Reavers, Part 6

[x-juggernaut.livejournal.com]

Skullbuster and Jetstream square off. Fighty time ensues.


Haroun spotted the Reaver standing a sloppy guard at the base of the
stairwell leading up to the second floor. He also had his back to
Haroun, which made things even easier. Creeping forward, he slid
closer, closer, making as little noise as possible, and then when he
was close enough he jumped forward, using a quick flick of his power
to give him a large amount of momentum, and aimed a flying side kick
right at the back of the Reaver's head. A quick takedown, and it might
have even been nonlethal.

Remy flipped through the com screens, waiting for Kuk to give him a threat priority. And there it was. The man from the medlab, who'd made it back into the upper levels. Remy looked and grinned. Ah, Haroun was close. "Bonjour Haroun. You up for some violence, homme?"

Haroun flicked his comm to the ON position. "Give me a target." he said with a grin. "I'm on the first floor, at the foot of the stairs leading up to the dorms."

"You got one coming down de dining room hallway. 'bout thirty meters off... wait." Remy peered closer into the monitor. "I know dis guy. He's an asshole. Knife fighter. Very good, very fast. Used to work de East Coast."

Haroun grinned, even though Remy couldn't see it. "Good. He's not the only one who likes knives. A shame I don't have any on me. Going up, maybe I can literally get the drop on him." And with a muted roar Haroun lifted into the air, not bothering with the jetpack for such a small application of his power. He floated above the top of the doorway, ready to drop a world of hurt on whoever came
through the doorway. "Let me know if he changes direction." He whispered.

"Count quietly to ten. He'll be dere. Good luck, homme. Scream if you need help. Love de outfit..." Remy flipped to the next screen.

***

"Acknowledged." said Haroun into his link, then bent down to claim the
fallen Reaver's rifle - just in time for this monster of a man to come
storming through. Haroun lifted the rifle, checked it hurriedly that
it had a round chambered (it did), lifted the rifle to his shoulder,
sighted a path to the center of the masked man's forehead, and pulled
the trigger.

Skullbuster's head rocked back with the shot, sending him spinning
into the wall. He righted himself, then touched his fingers to the
barely-noticeable scratch in his chrome facemask. Imaging enhancers
kicked in, and he saw the dark-skinned man down the hall light up as
clear as day. Right in his path. That made him an obstacle.

Moreover, he'd shot Skullbuster in the FACE, and that made it a matter
of pride. Unsheathing two knives and holding them against his
forearms, he advanced on the Moor. "Pendejo," he hissed, "you
gonna be in a world of pain right about now..."

Haroun made a "gimme" gesture with his free hand, while he settled
into a easy combat crouch, awaiting the big man's inevitable charge.
Haroun eyed the bigger man askance - he didn't look like he had much
other than size and intimidation, even if he was actually managing to
hold the knives correctly. But if all his sparring with Nathan had
taught him anything, it was that the bigger they were, the harder they
fell. And most everybody fell if he kicked them hard enough.

Skullbuster used the walls for momentum, kicking off and lunging, lead
arm flashing forward in a feint at Haroun's chest, as his second knife
swung out at the X-Man's groin, landing a shot that would have been a
mortal wound - if Haroun had possessed a femoral artery. As Haroun
twisted his hips with the impact, Skullbuster felt the knife twist out
of his grip and let it go rather than overbalance.

Wheeling around into a low combat stance with his remaining knife,
Skullbuster nodded. "Cyborg too, ese? That's just fine. Gotta
have meat somewhere, and I can break metal just as easy."

Haroun blinked. This guy was much, much faster than he looked. Time to
turn it up a few notched. Without ever taking his eyes off of
Skullbuster, he grabbed the discarded knife and held it at the ready.
"The original." he said calmly, and then launched into his own attack.
He led with his legs - a twisting kick to the bigger man's knife arm,
and the business technique was the crescent with his other leg aimed
at the knee. Balance was easy, after all, when one could fly.

Taking the first kick on his bicep, Skullbuster turned with the
impact, lifting his knee out of the way of the follow-up kick and
narrowly missing a stomp to Haroun's ankle. His knife flashed forwards
once, twice, each time just coming a hair's breadth from the X-Man's
neck. But Haroun's knife was busy as well, cutting swift lines across
the Reaver's torso, scoring the green leather vest that protected his
torso.

A step back to break, and they threw themselves at each other again,
fighting for leverage and seeking out any opening to make that deadly
move. Kicks and feints opened up small vulnerabilities to be
exploited, and within a handful of seconds, both men were bleeding
from superficial cuts, yet unable to land a telling blow.

Haroun settled down and Got Back To Business. If the balance struts
hadn't been replaced in his feet, he would undoubtedly be dead by now.
But the hits on the leather vest were telling, and Haroun aimed his
slashes and cuts towards the ties that held the garment together. He
felt the old familiar burn of the adrenaline being dumped into his
bloodstream, and welcomed the clarity of focus, the speed and
endurance and strength that they gave him. His knife flicked out
again, to score another line across the protective vest, and he took a
shallow cut along his arm for his pains.

"Puto!," Skullbuster swore, dancing backwards. Quickly glancing
down at his knife, he instantly knew the blade had been reduced to
less than useless by his ineffective jabs at Haroun's cybernetics. The
stolen knife that the X-Man wielded was of little more use than
butter-spreading now, so it was going to have to be the old-fashioned
way. That was fine, Skullbuster thought. He loved the old-fashioned
way.

Flicking his knife twice over the leather vest, he let it fall to the
ground, leaving his chest bare and free. Flexing briefly, he nodded
and tossed the knife to the ground, spreading his hands and crouching
to keep his center of gravity low. "I made two of the Gracies tap in
under forty-five seconds, diablo," he bragged, "Broke one's
ankle, he don't walk straight no more. Fragile thing like you, won't
take but ten."

Haroun ditched his own knife and dropped into his own fighting stance.
"Gracies? Pussies. This ain't no Octagon." he grinned. "Let's see what
you got." he growled, and then advanced cautiously on the bigger
cyborg, looking for an opportunity to grab and immobilize.

Skullbuster growled, then feinted a lunge to his left, shooting for
Haroun's opposite leg. Barely dodging a knee strike counter, he felt
the Moor's knuckles slam against his neck and rolled away, regaining
his stance. "Not bad," he hissed, evaluating Haroun's stance with
cocked head. "Krav Maga? Pretty wicked Jew shit, if you know how to
use it. But you're going to need your knees for it."

With deceptive speed, Skullbuster lunged again, this time hooking one
of Haroun's legs and spinning around, trying to put his entire body
weight on the knee joint. Even with the cybernetic enhancements, he
figured, knees only bent one way, and four hundred pounds of pressure
would snap even the tightest-cranked 'ware.

"Like your jujitsu's any different?" he said, flicking his power on
as soon as his admittedly degraded pressure-sensors on his legs told
him that one of them had been hooked. Even if he was super-strong,
he'd have a hard time holding against the kind of thrust Jetstream
could generate. And the backwash was just icing on the cake - although
he had to be careful not to ignite himself as well.

Got you now, Skullbuster thought, whipping his legs around and
taking Haroun down to the floor. The ground was HIS yard, and he was
about to own this camel jockey proper. Dodging a wild kick,
Skullbuster pivoted to wrap both his legs around Haroun's knee,
pinioning the leg and locking in a vice grip around the X-Man's ankle.
"Any last words before you say goodbye to walking, ese?"

"Yeah. Burn." he said, and kicked his power into high gear for just a
second. The two men, wildly unbalanced, lurched into the air and
headed straight for the far wall at a distressing rate of speed. Using
his cybernetics and their inhuman strength, Haroun flipped the two of
them in midair, so that he was flying "backwards" and aiming
Skullbuster right at that wall.

Skullbuster screamed, feeling the flesh - both synthetic and organic,
sear from his arms as Haroun's legs ignited in blue-white flame. The
pain overtook reason, and instead of releasing his hold, he thrashed
about, setting his armor further aflame and not paying attention to
their trajectory.

The next thing he knew, he felt like he'd taken a .50 round to the
chest as Haroun flipped and kicked, and Skullbuster was airborne in a
ballistic arc, smashing into the wall by the front door and caving in
the paneling and drywall. Rolling to extinguish the flames, he
cybernetically triggered the command to dampen his pain sensors.
Through the haze, he noted that his Reavers were nearly decimated, a
handful of casualties and more than half their number wounded.
Plotting a quick route to the evacuation point, he coughed, feeling
blood in his throat.

"Round to you, fucker," he gargled. "Match to me. Catch." He threw
himself backwards out through a nearby window, winging a concussion
grenade towards Haroun as he fell.

Haroun knew damned well what that device was that was flying through
the air aimed right for him. He took a quick fraction of a second to
evaluate his options - ah. The window. Perfect. A little bit of Return
To Sender. Haroun picked up the grenade as it fell, then threw it will
all of his testosterone-soaked might through the window that
Skullbuster had just vacated. With any luck, he'd get caught in the
blast.

Skullbuster rolled across the lawn, smothering the last of the flames
before arching his back and kipping up to his feet. he glanced at the
window just in time to see the grenade come sailing back out.

"Oh, fuck me."

The concussion drove him backwards into the ground, scrambling his
hearing and taking his systems completely offline for a half-second.
As he struggled to his feet, he cried out as the pain in his chest
became acute. Exposed muscle and circuitry in the night air made for a
very painful neural response, but Skullbuster bit back the howl of
agony and limped off to the woodline where he could see the
friend-or-foe signals of his fellow Reavers lighting up. This
mission was a fucking botch, he swore to himself, faulty intel,
faulty prep - someone's going to pay for this.

Haroun stuck his head out the window, to make sure that Skullbuster
was departing and not looping back around to take another try. "Hey,
ese!" catcalled Haroun to the retreating figure. "You don't fuck with
the X-Men!"

***

With the Reavers routed, Alison and Nathan make chase, and find unexpected accompaniment


"I am a very vindictive person, did you know that?"

The wheels skidded across ice and hit the snow covered lawn with a
rattling thump as Alison drove the Jeep right over the cement
boundary lining the path, not at all inclined about taking any detour
while 'escorting' their visitors off the property. "Did they
have to thermite the oven? Lorna's oven?!" She was going to be
so very dead once Lorna got a good look at the kitchen. Making the
people running before them like so many scattered rabbits
suffer a little more before they got away seemed like a good
idea, as a result.

"The kitchen was your idea," Nathan pointed out, telekinetically
parting the smoke ahead of them easily, like a curtain. The intruders
were popping smoke, trying to cover their exit. He grabbed at the
inside of the door to steady himself as the Jeep bounced and jolted
over the ground. "Take it like a woman." His eyes narrowed and he
lashed out with a more focused telekinetic strike, sending one of the
fleeing figures tumbling head over heels briefly.

"I am," Alison answered, yanking at the wheel to take off after
one of the runners who thought he was off the hook, the Jeep merrily
proving that it was indeed an all terrain vehicle. "I'm taking it out
on them while I can! Get back there and run along with the rest
of your little friends you..." The rest was lost in a dark mutter,
Alison tapping one finger on the wheel as though contemplating adding
a little bit more to the mix.

"So do you feel like a sheepdog too, or is it just me?" A couple were
trying to peel off to the left; Nathan flung up a shield and they
bounced off it quite satisfactorily.

A sharp, slightly nasty grin greeted that. "Arf arf." Another swerve
and the Jeep careened in another direction, though not before Alison
took the time for a quick point and shoot at one of the runners in
particular. The indignant howl that followed was testimony to both her
aim and the target she'd picked. "You threw a thermite on Lorna's
stove! Suck it up!"

As soon as one Reaver would falter, another would run and help their
wounded comrade to their feet. At least they knew how to retreat
properly. Fifty meters to the woodline, and then a half-mile sprint to
the chopper, and a safe evacuation. All they had to do was avoid that
damn jeep.

The sound of thunder filled Reese's ears as he handed Macon off to
another cyborg, drawing his rifle to cover the retreat. No, not
thunder... mortar shells? Something thudding loud, rhythmic... and
closer.

"Shit," he whispered, turning to run as fast as he could for the
woodline. Those weren't mortar shells.

Those were footsteps.

They were picking up the pace, Nathan noted with a frown - and then he
heard it too. The thunderous footsteps grew louder, and a wide,
bemused grin spread across his face as the source appeared, running
alongside the Jeep.

"Well, fuck me," he said gleefully, and waved at Cain.

"Could you two wait until after we're done playing with the
boys out there for that?" Alison asked airily, the Jeep skidding madly
as she decided that maybe it wouldn't quite make it over the park
bench that showed up out of nowhere and pin wheeled her way around it
instead.

"Make a path!" she caroled out in Cain's general direction, noting
that he was keeping pace but a bit busy with keeping an eye on the
rapidly approaching tree line. Wind gusted overheard wildly, strangely
enough not affecting the Jeep in the least.

Cain gave a quick wave as he lowered his shoulder, running past the
Jeep to smash through a copse of trees at the woodline. Behind him,
Alison jerked the wheel from side to side, avoiding stumps and fallen
logs as she guided the Jeep to a firebreak.

A gust of wind from above Cain's head sent his hair flying about, and
he skidded to a stop. In the distance, a helicopter was beginning to
lift off, and a familiar figure in the sky was gesturing while clouds
gathered.

"Oh, you're so screwed now..." he called out to the distant Reavers, giving a thumbs-up to Storm as she sailed past on a hurricane gust of wind. This was going to be fun to watch.

***

The escape isn’t complete for the Reavers. Mother Nature is angry.


"Fuck, fuck, and fuck!" Reese cursed, loading his wounded colleagues into the helicopter. "What the hell happened to the decoy team? They said the fucking X-Men were offsite!"

"Bad intel, mate!" Bonebreaker shouted back, detaching himself from his chassis and maneuvering himself into the custom pilot's linkage. "Following protocol and dusting off in sixty seconds! Call in the security, we're fuckin' airborne!"

Reese looked out to the woods, motioning in the last of the mobile Reavers. He paused slightly, cocking his head. "Hey," he noticed as the chopper's rotors began turning, "where'd that wind go?"

The eerie silence was broken by a low sizzling sound, and the pressure around them suddenly shifted - followed immediately by loud cracking sounds as fiery blue orbs appeared around them, sliding madly along the ground in wild patterns, streamers of light dancing between them occasionally when they neared each other too much.

The lightning danced around them like a wild thing, skittering for the helicopter hungrily, occasionally swerved madly, as though not entirely under control.

"Oh crap..." someone breathed.

Bonebreaker looked out the window, then turned to Skullbuster for guidance. The Reavers' leader cocked his head in the familiar gesture that passed for scowling.

"LIFT OFF, pendejo! You want to be grounded when those hit and-?"

The first strikes of ball lightning rocked the copter, sending sparks from the console. In a panic, Bonebreaker pushed the throttles forward, rearing up the helicopter like a bronco, lifting it skyward.

High up in the sky, winds whipping wildly around her, eyes glowing brightly, Ororo smiled grimly. "That's it..." she murmured softly to herself, concentrating a touch more, held up in place more solidly than any rock sunk into the ground might have been. "Run." The ball lightning whipped about the helicopter, going nearly white as more energy was fed into it. In the background, even with the radiance surrounding them, the Reavers could see, impossibly, more balls of bluish lightning sparking into life, motionless only for a moment before starting to tumble towards them. Fast.

Reese felt something snap in his shoulder as he swung out the open hatch, forcing his way back into the copter as it rocked back and forth on the suddenly chaotic winds. He glanced out the hatch, vaguely aware of a … naked woman in the middle of a rapidly swirling whirlwind of fog and lightning? Oh shit. "We're sitting ducks!" he shouted, "we need to evacuate NOW!"

A series of staccato thumps marked a handful of small lightning discharges through the hull of the aircraft. It was designed for extreme weather conditions - but not a direct assault from Mother Nature herself.

"Strap the hell down, ye plonker!" Bonebreaker snarled, "We're going NAP-of-the-earth for evasion!" At that, he dropped the copter into a low arc, barely skimming treetops as they began leaving the mansion behind them.

Hovering along, just close enough to keep them in sight, Ororo snarled quietly. "Run. And don't." The air boomed as more lightning streaked around them, as though to punctuate the words. "Come." She corralled them neatly into a direction, not allowing them any other exit but the direction she chose for them, punishing every attempted deviation with devastating accuracy. "Back."




Wanda makes it to the mansion, but can her power stop bullets?


It hadn't taken much to make her decide to take the short cut through
the woods. It would put her right in Xavier's property, Wanda knew,
and soon found herself ducking branches and making sharp motions in
order to avoid trees and gullies.

Glancing up, she cursed. A large tree was fast approaching and there
was no way she was going to be able to avoid that. Not without a
little help. Risking taking a hand off the bike again, she gathered
the energy from the strings in her mind to herself.

With a shiver, a hex bolt—red and smoking—flew out of her hand and
straight into the tree. At the same time, despite her raging
headache, she grabbed for the strings that went to that tree and
pulled.

As the hex bolt ate through the wood and the life of the tree, turning
it from a healthy brown to a rotting blackness that was the work of
entropy, where it died it was suddenly weak and vulnerable. And top
heavy.

Pulling up on the bike, Wanda barely managed to clear the falling
tree, bouncing hard and nearly dislodging herself from her seat as she
hit the ground on the other side.

A faint metallic taste and smell reached her but she ignored it,
pushing onwards. She was almost there.

Within a few more minutes and she was bursting through the
undergrowth, having caught a glimpse of the jeep she and Forge worked
on somewhere ahead. Turning the handles sharply, she skidded to a
stop, one foot dragging to help as well.

Glancing up, suddenly aware that there was something else going on,
Wanda found herself staring into the cockpit of a helicopter that had
obviously come out of a maneuver. Within seconds of detecting her,
the guns were readied.

***

“Fuck this," Bonebreaker growled from behind the controls. “Ain’t goin’ home without some action." He flipped switches, deploying the helicopter’s twin chain guns. “Even if it’s jus’ a stationary target…"

***

Exhausted and drained, she tried to reach for the strings and then
realized she was too late.

Blue sparks shot through the helicopter’s cabin, prompting curses from the Reavers who were caught in the painful spray. Bonebreaker looked to his status reports, seeing them all read the exact same improbable result: AMMUNITION FIRE // JAMMED FEED MECHANISM // FIRING UNIT NONFUNCTIONAL

“What were th’ fuckin’ odds?" he swore, hauling back on the control stick to point the chopper skyward. “Hol’ on, mates!" he bellowed as his hand slammed down on the jet-assist button, “we’re out of here!"

Just as suddenly as her appearance, they turned tail and fled.

Trying to catch her breath Wanda tore off the helmet and gasped as her
strength left her. Lifting a hand to her nose and mouth, she suddenly
realized she was bleeding heavily. Quickly wiping that off, she
dismounted.

Now, where was that jeep?

***

Coda: A Job Well Done


“We lost them."

“Lost them? We kicked their ass! That’s not losing them, that’s them turning tail and running to mommy."

“Still. We could have taken them down before they got to the helicopter."

“Nathan, I may be a good driver, but this jeep can’t phase through pine trees."

“Don’t worry, they won’t be coming back. I made sure of that."

“Ororo! Hey, great job with the lightning and… oh my god, you didn’t grab your uniform, did you?"

“My uniform is in my locker. When the alarm went off, I was asleep."

“You sleep in… or, well, don’t sleep in…"

“It’s not that unusual, Nathan."

“I am going to hell right now for the images you women are giving me, and Moira is going to send me there."

“Can I get a shirt from someone, then?"

“Wow, sure got them up and running quick."

“You’re damn right we -- CAIN?"

“Hey, you remembered."

“Holy shit! How’re you… I mean, you’re… and the… walking!"

“Yeah, I’m kind of amazed myself. Hey, someone might want to let Maddie know there’s going to be a bit of—“

“Cain? Why is Madelyn calling from the boathouse saying that we need to send over a body bag and a shovel?"

“Well, funny story there…"

“Can someone lend me a shirt?"

“Ororo? Hey, nice outfit!"

“Cain Marko, have you ever seen what happens to a boorish lout when he gets hit by lightning? Wait, yes you have."

“…right. Nathan, give her your shirt."

“Me?"

“Mine’s all shot up. I’d say she could borrow Alison’s-“

“Not a chance. Even if it is your… hey, happy birthday."

“It is? Oh, shit. Hey, happy birthday to me! Gimme a hug, Ororo!"

“Lightning. Bolt."

“Or not."

“Did I miss something? Is the mansion okay?"

“Wanda! Hey, it’s my birthday!"

“Hello, Cain. Nice to see you walking. Did I miss something?"

“We fought off some cyborgs trying to invade the mansion, still sorting that out."

“Wanda? Can I please borrow that jacket?"

“Ororo? Where are your clothes?"

“Funny story there…"

“Lightning bolt and freezing rain, Cain."

“Here you go, Ororo."

“Thank you, Wanda."

“You need shoes? You can borrow Nate’s fuzzy slippers. Nice fuzzy slippers, Nate."

“Shut up, Cain. They’re very tactically effective, I’ll have you know. Very quiet."

“They’re white and fuzzy, Nate."

“I think that your slippers are adorable, Nathan."

“Thank you, Wanda. What happened to your nose?"

“This? Oh, I think I pushed my powers too hard. Does anyone have a tissue?"

“Here, use my shirt."

“Oh, so it’s good enough for Wanda but not for Ororo?"

“Hey Ali? I’m all better now, so I could probably throw you in the lake if you want to keep it up."

“Oh yeah, you’ve made a full recovery."

“Moira’s going to want to check you out, you know."

“Oh shit, Moira’s going to blow a fuse when she sees the medlab."

“Not as much as Lorna is when she sees the kitchen."

“Hey, what’d you guys do to the kitchen?"

“Well, we ought to get back to the others, start a security sweep."

“No, really, what’d you do to the kitchen?"

“Dazzler to Jetstream, hostiles are out of the area, think you can rouse up a quick once-over of the grounds?"

“I’m right here. Must be cold out or something. Nice outfits, one and all. Oh,
don't mind the blood, scalp cuts are messy and they bleed a lot. Don’t mind the scorch marks in the foyer either."

“Don’t pick at that, Moira’s going to want to take a look at that, too."

“What did you do to the foyer? What did he do to the foyer?"

“I think we can call this one a win, guys."

“Good. Now what the hell have you done to the house? Man, I can’t leave you guys alone for one minute…"


3:52am, Tuesday, March 1. Westchester, NY.