Here we are with the next chapter of this arc. So, the team's gonna be spread throughout the Asteroid, and the chapters will focus mainly on specific fights while also going to focus on other characters on the side. There will be five more chapters after this one before the arc's end.
Quick note: I'm planning on making some spin-off stories sometime in the future. The first one'll be based off Mister Sinister and start from his meeting with Nolan's grandmother and end when he finds Nolan way back in the beginning of the story. But that won't happen until later, 'cause if I made it now there'd be some spoilers for this story, and we don't want that, do we?
The other spin-off will have Iceman, Mimic, Human Torch, Spider-Man, Quicksilver, Nova, and Winter Soldier as a team. You can see where that's gonna go. It'll be a story about the wider Marvel Universe, so arcs about the Civil War and Secret Invasion, stuff like that. Although, those stories won't come for a while, I'm already having some trouble juggling two stories and writing a third right now. Stay tuned for news in the future.
That's all from me up here, let's get on with the story!
Unstoppable Force, Immovable Object
Iceman lets out a scream as he's thrown through the air, he then slams into a wall and slides down, groaning in pain. "We need back up," He mumbles from his place on the ground.
"Less talking more fighting!" Sunfire growls. He stays midair, doing his best to avoid Blob's swinging fists.
Juggernaut chuckles as he stomps towards Iceman, each footstep shaking the ground. He cracks his knuckles as he looks down on Iceman. "At least one o' you knows what he's talkin' about."
Iceman drags his hands on the floor and swings them up as he roars, trapping Juggernaut in a small glacier. He then jumps on an ice slide and slides around Juggernaut, one hand adding to the ice, trapping Juggernaut further.
Seeing an opportunity, Blob grabs one of Sunfire's legs and swings him into Iceman, knocking him off his ice slide. Getting up, Iceman's eyes widen in surprise once he sees his ice cracking. "W-what the hell? N-n-no one's ever cracked my ice that easily."
Further shocking the young X-Man, Juggernaut flexes his arms, shattering the ice and sending shards all over the place, some bouncing off of Blob's body. Juggernaut looks at Iceman with a predatory smirk as he rubs his hands together and breathes on them, taunting Iceman. "Oooh, chilly. C'mon Blob, let's take 'em to Charlie, I wanna see his face once he sees two of his kids are dead."
Sunfire and Iceman step back, their attacks ready. Iceman creates blades over his fists as he glares at Juggernaut. "You seem pretty friendly with the Professor. Mind telling?"
Juggernaut's eyes narrow as he thinks it over, eventually he shrugs his massive shoulders. "Eh, why not?" He puts his right hand over his left shoulder as he rotates his right arm. "Little Charlie and I are step-brothers, simple as that."
Iceman's eyes widen before narrowing. "He never talked about a step-brother. Why should I believe you?"
"When we beat you up, we'll take ya to Charlie, he'll tell ya everything," He lets out a breath through his nose. "Enough talk!"
Immediately, Juggernaut runs forward, head lowered, and his right arm lifted up to protect his face. Iceman quickly creates an ice wall, but Juggernaut just runs through it as if it were a glass pane, slamming into Iceman.
Sunfire barely avoids Juggernaut as he takes to the air, dodging a thrown bench from Blob. "Iceman! Can you handle him?"
Said mutant barely rolls out of the way from Juggernaut, his body showing intense damage, he then ices up the floor, making it slippery for Juggernaut. "I'll be fine, just take on Blob! Remember, physical attacks aren't the best!"
Sunfire nods before dive bombing Blob, hitting him with a stream of flames to the face as he swoops over the fat mutant. Sunfire then tucks and flips in the air before dive bombing again, hitting Blob's legs and sweeping his feet out from under him.
After falling on the ground Iceman quickly creates ice shackles around Blob's wrists and ankles, keeping Blob trapped for Sunfire.
Sunfire then sticks one of his legs out as he flips midair and drops, leg extended and covered in flame. He then drops and connects with Blob's face, creating a small shockwave of flame that burns Blob's face. Sunfire then stays and digs his foot in, but then Iceman is thrown into him, sending the two down the hallway.
Getting up, the two see Juggernaut shattering the ice keeping Blob pinned. Sunfire looks at Iceman from the corner of his eyes. "I'm the better fighter, you've fought Blob before, we need to trade."
Iceman thinks over Sunfire's plan before nodding. "Yeah," He breathes out. "You're right. When they get close, cross our attacks, it'll create a steam cloud and hold them back just a little."
Sunfire nods as he and Iceman slowly get up with each other's help.
Juggernaut then smirks as he gets in his running position again, Blob running forward at a much slower speed. Once Juggernaut gets in range the two cross arms and fire their attacks, Iceman hitting Blob and Sunfire hitting Juggernaut. A thick cloud of steam is quickly built up, that the two use to avoid Juggernaut as he runs through the cloud and runs to the other end of the hallway, anything in his way being destroyed. Sunfire and Iceman share a nod before the Japanese mutant flies after the runaway train man.
Running through the steam cloud, Iceman creates a hammer and swings it into Blob's face, sending him back due to Blob not expecting the attack. Blob recovers and glares at Iceman, but through the cloud a ball of fire comes flying forward and explodes in his face, blinding him. Iceman then freezes the left half of Blob's body before jumping up and freezing the right half of Blob's face.
Iceman then flips back and laughs as Blob struggles to break the ice, but his laughter then stops as he remembers Jubilee. Iceman's demeanor then quickly shifts as he glares at Blob. "Why the hell did you hurt her?"
"Who?" Blob struggles to say, what with half his face being frozen.
"Jubilee!" Iceman shouts. He freezes most of the right side of Blob's body, leaving only his chest, arm, and left side of his face unfrozen. "When we first saw you Angel and I made fun of you from the get-go and you just rolled with it, yet Jubilee does the same thing and you go ballistic! It can't be just 'cause she's a girl, Marvel Girl's done the same thing and never got as bad a reaction."
Blob grits his teeth as memories he's tried so hard to forget come back to him. The circus staying in a town for a while. A girl talking to him like an actual person. Getting to know her. Falling in love with her. She and her friends come to watch the show. They all laugh at him, even her. Especially her.
With one more deafening roar Blob finally shatters the ice, he sees everything in red and the only target on his mind is the girl. Turning around Blob marches towards Jubilee's unconscious form.
Eyes widening, Iceman creates an ice slide and slides forward to intercept Blob, freezing his legs in place and creating another ice wall. Blob then pushes forward, not caring that the wall's in his way. Cracks slowly appear along it, although not at the speed they would if Juggernaut were at the other end.
Iceman then pushes the wall back and creates ice spikes that actually stab through Blob's skin, but that still doesn't deter the massive mutant. 'Dammit, he's on the warpath. What do I do? What do I do?' Iceman thinks.
Blob then remembers he has arms, so he strikes the ice wall, making the cracks appear at a faster rate. Iceman hops off the slide and makes it shatter, creating debris to slow down Blob. "Jean! I need help!"
"What do you need, Bobby?" Marvel Girl immediately replies.
"On our way to the engine room we ran into two of the Brotherhood's people, Blob and some guy calling himself Mimic, we just call him B-Mimic," Iceman answers. "Shadowcat and Nightcrawler are keeping him busy. The three of us then fought Blob, but during the fight Jubilee made fun of his weight and he went ballistic, he threw a potted plant at her head, knocking her out."
Iceman can feel Marvel Girl's confusion and concern. "Why'd he react so badly to her? We've done it in the past no problem."
"That's what we're wondering. Think you can find out? Or send back up at least, 'cause Blob isn't the only problem," Iceman continues.
"What do you mean?" Marvel Girl asks.
"Juggernaut's here, and me and Sunfire aren't having a good time dealing with two of their heaviest hitters," Iceman answers.
"Shit. Hold up, let me bring Banshee and Sunfire into the conversation," For a moment things are quiet, then Iceman can feel the presence of the other two. "Alright, go, Banshee."
Banshee mentally sighs. "I'll be honest wit ye, laddies, I never actually beat Juggernaut."
"Lovely," Sunfire dryly replies.
"But I can say this: ye can't beat him with physical strength, he's one of the strongest people I've seen. But he's as weak to mental attacks as anyone else, sadly, his helmet protects him," Banshee tells them.
"(Shit)," Sunfire swears in Japanese. "Wait, I see latches connecting his helmet to his armor, should I detach them?"
"That's the way!" Banshee compliments. "Get the helmet off, Marvel Girl can take 'im out."
"Or you could call Mimic to him," Iceman says.
"Can't, he and Quicksilver disappeared, who knows where they are," Marvel Girl replies. "Gotta go, if I wanna survive I've gotta focus on this fight entirely. Good luck guys."
"Thanks," Iceman and Sunfire reply.
A part of the ice wall shatters, Blob's bloody fist sticking through it. Eventually another part of the wall breaks, showing Blob's other bloody fist.
Iceman steps back as he takes a deep calming breath. "Alright, Bobby, stay calm. Right now, you've gotta defend your friend and take down a raging mounta-" His thoughts shit to Juggernaut. "Hill in the shape of a man, nothing you haven't dealt with before," He spares a look back towards the room Jubilee is in. "C'mon, Jubilee, wake up."
With one more roar Blob headbutts the wall and shatters it. He then marches forward but is then slowed down by the chunks of ice from the wall and the destroyed slide. Taking advantage of the moment, Iceman begins to heal the cracks along his body.
Iceman then flicks his wrists, two ice grenades in his hands. He then throws the right one at Blob, creating a thin ice shell around the Brotherhood mutant, momentarily stopping him in his place.
Blob then breaks through the shell and resumes to march forward, breathing heavily as he now sees Iceman as a target. Iceman then throws the other ice grenade, which Blob smacks aside. It still detonates, trapping half of Blob's body in place with some spiderweb looking ice connected to the wall.
Blob grunts as he forces half his body through the shell, he then uses his momentum to slam his fist into the ground, causing Iceman to lose his footing. Blob then runs forward and body slams Iceman into a water fountain, breaking it. Blob then continues his barrage by grabbing Blob's prone form and picking him up, he then slams him into the broken water fountain repeatedly.
Regaining his senses, Iceman reaches back and freezes the water spouting from the wall, he then swings his arm forward and throws it into Blob's eyes, freezing them over. Iceman then brings his feet in before striking out, hitting Blob's face with all his strength and forcing him back.
Iceman falls to one knee and shakes his head. 'Huh, looks like he isn't using his absorption ability. I can use this to my advantage. Wonder how Sunfire's doing.'
Sunfire's not doing so hot.
'Shit, how the hell am I going supposed to take him down?' He wonders angrily.
"C'mon, get down here and fight like a man!" Juggernaut shouts. Trying to get Sunfire down, Juggernaut throws panels and plants, and whatever he can at Sunfire, hoping to hit him. None connect thanks to Sunfire's training.
"Could I convince you to come up here and fight like a sun?" Sunfire counters. He then lifts his arms up and builds a massive attack. He then throws his fists down and hits Juggernaut with a powerful blast of flames, causing some of the metal objects in the room to melt and nearby plants to light on fire.
Keeping the attack on for another minute Sunfire then begins to feel the effects of his attack. He slowly stops his assault, the beam dissipating at a slow rate. Once it's all done to his immense surprise, Sunfire see's Juggernaut still standing, although he's breathing heavily, and some burn marks can be seen along Juggernaut's body.
"Was that all ya got?" Juggernaut raggedly breaths out. "It better not, 'cause I don't want you to disappoint me, ya here?"
'This could be more problematic than I thought,' Sunfire dryly thinks.
Juggernaut then crouches down, much to Sunfire's confusion. Then he explodes upwards, faster than Sunfire expects. Once near, Juggernaut wraps his massive hands around Sunfire's midsection and begins to squeeze, causing massive pain to flare up for Sunfire. Falling down, Juggernaut holds Sunfire out, fully intending to crush the X-Man between himself and the floor.
Seeing Juggernaut's plan, Sunfire forces himself to act by creating a flashbang in one of his hands. He then places the hand in front of Juggernaut's face and detonates it, forcing Juggernaut to reflexively reach for his face, freeing Sunfire. The Japanese mutant then slips out of Juggernaut's grasp and flies around, kicking the Brotherhood member in the back with a flame enhanced kick, speeding up Juggernaut's descent.
Sunfire then floats down to Juggernaut's still prone form and holds his fists out to his adversary. Charging up his energy Sunfire then attacks Juggernaut with multiple short-range, but still powerful, shotgun-like blasts, a move he and the Human Torch had come up with a few days ago.
Sunfire continues the barrage, going for hit after hit after hit, Juggernaut's ever-increasing grunts of pain keeping him going. 'Sound like this is working. Good,' He thinks. Rearing one arm back, Sunfire then charges it up, ready for a large attack, while his other constantly fires.
After a few more shots, Sunfire launches his arm downwards, a massively powerful concussive shot heading for Juggernaut's back.
The explosion creates a heatwave that burns everything in the room, fusing the metal together and evaporating the water in the indoor pond. Juggernaut is then sent down through many floors, grunting in pain as he slams into each descending floor. Sunfire then pushes the attack and slams his fire covered feet into Juggernaut's back, speeding up the process.
Eventually, the two end up in a cafeteria, once here Juggernaut grabs a table and manages to slam it into Sunfire's side, sending him flying into some trash cans. Juggernaut slowly, but steadily, gets up, panting in pain and rage as he turns to glare at Sunfire. "Alright," He breathes out. "Won't lie, you're stronger than I thought, good for you. But now I gotta take you down, and if you die, oh well, I'll just say I didn't know your limits."
He then plants one foot back, getting into a runner's position. Sunfire gets up and braces himself, knowing what's going to happen next. Juggernaut then explodes forward, knocking any table in his way all over the cafeteria.
Sunfire leaps out of the way, barely avoiding Juggernaut's body, as the mountain of a man runs through wall after wall, no stop in sight. Sunfire then rolls to face the wall, looking through the holes he see's Juggernaut stop, turn around, and getting ready to run again. Sunfire slowly raises his arms and powers up, aiming down towards Juggernaut.
Sunfire takes a deep, calming breath. 'Let's do this.'
Juggernaut begins to run.
Sunfire attacks.
Through the roar of flames Sunfire can hear Juggernaut's roar of pain and determination. And his footsteps. It's hard to miss those.
Eventually Juggernaut gets close, and so, Sunfire places down a mine as he rolls away. A literal second later, and Juggernaut runs through where Sunfire just, was detonating the mine. It doesn't stop him, just as Sunfire expected, but it does cause the massive man to light on fire and shield his eyes due to being blinded from the explosion.
"Sunfire, it's me, Marvel Girl, I'm about to bring you into a conversation with Banshee and Iceman, okay?" Marvel Girl's voice says in his head.
Sunfire throws another flashbang, further keeping the Juggernaut busy. "Alright, let's go."
"I'll be honest wit' ye, laddies, I never actually beat the Juggernaut" Banshee admits from the start.
"Lovely," Sunfire dryly replies. Well, looks like he'll have to figure this out on his own.
"But I can say this: ye can't beat him with physical strength, he's one of the strongest people I've seen. But he's as weak to mental attacks as anyone else, sadly, his helmet protects him," Banshee says.
"(Shit)" Sunfire replies. Looking at Juggernaut as he flies around to avoid his swings Sunfire does finally notice the four latches connecting Juggernaut's helmet to his armor. One on either shoulder, one on the back of the head, and one on the front. "Wait, I see latches connecting his helmet to his armor, should I detach them?"
"That's the way!" Banshee compliments. "Get the helmet off, Marvel Girl can take 'im out."
"Or you can call Mimic to him," Iceman supplies.
"Can't, he and Quicksilver disappeared, who knows where they are," Marvel Girl replies. "Gotta go, if I wanna survive I've gotta focus on this fight entirely. Good luck guys."
"Thanks," Sunfire and Iceman reply.
Sunfire then floats in place as he glares at Juggernaut, studying him. Noticing Sunfire slowing down, Juggernaut slowly drops a table and glares back at him. "What?" He demands.
Sunfire doesn't answer, instead he takes the time to come up with a plan that won't get him killed. 'Juggernaut isn't the smartest of opponents I've fought, and he is only fast when he is charging, meaning I have speed and aerial superiority. I can hit him with a powerful flashbang, blind him, and go for the back latch first, then left, then right.'
"I said, what?" Juggernaut demands again, sounding more agitated.
'The front one's going to be problematic, and it's entirely possible that he will feel the latches disconnect. Dammit, I must do this, if I want to win,' Sunfire finishes planning.
"Hey! Asshole! I said-" Juggernaut begins. Before he can say more a flashbang more powerful than the others explodes right in front of his eyes, blinding him greatly. Added to the light, a heatwave engulfs him, causing Juggernaut's wounds to flare up, causing even more pain.
Sunfire shots forward and punches Juggernaut in the mouth, burning the inside of his mouth from his position. Sunfire then flips over Juggernaut's head using his helmet for leverage and manages to unlock the first latch. Keeping one hand planted firmly on his helmet Sunfire heats it up, causing Juggernaut to roar in pain as his head is heated up immensely. Sunfire then reaches over and unlocks the latch on Juggernaut's right shoulder.
Feeling the unlocking of the latches, Juggernaut blindly runs forward, slamming his shoulder, and Sunfire, into a wall. Before he can slide down the wall, Juggernaut grabs one of Sunfire's arms and swings him around before letting go, sending Sunfire into one of the knocked over tables.
Sunfire groans in pain as his back hits the edge of the table. Juggernaut then runs forward and raises his fists high, ready to slam them into Sunfire. The Japanese mutant rolls out of the way at the last second, but Juggernaut grabs his left leg and slides him into another trash can, knocking it over on top of Sunfire.
Hearing Juggernaut approach him, Sunfire kicks his feet out, sending a pillar of flame into Juggernaut's face, causing the massive man to hold up a hand to block the attack.
While recovering Sunfire feels Marvel Girl and Banshee's presence in his mind. "How're things?" Banshee asks.
Sunfire swipes his hand on the ground, raising it to create an arc of flame that he uses as cover to unlock the third latch. "Three of the four latches are unlocked, all that's left is the one in front."
"Now, I know I don't have to tell ye this, but ye have to be extra careful wit' that one," Banshee warns.
Juggernaut aims a punch at Sunfire, which he dodges. While Juggernaut's fist is in the ground Sunfire uses it to run up and reach for the last latch. Juggernaut sees this coming and uses his other arm to slap Sunfire away into the kitchen.
"I know. How's Iceman?" Sunfire asks.
"Hold," Marvel Girl says. After a moment she brings Iceman into the call. "How're things on your end, Bobby?"
"Blob's livid. On the bright side though, he doesn't seem to be using his absorption ability, so that's good," Iceman answers. "How's it going for you guys?"
"Cyclops and Havok are locked in a fight right now, Gambit's having trouble keeping Polaris down, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Other than that, we're fine," Marvel Girl replies.
"Wait, who's Polaris?" Iceman asks.
"Green magnet lass," Banshee answers.
"Right. How're things for you, Sunfire?" Iceman continues.
Sunfire slams his hands into the ground and heats it up, warping the metal and temporarily trapping the Juggernaut. "Three of the four latches are dealt with, but the last one's going to be a problem."
"Let me guess, the one in front?" Iceman rhetorically asks.
"Yes."
"I'll leave you to it, you're gonna need all your attention on this," Iceman leaves the conversation.
"Ye've got this," Banshee says before leaving.
"Tell me when you get it done, alright?" Marvel Girl asks.
Sunfire lets a small smirk play on his face, appreciating her use of the word "when". "Of course. See you in a bit."
He then feels the mental connection end. At that moment Juggernaut frees himself of the warped metal floor and slowly marches towards Sunfire, glaring the entire way and breathing heavily due to the heavy burns all over his body. "Fuck it. I'm gonna tear you apart. Slowly. Then I'm gonna bring what's left of your body to Charlie and laugh when he starts cryin' over your corpse," Juggernaut threatens with a low, raspy voice, a stark change from his boisterous, but still raspy, voice.
Sunfire gets in a runner's position. "I'd like to see you try."
Using his arms, Sunfire leaps off the ground, flying around Juggernaut at high speeds, intentionally making a trail to blind Juggernaut. The mountain of a man swings around, trying to hit Sunfire, but the Japanese mutant expertly dodges his swings.
Sunfire holds his arm out, constantly firing balls of fire that explode in heat and blinding light, disorienting Juggernaut. Sunfire then increases his speed, practically becoming a tornado that traps Juggernaut. He then reaches out and grabs hold of the last latch, stopping entirely, much to Juggernaut's shock due to the sudden ceasing of lights.
Using one hand to unlock the latch the other fires blast after blast of concussive force at Juggernaut's face, causing damage to his eyes and lower face. Finally, Sunfire manages to unlock the last latch, and with one backflip kick that he'll surely regret later, he launches Juggernaut's helmet away.
Landing, Sunfire sees Juggernaut's face. A man in his late thirties to early forties with two scars along his right cheek, a square jaw, and short red hair glaring at him. "You're really gonna regret that."
Sunfire smirks. "No, I don't think I will," He quickly jumps back and hits Juggernaut's entire head with one more concussive blast, forcing the man back a step. "MARVEL GIRL! NOW!"
"On it!" She immediately replies.
Juggernaut roars in pain as he takes many steps back, his hands thrown up and wrapped around his head in a vain attempt to block Marvel Girl out. Juggernaut spasms and throws his body around, his massive elbows breaking the walls close to him and throwing debris around. "Get out, Get out! GET OUT!" He roars.
Sunfire crouches low, a far more powerful concussive shot being built with both hands instead of one.
Juggernaut continues to spasm and shout as Marvel Girl continues her mental onslaught. Eventually Juggernaut stands stock still, completely silent. His face then shifts into a snarl as he looks up. "DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM!?" He roars. "I'M THE JUGGERNAUT, BITCH!" He recovers just enough to get in another runner's position, ready to take Sunfire out with him.
Takin one step forward, Juggernaut's eyes roll forward as Marvel Girl's mental attacks finally take place, but before he can fall forward Sunfire flips over Juggernaut and fires his shotgun blast into the back of his head, causing Juggernaut to slam through the ground partially, upper body indented into the floor, legs limply on the ground.
"Well, that went well," Marvel Girl cheerily says. "But no time to celebrate, think you can help Iceman?"
Sunfire nods as he exits the cafeteria and follows the path of carnage he and Juggernaut had created. "Of course. Thank you."
"It's no problem," Marvel Girl replies before ending the connection.
As he flies back Sunfire begins to think to himself. 'I wonder how Iceman's doing.'
Iceman isn't really keeping a cool head.
The ice that makes up his body is far stronger than the one he uses to attack, but Blob was still able to damage him slightly. One stupid mistake allowed Blob to grab Iceman's right arm and squeeze down on it, causing the ice to crack, and since then, Blob's never given Iceman the chance to repair the damage.
Iceman uses Blob's body as a springboard by kicking off his face and landing a distance away, forcing Blob to turn around. 'Good, that keeps him away from Jubilee,' He then looks at his arm and begins to repair it. 'Damn, I had no idea he was so tough. I'd honestly prefer it if he weren't so angry, at least I'd know how to deal with him then.'
Marvel Girl's presence is then felt in his mind. "Yo, Iceman, how're ya?"
"Angry Blob is nowhere near as fun as Normal Blob. Did Sunfire win?"
"Yep, he's on his way to assist you now, just hold on, alright?" Marvel Girl tells him.
"Wait, you were able to take down Juggernaut, right?" Iceman asks.
"Yes, and I know where you're going with this," She interrupts. "That took a lot more effort than I thought it would, and the Brotherhood's pushing their offensive. Hell, I'm barely avoiding attacks while talking to you. You've got this, Bobby, I know you do."
Iceman uses some leftover ice chunks to create a small army of ice gremlins that all slam themselves into Blob's body, freezing his legs over. "Right, thanks, Jean," He then exits the connection. "Alright, Bobby, you just gotta hold out until Sunfire comes in to help," He says to himself. "Or maybe until Jubilee wakes up. Whichever comes first, I won't complain."
Iceman then kicks his leg forward, icing up the floor from him to near the door to the room Jubilee is in. He then skates forward before falling on his back, spinning around as he shifts his legs into blades, sliding towards Blob as he spins on his back. "Come on, break dance moves!" He shouts as his legs cut into Blob, actually drawing some blood, forcing the massive mutant to fall to his knees.
Iceman then uses his hands to flip back on his feet. He then places his hands on the ground and uses them to propel himself forward, he brings an arm forward and shifts it into a shield with spikes sticking out of it. He lowers his head and uses his other arm as support as he slams into Blob, forcing the Brotherhood mutant to fly back a good distance thanks to the momentum he gained from sliding forward.
While Blob is on the ground Iceman creates shackles that wrap around Blob's wrists and ankles again, but this time he runs forward, leaps into the air, creates an ice hammer, and slams it down on Blob, slamming the mutant into the ground.
"Back up!"
Jumping back, Iceman barely avoids a pinwheel kick from Sunfire that slams into Blob's face, further indenting him into the ground and melting the ice around him, the ice further out being cracked.
Blob grabs Sunfire's leg and throws him into Iceman, sending the two down the hall. Blob then slowly gets up and glares at the two, now adding Sunfire to his kill list.
Sunfire and Iceman both get up and glare at him just as strongly. Sunfire then turns his head to Iceman. "Equinox."
Iceman smirks as he nods. "Equinox," He repeats.
Sunfire flies low, heading past Blob and avoiding a sloppy swing towards him. Before he passes the massive mutant, though, he throws a fire ball at his face, infuriating Blob.
Sunfire then lands a distance away, his fists glowing. "You ready?" He shouts.
Iceman stands the exact same distance away, trapping Blob between the two of them. "Ready!"
The two thrust their fists forward and fire continuous beams of fire and ice at Blob's back and front, keeping him trapped in place as the pain from the dual attacks grows exponentially. Blob's front begins to freeze over as his back burns intensely. Not sure who to attack first Blob tries to block the attacks, but it doesn't matter, the attacks keep coming.
Blob's movements become sluggish as his consciousness begins to fade, so the two eventually stop, they then watch Blob stagger around, trying to stay awake. His eyes then widen as he sees something behind Iceman. "J-Jennifer?"
The two arch their brows in confusion. 'Who the hell is Jennifer?' They both think.
A powerful firework arcs over Iceman's head, connecting in a brilliant explosion with Blob's head. Once the smoke fades, Blob staggers before falling over, the ground shaking upon impact.
Turning around Iceman sees a viciously smirking Jubilee standing behind him, using the wall to keep herself standing. "Take that, asshole," She mutters. Her eyes widen before she places a hand on her head. "Ow, probably should've stayed down."
Before she falls over Iceman runs over and helps her stay up. "Nice hit, he surely won't be getting up anytime soon," Iceman compliments.
Sunfire walks forward and places a hand on Jubilee's shoulder, a rare smile on his face. "You did good, Jubilee, but you should rest, you might have a concussion."
Jubilee smiles slyly as she leans into Iceman for support. "Aw, you're worrying about me, are ya handsome? Don't worry, I'll beeee-" She trails off as she falls asleep, much to Iceman and Sunfire's delight.
Iceman sighs as he picks up Jubilee into a piggyback ride. "I'll try and get her to a safe place, you find Nightcrawler and Shadowcat and help them with that B-Mimic, alright?"
Sunfire nods before turning his body to look for them with his infrared, but when he turns his body he cringes as he grabs at his ribs, falling to a knee.
Iceman's eyes widen as he reaches for Sunfire. "Shit! Dude, you okay? Who am I kidding? No, you're not," He carefully places Jubilee down as he helps Sunfire sit next to her. "You get her to a safe place, I'll help Nightcrawler and Shadowcat."
Sunfire nods as he gets up with Iceman's help, he then gingerly picks up Jubilee and looks for a place to stay. Before he gets far, he looks at Iceman from the corner of his eye. "Be careful, alright?"
Iceman just gives him a thumbs up before creating an ice slide and heading towards his two teammates, using infrared to find their location.
Nightcrawler and Shadowcat
Shadowcat is absolutely fazed by their situation.
B-Mimic gains constantly teleports around, he then uses his intangibility to feint attacks, causing the two to put up their guard at the wrong moments, which he takes advantage of. He'd go for a punch to the face, forcing them to put up their arms, then he'd phase through and punch them in the gut. Out of the corner of his eye, B-Mimic sees Nightcrawler attempting a sneak attack, he just moves his head out of the way and wraps his tail tightly around Nightcrawler's neck, lifting the German mutant up.
Shadowcat then spins on one leg and kicks the base of B-Mimic's spine, just above his tail, causing the appendage to spaz out and release Nightcrawler.
Said mutant lands on his hands and spring kicks B-Mimic's back, sending him tumbling towards an uppercut courtesy of Shadowcat. Staggering back, B-Mimic phases through a punch from Nightcrawler, he then teleports behind him and puts him in a chokehold, making sure to keep him between himself and Shadowcat.
"Bring him here," B-Mimic demands.
Shadowcat gives him a confused look, but she's sure she knows who he's talking about. "Who?" Doesn't mean she's gonna go with it.
B-Mimic becomes angry as he tightens his grip around Nightcrawler's throat. "You know who! The fake!"
Nightcrawler weakly chuckles, infuriating B-Mimic further. "You seem to be mistaken, you are the imposter, not Mimic," He taunts.
B-Mimic growls as he again tightens his hold around Nightcrawler's throat, but Shadowcat isn't worried, instead she smirks as she places a hand on her hip and stares at the Brotherhood mutant incredulously. "Dude, I'm just gonna say this now: the real Mimic would know that the two of us are some of the last mutants you'd wanna keep in a headlock."
Taking the cue, Nightcrawler teleports above B-Mimic, but the Brotherhood mutant quickly follows. Seeing this coming though, Nightcrawler wraps his tail around his opponents leg, flips midair, and throws him down. B-Mimic attempts to phase to avoid the damage, but Shadowcat grabs a chair and phases it with her, causing B-Mimic to land on it hard.
"Oooh, that looked like it hurt," She says. "You wanna time out?"
B-Mimic falls of the chair, futilely reaching out to strike Shadowcat. "Shut," He breathes. "Up."
B-Mimic then gets up and strikes his tail out at her, nicking her in the shoulder and the left cheek, but she avoids every other attack. "Why don't you copy Sunfire's powers? Or maybe even Blob's?" She asks.
Nightcrawler lands on B-Mimic's back and jumps off it, launching the villain face-first into the ground. "Isn't it obvious?" Nightcrawler begins. "He can't copy people if zey are too far away from him."
Shadowcat hums as she leans back to avoid a kick from B-Mimic. She then jerks forward, hitting B-Mimic in the chest with her shoulder, sending him stumbling back into Nightcrawler who teleports him up high, punches him to disorient him, then teleports back to Shadowcat's side. B-Mimic shouts as he falls to the floor.
"Isn't that a shame?" Shadowcat sarcastically says, smiling at B-Mimic's growing grimace. "The Mimic is capable of copying any powers he sees."
"And he doesn't have to be nearby to use zem," Nightcrawler adds. "It's entirely possible he is using my powers right now, actually."
Faster than they expect, B-Mimic leaps off the floor and punches Nightcrawler across the face, sending the German mutant sprawling to the floor, knocked out. He then lashes out and grabs Shadowcat by the throat, lifting her up and changing his density every time she would, making sure she wouldn't escape. "Where's the smugness now?" He asks lowly.
B-Mimic's grip tightens, forcing Shadowcat to kick and let out chocked noises as her vision begins to darken. 'Probably…shouldn't…have done…that.'
Just before her vision can go completely dark the door behind her opens. B-Mimic looks over, his eyes narrow before he drops Shadowcat to the floor. She rubs her throat and takes in deep breaths before crawling towards Nightcrawler. After making sure he's safe she looks up to see who entered. Mimic. Her Mimic.
Shadowcat feels a smile grow on her face as she looks at him, a warm feeling growing in her chest.
Mimic looks at his two friends before glaring at his Brotherhood counterpart. "Yup. Gonna kick your ass."
B-Mimic growls as he crouches low. "I'm going to kick your ass, impostor."
Mimic arches an eyebrow before looking at Shadowcat. "The hell's he talking about?"
"He can copy multiple powers at once," She answers. Shadowcat then notices his eyes widening. "Don't worry though, he can only copy the powers of the people nearby, so don't expect Cyclops beams or Wolverine claws."
Mimic nods as he slams his fists together and rotates his neck. "Well, that makes less dangerous immediately. But I should still be careful. Get Nightcrawler to a safe place, join in later, if you want to, of course."
Shadowcat gives a thumbs up before picking up Nightcrawler and phasing through some walls to get away from the fight.
Once gone Mimic bounces in place as he stares down B-Mimic. 'What to do, what to do. I could just take him out telepathically. Nah, that'd be too easy,' Mimic continues to mull over his strategy as B-Mimic shouts at him, about what? He doesn't care. Eventually, Mimic comes to a decision. 'Oooh baby,' He swaps to his Polaris powers. 'This is gonna be one hell of a test ride.'
The two Mimics stare each other down. The X-Mimic has a smirk on his face as B-Mimic has a grimace. After a few seconds of staring they explode forward.
The battle for the title of Mimic has begun.
Red Team
Back at the hangar the fighting continues.
Mystique and Destiny are nowhere to be seen. Pyro manages to take down Banshee, but Storm swoops in and defends his defenseless body, currently locked in a fight of fire and lightning against Pyro. Multiple Man eventually wakes up, taking away the number's advantage for the X-Men as Rogue loses the powers, he uses his clones to rush Colossus and Thunderbird, keeping the two busy with a never ending army of clones. Polaris currently has Rogue trapped by metal sheets and is trying to do the same against Gambit. Marvel Girl and Scarlet Witch are still locked in their power battle, neither gaining any real footing.
Like the fight between the two powerful women, Cyclops and Havok are locked in a power struggle of their own. The two have their own section of the hangar to themselves, a beam struggle of red and blue going strong for the past four minutes, much to the chagrin of both parties. 'Dammit. Just. Stay. Down!' Cyclops mentally shouts.
'Oh, for god's sake. Fall down, asshole!' Havok thinks.
Both sides of the struggle are immensely surprised at the other's staying power, deep down they admit, they're impressed. During the struggle Havok wonders who Cyclops is, every other person hit by his attack hasn't recovered like he has unless they copied his powers, could absorb energy, or had superhuman durability.
Cyclops thinks along similar lines, but the theory from Banshee constantly comes to the forefront of his mind. Family members having a resistance to each other's attacks. Hell, by the looks of him, Havok would be about sixteen, Alex would be about that age right now as well. And his blond hair adds to the theory, Alex was also blond. Realizing that he's losing his footing, Cyclops throws those thoughts aside. For now.
Realizing that this is going nowhere Cyclops begins to devise a plan. Sparing a glance to his right (thanks to his enhanced spatial awareness) Cyclops sees some boxes perfect for temporary cover. He then sees a trail he can follow, using boxes, torn panels, and the nearby Brotherhood jet as cover to help him flank Havok.
Finalizing his plan Cyclops stops his part of the struggle completely, letting Havok's beam slam into the wall at the opposite end.
Feeling the loss of weight from Cyclops' attack, Havok immediately stops, once the smoke clears Cyclops is nowhere to be seen. Havok tries to listen, but thanks to the nearby battle his ears aren't reliable at all. Looking around, Havok keeps an eye out for any hint of Cyclops. The sound of something falling to his right catches his attention, Havok quickly turns and blasts the boxes apart. Nothing.
Havok takes a deep, calming breath. 'Okay, calm down, Alex, he's just messin' with you. Besides, he might be RIGHT BEHIND YOU!' Havok turns around, ready to catch Cyclops by surprise, but he isn't behind him. 'Fu-'
One quick ruby flash later and Havok is sent flying by a concussive force into one of their jets, slamming into the side of the vehicle. Havok groans as he feels his bones rattle from the impact, he slowly opens his eyes but everything's shaky.
He then sees two Cyclopes running at him, their fists raised high, ready to punch him. The fist connects with the side of Havok's head, causing the shaking and the pain in his head to intensify tenfold. Cyclops then grabs Havok by his suit and rolls back, bringing Havok down with him, he then places his feet on Havok's chest and kicks out, sending Havok into some metal panels.
Havok gets up with an attack aimed at Cyclops, but the spot where he was standing is now empty, much to Havok's confusion. "Where the hell are you?"
"Does it matter?" Cyclops' voice echoes from what sounds like everywhere.
"I knew it was a bad idea to make the inside entirely outta metal," Havok mutters bitterly. "If you want a good fight, then yeah, it kinda does."
Cyclops is quiet for a moment as he looks down at Havok from his vantage point. "Why did you join the Brotherhood? You seemed pretty against killing Mimic earlier, most of your friends would have been all for it."
"Because I ain't like them," Havok strongly replies, still looking everywhere to find Cyclops.
"Still doesn't answer my question," Cyclops says from his new spot behind Havok.
Havok clenches his fist and grits his teeth, the circle on his chest glowing blue and letting out a whining noise as energy builds up. "You wanna know why? 'Cause Magneto promised to help me find my brother, that's why."
"And why do you want to find your brother?" Cyclops continues to question, now hiding to Havok's right.
"And why should I tell you?" Havok retorts. A flash of ruby red catches his attention, a smirk grows on his face. "Know what? I think I should ask some questions."
The little flash of red reappears to the left and a little elevated from Havok's position. "Why not?" Cyclops concedes. "Ask away."
"Why'd you join the X-Men?" Havok asks.
"Because it's right," Is Cyclops' simple answer.
Havok's face drops into a deadpan expression. "Really? That's it? "Because it's right". You have any idea how boring that sounds?"
Cyclops is silent for a moment, causing Havok to tense up, expecting another attack. He then hears a sigh. Cyclops is now to the right and elevated. "My father always told us that if you can do something, do it, no ifs, ands, or buts. After his death I decided to live by that."
For a second everything stops for Havok, his father would say the same thing to. Doesn't help that Cyclops looks to be around eighteen or nineteen, the same age Scott would be around this time. His brown hair adds to the theory. 'No, who am I kidding? Role models tell that to the people looking up to them all the time, nothing more,' Havok then realizes that Cyclops is behind him. 'Now's as a good a time as any.'
Havok whips around and fires a concussive blast at Cyclops, successfully getting a hit.
Cyclops flips through the air and recovers. Before hitting the ground, he fires his concussive beams at the ground, keeping him aloft for a little longer. Seeing this causes a memory to come back to Havok.
Falling down with Scott in one parachute. Their dad's plane burning as it falls through the sky. The chute failing to open. At the last second, he sees nothing but ruby red and blinding blue. Then nothing.
A box is thrown at Havok's head, knocking him out of his memories. Shaking his head to recover Havok sees Cyclops standing a distance away, another box raised high to throw at him. "Hey!" Cyclops shouts. "I thought you wanted a fair fight?"
Havok growls as his chests and fists begin to glow blue. "I do."
He then shoots forward. Cyclops drops the box and charges up his optic blasts, ready to fire once Havok gets close enough.
Next time: Summers Vacation
And there we have it, the end of chapter twenty-five! Next chapter will be the battle between the two, with some showing of the battle of the Mimics, and we'll see Psylocke and Wolverine again. Stay tuned for that one! I've been excited to write that chapter ever since I found out about the other Mimic.
Some quick notes about the chapter: one, I didn't expect to write so many references during the Sunfire vs Juggernaut fight, and yet, here we are. And the whole Jennifer thing with Blob was meant as my way to humanize him. At first it was just gonna be a one and done thing after this chapter, but then I decided to make Jennifer a more important character in the future, which will also explain why his reaction against Jubilee was so…severe.
Oh, something important happened to this chapter, it's entirely in third person! Well, it's not that important, but it's interesting, and we get to see a little bit of Mimic from an outside perspective. Speaking of that, in the future, we'll get two more narrators, one for a single arc and another after an important plot point is reached, after that the story will flip between two narrators.
By the time I finished this chapter I've also bought Final Fantasy VII Remake, and man am I excited! I have the original on my PC, and I'm around the part where the Remake ends, but I'm so excited to see what they do to change the story. I can't wait.
That's all from me! Please leave a constructive review and remember to stay awesome! See you next Thursday!