Merry Christmas Eve everyone! I was going to post this at midnight, but I figured people would be too busy tomorrow to read. But if you want to consider this a Christmas present, hold off until tomorrow. If you don't care, read, review, and enjoy!
X2: Survivors
Dark brown eyes narrowed dangerously. Full lips pursed in concentration, the sound of sand shifting below settling feet. The clinking of metal echoed tensely through the great space.
The object of the brown eyes' focus stood tall and proud directly across from the eyes' owner. Pale eyes met dark as the still opponent smirked toothily.
"Well, come at me," she purred, raising a hand to beckon her adversary forward.
Said adversary was quick to comply.
The pale eyed girl flipped backward as a coil of chain came whipping with vicious intent toward her, spraying sand about. The pale eyed girl couldn't remain still for long as the metal length came flying towards her again, twirled with surprising skill and strength. A lanky shape followed the chain, charging with all the purpose of a rampaging bull.
The pale eyed girl was quick. She dropped low under the chain coil, darting forward and smashing her shoulder into her opponent's leg, flipping the tall body over her shoulder. Her opponent wasn't down though. The moment the wiry body hit the ground, it rolled with impact and shot once more to its feet. It returned to the charge.
The pale eyed girl once again tried to feint downward, but her adversary expected it this time, and swooped down with her. The left arm shot forward, another weapon moving in for the kill: a long piercing blade attached by a metal ring around the middle finger. The pale eyed girl barely managed to dodge the thin weapon before it punctured her right eye. The girl wasn't fazed, jumping on the opportunity. Before the left arm could retract, the girl seized it and bent it back. If she pulled hard enough she could completely dislocate the forearm bones from the humerus at the elbow. Unfortunately for her, her opponent wasn't one to accept defeat easily. The pale girl felt her legs suddenly hooked behind her opponent's knees, and with a mighty yank, both combatants went down.
The two writhed in the sand like dueling serpents, each trying to rise first and gain the small window of advantage therein. Again and again the pale eyed girl dodged the piercers that continuously sank into the sand, unable to catch her. She shot her knee up, catching her adversary in the ribs. A loud grunt was her reward as she used her opponent's pain to flip them both over, putting her on top.
Like lightning, her hand flicked out and seized her opponent's wrist, keeping the long chain from coming into use at close range. Her other arm blocked her opponent's free hand from reaching up with the piercer. Lastly, she used her legs to lock down the thrashing hips below her. The pale eyed girl cracked a sharp grin, her silver irises gleaming in triumph.
"Give up yet?" she hissed. The furious and unexpected head-butt told her that no, her foe was not ready to go down. The dark haired opponent on the bottom of the tussle surged upward and threw the pale girl off. Once again both combatants were standing, glaring and ready for more.
"If only it was raining," said a brain-addled voice which went unnoticed by the fighters. Someone else did take notice though.
"Quiet," Phalanx hissed sternly at whatever male Outcast had said that, though he couldn't exactly fault him. The two female combatants in the center of the sand ring were sweaty and panting, a fetching enough sight to any young adult male. The sand pit need only have been wet and sludgy and it would have been a dream-come-true for many young men present.
He watched keenly as Spice, growling in frustration, surged forward toward Magdalena Oliver, dubbed Tik Tok in her initiation as one of the team. James smirked. It had been quite a while since anyone had managed to get Spice hot and bothered in a fight. Certainly the feline blonde was both the stronger and the faster of the two, but Tik Tok had an ability to fight back even when she was outmatched. Many times Spice had swept her down, but each time she shot right back up. Her movements were always fast and aggressive, and though not always controlled, every move and tactic was with complete focus and intent.
Her weapon choices were also rather strange, but she wielded each with a mastery that had surprised him. The melee chain and emeici, or emei piercing blades were seamlessly connected to her fighting style.
Tik Tok was probably the greatest achievement out of all the mutants they had picked up from the Lincoln experimentation facilities. Magdalena wasn't the most sociable of creatures; her demeanor was slightly off, probably a mild form of Asperger's syndrome affecting her speech and social skills to a certain degree, but out of all their new recruits she was the most dedicated. Almost constantly, she was practicing hand to hand, or with her weapons. Whenever she was put in the sparring ring she attacked with nothing less than everything she had. After the roughly six months since she had arrived, she could defeat every one of her fellow Lincoln mutants with ease. Now she practiced with the senior members.
There was a sudden loud thump of disturbed sand as Spice finally came out on top, Tik Tok pinned beneath her with Spice's clawed hand hovering over her throat, a mock killing blow. James inwardly shrugged. Not quite senior level yet, but getting pretty close. He held up his hand.
"End match," he called commandingly. Spice sinuously drew away from Tik Tok, her face smug but still showing she was impressed with her opponent's skills. Tik Tok stood, saying nothing. Despite the fact that she'd lost there was still pride in her face.
"Spice is the winner, but both of you displayed strengths and flaws in this fight. Spice, what were some of Tik Tok's flaws?"
"She doesn't strategize her attacks, or what could go wrong. She thinks quick on her feet but that won't always save her," Spice barked out obediently. She was quite efficient at pointing out flaws, aside from her own. James nodded, and then turned to Magdalena.
"Tik Tok, what did you find wrong with Spice's fighting style?"
Tik Tok paused, aware of the many eyes of the spectators watching her, before she spoke.
"Spice is too confident in her own abilities. She relies too much on her strength and speed. Also, she does not take risks as seriously as she should, always barely missing a deadly blow." She spoke without contractions and with total seriousness. Spice rolled her eyes and grumbled something under her breath. She disliked having her shortcomings pointed out, especially in front of others. Magdalena ignored her sparring partner.
James nodded; satisfied with the conclusions the two girls came to. "Then you're done. Igneous, Fox Howl, you're next."
The two girls made their way out of the sandpit as a girl with black rock for skin and a tall sandy-haired boy took their places. Spice and Tik Tok found empty spaces among the great crowd of Outcast warriors that circled the sand pit, or perched above among the towers of rock that upheld the ceiling, watching the sparring matches like they would a basketball game. It was entertainment as much as it was training; people would place bets on which of the pair would come out on top, or how long the match would last, trading trinkets or meal turns as winnings. James allowed it. Lord knew they deserved some form of fun, and it gave them motive to pay close attention to the matches.
He felt breath on his neck as Sonata leaned in close to him. Sadly, it wasn't the trigger to a bout of physical affection; the two leaders never showed intimacy in front of their followers.
"So what do you think? About Tik Tok?" Kai murmured just loud enough to be heard over the cheers and whoops as Igneous and Fox Howl began their bout down in the ring.
James cast a swift glance at Magdalena, who was watching the match with wide, rapidly blinking eyes.
"She's gotten very good," he whispered back.
"Well I know that," Kai hissed in exasperation and amusement. "I mean, do you think she's ready to join the senior sector? She can last nearly fifteen minutes in the ring against Spice, who's one of our best melee fighters."
"The senior sector is reserved for our best fighters and tactical leaders," James said back. "She's certainly proven herself a warrior, but I'm not sure if her social skills would allow her to be a field commander."
"Oh come on, you heard Tonia, she thinks on her feet. She saved you guys when you picked her up, in case you've forgotten." Kai gave him a half smile. "You supply enough skull-cracking strategy for the whole team. Maybe a little intuition is what we need," she said.
James considered, and was about to reply when Kai suddenly stiffened. Her face looked upward, toward the stream of sunlight leading into open air. James realized that she was listening. He grew tense, but knew better than to interrupt her.
She turned back to him, but her eyes held no fear or sign of danger. In fact, she looked rather pleased.
"We have some company," she said vaguely. "Might wanna get the rest of the seniors together." She spun around and began walking toward one of the exits, casting a beckoning glance behind her. James didn't bother to pester, trusting his unofficial wife. He gathered the senior team, composed of Spice, Hive, Nina Valdez, who was also known as Mitosis, and Scream, whenever he was around. They followed their leader up through the tunnel passages and out through a hidden entrance.
Sonata was waiting for them on the edge of a slope, looking down with a slight smile on her face.
"Guess who found us?" she inquired of them as they arrived, not taking her eyes away from two figures that were climbing the hill toward them. The one in the lead was a slim-figured, young Pakistani woman in dirt-smudged jeans and a dark grey jacket. Her long black hair was gathered in a braid and her blue eyes shone in the sun. The second was a tall young man with dark brown hair falling past his shoulders. They could see his gaze fixed on them as they waited for the two.
Just as the duo reached the top, James called out to the girl with false seriousness. "Should I be concerned that you found us this easily?"
"No, because it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway; I'd have found you wherever you chose to hide." The girl smiled cheekily as she arrived in front of them. James smiled welcomingly.
"Nice to see you back Shazma. Who's your friend?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Panting a bit after she had stopped walking, she threw out a hand toward her companion. "Casey Williams. Did me a solid so I thought I'd bring him along.
"Nice to meet you," Casey said, holding out his hand for a shake. James took it, but eyed him keenly.
"What brought you two together?" he asked, his tone probing for information. This guy was an unknown, and it was better to know something about him before letting him into their base.
Shazma's face grew a little red. "He uh…kinda saved my life. Sentinel," she admitted reluctantly.
James stared sternly at her. "You do seem to have a problem staying away from those. I thought by now you would have learned their usual circuits."
"I know perfectly well where their patrol routes are," she snapped. "As a matter of fact, that's half the reason I came here. Where I was attacked was nowhere near one of the circuits, and the Sentinel had been upgraded. Again," she growled ominously.
The Outcasts stared at her, most of their eyes wide. James felt dark anticipation growing. At last, this was what they had been waiting for. Shazma was staring at them, her angular eyes narrowing further.
"You knew about this, didn't you? Or at least you were expecting something like this?"
"How long ago were you attacked?" James asked, skirting her question.
"Nearly two months ago. If it makes you feel better, it was hell trying to find you, even with my skills, and we had to be a lot more careful than usual," she said stonily.
"Two months? That long?" Spice said. "Why didn't we know about this sooner?"
"The increase is acting like a movement, starting out east and heading west. Where are we again? Arizona?" The Outcasts nodded. "Yeah, I think I was in Kansas when I got attacked. The spread out of those clunkers should be starting here soon, if it hasn't already."
That was their signal. Their last mission had ultimately done what they had wanted it to do: rattle the cages. Things were in motion now, and the Outcasts had to be ready for them.
"Come on," James barked commandingly, spinning around and heading back for the entrance to the hide out. "We need to spread the word."
His team fell into step behind him. Shazma fluidly stepped up to join their ranks, falling in beside the quietly grim Scream. Casey trailed in the rear. He wasn't quite sure what was going on; he just knew that something big was about to happen. Ahead of him he saw the tall Pakistani boy beside Shazma giving the dark-haired girl an odd stare. She seemed to notice.
"Oh, stop giving me that look. It's not like I search out every Sentinel within a fifty mile radius of me," she scowled under his reprimanding stare. Said stare did not let up, causing Shazma to huff a little bit and jog forward, putting some distance between them. The tall boy did nothing for a few moments, before lengthening his strides to draw level with her once more. Casey thought he caught Shazma smiling.
The sky was black, black as only a midnight swathed in looming storm clouds could be. Far off in the distance the rumbling of thunder signaled a storm, but no lightning flashes could be seen yet. The late July storm front towered above a small town of empty houses. It painted a perfect picture of a dark, apocalyptic world, where life has failed and the only thing left was remnants of a once great civilization long since dead. Harsh winds whipped through the empty streets and tore at the leaves on the bowing trees.
Inside one of the large, once pretty houses, a little voice whimpered as thunder cracked the air above them. It was rapidly hushed by a soothing voice.
Barely a minute later had the first lightning strike of the storm lighted up the treacherous night, casting ghostly light through the windows of this inhabited house. Multiple figures cowered away from the light, but several others remained still.
Limb stood at the window, watching the beginnings of the great squall. He didn't flinch when the thunder broke above them, but the frightened whimpers caused him to turn back to the room's inhabitants.
Almost a month had passed since their mission began, filled with weary travel and negotiations among several colonies, yet they still had a long way to go. Those sitting in the room were those they had found in the past several weeks.
Most were loners, those they had picked up alone or in pairs, who had leapt at the chance at safety and stability, though there were a few exceptions. There was a young man named Evan and his partner Brittany, and their baby daughter. The two had looked on the Seekers as miracles; their baby was only four months old, and they feared that the child wouldn't survive the next winter. So far they had been turned away from every colony they had tried to settle in, neither being highly skilled beyond providing for each other. There was also a group of siblings, all five of them mutants, ranging in age from eighteen to nine. The oldest sister was thin and haggard, obviously the major provider for the struggling family. She would always refuse to eat before her brothers and sisters.
The staircase leading upstairs to where they sheltered creaked, causing several of the refugees to jump in fear. It was only Ballista, coming in and shaking out her freezing body.
"Still clear," she hissed into the room. "We need to get moving soon. Where is he?"
"Still trying to get a lock on him, now shut up and let me concentrate," growled Evangeline's voice from the corner. She was sitting cross-legged and had her eyes scrunched up in concentration.
Ballista huffed in impatience, causing Tcelfer to shrug in sympathy.
"We can't leave these guys here and risk them being discovered, especially if we screw up somehow. We gotta get them back first."
"I know," groused Ballista as she sat down hard in frustration on an old armoire. One of the loners they had picked up who had been leaning nearby scooted in closer to her. Limb, still standing by the window, couldn't hear what he whispered to her, but it seemed to be a pick-up line, because Ballista's reply was a sharp, blunt retort of 'I'm a lesbian.' It sent the hopeful mutant back into his original resting spot, disappointed. Limb couldn't help but snort faintly with laughter. Ballista's cut-to-the-quick ways, while sometimes chafing, never ceased to amuse.
Finally, Phoenix let out a satisfied noise. "Got him. He should be here in a minute."
And indeed, within a short time, the room was filled with a blast of black and purple smoke. A familiar Dominican speedster slash teleporter stood in the room.
"Good to see you guys," Jump grinned at the Seekers in the room, but he knew this was no time for chatting. He immediately turned to the group of refugees. "Okay everyone; I'll be your transportation expert this evening. If you could all kindly gather whatever possessions you have, and place all loose items somewhere they will be safe we'll be on our way. I'm afraid Seeker Airlines can't be responsible for any personal items lost in interspace dimensions."
A few chuckles followed his mini-speech as the group began to collect their things. Meanwhile, the Seekers rose and headed for the door leading out. Jump caught up with them before they exited.
"Hey, you guys sure you don't want me to come back, once I get them all safe?" he asked seriously.
"No," Limb said. "You'll be exhausted once you get them all transported back home; you'll be in no condition. Just make sure to get them all back within the hour. There's no telling if this place will stay safe if this doesn't go perfectly," he commanded firmly. Jump nodded obediently.
"Good luck. You're gonna need it," he wished them a bit morbidly before turning around and reentering the room. A moment later, he and three refugees vanished in a blast of smoke.
"Come on," Limb muttered to his team. They all marched down the stairs and out into the streets.
During Jump's entry, the clouds had finally decided to open the floodgates. It was now dumping rain, soaking them the moment they stepped from the abandoned house.
"Oh yeah, this is gonna be really fun," Tcelfer yelled over the pounding drops on the cracked asphalt.
"What are you complaining for? There's plenty of reflective surfaces around, we don't have to go looking for one," Static replied to his gripe. Ever since the storm had begun she seemed invigorated. As she looked upward into the raging sky, her eyes seemed to crackle with electric blue light. The lightning began to increase above them, the thunder roaring like celestial drums in the sky.
"Could you tone it down?!" Ballista yelled, clapping her hands over her ears. Static gave her a confused look, causing the wolf girl to point upward. "Take a chill pill already, I'm going deaf here!"
"I didn't know I was doing it," Static called back, looking up again.
"Everyone!" Limb yelled, catching their attention. "We don't have time to wait. This is the perfect time to do this, and we can't afford to waste it. Tcelfer, get us going! Phoenix, take two and keep it low!"
Both Seekers nodded. Tcelfer took Hexenwolf by the shoulder and dove through a large puddle by the curb. Phoenix, rising into the air, began to crackle with blue-purple and white flames. The aura of fire reached out to include Amp and Ballista, before she shot off into the bellowing night, a pale spot that was almost instantly lost in the deluge. Only a few minutes passed before first Tcelfer and then Phoenix returned, taking the rest of the team to their destination, about twenty miles from their current location.
Static tried not to toss her stomach as Phoenix hurled them through the air. It had been awhile since she'd done this, and she'd forgotten how disorienting it was.
She, Limb, and Phoenix touched down in a group of tightly clustered pines. The rest of their team waited there, peering down a muddy slope and toward a harsh, unnatural light that glowed into the dark forest.
The slope trailed downward toward the edge of the forest clump, and nestled under the last boughs of the trees was a collection of unnatural structures: great hulking buildings, mazes of barb wire fences, and the traditional ominous smokestack. A Sentinel factory. All the information they had gathered about Sentinel appearances in the region had led them here.
Limb shifted, aware of the way Lotusfire was shivering a bit, or how Static's eyes had grown rather large. Ballista's black tail was quivering, whether in anger, anticipation, or fear he didn't know.
"We're dismantling it, as quietly as possible," Limb hissed to his team over the roar of the rattling pines.
"Why quietly?" Hexenwolf didn't appear afraid. Rather, his pupils had grown very large, almost rendering his blue eyes utterly black. The wolf was close to the surface, the extra rasp in his voice almost coming out like a growl.
"Because," Amp replied, "people don't tend to make a fuss when things are done quietly. When you go in explosively, you're going to get explosive retaliation."
"Amp's right, we're not going in there to wage war; we're neutralizing a threat," Limb said.
"What's the difference?" Ballista growled.
"We don't want to cause a show, that's the difference. We can't afford to draw attention to ourselves. Now, we'll need two teams," he declared, going into debrief mode. He pointed into the center of the building cluster to a low-to-the-ground bunker. "Sentinels will bring in mutants alive if commanded, so they can use them as testing to make sure the Sentinels are effective. They'll most likely be hidden in that bunker. Amp, you lead Static, Ballista, and Lotusfire there and try to free as many as you can, but only after our signal. Tcelfer, Hexenwolf, Phoenix, you're with me. We're taking out the security."
The guard shifted uncomfortably in the rain, pulling up his collar to gain some meager extra protection. How he despised nights like these. Right now most of his fellow guards were huddled around in the break room, trying to get some reception on the shitty little TV in there, or were at least stationed somewhere dry and indoors.
He squinted out into the night. Despite the floodlights, beyond the fences he couldn't see jack. It was just an impenetrable black wall. The guard tried not to get himself worked up, but he couldn't deny that this place gave him the willies. He used to just be a normal security guard safe in the cities, but lately there had been an upswing in transfers for those of his profession. The government, such as it was, had kept everything hush-hush, so all he knew was that one day he was kicking back in a desk chair in a normal business building, the next he's transferred out into the wilderness to babysit this factory.
The wilderness was a spooky place, especially at night. Some of the guards that had been here long before he had liked to tell phony stories about cannibal mutants that would sometimes manage to slink over the fences and rip the throats out of the unwatchful. He wasn't six, and therefore didn't believe them, but it did cause one to wonder what did lurk out there beyond the fence. The guard mentally slapped himself again. This was stupid; in the four months he'd been here he had seen nothing but the same boring concrete in the same boring lot.
His only clue that something was suddenly behind him was but a whisper of instinct, a tingle up the spine. He had next to no time to react to the feeling before a strong limb curled around his throat, as firmly as a strangling python. His cry of fear was choked off as the arm tightened, its brother winding around his torso and locking his arms to his side. The man struggled to breathe, and as he did so he began to notice the texture of the arm cutting of his air. It was…furry? The man croaked in horror, just barely managing to turn his head to the side. He would have screamed if he'd been able. His wide brown eyes locked with monstrous, glowing yellow ones, with narrow pupils that seemed to stare into his soul. It was the last thing he saw before he passed out.
Slowly, a tall dark shape with clawed hands, furry limbs, and yellow eyes let the man slide to the wet ground, completely unconscious. It briefly checked the man's pulse with a clawed finger, before hoisting the man over his shoulder. With a mighty leap, the werewolf seized onto the lip of the roof on the nearest building, hauling itself up. It trekked up the sloping roof, crouched low, until it reached the top. Using a piece of wire, the creature lashed the man's wrist to a narrow exhaust pipe, and stuffed a rag into his mouth to keep him from calling out should he wake.
The creature's foot-paws pattered noiselessly across the rooftop, its form nothing more than a shadow conjured by the bright floodlights. It hovered on the building's edge, searching out more guards.
A brief mental nudge from the Phoenix gave him a hint. "There's one beyond the next building across from you."
Hexenwolf nodded, stepping back a bit before launching himself over the gap and landing in a crouch on the next rooftop. This time, he stayed on all fours as he prowled toward the building's edge. He peeked down. The guard stood, oblivious to his fellow's fate, and to the monstrous visage lurking above him.
Hexenwolf dropped silently, bludgeoning the guard on the skull with his powerful fist, knocking the man out instantly. He too was born up to the roof and left bound and gagged there.
Limb's voice echoed in his head, patched through a telepathic link created by Phoenix. "Outer guards disabled. Team two go," he ordered. "Team one, split up. Phoenix, Tcelfer, into the manufacturing building. Disable as much as you can. Hexenwolf, you and I will be making sure the rest of the guards won't pose a problem."
The werewolf nodded, scanning the empty lot. A brief flicker of moving shadow told him Limb's position. He made a massive leap and landed not far from his leader.
Limb, unsurprised by his rather flashy entrance, nodded his head forward toward one of the buildings, a box-like standard building with white-washed walls and small rectangular windows high up the walls. The telling glow of Limb's blue arms had been suppressed by glove-like covers that reached all the way up to his shoulders and connected to his armor by clips. Limb now appeared to be a normal, albeit strangely dressed, human.
The two young men stalked toward the building's entrance. Beyond the partially open door inside, they could see a shadow moving. According to Hexenwolf's keen senses, a single guard was hanging around the entrance, smoking a cigarette away from the displeased coughing of his peers. Limb cast a glance at the werewolf mutant, who nodded, his golden eyes gleaming eerily.
The smoking guard had no chance of defending himself when the monster of the night swung around the door, seized his head, and cracked his skull back against the wall. The faint thump and the barely audible squeaking of wet paws on linoleum went unnoticed by the others in the building, and they therefore remained unaware of the lurking danger. The two young men crept through the corridors. The entrance they had come through was one of two, one set in the lower corner of the building. The other was on the opposite side, with two main hallways running horizontal through the building, and five vertical branch-offs along each. They paced the main corridors first, before moving inwards from the outer rooms, quietly knocking out anyone they found. The rec room was handled by cutting the lights and quickly clocking all confused parties over the heads as they scrambled about for the light switch. Now all that remained was the security room. It contained two guards. Hexenwolf and Limb eyed each other before moving in.
Meanwhile, Phoenix and Tcelfer crept through the massive factory building. Phoenix utilized the high ceilings, floating along in the upper gloom like a ghost, carrying Tcelfer along with her arms wrapped around his torso. Any guard unlucky enough to pass beneath them was instantly put out of commission and dragged into the multitudes of piping to be stashed.
Aside from the guards, the security was ridiculously lax. Only a simple door separated them from the great chambers that housed the Sentinel-creating mechanisms.
Phoenix scanned the room with her mind, confirming the no guards were in the vicinity. However, looking at the rows and rows of sleeping, half-prepared Sentinels made her cringe. Tcelfer wore a similar expression.
"I'll get the robots and the factory machinery," Phoenix muttered, "and you get into the control room, screw up as much as you can." Tcelfer nodded and jogged off. Phoenix jumped down off the walkway that overlooked the assembly lines below, landing in a crouch. Conjuring an intense flame in her hand, she moved toward the first of the robots to get started.
"Keep it narrow Lotusfire, you're almost done."
"I know," Lotusfire panted a bit, "but it's starting to burn my mouth."
"Then blow hotter," Ballista said. "We are NOT getting stopped by a door."
Lotusfire inhaled deeply, pursing his lips, and blew out a molten stream of fire, cutting through the hydraulically locked door around the mechanisms. Right as he reared back, blowing on his singed tongue, the chunk of the metal door fell away, clanking dully as it hit the floor. Amp nudged it open, keeping his gun held up. The guard upstairs had easily been taken care of, but they weren't sure if anyone else was down here.
They were faced with another long, empty corridor with another metal door at the end. Unfortunately, this one had no knob or lock, and a red light blinked over it.
They stood frustrated before Limb contacted them through the mental network they shared.
"This next door can only be opened directly from the guard room. Luckily, we're there right now, and the guard's subconscious was kind enough to give Hexenwolf the password to open it. Hold on."
There was a brief pause before the light above the door changed from red to green, and with a hiss the door began to swing open.
"The locks should be disabled on the mutants' cells as well. Get a move on, we're cutting it close here."
The four Seekers swept through the door. They pulled to a halt. One of the cell doors was already open, and a shadow was disappearing around the corner at the other end of the hall. They pushed away their uneasiness; a mutant had probably been able to notice their door unlocking and had jumped at opportunity's knock.
Static was the first to wrench open one of the doors, revealing a large mutant with black spines emerging from his back. His dark eyes stared at her, wary and full of confusion.
"We're getting you guys out of here," Static hissed, snapping her fingers and creating a spark to show this was no trick.
The Seekers gathered the imprisoned mutants together with difficulty, the freed people either weeping their thanks or trying to run out as soon as possible.
"Limb, we've got them out. Are Phoenix and Tcelfer almost done?" Amp asked.
"We're working on it!" Phoenix's voice snapped sharply, bouncing around in his skull like a loose tack. "There're over a hundred of the freaking things here, we're moving as fast as we can."
"Don't worry about it Amp, just get them out. We'll be right behind you."
Amp called the escapees after him, guiding them toward freedom.
Limb meanwhile rechecked the security cameras, making sure no one had woken up that shouldn't have. Hexenwolf was opening up the access controls for the factory and the Sentinels, removing the wiring and mechanisms from the consoles. Both were fully intent on their tasks, and thus were unaware of the small red light blinking faintly on the security guards' belts. A similar light was blinking on the uniforms of all the unconscious facility personnel.
"Sir? We're getting the Code 3 signal from the Sentinel base out in Sector Eight."
A lean figure placed his hands on the console top, leaning forward to check the readings the technician had received. The alert said that all of the security personnel and mechanics in the Sector Eight base had not reset their relay systems on their belts; it was required procedure now, stating that every hour all facility workers were to reset the systems to keep the distress call from going out. The only reasons that could explain why none of the workers had reset the system were either because they had all become idiots and had forgotten, or they were unable to, as rendered by outside forces.
The man smiled in pleasure. "And here come the big fish," he murmured to himself.
"What do we do sir?" the technician questioned worriedly.
"We employ the back up security system," his superior said calmly. He entered a password into the computer, causing green block lettering to flash across the screen.
Deployment Sequence Commencing…
Phoenix ripped a square sheet of metal from the head of one of the incomplete machines, the same as she'd done to the many others here. Reaching into the inner workings, letting a ball of fire consume her hand, she began to rip out everything she could manage, the flame in her hand singeing important circuitry along the way. Tcelfer was working a few rows over, having finished disabling the control room, now burning his way through the shielding on another of the machines.
Phoenix concentrated. "Limb, we're about done. Pull out, me and Tcelfer can make it out from here."
The simple maneuver was not to be. It seemed the cosmos had looked down through the storm clouds that night and decided that the patience and endurance of the Phoenix and her team needed to be tested on that dark evening.
Just as Tcelfer and Phoenix were standing to leave, they were knocked back to their knees as the whole floor shuddered and shifted apart.
DEPLOYMENT SEQUENCE COMPLETE, an automated voice roared through the facility.
"Oh shit!" Phoenix swore as two giant black shapes began to rise from the parting floor. "Limb, Hexenwolf, get out now!"
"Get out!" Phoenix screamed at Tcelfer. Stubborn in his loyalty to his teammates as Gabriel was, he knew this was not a good place for him to get stuck. He dove through the nearest piece of shiny black Sentinel armor, disappearing and leaving Phoenix alone with the two midnight-colored monoliths.
The moment they had fully risen from the floor, their red eyes fixed on her. Simultaneously, their guns rose.
Phoenix smirked, shifting her feet into a half-crouch. "I've been needing to stretch the old muscles. You think you boys can help out with that?" she questioned icily.
Her reply was a plasma discharge through the giant cannons.
Right before she was fried, Phoenix rocketed into the air and toward the Sentinels. With a battle-charged yell, she crashed her gloved fist into the first Sentinel's head. Instead of broken fingers, the giant machine staggered back, tripping over the incomplete Sentinel frames and collapsing into the back wall, crushing it inward.
The second Sentinel had barely turned its head before Phoenix came swooping back around, slamming full-bodied into the robot's chest and rocketing them both through the wall and out into the pouring rain in the courtyard. The great machine crushed the concrete below it, forming a massive divot in the ground.
Phoenix had already risen back into the air, fire wreathing around her despite the dumping rain. Two large fireballs formed in both hands, and with grunts of effort, she heaved them down onto the shifting Sentinel. The fireballs collided with the black armor with giant booms, hitting with the force of small explosions.
Suddenly, Phoenix heard giant footsteps behind her. She managed to spin around in the air, just in time to see a giant black fist coming right at her.
"Oh fu – "
The fist collided with her, full force.
"Limb, Hexenwolf, get out now!"
Limb's head shot up and he whipped around. "Go!" he yelled at Hexenwolf. Both boys simultaneously shot from the room and out of the building, pounding across the slippery ground toward the perimeter fence. Without hesitation they both vaulted over, the barbed wire useless against Limb's psionic hands and Hexenwolf's healing power. The moment they hit the grass on the other side they pelted forward and only then allowed themselves to peer backward. From inside the factory building, red lights were flashing through the windows. Klaxon warnings began to blare through the night air.
"Amp, where are you? Something triggered, we've got retaliation coming our way," Limb demanded.
"We're about a mile out. I'm sending the prisoners on with Ballista leading them; the rest of us are circling back to help."
"What about Tcelfer and Phoenix?" Hexenwolf yelled over the combined hair-raising orchestra of sirens, roaring wind, and thunderclaps.
Another familiar sound, barely to be heard in the cacophony, alerted them to Tcelfer's pending presence. Hexenwolf watched in amazement as the driving raindrops seemed to shimmer, before piece by piece Tcelfer's image appeared, running beside them. For a moment it was translucent, like light's reflection off rain creating a rainbow, and then he was there, solid and whole as he ran beside them.
"Phoenix sent me out!" Tcelfer yelled. "She should be along any minute now," he added, trying and failing to sound jovial.
They were suddenly bathed in light as a fiery comet went tumbling past through the air, hurtling out of control. The ball of light flew overhead and crashed over a hill.
"Phoenix," Hexenwolf heard Limb say with fear in his voice. They didn't get much time to worry, as their path was suddenly blocked. All three Seekers fell back as the two Sentinels landed in front of them.
"WHOA!" Tcelfer yelled, seizing onto Limb's shoulder. Using the reflective strip on his uniform, both boys melted through the path and reemerged through the raindrops a few hundred yards away. Hexenwolf shifted rapidly and shot away right before the cannon shot blew his flesh from his bones. The force sent him flying, but he rolled when he landed and was right back up on his feet.
"HEY!" a defiant voice yelled nearby. The Seeker boys turned to see the other half of their team charging forward. Static was out in front. Her eyes were glowing with power, and with a thrust of her hands two gigantic bolts of lightning shot out. They hit the Sentinels, causing the machines to rear back at the sudden power surge assaulting them. Lotusfire leapt into the air, shooting toward the machines. He released a fireball from his mouth, hitting one in the torso.
"We've got 'em pinned!" Static yelled triumphantly. A sudden deafening boom from a cannon blast slammed over them, as the shot barely missed Static. Nevertheless, she was sent flying back, collapsing to the ground dazed and singed.
"We're screwed, aren't we?!" Tcelfer yelled. At the moment, no one was about to contradict him.
The ground smoked a bit, a crater furrowed deeply into the turf. A groan sounded from inside the crater, as a dirt-covered Phoenix shifted back to awareness. She puffed out a harsh breath as pain throbbed from her lower chest. That last shot probably bruised a rib or two. Through the ringing in her ears, she could hear the sounds of her team beginning to fight.
Growling, Phoenix wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth.
"Okay, you've pissed me off. Now you're gonna get it."
"We have to hold them back!" Limb yelled. "The prisoners need time to escape!"
"Great, now how do we do that?" Static asked after staggering up, her eyes bleary.
"Any way you can!" Limb yelled, pulling out one of his larger guns. He aimed high and shot. The second machine groaned as one of the red fiberglass eyes shattered and went dark. Another great bolt of electricity surged toward the other robot.
Behind his defiant words, Limb was worried. These Sentinels weren't like anything he'd seen or experienced before. They were stronger, faster, and seemed to adapt to anything they threw at them. Lotusfire had come diving in again from above, trying to get another hit with his fire attack. Only his recent lessons with Phoenix saved him from being crushed from the air by a giant fist. Similarly, they began to expect Static's electric blasts, and either dodged them or shot at her, keeping her from taking her shot.
Their concentration was suddenly interrupted by the raptorial shriek that split the air as a streak of fire tore over them. It hit the Sentinel in front, bearing it backwards and slamming it into the second robot, sending them both falling backwards.
"Took her a little longer this time," Amp said sarcastically as Phoenix began to rain fire on the robots. This didn't last long though, as a plasma blast sent her swerving away.
Limb rallied the team again. Their major heavy hitter was back in play, so their chances were much better.
"Vary your attacks! These things adapt, so try to keep mixing it up."
The Seekers might not have been quite the hardcore warriors that the Outcasts probably were, but let nobody say they couldn't be creative. Tcelfer threw his reflective shields toward the Sentinels, and then had Lotusfire send his fireballs through companion portals, catching the Sentinels from unexpected angles. Static was in her element. As the storm raged, she seemed to find new depths of power within herself, knowing instinctively what to do. Instead of sending bolts from her hands, she guided the charges in the clouds over the Sentinels, smiting them from above like a demigod of ancient Greece, a daughter of Zeus. Hexenwolf charged in, drawing their fire and leaving the robots open to attacks. Limb and Amplitude ducked in and out of fire, taking whatever shots they could manage, searching out any weak spot.
Unfortunately, these Sentinels were not what they used to be years ago, when the original X-men and Brotherhood had fought the first of them in the streets of Bayville. These machines were designed to search and destroy even the deadliest mutants.
Limb got off two shots to a notch in the Sentinel's chest plate, sending sparks raining down. He had to move fast as the fire turned toward him, sprinting like mad for a small dirt hillock created by one of the plasma blasts. He fell behind it, like an army man behind a trench.
"We need to pull out. This is getting too risky, they've adapted to too many of our attacks, we won't be able to keep them back much longer," he thought to his team.
"We can't let them go. They'll catch up with the prisoner mutants in minutes!" Phoenix snarled back, diving under a fist and dodging a laser blast one after the other. She then dove in, pounding her fists rapidly into the robot's face, the crumpling metal shrieking in protest.
"Someone's going to die if we don't get out of here or bring these things down now!"
"Then you all go! These things can smash me into the ground all they like, I'm not running away!" she replied stubbornly.
Static suddenly called out through the link. "I know I can get at least one down, just keep them busy long enough for me to gather up some power." Her mental voice sounded sure, and they had few other options at the moment.
"Everyone, keep them off Static!" Limb sent out the order. He then leapt from behind the embankment and charged straight at the Sentinels. He weaved and dodged, keeping them from locking onto him. Chunks of ground blew up around him as the shots narrowly missed him, but he pushed on. Right between the Sentinel's legs.
The giant feet shifted. Limb dropped and slid, spinning about and charging the other way as the massive metal feet tried to crush him. The deadly dance lasted for a minute before Limb saw his opportunity. One foot barely missed him, and he was close enough to latch onto its leg. It was a herculean effort considering the stress he was under, but Limb managed to shape his left hand into a sharp, glowing blade. He shoved it with all his might through the armor of the beast.
The column of metal and mechanisms shuddered, causing Limb to cling tight. But even he couldn't hold when the leg suddenly pitched back in a lightning fast backwards kick, sending him flying. At this speed, impact would be at the least excruciating, at the worst, fatal. Oddly enough, the only thought going through his mind was frightened awe at how much more versatile these new machines were. The former models could have never managed a maneuver like what had just sent him on his impromptu flight.
Right before Limb expected a bone-breaking collision, a pair of strong sharp-nailed hands seized him under the shoulders. A dismayed roar came from Lotusfire, unprepared for the rapid weight-gain as he dove in to save his leader, and he flapped his wings desperately to regain air. It slowed their descent, but didn't stop them from hitting the ground in a tangle, rolling over the sodden grass and coming to a painful stop. Even with the rough landing, the dragon teen had saved them both from serious injury.
"Lotusfire," Limb hissed as he detangled himself from the mass of limbs, wings, and tail. He rolled the humanoid boy over. Chris's blue eyes fluttered, dazed but not quite out.
"We're not going to hold." The thought rang like a death knell in Limb's skull. Blood was dripping into his eye from a long cut on his forehead.
The hairs on the back of his neck rose, the drenched atmosphere suddenly super-charged. His head whipped about to see Static standing a few hundred feet off, feet planted apart and her face set in concentration. She raised her arms to the raging skies, her eyes glowing like miniature stars.
The clouds split open above her, pouring out lighting in dozens of crackling spears. Unlike regular lightning, these did not fade within a millisecond, but continued to feed power into Static, who was now a human-shaped column of pure electricity. The sight was so brilliant Limb couldn't continue to look without blinding himself. He screwed his eyes shut, but red still glowed through the lids. The ground trembled below him, heat rising to an almost unbearable degree, beginning to blister his skin. Then a powerful, synthesized scream erupted from Static's direction, and a roar ripped through the air before hitting its target.
If Sentinels could scream, this one did. The sounds of frying circuitry, shattering mainframes, and melting armor filled the air as the rumble of the Sentinel's final collapse once more shook the earth.
Limb cracked his eyes open. They grew a little wide as he saw how close the smoking, cracked skeleton of the machine had come to crushing himself and Lotusfire, who was just now coming back to full awareness. Just beyond the head of the ruined Sentinel, he could see Static prone on the ground, her costume charred but her body unharmed. The sky, apart from the rain, had gone silent, all of its electrical energy, for the moment, spent.
Limb panted, relief beginning to creep through his mind. He could see the other Seekers rising from where they had taken shelter, Phoenix drifting down out of the clouds. Amp sprinted over to Static, checking that she was alright.
Then their spirits dropped like stones as something massive shifted, and the second Sentinel stood once more, singed and partially damaged, but still very much alive. Lotusfire whimpered. Limb agreed wholeheartedly.
Ballista charged as fast as she could against the rain and wind, her four paws pounding through the turf, water splashing all over her black muzzle. The cold, the wet, it didn't matter. She had sheltered the escaped mutants deep in a forest, in a kind of den burrowed beneath the roots of a great tree. Now she raced against the storm and time to get back to her teammates.
"Kota, you get attached too much," she berated herself in her head. It was true. Somehow she had grown attached to these people, despite her distance at the beginning. She had grown attached in Lincoln too. Now she was being pulled all over the place, in one direction trying to save her enslaved friends from their incarceration, and now trying to save the asses of these delusional, stupid, good people who would risk their lives for strangers like her. Over the howling of the storm she could hear the blasts of power and the mechanic growling of the Sentinels growing closer.
Blue-white light flashed over the rise ahead of her, followed by another great boom. "Static," she thought, and pushed on faster. She was almost there.
Ballista leapt over the rise to behold first a crumpled Sentinel husk lying on the ground. That was encouraging. Then she saw Static out cold, Limb and Lotusfire staggering sorely to their feet, and the rest of the exhausted team turning to face the remaining towering Sentinel. That was not encouraging.
"Oh crap," Ballista breathed, or as close as she could get to saying it out of a fanged muzzle. This was the first she'd seen of the new machines, and she was fighting to keep her bedraggled tail from tucking between her hind legs in fear. What was she supposed to do against THAT?
The cannon rose, firing instantly on Tcelfer, who had no time to run. As last resort he threw up a reflective shield in front of him. The blast shattered it instantly, throwing him back. He hit his head hard on the ground, slight armor and cushioning within his hat acting as a bit of a helmet. Nevertheless, the blow knocked him out.
Ballista didn't wait, throwing herself forward as the Sentinel prepared for a second shot. She saw Phoenix diving for the machine, throwing fireballs like mad having seen her teammate's plight, but in her desperation didn't see the other hand coming up as it grabbed her.
Ballista hit the ground and slid in the mud, shifting back to human as she did. She grabbed Tcelfer under the armpits and began to drag him away. She was taller than he was, but he had more muscle.
"Oh, COME ON!" she yelled in frustration as the plasma cannon glowed again in preparation to fire. Last ditch, with a mighty, muscle-shrieking effort, she threw Tcelfer over her shoulder and sprinted.
She was just looking back when the second blast picked them up off the ground and sent them spiraling like helpless, flimsy leaves through the air. It wasn't too high, but Ballista knew that her ribs were going to make her pay for this. But out of the price of pain, she unexpectedly bought them a chance.
The collision felt like being slammed into a brick wall by a car. All air rushed from her lungs and with it something a good deal more potent.
The giant, booming sound waves tore apart the grass and sent the very clouds careening away from their force. The blast pulled along a tsunami of turf and rock all directed, with all the luck in an unlucky world, toward the Sentinel. It didn't quite catch it dead center, but the sheer power that glanced against its already damaged right side tore the arm and shoulder of the robot clean off. The machine staggered back, for the moment stalled.
Ballista was semi-aware of her unexpected incredible feat, lying on the ground and struggling to catch her breath. A head of fiery hair suddenly swam above her before she was hauled up into a sitting position.
"Where the hell did that come from?" Phoenix asked, half angry and half exhilarated.
"Don't know," Ballista coughed in pain as she wobbled into a standing position. "Only used it once and forgot about it." The unexpected power display during her escape from Lincoln hadn't occurred to her in months.
"Well do it again and bring this thing down!" Phoenix yelled as the one-armed Sentinel began to approach, its great feet shaking the ground.
"It's not that simple," Ballista said wide-eyed as she reached down to pick Tcelfer up again. Phoenix yelled her reply as she helped.
"What do you mean not that simple?!"
"I can't really control it, I tried once or twice and I can't get it to work! That's half the reason I forgot it," she snapped back as the two girls shuffled back away from the nearing death machine, their male teammate like a man-sized doll dangling between them.
"Are you shitting me?!" Phoenix screeched as they broke into a backwards run. "I'm almost out of energy, everyone else is ready to drop, you have a weapon that can kill this thing and YOU CAN'T CONTROL IT?!"
"I'M SORRY YOU'RE HIGHNESS!" With death looming some few hundred feet over them, being backed up with an unconscious teammate between them, and things looking quite doomed, the petty screaming match was the only thing that made logical sense.
"It's because you try! Don't try, just do, let it loose!"
"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!"
Phoenix sputtered as she tried to explain and scream petulantly at the same time. "It probably accesses by instinct; reach inside and try to access it through feeling, not thought!"
"SCREW YOUR JEDI FENG-SHUI CRAP, WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Ballista yelled as the cannon raised once more, dead-center on them.
Phoenix was not a thinker. She was a doer. Adversely, this trait gave her a certain lack of impulse control, which often got her into trouble, if only verbally with Limb most of the time. So it was often a welcome relief for her constantly stewing mental state when a bright idea for action synced up with a chance to appease her temperament, which was under some strain from the equally stubborn Ballista at the moment. So when the light bulb turned on in her brain, she didn't hesitate.
Ballista doubled up under Phoenix's harsh punch to her stomach, the breath rushing from her body for the second painful time in the last five minutes. Phoenix's hunch did not go unrewarded. The giant sound waves once again ripped up the landscape, this time in point-blank range of the Sentinel. Metal shrapnel and chunks of charred, damaged armor flew everywhere. Phoenix used the last of her energy as she swooped up both of her teammates and shot away as the beaten colossus began to fall. A great cloud of water and mud arced through the air as the mechanical corpse settled into the earth, the red eyes flickering momentarily before dying out for the last time.
Weary, Phoenix dropped toward the ground, letting her passengers down first before plopping down into the cool mud herself. She remained there, breathing deeply as the rain pattered down onto her aching, soaked body. She only let herself stay down for a second though, refusing to act like a wuss, no matter how tired she was.
Nearby, the other Seekers were beginning to approach, all of them water-logged, mud-coated, and exhausted. Limb, blood running down his face, allowed a slightly limping Lotusfire to lean on his shoulder, while Amp carried Static in his arms. The black-haired girl was beginning to stir and groan. Hexenwolf padded up out of the gloom, the only one of them that appeared unharmed and unwearied.
Ballista sat up, holding her tender abdomen. She glared viciously at Phoenix, before shaking her head.
"If that hadn't worked, I'd tear your throat out," she growled menacingly.
Phoenix shrugged insolently. "But it did, so I'll assume your thank you is implied." She smirked as Ballista began to growl in earnest, but held out her hand to help her up anyway. Ballista hesitated before she took it, but she accepted in the end. The moment Ballista was upright, their hands ripped apart and they refused to look at each other.
Tcelfer gave a groan as he came around, holding the back of his head and looking around blearily. "What happened? We won?" he slurred, eyeing the fallen Sentinels.
"Yeah," Ballista grunted, crossing her arms. "So much for not drawing attention to ourselves, huh?"
Limb nodded grimly. "Even so, we were lucky to all get out of that alive. I have to thank you for that Ballista," he said, smiling in gratitude.
"It wasn't totally voluntary, but you're welcome," she sighed back, casting another glare at Phoenix.
Phoenix wasn't paying attention. Her head had suddenly shot up, turned toward a swath of nearby trees. During the battle the Sentinels had begun to push them back and at an angle, skirting them around an outreaching arm of the forest on which the factory had bordered. The team fell silent as they watched her for a mere second, before she seemed to disappear, a flash of gold vanishing under the dark tree boughs. They could practically feel the anger and ferocity hanging in her wake. They began to run after her.
Phoenix crashed through the branches, following the mind she'd sensed; someone had been watching them. Suddenly she was on top of it, and in the dark slammed head-on into a sturdy body, sending them both tumbling down an embankment. The moment they hit the bottom she flipped on top, straddling the spy and withdrawing one of her daggers. In the dark she could not see what they looked like, but she knew where the throat was.
"Who are you?!" she spat, pressing the dagger in enough to draw a thin line of blood. Her eyes glowed menacingly, just barely lighting the face. Realization struck her like a cinderblock right before the voice spoke.
"Evangeline? What the hell?" snarled a gruff, deep voice that she had only heard once or twice before, years ago. Five years ago. She jumped away, almost falling over a tree root as she stared shocked, heart pounding, at the brawny, pointy-haired shape rising from the ground.
"Wolverine?"
"We've got the footage back sir," the technician said.
Pale eyes hidden by reflective glasses gleamed as dark, unclear footage streamed across the screens in front of him. It was rather indistinct, but the man saw all he needed to see.
"Some big fish indeed," he breathed in quiet pleasure as he watched a lithe shape soar through the air, fire wreathed around it. "The Sentinels did their jobs perfectly; we now know at least some of those we'll be dealing with. I suggest further increasing patrols. These mutants are only a few of many out there. Best to smoke out as many as we can. I have a feeling it won't be very hard," he smirked coldly.
A/N: Am I leaving it there? Yes I am. Merry Christmas dear readers, may your holiday be blessed and full of joy :)
I'd like to thank Super garurumon, Arian Eripmav, KA, Stormplains, A Half-Empty Glass, TarjavsAnnette, James95, dawnoftheceruleansky, Rex123, and Wizard's Witch for their reviews. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year guys!
Next Chapter: You'll see…