CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR:
More Than One Kind of Tempest
AN: Heah guys, I'm sorry this chapter took so long to crank out (ducks behind a growling Victor Creed to avoid being hit by rotten tomatoes) The thing is, I've been bitten by the Riddick-plot bunny (shows a festering bite) and it's been making me think and write Pitch Black Fanfiction. But here's my attempt at another chapter on 'Into The Woods.'
Also, I've never really been that good at writing fight scenes, so criticism is welcomed, and if anyone knows a fic with some great fight scenes, please recommend them to me so I can read them.
Oh, and there's a guest review reply at the end of the chapter. LOL.
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LAST TIME: Tony gets chucked into the ocean by Victor;
…..The Sabretooth had already launched himself at the pair, grabbed the Iron Man by the throat and threw him into the sea…..
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NICK FURY'S INFINITY LAB
There was a moment where no-one did anything at all; where everyone simply stood there in stunned disbelief and watched the Man of Iron sail through the air and make a spectacular splash as he landed into the oceans churning water.
But the Avengers were used to odd happenings, random appearances, and people spontaneously flying through walls, so that moment was brief. Then there was a reaction.
Bruce Banner, quickly going green and bursting out of his shirt, flung himself into the sea to retrieve his thrown friend while Clint immediately had an arrow aimed at the ferals head. Natasha, however, lunged herself at the feral, sliding downward at the last minute in an attempt to sweep his legs out from under him.
Clint let his arrow fly.
As impeccably aimed as always, the arrow hit its mark but, instead of piercing the intended target, the arrow wrapped the Sabretooth in tight cords meant to bind and subdue.
Victor let out a loud, animal roar and flexed his muscles, somehow managing to rip out of the cords like they were twine. He neatly evaded The Black Widows leg sweep, grabbed her by the wrist and made to throw her the same place he threw Tony, but Natasha used the momentum to wrap her legs around Victors neck while she attempted to snap it.
While Bruce was fishing an angry and soaked Tony out of the ocean, Nick Fury was cursing a blue streak and Thor began to swing his hammer in a circular motion, exciting the tempest that was already raging and beginning to aim the lightning.
Victor reached up behind him and grabbed the Russian woman by the neck, pulling her off and over him like a rag-doll, making her cry out, then threw her at the archer so that they both collided in a tangle of arms and legs. Clints next arrow, which had been an exploding one, was shot into the air and went off like a flare, showering them in sparks.
Thor let his hammer fly, aiming it at the feral who braced himself to take the impact at the same time a flash of lightning came down from the sky and hit the feral dead on. The hammer hit him with the sound of breaking ribs while the lightning lit him up momentarily like a Christmas tree and Victor let out a grunt, letting the pain wash over him then using it to fuel his anger. Before the hammer could magically fly back to its owner, Victor grabbed hold of the handle and slammed the thing into steel floor, wedging it in so that it couldn't return. Then he launched himself at the Asgardian, running on all fours like the predator he was.
Both blondes met in a tackle of muscle, each fighting for the upper hand, tooth and claw applied ferociously (and literally). Blood flew and splattered on the steel floor. The Sabretooth banged the Asgardians head on the floor hard enough to squash a normal humans head, but the Asgardian had a cranium as hard as Victors.
Steve Rogers, the Captain America, attempted to tackle the feral from the side, forcing him off of Thor, his infamous shield at the ready, but Victor swatted him aside like a gnat, ignoring the old soldier as he twisted in the air and landed on his feet.
Abruptly, Victor let out a different kind of roar, his alpha roar and everyone froze. "LISTEN UP!" the feral bellowed. "IT'S BEEN FUN, KIDS, BUT WE'VE GOT A SHAPESHIFTER TO FIND!" Victor looked down at the blonde whose neck he had pinned to the floor. "IF YOU WANT A REMATCH LATER I'LL BE HAPPY TA COMPLY! BUT RIGHT NOW I'VE GOT A SCENT TO TRACK!" and with that, Victor let go of the Asgardian and sauntered through the rain to the hatch as if he hadn't just been hit by a magic hammer, pierced by lightning, shot by a high-tech arrow, and tackled by a Russian super-spy.
Steve Aswell, who had simply been observing the entire battle, taking mental notes and cataloging fighting styles, gave the feral a cool, appraising glance, then followed him into the lab.
Everyone simply gaped after the feral, including a dripping Tony, and, finally, the Avengers exchanged glances and followed.
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BACK AT XAVIERS SCHOOL
Cassie lay quietly on the mattress in the dark room, stroking the sleeping Roddys head. The action calmed her as well as the sleeping Roddy and she could use every bit of calming she could get at the moment.
"Okay, Cassie girl." She whispered to herself. "Think."
She was stuck with the big lug feral. She had accepted that and even, in her heart of hearts, was glad of it. But something here wasn't right. One was the fact that both Victor and Logan seemed to think that she couldn't do anything by herself.
Okay, she could admit that she was more accident prone than the normal human individual, that she managed to get herself into more fixes than usual, but she had her own job and her own apartment, two things that had been very hard wins for her, and she wasn't about to give them up.
And what Logan had said…..
-flashback-
"And we'll be talk'n about yer job, kid."
-end flashback-
…..if he thought she was going to quit her job just like that, both Logan and Victor had another thing coming. Work was a good thing. It gave you something to do along with money, a feeling of worth. It was proven in a study that people who continued to work even in their old age, tended to have better lives.
There was no way she was quitting her job.
Bunny had gotten her a reprieve, yes, by calling her in sick, but that would only work for this week. Somehow, she had to convince both Victor and Logan that her working was a good thing. She couldn't see that being an easy task.
Then there was her apartment. It had all her things (except the ones she had in her backpack) her books and stories and laptop and bear. And it was HERS.
She looked down at the young mutant child in her arms.
But the children were here, and somehow she couldn't see her landlady letting a random child live with her, especially a random MUTANT child. So…..she had a decision to make.
`Well, I'm not giving up my job.` she decided firmly, chewing on her lower lip. `So I'll just have to talk to Victor about that and put my foot down. As for my apartment, I guess I can move my things in here…..maybe…..`
Thinking hard, she began to try to come up with reasonable arguments that she could present to Victor and Logan.
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NICK FURYS INFINITY LAB
VICTOR CREED
It had been a while since he had been hit by lightning, and the feral was NOT appreciating the repeated experience. Every follicle of hair he had (and he had A LOT) was standing on end, the metallic taste of electricity was still on his tongue and his back teeth were wiggling in their sockets….. The feelings did NOT improve his mood.
He stormed into the lab, keeping up a steady, annoyed growl and completely ignoring the frightened lab workers that scurried out of his way like terrified mice.
"So you can be hit by lightning and be unaffected. Interesting." Steve commented as he kept pace by his side.
Victor growled at him. "What are YOU doing here, and how'd ya get here!?" he demanded.
Steve responded coolly. "It appears my employers wish me to be on the case of this 'missing infinity serum.' "
"Yeah, well ya can tell'em ta ***** off." Victor growled bluntly. "I'll handle this. And that still doesn't tell me how ya got here."
Steve didn't roll his eyes, but it was a near thing. "My employers sent a helicopter."
Victor snorted and shook himself, sending water flying everywhere. "Well, ya can swim back for all I care. Just buzz off." The feral took in a deep breath, let it out and cursed, speaking to himself. "Damn it, the lightning fried my sense'a smell. Have ta wait till it heals." He then turned to confront the rest of the soaked Avengers who were filtering into the lab, definitely looking worse for wear.
Victor crossed his arms, feet hip-width apart, and drew himself to his full height, all intimidation.
Natasha was leaning just slightly on Clint who had his arm around her waist. Tony was shivering and looking murderous as he stood next to Bruce who still had a green tint on his skin. Steve was glaring at him as well, forcing himself to the front of the group to better protect his fellow team-mates, but it was the Asgardian who looked the worst.
Thor sported numerous bites and claw-marks. Blood streamed down his face and a flap of skin was dangling from his cheekbone, but the Asgardian was still standing.
Victor gritted his teeth together, glaring at Thor. "Thanks to that little lightning stunt of yers, I have ta wait till my nose heals ta pick up a scent. Be thankful that'll only take a few minutes or I'd be take'n yer head from yer shoulders." He looked over to Nick Fury who had returned too late with a plasma gun. "Get the lot of'em into your med bay." Victor growled the order to the super-spy. "Or let'em bleed out, yer choice. But thunder man over there's gonna need some attention. After that, I need ya to get every single worker here into one room. I'm gonna take in their scents, find the shapeshifter if the mutants fool enough ta still be here, and track'em down."
"Hold it soldier!" Steve Rogers said in his commanding tone, stepping forward confidently.
Victor growled. He thought he had settled all of this in the fight outside!? Why couldn't these Avenger-Cubs let him handle things already!? He gave a passing thought to the fact that he was glad this group wasn't part of his pack. He had enough to deal with after this whole thing was done and over, he didn't need this group of hard-heads to add to his troubles. The Captain American guy had his work cut out for him.
"What is it?" Victor asked the man grumpily, making it clear that he was doing the Captain a favor by listening to him.
"I understand that Tony can run off his mouth," Steve Rogers said, his voice firm. "but that was no reason to throw him into the sea."
Victor snorted. "There was every reason. Now you take care of yer pack while I track down this shapeshifter. And stay outta my way."
"That's no way to act, soldier. We're in this together." Steve Rogers said firmly, cornflower blue eyes flashing.
"So that's why you attacked me?" Victor asked, slightly amused, arching a blonde eyebrow.
"No." Steve said firmly, still standing tall. "We all attacked you because you threw one of our own into the sea. Don't tell me you would have done nothing if one of those children in that room, perhaps the spunky one with the spiked hair" –he obviously meant Jubilee—"had been thrown into the ocean."
Victor growled low at the thought. "Whoever would be foolish enough ta do that would be watching their guts hit the floor." And he meant it too.
"Then you can't fault us for our reactions." Steve pointed out reasonably.
Victor snorted. "The difference is Iron Man over there," Victor jerked his head in Tonys direction. "Isn't a cub."
"He acts like one." Natasha added her two-cents worth, rolling her eyes.
"H-H-H-HEAH!" Tony shivered out, offended.
Then the Asgardian did something that nearly knocked Victor out of his boots. He strode forward, despite the blood pouring from his head. Victor readied himself for an attack, but the blonde merely clapped his hand on Victors shoulder.
"You fight well, friend Victor. You are clearly worthy of Valhalla."
Victor eyed him suspiciously. "I didn't think I caused THAT much brain damage."
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VOCABULARY:
IMPECCABLY: without faults or errors; perfect
SUBDUE: v. to conquer or overcome; to get control over
CRANIUM: Another word for 'skull'
Hi! Love your story here, it is one of my favorites.
However, as your story progressed you seemed to be making Cassie more immature while showing just small flashes of the mature young woman she seemingly started out as. This chapter is a great example of one of the few times she acts her age and not like a 14 year old child. The other female characters have also been becoming less mature and it seems that none of them are capable of thinking without a man to either tell them what to do or to anger them until the point that they snap.
I really enjoy the male characters in this story, escpecially Logan and Victor.
Just one last point, watch out for "lye" as in lye soap and "lie" as in dishonesty.
Your a great author, please keep up the great work!
REPLY: First off, thank you for the marvelous review. I find that it's best to do the 'sugar-lemon-sugar' method in reviewing. You tell the writer the good things their doing before letting them know your critique, that way they don't feel too discouraged.
As for the other female characters becoming less mature, I hope this current chapter helped on that score.