Disclaimer: I dont own the X-men
The Mission of Hellfire
Chapter 11: The Sacrifices
Soldier and the X-men stood in front of the Inner circle of the Hellfire Club. As they faced one another down, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents broke into not only the Vegas club but every club, safe house, factory and corporate building owned by the Hellfire club and its affiliates. People were confessing, they no longer feared the Hellfire club. Shaw growled as the armoured S.H.I.E.L.D. assault teams ran into the theatre, aiming their rifles at him.
"It's over Shaw, Selene's dead, Pierce is in custody and all your operations have been stopped, make this easier for yourself and give the X-men up" Soldier said firmly, his gun aimed directly at Shaw's forehead.
"Or what you'll kill me, if the boy couldn't stop me with his optic blast then what makes you think you can kill me with a bullet?" Shaw asked, putting on a confident smile to hide his fury.
"It's simple, I'll just shoot you in the head"
"Tell me where my son is or I'll bleed the information out of each of you" Mystique growled.
"We have your daughter here Mystique, join us and we will direct you to your son, all of your services would be appreciated" Leland said.
"You fucking pig!" Mystique snarled, slapping the man across the face.
"Enough of this Shaw, it's over cant you see that?" Kitty asked.
"It will never be over!" Shaw said.
Quicksilver dashed forward, grabbing and throwing Amara, Jamie, Roberto and Sam to the X-men. Pietro suddenly felt a large weight on his shoulders as a purple aura surrounded his body. Leland smiled as the boy fell at his feet.
"A valiant effort my boy, but alas none of your friends will be leaving today"
"We still have one more ace in the hole, or should I say aces" Shaw said with a grin.
Suddenly a metallic fist burst out of the ground, grabbing Wolverine's leg. Logan was dragged down into the ground, where he faced the monstrously altered Colossus. Electricity sparked around the X-men and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
"EVERYONE GET OUT OF THERE!!" Soldier yelled.
But his warning was too late as a surge of electricity passed from one agent to another, shocking them until their brains turned to mush. The electricity reformed into the new energy form of Berserker.
"Ray!" Bobby said in complete shock.
For a brief moment, the former X-men widened his eyes, remembering his old life. But it was only for a brief moment before a look of fury crossed his features. He bought his hands up, hitting Iceman in the chest and throwing him into Gambit. Cable and Soldier ran forward, the latter elbowing one of the remaining Hellfire guards. Soldier's ears twitched as he heard a crashing sound. Suddenly Blob was sent flying through the stage, slamming into Cable. Even with one of his allies trapped underneath the unconscious gargantuan, the masked man ran forward, aiming his pistols at Shaw. Tessa drew the pistol on her hip and fired at Soldier, hitting him in the chest. The armour offered him amazing protection from the bullets as he aimed the gun at Shaw's head.
"I don't think so insect!" A mighty voice roared.
Soldier swore as the brown armoured Juggernaut slammed his fist into his chest, throwing him away from Shaw.
"This club wants my brother dead and so do I little man" Cain said as he marched towards Soldier.
The masked man pointed his guns at the Juggernaut, who merely laughed.
"Guns, against me THE UNSTOPPABLE JUGGERNAUT!!!"
Juggernaut ran forward, smashing his fist into Soldier's helmet. As the lenses on his eyes cracked, Soldier reached for his equipment belt. But Juggernaut grabbed the mans hand, crushing his wrist. Soldier yelled in pain as he felt his bone crack. Juggernaut slammed him into the ground, kicking his pistols aside. Beast shot awake as he heard the crunching sound of Juggernaut's fists. He looked in shock as Juggernaut cupped his hands and smashed them into Soldier's chest, cracking his armour. Hank yelled, kicking Leland and Fitzroy across the face and jumping over Shaw. He ran towards Juggernaut, but was clothes lined by the Hellion Warpath.
"Let me go, look at him…HE'S KILLING THE MAN!!!" Beast yelled.
"All enemies of the club die, it's their destiny!" Warpath said.
Multiple Reapers summoned by Tarot attacked Kitty, Scott and Lance. Kitty phased through one of her attackers scythes and punched the Reaper across the face. Avalanche shook the ground with his powers, using a sweep kick to knock two Reapers' out. Spike popped a bone out of his wrist and launched it at Tarot, who rolled to the side. Juggernaut slammed his fists into Soldier one more time and the floor gave in, sending them falling to the floor below. Wolverine widened his eyes as he saw Juggernaut holding Soldier by his neck. Logan wriggled out of Colossus's grip and ran at Juggernaut, slashing him across the back.
"Come on bub…what are you a chicken?" Wolverine asked, knowing it would make Juggernaut angry enough to focus on him.
The unstoppable man slammed his fist into Wolverine's head, throwing him into the arms of Colossus. Juggernaut dropped Soldier to the floor and walked towards Wolverine and Colossus. Soldier struggled to get up off the floor, looking to Logan as the two giants grabbed the X-man's feet and legs. Wolverine merely winked at him before yelling in pain, as the two men pulled on his limbs as hard as they could. Cyclops fired a blast into Warpath's side, knocking him away from Beast.
"Cyclops, get over here and grab my shoulder!" Cable said.
"What?"
"JUST DO IT!!!"
Cyclops ran to Cable's side, planting his right hand on Cable's shoulder. Golden telekinetic energy crackled in Cable's eye before he threw Blob off of him, and towards the Inner circle. Shaw and the others dived out of the way, while Leland remained petrified. In his panic he lashed out with his powers, and could only scream as the Blob smashed into him, crashing into the lower floors until Leland was crushed by Blob's now intense weight.
"Now it's your turn!" Cable growled, pointing his finger at Fitzroy.
"I don't think so" Empath said, putting his hands to his head and diving into both Cable's and Scott's mind.
The two men suddenly felt their emotions fluctuate.
"No, we cant kill any of them…X-men don't kill" Cable said, falling back in pure horror.
"I need to find out where Jean is…. I need to find her!" Cyclops moaned, falling to the floor in tears.
"Oh no…mother…. please don't kill mother!" Cable said.
Empath and Fitzroy both laughed, as Scott looked at the older man in pure shock. Beast jumped down to where Soldier was standing and looked in pure shock as he saw Juggernaut and Colossus pulling on Wolverine.
"Get Spike and Kitty to draw Berserker down here…and you'll need Gambit's help for Juggernaut" Soldier explained.
"What about you?" Hank asked.
"Throw me to my guns!"
Beats nodded at the masked man's plan and grabbed him by his belt. With one swing of his arm, Beast threw Soldier back onto the theatre level. Soldier rolled across the ground, picking up his submachine guns. He aimed and fired at Warpath and Tarot, firing a burst of fire at the girl's kneecaps and the boys' thighs and arms. James growled in pain and anger before running forward. Iceman fired a blast at Warpath, freezing him in place. Beast relayed Soldier's plan to the other x-men and told Gambit to go after Juggernaut. The thief already had a plan worked out in his head of how to deal with the supposedly unstoppable man. Soldier ran towards Empath and Fitzroy, dodging one of Roulette's bad luck discs. He dived across the floor, past Fitzroy and Empath. Soldier swung his legs round, kicking the back of Empath and Fitzroy's knees. Then he jumped to his feet and pointed his guns at the two men's heads.
"Release your hold on Cable and Cyclops or I'll shoot you both" Soldier threatened.
"I don't understand, why aren't my powers working on you?" Empath asked.
"Excluding the fact that I've trained my mind to counter telepathy and empathy, rage and sorrow are things that should never hold you back"
"Well said!" A voice said from beside Soldier.
The man turned around, just as Wanda thrust her hands forward, hitting the man with a hex bolt. Soldier was sent flying backstage, where several Hellfire guards had been bought down by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
"Get your prisoners away from here and clear the building, leave catching the inner circle to the X-men" Soldier said and the agents nodded before dragging their prisoners away.
Soldier turned to see Wanda, Tessa and Shaw approaching him. Tessa cocked her pistol and fired a few shots into Soldier's chest. The bullets merely bounced off his armour as he aimed his machine guns. But Wanda used her hex abilities to break the two guns apart. Shaw then ran forward, punching Soldier straight in the face, completely shattering his helmet.
Wolverine yelled in agony and as Kitty and Evan jumped down to the lower level, they widened their eyes in complete shock as Juggernaut and Colossus literally ripped Wolverine apart. They threw both pieces to the side and turned their attention towards the two X-men.
"NOW!" Hank yelled as he threw Gambit at Juggernaut.
The Cajun landed on the giant's helmet and placed in hands on the surface of the helmet. Juggernaut widened his eyes in shock as his helmet began to glow and vibrate.
"Remy thinks this is gonna be messy" Gambit said as he jumped off and rolled away from the giant.
"RUN YOU TWO NOW!!" Beast yelled as Berserker flew down towards Spike and Shadowcat.
The two young X-men ran like hell, past the charging Juggernaut and towards Colossus. Berserker flew forward, Spike rolled to the side while Kitty stepped in front of Colossus and stretched her hands out.
"KITTY!!" Lance yelled as Berserker made contact with Kitty's back.
The girl yelled in agony as the electric being passed through her body and slammed into Colossus. Two magnificent explosions ignited, as the dust cleared, Gambit smirked while Hank and Evan sighed in relief. Kitty was fine, just unconscious; she had thankfully phased in time while Colossus and the naked Ray were lying across the floor, unconscious like Kitty. But they then widened their eyes in horror, as Juggernaut remained, his helmet blown off, his hair and face burnt but very much alive and angry.
"Idiots…you cant stop…THE JUGGERNAUT!!!" Cain yelled as he ran at Evan and Remy.
Spike popped a pair of flaming bone claws out of his wrists and rolled to the side, slashing Juggernaut's chest. The claws merely broke upon impact with the mans skin. Iceman slid down towards his allies' floor, hitting Juggernaut's feet with an ice blast. But the rampaging man smashed the ice apart and ran at Bobby. Quicksilver got up off the floor and looked at the other unconscious X-men. He grabbed them and got them off the stage, dodging Roulette's bad luck discs. The speedster then came around, sweeping Cable and Cyclops away from Empath.
"If we cant conquer this world in a civilised fashion, then we'll just have to do it by force" Shaw said, grabbing Soldier's foot and smashing him against the wall.
"Don't make me do this Shaw, I'd rather keep you alive so I can find out where the others are" Soldier said, blood staining his mask.
Shaw and Wanda both burst into laughter at the masked mans comment. Tessa merely frowned at his defiance.
"I've read your file Soldier, though it never revealed who you are under that mask I can already tell that you're a Naïve fool, you think the world is simple but it isn't…S.H.I.E.L.D. betrayed me a long time ago, and if you choose to follow that corrupt organisation then you must die as well" Tessa said, a smile crossing her face as Shaw picked the man up.
"Fury does what he has to do to keep the world safe, you however aren't…oh and Tessa, the world is simple…people just try to overcomplicate it" Soldier said.
Shaw scoffed at what the man said. Soldier grabbed Shaw's neck and crotch. Wanda and Tessa both widened their eyes as Soldier lifted the Black King off the floor. Soldier threw Shaw straight into the wall, slamming his face against it. Tessa aimed her gun, but a blade slid out of Soldier's elbow. The masked man threw the knife into Tessa's hand, forcing her to drop her gun. He rolled forward, dodging a hex bolt from Wanda and picking up Tessa's gun. Throwing aside the clip, Soldier reached into his pack and removed a single bullet.
"But how!" Shaw said in shock as he got off the floor.
"Your strength may increase but your weight doesn't, you can easily be put out of a fight by literally throwing you out of it…that's just one weakness that Randall gave us" Soldier explained.
"That is my only weakness" Shaw growled.
"Carbonadiam bullet, capable of breaking even Adamantium, and that the off chance that you survive getting a bullet in your brain, the toxic effects of the metal will kill you as well…another way to kill you is overloading your powers, but we wont get to try that" Soldier said as he loaded the pistol and aimed the barrel right between Shaw's eyes.
Shaw gave the signal for Wanda to back away and she did as she was told, floating back onto the stage. Tears ran down the Black King's eyes as Soldier clicked the safety off.
"Please, please I beg of you take pity on me…I just wanted to make things better, not just for mutants but for everyone…so I took one life after another, they were corrupt politicians, business men that bled the world dry…the world of order I created would have been worth all the sacrifice, even working with that witch Selene"
"You have the audacity to beg from me, after everything you've done, corrupt some of the people you killed may have been but they were also alive, they were sons, daughters, husbands, wives…fathers and mothers…this world you would create, who was it for…a world that doesn't accept freedom, defiance and heroism…all the things worth having in this world like love, courage and friendship, they are replaced by animalistic instinct, the nature to survive in the world and damn everyone else…what you would create isn't order, its fear, a constant fear that isn't worth living with…or at least it wasn't a world I would have lived in" Soldier explained, tightening his grip on the handle of the gun.
"Please have mercy…forgive me!" Shaw begged.
Soldier frowned at Shaw before he lowered the gun.
"Stand up!" he ordered.
Juggernaut raised his fist, ready to crush Spike and Gambit. Suddenly his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell back first to the floor. The two young men looked up to see Beast carrying the now conscious Xavier, with Magneto floating beside them.
"Thank god you are all right" Xavier said.
"But Logan" Hank said, lowering his head.
"Is in an extreme amount of pain!" Evan, Remy and Bobby both screamed as the top part of Logan crawled towards them. "Don't just stand there, find my legs, my healing factor will take care of the rest" Logan growled.
Beast turned to the stage, along with Magneto and Xavier. Wanda stood on the stage, side by side with Fitzroy and Empath. Soldier walked on, with Shaw and Tessa in front of him.
"It's over, just give up and tell us where our friends are" Xavier said calmly, but on the inside he controlled a fierce rage.
"Wanda, come back to me, this isn't you!" Magneto said.
"It is father…Lady Selene has showed me the true path to walk" Wanda said.
"Selene's dead!" Cable growled.
"No she isn't"
Once again the Hellfire club proved just how mysterious and dark it was as Selene got up off the floor, the bullets Soldier had bombarded her with leaving her body and scattering across the floor. The woman ran her hand across her skin, the bullet holes disappearing.
"In the end when you face Hellfire you'll get burned, thank you for giving us your daughter Magneto, and Raven I'll be sure to have some fun with your son" Selene grinned as Mystique grinded her teeth together in Fury.
Selene nodded her head at Fitzroy, who smiled as he placed a hand on Roulette's shoulder. He swung the girl round and crashed his lips into hers. The X-men watched in complete disbelief as the girl's skin began to Wither away.
"NO!" Empath yelled as the girl's skin turned to dust.
Selene muttered a few words in what Soldier recognised as Latin. She waved her hands around Empath's eyes, taking away the life inside them. As Fitzroy opened a shining green portal, Empath was the first to walk through, followed by Wanda. Tessa and Shaw slowly walked forward as Selene pointed her finger at Soldier and chanted another spell. A pale blue blade emerged from her finger and flew towards Soldier's chest. The blade pierced his armour, cutting straight through his chest. He aimed his pistol at Shaw as the man walked forward.
"BLACK KING OF THE HELLFIRE CLUB!!!" Soldier yelled.
Shaw turned around and could only gasp as Soldier pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into the king's head. Tessa screamed as Shaw's lifeless body fell to the floor while Pietro ran forward. Selene merely grabbed the boy by the neck and used her free hand to make the necessary signs for another spell. Multiple spikes shot out of the ground, stabbing Soldier's wrist, kneecaps, stomach and shins.
"SOLDIER!!" Cable yelled as the masked man's eyes squinted, telling the X-men that he was on the edge.
"Goodbye foolish X-men!" Selene grinned as she walked into the portal, dragging Tessa and Pietro through the portal.
"NOOOO!!" Magneto yelled as Fitzroy walked through the portal, which disappeared along with the remainder of the Inner circle.
'No…I have failed in my mission!' Soldier thought as he slowly closed his eyes.
Next Chapter 12: Recovery
X-men and Brotherhood recovery from their experience while S.H.I.E.L.D. Cable, Xavier and Magneto put everything into discovering the location of Selene. Rogue must reveal Kurt's fate to Amanda while Cyclops struggles with his love for Jean, and the revelation of Cable's true identity.
The mission is far from over!
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next one features no fighting, just a lot of dialogue dealing with the fall out of the Hellfire club attack. If people arent clear on whose missing then I'll sum it up, Warren (now Death), Rahne, Danielle Moonstar, Jubilee and of course Kurt. Expect some more X-men characters to be introduced who didnt show up in the series, characters to be expected include Wither, some of Sinister's Marauders, Silver Samurai and a key X-men villain.