Fear: Chapter 2-The Hunters
*****
Outside the mansion, the multiple attackers were working their way in. They each wore black soldier-like uniforms, with black masks completely covering their faces except for their eyes. Each of them had a different colored arm-band, probably to differenciate from one another.
"Did you take care of the security system?" a man with a blue arm-band asked one wearing green, his voice low and scratchy.
"Yes..." the green banded man grumbled with aggrivation. He pulled a knife from his belt and began tracing a gloved hand along the sharp edge. "If you'll just cut the power and phonelines...I won't have to kill you." he muttered, a sickening smile visible through the open mouth part of his mask.
"Is that so...Craven?" the blue banded man sneered, then cleared his scratchy throat.
The other man nodded sharply. "Good to know you remembered our deal about names, Stick." he waved a finger in the air, returning his knife to it's sheath securely on his belt. "No formality, nicknames only." he nodded to himself. "Maybe I won't have to kill you after all."
"Let's just worry about killing who we came here to kill." Stick said grumpily as he shifted a heavy black bag on his shoulder.
"Let the fun begin." Craven grinned wickedly.
Stick pulled a small black device from the bag, then flicked a switch, smiling with satisfaction as all the large mansion's lights suddenly went out. "Power's out, back-up power too...Trigger's already scanning the perimeter with his harpoon. Just in case he finds any lingering prey."
Pointing toward the sky, Craven announced, "On with the hunt!", before flipping on his nightvision goggles and marching into the darkness.
*****
Inside the mansion some gasps could be heard from the mutants as blackness consumed everything.
"Oh my God!" Kitty exclaimed, jumping from her seat on the floor.
"Calm down everyone." Hank announced easily, trying to stop the shouts and other commotion.
"There's a few flashlights in the library closet, I believe Rogue was closest to it. If you would be so kind." the Professor said stoically, unnerved by the situation as much as everyone else was. Either that or just hiding it extremely well.
"I got it." Rogue said, fumbling in the dark, though there was some light coming from the moon by the window. It wasn't much. Reaching into the closet on the shelf, she grabbed ahold of four flashlights, turning them all on. Handing one to the Professor, Hank, and Scott, she kept one for herself and sat down beside a scared looking Jamie.
"Chuck!" Logan yelled, stumbling into the library with Ororo close behind. Luckily they had already gotten out of the elevator when the power went out.
"Hey, what did you guys find?" Jean asked anxiously.
"We can't get out, the dome surrounding the mansion is electrical, and very powerful." Ororo explained.
"I dunno how the hell it's blockin' our powers, or how it's bein' powered, but I can tell ya we ain't bein' attacked by yer usual run o' the mill mutant haters. They gotta have some smarts, an' some pretty fancy gadgets ta get us trapped like this." Logan told them all seriously, rubbing at his raw knuckles.
Ororo nodded in agreement. "We were attacked when we were outside. Logan was nearly taken down with some sort of harpoon gun."
"Alright," the Professor started, his mind already starting to analyze the situation even without his powers. "We need to-"
But before he even got the chance to finish his sentence, a quiet tapping sound was heard from the library window, then the glass shattered, spraying into the room with great force backed by a thick cloud of smoke and a wave of heat.
"Aaaah!!" several students screamed, some falling, some diving to the floor for cover.
"Everyone get down!!" Logan shouted, his deep voice thundering over the noise from the explosion. He dove toward Kitty who had been standing in the middle of the room, knocking her to the ground and sheltering her with his own body.
"Aah!" she cried, hitting the floor.
Before things had the chance to settle down, the vent on the high ceiling of the library opened up, and down came a figure cloaked in black, a soft green glowing from his head and a white strip on his upper right arm. The attacker came, repelling from a rope, only noticed by the powerless mutants upon firing his weapon that shot perfectly sharpened throwing stars.
Jamie screamed from his position on the floor, Amara by his side and trying to duck beside the chair where Bobby had previously been sitting.
"We need to get out of here!!" Hank was heard yelling.
A feral growl escaped Logan's lips, and he pulled himself from his protective position over Kitty and flung himself at the black-clad attacker who had just landed on the floor.
Both tumbled to the floor, the attacker slightly taken by surprise as Logan released his adamantium claws, the pain of the sharp metal cutting through the still-raw flesh over his knuckles not even making him flinch. Before Logan even had the chance to strike his weapons upon this annoyance, the man was pulled back sharply by another similarly dressed, a blue band on his upper right shoulder.
"Watch it Trigger!" the blue-banded man seethed angrily, pulling a black capsule from his ammunition belt and throwing it hard on the floor.
Logan fell back as a thick, foul smelling smoke cloud filled the space.
"Children, get out of here!" the Professor yelled from his knocked-over wheelchair.
"Ororo, Logan, I'll take Charles and some of the students to a safe place, I suggest you two get the others and do the same!!" Hank yelled as he crawled toward the X-Men founder, leaving the wheelchair and lifting the crippled man into his arms. He'd forgotten about not being in his Beast form which gave him an extra amount of strength, and it took some adjusting on his part to manage the small task.
Amara quickly got to her feet, pulling a trembling Jamie along with her. "We'll go with you Mr. McCoy!" she exclaimed, forcing her voice not to crack as she raced after him.
"Be careful!" Ororo shouted, watching as the light from both Hank's and the Professor's flashlights dimmed as they left.
Coughing a little from the smoke, Logan's eyes narrowed as he swiped blindly where the two men had been. They were gone. Shaking his head with disgust that they'd slipped from his grasp, Logan turned sharply to everyone else, Rogue and Scott clutching the only remaining flashlights. He sheathed his claws with a slight grunt, then began giving orders. "Cannonball an' Berserker, you two are with Cyclops an' Jean. Nightcrawler an' Shadowcat, you two go with Storm. Rogue, Iceman, yer with me." he grunted, watching as they all shakily and nervously got to their feet.
Most of the students had some shallow cuts from the glass window shattering, but other than that they were alright. Luckily no one had been hit by the sharp ninja-star blades.
"Rogue, give yer light ta Storm." Logan told her sharply.
She just nodded, then handed off the flashlight. For the first time in a while, Rogue was actually able to make physical contact with another human being without hurting them. She couldn't help but be a little glad to be without her powers, despite the situation they were in.
"Hey, how are we supposed to see?" Bobby asked worriedly.
Logan sighed with frustration, staring hard at the teenager. "We'll make do." he grunted, leaving no room for argument as he took off, Rogue following behind, then Iceman after a second's hesitation.
"Be careful!" Storm yelled after them, then turned to where Scott and Jean had been with thier group, but the four of them had already taken off in search of a safe hiding place.
*****
Just outside, repelling across the outer wall of the mansion before climbing inside a freshly broken window, two of the killers crouched in the shadows of the room.
"Nice move Trigger." Stick scolded, smacking the other man upside the head.
Trigger's upper lip curled into a snarl from under his full face mask, and he raised his gun, shoving the wide, odd-shaped barrel up against the other man's throat. "Do that again Stick, ya won't live to see the end o' this game." he spat wickedly, a slight Australian twist in his tone.
Stick just nonchalantly swatted Trigger's weapon away. "Why does it seem everyone's threatening to kill me these days?" he mumbled, mostly to himself, then glared at Trigger quickly. "Cut it out." he dropped to a crouch, silencing for a moment when he thought he heard a noise outside the room. Nodding back to his companion he continued, "So what the fuck was that all about back there?!" he asked suddenly, voice even and scratchy as usual.
Mumbling something under his breath, Trigger holstered his weapon and looked to Stick sharply. "That guy back there, the one with the claws. I dunno what his fuckin' deal is, but he's definetly a mutie. Dunno why the hell that fancy do-hicky outside did nothin' about it." he drawled.
Shrugging, Stick stood up and headed stealthily towards the door. "No doubt they all scattered, so let's get moving before Craven finds out we've been sitting around on our asses. We'll take care of Claws, the sooner the better. He'll be giving us trouble, no doubt."
Trigger just nodded and followed Stick towards the door before taking off in a different direction, a sadistic grin on his face in anticipation for a kill.
*****