Shits about to go down. That's all I can say. Enjoy
Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.
It was about an hour before the first shockwave hit the outside of the building and the people inside that had been sat around quietly talking and trying to divert the tension jumped to their feet.
Rogue felt her heart pounding in her chest. This fight was different to the others. These mutants were known to be ruthless killers. This wouldn't just be a fight for victory. This was a fight for her life. They wanted her. More, perhaps, than they wanted the others, considering their late night attack on her and the fact that Deadpool was concerned enough to protect her alone.
Her throat constricted when she considered that, especially with Deadpool around, people would die in this fight. Maybe people on her side. Logan would resort to deadly force when necessary and he seemed like he was readying himself to now.
"It's Arclight. It won't take them long to break through" Deadpool stated, cutting through Rogue's thoughts.
Just as he spoke an explosion rocked the front to the building, presumably courtesy of Scalphunter, the shutters over the front door buckling slightly. Everyone assumed an offensive stance. Cyclops and Jean were stood side by side at one side of the stairs, ready to fight as a team. Storm positioned herself at the top of the stairs in order to give herself time to summon lightening to strike when necessary and so she could see properly to aim, ensuring she struck only their enemies.
Nightcrawler was positioned near the entrance ready to teleport to attack anyone though the front door along with Wolverine who was itching for a fight. Magma, Iceman, Jubilee and Cannonball were grouped together, wary of their first battle with the X-Men and guarded over by Beast.
Rogue and Deadpool stood at the other side of the stairs, closer to the entrance than Jean and Cyclops though not by much. Jamie clones were dotted throughout the room, about fourteen in total.
The floor was once again rocked by an explosion and the shutter buckled some more under the violent assault and Rogue gripped onto Deadpool's arm to steady herself, before jerking her hand away suddenly as if she had been burned when he glanced down at her. 'When did I suddenly start grabbing at random people? Without my gloves on?! I can't be this afraid. I need to get a grip. Focus. Breath.' Rogue felt herself calming into a sharp focus.
One beat passed, then another.
There was a loud cracking noise and the dented area of the shutter gave way to reveal six, rather than the expected five, figures. They rushed through the gap, attacking instantly, and Wolverine dived forward only to be met head on by Sabertooth. Their growls and snarls as they battled filled the room instantly. Kurt teleported, appearing behind Arclight and grabbing her, before teleporting to the lofty ceiling and letting go. She fell to the floor, which would harm or kill many others, however she had super strength and simply got back up sending a shockwave towards Kurt who was hit by it as he teleported throwing his aim off.
Rogue's attention was torn away just as Storm sent a bolt of lightning at Arclight, as Riptide spun towards her and Deadpool. Deadpool spun his swords in a fan-style in front of them both, diverting the shurikens, which terrified Rogue as they could easily hit her teammates. Dodging around Deadpool she leapt towards Riptide, intending to grab him but felt herself collapsing towards the ground feeling sick and weak, unable to focus on her surroundings. Two Jamie clones flung themselves in front of her, taking the blows from several shurikens meant for her, their little faces twisting in pain, before they disappeared and Deadpool yanked her backwards.
She couldn't focus. The whole room was spinning and she was going to throw up right then and there, with a battle raging around her. 'I wonder if Deadpool will kill me because I'm too broken to live' she thought hysterically for a moment. There was a sharp pain in her left shoulder and she couldn't get up! Hysteria was setting in and she tried to take a deep breath to calm herself but that just made her want to throw up more. 'I'm going to die if I stay sat here' she thought panicked, before suddenly the world righted again and she was yanked to her feet, her head still spinning with the after effects. Not pausing to wonder what had caused the sudden change in her well-being she prepared herself to attack again.
"Wait. I know you're all keen to take him down, but I haven't had several shurikens embedded in me while protecting you for you to just go die now" Deadpool stated, and now she looked she could see that he had them sticking out of various tears in his suit, blood dripping from them, the wounds unable to heal due to the shurikens still stuck in his skin. Her stomach lurched at the sight, more so at the thought that accompanied it. He had been unable to attack Riptide, who was a fair distance from them, without leaving her unprotected in her weakened state, and so he'd had to stand still and deflect as many projectiles as possible from her, leaving his body slightly exposed.
"Raght, lets get closa and Ah'll be able ta get ta him. He's doin' too much damage, those thahngs are goin' everywhere" She stated.
"Right, stay behind me then. I'll use my perfect body as a shield. Don't you worry about it."
She snorted then followed close behind him and he rushed Riptide, swords still spinning at impossible rates.
They reached the spinning mutant and Deadpool struck, dropping lower to the floor and whipping his swords out, slicing a deep gash in Riptide's legs and cutting the other clean off, effectively stopping him from spinning. Rogue took the chance, not missing a beat, and vaulted over Deadpool's kneeling figure to grab hold of Riptide's face, holding on until he passed out.
She doubled over for a minute, clutching her head, only to stand up once she had pushed the voice aside to see Deadpool pull his blade from Riptide's body, saying "Ha, hurts more when people are sticking things in you instead of the other way around. Doesn't it? Doesn't it?!"
"Why have meh knock him out if ya're jus' gonna kill him afta anyway?!" She asked, feeling slightly queasy at the large amounts of blood on the floor.
"He was going to die anyway, I cut his leg off! I just like seeing you in action" He winked at her.
Rogue looked away, uneasy that killing was so easy for him 'I already knew that though', before running towards a young woman – Rogue was guessing Vertigo – who appeared to be making Cyclops fall to the floor, much like she had done earlier, while Jean battled Harpoon, deflecting his attacks and trying to send them back at him telekinetically.
A quick glance showed her that Storm, who had one of Riptide's shurikins sticking out of her stomach, and Kurt had both been knocked out (she hoped they were only unconscious) and that Beast was battling Arclight along with Cannonball and Jubilee, Magma and Iceman slumped on the floor in the corner, with a line of blood dripping steadily down magma's head and face. Jamie clones were working together to move the injured people, as surreptitiously as possible, down towards the med-bay where the violence hadn't yet reached.
She leapt and wrapped her legs around Vertigo's neck, hurtling forward and twisting in the air, using her momentum to send the other girl flying. His disruption gave Cyclops the chance to get up and blast Harpoon across the room while Jean distracted him.
Rogue rushed Vertigo again as she stood, landing a kick to her stomach and grabbing her face as she doubled over, rendering the girl unconscious. She looked over to see Jean holding Arclight still telekinetically while Cyclops and Beats tried unsuccessfully to know her out and she defended herself by sending out sonic blasts. Rogue walked over to join them and pressed a hand onto the mutants face. It took a few seconds longer than normal, but eventually the super strong mutant slumped into unconsciousness and Jean let her fall, while Rogue doubled over, trying to quiet the three voices now screaming in her head.
Realising the fight was as good as over, Beast took the two younger mutants he had been protecting down to the med-bay, where he could begin checking out those injured in the fight.
As a group, remaining X-Men turned to face where Wolverine and Sabertooth were fighting, to find Sabertooth backing up into a corner and hitting a button on his suit. The next moment, he and all of the unconscious Marauder's vanished. The only enemies left were Scalphunter, who had stood in a daze since the beginning of the fight due to the Professor entering his mind, and the corpse of Riptide.
They stood for a moment debating what to do with him when the sound of a blade rushed through the air and his head separated from his shoulders and his body fell to the ground, to reveal Deadpool standing behind him.
"What did you do?!" Jean screamed, panic and sickness at the horrific death filling her.
"I cut his head off, duhh." Deadpool stated, looking at them like they were idiots.
"Why? He wasn't doing anything. He was just stood there, defenceless" Scott argued.
"If you think he wouldn't have done the same thing then you're a bleeding idiot. Bleeding. Geddit? Cos you're bleeding quite a lot from your arm."
Rogue sighed, disappointed that Deadpool had alienated her friends with his disregard for human life.
Strangely, it was Logan who defended him, albeit with a foul look on his face.
"He's right. As much as I don't like it. Scalphunter was a deadly enemy to have and he was one of their leaders. This will set them back."
"Ah wonder wha he wasn' teleported with th' rest of them."
"My guess is it was set to bring back only living people. That's why Riptide's body was left. They're alive so they're worth keeping. Scalphunter was the leader of this attack though, he wouldn't let one of his men decide if he got pulled out. I'm guessing only he could activate his teleporter." Logan suggested.
Rogue couldn't help but wish that he'd been teleported with the rest of them. It would be one more enemy to fight, but then maybe her teammates wouldn't be looking at Deadpool with such hatred in their eyes. She couldn't really regret his death, although she didn't like that he hadn't had the chance to defend himself. It was his life now, or potentially theirs in the long run
"I'm guessing you killed Riptide too." It wasn't a question, Scott said it as a statement.
"Sure did" Deadpool said in that disturbingly cheery voice.
"Er, he was shootin' those things everywhere, one hit meh an' it was too dangerous ta get close enough ta touch him. He didn' have much of a choice" Rogue tried to explain.
"I thought you were better than trying to excuse murder Rogue" Scott said coldly, before turning on his heel and marching down to the med-bay to get checked out.
Jean gave Rogue a sympathetic glance before turning to follow after Scott, pausing to say "I understand Rogue, really. It's just a shock is all" before disappearing from the hall.
"Did you say hurt? Where? Show me now!" Deadpool demanded.
"Back off bub. Here darlin' take some of my healing powers" Logan said, holding his hand out, "I could do with a nap after this fight anyways."
"No!" Deadpool yelped as Rogue reached out to touch Logan, before grabbing Rogue, pulling her into his body and saying "Mine" before hitting his teleport button.
The last thing Rogue saw before she was yanked away from the Institute was raw fear on Logan's face as he dived forwards to grab her.
So things are a bit messed up at the moment, some of the X-Men are pretty badly hurt and Deadpool has stolen an injured Rogue.
Hope you enjoyed it!