Sons of Mutancy - Conclusion
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xp_logsOutside the club, Sooraya, Nica, Betsy and Maya face the task of stopping the Cartel from going into the club to reinforce their people inside, while getting the clientele out.
They stared at Amanda’s text on their phones for a stunned moment before Jean flashed telepathically for a split second – their alarm, cut off. This was the signal for the mission going sideways and now their people were trapped inside with some kind of demon and had no clue. The bouncers on the doors suddenly backed off as hard-looking men with dark suits and badly concealed automatic weapons took up a post, waving people away from entering the club.
"Getting tired of this happening again." Sooraya growled as she took in the various guards and the confused stares of the club-goers shifting towards panic as they recognized the weapons. "Psylocke, can you get a read on how many of those goons we are dealing with?" She growled again when she was nearly pushed over by a burly man who had been waiting and who was now hurrying away.
Betsy stepped away from the horde of alarmed clubbers and set to work on locating the armed men. After a moment she grimaced and sent Sooraya and the others a quick overview. Out loud she replied: “Many. I’m afraid this may be, to put it politely, a shit-show.”
"Well, at least this time we don't have to hold back," Nica said philosophically as she floated upwards to get the lay of the land. "We'll need to try and keep the doors clear," she said, eyes glowing in a sequence of colours as she shifted from infra-red to ultra-violet to high-level radiant light. "There's enough bad guys in there already that we don't need more getting in, and if the civilians try to get out, they'll need the exits."
“You know, I think I really need to rethink my life choices after this.”
Maya’s words were resigned as her mutant powers kicked in, quickly turning on analytics and the best possible route through a battlefield in order to get close enough for her to fight.
She reminded herself to thank whoever it was that had decided what she needed most after the shit show that was the hospital was reading up on crowd movements and spatial dispersion and dynamics.
If she had to get close to be effective, then she had to make herself the most effective at getting close fast.
With all the use it was getting, letting her psychic blade manifest in her hand was starting to feel like a natural thing to do. Betsy wasn’t sure how to feel about that particular fact. "I’m guessing we’re not trying to stay covert anymore,” she hazarded looking at Nica. “Should we split up, with one of us on each of the side doors and two on the main entrance?"
"No, we aren't." Sooraya's face hardened. "We're getting everyone out of there this time. Psylocke, Echo, I'd suggest you take the main entrance. Watch each other's back and don't go in without letting anyone know. Spectrum, can you handle the rear entrance? I'll cover the stage exit."
"Yes, boss," Nica said with a nod, before disappearing in a blur as she flew faster-than-light to the other side of the building. "Plenty of ugly here to keep me occupied," she reported seconds later, sizing up the security guards on the door. "Psylocke, you might need to do the telepathic link thing since Maya's still deaf.”
Multitasking was not Betsy’s forte. “I’ll do my best,” she replied and opened a thin channel to Maya, quickly explaining what she was doing to avoid startling the younger woman. Once the connection was established keeping it open was straightforward, but the set-up almost failed when one of the guards decided that she was taking too long to move out of the way and ran into her knife. Odd, she hadn’t realised she’d raised it in front of herself. Oh well.
Maya stumbled slightly as Betsy's 'voice' echoed in her head, causing her to drop out of the ability she'd been copying. She'd been training with Jean but she hadn't had much of a chance to work with any of the other telepaths yet. She glanced at the other woman with a quick nod before allowing her mind to synch back up as she changed directions to head for the main entrance.
~Can you see what I'm going to do?~ Maya asked mentally, hoping the kevlar that had been built into her leather jacket would be enough to stop the bullets that would surely be fired at her. ~I mean, can you follow my movements and thoughts well enough that we can flank these guys and take them out?~
~No, at the moment I’m really just a glorified walkie-talkie,~ Betsy transmitted back. ~We generally don’t access people’s minds without permission so I’m keeping it at communication-only. I probably could follow if you want but it might be simpler if you just let me know what you’re planning.~ More guards were coming her way to investigate why one had crumpled to the ground in front of a harmless-looking patron. ~We should probably think of something fast though.~
~It’s simple enough. We let out anyone who wants out and we take out any guards trying to get in while our people in there take care of business.~
Maya didn’t think she needed to mention not to kill any of the people they would be dealing with, although given what had recently happened to her, she might need to remind herself of that.
She reached the main entrance, using momentum to dodge inside the firing arc of the man who had beaten her there and a swift knife hand strike with the side of her hand to cut into his carotid artery, dropping him to the ground.
Betsy rolled her eyes. She had been hoping for a bit more of a strategic approach, but this worked too. At least she didn’t have to worry about minimising damage since the psychic knife was by its nature non-lethal. Keeping out of range of guns was proving to be challenging though. “How are the other exits?”, she asked out loud.
"We have a few wounded here from the rush, but not as many people total." Sooraya reported, kneeling next to a moaning woman holding her leg. She gestured to two men hesitating nearby: "Get them to safety now." She turned to take in the guards standing stock still in front of the door. "Engaging now and going off comms."
With the guards distracted by the wounded people being moved away by a few brave souls, Sooraya literally exploded into her sand form. Mindful of the people still nearby she didn't hold back, cocooning the guards in a cylinder of thin sand to stop any bullets. Razorsharp tendrils of sand formed on the inside of it, lashing out at the hands holding the automatic weapons.
"Not many coming out this way, but plenty trying to get in. I think these are the cartel guys again." Nica paused and blasted a suited man away from the door. "It seems like they want to protect their investment.”
“At least it’s easy enough to tell who the baddies are here,” Betsy grumbled and slashed at yet another burly man in ill-fitting clothes. Luckily this one had decided to use his muscle rather than his semi-automatic. OK, maybe the decision had not been completely his. His type were so very suggestible.
“People still stuck inside are getting really panicky now, I think there might be a fire? I’m worried it's turning into a crush in there. How can we help them get out without letting these guys in?” She directed the question to both Nica and Maya, although splitting her attention several ways while still keeping track of the fight was starting to get tiring. She’d need to ask Jean for some lessons on that soon.
~A little busy right now.~
Maya let the thought sit in her head, hoping Betsy would be able to read it in the way Jean had. She was fully buried in her powers now, letting them move her body without thought as it ducked under guarding blocks and moved out of the way seconds before guns were raised.
This was what she trained for, and she didn’t have time for other things while there were still bad guys to fight.
First one rifle hit the ground, the others quickly followed as the guards could not hold on them with sand now also lashing out at their faces and they hurried to protect the vulnerable skin there. As soon as the final gun hit the ground, Dust dissolved the cylinder and assumed her sandman form. Reaching out she smacked the heads of two guards together, sending them to the ground moaning.
Dust took a moment to glance over her shoulder to check what was happening with the wounded and she felt a fist slam into her 'abdomen'. She quickly refocused her attention as the sand sucked in his fist and tightened around it. She grabbed his wrist with both hands and twisted and turned and sent him to the ground as well before turning and facing the final guard.
"Wan, er, Scarlet Witch, Daredevil and, um, Cal? are inside - they'll be able to help people get out. But they'll need a place to go to," came Nica's voice over the comms, punctuated by the occasional cry of someone who had been blasted with red-hot light. "I might be able to light burst and blind these assholes trying to get in, but someone will need to direct the team inside to send them out the back."
“I can let everyone know where to go,” Betsy said. ~Please don’t let anyone shoot me,~ she added to Maya. Trying to coordinate with the people inside and guide a load of panicking strangers would mean she would not have time to worry about little distractions like bullets.
~Why do people keep thinking I have super ‘stopping bad things’ powers?~
Maya sighed and tapped against the suit she was wearing, grateful for the fabric that seemed to keep her from dying, even if she was going to have some truly spectacular bruising by the end of this.
She’d already taken a bullet to the arm that still throbbed but hadn’t made it past her suits outer layer. So catching bullets it was.
~Fine, do your mental gymnastics, I’ll just use my fleshy parts to stop all the metal death spheres from reaching you.~
The final guard hit the ground moaning after a kick to his privates and another one to the back of his knees. Moving towards the door her hand shifted into a slender tendril of sand as she forced the lock to open. The doors swung right open and Sooraya stepped back, shifting back to her normal shape and thumbing her comms. "Dust here. The stage entrance is cleared of goons and open. First people are heading out. What is the status of the other entrance?"
The response was a blinding flash of light, visible over the roof of the building. "Dealt with," came Nica's businesslike response. "I've got kitchen staff and some partygoers coming out the door. We just need our people and we can book."
Wanda, Callisto and Matt take the inside of the club to provide back up and wind up helping with an evacuation.
AZTECA was hopping, the Latin music playing at head pounding levels as a cross section of the wealthy and those who wished they were enjoying their drinks. There hadn’t been a lot of time, but SWORD had managed to find appropriately expensive clothes and enough time to clean up in order to infiltrate the bar ahead of the other team as an insurance policy in case things went wrong. Most times, that didn’t come with top shelf tequila.
They’d watched their people, led by Brand, walk through the curtains and into the VIP section. A few minutes later, their phones had gone off, but so had half the people’s in the club at different points. The message, however, was stunning and just as they began to process it, Jean’s telepathic alarm started and was abruptly cut off.
The guards in front of the VIP immediately drew their weapons to the new and emerging panicked reactions of the other patrons. Behind them, through the curtains, the VIP section was completely obscured by black flames which roared up out of thin air.
"Shit!" Wanda shoved her phone back into an inside pocket, processing Amanda's text of GET THE FUCK OUT. HELL LORD. DON'T FUCK WITH HIM. TOO POWERFUL TO MESS WITH. She'd known from Amanda's visit that they were dealing with something bad but a hell lord - that went beyond bad. And her head was ringing from the abruptly ended mental call from Jean. She glanced over at Callisto and Matt.
"This is beyond bad!" she yelled over the noise, turning towards the VIP area when one of the guards grabbed someone for an unknown reason and threw him across to the other side of AZTECA. She opened her mind to her powers and gasped, physically recoiling at what they showed her.
Pushing a person aside, Matt moved to automatically cover Wanda. He had gotten the text, though he hadn't checked it, relying on Wanda and Callisto to get the gist. Something bad, clearly. Something bad that could throw people. Additionally, because of how his brain processed information, he wasn't able to hear Jean telepathically either. Still, it did not take a rocket scientist to figure out things had gone to hell in a handbasket.
"Hey what sort of Christocentric bullshit is 'hell lord'?"
Callisto glanced up from her phone in time to grab the gun-wrist of a nearby guard, and squeeze. The usual 'howl and drop' was not forthcoming, however, only a growl emerging from the guard's throat as he grabbed her right back.
Callisto lifted her good eyebrow. "Huh."
She headbutted him.
The man went over like a felled tree, collapsing unconscious on the floor as guards moved between shoving patrons towards the front doors to trying to identify threats inside the club.
The corruption in the guards ran deep enough that Wanda's mutant power had them lighting up like the sun. Swallowing the taste of metal, she dove after Callisto as a slender woman in a suit spun toward her with a glistening knife. Wanda came up and between Callisto and the other woman, blocking the downward swing with her forearm. The woman hit like a truck, forcing her back several steps from the blow.
The guard dropped beneath Wanda's arm, and she caught a glance of a small ankle gun being pulled loose and lifted. Cursing, Wanda channeled her power as she grabbed the wrist holding the knife and slammed it down into her knee, manipulating the slippery strings just in time to get an opening to shatter the woman's arm as it hit her leg, causing her to scream and drop both weapons.
Rushing in, Matt immediately took a guard in a chokehold before he could get to Callisto, using his momentum to flip the man and toss him into the woman on the ground. Taking the discarded knife, Matt grinned, using it to tease more guards as he went on the offensive, slicing as he moved through the people in a complicated series of twists and turns, his senses focused entirely on what was happening around him. His body practically hummed in happiness as he moved, never cutting someone too deeply or severely, but enough that they knew he was there. And willing to hurt.
Callisto glanced between her phone and the two recently-felled opponents. She blinked. "Guess I could order us a pizza?" she offered. A would-be assailant made the mistake of approaching her on the flank that actually had peripheral vision, and she snapped a hand out, grabbing him by the face and dragging him toward her, fingers jammed in his nostrils. "Missed one," she called to her companions, and dropped the guy with a sharp knee to the guts.
The problem wasn't just that the club was filled with guards looking to crush anything that seemed to pose a problem. Or the smoke and fire from the back. Though those were significant issues. The other pressing issue was that the club was filled with innocent people who were completely, utterly panicking. And by panicking, they were getting in the way of the guards.
A club goer screamed as she ran into Wanda, trying to get out of the way of a short, angry looking guard who was covered in what looked like some kind of drink. Grabbing the panicking woman, Wanda shifted just in time to take a strong punch to the kidneys. Staggering, gasping, she pushed the other woman down and under a table. "Go, go!"
"Follow the exit signs!" Matt shouted, half the time, people knew what to do, they just needed to be reminded. People were sheeple like that, especially in a panic. Not-so-gently, he began pushing anyone not trying to attack them towards the exits, herding them as best he could while also making sure their assailants stayed down where they belonged.
Wanda slammed the attacking guard through a table, hints of red flying as she manipulated the world around him to add an extra layer of hurt as he hit the floor of the club. It cracked under the impact and she stood, breathing hard. "Clear us a path," she said to Callisto, "and we'll clean up behind you."
A broad grin spread across Callisto's face, and she finally put her fucking phone away. When she pulled her hand out of her pocket, her knuckles glinted with metal.
"For you, anything."
Trapped in Olivier’s hell dimension, Brand and her team fight for their lives.
TW: assumed death
“This really is a shame. I had Hamilton tickets tonight.” Olivier grumped, the 8 foot tall bone white armored carapace flickering between it and his suit. “Still, might as well make it worth my while. After all, you’re all interesting and powerful toys. What to do with each of you?”
Frankly having enough excitement for the day, Jean narrowed her eyes. "Hard pass," she said, mentally reaching her mind out to try to alert the others. "Olivier, he's--"
"No, no, little bird." He waved his hand and the telepathic contact with the others shut off like a lead wall had dropped down. The way to the club behind them was engulfed in black flames, utterly obscuring everything. "You're now mine, in my little section of Hell."
Kyle shook his head, and sneezed rapid-fire at the intense onslaught of sulfur and ash in the air. "Weird sex whammy doesn't make us yours, you sick shit."
"You are, Scooby. You all are. You'll figure it out soon enough." The demon uncoiled, looking immense in the close space ringed in fire. "This is my domain now. My hell." He stretched out his hand and Kyle slammed hard into the wall, fire licking around him.
"So you said." Gabriel wasn't sure what his best move was. He thought he could careen into the creature like a fastball, maybe, and dislodge some parts of his skeleton-like body. But he wasn't invulnerable, and there was no guarantee he'd survive the injuries. " Always hells upon hells with you demons."
He darted from one side of the space to the other, mostly to see how Costa -- well, not Costa anymore -- would react. Maybe distraction was Gabriel's best move right now. "It's funny, though. I have been to more than a few hells in my life, and none of them ever measure up to my personal ones."
"Your pathetic little sins are nothing here. I have lived a thousand lifetimes bathed in the corruption of the ages." Streaks of flame wove complex patterns, trapping Gabe into smaller and smaller space. "Perhaps I should have your father fuck you roughly before he rejects you again. Call it an innovative therapy?"
The crack as Kane's fist connected with the creature's skull was audible as he staggered the demon with a punch. The flames around Gabe disappeared. "You've been a lot of talk so far, and I'm tired of listening to it." The followup blow staggered the demon, and a couple of body blows pushed him back further. The momentum was lost as he caught one of Kane's punches in his massive fist and smashed the Canadian across the room with a blow.
"I am Olivier! The Helllord of Corruption! The manifestation of original sin! And you are all now mine, body and soul."
That sealed it. Jean narrowed her eyes. "Enough. We are no one's property," she said, rising off the ground as she started to whip anything not nailed down at him.
The projectiles stopped inches from Olivier, regardless of the violence with which she hurled them.
"I told you, you're in my Hell now. My whim is rule here. My control," He glared at them through his luminous red eyes. "is absolute." Jean was flung back into the wall, stunned by the impact as the flames started to lick at her suit.
Brand was furious. Her plan had worked perfectly and now this? Fuelled by her rage, she blasted twin green energy beams at the creature's face before rushing forward to yank Jean unceremoniously clear by the lapels, half-flinging her towards Gabriel. "This isn't happening," she fumed, turning back to Olivier and blasting him again. "Not to me." Another blast. "Not now." More green energy licked over the demon's carapace. "YOU HEAR ME?!"
"I've heard it all. From Homer to Shakespeare to Eminem, not in any particular order, mind you." He reached out and grabbed her, his talons encompassing her head as he slammed her back into the ground. "I'm not interested." It was almost perfunctory, his response. He was about to press down, shattering her skull when Kane rushed the junction of his elbow, prying away the grip for a moment.
"Kyle!"
Kyle had been crouched, seemingly hiding from flame and smoke, muscles tense - he'd expected to have to grab Gabe, the smaller man was fast, but much less likely to survive third degree burns. He hadn't expected to have to rush through the fire and throw himself at the demon to pull Brand away. Costa's flames, and Brand's own powers seared half the hair off Kyle's skull, and blackened his skin, but he pulled her out of the demon's claws, heedless of the burns.
Gabriel, for his part, was supporting Jean as she caught her breath and recovered from the force of what appeared to be a head blow. "I got you," he said to her, as he stomped off the flames that had lightly scorched the bottom of her suit.
He had rarely felt like he had been on a team so outmatched. They needed a Hail Mary, but he wasn't sure what it was. The fires were throwing him, and making it hard for him to think. "Guess I can try to body-slam him at wrap-speed again," he murmured, "if someone can distract him?"
"From a medical standpoint it'd be great to keep the number of people burned by demonic flames to a minimum," Jean said, wiping away blood from a cut on her lip. "Check on Brand? I'll give it another go."
Drawing in a breath, Jean locked eyes with Costa/Olivier/Whoever the Hell he was, then trapped him in a telekinetic bubble. "Send us back. Now," she said.
"Watch your pretty mouth, redbird. The only one who gives orders here is me."
Jean started to make the telekinetic bubble tighter. "I'll do whatever I damn well please," she said. "Send us back or we'll see how many bones you can break."
"Oh, in this bubble? This one?" He gave her a grotesquely lopsided smile in his ruined face and whistled. It was 'A Spoonful of Sugar' from Mary Poppins. At the end of the first few bars, the bubble popped like it was made from soap. "This one?" He taunted as he stalked over and pulled her up with a massive fist around her throat.
"How about another threat?" He shook her hard enough to daze her, limbs struggling against the lack of air. "How about I just choke you to death now as a warning?"
Jean gurgled, her eyes turning bloodshot as she kicked, clawing at his hand. Truth be told she was afraid because he had taken something from her. He had violated her mind and body, and that of her friends, all to keep power. He took sick joy in it. And the more power he took, the more power he wanted. But she didn't want to give in. She wasn't going to die here, or let him take any more of her power.
Something stirred inside of her, something she'd only felt echoes of in the months since the cracks in reality had been repaired.
Her eyes began to blaze, the fire catching down her arms before engulfing her hair in flames. A shockwave of telekinetic energy split the two of them apart, and Jean caught herself before hitting the ground, cloaked in the shape of a firebird as she rose into the air.
"Oh, not just a redbird, but the Firebird... It's been a long time since we've seen you." Olivier paused, cocking his head to one side as he regarded the Phoenix form. "You forget, my Celestial friend, you have no power here."
The creature moved forward in a blur and reached out. His hand seemed to gather the flames in his hand and as he squeezed it shut, the firebird screamed in pain. He wrenched downward, tearing away his handful of fire to a keening wail as the firebird flickered and Jean dropped unconscious to the ground, hitting with a sickening crack.
"You can't win. You can't beat me. The only scenario here is that I'm forced to kill-" Kane hit him waist high, throwing him and the helllord over the fire table and rolling over several times.
Brand had been lying where Kyle had dropped her, a blank expression in her eyes as she recovered from near-crushing. Now, seeing their chances of survival dwindling to nothing, she roused herself. “The mask!” She screamed over the noise of the fire and fighting. “Destroy the mask!”
Kyle ignored her at first, stalking towards Costa with bared fangs and a rumbling growl. He knew he was outmatched, but this man - demon - monster's voice kept repeating in his mind, calling him a tamed pet, more trick pony than wild animal, and he stalked forward another step before Brand's screaming ripped through the mantra to show Costa what kind of man Kyle really was.
He caught himself on her third cry, glared at the agent and then dropped to all fours, howling at his burned arms hit the ground. The run to the brazier with the mask left smears of blood as Kyle's skin healed and broke and healed again, and worse as he slid, baseball style past where Kane and Costa were fighting. He grabbed the mask heedless of its heat and the flames around it and as he did, the mask itself screamed.
A wash of cool air pushed the smoke and sweet smell of burned flesh away, as a green portal irised open.
Kane and Olivier had been battling back and forth, the Canadian using every trick and leverage to counter the demon's superior strength. With his speed, he hammered a series of jackhammer blows into the side of the demon's head, dazing him slightly.
"Get Brand and Jean out of here!" He yelled, just as Olivier slammed four talons through his left shoulder. He stopped the barbed fingers from tearing further, pitting his strength against the demon. "I'm right behind you! Go!”
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Gabriel muttered. When the portal opened, he had already moved toward Jean’s unconscious body. He fired up his powers as he scooped her up with a grunt, using his legs to lift her toward standing before maneuvering her over his shoulders.
Feeling the strain on his muscles, he carried Jean steadily toward the portal. With her weight bearing down on him, it was hardly the fastest he’d ever moved - though to the editors, it would have looked like he’d cleared the distance in mere seconds.
Brand had wobbled to her feet and was blasting at Olivier again, wherever she could get a shot in without hitting Garrison. "Go!" she shouted at Kyle. "I'll give Kane cover!" She didn't wait to see if he obeyed, but continued firing green energy bolts at the hulking white form.
Kyle screamed defiance along with the mask, incoherent rage and pain fueling his voice, and he ran past Brand, glancing back only once to see her turning to run towards the portal as he threw himself through the green light.
It seemed like an eternity but was only a minute or so later when Brand flung herself out of the portal. It snapped shut behind her, leaving her on all fours, gasping for breath, blood flowing from the wounds Olivier had inflicted. At last, she looked up, something close to grief showing in her expression.
"I'm sorry," she managed, her voice sounding strangled. "I tried but... he's gone. Kane's gone."
They stared at Amanda’s text on their phones for a stunned moment before Jean flashed telepathically for a split second – their alarm, cut off. This was the signal for the mission going sideways and now their people were trapped inside with some kind of demon and had no clue. The bouncers on the doors suddenly backed off as hard-looking men with dark suits and badly concealed automatic weapons took up a post, waving people away from entering the club.
"Getting tired of this happening again." Sooraya growled as she took in the various guards and the confused stares of the club-goers shifting towards panic as they recognized the weapons. "Psylocke, can you get a read on how many of those goons we are dealing with?" She growled again when she was nearly pushed over by a burly man who had been waiting and who was now hurrying away.
Betsy stepped away from the horde of alarmed clubbers and set to work on locating the armed men. After a moment she grimaced and sent Sooraya and the others a quick overview. Out loud she replied: “Many. I’m afraid this may be, to put it politely, a shit-show.”
"Well, at least this time we don't have to hold back," Nica said philosophically as she floated upwards to get the lay of the land. "We'll need to try and keep the doors clear," she said, eyes glowing in a sequence of colours as she shifted from infra-red to ultra-violet to high-level radiant light. "There's enough bad guys in there already that we don't need more getting in, and if the civilians try to get out, they'll need the exits."
“You know, I think I really need to rethink my life choices after this.”
Maya’s words were resigned as her mutant powers kicked in, quickly turning on analytics and the best possible route through a battlefield in order to get close enough for her to fight.
She reminded herself to thank whoever it was that had decided what she needed most after the shit show that was the hospital was reading up on crowd movements and spatial dispersion and dynamics.
If she had to get close to be effective, then she had to make herself the most effective at getting close fast.
With all the use it was getting, letting her psychic blade manifest in her hand was starting to feel like a natural thing to do. Betsy wasn’t sure how to feel about that particular fact. "I’m guessing we’re not trying to stay covert anymore,” she hazarded looking at Nica. “Should we split up, with one of us on each of the side doors and two on the main entrance?"
"No, we aren't." Sooraya's face hardened. "We're getting everyone out of there this time. Psylocke, Echo, I'd suggest you take the main entrance. Watch each other's back and don't go in without letting anyone know. Spectrum, can you handle the rear entrance? I'll cover the stage exit."
"Yes, boss," Nica said with a nod, before disappearing in a blur as she flew faster-than-light to the other side of the building. "Plenty of ugly here to keep me occupied," she reported seconds later, sizing up the security guards on the door. "Psylocke, you might need to do the telepathic link thing since Maya's still deaf.”
Multitasking was not Betsy’s forte. “I’ll do my best,” she replied and opened a thin channel to Maya, quickly explaining what she was doing to avoid startling the younger woman. Once the connection was established keeping it open was straightforward, but the set-up almost failed when one of the guards decided that she was taking too long to move out of the way and ran into her knife. Odd, she hadn’t realised she’d raised it in front of herself. Oh well.
Maya stumbled slightly as Betsy's 'voice' echoed in her head, causing her to drop out of the ability she'd been copying. She'd been training with Jean but she hadn't had much of a chance to work with any of the other telepaths yet. She glanced at the other woman with a quick nod before allowing her mind to synch back up as she changed directions to head for the main entrance.
~Can you see what I'm going to do?~ Maya asked mentally, hoping the kevlar that had been built into her leather jacket would be enough to stop the bullets that would surely be fired at her. ~I mean, can you follow my movements and thoughts well enough that we can flank these guys and take them out?~
~No, at the moment I’m really just a glorified walkie-talkie,~ Betsy transmitted back. ~We generally don’t access people’s minds without permission so I’m keeping it at communication-only. I probably could follow if you want but it might be simpler if you just let me know what you’re planning.~ More guards were coming her way to investigate why one had crumpled to the ground in front of a harmless-looking patron. ~We should probably think of something fast though.~
~It’s simple enough. We let out anyone who wants out and we take out any guards trying to get in while our people in there take care of business.~
Maya didn’t think she needed to mention not to kill any of the people they would be dealing with, although given what had recently happened to her, she might need to remind herself of that.
She reached the main entrance, using momentum to dodge inside the firing arc of the man who had beaten her there and a swift knife hand strike with the side of her hand to cut into his carotid artery, dropping him to the ground.
Betsy rolled her eyes. She had been hoping for a bit more of a strategic approach, but this worked too. At least she didn’t have to worry about minimising damage since the psychic knife was by its nature non-lethal. Keeping out of range of guns was proving to be challenging though. “How are the other exits?”, she asked out loud.
"We have a few wounded here from the rush, but not as many people total." Sooraya reported, kneeling next to a moaning woman holding her leg. She gestured to two men hesitating nearby: "Get them to safety now." She turned to take in the guards standing stock still in front of the door. "Engaging now and going off comms."
With the guards distracted by the wounded people being moved away by a few brave souls, Sooraya literally exploded into her sand form. Mindful of the people still nearby she didn't hold back, cocooning the guards in a cylinder of thin sand to stop any bullets. Razorsharp tendrils of sand formed on the inside of it, lashing out at the hands holding the automatic weapons.
"Not many coming out this way, but plenty trying to get in. I think these are the cartel guys again." Nica paused and blasted a suited man away from the door. "It seems like they want to protect their investment.”
“At least it’s easy enough to tell who the baddies are here,” Betsy grumbled and slashed at yet another burly man in ill-fitting clothes. Luckily this one had decided to use his muscle rather than his semi-automatic. OK, maybe the decision had not been completely his. His type were so very suggestible.
“People still stuck inside are getting really panicky now, I think there might be a fire? I’m worried it's turning into a crush in there. How can we help them get out without letting these guys in?” She directed the question to both Nica and Maya, although splitting her attention several ways while still keeping track of the fight was starting to get tiring. She’d need to ask Jean for some lessons on that soon.
~A little busy right now.~
Maya let the thought sit in her head, hoping Betsy would be able to read it in the way Jean had. She was fully buried in her powers now, letting them move her body without thought as it ducked under guarding blocks and moved out of the way seconds before guns were raised.
This was what she trained for, and she didn’t have time for other things while there were still bad guys to fight.
First one rifle hit the ground, the others quickly followed as the guards could not hold on them with sand now also lashing out at their faces and they hurried to protect the vulnerable skin there. As soon as the final gun hit the ground, Dust dissolved the cylinder and assumed her sandman form. Reaching out she smacked the heads of two guards together, sending them to the ground moaning.
Dust took a moment to glance over her shoulder to check what was happening with the wounded and she felt a fist slam into her 'abdomen'. She quickly refocused her attention as the sand sucked in his fist and tightened around it. She grabbed his wrist with both hands and twisted and turned and sent him to the ground as well before turning and facing the final guard.
"Wan, er, Scarlet Witch, Daredevil and, um, Cal? are inside - they'll be able to help people get out. But they'll need a place to go to," came Nica's voice over the comms, punctuated by the occasional cry of someone who had been blasted with red-hot light. "I might be able to light burst and blind these assholes trying to get in, but someone will need to direct the team inside to send them out the back."
“I can let everyone know where to go,” Betsy said. ~Please don’t let anyone shoot me,~ she added to Maya. Trying to coordinate with the people inside and guide a load of panicking strangers would mean she would not have time to worry about little distractions like bullets.
~Why do people keep thinking I have super ‘stopping bad things’ powers?~
Maya sighed and tapped against the suit she was wearing, grateful for the fabric that seemed to keep her from dying, even if she was going to have some truly spectacular bruising by the end of this.
She’d already taken a bullet to the arm that still throbbed but hadn’t made it past her suits outer layer. So catching bullets it was.
~Fine, do your mental gymnastics, I’ll just use my fleshy parts to stop all the metal death spheres from reaching you.~
The final guard hit the ground moaning after a kick to his privates and another one to the back of his knees. Moving towards the door her hand shifted into a slender tendril of sand as she forced the lock to open. The doors swung right open and Sooraya stepped back, shifting back to her normal shape and thumbing her comms. "Dust here. The stage entrance is cleared of goons and open. First people are heading out. What is the status of the other entrance?"
The response was a blinding flash of light, visible over the roof of the building. "Dealt with," came Nica's businesslike response. "I've got kitchen staff and some partygoers coming out the door. We just need our people and we can book."
Wanda, Callisto and Matt take the inside of the club to provide back up and wind up helping with an evacuation.
AZTECA was hopping, the Latin music playing at head pounding levels as a cross section of the wealthy and those who wished they were enjoying their drinks. There hadn’t been a lot of time, but SWORD had managed to find appropriately expensive clothes and enough time to clean up in order to infiltrate the bar ahead of the other team as an insurance policy in case things went wrong. Most times, that didn’t come with top shelf tequila.
They’d watched their people, led by Brand, walk through the curtains and into the VIP section. A few minutes later, their phones had gone off, but so had half the people’s in the club at different points. The message, however, was stunning and just as they began to process it, Jean’s telepathic alarm started and was abruptly cut off.
The guards in front of the VIP immediately drew their weapons to the new and emerging panicked reactions of the other patrons. Behind them, through the curtains, the VIP section was completely obscured by black flames which roared up out of thin air.
"Shit!" Wanda shoved her phone back into an inside pocket, processing Amanda's text of GET THE FUCK OUT. HELL LORD. DON'T FUCK WITH HIM. TOO POWERFUL TO MESS WITH. She'd known from Amanda's visit that they were dealing with something bad but a hell lord - that went beyond bad. And her head was ringing from the abruptly ended mental call from Jean. She glanced over at Callisto and Matt.
"This is beyond bad!" she yelled over the noise, turning towards the VIP area when one of the guards grabbed someone for an unknown reason and threw him across to the other side of AZTECA. She opened her mind to her powers and gasped, physically recoiling at what they showed her.
Pushing a person aside, Matt moved to automatically cover Wanda. He had gotten the text, though he hadn't checked it, relying on Wanda and Callisto to get the gist. Something bad, clearly. Something bad that could throw people. Additionally, because of how his brain processed information, he wasn't able to hear Jean telepathically either. Still, it did not take a rocket scientist to figure out things had gone to hell in a handbasket.
"Hey what sort of Christocentric bullshit is 'hell lord'?"
Callisto glanced up from her phone in time to grab the gun-wrist of a nearby guard, and squeeze. The usual 'howl and drop' was not forthcoming, however, only a growl emerging from the guard's throat as he grabbed her right back.
Callisto lifted her good eyebrow. "Huh."
She headbutted him.
The man went over like a felled tree, collapsing unconscious on the floor as guards moved between shoving patrons towards the front doors to trying to identify threats inside the club.
The corruption in the guards ran deep enough that Wanda's mutant power had them lighting up like the sun. Swallowing the taste of metal, she dove after Callisto as a slender woman in a suit spun toward her with a glistening knife. Wanda came up and between Callisto and the other woman, blocking the downward swing with her forearm. The woman hit like a truck, forcing her back several steps from the blow.
The guard dropped beneath Wanda's arm, and she caught a glance of a small ankle gun being pulled loose and lifted. Cursing, Wanda channeled her power as she grabbed the wrist holding the knife and slammed it down into her knee, manipulating the slippery strings just in time to get an opening to shatter the woman's arm as it hit her leg, causing her to scream and drop both weapons.
Rushing in, Matt immediately took a guard in a chokehold before he could get to Callisto, using his momentum to flip the man and toss him into the woman on the ground. Taking the discarded knife, Matt grinned, using it to tease more guards as he went on the offensive, slicing as he moved through the people in a complicated series of twists and turns, his senses focused entirely on what was happening around him. His body practically hummed in happiness as he moved, never cutting someone too deeply or severely, but enough that they knew he was there. And willing to hurt.
Callisto glanced between her phone and the two recently-felled opponents. She blinked. "Guess I could order us a pizza?" she offered. A would-be assailant made the mistake of approaching her on the flank that actually had peripheral vision, and she snapped a hand out, grabbing him by the face and dragging him toward her, fingers jammed in his nostrils. "Missed one," she called to her companions, and dropped the guy with a sharp knee to the guts.
The problem wasn't just that the club was filled with guards looking to crush anything that seemed to pose a problem. Or the smoke and fire from the back. Though those were significant issues. The other pressing issue was that the club was filled with innocent people who were completely, utterly panicking. And by panicking, they were getting in the way of the guards.
A club goer screamed as she ran into Wanda, trying to get out of the way of a short, angry looking guard who was covered in what looked like some kind of drink. Grabbing the panicking woman, Wanda shifted just in time to take a strong punch to the kidneys. Staggering, gasping, she pushed the other woman down and under a table. "Go, go!"
"Follow the exit signs!" Matt shouted, half the time, people knew what to do, they just needed to be reminded. People were sheeple like that, especially in a panic. Not-so-gently, he began pushing anyone not trying to attack them towards the exits, herding them as best he could while also making sure their assailants stayed down where they belonged.
Wanda slammed the attacking guard through a table, hints of red flying as she manipulated the world around him to add an extra layer of hurt as he hit the floor of the club. It cracked under the impact and she stood, breathing hard. "Clear us a path," she said to Callisto, "and we'll clean up behind you."
A broad grin spread across Callisto's face, and she finally put her fucking phone away. When she pulled her hand out of her pocket, her knuckles glinted with metal.
"For you, anything."
Trapped in Olivier’s hell dimension, Brand and her team fight for their lives.
TW: assumed death
“This really is a shame. I had Hamilton tickets tonight.” Olivier grumped, the 8 foot tall bone white armored carapace flickering between it and his suit. “Still, might as well make it worth my while. After all, you’re all interesting and powerful toys. What to do with each of you?”
Frankly having enough excitement for the day, Jean narrowed her eyes. "Hard pass," she said, mentally reaching her mind out to try to alert the others. "Olivier, he's--"
"No, no, little bird." He waved his hand and the telepathic contact with the others shut off like a lead wall had dropped down. The way to the club behind them was engulfed in black flames, utterly obscuring everything. "You're now mine, in my little section of Hell."
Kyle shook his head, and sneezed rapid-fire at the intense onslaught of sulfur and ash in the air. "Weird sex whammy doesn't make us yours, you sick shit."
"You are, Scooby. You all are. You'll figure it out soon enough." The demon uncoiled, looking immense in the close space ringed in fire. "This is my domain now. My hell." He stretched out his hand and Kyle slammed hard into the wall, fire licking around him.
"So you said." Gabriel wasn't sure what his best move was. He thought he could careen into the creature like a fastball, maybe, and dislodge some parts of his skeleton-like body. But he wasn't invulnerable, and there was no guarantee he'd survive the injuries. " Always hells upon hells with you demons."
He darted from one side of the space to the other, mostly to see how Costa -- well, not Costa anymore -- would react. Maybe distraction was Gabriel's best move right now. "It's funny, though. I have been to more than a few hells in my life, and none of them ever measure up to my personal ones."
"Your pathetic little sins are nothing here. I have lived a thousand lifetimes bathed in the corruption of the ages." Streaks of flame wove complex patterns, trapping Gabe into smaller and smaller space. "Perhaps I should have your father fuck you roughly before he rejects you again. Call it an innovative therapy?"
The crack as Kane's fist connected with the creature's skull was audible as he staggered the demon with a punch. The flames around Gabe disappeared. "You've been a lot of talk so far, and I'm tired of listening to it." The followup blow staggered the demon, and a couple of body blows pushed him back further. The momentum was lost as he caught one of Kane's punches in his massive fist and smashed the Canadian across the room with a blow.
"I am Olivier! The Helllord of Corruption! The manifestation of original sin! And you are all now mine, body and soul."
That sealed it. Jean narrowed her eyes. "Enough. We are no one's property," she said, rising off the ground as she started to whip anything not nailed down at him.
The projectiles stopped inches from Olivier, regardless of the violence with which she hurled them.
"I told you, you're in my Hell now. My whim is rule here. My control," He glared at them through his luminous red eyes. "is absolute." Jean was flung back into the wall, stunned by the impact as the flames started to lick at her suit.
Brand was furious. Her plan had worked perfectly and now this? Fuelled by her rage, she blasted twin green energy beams at the creature's face before rushing forward to yank Jean unceremoniously clear by the lapels, half-flinging her towards Gabriel. "This isn't happening," she fumed, turning back to Olivier and blasting him again. "Not to me." Another blast. "Not now." More green energy licked over the demon's carapace. "YOU HEAR ME?!"
"I've heard it all. From Homer to Shakespeare to Eminem, not in any particular order, mind you." He reached out and grabbed her, his talons encompassing her head as he slammed her back into the ground. "I'm not interested." It was almost perfunctory, his response. He was about to press down, shattering her skull when Kane rushed the junction of his elbow, prying away the grip for a moment.
"Kyle!"
Kyle had been crouched, seemingly hiding from flame and smoke, muscles tense - he'd expected to have to grab Gabe, the smaller man was fast, but much less likely to survive third degree burns. He hadn't expected to have to rush through the fire and throw himself at the demon to pull Brand away. Costa's flames, and Brand's own powers seared half the hair off Kyle's skull, and blackened his skin, but he pulled her out of the demon's claws, heedless of the burns.
Gabriel, for his part, was supporting Jean as she caught her breath and recovered from the force of what appeared to be a head blow. "I got you," he said to her, as he stomped off the flames that had lightly scorched the bottom of her suit.
He had rarely felt like he had been on a team so outmatched. They needed a Hail Mary, but he wasn't sure what it was. The fires were throwing him, and making it hard for him to think. "Guess I can try to body-slam him at wrap-speed again," he murmured, "if someone can distract him?"
"From a medical standpoint it'd be great to keep the number of people burned by demonic flames to a minimum," Jean said, wiping away blood from a cut on her lip. "Check on Brand? I'll give it another go."
Drawing in a breath, Jean locked eyes with Costa/Olivier/Whoever the Hell he was, then trapped him in a telekinetic bubble. "Send us back. Now," she said.
"Watch your pretty mouth, redbird. The only one who gives orders here is me."
Jean started to make the telekinetic bubble tighter. "I'll do whatever I damn well please," she said. "Send us back or we'll see how many bones you can break."
"Oh, in this bubble? This one?" He gave her a grotesquely lopsided smile in his ruined face and whistled. It was 'A Spoonful of Sugar' from Mary Poppins. At the end of the first few bars, the bubble popped like it was made from soap. "This one?" He taunted as he stalked over and pulled her up with a massive fist around her throat.
"How about another threat?" He shook her hard enough to daze her, limbs struggling against the lack of air. "How about I just choke you to death now as a warning?"
Jean gurgled, her eyes turning bloodshot as she kicked, clawing at his hand. Truth be told she was afraid because he had taken something from her. He had violated her mind and body, and that of her friends, all to keep power. He took sick joy in it. And the more power he took, the more power he wanted. But she didn't want to give in. She wasn't going to die here, or let him take any more of her power.
Something stirred inside of her, something she'd only felt echoes of in the months since the cracks in reality had been repaired.
Her eyes began to blaze, the fire catching down her arms before engulfing her hair in flames. A shockwave of telekinetic energy split the two of them apart, and Jean caught herself before hitting the ground, cloaked in the shape of a firebird as she rose into the air.
"Oh, not just a redbird, but the Firebird... It's been a long time since we've seen you." Olivier paused, cocking his head to one side as he regarded the Phoenix form. "You forget, my Celestial friend, you have no power here."
The creature moved forward in a blur and reached out. His hand seemed to gather the flames in his hand and as he squeezed it shut, the firebird screamed in pain. He wrenched downward, tearing away his handful of fire to a keening wail as the firebird flickered and Jean dropped unconscious to the ground, hitting with a sickening crack.
"You can't win. You can't beat me. The only scenario here is that I'm forced to kill-" Kane hit him waist high, throwing him and the helllord over the fire table and rolling over several times.
Brand had been lying where Kyle had dropped her, a blank expression in her eyes as she recovered from near-crushing. Now, seeing their chances of survival dwindling to nothing, she roused herself. “The mask!” She screamed over the noise of the fire and fighting. “Destroy the mask!”
Kyle ignored her at first, stalking towards Costa with bared fangs and a rumbling growl. He knew he was outmatched, but this man - demon - monster's voice kept repeating in his mind, calling him a tamed pet, more trick pony than wild animal, and he stalked forward another step before Brand's screaming ripped through the mantra to show Costa what kind of man Kyle really was.
He caught himself on her third cry, glared at the agent and then dropped to all fours, howling at his burned arms hit the ground. The run to the brazier with the mask left smears of blood as Kyle's skin healed and broke and healed again, and worse as he slid, baseball style past where Kane and Costa were fighting. He grabbed the mask heedless of its heat and the flames around it and as he did, the mask itself screamed.
A wash of cool air pushed the smoke and sweet smell of burned flesh away, as a green portal irised open.
Kane and Olivier had been battling back and forth, the Canadian using every trick and leverage to counter the demon's superior strength. With his speed, he hammered a series of jackhammer blows into the side of the demon's head, dazing him slightly.
"Get Brand and Jean out of here!" He yelled, just as Olivier slammed four talons through his left shoulder. He stopped the barbed fingers from tearing further, pitting his strength against the demon. "I'm right behind you! Go!”
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Gabriel muttered. When the portal opened, he had already moved toward Jean’s unconscious body. He fired up his powers as he scooped her up with a grunt, using his legs to lift her toward standing before maneuvering her over his shoulders.
Feeling the strain on his muscles, he carried Jean steadily toward the portal. With her weight bearing down on him, it was hardly the fastest he’d ever moved - though to the editors, it would have looked like he’d cleared the distance in mere seconds.
Brand had wobbled to her feet and was blasting at Olivier again, wherever she could get a shot in without hitting Garrison. "Go!" she shouted at Kyle. "I'll give Kane cover!" She didn't wait to see if he obeyed, but continued firing green energy bolts at the hulking white form.
Kyle screamed defiance along with the mask, incoherent rage and pain fueling his voice, and he ran past Brand, glancing back only once to see her turning to run towards the portal as he threw himself through the green light.
It seemed like an eternity but was only a minute or so later when Brand flung herself out of the portal. It snapped shut behind her, leaving her on all fours, gasping for breath, blood flowing from the wounds Olivier had inflicted. At last, she looked up, something close to grief showing in her expression.
"I'm sorry," she managed, her voice sounding strangled. "I tried but... he's gone. Kane's gone."
