Gone was Anna. Gone was the slender beauty with the cold smirk. Instead, standing before the X-Men was a werewolf. A very large, very ugly werewolf with bright yellow eyes and very long sharp, dripping fangs.
"OK, that saliva is gross," were the first words that left Kurt's mouth.
Jean snorted slightly, her lips quirking upwards despite the gravity of the situation.
"X-Men, jump to it," Logan growled, claws already flipping out.
Rahne immediately held out a hand to stop everyone, taking a step forward at the same time. "No," she said firmly. "Anna's mine."
"And mine." This time, it was Roberto who stepped forward as well. "Veangeance is mine."
"What, you're up to fighting so soon?" Rahne teased.
"Sure hope you haven't lost your edge, wolfie," Roberto retorted.
"Hah!" Rahne rolled her eyes and drew in a deep breath, drawing on all her strength, all her rage as she morphed. Well, here goes!
Anna's ugly jaws twisted into what looked like a smile of sorts. Three pairs of eyes locked onto each other, though none of the trio moved. Just stared at each other. It was Anna who made the first move, lunging forward in one swift, smooth motion.
Growling her fury, Rahne lunged forward a second later, and the two wolves clashed like a thunderbolt. Growls punctuated the silence, while claws and teeth flashed and made contact with fur. Like two hounds of hell, neither would yield, but kept clawing and biting mercilessly.
Come on Rahne, move out of the way so I can give her a good blast!
As if Rahne had suddenly developed telepathy, she did exactly that, aiming a quick swipe at Anna before leaping backwards to avoid Anna's paw. Roberto took the opportunity to pummel Anna with a good old blast of energy. A yelp of pain actually left her mouth, and Roberto's mouth stretched into a grim smile.
Score one!
It was a short-lived victory for Anna promptly morphed again, this time into an insect, vanishing out of sight. For several seconds, there was no sign of her, then she promptly announced her presence, this time in the form of a huge brown bear. Not giving Roberto time to respond, she went straight for Rahne.
Rahne took the blow head-on like the champion she was, despite the rather large size difference. Smaller though she was, she was far more agile, and swiftly ducked three times before nimbly leaping over Anna's head. Anna tried to pivot round, but the large size only got in the way, and Rahne managed to sink her teeth into Anna's back.
You go, girl! Roberto thought, and took several steps forward, aiming two energy blasts straight at Anna.
Clearly, Anna couldn't lay claim to any fighting experience. Shape-shifting, yes. But close combat? Even a baby mutant could take her on.
Anna went flying back several feet as Roberto moved in for the kill, while Rahne stalked forward, teeth bared in a low growl. Anna promptly morphed again, assuming the form of a tiger this time. In spite of her formidable appearance, she was already weakening; Roberto and Rahne could see it in the way she was holding herself, her breath laboured.
"Still don't want to go down?" Roberto asked mockingly.
Together, he and Rahne made their move, fighting as a close-knit team. To her credit, Anna put up a good fight, but the earlier attacks on her had already weakened her. One swipe of Rahne's paw, and Anna actually roared with pain, flinching away as Rahne's claws sank into fur and flesh.
"Well, isn't this entertaining."
Rahne and Roberto flipped round in unison, eyes narrowing as Shadow and Possessor made their belated entrance, leaning heavily on each other. Both of them sported rather remarkable bruises on their foreheads and temple, their gait not entirely steady.
Rahne tensed, prepared for another assault.
"Get over here and help me!" Anna snarled, staggering to her feet.
"This was never part of the agreement," Shadow replied coolly. "Last time I checked, you paid us to do a kidnapping. Not a fight."
"You little…"
"Not our fight." With a little smirk, Possessor leaned back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. "I think we'll sit back and watch. This should be fun."
Well, well, well. Rahne eyed the duo suspiciously, half-expecting the pair to leap into action.
"Like she said, not our fight." Possessor looked at Rahne calmly, and Rahne thought she saw respect in his eyes.
"Traitor!" Anna snarled.
"Not part of the deal, lady."
Bleeding, sweating, panting, Anna's eyes gleamed like balls of fire, the rage in them enough to kill a man. "You'll pay for this," she hissed. "When I take down these two…"
"Hey, no offense, but you're hardly in a position to stand, let alone threaten," Shadow smirked. "Maybe you should finish off the fight first before worrying about us?"
Rage only made Anna even more reckless. Shifting into a lion this time, she made another desperate lunge for Rahne.
"I'm almost feeling sorry for her," Logan grunted.
"OK. One last takedown," Roberto murmured.
And he and Rahne charged.
"Ouch." Kitty winced and looked away. This certainly wasn't pretty. Effective it was, but the results were definitely cringeworthy.
"I'll kill you. I'll kill you, you little bitch!" Anna hissed. Somehow, she still managed to speak, despite lying flat on her back against the wall now, almost smoking. "When I recover I swear I'll…"
Rahne took a step forward and calmly punched the lights out of Anna.
"Oh, just shut up," she snapped.
Eyes rolling back in her head, Anna was down for the count at last.
"Now that's how you do it."
Rahne whooped aloud in a most unladylike manner, pumping a fist in the air. "And that's what you get for messing with love!" Not caring who was looking on, she and Roberto broke out in a massive spontaneous hug.
"Now that's what I call a bad-ass!" Kurt cheered.
"Too bad she had to learn the hard way not to mess with a wolf's mate!"
"And what do we do with her?" Rogue sighed, glancing at Anna's limp body.
"I think we'll let the Professor deal with her," Logan replied.
"And what do we do with them?" Kurt asked, glancing at Shadow and Possessor.
"Oh, don't bother," Shadow replied mildly. "We'll just be on our way."
"Wait." Rahne took a step forward before they could disappear into thin air. "Why don't you just come back with us to the Academy?"
Bugged-eyes, everyone stood gaping at Rahne.
"You don't have to keep on doing this," Rahne went on. The words were flowing out faster than she could think. "There's always a place for another mutant in the Academy. I know you've done some…less than savoury activities, but it's never too late to turn it around. Come back with us and you'll find something better to occupy your time with."
"You're actually asking the bad guys to come back with us?" Robert whispered.
"I actually feel sorry for them," Rahne whispered back. "Right from the start, they seemed so…lost. Lost and alone."
Roberto's eyebrows shot up so high they almost collided with his hairline.
"They told me," Rahne murmured. "How their own parents kicked them out. How humans turned against them and made them outcasts." She fixed her gaze on Shadow and Possessor again. "And I know what it's like to feel so lost," she said aloud.
"No thanks," Shadow replied. "Maybe it's your thing, but it's not ours." She and Possessor were already starting to retreat.
"Fine. But if you ever want a change, I think you know where to find us."
The only reply she got was the barest of nods, and then the duo were retreating into the shadows, disappearing from view.
"How very generous of you," Scott remarked.
"I actually feel sorry for them," Rahne murmured. "And now that this is all over, well, I am feeling more generous than usual."
"You think you can extend some of that generosity towards me?" Roberto asked quietly.
"And what do you have in mind?"
"First of all, a really long apology…"
"With plenty of groveling?"
"OK, why don't we save all that pillow talk for later?" Logan grunted. "For now, let's just get home, shall we?" With a look of contempt at Anna, he bent down and hoisted her body over his shoulder.
"Funny. I was just thinking the same thing," Roberto said, and winked at Rahne.
"Yeah, we definitely need to get back before they start with the lip-locking," Kitty sniggered.
Laughing, cheering, the band of brothers and sisters linked arms and exited the prison, heading for the light.
Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to write this! Good news: the next chapter will be the last chapter! So stay tuned and it'll be out before long.