Juggernaut plodded over to his brother's twitching form, ready to crush him like a grape. Not bothering to waste time with an evil phrase, the giant was stopped in his tracks by that insane electric shock ripping him apart from ear to ear. "That's not how our deal goes, Mr. Marko," the man holding the helmet's controller in his hand said.
"When...do you guys...ever learn...I don't make deals!" But the mighty mutant was more than ready to change his tune after another shock tore through him.
"First you kill the original Weapon X, then we let you have your dear brother." With a grunt and a shake of his head to clear the cobwebs, Juggernaut turned back toward the mansion and went to find Wolverine. The leader of the agents in black costumes, one hand wrapped up courtesy of Sabretooth's crushing grip and the other clutching the device, was all smiles. That is, until a disgustingly long tongue whipped the tiny controller from his hand.
Snatching the shock box in the air, Toad toggled one of the switches, trying to figure out how to zap Juggernaut. In his haste to try every button on the small gadget, he didn't see the man in black draw another gun with his good hand. Just as Todd felt the box vibrate and saw Cain grab his helmet with a cry of pain, a beam shot just a hair behind him.
Deciding at the last second not to break the guy's legs off, Havok instead aimed his blast at the ground right in front of the man. Firing a shot into the air as he fell, the leader did draw the attention of the remaining men in black, who began gunning for Toad like he had a bullseye painted on his costume. The agile mutant jumped sideways and back again, barely keeping his hide clear of fire.
His fifth jump was blocked by something large, and upon inspection Todd really wished he looked before he leapt. Juggernaut grabbed the boy by his scruffy hair and viciously whipped him around, causing him to drop the shock box on the soaking wet grass. With a thunderous stomp, Jug crushed the box and once again regained his freedom to destroy whoever he wanted.
Just for good measure, he lifted his foot and looked under, just to make sure his only weakness had been reduced to scrap. To his disbelief, the device was nowhere to be found! His wide eyes slowly went from the crater his foot had made to the brown ponytail that was rising out of the ground several yards away. Phasing back to the surface, Shadowcat smiled sweetly and waved at Juggernaut before gently flipping the switch on the shock box.
The macho Cain Marko screamed like a girl as his gray matter was almost charred black by the voltage. Now that he was standing still, Jean Grey was able to telekinetically unlatch the sizzling headgear, but not before Jug collapsed to the ground in a twitching heap. "Whoops," Kitty said, "Guess I, like, overdid it."
With the unstoppable Juggernaut defeated, the odds were now firmly in favor of the X-Men, but they still had to face Weapon X without Nightcrawler, Sabretooth or any members of the Brotherhood. And any clone of Wolverine was certainly not to be underestimated. Plunging claws-first into the opposition like the cornered animal he was, Weapon X scattered the teenage superheroes and set his sights on the smallest one in the pack.
Knowing that Kitty would turn intangible before he could sink a claw into her, he focused on bringing down Spyke. This proved harder than he thought, as the boy had a huge reach advantage if he produced the longest spikes he possibly could. Unable to strike, he quickly lost his speed advantage, but had the presence of mind to duck and dodge each attack from the remaining mutants.
His strategy, or lack thereof, quickly changed to suit the growing feeling of desperation, and pretty soon he was in a berserker rage. In his frantic slashing at anything that moved, he grabbed a fistful of blond hair and nearly decapitated Havok before the boy could shoot a force beam at close range. Throwing his own strategy out the window in favor of helping his baby brother, Cyclops socked X right in the jaw.
The shorter mutant staggered back a bit, but before he even regained his balance he took a shot at Scott. Slicing the ruby-quartz visor in half at the bridge of Cyclops' nose, he also stabbed into the boy's right temple with another claw before the protective eyewear fell apart and the optic beams hit him point blank.
Sliding in the mud a good ten feet after he'd been launched across the lawn, even X's advanced healing factor took a while to mend the crushing impact against his head and chest. Unfortunately for him, while Sabretooth may have been put out of commission, Rogue was still hairy and at the moment feeling very feral. "No...don't..." he hoarsely begged as he was lifted to a standing position and then off his feet by the throat.
"Ro...please...they made me do it...they forced me...you gotta help me..."
Storm's fierce expression softened just a little. What if he was telling the truth?
"Force this," a voice came from behind, and in a metallic flash the clone was cut from Rogue's grip and hurled to the ground. The X-Men collectively gasped as Wolverine, the real Wolverine, appeared in his orange and black costume. The smell of his significant other seemed to revitalize Weapon X, and he lunged without hesitation.
Wolverine grunted as bone claws dug into his midsection, but quickly responded by plunging his adamantium claws into his impostor's neck and savagely tearing the black mask from his face. The intensity of the struggle prompted the X-Men to step back a little and stare in awe. Suddenly, Weapon X, too, seemed to stop in place and stare blankly.
Logan's vision, blurring more and more the longer the fight wore on, focused behind his opponent to see Professor X proppoed up against his overturned wheelchair and both hands pressed against his bald head. Although he would have liked to settle it man to man, Wolverine didn't look a psychically paralyzed gift horse in the mouth. Turning his body to put the most momentum into a single slash, he neatly struck down the black-clad clone.
Upon seeing Weapon X fall, Jean wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but as the fallen mutant's wounds healed and he groaned back to consciousness, she was reminded that this was the toughest enemy they'd ever faced. "Go help the Prof," Logan suddenly ordered the team. Caught off-guard by the command, Kitty and Evan looked at one another and then broke away from the group to help their teacher.
"I meant all of you," he said, eyeing the remaining X-Men.
"Logan--" Ororo began.
"You don't wanna see this, 'Ro," he almost snarled. As the others slowly backed off and turned their attention to the Professor, Wolverine's jaw clenched as he ran his hand over the new set of claw marks carved into him. But no amount of pain could keep him from finishing this fight. Even if it took his last breath...better none of him than two of him in this universe.
As Professor Xavier was helped back into his chair, Kitty glanced over her shoulder and did a double-take when she saw that both Wolverine and Weapon X were gone.
"When...do you guys...ever learn...I don't make deals!" But the mighty mutant was more than ready to change his tune after another shock tore through him.
"First you kill the original Weapon X, then we let you have your dear brother." With a grunt and a shake of his head to clear the cobwebs, Juggernaut turned back toward the mansion and went to find Wolverine. The leader of the agents in black costumes, one hand wrapped up courtesy of Sabretooth's crushing grip and the other clutching the device, was all smiles. That is, until a disgustingly long tongue whipped the tiny controller from his hand.
Snatching the shock box in the air, Toad toggled one of the switches, trying to figure out how to zap Juggernaut. In his haste to try every button on the small gadget, he didn't see the man in black draw another gun with his good hand. Just as Todd felt the box vibrate and saw Cain grab his helmet with a cry of pain, a beam shot just a hair behind him.
Deciding at the last second not to break the guy's legs off, Havok instead aimed his blast at the ground right in front of the man. Firing a shot into the air as he fell, the leader did draw the attention of the remaining men in black, who began gunning for Toad like he had a bullseye painted on his costume. The agile mutant jumped sideways and back again, barely keeping his hide clear of fire.
His fifth jump was blocked by something large, and upon inspection Todd really wished he looked before he leapt. Juggernaut grabbed the boy by his scruffy hair and viciously whipped him around, causing him to drop the shock box on the soaking wet grass. With a thunderous stomp, Jug crushed the box and once again regained his freedom to destroy whoever he wanted.
Just for good measure, he lifted his foot and looked under, just to make sure his only weakness had been reduced to scrap. To his disbelief, the device was nowhere to be found! His wide eyes slowly went from the crater his foot had made to the brown ponytail that was rising out of the ground several yards away. Phasing back to the surface, Shadowcat smiled sweetly and waved at Juggernaut before gently flipping the switch on the shock box.
The macho Cain Marko screamed like a girl as his gray matter was almost charred black by the voltage. Now that he was standing still, Jean Grey was able to telekinetically unlatch the sizzling headgear, but not before Jug collapsed to the ground in a twitching heap. "Whoops," Kitty said, "Guess I, like, overdid it."
With the unstoppable Juggernaut defeated, the odds were now firmly in favor of the X-Men, but they still had to face Weapon X without Nightcrawler, Sabretooth or any members of the Brotherhood. And any clone of Wolverine was certainly not to be underestimated. Plunging claws-first into the opposition like the cornered animal he was, Weapon X scattered the teenage superheroes and set his sights on the smallest one in the pack.
Knowing that Kitty would turn intangible before he could sink a claw into her, he focused on bringing down Spyke. This proved harder than he thought, as the boy had a huge reach advantage if he produced the longest spikes he possibly could. Unable to strike, he quickly lost his speed advantage, but had the presence of mind to duck and dodge each attack from the remaining mutants.
His strategy, or lack thereof, quickly changed to suit the growing feeling of desperation, and pretty soon he was in a berserker rage. In his frantic slashing at anything that moved, he grabbed a fistful of blond hair and nearly decapitated Havok before the boy could shoot a force beam at close range. Throwing his own strategy out the window in favor of helping his baby brother, Cyclops socked X right in the jaw.
The shorter mutant staggered back a bit, but before he even regained his balance he took a shot at Scott. Slicing the ruby-quartz visor in half at the bridge of Cyclops' nose, he also stabbed into the boy's right temple with another claw before the protective eyewear fell apart and the optic beams hit him point blank.
Sliding in the mud a good ten feet after he'd been launched across the lawn, even X's advanced healing factor took a while to mend the crushing impact against his head and chest. Unfortunately for him, while Sabretooth may have been put out of commission, Rogue was still hairy and at the moment feeling very feral. "No...don't..." he hoarsely begged as he was lifted to a standing position and then off his feet by the throat.
"Ro...please...they made me do it...they forced me...you gotta help me..."
Storm's fierce expression softened just a little. What if he was telling the truth?
"Force this," a voice came from behind, and in a metallic flash the clone was cut from Rogue's grip and hurled to the ground. The X-Men collectively gasped as Wolverine, the real Wolverine, appeared in his orange and black costume. The smell of his significant other seemed to revitalize Weapon X, and he lunged without hesitation.
Wolverine grunted as bone claws dug into his midsection, but quickly responded by plunging his adamantium claws into his impostor's neck and savagely tearing the black mask from his face. The intensity of the struggle prompted the X-Men to step back a little and stare in awe. Suddenly, Weapon X, too, seemed to stop in place and stare blankly.
Logan's vision, blurring more and more the longer the fight wore on, focused behind his opponent to see Professor X proppoed up against his overturned wheelchair and both hands pressed against his bald head. Although he would have liked to settle it man to man, Wolverine didn't look a psychically paralyzed gift horse in the mouth. Turning his body to put the most momentum into a single slash, he neatly struck down the black-clad clone.
Upon seeing Weapon X fall, Jean wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but as the fallen mutant's wounds healed and he groaned back to consciousness, she was reminded that this was the toughest enemy they'd ever faced. "Go help the Prof," Logan suddenly ordered the team. Caught off-guard by the command, Kitty and Evan looked at one another and then broke away from the group to help their teacher.
"I meant all of you," he said, eyeing the remaining X-Men.
"Logan--" Ororo began.
"You don't wanna see this, 'Ro," he almost snarled. As the others slowly backed off and turned their attention to the Professor, Wolverine's jaw clenched as he ran his hand over the new set of claw marks carved into him. But no amount of pain could keep him from finishing this fight. Even if it took his last breath...better none of him than two of him in this universe.
As Professor Xavier was helped back into his chair, Kitty glanced over her shoulder and did a double-take when she saw that both Wolverine and Weapon X were gone.