A/N – The storm is here, bloody and grim chapter, short one, but the amount of action should be more than enough for you. Few people discover that the rules of the game changed when they weren't paying attention and now it will bite them. As always read and review.
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Beta - eri1551
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Lucius Malfoy sat back on his armchair, looked at the fireplace and smiled. This was going so, so good. He didn't need to work, his goals were achieved by other parties and it seemed as if two of them were going to fight each other which was even better for him, he didn't need to use his limited resources in risky endeavors. He only needed to find the proper moment for launching the blow that would finish both of them for good, which considering their hatred for each other wouldn't be hard to find. Sooner or later they were going to fight and bleed.
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The air was crisp and he could see well into the distance as he stood on top of the Institute. Harry smiled as he inhaled it and felt how cold it was, he didn't mind it, he even liked it. He looked around and his eyes slipped over snow covered ground and trees. Braiding his hairs backwards he glanced at Storm. "It is too quiet and you train me more and more, these days."
"Storm is coming," she said. "Nobody will admit it, but it is. So we want to be prepared as much as possible."
"You are standing to my right."
"You know about what kind of storm I'm talking about," she said, faint smile on her lips. "So don't play dumb, as your uncle probably taught you, about it and the fact that you can feel it tells more than you think."
"Oh?" He asked, innocent expression on his face.
"Many can't tell that there is this tension in the air."
"I see," he said and looked at her. "More training?"
"Yes," she said, jumping into the air. "If the storm is going to strike, you need to be ready for it."
He grimly nodded as his wings unfolded and propelled him into the air.
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Thaddeus Ross thought that he wouldn't need to fall this low to achieve his goals, he looked at Reverend Stryker that was sitting across the table and hid a look of disgust and hatred for the man. "I will give you weapons and ammunition as well as some of my men as long as all of the mutants will be alive, it will be done in secret and nobody will learn about it."
"Of course, I will help our country when it needs help," Stryker said. "May I know why do you want them alive? Wouldn't it be easier to kill them?"
"Because I need them," Ross said. "Tomorrow you will get your weapons and I want you to strike within a week of time."
"Of course," Stryker said, Ross could hear some sort of glee and enjoyment in the voice of his temporary associate. He just hoped that this thing wouldn't completely destroy his career. Fury was protective of his assets and the X-Men were a personal fiefdom of SHIELD and it had fangs. Fangs that could easily destroy anybody that was deemed a threat.
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Suggested music – 40:1, The Final Solution by Sabaton or The Twilight of the Thunder God, Guardians of Asgaard by Amon Amarth
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Harry was deep asleep when the glass of the window in the room shattered with a loud noise, it was enough to get the attention of the part of his brain that wasn't fully asleep. He was taught to watch out for such things as they usually announced the arrival of a very sloppy assassin or someone of similar profession.
He opened his eyes and looked around the room while his hand grasped the cold, familiar hilt of his saxe knife that was lying nearby. He saw something black appear in the window. At this sight all of his muscles tensed and when it leaped into the room his hand flickered.
The blade flew out of his hand, flickered faintly in the sparse light and slammed into an unsuspecting person, he managed to let out a hoarse cry before he died as blade was embedded deep in his chest.
"What is going on?" Bobby asked as he woke up and looked around. The moment his gaze landed on the body of a dead person in the middle of the room his eyes widened, but he quickly got over it. "We are under attack," he stated.
"Yes," Harry said as he put on a belt with a dozen or so of throwing knives and his gun. He walked to the corpse laying on the floor and pulled out of it his saxe knife that was covered in crimson liquid – blood. "I think that he was not alone," he said as his gaze darted into the darkness where he spotted several human shapes rushing towards the Institute.
"No," Bobby said and looked at Harry. "Those are Purists if I'm not mistaken, a bad, really bad group of mutant haters and it seems that they decided to attack."
Harry only nodded and turned towards the window. When he saw someone's hand grab the frame to lift himself into the room. Harry pulled out one of the smaller throwing knives. When he was sure that the person wasn't a friendly one, his hand flickered and another dagger sailed through the air. This time Harry could see with perfectly clarity as steel blade of his weapon flew through the space and slammed into the jugular of the opponent. With a stream of blood it cut through the flesh and came to a stop in the spine.
The force of the strike was so great that it threw the enemy out of the room, he died before he slammed into the ground, blood pooling around his throat.
"Give me a knife or pistol. We need to help the rest," Bobby said as he placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "My powers are weakened at night and I need to be exposed to moonlight for them to work and well, it won't happen."
"Sure," Harry said as he grabbed his shield and sword, gave Bobby his saxe knife and pistol and they walked out of the room.
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Sean Cassidy emitted a loud shriek and the Purist that was crouching behind one of the pillars fell onto the floor, blood pooling out of his ears. Sean grimly smiled, took aim with his pistol and killed him. His gaze darted to the other one that was still hiding and had somehow survived the shriek.
Sean's gaze swept over the corridor as he tried to find any more Purists that made their way into this part of the mansion. He needed a moment of peace and relative calm to inform SHIELD of what was going on and to get them alerted, after that it was a matter of simply holding long enough to give them an opportunity to get here.
He saw a streak of something gray flash through the room and when he turned his eye in its direction he heard a couple of gunshots from the other Purists that was in the room. Sean's eyes widened when he saw Freki shrug them off and clamp down its massive jaws on the neck of its target. It dragged his screaming and shouting form out of the cover and snapped the spine with a brief sharp move of its neck.
"I guess this problem is solved," Sean said, he saw Freki look around, it's muzzle covered in blood. He wasn't going to mind someone helping him with dealing with enemies and more importantly it gave him an opportunity to call for help. He crouched behind the pillar and pulled out his phone.
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Wolverine growled as he charged through the corridors of the Institute, his claws fully extended as he looked for his next target. He knew that there were some, but he needed to find them. He jumped over the railing of stairs and landed in the lobby. On his lips appeared a feral smile when he saw a couple of Purists there, just waiting to be killed.
They saw or rather heard him land and on his lips appeared an even bigger smile when they raised their guns and pointed at him. He charged at them and completely ignored bullets that were slamming into his body. He jumped into the air and slammed his claws into the first one's, just below his helmet.
Skin and bone wasn't a challenge for adamantium claws and Wolverine watched with some satisfaction as they passed through the tissue and into the brain of the target, killing the Purist unfortunate enough to get into Wolverine path. He removed them from the wound and looked at the rest of Purists.
"You are a monster," one of them shouted.
"Maybe I am a monster," Wolverine said as he walked towards them. "But I at least have morals that you seem to be lacking." His claws flickered in the dim light and he slammed his fist into the chest of other Purist, that was unable to react. Pulling them out in a shower of gore and blood he turned to look at the rest of Purists.
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Harry's eyes narrowed into slits as he saw one of Purists drag a student by her hair. Harry threw to the sides his shield and sword, and charged at the Purists, who didn't even have a chance to react when Harry slammed into him, tackling him and forcing to release the girl.
"Find Sunspot, he is behind me!" Harry shouted at the girl and focused on the Purist that was still dazed and shocked by the thing that happened. Harry used this opportunity and slammed his closed hand into the solar plexus of the Purist, he winced when he heard an unmistakable sound of bones snapping from the force of the strike. He didn't like it, but he knew that it was either him or the Purist.
"They are everywhere," Bobby said, joining him, there was blood and grime smeared over his face. "And there are a lot of them."
"I know," Harry said as he used his shield to deflect a couple of bullets that were fired by someone. His hand with the sword shot forward and he grimly smiled when it found resistance, he turned it in the wound and pulled out. Crimson stains on the blade.
"Let's go." Bobby patted Harry's shoulder bringing him out of his musings as he looked at the blade. "The time for tears and grieving will be later."
"Yes," Harry nodded as he wiped the blade.
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"He is insane," Fury said as he stormed into the command center of Triskelion, he was somewhat glad that he decided to stay up late. Agents that were working looked at him, unsure what he meant. "Get every STRIKE team that you can get and send them to Xavier's. Also get our Helicarrier there."
"What is going on?" Alexander Pierce asked, he was a tall person with brown hair and dark, stormy eyes.
"Stryker attacked Xavier's and I think there is more to it," Fury said, not even looking at Pierce. "Banshee is there and he said that it can turn into an all out battle."
"The son of Thor is there?"
"He is," Fury grimly nodded as he too walked through the room. "I will go there and try to take control of this madness, I want you to check who was responsible for providing them with weapons and gear."
"What about the Avengers?"
"They need to stay out of it. The good thing is that Thor, Loki and Stark are on Asgard. Hawkeye is somewhere in the South and Widow is licking her wounds."
Pierce nodded and left him alone. Fury entered the hangar level and as he looked around he could see heavily armed agents rush into Quinjets and helicopters that were preparing for take off. He just hoped that it wouldn't turn into a bloodbath, he knew of what mutants were capable when furious and here they wouldn't have many reasons to hold back.
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Warren swiped his wings forward and with some satisfaction watched as dozens of metal darts flew out of them and towards Purists, slamming into them and piercing their bodies. They killed some of them, but those were the lucky ones. The rest of was horribly injured with their chests ripped open or limbs torn apart, they would die over time from blood loss and injuries. There was nothing that modern medicine could do to help them.
He felt some sort of magical, mystical power build behind him and when he glanced there he saw Jean wrapped in a cocoon of blazing orange fire that formed an image of a large bird around her. He gulped as he recognized it, it meant that she summoned the Phoenix and someone would burn.
He saw some stupid Purists empty whole magazines of their weapons into Jean, only for her to catch bullets with her telepathic powers and send them back, coated in flames. He almost felt sorry when he saw them burn, but then they deserved all of it.
"Jean!" he shouted and she looked at him, her eyes golden and full of power out of this world. "We need to join the rest of students, on our own we will get killed!"
"Lead," she said, her voice distorted and full of power, power so terrible that it could burn with just a touch, but was also able to heal.
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Fawkes squealed in fear. Dumbledore looked up from a document he was reading and his gaze landed on his familiar and companion.
"What's going on?" He asked, trying to understand why his familiar was behaving so strangely.
"She is here," one of portraits said. "You should have known it."
Dumbledore nodded and stood up. "She is at Xavier's, isn't she?"
"Yes."
He extended his hand and Fawkes nimbly hopped onto it. With his second hand Dumbledore made a swirling move and focusing on the lobby of Xavier's, he was gone out of Hogwarts. He felt the world squeeze him and later it released him in a familiar lobby of Xavier's, yet it was so different than normal. There were corpses and stains of blood on the floor. With Wolverine fighting someone and killing him with ease.
"How did you get here?" Wolverine asked, the moment he spotted Dumbledore's arrival.
"Phoenix told me to get here," Dumbledore said and grimaced. "What is going on?"
"Purists are here, that's what is going on," Wolverine said as he jumped into the air and buried his claws in someone that was coming down the stairs. There was a short cry, but it stopped when Wolverine's claws found their mark and killed.
Dumbledore sighed when he saw Wolverine so carelessly kill someone. For him killing wasn't the best thing to do, nonetheless he pulled out his wand and started to cast spells.
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Rahne turned her nails into claws and struck at the throat of the nearest Purist, on her face was a grim expression as she buried them in his throat and easily killed him. She pulled them out, letting the body crash onto the floor and looked around, trying to see if there were any more of them.
"I think that he is the last one," Danielle said, her wicked daggers in hands, their blades stained with blood. "Or at least I can't feel any of them being close."
"Me neither," Rahne said and looked at the end of the corridor, where it split into two more. "Harry, Warren and the rest should be somewhere there."
"And we better join them," Danielle finished.
"Exactly," Rahne said, before she turned into a wolf and looked at Danielle.
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"Fury is on his way here," Sean said as he joined Scott and Havok. "He said that he will come with STRIKE teams and everything that he can get."
"Any idea how soon he can get here?" Scott asked as he looked around, trying to spot any Purists that might come towards them.
Sean reloaded his gun before looking at Scott. "It depends, if he has teams that are free and ready, he will be here in thirty or less minutes, if not then up to an hour."
"And you called him ten or so minutes ago," Scott drawled and Sean nodded. "So up to fifty minutes of waiting, twenty we can survive, fifty might be tough," Scott said grimly as a couple of Purists came charging from behind a corner.
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"Will they stop coming?" Harry sighed as he threw a pair of knives at the Purists that seemed to have unlimited amounts of bodies to be thrown. The knives slammed into their foreheads, killing them on the spot.
"They should," Piotr said as he slammed his fists into one of the Purists, knocking him back and most likely killing him. Harry could see bones deform under the strike and he knew enough about anatomy, to know that it was a bad thing.
His musings were cut short when he heard an unmistakable sound of gunfire, he dropped to the ground and jammed out of the scabbard another one of his throwing knives. His eyes scanned the room. The moment he spotted the one that had fired, his hand flickered and released the deadly projectile that flew through the air and slammed into the Purist's neck.
"There is a limit to the amount of people that they can have," Bobby said and Harry looked at his Brazilian friend who was covered in various things, mostly blood that wasn't his. "So a couple dozen more minutes of holding them at bay and we are done."
Harry rolled his eyes and looked at his belt with throwing knives, he could see a lot of them missing and only four were remaining there plus his saxe knife, that Bobby had and sword. Which wasn't good, getting up he looked around and focused on hundreds of different noises that filled the room, trying to find where the next fight was.
Harry was about to move when he heard a gunshot, almost immediately followed by a searing pain to his back. Handle of his sword slipped out of his hand, he crashed against the ground and screamed in pain. He was used to pain, but this was different and much stronger than any that he had felt. He could feel energy and blood slowly leave his body, even with his Asgardian physiology there was a limit to how much it could do and it was already working overtime trying to keep him fully focused. He only saw darkness around him as his eyes closed on their own and his breath was almost impossible to detect.
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Stryker heard a sound of a helicopter passing above and when he looked at the night's sky his eyes widened in fear. There were dozens of helicopters and Quinjets flying towards the Institute, he could tell that their hulls were pitch black which meant it was SHIELD. Even if he was unsure at first, the fact that they were followed by a giant shadow that could only be a helicarrier quickly verified them. Only one agency was using those things and it's name was SHIELD.
"You said that they wouldn't come," he said, glaring at Thaddeus Ross.
"They weren't supposed to," Ross said, Stryker could tell that he was even more afraid of SHIELD than he was. "We should be alright, the problem will be your people, Fury doesn't have a lot of mercy."
Stryker nodded, kneeled and looked towards the sky. God Almighty give us strength to beat ones that are anathema to the image of a human you had created, he prayed, his lips moving, but not making a single sound.
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Fury stood behind the pilots as Quinjets and helicopters carrying STRIKE teams slowed down and prepared for landing in front of the Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. Looking at the old facade of the building he could see fresh stains and wounds to it, signs of the events that were still happening in and around it.
"Get us as close to the building as you can ." he commanded the pilots, who nodded.
"What about the ones on the ground?" One of them asked.
"Avoid them," Fury said as he walked to the back of a Quinjet and checked his assault rifle. He was going to be leading from the front, his agents were getting tense and going through the familiar and well-trained drill. The moment the Quinjet touched down and the ramp slammed into the ground they spilled onto the grounds surrounding the Institute.
Fury stood in the back and saw flashes of gunfire as his agents were dealing with the Purists that felt brave and wanted fight, but most of them dropped their guns and raised their hands in a gesture of surrender, not that they would receive a lot of mercy for the things they had done.
He slowly walked forward, his eyes scanning the area around him and as he got closer and closer to Xavier's he was truly able to see the amount of damage and casualties. Most of the windows were in pieces and he could see blood smeared over the stone. Parts of the structure had also collapsed onto the ground and would need to be checked to see if beneath the rubble there were any survivors. As he looked at the ground he could see corpses there, some of them students that had tried to fight back, but most of them of Purists that attacked.
Fury kneeled in front of one of the corpses and looked at it. The reason of death was an obvious one, it was a knife embedded in its jugular to the handle. He pulled it out and took a good look at it, he wiped blood from the blade and a small smile appeared on his lips when he recognized Norse runes written on it.
"He is good," he said as he slid the blade into the pocket of his coat. "I knew that Lily was good when it came to throwing things, but he seems to be even better than she was." Fury stood up, dusted off his coat and walked to the doors leading into the Institute. His eyebrows arched when he saw a Purist being thrown out of one of many windows above and slam into the ground. "It seems that defenestration is still a popular way of dealing with ones you don't like." He said as he tried not to smile, there were ways of killing people that were always amusing and never really ceased to be used.
He pushed thr doors and immediately raised his hands into the air to show that he wasn't dangerous or hostile. "Wolverine, it is me. Nicholas James Fury, we fought together in the U.", Fury said as he pushed away claws that were millimeters away from his throat.
"He is speaking the truth," someone said and Wolverine's claws lowered.
"Most of the Purists are already dealt with," Wolverine said. "You just got in time to help with the clean up."
"I will help with making sure that it will stay as a secret," Fury said and looked around, his eye narrowed when he saw Dumbledore in the room. "We need to speak once this is over," he growled, reaching for his pistol. "There are things that you need to confess to me and Loki, things that you were hiding away."
"I also want to learn them," Wolverine said as he pointed his claws at Dumbledore. "We will talk once everything here is done."
"We can explain how much we dislike each other," Fury said, his voice conciliatory. "But now we have a bigger issue to deal with, don't you think?"
"Yes," Wolverine nodded. "If you have any medics send them as we might have a lot of wounded ones."
"I brought them, as well." Fury said, pocketing his gun and walking deeper into the building.
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Following the initial wave of helicopters with heavily armed operatives, the next wave that landed around the Institute was carrying far less deadly cargo. They were carrying medics and search and rescue personnel whose task would be to help everybody that was wounded and stabilize them so that they could survive and heal, at least in the mutants' case. In the case of Purists, so that they could be safely dragged into the court.
Future looked grim, but there was a small light of hope. But were mutants capable of securing it and surviving, or not, the future would show.
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A/N – Purists are for a moment neutered, but they aren't defeated. They got smacked down, but they still have some claws and are willing to work with weird people just to do something against mutants.
Harry might be alive or not, God and I only know it.
STRIKE – in the MCU they are muscles of SHIELD, used when you need to kill or capture a dangerous terrorist and so on.
Reviews:
randomplotbunny – We don't want Harry turning insane and his normal guards will make 99% things living on Earth back off before even the battle starts. Things built up enough to cause an explosion that caused enough havoc to cause Fury a massive headache.
Guest – he is not weak, it was a combination of shock, surprise and if he went all out he might accidentally kill Ulf. Magic? I won't tell you yet, too big of a spoiler.
* The Ram has Touched the Wall, meaning no quarter or mercy once the assault started.