Magneto's team was assembled for subtlety, experience, stealth, and a mixture of strength in case opposition was encountered. Cyclops was his top tactician and his quick-thinking and optic blasts would be needed if the situation got ugly. Nightcrawler already had prior knowledge of the base and his teleportation would be useful in making a hasty exit once Mindbender was located. Colossus was one of the most durable and experienced fighters in all of Magneto's army. Facade as well, knew the rough outline of the base and could easily make his around without being noticed. And Mastermind would cover their approach to the fortress.
All of them, and one untouchable mutant girl who'd stumbled into an alternate dimension.
All available mutants were gathered, civilian and soldier alike. There could be no dividing anymore. Today, this battle, it was everything or nothing. Victory or defeat. As such, those previously safe from the rigors of combat now had to prepare themselves to fight, to kill, and... if necessary... to die.
Magneto and his team piled into his metal spheres, as the other teams readied their modified jets and launched into the air. Their destination: London, England.
Perhaps the sight of the final battle.
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"Let go of me!" roared David, squirming against the guards. To no avail. His arms were restrained. And with the neural inhibitor firmly strapped to his skull, he had no way to concentrate enough to use his psionic powers. He was utterly helpless.
"Bring him along," ordered the superior officer from in front of them. Both guards jerked on David's arms, yanking him along that much faster.
David was dragged into an unfamiliar room. But he recognized some of the items contained therein. Especially the rather wicked looking implements and the rather innocent looking operating table. His struggles increased, but it was impossible to resist as he was thrown roughly onto the table and strapped down.
General Wraith came into view, dismissing his inferiors. He'd waited so long for this moment. The ultimate weapon. Could kill all the mutants... in one sweep.
"It is time, I think, for us to begin..." he started. The drill in his hands whirred to life, and David started to scream...
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Beast's team arrived on the southwestern tip of the isle of Great Britain, near the ruins of the former landmark Stone Henge. Now the great stones lay in ruins, another of the many victims worldwide of the war. Beast had heard reports in Egypt that the Pyramids had also been damaged during some of the bombings. Truly, a tragedy.
But, less focus on the scientific and the historic now.
"Alright team," he ordered. "Move out!"
Quicksilver took point, no one was surprised in the least. Scaleface and Berzerker followed alongside Beast, Meltdown, Magma and Calliban just behind him. Spyke took up the rear.
They arrived at the designated time and place, a full fifteen minutes before the attack, half a mile from their target. They took the opportunity to rest their weary muscles. They were going to need all their strength for this upcoming battle. For all the time they'd spent traveling, it was the dead of night when they arrived. The new moon had risen, and the sky was almost perfectly black and devoid of stars. A perfect night for what had been planned. Fitting, too, the more poetic parts of Beast's mind thought.
They could barely make out the troops below. They were in general clustered around some large machinery. They couldn't be made out too well in the dark. No matter. Once the battle started Magma and Meltdown would make things light enough to fight. If not Beast had some flares in the pack on his back.
"Magma," said Meltdown, sitting slightly apart from the group. She beckoned her partner over, so they could speak uninterrupted.
"Yeah?"
"Just wanna say... in case we don't come back..."
"Don't. We go into this, and we'll win it," she replied confidently, the cloak around her shoulders billowing in the night wind.
"Why're you so confident?"
"Because if we think we might lose, we will," said Magma confidently.
"That makes sense," replied Meltdown, shrugging. "Okay... can I get a good luck kiss before we go into battle?"
"I've a better idea," said Magma, giving Meltdown one of her own saucy smirks. "How about I promise you one afterwards? More likely you'll live if you have a reward waiting for you."
"Then I'll make the same promise," stated Meltdown, standing and stretching out her arms. "So we both make it through this."
"Can I make that promise too?" inquired Quicksilver as he seemed to materialized between the two girls, one arm draped around each of their shoulders in a playful manner.
"Sit boy," replied Meltdown, giving him a playful smack on the stomach to get him to let go. It was all play, of course. Quicksilver knew that neither of them had any interest in him. He just enjoyed ruffling their feathers. Meltdown enjoyed ruffling his back.
And so Beast's team prepared for the upcoming battle.
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Gauntlet walked down the corridor of Asteroid M. Because of his abilities and experience he was placed in charge of the orbiting fortress. He didn't enjoy his job much, especially handling the young mutants in his charge, but he did what he was ordered.
Now he had orders to send all available troops into battle. So it was he walked along the long corridor. Along it were the steel doors that sealed off the capsules from the fortress, and beyond it from the ravages of the airless void. The metal spheres were already filled, each member of his squadron were inside. So it was that, one by one, Gauntlet walked past them, slamming his gloved fist against the launch pad.
The metal spheres rocketed out of the base as quickly as if they'd been shot from a cannon, then quickly shot towards Earth as Magneto's power was exerted over them. The majority were aimed for Great Britain's northern providences, a few more sent to specific locations of strategic value. Soon their occupants would be unleashed.
Gauntlet prayed that God... -did not-... have mercy on the poor souls who encountered their occupants.
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Near the third military zone protecting the base, Storm's team had finally arrived, moving at a slower pace because of increased military activity in the area. They were expected, it seemed.
Rahne bounded back along the rocks, slipping in between the long, thick grass to rejoin the others. None of the soldiers paid her much mind. Wolves and dogs weren't uncommon animals to see, after all. They'd 'scared' her off with some gunshots, of course, but they hadn't chased after her.
She reverted to her human form, still crouched on all fours on the ground, keeping low. Storm and her soldiers lay in a similar fashion behind her in the tall grass, effectively masking their presence... for the moment.
"What's the word?" asked Ororo, her voice whisper soft.
"They know mutants are out here, but they don't know where. They've been expecting us," she replied with a soft growl.
"How many?"
"At least two teams... but they're superhumans. They don't look very special, but I saw this one blonde ape break a log in half with his bare hands for firewood."
"Big deal... we can take 'em," growled Avalanche, starting to rise up. Jubilee grabbed his arm, yanking him back down. Fortunately too, for a flashlight coasted through the air, narrowly missing his trademark brown bangs as again they hid in the long grass.
"Don't touch me," he whisper-growled back at her, shrugging her arm off.
"Your welcome," she grunted. Pyro chuckled behind them, muffling the noise with his hands, amusing by their antics.
"Enough you two," hissed Ororo. Her eyes flashed white, her pupils vanished, and they began to glow. A thick mist filled the air, cutting down on the already low visibility. Soon, they would not be able to see three feet in front of their faces. But it didn't matter for the mutants. It was time.
"Attack," ordered Ororo.
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"The attack has begun," stated Magneto, tapping the side of his helmet. He'd had a communicator installed. Very practical. "We move now."
The final sphere of Magneto and his troops landed exactly where it was supposed to, right outside of the human fortress. Its steel side opened, and its team piled out, ready for action. Because of Mastermind's illusion, they went completely unnoticed by human eyes and human sensors. Not even a distortion of light marked their landing.
"Colossus. Cyclops. Clear the walls," ordered Magneto, stretching out his hands.
Colossus nodded, shifting into his metal form, flexing his now larger-than-humanly possible muscles.
Cyclops powered up, his eyes glowing crimson behind his visor.
"Nein! Wait!" shouted Nightcrawler.
"What is it?" asked Magneto, gesturing for Cyclops and Colossus to do so.
"There's a secret vay in! Its through the tunnels, we can get in and out vitout alerting anyone... I zink," he added.
"Very well," replied Magneto. "Everyone, move out."
"Colossus, follow with Mastermind, cover us. Everyone else, with me," ordered Cyclops, marching off. The others fell in behind him as they climbed the hill towards the base, still unnoticed by the defenders within. At least for now. Masterminds illusions were powerful, certainly, and very useful. However, his power could only affect a limited number of people at a time, and even then for not very long. Using his power to shield them all from so many guards... it was draining his strength.
So it was they found the tunnels of which Nightcrawler spoke, disguised behind some plastic, fake rocks. A simple sewer gate. Disgusting, but better than the alternative. Fighting, and losing lives. Either there's or the human's.
Rogue floated alongside Magneto, the two of them taking point. Facade and Nightcrawler had chosen the mutual strategy of clinging to the ceiling upside down, again to avoid the filth that Cyclops, Mastermind, and Colossus were now trudging through.
"Façade. Nightcrawler. Move ahead. Make sure our path is clear. If you find anyone, return here... we will deal with them."
"Yes sir," replied Façade.
"Jawohl," said Nightcrawler, crawling off after his new yellow-skinned comrade.
They were in enemy territory now, thought Rogue. Things had just gotten decidedly more hostile.
Author's Notes:
Things are heating up, aren't they? Soon it'll be hot enough for even Magma to start complaining. Teams have been set, stage has been set. Next chapter, the battle begins. Even the civvies are coming. Fun. I simply could not resist putting in Tabby's comment to Pietro. Its not quite 'Osuwari' but it's a nice shout out to Pietro's voice actor, Richard Ian Cox. At least, one of the more widely popular characters he voices, Inuyasha. Gauntlet's team you'll get to see soon enough. And finally we get a bit more insight into the nature of Mastermind's powers and his limits. I think most characters on Evo got their powers cut back a great degree. Forces them to use them in more creative and interesting ways. That and allows for a lot more 'growth' and 'power surges.'
Nessie6: I think the only gay characters they have on Evo are Tabby and Amara, and even they're downplayed because, as you said, the cartoon is for little kiddies. Pietro isn't gay. Flamboyant, perhaps, but as you pointed out, four whole girls for one dance. Although admittedly, they all asked him since it was Sadie Hawkin's. And yes, I know Pietro has good qualities, and I try to emphasize them.
Risty: Once it comes it'll never seem to stop, believe you me. Kurt's shyer in this dimension. You'll see more of that later. It comes from always being thought of as a freak and surrounded by enemies instead of friends. Poor Kurt. Glad I am most greatly that you are not disappointed.
Todd fan: Amelia, hmm? Did she have a codename? And yes I know she and Xavier had a falling out. Because after she wanted to leave, he used his powers to make her come back briefly, before realizing it was wrong. And that really pissed her off, so she even went and joined Magneto. Boy, hell hath no fury…, eh?
Archmagus: Well, that answers my question. Much obliged. Will o' the Wisp would work for her codename though, methinks. And yeah, plenty of violence and death to come, and a big conclusion, but not for many chapters down the line. This story promises to surpass my previous masterpiece, 'Nullification.'
DoubleL27: It's not bad. You, like me, are curious to see how some characters would die if nothing was holding you back. When I started writing Evo, I had to keep inside the Evo timeline. Now I am free, and the characters shall suffer, even if its just their AU counterparts. Glad you're enjoying my plot twists and turns.
Sashi: Well, I'm not the absolute best at plot lines, truth be told. Most everything I've written has been taking other plots lines and jumbling them together, throwing in different characters and serving it to you all. Glad you'll keep reading though, sorry to make you feel cheated. Many apologies.
Star-of-chaos: I think I will, damnit!
Comet-hime: Pacifist… shyeah right pull the other one. Glad you liked the characterization of Magneto. I like to portray all characters good sides at least every so often. And I do work mainly with happy endings… for the regular universe. So as for AU Tabby and Amara and Willow… be scared!! Mwuahahahahaha!!
Rogue14: I was just kidding, I just want a little variety. Your reviews all look the same to me. But thanks for noticing and changing it for me, that was very sweet of you. For that, I update as soon as humanly possible. Besides, your reviews aren't as bad as DaughterofDeath, at least.
DaughterofDeath: Speak of the devil. Fine, I think I will add a new chapter. And another, and another, and another. Until your daddy gets satisfied killing off all the characters in my story.
Spectra2: Chocolate? I hate chocolate… I'm an oatmeal raisin type myself. Ah well, I take what I can get *scarfs down the cookies.* Glad you're enjoying my story. Any particular elements you find most/least appealing?