"I succeeded in creating the ultimate weapon."
- Dr. Deborah Risman
It was a terrible sensation, really, to have your life drawn out of your body. X23 equated it to a situation once where HYDRA had endeavored to learn about her regenerative limitations by cutting a hole in her stomach and letting her bleed out... every time it healed, they did it again. And the more blood she lost, the weaker she got, until by the end she had nearly been delirious.
However, that same brutal training was what was going to help her survive here and now. Pushing aside the pain, X23 kicked up and, using her unwitting brother for assistance, lashed out with both legs, catching the white-haired X27 full in the face with her heavy boots. The other clone went flying to smash into one of the birthing tubes, shattering it, spraying yet more green goo all over herself and letting half splash over the floor, making it slick. Wasting no time, X23 launched her elbow backwards, catching X24 full in the solar plexus. The son of Sabertooth's eyes bugged out as all the air was knocked from his lungs, but this didn't stop X23 from grabbing his arm and flipping him over her shoulder, sending him sailing through the air. He slammed full into X27 just as she was struggling to her feet, knocking her back down and letting her head slam against the broken metal tank she'd just destroyed. Hopefully that would keep her down a bit longer.
A sudden flurry of movement caught her eye, and acting purely on instinct, X23 dodged as more metallic darts flung past her. Several dug into her sides, but fortunately they missed doing any serious damage. Hurt like crazy though. She retaliated, palming some of the razor disks at her belt and hurling them over towards X28. Three he shot clean out of the air, displaying incredible accuracy. The fourth he raised his arm and sheathed it in metal, destroying the disk, before allowing the metal to slid back under his skin.
As she landed, X23 ducked behind one of the cylinders again out of sight, and tugged the darts out of her skin, letting her regeneration kick in to properly heal her wounds as she held up the little darts. An idea came to her.
Reaching down to her belt, she grabbed up the lighter she'd pocketed earlier, and flicked it open, holding it close to one of the containers... hoping that HYDRA would care enough about the abominations it had created in order for...
A spray of water spouted out above her, spewing out its contents as lights flashed in the birthing chamber. Similar spouts lining the room began spraying, incorrectly believing the room to be in fire. Between the flashing lights and the spraying water, all sounds and sight was cut to almost zero. In the chaos, X23 vanished like a ghost from her pseudo-siblings. A grin stretched over her lips. Her hunch had paid off. Seems instincts sometimes had their good points too.
Now it was her turn to do some hunting.
Much less ostentatious than Madame Hydra's throne room, the laboratory of Colonel Wraith was simple and utilitarian. Black walls that drank in the light, save for the necessary fluorescents overhead. The only real similarity was the viewscreen on the far wall. Usually he used it to watch old footage of his Weapon X experiments, hoping to find the flaw behind his original design. Today, he was using it to monitor the fight down below in the birthing chambers.
He almost didn't notice when a bang came at the door, subconsciously dismissing it as an underling come to annoy him. He wouldn't put up with it right at the moment. He had much more important things to...
Another bang came, louder this time. And then another, and as Wraith turned, his eyes widened behind his goggles as he saw the metal was starting to dent under the blows.
No... it couldn't be...
With a final thud the door fell open, no longer supported by its hinges. The guards outside were nowhere in sight, and judging by the individual who'd just stepped through the doorway, they were probably long dead by now. A low growl emanated from the figure as he stepped out of the darkness and into the light where Colonel Wraith could properly se him.
Vicious black claws were lifted up as Sabertooth drew himself to his full height, towering over the fearful Wraith. "You, and me, need to have a serious talk."
"How're we supposed to find her now?" spat X27, damp curls clinging to her head. X26 shook her head, tail lashing about angrily as she glanced left and right, trying to find a sign of her prey.
Water continued to spray down over the room as X24 stepped forward. "Spread out!" he ordered, taking charge of the group. "She can't get out of here, the doors are sealed and they're feet thick. FIND HER AND KILL HER!"
The clones dispersed, moving between the glass cylinders, paying no mind to the thought that they had been born here, in this very room. All emotion had been stripped off them but mindless rage, they were nothing but weapons. As she watched from her hiding place, underneath the walkway above them, X23 could not help but feel a twinge of pity. This was what she could have become if she had not escaped from HYDRA. This is what she could have become if the X-Men had not saved her. But now she had no choice. She had to end this.
Screeching like a wildcat, X23 dropped down, slamming her booted feet onto the shoulders of X24 and bearing him to the ground. Without waiting to see how badly this hurt, she was already moving, claws flying from her sheaths as she swung her arms at X28. The young boy sprouted identical claws from between his knuckles, but when they collided, it was clear they were not nearly as strong as adamantium. X23's blades sliced clear through, and she followed through with a vicious elbow-jab to his face. This proved a mistake, however, as his skull rang at the hit. Half-expecting that, even counting on it, she then swung around and low, lashing out with a leg and knocking him off his feet. X28 hit the ground hard, nearly cracking the floor from the impact, and lay there. Iron bones meant he must've been a lot heavier than he looked, so he'd take a while to get up.
"You'll regret that!"
Good thing too, because X25 was launching herself at X23 now, ten metallic blades flashing through the air. X23 countered with her own blades, and the air became alive with the swish-swish of metal and the occasional ringing of adamantium as they collided. Nor did the redheaded asian hold back, she was attacking with everything she had. However, this proved her undoing as X23 caught the sound of a bootfall behind her. Rather than dodge the next attack, she grabbed a hold of her enemies hand and spun, shoving her forward at the same instant she missed. Instead of hitting her, five terrible long blades sank instead into X27's stomach. The white-haired girl gasped in shock at the sudden hit, and this was more than sufficient for X23 to follow up her attack with a vicious roundhouse kick that sent both girls crashing into another one of the birthing tubes, shattering it. X25 took the brunt of that, so by the time they hit the ground, both of them were in bad condition.
A savage roar made her whip her head around, her dark locks clinging to her head as she beheld the remaining clones, X24 and X26. "Get her!" he shouted. The blue clone, without losing the composed look on her face, leapt forward, fist and foot flying through the air. X23 blocked, countering the kick with one of her own. The fist, however, caught her full in the face. She'd expected that, however, and launched out with one of her own. X26 parried, and her tail lashed out again, the adamantium tip tearing a chunk away from X23's sleeve. Between that and the earlier assaults with the clones, X23 was losing a lot of blood, to say nothing of fabric. Her uniform looked like it had been through a cheese grater -and- a blender. She needed to bring this to an end, and soon.
So the next time the blue clone lashed out with her tail, X23 was ready, and caught it in her strong grip. If she was anything like Kurt, even holding the tail would've been painful enough, but X23 instead yanked hard, using the tail and leverage to haul X26 off her feet and fling her across the room, letting her crash down atop of X28, who'd been about to regain his feet. As it was, he crashed down for a second time with some additional weight atop of him.
A vicious uppercut caught the former assassin full in the face, and she went flying, though she managed to regain her balance in time to land, claws digging into the ground as she skid across the slick floor. Her gaze settled on X24 at the other end of the room as he cracked his knuckles.
"Aww, whatsa matter, sis? Running out of steam?" he grinned smugly. His crimson uniform had the odd tear in it, but he looked almost completely unharmed thanks to his regenerative factor. She, on the other hand, looked like hell. Felt like hell, too. She would've liked nothing more than to curl up in front of the TV back at the mansion and fall asleep watching re-runs of Saturday Morning Cartoons (something Jubilee had introduced her too) but instead, she lifted her weary arms and took a defensive stance.
X24 grinned wickedly. "Give it up. You've lost."
"Not just yet," she spat back.
X24 grinned, leaping forward again, and X23 raised her claws to block. But it was a feint, and his foot slammed into her stomach, sending her reeling against the far wall. She barely managed to dodge his follow-up attack, as his adamantium claws slashed at the wall, slicing through the thick metal like it was tinfoil. X23 grimaced, stumbled, clutching her stomach. It had hit high, she was sure one of her lower ribs had broken. She was rarely wrong. She was an expert on human anatomy. X23 grabbed the last of her razor disks from her belt and flung with wild accuracy. It wasn't meant to hit X24 so much as distract him, give her a few seconds to re-group. Unfortunately time was running out for her. The sprinklers had gone off, and sight and hearing were now clearing. Scent would return soon, and then there'd be no place she could hide from him. The next blow caught her in the arm, and she could've sworn she heard another crack. She stumbled, falling backwards onto her back. Between the slick floor and her injuries, it was a wonder she hadn't earlier. Grimly, she raised her good arm, still ready to defend herself.
The blonde clone advanced on her, teeth bared, when suddenly he stopped. X24 lifted his head, hearing the approaching clank of boots and assumed that more soldiers from Hydra arrived. Doubtlessly Madame Hydra was growing impatient, and wanted him to finish the job. He growled, low and menacing, as he stared at the door, which started to slide open...
... those weren't HYDRA's troops.
"... wha-?!"
A bright blast of ruby-red energy slammed into X24's gut with only slightly less force than a battering ram, sending the mutant assassin flying through the air. He slammed full into a birthing tube, shattering it and flying through it to slam into the far wall hard enough to make a dent with his body. He hit the floor hard, quite a number of shards imbedded themselves in his back, but he barely felt them. Red obscured his vision. Blood red.
"Sarah!" cried out Jean, immediately at her side. She leaned down, helping the smaller girl to her feet.
"What took you guys so long?" she asked with a weary smile.
"Be lucky we came at all, kid," stated Wolverine as he entered the room. "Now we're getting out of here."
"Not yet... still something I have to do," she replied, bringing out the detonator for the bombs she'd brought. One flick of the switch, the countdown would begin, and the whole place would go sky high. HYDRA would be destroyed, and so would any memory of this abysmal place.
A click interrupted them, and as one, the X-Men spun around.
X24 was on his feet, and his hands he held a gun. Not even a fancy energy pistol like Gauntlet used, one of the good ol' fashioned M9 models.
"No... I won't let it end like this, sis... I won't LOSE!" he roared at her.
Wolverine growled darkly, about to advance, but X23 held up a hand to stop him. "It's over... brother," she said, causing him to blink in surprise. What trick was this? "I am putting an end to this. All of this. This evil cannot go on. I will not let it. I will not let them destroy more people like you and I. Turn us into monsters and weapons," she stated. Her voice grew cold as she continued on dangerously. "I will never let another child grow up like I did. Ever."
"And..." she stopped, hesitating, but pushed on. "And I do not want you to be destroyed as I nearly was, brother. Any of us..." she added, glancing over at the groaning, broken forms of X25, X26, X27, and X28. Her fallen siblings.
"If I can be redeemed... if I can be saved," she amended, glancing over her shoulder at Logan. "Maybe you can too."
Consciousness began to drift back slowly, like waking from a long dream. However, Viper quickly knew this was no dream she was waking to. This was a full-scale nightmare. Carefully, she allowed her eyes to open more fully, not moving in case Rogue or Gambit became aware of her being conscious. As it was, neither was paying the slightest bit of attention. With the guards long gone (hauled out by Beast and Colossus) she'd been the only one they hadn't bothered with. And she could see on the screens above the rest of the X-Men, as well as her assassins. They were losing. Badly.
Andrea VonStrucker did not take losing easily.
And this time she felt more than amply prepared. Two quick flicks of the buttons on her throne, which the X-Men had kindly let her rest on, and a countdown appeared in the corner of the screen.
"Uh... chere... what'd you do now?" asked Gambit, his voice quavering fearfully.
"I didn't do that!" replied Rogue, checking the console. "It's a self-destruct countdown. This whole place..."
"... is going to go sky high!" finished Viper dangerously. Both of the X-Men whirled around to regard her. "And there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it this time!"
Gambit charged forward, but he was far too slow to catch Viper as another switch was activated and her whole throne sunk into the floor. Within moments, she'd escaped from the control room. "How long we got?"
Rogue glanced back up at the countdown.
"Fourteen minutes, twenty-three seconds," she read aloud. As if in answer, the base shuddered.
Deep down below, in the birthing chambers, the room shuddered as well, nearly knocking the X-Men off of their feet. X24's arm waivered, and his blue eyes went wide with realization at the motion that had swept the room.
"No... they can't..." he said, his eyes glazing over. Then, suddenly, they took sharp focus, and he swung his gun to aim at X23. "Must... finish... THE MISSION!"
Bang.
The bullet shot from the barrel of the gun, arcing its way towards X23's forehead, where it would easily penetrate her skull and tear clear through the back of her head, should it connect. However, Wolverine was already in motion, and he shoved X23 out of the way as the bullet speeded towards them. Fortunately, it proved to be fast enough of a gesture to ensure neither he nor X23 were hit by the bullet.
Unfortunately, the bullet's path instead brought it into contact with X23's detonator, still clutched in her hand. It all but exploded in her hand, the main components slamming down against the slick ground. As if on cue, the trigger-signal set off the explosives in the far corner of the room where she'd left them. A massive boom rocked the room, sending the X-Men and X24 tumbling to the ground.
"What've you done?!" howled X24, eyes wide with panic.
X23 glared up at him accusingly. "You did this," she replied darkly as Wolverine helped her to her feet.
"No!" he shouted, bringing up the gun again. But a quick telekinetic tug from Jean yanked it from his grip and sent it against the far wall, where it clattered to the ground. Cyclops let loose an optic blast, but this time X24 was amply prepared, and dodged aside. Unable to take on all the X-Men, he sprang over them in one clear bound, running off down the corridor where they'd come from, howling like a wounded animal.
"Stop him!" shouted Cyclops.
"We haven't time, Cyke!" Wolverine replied, as another shudder rocked the building. Between X23's explosives and whatever detonation sequence Madame Hydra had initiated, the whole structure was rapidly starting to crumble. Huge chunks of rock descended from the ceiling, smashing into birthing tubes and shattering them like glass beakers. Wires short-circuited, sparks flying everywhere in the chaos. A rockslide cut off their exit as the X-Men tried to escape down the same corridor as X24, sealing it off.
"Oh dear," intoned Beast, his calm demeanor completely out of place with the chaos around as he tried to grab up a fallen chunk of debris and move it aside. Alas, it was being held down by several metal beams and even his inhuman strength couldn't quite lift it.
"We have to get out of here, now!" shouted Storm, as another tank shattered beside her.
"This way!" shouted X23, leading them towards the entrance she'd originally come in. The doors were still sealed, but thankfully Cyclops made short work of that trouble, blasting clear through them and very nearly through the side of the mountain. It provided them with an exit, but it seemed to only hasten the fortress' collapse.
"Everyone out! Now! Move move move!"
Beast, Storm, Colossus and Jean ran past as Cyclops watched the exit, making sure all of his team got out. Wolverine followed, helping X23, who was still limping, weak from her fight. However, as they reached the exit, she stopped, turning back.
"Wait! The clones!"
An explosion rocked the room, and a heavy piece of piping smashed down in front of them. Sparks flew in the air, blinding them all as they threw up arms to shield their eyes. Smoke started to pour into the room as they lost sight of the clones. The walkway above broke as one of its railing snapped, falling down with a metallic thud in the center of the room.
"Forget it kid, we can't do anything for them!" said Wolverine, holding her arm. Holding her back.
"I won't leave them!" she screamed back at him, wrenching herself out of his arms and turning back. She had to help them. She had to...
The blow was completely unexpected, and that helped, as Wolverine applied a hand chop to the back of her neck, gently rendering his pseudo-daughter unconscious. He threw her over his back, nodding to Cyclops as the two of them took off down the corridor, running as fast as they could. Behind them, the sounds of explosions grew, as the rumbling increased. The whole place was rapidly coming down atop of them.
Pumping his legs furiously, X24 ran back to the command center. He'd heard his commander's voice, though the words had been indistinct. The buzzing in his ears hadn't faded yet, an unfortunate side effect of the taser shock. Alarms were blaring everywhere, so he must be needed. He needed to make his way back to Madame Hydra and report himself and his failure to her.
X24 cut his way through the fortress, making his way into the command center, which showed signs of a fight. But there was no one there. No bodies, no people, no blood. All the scents were a few minutes old, they'd all left recently. Madame Hydra's command throne was gone. She'd escaped. Then his sky-blue eyes widened, as he saw what was on the computer screens.
Five...
"No..."
Four...
Four...
Below, in the birthing chambers, X27 lowered her head and closed her eyes, her slick white curls clinging to her head as she cradled X26 to her chest. The blue clone peered up at her fearfully as the room started to crumble around them. X25 stood beside them as one of the tanks behind her shattered, and X28 lay on the floor beside them all, still unconscious. He was the luckiest of them all, he would not even know what happened until it was over. But there was no escape for them. No escape, no rescue, no hope. This was the end.
Together, the clone siblings clung to one another as the explosions grew louder and closer, and fire engulfed them.
Three...
Three...
He'd been discarded.
Two...
Abandoned.
One...
As all around him dissolved into fire and light, X24 roared in rage and fury. His voice echoed in the explosion that followed, rocking the entire mountain as the fortress of HYDRA went up in a ball of flame.
The final explosion made the entire mountain quiver, sending the rescue team once more flat on their faces as they emerged from the fortress barely in the nick of time. Fire licked over their heads, but ultimately faded, leaving them unharmed. More than one X-Man muttered a prayer of thanks for good timing.
Laying against a rock, X23 started to stir... then shot upright as she realized what had happened, turning back to regard the fortress. Her expression fell as she saw what had happened.
"No..."
Hesitantly, Wolverine came up beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "There was nothing you could've done, kid," he said gently.
"... no," she replied, realizing he was right. "But at least it's over now."
"Yeah, it's over."
The team watched silently from their vantage point as the rest of the fortress came crumbling down. Muted and lesser explosions continued to rock the structure, but for the most part, the entire place was long gone. There was no way anyone, anything, could've survived such an attack. They did spy some HYDRA troops further down the mountain, no doubt trying to escape, but for once, X23 was glad to see a number of SHIELD helicopter landing in a perimeter around the base. US marines were being disgorged, and they quickly had the HYDRA troops rounded up, disarmed, and thoroughly routed.
A quick communiqué indicated Rogue and Gambit had also gotten out safely. Cyclops directed them to where the Blackbird was waiting, thanks to some directions from X23, and told them to meet back at the mansion.
"Wait! Look!" said Jean, pointing up at the sky. One lone helicopter was climbing up above the rising smoke and was angling westward, streaking through the sky.
"Viper," snarled Wolverine. Beside him, X23 cursed beneath her breath.
"It just never dies, does it?!" she screamed angrily.
A streak across the sky caught the attention of Colossus, and he smirked. "She hasn't gotten avay yet," he said proudly, pointing. He was right. Two F-22 Raptors were streaking across the sky towards Viper's escape helicopter. There was no possible way she could outrun and outgun some of the Air Force's best and brightest.
"It really is over," said X23.
And with that, she collapsed, unconscious before she even fell into Wolverine's arms.
Fury handled the cleanup.
Not that there was much to do, really, except round up the agents of HYDRA who -hadn't- been inside of the base when it exploded. Mostly some low-level grunts and mercenaries, but he did managed to capture the Queen bee herself with Andrea VonStrucker, so he was feeling mightily pleased with himself today. The X-Men had managed to help him strike a major blow at one of the most terrible secret organizations in the history of mankind.
The mountain had all but caved in on itself from the force of the explosion. Most nuclear devices didn't do so much damage as the explosives that had been stored within the HYDRA installation. It had been felt as far away as Tokyo. SHIELD's propaganda division had, naturally, downplayed it as a freak earthquake to keep the local population from panicking. The command center was completely vaporized, with no remains. Not even adamantium laced nails were found after SHIELD arrived and started digging through the rubble. Of Sabertooth and Colonel Wraith there was no sign, though a number of helicopters were unaccounted for. They could've managed to find a way to escape, though Fury doubted it. No sign of Gauntlet either. Deborah was on hand when they finally located what was left of the birthing chambers, and with some DNA tests managed to identify the clones X23 had battled. All accounted for, and all very much dead. Fury ordered what was left to be taken back to headquarters for analysis and incineration.
"That appears to be the last of it, Agent Fury," Deborah said as she double-checked the clipboard in her hand. She sighed softly as she beheld the data there. "So many lost lives."
"Andrea will pay for this," he assured her. "I'll have her locked up for the rest of her natural days in a hole so deep they'd have to dig a hole to china to find her."
"Can you do that? She's not a US citiz-..."
"I don't take kindly to terrorism," he replied. "And I especially do not take kindly to child abuse. Believe me, she deserves this."
"... maybe I do too," replied Deborah, with another sigh. "I have as much a hand in this as she did."
To that, Fury had only one possible reply. "You made a mistake," he said as he turned away, plopping a toothpick between his teeth as he headed towards his personal helicopter. "People do. Can't fix it... but you can always make up for it. If you try, that is."
Deborah Risman just watched him go.
The former assassin known as X23 slumbered the entire way back to the mansion, completely worn out from the nights events. She was still fast asleep when Logan picked her up and carried her in his arms to her room, laying her down and pulling up the covers of her bed. The other X-Men quickly changed out of their uniforms and turned in for the day... only Logan remained awake. He just dragged up a chair and plopped down it in his daughters room, waiting for her to waken.
Sarah Howlett had come home.
Author's Notes:
Tempted though I was to let the clones live, I ultimately decided to wrap this story up much more thoroughly than the last version because, unlike my previous trip through the XME verse, I believe this will be the only story I write (or re-write, however you want to hash it). Other genres are calling.