A/N: Officially this fic will take more than 15 chapters. Not many more, probably will close around 16/17. Also writing group fight scenes is hard. Also A Constant State Of Ohio by Lincoln is something I listened to on repeat during quarantine.
WARNING! Blood and graphic violence, I guess
Chapter 14: Tell Me Where I Came From, What I Will Always Be
"We need a strong offensive" Rogue looked from Logan's tense form to the rest of the room. It was decided that they needed as much people for the debrief as possible. The Professor and Scott were down for the count, Violette and Ray went to find Evan and Pietro was constantly on his phone. Remy sat opposite from her, his right hand crudely bandaged up. He was looking right at her, his fingers twitching. "What's more important, we have to move fast. God knows where she is at the moment and without a telepath Cerebro's out."
"What we need is to figure out a way to take her down first" Lance sneered, twirling his helmet around his finger. "She ran this place down to the ground, despite being outnumbered what, thirty to one?"
"Lance is right, we can't just send ourselves to the slaughter" Ororo sat down next to Logan, her finger moving swiftly over a keyboard. A holographic picture of Jean appeared, alongside a block of text.
"What's that?" Asked Roberto, pushing himself off the wall he was leaning against. His arms uncrossed as he rested the palms of his hands against the table.
"Last few month's notes on Jean, written by the staff" Explained Mr. McCoy, adjusting his glasses as he leaned in next to Ororo. "Some medical notes from post-mission checkups. We have to write those down, just in case we miss something at first viewing."
"Like one of us being possessed?" Everyone turned to Tabby, who just raised her hands apologetically. "Got it, not the time."
"Something interesting?" Asked Todd, cocking his head. "Seems mostly like gibberish."
"Well it is just highlighting chosen keywords" Ororo scrolled further down. "would help if someone remembered an incident."
"Jean randomly read my thoughts back in February!" Jubilee chimed in. Bobby visibly tensed from his position standing next to her. "Maybe that will help?"
"Not really" Sighed Mr. McCoy. "Just chronic headaches. Seems like it's been evolving for a while."
"A powerful telepath has headaches for a number of months and no one bothers to check what's up with that?" Huffed Pyro. Amara slapped his shoulder in response.
"Every mutant experiences chronic pains from their mutations at different stages" Said Ororo, clearly not paying Pyro's comments too much of her mind. "Some never stop. Telepaths usually struggle with that."
"Great" Kurt sighed, his tail nervously wrapping around Rogue's ankle.
"It's gonna be, like, Apocalypse 2.0" Kitty leaned in towards them from her seat on Rogue's other side.
Rogue let her mind drift, no longer wanting to listen to bad news and banter. Her eyes shifted towards the right side of the table, occupied mostly by the New Mutants. Jamie sat quietly, staring at the table in front of him, seemingly calculating something. Rahne and Sam stood right behind him, their hands clasped together. Bobby chewed on his fingernails, his eyes shifting from one tea member to another, mostly focusing on Lorna. The girl was focused on Wanda, who kept herself mostly hidden in the planning room's corner, partly obscured by Fred. Rogue's eyes moved back to the opposite side of the table. Remy's gaze shifted to the remaining staff, so she allowed herself to look at him closely.
While his entire body seemed to be set in stone, the muscle of his jaw twitched methodically, as if he kept flexing it.
Never seen him so... visibly nervous.
She glanced at the remaining X-Force. Laura stood still just next to Logan, clearly taking in every piece of information said by the grownups. Pyro was on the outskirts, him and Amara standing right between their respective teams. Piotr stood over a worried Alex, his huge hand resting on the backrest of the boy's chair.
Rogue took a deep breath and tried to focus.
Pietro swallowed down the want to yell as he saw the metal ball descending from the sky.
The ball landed in front of him and his father stepped out, his cape flapping behind him.
What a dumb fucking outfit.
"Luna's under the protection of SHIELD" He said, moving his helmet to his other hands. "I'm not going to pretend I know why you'd trust them."
"What other choice do I have?" He pretended the jab didn't bother him.
She's too old.
They quietly walked towards the mansion, the setting sun casting an orange glow on the surrounding greenery. It all clashed horribly with Pietro's silver and blue suit, while complementing the reds and purples of his father's. He walked with purpose, unbothered by being on 'enemy land'.
"Do you know about Lorna?"
Of course he knew. His father was always very aware of any family either of them had. Some cousins thrice removed that were still in the old country. His mother's family on the west coast. He kept tabs on all of them, told them about the importance of that before giving Wanda away.
He didn't answer. The freshly watered grass squeaked beneath his shoes, filling the silence.
"How could you?" Pietro didn't remember much about his mother, but she was warm. Loving. Never deserved the hand she was dealt in life. "Did mother know?"
"No" His father's shoulders fell, the lines on his face deepening. Pietro sometimes forgot his father was in his seventies. "She… She didn't deserve that."
"Why didn't you ever tell us?" Pietro's hands clenched into fists, which started to visibly vibrate. "I-I-I deserve to know. Wanda deserves to know. My mother deserved to know what a piece of shit you are!"
His father was on the ground. Pietro blinked, his hand started pulsating.
"Are you done?" His father grabbed the bridge of his nose and sniffed a couple of times. Seemingly happy with it not being broken, he reached out for Pietro's hand.
He grabbed it and helped his father up.
"No" He shook his head, letting go. "But we have more important things to do."
No one welcomed them into the mansion. He knew the Brotherhood was sitting in the kitchen, drinking hot chocolate courtesy of Ororo. Violette probably stood over them, chatting. Evan was probably in there with them, making eyes at his sister.
He could feel the stare before they stepped into the elevator. His eyes caught a pair of green ones as the doors closed.
Rouge groaned, trying to ignore the oncoming headache.
There was a way to get a telepath. They all knew it. But there was no way any of them wanted the possible consequences.
She stared at her own hands, her gloves discarded to the side. Despite her skin being almost pale white, her hands were even lighter. She couldn't remember the last time they casually touched anything outside her room.
She sat upright when she heard the knock. Her hands immediately reached for the gloves. She checked if they were secure before letting the person in.
Remy stood before her in a simple t-shirt and sweats.
"Maggy's still talkin' with Wolvie, so no evenin' trainin' for moi" He stepped around her as if it wasn't completely unusual for him to just pop in. "Thought you might appreciate my company more, cherie."
He settled on laying across her bed, his hands beneath his head.
"Ah know what we have to do."
"Can we pretend to jus' be regular nobodies fo' an hour?" His head turned towards her. His red on black eyes focused on her gloves. "We have at least a forty percent chance of the world not endin' for the next few of them. Remy calculated. D'you always wear them in your room?"
She followed his gaze, fidgeting with the worn leather.
"Only when Ah have company."
"Should Remy be jealous?"
She started laughing, but the longer she did, the more it turned into crying. Her body seemed to catch up with the past twenty four hours and her knees buckled.
"'M sorry, Rogue" He kneeled next to her and rubbed her shoulders, careful not to touch her exposed biceps or collarbones. "Maybe you should sleep for a bit, non? Ça a été une journée intense."
"No" She shook her head, slapping his hands away and standing up. "We need to go after her. Ah know how to stop her."
"Rogue-"
"What if Ah'm the only one who can?"
He looked up, his eyes searching her face for something. He silently took her hand into his and tenderly kissed her gloved knuckles.
"Of course you are, cherie" He sighed, getting up. "'M gonna talk to them. You get ready however you need to. Remy and luck will be on your side."
She turned her hand around, looking at the card he slipped into her fist. She heard the soft click of her door closing. The Queen of Hearts gazed off to the side.
Judith, as Remy once called her. Off to slay Holofernes and save Israel.
She pocketed the card and took a deep breath, the weight of it surprisingly heavy on her thigh.
"You only need enough to last you around ten minutes" Mr. McCoy put his hand on her shoulder, delicately squeezing. "Don't worry, I'll be monitoring his brain activity."
"You don't have to do this, Stripes" Logan walked over, standing next to her. They both stared at his unmoving form. "We'll figure something else out."
"We don't have the time" She sighed, slowly peeling off her glove. She looked at Ororo. "You'll stop me as soon as you can, right?"
"Of course" She reached for her gloved hand, across the hospital bed. "We'll be right here."
She waited for Mr. McCoy to walk over to the monitor before closing her eyes and calming her breathing. Once her eyes opened again, they focused on the Professor's face. She nodded, reaching for his cheek.
Lance suited up, before tidying up the bed he napped in. Todd adjusted his shoes, before stretching.
"Yo, forgot how soft the mattresses here are" He scratched his back, turning to Fred. "Naps are the shit, yo."
"Yeah" Fred put on his vest, yawning. Lucky bastard got one of the two beds just for himself due to his size. Lance and Pietro had to get by with Todd squeezed in between them on the other. Kitty offered to house Wanda for the evening, clearly not against sharing a space with someone else after the crash. "Hard to do with a kid around, though."
Pietro twirled his phone around in his hands, pushing buttons and clearing the screen every now and again. Lance gulped before sitting down next to him.
"She's gonna be fine" He put his hand on Pietro's shoulder, patting it a few times.
"I'm more worried about not coming back" The phone stilled in his hands. Pietro blinked a few times, before shaking his head. "Stupid, I know."
"We all do" Lance let his hand fall down, cursing himself for what he was about to do. He reached for his pocket, taking out the folded piece of paper. "We all care about her, Tro. And we all want to see her grow up."
He handed it to Pietro. The picture was worn around the crease, but otherwise pristine and noticeably recent.
Kitty with Luna in her arms, smiling and pointing at the camera. Luna seemed completely unbothered, talking about something or the other – taking after her dad in the way she never seemed to shut up – and playing with a doll in her hands.
"Embarrassing, I know, don't let Todd see that" He snatched the picture back, putting it into the safety of his pocket. "So yeah."
Pietro nodded and pocketed the phone, before standing up and offering his hand to Lance. The older boy smirked and took it, letting Pietro pull him up.
"So, Brotherhood" Lance clasped his hands together. "Ready to rock and roll?"
His teammates groaned.
"I'm gonna get Wanda to hex those stupid jokes out of you" Fred walked over to the door. "Blueberry pancakes should do it."
"Solid strategy, kiddos" Logan laid down a bunch of different colored blocks they used during strategy training. "We come at her in two waves, lets us recover in case we need to regroup. Our strength is in long range attacks – we have yet to figure out her limits, the further away you are the safer. Quicksilver" Pietro looked up, clearly a bit shocked at being called out. "You're out for the entirety."
"What?"
"We need to set up medical aid. Don't want a repeat of Apocalypse, with a third of you almost bleeding out. Hank offered to stitch you all up, but we need someone to recover the injured. That's your job" Logan's intense stare moved back to the table. "Yellows are the staff, red's main team, blue's the Newbies, purple X-Force, green's Brotherhood" He picked up four yellow pieces. "Each wave's divided into offense and defense" He put the pieces upright on the table, in clear groups of two despite leaving space in between all of them. "I'll lead offense one, Magneto defense one. I'll be checking the range. Newbies, pay attention, most of you are with me" Logan picked up six blue pieces and stood them next to his piece. "Jubilee, Cannonball, Sunspot, Boom-Boom, Wolfsbane, Multiple" Violette's brows furrowed as she looked at her brother. Offense? "Jubilee, Cannonball and Sunspot – your job is distraction. I want a lot and intense. Don't give her time to think. You'll be joined by" He picked up a sole red piece. "Spyke."
Evan seemed a bit chocked up at still being considered a part of the main team.
"Wolfsbane and Multiple" Logan turned to the younger members of the team. "I want you near enough to see where I am, far enough to tail out of there. Try blocking and reversing anything you can. Engage if needed. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir" Jamie saluted, before elbowing Rahne. "Hah, tail it."
"Defense under Magneto" Logan clearly disliked the taste of these three words in his mouth. "Nightcrawler, Colossus, Iceman, Toad" He pushed pieces of every color towards the yellow piece. "Protect the offense. Block and counter. Things will be flying – redirect them. Try not to engage with the target in any way, we need you to keep these guys" he waved his hand over the offense "Safe."
Todd and Piotr quietly shuffled towards Bobby and Kurt. Todd looked back at the Brotherhood longingly.
"Everyone else – you're wave two" Logan moved towards the other end of the table. "The rest of X-Force, you're in offense. So are Avalanche, Blob, Berzerker and Magma" The remaining purple pieces along with two greens and two blues were pushed towards a yellow one. "Storm's the leader. X23" His eyes quickly glanced at Laura, before going back to the pieces. "Your job is to finish whatever I started. Watch where I fail and do better. Try getting to her and neutralizing."
Laura nodded, her body straightening up at being addressed by her codename. Violette wondered if she was ever going to get rid of her military style behavior during missions, or if that was just something she was always gonna do.
"Blob, you keep close to her. Counter, protect. She's gonna do fine on her own, but I need someone to make sure of that" Logan squeezed the purple piece for a second, before moving on. "The rest – same as the previous offense. Is that clear?"
Lance grumbled 'yes' under his breath, while the rest nodded.
"Defense two, you're gonna be lead by Beast" Logan moved the rest of the pieces to the remaining yellow one. "He's gonna probably be busy with the injured – that's what you Rogue and Shadowcat are for. Keep in charge of the situation. Make sure the least people possible are harmed. Scarlet Witch and Polaris" He nodded to the remaining girls. "Try anything to keep the offense safe. We'll need as many of them as possible. We have no idea how short or long this one will last. If it comes to wave two, it means we've already lost too many people. Try. Anything" Finally Logan looked around the room, filled to the brim with mutants ready to fight one of their own. "I want Jean back as unharmed as possible. We don't know what possible means right now. I know it's hard, but this is what we do. We stop anyone from harming humans and mutants alike" Logan's eyes shifted towards Laura for the last time. "Be careful."
Alex fixed his seatbelt, trying to calm down his stomach. He felt distinctly like cannon fodder. Just slapped onto the battlefield with hope he wasn't gonna get hit while taking down the enemy.
He looked at Lorna, who sat towards the front of the jet. Blackbird went first, filled with the first wave.
Jesus, it all sounds ridiculous.
She seemed nervous, it was her first mission after all. Straight into life and death battle.
Just like him.
She turned her head slightly, catching his gaze. She gave him a small, reassuring smile, adjusting her plain costume.
He looked down at his own, accented with a yellow x crossed over his chest, a target sewn in the middle of it. Almost the same as his brother's.
He hoped Scott was gonna be fine. Logan called up a blonde guy with wings to stay in charge of both him and the Professor. Scott seemed outwardly perfectly fine, which somehow made Alex even more worried.
He smiled back, before looking back at his own team. They were missing Piotr and Alex told himself he was gonna be fine. Pyro sat directly opposite him, chatting with Amara. He played with his lighter, recounting what happened in the Hellfire Club base with little flaming people. Violette sat next to him, trying to playfully blow out some of the figures.
He had Gambit next to him, hunched over, methodically working his wrist and shuffling cards. His eyes didn't move from Rogue. On Gambit's right Laura sat impossibly straight, almost unblinking. Alex worried about her during these moments, when her previous and current lives seemed to similar for comfort.
He sighed, looking down at his boots. He knew they were nearing Jean's home town, Rochester. Upstate New York wasn't that far from Long Island once you had a jet.
Alex clenched his fists, evening out his breath. He was ready. The Velocity's blades started slowing down as they got ready to touch down. He was ready. Everyone started unbuckling their seatbelts and stretching. He was ready. The hatch door opened.
He had to be.
Rahne shook her hands out, looking to the right at Jamie. He smiled nervously at her, giving her a thumbs up. She looked around, weirded out by the silent, residential area they landed in. There was a half empty kiddy pool a few feet away from the blackbird's front wheel. It was nearing three am, but the streetlights gave everything a light orange hue.
Logan stepped to a lightly coloured two story house. He motioned for her and Jamie to stay back, as he passed the 'FOR SALE' sign.
Rahne nervously morphed, opting to stay upright for the time. She felt her fangs sharpen and grow, the top ones slipping past her lips.
The house was silent. She hoped it meant Logan talked her down.
The ground floor window shattered, Logan flying out of it onto the cracked concrete. Jean emerged, her hair standing on ends. Logan flipped and lunged straight at her, while Jamie rolled to his other flank. Cars and furniture started flying around, along with multiple attacks from their offense team. Rahne grabbed the flying armchair and turned, using the momentum to send it flying back towards Jean.
Time stopped. Or at least it seemed like it did, because everything stalled. Rahne couldn't move, even her eyes locked in place.
"I am unmatched" The voice was distorted, deeper, but still distinctly Jean. "I am eternal. I am Phoenix."
She floated closer to them, but Rahne wasn't sure if she was looking at her or not. She seemed… Hazy. Everywhere at the same time.
All over the place.
"I could take your breaths away."
Her lungs physically constricted, expelling air out. She started panicking, but still couldn't move. She could feel herself choking.
"But I won't."
She was let go and collapsed onto the ground, gasping. Her body morphed back to her human form.
Someone moved, she could hear it. A second later she heard a yell that sounded a lot like Toad, and a loud thud – he must have hit the house.
"Amphibians can breathe through their skin" It was just Jean. The voice sounded a lot weaker, panicked. It quickly morphed back into the distorted sound of Phoenix. "Pathetic either way."
Rahne morphed into her wolf form, growling at her. As she glanced to the sides, most of them were back upright.
The metal gutters creaked and flew towards Phoenix, enveloping her. Magneto Flew up, his helmet firmly placed on his head. The metal slowly turned bright orange, before flying in red hot shards towards them, with Phoenix surrounded in a coating of flames.
Rahne caught Sam's eye, while Phoenix focused on getting rid of Magneto's helmet. Sam charged at her, while Rahne used the furniture and cars to climb closer to her. The helmet came off and hit Sam, pushing him off course. Rahne turned her eyes towards him for just a second, but it was enough – the car came out of nowhere.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck" Pietro scooped up Todd's limp body and tried to position him in a way that wouldn't damage him further. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
He stopped in front of the Beast before the man noticed he was gone. He laid Todd down on the stretcher delicately.
"Jesus" Pietro knew he didn't want him to hear that. The Beast immediately checked his breathing and pupillary response. "Breathing's fine, brain's working. Definite break" Todd's left shin started swelling already. "Pietro, go."
He nodded, forcing himself to look away from Todd. He ran back, quickly looking around. The cowboy was down, about to hit the ground with all of his momentum. The only thing Pietro could do to not hurt either of them further was push the mattress that lied on the grass towards the spot he was gonna hit. He heard something metallic. He turned and – that's a car crash in the air. That's a dog.
Okay, that's his life today.
He ran over and climbed on the nearby couch, leaping to push the werewolf girl down, so the car won't pin her down when it lands. He turned in the air, hugging her to his body and – fuck that hurt his back. He took half a second to breathe before rolling her off of him and getting up. He picked the dog up and ran back towards velocity, the girl morphing in his arms. As soon as she was safe and next to Beast he ran back for the cowboy.
Pietro winced as soon as he saw that the mattress dig a sizeable hole in someone's front yard. He ran up to the small heap of earth and grass, pushed most of it away and picked up the cowboy. As he was standing up his eye caught a mass of red and purple on the ground.
Fuck, fuck ,fuck.
He was back a second later, there was half a house over his father and he was visibly fighting with Phoenix, both of them trying to pin the other with it.
He looked around. There was a cloud of smoke somewhere, meaning Kurt was on the move. Evan was in the middle of shooting a spear at her. Colossus just caught a car, Tabby and sun-boy behind him. Three Jamies flanked the asian girl, who started shooting fireworks at Phoenix. The ice-guy was making an ice platform beneath Wolvie's feet. Pietro looked back at his father, trying to calculate when to intervene.
He took a running start and moved to slip beneath the falling house, grabbing his father's shoulders and bringing him along. He sat his father up delicately once they were safe.
He felt eyes on himself.
Phoenix was looking straight at him. He wasn't there a second ago. She knew to look there.
He moved away from his father, running past the slowly rising Wolverine and around the block, thinking about extremely stupid and loud things, hoping it would get her out of his head. Just America's Funniest Home Videos on repeat with the laugh track.
Fuck, he was in trouble.
It was unnerving to watch just more and more of his teammates come back injured. The moment Rahne went down it was just New Mutant after New Mutant. Sam, Jubilee, Bobby. When Jamie appeared on the stretcher, his upper body covered in shards of the glass window he went through he was sure Violette was gonna lose it. He grabbed her upper arm, trying to both provide comfort and keep her from throwing herself at him.
"Ray?"
He shook his head, his gaze breaking away from Jubilee. She insisted she was fine and a dislocated shoulder wasn't going to stop her.
"I'm fine."
Mr. McCoy had to give her meds to basically knock her out to stop her from going back.
"Come on" Amara grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the Velocity and back to where they were huddled, getting ready.
"The moment Wolverine retreats, we're on" Storm reminded them, adjusting her cloak. "We have to give our all. There have been moments Phoenix wavered – we have to take advantage of them. I'll try luring her out to the Genesee Park, less property damage and civilians."
They mostly quietly evacuated the nearby houses, the Brotherhood's SHIELD badges coming in handy. Jean's parents were in the middle of selling her childhood home after her older sister moved out, lucking out to not be present for this tragedy.
Ray looked back at the foldable cots set up in the Velocity, with Mr. McCoy meticulously monitoring everyone. Bobby started to stir, probably about to wake up.
Pietro appeared, Magneto limply hanging off his shoulder.
"Let's go" Miss Munroe flew up and directly past the Phoenix, before trying to push her pack with powerful winds.
Ray ran after Lance, watching as Kurt ported back with Roberto and Tabitha, all of them slumping down to their knees, exhausted.
They were getting their asses kicked.
Invisibility was out of the question for her, Phoenix could tell where she was no problem. She blocked most of her attacks, the ones getting through barely leaving a scratch.
Spectre was trying to keep up, despite her confidence taking a hit when Phoenix took down Gambit. Her eyes kept wandering to the building Phoenix sent him through, the skyscraper's windows broken by the explosion.
Jesus, she hoped Remy's mutation had something to do with being immune to his own powers.
Lorna stopped the trash can three feet away from her face. Violette shook her head, nodding to the girl and trying to get back into the right mindset.
She did another lap around Phoenix, trying to find a vulnerable spot by methodically sending zaps at her. Ray sent lightings to any spot that seemed to not be closely guarded. Storm kept most of the Phoenix's attention on herself, never slowing down.
Spectre caught a glint of metallic claws, Laura was trying to find an opening. She wasn't the only one who noticed. Wanda used her powers to throw one of the overturned city benches at Phoenix, the side opposite to where Laura was hiding.
Phoenix's head snapped towards Wanda, her hand following suit. The concrete bench stalled in the air, before flying back at a faster pace, pinning Wanda to the ground. Spectre tried to tell herself that the crack didn't sound like an awfully broken bone. Before Phoenix can go back to Storm and no doubt notice Laura pouncing on her, Spectre shoots straight at her face. The flames around her grow slightly bigger, and Spectre sees the nearest car shake. She dives down once it starts flying and watches as Laura slices the Phoenix's shin open. She grabbed her foot, using her weight to bring her lower towards the ground. Fred ran up and jumped, grabbing her other foot. Phoenix struggled against their grip, as Fred used his other hand to grab the curb. Lorna grabbed the car Phoenix sent flying at Spectre and flattened it out as much as she could and when Laura let go and Fred swung Phoenix towards the ground, she laid it over her like a blanket, the metal bending to fit her shape. Rogue ran over, peeling off her glove, about to touch Phoenix's cheek when she opened her eyes and exploded into flames. Lance threw his hands forward, creating a circular wall around her, trying to keep the flames away from them. St. John contained he flames spilling out, creating a flaming dome on top. Amara walked over next to Lance, using her powers to pull lava up through the cracks in the concrete. She covers the entire structure in it, before extinguishing it.
Storm flew down to help Rogue get up, checking the girl over.
"Huh" Lorna walked a bit closer to the dome. "Well that was-"
The dome heated up momentarily, before exploding. Fred caught one of the bigger rocks before it hit Amara and Lance, while Kitty grabs the one flying at Storm and Rogue, phasing it through them. Violette watches as Alex flattens himself against the ground, before running to a badly hit Lorna. She herself tries to catch a flying Ray before he hits the concrete, barely managing to do it. Pietro's right next to her immediately and takes the badly burned Ray from her arms. She blinks, before turning back to the Phoenix.
She's pissed, surrounded by a halo of fire.
Spectre decides what she needs to do.
Buy them time.
She speeds right next to the Phoenix, zapping her as she passes. It does exactly what she wanted – Phoenix follows her.
She had a running start to figure out what to do now.
Spectre looked around in panic, trying to find a way out, any way out at all.
She could feel the heat of the Phoenix warming up her legs, the woman zooming closer and closer.
She noticed a row of parked cars in the distance.
'Now that's a stupid idea.'
She still needed to buy the others time.
Spectre flew at top speed, searching for a lone car. She spotted one at the end of the block.
'Come on.'
Spectre didn't dare look behind her as the heat started to crawl up her calves.
'It's way too stupid.'
She flew lower, her eyes trained on the driver's side window. She tucked her chin towards her chest, her hair falling forward as an additional layer of protection. She closed her eyes.
'Stupid enough it might work.'
Her outstretched fists collided with the glass first. They were definitely bleeding. She held her breath as they hit the passenger's side window. Half a second later the heat at her feet grew as the Phoenix flew in behind her. The fire surrounding her engulfed the car, making the engine combust.
The force of the explosion pushed Spectre forward, her body landing on the asphalt.
She hoped it was enough as she blacked out.
Pyro watched as the car Violette disappeared into exploded. A limp, flesh colored lump landed a few feet away, and St. John tried really hard to disassociate it with his teammate. He could see it disappear in a blur and convinced himself that she was gonna be okay, that Pietro was going to take care of her.
He lifted some of the flames off the car and crouched down, creating a ring of fire around himself. The wreck started to move and he held his breath, ready for the attack.
As soon as he felt the familiar warmth of fire get closer, he raised the flames up, enclosing himself in a fiery dome.
The Phoenix flew through it, her singed clothes and a small gash on her forehead the only indications of the previous fight.
St. John lunged to his side and pushed his body off the ground back, his feet colliding with her side. He landed back into a crouch as her body slid to the edge of the dome.
'Caught her off guard, that's good.'
He didn't kid himself with the idea of putting her down in hand-to-hand combat. But roughing her up would help.
He felt his body being pushed back and held onto the curb, throwing his left hand forward, a wave of flames rushing towards her.
He could picture fear in Jean's eyes and tried to disassociate further, because that wasn't Jean, that wasn't fear, it was rage and those eyes looked nothing like Red's did.
She was no longer there when the wave passed, but he felt the fingers of his right hand being pushed back, away from the curb. One by one they bent at an unnatural angle and Jin was blinded by pain. His body was lifted into the air, his chin pulled up and his eyelids forced open.
"Pathetic."
In a single blow he collided with the stairs leading to an apartment building.
The heat around him grew, but the flames were more welcoming and caring than those of Phoenix. He opened his eyes to see Amara in front of him, countering Phoenix's blows with blasts of red hot lava coming from the cracks in the asphalt.
'That's my girl.'
It was beautiful, how the flames and heat danced around them and St. John's broken hand itched to join them. He could see the blur of Pietro getting closer and shook his head, standing up. He still had some fire left in him.
He used his left hand to create a chariot and stepped on, urging the flaming horses forward. He chucked fireballs at Phoenix, distracting her every now and again and letting Amara deal a blow. They singed more of her clothes but mostly just seemed to piss her off.
With a flick of her wrist Amara flew back and she must have known what that would do to him. He couldn't help but watch her back hit the sidewalk, turning his carriage around and opening his chest to an attack. Phoenix flew forward and hit him in the ribs, knocking his breath out of him. She grabbed his suit and flung him towards Amara and he tried to break his fall in a way not to crush her, ending up landing on his broken hand.
Laura took over as he crawled towards Amara, sighing with relief when he felt her breath on his cheek.
Now he was done.