X-Men Mission: Town Called Malice - Log 7
Oct. 22nd, 2022 04:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsThe architect of the slaughter finally reveals herself to Garrison and Tandy.
The long hallways of concrete were occasionally broken up with steel reinforcements and the odd expansion into bunker-like rooms. Heavy cables ran bolted along the ceilings and snaked through to provide power throughout, which fortunately was still on. It was stenciled in warnings and notes clearly from decades ago. The only clue it wasn't still the world war era was in the larger rooms, where modern phones, laptops, and televisions could be found. The entire place was like a tomb, more so with the discovery of the occasional area littered with dead bodies from what was obviously a one-sided conflict.
Tandy walked slightly behind Kane as they continue down a hallway. "Poor bastards didn't even have a chance." It wasn't Tandy’s first time seeing a dead body but being on leave from the X-Men it had been a long time since she was on the field. She didn't stop to examine if anyone of them were alive.
"No. And this wasn't just some kind of normal hit squad. Whatever went through this place like a buzzsaw had powers available." Kane said, tracing the lines of scoring along the concrete. "I'd say Brotherhood, but I can't see a reason why. If anything, Clan Akkaba would be useful dupes for them."
Tandy pressed her lips together as she went through her mind for potential suspects when she stopped and looked down a corridor. A light dagger that flickered between light and dark. The crescent moon around her eye once bright was now black. "I saw movement. Could be the buzzsaw."
"Drop back for a minute. Let's do this slow." Kane said. He wasn't worried much, but they had been clear in their mission approach; assess and then regroup before taking on a threat. "I'm not seeing anything."
Tandy took a step towards Kane and tilted her head a bit. She leaned into him and pointed to her hand with the light dagger down the corridor. "I saw someone move from there to there. Unless this place is haunted." Tandy shook her head and stood straight once more.
"You know, in our world, that's always a possibility," Kane replied with a wry twist of his mouth. "OK, move up slowly. When we get in range, light it up. If it's more than we can handle, that will blind them long enough for us to retreat."
Tandy's light dagger was in her hand as she moved up. Remembering her training, she took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. She wasn't sure why, but she was nervous. Every hair on her body was standing up and she had goosebumps down her arm; something was wrong. Her heart was racing suddenly as she had the flight or fight complex and sweat rolled down her cheek. Tandy stopped walking, confused and slightly disoriented. Her head turned slightly, and she could have sworn something was behind them now. "Dominion," Tandy called out. All the alarms were going off in her head as the pounding of her heart started to echo in her ear as she started to breathe in heavier, having failed to control her heart rate. Tandy wasn't one to have panic attacks and she was given the all-clear to be on this mission and was at a loss of what was going on.
~Just stay there.~ Kane switched to the telepathic switchboard Jean was running. He moved laterally, shifting so that he could use her illumination in order to look further down the tunnel. It did open up into a room of some type, but the light didn't reach far enough to see the details. ~OK, Go forward ten steps and stop. No further.~ Kane said, readying himself for a charge.
Tandy nodded as Kane's voice entered her head. It sent another shiver down her spine. Hearing his voice ahead, Tandy started to take steps forward. Her heart was raising as she looked down at her watch, 160, 165, 170. It was like she was running a marathon. Her blonde hair was already sticking to her skin and her X-Men suit was becoming uncomfortable. Her light didn't falter, giving Dominion the light he needed. Tandy Hearing a familiar and unwelcome voice of what she thought was coming from Dominion's direction beyond him, Tandy unleashed her daggers into the darkness of the room before collapsing to her knees, panting at this point. "Fuck-huff.-huff-off."
“Is that any way to speak to a former colleague?”
The voice came from the darkness bathing the room in front of them, flickers of illumination from Tandy’s still visible daggers liming Laurie’s figure as she stepped forward into their light.
“You should be thanking me.”
Kane went silent, beside Tandy so quickly he almost blurred. "It's her pheromones, kid. Just breathe through it." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Leave Tandy out of this, Collins. I'm the one you want revenge on. Isn't that right?"
“You’ve a high opinion of yourself,” Laurie noted mildly, not moving to step any closer as she continued to stare at Tandy. “Revenge concludes that I ever thought you worth my attention at all. I’ve more important things to think on these days.”
Tandy heard Kane's voice and nodded as she was focusing on her breathing, but then another hit wave hit her and her vision blurred. It seemed to be getting worse with each breath in through her nose. Her vision blurred again as she reached over for a rock, looking down at it for a moment. Fuck, this was going to hurt. With all her might she smashed the rock across her nose, an audible crack splitting the air, and then blood started to stream out of her nose. Her vision came back into focus, but her body couldn't handle the pressure Laurie was putting on her, and then suddenly an avenue of how it was affecting her was broken. At least her heart was coming back down as Tandy fell to her side as darkness took her.
"Shit!" Kane caught her, saving her a nasty crack on the head, and eased her down. "Wrong time to be clever, kid." He was impressed. She caught a smell-based attack and didn't hesitate to try to neutralize it in the only way she could think of. Perhaps there was such a thing as training being too thorough. He settled her back, making sure she could breathe before getting back up.
“Alright Collins. I guess this is your party right now. Any reason Clan Akkaba deserved to be wiped out to the last man here or were you just horny?"
“Means to an end,” Laurie murmured as she looked to her side for a moment before turning back to him. “They had the information we required, and as I said. Shouldn’t you be thanking me for taking out a threat? I did do you a favor after all.”
"How are this group of idiots a threat? Give me a break." Kane said dismissively, hoping to keep her talking.
"Not a threat to me, or us really," Laurie replied casually as her stance relaxed. It was darker now that Tandy's daggers had faded with her loss of consciousness, but Laurie hadn't moved from her spot, and Garrison could still hear her through the gathering darkness. "But your team certainly seemed to think they were one, or why come here at all?"
"You have something to say? Say it. You're still a coward." Kane spat.
"It doesn't matter, we got the information on En Sabeh Nur before you, which wasn't spectacularly hard." Laurie's voice had moved slightly closer in the dark, her tone warming to her speech. "Dr. Essex really was right about you all. Too self-righteous and arrogant by far, and certainly too full of yourselves to see my abilities for what they truly were. If Darcy had just listened..."
"Before you abused her? This is your big justification? If the bitch I beat knew her place?" Kane's face screwed up. "I'm not going to pretend that this wasn't personal before but now... I've never understood why people didn't see that cruel streak that defines you. You wore it openly, even defiantly, and everyone else made excuses for you. No more." Kane was waiting for the attack, the hit of pheromones he knew was coming. His best shot was a rush just as she used them, betting on his speed to crush her against the wall before she could immobilize him. "You better hope you kill me here. If you don't, I'm going to fuck you up until you die."
It took a moment for Laurie to speak again, the air in the underground complex seemingly heavy with the silence. A light flickered in the darkness as dull bulbs overhead sparked to life down the long corridor. Her true appearance, unmarred by darkness was revealed. Deep violet purple skin and hair, with eyes, only now starting to collapse back to standard pupils from the wide almost iris-free holes they'd been in the dark. Laurie held up her hand, now fully restored, and did a little finger wave from her position only a few feet away.
"You have to admit, Dr. Essex certainly gave me something none of you ever could, and Adam is by far a better person than any of you ever were. They saved me and gave me a purpose and together we're going to save the world. It's a pity you won't be here to see it."
"Is it? But you-" Kane said but suddenly buckled. He had been waiting for it, no omni-skin, hoping to bluff his way through. But the pheromones meant to end his lungs, heart, and brain hit all at the same time. He'd mistimed and his rush was now an impossibility.
And yet.
"It's... it's the fresh scent of pine." Kane said, repeating the famous commercial. Before Laurie could react, a punch put her through the opposite wall. "Well, isn't that something?"
“Fascinating,” Laurie rasped. Kane had thrown her through solid brick, which would give a normal human something deeply life-threatening in the way of broken bones and trashed organs. Laurie however pulled herself back through the wall with wickedly clawed hands, as the blood now gushing from several places dried up, the healing factor Essex had spliced into her genes taking over. “You know, I really thought that was going to kill you. I guess we’re going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.”
“Old fashioned. Like reminding you that you're out of your depth.” Kane wasn’t sure what happened, but he was willing to bluff.
“You always were as uncouth as they come,” Laurie replied, brushing brick dust from her hair as she measured the distance between them. “Essex gave me back my arm and added a few benefits on top just for expedience’s sake. You’ll find Malice to be much less of a pushover than Laurie Collins was.”
Malice shot forward, not as fast as Kane had but way faster than what she might have managed at any previous time in their acquaintance. She reached him in seconds, purple-tinged claws raking forward to slice and bite deep.
He slapped her hands aside, using his superior speed to stay ahead. Her claws caught air as two blows smashed across her face, breaking her cheekbone. "I got to hand it to you, Collins. I always thought you were arrogant trash with a cruel streak, but I never figured you for being dumb." He took a calculated blow to the stomach, which put her in position for him to crush her collarbone and toss her against the opposite wall. "But letting Essex weaponize you. Again? Fuck, I wonder how much he rewired your head this time to be the good little mutate for him."
Malice grinned through bloodied teeth but didn't speak as her healing factor began to struggle, prioritizing internal organs over bones. It took a moment but she pulled herself from the wall and launched herself back at him, going low this time in an attempt to get him on the ground.
Kane spun away, at the cost of nasty slashes across both calves. He staggered for a moment, crouching to minimize the damage. "Or maybe you're not Essex' dog this time. Who do you take your orders from now? Who takes up all the time and attention in that fucked up little head of yours?"
Malice spun at the last minute to stop herself from going headfirst into the ground and crouched across from him, her clawed hands held wide as she calculated her next move. She could feel her bones as they popped painfully back into place, her healing factor having moved on from her organs. Blood ran freely from the injuries along her scalp, making it hard to see until she swung her head to splatter it away and free her vision.
“No Master this time, no more weaknesses or distractions. I make my own choices, and I choose to work with Essex and protect his son. If you weren't so self-righteous, all of you, we might have even been able to work together. Pity you never could see the bigger picture.”
"I'm sure Essex has shown you the bigger picture. After all, you're now the hero, right? The avenging right hand of Essex' son." Pieces were starting to fall into place. Collins was desperate to justify her choices; desperate to show how she'd been right all along. That she was the only one who truly understood while the X-Men fumbled around blindly. No wonder Essex had been able to recruit her. But the undercurrent in her voice when she mentioned his son dropped the last piece in place. He'd heard that tone before.
Genosha. Whether she believed or even cared, there was some element of the mutate process involved. He circled her carefully. He was faster and stronger, but her healing factor had already absorbed Logan levels of damage and she was on her feet. If he wasn't careful, a bad blow from her claws could cripple him beyond his immediate ability to absorb, and pheromones or not, she'd kill him without hesitation given the opportunity.
“Adam is the hero, I’m just the woman who loves him,” Malice replied, moving with his circling so he couldn’t get behind her. “En Sabeh Nur, an immortal mutant on the rise. Adam is the only one of us who will stand a chance. If you had all left well enough alone, we would never have crossed paths. But you just couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you?”
"Just like you loved Semoko? I remember you were ready to die for her." Kane shot back, not only rattling her but goading her to keep talking, keep giving him more and more information. The more she felt she needed to prove her superiority, the more information he'd take back. Letting her heal wasn't necessarily the safest route, but since her pheromones seemed to not be working, he still had the upper hand for now.
“I see you, Garrison Kane. Trying to worm your way into my psyche, trying to make me doubt my purpose.”
Malice rushed him, launching herself up the wall with an agility she’d not had in her former life. It took her behind him, but further away. Enough distance to have a chance to maneuver. She grinned at him, flicking hair soaked in her own blood from her face. It wouldn't be long now, she could hear the sucking sound of bone popping back into the place, and wounds that had been grievous injuries moments before now mere scratches.
“I’m a doctor, I did the psychology rounds as part of my training. Adam and I were intimate companions before Essex ever worked his procedure on me. It’s why I let Darcy go, but she wouldn’t have it. She begged me to stay.”
Malice came at him again, jumping at the last moment in an attempt to take him around the waist and onto the ground. If she could get him off his feet, she'd have a better chance of disemboweling him with her claws.
"Oh, so you were fucking a child beforehand. Got to be honest, that sounds more like you." He pivoted and lashed out, the blow forcing her back. His follow-ups went left and right, blurring, keeping her off balance as he closed. She lunged at him with both claws, tearing down the armor of his leathers before he was able to grab her by the throat and smash her head into the wall.
Malice coughed and spat bright red blood on his face as the light of panic finally showed in her eyes. She struggled in his hold as she could feel the break in her skull at the back, her training cataloging the injuries even as she felt herself start to go foggy from the damage to her brain.
“Not. A. Child.”
She reached up and latched onto his hands around her throat, the claws that had just moments ago been dangerous weapons now scrabbling weekly as her limbs weakened. It dawned on her that she couldn't win this fight, not as she was. She needed to get away, needed to find some other way to end him another day.
Kane's fingers tensed on her neck, feeling the damage, ready to end it with nothing more than a twist of his wrist. That's all it would take. He'd been right about her from the start and now... now...
"No." He hissed, not releasing his grip but feeling the blinding rage subside. "I'm not going to kill you, Collins. You deserve it, but instead, I'm going to drag you back to the mansion, slap an inhibitor on you, and let Frost pick your mind apart until we get every detail of the shit you've been up to with Essex. I'm sure a few people will want to look you in your fucked up new eyes and let you know what you did. And then I'll personally escourt you to the Vault." He leaned in close, almost nose to nose. "And the second they close the door to the cell you're going to eventually die in years and years from now, I won't spare another second's thought about you."
“Always the boyscout,” Malice gasped, synapses in her brain firing slowly as her healing factor worked on the damage. Her speech was slurred, almost as badly as it had been when she’d left the mansion. “Your friends, release me and they won’t die. We’ll leave, we’ll all leave and nobody dies today.”
His fingers twitched, but he was aware through the telepathic switchboard that the X-Men were under fire and several pairs were not in good shape. If he couldn't force a retreat, they could lose someone soon. It would be so easy. Finally, he let go and took a step back.
"You call your retreat and call it now. And if they don't break off immediately, I won't have an issue putting you down." Kane said, with a certainty that made it clear he would follow through.
Malice’s eyes took on a far away look for a moment, an almost universal sign of telepathic communication. After a moment she was back and focused solely on Kane again, a bloody toothed smile through gritted teeth aimed squarely at him.
“It’s done.”
She pushed herself upright from the wall and slowly walked past Kane, only stumbling twice as her healing factor continued to heal the damage he’d done.
“This isn’t finished, Boy Scout.”
The long hallways of concrete were occasionally broken up with steel reinforcements and the odd expansion into bunker-like rooms. Heavy cables ran bolted along the ceilings and snaked through to provide power throughout, which fortunately was still on. It was stenciled in warnings and notes clearly from decades ago. The only clue it wasn't still the world war era was in the larger rooms, where modern phones, laptops, and televisions could be found. The entire place was like a tomb, more so with the discovery of the occasional area littered with dead bodies from what was obviously a one-sided conflict.
Tandy walked slightly behind Kane as they continue down a hallway. "Poor bastards didn't even have a chance." It wasn't Tandy’s first time seeing a dead body but being on leave from the X-Men it had been a long time since she was on the field. She didn't stop to examine if anyone of them were alive.
"No. And this wasn't just some kind of normal hit squad. Whatever went through this place like a buzzsaw had powers available." Kane said, tracing the lines of scoring along the concrete. "I'd say Brotherhood, but I can't see a reason why. If anything, Clan Akkaba would be useful dupes for them."
Tandy pressed her lips together as she went through her mind for potential suspects when she stopped and looked down a corridor. A light dagger that flickered between light and dark. The crescent moon around her eye once bright was now black. "I saw movement. Could be the buzzsaw."
"Drop back for a minute. Let's do this slow." Kane said. He wasn't worried much, but they had been clear in their mission approach; assess and then regroup before taking on a threat. "I'm not seeing anything."
Tandy took a step towards Kane and tilted her head a bit. She leaned into him and pointed to her hand with the light dagger down the corridor. "I saw someone move from there to there. Unless this place is haunted." Tandy shook her head and stood straight once more.
"You know, in our world, that's always a possibility," Kane replied with a wry twist of his mouth. "OK, move up slowly. When we get in range, light it up. If it's more than we can handle, that will blind them long enough for us to retreat."
Tandy's light dagger was in her hand as she moved up. Remembering her training, she took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. She wasn't sure why, but she was nervous. Every hair on her body was standing up and she had goosebumps down her arm; something was wrong. Her heart was racing suddenly as she had the flight or fight complex and sweat rolled down her cheek. Tandy stopped walking, confused and slightly disoriented. Her head turned slightly, and she could have sworn something was behind them now. "Dominion," Tandy called out. All the alarms were going off in her head as the pounding of her heart started to echo in her ear as she started to breathe in heavier, having failed to control her heart rate. Tandy wasn't one to have panic attacks and she was given the all-clear to be on this mission and was at a loss of what was going on.
~Just stay there.~ Kane switched to the telepathic switchboard Jean was running. He moved laterally, shifting so that he could use her illumination in order to look further down the tunnel. It did open up into a room of some type, but the light didn't reach far enough to see the details. ~OK, Go forward ten steps and stop. No further.~ Kane said, readying himself for a charge.
Tandy nodded as Kane's voice entered her head. It sent another shiver down her spine. Hearing his voice ahead, Tandy started to take steps forward. Her heart was raising as she looked down at her watch, 160, 165, 170. It was like she was running a marathon. Her blonde hair was already sticking to her skin and her X-Men suit was becoming uncomfortable. Her light didn't falter, giving Dominion the light he needed. Tandy Hearing a familiar and unwelcome voice of what she thought was coming from Dominion's direction beyond him, Tandy unleashed her daggers into the darkness of the room before collapsing to her knees, panting at this point. "Fuck-huff.-huff-off."
“Is that any way to speak to a former colleague?”
The voice came from the darkness bathing the room in front of them, flickers of illumination from Tandy’s still visible daggers liming Laurie’s figure as she stepped forward into their light.
“You should be thanking me.”
Kane went silent, beside Tandy so quickly he almost blurred. "It's her pheromones, kid. Just breathe through it." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Leave Tandy out of this, Collins. I'm the one you want revenge on. Isn't that right?"
“You’ve a high opinion of yourself,” Laurie noted mildly, not moving to step any closer as she continued to stare at Tandy. “Revenge concludes that I ever thought you worth my attention at all. I’ve more important things to think on these days.”
Tandy heard Kane's voice and nodded as she was focusing on her breathing, but then another hit wave hit her and her vision blurred. It seemed to be getting worse with each breath in through her nose. Her vision blurred again as she reached over for a rock, looking down at it for a moment. Fuck, this was going to hurt. With all her might she smashed the rock across her nose, an audible crack splitting the air, and then blood started to stream out of her nose. Her vision came back into focus, but her body couldn't handle the pressure Laurie was putting on her, and then suddenly an avenue of how it was affecting her was broken. At least her heart was coming back down as Tandy fell to her side as darkness took her.
"Shit!" Kane caught her, saving her a nasty crack on the head, and eased her down. "Wrong time to be clever, kid." He was impressed. She caught a smell-based attack and didn't hesitate to try to neutralize it in the only way she could think of. Perhaps there was such a thing as training being too thorough. He settled her back, making sure she could breathe before getting back up.
“Alright Collins. I guess this is your party right now. Any reason Clan Akkaba deserved to be wiped out to the last man here or were you just horny?"
“Means to an end,” Laurie murmured as she looked to her side for a moment before turning back to him. “They had the information we required, and as I said. Shouldn’t you be thanking me for taking out a threat? I did do you a favor after all.”
"How are this group of idiots a threat? Give me a break." Kane said dismissively, hoping to keep her talking.
"Not a threat to me, or us really," Laurie replied casually as her stance relaxed. It was darker now that Tandy's daggers had faded with her loss of consciousness, but Laurie hadn't moved from her spot, and Garrison could still hear her through the gathering darkness. "But your team certainly seemed to think they were one, or why come here at all?"
"You have something to say? Say it. You're still a coward." Kane spat.
"It doesn't matter, we got the information on En Sabeh Nur before you, which wasn't spectacularly hard." Laurie's voice had moved slightly closer in the dark, her tone warming to her speech. "Dr. Essex really was right about you all. Too self-righteous and arrogant by far, and certainly too full of yourselves to see my abilities for what they truly were. If Darcy had just listened..."
"Before you abused her? This is your big justification? If the bitch I beat knew her place?" Kane's face screwed up. "I'm not going to pretend that this wasn't personal before but now... I've never understood why people didn't see that cruel streak that defines you. You wore it openly, even defiantly, and everyone else made excuses for you. No more." Kane was waiting for the attack, the hit of pheromones he knew was coming. His best shot was a rush just as she used them, betting on his speed to crush her against the wall before she could immobilize him. "You better hope you kill me here. If you don't, I'm going to fuck you up until you die."
It took a moment for Laurie to speak again, the air in the underground complex seemingly heavy with the silence. A light flickered in the darkness as dull bulbs overhead sparked to life down the long corridor. Her true appearance, unmarred by darkness was revealed. Deep violet purple skin and hair, with eyes, only now starting to collapse back to standard pupils from the wide almost iris-free holes they'd been in the dark. Laurie held up her hand, now fully restored, and did a little finger wave from her position only a few feet away.
"You have to admit, Dr. Essex certainly gave me something none of you ever could, and Adam is by far a better person than any of you ever were. They saved me and gave me a purpose and together we're going to save the world. It's a pity you won't be here to see it."
"Is it? But you-" Kane said but suddenly buckled. He had been waiting for it, no omni-skin, hoping to bluff his way through. But the pheromones meant to end his lungs, heart, and brain hit all at the same time. He'd mistimed and his rush was now an impossibility.
And yet.
"It's... it's the fresh scent of pine." Kane said, repeating the famous commercial. Before Laurie could react, a punch put her through the opposite wall. "Well, isn't that something?"
“Fascinating,” Laurie rasped. Kane had thrown her through solid brick, which would give a normal human something deeply life-threatening in the way of broken bones and trashed organs. Laurie however pulled herself back through the wall with wickedly clawed hands, as the blood now gushing from several places dried up, the healing factor Essex had spliced into her genes taking over. “You know, I really thought that was going to kill you. I guess we’re going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.”
“Old fashioned. Like reminding you that you're out of your depth.” Kane wasn’t sure what happened, but he was willing to bluff.
“You always were as uncouth as they come,” Laurie replied, brushing brick dust from her hair as she measured the distance between them. “Essex gave me back my arm and added a few benefits on top just for expedience’s sake. You’ll find Malice to be much less of a pushover than Laurie Collins was.”
Malice shot forward, not as fast as Kane had but way faster than what she might have managed at any previous time in their acquaintance. She reached him in seconds, purple-tinged claws raking forward to slice and bite deep.
He slapped her hands aside, using his superior speed to stay ahead. Her claws caught air as two blows smashed across her face, breaking her cheekbone. "I got to hand it to you, Collins. I always thought you were arrogant trash with a cruel streak, but I never figured you for being dumb." He took a calculated blow to the stomach, which put her in position for him to crush her collarbone and toss her against the opposite wall. "But letting Essex weaponize you. Again? Fuck, I wonder how much he rewired your head this time to be the good little mutate for him."
Malice grinned through bloodied teeth but didn't speak as her healing factor began to struggle, prioritizing internal organs over bones. It took a moment but she pulled herself from the wall and launched herself back at him, going low this time in an attempt to get him on the ground.
Kane spun away, at the cost of nasty slashes across both calves. He staggered for a moment, crouching to minimize the damage. "Or maybe you're not Essex' dog this time. Who do you take your orders from now? Who takes up all the time and attention in that fucked up little head of yours?"
Malice spun at the last minute to stop herself from going headfirst into the ground and crouched across from him, her clawed hands held wide as she calculated her next move. She could feel her bones as they popped painfully back into place, her healing factor having moved on from her organs. Blood ran freely from the injuries along her scalp, making it hard to see until she swung her head to splatter it away and free her vision.
“No Master this time, no more weaknesses or distractions. I make my own choices, and I choose to work with Essex and protect his son. If you weren't so self-righteous, all of you, we might have even been able to work together. Pity you never could see the bigger picture.”
"I'm sure Essex has shown you the bigger picture. After all, you're now the hero, right? The avenging right hand of Essex' son." Pieces were starting to fall into place. Collins was desperate to justify her choices; desperate to show how she'd been right all along. That she was the only one who truly understood while the X-Men fumbled around blindly. No wonder Essex had been able to recruit her. But the undercurrent in her voice when she mentioned his son dropped the last piece in place. He'd heard that tone before.
Genosha. Whether she believed or even cared, there was some element of the mutate process involved. He circled her carefully. He was faster and stronger, but her healing factor had already absorbed Logan levels of damage and she was on her feet. If he wasn't careful, a bad blow from her claws could cripple him beyond his immediate ability to absorb, and pheromones or not, she'd kill him without hesitation given the opportunity.
“Adam is the hero, I’m just the woman who loves him,” Malice replied, moving with his circling so he couldn’t get behind her. “En Sabeh Nur, an immortal mutant on the rise. Adam is the only one of us who will stand a chance. If you had all left well enough alone, we would never have crossed paths. But you just couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you?”
"Just like you loved Semoko? I remember you were ready to die for her." Kane shot back, not only rattling her but goading her to keep talking, keep giving him more and more information. The more she felt she needed to prove her superiority, the more information he'd take back. Letting her heal wasn't necessarily the safest route, but since her pheromones seemed to not be working, he still had the upper hand for now.
“I see you, Garrison Kane. Trying to worm your way into my psyche, trying to make me doubt my purpose.”
Malice rushed him, launching herself up the wall with an agility she’d not had in her former life. It took her behind him, but further away. Enough distance to have a chance to maneuver. She grinned at him, flicking hair soaked in her own blood from her face. It wouldn't be long now, she could hear the sucking sound of bone popping back into the place, and wounds that had been grievous injuries moments before now mere scratches.
“I’m a doctor, I did the psychology rounds as part of my training. Adam and I were intimate companions before Essex ever worked his procedure on me. It’s why I let Darcy go, but she wouldn’t have it. She begged me to stay.”
Malice came at him again, jumping at the last moment in an attempt to take him around the waist and onto the ground. If she could get him off his feet, she'd have a better chance of disemboweling him with her claws.
"Oh, so you were fucking a child beforehand. Got to be honest, that sounds more like you." He pivoted and lashed out, the blow forcing her back. His follow-ups went left and right, blurring, keeping her off balance as he closed. She lunged at him with both claws, tearing down the armor of his leathers before he was able to grab her by the throat and smash her head into the wall.
Malice coughed and spat bright red blood on his face as the light of panic finally showed in her eyes. She struggled in his hold as she could feel the break in her skull at the back, her training cataloging the injuries even as she felt herself start to go foggy from the damage to her brain.
“Not. A. Child.”
She reached up and latched onto his hands around her throat, the claws that had just moments ago been dangerous weapons now scrabbling weekly as her limbs weakened. It dawned on her that she couldn't win this fight, not as she was. She needed to get away, needed to find some other way to end him another day.
Kane's fingers tensed on her neck, feeling the damage, ready to end it with nothing more than a twist of his wrist. That's all it would take. He'd been right about her from the start and now... now...
"No." He hissed, not releasing his grip but feeling the blinding rage subside. "I'm not going to kill you, Collins. You deserve it, but instead, I'm going to drag you back to the mansion, slap an inhibitor on you, and let Frost pick your mind apart until we get every detail of the shit you've been up to with Essex. I'm sure a few people will want to look you in your fucked up new eyes and let you know what you did. And then I'll personally escourt you to the Vault." He leaned in close, almost nose to nose. "And the second they close the door to the cell you're going to eventually die in years and years from now, I won't spare another second's thought about you."
“Always the boyscout,” Malice gasped, synapses in her brain firing slowly as her healing factor worked on the damage. Her speech was slurred, almost as badly as it had been when she’d left the mansion. “Your friends, release me and they won’t die. We’ll leave, we’ll all leave and nobody dies today.”
His fingers twitched, but he was aware through the telepathic switchboard that the X-Men were under fire and several pairs were not in good shape. If he couldn't force a retreat, they could lose someone soon. It would be so easy. Finally, he let go and took a step back.
"You call your retreat and call it now. And if they don't break off immediately, I won't have an issue putting you down." Kane said, with a certainty that made it clear he would follow through.
Malice’s eyes took on a far away look for a moment, an almost universal sign of telepathic communication. After a moment she was back and focused solely on Kane again, a bloody toothed smile through gritted teeth aimed squarely at him.
“It’s done.”
She pushed herself upright from the wall and slowly walked past Kane, only stumbling twice as her healing factor continued to heal the damage he’d done.
“This isn’t finished, Boy Scout.”
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Date: 2022-10-22 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-10-22 11:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-10-23 02:17 am (UTC)God this entire thing is brilliant, but this
"And the second they close the door to the cell you're going to eventually die in years and years from now, I won't spare another second's thought about you."
this is just absolutely cold and I love it
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Date: 2022-10-23 04:45 am (UTC)I don’t usually enjoy fight scenes but this one flowed easily, and just seemed to write itself.
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Date: 2022-10-27 02:25 am (UTC)Amazing log. Images so descriptive I could hear them in my mind, Tandy doing the only thing she could think of to stop Malice's powers from working, the absolute contempt Garrison holds her in... just stunning work, you three.