Jenskott: Yes it ended there but here's the conclusion and with both of us you never know who will live or die.
Aaron: Yeah pissing Selene off may not be usually smart, but he can pull it off. You'll see what happens to X23 up first.
Mark C: Selene likes getting her way and Slayer is a major threat to her. Unfortunately as you'll see not all the prisoners are there. As for Logan you'll see how he deals with it up first.
GothikStrawberry: Everyone seems to like that little Selene/Slayer part. Wow, didn't think I would get that kind of reaction but trust me with the two of us writing you have NO idea what will happen and ANYONE can and will die in our fics. But you can see what happens with X23 right now.
ViciousAssassin: I think you need to reread the last part before reading this. Yeah I fixed the last part and added in Tabby and Sam, sometimes with scenes this big certain parts or people get lost. And no, nothing like that with Kitty and Piotr.
The Uncanny R-Man: Well, you've done a few things to characters that just suck too so don't be so sure I or Slickboy will kill off any character we fill will help make the story better. But you can read on and see if we did kill her off.
Silverdash: You can blame me for the cliff hanger. I just had to do it. As for what happens, well you'll see.
Kaliann: Well it would be a bad thing for the plot at least if she did lol. And don't worry Sinister will get his for X23 and for everything else and then some.
Thanks to: X00001, Simba317, Wen1, japanesegirl101, Windvuur, Quillian, Silver Warrior, Jaguar, Wolviesfan, coldqueen, Sparky Genocide
Hellfire and BrimstoneCHAPTER 47: SINISTER FACEOFF PART 3
Logan looked down at the young girl as his claws were ready to deliver the death blow to the closest thing he had to a living relative in his life. She was someone who was so much like him…Hell, she was a part of him, but he had to do this. He just hoped that he could do this…For her sake.
He then quickly turned her around and dug a claw into the device in the back of her neck. She cried out as it shorted out and Logan gritted his teeth feeling the shock thanks to his metal claws, but they would both survive. Deathstrike responded by pushing the button, but nothing happened.
Logan saw that she was in a bit of pain, but she was alive and slowly moving. Logan panting slowly stood up and glared at Deathstrike. He could no longer think of her as Yuriko. He was sure that the woman he knew would never have used a child. The woman he knew that he had been in love with once, that sweet innocent woman, was now dead…That he was sure of.
The woman in front of her was someone else. They may have the same face, the same smell, and the same voice…But the woman he had known no longer existed and only Deathstrike was living now. She was a woman so warped by her anger and hatred that she had ceased to be whoe she had once been and didn't even know it. No matter what past they had, Logan could never look at her and see the woman he helped to destroy…He only saw a monster of her own making.
"You want to kill me? Fine…But you do it yourself you bitch! And you don't send a fucking child to do your dirty work!" he growled at her.
She threw the now useless device away, "Very well then. I think I will prefer stripping the flesh of that metal skeleton of yours anyway." She launched herself at him, swiping at him with her claws. He dodged a few, but got a few slashes in his, ribs but the return slash leaving three lines across her face was a nice way to return the favor.
They continued their fight almost as thought they were picking up just were they left off back in New York. They were fighting each other with every ounce of fury and brutality. They were wrecking not only each other, but the entire training room. Equipment was shredded as were they to a degree. Soon, Logan was panting for breath as was Deathsrike. They didn't bother with talking, for they didn't have anything to say to each other any way. Logan didn't know the whole story and even if he did, he doubted she would believe him.
He went for a kick, but she used her long clawed fingers and impaled them in his leg, causing him to roar out in pain right before she used the other hand to grab his head and slammed him face first into the hard ground.
She stood over him as he was slightly dazed. Deathstrike had been waiting for this for over a decade. She was ready to strike as Logan was getting up, ready to attack him and not stop until nothing was left. Then, she took a step, when suddenly, she shouted out in pain as a piece of wood shot out of her chest.
She looked down in surprise and turned to see the girl behind her with a feral expression on her face. "Payback…Is…A bitch," she said between gasping breath. She had gotten over what Wolverine had done to save her and it was time to return the favor.
Deathstrike's face contorted in both pain and fury and she went to move one of her giant clawed hands to rip the girl to shreds when she was impaled again, only this time from the front by Logan's claws. She spat out blood as his claws dung into her and looked down in surprise and into his furious eyes. Without saying another word he pulled his claws from her chest.
She staggered a bit, feeling light headed as she tried to stay on her feet, but the last thing before the darkness took her was her vision blurring and the ground rushing to her face. The other two looked at her as she was one the ground bleeding.
"Is she dead?" X23 asked Logan looking down at her.
"Not yet…Her healing abilities may or may not save her…Right now I don't care." Logan sighed, tired of this fight with her. "Come on kid, we need to get out of here with the others…Leave her. If she lives then she lives, if not…One less person to worry about."
X23 looked at him as he left the room and then one last look at Deathstrike's body. She didn't like the woman and her training in Hydra told her to kill her. But that would make her just a weapon. So she left her there following him out. They walked on since both needed time to heal up in order to run and Logan noticed she was fooling around with the thing still in her neck. "Come here let me see," he said gruffly and she pulled away at first, but looking into his eyes looking at her with kindness she allowed him to see it.
"Damn…This looks deep…Don't worry kid I'm sure Hank can get it out of ya."
She was silent for a moment then, "Thanks."
"You got an idea or a place to go after we do get that thing out of ya?"
She thought about it. Besides going back to the wild, which wasn't really one of her best choices given what happened last time, she didn't have anywhere to go. Logan said that she could stay with him and the others if she needed or wanted to. "We'll see…" she told him.
As they were making their ways back toward the entrance she caught a scent. It was Viper's and Logan noticed it too and saw her clench her jaw. He figured that she would want a piece of her, but he wasn't sure he wanted her to go at it alone. "You need help?"
She was a bit confused at first, but then caught his meaning. "No…I need to finish this on my own," she walked off to where Viper's sent was coming from and then stopped and looked over her shoulder at Logan. "But…Thanks…I'll see you outside."
-Rescue Team-
The rescue team had their hands full while going to the location of where the others were being held and they had to practically fight tooth and nail the entire way. Just then, they thought they had reached the end of it and both Sage and Betsy sensed that most of them seemed to be very close that's when they came face to face with more but also with two other men there both heavily armed.
Deadpool and Gauntlet looked at the gathering of mutants, "Well look what we got ourselves here. Some would be rescuers," Gauntlet sneered at them.
"True, but at least a few are good on the eyes," Wade told him looking at Betsy and Sage.
"Give us our friends and you'll walk…" Sage said in a cold and even tone her face totally expressionless.
"Um…no. Sorry, but the boss man wants them and you too." Then Deadpool looks her over. "Ya know honey buns, he's got this whole breeding thing going so how about it? I like the pale skin look and I'm willing to give it the old college try."
"Did you even go to college?" Gauntlet asked him.
"Alright enough of this!" Rogue was pissed already and these two weren't making it easier. "Ya'll will give us back our friends or we'll make ya!"
Deadpool just shrugged, "Fine with me. Jack-bots attack!" The robots didn't move at all and Gauntlet gave him a 'what are you stupid' look. "Hey it worked on the cartoon. Fine…Drones, attack and capture." The machines finally started to move.
Magma, while in her fire form, was using her powers to melt them all while Rogue was taking them apart with her bare hands. So far her uniform was already lightly scorched and a few rips and tares in it, but her skin wasn't hurt at all. Warren took the air, thankful that the high roofs in this place really helped with his flying, but there was still a mobility problem and he had been fighting alone with the robots.
Gauntlet took this and with his aim, fired a hot bolt of energy at his wing. Warren cried out as he fell to the floor as the pain in his wing shot through to his spine. Betsy ran over to him, making a Katana from her powers and slicing through many of the robots to him. "Warren luv, you alright?"
"I'll live…It huts like hell, but…I think I'll fly again," he said as he tried to get up and flex his wing, but it hurt to move it. But he still had feeling and at least he could still move it. Although deep down he was scared because he never had his wings hurt and the thought of losing the ability to use one wasn't a pleasant one.
Betsy tried to get him up but someone was looking over them, they looked to see Gauntlet with a rifle looking at them. "Betsy," Warren said glaring at him, "Do me a favour? Kick his ass."
Psylocke grinned, "Sure thing."
Sage was hiding behind a ruin of one of the larger drones as Deadpool fired at her with his own weapons. She took the time to reload her pistol was didn't like the fact that she was on her last clip and decided to make it last. "Come on baby, let's kiss and make up. I mean, I can go for hours…That is, if you don't mind flesh that looks like one giant scab, but trust me…Jr. is still all good."
"Don't you ever shut up?" Sage shouted at him getting annoyed.
"Nope, not unless you make me," Wade smiled under his mask, but had to jump out of the way of a humanoid droid getting tossed in front of him. He looked to see an angry Rogue flying at him and he fired at her legs and shoulders. She stumbled onto the ground feeling a slight pain, but otherwise fine.
"Oh great, looks like I got Wonder Woman gone Goth after me," He tossed her something at her face, "Try this out. He said you had to be living, not pretty." Rogue's eyes widened at the grenade flying at her face and turned her head as a reflex reaction as it exploded in her face.
"Got ya!" he yelled in triumph only to get shot a few times in the chest.
Sage walked up to him as he fell onto his back bleeding. "No…Got you," She walked up to him seeing him limp and coughing. She knew she hit a lung at least and he was choking on his own blood, but either way, he'd be dead soon anyway.
"I…I'm going numb…I…I can't see, is anyone there?" The mercenary asked and Sage felt a big sorry and knelt down.
"Sorry nothing personal."
"Hey…I know the score, but there's…Something you should know…" His voice got weaker and weaker. She got closer to him but then suddenly his hand grabbed her throat. "Psyche!" He yelled out and head butted her hard. She felt the impact to the back of her skull and saw stars in her eyes as the world was spinning.
Deadpool got up and looked down at her, "Sorry babe, but I got this healing factor see. In fact, it's just as good as Logan's so I can take whatever you can dish out. Now this is just business so I got to knock you and your little super friends out. Nothing personal honey buns."
"Well this is personal!" came a voice as he turned just in time to see a fist slamming into his face knocking him extremely hard into a wall knocking him out cold as well as breaking a few bones. Sage's vision cleared up enough to see Rogue standing there, only some of her hair was burned off from the explosion on one side and part of her face was slightly black with this soot like substance.
A scream was heard as the other saw Betsy pull out one of her blades from Gauntlet's head. They knew he would be alright, but would have one hell of a headache waking up. They looked around and the rest of the robots seemed to be out of commission too.
They managed to find the large doors to where they felt the others were and opened them to the giant holding cell as Rogue tore the door off. She saw mostly everyone there but when she saw Kurt bolt up she flew right to him hugging him. "OH god you're alright! Ah was so worried Kurt!"
"Sis…I loved seeing ya too…But I need…Air…" Kurt tried to get out from his sister's bear hug, but he was so happy to see her he didn't really mind. She pulled away, a bit embarrassed, but then looked at her face and noticed the scorching on her hair. "Um…Sis…What happened to your hair?"
Rogue felt her hair for the first time and felt the damage that. "That son of a…If Ah hadn't kicked his ass Ah would do it again!"
"Remy d'inks it's a good look for you chere," Gambit said grinning at her, he walked up to her and she scowled at him, but then smirked and hugged him despite all the people looking. "Remy could get used to dis."
She pulled away and hit him on the arm lightly, at least for her. "Don't start. Besides, ya rescued meh so Ah figured that Ah should return that favor."
Kitty looked up at Slayer walking towards her, "Wow, I like didn't expect to see you here." He smiled and simply touched her collar as a symbol on his hand glowed and her collar just unlocked, "Hey how did you do that?"
"A little trick I picked up," But as he looked around her grew concerned, "Where is Jean and Scott?"
"Sinister took them not too long ago to his lab," Piotr told him as Rogue took off his collar for him after getting the others off.
"I'll go and get them then. I don't want to leave him in his 'care' for too long." Slayer was making his way to the exit when Vince shouted out to him to stop.
"I'm going with you…I got some personal business with Sinister." He felt a hand on his arm and noticed the worried look on Emma's face. He gave her an assuring smiled at her, "Don't worry, I don't plan on dying or anything."
"You better not," she whispered to him as he gave her a kiss. She then watched him leave hoping that he would return to her.
Sinister's Lab
With the melee going on both outside and inside his facility, Mr. Sinister made the choice to proceed with the next big step of his experiments. While he knew that the X-men would eventually find his base, he had not anticipated it being so soon. There were still many procedures he wanted to go through with before he went on with breeding his new experiments, but given the circumstances, he would have to forego such preparations. It wasn't usually his style since he was always a man who paid strict attention to details, but with his ultimate dream of breeding the next dominate species so tantalizingly close, he was more than willing to make an exception this time around.
Now, in the depths of his elaborate laboratory, the two major keys to the success of his experiments lay before him shackled to a metal gurney. Scott Summers and Jean Grey…The two mutants whom had always fascinated him to the point of obsession…Would finally fulfill their destiny as the caregivers of the first of many advanced beings that would one day overtake the planet. He had been watching them for so long…Studying and analyzing them in every conceivable way. He had even dictated the course of their lives to some extent with how he had played a role in the death of Scott's parents.
They had everything he was looking for…Their DNA and physiology was perfect…The absolute pinnacle of what he had dreamed of working with for so long. Now, as they lay before him just waiting for their true potential to be unlocked, Mr. Sinister knew it was now or never as he prepared his vast array of surgical and genetic tools for the ultimate experiment.
"It appears your friends have descended upon my glorious facility sooner than expected," he told them as he picked up a few rather disturbing looking tools as both Scott and Jean struggled with the metal shackles, "So unfortunately, at least for you, I'll have to accelerate my plans a bit more hastily."
"Err! You son of a bitch!" yelled Scott, who felt such great rage and hatred for this man who had murdered his parents, "I swear, when I get out of this thing, I'll…"
"Please…Don't struggle my most tenacious specimens," said Sinister in a calm and collected tone, "You'll only make it more difficult for you and your girlfriend."
"Fuck you!" he spat with complete and utter hatred in his tone.
In response, Sinister pressed a button on the remote control, causing Jean's collar to give her a painful surge of paralyzing shocks, causing her to scream out in pain. The sound of her voice tore at his heart like a thousand knives, for not had this man taken his family away from him, now he was hurting to woman he loved.
"JEAN!" he yelled, trying to reach out to her and struggling with increasing vigor with the shackles, "Stop! Stop it! Don't hurt her!"
"Believe me Scott…I don't want to," said Sinister as the surges died down and Jean struggled to catch her breath, "Both you and Jean here are too important to me…And your entire species for that matter. I do not wish to truly hurt either of you…But rest assured, I will if you don't cooperate."
Scott so desperately wanted to break free from his confinement and blow this man away…But looking back over at Jean and hearing her groan, he just couldn't do it. He could handle being hurt himself, but he couldn't handle hearing Jean in pain…Which was something Sinister knew all too well.
"There now…That's better," said Sinister with an insidious grin as both Scott and Jean fell silent, "Now that we have an understanding…We can finally begin."
"Just…What are you going to do to us?" asked Jean as she looked back at the demonic face of Mr. Sinister.
"It's simple really, my dear…" said Sinister as he slowly traced his cold, pale hands down the side of her face in a way that made Jean's skin crawl with disgust and sent Scott into another rage, "You see…Obviously, we can't go forth with a standard mating procedure given the time constraints. So instead…We'll just have to go the quicker route…Which I'm sorry to say, it a bit more…Messier than the old fashioned way."
Neither Scott nor Jean liked the sound of that as a sick feeling in the pit of their stomach formed as they saw him pick up a long, needle-like instrument from the table.
"In order to create the first of what I hope to be many new super mutants, I'm going to need a sizable amount of tissue samples, blood, reproductive cells in order to make them as perfect as can be. Now I must warn you…Extracting such vital components is no easy task and given the time constraints…I may have to forego such formalities like anesthesia and preliminary incisions."
Both Scott and Jean found themselves struggling more and more against the shackles, for they didn't like the sound of that and given the kind of guy they were dealing with here. The look in his blaring red eyes were filled with a mixture of excitement and madness. His most ambitious specimens were now ready to fulfill their ultimate destiny…And he was ready to fulfill his.
"You both should feel lucky…" he said in an almost lighthearted tone as he neared them, looking ready and willing to begin, "For so many years now I have watched and prepared you for your destiny. And now, the both of you, Scott Summers and Jean Grey, will go down in evolutionary history as the bringers of the next dominate species of life on the planet. All of humanity, both mutant and non-mutant alike, will be wiped out through the sheer power of evolution."
"You're insane!" yelled Jean, now knowing with absolute certainty that she and Scott were in the presence of a true mad man.
"Insanity and genius can go hand and hand I guess…But given your current situation, that hardly matters," he said with a sinister grin, "Now then…I must warn you. What I'm about to do is going to be a bit painful to say the least…But don't worry…It'll all be over soon enough."
Mr. Sinister was just inches away from plunging a needle into Scott's chest. He had waited so long for this…Over a century of blood sweat and tears. Now he was finally going to finish what he started…He was finally going to succeed after all these years. Scott closed his eyes and waited for the sting that was sure to come while Jean watched helplessly as a madman was about to stick her lover with a needle.
However, just as he was about to plunge it in…Suddenly, the piercing sound of something cutting through the metal seal of the heavily reinforced door interrupted Mr. Sinister from his ultimate goal as he quickly turned his head, only to see the super heavy, two foot this steel door get kicked down as if it were made of tin and watched as two figures entered the lab.
"Hey Sinister…Is there a doctor in the house?" said Slayer, his sword fully drawn and ready for battle.
"You!" yelled Sinister, quickly enraged at the feeling of being interrupted when he was so close to his ultimate goal, "Who the hell are you?"
"The least of your worries…" said the mutant warrior as he stepped in.
Just then, a loud, pained cry of anger, rage, and hatred echoed through the lab as the identity of Slayer's companion was revealed…And almost immediately, he recognized that cry and knew that it could only be one person.
"SINISTER!" yelled Vincent Freeman as he looked into the eyes of the man who had taken everything from him.
"Prodigy Seven…" said Sinister, seeing that he didn't have his power dampening collar on anymore, know.
"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY! YOU HEAR ME! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY!"
Then, before Sinister could react, Vincent used his super speed to pounce upon the century old being and quickly used his super strength to beat this monster into a bloody pulp. His photographic memory was now going crazy. Every image…Ever memory…Every recollection of pain, suffering, and loss was playing before his very eyes as if it was happening right then and there. Tears were actually forming in his eyes as he felt a rage of hatred and bloodlust the likes of which he had never felt before as he punched and grunted with each powerful blow he dealt to this evil man's body.
While Vincent was taking on Sinister, Slayer chose to make his move as well and quickly moved towards the prisoners, Scott and Jean. He knew Vincent couldn't beat Sinister through sheer rage alone…So he would have to give him a little help.
"Sorry we cut it so close…" said Slayer as he stood before the two bound mutants, "Did he stick or inject you with anything?"
"No…But he was about to," said Scott, knowing that was a memory he wasn't going to soon forget.
"Good…Then, I'm guessing you might want a chance to return the favor," said Slayer as he rose his magic sword into the air.
"What? Hey! What are you doing? Are you…" but before Scott could finish, Slayer made a few lightning fast sword slashes that cleanly and effectively sliced through the shackles and he collars like a hot knife through butter.
Both Scott and Jean were definitely shocked by this as they Slayer helped each of them off the gurney, giving them a little support so they could regain their balance. Having never seen this guy before, they were both a little weary at first, but given he wielded a sword and bore samurai armor, they quickly assumed he had to be Slayer, the guy everybody had been talking about throughout the institute before they had been captured.
Slayer also handed Scott his shades that he found in the prison room with the others so Scott wasn't blinded. Luckily it had been left behind when they had been taken from the cell.
"Are you two okay?" said Slayer as he allowed them to stand on their own.
"Yeah…We're fine," answered Jean, now feeling her powers return to her once again, "I take it you must be Slayer."
"Just call me the X-men's trump card…" he told them with a confident grin, "Now come on…We've got a job to do."
"Right!" said Scott, his eyes now brimming with anger and determination towards Sinister, "And I've got something personal to take care of…"
While Slayer had been freeing Scott and Jean, Vincent didn't let up in his rage as he continued screaming and grunting with each forceful blow he delivered to the madman who had caused him so much pain. Sinister's body was like a silvery mush that kept forming and reforming with each bit he tore off. It was as if he was fighting a living blob and he couldn't even tell if this was causing Sinister any pain. But he still kept fighting…He still kept punching and crushing his advanced form with his bear hands as the memories of the sad story that was his life continued to fuel his rage.
"You sick, evil, motherfucking son of a bitch!" yelled Vincent as he punched what he thought was Sinister's face, even though it was just an unrecognizable mesh now, "You took everything from me! EVERYTHING! You took my family! You took my name! You took my childhood! You took my life! You even took my humanity!"
Just then, he was blown off the deformed body by an energy blast from Sinister's advanced body as he quickly reformed and stood before him, looking back at the enraged former specimen that had proven to be so tenacious and strong.
"You really are pathetic, Prodigy Seven…" he told him as his eyes glowed menacingly at the enraged young man, "You yell, you scream, and you cry with every ounce of rage that consumes you. You are the strongest and most enduring out of all the experiments I did with the Prodigy Project…Yet even after all these years, you're still every bit the scared, weak little boy you were when I found you."
"No…" grunted Vincent as he quickly recovered from the blast and got back up with rage blaring in his eyes, "I'm not weak…I'm still strong enough to rip you apart!"
"You can't even get beyond the memories of your past…" taunted Sinister, "What makes you think you can take down me…An immortal being? You can punch and cry like the child you still are, but you'll never beat me. You're just a failed experiment! A child running away and crying like a baby because he's too scared to face his past!"
"NO!" yelled Vincent as he prepared to lunge forward again his eyes glowing red now as were his hands.
However, before he could strike another blow, he was blown back by yet another powerful blast from Sinister…This time, it was one far more effective and Vincent struggled to get up.
"You are weak…" said Mr. Sinister as he stood over the struggling young man's body, "You could have been so much more…But now, you're pathetic…And for that, I believe it's time I finally put a rest to the final piece of the Prodigy Project…Now and forever."
Sinister's hand began to glow once again as Vincent struggled to get up, but before he could unleash it, another voice interrupted him once again and he was hit with the one thing on the planet that could truly hurt him.
"Hey Sinister…This is for my mom and dad," said Scott as he unleashed a powerful optic blast, full of rage and hatred towards the man who had taken away his parents.
"AUGH!" he yelled out as he faltered back and looked down at the gaping hole that was left around his stomach, "No! Not this!"
Scott, Jean, and Vincent stood amazed that after taking such a beating, it only took fairly moderate blast from Scott to truly hurt him. However, seeing this caused Slayer to grin, for he could see with his all seeing eye the truth that Sinister had kept from them.
"The truth is finally catching up with you Sinister," said Slayer as he watched him struggle to recover from the blast, "You couldn't hide it forever…So you sought to control it."
Just then, it all suddenly made sense to Scott as he looked back at the monstrous madman with a new sense of determination.
"I understand…It all makes sense now," he said as he looked back into the evil red eyes of the man who had killed his parents, "You knew, didn't you?"
"You ungrateful little…ERAHHH!" began Sinister, but he was cut off by another optic blast…This one hitting him right in the chest and causing him even more pain.
"You knew my powers could hurt you…" said Scott as he, Jean, Slayer, and Vincent surrounded the madman, "You knew that they were the only force capable of stopping that freak show body of yours!"
"And that's why you wanted us…" said Jean, who finally understood as well, "That's why you wanted Scott and me above everybody else. You knew we could stop you…"
"NO! Nothing can stop me!" he yelled, still determined to overcome this little setback and complete his ultimate goals, "I will NOT allow such insolent pests to come between me and my dream!"
"Too late for that Sinister…" said Scott as he hit him with another optic blast, "You took away my family…I had to watch them die because of you…I lost my childhood because of you. All you want to bring is death and destruction…"
"NO! I shall bring life, peace, and power beyond anything a mere mortal could ever dream!" he yelled, but Scott just kept shooting him again and again with his blasts, causing the structure of his body to further degrade.
"You'll bring nothing, Sinister…" grunted Vincent, who watched feeling as though a great justice was being done as he watched this monster suffer, "Face it…It's over."
"NO!"
Suddenly, he managed to lunge forth directly at Scott, prepared to rip him limb from limb, but before he could even make two steps, Vincent stepped in and delivered a powerful combo of heavy blows to his damaged body, causing him to fall to the ground in a twisted heap. His body was now bleeding and hemorrhaging with his strange, metallic-like cells as he struggled to hold himself together. But Scott would not allow him to reform…Immortal or not…He couldn't be allowed to cause any more suffering as he had to him and Vincent.
"You've caused too much pain to the world Sinister…" said Scott as his eyes glowed in preparation for one last big blast, "Now…It all ends here."
"No…" he struggled, his strange 'blood' now leaking out from every possible point on his face, "I…Am…Immortal. I…Will never…Die…" His body was slowly starting to reform. He knew that he could regenerate, but it would take much longer and he needed to make his escape. He saw a few chemicals and fired a palm blast at it causing an explosion. The others covered their eyes from the bright light and shards of glass and a gas that came out.
They were all coughing from the noxious fumes and when they died down they saw Sinister had made his escape. "Damn it!" Scott shouted out seeing him gone.
Just then, the mark over Slayer's eye began to glow a dark red and the expression on his face quickly changed to one of great anger…Because right before his all seeing eye…He saw 'her.' She was near…And she was very eager for a little payback.
"Slayer, what is it?" asked Vincent, knowing that something had to be wrong given how the mark continued to glow.
Looking back at Scott, Jean, and Vincent, Slayer knew this job was not over yet…They still had one last big challenge to overcome.
"Guys…We have to move…" he told them as he began making his way towards the exit with the others following close behind, "We have one last little job to take care of…Selene."
"You guys go…" Vincent said not looking at them but at a door he noticed at the other end of the room the only other door besides the one they had came from. "I got something to deal with…I'll catch you all later."
"Vince…" Scott said to the boy and they locked eyes as a silent understanding came between them. "Take care I don't want to tell Emma she lost you."
Vince smiled and nodded. "Don't worry…Sinister will pay…For you…Your parents, for me, and for everyone else he's harmed."
Selene
"Come on! We're almost out!" yelled Sage to the others that followed close behind her which included both the rescue team and those who had been taken prisoner, "Just a little bit further!"
"Good…I can't, like, wait to get out of here!" said Kitty, who followed close with Piotr as they passed numerous remains from the robots that had fallen in wake of the ongoing battle.
"Believe me Kitty…We all do," said Wanda, knowing she was going to have yet another horrible ordeal she'd have to deal with once she got out of here, but she was thankful that it hadn't been worse.
"Well don't worry you guys…It's almost over," said Warren as he looked back towards Remy, Kitty, Pitor, Emma, Kurt, and Wanda, all of whom were moving a little slow after having endured capture with a man who was probably sure to haunt their nightmares for a long time.
"I hope you're right…" said Emma, her thoughts drifting back towards Vincent, hoping that he was okay and had pounded that madman into a pulp.
Sage, Warren, Betsy, Rogue, and Amara stayed out in front, leading the determined, yet weakened prisoners behind them there were all still a bit sluggish after the trying ordeal. Nevertheless, it was clear they were all determined to get out of this place and never come back. They had only Sage's computerized mind, which had seemed to map the whole facility out. Both she and Betsy kept their telepathy open in case they detected anything or anybody that could stand in their way, but from the looks of things…The path before them was clear. They had bested Sinister's defenses and saved their friends…Thanks in no small part to Slayer's help…And now it seemed as though the path before them lay unhindered for them to escape.
Some of the prisoners were still stumbling a bit, but no force in the world could have kept them from getting out of this awful place…At least, that's what they thought.
"Come on, Cajun…Keep up!" said Rogue as she saw Remy stumble a bit and fell back to help him keep his balance, a gesture that Remy couldn't help but smile at.
"Ya know…If Remy didn't know any better…He'd swear you were worried 'bout him," he grinned, holding onto Rogue's hand as he fought through fatigue and followed the others down another corridor.
"Don't push it, swamp rat…" said Rogue, returning his smile with one of her own, "We'll have plenty of time for that later on…But for now, let's just get the hell out of here."
"Lead de way, cherè…"
They were almost out…They could feel it. Sinister had shown them madness in it's most unabated form and they were eager to get as far away from it as possible. His face may be an image that would haunt their dreams forever, but they didn't want to stick around to see it again. Sage, with her computerized mind, knew they were close to the exit. Both she and Betsy continued to sense a clear path before them and there appeared to be none of Sinister's robots left to stand in their way. Tensions ran high as Sage led them near a few more maze-like twists and turns and prepared to head down the final straightaway.
"We're almost there!" yelled Sage, "Just a bit further…And we'll be…"
Then suddenly, she was stopped cold in her tracks along with everybody else as they looked down the long hall leading to their freedom…Only now one last major obstacle stood in their way…Selene.
"Nobody's going anywhere! At least not alive…or going back to those cells, " she said in a cold voice.
Everybody froze at the sight of the Black Queen…The insidious woman that seemed to encapsulate evil in it's most raw form. Some took the sight of this evil woman with greater affect than others. Almost immediately, Kurt found himself short of breath as he looked back at the woman who raped him, leaving him with so much pain and so many nightmares that still haunted him. Wanda was forced to hold onto him in order to keep him from keeling over from the overwhelming sight of her. And Remy was forced to do the same for Rogue, who immediately seemed paralyzed by images of the brutal beating and gang rape she had ordered upon her which had left her so scarred both mentally and physically. Amara as well also found the sight of the former ruler of her homeland to be something right out of her nightmares. For so long now, she had only heard stories about this evil woman who had inflicted such great torture upon her land…Now she was standing here right before her…In the immortal flesh and blood that seemed wrought with pure, unabated evil.
"YOU!" yelled Sage angrily.
"It's nice to see you again as well…Tessa," she said as she casually stepped forward, not showing any fear or concern from the large contingent of powerful, angry mutants standing before her.
Sage scowled at the sound of that name, which now represented so much of what she hated about herself. But Selene seemed to revel in the reaction she was getting from her enemies…Almost as if she was enjoying it, for she had a little ace up her sleeve that she knew was going to make each one of these mere mortals pay for all the inconvenience they had caused her.
'It's her…It's really her,' thought Amara with her mind over and over again as she now felt the raw, unabated hatred that burned within every citizen of Nova Roma at the sight of Selene.
"You evil bitch!" yelled Emma, feeling so eager to rip this woman limb from limb after what she had done to her, "I swear to God! I'll fuck your face up even worse than last time!"
"Ah yes…My face," said Selene as she took another step closer, "It's healed quite nicely after what you did to it last time. Although…I think that hardly makes up for all the grievances you little fucks have caused me."
"Fuck you!" yelled Rogue, ready to tear into her with her super strength.
"Are you trying to scare me?" said Selene with an insidious grin, "Because if you are…You're failing miserably as you have with everything and everyone else in life. Why…If memory serves me right…You couldn't even save your own brother while I had so much 'fun' with him…"
Rogue was shaking in pure rage at this woman, who caused her so much pain and suffering to her and her brother and her friends. Selene just smiled at her, "Although you seemed to have enjoyed my company last time…Or more appropriately those of the guards. You really were quite the screamer too. I never saw anyone get into it. In fact, didn't they make you climax a few times?"
"ERR! YOU'RE GONNA PAY SELENE!" yelled Rogue as she immediately charged the immortal woman, driven by memories of all the pain and suffering she had caused her from her taunts, "AH SWEAR TO GOD! AH'M GONNA RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!"
However, as enraged as Rogue was, it wasn't enough to make Selene feel threatened in the slightest as her eyes began to glow and her fists were engulfed with a dark red light as she gave her a single, effective punch which delivered more force than Rogue ever could have anticipated as it sent her flying back towards her friends, taking a tumble on the hard floor as she grunted in frustration and anger at the immortal woman.
"Petty threats X-men…That's all you're giving me…Petty threats," she scoffed.
"Petty! We'll show you petty!" yelled Sage as everybody prepared to converge on this most evil of incarnations.
Piotr took his full metal form and led the charge while Betsy formed a couple of psionic blades and Rogue got back up in preparation for another charge. As evil and powerful as this woman was, she was still just one woman and after everything she had put the team through, they were all too eager to see this woman sent back to hell where she belonged. However, no amount of anger could have prepared them for what happened next.
"It's time I show you all the true power of the dark forces of Hell itself!" she yelled as her body was suddenly engulfed in a dark red glow.
Everybody continued charging, not letting this intimidating sight slow them down…But with this little spell that Selene had prepared especially for them just for this little event, they would soon come to regret their actions. In a brilliant display of magic and power, Selene unleashed a torrent of mystic red bolts that resembled lightning, each of them striking and sending Sage, Betsy, Warren, Amara, Kurt, Wanda, Emma, Kitty, Piotr, Rogue, and Gambit into a world of pain as they quickly fell to the hard floor in a heap of pain that seemed to strike them to their very core.
"Pathetic…" she said, watching as they all squirmed and groaned in pain, "I'll see to it that you miserable little fucks burn for eternity!"
She let out another round of mystic lightning, causing them all to yell out in pain again, nearly paralyzing them all to the point where they could barely move. Piotr was soon unable to maintain his steel form and reverted back to flesh and Emma did the same with her diamond form. Betsy tried to form a psionic blade, but she was too weak as they all struggled to get back on their feet. But such displays only seemed to amuse Selene as she grinned with anticipation at the inevitable victory that lay before her.
"This is the end of the line for all of you!" she said with an evil grin as she walked amongst the paralyzed bodies of her enemies, "Oh I'm going to enjoy draining every your life forces to nearly fully. Sadly Sinister will need you all."
Looking over the paralyzed forms of her enemies, Selene's gaze soon fell upon someone whom she had been wanting to kill for some time now. There was plenty of time to feast on everybody's life force…But there was only one she truly wanted to see suffer and with one final act, she would finally see to it that she burned eternally for what she had done. And with a cold, menacing glare…Her evil gaze fell upon that of Emma Frost…Who would be the first, but most certainly not the last of her victims.
"But I think he'll forgive me if there is one exception to you all…" she said as she bent down and grabbed Emma by the head and began draining the life force out of her body.
"AHHHHHHHH!" she yelled out in pain as she was consumed with a pain unlike any other and Selene was enraptured with a surge of energy that was made all the more sweet by the feeling of vengeance.
"YES!" she yelled in delight as she felt the life energy of Emma Frost drain away, "FEEL THE PAIN BITCH! ACCEPT THE SUFFERING THAT YOU SO RIGHTFULLY DESERVE! NOW…YOU DIE!"
NEXT UP CHAPTER 48: SINISTER FACE OFF PART 4