No. 2
Survival"Storm, we need back-up immediately! I repeat, Nightcralwer's been hurt badly and needs medical attention right away!" called Wolverine.
It was only moments ago that the X-Men Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, and Wolverine invaded the Neo's headquarters. Having already completed their mission by destroying the base's power core, now these four X-Men only struggle to survive. Nightcrawler, the blue skinned mutant with the ability to teleport to places he's been to or seen before, made the ultimate sacrifice to destroy the base's power core. Now severely injured with wound all over his body, his teammate, named Psylocke (whose power is telekinesis) struggles to keep him alive by telekinetically pressuring the wounds.
"Is..the…p..pp..oo.ww.eerr.co.ooo.rre.e .g..g.o..con..nn….eee?" asked Nightcrawler barely able to remain conscious.
"Yeah, the power core's gone thanks to you." Replied Psylocke as she struggled to deal with seeing Nightcrawler in such pain, ('If only I still had my telepathy. I could close off his sense of pain so that he wouldn't suffer any more')
Back at the security room area, Shadowcat fought alone against a swarm of the Neo. Having become physically exhausted, Shadowcat contemplates whether or not she should use her power of intangibility in a more aggressive manner.
('I have to use my power a little more dangerously if I want to get out of this situation alive. My fighting skills just isn't cutting it right now. I have no other choice.') thought Shadowcat as she turned her had intangible, "Eh, blondie!" called Shadowcat, "Come get some!" she shouted as she flicked off the Neo.
All the Neo flared up with anger and charged toward Shadowcat like mad bulls that just saw red. Shadowcat used her intangible hands and legs to attack the Neo. As her hand or leg went through a Neo's body, she would slightly solidify herself to inflict severe pain to her victim before pulling out her limbs. Each person Shadowcat did this to collapsed or fainted when she was done. As one Neo tried to slice off Shadowcat's head with Shadowcat's katana, she stabbed her intangible fist straight into the Neo's chest and opened her fist. Shadowcat had never done that before but when she did, the Neo got a hole in his chest that was permanent. Shadowcat didn't realize what she had done but when the reality of her murder sank in, she gasped in fear, shock and of slight excitement.
"Oh my god!" cried Shadowcat horrified and excite, "I killed him! I killed him! I'm a…murderer!" screamed Shadowcat as she fell to the ground sobbing like a siren.
Meanwhile, outside the compound, Storm(the weather mutant), Phoenix(the telepath), Cable(the telekinetic and telepath), and Gambit(the thief with the power to charge objects with explosive kinetic energy) have just received Wolverine's transmission calling for help. These four X-Men waited as the other four entered the compound to destroy the power core. Storm's team's mission was to back-up the team entering enemy territory.
"Wolverine, hang on a while longer," replied Storm as Jean grabbed the medi-pack, "We're on our way to your location."
"Why didn't they call for help before someone got injured?" asked Cable.
"You're new to the X-Men Cable. You're lead X-Force(another band of outlaw mutants fighting for peace) and have been apart of several other teams but, the X-Men operate differently," explained Phoenix, "Our entire lives can change in a split second. We lead dangerous lives and with it comes the price of unpredictability. We never know what's going to happen."
"In other words, mon ami, our lives is like playing the game of chance," translated Gambit as he exited the Blackbird.
"How can you stand being around a guy as obnoxious that Phoenix?"
"You learn to tolerate him," Phoenix answered as she exited with Storm.
"All this stuff will take some getting use to," murmured Cable as he shut the door of the Blackbird telekinetically behind him.
"Alright X-Men," commanded Storm, "The Neo may be anticipating our arrival so the element of surprise is gone. We need to head into the base fighting. I'll create fog around the area to blind the enemy. Gambit, you blast down the entrance while Phoenix telepathically links our minds together. Cable, you use your telekinesis to shield us from the Neo. Everyone clear?"
"I'm as ready as I'll every be," replied Gambit.
"These situations never get any easier," commented Phoenix.
"If we die this day, we die fighting for a good cause," stated Cable as he pulled out his psimitar(a futuristic weapon used to channel psionic energy.)
"What a happy thought to keep in mind, mon ami," said Gambit.
"Let's go in X-Men," ordered Storm.
Immediately, Storm began to float into the sky. The clouds above began to swirl rapidly as thunder and lightning began to make their appearance. Thick fog began to form and be blown into the compound. The Neo guards were not able to see each other because the fog was so thick.
"What the heck is going on?" asked on Neo.
"I don't know. This fog appeared out of nowhere," explained another Neo.
As Storm increased the thickness of the fog, Phoenix established telepathic links with her team so that they would not get lost in the fog. Gambit quickly went up to the entrance door and charged it with massive amounts of kinetic energy. When the door was fully charged up, Gambit kicked the door down causing a major explosion. Cable immediately erected a TK shield for the explosion was bound to have attracted spectators.
The Neo started to attack randomly, trying so very hard to hit the X-Men. The Neo attacked with guns of all kinds and with all their powers but they attacked blindly. Phoenix used her telepathy to guide the X-Men to the power core of the base. As they moved farther into the base, the harder it was for Cable and Phoenix to maintain their powers. Because of the strain Cable put into the TK shield, he left his techno-organic virus(which he contracted as an infant) unchecked and it began to attack his system.
('Storm,') called Cable struggling to keep the TK shield up and put his virus in check, ('I can't keep up this TK shield for much longer. My techno-organic virus is beginning to attack my body. I need to focus my power on containing the virus or else it'll kill me.')
('You need not explain yourself Cable') replied Storm, ('You can pull down your TK shield and next time, just tell me what you have to do.')
('While we're on the subject,') added Phoenix, ('I'm going to cut off our telepathic link.')
Cable pulled down his TK shield and almost immediately, the Neo attacked like crazy. Phoenix cut off the mental link with her teammates and quickly focused her power on finding Wolverine and Psylocke. Gambit and Cable escorted Phoenix all the way to the power core while Storm stayed behind to cover them.
"Gale force winds! I command you to blow the Neo off the face of the Earth!" Storm commanded as gale force winds started to blow within the hallway.
Storm's winds blew at hurricane force and vacuumed the Neo out of the hall. Meanwhile, Phoenix got out the medi-pack and tended to Nightcrawler's wounds. Psylocke stilled kept Nightcrawler's wounds under pressure while Phoenix used her telepathy to numb Nightcrawler's sense of pain.
"Nightcrawler's wounds aren't fatal but he needs to go see a professional doctor. There's only so much that I can do since I'm not a medical major," announced Phoenix.
"We still need to find Shadowcat," reminded Psylocke with sweat dripping down her forehead.
"Psylocke, let me take over for you," suggested Cable when he saw how strained Psylocke was, "You need rest now."
"I'll manage."
"Here's the plan," explained Phoenix, "Gambit, Psylocke and I will remain with Nightcrawler until Storm arrives. Storm can help us get Nightcrawler out safely. Wolverine and Cable, you two must go find Shadowcat. Once you find her, get out of here. Do not wait for the rest of us. Got it?
"We're not going to leave you behind," replied Wolverine.
"Don't worry about me Wolverine. I'm Phoenix after all. I've died many times and like my namesake, I came back. Now go."
Wolverine and Cable collaborated to find Shadowcat each using their own power. Wolverine used his hyper sensitive sense of smell while Cable used his telepathy. In no time at all, the two X-Men zeroed in on Shadowcat and hurried to her aide. They found her kneeling on the floor sobbing.
"I killed him…I killed him…I'm evil…I'm a murderer…I'm a murderer…I killed him," chanted Shadowcat as she cradled herself.
"What are you talking about Shadowcat?" asked Wolverine.
"I killed him…I.kkilleddd him.." replied Shadowcat while pointing to the Neo with a hole in his chest.
"How'd you do that?" asked Cable.
"Let's not talk about this. She's been traumatized by what she's done. Let's just get her out of here, bub," Wolverine answered.
As Cable and Wolverine helped Shadowcat to her feet, they began to walk toward the doorway when a second door slammed down blocking the exit.
"What's going on? Is this my punishment for murder?" asked Cable.
All of a sudden, yellow mist began to seep out form the ceiling. The three X-Men didn't notice at first but Wolverine picked up the scent almost instantaneously. The gas started to fill up the room as quickly as water fills up a jar.
"It's some sort or gas!" exclaimed Wolverine coughing, "Putt.cough..cough..uup.a..TK…shi..eld..cough.."
Before Cable could pull up a TK shield, the gas started to take effect. Shadowcat and Cable fell to ground unconscious. Wolverine was still conscious and sprawled on the floor. Wolverine crawled toward the door and unleashed his adamantium claws from his fist. He slammed it into the door trying to break through while struggling to stay conscious. As Wolverine lost the rest of his energy, he finally collapsed on the floor with blood gushing from his nose.
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