Take the Long Way Home

AAA- Translation
'AAA'-Telepathy
'AAA'-internal debate

Last Chapter (Done by my beta and Co-author, ProfessorSpork): Previously, on Take the Long Way Home. the Hellions and the X-Men (joined by special guest star Kid Razor) continued to lay the smack down on each other. Just when you started to get comfortable, wham! Hack and his group of digital deviants entered the fray. Plus, we found out the reason we're having this little party: love. And revenge. But mostly to lay down the hurt on Frost. Basically, Emma has Hack's girlfriend Catseye under her psychic voodoo whatnot and he wants his snookums. And he's gonna use his mad Pantheon Protocol super-armor skillz to get her. I wouldn't want to be Frost right now, how about you?

AN: Many thanks to my fight muses, BlackWarGreymon, and Vegeta, as well as my beta, ProfessorSpork, for their help and dedication to this chapter. I'm sorry it took so long to finish, but things have been pretty hectic lately. I am planning on joining the Navy, and have had to make time to exercise in order to lose some weight, alongside my continuing job search. These two factors, along with my upcoming graduation, have seriously cut into my writing time, so please bear with me. Also, I have decided to put this story on a semi-hiatus, in order to focus on my Harry Potter fic for a while. Before you all kill me, let me say that I will still work on this fic from time to time, just not as much as before.

Disclaimer:It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell - Buddha

Chapter 33: Dot Hack: Redemption: Round 3: The Hammer Falls

As the debris from the destroyed stone began to settle and fade, the figure that was Hack became visible again. But he wasn't alone anymore. Behind him stood the lanky figure of Biker, three blazing emerald eyes visible through the dust. He appeared to be wrapped in some sort of cloak though. But as the last of the dust faded back into nothingness, the 'cloak' unfurled with a rustling sound, like… "Holy crap he's…got wings now?" Rick asked, sounding slightly puzzled and just a little let down. Kid Razor patted him on the shoulder.

"I was expecting something a little more impressive too pal." Biker's gaze suddenly focused on the Heavy Metal Heart-throb.

"This impressive enough?" he asked sarcastically, moving his right arm out of the shadow of his wings. A somewhat boxy gun-barrel that was nearly the length of his arm was strapped to his forearm, the black muzzle having the appearance of a pair of closed, toothy jaws. However, other than his new toy and the wings, his appearance remained largely unchanged. Both his pistols were still there, just tucked away, one on his leg and one on his back. However, there were also some smaller changes. The forearm not covered by the bfg had a metal guard worked into the sleeve, and his gloves now sported metal plates that had been worked into the leather fingers. His half-mask, which had been flush with his face before, now curved out from his eyes, down, then inwards again, like the beak of a bird of prey. A pair of studded metal shoulder guards almost hidden in the fur collar of his jacket, and kneepads completed his armor. Stylized skull patterns dotted his jacket, with one large skull stretched over his back, adding another hefty measure of menace to the already intimidating look of the virus.

"That's it?" Bevatron asked in a bored tone. "All those fireworks and this is the final product? A Hell's Angel with a big gun and some Halo rip-off?" Underneath his helmet, Hack smirked. It wasn't a pleasant one. In the distance, the sounds of helicopter rotors could be heard faintly, getting steadily louder. Everyone brushed it off as some news helicopter though, and ignored it.

"I assure you Bevatron, the kid gloves have come off, and we don't intend to pull any punches." As Hack spoke, a rumbling sound began to fill the air. Suddenly with a roar, a huge…thing appeared. It ramped over the hill it had come from behind, and blotted out the sun for a moment. A long drawn out howl and a feline snarl ripped through the air, before it crashed to the ground to the right of the Hellions. It gave a dark chuckle as blood red optics locked with Beef's eyes.

"Remember me musclehead?"

It was Overdrive. A vastly changed Overdrive. Instead of a rhino-car, the digital powerhouse now resembled a dino-tank, and had nearly tripled in size! He still had a pair of front wheels, while the back of his chassis was now supported by a set of tank treads. His body actually looked like a body, while his head was a metallic copy of a Monoclonius, a relative of the Triceratops that had only a single, huge nose horn, and a bony neck frill. His coloring was still basic chrome. His missile pods were gone, and the only real armaments that could be seen were his horn, its monofilament edge seeming sharp enough to split bricks of titanium, while atop his back was a gleaming vulcan gattling gun. The glistening barrels seemed to be eager little mouths, ready to spit death at the enemy.

Tabby's mouth dropped open. "I have got to get me one of those!" she finally managed to say. Dante shuddered at the thought of the amount of havoc she could, no would, cause in Overdrive. "Just think of all the stuff I could load into him from the mall!" she finished.

The Hellion's finally managed to shake off their stupor at seeing their supposedly defeated enemies come back, even if they all weren't there. "Hellions, attack!" Emma cried. Bevatron and Roulette launched a wave of lightning and bad luck discs, but midway to Hack and his team, several rockets intercepted the wave of attacks. The lightning causing the missiles to explode, and the shockwaves of the explosions caused the discs to veer off-course and hit several lampposts, which immediately fell to pieces as welds weakened, bolts came un-bolted, and screws came loose. A figure, smoking rocket launcher in hand, leapt down from the hatch on Overdrive's broad back, followed by another lithe figure. They leapt to the ground and took places on either side of Hack.

They looked like Scratch and Decoy. Somewhat. But they were both standing upright, their forms anthromorphic. The only vestiges left of their animal natures was the fur that showed beneath their clothes, and their heads, which still remained animalistic. Decoy was dressed in tattered army fatigues, with a beret tilted rakishly from one side of his head, and heavy-duty combat boots covering his feet.. Slung across his back was a large war hammer which had slightly pointed ends, while a still smoking rocket launcher lay in his paws, a scrolling gothic script along the sides reading "Mad Dog", while the muzzle was decorated by a picture of a mad dog's head, mouth foaming and open in preparation to bite. He was compact and muscular, and stood about five feet tall, and was smirking hungrily at the Hellions.

Scratch on the other hand didn't look quite so impressive. He was dressed like Li from Card Captors, in a Chinese style fighting gi, sans hat. Clawed hands were nearly hidden in baggy, oversized sleeves, while his feet were covered in sturdy looking shoes, sharp looking claws sticking out through the toes of the footwear. In his ear was a small earring, in the shape of a curled up tiger. He stood at about five foot four, and appeared to be coiled like a tightly wound spring. He directed a flat stare at the Hellions, his gaze resting on Empath a tad bit longer than the others.

"Ms. Frost, perhaps it would be best to sound a tactical retreat now," Empath suggested nervously. Frost glanced at the New Mutants, who were beginning to get their bearings back, and sighed. "Very well then, Hellions; retreat!" Jetstream took off into the air as the rest of his team made a break for it.

The street they had been fighting on was a T-intersection, with the stadiums street entrance at the head. Two routes were blocked off, one by the New Mutants, Kid Razor and the two officers, the other by Hack and his cohorts, leaving the third basically deserted.

As the Moroccan teen shot through the air, he was cut off by a grim looking Biker, who had appeared in front of the boy in a whirlwind of black feathers. "Going down!" Biker growled as he leveled his blaster at the boy. The toothy muzzle of the gun opened as Jetstream desperately tried to avoid the viral demon. His efforts proved futile though, as a pulse of purple energy slammed into the teen's stomach, sending him back to greet the earth, painfully.

As this was going on, Frost and the remaining Hellions were attempting to effect an escape. Tarot looked back as Jetstream impacted, and made a move as if to go back, but Beef moved in her way, motioning for her to keep going. "We'll get him back later, keep movin'," he said roughly. As the Hellions ran, the sound of the helicopter from earlier was getting steadily louder and louder. Just as they were about to round the corner, something rounded it coming towards them on street level!

It was a Viet Cong's worst nightmare, a demonic fusion of steel and flesh torn from the depths of a war veteran's personal hell. It had a body reminiscent of some sort of attack helicopter, either an Apache or Cobra, but instead of a cockpit it had a long, snaky neck, topped off with what looked like a million teeth. Two yellow eyes glared at the Hellions from above that gaping maw, while on the large wing-like struts, two huge Vulcan cannons whirred and clicked as they prepared to fire. Two rocket pods near the body smoked slightly, seemingly in anticipation of firing. The tail that whipped behind this monstrosity appeared organic, but it's tip carried the metal balancing rotors found on the tails of helicopters. "Where do you think you're going?" it mocked in a rumbling voice.(AN: Anyone who can place the inspiration for Sidewinder's new form gets a plateful of homemade cyber-brownies, compliments of my mom)

Glass crunching underfoot had the Hellions turning, to find themselves boxed in. On one end, this heavily armed behemoth, on the other, Hack and his crew, all looking for payback. And buildings fencing them in on either side. "Nice work there Sidewinder," Hack called. Emma and the Hellions gathered together into a circle; with Slipstream managing to zip above Hack's head and join his team. He would have tried to make an escape on his own, but Sidewinder tilted his torso upwards, raising his deadly rotors into the boy's flight path. To proceed would have meant becoming puree. "I'll tell you what Frost. You release your hold on Sharon, and we'll let you and yours live," Hack said in an amiable voice. Frost's diamond face contorted with rage. How dare this insolent child think he could dictate terms to the White Queen!,

"I think not Lutz. I don't know how you managed to keep me from tampering with her memory, but once I do, I'll wipe every memory of you she has! Then where will you be?" Though you couldn't see his face behind the mirrored visor of his helmet, Hack's voice sounded as if he was glad that Emma was shooting down his offer, as he cracked his gauntleted knuckles. "The hard way it is then."

Suddenly, a rainbow colored blast shot over Hack's shoulder, and blasted Empath in the stomach. The teen went flying back, and landed in a slightly smoking heap, slumped against one of the buildings.

"Tell me something," Razor quipped at the smoldering teen, after performing a leaping somersault over Biker's head, "Are you people high or are you just plain stupid? I mean, not only are you taking on the Kid of Rock, but you're also taking on some pretty bad ass looking customers, that's what the Kid of Rock thinks!" Biker growled in annoyance, and tried to use his blaster to nudge the loudmouthed hero out of the way.

"That's all very nice, but we need to kick the bad guy's asses now," he grumbled. At that moment, Frost sent a mental command to her students. It was a single word: 'Attack'. Catseye sprang forward with a snarl, attempting to disembowel Razor with her claws. The Jukebox hero managed to dodge with a contortion that had aches going through Dante's spine just looking at it.

"Awwwww, wook at the wittle purple-haired catgirl twying to claw my eyes out," Razor laughed, treating this attempt on his life as if it was a big joke. "Come on you Hello Kitty reject, let's see what you got." Razor strummed his guitar to charge up a blast of mystical energy, but Scratch jumped in the way. "Hey, you ruined my shot!" Razor yelled at the cat-man. Two chains, barbed weights at the ends, fell out of the darkness within Scratch's oversized sleeves. The cat grasped them in his clawed hands, and began to twirl them, the links creating a deadly sounding whistle as the spun through the air, blurring until they looked like two disks, centered around his paws. When he spoke, his voice was calm and collected.

"This one is mine. She must not be harmed. That is the purpose of this form, immobilization without serious physical harm." As he said this, he gave his weapons one final twirl, before sending them zipping through the air towards Catseye. Length after length of chain emerged from within his sleeves with no end in sight. The chains writhed in mid-air, seemingly on a direct collision course with the feral's legs.

However, Catseye was able to twist in mid-leap, avoiding the chains. Scratch immediately clamped both hands down on the separate chains, and snapped his elbows backwards, as if preparing a double barreled punch, and the chains retracted to their previous lengths almost instantaneously. He leapt to the side as Sharon pounced on his previous location, and coolly raised one eyebrow. "This will not be as easy as expected," he said in a calm voice. He raised both arms up level, and retracted the chains all the way back into their recesses. "CATS CRADLE!" he yelled, as a multitude of chains shot from his sleeves.

The fight so far had led the two into the entranceway of a narrow alley, and now the chains were impacting against the sides. But instead of sticking in the walls on either side, they seemed to ricochet, while still managing to stick to the point of contact. Catseye tried to dodge them all, but eventually she found herself cocooned in a tight net of glowing chains. As she struggled against her bonds, Scratch yanked back on his arms. The chains binding the feral mutant seemed to flow together for a moment, before resolving into a single length of chain, pinioning the cat girl, while the rest dissolved into small sparkles, leaving two chains leading back to his sleeves from mass of chains containing the struggling feral girl. He tapped his earring, which also served as his communications link to Hack. "I've contained Sharon. The next phase is ready to proceed."

In the meantime, Razor had moved on to a new target to torment. Bevatron was sending arcs and bolts of lightning at the Heavy Metal hero, but all of them were being dodged or absorbed by shields. "Stand still and fry like a man you chicken!" Bevatron growled. Razor suddenly leapt over yet another assault of electricity, and came face to face with the startled blonde. "Since you like light shows so much, you're gonna get a kick outta this," Razor smirked. "GLAM FLASH!" the superhero roared, as his face paint erupted in a brilliant burst of light. Bevatron howled in agony, clutching at his eyes. Razor wasted no time on a follow-up attack. "HEAVY METAL PUNCH!" The mystically powered punch to the gut sent Bevatron sprawling, but also gave Razor a rather nasty shock, as he lost all feeling in his arm, thanks to his opponents natural electrical field.

As Razor shook his arm to restore feeling to it, Bevatron shakily rose to his feet. Razor's eyes sparkled with the light of battle behind his sunglasses. "Round two," he yelled, sailing towards Bevatron like a rainbow bullet, before shouting "DING!" as he landed another punch, in the other teen's face this time.

Across the way, Biker was taking potshots at Jetstream, who was forced on the defensive yet again. 'This just isn't my day,' the boy thought morbidly, as he weaved through the semi-solid sheet of laser fire that the demon virus was laying down. Double barrels suddenly filled his vision, as Biker popped up in front of the boy, one of his pistols in his free hand.

"And this, boys and girls, is called a rope-a-dope," the winged virus cackled, before clubbing the teen with his gun-arm, and re-holstering his pistol. He turned to assist the others with their own fights, but was knocked off his feet by a low altitude flying tackle. He actually flipped over in mid-air, before his face got nice and friendly with the pavement. He got up, snapped his broken jaw back into place with a sickening "crack", and wiped the tiny stream of purplish-black fluid that had leaked from his nose away with a thumb as he glared at Jetstream.

"Ya just don't know when ta stay down, do ya kid?" he asked.

"The same could be said of you, virus," Jetstream shot back. And then the two were off again.

While those fights were going on, Decoy and Overdrive were facing off against Beef and Tarot. Overdrive was firing on Beef with near-reckless abandon. But instead of bullets, he was firing laser bursts. And while not as fatal as hot lead, they were quite painful, something Beef found out the hard way. Each individual shot was a burning sting to the huge teen, and the rate of fire was astonishing. "What's the matter muscle head?" Overdrive taunted, "Can't take the heat? Then get offa the battlefield!"

Beef responded by ripping up a piece of pavement and attempting to use it as a shield. It worked, somewhat, but as Beef advanced on Overdrive the continuous fire was steadily chipping away at his shield, eventually allowing random shots through small holes, which became bigger and bigger the closer the over-muscled teen got to his foe. Beef, seeing that his shield was about to fall apart, let it fall, and pulled up a nearby streetlight with both hands. He began to twirl it like a staff, in some vain attempt to block shots. It didn't work much better than the asphalt shield had.

As Beef was desperately attempting to block the shots, Overdrive clamps from his sides, both near the front and to the rear, which crunched deep into the concrete. His gattling gun slowed to a halt, before the barrels sprang apart into a sunburst formation, and began to spin once more, in the opposite direction. Beef lowered the dented and slightly smoking pole from were it was protecting his face, and peeked over it. "This can't be good," he grunted. He decided to charge the dinotank, to put an end to whatever he had up his metaphorical sleeves. As Beef charged, a ball of crackling red energy began to build in front of the whirring barrels. Overdrive smirked as best he could.

"I hope you like pain muscle head, cause you're about to experience a whole new dimension of it! ARMAGEDDON CANNON!" The ball of energy exploded outwards in an intense beam of red destruction, pushing Overdrive backwards almost five yards despite the anchors he had deployed. It sped towards Beef, ripping up pavement in its wake, before impacting with the huge teen, carrying him along in front of it, like the figurehead of a ship.

A few yards away, Decoy had slung his rocket launcher over one shoulder, and retrieved his war hammer from his back. Tarot had dipped into her reservoir of cards, and pulled out another familiar looking card. She smirked as she spoke to Decoy. "You know, I should really thank Jon. He showed me what kind of…potential these Yu-gi-oH! things have." She turned the card with a flourish as she called out a name. "Giga Gagagigio!" A strange lizard man with cybernetic implants and spiked armor covering half his body appeared, and immediately charged at the dog man, claws glinting in the sun. Decoy covered a yawn as his newest foe rushed at him, before springing into action.

At the last possible second he took two steps to the right, and swung his hammer in a powerful sideways arc, catching the lizard in the side and sending it staggering off course. He followed up with a vicious overhead swing, but the creature blocked it with an elbow spike, and countered with a viscous stab attempt with its claws. Decoy managed to dodge out of the way of serious harm, but still came away with a shallow gash across his chest. He held one hand to the wound for a moment, and glared at the monster and its master. "So that's the way you wanna play huh? In that case…"

Decoy twisted a section of his hammers handle, and a hum began to emanate from the head, so low that it was barely audible to his own sharp ears. The lizard came at his again, feinting with its left and then unleashing a hard jab with its right. Decoy fell for the feint, and took the jab right on his muzzle, but managed to get in a powerful blow on the creature's left elbow. It screamed with pain before going silent as Decoy gave a final overhand swing, which seemed to cut through the beast like a hot knife through butter! "Who's a good bad dog?" Decoy smirked as the lizard monster dissolved away.

A howling snarl was the answer, as a pack of assorted monsters and apparitions charged him, all howling and screeching for blood. Decoy blinked. 'Damn it! She must have gone out and gotten some of the toughest, and fugliest, lookin' cards on the market! So…guess I need to turn up the heat,' the dog anthro thought. He raised his hammer high overhead, the humming increasing as it rose. Then, as the humming reached a pitch that could almost shatter glass, he brought it down, howling "MJOLNIR THUNDER!" A shockwave of sonic energy released as the hammer hit the ground, literally tearing the creatures apart, and sending Tarot flying backwards. As the girl landed, she smacked her head against some broken brickwork, and was knocked out without so much as a whimper. "If you can't run with the big dawgs…" Decoy panted, leaning heavily on his hammer as if it were a cane, "then stay on the porch!" Hack had designed the weapon with a built in sonic disrupter, plus a wave integration feature, increasing the potential damage of any attack, but the only way they had been able to power it was to have it draw its energy directly from Decoy himself. Added to that, the Mjolnir Thunder attack was currently the strongest attack in his arsenal, meaning it left him almost useless in a fight.

On the other end of the street, Hack and Sidewinder were going up against Roulette and Emma. Unfortunately, the only thing Sidewinder could actually do was provide covering fire for his master. His weapons were more powerful than Overdrive's, and the fact remained that either one of them could end up killing someone with a misfired blast. But since Beef was a lot tougher than the other Hellions, with the exception of Frost in her organic diamond form, he was okay. So Sidewinder was stuck providing covering fire against Frost, while Hack went hand to hand with Roulette. Hack had just dodged under another wave of bad luck discs when he received Scratch's message. He placed one hand against the side of his helmet, activating his own comm. unit.

"I read you Scratch. Keep her contained until I ca-WHOA!" Hack leapt out of the way as Overdrive's attack, carrying an unconscious Beef with it, bulldozed past the spot he had just been standing in. He used the flying rubble and dust as a smokescreen to slip away from Roulette, who began to throw her disks wildly.

Back with the New Mutants and the two cops, Rick blinked. "How long have they been fighting now?" he asked. Dante checked his watch. "About five minutes," the half-demon replied. The western mutant blinked again. Only five minutes and already the street looked like the Gaza strip! These guys were good when it came to demolition. Polanski on the other hand, was on the verge of tears as he watched his city being torn asunder. He began to bawl as his favorite doughnut shop was neatly bisected by Overdrive's attack, leaving Beef in a tangled heap within the wreckage.

Amara watched Kid Razor fire more blasts at Bevatron, who was staggering now though he refused to go down, thus ripping up even more of the street. "I think they're doing just fine."

"Besides," Bahumut put in, appearing with his arms slung over Tabby and Rick's shoulders, causing them to jump, "Jon always hated people stepping into personal matters, unless he asked for their help specifically." Dante nodded in understanding.

"And since this is to reclaim his girlfriend, it's about as personal as you can get."

Bahumut nodded, before turning his attention to the two teens he had his arms around. "And speaking of personal, kids... that was steamy! Nice tongue there, Tabitha," he grinned evilly, wiggling his eyebrows. The two teens flushed red.

Maria was kneeling beside Shawn, keeping an eye on him, though she kept looking at the battle longingly. The boy was still unconscious, and his body was burned somewhat, while his gi smoldered. Razor walked over to the two, and looked down at Shawn's still face curiously. –Is he gonna be okay?- he chirped. Maria shook her head. H.Y.D.R.A. hadn't trained her in medicine, banking on her healing factor to take care of any injuries she could have sustained over a mission, so she didn't have much of a clue as to how her boyfriend was faring.

She shook her head at that thought, still finding the fact that someone had been willing to try to break through the emotionless shell of a trained assassin, to uncover the girl that she could have been, had she been born in the usual manner, instead of created as a weapon, a tool. She felt a wave of some sort of warmth wash through her, but beat it back down. She was still somewhat afraid of these emotions, preferring to keep a tight leash on them, at least until she understood them better. Rahne put a supportive hand on the other girl's shoulder, but Maria flinched away, still not all that comfortable with other people touching her more than absolutely necessary. Rahne frowned slightly, but let it go.

Back in the thick of things, Hack had managed to slip away from Roulette and Frost successfully, though he had almost been skewered by a piece of shrapnel from an exploding pipe. Only his armor stopped it, but he knew he was going to have a monster bruise in a little while. While he could do wonders, even miracles, with computer data, even he couldn't make an armor that completely absorbed impacts, only dampen them. He passed by Kid Razor, who was banging Bevatron's head against a brick wall repeatedly, and gave the stirring Empath a swift chop to the back of the neck, knocking him back unconscious.

"Razor," Hack yelled, getting the rocker's attention. Kid Razor flew upwards, avoiding a volley of shots from Biker's hand cannon, and landed next to Hack.

"What can the Kid of Rock do for ya bud?" he asked, setting up a forcefield to deflect any stray shots from Biker and Overdrive, who had pulled up his anchors and charged after Beef, plowing up rubble like an ocean liner through the waves.

"I need you to come with me. You're essential to this plan. That's the whole reason I lured the Hellions here in the first place." As he spoke, Hack was sprinting towards the alley Scratch and Sharon were, with Kid Razor easily keeping pace, both of them dodging shrapnel and stray fire, both friendly and non. Kid Razor preened, even as he dodged a spray of gravel from Overdrive's treads as the dino-mech attempted to run Emma down.

"The Kid of Rock is always a key player. What do you need done?" Hack rolled his eyes at the Jukebox Hero's arrogance, but refrained from comment. 'I do need this guy's help after all," he thought. The two rounded the corner to find Scratch attempting to calm Sharon, who was still struggling wildly. Hack gestured at her.

"I need you to set up a protective field around me and my girlfriend, and then I'll put a psy-block on her. That'll break Frost's hold on her mind, permanently." Kid Razor nodded, but frowned, slightly puzzled.

"How'd you keep Frost from wiping her memories in the first place anyway?" he asked curiously, as a globe of rainbow energy began to expand outwards from his guitar, enveloping Jon, Sharon, and Scratch. In answer, Jon snapped his fingers, and a fine green mist began to seep from Sharon's hair, before coalescing into a green, impish creature, with large bat-like ears, cruel looking hooked claws, a sharks-mouth grin, and a glint in its eye that stopped just short of malevolent.

Out on the battlefield, Frost dodged another burst of fire from Sidewinder, and scowled as she felt her connection to Catseye begin to slip. She managed to send one last command before the link was severed completely.

"Meet Gremlin," Jon introduced the creature, "He's a virus I reconfigured, like Biker. But I kind of kept him closer to his original viral nature. He loves disrupting things, especially if they're important. Needless to say, I don't like letting him hang around the base much." Gremlin let out a high pitched, insane sounding cackle, making a throat-slitting motion with a clawed thumb. "But I'll get to specifics later." Hack tapped one of the indentations on his armor. The section he tapped slid apart, and a small, light blue pendant, streaked with white and silver fell out into Jon's palm. He held it up by the chain, and nodded. "Spence does good work," he thought aloud, before turning to Catseye, whose struggles had increased ten-fold when Frost's connection had snapped, the woman's last instructions to her to escape and return to her playing in an endless loop within her skull.

Jon observed his girlfriend's moves with sad eyes, then in one deft motion, draped the pendant over her head. Sharon stopped abruptly, and slumped forward, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. She stirred after a moment, eyes opening slowly and focusing on Hack. "Jon-jon?" she said in a near whisper. Jon nodded, a small glint in his eyes betraying the extent of his relief. There was a clanking sound as the chains around Sharon came away, whipping back into Scratch's sleeves. The girl teetered for a moment without the chains to act as a support base, before Hack's arms were around her, gently cradling her form.

"It's okay Cat, I'm right here," Jon soothed the girl. Sharon buried her head against his armored chest, and began to cry. Jon continued to try and soothe the girl as best he could, gently stroking her hair with one hand while hugging her as fiercely as he dared with the other arm. He looked over her shoulder to Kid Razor, who had kept his mouth shut for once in his life, and Scratch. "No mercy," he mouthed at them, his eyes going hard for a moment, but they softened once more as he turned them back to Sharon. Kid Razor and Scratch exchanged looks, and nodded to one another, their eyes hard.

Outside of the alley, Frost, Empath, who had woken once more, Bevatron, who had only been laying low, Jetstream, and Roulette had been backed into a corner against the wreckage of the doughnut shop. Jetstream had finally broken away from Biker, and scooped up the comatose Tarot on the fly. Decoy had still been to drained to stop him. "Ms. Frost?" Empath said. Frost kept her gaze on the computer programs, which were steadily advancing under a constant hail of bad luck discs, telekinetically manipulated debris, and lightning bolts as she replied.

"What Empath?"

"I think we're in big trouble," he said nervously, as Scratch and Kid Razor joined the advance, the first using his chains to snag debris from the air and send it back at the Hellions, while the second was constantly laying down streams of mystical energy. Behind them, Inferno had had enough of waiting around, and had pulled his Hellfire gauntlets back on. They blazed with black fire as he stalked behind the others, tilting his head slightly to let a bolt of lightning blast past him and ignite a store awning behind him. Frost's reply to her student was completely monotone.

"I can see that Empath."

The gathered allies formed into a semi-circle, as the flow of fire abated. Biker cocked his arm cannon, the 'ca-klick' sounding ominous in the near stillness that had descended for a moment. Decoy had joined the group, and swung his hammer, a low growl forcing itself out from between clenched teeth, while Scratch snarled. Kid Razor hovered half a foot in the air in his force-shield, a wicked grin in place as he made a gun with one hand, and pantomimed shooting Frost. Overdrive and Sidewinder hovered just outside the semi-circle, both of them looking their most menacing. Suddenly a Inferno's voice cut through the air. "Wait." The others stopped their advance for a moment as he stepped forward. "This is a one-time deal Frost. A peaceful, unconditional surrender, or…" Razor cut in at that point.

"Give up or we're gonna slap the taste outta your mouths jabronis!" (Sorry for the OOC-ness L1, but I could just see Razor channeling Thunderbolt there.) Inferno sighed, and resisted the urge to massage the migraine growing between his eyes.

"Thank you Razor. Now," he continued, "are you acceptable to these terms?"

Bevatron's hands crackled with power as he sneered at Inferno. "You think a bunch of freak computer programs and some backwoods genetic trash are enough to stop us?" Razor hooted.

"What fight have you been in pikachu-boy? These guys were whooping your asses even before the Kid of Rock decided to lend a fist!" Bevatron growled.

"Don't. Call. Me. PIKACHU!" He screamed, throwing arc after bolt at the Heavy Metal Heartthrob. Razor danced rings around the attacks, all the while chanting: "Pika-boy, pika-boy, pika-pika-pika-boy! Looks like Ash needs to train your sorry ass some more, ya electric rat!"

Bevatron released a primal scream of rage, but he stopped short when Frost snapped at him. "Bevatron, control yourself!" She faced Inferno squarely. "And why, pray tell, should we surrender?" she asked coolly. Inferno arched a brow.

"Well, for starters, you're outnumbered, outgunned, and the police are on their way. Oh yea, and you've hurt my charges and managed to piss me off as well." As he spoke, the flames around his gauntlets flared up, mirroring his anger. Even as he spoke though, he felt something niggling at the back of his mind, cajoling with him to be afraid of the Hellions. The flames began to recede slightly.

"Not this time asno-agujero," he heard Rick snap, as the signature sound of his sonic attack tore through the air and nailed Empath to the wall. The teen dangled there for a moment, before dropping out of the impression he had created in the brickwork, and landing in a heap.

"He's gonna feel that one in the mornin'." Biker snickered. As the standoff continued, an armored vehicle, with the word SWAT emblazoned on it, arrived on the scene. Several men in riot gear disembarked, and formed a semicircle around the Hellions and their opponents. Some broke off from the group to cover the injured New Mutants with assault shotguns. Polanski and Briscoe stepped in front of the kids however, flashing their badges.

"I'm officer Polanski with the CPD. These kids are with us, as is the gentleman with the flaming gloves and the creatures with him. Please stand down." The officer in charge of the squad walked forward and made a cursory examination of Polanski's badge. He finally nodded and gestured to his squadmates. The officers surrounding the injured kids immediately let their guns hang down, and trooped over to stand guard over the Hellions.

"Man, you guys got here just in time!" Jamie remarked to one of them as he passed. The officer merely ignored him, turning back to the Hellions. "Jamie scratched his head. "What's with him?" he asked Razor. The reptile shrugged. Back in the circle, Frost put her hands behind her head.

"Alright officers, we'll come quietly." Her students looked at her like she was crazy, before slowly copying her movements. 'Somethin' don't feel right 'bout this,' Biker thought to himself, unaware that everyone else was mirroring these same thoughts, as the Hellions were quickly and efficiently loaded into the armored van. Several of the officers were required to help dig Beef out, and load him up, but they managed it in record time.

"Is it just me, or are they mucking up procedure big time?" Tabby asked, as they finished loading the Hellions. Polanski, who had gotten in contact with police headquarters, suddenly leapt out of the patrol car, his face a mask of rage.

"Stop em, they're fakes!" he roared, pulling his police issue and firing at the car, which had peeled out. The bumper flipped upwards, and a thick, noxious smog billowed out, obscuring the vehicle. The only clear area was around Sidewinder, whose rotor wash kept the smoke from getting near him. Unfortunately for the others, they weren't so lucky. They began to cough and choke as the toxic smelling fumes settled over them. Razor attempted to erect a forceshield to dispel the smog, but lost his concentration as he doubled over coughing. After a moment, Sidewinder realized that something was seriously wrong, and kicked his rotors into high gear, shredding the smoke easily. As the last wisps were dispelled, Hack appeared, leading a red-eyed Sharon by one hand. There was no sign of Gremlin

He looked at Biker. "They escaped." It wasn't a question. Biker shouldered his massive arm cannon.

"Sorry boss, they had some fake cops workin' for em. By the time our friend here," he waved a hand at Polanski, "got the news, they had already finished loading up all the Hellions." Hack was quiet for a moment, before speaking.

"Que cera, cera my friend. We'll get em next time." As he spoke, Jon walked steadily towards the group of injured New Mutants, Sharon following him like a shadow, casting wary looks at all these strange people. As she passed by Briscoe, the officer gave her an encouraging smile, but the cat girl merely shrank away. Jon's arm snaked out, and wrapped itself comfortingly around her shoulders as he came to a stop in front of Shawn and Maria. He looked down at his friend, then looked to Maria. "Take care of him will ya? He needs someone to keep him outta trouble twenty-four seven." He removed something from a chink in his armor and held it out to Maria. It looked like a compact satellite phone. "When he wakes up, give this to him will ya? Tell him he can ditch the disk too." With that, he turned, and began to make his way towards Overdrive with Sharon. Amara blocked his way suddenly.

"That's it? That's all you have to say! Your friend is hurt, and all you do is give him some cell phone and walk away! Don't you even care?" Decoy growled, and made a move for his hammer, but Jon held up a hand. He looked at her for a moment.

"Shawn's been hurt worse; we all have. He's gonna be bouncing off the walls in a day, tops, as soon as he stops milking this for all it's worth. As for caring, I care more than you know Princess. But right now Sharon needs me more than he does. If he were awake, he would agree with my priorities." With that, he sidestepped the fuming princess, only to come face to face with Dante. "Let me guess, you want to extend an invitation to join the X-Men?" Jon asked in a sarcastic manner. Dante nodded. Jon shook his head.

"Tell the Professor thanks, but no thanks. He may be a great guy and all, but I don't like telepaths. And right now Sharon needs someplace that won't remind her of the Hellions. Besides," he grimaced, "an opulent mansion with a bunch of nosy chatter-boxes ain't exactly a place to heal from emotional damage." Dante nodded, he couldn't argue wit with that train of logic. But one thing still troubled him.

"So where will you go?" Jon merely smirked.

"I've got a place in mind. It may not be the quietest place on earth, but I trust the people. Most of them anyway." That said, he led Sharon around Dante, and over to Overdrive. A side panel of his armor recessed into the armored titan's body, and pulled back to become an entryway into his interior. "Watch your step liddle lady," the vehicle commented in an attempt to sound kindly. He managed it, barely. Scratch and Decoy threw glances over their shoulders at the New Mutants and the two police officers, before turning towards Overdrive as well. Decoy paused, and threw an a slightly ominous "See ya around," over his shoulder, before their two forms seemed to melt and shift into their previous animal appearances. They padded into the darkness, and the armor snapped shut, once more appearing as a seamless plate of metal. The gattling gun on top of the metallic saurian retracted into his body, and his form began to shimmer as he pulled out. The last anyone saw of him was a U-Haul truck turning the corner.

Biker strode over to Behemoth, which, miraculously, had remained completely unharmed throughout the entire ordeal, and mounted up, revving the engine loudly. Behind the New Mutants, Sidewinder began to lift off, his rotors kicking up dust and debris for a moment, before he was aloft. He hovered around the third story level, and gave the group a nod, before turning and ascending, becoming lost in the skyline as he went. Biker flashed a rock on sign at Kid Razor, and popped a wheelie, before tearing out after Overdrive, his wings flowing into his back, while his gun dissolved into a trail of sparkles, which danced on the air for a moment, before winking out of existence. Dante sighed as he watched them go, while sirens suddenly began to split the air.

"Oh boy, now we get to explain what happened to the cops," Tabby muttered, performing a "whoop-de-do" twirl of her index finger.

Later, at the Brotherhood Boarding House-

Todd cracked an eye open from his meditation as a knock sounded at the door, nearly drowned out by the peal of thunder that followed on its heels. It was a miserable day outside, and most of the Brotherhood were gathered around the tv, having completed the chores assigned to them by Coyote and Raven. The only reason he wasn't with them, blissfully letting his brain cells commit seppuku to escape from the inane images the box was broadcasting, was because Coyote had added to his weights, and had told him that performing his ceiling meditation exercise might help him adjust to them faster. Todd hadn't completely bought it, but had found that he actually enjoyed meditation, finding it extremely relaxing mentally, even as it taxed his body, and had agreed to at least try it for a while.

As another knock sounded, he heard Pietro yell, "Hey Buddha, go get the door already!" Todd rolled his eyes, and dropped to the ground silently, before going to the door and throwing it open. As he did so another lightning flash lit the sky, and his pupils dilated in fear, his face losing all color. He closed the door slowly, and tottered into the living room. "Who was at the door Toad?" Pietro asked absently.

"It's for you," Todd replied weakly. Pietro huffed in annoyance, and zipped to the door, throwing it open.

"Whadda you…want…" THUD!

Decoy scratched his head under his beret, and looked at Jon, who was in his armor to keep from getting soaked. "What the hell was wrong with him?" he asked, puzzled. Jon shrugged, as Coyote came to the door finally, to see what the hell was going on. He grinned when he caught sight of Jon, who was holding Sharon in her cat form, keeping her from getting wet. "Guys," he called back into the house, "Come here and meet your new roommates."

TBC

Next time, we take a look at how the Brotherhood is adjusting to their new members, and take a trip through the sewers, to see how Slash and Shippo are faring. Until then, Read & Review!

Now for review replies.

BK13: Look, I'm really glad that you like my stories, but you need to practice some patience. Some people, like L1701E, or Red Witch, can churn out great chapters by the day, while others take a long while just to string two sentences together. I fall in the middle of the two extremes. So please, don't hassle me. All it really serves to do is get on my nerves, though that one with the definition of 'update' was kind of funny too.

Prophet-Song: Well, whadda ya think?

ViciousAssassin: Hope that this chapter provided your fight scene fix for a while.

Andivari: Thoroughly impressed huh? Cool!

Fireinu: Yeah, I kind of remember the Swatkats. And yes, their glovatrixes were mondo-cool! I haven't seen it in such a long time that I can't really remember everything but the basic stuff about the show though.

SickMindedSucker: Well, it may not have been a complete victory, but hey, you win some, you lose some. And Emma almost got run over by a runaway tank, so it's all good, right?

Ancient Vampire: Thanks for the encouragement man, I'll try to keep it up.

Raelina: Actually, Jamie getting some more training's a really good idea! Thanks, I'll see what I can do with it.

L1701E: Thanks man. Razor may not have lived up to the potential he could have had in this chapter, but I think he played his role very well, don't you?

X00001: Well, I think that Hack managed to turn things around nicely.

ProfessorSpork: Thank you. I think that that sums up everything quite nicely.