldn't tell whether he had just said that command or whether he said that moments ago. Time wasn't playing nice.
"ADRENALINE SHOT CONFIRMED, VITALS AUTO REQUESITION."
Jon gasped, a needle emerging from the console and sticking him in the middle of his chest. The Professor had programmed the Minis to scan vitals and administer sustaining medicine to keep the pilot alive until autopilot would bring them back to the Mansion for treatment. Ingenious, actually. In this case, the Mini new Jon was not ready for a battle, so administration of an adrenaline shot was the proper action.
"Shit!" Jon's eyes bugged open, the Mini lowering in altitude. It came to a stop as Jon's senses snapped back. He looked out if the canopy. "The jets!"
The gears under Team Alpha's jet gave way, collapsing under the earthquake. Jon's eyes widened even more, catching sight of Britnie. Her long, curly hair sprawled on the floor, like she was dead. Instantly, Jon's eyes flashed red.
"TWO HOSTILE HEAT SIGNATURES NINETY THREE YARDS DUE NORTH."
Jon looked over his shoulder, seeing the dome from Unus, and Avalanche wreaking havoc.
"Pop the top, Computer. Or I'll cook this whole fucking jet getting out." Jon worked his feet underneath him.
The canopy flipped open and Nightfire erupted from the Blackbird Mini in one furious jump.
On the ground, Cyclops watched as the Mini had descended, hovered, and Jon Dante leapt from the cockpit. Landing in front of Unus and Avalanche, Jon's leg muscles that allowed him his "super jump" mutation allowed him to stand, their movement adjusting to the shake of the earth.
"Stop! You're going to kill her!" Jon's arms erupted, fire spewing from them like liquid magma. The ground around him caught fire as he instantly ignited an inferno, engulfing Unus's force field.
Cyclops winced, the heat from the fire too intense to look at. He glanced back, trying to see what was happening. The fire was massive, Jon lost to its flames. The entire setting was vibrant, the fire burning like a sunrise. It was scorching. A turn for the better, the constant earthquake began to subside. Subtle at first, but then all at once, it ceased.
Jon. Shut it down. They are gone, Son. Do you feel the tremble anymore?
Xavier's voice called into the rage, burning sense and logic back into Jon's mind.
It's safe. Britnie is safe. She is safe.
Jon blinked. His mind stopped fueling the fire. Slow at first, the fire died quickly with nothing around but soft earth to burn. As bright as the noon sun had been, night returned with the black sky above. A dome of stone, charred black, was over where the two had been. Jon walked over, blasting fire into the rock. The shell shattered, a large hole dropping into the earth and into a tunnel. He raised his arms to flood the tunnel with fire.
Do not, Jon. We are not like that. We are different. Control your urge. Xavier calmed the Pyrokinetic.
