Mistoffeles: just a quick note on electrocution. Yes, it is possible to be electrocuted in mid-air, if the charge is strong enough. Planes get hit by lightning all the time in mid-flight, and their sensitive electronics would be in trouble if they didn't have enough insulation to handle the electrical charge zapping through them on the way to the ground.
Two big things kept Nightcrawler from being killed outright. 1) The creature's battlesuit and the fact that said thing was touching the ground: the vast majority of the electricity just went down through the battlesuit and into the ground. It was designed to discharge the energy into the ground and away from the inhabitant. 2) Kurt wasn't touching the land himself. The electricity went wild, emitting everywhere like a berzerk tesla coil, and because Kurt was a "better" medium for energy conduction than the surrounding air, he got hit, albeit with a far smaller percentage than the talon's metal-plated battlesuit. If Kurt had been touching the ground, while he was in contact with the rock and the talon, at least two or three times as much electricity would have "investigated" that direct route he provided into the ground…
Talons
Chapter 6
"Stay down, Cyc," Logan's voice filtered through the haze. "Just stay down. We're still dealing with it."
His voice, gruff as always, also had the uneven stress of someone in heavy activity. Cyclops opened his eyes as he laid on the ground, but he could not see past the bush he'd fallen under.
"Goddamn fuckin' monster.... Fall down and die, willya?" Logan snarled.
Logan was close, very close. He couldn't be more than five or ten feet away. There was a lot of movement over there, along with that "hail and rainstorm" sound that the claw creatures made. There was the snapping, cracking sound of Bobby's ice, and a deep, breathy roar that could not have come from human lips.
"Good one, Iceman!" Logan shouted.
Then there was that high-pitched, inhuman screech again, and the sounds of movement stopped.
"Jeez!" Bobby cried. "That thing bleeds blue!"
Scott tried to lift his head, but he felt too weak. He settled for scooting to one side so he could see through an open spot in the bushes. He saw a lot of ice, thin blue "paint", and one of Logan's boots. Since the boot wasn't moving, Scott felt reasonably sure that the danger was past.
"Where's Kurt?" Scott asked, slowly pushing himself up.
"Storm's chasin' after him," Logan answered. "One of these damn things grabbed him and rolled off like a runaway wheel."
Logan and Bobby walked around the bush and knelt by Scott.
"Take it easy," Bobby implored. "If you weren't wearing your costume, we'd be seeing daylight through your chest. You got clocked a few times."
"Jamie and Regis?" Scott asked, ignoring Bobby's concern.
"Back at the mansion," Logan answered. "And yes, we've accounted for every single Jamie. Roll over if you can. Lemme take a look at your chest."
Scott turned his attempts to sit up into a roll onto his back. Bobby winced in sympathetic pain as he saw two fist-sized holes in Scott's armored costume. Underneath, the skin was beet red and white blisters were already starting to form.
"Second degree burns on your chest, pal, and God knows what else," Logan said. "Bobby and I are getting you inside."
Scott caught sight of one of the creatures, half-immobilized in a block of ice and missing two limbs, as Logan and Bobby each took one of his arms. Incongruously, the fresh corpse smelled a bit like roses. Then Scott blacked out once more, head lolling on his chest.
"He's in trouble," Bobby worried aloud. "We'd better carry him the rest of the way."
A traditional fireman's carry would have been easier for Logan, but that would only aggravate Scott's wounds. Instead, he and Bobby clasped their hands together and cradled Scott between them, slowly walking sideways across the field.
"Man, I never realized how heavy dead weight really is," Bobby panted.
The wind came up around them; Ororo was returning. To Bobby and Logan's consternation, she arrived alone, and in none too good a mood. She landed on the brick patio and opened the French doors for Bobby and Logan. Her face was as hard as steel.
"We lost him, didn't we?" Logan grunted.
Her retort was sharp, though all knew the anger wasn't aimed at them. "I'm not sure which is worse, Logan! The fact that I lost Kurt, or the fact that someone's found a way to teleport mechanically!"
Bobby stared at her. "What?"
"You heard me, Bobby!" She slammed the doors after they were through. "That thing teleported away with Kurt in the exact same way that suit teleported away from me yesterday! That's not a mutant, that's a device!"
"God-fucking-dammit," Logan growled. "Anyone got to Charley on this one yet?"
"I'm about to," she spat.
* * * * *
As Kurt came to, he was first aware of a high-pitched ringing in his ears. Then came the horrible, spinning sensation. He laid on the dry, packed earth, but he felt certain he was on some sort of mad potter's wheel, the way he kept spinning and spinning. He moaned and opened his eyes, half-expecting to see the world flying past. The spinning lessened somewhat, but everything kept jerking to one side.
It was dark. He was inside a large, decrepit, wooden structure, perhaps an abandoned barn, and the sun had gone down. Crickets chirped outside, but it was otherwise silent. No cars, no people; he was completely alone. Had he blacked out during a teleport? Did he teleport? He tried to remember, but nothing came.
He heard movement a few yards behind him, barely audible over the constant ringing. It was a gentle sound, like the shifting and clacking of heavy plastic. Then he heard a hissing and popping noise. Kurt's breath caught in his throat. He recognized that sound. He wasn't sure from where, but he did, and it wasn't something he ever wanted to hear again. He rolled over to look behind him. Something huge was huddled in the corner. It made several more pops and one long hiss, and began to stand.
Kurt's memories came back in a disorienting rush. The claw machines. The shooting. A rock in his hands. Pain. He tried to rise, but he could barely manage to push himself to all fours. Too weak to teleport, too much vertigo to jump. No way out.
He was a dead man.
:
Kotoko had been watching the native for a while now, trying to ignore the burning pain in his limbs from where the King's Own had scored hits. He hoped that this abandoned structure would be good enough to hide them from visual scans, as his battle armor didn't have enough power left to generate another portal. Still, as uncomfortable as he was, he didn't dare peel out of his armor yet. He couldn't take that chance.
He had never been so relieved as when the native made a sound and moved. It had regained some measure of consciousness. It had been badly shocked by the weapon discharge, and reawakening was not certain. It must have been very strong to withstand so much electricity.
"It's all right," he told it. "The fight's over. They can't get to you here."
The creature rolled over, turning the filament-laden side of its nub away from Kotoko. Apparently, the filaments were not sensory organs. The creatures invariably turned this bare side in the direction of any sound. The native shakily got to all fours, forgoing its usual bipedal stance. It was trying to move away. The fifth limb had nothing to do with locomotion. By the way it waved back and forth, it seemed to be specialized for signaling intent. Despite its alien build, it was obvious it was upset.
Why wouldn't it be? Kotoko asked himself. The poor thing's less than half my size, and the King's Own just tried to abduct its young and kill its fellows. So how do I signal my peaceful intent?
The spoken language barrier was insurmountable, at least in the short run. That left body language. Perhaps submissive posture would do it. Kotoko did a quick sensor sweep of the area. There was no one in the immediate vicinity, native or otherwise. It looked like this was a good a time as any to peel out of his armor. He unlatched the ports from the inside and let everything slowly fall to the ground. Despite his best efforts, he hissed with pain as he moved.
The native stayed still, its limb twitching back and forth, as the last of Kotoko's armor dropped to the packed dirt. So far so good. Biting his mouths against outcry, Kotoko slowly rose up on two of his limbs, exposing his vulnerable underbelly.
:
Kurt watched as the talon-like thing rose up on its claw tips once more. He remained as still as possible, though his tail lashed about like a wild, angry cat's. Every muscle tensed, ready to spring away if this thing made one move towards him. A series of clicks sounded from the thing, different from the usual hissing, and pieces of its armor plating dropped away. It wasn't a machine, then. It was some sort of a living being. Kurt fought to control his tail's movements. God only knew what he could be signaling to this creature right now.
It stood, naked, in front of Kurt. Each identical limb was tipped with a dark, glossy spike at the end. The rest of the creature was covered with tough, warty skin. Small, raised orifices, perhaps as long as Kurt's thumb, dotted the body at irregular intervals. Kurt noticed that the interior of the creature's armor was covered with blunt projections that must have fit into those openings. Were those barnacle-like projections mouths? A giant eagle's talon with dozens of mouths?
The thing sat still, hissing occasionally from those "mouths". It seemed to be hurt, but how badly Kurt couldn't tell. Was it too hurt to move? It had removed its armor, leaving it less defended, if not defenseless. Was it being submissive?
Then it rose up on two of its legs, extending the other three all the way out. Exactly like a tarantula rearing up just before it attacked. Kurt gasped and scrambled back.
:
What went wrong? The native seemed to respond favorably to Kotoko when he removed his armor, but now it was withdrawing in fear. Kotoko's submissive display must have meant something else. A mistranslation. Damn! Even their body language was contrary! He fought the urge to drop quickly to the ground, which would surely terrify the little thing further. Instead, he slowly lowered himself back, despite his screaming muscles. He'd have to move slowly, ever so slowly. One fast move, and the native was sure to bolt. He had to find a way to communicate. If the native managed to get away and warn its mates, Kotoko knew they would hunt him down and kill him. The natives were just too strong.
He could only think of one alternative to submissive posture as a way of showing benign intent. Kotoko took a few seconds to study the creature's posture, especially the movement of that long limb.
:
The huge talon slowly lowered itself to the ground. Just as slowly, it took a step forward.
God help me, I'm being stalked, Kurt thought, frantically trying to think of a way to escape.
He tried once again to stand, but he was still too dizzy. Everything lurched to the left again, the ringing increased, and his ears started to ache. He fell to one side, helpless, swaying, trying to regain a measure of control.
The creature took one step forward, then crouched. Here it came. It was going to spring. It swayed back and forth, its rear leg flipping to and fro, as if deciding which way Kurt would leap. Kurt moved slowly to the right, and it matched him. He moved to the left, and it matched him. Kurt backed up to the wall, his tail thumping against the wood. Incredibly, the creature backed into the wall behind it, its fifth limb also smacking against the wood....
Kurt could almost see the metaphysical light bulb over his head. The creature wasn't blocking his exit, it was imitating him. It was deliberately replicating every move he made, right down to the way he must have been swaying with vertigo. Kurt led his tail drop abruptly to the ground. The talon dropped its rear limb just as abruptly. Kurt raised his right arm, and the talon mirrored the gesture. Was it trying to communicate? Part of him wanted to move closer, but his instincts were still screaming at him to run. These things had tried to abduct Jamie and Regis. They tried to kill him and Cyclops. They were huge. They terrified him.
Kurt Wagner, for shame! he thought. If it wanted you dead, it had far too much time to do it in! It's trying to show it means no harm! How many times have people thought you frightening and hideous? If anyone should understand, it should be you!
He crawled forward on all fours. The talon did the same. It was making those hissing and popping noises again. All right, if it was going to go to all the trouble to replicate Kurt's movements, perhaps he could give a try at the sounds.
:
"Yes, that's it," Kotoko whispered as he crawled forward. "You've got it. I won't hurt you. Good.... Good...."
The native moved forward and stopped. Its single visible orifice (a mouth?) opened and it mimicked Kotoko's speech.
"Aes, kas it," it said. "Nou ot it."
Not perfect replication, but it was more than Kotoko had ever hoped for. It understood what he was trying to do! It was trying to communicate in return! Kotoko took a chance that movement replication was no longer necessary. He stopped and indicated himself with two of his limbs.
"Kotoko," he said slowly.
:
By the way its dozens of mouths suddenly opened and shut, Kurt figured the talon was probably excited. It stopped where it was, lifted its front two limbs, and curled them inwards, pointing to itself. It made a series of deep pops and hisses, which sounded something like "Kh't'kh." It repeated the gesture and the noises.
Me Tarzan, you Jane, Kurt thought. I'm starting to really appreciate that movie, now.
Kurt reached out and pointed to the talon, doing his level best to repeat the creature's sounds with hisses and tongue clicks. With any luck, he hadn't just leveled a mortal insult. Then Kurt put that same hand to his chest.
"Kurt," he said slowly.
The talon pointed to him, once again mirroring his actions, and its mouths hissed something close to "khhhtt."
The ringing in his ears suddenly changed pitch, growing deeper and louder. Just as abruptly, the pain in his ears increased tenfold, as if someone had shoved an ice pick in. He curled up and put his hands to his ears. He felt slick warmth trickle down. Blood. One of his eardrums must have burst, if not both. The talon slowly reached forward with one limb and gently touched the side of Kurt's head, the massive spike brushing through his short hair before retracting. Its posture seemed to be one of...contrition? It must have been speaking to Kurt, but he could barely hear anything, now. Damn that ringing.
"You aren't hurting me," Kurt whispered, though he almost couldn't hear his own voice. "I don't blame you."
Kurt managed to reach a hand up and touch the talon's limb before it retracted completely. His fingers settled on the smooth, oddly warm spike, and the talon froze, all mouths opening and closing in unison once more. It extended its limb again, fully, reaching out and down to make it easier for Kurt to touch.
:
The native did a passable job of speaking Kotoko's name. With only one mouth, it didn't have much hope of an exact repetition. Then it gestured towards itself and gave a strange yowling sound. These creatures communicated with tonals? Kotoko would need some kind of musical instrument to replicate those. He did what he could to pronounce what he assumed to be the creature's name.
"It looks like we're going to have a hard time understanding each other, doesn't it?" he added.
The little creature curled up, pulling its limbs in. Two limbs it pointedly curled over its nubby, mouth-bearing appendage. It was in pain. Was Kotoko's speech painful for it to hear? Or was it reacting to the injuries it sustained from the King's Own? Kotoko reached out with his unwounded limb and gently, ever so gently, brushed the side of the native's nub. The filaments that sprouted from the nub were soft and gave way easily.
"I'm sorry this had to happen," he murmured. "I would rather have made contact in a different way."
Before Kotoko could retract his limb, the native reached up with its own and touched him. Its skin was so incredibly soft, like flower petals. It spoke, though its tones were much more muted this time. It was so plainly wounded, but it didn't seem to fear Kotoko for its condition. Kotoko slowly extended his limb completely, angling it down to the ground.
"Go ahead and touch me," he said. "I doubt we can hurt each other more than has already been done."
* * * * *
When the doorbell rang, both Jubilee and Syryn went to answer it. No one felt all that safe going anywhere alone anymore, even just to the school's front door. Standing there on the porch was a big, broad man in slacks and a sports coat. Jubilee thought to herself that this guy was even bigger than Peter, and that was saying a lot. He stood there, huge hands clasped politely in front of him.
"Good evening, ladies," he said, smiling. "Could you let the good Professor know that Doctor Henry McCoy has arrived, and would very much appreciate being lead to his patients?"
Jubilee's lips twitched in a vainly-suppressed smile. "Doctor McCoy? That's really your name? It's not a joke or anything?"
He sighed, still smiling. "Yes, and I've heard all the Star Trek jokes. Just call me Dr. Hank. I believe we'll find that a satisfactory compromise."
The two girls stepped aside to admit Hank into the foyer. Syryn closed the door behind them.
"Professor X is down in Cerebro right now," she said. "He said to bring you down to the infirmary--"
"Sickbay," Jubilee snickered.
"--right away," Syryn finished, glaring at Jubilee. "Jubes! This is important!"
Hank held up a hand, still smiling pleasantly. "Ladies! Ladies! Let's not fight over handsome men. Just lead me there, and if you wouldn't mind elucidating on the way, I would be thankful. Understandably, Charles didn't want to discuss very much of this over the wires."
The girls led him into the elevator.
"Well, Cyc is hurt pretty bad," Jubilee said in a rush. "And Petey's bashed up, but he'll probably be O.K. And we got attacked by these things just a couple of hours ago, and the bodies are downstairs somewhere, and we don't know where Mr. Wagner is. Miss Munroe and Logan and Pete are out doing patrols on the grounds and stuff, and Rogue's in the monitor room, and Bobby's downstairs, and there's this other guy they said they found way late last night--"
The elevator doors opened on the brushed steel corridors of the lower level.
"And they're, like, not telling us much about the other guy, just that he needs your help somehow," Jubilee went on as they walked out. "It's a real mess, O.K.?"
"I gathered that," Hank mumbled.
They led him to the medlab. Bobby looked up from his book as he entered, then quickly jumped off the stool he'd been sitting upon.
"You're Dr. Hank?" he asked, extending his hand.
Hank shook it, his huge hand literally enveloping Bobby's smaller one. "The one and only." He turned to the two girls and gave a slight bow. "Ladies, I thank you for the escort, but I must turn my tender ministrations to my patients. Please accept my most puissant prose of thanks."
The two girls blinked in unison, utterly bewildered.
"Uh, yeah, whatever," Jubilee muttered. As they left the room, she whispered, "That guy swallow a dictionary or what?"
The door closed behind then, cutting off what was sure to be Syryn's caustic reply. Hank's smile faded, his countenance serious and professionally detached.
"Scott's this way," Bobby said, leading him further into the lab. "He's been kind of shocky, but I think he's coming around. The other guy--did the Professor tell you very much about him?"
"He said I'd be looking at something as revolutionary as nanotechnology, but for obvious reasons did not elucidate further," Hank replied. "The girls mentioned that you seem to have mislaid a teammate along the way."
"Yeah, Kurt got taken. The Professor is trying to find him right now."
To be continued….