Disclaimer: Um... I don't own them, Marvel does, etc.
Notes: I've lost my normal notes--either that, or forgot
where I put them. This chapter has actually been sitting
around for a few months. Not sure why I forgot it was here,
but... Anyway. I'm posting it now.
QuickCatchUp (in case you weren't here before): Marya
DeZorga joined the X-Men, uncovered an Evil McCoy, and is
now in New York as Onslaught attempts to make the world
Safe For Mutantkind. Add in previous experience with most
of the disreputable types who hang on the fringes of the
X... And wackiness ensues.
Rating: PG13/R for language and violence. It's being told
from three different points of view - Marya, Domino, and
Madelyne.
Dedication: to Lynx, who keeps kicking me for more. I
refuse to write another 300k tonight.
I should note, btw, that without Lynx, much of Marya
wouldn't be possible.
Oh. And please leave logic at the door.
The Rise and Fall of the House of DeZorga
Chapter Thirteen: We Squeak With Idiot Fake Surprise
by Suzy DeZorga
Domino
"Where the hell's the boss in all this?"
Being awake again had its perks. Things like how accesible
my gun was, for instance.
"Dunno. Think he's still alive in there?"
"Don't be stupid, Arc. That explossion would've killed
anyone."
"Even him?"
"Yeah."
"Hey, the blonde chickie's awake."
Meltdown's voice sounded out, then. "Yeah, I'm awake. Get
your hands off me, asshole."
"Oh, she's a feisty one."
"I'll show you feisty." There was a popping sound and
something splattered against the rubble. "Next?"
"She just... Scrambler! Get over here, we've got--"
Another popping noise and the patter of blood and other
materials falling on the ground. "There. Now, where are the
rest of you--oh, shit."
"Hey, girlie. Playing? Try it now." The voice was smooth as
silk and sounded smug.
Scrambler, one of the Marauders. I cursed under my breath
and fought upwards out of the rubble. I wondered how many
of the team were uncovered as I struggled. Scrambler. That
meant the Marauders were expecting to run into resistance.
Which meant Vertigo was around somewhere, too. Arclight and
Riptide were the two that Meltdown had totalled. Or I
assumed totalled.
The blast had knocked most of us out. Meltdown, I'd knocked
her over. Which meant I ought to be free soon. With a
curse, I was. The afternoon sunlight poured down on me,
making me wince.
The sound was all the distraction Tabitha needed. Scrambler
turned to me and she acted, slamming a fist into his
stomach. As he doubled over, she yanked her knee up and
caught his jaw. He went over with an "oooph." My pistol
shot finished the job.
"Good work." I rolled to my feet and began scanning the
horizon. My back twinged, I ignored it.
"Thanks." She slipped over to stand at my back. "I think
we're the only two still awake."
"Debatable. Seen any other Marauders?"
"Only those three."
I finally glanced down to confirm that the first two were
indeed dead. They were, their intestines spread over a
large portion of the area. My nose wrinkled as I finally
caught a whiff of the stench. Charnal-outhouse. Lovely
smell.
"Let's see if we can find the others."
"Right."
We silently searched, finally finding Shaterstar's arm
sticking out of a pile. I looked at Meltdown, my back was
by now attempting to murder me. I ignored it. "You watch,
I'll dig."
"Okay." She mumbled, turning to watch.
Satisfied that someone wouldn't be able to sneak up and
kill us, I began picking up and throwing pieces of concrete
and rock off of 'Star.
I quickly uncovered his head and neck, then stopped to
check his pulse. He moaned as I touched the side of his
neck. "'Star?" I whispered. "You in one piece?"
His eyes flickered open. "Ric?"
"Uh, no." I snorted and began pulling the rest of the
debris off of him. When he was halfway uncovered, I
stopped, "Finish this yourself, I need to find the others."
The other Marauders had to be somewhere. Sabretooth was
still down--hell, he'd been in the mansion when we'd blown
it. I winced. So had Fatale--who we'd taken prisoner.
Scrambler, Arclight, Riptide--down. Which left Vertigo,
Prism, Blockbuster and Scalphunter.
Four Marauders. Against me and Meltdown. I glanced back at
the struggling sword-boy, and Shatterstar. Wonderful odds.
I just hoped Meltdown didn't hurt herself trying to kill
them all.
"Hey! Over here!" Scalphunter trundled over the rubble
towards us. I'd read some of Nate's files on them ages ago.
He'd had a large interest in Sinister. No surprise, really.
Which gave me some idea as to their powers and what to
expect from them.
I fired, hitting Scalpie in the chest. He fell backwards,
wounded. Next to me, I heard Tab curse under her breath. It
was the only warning I had as my stomach abruptly turned
over. My diaphragm rebelled and attempted to come out
through my throat.
"Vertigo." I croaked. "Fuck."
---
Marya
The Mansion's rubble materialised under our feet. Nate
staggered as the slab he stood on tilted. I grabbed his arm
to steady him. "Don't fall on me, bub."
"So sorry." He pulled away and joined Maddie scanning the
area around us. The Mansion was just *gone*. Debris in the
form of massive girders, blocks of concrete and wood chips
coated the area in a half mile radius.
"Ye gods." I whispered. "Where the fuck is Dom?"
"I don't know." Nate said grimly. His eyes were hard.
Worried. I was glad to know he was worried about Dom, since
I occasionally worried that he didn't care enough.
I closed my eyes and reached out mentally, feeling for Dom.
For an instant there was nothing. And then a deluge of
images slammed through me. My knees buckled. Pain, blood,
fire, children burning. My nightmares. "Computer," I gasped
out, "Body slide one to--" Another wave washed over me and
I mumbled the coordinates around the sight of a man slowly
burning.
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a building
burning. A Sentinel stood over it, triumphant in its
robotic way. 'Kitty's Day Care Center' proclaimed the
melting plastic sign. "Shit." I muttered. I could hear the
children inside, screaming, begging for help.
First imperative: stop the fire. I reached out, then cursed
my not-elemental nature. The only way to stop it would be
to douse the flames with something. Smother them, maybe? I
blinked. The flames were dying down. I looked around for a
reason. There was none. And then it hit me why they'd die
down.
The blast caught me and threw me into the plate-glass store
front across the street from the day care. The only thing
that saved me from being turned into many pieces of
human--well, two things, really. The first was being an
Immortal Slayer. And the second was the TK shield I still
had wrapped around every inch of my body.
So instead of crashing through the window and instantly
dying, I crashed through it and fell in a bruised heap on
the floor. "Ow."
My head rang with the soundless sound of the blast. A gas
line must have ruptured and been caught. It was the only
thing that would pull the flames back for an instant. I
closed my eyes and fought the tears that threatened. All
those kids. And I couldn't save them.
"Target destroyed. Acquire new target."
The Sentinel's mechanical voice shattered the despair that
had welled in me. A despair that paralysed and brought a
sense of hopelessness with it. We wouldn't win.
"Target acquired. Scanning. Humanity confirmed. Destroy
target."
No. Whoever, whatever had been targeted, it wasn't getting
them. A sheer act of will had me on my feet and hopping
over the lip of the broken window. That *thing* would not
have them.
Two kids, badly injured from the blast, lay on the street.
The Sentinel stood over them preparing to fire. "HEY!"
It ignored me, of course. "Hey, you, you big ugly piece of
fucking metal, ANSWER ME, DAMN YOU!"
You can always tell when I finally snap. I tend to lose any
sense of proportion. Anger coursed through me and found
expression in a gigantic TK fist which shattered the
Sentinel's head. The body swayed there for a moment, then
slowly toppled into the crater produced by the explosion.
"Hey, you okay?" I dropped to my knees and felt like crying
again. The kids were dead. Their injuries had apparently
been too extensive.
Something creaked. I whirled up into a fighting stance,
then stopped. It was only the wind shifting the metal body
of the Sentinel. My eyes widened. Only wind? There had
been--
The second blast was probably louder than the first. I'm
not really sure, considering by the time it finished
exploding, I was already unconscious.
---
Maddie
I blinked. "Stupid bitch." I muttered under my breath as
Marya bugged out faster then a high school boy removed a
girl's bra. Not that I remembered high school much.
Considering I'd never gone. "Tell me, son, does she
normally run off that quickly?"
"She's got a lot on her mind." He replied absently, still
scanning the area for his girlfriend.
"Ah. I'm going to take to the air, see what I can from
there." I didn't wait for his answer, just hopped into the
sky and sighed.
From the sky, the destruction was even more apparent. I
winced slightly at it all. The center, where the Mansion
had been, was gone. A deep pit gaped up at you, the
contents spewed out and strewn around the surrounding area.
And in the rubble, our quarry. I could see about four of
them, surrounding my son's girlfriend. Her and two of his
kids. The blonde one--Tabitha, I think. And the kid with
all the swords. They were bent over, in pain? I wasn't
sure. #Nathan.#
#Yes?#
#I've found them. About,# I checked, gauging, #five hundred
yards from you. Or so.#
#I'm on my way.# He sounded somewhat relieved.
#Oh. And someone is surrounding them.# I frowned, slipping
lower to look at them. #They look familiar.#
#How?#
#Never mind.# I decided not to wait for him to get there,
though I could see him valiantly dashing across the rubble.
The three weren't going to last.
The little green-haired girl didn't see me until I hit her
in the head. Her loss of concentration freed Domino and the
kids. They all crouched, panting.
"Hey!" He looked like a glass sculpture.
"Whatever." I shoved telekinetic fingers through the facets
and began pulling them apart. He died sort of horribly.
I heard a popping noise and then a gun began firing. I
turned to watch as sword-boy jumped into the air and came
down with his sword shoved through the big guy's eye. That
had to hurt.
"There." Domino nodded at me. "Madelyne. Thanks."
At that moment, my son came upon us, panting. "I'm...
late." He decided, his voice dry.
Domino smirked at him. "We're fine, in case you were
wondering." She sobered abruptly. "Nate, I'm sorry, but..."
She straightened slightly, as if expecting a blow. "Caliban
is dead."
---
Domino
It was the hardest thing I'd had to do in a long
while--tell Nate someone had died on my watch. As he
absorbed the news, I waited.
"Where's the rest of the team?"
"Buried." I closed my eyes, suddenly, remembering there was
worse. "And Onslaught has the kid."
Nate actually swayed for a moment, his face draining.
"Oath!"
"Hey, boss-lady, shouldn't we find the rest?"
"Yeah."
"I'll help." I blinked at Madelyne. "Hey, I can at least
help unbury them."
"Thanks." I nodded and stepped around the body of
Blockbuster. "We've already checked over there. I think
they're in this section."
The explosion's center was about where Tabitha and I had
been. Moving outwards, we'd found Shatterstar. We had to
find the others. And soon, before they ran out of oxygen
under the rubble. I fought down a sudden fear. We would
find them. We had to.
Every Marauder we'd come into contact with was dead. We'd
killed them, after Madelyne had released us from Vertigo's
clutches. The wounded Blockbuster--after I'd shot him--had
been dealt with by Shatterstar. I was surprised that 'Star
had been up to that.
Tabitha had dealt with a few herself. I sighed, she'd
killed for the first time. With her powers. I was hoping
she wouldn't crack. I didn't need to have one of my kids
going nuts on us. Not now.
We found Julio a few minutes later. I felt sick as I looked
down at him. His head lay at an odd angle, and I knew
without checking that he was dead. 'Star looked down at his
friend with a sort of deadness in his expression.
"Let's find the others."
A scream rent the air and we all turned to see Terry
pulling herself out of a pile of rubble. James' dark head
appeared next, then his arms and shoulders as Siryn's
scream cleared the debris from him.
"How is he?"
"I'm nae sure, he's nae responding." The redhaired young
woman stopped trying to move the unconscious young man.
"Help me get him stable."
I nodded and holstered my gun. The Marauders were dead,
there was no need for it at the moment--even if holding it
was sort of comforting. Jimmy was barely breathing when I
slipped a hand along his neck to check his pulse. It was
there, but terribly faint. "Madelyne."
"Yes?"
"Do you think you can pick him up and lay him--" I looked
around, trying to find a flat space large enough for him.
"Ah. There. Try not to move him at all."
"Honey, I was moving people telekinetically before my son
was two." She flashed a smile. "Not that that means much."
Two minutes later, Jimmy lay spread out on the makeshift
stretcher. He was still out cold, but the careful testing
and straightening of his arms and legs helped him breath
better.
I left Terry watching over him and went on. A thought
struck me as I stepped over another jumble of bricks.
"Madelyne?"
"Do you think you could see where the second blast center
is, and circle from the air?"
"You mean look for them from the sky?" She nodded and
slipped into the sky. "Got it."
I looked after her, envying a bit the ability to do that.
Then I shrugged and went back to the task of finding the
rest of my team before they died under the rubble.
---
Marya
I awoke with a splitting headache. Noise assaulted me from
all sides, dinning into my brain and causing so much pain.
And the lyrics were excruciatingly stupid.
"Great," I mumbled, not moving or opening my eyes. "I've
died and gone to teeny-bopper heaven."
At least, I was assuming that's what it was, since their
were several young men strutting about below me. How the
hell I'd gotten into the rafters of some open-air
amphitheatre, I didn't know. I wasn't even sure whether I
wanted to know.
Not that it mattered. I needed to get back to the command
post, and check in. "Computer, body slide one to Central
Park."
"Confirmed."
The rafters dissolved around me, just as I heard the
screaming begin.
I staggered as I hit the park turf, and swore. "Computer,
body slide one to previous coordinates!"
"Unable to comply."
"What?" I swore in Greek.
"Coordinates no longer exist."
"Gods dammit." I sighed and bent my head, fighting not to
scream or cry. They were gone, then. All of those kids I'd
seen. And the singers.
The feeling of despair that washed over me then put me on
my knees. Kids, kids, and more kids... Dammit, it was
always the kids.
"Fuck that, I can't save them, so I try to build a better
future." I blinked and winced. "Great, now I'm sounding
like a politician."
"Marya!" Someone dropped to their knees next to me. "Are
yah okay?"
"No." I replied, voice muffled. I felt old, tired. "But I
will be."
"Good, sugah." Rogue slipped an arm around my shoulders as
we stood.
"How goes the day?"
As we walked to the Blackbird, Rogue filled me in on as
many current events as she could. "And then, Magneto--well,
he looks like him, and has his power, but he's calling
himself Joseph, and--"
"Hold on, Rogue." I straightened and blinked at her,
"Magneto?"
"Yes."
We stopped on the ramp to the Blackbird. I frowned. "What's
he doing?"
"Fighting alongside us." Rogue shrugged and looked away.
"Ah've got to get back."
"Why were you here, anyway?"
"Lunch." With that prompt comment, she turned and jumped
into the air, soaring off to parts unknown. Well, in New
York, there really WERE parts unknown. Especially in the
sewers.
Scott looked up at me as I stepped into the console room.
His eyes were shadowed with exhaustion and grief. I nearly
told him to get sleep, but we needed him there,
co-ordinating everything. He was the best person we had for
that. "Eaten recently?"
"Eaten?" He blinked at me, something flashing in his eyes,
then leaving them.
"Yeah. Food. You know, sustenance?" I sighed and went
searching through some of the small cupboards. I found a
bag of chips and two sodas. "Great. Real nutrition."
"Rogue got the last of the rations." Scott mumbled
absently.
"Ah." I snorted and set the cans and the chips down on the
console next to his hand. "Here, eat. I'll try to have
someone bring you something hot next time." I turned to go,
then stopped and looked at him again. "I'm sorry."
He looked at me, startled. "Why?"
"Just..." I sighed and waved a hand. "In a way, I feel
responsible for all of this."
"I don't..." He sighed and looked away. "It's not your
fault. We should have been more diligent."
I rubbed my hand over my eyes and fought my own fatigue.
This was so senseless. Xavier had gone nuts, or something.
Either way, it didn't matter. He had to be brought down.
Before he destroyed the world. It suddenly crossed my mind
to wonder where the fuck Nate and Maddie were. Not to
mention Dom. "Shit."
Scott blinked at me.
"Fuck. Scott, have you heard from Nate or Dom?" I swayed as
a wave of precog hit me. It slipped through too fast to get
a good feel for it. But a sense of dread settled on me,
tensing my shoulders. Something very, very bad was going to
happen.
"No, what--"
I turned without awaiting an answer and ran to the doorway
of the Blackbird. Two people stood below the hatch, one was
an unknown, the other was the kid I'd pulled from the
coffee bar. Michael. I swore and hopped off the Blackbird,
then slid my arm around Michael's waist. "What happened?"
His companion looked at me, disgust in her eyes. "A fire.
Duh."
True. She and Michael were covered in soot and other
things. I swore again as Michael sagged completely in our
grasp. "Let's get him inside." I slipped telekinetic
fingers around him, pulling up. In less than two seconds,
I'd telekinetically lifted the three of us into the
Blackbird. "The infirmary is this way."
Not that is was huge and well-stocked or anything. I
scowled. A small bed, a few diagnostic panels, and lots of
bandaids. Woohoo. Lots of good equipment. The sarcasm
dripping from my thoughts almost distracted me from the
task at hand.
Michael woke up at that moment and whimpered. Almost in
unison, we set him carefully down on the bed. "Where am I?"
His voice was quite weak and sounded horrid. I winced.
"Safe. For now." I rapidly ran a scan over him. Nothing
worse than smoke inhalation and a few burns. I winced
again. They would hurt when he stopped being in shock. I
turned to the girl. "Your turn."
"My turn?" She snorted at me. "No. I'm fine, thanks."
I sighed. "Look, don't argue, just let me scan and check
you for injuries."
"No." Her eyes flashed angrily.
Normally, when you offer medical help to someone they, at
the least, say 'yes' gratefully. They don't usually get
angry and say 'go away' in so many words. I sighed. Great.
A burned kid--I'd sent him where I'd THOUGHT he'd be
safe--and his friend, who didn't want to be healed.
---
Maddie
From the air, I could see my son and his girlfriend. She
was really quite competent, aside from the almost-panic I'd
sensed from her earlier. And she really cared for the kids.
And Nathan. My lips twitched into a bitter smile. Too bad
his father couldn't have felt the same for me. A wave of
wistfulness washed over me, followed by disgust.
Really, dwelling on the past was a waste of my time.
Besides, Marya seemed quite attracted to my ex. I grinned
at that. The poor woman was almost embarrassingly in love
with him. I'd seen it in her wistful glances and the way
she tried not to kill Grey. Stupid cow. Grey, not Marya.
I shook my head and started actually looking for the kids.
Something about the area made me think we needed to get
away from it. Soon.
With that thought, I spotted a splash of colour and swooped
lower. Yellow and blue, the ragged end of a sleeve. I
slipped to my knees to feel into the rubble, searching.
There wasn't a conscious mind, but, I thought there was
something there.
Carefully, I pulled the rubble off, telekinesis was a new
tool for me (my comments to the contrary aside), but I was
getting better with it. I quickly uncovered a dark brown
arm, and smiled. Success. The kid was probably still dead
to the world. I carefully moved some more rubbble, towards
the shoulder and stopped, frowning. Something didn't feel
right.
The hand lay there, unmoving, but that wasn't it. I
shrugged. It didn't matter. I continued removing the rubble
from the upper arm and shoulder, completely uncovering
them. I started digging lower, and gasped. "Oh, shit."
Blank revulsion had me scrabbling backwards away from the
pit I'd half-dug. Unfortunately, I fell into a dip and
found myself face to, well, legs, the rest of the body
under the rubble. The white shard at the apex had to be the
backbone. It was sheared off quite raggedly, bits of pale
pink muscle and darker, almost mauve tissue hanging near
it. As for the previous sight of the ragged edge of his rib
cage...
I don't think I screamed. I could be wrong, though. I lost
a few seconds as I threw myself up into the air to get away
from the sight. A stir of some sort was caused, because my
son and Domino arrived on the scene, the kids trailing
behind them. I hovered above them, for a second uncertain.
And then I slipped back through the air and landed on the
lip of the pit. "Nathan, I'm sorry..."
My voice floated away on the breeze as he knelt down to
carefully turn the upper half of the kid's body over. I
hissed and was suddenly glad I didn't eat. The shrapnel had
torn through the kid's shoulder. The arm and shoulder I'd
uncovered was just that. An arm and shoulder. His legs were
in the pit I'd also unconvered. Given the pattern, I
suddenly knew where his head was.
Nathan knew, too. I blinked at the silent ferocity that
threw a pile of debris away from us and uncovered the rest
of the kid's body. I heard choking noises from the other
kids and turned slightly, wishing I could block their view.
No one should have to see a friend pulled apart like so
much meat.
Which was what the unfortunate brat looked like. Blood lay
in congealed and slippery strands, following the line of
shattered intestine and bone. Fragments of skin and hair
lay near what had been his head. The
redhead--Terry--stepped up to me and sighed. "Dammit."
"I'm sorry." The words felt inadequate, and I winced. Where
was my devil-may-care anger that was willing to see anyone
die? I felt suddenly very small and mortal.
"Nae. It's nae yuir fault." The young woman tried to smile
as she slipped an arm around my shoulders. "None o' this
is."
"You're right." I said softly. "But I still..." I let my
voice trail off and looked away. Domino was standing next
to Nathan's kneeling form, now. She was fighting the urge
to run, I could tell. I straightened and smiled. "It's not
Domino's, either."
"Nae." Terry agreed quietly. But her voice betrayed her.
She knew as I did that Nathan would blame her. They were
under her watch. She failed.
Someone's radio crackled, suddenly. Terry jumped next to
me. Domino pulled the handset from her belt and spoke into
it. I stepped closer to hear the conversation.
"Hello?"
"Dom! *crackle* Marya, we need you guys bac--*crackle*
NOW!"
"Kitty? Say again, you're breaking up."
"I said *crackle* back here! NOW!"
Domino nodded grimly and flipped off the comunit. "You
heard the woman, people. Let's pack it up and get out of
here."
"But... Um... how?" Tabitha carefully avoided looking down
as she came closer to us. "I mean, we have no..." Her voice
trailed off and she shrank away from him as Nathan stood.
"I can fly most of us." I said. The words were regretted as
soon as they left my mouth. If I flew everyone, I'd be
exhausted--drained--when we got there.
"Ye won' have tae do it alone." Terry stepped up next to
me. "I think we can do it t'gether."
"Good." Domino's voice was clipped and quiet. "Any specific
way we should stand?"
"Just... Closer in." I sighed and pulled. A telekinetic
glow surrounded us all. I nodded to Terry. "If you would?"
She closed her eyes and breathed in, then expelled a high
pitched sound. For an instant, nothing happened, then she
opened her eyes and directed the sound sort of behind and
under the bubble.
We wavered into the air, then steadied, as Siryn caught her
stride. And, slowly, between her voice and my TK, we
floated towards New York. Faster than walking would have
been, but not by much. Until we hit better winds, that was.
The speed we travelled at got considerably faster as soon
as we hit them.
End Chapter Thirteen
=====
'I stood at the kitchen sink, my radio playing songs like "Tainted Love" and
"Love is Strange"...'
Notes: I've lost my normal notes--either that, or forgot
where I put them. This chapter has actually been sitting
around for a few months. Not sure why I forgot it was here,
but... Anyway. I'm posting it now.
QuickCatchUp (in case you weren't here before): Marya
DeZorga joined the X-Men, uncovered an Evil McCoy, and is
now in New York as Onslaught attempts to make the world
Safe For Mutantkind. Add in previous experience with most
of the disreputable types who hang on the fringes of the
X... And wackiness ensues.
Rating: PG13/R for language and violence. It's being told
from three different points of view - Marya, Domino, and
Madelyne.
Dedication: to Lynx, who keeps kicking me for more. I
refuse to write another 300k tonight.
I should note, btw, that without Lynx, much of Marya
wouldn't be possible.
Oh. And please leave logic at the door.
The Rise and Fall of the House of DeZorga
Chapter Thirteen: We Squeak With Idiot Fake Surprise
by Suzy DeZorga
Domino
"Where the hell's the boss in all this?"
Being awake again had its perks. Things like how accesible
my gun was, for instance.
"Dunno. Think he's still alive in there?"
"Don't be stupid, Arc. That explossion would've killed
anyone."
"Even him?"
"Yeah."
"Hey, the blonde chickie's awake."
Meltdown's voice sounded out, then. "Yeah, I'm awake. Get
your hands off me, asshole."
"Oh, she's a feisty one."
"I'll show you feisty." There was a popping sound and
something splattered against the rubble. "Next?"
"She just... Scrambler! Get over here, we've got--"
Another popping noise and the patter of blood and other
materials falling on the ground. "There. Now, where are the
rest of you--oh, shit."
"Hey, girlie. Playing? Try it now." The voice was smooth as
silk and sounded smug.
Scrambler, one of the Marauders. I cursed under my breath
and fought upwards out of the rubble. I wondered how many
of the team were uncovered as I struggled. Scrambler. That
meant the Marauders were expecting to run into resistance.
Which meant Vertigo was around somewhere, too. Arclight and
Riptide were the two that Meltdown had totalled. Or I
assumed totalled.
The blast had knocked most of us out. Meltdown, I'd knocked
her over. Which meant I ought to be free soon. With a
curse, I was. The afternoon sunlight poured down on me,
making me wince.
The sound was all the distraction Tabitha needed. Scrambler
turned to me and she acted, slamming a fist into his
stomach. As he doubled over, she yanked her knee up and
caught his jaw. He went over with an "oooph." My pistol
shot finished the job.
"Good work." I rolled to my feet and began scanning the
horizon. My back twinged, I ignored it.
"Thanks." She slipped over to stand at my back. "I think
we're the only two still awake."
"Debatable. Seen any other Marauders?"
"Only those three."
I finally glanced down to confirm that the first two were
indeed dead. They were, their intestines spread over a
large portion of the area. My nose wrinkled as I finally
caught a whiff of the stench. Charnal-outhouse. Lovely
smell.
"Let's see if we can find the others."
"Right."
We silently searched, finally finding Shaterstar's arm
sticking out of a pile. I looked at Meltdown, my back was
by now attempting to murder me. I ignored it. "You watch,
I'll dig."
"Okay." She mumbled, turning to watch.
Satisfied that someone wouldn't be able to sneak up and
kill us, I began picking up and throwing pieces of concrete
and rock off of 'Star.
I quickly uncovered his head and neck, then stopped to
check his pulse. He moaned as I touched the side of his
neck. "'Star?" I whispered. "You in one piece?"
His eyes flickered open. "Ric?"
"Uh, no." I snorted and began pulling the rest of the
debris off of him. When he was halfway uncovered, I
stopped, "Finish this yourself, I need to find the others."
The other Marauders had to be somewhere. Sabretooth was
still down--hell, he'd been in the mansion when we'd blown
it. I winced. So had Fatale--who we'd taken prisoner.
Scrambler, Arclight, Riptide--down. Which left Vertigo,
Prism, Blockbuster and Scalphunter.
Four Marauders. Against me and Meltdown. I glanced back at
the struggling sword-boy, and Shatterstar. Wonderful odds.
I just hoped Meltdown didn't hurt herself trying to kill
them all.
"Hey! Over here!" Scalphunter trundled over the rubble
towards us. I'd read some of Nate's files on them ages ago.
He'd had a large interest in Sinister. No surprise, really.
Which gave me some idea as to their powers and what to
expect from them.
I fired, hitting Scalpie in the chest. He fell backwards,
wounded. Next to me, I heard Tab curse under her breath. It
was the only warning I had as my stomach abruptly turned
over. My diaphragm rebelled and attempted to come out
through my throat.
"Vertigo." I croaked. "Fuck."
---
Marya
The Mansion's rubble materialised under our feet. Nate
staggered as the slab he stood on tilted. I grabbed his arm
to steady him. "Don't fall on me, bub."
"So sorry." He pulled away and joined Maddie scanning the
area around us. The Mansion was just *gone*. Debris in the
form of massive girders, blocks of concrete and wood chips
coated the area in a half mile radius.
"Ye gods." I whispered. "Where the fuck is Dom?"
"I don't know." Nate said grimly. His eyes were hard.
Worried. I was glad to know he was worried about Dom, since
I occasionally worried that he didn't care enough.
I closed my eyes and reached out mentally, feeling for Dom.
For an instant there was nothing. And then a deluge of
images slammed through me. My knees buckled. Pain, blood,
fire, children burning. My nightmares. "Computer," I gasped
out, "Body slide one to--" Another wave washed over me and
I mumbled the coordinates around the sight of a man slowly
burning.
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a building
burning. A Sentinel stood over it, triumphant in its
robotic way. 'Kitty's Day Care Center' proclaimed the
melting plastic sign. "Shit." I muttered. I could hear the
children inside, screaming, begging for help.
First imperative: stop the fire. I reached out, then cursed
my not-elemental nature. The only way to stop it would be
to douse the flames with something. Smother them, maybe? I
blinked. The flames were dying down. I looked around for a
reason. There was none. And then it hit me why they'd die
down.
The blast caught me and threw me into the plate-glass store
front across the street from the day care. The only thing
that saved me from being turned into many pieces of
human--well, two things, really. The first was being an
Immortal Slayer. And the second was the TK shield I still
had wrapped around every inch of my body.
So instead of crashing through the window and instantly
dying, I crashed through it and fell in a bruised heap on
the floor. "Ow."
My head rang with the soundless sound of the blast. A gas
line must have ruptured and been caught. It was the only
thing that would pull the flames back for an instant. I
closed my eyes and fought the tears that threatened. All
those kids. And I couldn't save them.
"Target destroyed. Acquire new target."
The Sentinel's mechanical voice shattered the despair that
had welled in me. A despair that paralysed and brought a
sense of hopelessness with it. We wouldn't win.
"Target acquired. Scanning. Humanity confirmed. Destroy
target."
No. Whoever, whatever had been targeted, it wasn't getting
them. A sheer act of will had me on my feet and hopping
over the lip of the broken window. That *thing* would not
have them.
Two kids, badly injured from the blast, lay on the street.
The Sentinel stood over them preparing to fire. "HEY!"
It ignored me, of course. "Hey, you, you big ugly piece of
fucking metal, ANSWER ME, DAMN YOU!"
You can always tell when I finally snap. I tend to lose any
sense of proportion. Anger coursed through me and found
expression in a gigantic TK fist which shattered the
Sentinel's head. The body swayed there for a moment, then
slowly toppled into the crater produced by the explosion.
"Hey, you okay?" I dropped to my knees and felt like crying
again. The kids were dead. Their injuries had apparently
been too extensive.
Something creaked. I whirled up into a fighting stance,
then stopped. It was only the wind shifting the metal body
of the Sentinel. My eyes widened. Only wind? There had
been--
The second blast was probably louder than the first. I'm
not really sure, considering by the time it finished
exploding, I was already unconscious.
---
Maddie
I blinked. "Stupid bitch." I muttered under my breath as
Marya bugged out faster then a high school boy removed a
girl's bra. Not that I remembered high school much.
Considering I'd never gone. "Tell me, son, does she
normally run off that quickly?"
"She's got a lot on her mind." He replied absently, still
scanning the area for his girlfriend.
"Ah. I'm going to take to the air, see what I can from
there." I didn't wait for his answer, just hopped into the
sky and sighed.
From the sky, the destruction was even more apparent. I
winced slightly at it all. The center, where the Mansion
had been, was gone. A deep pit gaped up at you, the
contents spewed out and strewn around the surrounding area.
And in the rubble, our quarry. I could see about four of
them, surrounding my son's girlfriend. Her and two of his
kids. The blonde one--Tabitha, I think. And the kid with
all the swords. They were bent over, in pain? I wasn't
sure. #Nathan.#
#Yes?#
#I've found them. About,# I checked, gauging, #five hundred
yards from you. Or so.#
#I'm on my way.# He sounded somewhat relieved.
#Oh. And someone is surrounding them.# I frowned, slipping
lower to look at them. #They look familiar.#
#How?#
#Never mind.# I decided not to wait for him to get there,
though I could see him valiantly dashing across the rubble.
The three weren't going to last.
The little green-haired girl didn't see me until I hit her
in the head. Her loss of concentration freed Domino and the
kids. They all crouched, panting.
"Hey!" He looked like a glass sculpture.
"Whatever." I shoved telekinetic fingers through the facets
and began pulling them apart. He died sort of horribly.
I heard a popping noise and then a gun began firing. I
turned to watch as sword-boy jumped into the air and came
down with his sword shoved through the big guy's eye. That
had to hurt.
"There." Domino nodded at me. "Madelyne. Thanks."
At that moment, my son came upon us, panting. "I'm...
late." He decided, his voice dry.
Domino smirked at him. "We're fine, in case you were
wondering." She sobered abruptly. "Nate, I'm sorry, but..."
She straightened slightly, as if expecting a blow. "Caliban
is dead."
---
Domino
It was the hardest thing I'd had to do in a long
while--tell Nate someone had died on my watch. As he
absorbed the news, I waited.
"Where's the rest of the team?"
"Buried." I closed my eyes, suddenly, remembering there was
worse. "And Onslaught has the kid."
Nate actually swayed for a moment, his face draining.
"Oath!"
"Hey, boss-lady, shouldn't we find the rest?"
"Yeah."
"I'll help." I blinked at Madelyne. "Hey, I can at least
help unbury them."
"Thanks." I nodded and stepped around the body of
Blockbuster. "We've already checked over there. I think
they're in this section."
The explosion's center was about where Tabitha and I had
been. Moving outwards, we'd found Shatterstar. We had to
find the others. And soon, before they ran out of oxygen
under the rubble. I fought down a sudden fear. We would
find them. We had to.
Every Marauder we'd come into contact with was dead. We'd
killed them, after Madelyne had released us from Vertigo's
clutches. The wounded Blockbuster--after I'd shot him--had
been dealt with by Shatterstar. I was surprised that 'Star
had been up to that.
Tabitha had dealt with a few herself. I sighed, she'd
killed for the first time. With her powers. I was hoping
she wouldn't crack. I didn't need to have one of my kids
going nuts on us. Not now.
We found Julio a few minutes later. I felt sick as I looked
down at him. His head lay at an odd angle, and I knew
without checking that he was dead. 'Star looked down at his
friend with a sort of deadness in his expression.
"Let's find the others."
A scream rent the air and we all turned to see Terry
pulling herself out of a pile of rubble. James' dark head
appeared next, then his arms and shoulders as Siryn's
scream cleared the debris from him.
"How is he?"
"I'm nae sure, he's nae responding." The redhaired young
woman stopped trying to move the unconscious young man.
"Help me get him stable."
I nodded and holstered my gun. The Marauders were dead,
there was no need for it at the moment--even if holding it
was sort of comforting. Jimmy was barely breathing when I
slipped a hand along his neck to check his pulse. It was
there, but terribly faint. "Madelyne."
"Yes?"
"Do you think you can pick him up and lay him--" I looked
around, trying to find a flat space large enough for him.
"Ah. There. Try not to move him at all."
"Honey, I was moving people telekinetically before my son
was two." She flashed a smile. "Not that that means much."
Two minutes later, Jimmy lay spread out on the makeshift
stretcher. He was still out cold, but the careful testing
and straightening of his arms and legs helped him breath
better.
I left Terry watching over him and went on. A thought
struck me as I stepped over another jumble of bricks.
"Madelyne?"
"Do you think you could see where the second blast center
is, and circle from the air?"
"You mean look for them from the sky?" She nodded and
slipped into the sky. "Got it."
I looked after her, envying a bit the ability to do that.
Then I shrugged and went back to the task of finding the
rest of my team before they died under the rubble.
---
Marya
I awoke with a splitting headache. Noise assaulted me from
all sides, dinning into my brain and causing so much pain.
And the lyrics were excruciatingly stupid.
"Great," I mumbled, not moving or opening my eyes. "I've
died and gone to teeny-bopper heaven."
At least, I was assuming that's what it was, since their
were several young men strutting about below me. How the
hell I'd gotten into the rafters of some open-air
amphitheatre, I didn't know. I wasn't even sure whether I
wanted to know.
Not that it mattered. I needed to get back to the command
post, and check in. "Computer, body slide one to Central
Park."
"Confirmed."
The rafters dissolved around me, just as I heard the
screaming begin.
I staggered as I hit the park turf, and swore. "Computer,
body slide one to previous coordinates!"
"Unable to comply."
"What?" I swore in Greek.
"Coordinates no longer exist."
"Gods dammit." I sighed and bent my head, fighting not to
scream or cry. They were gone, then. All of those kids I'd
seen. And the singers.
The feeling of despair that washed over me then put me on
my knees. Kids, kids, and more kids... Dammit, it was
always the kids.
"Fuck that, I can't save them, so I try to build a better
future." I blinked and winced. "Great, now I'm sounding
like a politician."
"Marya!" Someone dropped to their knees next to me. "Are
yah okay?"
"No." I replied, voice muffled. I felt old, tired. "But I
will be."
"Good, sugah." Rogue slipped an arm around my shoulders as
we stood.
"How goes the day?"
As we walked to the Blackbird, Rogue filled me in on as
many current events as she could. "And then, Magneto--well,
he looks like him, and has his power, but he's calling
himself Joseph, and--"
"Hold on, Rogue." I straightened and blinked at her,
"Magneto?"
"Yes."
We stopped on the ramp to the Blackbird. I frowned. "What's
he doing?"
"Fighting alongside us." Rogue shrugged and looked away.
"Ah've got to get back."
"Why were you here, anyway?"
"Lunch." With that prompt comment, she turned and jumped
into the air, soaring off to parts unknown. Well, in New
York, there really WERE parts unknown. Especially in the
sewers.
Scott looked up at me as I stepped into the console room.
His eyes were shadowed with exhaustion and grief. I nearly
told him to get sleep, but we needed him there,
co-ordinating everything. He was the best person we had for
that. "Eaten recently?"
"Eaten?" He blinked at me, something flashing in his eyes,
then leaving them.
"Yeah. Food. You know, sustenance?" I sighed and went
searching through some of the small cupboards. I found a
bag of chips and two sodas. "Great. Real nutrition."
"Rogue got the last of the rations." Scott mumbled
absently.
"Ah." I snorted and set the cans and the chips down on the
console next to his hand. "Here, eat. I'll try to have
someone bring you something hot next time." I turned to go,
then stopped and looked at him again. "I'm sorry."
He looked at me, startled. "Why?"
"Just..." I sighed and waved a hand. "In a way, I feel
responsible for all of this."
"I don't..." He sighed and looked away. "It's not your
fault. We should have been more diligent."
I rubbed my hand over my eyes and fought my own fatigue.
This was so senseless. Xavier had gone nuts, or something.
Either way, it didn't matter. He had to be brought down.
Before he destroyed the world. It suddenly crossed my mind
to wonder where the fuck Nate and Maddie were. Not to
mention Dom. "Shit."
Scott blinked at me.
"Fuck. Scott, have you heard from Nate or Dom?" I swayed as
a wave of precog hit me. It slipped through too fast to get
a good feel for it. But a sense of dread settled on me,
tensing my shoulders. Something very, very bad was going to
happen.
"No, what--"
I turned without awaiting an answer and ran to the doorway
of the Blackbird. Two people stood below the hatch, one was
an unknown, the other was the kid I'd pulled from the
coffee bar. Michael. I swore and hopped off the Blackbird,
then slid my arm around Michael's waist. "What happened?"
His companion looked at me, disgust in her eyes. "A fire.
Duh."
True. She and Michael were covered in soot and other
things. I swore again as Michael sagged completely in our
grasp. "Let's get him inside." I slipped telekinetic
fingers around him, pulling up. In less than two seconds,
I'd telekinetically lifted the three of us into the
Blackbird. "The infirmary is this way."
Not that is was huge and well-stocked or anything. I
scowled. A small bed, a few diagnostic panels, and lots of
bandaids. Woohoo. Lots of good equipment. The sarcasm
dripping from my thoughts almost distracted me from the
task at hand.
Michael woke up at that moment and whimpered. Almost in
unison, we set him carefully down on the bed. "Where am I?"
His voice was quite weak and sounded horrid. I winced.
"Safe. For now." I rapidly ran a scan over him. Nothing
worse than smoke inhalation and a few burns. I winced
again. They would hurt when he stopped being in shock. I
turned to the girl. "Your turn."
"My turn?" She snorted at me. "No. I'm fine, thanks."
I sighed. "Look, don't argue, just let me scan and check
you for injuries."
"No." Her eyes flashed angrily.
Normally, when you offer medical help to someone they, at
the least, say 'yes' gratefully. They don't usually get
angry and say 'go away' in so many words. I sighed. Great.
A burned kid--I'd sent him where I'd THOUGHT he'd be
safe--and his friend, who didn't want to be healed.
---
Maddie
From the air, I could see my son and his girlfriend. She
was really quite competent, aside from the almost-panic I'd
sensed from her earlier. And she really cared for the kids.
And Nathan. My lips twitched into a bitter smile. Too bad
his father couldn't have felt the same for me. A wave of
wistfulness washed over me, followed by disgust.
Really, dwelling on the past was a waste of my time.
Besides, Marya seemed quite attracted to my ex. I grinned
at that. The poor woman was almost embarrassingly in love
with him. I'd seen it in her wistful glances and the way
she tried not to kill Grey. Stupid cow. Grey, not Marya.
I shook my head and started actually looking for the kids.
Something about the area made me think we needed to get
away from it. Soon.
With that thought, I spotted a splash of colour and swooped
lower. Yellow and blue, the ragged end of a sleeve. I
slipped to my knees to feel into the rubble, searching.
There wasn't a conscious mind, but, I thought there was
something there.
Carefully, I pulled the rubble off, telekinesis was a new
tool for me (my comments to the contrary aside), but I was
getting better with it. I quickly uncovered a dark brown
arm, and smiled. Success. The kid was probably still dead
to the world. I carefully moved some more rubbble, towards
the shoulder and stopped, frowning. Something didn't feel
right.
The hand lay there, unmoving, but that wasn't it. I
shrugged. It didn't matter. I continued removing the rubble
from the upper arm and shoulder, completely uncovering
them. I started digging lower, and gasped. "Oh, shit."
Blank revulsion had me scrabbling backwards away from the
pit I'd half-dug. Unfortunately, I fell into a dip and
found myself face to, well, legs, the rest of the body
under the rubble. The white shard at the apex had to be the
backbone. It was sheared off quite raggedly, bits of pale
pink muscle and darker, almost mauve tissue hanging near
it. As for the previous sight of the ragged edge of his rib
cage...
I don't think I screamed. I could be wrong, though. I lost
a few seconds as I threw myself up into the air to get away
from the sight. A stir of some sort was caused, because my
son and Domino arrived on the scene, the kids trailing
behind them. I hovered above them, for a second uncertain.
And then I slipped back through the air and landed on the
lip of the pit. "Nathan, I'm sorry..."
My voice floated away on the breeze as he knelt down to
carefully turn the upper half of the kid's body over. I
hissed and was suddenly glad I didn't eat. The shrapnel had
torn through the kid's shoulder. The arm and shoulder I'd
uncovered was just that. An arm and shoulder. His legs were
in the pit I'd also unconvered. Given the pattern, I
suddenly knew where his head was.
Nathan knew, too. I blinked at the silent ferocity that
threw a pile of debris away from us and uncovered the rest
of the kid's body. I heard choking noises from the other
kids and turned slightly, wishing I could block their view.
No one should have to see a friend pulled apart like so
much meat.
Which was what the unfortunate brat looked like. Blood lay
in congealed and slippery strands, following the line of
shattered intestine and bone. Fragments of skin and hair
lay near what had been his head. The
redhead--Terry--stepped up to me and sighed. "Dammit."
"I'm sorry." The words felt inadequate, and I winced. Where
was my devil-may-care anger that was willing to see anyone
die? I felt suddenly very small and mortal.
"Nae. It's nae yuir fault." The young woman tried to smile
as she slipped an arm around my shoulders. "None o' this
is."
"You're right." I said softly. "But I still..." I let my
voice trail off and looked away. Domino was standing next
to Nathan's kneeling form, now. She was fighting the urge
to run, I could tell. I straightened and smiled. "It's not
Domino's, either."
"Nae." Terry agreed quietly. But her voice betrayed her.
She knew as I did that Nathan would blame her. They were
under her watch. She failed.
Someone's radio crackled, suddenly. Terry jumped next to
me. Domino pulled the handset from her belt and spoke into
it. I stepped closer to hear the conversation.
"Hello?"
"Dom! *crackle* Marya, we need you guys bac--*crackle*
NOW!"
"Kitty? Say again, you're breaking up."
"I said *crackle* back here! NOW!"
Domino nodded grimly and flipped off the comunit. "You
heard the woman, people. Let's pack it up and get out of
here."
"But... Um... how?" Tabitha carefully avoided looking down
as she came closer to us. "I mean, we have no..." Her voice
trailed off and she shrank away from him as Nathan stood.
"I can fly most of us." I said. The words were regretted as
soon as they left my mouth. If I flew everyone, I'd be
exhausted--drained--when we got there.
"Ye won' have tae do it alone." Terry stepped up next to
me. "I think we can do it t'gether."
"Good." Domino's voice was clipped and quiet. "Any specific
way we should stand?"
"Just... Closer in." I sighed and pulled. A telekinetic
glow surrounded us all. I nodded to Terry. "If you would?"
She closed her eyes and breathed in, then expelled a high
pitched sound. For an instant, nothing happened, then she
opened her eyes and directed the sound sort of behind and
under the bubble.
We wavered into the air, then steadied, as Siryn caught her
stride. And, slowly, between her voice and my TK, we
floated towards New York. Faster than walking would have
been, but not by much. Until we hit better winds, that was.
The speed we travelled at got considerably faster as soon
as we hit them.
End Chapter Thirteen
=====
'I stood at the kitchen sink, my radio playing songs like "Tainted Love" and
"Love is Strange"...'