I was going to publish this chapter this weekend, but Thanksgiving is coming up her in the US, so I figured I wouldn't have time. You're welcome ;) For this continuity's Brotherhood, Arclight, Kid Omega, Callisto and Multiple Man are based off of their "X-Men: Last Stand" interpretations.
And now, in the words of Heath Ledger/Joker, "And here...we...go!" That is all.
edited/extended bit
Chapter 9: No More
*Quinjets 1, 2 and 5, currently flying at Mach 5. En route to Houston, TX*
"What's the situation, Stark?"
"Not good; satellites are picking up the entire Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy in Houston-Magneto, Mystique, Pyro, Juggernaut, Toad, Avalanche, Sabretooth, Mastermind, Blob, Daken, Omega Red, Kid Omega, Callisto, Arclight, and Multiple Man. They're still in the general vicinity of the college, but they're starting to spread out; probably the crazy ones like Sabretooth. I got Scarlet Spider on the grid and some mutant students trying to fight back, but the numbers and powers are against them."
"I don't remember Magneto having so many flunkies," Wasp said."
"That's been the Brotherhood for two years now, Jan," Logan snarled. "The X-Men had a pretty hard tussle with 'em a few months ago, but they've been laying low since then. Wonder what Magneto's play here is."
"Whatever it is, we'll stop it," Captain America said.
Right now, three Quinjets were en route to Houston carrying the Avengers' full roster to back up Scarlet Spider. In one Quinjet was Captain America, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Hercules, Falcon, Daredevil and Spider Woman; the second Quinjet held Hawkeye, Black Widow, Mockingbird, Tigra, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Dr. Strange; the third Quinjet held Yellowjacket, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Namor and Black Panther. On the roof of each Quinjet were Hulk, Red Hulk and She-Hulk. Flying alongside the Quinjets were Iron Man, Thor, Vision, Ms. Marvel, Wonder Man and Protector.
'Sir, I have a call from Colonel Rhodes,' JARVIS said, echoing through everyone's comms.
"Patch it through," Iron Man replied. "Rhodey, good to hear from you, but this is kind of a bad-"
"Let me guess: Houston?" War Machine replied. "Yeah, same here; the brass ordered me over there just now. ETA is 20 minutes, Tony; you guys?"
"We just passed over the Alabama-Mississippi border, and we're going at Mach 5 so we'll be there in 15!"
"Cool-save some action for me! War Machine out!"
"Alright everyone, we have War Machine en route-"
'Incoming call from Scarlet Spider,' JARVIS interrupted.
"Patch it through," Peter immediately responded before letting Stark reply. "Kaine, are you alright?!"
"I'm fighting the most dangerous group of mutant terrorists on Earth with the cops and a few students-WHAT DO YOU THINK!?" The Avengers could easily hear the sounds of battle in the background. "Brother, is Wolverine there?! Tell me he's there!"
"I'm here, Scarlet, what's wrong?!" Logan asked.
"Where are the X-Men right now?!"
"Um, they're-they're over in Japan," Wolverine responded, shocked by the question. "Chuck went to meet a new student and-"
"Don't care-I have a problem: a black jet just came out of nowhere and 10 kids who I think are mutants jumped out and started fighting the Brotherhood! And they're losing! One looks like a walking pile of rocks, another can turn into a wolf, and another-"
"Oh no," was all Logan could say as horror crept into his eyes. "The New Mutants."
"You mean the kids the X-Men are training!?" Red Hulk cried.
"They're supposed to stay on campus, dammit!" The second Logan said the words, his X-Communicator rang, and he answered once he saw who it was. "Laura-"
"Logan, the kids are gone!" She sounded angry and yet hysterical. "They have just disappeared and Fantomex and Nemesis cannot-"
"X, calm down! They're in Houston tackling the Brotherhood," Logan yelled as he tried to calm his clone/"daughter" down. "Now listen carefully! I want you, Nemesis and all the others to get the students in their dorms and shut them inside until I or Slim tell you otherwise, no exceptions! Then you all make sure no one enters the building or school grounds unless they're one of us!"
"I…yes, Logan," Laura said before she signed off.
"Stark, get these things to go faster, dammit!" Wolverine roared. After yelling, he began to psychically call his mentor and friend.
*Kyoto, Japan. Around the same time*
"It is settled then," Charles Xavier said happily as he shook the hand of Mr. Ichiki. "Hisako will be picked up by Betsy in a week's time and escorted to the institute."
"I thank you, Sensei Xavier," Mr. Ichiki said with a bow. "I am glad that my daughter will be learning from the finest. It was always a dream of hers to be an X-Man when she discovered her abilities."
"Being an X-Man requires much patience and training, Hisako," Xavier said, turning to the young girl. "It will be quite exhausting."
"I'm ready," Hisako replied with a smile. "I even have a name picked: Armor." Xavier couldn't help but smile.
On the other side of the patio stood the X-Men-Cyclops, Jean Grey, Psylocke, Storm, Colossus, Magik, Angel, Nightcrawler, Emma Frost, Beast, Iceman, Shadowcat, Rogue and Gambit. They had interacted with the young mutant and her father, instantly taking a liking to them. They felt she'd fit right in.
"I think she'll like the place quite well," Beast said with a smile.
"She sure will," Jean said as she cuddled into Scott. "What do you think, Scott?"
"I think she'll learn to hate Emma and Logan's classes," he replied with a smirk.
"I'll have you know, Scott, that many students like my class," Frost replied with her own smirk.
"That's not what Rogue, Bobby and I hear," Kitty replied with a laugh.
"What's the news, Professor?" Storm asked as Xavier came over to them. "Will she be joining us?"
"Quite so, Ororo, but not today; Betsy will be returning in a week to retrieve her and-" Charles stopped, his eyes fading into blankness. The team instantly knew what this meant: he was being called telepathically. In just 10 seconds, he was back.
"Professor?" Jean asked with concern.
"Oh dear…that was Logan, my X-Men. He is with the Avengers…we must leave for Houston, at once!"
*Houston, Texas. 14 minutes later*
Rockslide, Surge, Dust, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Boom Boom, Pixie, Sunspot, Magma and Jubilee.
They were the next generation of mutant heroes as chosen by Professor X, Cyclops and Wolverine. They were the New Mutants.
And they were getting their asses handed to them.
"Who's bright idea was it to tackle the Brotherhood?!" Boom Boom yelled as she threw dozens of tiny explosive plasma projectiles at Omega Red, who easily dodged them all and barely missed landing a powerful kick on her.
"Yours, you idiot!" Jubilee cried as she tried to dodge Daken's hits as best as she could.
"Oh, right! OK, then, don't give up guys! We can win this!"
"You kids are going to get yourselves killed!" Scarlet Spider roared as he flung Kid Omega into Blob-which didn't faze the latter-only to be tackled and hit repeatedly by Callisto's superhuman speed hits. "OWOWOWOWWOW! DAMN YOU!"
"We need a plan here!" Wolfsbane roared as she was slammed into the ground by Sabretooth. "Boom Boom's idea of just charging in isn't working! And can someone help me?!"
"I'm gonna enjoy tearing you apart, mutt," Creed snarled evilly as he unleashed his claws. "After you, I'm gonna-hey, what-ARRGHH!" The feral mutant was swarmed by a gigantic dust storm as Dust rescued her teammate.
In that moment, Juggernaut came crashing through a nearby building, pummeling Rockslide into the ground. "You think a pile of rocks can stop the unstoppable?! Nothing can stop the Juggernaut!"
Magneto, Mystique and Mastermind watched as the New Mutants, Scarlet Spider and the police did their best to battle the powerful Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy. "Charles' students arriving was unexpected, but it does nothing to hinder the plan. You will have your moment, Mastermind."
"How do you know they shall arrive, Erik?" Mystique asked, checking the skies in anticipation of their targets-and especially two who she really wanted to see dead-arriving.
"Because, my dear lieutenant, it is simply in their nature. These humans seek to grab fame in defeating and enslaving our kind. Besides…this demonstration was terrible-humans and mutants united as one? Humanity will never accept us, and we therefore must rise and crush them under our thumb-"
"They're here," Mastermind said as he saw the three shapes in the air.
Meanwhile, Juggernaut and Blob had just slammed Kaine down into the ground, landing him next to a barely conscious Pixie and Rockslide.
"You're screwed now, bug," Blob sneered.
"Any last words before I kill you?" Juggernaut smirked as he raised his powerful fist.
"Yeah…" Kaine said with a smile, pointing up. "Can the unstoppable beat the all-powerful?"
"I'M THE JUGGERNAUT, B-"
BOOOM !
The entire ground shook as the explosion of the impact as a large green thing slammed into Juggernaut, creating a gigantic crater and startling everyone, even Magneto, who expected them. A second later, the Hulk appeared out of the dust, holding a struggling Juggernaut by the helmet.
"HULK SMASH JUGGERNAUT!" he roared as he threw the terrorist into the air, allowing Thor to appear and slam Mjolnir into his face, shattering the helmet into pieces.
"AVENGERS, ASSEMBLE!" the Asgardian roared as the Avengers sky dived right into the heat of the battle, the thunder and lightning dancing in the heavens.
"Somebody order a big jar of Kool-Aid?" Spider-Man quipped as he landed with Red Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Wolverine, Dr. Strange and Falcon.
"That joke is starting to get old, kid," Red Hulk grumbled as he began flaring up. "Thor, Hercules, She-Hulk and Banner-with me on Juggernaut!" The five instantly bum rushed the returning Juggernaut as he could easily destroy Houston if left unchecked.
"Everyone else, take these nutcases down!" Captain America roared out as he, Luke Cage and Iron Fist tackled Pyro.
"You wanna play, old man?!" the villain sneered as he began shooting flames. "Let's play!"
"LOGAN!" Sabretooth roared as he charged at Wolverine.
"COME AT ME, BUB!" the mutant Avenger roared back as he dodged his half-brother's strikes, giving Tigra the chance to jump on Sabretooth's back and start clawing and slashing.
"You're mine, old-!" Daken roared as he charged at his father, claws unsheathed before being rushed by Spider-Woman.
"I think not, boy," Jessica said as she began releasing her pheromones against Daken, who released his own pheromones in retaliation; instantly, the two began a battle of hand-to-hand and pheromone manipulation.
Blob made to attack but was instantly attacked himself by Protector, Daredevil, Black Widow and Namor, who cried, "Imperius Rex!"
Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Black Widow, Yellowjacket and Wasp made to attack Omega Red and Arclight, but were instantly assaulted by Callisto. "Bad move coming here, Avengers," she sneered as she kept landing her rapid punches, stopping only to gloat. "You should've-" She was instantly interrupted as a rapid blue and white blur attacked her, landing punches by the millisecond; yet even as she staggered back, Callisto's eyes flared with rage as she knew who her attacker was.
"Callisto," Quicksilver stated as he slowed down, taking on a battle stance. "I believe we have some unfinished business."
"Indeed we do, Pietro," Callisto sneered, and instantly the two speedsters struck each other in flurries of punches and kicks, leaving the others to continue their attack on Omega Red and Arclight.
"Mastermind, you know what to do," Magneto said as he nodded to his loyal follower, and Mastermind went to do his job. Magneto then turned to Mystique. "Go, Raven…have your fun." At that, the blue mutant smiled evilly and made off, just as Magneto was attacked.
"MAGNETO!" Iron Man yelled out as he, Dr. Strange, Scarlet Witch, Vision and Black Panther surrounded the mutant terrorist. "This is your only warning-surrender! And don't even try the magnetic play-anti-magnetic fields around me and Vision!"
"The whole city is filled with metal, Iron Man," Magneto smiled as he willed dozens of cars into the air. "You think you can stand against the master of magnetism?!"
"I told you he wouldn't surrender," Dr. Strange mused.
"Whatever," Stark muttered. "Take him down, Avengers!" And the five attacked.
Meanwhile, Carol and Peter were working together in taking Avalanche. "Stay still so I can kill you!" the mutant roared as repeatedly fired dozens of shockwaves at the Kree-human hybrid while simultaneously sending shockwaves to kill the agile arachnid.
"Is this guy for real?!" Peter laughed as he landed a web on Avalanche; he instantly flung him at Carol, who landed a good enough hit to render the mutant unconscious and fling his body into a group of 20 Multiple Man duplicates. "I mean, seriously," Peter continued, "if I listened when the bad guys said to stay still I would've done it years ago!"
"Such a terrible thought, babe," Carol smiled as she landed next to her fiancé. "If that happened, I'd still be a stick in the mud."
"Who say's you're not one anymore?" Peter teased as they went back to back, ready to take on the approaching Toad and Multiple Man duplicates. "I think I speak for everyone when I say-" suddenly, his Spider-Sense went off like crazy, and he saw why. "CAROL, MOVE!" he cried as he kicked Ms. Marvel out of the way, taking the full force of Mystique's attack, both flying dozens of feet.
"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this," Raven laughed as she brought her boot to Peter's neck, aiming her gun at his skull. "This is such a treat, finally killing Danvers' little boyfriend."
"Actually, I've been upgraded to fiancé," Peter quipped as he fired a blast of webbing at the Brotherhood member's eyes, surprising her enough for him to kick upwards and escape her bullets, now firing madly. "Which means what you tried to do was upgraded from 'worst mistake of your life' to 'signing your own death warrant!'"
And when Mystique finally got the webbing out of her eyes, unsure of why Spider-Man didn't attack her at that moment, the seething woman charging at her explained why.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM YOU FILTHY PIECE OF-!" Carol roared as she slammed her nemesis into the wall of a nearby warehouse, her eyes and fists glowing with raw energy, the noise of the impact drowning out the end of her scream. Mystique had the nerve-the AUDACITY-to attack her man…in FRONT of her?! "I'm going to kill you for that, you filthy scum."
"You had your chance years ago, Danvers," Mystique sneered as she began a relentless judo assault-easily deflected by Carol at every blow. "The Spider's made you weak."
"He's MY Spider, and I think when it comes to you threatening him, I can make an exception."
"Miss and a miss-miss!" Peter taunted as Toad continuously missed hitting him with his long tongue. "Wait a minute, how many tongues do you have?!"
"Bloody hell, I'm going to-" Toad began yelling before webbed and flung into the air by Scarlet Spider.
"Thanks for coming, brother," Kaine said as the two arachnids watched Carol and Mystique go at it. "You know, I think I can see why you proposed-if she's gonna keep fighting women like that, I'd have proposed to her myself."
"Dream on, brother; watch your back," Peter replied as he flipped out of the charging Sabretooth's way to allow Kaine to land a punch to the mutant's nose, stunning him enough for Logan, Tigra and Spider-Woman to rush him again.
"I thought I said save me some of the action, Tony!" War Machine yelled as he arrived to help the five Avengers taking on Magneto. Activating his own anti-magnetic fields, he began firing powerful repulsor rays.
"You want him, take him!" Stark retorted as he fired his unibeam in unison with Rhodey, joined by Strange's magic bolts.
"YOU WILL FALL BEFORE THE BROTHERHOOD!" Magneto yelled, firing powerful magnetic blasts. "HUMANITY SHALL FALL BEFORE THE MIGHT OF MUTANTKIND!"
"I recommend you stay down, Juggernaut," Thor snarled a few dozen blocks down as he, Hercules and the three Hulks surrounded the still undeterred Cain Marko. "You do not wish to continue fighting the mightiest of Avengers."
"The Juggernaut doesn't surrender, Goldilocks!" the non-mutant roared as he tackled the Asgardian, who barely managed to hold him back. Hercules immediately jumped onto the titan's back grabbing him in a headlock.
"Enough talk-let's just smash him!" Hulk roared as he, She-Hulk and Red Hulk joined the fray.
"This is awesome!" Boom Boom yelled as she and the rest of the New Mutants regrouped and saw the titanic battle between the Avengers and the Brotherhood. "We can win this now! This'll make us-!"
"YOU!" Wolverine roared as he came out of nowhere, his claws drenched with Sabretooth's blood. Immediately, the young mutant heroes knew fear. "WHOSE BRIGHT IDEA WAS IT FOR YOU TO TACKLE MAGNETO?!" All of them instantly pointed to Boom Boom.
"We just wanted to help, Logan!" she cried, utterly terrified of what the 200+ year old war veteran would do.
"Of course it was you, kid," Logan groaned as he face palmed. "Listen, the X-Men are on their way. I want you to get on that jet and get-"
"We got a problem here!" Spider-Man yelled out. He and Scarlet Spider saw the mutant students from the college being terrorized by Mastermind, forcing them to run in a panic towards Houston's Uptown sector, to were the corporate giants' offices and other buildings were-along with a few thousand people at any given time. "I got Mastermind terrorizing the mutant students and herding them to the city!"
"Pursuit protocols, Spider-Man!" Captain America yelled back as he bashed Blob in the face with his shield. "Scarlet Witch, give him back-up!"
"Yes, Captain!" Wanda cried as she followed after a swinging Peter.
"I'm going with you, brother!" Kaine yelled as he joined the two Avengers. "I know Uptown like the back of my hand."
"Awesome-Wanda, hold on!" Peter yelled as he grabbed Wanda by the waist and swung after the mutant terrorist and panicking students. Wanda blushed slightly at how close Peter was holding her.
"Careful, Peter, I don't want Carol to think something's between us."
"Risk death by Ms. Marvel?" Peter laughed. "I'd be an idiot after I just proposed."
"We'll help them!" The New Mutants yelled in unison as they chased after the three heroes, much to the dismay of Wolverine. Unfortunately the best he could do was yell, "NO, YOU IDIOTS, COME BACK!" as he was being held down by his vicious half-brother.
Carol saw Peter and the others chasing after Mastermind, and despite trusting completely in his abilities, she couldn't help but worry. "Be careful, my Amazing Spider-Man," she whispered to herself. With that, she returned to kicking Mystique's ass.
*Uptown Houston, 15 minutes later*
Wanda was really glad at the moment that she had long traded her gypsy-style costume for her current trenchcoat/dress cross style one; it didn't snag into debris like the cape did before. Of course, neither costume helped much as she fired volley after volley of hex spheres at the incoming mutant students-Mastermind was somehow making them believe she, Peter and Kaine were the enemy (who knew what he was making them see), and they were attacking them, utilizing every power at their disposal. But the three heroes couldn't hurt the students, and were doing their best to simply incapacitate them.
By now, most of Houston had heard of the battle between the Avengers and the Brotherhood via news channels. Unfortunately, innocent bystanders had the tendency to still stick around and watch the fight, no matter HOW life threatening it was.
"Guys, we're not the enemy here!" Peter yelled as he fired web volleys at the students, trying with all his might to reason with them. "You're being controlled by-"
"STOP GODZILLA!" a student roared as she launched a fireball at the Avenger.
"Godzilla-?! Well, that's a new one," he quipped.
"Not to worry, Avengers!" Cannonball cried out as he slammed into the charging body of mutants. "The New Mutants are here to help save the day!"
"Half this thing is your fault, you idiots!" Kaine roared as he fired his stingers at the charging students, hoping to knock them out."
"And now we're gonna fix it!" Magma replied as she fired flaming energy at the mutants who called out Godzilla earlier.
"Well, it does kind of help," Wanda admitted as she managed to subdue seven students in hex rings. "We're really outnumbered here, and we have to hold until this section evacuates!" Scarlet Witch was right: at the moment, once the college mutant students arrived in this part of Uptown Houston, civilians began running in chaotic panic, running everywhere. Nearby buildings began evacuating as the people inside began racing out screaming in terror.
"Something tells me Mastermind is behind that," Kaine snarled as he wrestled with a ninja-like mutant. "Probably making them see all kinds of crap up in those buildings; only reason they aren't running inside where it'd be safer."
"How clever you are, Scarlet Spider," a drawling yet formal voice rang out; immediately, the two Avengers, Kaine, and the New Mutants turned to see Mastermind standing on a crashed bus. "All this is, indeed, my doing. Illusions are a lovely thing, are they not?"
"Mastermind, surrender now!" Wanda yelled as her hands began pulsing with hex energy, and the two arachnids made to jump. "You only get one-"
"NEW MUTANTS, GET HIM!" Boom Boom roared as she and her team tackled the Brotherhood terrorist-only to rush past him and right into the screaming packs of fleeing civilians.
"Mastermind, what did you do?!" Scarlet Spider roared in anger, furious that his city was being so damaged like this.
"Showing that mutants who think they can work side by side with humanity that they will always hate us!" Mastermind yelled with a triumphant smile. Well, aside from eliminating any potential threats and reaping complete and utter chaos for those news choppers above to see, I am preparing Magneto's grandest plan yet!" What happened next was not good at all.
Peter and Kaine felt tugs at their five senses, and both instantly saw before them the entire population of the Raft attack them-Carnage, Green & Hobgoblin, Rhino, the Wrecking Crew, Mister Hyde, Sandman, Doctor Octopus, Venom…everyone. But as they dodged the charging horde, the vision vanished, and they realized they had been played. Mastermind had simply tricked them. But that was just a distraction for them, because he had something much more sinister planned for…
"WANDA!" Peter yelled as he saw the Scarlet Witch begin surrounding herself with hex sphere and hex rings, her eyes glowing pinkish-reddish and her lips moving in words neither he nor Kaine could understand. "What are you doing to her?!"
"She has such weak will, Magneto's daughter; but the power she holds to alter reality and sow destruction is great-all that power at her fingertips and she chooses to defend the primates who persecute us?! I am simply showing her the light, Spider-Man! She is simply the tool required for our greatest push for power and supremacy yet!" Mastermind cried in victory. "10 seconds have passed for us, but in the visions I'm giving her, a year and a half have gone by, 18 months were humanity has now hunted down mutants and the Avengers have wiped out almost all of mutant kind along with the X-Men; a reality where the Brotherhood fights with her to save our species! She has seen our people slaughtered before her eyes, all at the hands of the humans she's sworn to protect. My illusions are giving her the strength to simply do something about it! I make her see Magneto giving her one opportunity to do what she thinks is saving her people when in reality she'll be furthering out own goals! And now, with three words, she will purge this city of the primates of mankind! Now Wanda Maximoff- NO MORE HUMANS!"
"No more humans…" Wanda whispered as the hex spheres and rings around her grew and glowed greater and greater.
"MASTERMIND!" both arachnids yelled as they attacked the terrorist in unison and fury; he was too caught up in the moment to see them in time, and before he could conjure up any illusions against them, both Peter and Kaine were beating him savagely.
"LET HER GO!" Kaine roared, terrified that Houston would be wiped out.
"No more humans…" Wanda said louder, her hex energies intensifying even more, pulsating as if threatening to explode.
"MUTANTS AND HUMANS CAN COEXSIST IF FILTH LIKE YOUR BROTHERHOOD STOPPED HAMPERING THE EFFORTS!" Peter yelled.
"No more huma-mutants?"
Instantly, the arachnids and Mastermind, ignoring the chaos around them of panicking civilians and a still berserker New Mutants, looked at Wanda.
"Well," Mastermind mused with a smirk. "This is an interesting development. It appears that your attack slightly jarred my hold on her; now she's caught in the middle of illusion and reality."
"Humans…mutants…no more..? No…" Wanda babbled, the hex energies reaching their highest intensity.
"NO WANDA, STOP!" Kaine cried in vain. Wanda simply gazed at the three of them, her eyes glowing intensely with pink hex energy. Then, she uttered the two words…
"No more." Instantly, the hex energies stopped swirling and moving, frozen in the air. Then, they glowed even brighter, the explosive energies encased inside reaching their limit capacity, pulsating even more. Only then did Mastermind understand what was about to happen as his eyes widened in horror.
"Oh no-the illusion's mixed with the reality! She has no idea which to extinguish-she'll destroy both-"
"She's gonna let it all loose!" Peter yelled. "SHE'LL DESTROY EVERYTHING! WANDA, NO!
"No more."
…
…
…
BOOM.
XXXXXXXXXX-A/N-XXXXXXXXXX
So, what did you think? I really loved how this chapter turned out, especially the ending. I was torn between using the New Mutants, but they'll fit into the plot later on, about two chapters down.
So, what did you think, guys? How do you like the direction and plot of the story so far. Feel free to say so in a review, leave some feedback, and if you have any questions, just PM me.
So, questions: how bad do you think Wanda is going to be emotionally scarred and what do you think her fate would be? What about the New Mutants?
And finally, what was your favorite part of this chapter.
Ok guys, I'll be back next week after Thanksgiving, and "Marvelous & Amazing" and "Carol Danvers vs. the Sinister Foes of Spider-Man will have new content tomorrow, guaranteed.
Until next time readers.
