Sniper-X: Chapter 10-Family Ties
---------------
Logan and SX followed after Hell Demon until they reached what looked like an abandoned warehouse.
Hell Demon landed beside them after hovering in the air for a few seconds.
"What now?" Logan asked, staring up at the empty looking building.
"Do you see that dim light up there? The third window, top and to the right."
Logan nodded. "Yeah, I see it."
"Me too." Sniper-X nodded, taking out her sniper rifle and setting it on the ground. She reloaded her 9mm and then put it back in her holster, shouldering her backpack once again.
Hell Demon stared at SX a bit curiously, then glanced back at the window with the light, then at Logan. "They're holding the woman up there. I could see her from the sky. She's tied to a chair at the far right corner of the room and there's two large men with weapons standing near her and the door."
Logan grunted. "Good eye. Now what do we do about it? Where's scar face?"
Hell Demon sighed. "I do not know, but perhaps we should worry about that later."
Sniper-X stood from her crouching position on the ground. "Agreed. If I can get to a high enough position, I can take out the body guards silently, then you two can look for mush man."
Logan looked at SX then scratched his chin. He looked at the old building next to the warehouse, then at Hell Demon. "Can you take her to that roof ta get her shots off?"
He nodded, flexing his wings slightly.
SX rubbed her hands together and grabbed her rifle. "Okay, let's get shakin' then." She grinned and stared up at the other building.
---------------
Once Hell Demon took Sniper-X to the other roof, he swooped down to where Logan was so they could head into the building quickly upon SX's signal.
SX layed out on the roof, looking through her night vision scope at an angle where she could see the body guards around the woman in the warehouse over. She took in a deep breath, held it, and gently squeezed the trigger. Pop. Thud. She prepared for another shot quickly but precisely. Pop. Thud. The second guy was down before he could even react to his buddy getting shot.
Sniper-X stood up and waved down to Logan and Hell Demon for them to infiltrate the building. She looked through her scope again to see where the woman was. It looked like she was trying to scream, but there was duct tape covering her mouth so she was unable to do so.
SX slung her rifle strap over her shoulder and started down the fire escape on the side of the warehouse.
---------------
The next thing she heard was cluttered footsteps and shuffling noises as SX approached the entrance of the warehouse. She burst through the door, not caring what or who was awaiting her on the other side.
Logan and Hell Demon were standing in defensive positions at opposite angles, but they were both facing the same person. It was Vinny Spachelli. Curiously he was without guards, but since Hell Demon and Wolverine were both keeping their distance, SX figured Spachelli had some sort of edge in this fight. Indeed he did actually, it was the woman.
Sniper-X unholstered her gun, leveling it at Vinny's face while remaining in the doorway. "Where is she Spachelli?" SX asked evenly, struggling to keep her calm.
Vinny had a smug and satisfied grin on his face and looked from SX, to Hell Demon, until his gaze halted at Logan. "I see you're alive." He said it as if he wasn't a bit surprised, but to Logan it was obvious that he was, he could smell it on the guy.
Logan grunted. "That's more than yer gonna be when this is over."
"Hmm..Well that depends on your point of view my friend." Spachelli smirked.
Without warning, Hell Demon reached behind his back, pulling a knife from the back of his belt and hurled it towards Vinny with amazing volocity.
Logan and SX's eyes darted toward the knife as it nailed Spachelli in the neck with amazing accuracy and a sickening 'chuck' as it pierced his throat.
"Wait!" Logan ground out.
It was too late though. Almost before SX could blink, Hell Demon had Vinny pinned to the ground, his hand on the knife in the guy's neck. It was so odd seeing Hell Demon act like this; through everything else he had kept complete calm. Sniper-X forgot one thing though, Vinny killed Hell Demon's wife.
"You killed my wife you bastard!!"
The blood gurgled in Vinny's throat and he managed a sadistic grin. "It doesn't matter...if I...d-die now....my objectives.....are...c-complete..."
"What do you mean by that?!" Hell Demon yelled at Vinny as he started to fade. "Tell me you stupid fuck!"
Wolverine and SX ran over to Hell Demon, pulling him away as he began violently shaking Vinny.
"Calm the fuck down!" Logan yelled at him, although he shared the urge to rip Vinny apart limb by limb. Logan could understand that feeling to want to know something, the truth about something, no matter what. "This isn't gonna solve anything." He said a little softer.
Sniper-X stared at Vinny, noticing something purely evil in his eyes just before they rolled back into his head and his heart stopped beating. The warm blood remained to trickle down the side of his half-severed neck. "He's dead." SX stated flatly.
Logan and Hell Demon each looked up, the latter seeming to have calmed down respectively. Hell Demon sighed, glancing toward a rickety staircase on the side wall. "The woman..."
Logan, Hell Demon, and Sniper-X all started up the stairs, preparing for more guys to be up there.
When they reached the top floor, they each stood in shock, staring at the empty room. There was nothing up there besides the cracked wooden chair the woman was in, some unraveled rope, and blood stains on the floor. The bodies of the guards were no longer there, it was just...empty.
SX started toward the chair, noticing something on the seat.
"What is it?" Logan asked, following her slowly. Hell Demon did the same.
"It's...a note." SX replied slowly, taking up the piece of paper in her hand carefully. "It says...: I'm not your mother, but don't look far for other relations..." SX remained puzzled, looking at Logan and Hell Demon. "What the fuck is that supposed ta mean?" She asked bitterly.
"We were set up." Logan grumbled.
"Not exactly..." Hell Demon started to say, trailing off.
"What?" SX looked to him curiously.
Hell Demon peeled off his black and red mask, revealing a young man in his mid-thirties with sandy brown hair, a stubbly chin, and pale greyish skin the color of his demonic tail. He took in a deep breath and sighed. "I'm your father."
Logan's eyes widened, and Sniper-X's did even more so. "Y-You?!"
Hell Demon looked down at the gritty wood floor. "It's true. After the trials, when you ran away, your mother and I thought you dead." He paused for a moment, as if trying hard to remember. "Soon after that, your mother was killed. When the cops came, I was arrested and sent to a mutant prison. They wiped my mind pretty clean and until recently, I haven't been able to remember a single thing." Hell Demon looked at Sniper-X, saddened...not for himself, but for her.
Logan gently put a hand on SX's shoulder in an effort to comfort her. "But...how did you find me then?"
"Some of my memories had been returned to me after escaping from the prison. I'd been looking for you for atleast a year...looking for your mother's killer too." A tear drop trickled down Hell Demon's cheek and he made no effort to wipe it away.
"My...my mom's dead." SX stated it more of a confirming fact then a question.
Hell Demon nodded, cautiously stepping toward his daughter that he hadn't seen in so long.
Logan stepped back, becoming less protective and allowing SX to confront, who he trusted was her real father.
Sniper-X wasn't normally a person who liked to be touched, or hugged, or show much compassion in any way. This time was different, she actually felt something in her heart telling her this was right, making her feel whole again. SX leaned toward Hell Demon as he approached her, and then embraced in a hug. "Dad." She smiled into his shoulder as he hugged her, loving the way the word sounded coming from her mouth. SX may not have a mother, but she did have a father, and he cared for her.
Logan stood back, arms crossed and smiled.
Sniper-X pulled away from Hell Demon and held him at arms length. "Wait."
Hell Demon's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
SX half-smiled, shoving her hands in her pockets. "Well, what's my name Dad?"
Hell Demon actually smiled, something he himself knew that he hadn't done in a long time. He let out a soft laugh. "Kinda strange but, your name's Memphis."
SX grinned. "That makes sense."
Logan joined in now. "How does that make sense?"
"Because it's something I never would've even used in my fake IDs. Kind of ironic."
Logan chuckled, shaking his head to the side. He glanced at Hell Demon. "So what's yer name bub?"
Hell Demon reached out his hand toward Logan. "Eddie."
Logan shook his hand. "I'm Logan. Ya got one helluva daughter there Eddie."
Memphis watched the two and smiled, walking down the stairs as they began to follow. She stopped short, staring in confusion at the floor. "What the-?!"
Logan and Eddie both looked too, seeing nothing where there should have been Vinny Spachelli's body.
Logan sighed, slapping Eddie on the back in a friendly manner. "Maybe it's best just ta move on."
They all ignored the odd and somewhat frustrating situation and left the warehouse.
---------------
The night air was damp, almost turning to morning in a few hours. Memphis breathed in the cool night air, holding tightly to her new found father's hand. She looked at Logan. "Well, I guess this is good-bye huh?"
Logan shrugged, stuffing his hands into his back pockets. "Listen, I know a guy up in Westchester that has a school for the gifted, well, mutants. It's uh, it's where I usually stay I guess...Would you two be interested in comin' up there?"
Memphis looked from her Dad, back to Logan confirming her answer. "Nah, I'm not a mutant." She shrugged and smiled.
Logan looked at her curiously. "Well, uh.."
Hell Demon patted Logan's shoulder. "Don't worry about it Logan, we'll be fine on our own." He started walking down the alley, Memphis closely in tow.
Logan scratched the back of his head, watching the two walk away. "Hey, what about a last name for you two?"
Memphis looked back, pausing for just a brief second. "How about Logan?" She watched her Dad shrug, and she winked back at Logan.
He chucked, rolling his eyes and mumbling. "What a trip." Logan started walking off in the opposite direction down the alley.
"Oh, hey Logan." Eddie called back to him.
Logan turned around, quirking an eyebrow. "Hm?"
"Tell Xavier I said thanks for helping me out." Hell Demon winked, grinning at Logan before rounding the corner with his daughter and disappearing.
Logan stared across at the empty street. He didn't remember mentioning Xavier's name. And thanks for helping him? That was odd. Logan shrugged and walked on his way out of the alley. "Maybe it's time I head back ta the school after all."
---------------
*end*
---------------
Logan and SX followed after Hell Demon until they reached what looked like an abandoned warehouse.
Hell Demon landed beside them after hovering in the air for a few seconds.
"What now?" Logan asked, staring up at the empty looking building.
"Do you see that dim light up there? The third window, top and to the right."
Logan nodded. "Yeah, I see it."
"Me too." Sniper-X nodded, taking out her sniper rifle and setting it on the ground. She reloaded her 9mm and then put it back in her holster, shouldering her backpack once again.
Hell Demon stared at SX a bit curiously, then glanced back at the window with the light, then at Logan. "They're holding the woman up there. I could see her from the sky. She's tied to a chair at the far right corner of the room and there's two large men with weapons standing near her and the door."
Logan grunted. "Good eye. Now what do we do about it? Where's scar face?"
Hell Demon sighed. "I do not know, but perhaps we should worry about that later."
Sniper-X stood from her crouching position on the ground. "Agreed. If I can get to a high enough position, I can take out the body guards silently, then you two can look for mush man."
Logan looked at SX then scratched his chin. He looked at the old building next to the warehouse, then at Hell Demon. "Can you take her to that roof ta get her shots off?"
He nodded, flexing his wings slightly.
SX rubbed her hands together and grabbed her rifle. "Okay, let's get shakin' then." She grinned and stared up at the other building.
---------------
Once Hell Demon took Sniper-X to the other roof, he swooped down to where Logan was so they could head into the building quickly upon SX's signal.
SX layed out on the roof, looking through her night vision scope at an angle where she could see the body guards around the woman in the warehouse over. She took in a deep breath, held it, and gently squeezed the trigger. Pop. Thud. She prepared for another shot quickly but precisely. Pop. Thud. The second guy was down before he could even react to his buddy getting shot.
Sniper-X stood up and waved down to Logan and Hell Demon for them to infiltrate the building. She looked through her scope again to see where the woman was. It looked like she was trying to scream, but there was duct tape covering her mouth so she was unable to do so.
SX slung her rifle strap over her shoulder and started down the fire escape on the side of the warehouse.
---------------
The next thing she heard was cluttered footsteps and shuffling noises as SX approached the entrance of the warehouse. She burst through the door, not caring what or who was awaiting her on the other side.
Logan and Hell Demon were standing in defensive positions at opposite angles, but they were both facing the same person. It was Vinny Spachelli. Curiously he was without guards, but since Hell Demon and Wolverine were both keeping their distance, SX figured Spachelli had some sort of edge in this fight. Indeed he did actually, it was the woman.
Sniper-X unholstered her gun, leveling it at Vinny's face while remaining in the doorway. "Where is she Spachelli?" SX asked evenly, struggling to keep her calm.
Vinny had a smug and satisfied grin on his face and looked from SX, to Hell Demon, until his gaze halted at Logan. "I see you're alive." He said it as if he wasn't a bit surprised, but to Logan it was obvious that he was, he could smell it on the guy.
Logan grunted. "That's more than yer gonna be when this is over."
"Hmm..Well that depends on your point of view my friend." Spachelli smirked.
Without warning, Hell Demon reached behind his back, pulling a knife from the back of his belt and hurled it towards Vinny with amazing volocity.
Logan and SX's eyes darted toward the knife as it nailed Spachelli in the neck with amazing accuracy and a sickening 'chuck' as it pierced his throat.
"Wait!" Logan ground out.
It was too late though. Almost before SX could blink, Hell Demon had Vinny pinned to the ground, his hand on the knife in the guy's neck. It was so odd seeing Hell Demon act like this; through everything else he had kept complete calm. Sniper-X forgot one thing though, Vinny killed Hell Demon's wife.
"You killed my wife you bastard!!"
The blood gurgled in Vinny's throat and he managed a sadistic grin. "It doesn't matter...if I...d-die now....my objectives.....are...c-complete..."
"What do you mean by that?!" Hell Demon yelled at Vinny as he started to fade. "Tell me you stupid fuck!"
Wolverine and SX ran over to Hell Demon, pulling him away as he began violently shaking Vinny.
"Calm the fuck down!" Logan yelled at him, although he shared the urge to rip Vinny apart limb by limb. Logan could understand that feeling to want to know something, the truth about something, no matter what. "This isn't gonna solve anything." He said a little softer.
Sniper-X stared at Vinny, noticing something purely evil in his eyes just before they rolled back into his head and his heart stopped beating. The warm blood remained to trickle down the side of his half-severed neck. "He's dead." SX stated flatly.
Logan and Hell Demon each looked up, the latter seeming to have calmed down respectively. Hell Demon sighed, glancing toward a rickety staircase on the side wall. "The woman..."
Logan, Hell Demon, and Sniper-X all started up the stairs, preparing for more guys to be up there.
When they reached the top floor, they each stood in shock, staring at the empty room. There was nothing up there besides the cracked wooden chair the woman was in, some unraveled rope, and blood stains on the floor. The bodies of the guards were no longer there, it was just...empty.
SX started toward the chair, noticing something on the seat.
"What is it?" Logan asked, following her slowly. Hell Demon did the same.
"It's...a note." SX replied slowly, taking up the piece of paper in her hand carefully. "It says...: I'm not your mother, but don't look far for other relations..." SX remained puzzled, looking at Logan and Hell Demon. "What the fuck is that supposed ta mean?" She asked bitterly.
"We were set up." Logan grumbled.
"Not exactly..." Hell Demon started to say, trailing off.
"What?" SX looked to him curiously.
Hell Demon peeled off his black and red mask, revealing a young man in his mid-thirties with sandy brown hair, a stubbly chin, and pale greyish skin the color of his demonic tail. He took in a deep breath and sighed. "I'm your father."
Logan's eyes widened, and Sniper-X's did even more so. "Y-You?!"
Hell Demon looked down at the gritty wood floor. "It's true. After the trials, when you ran away, your mother and I thought you dead." He paused for a moment, as if trying hard to remember. "Soon after that, your mother was killed. When the cops came, I was arrested and sent to a mutant prison. They wiped my mind pretty clean and until recently, I haven't been able to remember a single thing." Hell Demon looked at Sniper-X, saddened...not for himself, but for her.
Logan gently put a hand on SX's shoulder in an effort to comfort her. "But...how did you find me then?"
"Some of my memories had been returned to me after escaping from the prison. I'd been looking for you for atleast a year...looking for your mother's killer too." A tear drop trickled down Hell Demon's cheek and he made no effort to wipe it away.
"My...my mom's dead." SX stated it more of a confirming fact then a question.
Hell Demon nodded, cautiously stepping toward his daughter that he hadn't seen in so long.
Logan stepped back, becoming less protective and allowing SX to confront, who he trusted was her real father.
Sniper-X wasn't normally a person who liked to be touched, or hugged, or show much compassion in any way. This time was different, she actually felt something in her heart telling her this was right, making her feel whole again. SX leaned toward Hell Demon as he approached her, and then embraced in a hug. "Dad." She smiled into his shoulder as he hugged her, loving the way the word sounded coming from her mouth. SX may not have a mother, but she did have a father, and he cared for her.
Logan stood back, arms crossed and smiled.
Sniper-X pulled away from Hell Demon and held him at arms length. "Wait."
Hell Demon's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
SX half-smiled, shoving her hands in her pockets. "Well, what's my name Dad?"
Hell Demon actually smiled, something he himself knew that he hadn't done in a long time. He let out a soft laugh. "Kinda strange but, your name's Memphis."
SX grinned. "That makes sense."
Logan joined in now. "How does that make sense?"
"Because it's something I never would've even used in my fake IDs. Kind of ironic."
Logan chuckled, shaking his head to the side. He glanced at Hell Demon. "So what's yer name bub?"
Hell Demon reached out his hand toward Logan. "Eddie."
Logan shook his hand. "I'm Logan. Ya got one helluva daughter there Eddie."
Memphis watched the two and smiled, walking down the stairs as they began to follow. She stopped short, staring in confusion at the floor. "What the-?!"
Logan and Eddie both looked too, seeing nothing where there should have been Vinny Spachelli's body.
Logan sighed, slapping Eddie on the back in a friendly manner. "Maybe it's best just ta move on."
They all ignored the odd and somewhat frustrating situation and left the warehouse.
---------------
The night air was damp, almost turning to morning in a few hours. Memphis breathed in the cool night air, holding tightly to her new found father's hand. She looked at Logan. "Well, I guess this is good-bye huh?"
Logan shrugged, stuffing his hands into his back pockets. "Listen, I know a guy up in Westchester that has a school for the gifted, well, mutants. It's uh, it's where I usually stay I guess...Would you two be interested in comin' up there?"
Memphis looked from her Dad, back to Logan confirming her answer. "Nah, I'm not a mutant." She shrugged and smiled.
Logan looked at her curiously. "Well, uh.."
Hell Demon patted Logan's shoulder. "Don't worry about it Logan, we'll be fine on our own." He started walking down the alley, Memphis closely in tow.
Logan scratched the back of his head, watching the two walk away. "Hey, what about a last name for you two?"
Memphis looked back, pausing for just a brief second. "How about Logan?" She watched her Dad shrug, and she winked back at Logan.
He chucked, rolling his eyes and mumbling. "What a trip." Logan started walking off in the opposite direction down the alley.
"Oh, hey Logan." Eddie called back to him.
Logan turned around, quirking an eyebrow. "Hm?"
"Tell Xavier I said thanks for helping me out." Hell Demon winked, grinning at Logan before rounding the corner with his daughter and disappearing.
Logan stared across at the empty street. He didn't remember mentioning Xavier's name. And thanks for helping him? That was odd. Logan shrugged and walked on his way out of the alley. "Maybe it's time I head back ta the school after all."
---------------
*end*