Just a reminder: the safety net is gone. Assuming it was ever really there.

Sinister, Chapter 04

The team of Wanda, Colossus, Kitty and Toad hurried down the hall, which was a little more well-lit than the others. At the very end was a single door, which meant that naturally, they had to explore it.

Two guards emerged from the door, pointing their guns at the group. Unlike before, however, they immediately opened fire. Colossus was quick to act as a shield, returning to his armored form and letting the bullets ricochet off his steel skin. However, he wasn't as wide as Blob, and Wanda had to step in to help deflect some of the stray bullets. Using her phasing ability, Kitty ran through her teammate without fear of the rapid fire and rushed to stop them.

But the door behind them opened suddenly, and none other than the grinning, blue-haired Abyss joined the two guards.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" Abyss shouted. Once he had their attention. "That's enough. Let me show you how it's done." Uncoiling his torso, Abyss exposed the black hole within his empty body, rapidly drawing in both guards. The first was sucked in almost immediately, while the second began firing into the void before he himself was devoured. Satisfied, Abyss re-connected himself and began walking towards the assembled group. "How's it going?"

"When did you get out?" Toad asked.

"Just a little while ago... you were one of the little freaks from the water plant, weren't you?" Abyss sneered. "What's it gonna be, you little shit? Are you still protecting humans, or are you guys gonna join me for a hell of a party?"

"We will fight you," Colossus declared. Toad looked up at him, almost wishing he had stopped him. "We will make you pay for what you have done."

"Aww, if you miss them so much, why don't you join them?!" Abyss opened both arms and his torso once more, and in the narrow confines of the hallway tunnel, his vacuum was even more powerful. Colossus punched the wall and held his arm into it in order to steady himself, and Kitty held on to his back. Toad quickly jumped to hold on to his leg, but Wanda didn't reach in time, flying towards Abyss.

Thinking fast, Toad threw out his tongue and wrapped it around Wanda's waist, tethering her. Seizing the opportunity, Wanda hexed the vacuum, momentarily stopping the suction. Startled, Abyss recoiled and retreated through the door.

"We need to go after him," Wanda said to the others. "I think I can beat him."

"It doesn't look like we have much of a choice," Kitty remarked, noting the lack of alternate exits. Colossus led them through, hoping to use himself as a barricade if Abyss attempted another attack beyond the door.

"Toad, you can let go of me now," Wanda growled.

"Awww..."

--

Elsewhere, the team of Jean, Rogue, Blob and Pyro found another corridor with several branching paths. But before they could decided who would go where, Lorelei approached them, accompanied by four of Denti's men. Blob was already familiar with her tactics, Pyro slightly less; Jean and Rogue, however, were in captivity when the X-Men faced her.

"Hello, boys," Lorelei said sweetly. "Have you come to keep me company?"

"Here's the thing," Blob said to the others. "She's gonna control me and Pyro, and have us fight you. Just take her out as soon as you can and that'll straighten things out."

"Do you hear him?" Lorelei said to her four soldiers. "He means to harm me... protect me!"

"As you wish," one of the guards said, already under her spell. The guards held out their rifles, but Jean pulled two weapons away from their owners, and Blob charged right into a third, undeterred by the bullets lodging themselves in his fat folds. With a hard punch to the chest, that guard was out cold. While the fourth was busy shooting at him, Pyro seared his torso, setting his shirt on fire; his bullet-proof vest resisted the flames, however, but it was enough to make him run off in a panic.

And while the guards were all distracted or incapacitated, Rogue ran to Lorelei, hand outstretched. Frightened, Lorelei turned and ran, attempting to hide behind Blob as he knocked out another guard. Before Rogue could reach her, Lorelei began to sing, catching Freddy in her spell once again.

"Awww, not this agai... oh... hey! Hey!" Blob grabbed Rogue by her coat and held her up. "You got a problem?! You trying to hurt her?! I'm gonna crush your head!"

"Not if I get to her first," Pyro added. "C'mon, Dukes, let me at her!"

"Stop her!" Lorelei commanded, pointing to Jean. Pyro immediately turned towards her and let out twin fire blasts, which Jean held off telekinetically. Pyro split them both off, streaming them over the invisible shield. Jean tried to keep the fire contained, but Pyro intensified it, slowly overtaking her defenses.

"You made me do this," Rogue said, grabbing Blob's arm. The larger mutant groaned and flinched, dropping Rogue and falling over. Armed with his enhanced strength, Rogue ran to help Jean- but Blob wasn't completely out. In moments, he was back on his feet, hurling wild punches at Rogue.

Lorelei stood back and watched her work with a satisfied smirk.

--

Dr. Essex wasted little time. Now wearing a dark blue coat with a belt around the waist, he carefully made his way down one of the halls leading away from the central chamber. Nervous, he pulled his his collar to help conceal his face, fastening it in place; he knew anyone who spotted him would probably be able to recognize him, regardless of his altered appearance, but he still felt safer with the collar turned up.

"Doctor!" one of Denti's soldiers called, startling Essex. He turned around to find that the four remaining guards were approaching. "Dr. Essex, we have orders to escort you out of here."

"Orders?" Dr. Essex asked. "But Gambit... he wasn't supposed to..."

"Easy, we have higher orders," the lead soldier explained. "Follow us, we have an escape route set up."

"Very well..."

--

Like a mad acrobat, Gambit avoided the barrage of optic blasts, rolling beneath the last one as he rose back up with his staff in hand, knocking Cyclops over. Before Avalanche could strike from behind, Gambit delivered a backwards kick, and while Lance stumbled, Gambit planted his staff on the ground and spun around it, kicking Avalanche to the side and flipping back to his feet.

Another red blast struck Gambit, but he quickly recovered and took several cards from his coat, stalking backwards towards the large metal tile on the floor. Charging his hand, Gambit threw the cards outward to cover as much of the area as he could. While Cyclops and Avalanche busied themselves avoiding the explosives, Gambit charged the last card in his hand and threw it directly at a switch on the wall. As the rusted switch burst and broke, the room was filled with a loud, mechanical sound. The tile where Gambit stood began to slowly rise, raised by a hydraulic lift beneath it. The corresponding metal panel on the roof slowly began to open as Gambit was brought upwards.

"He's getting away!" Cyclops announced.

"No, really?!" Avalanche snarked. Cyclops tried to knock Gambit off the rising platform with a laser beam, but Gambit had already jumped up into the open area. The platform was too high up for Scott and Lance to reach. So, Avalanche came up with the proper solution. Holding out his hands, he telekinetically gripped the concrete floor and pulled up, disturbing the ground beneath and bending the metal poles that held up the platform. Now inclined, the hydraulic struts could be climbed.

Above the room was the open cement factory, or what was left of it. Essentially a massive empty warehouse full of old, unused machinery and crates stacked entirely on one side, all covered in dust. The floor and walls had strange scorch marks and the machinery had unusually large dents and punctures. But, Avalanche and Cyclops had no time to wonder what had happened there. Gambit was immediately on them, striking Avalanche with his staff horizontally, then diagonally, and finishing his attack and a thrust to the stomach. While Lance reeled, Cyclops countered with a blast that threw Gambit onto the floor, kicking up dust.

Unamused, Gambit ran his hand over a nearby crate, charging the top. He kicked it over so that the lid faced his opponents; Cyclops covered his face as shattered wood flew around him. As the dust settled, Cyclops was startled by the rushing LeBeau, already reaching for his face. Cyclops grabbed Gambit's hand, guessing that he hoped to charge the visor over his eyes.

From behind, Avalanche pulled Gambit away and punched him in the face. Before he could deliver a second blow, Gambit pushed him away and walked backwards, kicking his staff off the ground and catching it before twirling it.

"Showoff," Avalanche grumbled.

"Just letting you boys know who's boss," Gambit shot back. Kicking over the empty, lidless crate, a series of metal parts fell out. Gambit smirked and began to pick him up. Avalanche backed away as Gambit threw out a volley of exploding metal weapons- pipes, small girders, cylinders and pistons, littering fiery metal comets across the area.

As Gambit prepared to throw out another pipe, Cyclops prepared himself. The moment the charged pipe left Gambit's hand, Cyclops struck it with his own blast, detonating the makeshift grenade. Gambit tried to jump out of the way, but burning shrapnel hit his left arm, piercing through his coat sleeve.

"You son of a bitch!" Gambit roared, and for a moment, Avalanche could swear his red eyes were glowing brighter than usual. Cyclops had to pause for a moment; he couldn't remember ever seeing Gambit angry. With his usual cool, collected facade gone, Scott wasn't sure what he was capable of. "I'm done playing games. We're ending this right now."

--

"Load up, we are ditching the non-lethals," Commander Bishop ordered as his reinforcement squad prepared in their helijet. Two other helijets accompanied them, carrying more armed men. Bishop was taking no chances. "The Brotherhood and any member of the X-Men are to be treated as civilians. Anyone present wearing a SHIELD uniform that is not part of this team is to be considered an enemy combatant. You're cleared to use deadly force against them. Take them alive if you can, but our priority is to ensure the protection of our 'civilians.' Sergeant, any word from Stokes?"

"We've confirmed two of them were smuggled out," the sergeant replied, putting his hand over his earpiece. "Nils Styger and Lorelei Rosseau are missing from their cells. They're running a check to see if anyone else is gone."

"You heard him, assume they're both here," Bishop barked. "Sauron as well. Eyes open, we don't know what we might run into."

"Approaching the site, Commander," the pilot called.

"Land in triangle formation," Bishop told him. The co-pilot relayed the command to the other two helijets. "You have the layout. Enter from three sides. I'll lead squad A." Once his helijet touched down, Bishop leapt from the open door, followed by several of his armed soldiers. With flashlights mounted on their rifles, they searched the abandoned factory yard for any hostiles.

"Commander!" one of them called, pointing towards the smokestacks. Something large was moving on one of them, something clinging to the side. The soldiers aimed their flashlights at it, though they were too dim and the object too distant to illuminate- still, there were two orange reflections briefly visible. From the helijet, another soldier pointed a brighter spotlight at the object. "What the hell is that?!"

Opening his toothy beak wide, Sauron screamed at the soldiers and jumped from his perch, flying towards them with his talons outstretched. Frightened, several of Bishop's men blindly opened fire, but only a few shots hit their mark. Sauron's tough, scaly hide acted like kevlar and minimized the damage, leaving him with only a few bloody punctures that would've killed a human being. As he seized one of the soldiers in his claws, he flew upwards- acting quickly, Bishop fired a continuous stream of plasma from his hand, striking Sauron in the face. Startled and shocked, Sauron dropped the soldier, though he hadn't yet flown high enough for the fall to cause any serious damage.

Angered, Sauron ignored the other soldiers and focused his attention on the Commander. Flying low, Sauron retaliated with his own spitfire, shooting Bishop in the back. Quickly, Bishop dropped to the dirt and rolled to put out the fire. As he stood up, Sauron looked back to make sure the job was done, but only saw Bishop standing back on his feet, tossing aside his scorched SHIELD jacket, revealing the muscular arms beneath his rolled sleeves. Understandably angry that Bishop was still alive, Sauron shrieked again and dove towards him with both his claws and his sharp beak prepared. Charging both of his fists, Bishop threw a glowing red punch at Sauron's face, and continued throwing punches wildly in an attempt to hold back the flapping, growling menace. Talons met flesh and super-heated fists hit raw scales, all the while more soldiers came to their Commander's aid, firing at the insane beast. Were it not for Bishop's mutant powers, he would've already been ripped to shreds.

Finally realizing that he was taking too much damage and not dealing out nearly enough, Sauron retreated, swirling upward in a motion that made it difficult for the soldiers to aim at the increasingly distant target. Flying back to the smokestacks, Sauron climbed against the side of the chimney and crawled into the opening at the top.

"Commander, are you alright?" one of the soldiers asked. Bishop's arms were covered in cuts and slashes, some minor, some fairly deep. He had spent a great deal of his personal energy using his powers. Bishop started walking forward but stumbled slightly- two of his men quickly helped him back to his feet, but he quickly pushed them aside and continued swaggering forward.

"I'm fine," he insisted. "Squad A, back to the plan, you're with me. Squads B and C will take the other entrances. I want two helijets circling the area. I don't want anything escaping the perimeter."

--

Carefully descending the stairwell, Wanda led her team after Abyss, or after Nathan- whichever one they found first. Kitty and Toad followed closely, while Colossus brought up the rear, constantly looking back to make sure nothing caught them from behind. The stairwell was narrow, allowing only one person to climb down at a time, at least comfortably. As Wanda arrived at the second landing, Toad jumped over her, landing on the rail to get a better look at the stairs below.

"Nothin'," Toad reported. "Where'd he go? I'm gettin' spooked here."

"He's probably already gone," Kitty suggested. "But let's not-"

"Ostorozhno!" Colossus yelled, quickly grabbing Kitty and pulling her down. Overhead, a long metal rod had suddenly appeared where Kitty's head had been, protruding from the ceiling. Abyss waited above, clinging to the underside of the metal stairs, grinning proudly at the inventive use of his coil arm- tightened and extended, it act as a solid telescoping lance, his fingers extended to the point of sharpness and piercing through the stairs beneath. Loosening his arm and coiling it back to a more normal shape, Abyss dropped down onto Colossus's back and once again exposed his hollow torso. A quick hex bolt forced him to close it once more, and Colossus tossed him off, throwing him down the stairs. As Abyss stood back up, Colossus struck his face, uncoiling his torso with the sheer force.

"Have it your way!" Abyss attempted to suck his enemies into the void, but once again, a hex bolt halted his action and forced him to re-coil. "That does it. You're mine, red!" Using his coil limbs to fall down the stairs like a mad slinky, Abyss kicked Wanda in the face and pushed her against the wall. Immediately, Toad jumped onto his back, wrapping both arms around his neck. Wrestling him away from Wanda, Toad flipped over Abyss's shoulders so that they were face-to-face and spat a glob of slime right at his eyes.

Blinded, Abyss didn't see Kitty come up behind him, jumping onto him and phasing him through the stairs, then locking him halfway in while she floated harmlessly downward. Annoyed, Abyss opened his torso and intensified the hole, slowly pulling the stairs towards him. After a moment, he absorbed the metal around him and re-coiled himself, leaving a giant hole in the stairs. Now Kitty was alone with him as he dropped down to the stairs below. Quickest on the draw, Toad jumped follow through and landed right behind Abyss, smacking him in the head with his tongue.

Abyss once again extended his coil arm into a sharp end, this time cutting into Toad's right arm- which, unfortunately, had already been sliced by X23 three days earlier. The wound was re-opened as Abyss cut across it diagonally, spilling blood on the stairs. Holding his wound, Toad jumped away to give himself a moment to recover.

Pulling the torn stairway apart to make room, Colossus jumped down, jumping right on top of Abyss. While Abyss squirmed, Kitty took the opportunity to kick him in the face, causing a few yelps. From the hole above, Wanda cast a hex field around Abyss, holding him in place while Colossus stepped back.

"Kitty, Toad, go on ahead and look for Nathan," Wanda suggested. "I think Colossus and I can keep him busy."

"You know what? Let tin man go with her," Toad suggested. "I'll stick around."

"I think I might need Piotr in case anything comes up," Kitty agreed. Colossus nodded. With no argument from Wanda, Kitty took his hand and phased him down the stairs, adding "Good luck!" before they disappearing.

--

Rogue rolled along the floor to avoid one of Pyro's fiery creations, a medieval swordsman wildly swinging a flaming blade. She floated upwards to increase the distance between them, but not one to miss an opportunity, Pyro changed the swordsman into a several small hummingbirds, chasing Rogue around the room.

Jean, meanwhile, busied herself holding the Blob in midair, but his weight and constant movement made it difficult for her to hold him in place for long. Once he was began on the ground, he charged towards her, and Jean picked him off the ground once again.

Satisfied, Lorelei waited a safe distance from the fighting, hands on her hips.

"Jean, you heard what Blobby boy said!" Rogue called out, dodging a flaming hummingbird. "Take her out!"

"You're a little more mobile right now, Rogue," Jean replied, letting Blob slip again and resuming the levitation after a moment. "I don't think she has any defense except for these two."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get her," Rogue complained.

"Freddy! And you!" Lorelei called. "These girls wish to hurt me... you must protect me, I am helpless!"

"What?!" Pyro yelled, turning his focus entirely on Lorelei. "You called him Freddy?! What about me?! You don't even know my name, do you?!"

"No, she doesn't!" Jean told him. "She doesn't care about you, Pyro, she's trying to fool you!"

"I know what the problem is!" Pyro announced. "It's you, Dukes! You stupid fat boar, what have you got that I haven't? You're nothing but a big wall, and once I get you out of the way, she'll be all mine!"

"...Not quite the result I was expecting, but I think we can work with this," Jean said. Pyro turned his attention entirely towards Blob, dispensing two flaming snakes that coiled around the larger man.

"What are you doing?" Lorelei cried. "No! Not him! Attack them! He is on my side!"

"You stay out of this!" Pyro yelled. "If I can't have you, no one can, especially not this giant bag of bacon grease!" Undeterred by Pyro's fiery powers, Blob charged forward, grabbing him by the neck. Quickly, Pyro re-grouped the fire so that a single fireball nailed Blob in the face. Falling back, Blob let Pyro slip.

"Freddy, help me!" Lorelei cried out as Jean and Rogue both ran towards her. Ignoring Pyro, Fred lunged towards them, swinging his massive arms, but Pyro jumped in his way, once again striking him in the face with a fireball. Blob pushed him aside, but Pyro created a burning wall that held Blob back, burning through his shirt but not his impervious skin. Crawling on his back, Pyro wrapped his arms around Blob's neck, kicking and even biting him like some rabid flea. "Stop that!" Lorelei called again. "Stop it, please!"

"Just hold on there, luv," Pyro shouted back, "Let me just finish this up and we'll go back to my place."

"Gotcha!" Despite her commands, it was too late for Lorelei- Rogue had flown at her like a torpedo, grabbing Lorelei's bare arm and absorbing her power. Lorelei stumbled, attempting to run, but fell over, unconscious. "That settles that," Rogue remarked. "Let me see if I can get those two to quit it." Using her newfound hypnotic powers and Lorelei's musical knowledge, Rogue began to sing a soft, beautiful song that soothed Blob and Pyro, bringing them back to their senses.

Well, not really. As it turned out, Rogue's voice wasn't quite suited for song, and somehow this made the power's effect much less potent. At best, the pair blinked at her, before continuing their manic battle.

"Let me try," Jean said, closing her eyes. Pyro jumped off Blob's back, and Blob stopped thrashing to scratch his head. Looking around, they realized something had gone wrong.

"She got me, didn't she?" Blob asked. Jean nodded. "Awww. She keeps doing that."

"Well, sorry about all that, mate," Pyro said. "No hard feelings, eh?"

"Uh, no, guess not," Blob replied.

"That takes care of her, then," Jean reminded them. "Now we can worry about finding Doctor... oh." Lorelei and her guards were all down, but now a new enemy appeared- Dr. Essex himself, escorted by the four remaining guards. His pale, youthful appearance was alien to Jean, but there was still some familiarity in his face. "...Dr. Nathan?"

"Miss Grey, good evening," Essex replied, bowing his head slightly. "I see you've dealt with Lorelei. Now, I'm going to have to ask that you let me through. I'd like to avoid any further messes."

"It's too late for that," Rogue threatened.

"I was afraid you'd say that. Get them out of my way." On his command, Essex's guards opened fired; quickly, Jean put up a psionic shield, stopping the barrage of bullets just short of her team. As more and more bullets were tacked on to the invisible wall, Jean found it harder to maintain the barrier, feeling as if she was being repeatedly punched in the brain. Finally, the barrage stopped when all four guards had emptied their clips. As they reloaded, Jean let her defense fall. The sudden shift in mental pressure gave her a brief feeling of lightness before she passed out from the strain. Blob caught her as she fell and set her down gently.

Before the guards could fire again, Rogue began to sing the same haunting lullaby Lorelei used to control her victims; Jean the guards around Essex all relaxed their stances and looked towards Rogue with glossy eyes.

"Let them go," Essex ordered.

"Guns on Nathan," Rogue ordered. Essex's eyes widened. "Fire!" All four guns were emptied into Essex; surrounded from four sides, Essex was pummeled and pelted from all directions, blood spraying from his bullet-riddled body. The guards continued squeezing the triggers of their rifles, even when their ammunition was spent. Essex dropped to the floor, leaking blood and making no movements.

"I never expected an X-Man to do something like that," Blob remarked.

"Why, too close to your territory?" Rogue shot back. But only seconds after his apparent death, Dr. Essex rose from the ground, the holds in his body already closing up as metal slugs were pushed out of his body and dropping to the floor with a symphony of clings and clangs. "Son of a bitch!"

"I... I'm alive!" Essex said with astonishment. "This is incredible! I never imagined this power could be so..." Essex was interrupted by a fiery dragon that suddenly emerged from Pyro's wrist emitters. Consumed by it, Essex's skin blackened and boiled, blistering and popping. But just like the bullet wounds, Essex's burns began to heal, even as more wounds appeared.

"Lemme try!" Blob yelled. Pyro dissipated his creation and Blob pounded his fist into Essex's face. This did nothing, and Essex slipped underneath the next swing. Holding nothing back, Blob landed a blow that snapped Essex's neck, twisting the head back at an unnatural angle.

But, moments later, Essex rose again, his head re-adjusting itself to the proper orientation. Now he truly realized what sort of power he had granted himself. Grinning, he held out his hand as Blob charged for another strike. A pale green light emerged, almost like a miniature spotlight centered on Nathan's hand. Initially, it did nothing to Blob, but after a moment, he stopped, feeling a sharp sting on his body wherever the light hit him. Covering his face with his arm, Blob was quite alarmed to learn that even his impervious skin was affected by Essex's new power. Still, he was close enough to Essex that he decided to keep marching forward, but as he approached, the pain only intensified. Blob had to step back, feeling as though dozens of jellyfish had latched onto him. Once Blob was a safe distance away, Essex released him and marveled at his hand.

But from behind, another hand intervened- Rogue jumped onto Dr. Essex's back, grabbing his face with both hands. Now, it was Dr. Essex's turn to feel the sting- he flinched as Rogue's hands began to sap his strength... and then, nothing. Rogue's powers had worked for only an instant, and now, Essex felt absolutely nothing. Concerned, Rogue tried touching another part of Essex's face, testing to see if her power still worked, but there was nothing. Beyond the initial sting, Rogue hadn't even absorbed any of his power or memory. Essex happily tossed her off and pointed his hand at her.

"Hey! You forget about me?" Pyro yelled, unleashing twin fireballs. Essex already knew it would do nothing and simply ignored it, even as the flames scorched his coat and burned his face. He casually walked through the door that the team had arrived through, and closed it behind him. His guards could remain behind. He no longer needed them. But he still needed his other accomplices. He would have to find Gambit, and then find Sauron to make sure he had completed his appointed mission.

"He's locked it," Rogue said, pulling at the door. She moved aside as Blob threw his fists at it- the reinforced door was tough, but he managed to make a few dents. "Can't you hurry it up?"

"I'm trying!" Blob shouted. On the other side, Dr. Essex was already running out, grinning happily.

--

Abyss slinkied down the stairs to avoid both a hex bolt and another glob of slime. He threw both of his tightened, spear-like arms forward, but missed both Wanda and Toad. Jumping onto Abyss's right arm as it embedded itself in the wall, Toad deftly ran along it, but Abyss returned it to normal before Toad could reaching, letting him fall.

Laughing, Abyss once again uncoiled his arms, attempting to suck in his enemies. Wanda held on to the rail and Toad quickly threw his tongue at it.

"What's wrong?!" Abyss cackled. "Didn't your boot camp teach you how to deal with someone like me? Or do you need to call Spyke and his failure brigade to help you?"

Under the pressure of Abyss's suction, the rail began to give way. Wanda held onto it as tightly as she could with one hand, pointing the other at Abyss. Once Toad had climbed back to the railing, he wrapped his arm around Wanda's waist to keep her steady. Wanda launched a hex bolt, but it only hit one of Abyss's arms, forcing that one to recoil. The other, however, continued the suction stream, though only at half strength.

"I got an idea, you think you can hex him into imploding or something'?" Toad asked.

"I don't think so," Wanda replied. "I don't exactly keep a chart of what the hexes can do. How did you beat him last time?"

"He beat himself," Toad explained. "We all just waited until a bunch of scrap made a cage around him!"

"...You're joking."

"Babycakes, you ever known me joke at times like... okay, yeah, but that's what happened! I mean, maybe if you hex him enough times you can make his powers go haywire or somethin'."

"We're stuck in tight quarters with this maniac and you want me to make him even more unpredictable?" Wanda shot back. "Do I tell you often enough what an idiot you are?"

"Not nearly enough!" Sighing, Wanda held out her free hand again, releasing a stream of her hex energy into Abyss's arm. The coils began to constrict for a moment, and then loosened again, and the suction reversed- now Abyss was expelling air from the void inside him. Quickly, Abyss recoiled the arm, frowning.

Now free to attack, Wanda threw a hex bolt at Abyss's face, knocking him down the stairs. His briefly fell apart as he hit the next landing, but pulled himself back together. Realizing that attacking from a distance wasn't working, Abyss sprung back towards Wanda, slamming her harshly against the wall and pinning her with his hand. Toad jumped towards him from behind, but his other arm lashed out and knocked him down the stairs.

As Wanda tried to wrestled him off, too close to effectively hex him, Abyss formed his free hand into a spear again and thrust it into Wanda's hand, tacking it to the wall. She screamed and struggled again, erratic sparks of energy bursting from Wanda's fingertips but too chaotic to have any effect on anything, and then pushed Abyss away for a moment before blasting him in the face with her good hand. Abyss's upper body sprung back, but his legs remained in place, as did the hand pinning Wanda's hand against the wall.

"You son of a bitch!" Toad yelled. While Abyss's body was limp, Toad grabbed his head and pulled it back with his tongue, holding it in place so that he could punch and kick it, striking it constantly in rage. Wanda managed to free her hand, clutching it in agony while Toad kept Abyss occupied. Not occupied enough, it seemed- Abyss re-collected himself and quickly sprang back to Wanda. She dodged him this time, but nevertheless, he put his hand behind her and shoved her forward, tumbling her harshly down the metal stairway.

"Had enough yet?" Abyss asked. "Because this is starting to bore me. I think maybe Gambit and that French girl might be a little more fun to play with. And who knows, maybe you'll all get along just fine when you're floating around inside me, waiting for the end!"

As Toad angrily jumped towards him, Abyss tried to spear him as well- Toad jumped over the spear-hand, and then flipped to avoid the second hand. Once Toad landed, Abyss throw out his lance arm again, and as Toad jumped over it, the other arm reached out and grabbed him by the neck. Bashing him against the wall and twirling him like a rag doll, Abyss laughed as Toad struggled, struck against walls, stairs and railings, taking a beating on all sides.

"Let him go!" A sudden hex bolt that forced Abyss to re-coil his arm and drop Toad. His grin disappeared and Abyss turned back down to look at the bruised, bloodied and enraged Wanda, struggling to stand on the landing below.

"Still some fight in you, huh?" Abyss asked, his inhuman smile returning. "Didn't like me messing with your little friend?" Wanda made no reply, glaring at him with fury in her eyes. With both hands, she released an entire field of energy, surrounding Abyss and twisting his pliable body in all directions, stretching him and constricting him. He attempted to expanded the black hole inside him, but Wanda's hex forced it shut, leaving Abyss entirely at her mercy with no means of defense. The railing on the stairs came loose and the individual metal plates that comprised the stairs broke apart and floated around Abyss, smashing into him from all directions.

Once it was over, Abyss dropped like a limp collection of springs, slowly sliding down the stairs and making no attempt to stop himself.

Once her rage had subsided, peace came back to Wanda in the form of exhaustion, which quickly returned to her. Unable to stand anymore she fell, right into Toad's arms. Himself barely able to stand, he just fell over with Wanda on top of him. He propped himself up against the wall, letting Wanda rest on top of his legs, cradling her with his arms.

"You alright?" Toad asked.

"I'll live," Wanda replied. "Has anyone found Essex yet?"

"I've been here the whole time, how should I know?"

"Your headset, you idiot." Toad blinked, forgetting completely that he was wearing a headset, keeping him linked with the rest of the recon team. Tapping it a few times, he realized it no longer worked, damaged at some point during the battle. He pulled it off and threw it aside. Wanda sighed, realizing that they'd both have to wait there until someone came by.

"Hey Wanda... thanks. Y'know, for going all crazy on him when he thrashed me like that," Toad said.

"Thanks for doing the same when he attacked me," Wanda replied, hoping not to make a bigger issue out of it. But she did find it oddly soothing to be held by him. "...I want to make it clear that this means absolutely nothing," Wanda reminded him.

"Too late," Toad replied, smiling weakly.

--

"Fan out," Bishop commanded, leading his men through the lower corridors. As some of them ventured through side corridors, Bishop held up his plastic gun when he noticed a shaping coming through the darkness. Following his lead, the men readied their weapons.

The shape turned out to be the Blob, carrying the unconscious Jean and Lorelei, followed by Pyro and Rogue, as well as four of Denti's men, still under Rogue's spell.

"...Commander?" Blob asked. "What's going on?"

"No time to explain, what's the situation?" Bishop asked.

"Well, we... uh, we kind of teamed up with the X-Men to-"

"I know that," Bishop interrupted. "What's the situation here?"

"We split up to look for Dr. Nathan," Blob explained. "Gambit and Lorelei are here with some guards. Rogue's got these four under control. Nathan's here, but he slipped out. He's got some kind of invincibility."

"Where's the rest of your team?"

"Lance is fighting Gambit, Wanda and Toad are off... uh, somewhere. We came after Nathan, did you see him?"

"No, but he couldn't have gotten far," Bishop explained. "My men know the layout well enough."

"I can imagine," Rogue snarked. Blob turned to her, not quite understanding, but shrugged it off.

"Sergeant, take them back, get these two girls treated, and restrain these men," Bishop ordered. As the group left with Bishop's appointed agent, Bishop motioned for the rest of his team to follow.

One more left. The conclusion!