xp_logs | A Touch of Brimstone Log 11

The last of the X-Men flee, but the carnage continues.

Trigger warning: Graphic violence and death.

Lorna was the last one out and she took to the opening and then using the piece she broke off she sealed again. Looking around to see where her team had gone off too. She flew down to Marius, "Everyone okay?" Seeing the trail of smoke that Sam had created.

"I doubt anyone is." The words chilled her as the figure in purple and grey hovered into view. "It is over, X-Men. After a decade of interference, we have finally come to this moment/ When this conflict ends."

In that second it seemed that time stood still as she saw the outline of Magneto. She doubted he knew the truth about her. "So you attack an innocent island?" She said hotly as she turned to face him. "We will not let you succeed just like the other times." Her hands glowed green ready for any attack that he might throw their way. "Leave him to me." She said to Emplate.

"No worries," the X-Man muttered. A borrowed feral mutation suddenly seemed woefully inadequate. He edged back towards Matt and Jennie. While the trainee seemed alert he was similarly outmatched. Jennie had power and distance on her side, but the red and white flashes weren't exactly subtle and Magneto hadn't come here alone.

"Daughter, you misunderstand. I have no desire to harm you or the other X-Men. But this is over. Give up. Give in. In a decade, when a strong, stable mutant nation thrives here, you will see my way as superior to Xavier's."

There was no sense in talking to Magneto, Sam knew. If the Professor couldn't change his mind after all these years another few minutes of conversation wasn't likely to do so now. He clearly has his mind made up, and action had to be taken. Steeling himself, Sam bolted into motion, charging full bore at Magneto with the intent of knocking him down before he had a chance to react.

Wires lashed out like whips, catching Sam in a web and then wrapping him completely. He had made it to within five feet of Magneto, but was now hauled to the ground and pinned by the metal cables. Behind him, several mutants worked their way up the debris, coming to reinforce Magneto.

The tension was so thick, Jennie was practically choking on it. She threw out an arm instinctively to protect Matt, as Sam struggled in the cables.

All the cards were on the table now, their little battle-weary team against some of the X-Men's greatest hits, with Magneto staring down triumphantly, his purple cape flapping in the briny wind. Dimly Jennie remembered sitting in the comms room with the other trainees in her class, happily slagging video footage of the man before them. "Who the fuck wears a cape? Who does he think he is, Dirk Dastardly?" Jennie had mocked all those years ago with the invulnerability of youth and inexperience.

In person however, the cape fit the Master of Magnetism. There was something about him that screamed Presence. And Power. Everyone was staring at him, waiting for what came next.

All except one. A sinister purple-haired mutant who was looking squarely at Sam, with a smile that made Jennie's blood run cold. The world pulsed red again as the mutant named Barrage raised his arm, and Jennie began to scream.

Sam's instincts made him struggle against his metallic restraints, which he knew was futile, but he had to react, to throw himself in front of whatever Barrage was firing at his teammates. If he could just break free, he could blast into the line of fire, deflecting -

The first impact made him blink; had he somehow managed to block that one? He was still trussed up in Magneto's snare after all, unable to move an inch, how -

The second impact drove the message home, punctuated with the metallic tang of blood in his mouth as it exploded out of him in cruel mimicry of what was now the second lead bullet in his torso. He'd been aiming at Sam all along, there was no need to throw himself in front of anyone. Stupid, empty gesture, he thought, as the pain roiled through him at the same speed as that realization. His vision went white, his mind raced as flickering images cycled in rapid fire behind his eyelids: home, his mother, Paige, Jay, Tabby, Vanessa -

There was no third impact, not for Samuel Zachary Guthrie to feel at any rate, as its arrival heralded his end. The body that had mere moments ago been known as Cannonball went limp against its metal shackles, like a marionette that had all of its strings snipped off at the same time.

Matt knew that sound. He'd heard it in the distance muted growing up in Hell's Kitchen, but had learned it intimately thanks to his powers bringing his father's last moments into misunderstood clarity. He hadn't known how to use his powers back then, hadn't understood what his senses had told him. He knew exactly what had happened with that sound in the night, running to his father and trying to feel his face, trying to see him despite the blood and broken bones that interfered.

He remembered he metallic tang from that night too, the same metallic as in the hospital, blood and gore. Now though, with his powers and understanding, he wish he didn't. Subtly, he reached into a pouch, wrapping his rosary around his gloved hand. Prayer wouldn't help Sam, it probably wouldn't help them, but it was all he could do right now. They were going to die here. He was certain. And he did not want to die. Not today.
Lorna gritted her teeth as she left out a magnetic burst towards Magneto's lackies, buying her teammates a moment of time, and before looking at the one that called her daughter. "No father of mine would allow this." She then let another burst unleash towards Magneto.

Magneto sent a counter-pulse that split her blast in two, causing it to fizzle out. However, his attention was not as much rooted on the X-Men as it was Barrage.

"I gave no such order, Barrage."

"No, Apocalypse did. Remove the weak, Erik. Cull them."

"You will not take action without my express-"

"Be quiet, Lensherr. The Dark Riders aren't your lackies and as useful as your attack has been for us, don't think for a second you control us." He unleashed a furious cannonade at the X-Men, scattering them. His fire chased Jennie to the edge and the last burst smashed the concrete under her feet, leaving her tottering at the very edge of the roof.

It was almost comical, Jennie pinwheeling on the edge of the roof, trying to throw herself onto level ground. But she was a trained ballerina, she'd suffered under Bolshoi trained dancers who had made her bleed and thank them for it, and she threw herself towards the roof, every bit of grace and luck on her side.

Until Barrage struck her squarely in the chest. His concussive blast burning skin and breaking bone, sending her plummeting off the edge, her fingers clawing uselessly at air.

The only thought she had when she went over was of the gold ring on the fine chain she kept in the teacup on the dresser by her bed.

I'm sorry.

Matt acted instinctively, diving off the roof after Jennie, releasing his billy club and using all his senses to try to catch her so they could swing to safety. Wind in his face making everything immediately around him show in detail, but anything further away muffled and indistinct, he wrapped himself around her, swinging up to a nearby ledge. "Safe," he murmured once he was sure she was secure. He was barely on the ledge though, hanging with ease from the cord on his billy club as he waited a moment for Jennie to get to safety. She was a ballerina. He was an acrobat.

With the wind and his attention on Jennie, he missed Foxbat. The feral had no trouble on the rocky wall and Matt barely had time to turn when he realized he was there, claws slicing into him. A moment later, he didn't quite know how it happened, but it didn't matter as his body crashed against the rocks.
Barrage had almost no warning before Marius was almost upon him, charging him head-on and with no apparent regard for safety; the young man had gone from hanging over the edge of the roof to full sprint in an instant. The Dark Rider sent a volley at the X-Man almost point-blank, but his target barely staggered. The last thing Barrage saw was Marius, wild-eyed with rage, and a fist loaded with his own concussive energy blasts coming directly at his face.
Without even pausing Marius spun towards the edge of the roof where Foxbat had been lying in wait. "Get up!" he screamed, fists burning with stolen power. It should have been me -- I should've moved, not Cannoball, Barrage would have gone for me-- Mind still burning with the white of Matt's exposed spine flashing as he fell, he unleashed a furious burst of energy towards the edge of the crumbling roof. "Get up!"
While there was a snarl and a smash behind her, Jennie still lay on the edge of the roof, gripping it so hard her fingers shook. Below her lay Matt's body. Even if mortally wounded, people still shimmered with their own possibilities, even grave ones, but they were still there.
The only thing that never shown with possibility for Jennie were bodies. When you were dead, there was no more probability, only final, raw certainty. Jennie stared at the blank space where Matt should have been, now a Matt-shaped hole in the universe. To match the Sam-shaped hole in the universe behind her.
She had seen this before. Before she had been businesslike. Count the kills, get the others to safety. Before she had not been broken, her chest screaming from burns, blood gushing from her nose from the force of Barrage's blast.
Barrage.
She stood and stumbled, almost like a drunk. Her hair had pulled free of it's knot, and was flapping freely in the cold wind. Slowly she raised her head, Barrage was reeling from Marius's attack, but not for long. He locked eyes with her, and shook, raising his arm to fire at her again. And.... missed?
There she was, walking slowly towards him, chaos all around her, and every blast he fired missed, her casually batting them away with a white fist. He knew about probability manipulation, but this was absurd. So caught up he was, that he missed the casual flick of a wrist that sent a red disk splashing into his head, the kind caused a blot clot in his brain (previously unknown) to detach, leaving him crumpled to his knees completely paralyzed.
"The strong inherit the earth, right?" the girl said, eerily calm. Her eyes were bright and wide and inhumanly cold. "But you're a body, and all bodies have weaknesses. All bodies need blood. All bodies need oxygen. You think you're strong?" Barrage couldn't move, could only watch in cold terror as Jennie made the shape of a gun with her fingers and pressed it to his forehead.
"You're just a body," Jennie said, And with a glowing red fingertip she pulled the trigger, and Barrage crumpled, dead before he hit the rooftop.
"Bang," Jennie said.
Meanwhile, Foxbat hissed inhumanly at Marius before stepping back into the open air. The blasts from Marius's fists went high as the mutant dropped out of view. The rooftop was a whirling cloud of shrapnel and dust, kicked up from the fight and the magnetic blows being traded. Scanning around showed no sign of Foxbat, and Marius lowered his glowing fists for a moment and turned, nostrils flaring as he tried to find with Shalimar's enhanced senses what his eyes could not.
"Come out," the X-Man said, the words so low they were almost a hiss. "Or are you afraid to go against someone face to fa--"
Out of the maelstrom appeared Foxbat, sinking one of the vicious spikes that extended forward from his wrist into Marius' back. Because the mutant had been turning, he took the spike in the shoulder instead of between the shoulder blades, but the thumb thick spike split through him, emerging from the front of his leathers in his upper body.
Foxbat pulled out the spike, twisting as he did so, causing more blood to gush from the X-Man's wound and sending him to his knees. Foxbat circled Marius, like a predator to prey, striking his spikes together as if he were sharpening a knife. He grinned and raised his right arm, seeking the flesh that peeked above Marius's collar, when a gust of debris blew into his eyes, temporarily blinding him.
He hissed and recoiled, only to feel a hand around his throat, he whipped his head, trying to break through, but that only succeeded in cracking vertebrae. Suddenly he couldn't feel anything below the hand at his throat, and he hung, limp as a rag doll.
The smoke cleared and he could see the young woman holding him, blood dripping off her mouth and chin, shreds of uniform blowing in the air. Her eyes glowed, seemingly lit from within. He gasped, making a choking gurgle. Foxbat couldn't breathe.
"Shhhhh," Jennie soothed, as the hand around his neck grew brighter red. "Shhhhh, bad dog," she said, as pain lanced through his brain and he began to choke on his own blood. She made sure she looked into his eyes as he fought for breath. Made sure he was afraid.
With rattling, wet rasp, Foxbat breathed his last, and Jennie let the corpse drop, where it crumpled in a heap.
Jennie turned to the rest of the assembled, standing protectively over Marius, glowing fists raised. She was barely standing, the burns and the broken ribs made every breath hurt, and she was starting to feel lightheaded from the use of her powers. But that only made her grin turn feral.
"Who's next?" she said. "Who wants to go next? Who's so mighty and strong to face me? I'll make you drown in your own blood and shit, and you will die screaming and afraid. Who's next?"
Lorna had taken her eyes off Magneto to look at Roulette. "Roulette...." She whispered in disbelief. Everything about this mission was going wrong and now she had an X-Man actually on a killing spree. "Call your men off, Magneto." She looked back at him, "No more have to die." Maybe she could still salvage this.
A portal opened and Clarice 'ported in and took in the carnage around her. She had seen worse, had been in worse, but this...X-Men were down. It was different when you knew the dead. Catching Lorna's eye, she opened another portal, this time to take Marius and Jennie with her.
Jean looked calmer than she felt on the inside as she approached the group with Marie in tow. She grimly surveyed the carnage, gaze lingering on Sam's prone body, knowing there was nothing left to save, and the blood pouring from Jennie's wounds. She looked back to Lorna.

"Polaris...it might be good to go with them if you don't mind," she said, a pleading look on her face that she only shared with her.

~I don't trust Jennie right now.~ she then added privately.

"We can take care of Magneto."

Lorna hesitated as she looked at Jean. ~I don't blame her. She just watched are own killed in front of her.~ She really didn't want to leave, not now. It showed on her face. "Fine." She lifted into the air and made her way back.

This was not how it was supposed to go. This was never supposed to happen. Dead bodies, friend and foe alike, everywhere.

A determined look on her face, as Rogue’s turned to Jean, Magneto in her peripheral vision.

"Let's do this."