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xp_logsX-Force lies a trap for Mary Walker. It doesn't start well.
The small research facility Daniel Bulow owned in Stuttgart was almost perfect for their purposes. It was about the size of four townhouses, three stories and built for function instead of aesthetics. The grounds were just a small patch of well lit trimmed grass and a patio with a few tables for employees’ lunches. It lacked the high fence an American facility would typically have, but it had a controlled entry point for vehicles. Considering the other places that X-Force had been pressed to defend in the past, this was an ideal setting.
While all three of the women were equally experienced, Amanda was chosen to run point for the external team. The hope was her connection to the city would give them an extra edge against Typhoid Mary.
Stuttgart was in less turmoil than some of Amanda's cities, which was almost soothing in comparison. She cast another look around from her vantage point on the facility's roof before teleporting back down to the entry point. "All clear so far," she reported into her mic. "You got anything, Boss Lady?"
Wanda quirked a smile at the nickname, despite the situation. "Nothing so far," she said quietly. She'd found a good spot on the ground that gave her a great vantage point of the facility and, for the moment, it was quiet. "Clear and quiet. What does the third part of our trio see?"
"Isn't it meant to be something like 'Legolas, what do your elf eyes see?'" Jubilee quipped, having taken up a perch on one of the seats on the patio, looking for all the world like an employee catching a quick smoke before going back to work. "And the answer is not much. We sure she's actually gonna turn up?"
"As sure as we can be. The intel's solid, no reason why she shouldn't show." Amanda tugged at the collar of the guard uniform she was wearing as she scanned the road leading to the entrance again. "Patience, grasshopper."
"I really wish I did not get that earlier reference," Wanda sighed into the phone. She wouldn't have a few years ago but, at some point, had been forced into a marathon by a group of drunk friends. At least there had been wine. "And echoing that, yes, this woman is a professional and the intel is solid - we just need to wait it out."
"Waiting, my favourite past-time for sure." Jubilee muttered into the throat mic she was wearing.
She'd never liked having anything in her hands on a mission, too many times the measurement between life and death had been how fast she could grip onto the edge of a building, or throw a punch. Even with her abilities, and the fact she'd long ago worked through the crutch of using her hands, it was also the most comfortable spot to manifest for her as well.
"I spy something beginning with M."
"Waiting, 90 percent of spy work," reminded Amanda, before rolling her eyes at Jubilee's next remark. "Focus, Firecracker. I for one don't want to wind up going hand to hand with this woman." She let her feet sink into the floor, renewing her link with the city, but everything still seemed quiet. Too quiet... after the continual hubbub of New York, this was eerie. Then one of her advance wards pinged. "Hang on, I've got something. Let me go check it out." And without another word, she disappeared into the floor again.
Jubilee had tensed the moment Amanda disappeared, small arcs of colour dancing on the tips of her fingers as she got ready for a confrontation. She didn't want to go toe to toe with Mary any more than Amanda did, especially since the things that gave her an advantage were no use when they wanted to take someone alive.
"Huh. That's cute. Sparkles." The voice came from behind her, sounding dryly amused. The words were followed by a muffled sound - a silenced gunshot - and a puff of air and the whiff of a bullet past her cheek.
Explosive. That might have been a good descriptor for Jubilee's reaction to the shot. She'd always been fast, but training and experience had given her the cunning to make her truly dangerous. Control, and opportunity. Slag. That was what the gun resembled as she stood from her seated position.
Jubilee had no real desire to get any closer than she had to, but if they wanted to take Mary alive. she had to give the others time to get down here. If there was one thing Jubilee and her mouth were good at. It was distraction.
"I prefer Tinkerbell, actually. Like, I'd question the sanity of anyone shootin' at a random citizen, but maybe you just don't like mutants?"
Mary cast away the useless weapon, ignoring the stinging pain in her slightly singed hand. This was why gloves were useful. Cleaning her fists, she charged at Jubilee, her movements trained and deadly. "Nothing personal, I just don't like being set up," she retorted, punching rapidly at Jubilee's throat to shut her up. It wasn't hard enough to be fatal, but the blow would bruise her neck and cause swelling to the vocal cords.
Or would have, save that Jubilee turned with the blow, allowing Mary to move forward past her. It wasn’t about being flashy or winning. It was about giving her teammates time to arrive.
“Bad luck, that would have hurt.”
Wanda was already racing over the moment she spotted Jubilee's powers go up, leaping out from behind her hiding point and heading towards her colleague. A quick look around told that, for the moment, it looked like Mary was alone, exactly what their intel had told them. Something good to focus on later, after they brought her in.
When she was close enough, she summoned a sphere of raw entropic energy and hurled it in front of her, aiming for between the two women. It hit the ground and chewed up cement, turning the road into a small crater to give Jubilee some space to jump back away from Mary.
Mary was ready for the arrival of another obstacle - leaping back from the sudden deterioration of the ground, she quickly pulled her back-up handgun from the holster at her thigh and unloaded it at the tall woman.
The force of the bullet hitting her chest sent Wanda staggering, her legs sliding out from under her at the impact. She caught herself on her forearms, the pain of bruised skin nothing compared to the pain radiating out from the left side of her chest. Gasping for air, she slapped a hand where the bullet had hit - the bullet proof vest that lay under her jacket and shirt had done its job but her ribs were screaming from the impact.
Fuck. She should have checked her for another gun. Jubilee shook her head and reached out with her hand, generating sparks and pushing them toward the new gun. At the same time, she closed again, not wanting to give Mary any chance to really think about what was going on. Keep her off guard and fighting on the back foot, at least until they were all here.
Breathing was hard - Wanda wasn't sure if she had bruised ribs or broken ribs and if something had happened to a lung. But pain was secondary as long as Mary was still up and around. Cursing, she climbed back to her feet and ignored how the world went fuzzy around the edges for a moment. She took a moment to press her earpiece to say "Target is here and armed" before circling around Jubilee and Mary, trying to find an opening to slag the gun for good.
Jubilee closing in was exactly what Mary wanted. She turned to avoid the incoming sparks (and protect the gun) and then brushed aside the punch Jubilee aimed at her. Her response was a sudden, savage kick at Jubilee's knee.
Time seemed to slow down. Stop. Sound was muffled as if it came from the room next door, if there had been a room next door. Or maybe that was just Jubilee's perception of the moments next, a result of agonizing pain rather than any special magic that she might have suspected Mary of using. She couldn't help the scream that came from her throat, and frankly she cared little for any kind of embarrassment that others might have felt at showing weakness.
Jubilee had never particularly cared for the thoughts of others, but she did care about the safety of her friends. She fell, sprawled outwards as her knee gave out with a crack she felt through her entire body and reached outward toward Wanda, wondering why Amanda hadn't already appeared.
They were professionals but fuck if Mary wasn't fast and strong, living up to her reputation and then some. Gritting her teeth against the searing pain in her chest, blood on her tongue, Wanda dove into the fray as Jubilee fell, concern pushed to the back of her mind for the moment. A hex bolt missed as Mary dodged but Wanda twisted with the dodge to land a hard blow against the other woman's ribs with her other hand.
The blow only served to give Mary another target - her physical enhancements made her as strong and as fast as Garrison - and she almost gently smiled at Wanda. "Nice try," she replied and gave her a shove that sent her flying backwards to collide with a parked car.
The car rocked at the impact and a window shattered as Wanda slammed into the back door, something inside of her shattering as well. Seconds had passed since she was tossed like a rag doll and blackness quickly overtook her. Her body fell limply to the ground, propped up in a semi-sitting position by a cradle of dented metal.
Jubilee saw Wanda go down, and even through the haze of pain she knew she couldn't just lay here. If she didn't get up, didn't do something now than all this would have been for nothing. She tried, but couldn't keep the scream of pain inside as she forced herself back onto her feet, but she refused to look at the leg that kept trying to crumble underneath her. She'd been taught how to work through pain, how to resist torture, pain was something you used, not something you let use you.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jubilee said, keeping herself on her feet by sheer will alone. It was just lucky that she didn't need much physicality when she had powers instead. Sparks ignited in her hands and zipped forward to block Mary's way, demanding that the other woman deal with her first. "Get back here and face me, you coward."
"Wow, you are the stubbornest little pest, aren't you?" Mary's tone was amused. She strode towards Jubilee, ignoring the sparks that glanced off her body armor and threatened to ignite her hair, and hauled Jubilee up by the back of her jacket like she was picking a kitten up by the scruff of its neck. "Look, I'll make it painless. You earned that much." And with that she wrapped her other arm around Jubilee's neck, preparing to snap it like a twig,
"Drop her." The voice was Amanda's and cam from behind Mary, where the witch had emerged from the ground. The ward had been a false alarm - a distraction, she realised now - and she'd come back as fast as she could. Not fast enough, it seemed. The pistol in her hand was pointed directly at the back of Mary's head. "Do it. Now."
"And the teleporter makes three. I was wondering how long you would take to get back." Mary almost shrugged. "I thought it would be sooner."
Amanda's finger tightened on the trigger and she pressed the gun against Mary's skull. "Don't think I won't blow your head off, you skag. Let her go."
"Sorry, I can't do that." With an efficient movement, Mary twisted, the sound of Jubilee's neck breaking sickeningly audible. She dropped the limp body and whirled around, faster than Amanda could react, and yanked the gun out of her hand, pointing it at her face. "You could use that weird teleporting thing you do and fight me," she said coolly. "But in the meantime, your friend here would die. And there's no guarantee you could even beat me if you did let her die. So, what's it going to be?"
Amanda hesitated, looking from Jubilee's motionless form to the woman in front of her. She could avoid the bullet and take Mary on, but at what cost? Jubilee and possibly Wanda as well would die of the injuries they'd taken on - Amanda could see the dent Wanda had been when she'd hit the side of the car and knew she had to have broken several, if not all of her ribs. And there was another line of defence...
"Go on, then," she said at last, stepping out of Mary's path. "But if I see you again, it's on."
"I wouldn't expect anything else," Mary replied, and took off across the grounds to the research facility.
The small research facility Daniel Bulow owned in Stuttgart was almost perfect for their purposes. It was about the size of four townhouses, three stories and built for function instead of aesthetics. The grounds were just a small patch of well lit trimmed grass and a patio with a few tables for employees’ lunches. It lacked the high fence an American facility would typically have, but it had a controlled entry point for vehicles. Considering the other places that X-Force had been pressed to defend in the past, this was an ideal setting.
While all three of the women were equally experienced, Amanda was chosen to run point for the external team. The hope was her connection to the city would give them an extra edge against Typhoid Mary.
Stuttgart was in less turmoil than some of Amanda's cities, which was almost soothing in comparison. She cast another look around from her vantage point on the facility's roof before teleporting back down to the entry point. "All clear so far," she reported into her mic. "You got anything, Boss Lady?"
Wanda quirked a smile at the nickname, despite the situation. "Nothing so far," she said quietly. She'd found a good spot on the ground that gave her a great vantage point of the facility and, for the moment, it was quiet. "Clear and quiet. What does the third part of our trio see?"
"Isn't it meant to be something like 'Legolas, what do your elf eyes see?'" Jubilee quipped, having taken up a perch on one of the seats on the patio, looking for all the world like an employee catching a quick smoke before going back to work. "And the answer is not much. We sure she's actually gonna turn up?"
"As sure as we can be. The intel's solid, no reason why she shouldn't show." Amanda tugged at the collar of the guard uniform she was wearing as she scanned the road leading to the entrance again. "Patience, grasshopper."
"I really wish I did not get that earlier reference," Wanda sighed into the phone. She wouldn't have a few years ago but, at some point, had been forced into a marathon by a group of drunk friends. At least there had been wine. "And echoing that, yes, this woman is a professional and the intel is solid - we just need to wait it out."
"Waiting, my favourite past-time for sure." Jubilee muttered into the throat mic she was wearing.
She'd never liked having anything in her hands on a mission, too many times the measurement between life and death had been how fast she could grip onto the edge of a building, or throw a punch. Even with her abilities, and the fact she'd long ago worked through the crutch of using her hands, it was also the most comfortable spot to manifest for her as well.
"I spy something beginning with M."
"Waiting, 90 percent of spy work," reminded Amanda, before rolling her eyes at Jubilee's next remark. "Focus, Firecracker. I for one don't want to wind up going hand to hand with this woman." She let her feet sink into the floor, renewing her link with the city, but everything still seemed quiet. Too quiet... after the continual hubbub of New York, this was eerie. Then one of her advance wards pinged. "Hang on, I've got something. Let me go check it out." And without another word, she disappeared into the floor again.
Jubilee had tensed the moment Amanda disappeared, small arcs of colour dancing on the tips of her fingers as she got ready for a confrontation. She didn't want to go toe to toe with Mary any more than Amanda did, especially since the things that gave her an advantage were no use when they wanted to take someone alive.
"Huh. That's cute. Sparkles." The voice came from behind her, sounding dryly amused. The words were followed by a muffled sound - a silenced gunshot - and a puff of air and the whiff of a bullet past her cheek.
Explosive. That might have been a good descriptor for Jubilee's reaction to the shot. She'd always been fast, but training and experience had given her the cunning to make her truly dangerous. Control, and opportunity. Slag. That was what the gun resembled as she stood from her seated position.
Jubilee had no real desire to get any closer than she had to, but if they wanted to take Mary alive. she had to give the others time to get down here. If there was one thing Jubilee and her mouth were good at. It was distraction.
"I prefer Tinkerbell, actually. Like, I'd question the sanity of anyone shootin' at a random citizen, but maybe you just don't like mutants?"
Mary cast away the useless weapon, ignoring the stinging pain in her slightly singed hand. This was why gloves were useful. Cleaning her fists, she charged at Jubilee, her movements trained and deadly. "Nothing personal, I just don't like being set up," she retorted, punching rapidly at Jubilee's throat to shut her up. It wasn't hard enough to be fatal, but the blow would bruise her neck and cause swelling to the vocal cords.
Or would have, save that Jubilee turned with the blow, allowing Mary to move forward past her. It wasn’t about being flashy or winning. It was about giving her teammates time to arrive.
“Bad luck, that would have hurt.”
Wanda was already racing over the moment she spotted Jubilee's powers go up, leaping out from behind her hiding point and heading towards her colleague. A quick look around told that, for the moment, it looked like Mary was alone, exactly what their intel had told them. Something good to focus on later, after they brought her in.
When she was close enough, she summoned a sphere of raw entropic energy and hurled it in front of her, aiming for between the two women. It hit the ground and chewed up cement, turning the road into a small crater to give Jubilee some space to jump back away from Mary.
Mary was ready for the arrival of another obstacle - leaping back from the sudden deterioration of the ground, she quickly pulled her back-up handgun from the holster at her thigh and unloaded it at the tall woman.
The force of the bullet hitting her chest sent Wanda staggering, her legs sliding out from under her at the impact. She caught herself on her forearms, the pain of bruised skin nothing compared to the pain radiating out from the left side of her chest. Gasping for air, she slapped a hand where the bullet had hit - the bullet proof vest that lay under her jacket and shirt had done its job but her ribs were screaming from the impact.
Fuck. She should have checked her for another gun. Jubilee shook her head and reached out with her hand, generating sparks and pushing them toward the new gun. At the same time, she closed again, not wanting to give Mary any chance to really think about what was going on. Keep her off guard and fighting on the back foot, at least until they were all here.
Breathing was hard - Wanda wasn't sure if she had bruised ribs or broken ribs and if something had happened to a lung. But pain was secondary as long as Mary was still up and around. Cursing, she climbed back to her feet and ignored how the world went fuzzy around the edges for a moment. She took a moment to press her earpiece to say "Target is here and armed" before circling around Jubilee and Mary, trying to find an opening to slag the gun for good.
Jubilee closing in was exactly what Mary wanted. She turned to avoid the incoming sparks (and protect the gun) and then brushed aside the punch Jubilee aimed at her. Her response was a sudden, savage kick at Jubilee's knee.
Time seemed to slow down. Stop. Sound was muffled as if it came from the room next door, if there had been a room next door. Or maybe that was just Jubilee's perception of the moments next, a result of agonizing pain rather than any special magic that she might have suspected Mary of using. She couldn't help the scream that came from her throat, and frankly she cared little for any kind of embarrassment that others might have felt at showing weakness.
Jubilee had never particularly cared for the thoughts of others, but she did care about the safety of her friends. She fell, sprawled outwards as her knee gave out with a crack she felt through her entire body and reached outward toward Wanda, wondering why Amanda hadn't already appeared.
They were professionals but fuck if Mary wasn't fast and strong, living up to her reputation and then some. Gritting her teeth against the searing pain in her chest, blood on her tongue, Wanda dove into the fray as Jubilee fell, concern pushed to the back of her mind for the moment. A hex bolt missed as Mary dodged but Wanda twisted with the dodge to land a hard blow against the other woman's ribs with her other hand.
The blow only served to give Mary another target - her physical enhancements made her as strong and as fast as Garrison - and she almost gently smiled at Wanda. "Nice try," she replied and gave her a shove that sent her flying backwards to collide with a parked car.
The car rocked at the impact and a window shattered as Wanda slammed into the back door, something inside of her shattering as well. Seconds had passed since she was tossed like a rag doll and blackness quickly overtook her. Her body fell limply to the ground, propped up in a semi-sitting position by a cradle of dented metal.
Jubilee saw Wanda go down, and even through the haze of pain she knew she couldn't just lay here. If she didn't get up, didn't do something now than all this would have been for nothing. She tried, but couldn't keep the scream of pain inside as she forced herself back onto her feet, but she refused to look at the leg that kept trying to crumble underneath her. She'd been taught how to work through pain, how to resist torture, pain was something you used, not something you let use you.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jubilee said, keeping herself on her feet by sheer will alone. It was just lucky that she didn't need much physicality when she had powers instead. Sparks ignited in her hands and zipped forward to block Mary's way, demanding that the other woman deal with her first. "Get back here and face me, you coward."
"Wow, you are the stubbornest little pest, aren't you?" Mary's tone was amused. She strode towards Jubilee, ignoring the sparks that glanced off her body armor and threatened to ignite her hair, and hauled Jubilee up by the back of her jacket like she was picking a kitten up by the scruff of its neck. "Look, I'll make it painless. You earned that much." And with that she wrapped her other arm around Jubilee's neck, preparing to snap it like a twig,
"Drop her." The voice was Amanda's and cam from behind Mary, where the witch had emerged from the ground. The ward had been a false alarm - a distraction, she realised now - and she'd come back as fast as she could. Not fast enough, it seemed. The pistol in her hand was pointed directly at the back of Mary's head. "Do it. Now."
"And the teleporter makes three. I was wondering how long you would take to get back." Mary almost shrugged. "I thought it would be sooner."
Amanda's finger tightened on the trigger and she pressed the gun against Mary's skull. "Don't think I won't blow your head off, you skag. Let her go."
"Sorry, I can't do that." With an efficient movement, Mary twisted, the sound of Jubilee's neck breaking sickeningly audible. She dropped the limp body and whirled around, faster than Amanda could react, and yanked the gun out of her hand, pointing it at her face. "You could use that weird teleporting thing you do and fight me," she said coolly. "But in the meantime, your friend here would die. And there's no guarantee you could even beat me if you did let her die. So, what's it going to be?"
Amanda hesitated, looking from Jubilee's motionless form to the woman in front of her. She could avoid the bullet and take Mary on, but at what cost? Jubilee and possibly Wanda as well would die of the injuries they'd taken on - Amanda could see the dent Wanda had been when she'd hit the side of the car and knew she had to have broken several, if not all of her ribs. And there was another line of defence...
"Go on, then," she said at last, stepping out of Mary's path. "But if I see you again, it's on."
"I wouldn't expect anything else," Mary replied, and took off across the grounds to the research facility.
