Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 18
Chapter 5: Enter Psylocke
Remy followed the X-Men through a hatch in the roof of the chemical plant, he was the last to climb in, right behind Kitty and Bobby. He noted Bobby had been giving him strange looks ever since he'd got on the blackbird and yet, he couldn't fathom why. He tried to remind himself that once all this was over he definitely needed to confront Bobby about this strange attitude towards him. It wasn't as if he'd done anything to deserve it was it. Remy didn't mind being hated, but he did mind not knowing why.
"Tread lightly," Ororo whispered to her team mates, she gestured to the path ahead, a balcony high above a main hall. The floor of the balcony was metal, and the slightest footstep made it clatter.
Remy had no problem with this, and moved catlike across the balcony at the back, pressing his hands upon the banisters, he put most of his weight into his upper body so that he could move more quickly behind his team.
{They're close,} Jean said telepathically.
Remy paused, "wait."
"Hmm?" Ororo stopped where she was, meaning everyone who was behind her had to stop in their tracks also. She turned and gazed around everyone to see Remy.
"They're expecting us…" Remy said, he pushed past Bobby and Kitty to get nearer Ororo, "which means there might be traps."
Ororo paused, "Yes…that is a good point…we should separate…"
Jean put her hand on Remy's shoulder, "I'll go with Remy…hopefully we can ambush them before they ambush us."
"Kitty, go with Bobby," Ororo ordered, "me and Piotr will go to the north of the plant and see what we can find. Use your communicators the minute you find ANYTHING. Silent signal is best."
"We're on it," Kitty said.
Bobby created a path of pure ice from the middle section of the balcony and climbed on, he and Kitty headed across that way. Ororo and Piotr quietly crept down the balcony path further on.
Remy swung over the banister and dropped catlike onto the top of a covered vat below, Jean followed lowering herself telekinetically. There were several vats were stationed in separate areas with their caution warnings. The lighting was low, the place was quiet, but the drone of machines and the sound of bubbling liquid could be heard somewhere nearby.
Remy's instincts were drawing him in the western direction of where he and Jean had left from.
{Something wrong?} Jean asked.
Remy tried to focus, her thoughts clouded his for a moment, "instinct, Red. Pure instinct," he gazed around a corner where a large vat was, frowning. He looked down, there were very noticeable footsteps on the floor, "that and they're makin' it obvious this is the way to go."
{Should we follow?} she asked.
Remy shook his head, "we should find another way there…we're likely to be ambushed if we continue down that path…" he patted his pockets, "fuck."
{What?}
"I don't have any projectiles…" he winced, "I knew I should have brought my coat…" he looked around, "I'm unarmed…I don't even have my bo."
Jean made a face, {you're unprepared?}
"I was in bed," Remy retorted, "I didn't know I was going to be whisked into some mission in the dead of night."
{You better be careful.}
Something flew by Remy's head, it had almost grazed his cheek, he jerked back, "uh oh…" he said.
Remy and Jean quickly examined the thing that had whizzed by. It had stuck in the nearby vat, although luckily not causing any leaks. "What is that…?" Jean squinted.
A razor sharp silver star with claw shaped edges.
"It's an airclaw throwing star…" Remy winced, "which means…" he turned and looked to the direction.
A tall woman in black was standing half silhouetted, her hair catching a slight breeze from an airvent nearby.
"RUN!" Remy headed towards the direction the footsteps had been heading.
"What?" Jean asked, a throwing star whizzed by her head and she ducked barely in time. "Who is that?!" she asked running after Remy.
Remy ducked as another throwing star went past his head, "fuck!" he cried.
Jean turned around, two more were heading their way, she caught them with a telekinetic grasp, and flicked them towards the ceiling. "Who is this woman!?"
"She's deadly," Remy said. They were in a new room, it was darker, and seemed to be only one way out.
"Where IS he?!" the woman screamed, she'd followed them into the room.
Remy couldn't find an exit.
"Who is she talking about?" Jean demanded.
Another throwing star sped towards them, Remy ducked it just in time. From a balcony high above, the mutant Sabretooth dropped, fangs and claws bared. He gave a roar and grabbed Remy by the neck, "not as quick on your feet as the olden days, LeBeau."
Remy grabbed onto the larger mutant's hand, trying to pry his fingers away from his throat, he was finding it increasingly difficult to breathe.
A throwing star whizzed towards Sabretooth and hit him straight in the shoulder, he let a roar out and dropped Remy. "Psylocke," he growled, "shoulda known you'd be here, your stink is all over the place."
The woman, deemed Psylocke, pulled a full length kitana from the sheath on her back, "where is he, Sabretooth, I'm not here to play games!"
"He's around," Sabretooth chortled pulling the bloody throwing star out of his shoulder, he licked the blood from the razor sharp edge, "he'll be so pleased he gets two for the price of one."
Jean hit the communicator on her belt, "we've been attacked – come right away," she said.
Sabretooth smacked Jean in the face when she'd been unaware, sending her slamming into a vat, the side of her head bounced off the metal wall of it, and she fell to the ground unconscious.
Remy looked between Psylocke and Sabretooth, between the two of them, he knew he'd probably be killed. He had no projectiles, no weapons…all he had was skill.
Sabretooth grabbed a hold of Remy's collar, "you pathetic runt," he said, "I can see the fear in your eyes. Not quite the LeBeau I remember."
Remy twisted and grabbed a hold of Sabretooth's arm, yanked and using the right weight, managed to overthrow him, he got up, narrowly missing being hit by another star, "PSYLOCKE!" he cried, "I'm not with them!"
Psylocke moved pantherlike with speed and precision that Remy hadn't forgotten. She kicked him swiftly in the jaw, he groaned in pain.
"That will be enough of that…" came Ororo's voice. Electricity shot through the air, hitting Psylocke, and the woman seized in pain and then collapsed to the floor, her plum tinted hair splaying out on the hard floor. Sabretooth made a slash towards Remy but Remy dodged easily, he flipped, kicking Sabretooth square in the jaw.
A blinding pain shot through Remy's head, and he cried out, gripping his head with his hands, falling to his knees.
"What is it?!" Piotr asked, he was in the middle of a fist fight with Sabretooth now.
Remy curled up on the floor, agony searing through his brain, he couldn't even see straight the pain was so intense, he could not find the words to speak, all he could do was cry out in pain. Nearby a beaker of acid on a countertop near a wall exploded, spraying its contents across Sabretooth, who howled in pain, the contents splashed upon Colossus but in his metallic form he was safe from burning.
"Acid!" Piotr saw the steam rise from his arms, it heated up the metal of his arms but did not burn him.
"My eyes!" Sabretooth wildly screamed, he blindly ran towards the door, shoving by Ororo and disappearing into the darkness of a separate hallway.
Remy writhed on the floor, a computer monitor on a desk exploded, chunks of plastic and glass flying everywhere, the others ducked this.
"We need to get out of here now!" Ororo cried. A nearby container of gas rattled, and the top part exploded, the gas, a vibrant green colour, began to seep across the clean air.
Ororo pulled Psylocke over her shoulder, she struggled with the weight of the woman but somehow managed, "Piotr, get Remy and Jean and let's move!"
Remy opened his eyes, everything a blur except a silhouette near the wall, red eyes glowering, the silhouette seemed to disappear into the shadow itself, and vanished. He felt himself being pulled up. His eyesight momentarily became better as the pain began to let up, he grabbed the nearest object he could, a piece of plastic from the monitor he'd accidentally blown up, and he charged it, throwing at the dark corner.
"REMY!" Ororo cried, "what are you doing?!"
"What's going on?" Jean asked, beginning to come to.
The explosion sounded like an extremely large firework going off, Remy's kinetically charged projectile had hit a beaker that contained a highly volatile chemical that exploded on impact, it touched the gas near that area, and a larger explosion occurred, destroying half the wall. But in the flash of light, they all saw the silhouette with the red eyes before it seemed to disappear into the flames.
"What the—" Piotr gaped.
"We must escape NOW," Ororo said, she ran, holding Psylocke over her shoulder, she hit her communicator button, "escape to the blackbird, NOW!!"
Remy winced at the pain in his head, he felt himself being shaken as Piotr ran holding him under one arm, "my head…" he groaned.
It was moments later they were all on the roof, and climbing into the blackbird, the fire had begun to spread in the building, they felt it shaking as more small explosions were going off. "We must take off quickly," Ororo said jumping into the pilots seat of the blackbird, "everyone, get your seatbelts on NOW!"
The pain began to recede in Remy's head. Piotr had dropped him into a chair and buckled him into the seat, "what's goin' on?" he asked, he was unaware of what had happened, the pain had distorted his vision and perception so much he was unaware of what he'd just done.
The jet rattled as it took off, and Remy felt nausea try to push up through him and the bile rose in his throat, he held it in.
A very loud boom echoed through the night, so loud that Remy thought he'd lost his hearing for several moments. The jet shook violently as the explosion touched it.
Ororo fought for control until finally they'd escaped the flames. Remy glanced out of the window, a massive mushroom of toxic smoke had risen through the air. The chemical plant had been destroyed.