Marvel 2000 Presents
Excalibur Vol.2 #6
Terror of the Rising Sun
Part 2
The Second Bomb
The story thus far: Asian terrorist nationals have attacked Paris, France, killing hundreds in minutes for reasons unknown to anyone but themselves. Unknown to anyone, however, is the fact that they are fully prepared for any resistance that comes their way.
Within the heart of Avalon, Excalibur's Island base
Joey Chapman struggled to keep his face impassive as he studied the screens lined up on the wall before him. He was standing with his assistant Delphi in the inner most chamber of the alien base with some two dozen men and women who staffed the room at all times, monitoring the world for what were labeled as extra normal crisis's.
Right now, the entirety of the room was focused on Paris, France. Images taken from dozens of spy satellites were intersected local media reports and special CNN broadcast played across the screens. Though the pictures were taken from more than two dozen different sources, there was a single constant in each and everyone. Innocent men, women and children were being cut down like so much wheat by powerful superhumans that local forces couldn't hope to match.
"Excalibur's E.T.A is three minutes, sir." Delphi informed her superior. Chapman barely acknowledged the comment. He was simply thankful for the fact that he had the foresight to have the more unreliable Excalibur members followed by his agents at all times, in case of emergencies like this. Made it easy to gather the team
Chapman's mind raced as he sought to determine a motive for this attack. He knew once he discovered their motive, handling this entire situation would become just a little more manageable, easier to handle. As it stood, Chapman was in the dark, and that didn't help anyone.
"Sir, Excalibur is assembled and ready at the HERMES bay." Delphi stated
Chapman nodded and began to tear himself away from the scenes of death and carnage when something most peculiar happened. One screen, showing a CNN broadcast, died and became so much static. Then another one. And another. Like burned out Christmas Lights, each and every monitor died within seconds of each other.
"What the hell happened?!" Chapman demanded.
"It's…gone." A technician stammered.
"I know it's gone you fecking idiot! Get those images back, now!" Chapman barked.
"No, you don't understand sir. It's gone." The technician explained, "According to our scanners, Paris France is technologically dead. We can't raise any radio communications, no satellite images or even a single active internet connection. As far as the twentieth first century is concerned, Paris France…no longer exists."
Chapman didn't know quite what to think when his technician explained the problem to him. Nothing positive came to mind from that revelation. So Joey Chapman, one time Union Jack and representative of the United Kingdom, did the only thing he could.
He ran.
Silverclaw fidgeted nervously as she stood barefoot on the Excalibur HERMES teleporter. The damn thing was always so cold, and Maria had yet to find some shoes that fit with her costume.
At least, that's why Maria told herself she was fidgeting so much. She'd been at the base when the attack on Paris started. She'd seen the slaughter live on T.V, how blood was splattered upon a camera lens, and felt a little uncertain of her ability to make a difference. After all, what good could a bunch of jungle animal forms do against someone who could throw an inferno down her throat?
The casual readiness of her teammates only made Silverclaw feel even more unsure of herself. Hellios, Union Jack, Darkstar and everyone else looked more than ready, even though they all knew they had little idea what they would be facing. Only Cybermancer, who seemed to radiate anger, was any different from her fellow teammates.
Silverclaw felt a calming hand placed on her shoulder, and turned to see Sabra behind her who seemed to give her a look of complete understanding. Maria didn't notice, but she stopped fidgeting.
"Alright, Excalibur, time for the briefing." Chapman said as he suddenly entered the room, "Some bastards identified as the Aviators of the Mandarin have attacked Paris France. We believe they were teleported into the city by means unknown at this time. We lost all communications with the city a few minutes ago, so we have no idea what's happening now. And that's the sit rep."
"So, these guys could have released a deadly bio weapon and fled by now." Eshu proposed in an off hand manner. He wasn't overly concerned as his shape shifting powers made him immune to most diseases.
"Correct. That's a risk you'll have to take." Chapman commented.
"It's one we're all willing to take." Cybermancer growled.
"Is that our briefing?" Union Jack asked incredulously.
"Yeah, that's it mate. I need you to hit the ground running and corral these bastards as quick as you can so we can get relief workers in." Chapman signaled for the HERMES teleporter operator to transport the team in. As they faded away, Chapman was already trying to figure out how to remove the anti technology field that hung over Paris like a death shroud.
When Excalibur first touched down on the old stone streets of Paris, the first thing that struck them was what they first heard. Cars were strewn about, gutted by fire and buildings were so much rubble. Explosions, fires crackling in the distance as smoke billowed into the air and painful far flung screams, the city of lights was more a city at war.
The second thing that struck them was the many bodies that now surrounded them. Some were burned, others had their insides torn out and with some though unmistakably dead, though how was impossible to determine at first glance. Even more terrifying than that was the random body parts that were littered here and there. An arm with no owner, a shoeless foot and a single staying eye spoke volumes of the carnage.
"Omigodomigoomigod…" Silverclaw muttered under her breath rapidly. She was almost lost in the horror when she felt another reassuring hand in her shoulder, bringing her back to reality. Sabra smiled confidently on the young girl, lending Maria her strength, of which she had aplenty.
"Agent, Cybermancer, what are we up against?" Union Jack asked.
"Shouldn't we be moving out? I mean, Chapman did say we should hit the ground a runnin'." Eshu pointed out.
"Chapman can go to hell. I'm not sending my team anywhere without proper Intel." Union Jack growled, "Agent, Suzi, out with it."
"I'll go." U.S Agent said, "Fought these guys with the real Force Works. Not much to say, really. What you see is what you get. Flame guy throws flame. Water guy controls water. One lady you wanna watch out for is the Butterfly chick. Floats in the air and her shadow causes really bad luck, like heart attack bad. Though last I heard, all these bums were dead."
"We can fix that." Suzi Endo spat. In her mind's eye, she was counting off the names of friends, family and co workers she'd known personally who'd been killed by the Avatars. Thankfully, Tony Stark had created a way to defeat the anti technology field that'd been used in that first attack and she'd integrated it into her armor almost as an after thought, meaning her armor was likely the one piece of technology that was still working in Paris, "Rock, give me your weapons real quick. I can fix them so they work here."
"Could the Mandarin be behind these attacks?" Hellios asked as Union Jack handed off his energy dagger and gun.
"Doesn't matter." Union Jack snapped, "We need to split up into four groups and sweep the city."
"Silverclaw is with me." Sabra stated firmly.
"Fine." Union Jack didn't bother to argue, there wasn't time, "Agent, you're with me. Eshu, you and Suzi are together. Scarab, you, Hellios and Darkstar are together. Fan out, find the terrorists and stop them. If you can't beat them then draw them away from the city, but for God's sake don't let them take any more lives. You're on your own, all of you. Any final questions?"
"Yeah," Eshu smirked in a sly fashion, "is this a killing mission?"
Union Jack looked the shape shifter right in the eyes and said, "If they wanted this handled nice and neat, they would have called the Avengers. They didn't. Now move out!"
The three teams took off in opposite directions while U.S Agent and Union Jack began running thru the streets of Paris. Neither seemingly noticed the woman overhead who stalked the rooftops. The woman was so skilled that she kept to the shadows on the bright Paris day as she stalked her prey down below. With a single silent leap, she placed herself a good block ahead of Union Jack and U.S Agent with them being none the wiser.
Eshu and Cybermancer flew north east towards the banks of the Seine. Eshu said nothing to his teammate while they flew thru the air. Though he did enjoy being a jerk to the rest of his team, he suspected that of all of Excalibur, Cybermancer was the only one who understood his life up until now. Not that he'd ever confide that in her, no he'd just put her on his 'do not annoy' list of one.
Cybermancer, however, paid Eshu no mind whatsoever as they flew over the devastated city. There wasn't any room left in her mind for anything other than hate. When she first encountered the Aviators, Suzi Endo was just a regular woman working for Stark Enterprises, helpless to save her staff, her friends and her fellow countrymen as they were cut down like wheat. Revenge almost completely consumed her mind.
Thankfully, being the genius that she was, she still had the presence of mind to note the location possible locations of the Aviators judging from the new footage she'd seen earlier. She'd chosen the farthest target to insure none of these monsters would get away with this. Once her target was defeated, she fully intended to close the noose on the rest.
It took a quite flight of ten minutes down the Seine before they came upon their prey. Quite literally walking upon the water's surface was a man made completely of water watching intently as a mob of people on the bank were trying to tear the city apart with their bare hands. A man with bleached white skin, skull like face and Asian warrior dress watched it all with sick approval on the street.
Cybermancer recognized them as the Avatars Deluge and Lich. Though she knew consciously they couldn't be the same men who attacked Hong Kong so long ago, the hate still simmered enough so it really didn't matter.
"Eshu, Lich is yours! Deluge's is mine!" Suzi shouted. She rocketed towards the water villain so fast Eshu didn't even think to reply. Rather, he looked at the skeletal warrior known as Lich, and fell towards the inhuman creature in the form of a gooey, snot-like substance.
Lich slashed his claws at Eshu as the shapeshifter fell upon him, for all the good it did him. Eshu's transparent liquid like form fell across Lich's body like amber covering a fly. It took all of three seconds for Eshu to encase the mystic warrior completely with his malleable body. Lich clawed and hacked at Eshu's form madly to no avail. In his panicked frenzy, Lich hadn't yet realized he could still breathe.
"Hey buddy, do you know what a passive aggressive power is?" Eshu asked, still a formless blob draped over Lich. Lich shook his head left to right furiously, "didn't think so. Passive aggressive powers are powers that aren't physical per say, but still dangerous. Like, sonics, lights, telepathy and so forth."
Lich felt his blob prison suddenly become as hard as steel, not allowing him to move a muscle, "Metamorphs are considered passive aggressive too. That's me. No internal organs to damage, just a bunch of molecules I can mentally command, to a degree. See, that's how I fly. Tell my molecules to move thru the air, and they do. Well, to a degree. Anyways, how does this relate to you?"
Lich felt his forefinger bent backwards by his amber prison, slowly, painfully and deliberately and it didn't stop moving until a small –snap!- echoed thru the air.
Lich whimpered as Eshu voiced his thoughts, "See, I can do whatever I want to you, and you can't do a God damn thing to stop me. What bones are next?"
If he could have opened his mouth to scream, Lich would have been doing just that. So loudly in fact he might have run the risk of damaging his lungs. But he couldn't. He was forcibly silent as –snap!- after –snap!- after –snap- could be heard.
Cybermancer pumped her fists back and forth as she released blast after blast at Deluge, the water Avatar. The slippery creature bobbed and weaved in the water that was his natural element, avoiding everything Cybermancer threw his way.
In truth, even if Cybermancer had struck him with her energy blasts, it wouldn't have done much good, but Deluge wanted to taunt the heroine for standing with the enemy, as it were.
"I won't even soil my hands with you, I'll let my followers handle you!" the water creature mocked. With a wave of his hand, dozens of bystanders who'd been tearing the city apart while the superhumans battled turned and actually flew thru the air like arrows towards the stunned Cybermancer. Suzi raised her forcefeilds, but even that wasn't enough to turn back this onslaught.
The sight was odd, to say nothing else. Hovering the air was a sphere of Frenchmen, immigrants and tourists trying to reach one woman. Cybermancer projected her force field outwards, and swallowed her rage. Her anger only clouded her judgment, and thus wouldn't allow her to think of a way to free these people from Deluge's control. Ignoring the cold, dead eyes staring at her, Suzi commanded her armor to do a quick sensor scan. It took only seconds to finish and the results ran across her HUD. The information made her blood run cold and magnified her rage beyond anything she'd felt before in her life.
Deluge watched the sphere of men, women and children nonchalantly, wondering how long it would be before the woman made her discovery. His question was answered moments later as the sphere exploded with pure yellow energy, leaving one very pissed Cybermancer.
"You bastard dog!" she spat as she flew downwards at Deluge, "how dare you violate the dead like that! Use them as your puppets!"
Cybermancer's infuriated form passed harmlessly thru Deluge, amusing the creature all the more, "The human body is majority water! I'd be a fool not to take advantage of that!"
Cybermancer pointed her gauntlets at Deluge, three openings on each glowing yellow, "My armor prevents you from doing that to me, and I'll make you pay, dog!"
Brak!brakbrakbrakbrakbrak!
Cybermancer's face became illuminated as her gauntlets released thousands of energy bullets that would have cut down a normal man in nanoseconds. Deluge could only laugh as the bullets harmlessly passed thru his body, causing it to ripple but doing nothing more. The fool woman was easier to bait than he ever expected of any foe.
Suzi Endo gritted her teeth and just kept on pouring on the power as she sought to defeat…no…kill Deluge. She didn't care what she had to do, this piece of dung didn't deserve another moment in this world and if it took every last erg of power in her armor, she'd put him down like the dog he was.
Unfortunately, Suzi's rage blinded her to the mistake she was making. Here she was, battling a man who controlled water in the middle of the French river of Seine. Two giant fists of ice silently rose out of the river just behind Suzi and fell upon her. Cybermancer barely registered the impact before she struck the water's surface, which was now solid ice. Her lungs burning for air, she couldn't even scream as the ice become like quicksand and pulled her under and into an icy grave. Deluge could only smile in satisfaction.
"Hey, wetback!"
Deluge looked towards the shore, and his jaw dropped. Eshu was standing there, his lower body extended backwards much like a rubber band. And laying limp inside the metamorph, was Deluge's teammate Lich.
"I think this china doll is broken! Here, have him back!" Eshu's waist shot outwards like a slingshot, and Lich flew thru the air to crash into the other side of the bank. The collision sounded a lot like deadwood being thrown against the ground, and Lich was very still, to say nothing of the awkward positions of each one of his limbs. Deluge's face twisted into a rage.
"You'll pay for that!" swore Deluge. Eshu rushed forward to meet the challenge, and dove into the river like an Olympic diver. Deluge instantly froze the water around him, turning the section the metamorph had jumped into to ice before he could even surface. Deluge then flowed up by commanding the ice to form into spikes, and began to extend them into the man who'd killed his friend. Not too quickly, Deluge didn't want the man to die too fast, that would be too good for the dung dropping.
However, Deluge wasn't quite prepared when a giant, twenty foot tall squid burst thru the ice and entangled him with his many, many arms.
"That the best you got, wet willy?" Eshu asked in his squid form.
Deluge passed thru the dozen squid arms easily enough and formed both of his hands into giant blades of ice. He brought them down upon the giant squid's head with all his strength. The effect created a large slash in Eshu's squid body, but that wasn't enough to stop the shapeshifter.
Eshu reformed into his normal appearance of an African man in a skin tight yellow suit and tackled Deluge. Deluge found to his surprise that his water form wouldn't pass thru Eshu's form like it had before.
"That trick won't work twice! I bet you don't know jack about your powers!" taunted Eshu, and he was right. Deluge could do some creative things with his powers here and there, but he was still in the dark as to the full extent of his powers.
However, he still knew enough to try to slip away by other means. He stretched his entire body high into the air, but Eshu followed him, both their pliable bodies inter-tangled so that Deluge couldn't quite escape Eshu's grip. Their bodies reaching some thirty feet in the air, they grappled back and forth for several seconds before Deluge realized he and his foe were utterly ineffective against the other.
"It appears we have a stalemate, genetic trash," Deluge sneered, "you cannot hurt me, and I cannot hurt you."
Eshu chuckled good naturedly at the observation, as if they were discussing sports, "Oh, I'm not trying to hurt you," he explained with a smirk, "I'm just lining you up for the kill shot, you dumb son of a bitch."
Then, faster than his eyes could follow, Deluge watched as Eshu's form shrank together to form a hummingbird and flutter away. Kill shot…? The woman!
Cybermancer savored the look in Deluge's face as he spun around to where he'd entombed her in ice. He'd never considered the possibility that her armor was more than strong enough to break her out of the ice, or that she had a special devise that supplied her with air in her armor that activated automatically in the event of submersion.
And that would cost him everything. The area became bathed in a brilliant white light as electricity arced off her gauntlets, begging for discharge. Suzi aimed them at Deluge, and let loose two twin bolts of lightning that would make Thunder gods proud.
Deluge felt indescribable pain as the electricity tore him apart like fire destroying paper. The hydrogen and oxygen molecules that made up his body were forcefully separated, and the mystic energy field that gave him his consciousness was shredded beyond all hopes of repair.
The steam that was Deluge's corpse had barely begun to rise before Cybermancer willed herself into the air, "Come on Eshu, we still have lives to save and bastards to kill."
At the suggestion of Hellios, he, Darkstar and Scarlet Scarab had chosen to make their way towards the Eiffel Tower. As it was a tourist attraction, it was a natural place to attack if one wanted to inflict the maximum amount of fatalities.
They flew thru the air like birds of prey, Hellios in the lead and Scarab and Darkstar at the side, flying over the once beautiful city at break neck speeds. They came upon their targets in the shadow of the famous Eiffel Tower, their suspicions tragically sound. Standing in the middle of the devastated street were three Avatars, Foundry, Old Woman and Ancestor. The Avatars were the epicenter of an overwhelming amount of destruction that shocked the members of Excalibur. From their vantage point in the sky, they could see the bloody path that these sadists had cut thru the city, the smoldering bodies and devastated buildings.
Strangely enough, it was almost as if the Avatars had been warned that the three heroes were coming, as all three looked up at once and spotted the triad of international heroes approaching. Not that it much mattered to the three. Element of surprise or not, no one intended to balk at their duty.
Hellios arced down first, slamming into the large golden Avatar known as Foundry so hard the two dug a deep furrow in the French street. Scarlet Scarab was next, as he swooped down and smashed the elderly Avatar known as Ancestor across the head, sending the man flying thru the air like a coke can caught in a tornado. Scarab gripped his hand painfully, and realized that blow had nearly broken his hand!
Darkstar had chosen Old Woman, a woman in Asian dress and an expressionless silver mask on her face, as her target. She unleashed a barrage of darkforce daggers at the woman to gauge her foes abilities. Old Woman struck the ground with her staff, and it rose up in the path of the daggers, effectively blocking them.
Old Woman, an elemental sculptress, didn't just stop there. She then commanded the molecules of her shield to explode outwards like a shrapnel bomb. Darkstar was caught completely unprepared and barely managed to raise a shield that deflected some of the assault, though not nearly all. Sharp, angled pieces of rock slashed across her shoulders and one bounced off her ribs, leaving a deep gash. Darkstar, her mind swimming and reeling in pain, fell to the earth with a harsh -thud!-.
Darkstar clutched her sides, and knew for certain that she'd broken several ribs, in addition to the numerous cuts and bruises that peppered her body. But when she saw Old Man preparing to move again, all pain was forgotten. She was Russian after all, no stranger to pain.
Old Woman, in her eagerness for the kill, had dropped her defenses. Darkstar lashed out with a darkforce blast that hit Old Woman dead center of her chest. Old Woman was lifted into the air by the force of the blast, and slammed into a café wall. She fell to her knees instantly, her body without breath, and had to use her staff to support from falling all the way to the ground.
She had barely taken three short breaths before a fist of darkforce slammed into the wall beside her head. Old Woman slammed her staff on the ground and the soil beneath her feet began rippling like a wave towards Darkstar. The Russian mutant barely raised herself into the air before the wave crested where she'd been standing, and cursed the double vision that had ruined her shot before. Not one to cry over spilt milk, she attacked again before her foe could recover too much. Darkstar kept up her assault, with none of her attacks meant to disable. Maim or kill was all she strived for now. What she had to strive for.
Hellios gripped the dazed Foundry by his neck, and gave serious thought to crushing the throat in his hand. It was not something a hero would do, no, but Hellios had seen what this monster had done to this wondrous city of culture. These were not the actions of a man, but a monster. And heroes could kill monsters, he rationalized.
Suddenly, he felt a stinging sensation in his hand, and he recoiled instinctively. He examined his palm, and found to his surprise it was reddened, almost as if it was burned. But how was that possible? He'd survived reentry with barely a singe, and this creature couldn't generate heat compared to that, could he?
Hellios was denied the time to further consider the situation as four separate bolts of lightning lanced down from the sky and collided with one another with Hellios at the center. The mighty supersoldier screamed and fell to his powerful knees, his mind blazing with pain while the smell of his smoldering flesh filled his nostrils. While he took short and heavy breaths, the very air around him began swirling and coalescing into the form of a human female. The blood in Hellios' ears prevented him from hearing the air-woman identify herself as Tsunami, but nothing could block the pain another lightning bolt brought. Hellios staggered, but he did not fall. With his vision swimming, the Greek hero realized that he was quite vulnerable to whatever power these creatures were using to fuel their abilities, magic most likely. Gale force winds began hammering his body, and he feverishly sought to think of a way to defeat his opponent.
With nothing coming to mind, Hellios took off high into the air. A bolt of lightning lashed across his back, but he was thankful that if nothing else, he'd drawn this dangerous foe away from his less powerful teammates. Now if he survived himself, that still remained to be seen.
Scarlet Scarab, ever the hero, closed the distance between himself and the Avatar known as Ancestor as swiftly as his powers would allow. Scarab suspected that his foe tapped some outside energy source for power, and decided the best tactic was to overwhelm his foe before he could bring all that strength to bear.
If Scarab knew the source of Ancestor's might, that the elderly man drew upon the millions of dead spirits of his homeland for his strength, Scarab certainly would have reconsidered his strategy, at least somewhat. Scarab threw a haymaker that was easily caught by the ancient terrorist. Exerting a small fraction of his strength, Ancestor squeezed Scarlet Scarab's fist. The sounds of bones grinding together seeped into Scarab's ears, who refused to scream as he was forced down on one knee.
Ancestor looked down upon the pain wracked Middle Eastern hero, his lips curled in a smug smile. Ancestor was easily the strongest Avatar, breaking men with his bare hands with only the smallest of effort. Scarlet Scarab, he felt, wasn't even in his league. His power was limitless…then Ancestor became curious. Why was the Arab man smiling so?
Ancestor felt light headed for a moment, and suddenly understood why the brightly clad hero was smiling. Scarlet Scarab activated his ability to absorb energy, his might increasing tenfold in less then a second. He easily broke free from Ancestor's mighty grip and sprang up. The Middle Eastern hero quickly locked Ancestor's arm underneath his elbow with one arm, and began pummeling Ancestor in the face with his other fist.
Ancestor tried to pull away, but with one arm firmly locked in place by Scarab, he wasn't going anywhere. Worse, he felt his strength shrink as Scarab's strength grew. Punch after punch after punch sent teeth flying and sent blood pouring out his mouth and nose. After a good three dozen punches that made Ancestor's face so swollen that he couldn't see, Scarab suddenly stopped his punishment.
Ancestor didn't know why, but he was thankful that the onslaught had finally stopped. He cursed his foe for his stupidity, for Ancestor could feel his powers renewing his body. He opened a barely healed eye, and saw Scarlet Scarab, his right fist pulled back, balancing on his back right foot, his clenched fist radiating power.
Scarlet Scarab then lurched forward and with a single blow, released all the energy he'd stolen. The entire block rumbled and lifted up, as if the hand of the Almighty himself swooped up the land and dropped it again. Darkstar and Old Woman, two blocks away, used their respective powers to protect themselves from the shockwave that Scarlet Scarab had unleashed. Cars flew thru the air and lamp posts were torn from their sockets by the torrent of energy the Egyptian had released. When all was said and done, the Muslim hero was standing in a steaming crater of street alone, the pavement below his feet was bubbling like overcooked soup, and if one looked hard enough they could see a comet streaking away from earth in the far distance. Scarab shook his hands distastefully. The magic he'd absorbed had been fully expelled, but it still left a bitter after taste.
Ironically, Scarlet Scarab's first thought was that a comet had landed when a fiery object slammed into Mother Earth a few blocks away from his position. Scarab's blood ran cold when he realized the truth. He signaled Darkstar and rocketed to the impact site. Hellios was sprawled out unconscious embedded in the street, his entire body covered with electrical burns. Scarab landed and quickly knelt down to check for a pulse.
He breathed an obvious sigh of relief when he finally found his friend's pulse. It was shallow and weak, but most certainly there. A moment later, Scarab felt a low rumbling, like tremors. Years as a hero had taught him better, and he looked up to see the large Avatar known Foundry approaching, licking his lips in anticipation as puffs of smoke climbed into the air off his back. Scarlet Scarab took a step back…and bumped into Darkstar. He spun around looked at her, then looked over her shoulder to see Old Woman approaching. As if that weren't bad enough, the sky above them began dark and ominous. The clouds swirled to form a female body, and the creature known as Tsunami floated to the ground, a confident smirk plastered upon her gaseous face.
The two heroes set their jaws. For all intents and purposes, with their strongest downed and quite possibly the entire city of Paris relying on them, mercy was akin to stupidity. If they didn't go for blood, they would be lost. Darkstar unleashed a wave of darkforce at Old Woman while Scarlet Scarab encased Tsunami in one of his crimson forcefeilds, and forced Foundry back with his energy blasts.
Both sides, sensing both victory and desperation in their foes, pressed forward with renewed vigor. There were no witty banter, almighty proclamations of power, or disparaging of another's parentage. Words had no place in this battle. Only power and action would carry the day.
"You know, I bet Captain America never charges into battle like this." Whined Silverclaw as clutched her arms tightly around Sabra's neck. The two were careening over the French skyline, propelled by Sabra's powerful leg muscles. Silverclaw wasn't overly concerned about falling (she could fly, but not fast enough for Sabra's tastes), but it was kinda embarrassing going into a fight piggybacking on a teammate.
"You are not Captain America, child." Sabra stated. They were on the apex of her last leap, when Sabra said, "Silverclaw, assume your bird form and follow me down."
Though she was somewhat baffled by the order, Maria nevertheless obeyed. She released her grip on Sabra's neck, and commanded her body to assume the form of a humanoid cockatoo. The winds collected underneath her wrist wings, and Silverclaw slowly glided to the ground like a feather.
Sabra landed with surprising grace for a woman of her power, bending her knees as she touched the earth and barely leaving an impression of her feet in the ground despite her awesome strength.
"Why'd we stop?" Silverclaw asked as she landed at Sabra's side, "those Avatars guys aren't anywhere near here."
"They're forty five seconds away from us." Sabra stated matter of factly, "I observed their path of destruction from the air, and I wish to head them off."
"Oh." Silverclaw suddenly felt guilty for not making the same observations as Sabra, "Umm, Sabra? Why'd you insist on partnering up with me?"
"You are young, inexperienced and impulsive." Sabra stated in a tone that lacked both judgment and malice. The Mossad agent hadn't even looked at Silverclaw when she gave her answer, her attention drawn elsewhere, "you need to be partnered with someone who will take this into account and react accordingly."
"Oh, o…kay." Silverclaw stuttered, somewhat embarrassed, both by the harsh opinion and the knowledge that Sabra was one hundred percent correct in her assessment.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of." Sabra reassured her, "no one is perfect, and I'd be more than willing to train you, if you'd like."
"Yeah, I think that would be cool." Said Silverclaw, "providing we survive and all."
"We'll soon find out. Five seconds."
Four seconds later and five houses down at the end of the block, a building housing a bakery that spanned three generations came tumbling down in an avalanche of cement, brick and clay. A thick cloud of red dust billowed outwards to settle at the feet of the two heroines, and the Avatars known as Quake and Butterfly stepped forward to make their presence known.
" Look pretty butterfly, it appears we have finally found some sport. " Quake said in his native tongue to his teammate who hovered in the air beside him.
" I suppose a break from the slaughter would help me stay awake. " Answered Butterfly dryly.
Sabra, fluent in Chinese, among other languages, listened intently to the two for a moment. Just by listening to the dialect of Chinese the two used, Sabra was able to determine that the two terrorists were likely from poor, uneducated families, likely Rice farmers who were forced to irk out a living doing hard labor with little or no prospects for the future. Such poverty would make them ideal for terrorist recruiters, Sabra knew from bitter experience.
"So…what's the plan?" Silverclaw asked apprehensively.
"You stay back, and leave them to me." Sabra ordered, "you may wish to cover your eyes, though I wouldn't recommend it."
"That's not much of a plan." Observed Silverclaw.
"We'll see." Sabra stomped her foot on the ground, and a sewer lid right next to her foot sprang into the air. Sabra plucked the top out of the air with one hand and glared at Avatars. With no malice in her heart whatsoever, she stated in perfect Chinese, "I will teach you dogs a lesson the Arabs should have learned long ago, you pathetic low born bastards! You do not screw with Mossad agents!"
Butterfly, absolutely incensed by Sabra's insults, flew forward to encompass the mutant heroine in her lethal shadow. Sabra remembered U.S Agent's comments about this woman in particular, and had no intention of falling prey to whatever misfortune the woman's shadow would bring. Sabra pulled her arm back, and let fly the sewer lid on her hand with all her strength and skill. Butterfly's eyes snapped open in horror, and a moment later, she fell to the ground with two separate -splats!-.
Quake stared in horror at his fallen friend, and then towards Sabra.
"Tell me something, dung heap," Said Sabra. She unfastened her cape that housed the anti-gravity unit that typically allowed her to fly from around her shoulders. The device was rendered largely inert by the anti-technology field that permeated Paris, "do you still think I'm good sport?"
Quake answered by charging at Sabra like blood thirsty bull and screaming in a rage. Sabra simply stood her ground, almost oblivious to the enraged Avatar. She swung her anti gravity cape in one hand, the only real movement she made. Suddenly, when Quake was almost upon her, Sabra sprang to life. She stepped to the side as she swung her cape directly into Quake's face.
-Boom!-
Silverclaw covered her face with her hands as the explosion from Sabra's anti gravity generator sent a wave of air rushing past. Silverclaw looked to see where her teammate once stood, and saw nothing but a thick, black cloud of smoke.
"Sabra…? Are you alright?" Silverclaw called out, her heart in her throat. Sabra was one of the toughest, surely she wouldn't have done something that could have killed her…!
Silverclaw's heart nearly stopped when she saw Quake, his body covered in soot, costume torn but very much alive, strode smugly out of the smoke cloud.
"It appears your teammate suffered from terminal stupidity." Remarked Quake.
Trembling with anger, Silverclaw shifted her body into her puma form. It was far from her most powerful, but she reasoned its agility would allow her enough time to devise a plan to defeat Quake, whom she knew was vastly more powerful.
"It's called a distraction, not stupidity." War weathered hands reached out from the smoke behind Quake's head and grabbed him about the neck. Quake bucked from side to side, and shook his body like a dog might shake to dry off as he tried to dislodge Sabra from his back. The Mossad agent held on easily with her powerful strength, and all but ignored Quake's attempts at freedom as she maneuvered her hands into position.
Silverclaw saw this, and almost instantly recognized what Sabra was doing. Silverclaw squeezed her eyes shut just as she heard the almost unperceivable –krak!-.
Maria opened her eyes again, and was quickly on her knees, vomiting. The rush of adrenaline had faded, and the entirety of the battle had hit the young woman all at once. Butterfly laying in two different locations and Sabra stepping off Quake's limp and unquestionably dead form, it was too for the young college woman to take.
Sabra watched patiently as Silverclaw voided her last three meals upon the Paris street.
"Is that…what you want to teach me?" the young heroine asked weakly, her stomach still rebelling against her.
Sabra scanned the battle field, observing the death and destruction that had been wrought by both her and the terrorists, "No, I want to teach you a better way. Allow you to take a path I never could."
Sabra extended her hand to the slumped over Silverclaw, "I'd like to think that we could teach one another, if you're willing."
Union Jack, his pistol in his left hand, pressed his back up against a stone wall. U.S Agent was at his side likewise, the two preparing an ambush. Union Jack signaled silently, and U.S Agent, his shield at the ready, jumped out into the street.
"Alright you…son of a…" U.S Agent brought his shield up to deflect a rake aimed to take off his head. U.S Agent cursed under his breath. He'd thought Union Jack had found the terrorists they were after, not a mob of Frenchmen!
And it truly was a mob. Some sixteen men of varying ethnic backgrounds attacked U.S Agent with a desperate fury. Some looked like tourists, others Native Frenchmen and a few immigrants mixed in. They were almost tripping over one another trying to get at U.S Agent, which made it all the easier for John Walker to defend himself. However, more than anything he wanted to be tearing the bad guys a new asshole, not fighting the people he was supposed to be protecting.
"Hey, hold up! Peace, damn it!" U.S Agent shouted to no avail. Finally fed up, he swung his indestructible shield outwards. He barely put any of his impressive strength behind the swing, but he still managed to knock a wave of his attackers on their ass.
" That's enough! We're with Excalibur! " Union Jack shouted from behind the crowd in perfect French. The men instantly stopped attacking. Even though his usual stomping grounds were some distance away, Union Jack was a figure instantly recognizable all over Europe.
" Excalibur? Where are your teammates? " One of the more well informed members of the mob, a young doctor, asked.
" They're handling the terrorists at separate locations. Where is everyone? My friend and I haven't seen almost anyone. "
" Our government organized and implemented emergency plans for an extranormal terrorist attack after Magneto's men kidnapped our Prime Minister. Most are huddled in the mosques, churches and basements. But we refuse to hide! "
" If you bastards stay out here, you'll only hinder us. " Union Jack told the mob. He pointed back the way he came, " If you want to make yourself helpful, go that way. We saw some seriously injured men and women, but we couldn't stop to help. "
The leader of the mob nodded in acknowledgement, and led his men away as U.S Agent stood there dumbfounded.
"Where are they going?" he asked.
"To help the injured we were forced to leave behind." Union Jack explained.
"There wasn't anyone left alive, man."
Union Jack smiled underneath his mask, "I know. But there also aren't any terrorists that way."
"Ah, good. Funny stereotypes aside, they really do need to be hiding. Last thing these terrorist bastards need is more victims." Said U.S Agent.
"Would you hide?"
Agent shrugged, "No, probably not. But I'd hope my family would."
Union Jack fell silent, and began looking at something rather curious just past his friend. Without saying a word, Union Jack walked past John Walker to the stone wall of a gift shop. The wall had five deep but precise gouges in it, slashing downwards. Union Jack bent down and knelt closely to examine the scored stone, studying it intently.
"What is it?" Agent asked. Behind him a lithe figure landed as silently as a summer's breeze. Her fingers were inhumanly long and shimmered silver.
"These gouges, it's almost like someone actually took knife to this stone." Union Jack's hand crept towards his belt, "I can't imagine the blade it would take to do something like this."
"What, you think you can C.S.I out our killer? Come on Rock, we need to get a move on." U.S Agent remained ignorant of the assassin now only a few feet from his exposed back.
"Agent," Rock snapped, "down!"
U.S Agent squatted down just as Union Jack whirled around and unleashed a hail of explosive bullets at an assailant U.S Agent hadn't even known was behind him. Eight explosive bullets hit their mark, but the killer stood their ground, virtually unfazed. U.S Agent heard the –clik- of Jack's gun indicating the clip was empty, and sprang up while swinging his shield behind him. It collided so hard with the figure it sounded like a bell ringing and the black clad figure flew clear across the street into a stone wall. She crashed into it so hard she left an imprint of her back, but to the surprise of U.S Agent and Union Jack both, still managed to land on her feet.
"Lady Deathstrike." Union Jack said thru clenched teeth, "I'd thought exposing our back our draw out whoever I felt stalking us, but I didn't expect it to be you. Last I heard, you were dead."
"Obviously not." Lady Deathstrike hissed, "ready?"
"Bring it bitch." John Walker snarled.
Lady Deathstrike targeted U.S Agent first. She sprang forward like a jack in the box, her long, razor sharp claws reaching outwards. Agent brought his shield up to defend himself, just as Deathstrike expected him to.
She hit the shield with her hands at the outer most edge, and her elongated fingers reached around the edges and firmly gripped the shield. Allowing her momentum to carry her up and over, Lady Deathstrike kept a firm grip on the shield when her feet touched the ground, and using her cyborg strength she flipped U.S Agent over on his back onto the cold hard street.
"Ugggh!" U.S Agent's world blinked in and out after he was slammed to the pavement and the breath flew from his body. He didn't see Lady Deathstrike slide his shield off his wrist, but his world came back into focus just as the renegade samurai raised the shield over her head, and brought it crashing down towards his neck.
"Shit!" U.S Agent caught the shield one foot from decapitation, though the indestructible shield sliced into his hands. He forced the shield back up and clipped Deathstrike in the jaw with its edge. Union Jack then tackled the woman aside.
"Thought you were better than this!" Union Jack cracked his bo staff against Deathstrike's head, giving himself breathing room.
Lady Deathstrike stepped back, her claws raised, "You were right."
Union Jack rushed forward as he imbedded his bo stall in the street, and used it to vault at the killer cyborg. With one leg pulled back, he readied a snap kick that would have taken off the head of a normal man. Union Jack snapped his foot out catching his foe in the head, but it hardly had the effect he desired.
Lady Deathstrike grabbed Union Jack's calf and flipped him over onto the street so hard he kicked up a small cloud of dust. His back feeling as though on fire, he was at Lady Deathstrike's mercy.
"Does this seem familiar, English? You are fighting a foe with superior physical power!" Lady Deathstrike warned as she loomed over Rock, "Fight smarter!"
Union Jack aimed his pistol at Deathstrike's knee.
"Okay."
Blam!blam!blam!blam!blam!
A clip of concentrated explosive bullets was all it took to turn Deathstrike's knee into so much hash. Cybernetic signals that translated into pure pain lanced thru the cyborg's mind and Union Jack, not wasting a moment, kicked the killer in the stomach, forcing her back.
"Agent, one two!" Jack ordered as he whipped his knife out. He charged at Deathstrike fearlessly, ducking underneath a deadly swing of her claws to rake his energy dagger across her stomach, to no visible effect. Union Jack cursed, skillfully ducked another slash, and gripped his energy dagger with both hands, and slammed it down.
This time, it took all of Lady Deathstrike's considerable willpower not to scream. She looked down to see her foot was pinned to the ground by the Englishman's energy dagger. Her breathing became short and shallow, anger and pain overriding her morality. Union Jack had already slipped away, but he wouldn't escape her wrath she swore.
"Hey tin can!"
Lady Deathstrike turned to see U.S Agent's fist cocked completely back.
-Wham!-
U.S Agent struck Lady Deathstrike with every last once of his superstrength and then some. The blow was so powerful it snapped Yuriko's head around some 180 degrees, so that she was staring down the barrel of Union Jack's gun.
Blam!blam!
Two explosive bullets pierced both of Deathstrike's eyes and exploded inside her skull cavity. All motion from the cyborg ceased.
"God damn!" John Walker clutched his aching hand to his chest as he stepped away from the still cyborg, "that woman's head is like punching a steel wall."
"You'll…live."
U.S Agent couldn't miss the suspicion in Jack's voice, "What's wrong?"
"If we killed Deathstrike, why's her leg still repairing itself?"
"Because my brain is no longer housed in my skull." Deathstrike answered. She snapped her head back into place, and glared at the two U.N heroes, "ready for round two?"
Lady Deathstrike tore her foot free from Union Jack's energy dagger and lunged at the two with lightning speed. A spin kick separated the two, and Deathstrike tackled U.S Agent as he was flung through the air. They slammed into a stone corner with a –crunch!-
"All strength and little skill." She remarked as she smashed U.S Agent across the face with a jackhammer punch, sending bits and piece's of Agent's helmet flying. Deathstrike spun around and unleashed a roundhouse kick, but kept her foot planted behind Walker's head as she brought her foot down, slamming him face first into the pavement. John Walker did not get up.
"Hopefully one day you'll learn better."
"Care to try a master?" Union Jack asked, his staff held firmly in his hands.
Lady Deathstrike tried not to laugh. Her left arm telescoped outwards and sliced the staff in two while her right hand tried to stab Jack's eyes out. Jack ducked to his right, and then realized that both of Deathstrike's hands were now behind him. Lady Deathstrike then retracted her arms with incredible speed, all but throwing the British hero at herself. Lady Deathstrike pulled her head back and…
-Krak!-
Union Jack slumped to the ground with a mild concussion. Lady Deathstrike looked down at his vulnerable form, her hands trembling. After an eternity of struggle, they stopped, and she simply walked away.
"…stop…"
Yuiko stopped, looked over her shoulder and felt her respect for the British grow by leaps and bounds. Union Jack was amazingly standing erect on unsteady legs. His arms weren't even raised in preparation for battle, but there was fire in his eyes.
"You don't want to do this."
"...the bloody hell I don't. I won't let you take another life." Rock hissed.
"Fine, I'll take yours."
Lady Deathstrike turned around and strolled towards Jack.
A telescopic right arm slashed him across the chest. Blood ran freely, but he didn't fall. A cybernetic left cross cracked his jaw, and still he stood his ground. The adamantium laced ring and index finger pierced his shoulder and out his back like butter, and still Union Jack was silent. His legs felt like rubber, and it was his will alone that kept him conscious and fighting
"I'm impressed." Said Lady Deathstrike as she approached, her fingers still in Union Jack's shoulder, "by all rights, you should be screaming for mercy." She twisted her fingers slightly, and she saw Union Jack's body ripple. Still, he refused to fall.
"I'm actually smiling underneath this mask." Union Jack informed Deathstrike. He then reached behind his back and pulled out a devise about the size of a T.V remote. He flashed it at Deathstrike before concealing it behind his back again, "see this, it's my experiment with C4. I call it C16 for reasons that'll be come apparent, and it has a deadman's switch."
"You're lying." Deathstrike stated, though in her mind she was running scenarios for escape. Strangely, she found she just couldn't muster enough willpower to care about that, "Then what are you waiting for?"
"I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me why they deserved to die."
Deathstrike spared no second in looking Union Jack in the eyes to explain, "They didn't."
He wanted to let go. He wanted to detonate his bomb that he was sure would destroy them both. But there was something in Deathstrike's voice that made him hesitate, that made him realize that perhaps she too was a victim in all this. But he also realized that even if she was under mind control, she was a lethal fighter he had to bring down with this one chance.
So they stood there in a silent Mexican standoff, Deathstrike not caring overly much if she lived or died, and Union Jack's instincts as a hero and soldier battling it out, until…
"Deathstrike, what's your status?"
The cyborg, Jack realized, had decided against using her internal radio. The fact that she'd made such a tactical mistake only fueled the British hero's suspicions.
"I've killed all resistance I've encountered. However, I've begun to feel quite sluggish, I feel the devises that protect me against the anti-technology field are beginning to fade."
"Noted. The field itself is beginning to fade itself, is everything in readiness?" The voice on the other end inquired.
"Yes, our third strike is more than ready." Lady Deathstrike never removed her eyes from Union Jack, "I doubt anyone will expect it, much less stop it."
"Good. Then prepare for extraction."
Lady Deathstrike disappeared slowly, and Union Jack felt the pain in his pierced shoulder lessen. He barely flipped the safety switch on his bomb before falling to his knees.
Union Jack's chest and arm were covered in blood, his mind on the verge of shock and his body begged him for rest. But none of these things were given any heed. All he could think of was what a third strike would entail.
"Union Jack! Omigod!"
Silverclaw dropped down from the sky and assumed human form instantly, "Are you okay?! Omigod theresomuchbloodwhathappened…"
"Maria, see to U.S Agent." Sabra commanded. The young woman nodded and moved away. Sabra knelt down, placed Jack's arm over her shoulder and gently helped him stand, "What happened?"
"Deathstrike." He answered flatly.
"I thought she was dead."
"I… only… wish."
Sabra observed Rock's voice trail off and how his attention was focused down the block. She followed his eyes, and found herself somewhat baffled.
"Rock, what's wrong?"
"It's a mosque." Union Jack explained, "Dear God in heaven, that's the third strike!"
Union Jack pulled away from Sabra and began running towards the mosque with speed that belied his injures. His teammates were in fast pursuit, but still far behind. Union Jack snatched the knob to throw it open, praying that he was wrong all the while.
Foom!
A wall of flame exploded outwards at Union Jack, his suit the only thing saving his life. The mosque was utterly engulfed in flames as people who'd taken refuge there screamed for help.
Union Jack felt his mind drift out of his body as he hit the pavement. He didn't see Sabra, U.S Agent and Silverclaw all but jump into the flames in a desperate attempt to save lives. No, whether it was his mind playing tricks on him or something else, he heard the many explosions that came one by one by one all over France. Hospitals, churches, community centers and more burst into flames as incendiary bombs exploded exactly where one might expect civilians to take refuge. Excalibur, scattered all over the city, reacted exactly the same, plunging into the fires in an effort save lives. But they knew the same thing Union Jack did.
No matter how hard they tried, they wouldn't be enough. Even if their powers and numbers were a hundred times greater. Union Jack had time for only one last thought before he spiraled into oblivion.
That this was only the beginning…
To be continued….
Next issue: The Avatars have barely begun their terror. Who is next…?
