Disclaimer: The X-Men and all other characters in this story belong to the incredible Mr. Stan Lee and the other geniuses at Marvel Comics.
Hi there! Told you this chapter would be up quick. More action-y goodness to be found. Also, wait until you see what Sinister has up his sleeve next. Guaranteed to make you hate him more!
Pinkchick: What other pairs would you like to see?
Roguechere: More Rogue, I promise.
DoWriter12: Thanks again for your kinds words.
Well, that's that. Enjoy the show!
The way things had been going, it might as well have been Fred fighting alone. With Pietro gone, Wanda's powers canceled out, and Toad's powers not well suited for battling Sentinel's, that left the Blob holding off the robot as best he could. Many fist-sized dents dotted the Sentinel's legs, but Fred's blows did little to slow the monster down.
The Brotherhood's house had been reduced to its foundation. If they managed to survive this battle, they would definitely be in the market for a new place to live.
The Friends of Humanity members had departed the scene rapidly, assured that the Sentinel could get the job finished with little difficulty.
Fred hefted a steel support column from the fallen house and began to beat the Sentinel around the leg with it, hoping to cause even the slightest bit of damage.
The Sentinel's armor held up well, but Fred was persistent. After a few repeated bangs concentrated in one area, Fred managed to rip back a section of the leg plating, revealing the intricate workings beneath it.
His victory was short lived, however, when he caught a blast from the Sentinel's wrist mounted energy cannon full on in the chest. His massive bulk absorbed most of the blow, but he was still sent rocketing backwards several feet to slam into the ground, leaving a good sized crater.
"Oh man. Pietro better get a move on, yo, or we're all doomed." Toad exclaimed as he leapt to avoid a blast from the Sentinel.
His prayers were answered several moments later when the shadow of the Velocity descended over the battle. Continuing to hover, the hatch opened and Jean and Storm flew out. Jean used her telekinesis to drag Avalanche and Shadowcat out with her, while Nightcrawler teleported straight to the ground along with Wolverine.
The Sentinel turned to asses its new opponents. Raising its hand, it attempted to shoot down the Velocity. Hank, at the driver's seat, reacted faster and pulled the craft out of harms reach. He flashed a good luck to his teammates, then flew the craft to a safe location out of range of the Sentinel.
Wanda waved to catch Storm's attention, then pointed at the antennae sticking out of the Sentinel's left shoulder.
"That things blocking my powers!" She shouted. "Take it out!"
Storm nodded her understanding, then flew above the Sentinel's head. Raising her hands, she called on the forces under her control, gathering dark thunder clouds in the sky above her.
At her command, a bolt of lightning lanced forth, striking the antennae. In a flash of sparks, the apparatus blew apart.
The Sentinel turned its attention to Storm, taking aim with its energy cannon. Before it could fire, however, a sudden malfunction in the firing mechanism, courtesy of the Scarlet Witch, caused the weapon to backfire. The Sentinel's entire hand was blown clear off its arm, where it came crashing down.
"Unit damaged. Preparing to return to base."
"We can't let it get away!" Wolverine shouted.
"Jean, through me at!" Kitty said.
Jean nodded and used her telekinesis to fling Shadowcat at the Sentinel's head. She phased before reaching it, and passed through it. Jean locked onto her with her powers once more.
The Sentinel, its electronic brain now scrambled from Kitty's phasing, began to jerk around spasmodically. Avalanche used his power to break up the ground under its feet. The massive robot began to sway dangerously.
Fred, recovered from the blast he took earlier, came charging forward and rammed into the Sentinel's leg with all the strength he could muster. The monster finally lost its balance and toppled over backwards, slamming into the ground with a loud crash that shook the earth nearly as violently as Lance.
Wolverine jumped onto the Sentinel's broad chest and began hacking away at anything he could reach. His adamantium claws cut easily through the protective armor, severing power cables and other inner workings beneath.
"Warning…warning…unit compromised. Initiating self-destruct sequence. T-minus: 15 seconds until unit destruction."
"Crap!" Wolverine shouted, leaping clear of the Sentinel. "Head for the hills!"
Nightcrawler grabbed onto Wolverine and Wanda and teleported as far away as he could manage.
Jean grabbed onto Shadowcat and Avalanche once more and began to tow them away.
Storm summoned up a powerful gust of wind, lifting herself along with Fred and Toad to carry them away.
The Sentinel's countdown reached zero, and its massive form was engulfed in a ball of flame. Jean saw she wouldn't be able to outrun the shockwave, so she erected a telekinetic shield around her and her passengers. The blow sent her mind reeling, but she was able to keep herself and the others from harm, but she had to set down, unable to keep herself aloft any longer.
Storm came down beside her, setting Fred and Todd after. Nightcrawler teleported back in with his passengers. The exertion had left him winded, and he was doubled over, gasping for breath.
"I'll radio Beast to come get us." Wolverine said. He glanced at the Brotherhood. "You coming with us?"
The three nodded, seeing as they had nowhere else to go.
Rogue leaned back against the wall of her attic prison, breathing deeply and trying to dispel the aches and pains that coursed through her body. Sinister's various tests that he had run on her had involved a large amount of poking and prodding from various gizmos, and the experience was unpleasant and not one she was interested in repeating.
She heard the trapdoor to the attic opening and groaned out loud. She wasn't ready for another round of testing yet. If this was Mimic coming to fetch her, she swore she'd attack him, powers or no.
"Chere?"
Rogue immediately sat up straighter. That was definitely not Mimic.
"Gambit?" She called.
"Shhh! Keep your voice down petite. Gambit pretty sure he not supposed ta be up here. He get caught, we both in trouble." Gambit's lithe figure crept forward from the shadows, moving with a silent grace born of many years in New Orleans' Thieves Guild.
Rogue never wanted to hug someone more in her entire life. "How did yah get here?" She whispered. "Did yah escape?"
Gambit shook his head. "Non. De Marauders, de got Gambit workin' for dem. Gambit don' want to, but Sinister say he keep you alive if Gambit do what he say."
"Yah…yah workin' fer them? Fer me?"
Gambit flashed one of his infamous smiles. "Of course. Ol' Remy do anythin' fer you, didn' he tell ya that?"
Rogue's mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. Gambit continued.
"Listen Rogue, we not de only ones de got. Gambit saw dat kid Cyclops bein' led aroun', and I t'ink dey got his little brother also."
Rogue's brain finally kicked back into action. "They got Scott an' Alex too?"
"Looks dat way." Gambit stopped and tilted his head to one side, as if he were listening to something. "Gambit can' stay any longer. Listen petite, Gambit workin' on a way ta get us out o' hear. You just sit tight, Remy figure us away out." He favored her with another smile, then turned and vanished back downstairs.
St. John Allerdyce, the Acolyte Pyro, glanced nervously over his shoulder as he crept down the dark corridor. Magneto made it quite plain that under no circumstances were any of his Acolytes' to ever come down here. St. John had never questioned the order, until now. Something Gambit had said when they battled at the docks had got him to thinking.
What is it that Magneto has over Colossus? He thought to himself. Does it have anything to do with this forbidden corridor? Whatever it was, it was obviously supposed to be between Magneto and Colossus. Gambit had found out what it was one way or another. Now Pyro's curiosity had led him down here.
The corridor stopped abruptly at a door. There was only a tiny window on it, and it was barred. St. John tried the handle, but found it predictably locked. Glancing over his shoulder once more, Pyro aimed a jet of flames at the lock, melting it. Pyro nudged the door open and glanced inside.
The room beyond was sparse. There was a bed against one wall, and a small wooden table and chair in the opposite corner. St. John at first thought the room was unoccupied, but a noise from behind the door caught his attention.
He peeked behind it and discovered a small girl with long blond hair curled up in a ball. She looked to be about eleven or twelve, and she was staring up at Pyro with wide, frightened eyes.
Pyro blinked for a few moments, unsure of what to make of this situation, then he knelt in front of the girl and gave her his best smile.
"Hey there Sheila. What're you doin' here?"
The girl sniffed, but raised her head in what St. John supposed was a defiant gesture.
"My name is not Sheila." She said. "It is Illyana."
Pyro chuckled. "Figure of speech darling. Illyana, then. That still doesn't explain why yer in here, though."
"The man with the helmet is keeping me here."
"Magneto?" Pyro noticed she had a slight Russian accent. "Illyana, do ya know a bloke name o' Piotr?"
Illyana nodded. "He is my brother."
That was it. That was what Gambit was talking about. This is what Magneto had over Colossus.
St. John frowned. Many people called him crazy, and perhaps they weren't too far off, but kidnapping and blackmail was something even he didn't condone. Especially when it involved children.
Illyana was looking at him. "What is your name?"
Pyro shook himself out of his thoughts and smiled at the girl again.
"Name's St. John. Listen sweetheart, I'm gonna try an' find someway ta get you out o' here."
"Are you now, St. John?"
Pyro stiffened. Illyana shrieked and hid her face. Pyro whirled around to see Magneto standing behind him. His helmet was off, and he was not happy.
"Have I not expressly told you never to come here?"
St. John drew himself up and used his anger to fuel his courage. "Dis is beyond low, even for you. How do you live with yerself?"
"Very easily, St. John. Which is more than I can say for you."
Pyro realized he had two choices: fight or die. Opting for the former, he raised his fists and shot two streams of fire at Magneto.
Magneto surrounded himself with a magnetic shield, which the flames dispersed harmlessly against. He clenched his fist and lifted Pyro off the ground by his fuel tank. Flinging his arm forward, he sent Pyro sailing backwards across the room and into the far wall, which he bounced painfully off of.
Magneto floated further into the room, lifting Pyro in his magnetic grasp once more, intending to bash him against the wall again.
Suddenly, two powerful arms wrapped around him from behind. Magneto cried out in surprise, but before he could react the arms had thrown him into the wall. His unprotected head cracked against the concrete, and he slumped to the floor, dazed.
Colossus turned to his sister. He knew he had to hurry, before Magneto recovered.
"Illyana, hurry!"
"Piotr!" She cried, jumping to her feet and running to throw her arms around his neck. Colossus picked her up in one arm, and turned to Pyro.
"Are you coming, comrade?" He asked, before hurrying out the door.
"Right…right behind ya mate." St. John said, getting to his feet. He was still a bit woozy, but managed to follow Colossus out of the door before Magneto had enough time to retaliate.
Professor Xavier sat in the kitchen of his mansion, drinking coffee with Hank, Ororo, and Logan. They had been recounting the earlier battle with the Sentinel.
"What I can't figure out is why the authorities failed to respond." Ororo was saying. "It's not as if one could miss it."
Xavier nodded. "That concerns me also. I sincerely hope that these so-called Friends of Humanity don't have any influence with the police."
Logan grunted. "Wouldn't surprise me." He took a long sip of his coffee. "So how're our new arrivals settling' in, Hank?"
"Fairly well. There's no small amount of tension between the Brotherhood and the X-Men, but there have been no fights at least."
"Pietro did not stay, did he?" Ororo asked.
"No. I imagine he went to find his father." Xavier answered.
They sat by in silence for a few moments, before Xavier sat up straighter and stared out into space for a moment.
"We have visitors."
Logan looked at him sidelong, then got out of his chair to see what he was talking about. The other three followed after. They opened the front door to see Pyro and Colossus standing there. Colossus was holding a young girl they didn't recognize in his arms.
"Hi there!" Pyro said cheerfully. "Mind if we come in mates?"
Logan heaved a sigh. "This house is getting way too crowded."
Sinister stood before the assembled Marauders. Gambit was there as well, but he remained detached from the group, keeping to himself.
"I have a very special mission for you all." Sinister told them. "I am sure you are all wondering why I have had you studying the maps of the sewers these past few days." There were a few nods and murmurs of affirmation.
"The reason, my faithful servants, is this; there is a small community of mutants that live within those very tunnels. They call themselves the Morlocks. These mutants are genetic dead-ends. Hideous creatures that have no place in the perfect world I have planned.
"This is my command. I want you to go into these tunnels and hunt them down. Stalk them! Tear them apart! Do you understand? I want you to massacre them!"
No, say it ain't so! Sinister had ordered the massacre of the Morlocks? Whatever are we to do?! Stay tuned to see what happens, of course! Will the Marauders stoop that low? Would they dare defy Sinister? And could the Institute get even more crowded? These answers and more in the next exciting episode of Mutant Dawn! Cobra awayyyyy!
P.S. Next chapter features a Special Guest Star!!!
