Chapter 16: Rumble Under the Bronx 2

Spider Man could not believe his eyes. He, Sabertooth, and Shadow Cat had fought their way into the nest. It was not a pretty sight. "Jesus Herbert Christ, it's time to get a new interior decorator down here!" Spider Man, however was not one to talk. The shirt of his costume was torn to shreds, and his pant's weren't doing to well. Fortunately his mask still hid his face. He dodged a swipe of one of the alien's tails and flipped onto the wall.

"Isn't it time for the cavalry to drop in?" he wondered. Then he saw what he was standing on. "Yeeeaaaa!" he recoiled in shock and revulsion. In doing so, he lost his grip on the wall of the nest and dropped to the floor.

"What's wrong Spidey?" Shadowcat asked. There seemed to be a lull in action. The first wave of alien warriors had been defeated.

"Don't look directly at it," Spidey warned, "But these things have got the most gruesome wall hangings I've ever seen." The walls were lined with the bodies of the missing people. They had been cocooned in the wall, and their chests had been burst from the inside.

"I'm liking these things less and less." Spidey said.

"Say what you like Web Head," Sabertooth said behind them. "When it comes to a fight, there's nothin' better." Sabertooth was an even more gruesome sight than the nest. The left side of his face had been nearly melted off, and his arms and chest were ripped up like shredded beef. "You should see the other guys." he remarked when they stared at him.

"Creed don't you even try to get out of the way when they attack or spray acid?" Shadowcat asked.

"Nope." As they watched, Sabertooth's grievous wounds healed themselves.

"That has to be one of the strangest sights I've ever seen." Spider Man commented. A buzzing in his head warned him of the alien before it could catch him. He ducked, and a laser blast shot over his head and obliterated the threat.

"It's about time you guys showed up!" Shadowcat said.

"Sorry," Iron Man said.

"No prob." Spidey said. "Now, let's do it!"

"It's clobberin' time!" Thing yelled.

Sabertooth tore into the attacking aliens, with Wildchild hot on his heels.

"Watch yourself Wildchild," Shard yelled. "You don't have a healing factor!" A swipe of an alien's tail quickly emphasized her point. His arm was impaled by point of the tail. He screamed as the inner jaws of the Alien punched into his head.

"Bastard." Shard blasted the thing apart. The acid spray hit Forge's bionic hand, disabling it. "Sorry Forge!" she apologized.

"S'o.k. Shard!" he yelled. A shot from his gun hit an alien in the head. The acid spray was considerably less than when hit in the chest. "Aim for the head!" he yelled. Two black arms shot from the ceiling, and grabbed him by the head. "Aagh!" Blood ran down his face.

"Forge!" Storm and Mystique yelled at the same time. Ignoring each other they both went to help their friend. He was yanked up to the ceiling just before they reached him. But not before they fell into the aliens' trap. Five aliens dropped from the ceiling onto them. Even Storm's aerial agility did not save her. She hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Mystique reach for her gun but her hand was bitten off by one of the aliens. Storm sent a bolt of lightning into the alien on top of her. The surge of electricity coursed through the alien and her into the floor.

Jean saw cringed at the fate of Storm and Mystique as they were soon overwhelmed by the Alien hordes. An alien leapt at Shard and passed right through her. Bishop blasted the alien.
"Thanks big brother!" she said.

Bishop hesitated. "Right." He still wasn't sure how to deal with a hologram of his sister. In his moment of distraction however, an alien managed to sneak up on him. Only to be smashed by Thor's hammer.

"Watch your back my friend." he said as the acid dripped harmlessly off his weapon.

"My thanks Thor." Bishop said while blasting another alien.

Suddenly, Cable, Jean and Psylocke reeled from a tremendous telepathic blow. Iron Man, who was monitoring everyone's life signs was shocked as all four of them immediately flatlined.

"What the hell was that?" Meltdown shouted.

"Jean said these things were telepathic!" Cyclops answered. "Maybe they launched an assault on them!"

Caliban screamed as an alien sliced open his arm. He grabbed the alien by the neck and smashed it's head against the wall. More Aliens immediately took advantage of his momentary weakness. He did not get up from the prone position they left him in.

Polaris attempted to use her power against the aliens, but could find no purchase. "There's no metal in these things!"

"Better pull out Polaris," Cyclops said, "No sense giving these things such an easy target!"

Realizing he was right, she started to fly away. Only to be cut off from her escape route. In the confusion, no one saw her go down.

Arc Angel shot his wing knives at the aliens. They embedded themselves in their targets but did no damage. Looking up, he saw an alien preparing to leap at him from above. Of their own accord, his wings sliced cleanly through his attacker, spilling acid onto the bio organic metal. Angel plunged to the ground, his head smashing on the hard Alien resin below.

Despite her aerial agility, an alien managed to grab Wasp. A quick squeeze ended her life.

In a sudden rush; Shadowcat, Thing, Invisible Girl, Warpath, Sunspot, Giant Man and Cyclops were taken out of the fight. Eventually, Iron Man's suit ran out of power, and Bishop's and Domino's guns went dry. They were quickly inundated by Aliens.

When Gambit ran out of cards, he began to charge pieces of dead aliens. Alien blood ate through Cap.'s shield, leaving him weaponless, but not defenseless.

"We're in trouble people!" Cap. yelled. "They just keep coming!"

"How about some back up then!" a voice yelled accompanied by a burst of automatic weapons fire. Punisher and Wolverine had arrived.

"Welcome to the party Runt!" Sabertooth yelled.

"Shut up Creed!" Suddenly, in a black wave, more aliens came from behind them. "Ambush!" Wolverine shouted.

"My apologies comrade!" Colossus' voice called from behind the aliens. "We were not aware that we would be chasing them to you!" In the battle that followed, Deathlock and Punisher ran out of ammo. They vanished in a rush of Aliens.

"These things seem to know just who to hit!" Cap cried. But finally, the alien army was defeated.

Cap looked at the ragged force they had left; Spider Man, Sabertooth, Dr. Strange, Torch, Shard, Siryn, Meltdown, Banshee, Thor, Iceman, Gambit, Beast, Wolverine, Hulk, Firestar, Cloak, Dagger, Venom, Colossus, Wisdom, Morbius, Ghost Rider, Nightcrawler, Lockheed, Douglock, Namor, Namorita, Dare Devil and himself.

"Nightcrawler, why don't you scout up ahead?" Cap. suggested.

"Certainly." Nightcrawler began to teleport down the tunnel, seeing no sign of any more aliens. Could we have won? he thought. We'll have to destroy those eggs, but... He arrived in a large chamber, and caught his breath. "Mein Gott en Himmel." he murmured.

Cap turned at the sound of Nightcrawler's return.

"There's a lot of eggs, but there's also some sort of Queen, about twenty feet tall."

"My God." Cap thought for a moment. "All right, only our heavy hitters are gonna be any good. The strike team will consist of Sabertooth, Torch, Meltdown, Thor, Iceman, Wolverine, Hulk, Venom, Colossus, Douglock, Namor, Namorita and myself. The rest of you, get out of here."

"No offense Cap." Spidey said. "But I think you should come with us. You're not super strong, only at the peak of human condition."

Cap scowled but reluctantly agreed. "All right then. Good luck."

Next: God Kill the Queen