The Uncanny X-Men
Chapter 25: Crisis in Canada- Part 2
By
The Uncanny R-Man
Disclaimer- All familiar characters belong to Marvel Comics.
'What?! Compare ME to BATMAN?! I've got more style! More brains! I'm certainly a better dresser!'- The Joker (Batman: The Animated Series)
Inside a nuclear power station somewhere in Canada-
Cable held his hand up and motioned for the rest of the X-Men to be quiet.
'I'm sensing somebody nearby.' Cable warned the team telepathically. 'And they're not workers.'
'Then what are we waiting for?' Marrow asked. 'Let's go kick their asses!'
'Not so fast, Sarah…' Banshee told the former Morlock. 'We cannae just charge in. One false move and we could send this place sky-high.'
'Then what do you suggest, Irish?' Marrow responded. 'Are we just going to stand here and gossip like old women?'
'I've got just the thing…' Mystique grinned as she attached a silencer to her gun and ducked into a nearby alcove to await her quarry. The other X-Men followed suit and sought cover.
'I'm telling you, I heard somebody.' The saurian mutant known as Sauron grumbled as he trudged along the corridor, unaware of the people waiting for him.
'You worry too much, Lykos.' Avalanche rolled his eyes. 'I can't remember you ever being this much of a wuss.'
'I am not a wuss.' Sauron retorted. 'I have just learned to be wary. You know that the X-Men are going to find out our plans and attack us.'
'That's all part of the plan.' Avalanche chuckled. 'When the X-Men get here, we set the timers and blow this place to kingdom come. We would have teleported out of here before they even realise what's going on.'
BLAM!
Avalanche gawked in surprise as Sauron fell to the floor with a bullet hole in the middle of his head.
'Make one move and I'll bleed you like a leech.' Marrow warned as she sprung up behind Avalanche and held a bone knife to his throat.
'You shot Sauron!' Avalanche spluttered in disbelief. 'You shot him in the head!'
'He'll get better.' Cable shrugged. 'Sauron has an annoying habit of being shot in the head. I shot know. I've shot him a couple of times myself.'
'You know I could shake you guys to pieces, right?' Avalanche asked.
'In the middle of a nuclear power station?' Domino snorted in derision. 'Not even you are that stupid, Avalanche.'
'You're not going to kill me… are you?' Avalanche gulped nervously. 'You X-Men aren't supposed to kill… right?'
'To be honest, the thought had kind of occurred to me.' Marrow admitted. 'God knows you deserve it.'
'No, we're just going to give you a little nap.' Cable said as he knocked out Avalanche with a psi-blast. 'Nighty-night.'
'What are we going to do with Sauron?' Angel enquired. 'It won't take him long to get over being shot in the head.'
'I'll put a psionic block on him.' Cable said as he placed a hand on Sauron's forehead. 'He'll be out for hours.'
A little while later-
Elsewhere in the power station Dark Beast and Sabretooth were just finishing setting the charges.
'Avalanche and Sauron are taking their time.' Dark Beast said.
'I never figured you as the type to give a crap, McCoy.' Sabretooth snickered. 'You growin' soft or somethin'?'
'It couldn't be further from the truth, my dear Creed.' The alternate evil version of the X-Men's Beast responded. 'I was merely wondering what was holding them up.'
Sabretooth sniffed the air and an evil grin spread across his face.
'Sure took you losers long enough to get here.' Sabretooth growled as the X-Men approached them. 'But yer already too late, we got what we came for.'
'Well, that's just too bad.' Domino retorted as she took aim on the feral mutant. 'We might have lost that plutonium, but we'll be perfectly happy to take it out on you.'
'Heh.' Sabretooth chuckled. 'I was hopin' you'd say that.'
'Oh, stars and garters…' Dark Beast groaned into his hands as Sabretooth leapt at the X-men.'Why did I have to be lumbered with this imbecile?'
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Cable and Domino both opened fire on the charging Sabretooth, filling him full of bullet holes.
'That all you got…?' The bloodied Sabretooth growled as he slowly got up to his feet. 'What about you, Misty? Ain't you gonna shoot me too? Or are you gettin' soft in yer old age too?'
'Drop dead, Creed.' Mystique sneered as she took aim and shot her former lover right between the eyes.
BLAM!
'It looks like I was mistaken about you, Mystique.' Domino nodded in appreciation at he teammates work. 'I guess you're one of us after all.'
'Hey! McCoy's getting away!' Angel announced as he indicated the retreating Dark Beast.
'He's mine!' Marrow snarled as she dashed after him.
'Sarah, wait!' Banshee called after the former Morlock, but it was too late. She had already gone.
'Warren, you and Sean get after her.' Cable told the winged mutant. 'I'll take care of the detonators.'
Angel nodded in understanding and flew after his teammate with Banshee in hot pursuit.
Elsewhere-
Dark Beast panted heavily as he tried to look for a way to escape from the X-Men.
'I knew I should have refused to join the Brotherhood.' The grey-furred mutant panted as he struggled to open a door. 'These teleport module that Exodus gave me is useless. I should never have lowered myself to their level. I am above such things as petty terrorism. I'm a scientist, dammit.'
'You going somewhere, McCoy?' Marrow asked as she popped up behind Dark Beast and pressed a bone knife against his back. 'You're not leaving already, are you?'
'If you were half as tough as you think you are, you would have killed me already.' Dark Beast told her. 'What would the rest of Gene Nation think if they saw you now, hmm? What would they say if they knew that you were one of the X-Men?'
'Don't try to mess with my head, old man!' Marrow snarled as she pressed her dagger harder into her enemy's back.
'If you really wished to kill me, you would have done it long ago.' Dark Beast retorted. 'You are nothing but a coward, Sarah.'
'You son of a…' Marrow snarled as she prepared to gut her enemy, but one moment's hesitation was all Dark Beast needed as he grabbed hold of the former Morlock's arm and threw her against the wall.
'Well, I wish I could stay and fight, but I am afraid that I must depart.' Dark Beast said as he finally managed to activate his teleport module. 'Ta-ta.'
'Dammit!' Marrow growled as she pounded her fists on the floor.
'Sarah, are you okay?' Angel asked concernedly as he flew towards his teammate. 'Where's Dark Beast?'
'The bastard got away.' Marrow sighed as she allowed her teammate to help her up.
'It looks like ye took a nasty knock there.' Banshee said once he noticed the cut on Marrow's head.
'I'll be fine.' Marrow reassured him as she brushed off the Irish mutant's attempts to help. 'Let's get out of here. I'm sick of this place.'
Later-
Once Cable had deactivated the charges, and the Canadian authorities had taken away the three members of the Brotherhood that Dark Beast had left behind, the X-Men boarded the Blackbird and headed on home.
'We might not have stopped the Brotherhood from stealing that plutonium, but we did manage tae lock up three of their members.' Banshee smiled at the team. 'We have tae look on the bright side.'
'I can't believe I got taken out like a rookie!' Marrow growled. 'I shouldn't have that him get in my head like that.'
'Don't beat yourself up over it, Sarah.' Angel reassured his friend. 'We all have off days. Besides, we're bound to come up against the Brotherhood again soon. Magneto isn't one to keep his head down for too long.'
'I still feel bad for mouthing off about you like that.' Domino apologised to Mystique. 'You did real good in there, Mystique.'
'Oh, forget it.' The blue-skinned shapeshifter waved away the pale-skinned mercenary's concerns. 'You didn't do too bad yourself, Dom. We came a pretty good team.'
'Yeah, we should do this kind of thing more often.' Domino nodded.
'Just as long as it stops you two from squabbling.' Cable turned from his position in the pilot's seat. 'You guys bicker more than Jean and Emma.'
TBC…
Next: All Change
Cyclops decides that it's time to shake things up a bit. Who will be on which team? Which teams will be reformed? Tune in next time to find out…