Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, except for Aurora, Rian, Granite and Serpentine, and the weapons I gave to Orion, plus her name. But the character itself remains Marvel's. Plot is mine though.

Throughout story: " " = Speech ' ' = Thoughts ^ ^ = Telepath

Chapter 50

Logan struggled from the mass his body weight was putting on his wrist. It was being pulled at heavily and he found it painful, not even his healing abilities could solve that. His feet kicked and lifted, trying to climb back up. He preferred to not fall.

Storm gasped, looking up to see Magneto round the corner, looking exceptionally pleased with himself. Logan cried out, his claws lost grip with the concrete and he hovered out nervously, suspended in the air. Suddenly a sheet of metal flew in the X-Men's direction.

Amidst the mad array of cries, Kurt teleported and appeared above Magneto, giving the back of his head a hefty kick with his heel. Magneto cried out and tumbled to the floor, all controls failing.

The piece of metal collided to the floor, and at the same time Logan plummeted down from the second level, the sensation of pulling gravity enough to make even the most healable persons to scream.

His scream was mixed with gasps from the X-Men and a hefty shriek of shock from Aurora who lept forward, leaning over the railings and crying out to him, "Logan!!"

Logan landed with a heavy thud, concrete cracking beneath his feet as he staggered mildly but remained upright. Logan then grinned as he discovered that he had found the earth safely. He looked up to the three faces that peered worriedly down upon him. To them he gave a thumbs-up, smirking broadly.

"Oh!" Exclaimed Aurora, the dramatic etching of panic fading from her features.

The brief second of relief was quickly shifted to a harsh intake of alarm. The main doors flew open angrily and from the rain stalked in Orion, Serpentine and Mystique. Each a little wounded, each sharing furious expressions.

"Uh oh.." Commented Logan softly as Serpentine rushed to attack him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Orion and Mystique thrusting their bodies up the stairs to take out the remaining X-Men. A flash of shiny black suddenly alerted him, a sleek and agile body of a panther had leapt off the upper floor and tackled the oncoming body of Mystique whilst laser attacked Orion.

Even with his brief interests to the activity around him he managed to thrust a well-powered kick to the onslaught of muscle and venom, all aided with a sharp hiss of caution.

Serpentine's slim-line body was well adapted to dodging most of his well thought out blows. On occasion, he threw a fistful of claws towards her hip, aiming for her side, but somehow her body flexed and she kicked his adamantium strength away or sent him off course by a slap of her thick tail of force.

Above, the battle raged on. Aurora's body of staggering strength and wicked weaponry confronted Orion. Her claws no match to the body that had cradled animal performance and allowed it's advantages to flourish in attacks and defence. Orion had many claws marks from the sleek body that pounded attacks, growling escaping from the panthers maw. However, Orion healed and she was ready for the next attack. But even though no wounds laboured her strikes, pert muscled were becoming wearied.

Mystique, the agile being that she was, was successful is avoiding the blasts of laser Scott fired so heartedly. Storm's mutation was limited indoors, but the occasional blast of freezing wind sent Mystique's concentration and efforts into her strength way off target.

Logan was doing well; the strength he put behind his fists drove her tail and limbs away from contact. But the stench of death hovered from her mouth from the reaping pour of venom and she shot towards him, intending on end his life the way Lucius had died so painfully. Her chin was captured by the thrust of his claws, which ripped through her jaw and lodged there. She staggered, astonished by the abrupt end to her battle. Logan withdrew his claws, feeling no remorse as Serpentine collapsed beneath his feet, gasping as blood and venom choked her throat. Luckily, her snake like mutation resulted in her skin healing faster that usual, but it was absolutely no match for Logan's. Logan stepped away, looking up to the battle that was taking place above him. He didn't intend to kill Serpentine, just give her a wakeup call on who was the boss, the alpha.

And it was then, that moment, as Orion took Aurora in a grab, that Aurora didn't notice the oncoming bulk from the shadows, but Logan did...

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