Chapter Two
Zephyr proved to be invaluable in the first minute of the fight, as she could use her power to counteract Jean's. Meaning that whenever Jean attempted to throw them into a wall, Zephyr could create a blast of air to protect them. It wasn't foolproof, and they often got knocked back a couple of feet, but it did help, as did Discharge's ion shield, which protected them from psychic blasts.
"Dammit, we have to get close to her!" Animal growled. "All we're doing is huddling inside this stupid ion bubble!"
"I need to think of a strategy first!" Rogue snapped. "She's not exactly a pushover!"
"Think fast, bosslady," Discharge said, gritting his teeth, his muscles training with the effort of maintaining the ion shield. "She's hitting me with a lot of force and I can't keep this up for much longer."
"Alright, alright, alright. Um…. Alright, Zephyr, you go out to the right and hit her with some air blasts, Animal, you come up from the left and behind her and just attack, Discharge, you stay here and throw some electricity balls at her, Paradox you stay here in case we need you later on, Michelle and Tempus, you two stay here and get read to protect us if we get hurt."
Everyone nodded and sprang into action. Zephyr clapped her hands and then held them outwards, sending out a large blast of air that slammed into Jean and sent her flying. Discharge dropped his ion shield and began throwing balls of sizzling electricity at her.
Animal morphed into her animal state. She grew a couple of inches and her muscles enhanced themselves. Her skin remained furless, but her facial features rearranged themselves slightly, her eyes becoming cat-shaped, and her face thinning out to give her a sort of triangle-shaped head, like a cat or a wolf. Her teeth grew into deadly fangs and her fingernails turned into sharp, grey claws. Her ears grew pointed. Her feet grew slightly, becoming a strange mixture of feet and paws with grey claws that matched her hands.
Growling, Animal leapt onto Jean's back and began biting into her neck with her large teeth, tearing flesh and muscle and snapping bones. Jean screamed and threw Animal off her with her powers. She collapsed to her knees with her neck a bloody ruin, her shoulder and right arm painted red. A glob of flesh trailed down her arm to splatter onto the ground. Anyone else would have collapsed on the brink of death, but Jean remained on her knees, glaring and panting. Obviously Animal had missed her windpipe and spinal cord.
Discharge threw a large electricity ball and it hit her solidly in the chest, making her cry out and hunch in upon herself. She looked like the picture of defeat. Rogue knew better.
A blast of psychic energy pulsed out of her body, crashing into the Dark Roses and knocking them backwards. Animal growled again and ran to her, only to be knocked down by another blast.
Rogue hated seeing her team get hurt so badly, but she had to hold back, wait for the right moment. Her gun was a cold weight in her hands, comforting and troubling all at the same time. The safety was off and there was a round chambered, but she couldn't use it yet, because she would only get one shot before Jean took the gun away from her.
She couldn't think right now. Thinking was bad. If she started thinking, she'd start remembering how she and Jean had first met, how Jean had reassured her and comforted her. She'd start remembering all those all-nighters they pulled, watching movies and studying for exams. She'd start remembering that Jean had been one of the first real friends she'd ever had.
Zephyr threw a ball of compressed air at Jean, hitting the redhead in her stomach. Animal attacked Jean's thigh, biting down hard, letting the blood flow into her mouth and swallowing it eagerly. She bit off a huge chunk of flesh and began devouring it, ignoring the larger meal for the appetiser.
Jean fell to the ground, screaming in a mixture of pain and rage. She was almost completely covered in blood, from the wounds in her neck, thigh, and one on her left shoulder from an electricity ball.
"Come on, target one of their minds," Rogue whispered, watching the fight with intense eyes. Her wish was granted, and she saw Jean focus her crazed green eyes on Zephyr.
Zephyr screamed and fell to her knees, clutching at her head. The pain lashed through her mind, burning with fury, attacking her soul, tearing little pieces out of her heart and consuming them. The pain and rage and loneliness and utter despair ripped at her mind, at her heart and soul.
A shot rang out, loud and deadly, followed by a stunned silence. Jean's eyes were wide and filled with confusion. She tried to breathe, once, twice, and then collapsed forward, her tangled red hair covering her face, mingling with the blood still pouring from her wounds.
The Dark Roses stared at her, not really sure if it was over yet. They had seen mutants get up with bullets in them before, and this mysterious mutant was more powerful than most.
Rogue lowered her gun and sucked in a deep breath, staring at the bloody and broken body of her friend. Silently, she whispered a final apology and goodbye to her friend, before holstering her gun and gathering her wits.
"Alright, let's get out of here before the cops show up," she snapped, and then saw a problem.
Animal was lapping at the blood pouring from Jean's neck, nipping at the flesh with cautious little bites.
"Animal, leave her alone!" Rogue commanded. The command was ignored, save for a threatening growl. Animal didn't want anyone coming near her meal. The body was HER food and she wouldn't share.
"Shit," Rogue cursed. This was always a problem when Animal morphed and there was blood spilled. She glanced at Michelle to see if she could hit Animal with a psychic blast, only to find the blonde clutching at her head and whimpering. So much for that plan.
Sighing, Rogue pulled off her left glove and stalked over to Animal. The other mutant raised her head and snarled, low and dangerous.
Rogue feinted to the right, somersaulted over her, and grabbed her forearm. Her power flooded into Animal and sucked on the girl's life force, pulling the energy from her body. Animal gave a screaming yowl and collapsed on the ground.
Rogue broke the contact and struggled to control the raging emotions inside her, the wildness, the urge to hunt and feast…. No! She wasn't an animal! She was a human being! She had control over her urges!
Drained of her energy, Animal had morphed back into her human form, and lay panting on the ground, her face covered in blood. A small piece of flesh clung to her jaw. She groaned and tried to stand up, only to fall back down again.
"Easy," Rogue muttered, kneeling down next to the girl and pressing on her shoulder to keep her still. "I took quite a bit, you won't be able to move for a bit. Discharge, you get to carry her home."
"Who gets to carry the body?" Tempus asked, looking at the mutilated corpse. Despite her young age, she wasn't horrified by the sight, because as the resident genius, it was her job to perform the autopsies on the controlled mutants, trying to find out just how they were being controlled. Seventeen corpses and she didn't have a single credible theory.
"Can you stop the blood moving?"
Tempus nodded. "Sure. It's almost stopped anyway."
"Do it, and I'll carry her."
Tempus shrugged and focused on the corpse. The blood was only trickling from the wounds now, the heart no longer beating to pump it through the veins, and she slowed that trickle until no blood moved at all.
Rogue picked up the body as if it were a doll, holding it easily over her shoulder in a fireman's carry. Discharge picked up Animal in a kinder way, cradling her against his chest, and she was too weak to protest. Besides, it was kinda nice.