Dear sweet mother of God I hate my laptop for the first ten minutes when it's starting up. Everything's lagging, nothing responds, and it moves at the pace of a snail with a broken leg. I know, that doesn't make sense, but that's how it is.
Anyways it's time to bring in everyone's favorite metal Russian, Colossus! He won't be the only big-name Russian in this chapter also, you may already know who the other one is, but I have a few more planned out for this one. That's enough from me, on with the story.
Ra Ra Rasputin
Unlike the others Shiro doesn't talk much, and when he does, he's either formal or arrogant, so yeah, there's that. The trip Russia takes some time, especially considering the fact that Piotr's place is more or less in Siberia instead of Russia. We find out that he lives on a farm too, and a large one at that, and there's a large plot of land that isn't owned by anyone, so we decide to land the Blackbird there, making the recruitment easier for all of us.
Speaking of an easy recruitment. "How much do you guys wanna bet we're gonna have to fight someone in Russia?" Bobby asks.
"Ah don't take bets if Ah know Ah'm gonna lose 'em, Bobby." Rogue replies.
"It is normal for battle during your recruitments?" Shiro asks. A few hours into the ride Scott offered him some extra clothes to change into, a black long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans.
"Yeah. When chere and Remy were recruited we were being manipulated too. Kitty's ex-boyfriend destroyed a school. Jubilee here was kidnapped by Sentinels-" Remy answers.
"Nolan was too." Jubilee argues.
Remy rolls his eyes. "Nolan was too. And we all know what happened with your recruitment."
"Then we must prepare for battle once we arrive in Russia." Shiro folds his arms and leans forward.
"Come on guys, it's entirely possible this recruitment will go swimmingly." Scott says.
We all stare at him.
"Yeah, yeah, you're all right. Let's see how things play out first, then we'll plan for combat when we need to, yeah?" Scott says. We all give our own affirmatives. "Good. Strap in, it's time to land."
After the landing sequence we exit the lowered ramp of the jet, in the distance we can see a truck driving towards us. Once it stops in front of us two men exit the vehicle the smaller, but still built, man looks to be in his late forties to early fifties and the large one is maybe seventeen or eighteen. The older man cautiously walks up to us, his son trailing behind him. After a moment the older man nods and holds his arm out for Scott to shake. "You must be the X-Men! It is so nice to meet you. My name is Nikolai Rasputin, this is my son, Piotr."
"Hello." Piotr says with a heavy accent.
"It's nice to meet you. My name is Scott Summers, these are my friends: Jean Grey, Bobby Drake, Logan, Nolan Belmont, Remy LeBeau, Anna Marie (You can call her Rogue) Jubilee, and Shiro Yoshida. Thank you for meeting with us." Scott says.
"Excuse me," Jean interrupts. "Before we begin could we possibly go elsewhere, this cold's doing nothing to help."
Nikolai bellows a laugh. "Of course, of course," He looks at the group and adopts a sheepish look. "I'm sorry to say but, not all of us will fit in my truck."
Bobby ices up, surprising the two. "It's cool, some of us can use our powers to follow."
Scott, Logan, and Remy get into the bed of the truck, while Jubilee, Jean, and Rogue enter the back seats. "Think you can fly me there, Nol?" Kitty asks me.
I ignore the snickers from Bobby, Jubilee, Jean, and Remy as I nod. I swap to my Sunfire powers and carry Kitty bridal style as I float into the air, Shiro following suit. The truck then comes to life and turns around towards the farm in the distance. "What do you guys think is gonna happen?" I ask.
"Sentinels." Bobby says.
"Racists." Kitty adds.
"Maybe another mutant." Shiro says.
"Alright, well, only one way to find out." I say as we continue the journey to the Rasputin farm.
After a few more minutes of flight we finally make it to the farm, outside we see two people waiting for us, an older woman and a young girl, probably around the same age as Jubilee. Shiro and I land as Bobby jumps off his ice slide, I put down Kitty as the rest of the group exit the truck, Piotr and his father walk towards the other two.
"Let me introduce my lovely wife and daughter: Alexandra and Illyana." Nikolai introduces.
Alexandra walks towards us, Illyana hiding behind her leg. "Hello, I hope your trip was comfortable. Please, come in."
We follow into the house. Once inside we all enter the living room, although some of us were in the connected dining room. "Thank you for your hospitality Mrs. Rasputin," Scott begins as Piotr hands him a water bottle. "As you may already know we are the X-Men, and we're here to recruit your son."
Mr. and Mrs. Rasputin share a worried look. While this is happening Illyana walks up to Scott. "Is it because he can turn into metal?"
Scott smiles as he gives her a thumbs up. "Yeah. We were hoping he'd come with us to our school to learn how to better use his powers," He notices the concerned look on her parents faces. "And don't worry, Piotr is capable of visiting whenever he would like to, or you could visit yourselves, the school would pay all of the expenses."
Their concerned faces lighten slightly. "That is good to know, but what I really want to know is if my son must fight, after all even we know of the X-Men out here," She places her hand over her son's in a comforting manner. "I don't want my little boy hurt."
Remy, Jubilee, Bobby, and Jean all let out light snickers, causing Piotr's embarrassed blush to intensify. "Mother, I will be fine, I am a man now, and my powers help." Piotr gets up and stands in the center of the room, his skin quickly becomes metallic, with lines all along his arms.
"Not gonna lie, Ah'm impressed." Rogue comments. We all nod in agreement.
"What are your powers? If you don't mind me asking, of course. For the one's that aren't known X-Men." Piotr asks as he shifts back to normal.
"Ah can absorb people's powers and life force through skin contact." Rogue begins.
"Remy can make things explode." Remy says.
"I can phase through things." Kitty says as she puts her hand through the table.
Jubilee creates some fireworks. "I make super powerful fireworks."
"I control heat." Shiro lightly says.
The Rasputin family look at me. "Seriously, you still don't know who I am?" They all shake their heads. I sigh in annoyance as I take on a metallic form just like Piotr's. "After I see powers in use, I can copy them." To demonstrate I swap to my Jubilee powers and create fireworks between my hands.
"Back to the topic at hand: what do you say about Piotr joining the X-Men?" Scott says.
"I-please, let me think on it. I will have your answer tomorrow, there is much to think on." Piotr requests.
"Of course," Jean looks at her watch. "It's getting late, we should find a place to stay for the night."
"We have a guest room upstairs; it is rather large, but I don't believe all of you will fit." Mr. Rasputin says.
"Us ladies will take it, thank you." Jean quickly says. She turns to the other three and motions them forward, following Mrs. Rasputin and Illyana upstairs.
"Guess we could sleep in the living room." Bobby says.
"Guess so." I reply.
Mr. Rasputin gets up to gather some blankets and pillows for us, leaving the seven of us to wait in the living room. We all then begin to talk about random topics, almost all of us, I get up and walk towards the pictures above the fireplace, one in particular catches my eye. "Hey, Piotr, who's this guy?"
On the picture we see the four members of the Rasputin family, with a fifth person among them. This guy looks to be a little older than Piotr, and he shares some physical similarities with him. In the picture we see the family around him, large smiles on all of their faces, as he holds an astronaut helmet.
Piotr's face drops once he realizes who I was talking about. "Ah, yes. That is my older brother, Mikhail. That picture was taken two years ago when we found out he was accepted as a cosmonaut. He and his crew went missing after their first mission."
Good going Nolan, you just brough the mood down. Time to change the subject. "Why do you want to think on being an X-Man? Well, you don't have to be on the team necessarily, you could decide to just focus on academics if you want."
Piotr chuckles lightly as he leans back in the couch. "It feels wrong to leave my family. My parents are getting older, they need all the help they can get on the farm, and my sister, after Mikhail," He pinches the bridge of his nose. "I need to be there for her."
"But on the flip side?" Bobby asks.
Piotr looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "It means on the other hand." Scott explains.
Piotr nods. He raises his arm and shifts back into his metal form. "With this power I can help more than my family. My parents always told me to help whoever I can however I can, and by joining you I could easily help mutant children all over the world."
"Well, if your parents want you to help people then why don't you just join us?" Bobby asks.
Piotr visibly struggles to answer the question, luckily for him his father comes back with blankets and pillows for us. "I'm back! Sorry I took so long, we usually have the blankets in one easy to find spot, I guess Illyana did not feel like it." He rolls his eyes at the last part, Piotr chuckles as well.
Scott gets up and helps him. "Thank you for your hospitality again, Mr. Rasputin, we don't know how to repay you."
Mr. Rasputin just waves his hand. "No need to repay. I am one man helping another, what any man should do."
"Ya got that right." Logan grumbles as he takes a pillow and blanket from Mr. Rasputin.
"So, Piotr, how did you find out you were a mutant?" Remy asks.
"A couple of months ago some of Illyana's friends were over, they were playing hide-and-seek, and I guess one of them took off the brakes for our tractor." Piotr begins.
"Wait, 'took off'? Bobby asks.
"Our tractor had brake problems for a while, and the nearest mechanic who had the parts was gone for a period of time. We bought a new tractor later." Mr. Rasputin explained, a pointed look directed towards his son.
"Anyway, while they were playing Illyana had hid behind some boxes, so she didn't notice when the tractor was rolling towards her. Without explanation I ran forward, hoping to stop the tractor, and I did. My powers had activated at the moment," He sheepishly scratches his cheek before awkwardly coughing. "The, uh, the tractor was crushed due to the impact."
"Don't worry about it, Scott here destroyed a part of the danger room the first time he used his powers." Bobby jerks a thumb to said mutant. Scott chuckles guiltily as he sinks into the couch.
Mr. Rasputin looks at the clock on the wall and makes a noise of surprise. "Ah! Would you look at the time. Come, Piotr, let our guests sleep," He and his son get up, as do all of us. Mr. Rasputin and Piotr shake our hands individually. "I hope you are all morning risers, otherwise you won't be getting anything to eat tomorrow!"
"I think we'll be fine," Scott gives Bobby and I pointed looks. "Well, most of us, that is."
Bobby and I give him a deadpan stare as Mr. Rasputin laughs heartily. "See you tomorrow morning, comrades." The two go upstairs.
"They are…nice." Shiro says.
Logan nods. "Yeah. We need to get outta here ASAP, Slim."
Scott sighs as he places his blanket and pillow down. "Agreed. The longer we're here the more likely the Rasputin family will be attacked."
Bobby lets out a massive yawn. "Let's hope The Iron Giant has an answer tomorrow morning, yeah?"
Remy turns off the lamp, enshrouding the room in darkness. "Dat movie messed Remy up when he was little."
Scott makes a noise of agreement.
"Pretty damn sure I cried. Mom had to comfort me for a long time." I chime in.
"Never watched it." Logan says.
"Same." Shiro says.
Bobby lets out another yawn. "When we go home, we're gonna fix that." Good night guys."
Shiro and Remy make noises that sounds like 'good night'. Logan just grunts, as he does.
"Night guys." Scott says.
"What Scott said." I turn to my side and close my eyes.
"Hey, Nol, wake up."
I turn to my side and open my eyes. Standing above me is Kitty, a spoon in her mouth and a container of yogurt in her hand. She has a smile on her face as she pokes me on the nose. "Boop. You're wasting the day away by sleeping, c'mon. Maybe you can get some food before Logan goes through all of it."
"I don't eat that much!" Logan yells from the kitchen.
I get up, upper body first, and rub my eyes. No matter how much sleep I get I seem to always be tired. I then rub my nose, the last time Kitty did that was when she moved back home when the summer was nearing its end, which happened to be the last time we saw each other until recently.
Kitty lightly kicks me in the back. "Get up, slowpoke, or else we'll wake up Bobby."
Turning to my right I see a still sleeping Bobby, sprawled out, snoring lightly. I hurry up and quickly walk to the kitchen, ignoring Kitty as she laughs at me. Mr. Rasputin laughs lightly once he notices me and then turns to Scott. "You weren't wrong about those two being deep sleepers."
Looking at the counter I see some food still there, looking at the table I see food on everyone's plates, more on Logan's then anyone else's. I raise an eyebrow and stare at him incredulously. "I'm sorry, what'd you say? 'I don't eat that much'? 'Cause, uh, that looks a lot like much to me."
Logan glares at me before turning back to his filled plate to eat. Illyana walks up to me and hands me a plate with some utensils on it. I smile. "Thanks." I think she has a light blush on her face, can't tell, she turns around quickly.
I get my food and stand between Remy and Shiro as we eat at the counter, after all, the table doesn't have enough space for all of us. Shiro turns to me. "Do you and Bobby stay asleep for that long normally?"
I sigh dramatically and lean my head back, tossing a grape into my mouth. "No matter how much sleep I get I'm always tired. It's annoying, not gonna lie. Don't know about Bobby though."
"Whoa! Hold up! What betrayal is this?" We all look to see Bobby standing, glaring at us. "No one thought to wake me up?"
"We wanted some food for the rest of us." Jean jokingly replies.
Bobby just waves his arms wildly at Logan, then at the counter where there is still a good amount of food. Remy chuckles as he tosses a plate to Bobby, Bobby barely reacts in time and fumbles for a moment before firmly catching the plate. "Thanks." He mutters.
As stands to the other side of Shiro, after getting his food, Piotr clears his throat and gets up, we all turn our attention to him. "I've made a decision, I'd like to-"
A knock can be heard from the door. Piotr's parents share a confused look, his father then looks at Piotr and nods towards the door, Piotr's skin becomes steel. Remy pulls out a deck of cards, Shiro's hands glow, Bobby ices up, and Jean and I create a telekinetic shield around everyone else.
Mr. Rasputin opens the door. "Hello?"
The person walks in; they stop once they realize the firepower aimed against them. "Well, that's one way to greet your guest."
She has long red hair and has green eyes. She wears a skintight black suit with a golden belt, the buckle has a red and black hourglass on it, her gauntlets are golden as well, and it looks to be like a whole bunch of rectangular devices connected to each other.
Piotr looms over her. "Guests do not invite themselves in. Who are you?"
"My name is-"
"Natasha Romanoff, otherwise known as the Black Widow," Logan interrupts. We all back off but don't entirely stand down, not yet at least. "What are you doing here?"
"Logan, you look…cozy. I'm here for two reasons: SHIELD wants to know why you X-Men are travelling the world. The other reason involves a dangerous mutant seen around the area." She answers.
"Why does Fury wanna know about our business?" Logan asks.
She raises an eyebrow. "Do you really believe Fury would tell me his reason?"
Logan nods. "Of course, he wouldn't."
Illyana leans to Kitty. "What's SHIELD?"
Natasha turns to Illyana and gives her a disarming smile. "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."
"I see why they call it SHIELD" Mrs. Rasputin says under her breath.
"Who's the mutant?" Rogue asks.
"Arkady Rossovich," She walks to the table and places down a holographic projector, showing the information on the target. "Also known as Omega Red. Logan has had some encounters with him in the past."
"First Deathstrike now this guy, how many people does Logan know?" Bobby whispers to Shiro and I.
"Can't forget that he's a lot older than he appears, and he doesn't even remember anything before almost six years ago." I add.
Logan glares at us, we shut up. "Omega Red's dangerous. Superhuman physical attributes along with a regenerative healing factor, but that's not his most impressive power," Logan swipes down, showing the known power list of Omega Red. "It's called a death factor, with it he can kill you just by bein' around you, doesn't help that he's also capable of absorbing people's life force through physical contact."
"So, stay away from him?" Jubilee asks.
A full body picture of him is shown. Oh, those won't be fun to deal with, not at all. "He's into hentai?" Bobby asks incredulously.
Shiro breaths out of his nose strongly, Jean places her head in her hands, Scott and Logan glare at him, and I just face palm. "Jesus, Bobby, what the hell, man?"
"What's hentai?" Illyana asks curiously.
"Trust me, Sugah, ya don't wanna know." Rogue warns. She then turns to glare at Bobby.
"Sorry." Bobby seems to shrink into himself.
From the top of Omega Red's wrists come two thick tentacles, one on each arm, their ends look to be extremely sharp, and I'd be willing to bet that they could extend if he wanted them to.
"Then we go to stop this…Omega Red, da?" Piotr asked.
"You don't have to go if you don't want to, we can handle this just fine." Scott suggests.
Piotr nods resolutely. "I will go. Who knows, maybe my organic steel form will help me resist his death factor?"
His mother walks up to him. "Are you sure Piotr? As they said, you do not have to do this if you don't want to."
He holds her hands in between his own and gives her a soft smile. "I am sure, mother," He turns to the rest of us. "As I was saying, I have made my decision, I would like to join the X-Men."
Scott smiles and nods before turning back to Black Widow. "Nolan, Piotr, Shiro, Logan, and Jean will be with us to deal with Omega Red."
"And the rest of us?" Jubilee asks.
"Stay here and protect our hosts, if SHIELD's found us chances are our enemies have as well, defend this place, got it? Bobby, you're in charge." Scott orders.
We put our plates in the sink and head out, walking towards the Blackbird we see a small number of SHIELD agents, Coulson among them. "Hey, hey, hey! Coulson, how are ya?" I shout out, my arms stretched out in greeting.
He looks up from whatever he's working on and looks at us, once his eyes land on me he darts his eyes around, like he's trying to ignore me. Guess the George incident is still awkward for him. "X-Men, thank you for joining us."
"For the rest of you, this is Agent Phil Coulson, one of our best agents. He'll be able to tell brief you on the situation." Black Widow then gives him the spotlight.
"A few hours ago, Arkady Rossovich was seen at an abandoned farm a few miles south of our current location." Coulson begins.
"South? That's where the Yahontov family lives, are they okay?" Piotr asks, worried.
Coulson shakes his head. "We found some shriveled up bodies near the farm, we later identified them to be the Yahontov family," Piotr clenches his fist. "We had sent in some men, but during the live feed they were all killed."
He presses some buttons on the tablet next to him. A holographic screen shows the point of view of one of the SHIELD troops as they carefully walked through the house. As they near the steps a tentacle whips from out of nowhere and grabs the person in front and drags him screaming up the stairs. A wet sickening sound is heard, then silence. Turning around, the point of view shows the remaining three agents attempting to keep their cool. Suddenly another wet sound can be heard. Looking down the SHIELD agent sees a tentacle through his chest, he is then thrown aside. The rest of the footage shows a blur of red and silver running through the agents, killing them all.
Coulson turns it off. "That was thirty minutes ago, since then things have been silent."
"So, you want us to walk into that horror film and take out the monster?" I ask.
He doesn't look at me, but he nods and responds. "That's exactly what we want you to do," He then shows another live feed, this one with a bird's eye view. "During the past thirty minutes some more, unidentified men have shown up, they have since been assisting Arkady. The plan is to combine our forces to rush the house and arrest him."
"What'll she be doin'?" Logan nods towards Black Widow.
"I will be gaining intel on Omega Red while you all battle. Try to figure out why exactly he's here." Black Widow says.
Coulson looks at Scott. "Speaking of, did you ever tell Black Widow what you X-Men were doing, travelling across the world and whatever?"
"Need to know. Sorry." Scott replies.
Black Widow has a smirk on her face as she hums. She then turns to Coulson. "We should get going, the sooner we defeat Omega Red, the better."
Coulson turns to his agents and clears his throat, getting all of their attention. "Agents! We are now moving out; Operation Alpha Blue is a go!"
"Alpha Blue?" Piotr asks.
Coulson just shrugs. "It was that or Delta Yellow."
"Like the Man with the Yellow Hat from Curious George." I say.
Coulson's face becomes ash white. I laugh under my breath, much to the confusion of Logan. I just give him an 'I'll tell you later' look as we head into the second vehicle in this envoy.
We stop about a mile out of the farm. Coulson, and thirteen SHIELD agents rush out of the vehicles, after a moment we hear gunfire and explosions. "Alright, we're up." Black Widow announces.
We exit the vehicle, as we near the battle Jean cloaks our presence from Omega Red's men. Once we near the door Black Widow separates from us and climbs up the side of the home, entering through one of the windows.
Piotr steps forward and transforms into his steel form, he looks at me. "Is there anyone on the other side of this door?"
I use my super hearing. "Nope, Omega Red's in the living room. None of his men are in the house, by the way."
I should quickly explain. Whenever I don't use any of my other powers, I use my Thunderbird powers as a default, because of the superhuman durability and the enhanced senses, meaning no one can really take me by surprise anymore.
Piotr steps off the porch, he then charges forward, breaking through the door, and taking part of the wall with him. I follow after him. We see Omega Red, his eyes wide in surprise, guess he didn't see that one coming. Piotr continues his charge and grabs Omega Red by the face and throws him into the fireplace, temporarily trapping him there.
He then reaches down and grabs Omega Red by the leg, he then swings him overhead, smashing him onto the floor. Noticing the others, he throws him up, Shiro and Scott hit the currently airborne Omega Red with their combined blasts, sending him out of the home.
"He's supposed to be dangerous, right?" I ask. Honestly, I'm kinda surprised we did that to him so easily.
Logan smacks me upside my head. "Look at Piotr."
I look to see that he's a little thinner, not by a lot, but it's definitely noticeable. Oh, so that's the death factor in action. Two tentacles come from the hole in the wall and grab Piotr and I by our necks. Immediately I feel my energy drain, and at an alarming rate. How do I counter this? C'mon Nolan, think, think. Aha! I swap to my Wolverine powers. It doesn't protect me completely, but I can feel the life force absorption slow down exponentially.
We are then thrown to the ground, standing over us is an angry Omega Red. "You caught me by surprise," He begins. "I commend you for that. It will not happen again." He raises his arms, tentacles ready to strike down on Piotr and me.
Parts of the wall are launched at Omega Red, courtesy of Jean. He jumps back and slashes his tentacles at the parts, destroying them all. "As I said, not again." He roars and slams his tentacles down, creating a shockwave, Piotr and I jump over it, but the SHIELD agents and his men nearby aren't so lucky, their bodies quickly wither as they shout in pain before dying.
A blast from Shiro rockets towards him, he just lashes a tentacle out, dissipating the fire ball. Shiro growls before taking to the air, he then fires a continuous stream of flame. Omega Red shields himself with an arm, and we see his skin begin to burn. But he quickly lashes out with his other arm, the tentacle wraps around Shiro's leg, he then brings his arm downward, slamming Shiro into the ground.
The ground beneath Omega Red lifts up, due to Jean's telekinesis. Once in the air Scott hits him with a blast, sending him flying. Once Omega Red lands on the ground Jean places the rock above him, she flips it over and drops it.
For a moment everything is quiet, but then the rock begins to rise. Under it we see Omega Red glaring at us, he's holding the rock above his head. He then smirks and turns to a group of SHIELD agents currently locked in combat with his own, he throws the rock.
I run forward and intercept the rock, grabbing it before it could hit the agents. "What up?"
"Um, uh…hi." One of the agents responds.
"How are ya?" I continue.
He gulps. "G-good. Thanks for saving us."
"No problem." I reply. I move forward and spin in place twice before throwing the rock at Omega Red, who is currently dodging attacks from Logan and Piotr. The two are then pulled back by Jean as the rock lands on Omega Red. As he shakes his head I run forward and hit him with a dropkick, sending Omega Red flying into the barn. The building collapses on him.
"How're the SHIELD agents looking?" I ask.
"Not good. Shiro's out also. Logan, Jean, let's help the SHIELD agents. Nolan, Piotr, can you two finish off Omega Red?" Scott asks.
Piotr palms his fist, the sound of clanging metal echoes. "Of course."
I give the three a thumbs up. "You can count on us, guys."
The three run to the other battle, Piotr and I look at each other and nod. "What is the plan?" He asks.
"When we were training Logan taught me about pressure points. If I can get close enough maybe I can hit some of Omega Red's." I ponder.
"How will you get close? His tentacles give him range, and his death effect will no doubt be more draining the closer you are to him." Piotr points out.
He's right. How do I get close without getting hit? Those tentacles of his also allow him to drain my life force if he wants to. Wait, 'without getting hit' I'm an idiot. I swap to my Untouchable powers. "With my current powerset I'm immune to any physical attack he could hit me with, not so sure about his death effect though, maybe I'll get a resistance. Here's the plan, you fight him head to head, try to keep him as distracted as possible, I'll provide support, but I'll mainly go for his pressure points."
"What about his tentacles?" Piotr asks. The debris of the barn begins to rise.
"Seems to me that your steel form is immune to his life absorption, and look at you, you recovered pretty fast for being hit with his death effect not even six minutes ago." I point out. Looking at Piotr I realized that my plan has a chance. It seems as though his powers mainly work on organic targets, right now Piotr isn't exactly organic, meaning Omega Red's special abilities aren't as effective on him anymore.
An angry roar erupts from the barn, wood flying everywhere once Omega Red erupts from the debris. Piotr and I share another nod before running towards Omega Red, who happens to be running at us.
He whips his tentacles towards us, one catches Piotr by the waist, Piotr jumps forward, using the whip to his advantage. The whip heading towards me jerked to the ground due to my current powers, a look of surprise flashes over Omega Red's face. Using that to his advantage Piotr decks him with a punch that sends Omega Red to the ground face first.
I increase my speed and flip over the prone Omega Red, once I land, I kick him in the back of the neck while he's still down, he lets out a noise of pain before lashing out. Piotr jumps back, to recuperate from the death effect. It's weird, but I can feel it slowly encroaching upon me, it seems as though these powers have some defense against him.
Omega Red gets up and attempts to hit me with a haymaker, but his fist goes wide. He growls in annoyance. "Why can't I hit you?" He attempts another haymaker; this one also goes wide.
Piotr claps his hands over Omega Red's head, greatly disorienting the dangerous mutant. Using this to my advantage I hit him in the throat and the sternum, his body begins to lock up. His left tentacle snakes around Piotr's leg, once it wraps around tightly it whips out, sending the metallic mutant flying away, into one of the SHIELD vehicles. How strong is this guy?
He turns around and places his tentacles in the ground, shortly after the ground beneath me shakes. It then erupts, sending me flying into the debris of the barn house, once I hit the ground, I feel the air leave my lungs and writhe around due to the pain my back is going through.
Omega Red chuckles as he stalks towards me. "Ah, direct attacks won't work, but indirect will." A SHIELD vehicle comes flying from out of nowhere, smacking into Omega Red, both of them go a considerable distance.
Piotr stands over me and offers me a hand. "Agent Coulson gave me this."
In his other hand I see a power dampening collar. "Nice. Same plan, this time I'll get the collar around him," I swap to my Shadowcat powers as I remember something else. "We gotta do something about his tentacles. Jean!" I call out.
After a moment Jean lands next to us. "What's up?"
"We're gonna get this around Omega Red's neck, problem is, we need to do something about his tentacles, think you can help?" I ask.
Jean smirks. "I know I can help." Her eyes glow purple as she telekinetically deflects the SHIELD vehicle Omega Red threw at us.
Once he nears Jean reaches out, his tentacles wrap around his own body, making him look like some red and silver burrito. A blast from Scott and Shiro then come from out of nowhere and hit him, sending him into the ground. Slowly getting up he immediately gets slashed in the face by Logan's claws. Piotr rushes forward, picks him up, and slams him on to the ground. I then phase through Piotr and place the collar around his neck.
"You lose." I mock.
I step back, the remaining SHIELD agents, Coulson, Black Widow, and us X-Men stand over a growling Omega Red, who's also frothing at the mouth. That's gross. Logan steps forward. "Look at you, Arkady. What the hell happened?" He smirks.
"I have nothing to say to you traitor." Omega Red hisses.
Logan raises an eyebrow. "Traitor? The hell are you talkin' about?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about! Ever since you left Weapon-" Omega Red lets out a loud scream of pain. He then goes limp.
Jean scans his mind. "Something shut down his mental functions, it was done remotely."
"Can you fix him? There are some questions we need to ask him." Coulson wonders.
"I'd need a couple of weeks to fix this damage. Hell, maybe even a month. Sorry." Jean replies.
Coulson sighs as he orders four of his men to pick up Omega Red's body. He then looks at the wrecked vehicle then looks at Piotr. "Do you have any idea how much those things cost?"
Piotr shrugs as he smiles bashfully. "…No?"
He shakes his head as he walks to follows his men. "Fury's gonna kill me." He mutters.
"So, you find anything?" I ask Black Widow.
"Nyet, there was nothing. Seems as though he was here only because it was closest," Black Widow informs us. Something in her pocket beeps. She pulls it out to reveal a white card, a black stripe with red outlines in the center on the front, on the left side of the card is a glowing blue A, which is where the sound is coming from, on the right is her picture. "I must go, Avengers business. See you when I see you."
"Hey, Logan," Scott begins. Said mutant finally looks away from the vehicle Omega Red is in to look at Scott. "Do you know anything about what Omega Red was saying?"
Logan sighs deeply as he heads towards the convoy. "No."
Not knowing what to say we follow him.
As we near the Rasputin farm we see some unconscious bodies and destroyed vehicles. As soon as the convoy stops Piotr rushes out. "Illyana! Mama! Papa!"
Illyana gets out of Kitty's arms and runs to her brother. "Piotr!" He engulfs her in a big hug. Illyana then leans back, an excited look in her eyes. "You should have seen it! First these bad men came, then Mr. Bobby was all like 'Stay inside.' And then there was explosions! Boom! BANG!"
We all smile and laugh as she excitedly tells the story of what happened here. "AndthenKittyandRoguepunchedhimtoJubileeshethenhithimwith-"
"Okay! Okay, please, Snowflake, slow down." Piotr chuckles as he puts his sister down.
I walk up to Kitty. "You two were looking pretty friendly."
Kitty smiles as Illyana mimics some of Remy's movements. "She's a cute kid, smart too."
"We all know how you love your smart people." I say.
After things calm down for a bit the SHIELD agents all leave, but before they do Bobby yells out "GEORGE!" Coulson glares at the two of us as we snicker before a small smile can be seen on his lips. He turns around and waves a goodbye.
Jean looks at the two of us. "What's George gotta do with Coulson?"
Bobby and I share a mischievous smirk. "Sorry Jean, inside joke." Bobby says.
Jean aggressively rubs both of our heads. "C'mon, Piotr's parents want to give us dinner before we leave."
For the next couple of hours, we help prepare and then eat dinner. Now we're outside of the Blackbird, patiently waiting as Piotr says goodbye to his family. "And remember to call us whenever you can, and to visit also."
"Of course, Mama." Piotr replies.
"If you have any questions be sure to ask your friends, they are there to help you." His father says.
"Yes, Papa." Piotr says.
"Remember to buy me a teddy bear!" Illyana chimes in.
"Of course. I will send it as soon as I can." Piotr smiles.
The family then has one more group hug before Piotr walks up the ramp. We all wave goodbye as the ramp raises up. Piotr sighs deeply before reaching into one of his bags, pulling out a sketchbook and some pencils.
"You draw?" Kitty asks.
"Yes. It helps calm me down and helps me temper my strength." Piotr replies.
"That's hot." Kitty bluntly says.
Piotr blushes deeply and sputters, not knowing what to say. Jubilee just laughs. "Watch out, Nolan, you've got a rival." She says in a singsong voice.
I groan and sink into my chair, ignoring the jokes from Remy, Jubilee, Rogue, and Bobby. Can't we be in Germany already?
Later that night
It was midnight, and Illyana couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she would see that place, and the voices would be the only thing she would hear. Tonight, it was worse, Illyana would attribute this new intensity to Piotr's going away, he was a calming factor for her this entire time, and without him the dreams just got worse.
Eventually Illyana screamed, waking her parents in the process. They ran to her room. "Snowflake? What's wrong?"
"No, no, no! Get away! Go! Leave. Me. ALONE!"
A portal opened beneath Illyana and her parents, the three fell into it.
The Rasputin home is now empty.
Aaaand there's that ending for ya. Also, she won't be the only New Mutant introduced here, we'll meet the other one at the end of this arc. I really don't have much to say right now, other than this. This coming Saturday I'm finally going to post my DC story The Vitruvian Man! You can find it either through my profile or in the Justice League section.
By the way, sorry Black Widow didn't do much, that'll be changed in future chapters.
Thank you for reading, please leave a constructive review and remember to stay awesome! See you next week.