Chapter Nine: The Finest Hour
Sabretooth had slaughtered seven when Cyclops burst through the doorway, followed by his allies. Seeing the number of them present made the feral mutant's eyes narrow: it was four to one. He saw Wolverine taking up the rear watchfully, expecting the other members of the Brotherhood to be about, but as much as he longed to Sabretooth could not face his enemy claw to claw, for his chances were hopeless against the odds. He was not stupid, his mind being as agile as his body when need be, and he recognized that his death would severely damage the Brotherhood, as Magneto had told him, mainly to soothe his ego, at first bruised at the news of his solo mission. He thought he had been given the expendable role.
Grabbing the nearest living human, he shielded his body with the screaming woman, and snarled to the X-Men, "Come closer and I rip this one's throat out."
He had been right in assuming this was a weakness. They backed off, every eye on him tensely. Mentally Sabretooth plotted his escape route, knowing already that he could outrun them easily. The group of frightened people stood still, one entrance blocked by a crowd of strange people, obviously mutants, the other entrance blocked by the hulking beast whose claws dripped with the blood of their comrades.
Sabretooth glanced behind him quickly. All was quiet outside. He let one breathless moment pass, and then speared the woman and thrust her with all his strength at his adversaries. Screaming in a high, unnatural tone, the woman crashed into them, her innards spilling forth in a hot, steaming flood onto the horrified mutants. She provided just the diversion that was needed. Her scream cut short, and when they looked up from the gruesome sight, Sabretooth had gone, in his place a flood of screaming people.
Wolverine's howl of rage cut through the night like a blade with a diamond edge.
* * *
The door to the dormitories was opened quietly, the lock picked by Toad's skillful hand. They stood open in the hall, soft snores emanating from some of the rooms, and Magneto tapped Toad's shoulder.
" Now," he said, his eyes alight. Toad nodded, grabbed Mystique, and disappeared into the first bedroom.
Magneto watched with pleasure as screams were heard from the room, awakening the children in the other rooms flooded the hall. When they saw Magneto they screamed themselves, and there was instant chaos. Magneto felt a laugh tear itself from his throat, cruel and hoarse and not like him at all. It was wonderful.
Toad and Mystique weren't visible in the crowd as he waded through it, basking in the children's fear. Do your work, my assassins, he thought fervently, preparing to do his own damage.
Suddenly something was behind him, larger than the children, and then his helmet was ripped off and there was a terrific blow to the back of his head, throwing him forward.
Eric fell into darkness, spiraling down, down. The screams faded with the rest of the world.