Chapter 40: Steel and Sinew

Two days after Valentines Day, the X-Men were killing time in the institute.  Jean and Scott were on a date, Kurt was with Amanda, Kitty and Lance had gone out for lunch, etc.  Really, the only X-Men present were Lorna, Kyle, Amara, Bobby, Sam, Rahne, Evan, Rogue, and Gambit.

Gambit, Evan, Bobby and Sam were playing poker.  Or, rather, Alex, Bobby and Sam were playing poker; Gambit was running on cruise control.  Kyle was reading a book, as Amara, Lorna, Rahne and Rogue talked. Suddenly, the occupants of the room received a telepathic communication from the Professor.

All available X-Men, please report to the planning room, immediately.

At that single sentence, the poker game was left lying, forgotten.  Kyle's book found itself holding a mark, and the four girls made mental notes of what they had been discussing.

Reaching the briefing room, fully in uniform, the group found that the Professor was waiting.

"It seems that the Acolytes are at it again.  They are presently attacking a steel mill, which was closed down for repairs. It's about two hundred miles east.  Logan will take you all in the Velocity.  Go quickly."

With that, the X-Men hustled out of the room, and, with the speed and skill that comes from endless practice, claimed seats on the Velocity, while they conferred over what the Acolytes could possibly want with the steel mill.  Logan quickly took the VTOL up, and the group departed for the steel mill.

Upon arrival, Logan set the Velocity down on the roof, and the X-Men made their way into the building via the stairwell.

They exited the stairs into an office-style room, and Bobby took charge.  "Spread out, try to find them.  If you run across Psylocke, run like hell." No one laughed.  As they entered the main part of the facility, they saw that there were many lights hanging overhead, along with chains, hooks, and pots.

Heading onto the catwalk, Kyle walked quietly, listening for the footfalls of someone who wasn't an ally.  Suddenly, he heard the soft sound of someone falling onto the catwalk, followed by a muffled running. Listening, Kyle suddenly leapt forward, dodging a glowing Psy-blade that whistled through the air where he once stood.

Hitting the ground with a flip, he pushed off, twisting in midair to face his attacker, who could only be one person.

Psylocke.

Lorna walked silently through the building, her feet padding on the ground.  This was actually a good place for her to fight in, the massive quantities of metal giving her plenty of ammunition.  As she looked around a corner, she found herself staring at the massive, hulking form of Beef, one of the strongest Acolytes.

Amara walked quietly, her senses alert for any sign of an Acolyte.  This was what saved her, as she heard the gnashing sounds of teeth a half-second before Lockjaw jumped at her, teeth and claws ready to rend.

Evan walked through the steel mill, watching for Acolytes.  As he walked, he saw a figure perched top of a now cooled boiler.  As he extended some spikes, ready to attack, the perched figure extended some of her own, and, as one of the many lights swaying over head put it's light on his opponent, he saw one of the Acolyte's who they had only met in simulations.  Marrow.

Gambit slipped between the metal cauldrons that the steel was boiled in with nary a sound, slipping up on the familiar silhouette of Pete Wisdom

Rahne slipped through the offices, following a scent that she had detected very early on.  Finally, she found its source, at the base of a secretary's desk. Looking up, she saw Catseye lazing on the desk.  With a sudden bunching of muscles, Rahne attacked.

Sam flew in the air over the mill, observing the locations of his friends.  As he flew, he felt a hard impact into his side, sending him into a wall. When he recovered, he found himself facing off against Jetstream.

Rogue slinked along the shadowy east wall of the building, the setting sun not penetrating the grim and soot built up on the windows.  As she slowly moved forward, she saw the shape of another person, one that was in possession of silver hair.

Bobby walked into the control center, hanging high over the rest of the plant, and found himself staring at possibly the most hated of the Acolytes, the one person who had single handedly angered all the X-Men, the one who had attacked Tabby as his resignation letter.

Berserker.

Kyle and Psylocke faced off for a few brief seconds, the catwalk they stood on swinging dangerously.  Finally, Kyle broke the stalemate, rushing towards his foe, even as the catwalk beneath them moved to and fro.  Psylocke was forced to the defensive as Kyle opened up with a barrage of punches and kicks.

Rahne landed on the spot where Catseye had once lain, only to find that the feline animorph had rolled to the side, her fangs glistening.  She leapt at Rahne, knocking her in the side, and sending the two of them rolling across the ground.

Amara and Lockjaw stood on the conveyor belt, both in their alternate forms.  Lockjaw leapt at Amara, his teeth flashing in the lights. Amara pulled a back flip, kicking Lockjaw in the chin, giving him a nice set of feet-shaped burns to his chin.  The wereformed crocodile growled, and rushed after the Nova Roman Princess.

Gambit attacked Wisdom with his Bo staff, only to have him roll forward, dodging the weapon.  Turning, the two mutants faced off, Acolyte vs. Former Acolyte.  Wisdom rushed forward, raking his claws down Gambit's sides, then dancing away from the counterattack.  Gambit pulled out the Ace of Spades, and, concentrating for a second, let it fly.

Marrow and Evan faced off, bone-thrower against bone-shooter.  Evan jumped first, launching several bones straight at Marrow.  Marrow flipped backwards, rebounding off of the metal of the boiler, and landed in front of said boiler.  Pulling two bones out of her arms, she tossed them at Spyke.

Lorna wasted no time, bringing a steel beam down with her powers, and wrapping it around Beef.  The muscular mutant struggled for a second, then, with a burst of muscle power, bent the beam away from himself.  Turning to the female magnetic mutant, he lifted the beam, and hurled it like a boomerang.

Rogue slipped quietly up behind her former ally, pulling her glove off as she walked.  Suddenly, a blur of wind blew past her, planting a fist into her stomach.  She soon felt a barrage of fists pounding away at her body, the mutant throwing them showing no signs of stopping.

Sam and Jetstream faced off, far above the rest of their teams. Presently, Jetstream was standing in an impromptu nest made from chains, while Sam crouched on a rafter.  Jetstream launched himself at Sam, his fist straight forward.  Sam launched as well, intending to slam into him from beneath.  As Sam ducked under, and started to come up, Jetstream flung his arm to the side, rolling him in flight, which sent Sam flying above him.  Grabbing onto a chain, Jetstream launched himself after Sam, slamming him back into a wall, leaving a deep impression.

Bobby and Berserker faced off, their powers flowing around their hands. Bobby iced himself up, as Berserker charged his fists.  Berserker made the first move, blasting a bolt of electricity at Bobby.  Iceman rolled to the side, letting the bolt fly past. Raising his hand, he shot a pillar of ice at Berserker.  The electricity throwing mutant dodged, as the pillar hit a button on the panel.  Suddenly, to Bobby's horror, the mill came to life below him, the noise staggering even up here.

Kyle's assault on Psylocke ended abruptly, as he dropped to his knees, his hands to his ears.  Psylocke capitalized on this, slamming a foot against his head.  As Kyle staggered to his feet, she followed through, running forward, and slamming both feet into his chest.  Kyle hit the ground hard, skidding for several feet, as his shoulder hit the railing of the catwalk, shattering it.  Psylocke rushed forward, intent on finishing off her opponent.  Luck was on Kyle's side, however, as a crane swung by, knocking Psylocke onto the top of the boiler Evan and Marrow were fighting in front of.

As Amara and Lockjaw fought, the conveyor belt beneath them activated, moving them steadily towards a pot of liquid steel, which had yet to cool from when the mill was shut down.  Lockjaw rushed at Amara, and, with a swing of the claws, slashed her across the arm.  She grasped the wounded limb, stemming the flow of blood as best she could. Lockjaw tackled her, and, pinned her to the conveyor belt, which carried both of them steadily towards the pot of liquid steel.

Jetstream grinned, as Sam pulled himself out of the wall.  The smirk was wiped from his face, however, when Sam slammed him hard, sending him flying through a window, into the ground outside.

Marrow and Evan were dueling, her using a bone-sword, him, a staff of bone.  The two were locked in a deadly dance, knowing that the points of either weapon could wound or kill with little difficulty.  As the two exchanged blows, the boiler behind them began blew open, the heat from it scorching Evan.  Marrow caught much worse, and was sent flying, her skin burnt.

As the machines came to life, Pietro found that hitting Rogue had become harder, mainly due to the metal crane that knocked him in the back.  He staggered forward, right into Rogue's bare hand.

Wisdom watched as Remy's shot went wide, flying past his right shoulder.  As he began to laugh, he heard it explode.  Turning, he could only watch as an empty cauldron slammed down on him, upside down.

Lorna used her power to propel the boomerang back at Beef, far harder than he'd thrown it.  She then followed up with several more, creating a crude cage of metal around the muscle-bound mutant.

Rahne and Catseye squared off, each dripping blood from injuries, all over the white carpet of the office.  Catseye ran forward, intending to finish the fight.

Berserker laughed, as Iceman watched in horror, as his teammates were put into a far more dangerous position, because HE had missed.  Before the former X-Man could capitalize on his former friend's shock, a metal sphere crashed through the roof, followed by 6 more.  Iceman didn't even turn to look.  Before him was a scene like a train wreck, to horrible to watch, but you couldn't look away, as Amara and Lockjaw fell into a vat of molten steel.

The X-Men watched as their foes all were lifted up by the metallic spheres.  All that is, except for Marrow.  Evan watched as the metallic spheres lifted away, and the Acolyte before him was left lying on the ground, third degree burns covering her skin.

Rushing forward, Evan made a decision.  Picking up the badly burnt mutant, he began to make his way towards the Velocity.

Amara climbed out of the molten steel, and, falling to the ground beside it, began to cry, as she transformed to her normal state.

All over the mill, the X-Men began to collect themselves, and, once all were gathered together, they boarded the Velocity, and departed for the institute once more.

Post Chapter AN: I almost have trouble believing I wrote that... R&R