Disclaimers on chapter 1
A/N: I know I should be updating 'From the Start' first but yesterday apparently was author Nightcrawler's Shadow's birthday so I decided to throw this up as a late present for her.
Chapter 14
Storm cursed as the pursuing Sentinels managed to stay on the Blackbirds tail after another attempt to shake them off. The team had already picked up Wolverine and were just passing over the Great Wall of China when a dozen of the giant robots that would have been better suited to one of Japan's anime films had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started shooting at them.
"I can't shake them!" She cried as she attempted to avoid another salvo of machinegun fire only to curse again when she felt the Blackbird shudder as several rounds found their target.
Keeping her cool as the Blackbird started to nose dive, Storm managed to keep the Blackbird on a steady decline onto the Kowloon Highway. The landing however, was not as fortunate as everyone was thrown forward when then Blackbird skidded nearly half a mile down the highway before finally stopping.
"Everyone okay?" She asked the rest of the team.
"Und I thought mien first flight on this jet vas terrifying" Nightcrawler commented, remembering Rogue being sucked out of the Blackbird when it was struck by a missile and himself bravely teleporting out into the open sky to retrieve her before it was too late, whilst he let go of Kitty who had literally jumped into his arms the moment the Sentinels appeared.
"Robots" Wolverine muttered as he picked himself up off the floor, one side of his face badly bruised from when he face planted the console on the way down already starting to heal. "I hate robots"
As the team made their way out of the burning Blackbird, many more Sentinels flew overhead.
"We'll never make it to the inhibitor in time" Shadowcat noted as she watched the robots fly towards where the inhibitor was located.
"I can make it to HYDRA's building" Iceman said confidently. "I just need you to distract them while I get out of here"
Both Storm and Nightcrawler looked at Iceman as if he had grown two heads. Wolverine however voiced his opinion.
"Listen kid" He said sternly. "I like your enthusiasm, but it's too dangerous out there"
"I might surprise you" Iceman countered coolly as he stood his ground.
Wolverine stared at the young man intently. Whilst he was concerned for his well being, he was mostly worried about what the effect would be on Rogue if he had to tell her that her boyfriend died due to his overconfidence. As several Sentinels started to approach them, he made up his mind.
"Okay. Get going"
"Und take Katzchen vith you" Nightcrawler added before iceman could leave. "Her powers vill definitely be useful to you more than us at the moment"
Shadowcat looked like she was about to disagree but held her tongue as she realised he was thinking more about the battle at hand rather than her safety. Quickly grabbing onto Iceman as he slid by, the two of them made haste towards the target building. Several Sentinels noticed what the two mutants were attempting to accomplish and made to stop them. Instead it was them were stopped as Nightcrawler had teleported Wolverine onto one of the Sentinels shoulders allowing him to cut the robots head off whilst Storm took out the other one with a massive bolt of lightning.
"You sure letting Half-pint go with him was better than letting her stay here?" Wolverine asked when he and Nightcrawlerreappeared on the ground.
"Both of us vould have been too vorried about the other to fight efficiently" Nightcrawler replied before quickly teleporting the two of them out of the way of a Sentinels gunfire.
"On the subject, are you okay with this?" Wolverine then asked indicating the Sentinels.
Kurt grinned before teleporting onto one of the Sentinels near the neck joint and quickly teleported away again with a handful of exposed circuits. Without the circuits the Sentinel fell like a stone and crashed into another Sentinel, destroying both.
"They are just machines, clumsy vons if anything like the three I fought back at the lake" Nightcrawler replied confidently. A loud boom of thunder made both men jump before a deep fried Sentinel crashed down in front of them.
"If you two are finished boasting" Storm called out to them from above. "I could use some help here"
*#~#*
Shadowcatmanaged to prevent herself from screaming when Iceman made a sharp turn as he went round a bend.
"Sorry!" he apologised when he felt her nails dig into his back through his suit. "This is the first time I've had a passenger with me"
"Well, better me than Rogue I guess" Shadowcat replied as she phased the two of them through a centre support pillar for the tunnel they were going through. "Just focus on what's in front of you and I'll watch your back"
"Bet you wish you were watching Kurt's back, or somewhere lower on him" Iceman joked before suddenly swerving when his passenger struck him in the back with such force that he nearly lost his balance.
The two of them emerged out of the tunnel to see the building they were looking for as well as three Sentinels flying away from it. The middle one started to speed away whilst the other two flew off to either side.
"That thing's got the component!" Iceman exclaimed as he turned to chase the middle one. "We have to stop it, and fast!"
"Right!" Shadowcat shouted in his ear.
"No need to shout!"
"No! Turn right!" She repeated before moving the hand that was creating the ice slide to the right and through a building thanks to her powers whilst the Sentinels that were chasing them crashed and blew up. "The Sentinel with the inhibitor took the tunnel that we took and it goes to the right before opening out into a plaza area"
Sure enough, within seconds of coming out of the building they just went through the Sentinel carrying the inhibitor showed up. Icemen took no time to freeze up its rocket boots before swooping in and nabbing the inhibitor before it crashed into the ground. With their mission complete, the two rookies headed back to the crash site wondering how they were fairing.
~#*#~
Colossus sprinted full speed at Nightcrawler without his armour. Upon collision, Nightcrawler began to roll onto his back before teleportingboth himself and Colossus, who quickly activated his power into the air in front of another Sentinel then kicking the Russian toward it. The human cannonball tore straight through the head of one Sentinel and slammed into one behind it with the force of impact sending it crashing to the ground and out of the fight.
Wolverine meanwhile was holding on for dear life whilst Storm whipped up a tornado around him. Suddenly letting go he went shooting out of the tornado like a bullet, claws unsheathed, and went straight through two Sentinels before getting stuck in a third one's chest plate. Using his claws to help him climb up, Wolverine tore off the head of the third before jumping down to where the others were waiting for him.
"Remind me to ask Chuck about getting a few programs with these babies in them when all this is over" Wolverine said sounding like he had fun.
"And I thought you said you hated robots" Storm said smiling at the man's childishness.
"I don't know about hating them" Nightcrawler said before pointing into the sky. "But that von is an exception"
Looking where their teammate was pointing they saw a massive Sentinel that was at least twice the size of their smaller brethren and undoubtedly had twice the firepower as well land not far from where the Blackbird had landed. Before they could contemplate on how to deal with it Iceman and Shadowcat had returned only that the giant Sentinel was in their way. Instead of trying to pass it from a distance, Iceman made his ice slide pass over the top of it.
Nightcrawler almost gasped out loud when he saw Shadowcatdive off the slide and into the metal behemoth causing it to short out as she phased herself down and into the concrete below whilst the Sentinel fell face first into the ground. She barely had enough time to phased herself out of the ground and go tangible before she was wrapped in Nightcrawler's arms.
"Don't ever do something that reckless ever again!" He whispered into her hair whilst she began to blush at the close contact and his protectiveness. "You are going to give me grey hair und skin before mien time in this vorld is up"
"Sorry" she mumbled as she slipped her arms around his waist. "But at least you know how I feel whenever I see you during your gymnastic exercises' doing something rather risky"
Wolverine shook his head as he watched them before stiffening when a familiar scent invaded his nose.
"You smell that?" He asked as he unsheathed his claws. He suddenly leapt at someone stepping out of the shadows only to suddenly stop in midair.
"Always leaping before you look" Magneto said in a bored tone as he and Sabertooth came out of the alley into the sights of the other X-men who prepared themselves for a fight before Xavier intervened.
~It's all right X-men. He's on our side~
Warily, the team stood down whilst Wolverine fell down when the master of magnetism released him from his grasp and focused on the sphere shaped inhibitor.
"Don't be nervous" He said in a monotone voice. "We are all after the same thing"
'Yeah, for now' Wolverine and several other members of the team similarly thought as they watched their nemesis float into the air and headed towards the Master Mold which had arrived during the X-men's fight with the smaller Sentinels.
They watched in awe as he tore through the ranks of Sentinels that had gathered after sensing his presence. As he got closer to his goal, a piece of unnoticed shrapnel cracked off his head sending him plummeting down. Fortunately he had got the inhibitor close enough that it automatically activated and sent the Master Mold crashing into the sea near their location.
Nightcrawler, like the man of god he was, quickly teleported underneath the falling Magneto and caught him before teleporting back onto terra firma where the nemesis forced himself out of his grasp and walked away.
"Okay, let's do this" Wolverine said assuming the role of leader for the moment. "Ororo, you and Piotr try and get the Blackbird repaired; Kurt, work your way to wherever Stryker's controlling that thing and take him out; Popsicle, you and Half-pint find the main reactor and take it out"
"Vhat about you?" Nightcrawler asked.
Wolverine quickly glanced at the retreating backs of Magneto and Sabertooth before turning back to the elf. "I've got some...anger issues to take care of"
*~#~*
The end is nigh! The poll is still open! & I don't know what else to say so-
R&R
& 'til next time
Watch this space, peace out & Happy (late) Birthday Shadow!