Shouting, colours blurring past, scents filled with fear and terror, noise that was coming from what seemed like a thousand echoing hells. Bodies were falling around her, like the leaves from the trees in winter, yet it didn't reach her.
A face flew apart in slow motion as a bullet passed through, taking the nose with it, the thing slowed down so she could watch as the skin stretched and split. Pressure cutting through the tender meat of the face, the terror locked into the remaining eye as she watched the other tear open. Clear fluid running down skin already torn by the bullets path, it held her gaze even as she felt the bullet pass her own deadly skin. Covered in the blood of another, the flesh flapping in the wind it's passing created. A perfect hole where the back of a head had been, blood vessels still working to feed a brain that was no longer there.
Inside she was calm, even as she saw another mutant fall to the stacatto rhythm around her, this time the bullet flew through from the back. Pieces of kidney exited the front of the shirt the man had been wearing, instantly blossoming with red as the next one entered his shoulder turning it into so much ground human. The pain etched on his face was nothing for her to concern herself with, she still pushed forward, chasing Logan, his path wide as he fought to get to the front line. Behind her she could feel the cold rising, realising that Bobby had used his powers to form some kind of shield. Above her head she could still hear Magneto's voice singing out over the fleeing crowd, trying to rally the fleeing mutants. His voice sounding so weak, so full of pain, that she hardly recognised it. Whatever was left of the man she'd helped to track and fight against had gone, what was happening now was a massacre. They'd come from nowhere having surprise on their side but it wouldn't last long. Over the din of screams and gunfire she could hear the rumble of thunder and she felt herself smile as she remembered the power of a storm. Especially one who'd been used by her once favoured tutor.
Blood, he wanted blood, he wanted to bathe in it, fresh from the artery, all copper an iron. Targets ran past him, an he slashed at them as they went by, feeling the coil of intestine loop out over his claws before he snatched them away again. Mutant and human alike were dropping in his wake, a path cleared for him to run toward the green line of men that his eyes were locked onto. Three noticed him, turned their rifles toward him and fired, then everything slowed down. Wolverine was gaining ground inside his mind, his rage seething through Logan's blood until he had to let go. Releasing him finally with a roar that shook the ground around him, he was *free*, free to be what he was made for, free to kill everything in his sight. Inside his mind he rejoiced, he might not survive the day but he'd take as many as he could with him.
The first bullet went straight through his chest, taking part of his lung with it, blood sweet and coppery filled his mouth, his body clearing the damage even as he reached the men who were now trying to concentrate their fire on the thing that had been running toward them. Too little too late, as he dove into the threesome, hands weaving he tore through the thin armour. A gunshot ricocheted off his skull, others around the man thinking that he'd dealt with the problem, not realising he was still fighting. Only when he rose up pulling a solider with him did it become clear, taking hold of the man and pulling his claws through the body. Tearing a hole through the midsection, letting the slippery moist coils of his intestines fall onto his comrades.
The dying soliders screams loud in their ears as they ceased firing to watch the embodiment of Shiva come into their midst. Even as the dying soldier was dropping to the now blood soaked ground he was reaching out to the man to his left. Silence flooded around the area as men began to realise what was happening, guns were being turned to the devil in their midst. Yet they never fired, for his consort was on the field of battle, from behind she came, a dervish covered in blood and mud. Never staying still, dancing through their forms, plunging her hands into bodies, taking hold of organs with fingers and tearing them free. Eyes glittering with a savage beauty she danced through the rank and file. Injuries on her skin suddenly closing as she moved between the men, her hands bare her touch as deadly as her weaponry.
He watched her kill, the grace in her form, the half smile that covered her face as she drained another life with her touch. A twitching sickness that seemed to spread out from where she'd been weaving through the green lines of men. Dancing through them, never slow, never stopping, a slash to pare to the bone, a blur of red and brown then a red curtain covering the eyes of a man she'd scalped. Free to kill, to use all he'd given her, all the darkness that had been squashed and denied. Behind him the roar of noise was becoming louder, men who'd been running away were returning, their eyes filled with a hatred that burned past the divide in species and was wholly mammallian. Soldiers didn't move as the tide of bodies smashed over their positions, and Wolverine looked for his mate. He caught a glimse of her face over the crowded battle field before the world turned white as lightning struck the ground close to him. The sensation of the world being blanked out for a moment as he flew back toward the house and the cry of Marie as she saw him go by.
"NO!!!"
Storm hung in mid air, her body filled with the power of the skies, bullets were fired at her but the winds she'd controlled around her spun them away back into the men who'd fired them. Many dropped to the sodden ground as Bobby and Jubilee got what was left of The Brotherhood to turn and fight the soldiers. They meant to kill everyone here, everyone who wasn't human would be dead by the time this was over. The war had begun and it had been Xaiver who'd begun it years ago with his double dealing and profiteering at the expense of those he didn't deem worthy of salvation.
Next to her was the remnants of Magneto, the corpse was still hanging there in mid air, somehow held up by the force of will that inhabited the now shredded shell of her once enemy. His face was torn apart, an eye lolled on his cheek but the other though milky turned to watch her shifting through the sky. His whisper caught by her ears as if he were right next to her, "Kill them all, make them remember why they fear us, why we should be left alone. Kill them for me Ororo, make my death something to remember, set me free...." the whisper died as she suddenly realised what she was looking at. Xavier had turned Erik into a revenant, a corpse that wouldn't let go of the spirit that had housed it. Xavier had told her he'd done it once before to a man who'd kept a harem of mutant women to abuse. The man had died of an embolism but he'd forced the spirit back into the body to suffer as it rotted away. Finally freeing it to the world to haunt for the rest of it's immortal life.
Sorrow filled her as she saw the body of her once enemy hanging there in space, Charles had done this to the one man he'd loved. Gathering her strength toward her she pulled all the electrical energy she could into her until her hair was standing proud from her head like a corona. Using her fingers she pointed to the corpse hanging over the battle, letting everything she had flow through her. She had to destroy it utterly in one attempt, to rend it completely, into the atoms that made up the body. Only that way would he be free, her gaze watched as the power hit him. It arced through the dead nerves, ran riot across his form, burning with the power of the sun. He lasted for a few seonds, the almost smile she saw covering his face before it disintergrated in front of her gave her some respite. When it had exploded into ash the power arced over the field, finding area's to ground and Ro' felt the draw of Logan's skeleton from where she was. Flicking her hand she guided it to the left of him, just enough to see the man fly into the air after the blast of it hit the ground. Repelled by the force she watched as Logan flew across the field landing in a heap near the now shattered ice wall. Rogue was fighting her way to him, tearing her way through the men who surrounded her to get to him. A grim fierceness on her face, teeth bared to the world covered in blood and pieces of flesh. Turning her own gaze back to the edge of the forest and the road behind it, black shapes were moving down the road. Shapes with barrels at the end, they'd brought artillery, only three, but three were enough to win the battle here. More men were coming down the road, just as many as were already here and Ro' knew then that if they wanted to see out the day they had to get out of here before the tanks arrived.
Searching the battlefield filled with mutants dying and using their powers on soldiers who were now regrouping into knots of firepower. Catching sight of Jubilee and Bobby hiding behind a cluster of dead bodies, their faces pinched and eyes hollow. Drifting down to their position she screamed out above the noise of death and bullets, "GET AS MANY AS YOU CAN BACK TO THE MANSION! WE HAVE TANKS COMING!" Jubilee hung her head as Bobby just nodded, scenario's in the danger room were never as bad as this. The smell wasn't the same, as was the texture of cooling flesh, Bobby dragged Jubilee back to the mansion, using the piles of dead to cover their progress. Ro turned her voice to the wind, screaming out her needs to those who could still hear her. Looking below she saw Archangel laying in the mud, his chest blown wide open, eyes open and staring straight up into the now swirling clouds. Rage filled her veins, trembling with it Ro' felt her control slipping again, seeing the tanks coming down the road she'd driven on so many warm days. Holding out her clawed fingers as she felt the earth beneath their vast weight shift and move. She'd tear them apart with her own hands if need be, but even now she was tiring, the strain on her too much to bear for much longer. She'd buy them all time but she didn't expect to survive this, if she did manage to survive she'd be spending the rest of her life in a lab drugged into oblivion.
He'd flown so far back, the crack of the lightning had surprised her forcing her to her knees but it had been seeing Logan fly away from her with such force that made her calm shatter.
Afterward she'd attacked anyone in her way, all that mattered was him, she had to know he was safe, that he was alive. All around her mutants were dropping back, returning to the mansion, and she was in the way of the stream. Soliders who'd survived the storm and the lightning were now running toward the building and into her path.
A part of her mind watched in horror as she made merry work of the men in green who tried to stop her using bayonets and bullets. One stuck her in the side,twisting the blade in her, ripping it out to smile at her as she grasped his tunic. Her bare skin a fraction away from his own, as she gasped he took hold of her hand to prise it off. It was his last mistake, she let his mind flood her own, inside her mind was Wolverine, waiting for the interloper. He entered, giving over all the knowledge he had and she left the image of the man to Wolverine. She watched internally as he shredded the man, tore his soul to pieces, ripped him apart peice by piece until there was nothing left at all. Coming back to herself as she felt the internal injury repair her eyes meeting that of hte soldier. There was nothing left in him, he was an empty vessel, plucking the gun from hsi unresisting fingers she turned it on him before dropping it into the muddy soup at her feet. The once green lawn now resembling Passendale, the memory flowing out of Logan into her mind. The mud, the death, the stink of bodies rotting in mud and the cries of those unfortunate enough to be stranded in no-mans-land.
The next one that shot her got a quick death, she cut his throat open as she fell forward, resting in the mud as her body struggled to keep healing. She still had wounds from the first part of the battle, she would heal, but if the wounds overwhelmed her system she'd be so much meat for the black baggers. Gritting her teeth she forced herself back up, the man who'd shot her was still struggling with life. She ended it quickly by shoving her claws through an eye socket and used his skull to push up from the ground. The stickyness that covered her hand reminding her of the first death she'd seen that day. Now they were all just meat waiting to die, no longer human, only 'things' in her way.
She found him, rolled onto his front by the force of the blast, pulling his face out of the mud she wiped it clean. Seeing his skin a little blistered and pink where he'd healed the damage caused by the bolt. "Logan! LOGAN! Don't you leave me to deal with this on my own!" Shaking him into life, feeling his breath deepen as she let her head drop into his chest. She'd seen too much death already, dealt too much of it too, she needed him with her. To explain it to her, to make her understand 'why'.
Suddenly there were explosions behind her, a shell crashed into the mansion, covering the once clear grounds with debris. A tank was rounding the corner, with it were fresh troops, these weren't holding back they just fired on anyone that moved, soldier or mutant. Logan's eyes snapped open as the next shell went over their heads and exploded in the teachers wing. His grip on her increased as he shifted in the mud, seeing a gap he pulled her with him. Out to the woods, driving them both away from the battlefield, now was not the time for a suicide mission. They had to survive, they had to use what they had and that was what was left of The Brotherhood to keep them busy while they made their escape. The last thing they saw was Ororo falling to the ground, her arms trying desperately to keep her balance as her powers faded. The skies clearing above as her power drained away, Logan just pulled her with him as they headed south. Hopefully they'd run into someone they knew, if not they'd deal with whatever they found as they went.
**********************************************************
The tunnel entrance came up in the underground section of the mansion, using the maps drawn up Emma sent her force upstairs, they had to get as many out as possible. The army was here to 'clean-up', that meant destroying everything in their path, for them there were no sides, only enemies. As they climbed higher they heard the cries of people running helter skelter through the mansion, searching for a way out without being mown down by the soldiers.
When she got up top Emma saw the devastation, the entire house would come down soon. Grabbing the wandering mutants she shoved them toward the lower levels, telling them with pictures where to go and which tunnel to take. It was like salmon, all of them suddenly flowed toward the exit, forcing Emma and her fighters to struggle against the flow of injured and frightened mutants. Eventually she got outside, her eyes taking in the armour in front of her, sending her skin into diamond she walked out onto the battlefield her fighters already making their presence felt.
Shadow, a mutant who could turn the light against himself, cloaking himself in full view, turned his power outward. Soldiers went blind, they was suddenly nothing to see and they began firing blindly.
Echo was next, his power affected the inner ear, noises from around them were filtered into the brain, turned up as loud as he could, every movement was a pain to the ear and mind.
Finally Shade, she drifted through the men already debilitated by Shadow and Echo, her touch sent the men's bodies into shock, her very skin poisonous, they'd die in minutes from her. Her name had been Belladonna once, an assassin for the Mafia, used as a toy to kill. Emma had rescued her family freeing her from their demands, she'd killed fifty before she'd thought it enough. Now as she passed through the ranks of men she brought them down as fast as she could. Smiling as she went a dark flower with a scent that men would always remember as the last thing they ever sensed.
Emma concentrated on the tanks, her mind entering the things so easily, putting her claws out into their minds and shredding what she found. Men who's training suddenly went, all knowledge about what they were in and what they were doing went. She scathed through the men in one tank, sending information that each person they saw in the tank with them was a mutant. One who wanted to kill them, the gunfire that erupted from the second tank was enough of a confirmation of her success. Emma looked up to see Storm falling to the ground, raising her hand she guided her to the floor. Racing over she plucked the exhausted woman from the mud, Shadow hid them as she ran back with her prize. Things were as bad as they could be, Storm was nearly unconscious and her own fighters were now getting resistance from further up the road.
"PULL BACK! PULL BACK, PLAN DELTA. GO, NOW!" Everyone knew what that meant and they melted away into the grounds. Emma heaved Storm back through the crumbling mansion, down the stairs and through to the tunnel, mud and blood were caked everywhere. On the tunnel entrance was a key pad, Emma searched for the code in Storms mind. Finding it she punched it in, hoping she'd gotten it correct and not punched in her ATM number. The red beep told her the explosives were set, all she had to do was get to the other end in six minutes. Following the trail of blood and bodies that hadn't made it that far after succuming to their injuries. The house that Xavier had built was coming down, she just wondered if the mind that was left in the body even knew.
**********************************************************
Logan pulled Marie into a hole, dropping his form over hers and staying still, there were men ahead, camouflaged, hidden and they'd nearly run into them. These guys were the mop-up crew, just in case someone got away, they'd headed for the south but the road went that way, so they'd banked to the east hoping for a clear run after a while but no. They'd been working back toward the south and come across these guys.
Marie was so tired, tired of killing, of running, of being a target. All she wanted to do was hide but she couldn't that way lay death, she could mourn and get angry later. Now she had to survive and if that meant going through another set of soldier she'd do it. Logan had killed for her safety more times than she could count, she *owed* him. Taking a few deep breaths she felt Logan shift over her, his rumbling breath calming her a little as he shifted out letting her move. When she saw his eyes he knew she was close to coming undone, teaching her and doing it were two different skills. She'd had her baptism, it was streaked in her hair and her skin, tiger striping her in brown and black. Logan waved her to the left and he motioned to the right, they couldn't leave anyone alive. The Logan in her head was telling her to use her skin, drop them and stab at the heart. Easy, quiet an simple, she had to agree to the plan she only hoped that the soldiers would accomadate her.
She was close to coming apart, she needed to rest, her eyes were filled with death and he knew that part of her had been killed on the battlefield. She'd never killed like that before, lost her mind to the passion of it, to the purpose of it. But she needed to finish the job now, they weren't out of danger yet and he needed her to do what she did best. Kill. Nodding to her he moved off to take out the men to their right, slinking off he knew she'd do it, she'd kill them but what state she'd be in afterward was another story.
The men were easily found, strung out on a cordon, each man in contact with his left and right, best way was to start in the middle. Crouching low he shifted through the undergrowth his mind retreating until there was nothing but Wolverine slavering for blood.
Erupting out directly in front of the solider he caught the surprised scent of the man before beheading him in one stroke. Not staying still he went left, taking the next man out with a stab to the throat, ripping windpipe and vocal chords to shreds. Still there was no sound from him or the men he'd killed, moving along the line he found the last man, his head alredy turning toward him as he plunged the fist full of claws straight through his skull. Checking ahead for another and finding nothing he returned to the last man and began to strip him of clothing and supplies. They'd need whatever they could get, going near civilisation was out, they had to keep a low profile for a while if they didn't meet up with the rest of the kids. They'd find them but first they had an appointment to keep with Bloodsport.
She'd been sneaking up behind one when he'd shifted and half turned, freezing to the spot she held her position thinking he hadn't seen her. It was when she'd moved again that a gun was aimed at her head and she was ordered to stand up. Three guns were on her, rifles and they were all trained on her head. One man used a radio, listening to the man try to contact a superior and have nothing but silence meet his request. Waved up she moved, going slow as she raised her hands above and behind her head. Two soliders came out to secure her, inside her head Wolverine showed her what to do, a small half smile on her face as she did as she was instructed.
Just as one got to her she dropped to one knee, her hands were just at the right height and she fired her claws into both men's stomachs. Using her momentum she flipped herself backward as the third soldier opened fire, all he did was kill his companions faster. They dropped like stones as she rolled away and down, hiding in the leaf litter listening to the man chatter away on a radio that was suddenly devoid of contact. Moving around him she went into the fox hole to his right, finding a gun she hefted the thing and aimed it right between his shoulder blades. Breathing out as she squeezed the trigger, the report of the gun sounded out and she smelled the cordite bloom in the air. Watched as the bullets path went through the soldiers chest, at this distance a bullet proof vest wasn't any good. It would still go in but it wouldn't come out, it'd bounce around inside the body creating more damage. He half turned toward her before his lips fountained with blood and he fell forward, resting for a moment she closed her eyes.
Opening them again when she smelled Logan approaching, he was carrying gear, dressed in army greens. Nodding to her she understood and took the stuff from him, she needed to change clothing. Her own were covered in blood and death, even these were better than those gore covered items. As she changed she saw Logan's face soften for a moment, watching as something flashed through his eyes. Pride, joy, happiness? She wasn't sure but it was something to do with what she'd done today, shaking now she finally finished getting dressed. Tiredness and cold beginning to soak into her skin, Logan held out a bare hand and looked at her. Asking her to take from him again, she did it reluctantly but it made sense. They wouldn't be stopping to eat or to drink, Logan had better stamina and she coudl share it this way. After he'd recovered they both set out to find the rest of the kids, that is if there *was* anyone left to find.
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000
Author's Chapter Notes:
WARNING:- This chapter will have GRAPHIC description of battle, death and violence. If you don't have the stomach for this please do *not* read, you'll be able to pick up the story from the next chapter. So please if you don't feel you can read it, don't. But if you do I have warned you, I can be a very descriptive individual.