Her body twists under the blows and she moves with the fluidity of water, every movement thought out and planned. It's one of the things we both agree on. Being prepared for anything is better than just diving in without thinking, like others I could mention cough*Tony*cough but Etana takes it even further than I do. She's the first person I've ever met who carries a UV lamp on her at all times in case of a vampire attack; a set of small silver darts for her crossbow in case she meets a werewolf unprepared to talk; lockpicks revealed to be buried –after some nervous questioning from me- in the base of her wings; who will never let anyone creep up on her. She makes being prepared into an art form.
She flicks her right wrist and a set of blades slide out of the smooth metal. She swings her arm up and rips right through the circuitry of the training robot. If it had been a human, she would have disembowelled him. Tony stands next to me, looking down.
"She's made more modifications than I thought possible. Where did she fit it all?"
"You know Hank's Pym-tool? Using Pym Particles to fit everything into one little tool?"
"You mean she…?"
"She traded some of her old notes from meetings with famous scientists in exchange for him to help her tweak it."
We look down. This is Etana trying to make the point that "I am absolutely fine, Steve, stop babying me and let me rejoin the X-Men" She's been at it for ages. She wants to be allowed to at least help out on a reserve status. And then the alarm sounds and we start sprinting outside.
The mutant terrorist, the Black Wolf is outside the Tower, in the middle of moving faster than the eye can properly see, throwing Jessica around like she's a ragdoll. Hawkeye is firing arrows but the speed of the man means that he can simply bat the arrows away or dodge, resulting in them hitting the wrong person. I dive in, but he moves too fast for me to get a fist near him.
He's slight and built almost like Peter –the wiry, agile build of a gymnast. He's dressed in black, his face covered by a padded mask that prevents us seeing his facial structure. He rarely speaks, and when it does, it's distorted. He's not taking any chances that we could identify him. But how can a mutant with super-speed and strength be hidden from the X-Men's radar? How can he hide?
Tony tries to fire on him but once more, the man moves too fast to see. And then I see a black streak from the top of the Tower, Etana falling, her wings folded tightly around her body. At the very last second, they spread out and she crashes down on Black Wolf. Her hands are clasped around his head, gripping tightly. He tries to throw her off, but he hasn't quite realised how stubborn Etana can be. Or that she once tamed a pegasus, which was a whole lot more difficult to hang onto than a human head.
They stagger around, with Etana apparently trying to rip his head off, him trying to throw her off. And then she says something and he freezes. Then he renews his attempts to break free but Etana flips, throwing him over her shoulder and now her right hand is rammed right into his face, and Tony's small repulsor addition begins to glow in the palm of her hand.
"Show your true face. Show your real face, and show them who you really are. Go on!"
He shakes his head. The ominous humming of Etana's hand increases in pitch.
"SHOW THEM!"
And as we all watch, the mask writhes and slides away, revealing a face we had never considered.
Curt Logan looks up at us all, his face twisted in hatred and fear.
