'Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming!' W.B.Yeats
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The voice never ceased, even as they ran through the long wooden corridor's of the mansion. It barked, prodded, told him to *RUN*, to hide away from the creature that was after their blood.
He threw a glance behind them, the face of his last man three feet behind his own fleeing body but it was the sight of the man chasing them down that made his blood turn to ice.
There was no humanity there, nothing but the hunger to kill, to feel their deaths at his hands. He'd seen men lose it on the battlefield, hell he'd had to prise men off each other after the battle had finished too quickly. But this, this was something else entirely, a different league. The way he flowed over the ground, his head locked onto their bodies, never moving as the rest of his body worked to get to them.
He daren't take the time to pull a weapon to fire, there was no option left to him but to run. He watched as his man stumbled, saw it in slow motion as he fell forward. Brought down by a cable that powered a lamp on a side table, the crash loud but it was the way Wolverine seemed to spur himself to the falling body. The way his rictus grin solidfied into a maw of diamond hard shards, no sound as he sank his clawed fist into the mans back. Pulling himself along the fallen man, using him as a spring to pounce on his own running form. The final thing he saw of his last man was the way his eyes had locked onto his own in puzzlement. They'd been trained to be the best, killed many others like these here, but they'd died, all of them. The last thing he saw in his eyes had been 'How?', turning his head away he pushed as hard as he could toward the corner of the hallway. The map said it was a dead end but it had a picture window, it was preferable to what was behind him.
The scent of heated blood met her nose as she came out of the lift, seeing the grey of fatigues appearing around the corner she let herself drop low. Whoever was coming around the corner wouldn't see her until she was on him. His head had just turned back to see where he was going when she smashed her fist into his face, pole-axing him. Logan followed soon after, claws drawn, bloodied, panting and itching to kill, looking into the darkness that was riding high in his gaze she edited her view of the man in front of her. No not Logan, Wolverine.
He wanted her to move, his hand reached toward her to get her to move but she shifted in front of the bladed fist. Dropping her stance she challenged him, her own blades firing as she stood over the prone soldier, at the moment Wolverine would just kill him. They needed to know *who* had sent them and that meant he couldn't kill him yet, they needed to know if there were more coming. She was calm, Wolverine wasn't, she saw the blood on him, the peices of flesh that weren't beef hanging from his hands. His breath was heaving as he struggled to speak to her, to make noises that made some sense to humans. "MOVE!"
Marie shook her head and dropped lower, she couldn't let him do this, he'd regret it later and they needed as much intel as possible right now.
"NO, we need him alive Logan! He knows who sent him and why, first rule you taught me, get the information *THEN* kill, anyway possible, remember?"
Marie watched as he began to calm down, his eyes lost the dark edge to them, they looked hazel again but there was still a hint of aggression in them. "Move!"
"Not if your gonna kill him," she braced herself for an attack from him as his claws slid away, his eyes were on the prone man as the first stirs of consciousness were filtering back for him.
"I won't, just fuckin move Marie!" Finally happy with what he'd told her she shifted to the side, allowing him access to the prone soldier.
His hands went direct to the mans mouth, feeling on the teeth he just grunted and smashed the man in the mouth again. The weight of his punch taking out the front teeth, he wiggled the right canine out and held it out to her. The long point shone in the red tissue that had once surrounded it, long, curved and channelled on the backside. Reminding her of a snake tooth, but he was no snake, Logan picked the man up and put him over his shoulder. Pressing the lift button he went in with his cargo, Marie followed her claws sliding away as she watched Logan's mind. He was struggling with the small area but he was doing it for speed, there was no way he could keep this guy quiet for the amount of time it would take to get him secure.
By the time the doors opened he was calm again, well to the outside world who couldn't pick up on what she was scenting. He was barely with her, he wanted to kill, to rend his way through the entire house but he was keeping the lid on it. When they saw the streams of kids coming their way led by Peiter and Kitty she just stopped dead while Logan moved through them like they weren't there. Kids didn't look at Logan at all, they had sense, they knew that to look at him was to encure the wrath of something they never wanted to experience.
The soldier though was another matter entirely, several reached out and touched the body, some even used their powers on the prone man. A little touch here, a shock there, nothing that could kill him but Xaviers dream was being destroyed by the very sight of the ones who were making them run. They'd never trust humans again, not a human in a uniform, the looks on their faces were a mixture of fear and anger. They were being driven from their home and they'd never forget it, a hundred Magneto's had been made in that moment and Marie felt herself shudder at the prospect.
Kitty broke into her silence, "We have to get out of here, The Brotherhood is attacking the main building." Kitty could see her friend taking in the news, then she added the killer blow, "Rogue, Magneto's with them." She saw her do a double take and her gaze followed Logan down the corridor. "We need to get as many out as possible, Jubilee,Storm,Bobby and the rest of the older students are doing what they can. We need him upstairs Rogue, you'll give us the time we need to get away. We're taking the south tunnel...." Kitty saw her friend drift off somewhere as she listened to a voice inside her head.
"ROGUE!" Shaking her until she was back with her, "We're leaving, Hank has gone for Xavier, he's getting him stable then he'll be coming with us. We'll leave the tunnel open for you but only for an hour." Kitty went back to the kids who were now filing down the hatch that led to the lower tunnels. "South tunnel Rogue, we're setting the charges on the rest."
Marie watched Kitty herd the rest of the kids down the entrance, finally following them, her face pinched and pale by the carnage that was occuring around them. Squaring herself up she went to find Logan, they were needed back upstairs.
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Hank stood by the bed that held Xavier, the man he'd seen killed outside his own compound was somehow outside the school with the rest of his army. The frail body on the gurney looked no threat to the world, but Hank knew that the man here had caused the death of hundreds, some by his own experimental needs. The screen had showed the face of Magneto his words easy to understand, he wanted Xavier. He wanted him brought out, handed over, a part of Hank wanted to do it, to give him over and let him pay for his crimes. But what would it achieve? Would it give closure to those he'd abused and mistreated?
No.
It wouldn't, it never would, he had to survive to see the world he'd made collapse around him. Hank went over to the pharmacy, pulling bottles out he didn't have much time to do what he wanted to do. But what he could do was give everyone a chance here to get the closure they needed. Pulling the various ingredients together he filled the syringe and plunged it into Xaviers drip. Picking the bottles up he grabbed a medi-kit cool bag, stuffing them inside he'd make a more concentrated dose later. Wrapping it around his large frame, Hank plucked the body straight off the gurney, drips, catheters and all. Picking up a body bag as he left the room Hank made his way back to where the kids were going to leave from. His decision had been made he just hoped everyone could live with the course of action he'd just put into motion.
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A sea, it was like a sea, the battle as it raged below her, Bobby's ice walls had funneled The Brotherhood down a small channel, one they could defend. People were dying all around her and on her level hung Magneto his arms spread wide, his arms mimicking the crucifixion. His voice carrying over the multitudes of mutants trying to gain entrance into the school. "I am risen, one death I have conquered, inside lies the serpent that killed our brethren, took children from the bosoms of their mothers, turned them into numbers. Numbers that were thrown away when they were no longer wanted, no longer useful." The litany he spouted didn't stop, it seemed to urge the mutants below into further frenzy. Ro' pulled the clouds around her, feeling the charge building in her blood as she aimed her first bolt at the figure that was suddenly buffetted by the winds she was calling to her aid.
Jubilee was firing wildly into the mass of pressing bodies, the plasma bursts coloured by her rage and fear. Bobby by her side sending sub-zero temperatures at the crowd jammed together by their rush to attack. Fire and ice side by side, burnt flesh and frozen bodies littered the lawn. Spectar a student with a mutation like Kitty moved through the mass just in front of the open gap, her fingers reaching inside bodies and pulling on nerves and blood vessels. Squeezing hearts, fingering brains into porridge, she danced through the throng. Blows passing through her, she stood in front of several who used guns, seeing it pass through her and kill their own side.
The charge had built, Ro' fired the bolt, she expected it to be bent away like it had been before, hitting the men below him. But it didn't she hit true, the energy went through his body, skin blistered as it burned it's way across his face. As the light faded Ro' saw the figure fall, landing on those below, the crowd swelled once and sucked the body from view. Unleashing her power on the clouds she'd gathered above her, rain, hail, driving straight down with the force of Niagra. The lawns once so carefully tended and cared for were mud, feet tried to gain traction in liquid. Falling over themselves to go forward Ro' shouted to Bobby, "NOW! DO IT NOW!"
His blonde head nodded as he pushed his powers into the liquid soil, suddenly feet and hands were locked down into something as hard as concrete, Jubilee took advantage as did Spectar, the bodies were piling up when Ro' almost screamed. The body she'd thought she'd killed rose once again, his voice slurring but it was the same voice she'd fought against so many times before. "How many more times Ororo until you understand what I've been telling you all along? You *can't* kill me, it's too late for that." She was distracted, confused, thats why she never saw the shape falling out of the sky at her, wings pulled back hard, Warren Worthington (alias Archangel) swooped down at her, hands extended and face grim.
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He was coming round, Logan slapped him *hard* and watched the pain bring him back from unconsciousness. He was strapped down to a table, a needle in one arm taking blood out of him. A slow drip but he could feel the sensation of bleeding, there were several hypo marks on his chest and Logan answered him before he spoke the question. "Anti-coagulants, you pull that out you'll bleed to death." Logan stood by the side of the table, looking straight into his eyes. "He in there with ya?" The tone was enough to get him to answer truthfully,
"Yes."
"Talking through your blood isn't he?" He didn't answer him, the scar at his neck was answer enough. The voice was silent in his head right now but he could feel the presence of his commander in there with him, listening to every word.
"Well listen up you fucker, after I finish here I'm comin for ya Bloodsport. *An* this time there won't be anyone to watch ya back, see I learned from you. Controllin' em through your blood, pretty disgustin' I thought but then it occured to me. What if I drained off enough, just enough so you could hear what was happenin' but not enough to control the poor bastard I've got here." Logan looked down at the filling bag, "Think about a pint might do it, maybe pint an a half. Mind you he won't be needing it after I find out where you are, an as you know *I* will find out where you are."
Back in his bunker Bloodsport shuddered, there were men here, enough to keep him safe but for how long. Wolverine had a long memory, almost as long as his but as the last man's presence faded from his mind as he lost blood he knew whatever plans he made they had to be made now.
He was nearly out when Marie got there, blood loss was a bastard way to die, four bags were on the counter when she arrived. He had the information about where Bloodsport was and what little secrets he'd held in the dog pens. Logan watched Marie's gaze take in the dying man, his face pallid and head moving sluggishly. "Think he deserved better?" She straightened and walked toward the dying man, his eyes not really seeing her there. She turned to look at Logan, his body twitching from anger, he wanted to kill, to pull everything to peices. She stripped a glove and slapped her hand over his bare arm, the veins on his skin pulling upward as she drained him of everything he had been. When there was nothing left to drain she put her glove back on, eyes focussed on Logans own she walked toward him. Her gait measured and sound.
"We're needed up top, Magneto's here. With an army."
You'd have thought she'd told him that anyone who was over a hundred just got a free pass into the Molson factory with an 'All you can drink for free' policy. Marie put her hand on his cheek as the smile went over his skin, "Come on we've got some scores to settle, but we don't kill everyone, only the ones who attack us first." His smile lost some of it's potency but he answered her.
"Okay, but if the furball is back, he's mine." Marie quelled a shudder at the mention of Sabertooth, he still held a power over her, he'd taken her when she was weak. If he *was* there she couldn't guarantee she wouldn't join in the fight.
"Okay, lets go." They left the soldier on the table, if they came back they'd deal with him, if not he'd be in the worlds biggest tomb along with about five hundred others.
Linking hands they ran back toward the lift, seeing the large bulk of Hank just dropping into the tunnels, Marie shouted "South tunnel Hank!" his hand waved just before it disappeared entirely taking Xavier with him. Marie let her mind slip a few gears as they went inside, kissing Logan for luck she hoped there would be someone left by the time they got out there.
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Emma was confused by the directions she'd been given by Jean, was the woman being obtuse on purpose? They'd been combing the bloody area for the entrance for nearly an hour when a stump shifted position and a steel head popped up. Before the man could extracate himself Emma froze him in place and spoke, "I'm not here to hurt you, Jean sent me, I'm Emma Frost, we're here to help you." The large man had sprouted another head, a young woman with dark brown hair and large eyes.
"Emma? Emma Frost?"
"Yes, we're here to help you, I've got people searching for the other tunnel entrances Jean told us we could find you if things went bad in one of them."
"Jean told you? Did she tell you about the counter-measures too?" How much more would it take to convince them, they didn't have much time to get out of the area.
"YES! Jean told me!" Emma pushed an image of her and Jean talking at a table discussing the plans to the mansion and the bombs that were on the rest of the entrances.
It seemed to be enough and her head popped back down through the larger man's torso.
Emma released the metal skinned man and she held her hand out to him, "You must be Peiter Rasputin," his huge hand covered her own but shook it gently. Children were pouring out of the entrance, nearly a hundred in all, when they'd gone with Kitty and Peiter she turned to her own team. "Stop looking at the other entrances, get them here as soon as possible, we've got an army to fight." Emma had been hoping to see Rogue among those who'd gotten out but just as they were about to set off Hank appeared with his cargo. He froze with the body bag over his shoulder, standing upright with it he looked at the collection of people in front of him. He was ready to fight but the look of the people here weren't ready to fight him, they had other things in mind.
"Who are you?" Emma questioned the large furred mutant, her eyes locked on the body bag, it had air holes punched into it.
"Dr Hank McCoy." Emma's eyes never left the body bag but she spoke to Hank.
"If you're looking for the rest of them they went to the south, we have vehicles there, ready and waiting to take you all to safety. It's about four miles but they're not that far ahead of you." Hank softened his posture and hefted the body bag again, repositioning it so it wouldn't fall as he walked.
"Thank you," as he passed her Emma sent a thought into his head, *If that's who I think it is, be careful, there's people down there that have grudges they don't forget easily.* Hank stopped dead and looked back at her, sending his thanks and wishing her luck.
Emma watched him walk away carrying his burden, she only hoped he got away with the rest of them because if what she'd seen happened then none of them would ever be safe again.
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It was Kurt who saw the small dot begin to drop down out of the sky like heavens wrath. He bampfed over to Ro' plucked her from the air and brought her back behind the line of fighting. From where they'd been came a screech that split the air, it's similarity to a falcon cheated of prey eerie in the extreme. They watched as Archangel turned on the body that was hanging in the air, his hands tearing into the flesh of Magneto. But was worse was the laughter that came from Magneto as he did it, as if he was daring him to kill him, to take the life from him, to rip it from his breast and give him peace.
From their vantage point Kurt watched in horror as a second force appeared behind The Brotherhood, men dressed in green fatigues, men armed with guns, humans!
They were about to shout out to their own fighters when Logan vaulted the ice wall that Bobby had put up, quickly followed by Marie. Both of them had claws drawn, faces locked onto the men behind The Brotherhood, even as mutants began to fall to gunfire both of them worked their way through the fleeing crowds of mutants toward the line of green. Ro' called out to those below her and Kurt, "Get out there! They'll kill every one of us, Brotherhood or not! Fight!"
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Somewhere were the desert winds scoured the land clean of life, the images of a green garden turned into a bloodbath were as clear as day. Helmet camera's were useful items, they watched the progress of the clean and sweep proceedure. All without emotion, all without upset, when the press got hold of it it would all be a mistake, an attack on a school by The Brotherhood of Mutants that had unfortunately gone too far. They'd had to step in to defend the rest of the community, it wasn't until they got the school register that they found out that some of the dead were staff and students.
The press release was already on his desk, all they'd have to do was add the names of the desceased. After all Xavier had been useful in his own way but now things were becoming a little too risky. He hadn't gotten to where he was now without knowing when to cut his losses.
Watching the screen he saw a flash of something go by, it repeated itself again to the left and he willed the soldier to look that way. He did and what he saw made the cool smile on his elderly face fix in place, then he knew why Xavier had never let him visit. If he had he'd have seen *him*, watching the soldier fall to the man, to the pure look of animal hatred on his face made his heart glow. After twenty years....it would be so nice to see his creation come home, and as the camera feed switched to another soldier he saw a female with him, clawed like he was. Had Xavier found another like him? He pressed record on his personal recorder and kept the picutres going. Oh yes, tying up a loose end had been unfortunate but God never shuts one door without opening another.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
The Brotherhood are attacking, Kitty is trying to get the kids out, there's two soldiers being hunted by Wolverine and Marie is trying not to lose the thin grasp she has on her control. It can't get any worse....can it?