The War Begins
"Sir why the hell are we waiting?" A GRSO soldier asked. A line of Sentinels as well as tanks and soldiers had surrounded the perimeter of the mansion. "Why can't we just go in now?"
"Believe me soldier I'd love to," Kincaid said. "But those higher up insist that we don't set a foot on the Xavier Institute until the bill is officially signed into law. Some kind of legal jargon in case this ever comes up in court. But once it is signed believe me, It's gonna be open season on those freaks."
Inside the mansion there was a flurry of activity. "They're still standing there but you know that won't last long!" Domino reported. "Got the president on monitor. In about three minutes the bill will be signed."
"That's all we got. Beast! Are those files almost deleted yet?" Logan barked.
"Close! Just one more minute!" Hank shouted back. He was at the controls of the mutant database attached to Cerebro.
"Sorry Beast but this is faster!" Bishop blasted at the controls with his laser. Soon Cerebro was destroyed.
"That would do it," Hank blinked.
"Take only what you can carry!" Alex gave orders to the others. "Food, water and a change of clothing! And any money you can get!"
"Don't bother with credit cards!" Logan barked. "They can just trace them back to us!"
"Is the mansion gonna get blown up again?" Jamie asked.
"We'll see," Logan said.
"Oh great!" Jamie groaned as he ran off with his duplicates getting supplies.
"I got the extra image inducers!" Kurt shouted.
"Good we'll need them!" Alex said.
"We shouldn't be running!" Northstar fumed. "We should be making a stand!"
"Fighting them would only make things worse," Logan said. "This is the only way."
"Are you sure about this?" Alex asked. "Look you guys can still…"
"There is no option," Hank shook his head. "Xavier needs medical attention. You all need to go on the run. He would only slow you down. Wolverine and I will stay with him."
"But the GRSO…" Jubilee began.
"Exactly," Logan smirked. "We're gonna take 'em down from the inside."
"If that's where you're going, so am I!" Alex protested.
"No! You're going to find Cyclops and Goblyn and help lead the team to safety!" Logan ordered.
"He's right," Rogue nodded. "I don't like it either but this is our best option for now."
"Here!" Hank gave Northstar a dossier. "These are all the files we have left. There are also some important contact information."
"But…" Northstar said.
"Northstar you're the only one of us who can get out of here and get past those Sentinels fast enough," Rogue told him. "You said you can run over water all the way across the Atlantic, now's your chance to prove it."
"You know where Excalibur's headquarters is, go!" Kitty ordered. "Through the tunnels and out the back! Before it's too late!"
"I'm gone!" Northstar nodded. Before anyone could blink he had run out of the secret tunnel entrance near the ocean and across the sea. He was gone before the Sentinels had a chance to register him.
"Bishop, Multiple, Static! Warpath! Domino! You know the plan!" Alex said.
"Right! Play decoy and don't get caught!" Domino nodded. Jamie made several clones. Taylor was with him too.
"With all those clones in the Blackbird maybe they'll think they're us making a break for it!" Rogue agreed.
"Got all the shaving cream bombs and a few other booby traps set up," Bobby shouted. "If the troops do manage to get through our defenses they're gonna find a big surprise or two!"
"I've set the Velocity on auto pilot," James said. "That'll help."
"Hopefully I'll be able to buy you all some time in order to…" Logan said.
"Logan! The president is gonna sign the bill!" Jubilee shouted.
"Okay that's our cue!" Bishop said.
"Good luck and meet us at the safe house in three days," Remy said. "Storm! Lay down some cover!"
"It is done," Ororo nodded. Fog soon surrounded the Xavier Institute.
"Let's go! Go! Go! Move it!" Rogue barked and the rest of the students ran down through the escape tunnel.
Rina was one of the last to leave. "Don't allow anyone into this tunnels," She told Logan.
"That's why we built a self destruct button in it," Logan grunted as he gave her a remote control device. "When the last kid gets through, hit it!"
"Wolverine…Be careful," Rina frowned.
"You know me," Logan grinned. Rina nodded. The students ran deep into the tunnel. Rina was last to make sure there were no stragglers.
"Are they attacking?" Paige yelled as she felt a rumble.
"No," Rina listened. "That's the Blackbird and the Velocity taking off. Keep running!"
"I hope Bishop and the others make it," Tabitha said. "Especially Multiple…"
"They'll be fine," Rogue smiled. "As long as Domino's with 'em they got luck on their side! Keep going! The end of the tunnel will be coming up soon!"
Meanwhile in front of the Institute…
"HOW COULD YOU MISS?" Kincaid screamed at his troops as the Blackbird soared away amid the explosions.
"We got the helicopter…" One soldier said weakly.
"A decoy no doubt!" Kincaid snapped. He turned around and saw Logan fighting through a wave of soldiers and tanks. "And here comes another decoy! Send out Sentinel A-35! Execute Program Lure!"
"Sir we detected a small number of mutant life forms in the plane as it went away," A soldier reported to Kincaid. "Maybe the rest of them got away?"
"No the Blackbird isn't big enough for all of them to escape that way," Kincaid thought. "The rest of them must be trying to escape another way! Are Sentinels Five and Six in position?"
"At the southern end of the perimeter like you ordered," The soldier winced as a piece of tank flew in the sky.
"Good! Just get Wolverine before he does any more damage!" Kincaid yelled.
"Come on and get it!" Logan roared, slicing apart weapons and forcing soldiers to run for their lives. "I'll take all of ya on ya…"
Then he noticed the giant Sentinel coming towards him. "I'm ready for you ya…" He jumped at the Sentinel with his claws outstretched, then realized he was heading towards it far too fast. "What the…?"
CLANG!
"Ow…" Logan grunted as he found himself stuck against the Sentinel's giant hand. He couldn't move. He just hung there stuck like a fly on flypaper as the Sentinel carried him away. "I hate magnets!"
"Yeah like we weren't going to be prepared for you," Kincaid snorted as Logan was lowered in front of him. "Those Adamantium bones in your body can be a real disadvantage sometimes can't they?"
"Why you…" Logan growled. Then he screamed in pain as several thousand volts of electricity shot through his body, knocking him out.
"That was easy," Kincaid quipped as the Sentinel released Logan's unconscious body. "Somebody get some restraints on him before he wakes up!"
"Are you sure he's not dead?" A soldier asked nervously.
"It'll take more than a zap or two to kill that one," Kincaid snorted. "I just hope the rest of the X-Men are as easy to take down. Although I doubt it. Get them!"
It wasn't long before the X-Men had escaped out of the tunnel. Rina pushed the self destruct button and it collapsed within itself. "That should keep the soldiers off our tail."
"Come on!" Rogue pointed to a van partially hidden by leaves and branches and covered with a tarp. "Get in the van so we can…"
CRUNCH!
A giant Sentinel stomped it's foot on the van, flattening it completely. "Oh crap…" Rogue groaned.
"Mutants detected! Halt!" The Sentinel intoned.
"So much for a clean getaway! Just our dumb luck that Sentinel was there," Tabitha shouted.
"It won't be there for long!" Remy threw explosive cards at it. The Sentinel shook them off. "Okay, maybe it might be there a while…"
Ororo flew to the air and tried to create use lightning to destroy the machine but it didn't even phase it. The Sentinel sent out a shockwave that forced her to fall to the ground. "I got ya Storm!" Sam managed to use his powers to fly up and catch her. Surprisingly he landed on the ground without crashing.
"Looks like your landings got better just in time," Ororo muttered, still dizzy.
Rogue used her flight and super strength to knock the Sentinel back but it kept coming and knocked her to the ground. "Nothing's going right this day!" Rogue grunted as she got up.
"Maybe this! Nightcrawler!" Kitty shouted.
Kurt nodded and teleported her up to on top of the Sentine's head. She phased through to the ground while Kurt teleported down. The Sentinel sputtered and started to explode at the seams. "Yeah I thought that would do it..." Kitty groaned as she nearly passed out in Peter's arms. "Whoa there's a lot more adamantium parts in there than I thought!"
"We got company!" Tabitha pointed as two more Sentinels appeared.
"Surrender mutants!" The Sentinels spoke.
"Surrender THIS!" Bobby focused on his powers and created a giant ice wave, engulfing the Sentinels.
"Way to go Iceman!" Jubilee shouted.
"Yeah but they're already trying to break free!" Tabitha pointed. "Is it me or are they a lot tougher than usual?"
"It's not you," Rina growled. "They must have been made with our powers in mind!"
"Mine seem to affect them but I need to catch my breath before I can phase through another Sentinel," Kitty said.
"Listen all of you get out of here!" Bobby shouted. "I'll hold them off as long as I can!"
"We can't leave you!" Sam shouted.
"No choice. There will be more coming this way and we can't beat all of them! Sorry Alex. Looks like one of us is gonna to the GRSO and bust out Lorna after all," Bobby made a smirk. "Like Wolverine said, you have to find your brother and Madelyne. And you're the best one to take care of the others. Don't worry about me. I'll be okay!"
"Iceman…" Alex said. "Be careful."
"Yeah, yeah so go already!" Bobby snapped. "I can't hold them back much longer!"
Alex nodded. The rest of the X-Men fled deeper into the woods. The sounds of the Sentinels breaking free and lasers firing. "This is nuts! We've all fought Sentinels before!" Jubilee shouted.
"These are better models than usual!" Alex shouted. "My plasma bursts barely made a dent!"
"Havok is right! We have no choice but to run and…" Remy shouted.
FLASH!
A purple blaze shot around them. The next thing Remy knew he ran straight into the wall of an old house. Then several X-Men ran into him. "Ow…"
"Who put that wall there?" Sam moaned.
"Somebody get off my foot!" Paige shouted.
"Okay what was that?" Tabitha looked around. They were near an old house. "And how did we get here…Wherever here is?"
"Teleportation spell," Benny Barumpbump appeared from the shadows with Amanda and Dead Girl. "Don't worry guys, you're safe."
"The spirits told me you guys would be in trouble so I went to get help," Dead Girl smirked.
"Wait a minute, I thought Dr. Strange wasn't gonna help us," Tabitha asked.
"He didn't," Benny told them. "I uh…kind of resigned as his apprentice."
"Resigned?" Sam asked. "You can do that?"
"The three of us kind of got into a bit of an argument with Doc before he took off to another dimension," Dead Girl said. "We thought it was a bit more important that we help out our own dimension first."
"Hey, I never wanted to be a sorcerer anyway," Benny grinned. "I'm a comedian first, remember? Besides, if you guys are persecuted, who's to say magic users won't be next?"
"Thanks Benny," Alex sighed. "We really appreciate this."
"Happy to join the team," Benny said. "Uh so what do we do now?"
"Where are we?" Rogue looked around. They were near an old house in the woods somewhere.
"A little place I used to come too as a kid," Benny said. "My family had this cabin in Florida for years."
"Is that all of you?" Amanda asked. "Where's…"
"Multiple, Static and a few of our new friends got away," Kurt told her. "Wolverine, Beast and Iceman got captured…They're going to try to infiltrate the GRSO from the inside."
"We're gonna rescue them as soon as we come up with a plan," Jubilee said. "We think…"
"And the Professor?" Dead Girl asked. "He's not dead. I'd know."
"He's in a coma," Alex let out a breath. "Jean did it."
"Jean? How…?" Benny gasped.
"Long story short, Princess Lilandra organized the death of her family," Rogue spat. "Scott and Madelyne got kidnapped. Jean went nuts."
"Amara's gone too," Tabitha was worried. "Before the attack. I don't know where she went. Well technically I do know where, just not where-where."
"What does that mean?" Amanda asked.
"She made some kind of bargain with Selene and Apocalypse in order to get revenge on what happened at Nova Roma," Tabitha explained. "I tried to talk her out of it but it didn't work."
"So what do we do now? Do we go to the safe house?" Jubilee asked.
"I say we go back and…" Tabitha began.
"And what? We were nearly killed!" Sam shouted.
"All right! Listen up!" Alex shouted. "Look I know things have been way beyond harsh. We've lost people. We've lost the professor and our home. But we're still X-Men. We're still here. And if we don't stay together everything we've all worked so hard for will be gone forever. As long as we keep fighting and stay organized there's a chance we can get it all back. We may be down, but we're not out yet!"
"He's right," Ororo said. "We can't give up hope. We can't let our enemies win. We don't have that option. If we don't make a stand, all mutants everywhere are finished."
"So what do we do now?" Jubilee asked.
"I guess we rest for a bit and figure out a plan to rescue Logan, Beast and the others," Alex sighed. "I just hope they can hold on until we do."
"Well it's no surprise the place was booby trapped," Kincaid scoffed as some of his soldiers returned covered in chicken feathers and shaving cream. "Or that Cerebro was destroyed and most of the X-Men got away. Although I doubt that they just disappeared like magic!"
He turned to Logan and Hank in mutant power dampening shackles. "But I think we got some excellent consolation prizes."
Kincaid looked at the body of Xavier being carried out on a stretcher. "It's a pity Xavier is in a coma. I was looking forward to having a nice long chat with him. What happened to him anyway?"
"We…had a little accident," Hank coughed.
"Here comes some more accidents," Kincaid snorted as the Misfits walked up to him. "What are you idiots doing here?"
"Our jobs," Althea said calmly. "It was our understanding that it would be the Misfits who would take the X-Men into custody. Where are the rest of them? You didn't let them get out the secret passageway did you?"
"Uh…" One soldier gulped.
"Shut up!" Kincaid snapped.
"Looks like we got one more," A soldier pointed out. Bobby was led to the vehicle in shackles and a restraining collar.
"Iceman…" Logan growled.
"Uh sorry guys," Bobby pretended to act innocent and embarrassed. "Kind of tripped and fell."
"Yeah right," Logan growled under his breath.
"We have four X-Men, we'll get the others!" Kincaid snapped.
"Since one of them is in a coma and the other one is Iceman that's not exactly saying much," Pyro quipped.
"Hey!" Bobby snapped.
"The Misfits knew about that secret passage and every other one," Lance growled. "If you let us take them on we'd have had them all! Face it Kincaid, you blew it!"
"I'll just have to make do with this lot then," Kincaid snarled. "All right, you Misfits can go hunt down the other X-Men."
"But…" Fred began to protest but Althea cut him off with a look.
"We'll go after them," Althea said.
"Try to be useful and actually capture some of them for once!" Kincaid snapped.
"Sir what do we do about the Xavier Institute?" A soldier asked.
"Torch it," Kincaid snarled. "After you salvage every bit of information you can from it's systems. On second thought I have an idea…I know a certain mayor that will be very happy about this turn of events."
"Now what do we do?" Lance asked as the Misfits moved away.
"Play along for now," Althea said. "Besides we have our little ace in the hole."
"Right," Pietro grinned. "They did tell us to hunt down X-Men. Funny thing is…They never specified exactly which X-Men we should be keeping a lookout for."
Next: Logan, Hank and Bobby are taken captive by the GRSO. Well Xavier too but he's pretty much out of it. What they find is more frightening than they could imagine!