Sulaco: Showdown

[x-dominion.livejournal.com]

The X-Men track down Dr. Skrul, and find a very different figure than they expected.



A converted farmhouse. Garrison sighed as dozens of FBI hostage situations ending badly flashed through his brain. There could be a whole family in there, although the records on Dr. Joseph Skrul had indicated he was single, his only marriage having ended almost a decade prior. Still, whatever had happened to Jay was only answerable inside that house with the doctor, and with both Guthrie siblings in the car behind him, they were going in no matter what. It had been Kane's idea to travel by car, since it was only an hour from the mansion, and the low key nature of their arrival might give them the chance to find out what was really going on before Skrul what hit him. He pulled into the drive, killed the ignition and opened his door.

"How are we going to play this, ma'am?" Garrison said to Ororo, as she got out of the passenger side.

"Let us see what we can gain with a polite inquiry," the silver-haired woman replied, her hair tousling slightly in the slight winds blowing about them. "There is no reason to assume that we cannot find out what we need to by simply asking. And if we cannot, then we will decide on a more direct course of action. But for now, let us practice discretion."

It might have made sense, caution, playing a neutral, inoffensive position, but with the safety of her brother, her closest sibling, on the line, it was far from what Paige had in mind. Shifting, she resembled a bit like a horse in the racing gates; she knew family, her temper, was near the top of her weakneses. She had started her file after all. "I'd let Sam knock," she blurted, before composing herself. "He has the most approachable, here, let me tell you about the war, face, what with the beard now, sorry Garrison."

"Punishment for being approachable?" Sam said half jokingly. "Maybe I need a beard." He patted Paige's arm lightly, seeing her nervousness. "I can be ready to react so I should go in. If things get rough then I can just take off." He nodded in agreement with Paige. His blast shield would keep him safe if he needed it. Sam was much more worried about Paige and the possibility of her rushing in and getting hurt.

"Do we know how many are in there at all?" Garrison muttered to himself.

"Just me. But then I am large, I contain multitudes..." The door opened suddenly, a tall figure silhouetting in the hallways where the tangle of shadows hid most of the doctors face and body, only his teeth flashing in an amiable smile. Skrul's crisp German accent echoing through the yard. "How may I help you at this late hour?"

The man seemed to be willing to talk and so Sam stepped forward. "We're looking for some information about my brother, Jay Guthrie." He didn't seem to know what else to say about the topic. If this doctor did have a hand in it like they thought then he'd likely have kept logs; more then just a name shouldn't be necessary to find out how Skrul was going to react to their presence and some questions.

"Young man, I can only assume you are talking about one of my patients." The German regarded Sam with a certain degree of quiet disappointment. "But sure a bright lad like your self must realize that I treat dozens of people daily and these are hardly my usual working hour..."

Skrul stopped suddenly and shrugged. "Ah, scheisse. Let's just do it the fun way."

The punch was preternaturally fast and brutal, sending the X-man sprawling. Skrul grinned, the long, inhuman canines gleaming with the light of the arm that Sam suddenly realized was on fire.

With carefully measured majesty the mad doctor stepped out of the shadow, the white wings unfurling behind him like a cape. The morbidly kind eyes caught Paige's. "Pretty, am I not?"

"No embalmer is going to be able to give you an open casket when I am through with you," she replied coldly, her skin already peeling up around her biceps and shoulders, where she had tensed in barely controlled fury. It didn't take much to reveal a light metal husk underneath, quick, but sharp, with long claws for fingertips. "Jay Guthrie. Now."

Skrul simply smiled, and the X-Men jumped back to avoid a massive gout of flame which washed over the ground in front of them. The man's left arm was completely suffused with fire, creating a ghastly contrast to the grinding sounds of the living rock which composed the right arm.

"Fucking hell..." Kane said, stunned. "He's... he's stealing powers!" The information that had been dug up involving the other mutant effected or dead had mentioned fire abilities, and some kind of control over earth. Now with the monstrosity in front of them, Skrul's plan became simple and obvious; he somehow was leeching the powers from other mutants into himself, to make himself some kind of super mutant.

The Canadian dodged a second fireball, and tore a fencepost out of the ground, launching it at Skrul but watching it crumple against his stony chest.

So much for discretion... Ororo began to whip the winds around them, the clouds overhead darkening dramatically. They needed Skrul to communicate what he did to Jay to them, and so he needed to stay conscious, but it seemed as if both the doctor and her team had other ideas.

Sam was a bit more powerful then a fencepost, however. He flew in after recovering from his tumble; flying directly at Skrul's chest. He was moving full speed, fists out, ready to tear through anything in his way, or at very least he was going to take Skrul up for a good fall. Usually he'd have to drop his thrust for a moment but that was only when he didn't want to hurt his passengers.

The German laughed, a deep rumbling sound that seemed to rise out of the very earth and the air in front of him shimmered faintly.

The forcefield thrown up by Skrul was a fragile and effervescent thing, in no way match for the full power of the raging Cannonball were it put to the fair test. But then Skrul had no intention of playing fair, the flying mutant had only second to register the situation before he hit the sloped forcefield head on, even as his opponent side-stepped nimbly and delivered a crushing punch, the superhuman power of the blow adding to the gravity and sending Sam into a tailspin.

Behind him the mad doctor laughed again and turned toward Kane, raising his fists high. The fiery nimbus blossomed around one and illuminated the death-head grin stretching across the Skrull's face, a greenish cast to his skin.

The mad, piercing eyes flitted across the X-men's faces, the great wings beating rapidly behind him as the crazed German prepared to take flight.

"AM I NOT PRETTY?!!"

"You're ugly all day, eh!" Kane said, as he brought the doctor's car down squarely between the man's massive wings. The fuel from the shattered tank covered him, and his flaming arm sit it ablaze, turning the man into a walking pyre. Kane ducked as Skrul smashed the wreckage from his hands, nearly caving in his head with a stony fist. Kane dancing ahead of the blows, holding his attention just long enough for Paige to slip into position behind Skrul.

It was easy enough to land the first hit, using long claws to pierce and dig into his back where skin met wing, tearing up into the tendons. Paige was met with a enraged shriek, almost the same pitch as her silvery claws falling to the ground, revealing a duller, blunt finish, and when the doctor spun she hit him in the opposite direction with a dense fist. "What. Happened. To. My. Brother?" she snarled, a hit punctuating her words, her metal self glowing red and white where his blazing arm was batting her away.

The Skrul swallowed the blood gushing from his lips and blocked the next blow, grasping her arm and twisting Paige around. The laughing blue eyes stared down at Paige from within the flames still wreathing around the German, the faint smell of cooking flesh beginning to waft upon the air and Skrull laughed breezily. "He's me now, liebchen. One of us. For my name is Legion and we are many." He stopped suddenly and shrugged. "Always wanted to use that line." The stone hand came down like a hammer of God, caving in Paige's shoulder as Skrul danced back to stand free again, in the midst of his enemies.

His arms reached for the sky once more, and he screamed, a deafening roar and triumph, the madness singing as his blood sizzled in the bonfire of his wings. "I hear you Odin! Take me now! The Hidden Masters are no more and the wind is purple with your glory!"

Kane blinked and mouthed 'the wind is purple?' at Ororo, who just shrugged helplessly back at him. A moment later, however, an idea came to her, and she gestured for the others to move back. "If he wants more powers, let us give him them!" she shouted over the sound of his maniacal cackling. "All together - on my signal!"

Sam knew what the signal was already, though others had not seen him. He had just righted his tail spin and once on track he dropped his thrust, coasting as it were. It was not safe but it was silent and at the very last moment Cannonball barrelled down into Skrul, taking him down since up did not work. Though he was batted aside before this time the surprise was enough to put the Doctor against the ground on his face, though the force made Sam tear through the ground past him and out behind the rest of the team. He angled himself to avoid them and left them the opportunity they needed.

There was a crackle of ozone, and the lightning bolt smashed him deeper into the earth, the air now pungent with the smell of burning feathers. Despite all of that, Skrul's two mismatched hands scrabbled to get some kind of purchase. Kane hadn't even bothered to got for his baton, seeing how even the massive blows from his fellow X-Men had been absorbed. Instead, Kane nimbly slammed both feet squarely on the small of Skrul's back, forced him to arch and grabbed his head with both hands.

"You have the right to shut the hell up." Kane muttered, and hit him with a double dose of his neural stunners. The man jerked suddenly, and then pitched forward, unconscious. Kane sighed, knowing full well that without the amount of damage he'd taken earlier, the doctor would have likely shrugged off his attack as well. He reached down and hefted him easily, the flaming arm finally sputtering out of flame.

"He'll be out for a while." Kane said, bundling him into the car. Now hopefully this would be enough to save Jay. The X-Men all got back into the car, with them sitting awkwardly so they could accomedate the twisted form. Kane looked back into the cramped back seat. "Think thin, people. We're going home."