Dark Bonds
By
AJ Katon
Disclaimer: I do not own X23 or any of the X-men. All X-men related things are copyrighted by the Warner Bros. and Marvel Comics. The newly added characters such as Marcus are the ones I own.
Ch. 12 Back Again
Scott, Jean, and Kurt stood helpless against the rockets coming at them with no way to defend themselves. The red explosives came closer and closer as fear enveloped the two X-men and the unconscious red headed X-men. All seemed hopeless.
Suddenly...
Ker-boom!!
One of the bombs exploded in a flash of pink and yellow. The X-men didn't have time to think why as the other one came dangerously close to hitting Kurt who cringed and shielded his face from the upcoming death. Logan and the others tried to rush and help but they knew they wouldn't make it. Especially since their only other teleporter was busy at the moment.
So all they could do was cover their eyes and ears for what they knew would be the gruesome screams of their fellow X-men as they met their end. Any second now and it would happen.... any second now.
"Hey everyone vit's okay." The others heard Kurt's call and they all felt the same way. Total confusion.
What the heck?
They turned their heads and opened their eyes at the direction of where should be nothing but destruction. So it was understandable that when they saw Kurt and the others perfectly fine they were instantly confused. That is until they saw the shape the rocket was in.
The final rocket had been frozen in place like a big deadly ice sculpture. Seeing that it was easy to guess who was the hero of the hour. Iceman came up from under the cliff freezing the air under him as he slid on it inn his full body ice mode. Also with him were the twin Lida and Teresa holding each other for warmth for obvious reasons and Jubilee holding onto his cold shoulder.
"Fire again!" Logan recognized Gauntlet's dark tone and instantly knew what he was up to. He looked and shouted, "Storm give us some cover!" The weather witch nodded and summoned a whirlwind that blew away the Hydra mercenary and his men back into the hydra base, giving the X-men a temporary time to rest and recuperate.
Cyclops let Jean lie on the ground gently and took his stand next to her while Logan and the others walked over. When Phoebe approached she sat on her knees and placed her hand on the red headed psychic with a mildly worried Scott watching intently. A second later a small electrical spark flowing out of Jean's head and into Phoebe's hand which only served to unnerve everyone. After a few more seconds Phoebe finished her strange procedure and explained, "She'll be alright but she's not going to be fighting anymore."
"What did they do to her?" Scott asked as his anger began to show. Luckily Logan and Hank were there to make sure he didn't do anything ill advised.
"They've hit her with one of their new stun guns. Those things were originally modeled to take down Laura so anyone else who gets hit with it may suffered a lot more than just being out cold." At her response Logan and the others were about to become pale until she went on, "As I said don't worry. I managed to absorb the extra electricity from her became it became hazardous. She'll be knocked out for a while but for the most part she's fine."
Everyone let out sighs of relief especially Scott. He scooped Jean up in his arms and told everyone that he would take her back to the jet and watch over her or the rest of the mission. No one argued as John teleported them back to the jet and let them alone. Now they just had to plan for the next attack without two of their main mutants.
Suddenly Kurt fell to his knees, feeling dazed and weak, also slightly slurred. John and Gen caught him before he could fall face down on the ground. They helped him to his feet but it was already too late. He was out cold all thanks to the drug bullet that was shot into him earlier.
Logan growled at the new development. Now they lost two of their main hitters and they were done one teleporter in case an emergency happened. Plus there was still the chance of being more of soldiers on the inside with even greater weapons. Things had just taken a turn for the worse. But that's when he realized something.
"Where is Laura?"
At his question the younger mutants tensed up and looked off into the distance, hoping not to meet his speculative gaze. If they did there would be a very scary stare off in which the kids would most likely lose. Seriously its Wolverine. Would you be confident in your ability to stare the man down?
Unfortunately when Iceman and Jubilee tried to move out of his radar of detection he stomped over to the both of them, took hold of their shoulders, and forcefully turned them towards him. It was here that they met the all knowing, ferocious look known as Logan's glare.
"Laura went off to find Marcus by herself." Bobby and Jubilee said at the same time. And after only two and a half seconds under the glare. A new record.
"Why didn't you tell me she was gone?" Logan asked through clenched teeth.
"By the time we found out she had left it was already too late." Bobby explained, fear still present in his eyes. "When we did, we rushed out of the jet to find her but then those rockets were about to hit Kurt and the others so-"
"Okay. I get." Logan interrupted him as he removed his hands from the young mutants' shoulders and pinch the bridge of his nose. This was just great. Now there was a medium sized girl capable of unknown amounts of destruction roaming around the place where her most hated enemies were stationed with untold weapons of destruction. He knew he should've left the kids at home.
"Wolverine," Phoebe's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "we have to hurry and get into that base. If Gauntlet is able to get to the weapon's storage then things are only going to get worse."
Logan knew she was right and had everyone move out. As the mutants rushed to their main target Logan still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling growing inside him. Something was wrong and he knew he needed one question to be answered. If Laura was out and about why were things still so quiet?
Ka-boom!!
An explosion was heard in the far back of the base. Everyone heard it but only Logan had the unspoken thought in his head. *"There she is."*
Marcus and Laura's battle...
Marcus and Laura jumped to separate sides as Madame Viper blasted them with a large lightning attack, decimating their original standing spot. Laura landed on the far left side of the warehouse but quickly kicked off to run at the Hydra commander with her claws extended, pure rage channeling through her.
Madame Viper readied herself for Laura by activating the device again and switching to a full body armor plating. Laura came upon and slashed at her multiple times intending for a killing blow but her new ability only made Laura's strikes come out as dents or large scratches. After another lash Viper went on the offensive and drew her fist back for a punch but Laura dodge rolled away from her in time before she suffered any major damage.
Marcus also had his hands full as he fought against Damon Cross. The older shadow bender was matching Marcus as the two fought with their shadow swords. Their blades clashed again and again as either one tried to gain the upper hand. Suddenly as Damon went in for a downward slash that Marcus blocked, the military man took one hand off his blade and brought it up, summoning a dark tentacle that rushed at Marcus.
He narrowly dodged it by jumping into the air but doing so left himself unguarded as Damon shot a dark wave at his gut while he was still in mid air. Damon didn't stop there as he shot himself off the ground and kneed the boy in the same place. The air was instantly knocked out of Marcus as he felt the pain from his stomach catch up to him and also the force of that knee was enough to send him rocketing off to the second floor.
He managed to right himself and put his feet on the ceiling in order to launch himself back to the older mutant with a glowing pulled back fist. When Damon came close enough Marcus shot the concentrated dark wave at Damon causing some of his shadow armor to break away. The white haired military man didn't fall back from the blast and when his came back onto the ground he jumped back up to slam the young teenager again.
Marcus saw him coming and opted to pull up a barrier that stopped Cross in his tracks and allowed him to push the old man away from him and into some of his machinery. Marcus landed on the ground for only a second before pulling his barrier back up as Damon got back up and fire five dark orbs at the boy. Then the older shadow bender pulled out his sword and launched himself at Marcus and when he was almost there Marcus released his shield and shot another large shadow wave at Damon. Marcus mentally cheered when he saw the blast connect to Damon, but he dismayed the older man turned black and disappeared!
"What the-" was all Marcus could say before Damon reappeared next to him and hit him with a shadow fist point blank in the face! Marcus was flown away from Damon before he crashed to the ground once then got back up again, the shoulder parts of his shadow armor gone.
"What the heck did you do?" he questioned as he tensed himself before they fought again. Damon smirked at his old friend's son as he folded his now armor less arms and answered, "A shadow copy. A pretty simple substitution move to get one out of harms way. Why do you ask?"
"No reason." Marcus answered though on the inside he was probably thinking 'why didn't I ever think of that!' Their conversation was cut off when a lightning blast was shot between them. Their looked to their lefts to see Madame Viper and Laura appear next to them both slightly cut up and still very pissed off from their scramble.
Unfortunately Marcus just had to ask, "So how's it going? You make any progress?" Laura glared at him which made him place his hands over his mouth before she set her sights back on Viper. "It'll be progressive when I rip her head off." "I'd like to see you try you little brat." The hydra commander spat back before she glowered at Damon, "And why are you talking with him? Hurry up and take him down so we can end this already!"
Laura looked at Marcus again and said, "The same goes for you." before she launched herself back at Madame Viper, claws fully extended. Viper did the same and the two went sprawling away from the men to continue their long overdue fight. Marcus and Damon looked at each other like two guys whose girlfriends just left them alone to fight. Which was kinda what they were. "Violent bunch those two." Damon said before he got back into his stance.
"Yeah," replied Marcus doing the same, "but they're right." Both men remade their swords and allowed more of their armor to fade away. They stared at each other for a few seconds before they jumped from their positions and resumed their fight.
Meanwhile...
Logan and the others were pushing through the forces of Hydra a lot easier than they expected. Granted the soldiers were trained fighters and with they had help of the mutant absorption devices but for some reason it just wasn't enough to stop the X-men. With this in mind it was understandable to see Gauntlet grind his teeth as he saw more of hydra men get taken down by their enemies. He knew that Madame Viper had left to contend with X23 herself and thus left him and Omega Red in charge of everything else but something was wrong. The soldiers were having trouble using the devices and those who managed to work them were immediately overrun by the meddlesome good mutants. To make matters worse Omega was out of commission and now Hydra was on the brink of losing.
"Dammit!" yelled Gauntlet as he slammed his hand on the desk next to him where an array of weapons lied. Why was everything going wrong?! They had the advantage of numbers yet the X-men were breaking through! How was this possible?! He was about to lash out at the desk again when he saw something promising on the monitors...
Logan and his mutants stood perfectly still as they faced down the new armada of soldiers that had their stun guns set to max. The new guys were clothed in dark red military helmets and clothing while the Hydra men wore all black. This made the heroes go with the assumption that these men were in league with Cross. Which meant things were going to get really bad. A deadly silence hung around the room as everyone waited for whatever was going to happen next. Logan tensed up ready to do anything to make sure nobody died as he looked at Phoebe from the corner of his eye and knew she was ready to do the same. Both leaders turned to face the Cross soldier in front of them who looked like he was in charge of the others.
"Ready!" he yelled and on cue both Cross and Hydra soldier readied their weapons. "Set!" The X-men prepared themselves for whatever may come. Then it happened...
"Now!" yelled the Cross soldier before he and all the other men like him opened fore on the Hydra soldiers. Since there were more of them and less of the battle weary Hydra men it the short brawl was over in a matter of seconds before most of the Hydra troops were either defeated on the ground or retreating.
Once that was over the Cross soldiers took up their positions at the doors while the main one strode over to the baffled X-men. When he was a few feet from Logan, he removed his helmet to show a man with a blond crew cut hairdo and blue eyes of hardened years of being a soldier. He looked at Logan and asked, "You want an explanation?"
"That would be good." Wolverine retorted, giving the soldier his own glare. "Why are you here?" Logan asked in a not trusting tone. The soldier wasn't affected by it that much since he calmly answered, "Same as you. We're here to take down Hydra..." His features shifted to a cold stare, "..and we intend to put them down once and for all."
"How long has this been going on?" Phoebe asked as she stepped forward not intimidated by his look.
"Long enough." he replied looking at both mutant leaders. "Don't worry we no longer have any interest in you or your girl. Our orders are to let you go free and destroy Hydra once our boss has what he needs." The man turned around to leave them to carry out his orders when Phoebe stopped him, "And what about Marcus?"
The man stopped in his tracks as if he considered answering them. He didn't turn around to look at them as he responded, "The kid should be fine but you should hurry up and find him." "Why?" He turned around and his face was stoic, "Once we make sure that all the soldiers are defeated we plan to bomb this base to the ground."
The X-men stood stunned by his words. They were gonna blow the place. "Why would you do something like that?" "Because its what we do and no one gets in the way of it." His tone was cold and authoritative as he retorted Logan's question which made growl in anger while Phoebe had to hold him back from attacking the man.
"Logan we don't have time for this." she said as she turned around and looked him dead in the eye,"We need to find Marcus and Laura and get out of here. That is our number one objective." Her words worked to calm the former Weapon X down as he backed off her and nodded. Phoebe turned her head to regard the soldier, "Where is Marcus?"
The man put his helmet back on before answering, "He's in the back of the base in the warehouse. You still have some time before the timers detonate the bombs that are around the compound." He pulled out his stun gun and set it to high once again as he got ready to direct his troops through the base and to their escape planes. He looked at the X-men one last time as he said, "I wish you luck."
"Oh they're not to ones who need luck."
Suddenly a flash of white lightning cut through the room setting off many explosions as the X-men and Cross soldiers moved quickly to escape the blast zone. They kept running as they tried to escape the maniacal laughter chasing after them until they turned a corner that would have had them trapped if not for Phoebe who blasted them a way out. The twelve X-men and five Cross soldiers jumped through the hole as they narrowly escaped another explosion.
Fire danced around the hole as the heroes and double agents turned around to see who it was that was after them. It was here that they saw deadliest sight of all when Gauntlet appeared through the flames.
The hydra mercenary was still adorned in his green cloak with a rocket launcher attached to his back as he stared down at both of his enemies with dark menacing eyes. He raised his hands out to his sides and revealed a mutant ability device that he activated instantly. Wolverine and the others sucked in their breaths at the sight of Gauntlet who was wielding the energy blasts in both of his hands. He raked them all with a feral demented grin before he opened fire on them, manically laughing all the way.
The heroes ducked and dodged the multiple energy shots as they jumped behind a large rock for cover from the power crazed mutant. Right now Gauntlet was having too much fun to care about anything. He had new found powers that he was using to destroy the X-men and the traitors that worked for Cross. This was gonna be one helluva show.
Phoebe and Logan crouched behind the rock the rest of the X-men and the three Cross soldiers were using to shield themselves from the maniacal Hydra assassin's attack. This was definitely not going the way they hoped it would and now they needed a way to get past Mr. Psycho blaster over there. "Okay does anyone have a plan?" Logan asked everyone around him.
"We can't just stay here and cower from that man. We need to hurry up and put and end to this," Storm said before she turned her gaze to the Cross soldier, "Those bombs of yours are set to go off in any minute right?" "Yes." he answered looking over the rock to see the situation before ducking down again as another blast came close to his head.
"So what would be he best way to beat that guy?" asked Iceman,who crouched next to Jubilee and the twins. Logan, Phoebe, and the soldier peered over once more to see the crazed look in Gauntlet's eyes as he kept panting over the exertion of using the mutant ability so much. From the looks of it he was completely transfixed on where the heroes were but judging from his labored breathing he wouldn't be standing too long and that was how they were going to get him.
The three leaders turned back around to regard their charges as they thought of something that may work.
"Okay here's the plan..."
Gauntlet finally stopped panting and raised his arms out to blast anything that got in his way. Unfortunately he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep this up forever and the quicker he put down his enemies the better. The hydra assassin narrowed his gaze to find out where they were hiding and slowly began walking forward. After taking a few steps he came to a halt when he heard something rustle around him. Bringing his new power to the maximum he let his fists glow with energy as he readied himself to blast anything that moved.
Silence settled over the battlefield as he waited...and waited,,,and-
"Now!" The order was heard throughout the area as four of the X-men and the three double agent soldiers jumped up from their hiding spots and shot their projectile attacks at Gauntlet who countered with his own super burst. The result was a collision of energy that exploded between the heroes and villain and forced them away from each other. The soldiers got back up quickly and resumed their shooting only to Gauntlet recover as well and match their bullets with small energy blasts that went through the bullets and hit the soldiers.
With them out of the way Gauntlet turned his attention back to the X-men to finish them off but found that they were on the move again. He whipped his head around to see Beast and Wolverine appear before him and deck him with two strong punches. The mutant of Hydra staggered back from their punches only to find another attack waiting for him in the form of Tamara and Gen. The power couple pulled back their fists and leveled him with a titanium and super strengthened combo that knocked him into the air and back towards the Hydra base.
Gauntlet forced himself to his knees and looked back to see the mutant fighters standing before him. He pressed down on the mutant device to get a healing ability but was shocked to see that it only fizzled. He pressed it again and again but each time nothing had happened. Then the device sparked one more time before it broke into pieces. It was gone. His trump card in this battle was gone.
"Looks you can't switch powers anymore." Bobby said in a smug way as he stood with the others ready to blast the man if he tried anything. "Too bad for you huh?"
"Iceman shut it." Wolverine said as he stepped forward and stopped a couple of feet in front of Gauntlet with his claws drawn. "It's over Gauntlet. Give up and we'll let you go. If not then we'll throw you off he island."
Now enraged beyond belief, Gauntlet clenched his fists as he tried to think of a way out of this but his anger made him stay. He felt that he couldn't go unless he spilled at least one X-men's blood. He had already lost fights to either Laura, Marcus, and now he would lose to Wolverine as well.
*"No!"* he thought as he looked up at Logan with eyes burning with rage. He was through with losing and he would make damn sure that someone died tonight. With that thought driving him, Gauntlet did the only thing he knew how to do. He prepared himself to kill those who had spurned him.
Jumping away from the heroes so that he was in the middle of the base Gauntlet removed the rocket launcher from his back and aimed it at them. The mutants and soldiers looked equally surprised as he whipped out the explosive weapon so quickly and instinctively backed away from him. "That's right back away and make it easier for me. All I need is one good shot and all of you are dead," the assassin said as he smirked wickedly at them, "and if you try to blast me you'll set off this rocket and end up killing yourselves and me."
Logan and the others stopped dead in their tracks while the former Weapon X tried to think of another way to get the others out of this mess. He could tell from the way Gauntlet's eyes looked that the mutant was only a few steps away from either shooting that thing off and killing all of the X-men or setting it off killing himself and possibly everything else around him. One false move and death to somebody.
Gauntlet watched as the heroes tensed at whatever he was about to do next and loved every moment of it. He was in control of their fates. One pull of a trigger and he'd end the banes of his existence. Well at least one of them anyways. His smirked grew to a demented smile as he knew what knew what he wanted to do next. Balancing the launcher on one shoulder with his finger still on the trigger, Gauntlet, reached for one of his guns, pulled it out, and aimed it at Phoebe.
Wolverine was going to say something but he was too late as Gauntlet pulled the trigger. The bullet taking off resonated in the hall as it left the gun and went immediately for the green haired mutant. She would have been lost had Gen not stepped in and blocked ricocheted the bullet off his metal skin. The bullet bounce off the metallic halls for a full minute before it hit a target no wanted it to hit. It hit Gauntlet.
The next thing that happened would set everything else in motion.
Going back to our main two teenagers...
Marcus and Laura stood side to side panting loudly as they stared down at their enemies who were in a similar state of exhaustion. The warehouse was now a major wreck after the last explosion and now huge holes of smoking crater and sparking machinery occupied all space. All the while the four fighters haven't lost their drive to defeat one another.
Marcus and Damon were down to the last parts of their shadow armor which was mostly in the pants area while their normal shirts finally returned. Glancing at the women to their sides, the shadow benders realized that the battle was far from over between them but in their current condition they would keel over any second now. Looking back at each other they knew what the other thought and nodded their heads.
The two men proceeded to drop their hands onto their female partner's arms and closed their eyes. Viper and Laura looked at them in confusion till they saw strange lights begun to shine over the shadow benders. Laura recognized that crimson glow from that time in the forest where she first met Marcus and knew what he was doing. He was using the last of his shadow armor to heal her wounds.
She would have felt grateful to him had she not realized that Damon could do the same thing now that he had Marcus's powers. She looked over to her enemies and sure enough the white haired shadow mutant was working his ability on Madame Viper, healing her cuts, bruises, and even her clothing as well. She growled as Marcus finished the healing and collapsed to one knee, his armor completely spent and gone. Damon also collapsed to his knee to take in a short breath before he and the Stanford boy stood back up.
She turned her head to him and asked, "Why did you do that?" He looked at her with a face that said "Duh, to help you out of course". She returned his look with a glare s she retorted, "But you knew he had your powers and that he could do the same for Viper." "Yeah I knew that." he replied in a matter of fact tone.
"Well why?!" "Because you're not done yet." His answer elicited confusion from both her and Viper until Damon folded his arms and explained, "There's a lot of anger flowing between you two, so much so that if you could you would tear each other apart for years to come. So we've decided to replenish your health so that you two can continue to battle each other to your heart's content." A smile etched on Damon's face as he added, "Think of it as a small gift."
Laura looked back to Marcus to see if what the older man was saying was true and when he nodded she didn't know how to feel. Gratitude for her better health was one, anger over the idea that Marcus thought she was an anger obsessed girl, and even a little joy in the idea of kicking the spit out of Viper's butt a little while longer. All in all she only nodded to Marcus as a thanks and moved back into her fighting form to begin again.
"How much longer can you keep fighting?" she asked keeping her gaze on Viper. Marcus conjured up his shadow blade the same time Damon did and replied, "Not much but I can help out as long as I can. Oh and while I'm at it." He raised his hand and summoned a shadow wave that he commanded to go to lower and gather onto her hands and feet. Laura frowned at what he had done. "What are you doing?"
"Hey if Viper can hit you with elemental stuff, you should be able to hit her with a shadow fist. It's only fair." Marcus answered with his usual carefree grin before he shifted to his one handed sword stance. Laura did the same met the eyes of Madame Viper who now had the ability of lightning coursing through her body, in a staring contest. The staring lasted for a few minutes until the teenage duo launched themselves at their enemies with a renewed vigor.
Marcus and Damon traded bladed blow for blow as Laura and Viper dueled each other with elemental strikes from their fists and feet. Both sides had each other into a deadlock until Marcus managed to get close and uppercut Damon with a shadow fist launching him into the air and out of the warehouse. Damon rightened himself as his feet connected to the ground before he jumped further away as Marcus came crashing down at him. After touching the ground Marcus took off after man again and met him in mid air as he swung his blade at Damon's throat. Damon blocked his attempt with his own sword and the two struggled to get the bigger hand over the other as they came into contact with the grass filled ground again.
The two locked eyes and both sets of midnight blue stared down at each other as Marcus gritted his teeth as he continued to push Damon back and defeat him. Unfortunately Damon made the first move and shifted to his right side, leaving Marcus to almost fall over from being unbalanced and open to Damon's shadow attack. Damon punched the boy in the face and followed it up with another and another and when he tried to do it again, Marcus caught his fist and went in to knee the man in the stomach.
When the knee connected Damon felt all the air leave his lungs and spit come out of his mouth and before he could do anything else Marcus kicked him in the cheek sending him off toward the Hydra main building. Marcus chased after the man intent on keeping up his attack and when he finally cornered the man he went in for a slash. However the Damon he slashed into was another shadow copy and when it disintegrated the real Damon sprung out from the trees and pinned Marcus to the wall of the compound via a foot to the back.
Damon smirked as he pressed Marcus further into the wall while the boy groaned in pain. Deciding to press it further, pun intended, Damon removed his foot only to kick Marcus in the back. He did it again and again until finally the Stanford mutant moved from the spot allowing his enemy's foot to get stuck in the wall. Marcus took the advantage to grab the back of Damon's neck and smash his face into the wall, breaking it down completely and leaving a big hole in it wake.
Marcus was about to go through the hole to continue the fight only to hear the sounds of a projectile coming his way from the back. He and Damon quickly moved from the spot as something crashed into the building producing an even bigger hole than the last one and exploded unto the floor, the shockwave of it sent both shadow benders to the other side of room. They crashed into the wall and fell onto their backs in a painful hiss before Damon looked up to see where he was. When he got a good look around his mouth gaped open at how bad it looked...
While that went on...
Laura and Viper were completely oblivious to what was happening around them as they continued their battle landing blow for blow. Laura went in for a left hook to Viper's face only to have the older woman block her attempt and strike her with an punch of her own. Laura cringed at the feel of lightning hitting her but she pressed on and grabbed Viper's arm to pull the older woman over her shoulder and slam her into the dirt.
She pulled her fist back to punch the Hydra commander only to be grabbed by the front of her shirt and thrown forward into the ground. She quickly moved her feet as Viper got up at the same time and sent a blast of lightning at the X clone. Laura moved to her side completely avoiding the blast and rushed at Viper to pin her down. Viper tried to stop the girl with a kick but Laura smacked it away and returned with a spinning kick that forced Viper near the main Hydra headquarters.
Viper fell to the ground in a heap before the pain of the battle caught up with her as she tried to get to her feet before X23 came for her. When she finally did she looked forward to see Damon slamming the Stanford boy into wall of her base. She inwardly smirked at how he was treating that boy and decided she should do the same thing to the little weapon that continues to defy her. She readied herself for Laura's next attack as the self healing girl emerged from the dark woods intending punch the woman.
Viper caught her punch in her palm and threw the girl over her shoulder intending to injure her but Laura managed to catch herself and grab Viper by her arm and reverse the throw, sending the Hydra leader flying in the air. Viper landed back on her feet a few feet away from Marcus and Damon when she looked up and saw coming at her with a crimson engulfed fist. Viper, still having the lightning ability, pulled her fist back as it crackled with energy before she and Laura's fists connected creating a large explosion.
The women continued their fight as they moved through the hole that they left and into the room that was completely dark for them to see anything but each other. They were still going at it as they continued to tear into each other until they jumped away from each other to gather their strength for a bigger attack.
Pulling back their glowing fists they stared at each other with contempt as they got ready to strike. After a second or two they launched from their spots and-
"Stop!!"
They halted immediately and turned their heads to see Damon and Marcus looking at them with fear in their eyes. The two women raised a brow at their apparent fear but it was Laura who asked, "What's wrong with you two?"
"Viper," Damon called the woman, "Don't you realize where we are?" His question made the Hydra leader actually let go off her charged attack and look around but when she did her look of shock matched Damon's a second ago.
All around her were a stockpile of guns, bombs, and other artillery that Hydra sold and bought over the years and that's when it hit her. They were in the explosive room in the whole compound. One blast, one shock, one single wrong movement. They'd be dead in less than a minute.
Now knowing this Viper turned to look at Laura and say, "A truce until we can get somewhere safer." Laura took a second to look around and check her surroundings before she nodded to the proposal. With that done all four of them turned to leave out the hole when Viper's radio started beeping. She pulled it out and asked, "What is it?"
"Mad-zzt-Viper X-men-zzt- overpowering-zzt- Gauntlet.-zzt Bombs.-zzt- fight-zzt- lost.-zzt Must—zzt-zzt -zzt."
The radio went dead as Viper tried to peace together what was just said but a second later she didn't have to. Three large explosions could be heard coming from the front of the base and from them triggered an unbalance in the whole base making it shake violently and have some of the walls fall apart. When the four in the artillery room realized that more explosions may come and it would somehow lead here...
"We should be running away now." Marcus said as he grabbed Laura's wrist and pulled her along with him so that they could escape from the place only to have her break away from his grip. "I'm not leaving." she growled at him making the shadow bender do a double take on her with wide eyes of shock. "What are you talking about? You can't stay here."
Laura turned around to see Viper pinning her with the same evil look the shorter mutant was giving her. God she hated this woman. She pointed an adamantium claw at Viper and said, "So long as she's alive I'll never be free. She's never going to give up on hunting me down and bringing me back here." Laura got into a fighting stance as she pulled out the rest of her claws, "I'm going to make sure she's dead this time."
"And this time I'm going to make sure to pound obedience into your disobedient skull. You will become the weapon Hydra made you to be." Viper retorted as she readied herself to attack the young clone again but felt a hand on her arm. She turned around to see Damon looking at her with a serious gaze.
"Madame I'm afraid that the boy is telling the truth. We can't stay here if those explosions were what I think they are." "But you promised me that X23 would be in my grasp if I helped you with the boy. What about our deal?" "The deal still stands but I can't help you if you die from an explosion in your own base. We have to retreat for today and plan for another day."
"Never!" roared the commander of Hydra as she looked back at Laura before activating the mutant device again and reading herself to attack. "We finish this today!" she yelled before she launched herself at the former X23. "My thoughts exactly!" Laura retorted before she took off as well and the two collided into each other, acting as if their previous battle was still going on. They continued to battle and move threw the rocking base and falling debris until they reached a staircase and leapt upstairs to continue their battle leaving the two guys behind.
"Dammit, why are they so stubborn?" Damon growled as he watched the fleeting form of the two women bent on killing each other. Marcus folded his arms before he answered, "I really don't know about Viper but I'm pretty sure Laura gets it from her old man. Personally its a little annoying after a while but you learn to accept it."
Damon looked at the boy in a puzzled manner before it shifted to a smug smirk when he asked, "Have you two reached that kind of-" "One we're just friends." Marcus snapped cutting the older man off, "and that falls under the category of none of your business." The white haired mutant held his hands up in surrender and backed away from the boy, "Point taken young Marcus."
He turned toward the staircase and made towards them but stopped and asked, "Aren't you going to stop your girl?" Marcus frowned at the old man as he said, "She's not my girl." and took off running in front of him to get to the stairs. Damon smirked at the boy before he picked up his speed as well before another piece of the ceiling fell on him.
On the other side of the base...
Logan and Phoebe were running for their lives as the entire base shook from the explosions from earlier as they tried to look for the only two people missing from their team. The others had been told to head back to the X jet just in case they needed to make a hasty exit and the Cross soldiers had left them to attend to their own people and get off the base before their bombs could destroy everything else.
The heroes crossed another hallway and went two flights of stairs before Logan picked up on the distinct sounds of a battle going on. He sniffed around and caught the scent of two people he knew would be duking it out. Laura and Viper. Now that he had a direction to go on he grabbed Phoebe by the shoulder and lead her down the hallway to the right where he bumped into someone slightly shorter than him.
Half expecting the person to be a soldier Logan drew his claws and stood over him ready to take him down if needed. It wasn't till a second later when he got a good look at the mystery guy that Wolverine realized he bumped into Marcus, who was sitting on the floor rubbing his hurt head.
Marcus looked up to see Logan looking down at him with his claws out and felt a bit scared over it. Could you blame him though? "Uh hey, Mr. Logan. Long time no see." he said in a sheepish manner as he stood up.
"Yeah good to see you too kid." Phoebe came up behind the former Weapon X and as soon as she saw Marcus she crossed the space between them and gave the teenager a fierce hug. Marcus returned the hug and a second later Phoebe broke away from him and charged her fist with lightning as she saw a sight she seriously hated. Damon Cross coming up the stairs.
She was about to attack him when Marcus appeared in front of her and pulled her power back. Looking completely baffled she asked him what he was doing. Marcus answered, "He's not important anymore. Getting off this island before we get blown to kingdom come is." "But after everything he's done. To us. To you. How can you let him go?" the lightning user said through clenched teeth.
Marcus leveled her with a gaze that told her how serious he was. "Phoebe we're going to make him pay one day. We will. But not right now. If we try anything right now, we're going to guarantee ourselves an early grave." Phoebe calmed down a bit at his words since she knew he was right but it still didn't make it easy. She really wanted to blast the man behind her friend.
Wolverine stepped forward and when he noticed that there was a certain girl not with Marcus he asked, "Where's Laura?" Marcus turned his attention to Laura's supposed father and answered, "She went up the stairs to Viper. I tried to get her to leave but she seems intent on finishing the fight between the two."
Wolverine cursed at his words since he knew Laura wouldn't be one to let this one go. She had been wronged by these people and she was going to make sure they bled for it. Yep she was his daughter all right. Going towards the stairs he looked back at Marcus, Phoebe, and Cross, "Come on. We have to catch up with her and get out of here."
"Logan." Marcus called the older man stopping him in his tracks, "Let me go after Laura. You and Phoebe can head back to the X jet." Logan turned on the teenager with his fury mounted as he growled and retorted, "Are you out of your damn mind?"
Marcus shrugged before he answered, "Maybe so but I have a better chance of getting Laura out of here thanks to my powers. I've got one more good teleportation in me before I'm spent and I can only use on two people right now. Because of that you two need to have the Jet ready to get everyone out of here."
Logan didn't appear to be swayed but Marcus stepped in front of him showing no signs of backing out of this debate. "Logan I can do this. You trusted me to help Laura fit in and be her friend so trust me to get her out of this safely." Everyone stood silent as they waited for Logan to make a decision while the base around them was still coming down and the remaining bombs were still ticking to their final countdown. Logan looked into Marcus's eyes to see the conviction the boy held and knew that there was one thing was true about this kid. He definitely took this friend role seriously when it came to Laura. That coupled with the fact that everything the shadow bender said was true made Wolverine realize that there was only one thing he could do for the two of them. "You'd better be ready to get out of her with her by your side. Or I'll rip your heart out got it?"
Marcus grinned his carefree smile at the older man. "Got it. See you two in a bit." He said as he went past them to continue up the stairs with Damon on his tail. Logan and Phoebe stood there and watched their rising forms up the stairs for several seconds before they took off as well. Now it all came down to whether or not Marcus can sway Laura from something she's wanted to do for as long as she was born. To ask a girl that was every bit as ferocious as Wolverine himself and even more to let her most hated and deadliest enemy go free. Yeah that was easier than done. Maybe next Marcus could convince Magneto to come to Xavier's side and begin a new era of peace to all.
We turn to the final battle already in progress...
The Hydra base was in shambles now thanks to Gauntlet's mistake of using a rocket launcher to solve his problems. Smoke bellowed out of the many craters and cracks in the building while some parts of the island were on fire. Truly this place had become a battlefield. But to the two women standing face to face on the Hydra base's roof, everything else in the world didn't matter. Only their fight did.
Laura and Viper had taken a small break from their fight to catch their breaths and let their healing abilities take care of their wounds. The battle hardened women panted through their exhaustion stared at each other with a hatred for each other so potent that it would slice thorough the air. After another couple of minutes of staring they finally stopped their healing and got ready to attack again. After another second of waiting they charged for each other pulling back their fists, ready to deal more damage to each other. As soon as their fists were about to come into contact they found their attempts blocked. Their blockers: Marcus and Damon. The two shadow benders held on to the fists of their female partners to finally put a stop to their battle, which of course only served to irritate them.
"What do you think you're doing?" Laura and Viper asked at the same time as they wrenched their hands out of the grips of their so called partners. Marcus was the one to respond to their question, "We're here to stop you two from making a big mistake." "The only mistake you're making is getting in my way Cross. Now move it."
Damon shook his head as he folded his arms and looked the woman in the eye, "Madame please listen to reason. If you don't stop this now both you and the girl will end up dead. It's best if you retreat for today and plan for tomorrow."
"No so long as that girl lives, she's mine. I made her into a weapon and I will have her back under my command." retorted Viper as she pushed Damon aside making her way towards her target who also was moving toward her as well only to have the two guys they associated with stand in their way again.
"Why are you two still so bloody stubborn?" Damon said through clenched teeth. "Are you honestly so stuck on this that you'll both kill each other over it?" "Yes!" they both replied at the same time eliciting sweatdrops from Marcus and Damon. "Should've figured." Marcus grumbled before he looked Laura straight in her green eyes with his now midnight blue eyes and said, "Look Laura I know that woman has done horrible things to you and made you suffer all your life but you can't keep thinking of how much she's screwed you over. You have to move on."
Laura narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth at the shadow bender. Did he really just tell her to move on?! "You actually expect me to forget about everything she's done and just let her go free?!" "Go free for today yes. Forget about everything she's done to you hell no." Marcus answered earning a confused look from the girl but hey at least now she wasn't angry.
"Look Laura I know how you feel. I do. I had the same anger when I found out Cross here took my mom. I hated him to a level I never thought I could and spent years trying to find him. Then asshole here pulls the "your mom's dead" thing on me and you saw how that worked out." Marcus paused his words to sigh as the vague moment where he snapped and tried to hurt anyone in his way. "Laura that kind of thing can make you do stupid things and sometimes things you wish you could take back."
"But I don't want to take this back. Because of her I don't have anything but pain and misery." "You know that isn't true!" Marcus proclaimed seizing the girl by he shoulders, "Over the past month you've gained family, friends, and new place to call home. Even if everyone there is afraid of you they still like and want to see you alive and well and you know it!" "WHAT MAKES YOU SO SURE?!" "BECAUSE I'M ONE OF THEM OKAY?! I DON'T WANT TO SEE MY FRIEND DYING FROM SOMETHING I COULD HAVE STOPPED! I'VE ALREADY ALMOST LOST MY FAMILY SO I'M NOT LOSING YOU TWO!
Laura and Marcus paused as they let the last words Marcus said registered in their minds. Marcus sheepishly turned away from her two look out to the sea as a small blush marked his brown face which caused a small chuckle to be heard by Damon.
Laura for her part stared at the boy as she did the many times he did something that surprised her. He had saved her life, fought by her side, helped her establish a new life, and generally done many things all in the quest for helping her. Why would he do all this? What was he after? What was it that made him do so much for her? She had to know. She was about to say something when-
Ka-boom!!
An explosion was heard on the far west side of the island turning the four people on top of the roof's attention towards it. "What the-"
Ka-boom!! Ka-boom!! Ka-boom!!
This time more explosions followed and the whole island shook from the powerful waves. Marcus and the others stumbled to their knees when they felt the roof staring to move and Marcus asked, "What the heck's going on?!"
Damon's ear piece suddenly beeped and when he listened to it everything became clear, "It's SHIELD. They've must of found us through that X jet." Damon explained as he moved closer to Madame Viper. "They plan to bomb the entire island to kingdom come to get rid of me and Viper." Marcus looked surprised and Laura was pretty stoic about. Probably since she'd already lived through an explosion like this. "What about us?!" asked the shadow bender as the roof shook again.
Damon shrugged and replied, "Casualty of war I guess." The white haired military man turned around and grabbed the commander of Hydra by the waist, eliciting a squeak of surprise from her. "Madame as it stands, we have to leave now. If we stay here SHIELD will kill you and I'm not going to let that happen."
Viper looked the man in his teal orbs ready to argue but when she considered everything that was happening, she knew that retreat was the only option left. "Fine Cross." She looked to her side to eye Laura in the eyes as a declaration of war, "This is not over X23. I will claim you once more."
"And I'll be ready to gut you on the spot." Laura replied. The women bowed their heads to each other before Damon released her from his arms. The man looked out to the horizon to see the rising sun and said, "There's not much time left before your shadow powers are left useless Marcus. I hope you have an escape plan."
Damon pulled out another mutant device that was in his pocket. He pressed a button and a dark portal appeared next to him and the commander, which they quickly stepped into. "Farewell." Marcus and Laura rushed to get through the portal before it closed but to their dismay, the floor under them finally collapsed under the explosions and the two fell through the roof.
Thinking quickly Laura grabbed Marcus's hand and used her other hand to grab onto a safety railing that was luckily sticking out. Not really feeling the weight of both of them tying her down, Laura helped Marcus pull himself up and now the two were hanging on for their lives from the tenth floor of the base with nothing else to grab onto and a base on the verge of exploding under them. Okay they seriously needed a plan.
The two teens looked everywhere for anything but there wasn't anything in sight. Marcus sighed at their predicament while Laura continued to look and when her gaze went to the shadow bender next to her she did a double take. What was that? "What do you have in your back pocket?" she asked.
Marcus looked at her in confusion before he actually did feel something move back there that wasn't there before. He moved one hand of the railing and searched through it to find something round and-
Round?! Marcus immediately pulled out the object and beamed with joy when he saw what it was. It was another mutant ability device! And it was in perfect condition! They finally had a way out! "All right! Let's-" was all Marcus could say before another explosion took place under them forcing the railing they were on to break off from the wall and send the two plummeting to the ground.
The two looked down to see the inevitable fire coming for them and did the only thing they could do at the moment. They latched onto each other and Marcus pressed the button, hoping that it would work.
"Logan we don't have much time! We have to go!" Phoebe said as the X jet hovered in the air still on the island since Logan wanted to wait for Laura and Marcus. Unfortunately the island was being blown away from the bombs from Damon's men and if the X-men didn't clear out soon they were going to be dead as well. Logan knew that he couldn't endanger the rest of the team and knew that Marcus said that he would bring Laura back safe but the man still didn't want to go yet. His daughter was still here dammit!
Logan growled in his throat before he pressed a button and got out of his chair. "Storm get them out of here. I'm going back for-"
But before he could even say their names, Laura and Marcus suddenly appeared inside the X jet from a dark portal. When everyone on board looked down on the floor to see the two they were met with a fairly weird sight. Laura and Marcus were cuddling up to each other with tightly closed eyes. Everyone didn't know what to say but luckily Logan's dad instincts kicked in.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MY DAUGHTER BOY?!" he yelled with drawn claws and a face full of patented Wolverine anger. This served to snap the two out of their scared state and look around. When they saw that everyone was looking at them they took a look at themselves and blushed from the close contact for a few seconds before breaking it up and moving away from each other.
Complete silence filled the jet before another explosion happened and the mutants remembered something more important than the little hugging the two teenagers were engaged in. "Uh shouldn't we be getting out of here?" Marcus asked as Logan quickly took the ships controls and had the X jet off the ground in seconds. The jet managed to gain a lot of distance as the Hydra island exploded into a giant mushroom cloud that they managed to see through their windows. As they watched the battlefield fade from their windows the mutants inside heaved a big sigh of relief. It was finally over.
"Can we finally go home now?" Marcus asked as he slumped on the ground, completely exhausted from everything that happened before the twin Lida and Teresa glomped him into a big hug. "Marcus it's been so long!!" they exclaimed as tears went down their cheeks before they added, "We thought for sure that you were dead!"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." he replied in a grimace before hugging the two of them back. After that he and Laura shook hands with everyone as a sign of congratulations for making it back. That is until Marcus got to Wolverine and the older mutant growled, "Touch my daughter like that again and I'll gut you." His words made the shadow bender shrink from fear and Laura to blush slightly.
But with that the battles out of the way and everyone present and accounted for, there was only thing left for the heroes to do. Sit back and ride the jet back home.
Going forward in time...
It was a pretty calm week after the Hydra battle and now things were going through normality as usual. Marcus's mom had practically killed him and Jacob from either hugging them so much or from embarrassment from kissing them on the faces, which everyone in the vicinity laughed at. Yeah not a good idea to keep a woman from her child for so long. Afterwards Diane met Laura and the others and somehow they became friends over time.
A few days after their return, Phoebe and the others, now reunited with their families, left the mansion to pick up where their lives left off and gave the X-men a fond farewell. Not long after them Marcus and his family left for Chicago as well. The shadow bender bided farewell to his friends and when it came to Laura she said bye as well with her usual frown. When Marcus asked if she would miss him, she punched him in the shoulder earning a laugh from everyone present and even Laura herself. With that squared away Marcus left as well and for the smallest of moments a look of sadness was present on Laura's face.
Four weeks later...
Laura sat on the couch in the Rec. room of the Institute watching random shows on TV with Jubilee and Bobby beside her. It had been a pretty quiet week but soon the Professor said he would talk about sending Laura to school to hang out with her friends more if she wanted. It would take a little time before everything was ready but it would happen. Logan decided that since she would be starting school soon Jubilee and Bobby had make sure that she didn't kill anyone on the first day. It may not happen but hey it pays to be safe.
*"Attention everyone."* Charles Xavier spoke through telepathy. Laura didn't jump from his words in her head, after getting used to it the first few times. *"We are having some new arrivals coming in today so please gather in the main hall right now. That is all."* The Professor was gone from their thoughts after that and the three got up and did as he asked.
After a few minutes all the students new and old were gathered in the hall the same way when Laura and Marcus first came to the Institute and awaited to see who the new people were. Most of the staff were gathered at the top of the stairs except for Wolverine who was on the first floor leaning on the wall with his arms folded over his chest. Laura, Bobby, and Jubilee walked over to him and asked if he knew who the new students were.
"Don't know." he answered and went back to looking at the others at the top of the stairs as the Professor made the announcement for things to be quiet so he could begin. Once they were he cleared his throat and said, "Thank you all for coming today and as you know we are to welcome anyone who comes here with open arms so I expect you all to be on your best behaviors." He earned chuckles from the students before it got quiet again.
"Now without further ado," he motioned for the doors beside him, "Please welcome your new fellow students."
At his words the doors opened and from them came six people. One was a green haired woman wearing a light blue tank top and light brown Capri pants. Another was a guy with glasses on his eyes and light brown hair wearing a light gray hoodie with a white shirt under it and black pants. Two more was a woman who looked to be the same age as the first one sporting spiky orange hair, a designer pink shirt and blue Capri pants, while the man was bald wearing a regular white T-shirt and blue pants. Finally came two little girls who appeared to be twins wearing matching yellow shirts and brown long skirts.
Everyone drew a gasp as they realized who these people were as the Professor said, "Meet Phoebe Madison, John Forester, Tamara Makurabe, Gen Simmons, and Lida and Teresa Martinez. I hope you all will get along well." The new guys waved at everyone for a second before the Professor continued, "And also we have someone returning as well..."
Laura felt a presence behind her and instinctively turned around to see who it was. She was as stunned as everyone else by the sight. There was a teenage boy with short black spiky hair and light blue hair, wearing a black T-shirt and brown pants standing before them with his hands in his pockets. Marcus had his usual carefree smile on his face as he said, "Hey guys, long time no see."
Xavier nodded to the boy before finishing up, "We welcome you back Marcus Stanford and we also welcome you all too. Make yourselves at home." With that the students went after the new arrivals and old one with questions and after sometime everything quieted down again and everyone left the main hall, except for four mutant friends who wanted to talk in private.
Jubilee and Bobby asked how Marcus was able to come back and he told them his mom found a new job teaching here in New York and now since they lived a lot closer he was able to come back here. It was a pretty exciting week when he got the news. "Well you could have phoned us about it you know?" Jubilee said crossing her arms. Marcus shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I wanted it to be a surprise. I actually planned to do something more cool but everyone told me to tone it down and just appear." Marcus sighed after that last part, "Man I had such a cool idea planned for it too."
"Knowing you it would be something goofy or idiotic." Laura quipped fas she folded her arms and looked at the shadow bender with a stern frown. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and answered, "Well I wouldn't say idiotic but goofy was definitely on the mark." "Idiot." she said looking away from him like a pouting teenager.
Silence fell in the hall for a few minutes as they waited for Laura to say something and when she did they let out the breaths they were holding, "So how long will you be here?" Marcus crossed the distance between the two and placed a hand on her shoulder which made the girl turn and face him. "I'm here as long as you want me to be." His words made her unfold her arms but her frown never left. She then remembered that she never got an answer from the question back at the Hydra base and decided now she would get it. "Why are you always so nice to me anyway?"
"Because I care about you just like they do." Marcus answered without skipping a beat, "And that is what friends are for."
Laura and the others stayed quiet at his words for a while until Bobby asked, "What are you? A Hallmark kid or something?" "Hey that was a good response. Lay off." Marcus retorted. Then something happened that no one expected.
Laura actually let out a girlie giggle. Her unexpected action was soon trumped when she said, "Still the same idiot as always." with something she rarely used. A natural gentle smile.
Marcus and the others gaped at the girl with their mouths open completely dazed from her actions. Marcus was the first to rebound from it and offer her a smile of his own, knowing that she was being nice when she said it. She finally gave him a compliment. This was a historic day.
Clank.
All four of them turned around to Jamie and Kurt appear in the room. From the looks of shock on their faces it was evident that they had seen everything. Well all they saw was her giggle and smile, that wasn't so bad right?
"See I told you she told you she liked him like that." Kurt joked making a blushes appear on Marcus and Laura's faces. Suddenly a snikt was heard and when everyone turned around they saw Laura back in anger mode with her claws out and a murderous gaze focused on a blue furry mutant. Bad move Kurt.
"Now Laura calm down." Marcus said trying to stop her from doing something drastic, "Kurt was just joking around. Right Kurt?" "Veah. Just joking Laura." Nightcrawler said backing out of the room slowly as he could. Soon everyone was slowly backing away from the former X23 hoping to clear some distance between them before things got out of hand.
They didn't get far. Jamie made a false move. Laura sensed it and tensed herself to pounce. "Run for it!" Marcus yelled as he ran for his life as the first one out of the room. The chase was on as the sounds of screaming could be heard for mile and an hour until something intervened.
Afterwards only the sound of teenage laughter was heard. The laughter of friends finally together again. Of families new and old coming together and mostly that of two friends in particular. Who are now able to relax and laugh it off. The friendship they share was a hard one filled with dangerous trials, close calls, and painful times but by sticking together and sharing that connection they made it through. And it was all through the help of a bond.
A Dark Bond.
Dark Bonds End.
And that my friends is the end of my first story. It was a long time coming and I hoped to be done a lot quicker than this but hey that's life. Marcus and Laura are officially friends and some explanations were given,not like how I planned but I feel it works. Sometimes to move on with a new life you gotta put the past behind you. Sometimes not by revenge but by having a reason to do so. Well that's what I think anyway.
There won't be a sequel to this if anyone was going to ask. Sorry but I can't think of anything for it and I do want to end it here. Still it was pretty fun to write this and to all those who read the story thank you for following it up to now and I hope you liked it.
Look forward to my next story Mahou Sensei Demonica: a Negima fanfic coming soon. Hopefully if college doesn't kill me first. Well that's all.
AJ Katon out.
