Here it is, folks… the battle you've been waiting for since Magneto appeared. Heads will roll, men will die, and women will weep (I'm over-exaggerating, don't worry!) Magneto's plan will soon be revealed, and the story will come together. Thank you all for your reviews and support. It's almost over!
Cyclops prayed a short, silent prayer as he kicked open the door where Menace was, his team behind him. Silence. Total, overwhelming, black, cold, silence. He was looking into the room where he knew Menace was hiding, but he didn't know where yet. Clearly, this was the generator of the mine that had once been here. "I've got a bad feeling about this," he muttered.
The room was very hot, apparently having been used recently. He was standing on a steel bridge overhanging huge tanks of boiling acid. It reminded him uneasily of a set for a Batman movie. Dark nearly everywhere, just enough light to see.
He motioned to the rest of the team, and they followed close behind. "Stay on the alert," he whispered. "Wolverine, pay close attention. Jean, do a psi-scan. They're here somewhere."
Wolverine gave a suspicious sniff. "You can say that again, boss. Sabretooth's close. Real close."
Jean raised her head. "Scott, they're up here somewhere. It's just a matter of where."
Suddenly, Storm gave a cry of pain from behind. Cyclops whirled around and fired off three kill-level optic blasts. Sabretooth! He stood there and simply took the brunt of the blasts as he held the unconscious Ororo by her cape with one hand. Wolverine went into action first, swiping his outstretched claws at his long-time enemy. Sabretooth roared and flung Ororo downward towards the waiting acid.
Nightcrawler quickly teleported to catch her, and was hit with a steel ladder from behind as he stretched out his arms for a grab. Jean looked down in horror. The Scarlet Witch grinned evilly back. Jean pointed at Wanda and sent her into the wall. "Beast! You grab Kurt; I've got Storm!"
Hank McCoy dove from the bridge and grabbed Kurt. Using the motionless body as a springboard, he leapt onto Ororo with his captive. Jean showed no signs of strains as she lifted all three back up to the bridge. But then she was suddenly hit from behind. She crumpled to the floor and Mesmero laughed at his luck.
"Jean!!!" shouted Cyclops. He fired a steady stream of red death at the master of hypnotism, but Mesmero back flipped to safety.
Suddenly, as though mentally summoned, Sabretooth jumped down off the bridge to where the Scarlet Witch was getting up. Mesmero did the same. Apparently, the Menace had decided to regroup. The X-Men did the same.
"Storm, Nightcrawler, Jean, are you all okay?" asked Cyclops. Mumbles of 'fine' echoed around. "Good answer. We're in for the fight of our lives, people, and I aim to win. Wolverine, you and Angel take Sabretooth. Jean, you, Hank and I will go for the Scarlet Witch. Kurt, Ororo, you've got Mesmero. We've got the odds, people; let's use 'em.
Scott walked to the edge of the bridge and faced the Menace. "Sabretooth, you're the leader of this bunch! Do you want to surrender, or do we get to kick your butts right here and now?"
No answer.
"That's the way you want it, fine!" He motioned to the rest of the X-Men to get into their teams and positions. They obeyed silently. Cyclops cut the silence with a blast into one of the tanks of acid. The already boiling liquid burst up like a volcano erupting, and the hissing chemical fell to the floor and smoked. "That's what you're facing, Sabretooth! Hope you're ready!"
Wolverine snuck down slowly. "Why'd I have to get stuck with a partner?" he moaned softy. "I could take Sabes without my claws and a hand behind the back!"
"You say something, Wolverine?" asked Angel.
"Nah."
Wolverine paused, close to their quarry now. Scarlet Witch and Mesmero had apparently had the same idea as the X-Men. But Sabretooth had stood his ground. Wolverine could hold back his instincts no longer. Despite a cry from Angel, he leapt with a cry of hatred upon Sabretooth and stuck his claws into the mutant's skin like a knife into butter. The brutish Sabretooth threw him off in pain into the waiting arms of Angel.
Angel glided back down to land and Wolverine broke free, his animal passion taking over his reason. Sabretooth backhanded him like a tennis ball off a racket and Wolverine went flying into a steel tank.
Angel took his cue and came flying in, landing his most powerful punch off the back of Sabretooth's head. He heard bone crack and saw the mad mutant grab him by one wing and hurl him above the steel tank where Wolverine had been thrown. He frantically tried to beat his wings, but nothing happened. "Guess this is it," he winced, waiting for the inevitable impact and burn. He instead felt himself fall into soft but strong arms. "Thanks Storm," he said as she dropped him back into the fight. "Anytime, my friend," he answered as she flew back to her own battle.
Wolverine, seeing his friend was back, rushed forward like a stampeding elephant towards Sabretooth. This time, he was able to avoid the punch, flipping above it and into the chest of his hairy foe. He raised his claws for the kill, but was hit with the force to stop a speeding train right in the chest.
"Nice punch, Sabes," he muttered, wiping the blood off his lip.
It was gonna be a fun fight.
Storm raised her arm to strike at Mesmero with a lightning bolt, but a side kick to the stomach stopped her. Goddess, he was fast! She had never known that Mesmero was capable of anything worse than hypnosis, but he was one of the fastest, slipperiest, and most skilled people she had ever met. He would have made a good thief, she thought.
Kurt teleported onto him and vanished again in a puff of smoke, but Mesmero was already out of his hands. The startled mutant did not have time to stop his descent onto Storm, and both crashed to the floor in a heap.
"What's wrong, X-Men? Didn't know I could fight?" he taunted.
"Little man," thundered Storm, her eyes growing white with anger. "You do not know a thing about fighting!" Mesmero was swept off his feet by a sudden gust of wind and into the steel bridge above. Storm reversed the wind to pull him down at incredible speed to the hard cold floor.
She paused for a moment, and Nightcrawler took over. Running like a dog on all fours, he sprang forward and landed a solid blow to the chin of Mesmero. The mutant hypnotist sunk to the floor again, only to be met with a torrential wind again. It swept him of his feet and above Storm. She boomed like the goddess she had once been. "Did you truly think you had a chance, little man? Did you? You have harmed my friend and me twice now, but by all I hold dear, there will not be a third!!!" She brought him back down to the ground. He gave a sigh of hurt and closed his eyes.
This was going to be harder than he had thought.
The Scarlet Witch was easily the most powerful foe of all. She hurled all sorts of objects towards her foes, and they were thus far unable to stop her.
Scott fired an optic blast toward her, but she simply pointed, and it hit his wife dead on. "Jean!" he cried. He cradled her body, and sighed with relief to see that she was alive.
"That was rather anti-social of you, miss!" shouted Beast, leaping on top of Wanda's head and flipping her backwards with her hair.
She went flying into a steel tank and narrowly dodged a lightning bolt Storm had been aiming at Mesmero. Pointing at Beast, he flew into an optic blast meant for her. She was making them look like fools.
But that was before Jean snuck up behind her. The anger in Jean's eyes rivaled Storm's. "Listen, lady, my husband and I are not putting up with this much longer, and neither is Beast. So unless you want an acid bath, leave us alone!"
The Witch smiled at the fury in Jean's eyes and simply removed her cloak and pointed. The cloak wrapped itself in Jean's face, blinding her like a net. Scott took the opportunity and fired an optic blast. This one connected. The Witch shot backwards like a cannonball into Mesmero, knocking him out.
Nightcrawler teleported down on top of Scarlet Witch, grabbed her, and hurled her forward. Beast caught her by one leg and swung her around like a string back to Nightcrawler. Kurt did the same, and the cycle continued on and on. With Wanda too dizzy to attack them, she was defenseless, and with Mesmero K.O.'ed, Storm and Nightcrawler could offer their assistance.
Cyclops motioned Storm over and told her to form a lightning bolt in her hands. "When I say 'fire', let it go." He told the same to Jean, except with a telekinetic beam. They watched as Wanda was relentlessly tossed back and forth, until finally, Scott shouted, "Let her go, boys!"
She went soaring up in the air, and Scott shouted, "Fire!" Red, yellow, and white blended in together into one beam, and struck the Scarlet Witch down, landing on top of Mesmero.
Scott saw Wolverine in the need of assistance. "Kurt, guard these two! Logan needs help!"
Wolverine was growing tired. Sabretooth wasn't. Angel was of no use with his wings damaged. Nothing was looking good for Logan.
He half-heartedly dashed forward, but was met with a punch to the chest. Howling in pain, he paused, waiting for the final blow from Sabretooth.
Instead, he heard a cry of pain and watched Sabretooth tumble to the floor. Looking up, he saw Cyclops with his hand still on the visor's trigger. "'Bout time you got here, boss!" he muttered.
"Get him Ororo!" shouted Cyclops. Storm rose into the air like a bird and her eyes became as white as snow. A lightning bolt snapped from the sky into Sabretooth. "Again!" shouted Cyclops, seeing Sabretooth move. More yellow, crooked death rained down. This time Sabretooth didn't get up.
Wolverine limped over to the unconscious body and raised his claws up. "It's time to finish this feud, Sabretooth!" he cried, plunging his claws into the heart of his eternal enemy. Almost sadly, he sheathed them and said, "You'll get your rematch in hell."
All was silent for a moment, but Scott broke it. "Kurt, I want you to tie these guys above one of those vats of acid. If they kill themselves, it's their own faults, not ours. But we can't let wake up and go free."
A laugh filled the room. Deep, monotonous. It grew louder and louder and louder, from a laugh to a cackle. It echoed throughout the room. Cyclops stared to the top of the bridge. Magneto stood there laughing. "Very good, Cyclops," he said. "Very good, indeed. You killed three of my five mutants today, and defeated the other two. Perhaps I underestimated you after all." He grew serious, his smile vanishing. "I promise you, that mistake will not be made again."
He rose up, hovering above the bridge, and that selfsame bridge started to rumble. Then quake. Magneto was reforming it! Scott managed to get one missed shot off his visor before the steel bridge wrapped itself around him and his teammates in a tightening grip. Magneto glided down as though on an invisible staircase until he was directly in front of Cyclops.
He gave a short cackle and snatched the visor off. "You won't be needing this, Cyclops, I can assure you." He continued cackling, but grew serious in the blink of an eye, as before.
He got up right in front of Cyclops' face, which was desperately keeping its eyes shut. "Come, X-Men, why the long faces? We have much to talk about."