18. Even Worse
Xavier Mansion - Underground:
"Ugh, I hate getting shot," Logan said as he and Miguel traveled underground via the emergency elevator. The many rounds that struck him were pushed out and fell on the floor with lights clinks.
"Yeah, never feels good." Miguel pulled out the few pieces of shrapnel from the first round of explosions from his arms and legs. They were thrown to the floor as his healing factor kicked in. "So what's the plan?"
"You get to the hanger and evacuate with the others. I'm going after the ones at that damn concert and bring them back to clear out the mansion."
"Hold it, Ah'm not going anywhere out of here." Miguel ripped another piece of wood from his side and threw it down. "If you're going back up there, so am Ah."
"Kid, you are untrained, quick to piss off, and a hardhead. No way am I letting you go back up there."
Before Miguel had a chance for a rebuttal, the elevator stopped. Blackness surrounded the two as they clung to the bars on the walls. A blue light illuminated the small box as Miguel formed a claw to provide them light.
"What's your plan now? They just cut the power to the damn elevator," Miguel said as he looked up to the ceiling when they felt themselves move upwards.
"Hope you can survive a long fall." Popping his own claws, Logan sliced through the floor and leapt into the elevator shaft below.
"F#$%ing figures." He dove after the older mutant as the elevator continued upwards.
It was a good fifty yards to the floor below where both mutants landed hard. Logan was on his feet as his adamantium skeleton refused to break and his healing factor took care of any internal damage he may have sustained. Miguel hit the ground with his claws formed around his hands to make himself invulnerable and took off after Logan.
"I suspect your plan has changed?"
"Shut up and get in the locker room. You want combat, now's your chance," Logan ordered him. "There's a box with a field uniform in it, don't say we didn't do anything for your ungrateful ass."
The two quickly got to their lockers and ripped the doors open. Logan grabbed his uniform pants and began to put them on with his top soon after. "Listen up, I need you to get to the Blackbird and tell Hank and the others to take off. I'm going to hold the rest off as best I can until backup gets here, so have Bobby and Kurt take control of the Danger Room controls as a last resort. I'm going to lead the soldiers in there for a little fun and close off the rest of the facilities down here."
"Then what?" Miguel asked as he changed into his field uniform.
"Then you head out to get the others in the X-Van and bring them back. They have their uniforms with them so they should be ready for a fight. Bring them back here and help me clear the rest out, understood?"
"Understood." Stepping out from where his locker was, Miguel rolled his sleeves up then wrapped his wrists and hands in white athletic tape.
While Logan's uniform was black with yellow tiger stripes on the arms that looked like a one piece, Miguel's was similar to the blue and yellow one he wore during training. The pants were black and so was his hooded jacket. Two yellow lines were intersected the front to form the standard 'X' symbol once the jacket was zipped up. The boots were silver and were still modeled after Gambit's. His brown belt buckled in front with a square 'X' buckle and had two additional belts crossing the front of his lower region. Additional pouches were mounted on either side of his waist to carry additional supplies. As for what shirt he wore, Logan couldn't see what it was but suspected it was another of his wrestling ones he always wore.
"Good to see the new uniform fits. Grab some teargas bombs from the armory on your way out or whatever you may need. This is the real thing so don't screw this up, rookie."
"Just stray out of my way, old man."
The two went their separate ways, putting their plan into action with no time to lose.
Bayville Sports Arena:
Outside of the concert, people flocked in a panic to their cars or simply fled on foot. The small band of mutants who stayed behind quickly donned their uniforms after Jean levitated them to the top of the arena. A plan was devised on the fly and they soon split up into two teams. Cyclops, Colossus, Kitty, and Rogue took the north and east sections of the sports arena while Jean, Boom Boom, Pixie, Magma, Gambit, and Lance (who lacked his uniform) took the south and west sides.
The soldiers that were inside made their way outside to battle the mutant teams and were joined by others who were waiting for them in the parking lot. They opened fire on the X-Men as they dove for cover while trying to get the innocent people out of harm's way. Rogue took a smidge of Colossus' power, making for two metallic powerhouses the soldiers had to contend with as she and Kitty got the injured out of the area. Rogue of course had to bash a few heads as she ran defense for her valley girl friend. Cyclops and Colossus held as many of the soldiers off as they could but were finding themselves quickly overwhelmed.
On the other side of the arena, Lance used his powers to create a crevasse in the ground to separate the incoming soldiers form the other ones who were already there as Magma filled it with fire and molten rock. Gambit fought hand to hand, slipping a charged card in the soldier's armor before kicking them away. Small controlled explosions sent them flying across the parking lot and into dreamland. Jean monitored the situation from the air, taking out any advancing enemies and providing air support along with Pixie as she attacked from above with her soul dagger. Her Pixie dust had no effect on the soldiers as none of them had their skin exposed. Boom Boom laid out booby traps around them while engaging her foes hand to hand. The parking lot became a minefield for their enemies with armored bodies flying through the air.
"Cyclops," Jean shouted into her communicator, "something's happening. The soldiers are changing tactics and heading into the city."
"So we're beating them back, ain't that a good thing?" Lance yelled upon hearing the message from a spare earpiece provided by Pixie.
"They are getting thinner over here as well!" Colossus threw one of the straggling soldiers into a group fleeing the fight. They toppled like bowling pins but didn't return fire, instead shouting at one another as they got to their feet.
"Something's not right," Cyclops stated. "Everyone, stay on alert. Jean, Pixie, scout the surrounding area, Rogue, Kitty, Boom Boom, help the injured. Gambit, Lance, Magma, guard them. Colossus, with me."
The groups divided like they were instructed as Cyclops and Colossus met up with Jean at the far side of the arena. Pixie was still airborne and giving them a maintained bird's eye view of the area as Jean described what she saw the soldiers doing as they fled. That was when things hit the fan as the ground began to shake. Car alarms sounded off as they bounced from the force of something massive heading their way. Rubble from the street shook around their feet but was ignored as each tremor came closer.
"Pixie, come in," Cyclops radioed his airborne teammate. "Pixie, what do you see?"
"Give a minute," Pixie radioed back. "The soldiers seem to have retreated for the most part into the subways."
"What else do you see?"
"There's something happening in one of the warehouses a mile or two from the arena. A large number of soldiers have gathered there and…wait a minute, something's…Oh my God, Cyclops they've got a-"
Static filled the line, cutting off Pixie from the others. Thinking fast, Cyclops ordered Jean into the air to see what happened when the screams of panicking people filled the air. Gunfire erupted from the area Pixie was patrolling, causing Jean to fly off should her comrade need help.
"Jean! Jean!" Cyclops yelled but all he got was static on the communicators. She didn't even respond to his mental shouts.
Approaching where Pixie was last thought to be, Jean darted from building to building as people on the ground fled in terror of something large making its way through the city. A blast of gunfire struck the side of a building, sending glass, brick, and mortar exploding through the air. Using her powers, she protected the defenseless people from being struck or crushed by the falling debris. Once they were safe, she continued onward in search of her friend.
Turning a corner, the redheaded psychic witnessed a streak of yellow fly between two buildings and explode once it struck a large billboard advertising how Bayville is a great place to live. Shortly afterwards, a pink and blue haired girl flew into view and nearly crashed headfirst into her. The two spun in the air before up righting themselves long enough to get their bearings back.
"Pixie, what is it? What's behind you?" Jean asked.
"Jean, we gotta go, they've got a Sentinel, only much bigger than the ones we trained against. It's jamming our radios and the remaining troops are firing from the ground."
"How big?"
As if to answer Jean's question, a large robotic foot landed on the ground, creating a crater in the street. An equally large head with a black face loomed from behind a building and locked its yellow eyes on the two mutant flyers. Stepping out from where it was, the Sentinel stood at its full height of at least one hundred meters. Twin Gattling Vulcan cannons whirled on its shoulders as its dark purple metallic armor shimmered in the light from the city streets. Something reminesant of a metallic hum echoed from where its slitted mouth was as the twin guns unleashed a volley of gunfire at the women.
Acting fast, Jean raised several cars in front of her and Pixie to protect them from being hit. Bullets riddled the fiberglass vehicles providing cover for the mutants to regroup with the others. No sooner were they a block or two away when a whistling noise came from behind them with a large explosion soon after, knocking them out of the air and onto the street below. Several more explosions tore up the street around them as small missiles struck the ground. Slabs of asphalt, vehicles, light posts, street signs, and such came crashing down around the two mutant women as the Sentinel made its way over to them with a group of the purple armored soldiers close behind. Not giving the girls any time to recuperate, they began to open fire on them with the Sentinel being used as cover.
"Scott! We are pinned down, repeat, we are pinned down! Communicator's still offline." Jean tried reaching the others via a telepathic link as she and Pixie took cover behind a large slab of concrete and several destroyed cars.
"They're still jamming us!" Pixie yelled. She came out of her cover spot and threw her dagger at the nearest soldier, striking him in the chest and putting him down with his body twitching until he became paralyzed. Another one formed in her hand immediately after it disappeared in the soldier's chest. "I need some time to bypass the signal and re-establish communications."
A red streak of energy shot through the sky, hitting several soldiers and sending them back. Cyclops appeared on top of a hill of destroyed vehicles and large chunks of the street where he slid down to where Jean and Pixie were. Colossus soon joined them as he threw a large ten foot sized chunk of asphalt at the incoming Sentinel. It only served to scratch the paint job on its shin.
"What are we gonna do, Scott?" Jean asked. "I can't attack their minds; their helmets are keeping me out, our radios are jammed and I can't reach the Professor."
"We'll just have to make do. Colossus, you and I are going to take down the Sentinel. Jean, go get Gambit and Rogue to go after the soldiers and give me an idea to the soldier's positions from above. Pixie, try to re-establish communications, at least short range so we can have some way of coordinating attacks."
The group split up with their assigned tasks with Pixie pulling out a small signal booster from the pouch on her leg. Less than a minute later, Scott received an image of dozens of soldiers closing in on them with the Sentinel effectively keeping them pinned down with gun and missile fire. Its yellow eyes swept over the urban battlefield in an attempt to spot any mutant within its sights as it continued to lay down suppressive fire around the armored soldiers.
"Get the program up and running, now!" Wolverine yelled at Nightcrawler who had teleported to the Danger Room control center.
Soldiers from the mansion had made it as far as the underground area through the main and emergency elevator shafts. Wolverine had to give them credit, they were thoroughly trained and good, but not as good as he was. Bodies lined the corridors in his wake as he led them to the school's training center.
"Hanger, armory, war room, and prep area are closed off, making my way to Nightcrawler." Iceman yelled as he ran through the halls.
"Program has loaded," Nightcrawler announced over his headset. "Ready to launch when you are."
"Give me a minute." Luring in even more troops, Wolverine backed up into a corner as they continuously fired upon him. From a quick count, he estimated at least fifty to sixty enemy forces were in there with him and not expecting what he had in store for them.
"Now, do it! Program Logan's Vacation, begin sequence!"
At his words, the door to the Danger Room shut and locked, trapping all those within its walls inside. The metallic walls faded and became a jungle area complete with snakes, birds, and every other jungle animal one could think of. Thick foliage made it hard to see more than five feet and made the soldiers confused as to what was going on. Everything was quiet with only the sounds of the animals and insects being heard. Thunder rolled and a light wind blew across the area. None of the soldiers were prepared for something like this. They had planned for an attack on a mansion and an underground military-esque bunker, not a jungle.
"Hey, what's happening?" Iceman asked as he entered the control room where Nightcrawler was manning the controls.
"Ze party is just about to begin. One more adjustment and it'll be all set." Typing in a command, Nightcrawler turned the daytime cloudy sky to night. "Now that Logan's having fun, what say we mop up what's left of the purple trespassers?"
"You read my mind, fuzzy." The two boys left the control room to battle the remaining soldiers, leaving their leader and instructor alone but not outnumbered despite it being one against sixty. Those were not good odds when going up against Wolverine.
From the looks of it, the soldiers had difficulty in seeing around them for a few seconds. Those few moments were more than enough for five of them to be taken out. Once they got their bearings back, fear set in as they noticed several of the field commanders were missing as two more disappeared suddenly. Bullets flew from the guns of several panicking soldiers who brought down their own men with friendly fire. As the troops worked on gathering themselves, none saw a lone man crouching in the trees with six extended claws. An evil grin crossed his face as he watched the soldiers turn on each other so quickly.
"My kind of vacation." Silently, Wolverine leapt to the jungle floor and began hunting the troopers one by one.
Across town, Miguel raced towards the Bayville arena in the X-Van. Horns honked around him as he weaved in and out if traffic, even going so far as to drive on the wrong side of the road and cutting across parks, school yards, or parking lots. He was already going well past the speed limit but when he saw several explosions further in the city, he completely floored the gas pedal. Cops tried to bring him to a stop but quickly left chasing him in favor of the cause of the major disturbance some miles away.
Communications were down but the van acted like a mobile relay center. The closer he got to the arena where the X-Men were at, the more he could hear what was going on and only wished he could go faster. It was only when he reached the top of the main bridge to the arena when he saw how truly bad it was. Purple and black armored soldiers made their way down the street as they fired relentlessly at what he could only guess were those he was trying to get to, including Pixie.
"Scott, er, Cyclops, Jean, anyone, come in," he yelled into the radio transmitter as he continued to get closer to the battleground. "Can anyone hear me, dammit!"
As he sped closer to the battle at hand, a large tremor forced him to correct his path as he swerved to the side on the sidewalk. Once he was back on the road, he saw the cause of the tremor. He couldn't believe his eyes at first but couldn't take them off the giant metallic machine in front of him either. "What the f #k?"
"Mi…el…gel…that…at's your position…Come in, what's your position?" It was faint but Cyclops's voice finally came in.
"Cyclops, I'm a mile away from you. What the f #k is hap-"
A rocket came into view from the direction of the machine. He didn't have time to avoid it before the road in front of the van exploded violently. If he would have been a foot closer to the battle there would have been no doubt it would have hit him. As it was, it created a large crater where the van crashed into and flipped end over end before rolling into a skid and stopping at the beginning of the group of soldiers. Fire burned under its hood with black smoke rising from its undercarriage.
"Surround the vehicle!" one of the soldiers ordered with his gun drawn. "Kill anyone alive on sight."