Disclaimer: I do not own the Xmen….. I would be so freaking rich.. Do I look rich to you?? Huh Huh?? Huh?? I don't hear any answers!… Oh and I don't own the songs either… :p
Woohoo!!! YAY REVIEWS!! I like those lovely suggestions of yours!! Thanks to: Rogue4787, Ishandahalf, Btch, and Floods-Evo for reviewing!! I am so loved.. And I shall see what I shall do to the lovely Jean Grey. You see, I was merely gonna have her head get chopped off, then have Aspen grab a stake of some sort and mount Jean's head upon it. Then gather firewood to place around it and burn her like the damn whore she is. But I have reconsidered. *sinister thoughts* Pun not intended or is it?*
Recap: Well, the last chapter all began with what happened when Spike went to go visit the others. They had a lovely reunion and John had a delightful little romp with his Sheila the matchstick. Then their was a gorgeously Romy reunion with Rogue and Remy. Then..DUN DUN DUNNNN.. Came the horrid soon to become gruesome fight with Aspen and Jean. Who shall I make win and who shall I make suffer a horrible death?.. Well you are going to have to hold on to your seats and read this new chapter!!! (* been watching way too many game shows!*) On with the Story. . .. .
Chapter 26: Violence is the Key
" Never will you hear me say this but:
Kick some ass Jean Grey!!"
~Rogues Heart & Friends~
Jean leapt as far away from the psychotic man as she was physically able. He had just taken another swing to her torso that would have had some pretty deadly consequences. Why was he trying to kill her? What had she ever done to him?
Jean began to contemplate this as she had managed to see the strategy behind her opponents moves. Every move that he made was carefully calculated and he was quick to react so Jean had to be quick to hold up her guard. She was able to pull up her telekinetic shields for only minutes at a time before her power would short out. When they had brought her here, the man with the blue-tinted skin had injected her with some kind of liquid.
~Guess it must've been some kind of inhibition drug~
Aspen back flipped out of the way of the redhead's attempted high kicks. She was weak and hardly worth his time. But she had to be valuable in sort of way if Essex took interest in her. Yet she was his opponent now so it didn't matter if Essex wanted her alive or not. He shall finish her off, just like he would do the rest of the impure ones. For now, he shall merely play with his effervescent prey.
Crouching low he lunged at her, knife in hand. She whipped around, obviously trying to avoid the blade but she didn't notice the one that was carefully slipped in his right hand. The dagger plunged deeply into her side making the woman gasp aloud. Leaping out of harms way, Aspen watched as the woman keeled over onto the floor writhing in pain. The crowd shrieked out in amusement and pleasure as they watched the woman struggling to stand. Bringing the bloodied dagger to his mouth, he eerily ran his tongue across the blade. When the taste of the salt tinged blood ran into his mouth he curved his mouth into a sick smile. Glancing back at the woman, he saw the fury that was boiling inside of her. Most likely pumping through her bloodstream, gnawing through her veins. Yes, he was going to make her want to kill him. He was going to make her fight. Aspen watched as the woman's mouth opened to speak, though it came in short labored breaths.
" You…bastard.." she spat viciously.
Aspen's grin grew wider as she shrieked furiously and lunged at him. Her form, as she began to bombard him with punches, was sloppy and dawdling. Though she had speed that could easily rival his own, she was a rookie when it came to true showmanship.
" Nice Try, Woman but you are going to have to work better than that to beat me."
With that, Aspen pulled his hand back and slapped her. Not too hard but enough to make her stumble sideways. As she stumbled, Aspen went to punch her down but was met with an unpleasant surprise. The woman had taken her knee and belted him in his stomach, knocking the breath out of him and causing for him to drop his dagger. As he struggled to regain his breath, the woman preceded to parry him with punches to his side. Pulling back violently, Aspen jerked his fist back and punched her so hard that she flew back at least five feet. Aspen walked over to her crouched body and slapped her again. The crowd went wild and their shrill screams and rants filled the stadium. Essex glared down at him spitefully while the Master's face held an amused smirk. Aspen returned his attention to the shaken female who laid beneath him.
" I want faster."
The redheaded woman growled fiercely and leapt into the air and flipped over to him. Raising her small dagger up to stab him. But Aspen caught on before she was able to deliver the vicious blow. Grabbing her raised hand, he used his other hand to deliver another brutal cuff to her face. The woman would have fell backwards if Aspen hadn't of jerked her back up by wrapping his hand around her neck. Her eyes flashed dangerously as he leaned into her face. His eyes were as cold as ice and his hands were as well. In fact, every portion of his body seemed to be glowing with a cerulean light.
" I said faster."
" What?.." she choked out.
Refusing to answer, he hurled her body towards the ground. As her body hit the ground, she could feel her wound tear up even wider than before. Blood slowly oozed from her already raggedly torn suit. Desperate not to show the man any weakness. Jean pulled her body up from the hard floor. Wincing only slightly from the pain that was rushing through her head that since the beginning of the fight was mixed with anger.
' How dare he strike her? Didn't he know who she was?'
The woman seemed to be getting angrier by each second. That only succeeded in making Aspen even happier. The angrier she would become the better the fight would be.
Jean whipped her body around and began to deliver a series of punches to the man. Each one with enough power to knock out Juggernaut, himself. But the man was agile enough to dodge each and every one of them. Grabbing her fists, he kneed her into the gut. As she fell, he lifted his foot and clocked it into her chin. She could feel several of the bones in her jaw snap and lodge themselves deeply into her bone tissue. Merely to scream would have resulted in a month's worth of agony.
The crowd erupted in vigorous bellows of joy. They had begun to chant the man's name over and over. Aspen she believed it to be. Though she didn't have much time to dwell upon it as the man came down upon her.
She was thinking too much. That wasn't good for the fight. He wanted a good fight, one that would make him memorable in the eyes of all men. But no, this wasn't good enough. If she wasn't going to fight willingly then he was going to make her.
His adrenaline began to pump as he heard the shouts of his name ringing throughout the entire stadium.
Aspen .. Aspen… Aspen…. Aspen…. Aspen… Aspen…. Aspen… Aspen… Aspen… Aspen…. Aspen..
A bell rang out signaling to Aspen that the new level of the round was to begin. The chamber doors that were once closed, had immediately opened revealing two heavily armed men holding weaponry. They walked around the colosseum fighting arena and laid the random weapons around it. There was a maximum of four weapons, two per person. They consisted of: bow staff, a long scythe weapon, an axe, and metal knuckles.
Essex stood up from where he was seated and walked up to address the people and the fighters.
" Now starts the second level of this battle. The fighters are permitted usage of weapons
And their natural born powers if any. If they are to reach a final stage level of their fight and
One fighter is floored, the opponent is able to decide whether or not the other fighter should
Be granted life. But this verdict shall only be reached if you, the audience, says it is to be."
Cheers and ravings bellowed from the stadium to embrace Essex's words. Essex held his hand up to silence them.
" If it is a tie, our beloved Master shall chose victor. If he so chooses, the victor would have
To fight one of these two superior fighters, in order to gain his freedom."
Essex gestured to the two persons sitting on the left of the Master's side. The purple haired Asian and the man with wings nodded to Essex.
More cheering rang through the stadium. Essex's turned from the audience and returned to his seat. The Master could be seen gesturing to a thickly veiled woman beside him. As she stood, a long portion of her red on jet black hair cascaded down her back. Her entire face was covered with a dark purple shawl, only to leave her emerald green eyes to glare upon the audience. She stood sturdly upon an elevated platform. The Master waved to Essex to continue the battle. Essex stood once more and lifted his hand to issue silence.
" Let the battle resume."
With that, the bell rang through the entire stadium (a/n: think of the one they use during boxing matches but not as cheesy).
Aspen turned his attention back to the redhead, who was slowly moving towards one of the weapons. Smirking at her attempt at stealth, he merely allowed for her to grab the weapon.
I 'm dying…praying….bleeding…..and screaming…
She gripped the axe as tightly as she could. This was her last chance to make it out of here alive. Lunging at the blond haired man, She began to flail it at him decisively.
Am I too lost to be saved?…..Am I too Lost?…..
Aspen laughed aloud at her pathetic attempts. She was weak an lacking of all fighting skills except for the natural ones she was built with.
My God, My tourniquet…return to me salvation….. My God. My tourniquet return to me salvation…
Jean was becoming desperate, she was losing the fight. And he didn't even have a weapon. Reaching deep into her mind, Jean pulled out a strong telekinetic field. This startled the man for a sole second. But it was long enough for her to discreetly pull up the weapons that were located behind him.
Aspen, who was oblivious to the hovering weapons behind him, leapt over to grab the bo-staff that was across from him. Flipping it around, he began to whip at her head. Yet her shield prevented it from getting to her. He was getting pissed. Nobody was ever able to stand up to Aspen Riley. Even though he was angry, he felt a joy pulling at his heart. Finally he would have his battle. Whipping the staff at her legs, he managed to knock the woman off of her feet. She leaned over to grab the axe, that she had dropped when she fell but Aspen came over and knocked it from her hand. He leaned over and waved his finger in a scolding manner.
" Now that's not nice now is it?"
The woman glared fiercely and spat a huge glob of saliva into his face. Aspen snarled and began to wipe it out of his face. Being preoccupied with the substance on his face, he didn't notice the scythe that was flying directly at him. His senses went off too late as he turned and the scythe plunged itself into his stomach.
Blood spurted from his mouth as he pulled the scythe from his torso. He could feel the blade snap in half as he yanked it from his body. Screaming in frustration and pain, he whipped around to attack the heartless redheaded bitch. But his assault was halted by a bo-staff smashing directly into his face. The bone in his nose crushed in and his intake of breath was sharp.
The audience went crazy and the screams of the people rang through the room. Now he was pissed. She had made him look defenseless and weak in front of everyone. She should pay, yes, she should pay. Swaying from his injuries, he headed for the wide eyed redhead.
Lifting her hand, she sent weapon by weapon to assail him. But he didn't cease walking towards him. He slightly stumbled when she was clobbering him with the metal knuckles yet he did not fall. As Jean stared into her opponents eyes, she saw something dangerous. Those cool blue orbs began to blaze dramatically. Jean began to back away from his harsh glare, there was something about his eyes that made her scared no… terrified.
The ground began to tremble underneath her feet. Staggering around for a slight moment, Jean began to glance around the stadium. It was obvious that the crowd was prepared for this, as they were all holding onto a latch located on the side of their seats and a what seemed to be a laser shield phased up separating them from the fighters. Glancing back at the now quivering man, she noticed that his eyes had begun to roll into the back of his head.
Her a telepathic pull in her mind warned her from an oncoming assault. Huge portions of the ground shot up from the arena floor forming into dagger shaped stalactites (a/n: or is it stalagmites? Aww just think of big pointy things sticking up from the ground)
Leaping to the side, Jean managed to avoid the first few but she was unable to dodge the others as they dislodged themselves from the floor. They flew at her like missiles launched on a target. Using her telekinetic shield she managed to destroy the first half but one came up behind her and pierced her spine. The pain blended in with the agony that she felt from her broken jaw as she opened her mouth to let out a scream. Collapsing onto the ground, she felt a rich pool of blood filter around her now broken body.
Aspen stumbled over to where her writhing body. Leaning down, he pulled the adamantium dagger from his belt and placed onto her neck. Staring hungrily down at the crimson pool of blood, he began to press the cold steel even tighter against her neck. Before slicing it, he glanced over to Essex and back at the audience. The Master leaned into Essex and whispered something into his ear. Essex nodded and faced the audience.
" MERCY OR DEATH?!!"
The audience began to chant their verdict over and over again.
DEATH!!… DEATH!!…DEATH!!!….DEATH!!…DEATH!!…DEATH!!!….DEATH!!..
Return to me salvation……
A resounding defiant scream erupted from the audience but was soon lost in the depths of chanting. Aspen smirked wildly and turned and switched weapons till he had the axe that she wanted to use on him. Yanking the woman up by her hair, he turned her head up so she could face him. Her eyes were wide with fear and pain. Leaning in, he smiled wickedly and sneered.
" You did well woman but not good enough.. It is time to meet your maker."
Her eyes filled with tears, that began to flow incessantly down her now bruised cheeks.
" Please…no…"
Aspen's eyes flinched slightly only to be replaced with a sick smile. Then he opened his mouth to sing..
"It's over…It's over now… Games over…it's my turn now…It's over… the games shut down….SORRY!"
With that he raised the axe and sliced through her neck, beheading her. Her eyes were still wide with terror and mouth foaming slightly with blood. Raising the now decapitated head, the crowd cheered. Aspen opened his mouth and let out a loud animalistic scream.
The audience joined in his victorious yell. Essex stood and hushed the audience down. Then he glared down at Aspen. He was spiteful, he just killed his new test subject. But all was well, he would merely have to fix the situation later.
" Congratulations, Aspen Rise."
More audience jeering. Only to be silenced by the Master's cough.
" The next round shall be presented later in the afternoon. The opponents shall be
Rogue Star from the T.M.A. special forces syndicate…"
Dramatic screams and cheers erupted from the crowd.
" And Belladonna Bordreaux from the Assassins Guild."
Slightly lighter cheering but a considerable amount of hissing and spiteful words.
The chamber doors opened and a the two guards came out and assisted Aspen out of the arena. All the while, he held upon the redhead's decapitated head. She was his trophy, soon he would add three more to his collection.
My tourniquet… my suicide..
Yay!! New Chapter BABY!! Did you like it? Huh? Were any of you disappointed? I mean besides the fact that there was no Romyness, but there shall be in the next chapter! Oh yes, you shall love the extreme Romyness. Anyhoo. . . I have another question for you!
Should I skip the Romy to do a chapter on Kurt and the rest of the Xmen's escape??
Yes or no?
Should I prolong the escape of the Xmen in order to do the fight b/w Belladonna and Rogue?
Yes or no?
Should I make Essex really evil?
Yes or no?
Should Spike figure out Nivea is behind everyone's nightmares?
Yes or No?
Should I be asking you all these questions?
Yes or no?
Do you care if I kill Remy?
Yes or No?
*just making sure you were paying attention but answer it anyways*
Oh yeah, and I don't own Evanescence's song. I love that song though..well I like "Whisper" better. I also planned to stick the prophecy in it but I don't feel like it. Soo I will write the next chapter when I receive reviews on the answers to these questions and reviews on this chapter.!! PLEASE REVIEW!!
~RoguesHeart~