Chapter Thirteen: Round One
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. Reader, however, does belong to me.
RogueFanKC- I agree. They can't take the Horsemen, but they can provide an effective distraction until the mutants that can take the Horsemen are able to do so. Yes, yay to Tabby. Marauders strung up with heads on a stake? Not quite, but they will get what's coming to them (and about Kitty's driving- one of them will be subjected to the one thing worse than her driving, and that's all I'll say about that).
L1701E- Yes, that would make a great sequel.
Cammy- Don't worry, the Marauders sill start getting theirs pretty soon. And, yes, poor Tabby, and poor Person-That-Tells-Sam's-Family. I know who it's going to be, but I can't say right now. A test that's worth 60% of your grade? That's horrible! Let me repeat: good luck!
Red Witch- Don't worry about Xi. He's fine.
"Ugh," Scrambler moaned, shaking his head. "How-" He saw the Human Cannonball's body beside him.
"You have to be more careful," Scalphunter told him.
"Is it dead?" Scrambler asked, indicating Xi.
"This one?" Scalphunter raised Xi. "No- out cold. Got him with my gas gun. It's gonna be a little thank-you present for the boss. He's always saying he wants to study Mindbender's work- now he's got a living specimen."
Scrambler started snickering.
"You go that way," Scalphunter pointed. "A fight this loud is going to attract attention. Deal with it."
Scrambler followed orders, and Scalphunter went the other way, hoping to snipe some unsuspecting prey.
***
"Damn!" Callisto hissed. "That's fighting, or I've gone deaf! The Marauders have been engaged!"
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ororo demanded. "Let's go!"
***
"This way, children, hurry now," Annalee encouraged her charges. "We're almost there."
In the chaos of the fight, Annalee managed to round up her charges and herd them toward the sanctuary. There were others of her children still scattered throughout the sewer, but Annalee would be looking for them later. The important thing was to get the ones she had right now to safety.
"And yet, almost only counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades," a drawling voice said from just ahead of her. A man dressed in a strange metallic outfit and holding a gun stepped into the light. She didn't recognize him.
"RUN CHILDREN!" Annalee screamed. She could hear the children do as they were told. The man raised his gun, and fired several shots. Annalee closed her eyes, but felt no pain. Opening her eyes, she could see the man grinning viciously. Annalee turned around.
Her scream echoed through the sewers.
"WHY? WHY DID YOU MURDER MY CHILDREN?" she sobbed. She looked straight into the man's eyes, and used her powers of persuasion on him. This murderer would shoot himself in remorse! When he didn't even seem to be affected, Annalee knew that this one was somehow protected.
"Nothing personal," Scalphunter shrugged as he filled the old woman with bullets. "Just business." Hearing distant footsteps, he quickly left that portion of the tunnel.
***
"NO!" Callisto screamed as she saw the dead body of Annalee and the children. Ororo's eyes widened in horror. Even Masque looked a bit sickened.
"Why," Plague moaned. "Why?"
"I don't think there is a reason," Masque said quietly.
"Yes, there is," Ororo told him. "The Eloi, the Morlocks- somebody wants you dead for a reason. At last count, there are ten Marauders."
"We only need one alive!" Callisto hissed, understanding the meaning.
"But not the girl, not Polaris," Ororo told her. "She is under the domination of an astral being named Malice. We must take her alive, so that we may free her. We should also take another one, just to be sure. The rest are fair game."
"Amen," Big Tom said with much feeling.
It was then they heard the sound of crying. Callisto stood up, and went to the bodies of the children.
"It's all right," Callisto said quietly. "Friends are here." The pile of bodies moved, and Sarah sat up, unharmed. Tears were pouring down her face.
"A man came," the girl sobbed. "He started shooting everybody. I played dead."
Callisto picked her up and held her in a tight embrace. She turned to Masque, and held Sarah out. Masque took her.
"Masque, take her to the sanctuary, and hide."
Masque nodded, and left.
"Let's go," Callisto growled, and led the charge.
***
"Sounds like things are really going down," Low Light said as he heard the sounds of fighting. "Iceman, Boom-Boom, I need you to escort the wounded and the kids to the Morlock safe-house. The rest of you, follow me."
"Follow us," Bobby said as he led his group down the tunnels. A few uninjured Morlocks went along to help with the wounded.
"Why should we follow you when you don't know where it is?" one of the unhurt Morlocks, a young woman asked him.
"Oh, yeah."
"That's
Frosty for you," Tabitha snorted. "He can't lead anybody."
"Hey!"
"Why don't you show us where your hideout is?" Tabby asked the young woman, ignoring Bobby completely.
"Sure, whatever." She went to the head of the group, and started marching.
"Uh, what's your name?" Bobby asked her.
"Down here, they call me Scaleface. Don't you dare say anything about it!"
"No way! It's, uh, it's a nice name, right Tabby?"
Tabitha rolled her eyes. Frosty had absolutely no idea how to deal with people like the Morlocks.
"So how far to the hideout?" Tabby asked.
"It ain't far, but we should go slow, in case there's trouble."
"Gotcha."
The group moved on in silence. Bobby was banished to the back of the group to act as rear-guard.
"You've never heard of me, have you?" Scaleface asked Tabitha, very quietly.
"Why would I have?"
"I thought my scum sucking ex might have mentioned me. Guess not."
"Your ex?" Tabby thought for a moment. "Ray?"
"Yeah, Berzerker. Guess he forgot all about me when he joined you people. Oh, not that he forgot me when he needed me to free him when he came down here. 'Please, Scaleface, you gotta let me out!' No hi, baby, I really missed you. Not much of a thank you for risking your neck, either. And forget a goodbye!"
"Really?" Tabby asked, very interested. It didn't matter much now that she was with her sexy Sam, but at one time she was very attracted to Ray.
"I am so glad I got over that jerk," Scaleface went on. It was clear she'd had this on her chest for a very long time. "Even when we were together, his eyes went all over the place- more than normal for a guy, I mean! It was like he was looking for someone to turn him on, y'know?"
"He still does that," Tabby told her.
"Why am I not surprised?" Scaleface muttered. "I really cared for that jackass, you know? I really did! Okay, maybe I could have told him how I really felt, but he never said it either!"
Soon after, they reached the sanctuary. It was empty, except for Masque and a little Morlock girl.
"Well, that's everybody," Bobby said as the last of the wounded were loaded down. "The rest of you, stay here."
"They can stay," Scaleface hissed. "I'm coming with you."
"You? But-"
"This is my home, sonny boy. Those are my people being threatened. Besides, I have a few words I'm dying to say to my ex, so get your frostbitten ass in gear!"
"I-"
"Just smile and nod, Frosty," Tabby smirked.
Soon after, the trio was racing to the sound of the fight.
"Not far now," Scaleface told them. "I even know where it's going down. It's-"
She was interrupted by iron spikes which pierced her stomach and chest. She went down with a sigh. Bobby and Tabby stopped, eyes wide with shock. A green haired teenager appeared out of the gloom.
"You're that Polaris chick!" Bobby shouted as he iced up. Tabby began to make the mother of all time-bombs.
"Hold it, kiddies," she purred. "I just want to talk."
"We have nothing to say to you except 'surrender!'" Bobby shouted.
"Oh brother," Tabby muttered. Frosty practically struck a pose when he said it.
"Not even if it concerns my bald cripple of a father?" Polaris asked sweetly.
"YOUR WHAT?" the two New Mutants asked in disbelief.
"Too bad," Polaris said as she turned and left. "And I was so hoping to talk."
"She doesn't mean-" Tabby started.
"I don't know, but it doesn't matter! Let's go!" Bobby continued on.
"I'll tell Ray for you," Tabby told Scaleface's body sadly, as she raced to join him.
In her hiding spot, Malice smirked. It was draining to directly control Lorna, and she had already done it twice in less than 24 hours, but it was worth it. One of those two would open their mouths eventually, and Xavier would be forced to tell them the truth about her. It would have been easier just to kill Xavier, but Malice never went for the kill when she could go for the pain first. Malice retreated back into the depths of Polaris' mind, and Polaris made for the battle sounds. Those louts had better save a few for her!
***
CRASH!
"Is everybody okay?" Low Light asked his team. A large… something had crashed out of a tunnel wall and flew right into another one.
"I think so," Fred replied, but there came sudden movement from the pile of bricks created by the something which crashed. Blockbuster stood up.
"Hello," he grinned. Low Light and Scott started shooting. Neither the gun nor the optic blasts did much damage. Pietro was about to try punching him at superspeed, but he felt a brush at the back of his neck, and he felt his speed die. Scrambler.
"Watch out!" Pietro yelled, but it was too late. Scrambler managed to touch Jean, Low Light, and Sunder before backflipping back where he came from.
"AGH!" Sunder yelled as Blockbuster's punch knocked him into the chamber where the battle was raging.
"Let me handle him!" Fred shouted. "The rest of you stop the others!"
"You heard the man!" Low Light called. "Good luck, kid."
"I beat you before, fat man," Blockbuster sneered.
"You ran, bastard," Fred snarled. "We didn't get a chance to finish it."
"Well let's finish it now!" Blockbuster roared as he and Fred went at it. Blockbuster launched a fight at Fred's solar plexus. Fred barely dodged, and shot off a blow to Blockbuster's jaw, which Blockbuster neatly sidestepped.
As the fight went on, the victor became clear. The two were near equals in strength, but Blockbuster's slightly greater agility and much greater experience caused him to dominate Fred. Fred got a few good blows in, but he knew he was done for. The best thing he could do would be to pin Blockbuster down for as long as possible.
Then, the impossible happened. Blockbuster missed. Fred jumped off of the walkway just as Blockbuster was launching a fist to Fred's jaw. The blow missed Fred's head be a scant few inches. Blockbuster blinked in shock, but Fred saw his opportunity and took it, because he knew he wouldn't get another. He punched Blockbuster in the nuts. Blockbuster roared, and went down. Fred began raining blows down on Blockbuster's unprotected back.
"DO YA LIKE THAT?" Fred screamed. "IS IT FUN, LIKE KILLING ALL THOSE PEOPLE WAS FUN? HUH? ANSWER ME!"
Fred jumped back up on the walkway. With one hand, he picked Blockbuster up and slammed him against the wall. He began to beat him with the other. Fred lost all sense of time. There was just his enemy, and the need to stop him. There was a loud crunch after Fred dealt Blockbuster a blow to the neck, but Fred kept hammering him, only vaguely aware that his opponent was dead.
***
"Don't scare me like that!" Althea and Elisabeth yelled at each other. Their groups met up in the tunnels. Elisabeth and Althea almost literally ran into each other.
Healer was doing what he could for the shrapnel victims, but his powers were drained in helping the burn victims. He didn't save nearly as many as of the immolated Morlocks as he'd hoped to- another sign of old age. The severity of the shrapnel wounds was taxing his powers to the limit. He knew he couldn't help the blue boy with the knife wound- he could wait for now.
Kurt groaned. Shipwreck was helping him walk.
"Are ve there yet?" he asked jokingly.
"Don't make me pull over," Shipwreck mock threatened. He was worried- the kid's voice was starting to get weaker. In spite of what the movies said, knife wounds to the stomach weren't instantly fatal, and the fact that he received instant first aid helped his chances of pulling through a lot, but the fact was plain- the injured that Healer couldn't help had to get to a doctor ASAP.
"We had a run-in with Scalphunter and Vertigo," Amara told Roberto. "You?"
"Arclight, Harpoon, and Polaris," he answered.
"We lost two of ours," Hank, helping two young burn victims, said to Shipwreck. "Remy and Xi went after Vertigo and Scalphunter."
"Xi can take care of himself," Shipwreck said confidently. "I just hope Remy's major hate-on doesn't get him killed."
"There's fighting up ahead," Peter said as he came back. "Most of the others are holed up in a large chamber, fighting the Marauders."
"Al?" Todd said.
"Right, Toddles!" Althea said fiercely. "It's asskicking time!" She, Todd, Peter, Amara, and Roberto went ahead. As they turned the corner which would take them to the chamber, spikes flew out of the air. They managed to dodge them in time.
"Stay away from the tunnel!" Roberto called out to the larger group.
"Mama, just killed a man," Riptide sang. "Put a gun against his head, pulled the trigger, now he's dead."
Peter, still armoured, stood up, and walked straight into the maelstrom of throwing stars. He could feel them scratching him, and the ones which hit him dead on stuck in him, but he kept going. Riptide kept singing, but he was obviously growing nervous. Riptide began to throw the stars even faster. The pain was increasing, but he didn't care. The turbulence from the wind was slowing him down more than the pain.
By the time he was within arms reach, Riptide was spinning so quickly he could barely be seen. Peter roared, and extended an arm. He felt flesh, and grabbed it. The spinning stopped, and the stars did as well.
Todd looked up and gasped. Peter was holding Riptide in one hand. Riptide's head was 180 degrees to the rest of his body. Peter dropped the body, and spat on it.
"Let's go," he called. He dropped the body, and stepped on the neck, which made a further satisfying crunch under his heel. Todd felt like he was going to be sick. He didn't know that Metal Muscles was capable of something like that. He looked up at Althea. Althea looked a little green, but her expression was filled with grim approval.
***
Riptide's stars may have been gone from the main chamber, but they were soon replaced by Prizm's beams. Low Light, Cyclops, Spyke, and Berzerker were firing on him, but his lasers intercepted their shots. The ones that did get through were mostly ineffective.
"When I get my hands on that little bomber-bitch, I'll make her pay for every finger she cost me- and my thumb!" he screamed in a towering rage.
"Aww, what's-a-matter," Pietro called from a protected spot. "Are ya gonna have to start using your other hand for pleasure now?"
"Cut it out, Pietro!" Lance, right next to Pietro, called out. "It's obvious that got blown off a while back, too!" They high-fived.
"SHUT UP!" Prizm screamed, and redoubled his shots.
From a hidden vantage point, Harpoon watched the battle. Some Morlock corpses were on the floor, but his teammates were being distracted by the party crashers. Scrambler- who had neutralized Storm and Big Tom when they, Callisto and the other Outriders had arrived- was sneak attacking the vulnerable, Sabretooth was wrestling with the Wolverine, and Scalphunter was firing shots. He didn't know where Arclight, Polaris, Vertigo, Blockbuster or Riptide were. He decided it was time for him to enter the fray. He saw the Shadowcat girl sneaking up on Prizm. She would be his first target. He aimed, charged his spear, and threw.
Kitty crept up behind Prizm. She was gonna phase the, the… she couldn't think of a name bad enough… right through the wall. Just as she neared him, her body exploded in pain, and she screamed.
"Kitty!" Lance screamed, but Pietro pulled him down before he could be clearly seen.
"Kitty!" Peter screamed, and made for her. Harpoon frowned. Oh, no he wouldn't! As always, his spear hit true. Colossus was hit, and he dropped. Harpoon didn't know whether he was alive or dead.
***
Vertigo stuck to the walls, for fear of attracting attention. She had set herself up in a tunnel adjacent to the chamber. A few Morlocks managed to make it out of the line of fire, but many of them went her way, and she had picked up several guns after she ditched Remy. Between her powers and her guns, no Morlock that came her way survived.
***
Arclight watched the scene with a smirk. The Beast and one of the Joes- the father of Wavedancer and Trinity- were guarding the wounded. Well, she knew how to put a stop to that. Gently, she hit the wall of the tunnel, and caused it to collapse. Several of the targets were hit by the falling masonry, including the Joe, who was also holding Nightcrawler. Arclight watched the new commotion for a moment before joining the greater battle. When she entered the chamber, she made sure that her fists and arms were covered, and she snuck up on the Rogue. She knocked the girl into a wall, creating yet another hole.
***
Remy was cursing. How could he have lost that murderous, self-absorbed beast?
For the past few minutes, he followed the sound of fighting. It was hard to track, but eventually Remy got near to its source. As he made his way, he noticed something odd: a seemingly random brick pile created by a new hole in the wall. Remy didn't know why it bothered him, but it did. He took a moment to move the bricks. There was definitely something wrong- moving the bricks shouldn't have been that easy. Moments later, he found the tied up form of Xi. Remy started freeing the other mutant.
"Thank you," Xi grunted. "Scalphunter gassed me. I think he was going to take me back with him to their headquarters."
"Well, Essex does think he is a scientist," Remy told him. They both knew what would have happened if Scalphunter made off with Xi- medical experiments, followed by eventual dissection. "Are you up to kicking some ass?"
"Oh yes," Xi hissed, flashing his claws. "Let's go."
They followed the tunnel, and came out behind the screaming Prizm. They also noticed Kitty, who was unconscious behind him. They locked eyes, looked back at Prizm, and then nodded to each other.
Remy charged a card, and threw it at Prizm's feet. The explosion shattered his legs and some of his torso. Before the pieces could fall to the floor, Xi rushed in and kicked it towards the opposite wall with all of his strength. The rest of the torso, and the head, shattered. Some of the witnesses began to cheer.
***
From her vantage point, Polaris pursed her lips in dismay. She had found the bodies of Blockbuster- still being pounded by the Blob- and Riptide. Now, Prizm was dead. She had a lot of fight left in her, but the Master's orders were clear- if three or more Marauders die, it's time to retreat.
"Marauders," she said into her comm link. "Blockbuster and Riptide are down, too. Time to leave."
"Damn," Vertigo groaned as she crept out of her tunnel and headed for the rendezvous point. She was quickly joined by the acrobatic Scrambler.
Harpoon said nothing as he crept away. He wondered which ones took down Blockbuster. Judging from the Russian having Riptide's stars embedded in him, he had to be the one who killed Riptide.
"This ain't over, runt!" Sabretooth called as he made his escape.
"You got that right, bub," Logan growled as he chased after his nemesis.
Arclight cursed, and made her way for the nearest escape tunnel before the targets realized what was going on. Scalphunter covered her escape before making his own.
***
"Wounded!" Ororo called as she realised that the Marauders were retreating. "Tend the wounded!" There were a lot of them.
"This cannot be happening," Callisto muttered as she tended her people. "It just cannot be happening."
"Storm!" Gambit called. "We have a problem over here."
Storm went over to where Remy and Xi were kneeling over Kitty.
"What's wrong?" she asked. Kitty was breathing, and Ororo couldn't see any external wounds."
"This," Xi said. He waved his hands through Kitty. Ororo's eyes widened in horror. Kitty was unconscious, but still phased.
"Kitty!" Lance yelled as he ran to join them. "What's wrong with her?"
"Does anybody know how to listen to Metal Muscles here?" Pietro called out. Elisabeth went to join her boyfriend. "I don't know if he's breathing." Elisabeth frowned.
"If I remember correctly, he should revert to normal if he's somehow knocked out."
"Then he's dead?"
"Let's find out." She placed her hands on his head. She didn't know how to sift through a lot of minds yet, but she did know how to find just one.
"He's alive!" Elisabeth exclaimed. "He's in great pain, and he can't move!"
"I can take him," Fred said from behind them. They turned, and gasped. Fred was covered in blood.
"It's not mine," Fred told them. He had a strange look in his eyes. "Well, most of it ain't." He picked Peter up, and took him to the developing triage area.
Scott and Jean walked up to them. They looked a little green.
"What happened?" Elisabeth asked him.
"Blob came in from over there," Scott said, indicating a side tunnel. "We found Blockbuster in there. He was beaten to a pulp, and I mean that literally."
"Yeah, well, Riptide's over there," Althea said as she and Amara joined the group. "Peter broke his neck. That's two down, and Prizm makes three."
"That's not enough!" Jean savagely exclaimed, and Althea nodded.
"You got that right, Red."
"I need some help!" Hank yelled as he entered the chamber. "I need Kitty, and as many strong people as we can spare!"
"Kitty's down," Ororo told him. "So's Peter. Sunspot! Blob! Rogue! Go help Beast."
"Oh, Al," Todd said mournfully. He hopped in behind Hank, and crossed the chamber in a few bounds. When he got closer, Althea could see the tears in his eyes.
"Al, I'm so sorry," he started. Althea instantly knew why.
"DAD!" she shouted.
"He's still alive, yo," Todd continued. "But he got hit by some rocks, and… he don't look good."
"What about Kurt?" Amara asked.
"Oh, yeah. He was holdin' onto Fuzzy when it happened. "I'm sorry, but he don't even look as good as Shipwreck."
***
Logan roared in frustration. Damn the Marauders!
He had almost caught up to Sabretooth when the intervened. Polaris used her magnetism to hold him against a wall, and Arclight collapsed a wall onto him. He survived, and soon clawed his way out, but he was pissed! When he got his hands on them he-
He caught a familiar scent. Oh, no. He sprinted off after it. He knew what he would find the moment he smelled it, but part of his mind hoped that he was wrong. Rounding a corner, he saw that he wasn't.
Sam Guthrie was lying facedown on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Turning the boy over, he saw the bullet wound. One bullet, straight to the heart.
The chamber was nearby. Sabretooth had led him in a circle. Sighing, he closed the boy's eyes. He went to get Ororo. Her cape could cover the boy up.
For the first time in a long while, Logan felt his years. Logically, he knew that he'd eventually have to lose one of the students, but that didn't make his hurt- or guilt- less. He did not want to be the one to tell Sam's family- hell, he didn't want to be the one to tell anybody.
Well, there it is- the Morlock Massacre, in all its hideous splendour. The story isn't over yet- the mystery of Malice and her connection to Xavier has yet to be fully revealed, as does Essex's motivations, as does the fate of Shipwreck, Kitty, Kurt, and Peter, not to mention the various ways our heroes deal with these events. And the Marauders have yet to get theirs- but they will. Stay tuned for the next instalment of "The Mutant Massacre:"
Chapter Fourteen: Day of Mourning