Chapter 7
Tuesday, November 9th, 2004
New York, New York
3:14 P.M.
Susan "Inky" Lawkes raced down the street, doing her best to cover her head with her huge backpack. It was only raining lightly now, but the clouds overhead promised a spectacular downpour later. Man, I hope I can make it home before I get soaked! Why did that meeting on the school newspaper have to take so long? Inky rolled her eyes. Well, maybe the rain will wash all the crap off my hands. No wonder my pals call me "Inky," I don't think my fingers have been clean for --
A man suddenly stepped in front of her, forcing her to stop short. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?" he asked sweetly -- a little too sweetly.
Inky's guard shot up. "Just around the corner," she fibbed, letting her backpack drop. "My older brother's there -- he plays football."
The man grabbed her and produced a knife. "You're a bad liar, girl," he smirked. "And now you're coming with me."
Years of safety training at Westbrook High came into play. Inky kicked the man, aiming for his balls, while simultaneously trying to twist free of his grip. They struggled for a moment as Inky began screaming for help. Then the stranger managed to regain control, forcing a hand over her mouth and picking her up by the waist, pointing the knife up and into her rib cage. Chuckling to himself, he began to drag her away.
Suddenly, thick black tendrils appeared out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around the man's throat. The man was forced to drop both the knife and Inky as he gasped for air. Another tendril quickly whipped the knife away as the girl fell to the ground. Stunned, Inky watched as the tendrils lifted the man off the ground and up to a previously-hidden figure sitting casually on the wall. She recognized instantly the blank white eyes and the gaping maw full of teeth. Venom. . . .
Venom sneered at the struggling man. "Kidnapping little girls off the street? Tsk tsk. We don't like that." His long tongue flicked out and grazed the side of the man's face. "We don't like that at all."
The man merely squeaked in terror. Venom smirked, then seemed to notice Inky for the first time. The girl barely hid a shiver as Venom smiled at her. "It's all right now. Go on home. We can handle this."
Inky didn't need a second invitation. She grabbed her stuff and started running. Why couldn't it have been Spider-Man? I like--
There was a sudden loud crunch behind her. Inky ran faster, forcing herself not to look back.
Wednesday, November 10th, 2004
New York, New York
7:31 A.M.
"He's struck again."
Clara sighed deeply. "Who was it this time?"
"A man. Not identified yet. Same M.O. as before -- victim tied to a nearby wall, upside down, with his skull broken open and a good portion of his cerebellum missing."
J.C. pushed away her bowl of corn flakes. "Well, there goes my appetite."
"I don't blame you," Doc said sympathetically. "Reading about Venom's activities makes me disinclined to eat as well."
Jules shook his head. "He is a weird one," he muttered. "He kills people, but they're always scumbags who were committing crimes."
"It's confusing the hell out of Peter," Doc nodded. "Whenever they fight, Venom won't let any innocents get hurt. Peter's not used to that at all."
"I wouldn't be either, frankly," Marty said. "I always thought supervillains were supposed to hurt people."
"Well, he is -- he's just hurting people we don't care about," Verne pointed out.
"Good point. Ten to one this latest victim was trying to either rape or mug someone else." Doc sighed and folded up the paper. "The Big Apple can be a strange, strange place at times. I'm glad we live in a nice, quiet town."
"Me too," Clara agreed. "Back in Hill Valley, we don't have to worry quite so much about you four being on call all the time."
"After this trip, it'll probably be like being on vacation," Marty admitted.
As they left the hotel diner, the mind-numbing sound of the traffic was suddenly shattered by a woman's screams. Doc, J.C., Verne, and Marty looked at each other nervously. "Don't tell me he's done something else already," Doc muttered. "Stay here, girls." They sprinted across the street, looking for the source of the noise.
They pinpointed it in one of the alleyways so common to New York. J.C. ran in first, ready to project an illusion if need be. "Hey, Venom! How about--"
What she saw drew her up short. There was no Venom -- no attacker at all, actually. Just a woman, lying bleeding on the ground.
A blue woman, lying bleeding on the ground.
Doc, Marty, and Verne came in. "What's going on? What have we got?" Doc asked briskly, his hands fully charged.
"Mystique!" Verne gasped, spotting the woman.
Mystique slowly lifted her head. All four X-Men were struck by how weak she looked. Normally the shape-shifter wore an expression of haughty arrogance when dealing with others. Today she looked scared and in pain. "Hello," she blurted, voice trembling.
"What happened to you?" Verne asked, staring. Mystique's body was covered in bite marks.
Mystique scowled. "Venom," she hissed. "I told Erik that working with Osborn was a mistake. . . ."
"Venom did this to you?" Doc asked, raising an eyebrow. "We thought you were working together."
"He left right after that first attack," Mystique explained, trying to get up. She faltered and fell before she could get even halfway. "He didn't agree with Erik's motives. He's on his way to kill Erik right now." She abruptly reached up and caught J.C.'s skirt with a bloody hand. "He attacked me to learn where Erik was. Please, help him. I'd rather see him in jail than dead!"
"Why should we?" J.C. snapped, looking disgusted. "He'd kill us in a heartbeat!"
"Because it's the right thing to do," Doc said, though he didn't look much happier about it than her. "Death by Venom is a very hard way to go."
"Which means we'd better get her to the hospital," Verne said, kneeling down and using his coat to wrap up Mystique. "We're not doing this because you asked us to," he added, glaring at her. "We're doing this simply because we don't think even Magneto deserves to die like that."
"I had no illusions," Mystique said, nodding.
"Clara! Bring the car around!" Doc yelled, poking his head out of the alley.
Clara and Jules appeared on the scene. "Honey, what was -- oh my."
"We're taking her to the hospital," Doc said quickly. "Venom attacked her, and now he's after Magneto. Apparently there was a breakdown in communications between them shortly after our first battle."
"Where is Magneto?" Marty asked as they loaded her into the car.
"At Xavier's school," Mystique said. "He's freed Unas and Blob, and he has the help of two other mutants, Mastermind and Juggernaut."
"Trying to destroy the X-Men again, huh?" Jules grumbled. "I guess that gives us a better reason than just going to stop Venom. . . ."
Clara suddenly frowned. "Isn't Peter at Xavier's school today as well?"
Wednesday, November 10th
8:22 A.M.
Doc had not expected to be greeted by the sight of a large man's naked buttocks when they arrived at the Institute. He and the rest of the Californian X-Men stopped and stared in amazement. Jennifer, hanging back with Clara and Jules, quickly covered Douglas's and Marlene's eyes. "What's going on here?"
The man turned to face them. He looked extremely pissed off -- Doc supposed that was only natural. "Who are you?" he snarled, thankfully keeping his legs crossed.
"Some people who are wondering why the hell you're not wearing pants," Marty said, eyes wide.
The man glared at them, then suddenly lunged. Doc promptly responded with a mild jolt of electricity. "Don't you dare--"
To his shock, the current almost seemed to bounce off the man! Doc quickly caught it before it could strike anyone else. What the -- wait a minute. This must be Unas the Untouchable. But why isn't he wearing any clothes? Surely his powers aren't--
It came to him in a flash. Studying Unas's eyes, he noticed a faint, reddish cast to them. "Jean?"
"Hey," Jean said, attracting their attention. She was standing partway in shadow beside the gate, eyes aflame. "Glad you could make it."
"We just heard about the problem," Marty nodded.
"I take it we've been rather intimately introduced to Unas the Untouchable -- and, currently, unmentionable," Verne said with a grin. Unas glared at him.
Jean smiled back. "The one and only. Unfortunately, it's taking a lot out of me to strengthen his power enough so that he repels almost everything, but not enough so that he suffocates or flies off the earth."
"You could do that?" Marty said, sounding a bit awed.
Jean shrugged. "I swear, ever since you and Dr. Brown saved me from drowning, my powers have just gotten stronger."
"Wow. Maybe I should try a near-death experience sometime," J.C. kidded.
"Trust me, it's not worth it," Doc said seriously, remembering his bout with Legacy with a shudder.
"Definitely not," Jean nodded. "You'd best get in there, Lightning -- I think Wolverine might be having some problems with his metal skeleton."
"No doubt. Come on, everyone. You five, stay here and take care of yourselves."
"Right," Jennifer nodded, holding onto the twins tightly. "Go kick butt."
"Good luck, Daddy!" the twins chorused.
"Thanks kids." Marty grinned at his fellow teammates. "Let's do this!" They raced onto the grounds.
It was utter chaos on the campus. Magneto was using Wolverine's metal skeleton to his best advantage, throwing him at the other X-Men. Hank McCoy, in full costume and openly displaying his blue fur, was opposing him, kicking and punching Wolverine away from his targets. Next to Magneto was a grotesquely obese man, who waddled around, placidly ignoring all attacks made against him by Cyclops and Iceman. Standing nearby was a shockingly beautiful woman with long brown hair and bright hazel eyes, sending come-hither looks at all the men. Verne gulped. "Wow. Why are all the bad girls so pretty?"
"Actually," Doc said with a slight smirk, "she isn't."
Marty snorted. "Illusionist. Figures. Let's hope she relies on that instead of fighting."
"I bet she does, considering how sexy she's made herself," J.C. said, curling her lip in disgust. "I'll handle her. Dad you take Magneto. Verne, Marty, see if you can help Iceman and Cyclops."
"Yes ma'am," Marty saluted. "Doc, would you do the honor of announcing our presence?"
"Certainly." Doc's eyes glowed bright, and a large arc of electricity leaped from his outstretched hand to Magneto's helmet.
Magneto yelped and clutched at his head, dropping Wolverine. He spun around and glared at Doc, furious. "You again! You've meddled in my business for the last time!"
"Exactly our sentiments, Magneto!" J.C. called. "We didn't come to New York to deal with a crazed supervillain! This ends today!"
"Crazed? Is that really how you see me?" Magneto said, dodging another blast from Doc.
"Well, what do you call all this?" asked Verne, calling all the available birds and sending them against the obese man.
"I call it thinning the herd," Magneto said casually, snapping some of the spikes off the gate. "Survival of the fittest, as it were. I am simply making sure that our race can survive."
"What you're doing is acting like a goddamned Nazi!"
The instant she said it, J.C. knew she'd messed up. Magneto turned purple. "Nazi?" he spat out. "NAZI? JUGGERNAUT!"
What appeared to be the human equivalent of a tank appeared from around the corner. Beady blue eyes peered out at them through a large, round, red helmet. "More of Charley's little friends?" he grunted, sounding like pins being dropped through a metal pipe. "Just leave them to me."
"Okay, I think we need a slight change of plan," Verne squeaked.
"I agree. Plan B, do whatever you can to stay out of this guy's way!" Marty yelled as Juggernaut charged. The group scattered like a bunch of bowling pins. "Doc, see if you can do anything to him!"
Doc threw a bolt of electricity at the man. It hit, but Juggernaut was barely slowed. "Damn, damn damn!"
Magneto laughed. "You should be more careful who you choose to insult, girl!"
"I know that now for future reference," J.C. nodded, running up to the Blob. Just before she crashed into him, she grabbed handholds in the fat and flipped over his head. The birds were still attacking him, but J.C. noticed they weren't having much of an effect. The Blob simply ignored all the puncture wounds. Most of them were barely even bleeding. "Jesus, how much fat do you have on you?" she asked, disgusted.
"Enough so that none of you freaks can move me," Blob said proudly. "I'll be here until the end of time."
"I can see. Have fun." She ran over to confront Mastermind. "Hey! Pretty girl! Check this out!" She closed her eyes tightly and concentrated. Minutes later, a 60-foot long snake appeared on the grounds, hissing at the combatants. Most of them were sufficiently startled to back away before regaining their equilibrium.
Mastermind chuckled. "Is that the best you can do? Oooh, Doolittle!" Verne looked over. Mastermind flashed him a dazzling smile. "You really don't want to fight little old me, do you?"
To J.C.'s horror, Verne began to smile stupidly and shake his head. Crap, she is a pro! "Doolittle! Illusion, remember?" she yelled in warning, allowing the snake to fade out of existence.
Verne continued to smile. At least, until Marty smacked him in the head with a tree branch. "Ow! What the hell?"
"Sorry, but we can't risk you accidentally joining the other side," Marty said. "You almost looked like you'd been hypnotized."
"Maybe I was," Verne admitted, being careful not to look back at Mastermind. "Thanks for snapping me out of it." He quickly redirected his birds at the illusionist.
The birds descended -- but then flew right through her! Verne and Marty exchanged an astonished look. "Dad, didn't you see that?" Verne yelled.
"I'm a little busy!" Doc yelled back, dodging another attack by Juggernaut. "She's more to your left now!" Verne redirected his birds appropriately.
Marty timewarped over to Cyclops. "So, what's the report? Where are Storm and Nightcrawler? And Professor X, for that matter?"
"Professor Xavier is inside the mansion -- he's using his telepathic powers to keep the kids calm and to try and influence Magneto's allies into staying outside," Cyclops replied. "As for Storm and Nightcrawler -- You really think it would be smart to make one of them leave their kid now? That's just begging for a kidnap attempt." He sent a burst of energy toward Juggernaut as Marty nodded in agreement. "But yeah, we could probably use them, especially with Jean concentrating on Unas." He scowled. "I know she wants to do more, but she doesn't want to lose control and accidentally kill someone."
"I hear ya," Marty nodded again. "Where's Pete?"
"Spidey, Iceman, and Rogue are guarding the door -- there's no way in hell we're letting them into the school. We know at least Magneto is resistant to telepathy, after all. We had a close call with Juggernaut too, but some iced webbing to the face convinced him to back off for now."
"Great," Marty said, offering Iceman a grin.
"What's even better is that I was able to get a bare-fisted punch right into Magneto's face," Rogue said as Iceman grinned back.
"Good for you."
"Yeah. But it's really good to have you guys as back-up," Cyclops admitted, blasting Blob again. This time the man actually winced a little. "Both Blob and Juggernaut are resistant to my eye-beams. Those birds seem to finally be softening up Blob, though."
Marty looked at him. "Has he actually tried to attack anyone?"
"He did grab Rogue at one point. But he grabbed her by the neck."
"So I suppose I can safely guess nobody's moving her from in front of the door."
"Not until the power boost wears off," Rogue smirked.
"Great. Got any suggestions on what we can do?"
"Mastermind and Juggernaut are the most important mutants here. We'll need your help getting them down."
"I'm pretty sure J.C. and Verne will be able to take care of Mastermind," Marty said, watching as J.C. tried to kick Mastermind's legs out from under her. "Juggernaut's the big problem. I'm gonna get Doc and see what he thinks."
Cyclops nodded, firing another round at Blob. Marty ran over to his friend and pulled him into meta-time. "How are you doing?"
"Heartily wishing I was normal right now," Doc admitted.
"Can't say I blame you, Doc. You got any ideas on how to take down this guy?" Marty said, pointing at the currently-frozen Juggernaut.
"Not really," Doc confessed. "It seems almost impossible to stop him once he builds up some momentum, and he's obviously very thick-skinned." He looked the man up and down. "Short of slowing him down right now by tripping him, I'm not sure what we could do. We'll have to play it by ear."
"Damn. Well, at least I know you can take out Magneto -- I'll take you over to Cyclops, you can try and hit him with a double blast."
"Good idea." With a lot of pushing and grunting, they managed to tip Juggernaut forward enough to get him off balance, then jogged over to Cyclops. "You'll be all right on your own?"
"I'll be fine," Marty assured him. "They won't be able to touch me. You concentrate on taking out Helmethead." Doc smiled and nodded.
Time began again with Juggernaut causing a mini-earthquake as he fell. He looked rather confused as he got up. "All right, which one of you assholes tripped me?" he demanded, gearing up for another run.
"Right over here, you dick!" Marty yelled back. Juggernaut growled and ran at him. Marty easily timewarped out of the way, reappearing next to the fence. Juggernaut tried to turn and grab him, but Marty timewarped again, this time going behind him. They played this game for a while, Marty laughing as Juggernaut got more and more frustrated.
Juggernaut finally snapped. "Don't you know who I am?" he roared at Marty, who was beside the fence again. "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!"
"Don't you mean, bastard?" Marty corrected, smirking. Juggernaut bellowed something unintelligible and raced at him again. Marty timewarped again, leaving Juggernaut to smash through the fence and head toward the street. Marty chuckled. "Maybe he'll finally just--"
A sudden scream tore through the air. Marty's blood turned to ice. Oh, no. . .please, please don't let that be who I think it is. . . . He raced after Juggernaut.
The huge mutant grinned at him as he caught up. He was holding Douglas in his meaty hands, dangling him high above the ground. Douglas was crying loudly. "You put my son down," Marty growled, seeing red.
"Make me, shorty," Juggernaut laughed. He lowered Douglas to just within Marty's reach, then yanked him back up again as Marty grabbed at him. Marty jumped up as Juggernaut lowered his son again, and this time managed to grab his feet. Moments later, he found himself dangling as Juggernaut lifted them both.
"Daddy?" Douglas asked, looking terrified.
"I'll get us out of this, don't worry," Marty said, hanging on tight. Jean? Can you do anything for us?
He felt something wrap around his middle and yank him to the ground with surprising force. At the same time, Juggernaut yelped as a red flash of flame burned his hand. He nearly let go of Douglas, but at the last second managed to hold on. Marty got a sick sensation in his stomach as he realized he was still holding his son's feet. Oh God no. Don't tell me I ripped him in half.
Then he looked up.
Douglas's body was stretched out between them like a long piece of taffy. Marty's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He and Jennifer had both been aware their children were mutants, but they hadn't expected them to express their powers until they were teenagers. It must be the stress, he thought numbly. Professor X did say that some mutants express their powers younger if they're under stress. Like when Jean saw her friend hit by that car. . .still, pretty damned weird!
Douglas and Juggernaut had noticed what had happened as well. Startled, Juggernaut finally let go of the boy. Douglas snapped back like a rubber band, knocking both him and Marty to the ground. Marty immediately stopped time, clutching his son to his chest. "Douglas. . . . Man, kid, are you all right?" he asked, feeling him all over.
"Yeah," Douglas squeaked, white as a ghost. "Daddy, that was weird."
"I know, kid. Trust me, I know." Marty hugged Douglas tight. "But it's a good thing it happened when it did, right?"
"Yeah." Douglas experimentally stretched one of his arms. A small smile appeared on his face. "Neat."
Marty chuckled. "Maybe we should start calling you Mr. Fantastic or something." He got up and looked around. "Where's your mother and Clara?"
"Behind those trees," Douglas said, pointing to a few birches near the road. "We all ran to hide when Juggernaut came -- I just didn't run fast enough." He looked at the ground. "I'm sorry, Daddy."
"It's fine, son. Not your fault." Marty went behind the trees to find Jennifer, Clara, and Jules with horrified expressions frozen on their faces. A slight chill went up his spine as he realized he couldn't find Marlene. "Douglas, where's your sister?"
"Dunno," Douglas said, shrugging. "She was there, and then she wasn't."
"Damn, I hope she's all right. . . ." Marty started time again, hoping the mystery would solve itself when he talked to the girls.
Jennifer nearly burst into tears as her husband and son appeared next to her. "Douglas! Oh Douglas. . . ." She pulled him from Marty's arms and kissed him. "I was sure -- thank God you got there, Marty!"
"I had some help," Marty said, sending his thanks mentally to Jean. "Did you guys see what happened to Marlene?"
"She was here just a moment ago," Clara said, looking around frantically. "Marlene?"
"Marlie?" Jules said. "Marlene, where are you?"
"I'm right here."
Everyone started. The voice seemed to come from an empty spot between Jennifer and Jules. Marty frowned at it. "Marlene?" he said, reaching out. His hand touched what felt like a head.
"Yeah, Daddy?"
"Uh -- Marlene, you're invisible."
"I'm what?"
"Honey, we can't see you," Jennifer said weakly.
"You can't?" There was a moment's pause -- and suddenly Marlene was there, looking confused. "Am I back?"
"Yes you are," Marty said, kissing her forehead. "What happened there?"
Marlene shrugged. "I was so scared -- I didn't want the scary man to see me."
"Did ya see me stretch?" Douglas asked, getting excited now that he was out of danger.
"Yeah, that was cool!"
There was a soft "twhip" behind their heads. Moments later, Spider-Man swung over. "Is everything okay over here?" he asked, his voice clearly worried.
"Now it is," Jennifer said, hugging the twins. "But I think we'd better find a safer place to hide."
"Spidey, can you get them inside the mansion?" Marty asked. "They'd be safest in there."
"Sure, I -- hang on," Spidey said, noticing Juggernaut preparing another run. He squeezed his palm, and a huge glob of webbing flew into Juggernaut's eyes. The mutant yelled and started clawing at the stuff. "Sure I can," Spidey finished. "I'll have to make a couple of trips, though."
"So long as you take the kids first," Jennifer said.
"Always have." Spidey picked up Douglas and Marlene. "Ready to go webslinging, kids?"
"Yup," the twins chorused.
"Thanks a million for this, Pete," Marty said, relieved.
"Not a problem. You get out there and see what you can do to help stop this lunatic."
"I'll do my best." Marty ran back out as Juggernaut finally got the webbing off. "Hey, asshole, why don't you pick on somebody closer to your own size?"
As Marty lured Juggernaut back toward the school, Doc and Cyclops prepared themselves to take down Mastermind and Magneto. Cyclops readied his eye beam. "Where is she?"
"Right over there," Doc said, pointing. "Just past where Verne's birds went. On three?"
"On three," Cyclops nodded. "One -- two -- three!"
Cyclops hit Mastermind with a blast while Doc hit Magneto with the hardest shock he could produce. Both mutants screamed, but managed to remain upright. Mastermind's black eyes flashed angrily as her true, bald form was revealed. "How did you find me?" she snarled, advancing on them. "I've honed my illusions to perfection!"
"That doesn't matter against a mutant like me," Doc informed her, powering up for another strike. "I saw what you really were immediately."
"Then I'll just--"
Mastermind suddenly stopped, staring. Doc got suspicious and held up his hands. "One step closer. . . ."
"That hair. . . ." Mastermind said slowly. "You're -- you're Dr. Emmett Brown, aren't you?"
Okay, I really should have gone for a full-head mask, Doc thought. But why does she sound so surprised? Does knowing my other identity really make that big of a difference? "I am, yes."
"What difference does it make who he is?" Magneto snapped, dodging a blast from Cyclops. "He is not on our side."
"He's the scientist who helped develop the Legacy cure," Mastermind replied, not taking her eyes off Doc.
"That was two years ago. I appreciate his efforts then, but he has unfortunately aligned himself with the wrong side. For the good of mutantkind, he needs to be taken out."
Mastermind spun to face Magneto, glaring daggers at him. "My father died of Legacy! Or have you already forgotten about Jason Wynegarde? He considered you a friend, Lenscherr!"
"She's not the original Mastermind?" Doc asked Cyclops quietly, surprised.
"Nope. She inherited her powers from her father, Jason," Cyclops replied. "We fought him a couple of times before his death. He was pretty scrappy when cornered." He sent another blast toward Magneto, who was manipulating Wolverine again. "I hope his daughter didn't inherit that as well."
"The loss of your father was a tragedy, but that doesn't mean you can just quit fighting!"
"He stopped that terrible disease! If not for him and McCoy, we might all be dead!"
"Are you saying they've done more for mutantkind than I have?" Magneto asked dangerously.
"You know what?" Mastermind put her hands behind her head and walked over to the X-Men. "I think I am. I surrender, guys."
Doc and Cyclops looked at each other, startled. "Uh -- okay," Doc said.
"Fine! Then you can -- murrph!"
Magneto was suddenly silenced by what appeared to be a glob of black webbing. Everyone looked up to see Venom perched on what was left of the fence. "Is this a bad time?" he asked, waggling his tongue at them.
"Actually, we were kind of wondering where you'd gotten to," Verne admitted, sending more birds to annoy Blob.
"Sorry. There was a traffic accident, and we had to stop and help. We had to dispose of some policemen too."
"You killed police?" Hank said, grabbing Wolverine as he was once again thrown by Magneto. "Every officer in the city -- stop swearing, Logan, we got the point a long time ago, this sucks for you -- will be on your ass, as it were."
"Not kill," Venom corrected. "Stuck to a wall. They were afraid to let us help." He smirked. "We hope you're not the same way."
Magneto pulled the goo off his face. "Well well," he said, getting his breath back. "The wayward son returns." Venom hissed at him. "You'll have to excuse my lack of manners. I want you dead just as much as them now."
"That's what Mystique told us." Venom ran his tongue over his teeth, green spit dripping out of his mouth. "She was delicious."
Magneto's eyes widened. "You -- you killed Mystique? You killed Raven?"
"Raven?" Verne mouthed at Doc.
"Might have. Might not have. We bit her an awful lot, though."
Some of the fight went out of Magneto's eyes. "Oh God. . . . Raven. . . ."
"Aww, don't worry. If she is dead, you'll be seeing her again very soon." Venom sprang onto Magneto, jaws open wide for a killing bite.
Great Scott! Doc thought. I may not like Magneto, but not even he deserves to die like that! He reacted the only way he knew how -- by releasing a large burst of electricity into them both. Cyclops immediately followed with an eye-beam, apparently thinking the same way.
The result was quite satisfactory. Venom let out an inhuman shriek as the miniature bolt of lightning coursed through him. Doc could have even sworn that parts of his costume changed color briefly. Magneto, for his part, finally collapsed, not to stir again for the rest of the fight. Wolverine took the opportunity to kick him in the ribs, muttering more curse words under his breath.
Venom, looking furious, started running toward Doc. "How dare you! He was ours! We should--"
He suddenly paused, looking at something above Doc's head. "Spider-Man," he muttered. He glared into Doc's eyes. "We'll finish this later, Lightning." He shot some black webbing onto the school and swung his way up. Doc tried desperately to get off another shot, but Venom managed to dodge. He shattered an upper window with a kick and disappeared inside.
"Damn it!" Doc swore. "I could have had him!"
"Professor, we've got a breach! Tell the kids to stay away from the second-floor hallway!" Cyclops yelled. "Logan, see if you can get to him before he gets to Peter."
"Right," Wolverine nodded. Iceman and Rogue made way for him as he ran inside, claws extended.
Verne jogged over to join Doc and Cyclops. "Let's see -- Magneto's out for the count, Mastermind's surrendered--" he shot her an ugly look, which she ignored "-- and Jean's still handling Unas. That leaves Juggernaut and Blob."
"Blob's not that much of a threat," Hank said, also joining them. "But Juggernaut. . . ."
"Tell me about it," Marty panted, suddenly appearing beside them. "I'm exhausted! Cyclops, you gotta try blasting him again."
"I've tried again and again," Cyclops said, sounding irritated. "It doesn't help. His skin must be naturally resistant to the beams."
"Well, there's got to be some way to stop him. Has anyone asked Professor X if he knows of this guy?"
"Oh, he knows him all right. I asked him when Juggernaut first appeared. He's Professor Xavier's stepbrother."
"Huh?" Doc, Marty, and Verne chorused.
"Yeah, that's basically what we said," Iceman spoke up. "Apparently 'Cain' and Professor Xavier never liked each other much."
"We can see," Verne deadpanned.
Doc studied the hulking figure of Juggernaut as he came back onto the main campus. "He must have a weakness, they all do. . . . Rogue, would you be willing to use your power on him?"
"I would, I'm just worried he would crush me before I'd get the chance," Rogue confessed. "I'm kinda scared, honestly."
"Trust me, we all are, a little. But there has to be--"
Doc blinked as Blob abruptly became semi-transparent. Beside him, Marty gasped. "Where'd he go?"
"He disappeared?" Doc shot a look at Mastermind, but she seemed just as confused as they were. "Well, it's an illusion, I can tell you that much."
Juggernaut seemed puzzled too, but quickly lost interest as he saw the group of X-Men in front of the school. "Hey! Charley in there?" he called, an evil smile gracing his lips. "Tell him that his big brother Cain's coming for him! Him and his stupid little school! Asshole should have left my mind alone when we were kids!" He charged.
The first instinct of the group was to scatter. Doc caught Cyclops and Marty by the arms, shaking his head. "No. He's not getting anywhere near here."
"What in the name of Albert Einstein are you talking about?" Hank demanded.
"We're about to get a demonstration of formerly-theoretical physics, Hank -- what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object," Doc grinned. "The impact should be enough to throw Juggernaut off-balance at least. And when that happens, I say we take advantage of the situation to make sure he doesn't get up again."
"Agreed," Cyclops said, starting to smile himself. "Rogue, get as close as you can. Iceman, you're next to me. Anybody who can throw anything at him, do it on my signal." Everyone nodded and got into position.
A moment later, Juggernaut plowed right into the invisible Blob. The impact was enough to knock Blob unconscious, and Juggernaut didn't look particularly steady either. "Now!" Cyclops said, hitting him square in the chest with his eye-beam. He was promptly followed by a burst of lightning from Doc, a spray of ice from Iceman, and a new flock of pigeons from Verne. Rogue grabbed his leg in the middle of the assault, shuddering as his psyche temporarily flooded hers. Not even a superbeing could take all of that at once. After a second of wavering, Juggernaut fell, unconscious.
"All right!" Marty gave high-fives to everyone. "We got him!"
"Yeah, we did," came J.C.'s voice. She appeared from the depression where she had been hiding. She looked a little dizzy, but otherwise okay. "Of course, I had to stun myself to set it up, but I think it was worth it."