Bright lights and tall buildings came into view as the Blackbird slowed to sub-sonic speed. It had taken less than an hour to travel the huge distance between New York and Las Vegas, which startled Jake, who had only just stopped throwing up. He looked around to his team mates. Quinn appeared to have settled and had returned to her normal behavior and Mark looked pale, but much better than he had been. Jake noted that Mark appeared to be more worried about the others than himself, looking over to them and checking they were alright. He paid particular attention to Caim, who was by far the worse affected of the four. His cheeks were lined with red marks from the tears that had fallen as his eyes watered. He was sweating heavily and was clutching his stomach in pain. Cyclops had moved to the back to check he was ok while Hack and Beast looked on from behind the controls, concerned, all joking had been forgotten.
As they flew over the outer edges of the glittering city, all of Jake's attention was focusing on his friend. Cyclops had given him a pill which appeared to have some affect, if only to relieve the pain. Mark's gaze was also fixed on him, and Jake saw that he felt helpless being unable to do anything, even if only to comfort him.
"We'll be landing soon," Hack said softly, giving a comforting smile to all four teens. "Ink will be on solid ground in no time."
"Where?" Quinn asked. "We can't exactly park a jet without it being noticed, it'll be heard even if people can't see it."
"You have such little faith in the Blackbird," Beast quipped. "Trust me; she can sneak in without being noticed."
"She might be able to, but what about us?" Quinn retorted. "I have pure black skin and wings, those are sure to attract attention."
"We have thought this through Nightmare," Cyclops reassured. "Trust that the experts have it covered and just do your job."
It took a visible effort from Quinn not to react, anyone else and she would have blown her top, or thrown them into one of her little black holes. But she was trying to make a good impression, if only for the sake of Jake and Mark, whom Quinn knew were really keen to be part of the X-Men. She simply pouted in silence and did her best to mask her seething rage. Jake offered a goofy smile as much to calm his own nerves as to calm Quinn's anger, and it had the desired affect on both.
The Blackbird slowed to a hover high above the city below, floating ten meters from the point of famous pyramid casino Jake remembered seeing in magazines. Hack and Beast scanned the area, searching for a good location to set down. Jake looked out at his surroundings. The sense of excitement from the city made Jake feel giddy. It bustled with life; the buildings dressed in bright lights. The sun was slowly beginning to set and the city was coming alive as building after building began to shine as they turned on their dazzling lights. Looking back at Caim, he saw the boy was looking far better; he even ventured a rare weak smile of reassurance.
"There," Beast said, pointing to a vacant helipad on top of a huge hotel. "That looks like it could support our weight."
"I see it," Hack replied, turning the plane and coming to bear on the landing site. The Blackbird hovered over the pad briefly, before coming to rest on it with a thud. The engines quickly went silent and before Jake could register they had landed the exit portal and lowered the steps to allow them to get out. The team quickly unfastened themselves and got up. Jake's legs were numb and he had to stretch for a few moments to bring them to life. While doing so the others headed for the exit, all except for Hack who rushed past him and headed through a door at the back of the plane.
Caim was the first to exit, with Cyclops close behind to support him if he needed it, followed shortly after by Mark and Quinn. Jake turned to head out as well, but felt a strong hand grip his shoulder gently. He looked around in surprise to see Beast looking down at him seriously.
"Jake, you need to be care," Beast said quietly. "Cyclops was unsure about bringing you on particular on this mission; he was concerned you are not ready. I am sure you are, and Natasha, Mrs. Dugan, thinks so to. I don't want to find out I was wrong, you're a good kid."
Jake nodded, shocked by what he had heard. He stepped off the plane and walked over to Mark and Caim. Why did the others think he wasn't ready? he thought. Why was he singled out? He looked up to Mark, who was staring right pass him at the Blackbird. Jake turned and stopped, his jaw dropping at the sight, or lack of it. The Blackbird wasn't there, or at least, it wasn't visible. He watched as Beast stepped out of a doorway that appeared to be hovering in mid air. The blue man chuckled softly when he saw the bewildered expressions on their faces.
"I told you she could sneak in undetected," He said, before turning to Quinn and adding. "You see, you have nothing to fear."
Quinn nodded, also shocked by what she saw. Jake moved to check on Caim, who was looking more ill than he had been on the plane.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"I'm fine, a little queasy still," Caim stuttered. Mark put a hand on his shoulder, both him and Jake looking at Caim, concerned.
"We'll be down soon," Mark comforted.
"Our destination is one point six miles east of our current location," Cyclops said as he checked his PDA.
"How do you expect us to get there?" Quinn asked, the shock wearing off. "Like I said, I don't exactly blend in."
"And like I said before," Cyclops said "we've got it covered."
"Where's Hack?" Mark asked. As if on queue a tremendous mechanical noise erupted from the Blackbird as something large and black was slowly lowered from underneath. It didn't take long before it became apparent it was some form of SUV. A tinted window rolled down to reveal Hack behind the steering wheel.
"Get in," she said, motioning her head for them to get in the back.
"How will we get that down from here?" Mark said, a look of utter confusion on his face.
"Everyone, meet the other love of my life. I affectionately call her the Warthog," Beast said proudly. Hack rolled her eyes and started the engine.
"We need to get moving, get on board," Cyclops ordered, and they obeyed quickly. Beast climbed into the front, while Mark, Caim and Quinn got into the seats behind with Jake sitting opposite Cyclops in the back seats. The Warthog was surprisingly spacious and comfortable, yet at the same time very loud.
"Everyone buckle up," Hack said as she checked the mirrors. "Ink, I would recommend closing your eyes to taking deep breaths.
Caim did so, and the vehicle revved loudly. Mark still had no idea how they would get the thing down when it accelerated forward suddenly, heading straight for the edge. They barely had time to realize what was happening when it drove off the building and hurtled into the air, falling rapidly. The four teens started yelling as the massive vehicle plummeted toward the concrete below. But rather than the massive crash they were expecting, a huge jet of air erupted from the beneath them and cushioned the fall, setting them comfortably down on the quiet side street next to the hotel. They roared off down the road before joining the main high street.
"That was not funny," Mark panted, feeling very tense. "You should've warned us."
"But if we did that, you would have known what we were about to do," Beast explained, chuckling. "And that wouldn't have been half as fun now would it?"
"Fun for you maybe," Mark retorted. He looked to Caim, who sat next to him. The boy had quite visibly perked up: color had returned to his cheeks and he seemed quite content as he looked out at the city around him. Mark smiled, but as he turned to Jake he quickly lost his smile again. The boy was staring down at his hands solemnly, absorbed by thought about what Beast had said. Mark reached out and grabbed his hand, smiling gently. Even though he didn't know what was bothering him he knew how to cheer him up. Jake looked up, startled, before smiling widely back at Mark. His friend pulled a funny face, and Jake stuck his tongue out in retaliation. Cyclops coughed, signaling his lack of amusement and Mark looked back to the front.
Jake caught a quick glance at the man across from him, who was looking down at his PDA. He wore a similar black uniform to them, with a yellow belt marked with an X. He was well built, his muscles clearly defined by the tight uniform. Jake's attention was drawn to his yellow visor that covered his eyes, which contrasted greatly against his reddish brown hair. Jake was kind of fond of the man, despite what Quinn thought. His dominant, alpha male attitude reminded him of his grandfather, who had been the head of his family until he died. He was the only relative he had fond memories of.
The Warthog lurched round a corner, snapping Jake back into the real world. They had entered a poor suburban part of the city, the lights and sounds that had dazzled them before now fading into eerie silence as they weaved through the now poorly lit streets. They slowed and pulled into the car park of a dilapidated looking motel. Its plastered walls were crumbling and its iron railings rusting. It appeared as though it hadn't been lived in for long time.
They dismounted and formed up behind Cyclops, who signaled for Beast and Hack to take the stairs on the far side while he and the others took the steps by the entrance of the car park. They crept quietly along the upper floor, meeting Beast outside Room 57. Cyclops signaled them to be silent before silently opening the door. He rushed in, followed by Beast and Hack, then Mark, Quinn, Caim and finally Jake. They spread out into the dark room, while a single shadowy figure sat quietly in the corner. It was a woman, and as Jake became aware of her he noticed she was wearing a trench coat and purple headband.
"I must say I'm feeling very appreciated," she said sarcastically. "I ask for the X-Men and I get the Kindergarten."
"Alas Jubilee, we had no idea what we should send," Beast retorted. "You were very vague when you contacted us."
"Oh sorry Beast," she said "Next time people are shooting at me I'll make sure to give you a full mission report."
"Where's Wolverine?" Cyclops interrupted.
"We got separated as soon as the first gun went off," she answered. "He did the 'I am Logan, I am invincible' thing and tried to lead them away. I haven't heard from him since."
"When was that?" Cyclops asked.
"About the time I asked for your help, so about a year ago," She moaned. "I thought I had been forgotten about for a while."
"We came as soon as we could," Cyclops replied, before noticing some bandages around her shoulder. "Are you hurt?"
"I had a disagreement with a bullet," she said. "I thought I could dodge it but it proved otherwise."
"Do you need medical attention?" Cyclops offered.
"Do you think I'd be sitting here making jokes if I needed a doctor?" she said. "I need to get out of here; I have some interesting information about a certain female blue bitch, if you'll pardon my language." She looked at the teens with a cheeky smile.
"Then let us not waste any more time," Beast said, signaling for the door. They headed out, Jake being the last before Jubilee to exit. As they marched down the stairs, two black sedans pulled up blocking the entrance to the Motel car park. Jake heard a quiet "Oh no" from Jubilee besides him and his heart instantly started pounding. Men in black suits poured out of the cars and pulled out their weapons.
Beast instantly reacted, leaping from the railings to land ten feet away, crashing onto the one of the cars before kicking the closest unlucky gunman square in the face. Meanwhile Cyclops had ran to the bottom of the stairs and braced himself before a ruby colored burst of energy erupted from his eyes and struck a second surprise assailant just as Beast was tackling a third. The teens moved into action, Quinn taking off into the air to hover over them while Mark and Caim ran down the stairs to confront a band of goons who were attempting to flank them. Caim's body shook as a tattoo of a tiger on his back literally came to life and roared at the attackers before charging at them. Meanwhile Mark wiped his hand across the sweat on his brow and it morphed into a solid object shaped like a pistol. He took aim just as the gunmen opened fire, though more were aiming more at the demonic tiger than the boys.
At the same time Hack leapt over the railings and landed flawlessly on the ground below before moving to join Beast. One of the men moved to attack her and suffered a stinging kick to the face in return before being flipped onto his back. A second was disarmed by a swiping kick before being knocked unconscious. Jake transformed into his transparent state and pooled into a puddle on the floor, which then slide along the walls rapidly to flank behind the foes attacking Mark and Caim. Reforming right in front of one of them, he smiled at the shocked man before pushing him hard against a wall, sticking him to it firmly. Another man ran and punched him squarely in the stomach. It had no effect and he found his hand was stuck there. Jake solidified his hand and punched the man firmly on his jaw, knocking him out instantly. Mark fired at one of the gunmen, who were thrown back at the force of being shot by the weapon. A gunman burst out from behind his cover and took aim at Mark before he could react, but then suddenly darkness surrounded him and the man was engulfed.
"You got to stay alert Weaponmaster; I can't be here to save all the time," Quinn joked, but her smile quickly disappeared suddenly and she dived down.
Suddenly a helicopter flew over them and hovered high over the motel. A rocket flew out and struck the Warthog, which erupted into a fireball. Cyclops stood firm and fired one incredibly strong burst at the helicopter, ripping the tail in two and sending it spinning wildly.
"What now?" Hack asked. Other black cars were racing towards them, too many for them to hold their ground against.
"We split up! Hack, Beast, Ink, try to divert them!" Cyclops ordered. "Nightmare, Weaponmaster, Glue, you're with me! Get Jubilee to the Blackbird, whatever it takes. Go!"
The two teams split up and ran in opposite directions. Beast's team ran into the road right in front of the cars and let them chase them down a side street while the others quietly snuck past without being seen and headed back down the road they came from.
They ran several blocks, seeing no one as they hurried along.
They headed down an alley, only to find it suddenly blocked by a sedan. They doubled back under a hail of bullets, only to find that their way back was blocked as well. It dawned on them hard that they were trapped, and they searched for a way out as they hide behind some trash cans. They had no luck; they were surrounded on both sides by high walls with no way to scale them.
"Glue, how many people could you carry in your glue form?" Cyclops asked between returning fire. A second helicopter was looming over head and several more cars had arrived to provide reinforcements.
"Err, one. Anymore and I can't hold on," Jake replied.
"Get Jubilee up that wall and to the Blackbird," Cyclops said. "We need that information! GO!" Jake nodded and turned to the woman, who had been quiet up to that point.
"Ok, sticky boy, let's go," she said before holding onto Jake as he slid up the wall, leaving his friends trapped in the alley.
Cyclops fired on the helicopter to keep it occupied as the pair fled over the roof top, but the machine gun fire made it impossible to stop or turn back. They slid down onto an empty street and ran quickly as fast as they could from the gunfire. Jake was suddenly pulled into an alley and forced down to hide behind another trash can as a black sedan raced down the street without seeing them. Jubilee pressed a finger against her lips, signaling for Jake to be quiet, as they tentatively left their hiding spot and crept along the street.
"So where's the Blackbird?" Jubilee asked after a few moments.
"Err, I, err," Jake stuttered. Jubilee glared at him. "You don't know?" she exclaimed. "Great, so we're alone and lost."
Jake didn't reply, the sudden realization of what she said dawned on him. He had no idea where he was, or where to go. They were being pursued by what appeared to be an army. But the thing that scared him the most was that he separated from his friends.
A/N there we go, was that alright. Actiony stuff is hard for me to write without it sounding repetitive. I hope it was ok.
If there is any problem with any powers, lemme know and I will change it. Bear in mind that I cannot read minds, so I have to assume and guess.
Chapter six will be up, err... soon, I guess, as soon as my beta gives it the all clear. I should thank her, she makes me look good.