(Nine)

Kimble walked into Chester's and looked over the bar. He saw Dixie sitting in her usual seat, probably waiting for him. She was one of the regulars here and a prostitute he favored. She seemed to have grown quite fond of him as well, not always charging him for her services. Just last night she had come in a van and they had spent a couple of hours there, lying naked around each other and enjoying themselves, happy to have total privacy for once. She had seen his long lovely tattoo and commented on it, saying how pretty it was.

He made his way over to her now and greeted her with a deep and loving kiss, stroking her hair back from her neck. "Hey, Dixie."

"Buy a girl a drink?"

"Shure."

They ordered drinks and Dixie took him to a table in the back where it was a little more quiet. They sat down and chatted about nothing for a few minutes when a large shadow fell across Kimble's shoulders. He looked up into the eyes of one of the biggest men he had ever seen. He wasn't so much huge as his presence was very commanding and seemed to draw your attention. He was heavily muscled like he worked out a lot and carried himself with authority. He was dressed in a soft leather shirt and blue jeans. His long blonde hair was loose around his shoulders and his tawny eyes glittered with malice and unquestionable superiority, a trait he shared with his long time enemy, Wolverine.

The infamous Victor Creed, otherwise known as Sabretooth, grinned his cruel, toothy smile, showing Kimble his fangs. "Hey, there, Bunkie. Been lookin' fer you. 'Bout time you showed up."

Kimble squinted as he was blasted from the brightness of Sabretooth's shine. It was like Wolverine's only brighter and less painful. There was no hate behind it for him, only some kind of weird expectancy about it as if it had been waiting for him as well. Kimble was about to speak in his confusion when he was suddenly jolted with a surge of electricity that came not from Sabretooth, but from his hunting companion on this trip, Davis.

Kimble squealed and shook from the unexpected power surge. He lost control of his skin and his wings burst from his back, shredding his shirt and popping the buttons explosively from the front as it became too tight. His pants strangled around his crooked cat's knees and he was ensnared and helpless, trapped as much by his clothing as from the shock that numbed him.

Sabretooth blinked in surprise at Kimble's rapid change in appearance, but didn't let it stop him. He grabbed the dazed pilot roughly and slashed off the remains of his shirt and jacket, eyeing the Mark on his chest. "Nice work, Dixie," he growled with happiness, deep and low. "Davis, pay the lady."

Davis did as he was told and Dixie took the money, giving Kimble a small wave. She had been just a small part of Jael's massive network that had been looking for a man bearing the Honor Sword Mark. Now he had come and she was well rewarded. Her bringing Kimble to the back booth was a pre-arranged signal to Sabretooth to come and collect his prize.

Kimble was still out of sorts from the electrical blast and couldn't move as he was lifted from the bench seat and tossed over Creed's massive shoulder like a piece of meat. They made their way to the door unobstructed. The rest of the people in the bar only stood by and watched, parting way without a fuss. This was just another stupid mutant gang thing as far as they were concerned and none of them wanted to get involved.

Kimble felt the cool of the night air on his bare skin and knew he was now outside. They hadn't gone two more steps when his captor suddenly cried out loudly and crumpled to the ground. He had lost his grip on the pilot and they fell as one, landing in a tangled heap of limbs and wings.

Kimble grunted as he landed, cursing from the pain. They were out on the pavement and he had fallen down hard on his elbows and knees, scraping his skin raw. He rose awkwardly, his crooked pilot legs still tangled in his pants, and looked back at the man who had captured him. Creed was writhing down on his back and grasping at his chest. Blood was bubbling up from several large gaping wounds, he had been shot through with long, jagged clear spikes that looked suspiciously like his own.

"Did I do that?" Kimble asked himself in a stunned whisper.

"No. I did."

Kimble looked up as a small pack of alphas dropped down from the night sky, seemingly out of nowhere. They were all dressed in black military style uniforms, but were unique from each other. The leader was an older man, in his early forties and greying at the temples. He was the one who had spoken and was obviously a telekinetic. He had lowered the group down from the roof of the building with his power.

His three companions were a mixed bunch. There was a young woman covered in green scales who had the face of lizard with sharp jagged crocodile teeth to match. The other two were men, one well built and strong, the other small and weasely looking. Weasel Boy leered at Kimble with short crooked teeth and whispered, "He don't look like he was worth the effort, Kyle."

"Shut up, Leon. Let's just get the job done," Kyle, the leader, responded sharply.

He walked up to Kimble and snatched at him just as Sabretooth had done. He gripped Kimble by the waist of his pants and yanked on him, intending to take him away.

Kimble was horrified at the night's events, all these strangers were coming up to him as if he was their property and just grabbing at him. Yeah, he had wanted a new Master or Mistress but this was getting out of hand! He had no idea why all these people were fighting over him but he didn't care right now. All he wanted was to get away. He flinched and threw a up shield of hardened air at Kyle to push him off, wishing only to get away without seriously injuring him. He remembered Remy's warning about murder.

Kyle laughed impatiently and shattered Kimble's offering with a mental command. "Oh, you are too precious! Too bad we don't have time to play!"

"Lemmie go!" Kimble whimpered in terror and slashed at him with his toe claws, reverting to more conventional weapons. It didn't do him any good. They just scratched against another shield, causing no damage at all. He was hopelessly ensnared by this powerful telekinetic just as easily as he had been by Davis and Sabretooth. He knew he was in serious trouble and was flooded with panic.

Sabretooth groaned and started to rise as Davis joined him from inside. He pulled out a spike with a bloodied hand and let it fall to the pavement with a glass like clink. He looked up at Kyle and growled, showing his reddened teeth. His healing factor was just as quick as Wolverine's if not faster and now he was severely pissed off, not a good combination. He was a well known psychotic killer and madman, a mutant killing machine without remorse. Adding to the tense scene was the sudden appearance of the rest of Sabretooth's gang. They melted out of the darkness, guns ready.

"Break formation!" Kyle barked and put a telekinetic shield around his people, protecting them individually as they scattered. He vaulted up into the sky, hauling a squirming and resistant Kimble with him. The ground exploded in sparks and fireworks as a mutant horror light show broke out below them. Leon was firing bright orange plasma bursts at Davis who was now letting lose with bolts of electricity from his fingers strong enough to fry an elephant. All of that energy collided violently and the night was split with the roaring of explosions. The fact that most of Sabretooth's people were armed with guns only added to the noise. Smoke rose and with it came the smell of cooked meat as Davis went down, scorched but not killed by one of Leon's blasts.

Kimble screamed in terror from the savage battle and clawed at Kyle's face, raking his eyes in an attempt to force the man to let him go. Kyle had been concentrating on what was going on below and was quickly running out of attention span. He howled in pain and released Kimble, letting him fall. Kimble caught himself telekinetically before he could hit the dirt and swooped off towards the trees in a hysterical, clumsy glide.

One of Sabretooth's men took off after him and Leon fired a bolt of plasma to knock him down, wanting Kimble for himself. The man ducked, but Kimble never saw the orange glowing missile coming. He screamed in indescribable agony as he was slammed with a heat so intense he lost all control of his body. Kimble loved heat, yes, but this was a burning lake of lava, a piece of the living sun. His body went first grey, then a bright glowing orange as his inner core heated up well beyond tolerance. He gave a strange twisted cry that was never finished as his pilot's form disintegrated and he began to melt, falling down to the ground in a pool of smoking, red hot gel.

"NO!" Kyle screamed, and let Creed's man have a taste of what he had given his Master earlier. The man fell, clutching his chest as he was run through with long jagged spikes. He lay writhing and twitching on the ground, it was a fatal injury but it would take some time for him to die. Kyle landed next to him and viciously kicked him out of the way, venting his rage. He reached down to touch Kimble's remains, but jerked back with a cry. The gel was too hot to be handled. "Fuck!"

The rest of his gang came up behind him cautiously, sensing his anger. They had dispatched the rest of Sabretooth's men and Creed himself lost interest in fighting after he saw the prize reduced to a pile of boiling slag.

"Whoa, dude!" the other young man said to Leon. "You melted him! Cam's gonna kill you!"

"Just shut up, Michael!" Kyle snapped. He reached out with his power and created a shield, using it like a giant spatula to scoop up Kimble's gel, then balling it up into a container.

"Uhm, boss? This guy is toast," Michael continued, the team chatterbox. "Why bother?"

"I told you to shut up! Now let's go!"

The team obeyed his command and formed their earlier positions. Kyle grunted and vaulted up into the sky, raising them behind him with his power. He didn't have a clue how he was going to fix this, but knew he was going to have to act quickly. They disappeared up into the sky, the only sign of their passing was the orange glowing ball of Kimble's remains, now growing dimmer as they flew off towards New York City. It soon winked out and they were gone.

To be continued in Shattered.