Chapter Sixteen
Crusader was shaking her head slowly, "Gary, I can't believe you just said that."
I clenched my fists and prepared for battle.
"You'd really kill your own sister?" she asked.
"If I have to choose between you and the survival of our species," I snapped. "Get out of my way and I won't have to make that choice."
"Gary, you've got it all wrong! What you're doing doesn't help anybody! Killing people is wrong! Why do you want to kill the humans?"
"Can't you read my mind?" I said mockingly. "You know why. They'll kill us if we don't kill them first."
"No. Gary – "
"My name is Gladiator! We've already seen what the humans will do to us if we don't fight them! How many mutants have to die before you open your eyes to reality, Crusader?"
"We can live in peace. We can teach the humans not to fear us."
"Bullshit! The X-Men have been trying longer than we've been alive, and we're no closer to anything remotely resembling peace!"
"That doesn't mean we stop trying. If something's worth striving for – "
"And what about all the mutants who get killed in the meantime? Don't they matter?"
"Of course they do. We have to protect them. Them and the humans. Don't you realise that humans fear us because of people like Pyro, people like Magneto, people who want to use their powers to cause harm? You're saying that humans hate and fear us – haven't you ever stopped to think why, Gary?"
"Don't call me that! Humans hate us because they're just scum! They don't deserve to live!"
"That's Pyro talking. Gary, I know why you feel the way you do. I know what it is that's tearing at your heart."
"They killed her. They killed my Marina."
"No, Gary, they didn't."
My fury began to rise as I snapped, "You saw it as plain as I did! She's dead! Nothing will ever bring her back! If I wipe out the humans then no other mutant will ever have to suffer the way I am!"
"Gary – "
"Gladiator!"
" – she isn't dead."
I stopped and blinked, "What?"
"She's alive, Gary. Marina's alive."
"You're lying!"
"No. They didn't kill her. There's no need to avenge her death. She's alive and she wants to be with you. Come back to us."
For a moment I closed my eyes, almost overwhelmed by the fireball of emotion that was exploding inside me. When I opened them again, they were twin balls of fiery, unforgiving hate.
"How dare you," I seethed, my rage burning in my veins. "She meant more to me than anybody else in the world!! How dare you insult her memory by lying to try and get me back over to your side!!"
"I'm not lying!"
My anger was pushing me out of control, and I struggled to keep my voice level, "You have one more chance to get out of my way."
"For goodness sake, Gary!" Crusader cried. "What do I have to say to convince you? She was shot – I healed her before she died – she's alive!"
I wasn't even listening to her. I was already running forwards towards her. If she wouldn't get out of my way, I would do it for her. I flexed my muscles, and moved to grip Crusader by the shoulders and throw her aside. Except she wasn't there any more. She had twisted out of my reach, and she raised her hands in a gesture of peace, "Gary, I don't want to fight you!"
"Then get out of here!"
"I won't let you do this! If you don't believe me, come back to the mansion! See her for yourself!"
"I'm not listening to you, Crusader! Just give it up!"
"Gary!"
I ignored her, and took from my belt the small explosive package. Suddenly, and without warning, it jumped out of my grasp and flew through the air towards Crusader. She had one arm outstretched; she opened her hand and the bomb dropped neatly into her palm.
"Give me that back," I demanded.
"No. I won't let you destroy the cure. I won't let you murder humanity."
"I don't care about humanity! All I care about is our own kind! I'm only interested in protecting mutants! And getting rid of humanity is the best way to do it!"
"Your voice, somebody else's words. You're just being a mouthpiece for Pyro."
"Well, you're just being a mouthpiece for Cyclops or Xavier or whoever dreamed up your crazy fantasies!" I retorted angrily.
Crusader did not reply at once. She breathed in deeply, calmed herself, then said, "There's no point in going on any longer, Gary. I'm not going to let you do this. Come back to the mansion and you'll see that Marina is alive."
Hearing her name again was enough to push me over the edge, my rage overflowing. In my anger my camouflage dropped. No longer in control, I ran headlong towards Crusader, pulling my fist back to smash her lies back down her throat. She reacted instantly, spinning out of my path and delivering a kick that threw me to the floor. I picked myself up and swung a fist at her. Moving like lightning she ducked and swiped at my legs, knocking them out from under me, landing me flat on my face. I felt no pain, only further rage. From the ground I leapt towards her, breathing out a white-hot burst of flame directly at her heart. Crusader moved so fast she was practically a blur, leaping backwards and turning a somersault in mid-air to land safely on her feet.
"You can't hurt me, Gary," she said, still holding the explosive charge in her right hand. "Just give it up. You're not going to kill the humans."
"Just watch me…" I snarled.
I threw another devastating punch that should have sent her flying, but again she dodged nimbly to the side and hit me in the chest with another side-on kick. This time I managed to keep my balance and I launched myself through the air to tackle her to the floor. She pushed away from the ground with her telekinetic power, levitating into the air, avoiding me completely. I struggled to my feet once more as she dropped safely to the ground. This time I feinted to hit her with my right fist, anticipated her dodge to the side, then followed up with a left-fisted punch aimed at her jaw. In a manoeuvre that practically defied physics, Crusader jumped, ducking under my punch and kicking me in the ribs at the same time. My breath knocked out of me, I hit the floor and sagged for a moment while I got my breath back.
She was too fast. It was that thing she was doing with her mind, using her telepathy to increase her speed. Whether she was moving faster or I was moving slower or time itself was being altered, I couldn't tell, and right now I didn't really care. From a purely practical viewpoint, I saw it only as an obstacle to overcome. Unfortunately, I wasn't too sure how I was going to go about overcoming it. All I knew was that I had to do it. I had to get that explosive charge back and use it to destroy the vaccine, to save my species. I had to get that bomb away from Crusader at all costs, even if it meant killing her. I didn't want to hurt her, I didn't want to do anything to her, I certainly didn't want to kill her, but right now she was leaving me no choice.
There had to be something I had to do. I had to use my powers. I couldn't just keep going after her with my fists. She was too powerful for that. I had to combine my powers in some way to overcome hers. I took a deep breath, concentrated hard, willing every fibre in my body, calling upon my camouflage. I almost lost concentration at the last moment, but I managed to hold it together and as I hurried towards Crusader, my invisibility slipped into place. She froze, caught in indecision for a split second, and it was that hesitation that was her undoing. Her telepathic senses could only give her a vague sensation of where I was, and this time she wasn't fast enough to dodge out of the way as my fist smashed into her face. She had moved far enough to the side that she wasn't hit full-on; I only caught a glancing blow on her cheek-bone, but it was enough to knock her over.
Before she could get back to her feet I grabbed her by the shoulders and hurled her against the wall. Crusader gave a cry of pain as she hit the wall, the explosive charge falling from her hand and landing on the floor nearby. I made a grab for it, but she reacted just in time to knock it away from me, then twisted to kick me in the jaw with her other foot. I struggled to stay upright and Crusader took full advantage, lifting both of her hands to hit me with a telekinetic blast, flinging me across the room away from her.
I had had the upper hand very briefly, but now she was back on top and things were not looking good. Previously her only intention had been to keep herself – and the bomb – away from me, but she was angry now and looking to punish me for throwing her into the wall. I was still invisible, and she was scanning the room intently, looking for any signs of movement, her eyes narrowed. She reached out with her hand, and the bomb jumped from the floor again, landing in her grasp. This time she clipped it securely to her belt, and said, "Gary, give it up! You can't win!"
"Give me the charge back and get out of my way!" I yelled. "You don't understand what you're doing! You're condemning your own species! If we don't kill the humans we'll be wiped out ourselves!"
"No!" she cried. "There doesn't have to be any killing! We can reach peace!"
"Are you blind?!" I screamed. "Marina! Overlord! Toad! Sabretooth! How many mutants have to die before you realise that peace is never going to happen?!"
"And what gives you the right to decide who lives and who dies?!" she yelled in return. "Look at what you're trying to do now! You call the humans murderers, so what does that make you?!"
"I'm fighting for my kind! It's kill or be killed!"
"No! Nobody has to die!"
"Mutants already have died! It's too late for peace! Give me the bomb!"
My fury finally exploded and I felt myself ascending into a berserk state that burned through my veins as if a volcanic eruption was taking place inside of me. My invisibility dropped once more, my inner demon of rage had taken control and I was accelerating towards Crusader, going faster and faster as my berserk fury increased my power. I was still invisible and she was only vaguely aware of my location. She knew it for sure when my fist slammed into her face with every ounce of force I could muster. Bones shattered and blood sprayed as Crusader was hurled against the wall. Screaming in agony she collapsed to the floor, and I grabbed at her weakened form. I couldn't stop now. My demon wouldn't let me. Lifting her body off the ground, holding her aloft by her shoulders, I smashed her into the wall, and again, and again, ignoring her screams, my demon exulting with the sound of more bones breaking and pain being caused. Finally I threw her across the length of the room, her body hitting the opposite wall and collapsing limply to the floor. My demon rejoiced. I ran over to claim the explosive charge.
Crusader's hand twitched, and tightened into a fist. She gave a gasp of relief, and I realised what she had done. The wounds in her body began to close, her bones mending, her ruined face healing, her destroyed rib-cage re-setting itself. She was using her healing power, and within seconds her body was as good as new, as if the fight had never happened. Rising to her feet, her eyes narrowed, her muscles taut, she hissed, "I'm going to make you sorry you even thought about doing that."
"Come on then," I snapped.
She had lost her cool completely now, anger and desperation taking over as she sought to protect her beloved humans. Running across the floor towards me, Crusader gave an angry shriek as she launched a spinning kick aimed at my head. Knowing I didn't have the speed to avoid her, I tried to duck nonetheless. Her kick struck me in the side of the head, knocking me the floor; I reacted quickly to roll over and get back to my feet. I tried to rally immediately but Crusader had already launched her next attack, this time a swift right-fisted jab that I had no hope of avoiding. Hit in the face, I stumbled but remained on my feet. Crusader didn't let up, keeping on the attack, keeping me off balance, continually pummelling me with blows. My strength and immunity to pain was all that was keeping me going; without them I would have crumpled under her onslaught. As it was she was doing little or no damage to my body, but was successfully keeping me on the defensive and trying to wear me down.
Crusader had already made her first mistake, by giving into her anger and fighting with the power of her fury. In doing so she had entered a realm of battle in which I would always be the master. Strong as her anger might be, she couldn't use it to amplify her powers as I could. Now she made her second mistake, committing herself to a two-footed kick aimed at my chest. In my berserk state I had enough speed to block her attack and use her momentum to throw her into the wall behind me. Crusader landed on her front, her breath knocked out of her. Before she could react in any way I had my foot in her back, holding her down, using my strength to prevent her body from moving. She struggled, but didn't have the body strength to force herself free. I reached down, grabbed the explosive from her belt, and clasped it in my hand.
I wasn't fast enough to stop her hand from shooting out to the left, and the next thing I knew something hit me in the side of the head. A heavy wooden crate, summoned by her telekinesis, had sprung from the floor to smash into my skull, throwing me to the floor. The bomb went flying from my grasp, and Crusader stood. She lifted both of her arms, and I felt my body rising from the ground. Her telekinetic powers took hold of me, and she held me suspended in mid-air. I struggled, trying to find some way to pull myself back down, but there was nothing to take hold of. I was helpless.
"Now it's over," she said, her body visibly calming. "Gary, if you don't believe me about Marina, why won't you come and see if I'm telling the truth? Nobody will make you stay if you don't want to."
"Shut up! Put me down!"
"I don't understand why you won't believe me. Don't you want her to be alive?"
"Of course I do! But I know she isn't! So there's no point getting my hopes up only to have them dashed! You're lying about the death of the girl I loved – I'll never forgive you!"
"I'm not lying."
Her stubborn insistence set off another burst of anger within me, and I fought anew to free myself from the telekinetic lock that trapped me in the air. A frown crossed Crusader's face for a moment, and I sensed that my violent struggling was making it hard for her to keep a lock on me. I jerked my body powerfully to one side to try and break free, and she gave a cry of dismay as her mind powers failed her, and my body dropped to the ground. I wanted to lie there just for a second or two, to get my breath back and give my body a chance to rest, but I couldn't afford to stop. Jumping to my feet instantly, ignoring the growing fatigue in my muscles, I faced Crusader. She hesitated, and I acted. Going invisible, I sprinted straight towards her. Instinctively she stepped out of my path, but I turned to meet her and breathed a jet of fire at her face.
I was too close for her to do anything to avoid it, and Crusader screamed as the flames seared her flesh, burning into her eyes and blinding her. Swiping her hand through the air in desperation, she fired a telekinetic blast that knocked me away, then collapsed on to her knees, still shrieking in pain. Her body relaxed as she used her healing, and her eyes and face were mended anew. I picked myself up from the ground, and we came together once more. Crusader swivelled, kicking me in the jaw, but I stayed on my feet and retaliated with a punch that she had to swerve almost horizontally to avoid.
She held up her hands, "Gary, please…I don't want to fight. One of us is going to get killed."
"Not me."
"Please. We're brother and sister. We can't be doing this."
"I have a new family now."
Anger crossed her face again and she snapped, "Pyro's taken out everything that was ever good about you! He's turned you into a psychopath like him! Don't you understand he's just using you?"
Trying to ignore her words, I snapped back, "Say goodbye to your precious humans, X-Man!"
"I will never let you do this!"
With that both of us moved back into action, as Crusader whipped her foot round in a vicious kick that would have broken a normal person's neck. I tried to knock her away from me, but she had got her poise and composure back, and I couldn't touch her. She was simply too fast for me to have any hope of hurting her, as she repeatedly twisted and stepped out of the way of my clumsy punches, then hitting back with lightning-fast counter-attacks, knocking me about, wearing down my resistance bit by bit. I was sent sprawling as she kicked me in the head, and I wavered on the brink of unconsciousness, my body wanting nothing more than to give into fatigue and sink into sleep. I struggled to keep my mind on top of things.
As she walked towards me again, I began to see things more clearly. This had been a trap. The X-Men had set this up deliberately to bring Crusader and me together. They knew she was the only one who had a hope of standing up to me, and it was clearly their intention to put me out of action, knowing that doing so would weaken the Brotherhood. This had been their plan all along. They knew I was the single biggest obstacle in their fight to preserve human life, and this was their way of getting me out of the picture. Clearly the script had already been written, and I was merely playing out my part, destined as I was to lose to Crusader and fulfil Cassandra's prophecy.
I rebelled. I wasn't playing their game. I wasn't going by their script. I lived life by my own book. Fresh determination surged through me. This was my book, and I was about to write the final scene to this act. I felt my fury began to escalate, to lift me higher and higher. I thought about everything that had ever made me angry: Overlord's death, Marina's death, the stupidity of my parents, the delusions of the X-Men, the hatred from the humans, and the stubborn blindness of Crusader. Throwing back my head and screaming with rage, I achieved a berserk ascension the likes of which I had never known before. My muscles tensed with a strength even I didn't know I possessed, and my mind began to function with an astonishing clarity. Everything outside of this room was pushed aside, none of it mattered, all of it could be temporarily abandoned – all that mattered was the fight between me and the girl who was now approaching me.
Crusader swung her fist to punch my jaw, but her movements were slow and I raised my own hand to block her effortlessly. Her eyes widened with shock, and she tried to hit me once more, this time with another spinning kick. She was moving so sluggishly, it was almost as if she was in slow motion. Casually, easily, I stepped back, avoiding her. Now she was genuinely afraid; I could see it in her eyes. I moved forward, swinging my fist at her once more, and this time her attempt to jump aside was too slow. My punch smashed into her face and she was thrown to the floor. Even falling through the air she seemed to be moving slowly.
And then I understood. My berserk power had increased my speed to such a level that I was moving even faster than Crusader. Even using her telepathic power to accelerate her movement, she still couldn't keep up with me. As she rose to her feet, holding her jaw painfully, genuine fear in her eyes, I closed in on her, not willing to give my enemy a moment's respite. Grabbing her, I slammed her into the wall, paying no attention to her weak attempts to escape. She tried to raise her hands to use her telekinesis, but I pulled her hands behind her back and held them there, smashing her face into the wall this time. Her movements became weaker, and I dropped her to the floor. She struggled to her feet and stayed upright, only just, raising her hands for peace.
All I could think of was Marina, how the X-Men had failed to protect her, and how this X-Woman had lied about my love's death. She had tried to use my feelings to manipulate me, she had tried to convince me to come back to their mansion, where I would no doubt have been stabbed in the back and incarcerated as Pyro had. Nothing, but nothing, would make me forgive Crusader. The least I might have expected was for her to take my feelings for Marina seriously. But no. All she saw was a way to try and trick me into giving up my fight.
I smashed my fist into her face, drawing blood, and she fell. I pulled her up, hit her again, and she fell once more. This time she didn't have the strength to stand, and curled up weakly on the floor, trying to protect herself. I pulled her to her feet, and launched a devastating spinning kick at her chest. For once time really did move in slow motion as Crusader's body was thrown into the air away from me, hitting the far wall with a bone-crunching impact, then falling to the floor. She lay still. I stood and waited, waiting for her to get back to her feet, but she didn't move. Her chest rose and fell weakly, blood still trickling on the floor from her injuries, her eyes closed, her body limp.
I looked around for the bomb. It had fallen when she had hit me in the side with that crate. Where was it now? I could see it, lying by the wall near Crusader's fallen body. Walking over, I stooped, picked it up, and looked down at Crusader once more. She was still unconscious, and I moved over to the refrigeration unit she had fought so hard to protect. Placing the bomb on top, I wired up the detonator, explosive and timer as Pyro had taught me, and set the timer for two minutes. That should give me time to get out and get clear.
Just me? I looked over at my sister's body, and changed my mind. Make that 'us'. She was an X-Man, she was an enemy, and I had sworn never to forgive her for lying about Marina, but she was still a mutant. She was still one of my own kind, who I was sworn to protect. She might not have agreed with the new age we were bringing, but she at least deserved to see it. Maybe she would realise she'd been wrong. I ran across to Crusader, and lifted her unconscious figure over my shoulder, heading back towards the bomb. It was primed, timed, and all I had to was press the button to start the timer.
My finger hovered over it. As always before making a decision, I hesitated. Was this right? Was this really the right thing to do? Had I thought it through properly? Did I really want all the humans to die? Were they really all the same? Had Pyro always told me the truth about them? Was I as bad as a murderer for doing this? Memories began to float back into my mind…memories of a young woman named Melody, a human who hadn't hated mutants…memories of a tiny baby whose life I had saved that day in New York, a human whose life I had clearly thought worth saving…memories of friends at school – my old school – who hadn't hated me, humans who hadn't hated me for being the child of mutants. These people were doomed if I pressed this button. Was it right to kill them indiscriminately along with the rest? Were they acceptable losses? Were they casualties of war? Were they innocents? Did I have the right to decide whether they lived or died? What justification did I have for this?
Marina. She was all the justification I needed. The girl I had loved, the girl I had wanted to stay with forever, had been taken from me while our love was still young. Humans had murdered her. They were all the same, they were all equally and fully responsible for her death. This wasn't for revenge, this was to make sure that what happened to us never happened again. This was for love that still existed, for Cassandra, for Gemini, and yes, perhaps for my parents too. But most of all for Marina. The humans had killed her, and thus forfeited their own right to live.
For you Marina, and for every mutant everywhere.
I pressed the button. The timer began counting down, and I headed for the exit. Crusader wasn't heavy and she didn't slow me down in the slightest. I remembered the route I had taken to get here, and now I was running to the front door. Outside I could her the sound of a jet's engines, and as I hurried out of the front door, I heard Pyro's voice yelling, "Come on!"
Our jet was performing a vertical landing just outside the entrance of the building. Beyond it I could see the X-Men, hurrying towards me, stopping in their tracks when they saw Crusader's body slumped over my shoulder, horror appearing in their eyes. The landing ramp was down, Pyro beckoning me on board, and I ran up into the interior of the aircraft.
"Take off!" he yelled.
Vertigo hit the controls, and the jet ascended into the sky.
"How did you know I was coming out?" I asked.
Cassandra's voice came from behind me, "I foresaw it. Oh, Gladiator – my premonition was false – nothing happened to us – I'm so glad…"
I left the unconscious Crusader on one of the seats, and put my arms around Cassandra to embrace her, holding her close, our lips coming together in a passionate kiss. Then Gemini had grabbed my arms, and hugged me, her eyes lighting up excitedly, "You did it, didn't you? You planted the – "
At that moment we heard the distant roar from outside as the explosive went up. Going to a view-port, I peered outside to see the building erupting a huge fireball, the X-Men hurrying away as fast as they could towards their own jet. Gemini cheered, "Yes!"
Atlas breathed a sigh of relief, "It's over. We're safe at last."
Mole and Scarab were grinning broadly, and a rare smile lit up Pyro's face. Even Recyclo looked positively cheerful. I closed my eyes and allowed relief to sink over me. We had won. The humans were no more. Our species was safe. Our young, present and future, could lead their lives in peace, and in time learn to use their powers to protect their own children. As I thought of children, I took Cassandra in my arms again and kissed her with every fibre of passion that burned within my soul. For a moment, one single second, my heart wavered, and I wished that it was not Cassandra but Marina that I was kissing. I pushed that thought away and concentrated on loving Cassandra.
For Marina was dead, and nothing could ever bring her back.