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Chapter 5

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On his drive home, Scott kept rolling the conversation he had just had over and over in his mind, trying to dissect it to glean as much information as possible. There wasn't much more in the inner-workings of the conversation than there was at face-value and all he could discern from it was that the Brotherhood had been made up of more than just three people and a leader and that somehow that had saved Sabretooth's life.

Was this person a healer? Couldn't be. Victor was tossed off a building. There wouldn't be enough pieces to put back together

A teleporter? Not unless they had grabbed him at the start of his fall. The momentum would have killed him anyway.

Gravity powers? There was a possibility. Scott had heard of such powers before, and that was the only solution to his problem he could think of. If this savior had such finely tuned gravity powers that he was able to focus them on one person--Sabretooth--that could have slowed his fall enough to save his life. There was no other solution Scott could come up with. Gravity powers it was.

"Cyclops!"

Scott jammed a hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out his communicator. "Here."

Hank's voice continued. "Sabretooth has begun a brawl in Salem Center. We are going to take him down."

"Check. Where?"

"Harry's, if you would believe it."

"Gotcha. Did you remember it?"

"Did I remember it? Of course I did, fearless leader. I invented it!"

Scott grinned as he donned the visor he kept in the armrest of his car. "Just checking. On my way."

It seemed he got there not much after the rest of the self-proclaimed X-Men. Not really self-proclaimed, per say, it was a name given to them by the few students that knew about what went on in the sub-basement floors of the Xavier Institute. They weren't completely positive about which student had first come up with the name, but Scott had his bets on Bobby or Jubilee. Or both.

He brought the car to a screeching halt and stepped out, switching his glasses in favor of his visor. He had much more control that way. With a quick look around Scott assessed the situation. If anyone had called the police they had yet to arrive, and that way made it easiest. No authorities to deal with meant no authorities to answer to. Cecilia was not among the team assembled--that meant the Blackbird was still in the air and she would help from her position above them. Good. Always nice to have the highest position.

Looking over, Scott caught Hank's eye and nodded as he stepped to the front of their group. Right now someone with targeting powers would be very helpful, but Hank's muscle control made him the best for the job at hand. Everyone else was there for backup. "Okay people, fan out," Cyclops ordered. "Code-names only until we get back. How many people are inside?"

Calvin--Mimic--came up to stand beside him, using his mental powers borrowed from the professor to do a quick sweep in the building. Nothing too powerful, he wasn't that good a psychic. Cyclops saw the beginnings of Cecilia's force-field flicker up around the blond man. Cecilia was not a member of the field team, she preferred to keep to the air and assist when necessary. She had been given they psychic equivalent of a two-year, jet-flying course before anyone would let her take the helm. "Eight, nine, ten, no twelve. Eleven--eleven patrons and Sabretooth makes twelve," he announced.

Cyclops nodded. "Nightcrawler. 'Port in and out as fast as you can, bring as many people back as you can carry. Beast, take the north window. I'll be at the east to peg him if necessary. Mimic, you've got the brunt work. Just get him with his back to Beast and we're good." Mimic had copied the powers of not only Beast, but the young Piotr Rasputin as well, giving him almost unimaginable strength. If he couldn't take down Sabretooth for just the bit that was necessary, no one could. Someone like Remy would be perfect for this mission, Cyclops realized, Part of his mutation is that tracking ability. He's got to have excellent marksmanship. Too young though, maybe in a few years we can snag him.

"Okay team, three, two, one." Each number was counted off on his fingers and when he reached one he snapped and pointed, signaling everyone to their positions. A puff of smoke indicated Nightcrawler's departure. Cyclops and Hank sneaked around the back of the building, each taking a separate window. Out of the corner of his eye Cyclops saw Hank take an unobtrusive aim, just waiting for the right moment. It was soon to come.

Mimic took the shortest route--straight through the door. Sabretooth was coming out of a bloodied rage to see a blue-furred demon taking off with his so-thought hostages and a big man made of steel come barging in the door. "I don't know who the fuck you are," he snarled, never having seen either Nightcrawler or Mimic, "But you had better leave before I smash your head in."

The once-blond snorted his laughter. "Try me, kitty cat," he tossed back, readying himself for the imminent onslaught of fur.

It came barreling towards him at once, screaming at top of its lungs. There was a clash of silver metal and golden fur as the two of them grappled for the upper hand. It was a toss-up of who would win, but Mimic wasn't looking to win. He was looking to twist the bigger man so Beast could get a clear shot. In strength they were evenly matched, but Mimic's reluctance to resort to murder to win was his downfall. It made him hold back some--just a little, but some--and that bit was what counted.

Before anything disastrous could happen, Cyclops took aim and let loose with a quick blast to Sabretooth's open hide. The feral roared, now taking extreme notice of the man at the window and, as he turned to charge, Beast fired.

He did not miss. The shot struck him just as it should and buried itself somewhere in his side, almost under his arm. For a few moments Sabretooth paused, blinked a couple of times, and then collapsed to the floor causing it to tremble for the briefest of seconds. Cyclops allowed himself a small smile. It had worked. They had finally taken down the mighty Sabretooth.

"Mister Creed!"

Beast's reflexes were too well honed for his own good. The instant a voice hit his ears--a voice not on his side--and an alien smell came to his nose, he twisted and fired once more. It took him less than a second to regret his actions. There was enough serum in the tranquilizer dart to knock out three elephants and more than enough to kill a normal human a being or anyone without a serious healing factor. They all watched in seeming slow motion as it now made its way towards the under-sized girl they noticed standing by the wall. Her solid white eyes went wide with dismay and she paled under her lavender skin, and then in a flicker of pink was gone.

The dart passed harmlessly through open air and embedded itself in the wall.

Cyclops allowed himself a few seconds to collect and calm down before going back to business. He pulled his com from his belt and brought it up to his mouth. "Cece, lower the 'Bird and be prepared with as many sedatives as we loaded. We're gonna need them--Sabretooth is in the bag." An "Ay, ay" echoed back across the link to him and he shut it down, then turned back to his troops. "Nightcrawler, as soon as Cece gets the jet low enough, I want you to get Sabretooth up there. It won't be too far a jump. Beast, good shot, exactly as planned. We'll worry about the girl once we make sure we've got our cargo under control. Mimic," he gave the other man a brief pat on the shoulder. "Nice job there." As everything was going on around him, he remembered something. Something that had been bothering in.

"Where's Wolverine?"

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Buckwolf- Good guess, my friend. That was Emma. Anyway, Magsy and Scottertron are done talking now, I've just introduced a whole new kettle of fish. Hope you enjoy.