Chapter Eight: Sneak Attack
The characters in this fic, by and large, do not belong to me. The X-Men, and related characters, are the property of Marvel Comics. GI Joe, and related characters, belong to Hasbro. The Delgado children (Althea, Brittany, Daria, Quinn, and Claudius), Xi, Sgt Snuffles, and the Eloi belong to Red Witch.
"Nice place," Riptide said sarcastically as he moved down towards the Eloi's encampment.
"The Eloi either live in the trees or in the cavern," Scalphunter said for the umpteenth time. "Most of 'em won't pose too much of a threat, but some of them might say to hell with pacifism. It's the Outriders we're mostly gonna have to deal with. Kill everything that moves until they're all dead, or until I call a retreat."
"Looks like we're gonna get an early start," Prism snickered. "Look."
Running toward them were a bunch of young Eloi.
"Hello strangers," the one in the lead panted. "We've never seen you here before. How did you come here?"
"Well, hello there yourself," Polaris said, pushing her way to the front. "Did you know that there's a pass in that valley over there? The formation of the rocks hides it, but that's how we got in."
"What?" The young man cried. "We should tell the Outriders!"
"Yes," Polaris grinned. "You never know what could happen if a bunch of strangers stumbled upon your home."
"Thorn says that they might attack us," an especially young Eloi piped up.
"That they could, child. Like this!" She lifted the lead Eloi high into the air with their, and brought him down to earth with a sickening crunch.
The other children screamed, and fled. Or tried to.
***
"Thorn!" Hound Dog hissed.
"What?"
"Blood. I smell blood. Coming from the camp!"
"Mrs. S? Is something wrong?"
Mrs. S. frowned, and used her powers to scan the camp.
"We're under attack!" She screamed.
"Outriders- let's go!" Thorn yelled.
***
"This is fun!" Blockbuster laughed as he punched through the chest of a mutant that looked like a giant ape.
"Told ya," Prizm smirked as he used his powers to first dazzle some escaping Eloi. He then focused his beams, and shot them through various body parts. "It's the screaming."
Everybody was killing. Scalphunter was shooting with amazing accuracy. Arclight was making heads explode when her fist hit them. Harpoon was spearing Eloi, and Sabretooth was clawing them to death.
"Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of skill and grace," Riptide sang as he pursued some targets of his own, hitting them with his shooting stars when they thought they were safe.
"Oh, not that again," Vertigo sniffed. She noticed that one of the 'corpses' that Prizm impaled was getting away. Grinning, she sprinted ahead of the sobbing Eloi, and used her powers on the girl, who fell to the earth. Vertigo took her gun out and took aim… and was hit from behind by a whip.
"STAY AWAY FROM HER, YOU BITCH!" Willow screamed. Animated plants and vines were swirling around her. Riptide turned and fired some of his shuriken at her. The plants enclosed Willow, and took the hits. Then, vines enclosed Riptide. One got around his neck, and started choking him.
Willow had never been as enraged in her entire life. She didn't know who these monsters were, and she didn't care. The vine around the one's throat tightened, and tightened even more…
Arclight snuck up behind the girl. One good punch was all it should take. Then, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Whirling, she saw Scalphunter.
"I'll do it. You knock out their communications."
Arclight snarled, but did as she was ordered. Scalphunter watched the shifting plants, and shot a specially made flare through them. The flare burned through the plants and hit Willow in the shoulder. Willow screamed and fell, and the plants around her, and attacking Riptide, relaxed. Scalphunter went to her, and turned her over.
"Gr- Grey Crow?" Willow stammered. She couldn't believe it.
"Hello, child," he said evenly. "Now, do what I tell you, and play dead."
"You're with these people, aren't you?"
"Yup. Now play dead like I told you."
"W-Why?"
"Yours is not to reason why, child. Now do what I tell you! I don't want to hurt you, but it doesn't mean I won't."
"STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER, YOU SLIME!"
A very familiar voice was audible through the chaos. Scalphunter turned, and sure enough, there was Thorn, running straight for them, a large woman with a rainbow beehive hairdo hot on his heels.
"Hello, old friend," Scalphunter smiled. "I was just catching up with my god-daughter." He picked Willow up, and hung her over his shoulder. He wasn't a coward, but a human shield was always a wise thing when it was available. Behind the two, he could see Sabretooth fighting a golden retriever and a cat-man, and Arclight trading blows with a large bald biker.
"Put her down," Thorn said, and his eyes narrowed. The enormous woman with the dyed hair put a hand to her head. Scalphunter burst out laughing.
"You really didn't think I'd come here without a telepathic-block implanted, did you?"
"Mrs. S, go deal with the rest of the intruders. I've got this one." The woman- Mrs. S- nodded, and left.
"Put my daughter down, Grey Crow," Thorn repeated.
"No."
"I will kill you."
"And I will finish what I started the last time we were all together," Scalphunter said, indicating Thorn's face. "You want to spend the rest of your life blind?"
"Just try it," Thorn snarled.
Scalphunter nodded, and put Willow
down. She got to her feet, unsteadily. "Willow,
go help the Outriders."
"But father-"
"DO IT!"
Willow stayed motionless, then went off. The two combatants squared off, and the fight was on.
***
Mole looked around at the ruins of his home.
"Oh, no, no, no…" he moaned.
The Outriders had arrived, and were fighting the intruders, and they were holding there own, but they were outnumbered. The intruders that weren't fighting the Outriders were going around killing his people.
He ducked back into the Cavern. At the back, there was a communication device, given to him by GI Joe.
"Help, help, GI Joe!" He yelled after he activated it. "This is Mole. We're under attack, and we need your help right now!"
***
Vertigo looked at the girl at her feet.
"Not so good when you can't point, are you?" Vertigo smirked.
Willow tried to follow the murderess' voice, but couldn't. She was so dizzy she could barely see.
"Oh, are we dizzy?" Vertigo asked in mock-sympathy. She pointed her gun at the girl's head. "Well, we can fix that…"
"Oh, so sorry, can't let you do that," a new voice said. Suddenly, Vertigo's gun was gone. Looking, she saw a white-haired boy in a blue costume unloading her gun.
"Let's rock and roll, Misfits!" Another boy shouted. He sent a tremor at Vertigo, and it knocked her off her feet.
Did he just say… oh bloody hell. This is about to get interesting.
Another girl picked Vertigo up. She had black hair with blue streaks, and she was pissed.
"Talk, bitch," the girl hissed. "What the hell are you after?"
Looking over the girl's shoulder, she could see that the Misfits were engaging her teammates.
"Go play with your dollies, little brat," Vertigo said as she used her powers. "Don't concern yourself with adult business." The girl gasped, and let her go. Vertigo got up. She recognized the kids from their descriptions, and there was one that she could really screw over. Where was… ah, there she was. She quickly caught Scramblers eye, and gestured. He smirked- it was a maneuver they'd perfected a while back. Vertigo used her powers on the Scarlet Witch.
"Ahh!" Wanda shouted, as intense dizziness overcame her. She was blasting a man with long hair, and then she could barely see. She stopped firing, but her last blast hit the mouth of the Cavern, which promptly collapsed. Suddenly, a man jumped on her. Wanda tried to fire a hex-bolt, but found that she couldn't! Scrambler smiled in triumph- the girl's blast couldn't have hit a better place if he'd directed it himself! He turned over, and began to strangle the Witch. From her struggles, it was clear she'd had some physical training- but not enough. Too bad- for her…
Vertigo turned to look at the girl- Wavedancer- only to find that she wasn't there. Vertigo instinctively moved, and barely avoided a blow to her head. She turned to use her powers on Wavedancer… only to find the girl's eyes closed. Vertigo gasped- with her eyes closed, Wavedancer was immune to her powers. Wavedancer hit again, and Vertigo went down. Snorting at the unconscious woman at her feet, Althea went to help Wanda.
***
Meanwhile, Fred was facing Blockbuster down.
"So you think you can hurt me, fat boy?" Blockbuster sneered.
"Lets find out," Fred spat, and hit Blockbuster in the mouth. Blockbuster looked surprised, and spat out a tooth.
"I actually felt that," he said, almost admiringly. "I haven't felt a hit like that in quite a while. Let me thank you, boy." He hit Fred in the eye before Fred could block. They began to trade blows.
Another Eloi charged Blockbuster from behind. Without missing a beat, Blockbuster dealt a stunning blow to Fred's jaw, and as Fred fell back, he picked the charging Eloi up, and threw him to ground, where he pounded his fist through the Eloi's chest. He never got tired of doing that.
He turned back to his main opponent, who was blinking and shaking his head. Blockbuster made a choice- he would wait for the boy to recover. It was the least he could do for the first guy in far too long to give him a decent workout.
***
"So you're the earth mover, right?"
Lance turned to see the speaker. She was a muscular woman with dark, shoulder length hair. She would have been beautiful if she didn't look so cruel- and if she didn't have blood on her.
"So what if I am?"
She gave him a wicked smile. "Rock my world, Tadpole."
"The name's Avalanche," Lance grunted as he sent a tremor her way. The woman laughed, and punched the ground. A tremor emanated from her, and cancelled out his!
"Is that the best you can do?" she sneered. "This is gonna be even more fun than I thought." She stamped her foot, and another tremor shot at Lance. He cancelled it out, but it wasn't easy.
The woman grinned.
"Much more fun…"
***
Not all of the Marauders were having fun.
"Stay put, you little froggy freak!" Prizm yelled at Todd, who was easily dodging all of his laser lights. The files said the boy had no psychic ability at all, but somehow the brat knew just when to turn and jump to avoid being hit. The beams only barely missed, but with his rays, missing by a millimetre was as good as missing by a meter. And the boy was showing no fatigue at all.
"Nyah nyah nyah-nyah nyah!" Todd taunted.
"Rip! A little help here!" Prizm finally shouted.
"I'm busy!" Riptide snapped. Riptide had only ever met one man who was even more accurate than he was. If Bullseye never missed, then Riptide billed himself as the man who almost never missed.
Of course, this was his first time against an opponent as fast as he. Quicksilver's speed wasn't limited to spinning, which made him a hell of a lot more mobile, and he'd obviously been given some training at catching thrown objects. Riptide could barely pin him down, but nothing more. It was pissing the hell out of him.
Pietro scowled. The guy hadn't run out of those shooting stars, so he had to be making them somehow. Pietro could take just about any of these guys out, but the moment he turned his back, this guy would start killing again, and not even Pietro was fast enough to prevent him from killing more Eloi- or, for that matter, some of the Misfits. Until Blob or Toad- or somebody who couldn't get hit- came to help him, he had to pin this guy down.
Or so he thought until one of those shooting stars almost took a few inches off of his hair. Pietro's eyes narrowed. That's it! This guy is going down now!
***
Xi prowled through the woods. He had found some Eloi children, and had guided them to what he hoped was a safe hiding place. He made his way back to the clearing, back to the fight, when his path was suddenly blocked by a short, powerful looking man. From the man's stance, it was clear that he knew Xi was there, despite Xi's camouflage being in use. From his bloodstained clothing and lack of noticeable wounds, he had to be one of the invaders. And it was clear where he was heading.
"Is it sporting to kill children?" Xi spat.
"Only the unfit die in a hunt," the man responded evenly. "The sick and the old, usually, but sometimes the foolish. The young also die, if they are not suitably protected. But then, you should know that, Xi. Or do you prefer 'Eleven'?"
Xi stepped in front of the man, and became visible.
"My name is Xi," Xi said quietly. "All of those who called me Eleven are dead now."
The man bowed his head in acknowledgement. "You may call me Harpoon."
Xi couldn't detect the man's abilities, but whatever else he was, he was a skilled fighter and hunter. Neither one made the first move, but they both circled each other.
***
Sabretooth couldn't help but grin. Outnumbered as he was, this was the best fight he'd had in far too long. The hunt was great, and now this!
He was fighting the remaining Outriders. The one with the claw was fast, and the biker couple were great in tandem. The animal people weren't bad themselves, but Sabretooth had dealt with them. They wouldn't be returning to this fight, but the other Outriders intervened before he could finish them off. His joy turned to anger as he saw the newest arrivals- not the Misfits, but the Joes.
Several Joes were teleporting in, evidently some kind of reinforcement force. They were going to aid the Misfits and the Outriders, until they noticed all the bodies.
"Dear God in Heaven," Lifeline breathed as he saw the carnage. The ground was covered in dead and wounded Eloi. As he caught sight of the combatants, his horror turned into rage.
"I need some help here!" There would be time for emotion later. Right now, these people needed a doctor. Most of the Joes went to help Lifeline and the wounded. The kids and the Outriders were more than enough for the bastards that did this.
Low Light didn't help with the others. He merely took aim at Sabretooth's head. But before he could pull the trigger, the barrel was twisted upwards, and the gun flew out of his hand.
"Come out here where I can see you, Bucket-Head!" Low Light screamed. It didn't seem like Magneto's style, and he didn't recognize any of the invaders, but if Sabretooth was here, then his boss wasn't far away.
"Well, I've been called a lot of things, but 'Bucket-Head' is new," a young female voice said from above them. A young woman descended to the earth. She was dressed in black, with a black cloak and a black mask which didn't cover very much of her face. Her hair was green, as was her eyes. There was a choker around her neck, but Low Light couldn't see what was on it.
"You're with the assholes, aren't you?"
"Correct. You may call me…" she paused, as if she had to think about it, "Polaris." She raised her hand, and every single weapon on Low Light's person suddenly detached, and flew up in the air.
"You have an impressive… arsenal," Polaris leered. "Mind showing me your last weapon?"
"Take a look at this!" Low Light shifted into an energy form and charged. Polaris laughed and flew into the air.
"I half expected you to take a metallic form," she called down. "It seems you aren't an idiot after all. But unless you can fly, you won't be getting your toys back. Oh, but don't worry. I'll be putting them to good use."
She began to shoot more Eloi with Low Light's guns. Low Light screamed in rage. He hadn't felt so helpless since Morrisseau.
***
"Yo Joe!" Jinx cried as she kicked Scalphunter in the jaw. He fell, but he wasn't out. He fixed her with a venomous glare. He couldn't fight two trained opponents, and they all knew it.
"I recognize you!" Jinx shouted as she saw his face. "You were with Sabretooth in the Princess Bar!"
"Yes, yes I was," Scalphunter grunted. "And you're with the Runt. Give him my best. Marauders! Time to go!"
"You're not going anywhere, murderer!" Thorn yelled.
"Yes, actually, I am." He began to rise into the air, as did the other Marauders.
"Oh, no you're not!" Thorn used his powers to raise a number of vines in the air, and after a second, Willow joined him. But the Marauders rose too quickly to be caught.
"Oh, and when you see the bald cripple again, tell him Malice sends her love," the green haired girl called down to them as they flew out of sight.
"Follow them!" Jinx tried to yell at the Misfits, but before she could finish, there was an explosion. It was minor, but it let loose a lot of smoke, clearly as a distraction. When the smoke cleared, there was no sign of where the attackers went.
The ground beneath Jinx shook a bit. She and Thorn stepped back. A minute later, a hole appeared, and Mole stuck his head out.
"Are they gone?" he asked. Thorn nodded, and he and Jinx helped him up.
"NO!" Mole screamed as he saw what was left of his home.
"Mole, I am so sorry," Thorn said, as he sank to his knees before the leader of the Eloi. "We- I- failed you, and-"
"No, my friend," Mole said, in a tone nobody had ever heard him use before. "It is not you that needs to be sorry."
Lifeline stood up from where he was tending patients. He went over to Mole, who was quickly becoming the centre of a large group of people- Eloi, Outriders, Joes, and Misfits.
He coughed gently, and somehow got their attention.
"I can't do this alone, and we don't have the facilities for all these people at the Pit," he said simply. He'd done what he could, but there was no way that he could help everybody. They couldn't take all the Eloi to normal doctors, and nobody was going to trust military doctors, which left only one option, and the Joes and Misfits knew it.
"Can they be teleported?" Spirit asked. Lifeline nodded. "Then let's hope the Xavier Institute isn't under some sort of attack right now."
Well, that's it. Was it easy to read? It wasn't easy to write. I wanted to convey just how sick the Marauders are, without getting too openly bloody. The body count was bad- far from total, but bad. The survivors go to the Institute for help, and the attack is discussed, as is Polaris' final message.
Stay tuned for "The Mutant Massacre:"
Chapter Nine: Aftermath