BoH: The Fall

[x-wolfcub.livejournal.com]

Two of the graduating seniors may find themselves over their head as they find themselves looking towards Donald Pierce.



Julian ducked as one of the Reavers swung a large, axe-like object just over his head. "Fuck!" he swore as he dove toward his one-time rival, Nicholas Gleason. "Dude, we gotta get outa here! There's too many of them." Keller blasted the axe wielding psychopath toward the back of the auditorium with his TeeKay.

"Oh, I'm sorry, that might not be possible." Came a the cold voice of Donald Pierce as he strode up the steps of the stage. "You see, I already have my prize..." Suddenly his fist came down with neck cracking speed, slapping into the stage and causing a rift all the way down into the basement of the Salem Center. As Pierce stood back up to his full height he smiled back at the two boys. "But as some of the faculty at your school can probably attest to, I do so enjoy my time with you children as well."

The shockwave of the punch was enough to cause Nick to fly off his feet, landing about a yard in front of Julian's feet. Swallowing hard, he looked up and saw the strange man slowly moving forward towards them. "Dude, what are our options here?"

"Option one- we run, kinda can't do that anymore. Option two-" Julian said with a smile, "let's show this asshat what it means to pick on someone who isn't a flatscan." Using a Tai Chi technique he'd learned on one of his recent trips into the city to see Nathan, the young teek sent an invisible wave of telekinetic energy at his enemy.

Thrusting his arm up in front of his face, Pierce staggered back slightly, but as his arm was still glowing green, he dropped it back down. "A telekenetic, huh? Xavier is finding more and more talented kids around here." But the man kept his march forward, not dropping his smile for a second. "What else do you boys have?"

Standing up, Nick was already ripping the arms off of his robe. In a split second he was already showing the fangs of his wolf form and growling back at Pierce. "We have a few more tricks up our sleeves..."

Pierce simply laughed back at the furred boy. "And a werewolf? This must be my lucky day. You're pelt will make a nice rug for my room." Moving both of his arms in front of him, Pierce shifting his gaze between the boys. "So tell me, which one is first hmmm? Who want to be the hero here?"

Julian hesitated, not sure what to do after just having given the enemy both barrels. "Nick, any brilliant ideas here?" He could read the lines of force that surrounded and permeated the man who was slowly coming towards them, but it was a mess- mutilated beyond recognition and fused back together in ways that shouldn't have been possible.

Nick tried to keep his growl down as low as he could. "I think the only chance we have is to divide his attention." Falling down on all fours, the boy raised an ear towards Keller. "Do you think you can keep him distracted for a few seconds while I circle around behind him?"

"I can try," Julian nodded and brought a shield up around himself before rushing toward the blond asshole who was crashing their graduation. Within seconds he was within striking distance and brought the telepathic hammer down on his opponent.

Quickly Pierce ducked his body to the side, still showing reflexes that were accelerated above a human level. "Oh, looks like we have a lively one here." Still glaring downward Pierce turned his attention towards Keller. "But those green lines? They make things a little too easy for me."
"Anyone ever tell you that you're creepy as hell?" Julian asked as he attempted to hold the Reaver leader in place with his mind, but something was interfering with his ability to do so. "What the-"

Pierce only gave a small twinge before reaching forward towards Julian, snatching him around the neck. "My dear boy, don't you think that when I made an inhibitor to block my thoughts, I put in a few things to guard against some of the other mutant abilities I've found." Still laughing, he tapped the silver necklace around his neck with his free hand. "It looks like your luck may be running out."

At the edge of the chasm, Nick saw the bleak scene, knowing he had only a few seconds to help his friend, he dug his back paws in, charging forward at full tilt, and hoping he could quickly get to Julian before this creep made it too late.
"Ch-chok-n-m-me," the young man stammered, his feet lifting slightly off the hardwood of the stage. Suddenly he was released, but flying through the air toward the wall, which he hit with a jarring impact. Before he could regain his bearings, the man with the technological enhancements was already upon him.

"Say good night young one." Pierce said as he lifted his hand in the air.

But suddenly from behind him, Nicholas Gleason was in the air, diving at the man with his paws out, focused fully on his prey. He wouldn't let anyone be hurt at graduation. Not on his watch. But just as soon as he was flying, how momentum was stopped.

The first of Donald Pierce penetrated into the gut of the wolf boy, the smile on his face growing even larger. "Looks like I was wrong about the hero. But my cybernetic hearing will always trump heroics." He twisted his head as he looked into the eyes of the mutant. The defects of these creatures made him sick. But at least he could stamp out one right here. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have one of your little friends to finish hero." Raising his boot, Pierce placed it against Nick's collar bone, kicking it forward.

The wolf boy collapsed on the stage, trailing a small trail of blood as he skidded to a full halt. With a quick gasp his body spread out. Still.
Still reeling from hitting the wall, Julian wasn't sure what had just happened. All he could tell was that Nick was hurt. Laying a few yards away in an ever-expanding pool of blood. "N-nick?" he said weakly as he slowly got to his feet. The murderer was coming for him again, but he was quickly regaining conciousness. There was a hole in the middle of Nick- and he wasn't moving, not even breathing.

Anger boiled over in Julian as his eyes began to glow green and the universe started to spin around him. Moving quickly, the boy ducked as the cyborg psychopath attempted to take off his head. Caring himself forward with this new found momentum, Julian grabbed onto his adversary's shoulders and used his telekinetic energy at the highest levels he'd ever experienced to disassemble the cybernetic impants in Pierce's arms- the lines of force returning to normal as he did.

With another light push he slammed the older man into the wall he'd just been thrown against before hurrying over to Nick's fallen form.

Pierce laughed from his place on the wall. His arms were still shooting after losing his implants. But his other Reavers were still about. Victory would still be his "You're too late." Slowly pushing himself up, he was still laughing. "But let my friend be quick to reunite the two of you."

And then someone appeared between him and the boys, Kurt snarling like the demon he appeared to be as he kicked out at Pierce before flipping backwards to land on his feet. "Get. Away. From my children."

Donald's head hit the back of the wall and instantly his eyes closed. But in an ironic twist of fate, his lips remained curled in a defiant smirk.
Julian knelt beside the body of his one-time enemy. The boy was still. Not breathing. Not moving. Even the lines of force around him seemed somewhat diminished. "No," was all he could say for a long while. "No, no, no."

Kurt came to his side and went very still, staring down at the fallen young man. With a lump in his throat, he managed eventually, "Please move aside, Julian. I must take him home."

The anger returned as Julian stood and turned toward the fallen form of Donald Pierce. "Motherfucker," he whispered, his eyes glowing green once again as he lifted the Reaver's leader off the ground and into the air by his throat. It would be simple to do, just a quick exertion of energy to the left or right and this man would never harm anyone ever again.

Kurt had knelt and was cradling Nick's body in his arms, but he looked up sharply as he caught the movement. "No, Julian", he said, simple and quiet, but carrying. "X-Men do not kill, especially when an enemy is helpless. Take him to Beast, he will pay for this well enough."

For a moment, Julian's lips quirked into a sinister smile of sorts before his expression dropped to be crestfallen. He'd just lost a good friend, someone he'd spent too much time hating and not enough time getting to know. "But...he deserves it..."

But during the emotional burst, one of the Reavers near the frunt of the stage had use the cybernetic augments in his legs to clear the gap and land on the stage. With one swift punch, he found Kurt's jaw, sending both the mutants to the ground again. "How dare you assholes touch Donald Pierce!" With another quick kick, he felt the blue mutant go unconscious under his boot.
Reacting without thinking, Julian snarled again and threw the older man into his minion at nearly terminal velocity. "You want him, you can have him!" he yelled as they hit and rolled to the floor a few yards away.

Feeling Pierce hit his head, the Reaver henchmen rolled to a stop near the edge of his stage, the two men motionless after the outburst of energy.

It seemed the retreat order had been given for both sides as the Reavers and Purifiers made their way out of the auditorium, to slither back under the rocks they had come from. Julian looked around, trying to see if Nico, Angel and Dori were all okay. Once he assured himself that they were no where to be seen he knelt down next to Kurt and shivered slightly as the energy he'd been working with left his body. "Mister- um, Nightcrawler...are you okay?" He couldn't bear to look toward where Nick's body lay.

Kurt groaned as he started to wake up, his side bleeding freely again after the hard landing on the stage. Suddenly, the situation rushing back to him, he sat up hastily in defiance of the pain in his head. "Nick. Where is Nick?"

Julian lowered his head and sniffed slightly as he slowly looked toward the spot on the stage where Nick was...supposed to be? "What? Where'd he go?" There had been no way Nick was able to get back up after the injury he'd sustained, but he was missing. "Nick?!"