Atomic Angel - Kusanagi-sama

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Following Marie-Ange's vision, the X-Men find Shiro plotting a final desperate plan at Atsuta Shrine.


The last time the X-Men were anywhere near Atsuta Shrine, it was to save a world-renowned athlete from the machinations of an evil underground society. Though yokozuna Nanahara Katsuhiro had been a casualty, his death did stop The Hand from achieving their goals. This time, the X-Men had to save one of their own from not one but two megalomaniacal organizations and avoid a repeat of last time.

A mission that might be difficult to accomplish given the path of fiery destruction that led from the gateway to the central sanctuary.

"For the love of God," Scott said under his breath (and through his teeth). "Everyone stay close, and don't make any threatening moves towards him." Precisely why did I not bring a telepath, again? Oh, to have someone with the ability to tell Shiro to stop with the property damage and go to sleep...

A few yards away a centuries' old tree crackled, collapsed, and exploded against the ground in a shower of sparks. Marius winced from beneath the blue glow of Angel's borrowed shield. "Do we get a penalty for destroyin' a World Heritage site?"

"You don't know? You mean this is the first time this has happened?" Zanne hung back behind the two men, waiting for someone to make a move. Her body ached from the beating she'd taken earlier, and the sarcasm distracted her from it somewhat. Funny she'd picked that up from the others so quickly. "I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you. If we get one, I say we make Shiro sit in the box."

"Are we going to have to have that team talk again about why chatter is not actually a good thing?" Scott gritted, but kept moving towards the main sanctuary. They needed to get a move on, before additional complications appeared.

Northstar, for once, didn't have it in him to come back with a smart remark. What he wanted was to break away from the rest of the team and find Shiro on his own, before his pursuers could. They could not afford to misstep or waste time, and yet they were practically moving at a crawl, bunched together, perfect targets. The speedster clenched his hands into fists unconsciously and kept pace, just managing to keep himself within the borders of the shield.

The cause of the destruction came into sight as the X-Men climbed the stairs into the sanctuary. Shiro stood in the center, his flaming aura reflected by the gold idols venerating the sun goddess. The red and white-clad priests who hadn't already fled past the team were cowering before Shiro, begging him to step back. Shiro shook his head and waved his hand, dismissing their concerns. "~Do you not understand? I need it! Where have you hidden it?~"

Marius had no idea what he was hearing, but suspected a working knowledge of Japanese wouldn't have helped much. Reality had been calling, but it wasn't even getting Shiro's machine. The Australian leaned over to Zanne, keeping his voice low and trying not to make any sudden movements. "Oi, out of curiosity, think you can stop him long enough to get the civilians clear? I'd give it a go, but seems to me a sneak attack may go a bit explodey . . ."

"I can try to get close enough to freeze him, which should take out the flames until he gets free again." Zanne tried to judge the distance between Shiro and the priests. "I'm gonna have to get pretty close to him, though. Can we keep him distracted enough to let me do that?"

The Canadian answered her question with a quiet, "I believe so. I managed to get his attention before."

Their approach would have gone unnoticed had a priest not spotted them coming and turned to beg them for help. Shiro spun on his heel and growled at the sight that greeted him. "No! Go away! You will ruin everything. Kusanagi-sama is hiding here and I need it to fight The Hand!" The plan made sense in his head, at least. But before he could elaborate any further, he was interrupted by a deafening wail that was suddenly cut short, like the needle was pulled off of a record. "Oh no."

Behind the X-Men, the courtyard was filling up with several figures in dark bodysuits and cowls. A priest, now dressed entirely in red, crumpled to the ground beneath the blade of a ninja, who turned his dark eyes to Shiro. The gaze sent shivers down his back.

Marius barely had time to register the death of the priest; the activity in the courtyard was taking all his attention. "Wait," he said, forgetting all defensive posture in sheer disbelief, "are we actually bein' attacked by ninj-- oh bugger."

Behind the ninjas other figures were appearing, all mutant and some familiar. The Yakuza had found Shiro -- and, from the look of it, were not entirely thrilled to find they had competition.

A battle with an organized crime syndicate in a famous shrine was bad enough. A mystical ninja cult was even worse. But all together added up to a clusterfuck. The Hand came to the conclusion first, and the ninja who'd caught eye drew a quick mudra and threw out his hands. There was barely any time to react before the crack of thunder rang through the shrine and two bolts of lightning shot forth from the ninja, one to the assembled Yakuza and one to the X-Men. The first attack struck a slab of earth that came up to protect the gangsters, and one of them, recognized as the geokinetic who had attacked them earlier, sent the slab racing across the courtyard to the ninja. Almost in sync, another gangster punched the air and launched several razor-sharp quills at the team.

The spread of the incoming missiles was wide, to cover as many targets as possible. There was still more than enough time for Jean-Paul to dodge...if he didn't mind leaving the wizened priest behind them open to attack or snapping his bones tackling him out of the way at speed. He had a moment to brace himself just before two barbed slivers of metal lodged themselves in the meat of his right arm.

"~Get shelter~," he gritted at the priest, hoping that the damn things weren't envenomed. His gaze flicked to Shiro, who looked ready to bolt.

Scott had managed to dodge the quills himself, and, popping back out of cover, eyed the scene. "Diversion. Now," he said to Jean-Paul, then glanced at Zanne. "Sway, take your chance as soon as you see it. Emplate... I think there need to be fewer hostiles capable of walking around here. Let's get to it."

~*~

Jean-Paul desperately tries once again to reach out to Shiro, this time with better results.


Time was of the essence now. The enemies were at at his doorstep and any further dilly-dallying would spell the end. The Hand's and Yakuza's arrivals at least freed Shiro from his teammates-turned-interlopers so he could resume his search for the sacred sword that would allow him to save Japan once and for all. His fists erupted in golden flame once more and he turned back to stalk further into the sanctuary. "~If no one tells me where Kusagani-sama is residing, then I will have no choice but to search the whole city. The whole province. Bring me the sword!~"

"Why would anyone entrust you with a divine treasure when you act so carelessly, Shiro Yoshida?" Jean-Paul stood only feet away, a bundle of black material wound tucked under one arm, bruised and cut, but seemingly calm as he took in the disheveled and raving young man before him. Inwardly, he was trying not to remember that his friend could be one wrong word from reducing them all to ash.

"Because anyone with even a modicum of intelligence should know that Kusanagi-sama and I are Japan's only hope for salvation. Why do you not understand this?" Shiro turned again to face Jean-Paul, but his gaze was unfocused, as if he were paying attention to something ethereal beyond Jean-Paul. "Please stop standing in my way! The future is at stake!"

Jean-Paul took a cautious step forward. "No. Listen to me. Your powers are flaring out of control, Shiro, and you are lashing out at shadows. I've brought your uniform...it will help you get yourself back under control."

"A uniform is for people who are on a team," Shiro replied petulantly. "I am not on a team. Remember? I am too dangerous. It is because I lash out that I cannot wear it."

The next step Jean-Paul took was most certainly not cautious. He was quite familiar with this mood of Shiro's and he was having none of it. "I flew more than halfway around the world -- on a plane! -- for you to pout at me, Yoshida? Yes, you were benched. There was a damn good reason for it. Do not compound your mistakes."

"And I need to fix it! Why do you close your mind and refuse to understand what I am doing? This is the only way." It's a simple myth, not one hard to understand or that requires much exegesis. It should be an open and shut case, and Jean-Paul's obtuseness was aggravating, to say the least.

"That is a fantasy and you know it!" Jean-Paul was blocking his way now, forcing Shiro to look at him. His mind flickered to five years ago and a blinding white blaze of light, and he forced himself to lower his voice. "You do not need the sword to put a stop to this, Shiro. You can master yourself without the aid of the divine."

Shiro looked up at Jean-Paul but his gaze was still unfocused; his friend appeared to him as just another blob of color, undifferentiated from everyone else. "It is not simply a matter of mastering myself. With the sword, I can stop Harada and Matsu'o myself and bring back peace. Is that not a worthy goal? Does that not make me worthy?" he added softly.

"Your friends are here on your behalf, holding the line against these people who want to use you. The innocents in this shrine and in this city are endangered every moment that you spend seeking to prove your worth through that blade." Jean-Paul had the uniform in his hands now. "You can stop them yourself, Shiro. It may not be the grandest path, but you can put an end to this. Just...take the help in front of you."

"What you offer me is just an escape, not a permanent solution. Then I will have failed again. Again and again and again." Shiro struck his temples with his fists, as if trying to violently clear it of the cobwebs that made it so hard to think. "I cannot anymore. I need to succeed at something!"

Jean-Paul gripped Shiro's wrists firmly. He didn't want to have to knock him out. They could use the extra hand in the fight outside. He didn't know if a violent loss of consciousness would result in an uncontrolled release of Shiro's power. Hell, he just didn't want to hurt Shiro. But the longer they waited, the more frustrated Shiro grew, the more precarious the situation became. His options were narrowing.

"Stop this, Shiro. Stop it now. Put your pride off to one side. Leyu and Nicholas are waiting back at the school, and we have come to bring you back because you belong with us." Quietly, "And I am not going to leave unless you come with me. You should know that by now."

The colors stopped swirling and slowly began to resolve. While Jean-Paul was still just a blob, he was a distinct blob from everything else. Shiro's lips quivered. "I keep screwing up. Little things that get bigger and bigger because I am too stupid to do it right. Why do you persist with me?"

"You came for me," Jean-Paul said quietly, his voice firm. "And you stood beside me when I was the one who needed to be reminded what was real and what was shadow. I have no plans to repay that by letting you fall now." In his mind, he was staring up at a much younger Shiro from a hospital bed, the boy trying to hide both his blackened skin and his shame in the depths of a hoodie. He'd promised then to help Shiro, only to wind up leaving him behind for other concerns.

Shiro went slack in Jean-Paul's grip when he stopped struggling. "I do not want to hurt you," he said, almost inaudible over the sounds of battle from outside. "I already have and I am going to do it again and I am going to hurt Jay and Nick and Clarice and everyone who matters to me."

He was focusing, Jean-Paul just needed to stay with him. He pressed the uniform into Shiro's hands. "You are worth that risk to us. Snap out of it Shiro. I need you with me right now."

"I do not know where I am." Shiro rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "And I do not know where I am going. I am tired of not knowing." He put a hand on his uniform. The texture of the microfin heat-sink had him shivering as he recalled the burning odor of leather following his drug-fueled obliteration of the tsunami in San Diego, the pathetic cries from Jay lying helpless and near death on the Danger Room floor, the wild splatter of blood as the Taygetos children ripped Alpha limb from limb. He looked up and two pinpoints of blue light shined down at him. He blinked and recognized them as Jean-Paul's eyes staring at him intently. Had the uniform not also seen him rescue Jean-Paul from Shrine, Sam from Mojo, Zu Zhou from Krakoa, Marie-Ange from the Loki cultists, and countless others whose names he'd never even know?

"I want to be a hero again."

"All that blocks you from that path are your own fears." The intensity of Jean-Paul's gaze hadn't wavered.

Shiro took the uniform from Jean-Paul and held it close to his chest like it was a most treasured possession. Jean-Paul's words were a lighthouse cutting through the cloudy fog of his mind, and the urgency of his tone finally registered. "I do not want to be afraid anymore, either," he said firmly as he pulled on the bottoms over the torn rags he wore.

~*~

With a lucid Shiro now recovered, the X-Men maneuver their enemies to fight each other.


While Jean-Paul remained in the sanctuary to talk to Shiro (and hopefully be heard), the rest of the team left to keep away The Hand and Harada's Yakuza. The courtyard was thick with the smoke and dust of ruined buildings, the result of magical and mutant attacks gone awry. But the chaos proved to be a useful tool for the Yakuza's geokinetic, who waved a hand to suck in the dust like a vacuum and coalesce it into several bullets which exploded against the ninjas' robes and blinded them. In one seemless movement, he pulled it all back and then redirected the barrage at the incoming X-Men.

Fuuuuck. Zanne took in the oncoming barrage of projectiles with growing dread. They just could not catch a break here! "Cyclops, I've got this!" She "yelled. "You two need to scatter!" If they could just get out of the way she could set down a big enough freeze to take the sting out of most of the particles when they impacted with it. With that much matter moving at high velocity, she didn't need to be responsible for anyone trapped inside if things went wrong.

Scott grabbed Marius and yanked him along with him to take cover briefly. "All right," he said, breathing hard. "We're outnumbered, and we can't take on both groups at once. We've got to buy time... if I knock down that geokinetic, can you get to him?" Before Marius could respond, Scott went on rapidly in explanation. "He's with the Yakuza, and so far he's been concentrating on us. If you can get his powers and attack the goddamned ninja..."

Marius tossed the hair from his eyes. "Stackin' Jean-Paul? Shouldn't be a problem." How it would interact with the other powers he currently had was another question, but he'd figure that out later. The Australian pulled out the pocketknife and cut himself across the back of the hand, then turned to Scott. "Right. On your mark."

Scott immediately bolted to the right, moving beyond the edge of Zanne's freeze as his gaze tracked a particular figure barely visible through the smoke and dust. Come on, stay put... there! The geokinetic had paused, looking around for a target, and Scott cut loose with a single focused blast, smoke and dust swirling even more frantically around the blast that took the man in the chest, knocking him flying.

The moment the geokinetic went down Marius flipped the knife in his hand and began to move. Avoid the field avoid the field avoid the field, he repeated to himself, not really wanting to think about the expression on Scott's face if he ended up speeding right into Zanne's freeze. He intercepted the geokinetic just as the man hit the ground, and with a practiced move slashed him once across the cheekbone. Before the man could even register the pain Marius' hand was pressed to his face. An instant later Marius was gone and he was lying in his back in the dirt, dust still swirling around him.

Right, Marius thought, crouching behind a stone lantern, treat it like telekinesis, I suppose. Let's see what this can do ...

The boy set his hands to the ground and concentrated. He could feel a large knot of activity stirring the dust in the centre of the courtyard. Marius concentrated, then punched a fist directly into the ground.

Irregular spurs of earth erupted from beneath nearly a dozen ninja and Yakuza, fouling their balance or taking their feet out from under them completely. Some of the ensuing shouts were unmistakably Yakuza cursing their own cohort. Marius grinned.

Zanne dropped her freeze shortly after Scott dropped the geokinetic and bolted behind a pillar. With all of this destruction, there had to be some sort of impression left behind that she could use as a distraction, and she closed her eyes to concentrate.

Moments later the courtyard was overlaid with the memory of. The intact shrine as it was before the battle began. A discontented buzz went up in the center of the melee as the image appeared, punctuated by alarmed cries as a flaming figure appeared in the sky.

Despite everything, Scott couldn't help a tight smile - but kept running, trusting to the smoke and the dusk to hide him. If he could get around behind that group of Yakuza... they didn't notice, their attention all on Zanne's ghost-Shiro, and before any of them could think to look behind him, he blasted the ground at their feet. He could have knocked them out as easily, but the purpose was to sow confusion. He ran onward, even as they started to react, and headed right from the nearest visible ninja.

The ninja didn't see Scott coming, too distracted by what he thought was the geokinetic's attack and Shiro's sudden appearance in the sky, and the tackle barreled him into another similarly distracted comrade. The second ninja rolled with the attack and blindly tossed out several shuriken, and was rewarded by a shout of pain as they cut into a Yakuza strongman.

Shiro watched the melee, or what he could see in the dust cloud. His head still pounded and his vision was blurred by the bright red glow of infrared radiation, but blessed lucidity had returned. Adjusting his sleeves, he turned to Jean-Paul. "How do we get out of here without alerting them?"

Jean-Paul bridled slightly at the idea of not finishing the fight, but it was only a moment. Their objective was to get Shiro out of here safely, and that was not likely to happen if they waded back into that chaos. "I can get you to the plane without anyone noticing, I think, then swing back around to alert the others."

A wave of ice swept through the courtyard only to be met and shattered by a blast of blue energy whose origin Shiro couldn't determine. His fighting spirit demanded to join the fray, but for once rationality and self-preservation won out. "Let's please get out of here." Jean-Paul nodded and swept Shiro into a threshold carry, grateful for his smaller stature. They could quibble about his dignity later. "Close your eyes, keep your head turned in toward me; I will be pushing the limits of how fast I can go without hurting you." And they were off.

It was petty, but Marius had to concede there were worse ways to incite confusion and unrest amidst the enemy than speeding around them and smacking them on the back of the head. There had been an initial hitch in factoring in the inertia of his body, but there were worse outcomes than pitching a Yakuza into the bushes. It wasn't foolproof, since Angel's field didn't seem to work against the ninja magics and at one point he had nearly put his arm into a torrent of blue fire, but his reflexes kept him from enough damage that entertainment value continued to outweigh risk. However, registering Jean-Paul's sudden appearance next to Scott gave him pause.

His earpiece crackled. "Emplate, pick up Sway, get back to the plane," Scott's voice said. He sounded only somewhat out of breath. "We're getting the hell out of there."

The younger man felt a pang of mild disappointment that he had to stop smacking ninjas, but nodded nonetheless. With a blur of speed he was at Zanne's side and scooping her into his arms.

"Pardon me," he said, "I'm to sweep you off your feet. Cyclops' orders, not to be helped."

Zanne clutched at Marius's shoulder in a white-knuckled fashion as they seemingly flew out of the shrine, narrowly missing several solid structures. She wasn't sure how things had ended up, (if indeed they had ended,) but she hoped that somehow they'd helped, and that Shiro would be waiting for them along with Angel at the plane.

"I didn't mean literally pick her up," Scott muttered, or started to. Because both the retort and his half-turn towards Jean-Paul were suddenly and rudely interrupted by the unmistakable feel of a bullet impacting the back of his leathers. The body armor did its job, as usual, but it was still like getting kicked between the shoulders by a large and particularly aggravated mule, and Scott wound up flat on the ground, too busy trying to catch his breath to curse whatever Yakuza asshole had just gotten in a lucky shot.

A pair of black tabi stepped confidently into Scott's field of vision, their owner shifting his weight as he prepared to bring his sword across the fallen X-Man's neck. One hard look later, he flew back screaming, as most of the bones from the shins down shattered. Another pair moved to take their place, and another -- even among the confusion it was fairly obvious to those closest that they were the only targets of their particular faction left on the field.

Jean-Paul hauled Scott up with a sharp curse; his arm felt as if someone were twisting a knife in the muscle. "Hold on tight." He flicked his gaze around their human stockade quickly -- that one was holding a heavy metal staff, not something sharp. Unluckily for him, Northstar had no compunction about running over ninja and he provided the best chance for escape without a chance of skewered speedster. They were clear and in the air a moment later.

Scott had enough breath back to swear by the time they reached the plane. "Fucking...stupid.. clusterfuck of a situation," he wheezed, wincing and rolling his shoulders as he headed for the cockpit. "No goddamned purple dragons had better show up next..."

Red hair, underneath of which was a worried face, popped out from the direction Scott had been heading. "What's a clusterfuck?" she asked him and then took in everyone around her. "Oh, that's what it is..." Angel, having been firmly told to stay in the plane this time around, had made herself busy by setting up the first aid stuff just in case. "Anyone need medical care? I've got the kit. And aspirin." She was worried and had been more than a little freaked out while alone on the plane and worrying herself sick but at least Shiro was back and no one was missing any limbs.

Shiro shook his head as he wobbled unsteadily to a seat. "Please let us just go home."