Disclaimer: The characters within this story belong to Marvel with the exception of Rebecca, the second Jean, and Alex. I saw an idea by Maria Cline on the orphan ideas board about Scott becoming a gun-toting mercenary. I kind of thought it was an odd idea. I can't see the mercenary part but it got me thinking about what it would take to get the gun-toting part. It contains some violence
Scott Summers et al vs. Mr. Sinister and the Marauders.
Scott hefted the large laser rifle nervously as he moved away from the minijet. He hard been training himself for this day for months but this was the first time he had gone into a battle alone and without his optic beams. He no longer had them to rely on. That was part of the reason why he was here. Months ago Mr. Sinister and his Marauders had kidnapped him. Jean had followed them in a rescue attempt. She and his eyes had not survived the experience.
He had woken to darkness and an empty feeling in the back of his mind where Jean's telepathy had joined them together in a psi-link. Rather than the cold voice of Sinister he had heard Hank McCoy informing him that he and Jean's body had appeared on the lawn of the X-mansion. Apparently Sinister had teleported them there.
Rather than wallow in a pit of despair Scott's thoughts had had turned in a surprising direction. Revenge. Forge had constructed him a pair a cybernetic eyes as soon as he heard what had happened. They weren't able to duplicate his optic blasts though. So he had gone back to Forge to find out if he could construct a weapon that duplicated the effects of the blasts since they were one of the few things that could hurt Sinister. Using recorded Danger Room scenarios that had recorded power levels Forge had been able to do it. Now Scott carried one massive gun and several smaller backups as he entered a lab that painstaking investigation and favors other X-men had called in had located.
The first Marauder he encountered was Prism. Since the glass man was capable of reflecting energy attacks he reversed the gun and shattered his head with the butt of it. Vertigo was next, a full powered shot leaving her body broken against a wall. Scrambler actually managed to lay a hand on him, expecting it to screw up his powers. Scott felt a light twinge but since he lost his eyes he assumed there was nothing that it could do to him. Scott brought him down with a close range shot to the stomach.
He got no further than that though. The gun was suddenly wrenched from his hands and he found himself unable to move. A green haired young man stepped in front of him.
"I'm sorry to do this, but I'm afraid you've gone far enough."
Scott passed out a moment later as the blood flow to his brain cut off.
**********
Scott woke up strapped to a lab table with Sinister standing over him.
"Hello Scott. I hope Alex didn't hurt you to badly." He indicated the green haired man. "He was trying one of Magneto's favorite moves, using iron in the bloodstream to control the flow."
He flickered before Scott's eyes causing Scott to realize that his eyes weren't working properly. 'Must have been damaged when the kid with magnetic powers grabbed me.'
He didn't get let on to that problem though. "I'm going to kill you when I get loose." 'There has to be someway out of this.'
"That is unlikely. You are powerless and I've confiscated your weaponry. I really don't want to hurt you Scott."
"So removing my eyes and killing my wife wasn't supposed to hurt me?"
"I was quite certain you could gain new eyes with the number of scientific geniuses you know. And your wife's death was an accident. I had ordered them only to subdue Jean. Sabretooth did not follow orders. He was punished severely."
"Like I believe that." Scott began to notice a tingling in his hands.
"I have never wished you any harm. You have the potential to produce some of the most powerful mutants in the world. By removing your eyes I intended to remove you from battles that might lead to your death. Your brother lost his life in a totally pointless battle with someone who was supposed to be his ally."
"How did you no about that?"
"I make a point to be aware of what accures in your lives."
Something clicked in Scott's head. Named Alex, green hair. "Wait a minute. Is that...?"
"Named for your brother and genetically his son."
"Why would you do that?" He was trying to stall for time plus he was genuinely curious as to why since Sinister had always been interested in his and Jean's genes. 'Might as well ask. He seems to want to talk for some reason.'
"Someday my plans may put me face to face with Magneto. It would be interesting to see how he fares in a battle with someone at least his equal and far better trained than the late Joseph was. I have not lost interest in the progeny of you and Jean. In fact I have attempted some new things with them."
He pointed over to the left wall. When Scott looked over there for the first time he recieved a massive shock. There were two girls working with the lab equipment. One was identical to Rachel, the other looked like a female version of Nate Grey and a young Cable.
"As you can see I successfully recreated your alternate daughter, and after three versions of your son I wanted to see what happened if you placed those genes in a female. Meet Jean, named for your wife and Rebecca."
Both looked over at Scott and nodded aknowledging his presence.
"As I said I don't wish to harm you. However if you attempt something like this again I will have to take action to prevent it."
'He's letting me go? He's gone crazier than before.' The itching was more insistent now.
The Rachel lookalike, Jean, spoke. "Sir, there's something going on with him. The amount of solar energy stored in his body is dropping."
"Impossible. That only occurs when he actively uses his powers. It decreases the amount stored until he is back in the sun to recharge. He is no longer capable of that."
A red glow surrounded Scott's hands and a massive energy blast was released destroying the table he was strapped to. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth Scott brought his hands up and leveled everyone in his path.
Scott raced out of the lab as fast as he could, stumbling or bumping into things whenever his eyes failed him. He didn't meet any resistance on the way to the minijet. Sinister was to busy trying, rather unsuccessfully, to regenerate from the wounds. The other three were to shocked to think of calling the Marauders.
**********
Scott had placed the jet on autopilot since his eyes weren't working right and returned home. After seeing and hearing what had happened Hank and Forge were once again called in.
After a detailed medical examination Hank was ready to give his theory on this new power.
"I believe that Scrambler's touch combined with your bodies need to release the solar energy it once stored for your optic beams altered your powers in the manor you described. Unfortunately we still need to find a more permanent solution to your problem. Eventually your body will build up the levels again and need to release it's stored energy and I doubt what Scrambler did is permanent."
Next Forge worked on his eyes. "They should be better than new. Think the word targeting," he instructed."
When Scott did this he found that his view shifted and now included crosshairs and distance information.
"I thought that up when you first asked for the guns but I didn't want to tamper with your eyes for no reason."
"Thank you. Can you build some more artillary for me?"
"Of course."
"And make them out of something non-magnetic. I'll also need some extra."
*********
While Forge was making the guns Scott was busy recruiting help. After last time he realized he couldn't do it alone.
Since he was at the mansion the first people he asked were Logan and Kitty.
"Ya know how I felt 'bout Jeanie. Now I got a chance ta get even with the people who killed her. Especially Creed. Course I'm with ya."
"I can't believe you actually have to ask me that. They just about killed me last time. I've wanted another shot at them for ages."
"Remy a little insulted you not t'ink to ask him," Gambit stated as he entered the conversation. "Remy brought de Marauders together, now he wants de chance to take dem apart."
"And you're nuts if you think I'm stayin' out of this," Marrow informed them.
A disgusted look crossed her face as they all looked surprised. "Why does everybody think that just 'cause I'm happy for a change that I still won't stick a bone knife in someone who deserves it." Everyone had acted like they expected her to be some little wimp since she now had control over where her bones grew and how they did.
********
Scott was headed for where he knew Nate Grey lived to ask for his help. He had already gotten Nathen to help but he figured with Rebecca and Jean they would need all the telepathic help they could get.
"Nate, don't even think about helping him. This man is scum. He left me and his baby for that little tramp."
"Maddie, shut up. I'm doing this. Sinister's scum. He's up there with Apocalypse and he's attacked me before."
"You're welcome to help Madelyne," Scott told her. "But I don't want to ever hear you insult Jean again."
**********
Next on the list was Warren Worthington.
"I'll be there, Scott. I've wanted a rematch since they cost me my wings. I know I'm not as tough as I was as Archangel, but just give me one of those guns you told me about."
********
Lorna Dane was final person he tried to recruit. She was also the hardest.
"Look, Scott I've had enough of the X. I quit when Alex died."
"Lorna, the reason why I came to you is because we need a person with magnetic powers. Sinister's using your DNA. He created a new mutant with it. Your and Alex's son."
That changed her mind immediately. "I'm surprised he didn't use the samples he got from me as Malice before. I'll help, but this is it. I'm done after this."
**********
Scott was with most of his makeshift team, including Madelyne. "Nate talked me into it," she explained.
Angel was the last one to arrive and how he did was surprising. Betsy Braddock stepped out of the shadows holding onto him.
"Sorry I'm late but Betts insisted on coming along and I was trying to talke her out of it."
Most of the people didn't acknowledge him as they were to busy staring at Betsy. Rather than the revealing costume she had worn since merging with Kwannon she was wearing the costume she had worn in Austraila. A cloak, body armor, and mask.
"The mental discipline required to keep the Shadow King at bay also provided me with the discipline to finally overcome my body. Kwannon always wore revealing clothing and so her body was used to it. While that is fine in some situations a battle is not really an appropriate place to have most of my body uncovered and an easy target. Plus it's far easier to conceal weapons in this."
"Are you sure it's a good idea for you to go into battle. You just regained your telepathic abilities." Recently Professor X, Emma Frost, and Cable had gathered together to destroy the Shadow King in his mental prison.
"That's exactly what Warren kept saying. I'm a ninja assasin and I still retain my shadow walking abilities, besides my telepathy."
*********
After plucking the location of the lab from Scott's mind Betsy shadowwalked some of the group into the lab while Madelyne teleported the rest in. The battle began seconds later.
Wolverine took off down one corridor obviously after Sabretooth's scent. Scott headed for the lab and Sinister.
The first Marauder taken down was there leader Scalphunter as Polaris used his metal bodysuit to crush him.
Angel grabbed Prism and lifted him off the ground. Prism responded by using a light blast to blind him. It was even more effective than normal on Angel's hawklike eyes. However it turned out to be a bad idea. Blinded Angel crashed into a wall knocking himself out but shattering the Marauder into a thousand pieces.
Harpoon was focusing on Shadowcat. "I nearly killed you once little girl. Now I'm going to finish the job."
There was no way Kitty was going to let his energy harpoons pierce her phased body again and Marrow was coming up fast behind him. She dove through the floor to dodge one just before Marrow drove a bone dagger into the base of his skull.
Satisfied with her work Marrow turned and headed down the corridor Wolverine had taken after Sabretooth. There were two Marauders she wanted to take out worse than the others. Sabretooth had killed more Morlocks than any other Marauder. Harpoon had been responsible for Angel losing his original wings. Now that he was dead she could focus on her other target.
************
Cable, X-man, Polaris and Madelyne were trying to deal with Rebecca, Alex and Jean.
Cable was currently engenged in a telepathic battle with Jean. He had been grabbed with Alex's magnetic powers leaving him no choice but a telepathic fight.
X-man was barely holding his own against Rebecca. They were equal in the strength of their powers but she seemed to have be better trained.
Polaris was attempting to avoid Alex's attacks while lauching a few of her own. He deflected them with ease and it didn't seem to affect his hold on Cable.
Madelyne was hanging back trying to decide where she would be most useful. Finally she swung the gun Scott had given all of them in case they came in contact with Sinister. Dividing her attention she launched a mental assualt on Alex, just enough to break his consentration, then fired on Rebecca giving Nate a chance to gather himself for his next assault. Cable was freed by Alex's brief loss of focus and took his battle with Jean to a more physical plane. He hammered her with a telekinetic blast from his psimitar.
Polaris used Alex's distraction to grab him magneticly and slam him into the floor repeatedly.
*******
Wolverine was squaring off against Sabretooth. Remembered what he had learned when the Reavers had attacked him he tried to keep away from Sabretooth's claws. The larger mutant may have adamantium now, but he couldn't hurt Logan if he couldn't touch him. He had only gotten knicked a few times but he was sure he hadn't inflicted enough of an injury to even slow Creed down.
Marrow came charging down the hall just then. She leapt onto Sabretooth's back and extracting a pair of bone knives drove them into his eyes.
"I always heard about how great your other senses are. I wonder how you'll do without any sight to back you up."
He reached up to grab her and flung her off of him.
"C'mon old man. Let's finish him off."
With the bone knives still in his eyes Sabretooth was swinging his claws wildly in anger and pain. Whenever he reached up to pull them out he was visciously slashed and stabbed by Wolveine and Marrow. Marrow broke off her weapons in his body everytime, in hopes the wounds wouldn't be able to heal properly.
Sabretooth was blinded, his wounds weren't healing properly and Marrow and Wolverine were hitting him so often he couldn't get the bone chunks out
*********
Riptide spun sending spikes everywhere. Both his teammates and enemies dove for cover. Psylocke leapt for the shadows, removing her cloak as she did so. and taking a hit in the leg. When she leapt back out on the opposite wall she swung the cloak around his neck breaking his spin, and pulling him dowm. Before he had a chance to react she rammed her psychic knife into his head frying his brain. She stood up favoring her bad leg only to be knocked back down by Arclight.
********
Gambit was cursing his luck. Blockbuster was swinging at him repeatedly and while the Cajun's exceptional agility had kept him from getting hit he hadn't had a chance to charge any cards to throw at him. A shockwave ran through the floor just as he leapt one time. It staggered Blockbuster and gave him a chance to hit him with a card. Another shockwave hit just as he landed forcing him to the ground.
Arclight approached the two fallen men. "That's it, Arc. Finish off the Cajun traitor."
Instead Arclight generated a shockwave right into Blockbuster's chest destroying his heart. She collapsed a second later as Psylocke hobbled out of sight.
********
Shadowcat was fighting Scrambler. He had grabbed her just as she phased up next to Harpoon's body and solidified, leaving her powerless. A wave of nausea overcame her and she was forced to her knees. Vertigo was standing over her along with Scrambler. Not trusting her aim she felt around and grabbed one of the harpoons, and lunging forward she drove it through Vertigo. Scrambler was so startled by the turn of events he couldn't react as she blasted him point blank with the gun Scott had given her.
********
Scott was heading for Sinister's lab. With all the Marauders and Sinister's pet projects occupied he had encountered no resistance until he reached inside the lab. Sinister had several lasers aimed right at the entrance which he barely avoided. The next one hit him in the gut dropping him to his knees and nearly burning through his uniform. Another hit his shoulder forcing him to drop his gun. He rolled out of the way of one more before they stopped.
"Good, you survived all those. I was afraid I might not get a chance to deal with you personally because of the experiment I was finishing."
"I'm going to kill you."
"With that pathetic little gun you've been carrying? You have faced me enough times to know that such weaponry cannot hurt me. Your optic blasts were one of the few things that could and you do not have them anymore. I gave you fair warning about attacking me, now you pay the price."
He raised his hands preparing to fire an energy blast at Scott, who he hadn't noticed had been reaching behind his back. He whipped one of the extra lasers he had been carrying and shot Sinister right through that stupid looking diamond on his forehead. The blast penetrated to Sinister's brain killing him. Scott pushed himself up and turned to leave, the mission he had given himself complete. Behind him Sinister's body degenerated to the protoplasm it was made of. Seconds later the first of many explosions began.
Sinister had realized someday someone might kill him and he had no intention of leaving his research.
*******
X-man, Cable, Madelyne and Polaris were holding a path up with their powers whhile Betsy used her telepathy and shadow-walking ability to locate and retrieve the three who weren't with the group. They reached the Blackbird jet outside the ruins of the base and Madelyne and Nate teleported away. The rest of the tired and injured but victorious heroes boarded the jet and departed.
"Ya sure a finished him off?" Logan asked.
"I shot him through the brain, he collapsed and when I looked back he was a puddle of goo. So I'd say so."
"Good. I'd hate ta think the murderin' bastard got away. Wish I was so lucky with Creed. He got outta there real fast after Marrow got there."
"She's turning out fairly effective working with others on the team, then. That's one thing I had ben wondering about."
"Oh, yeah. She fights pretty smart, too. She left her bones in him. I gotta admit I never woulda thought of that. Ya decided what yer gonna do next?"
"Not really. I've just been focusing on getting Sinister recently so I haven't thought about it. I suppose the first thing I need to deal with my powers. According to Hank I'm still absorbing solar energy and I've got no way to release it. I guess I'm going to spend a while being checked out by Hank, first off."
********
Another smaller ship flew away from the remains of the base.
"So what do we do next?" Alex asked his cousins.
"I imagine the first thing would be to check out his other bases and see if there is anything we can use to create a functioning base," Rebecca stated.
"After that, we continue to do what he created us for. Train to battle Apocalypse when and if the time comes," Jean stated
********
The End
Scott Summers et al vs. Mr. Sinister and the Marauders.
Scott hefted the large laser rifle nervously as he moved away from the minijet. He hard been training himself for this day for months but this was the first time he had gone into a battle alone and without his optic beams. He no longer had them to rely on. That was part of the reason why he was here. Months ago Mr. Sinister and his Marauders had kidnapped him. Jean had followed them in a rescue attempt. She and his eyes had not survived the experience.
He had woken to darkness and an empty feeling in the back of his mind where Jean's telepathy had joined them together in a psi-link. Rather than the cold voice of Sinister he had heard Hank McCoy informing him that he and Jean's body had appeared on the lawn of the X-mansion. Apparently Sinister had teleported them there.
Rather than wallow in a pit of despair Scott's thoughts had had turned in a surprising direction. Revenge. Forge had constructed him a pair a cybernetic eyes as soon as he heard what had happened. They weren't able to duplicate his optic blasts though. So he had gone back to Forge to find out if he could construct a weapon that duplicated the effects of the blasts since they were one of the few things that could hurt Sinister. Using recorded Danger Room scenarios that had recorded power levels Forge had been able to do it. Now Scott carried one massive gun and several smaller backups as he entered a lab that painstaking investigation and favors other X-men had called in had located.
The first Marauder he encountered was Prism. Since the glass man was capable of reflecting energy attacks he reversed the gun and shattered his head with the butt of it. Vertigo was next, a full powered shot leaving her body broken against a wall. Scrambler actually managed to lay a hand on him, expecting it to screw up his powers. Scott felt a light twinge but since he lost his eyes he assumed there was nothing that it could do to him. Scott brought him down with a close range shot to the stomach.
He got no further than that though. The gun was suddenly wrenched from his hands and he found himself unable to move. A green haired young man stepped in front of him.
"I'm sorry to do this, but I'm afraid you've gone far enough."
Scott passed out a moment later as the blood flow to his brain cut off.
**********
Scott woke up strapped to a lab table with Sinister standing over him.
"Hello Scott. I hope Alex didn't hurt you to badly." He indicated the green haired man. "He was trying one of Magneto's favorite moves, using iron in the bloodstream to control the flow."
He flickered before Scott's eyes causing Scott to realize that his eyes weren't working properly. 'Must have been damaged when the kid with magnetic powers grabbed me.'
He didn't get let on to that problem though. "I'm going to kill you when I get loose." 'There has to be someway out of this.'
"That is unlikely. You are powerless and I've confiscated your weaponry. I really don't want to hurt you Scott."
"So removing my eyes and killing my wife wasn't supposed to hurt me?"
"I was quite certain you could gain new eyes with the number of scientific geniuses you know. And your wife's death was an accident. I had ordered them only to subdue Jean. Sabretooth did not follow orders. He was punished severely."
"Like I believe that." Scott began to notice a tingling in his hands.
"I have never wished you any harm. You have the potential to produce some of the most powerful mutants in the world. By removing your eyes I intended to remove you from battles that might lead to your death. Your brother lost his life in a totally pointless battle with someone who was supposed to be his ally."
"How did you no about that?"
"I make a point to be aware of what accures in your lives."
Something clicked in Scott's head. Named Alex, green hair. "Wait a minute. Is that...?"
"Named for your brother and genetically his son."
"Why would you do that?" He was trying to stall for time plus he was genuinely curious as to why since Sinister had always been interested in his and Jean's genes. 'Might as well ask. He seems to want to talk for some reason.'
"Someday my plans may put me face to face with Magneto. It would be interesting to see how he fares in a battle with someone at least his equal and far better trained than the late Joseph was. I have not lost interest in the progeny of you and Jean. In fact I have attempted some new things with them."
He pointed over to the left wall. When Scott looked over there for the first time he recieved a massive shock. There were two girls working with the lab equipment. One was identical to Rachel, the other looked like a female version of Nate Grey and a young Cable.
"As you can see I successfully recreated your alternate daughter, and after three versions of your son I wanted to see what happened if you placed those genes in a female. Meet Jean, named for your wife and Rebecca."
Both looked over at Scott and nodded aknowledging his presence.
"As I said I don't wish to harm you. However if you attempt something like this again I will have to take action to prevent it."
'He's letting me go? He's gone crazier than before.' The itching was more insistent now.
The Rachel lookalike, Jean, spoke. "Sir, there's something going on with him. The amount of solar energy stored in his body is dropping."
"Impossible. That only occurs when he actively uses his powers. It decreases the amount stored until he is back in the sun to recharge. He is no longer capable of that."
A red glow surrounded Scott's hands and a massive energy blast was released destroying the table he was strapped to. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth Scott brought his hands up and leveled everyone in his path.
Scott raced out of the lab as fast as he could, stumbling or bumping into things whenever his eyes failed him. He didn't meet any resistance on the way to the minijet. Sinister was to busy trying, rather unsuccessfully, to regenerate from the wounds. The other three were to shocked to think of calling the Marauders.
**********
Scott had placed the jet on autopilot since his eyes weren't working right and returned home. After seeing and hearing what had happened Hank and Forge were once again called in.
After a detailed medical examination Hank was ready to give his theory on this new power.
"I believe that Scrambler's touch combined with your bodies need to release the solar energy it once stored for your optic beams altered your powers in the manor you described. Unfortunately we still need to find a more permanent solution to your problem. Eventually your body will build up the levels again and need to release it's stored energy and I doubt what Scrambler did is permanent."
Next Forge worked on his eyes. "They should be better than new. Think the word targeting," he instructed."
When Scott did this he found that his view shifted and now included crosshairs and distance information.
"I thought that up when you first asked for the guns but I didn't want to tamper with your eyes for no reason."
"Thank you. Can you build some more artillary for me?"
"Of course."
"And make them out of something non-magnetic. I'll also need some extra."
*********
While Forge was making the guns Scott was busy recruiting help. After last time he realized he couldn't do it alone.
Since he was at the mansion the first people he asked were Logan and Kitty.
"Ya know how I felt 'bout Jeanie. Now I got a chance ta get even with the people who killed her. Especially Creed. Course I'm with ya."
"I can't believe you actually have to ask me that. They just about killed me last time. I've wanted another shot at them for ages."
"Remy a little insulted you not t'ink to ask him," Gambit stated as he entered the conversation. "Remy brought de Marauders together, now he wants de chance to take dem apart."
"And you're nuts if you think I'm stayin' out of this," Marrow informed them.
A disgusted look crossed her face as they all looked surprised. "Why does everybody think that just 'cause I'm happy for a change that I still won't stick a bone knife in someone who deserves it." Everyone had acted like they expected her to be some little wimp since she now had control over where her bones grew and how they did.
********
Scott was headed for where he knew Nate Grey lived to ask for his help. He had already gotten Nathen to help but he figured with Rebecca and Jean they would need all the telepathic help they could get.
"Nate, don't even think about helping him. This man is scum. He left me and his baby for that little tramp."
"Maddie, shut up. I'm doing this. Sinister's scum. He's up there with Apocalypse and he's attacked me before."
"You're welcome to help Madelyne," Scott told her. "But I don't want to ever hear you insult Jean again."
**********
Next on the list was Warren Worthington.
"I'll be there, Scott. I've wanted a rematch since they cost me my wings. I know I'm not as tough as I was as Archangel, but just give me one of those guns you told me about."
********
Lorna Dane was final person he tried to recruit. She was also the hardest.
"Look, Scott I've had enough of the X. I quit when Alex died."
"Lorna, the reason why I came to you is because we need a person with magnetic powers. Sinister's using your DNA. He created a new mutant with it. Your and Alex's son."
That changed her mind immediately. "I'm surprised he didn't use the samples he got from me as Malice before. I'll help, but this is it. I'm done after this."
**********
Scott was with most of his makeshift team, including Madelyne. "Nate talked me into it," she explained.
Angel was the last one to arrive and how he did was surprising. Betsy Braddock stepped out of the shadows holding onto him.
"Sorry I'm late but Betts insisted on coming along and I was trying to talke her out of it."
Most of the people didn't acknowledge him as they were to busy staring at Betsy. Rather than the revealing costume she had worn since merging with Kwannon she was wearing the costume she had worn in Austraila. A cloak, body armor, and mask.
"The mental discipline required to keep the Shadow King at bay also provided me with the discipline to finally overcome my body. Kwannon always wore revealing clothing and so her body was used to it. While that is fine in some situations a battle is not really an appropriate place to have most of my body uncovered and an easy target. Plus it's far easier to conceal weapons in this."
"Are you sure it's a good idea for you to go into battle. You just regained your telepathic abilities." Recently Professor X, Emma Frost, and Cable had gathered together to destroy the Shadow King in his mental prison.
"That's exactly what Warren kept saying. I'm a ninja assasin and I still retain my shadow walking abilities, besides my telepathy."
*********
After plucking the location of the lab from Scott's mind Betsy shadowwalked some of the group into the lab while Madelyne teleported the rest in. The battle began seconds later.
Wolverine took off down one corridor obviously after Sabretooth's scent. Scott headed for the lab and Sinister.
The first Marauder taken down was there leader Scalphunter as Polaris used his metal bodysuit to crush him.
Angel grabbed Prism and lifted him off the ground. Prism responded by using a light blast to blind him. It was even more effective than normal on Angel's hawklike eyes. However it turned out to be a bad idea. Blinded Angel crashed into a wall knocking himself out but shattering the Marauder into a thousand pieces.
Harpoon was focusing on Shadowcat. "I nearly killed you once little girl. Now I'm going to finish the job."
There was no way Kitty was going to let his energy harpoons pierce her phased body again and Marrow was coming up fast behind him. She dove through the floor to dodge one just before Marrow drove a bone dagger into the base of his skull.
Satisfied with her work Marrow turned and headed down the corridor Wolverine had taken after Sabretooth. There were two Marauders she wanted to take out worse than the others. Sabretooth had killed more Morlocks than any other Marauder. Harpoon had been responsible for Angel losing his original wings. Now that he was dead she could focus on her other target.
************
Cable, X-man, Polaris and Madelyne were trying to deal with Rebecca, Alex and Jean.
Cable was currently engenged in a telepathic battle with Jean. He had been grabbed with Alex's magnetic powers leaving him no choice but a telepathic fight.
X-man was barely holding his own against Rebecca. They were equal in the strength of their powers but she seemed to have be better trained.
Polaris was attempting to avoid Alex's attacks while lauching a few of her own. He deflected them with ease and it didn't seem to affect his hold on Cable.
Madelyne was hanging back trying to decide where she would be most useful. Finally she swung the gun Scott had given all of them in case they came in contact with Sinister. Dividing her attention she launched a mental assualt on Alex, just enough to break his consentration, then fired on Rebecca giving Nate a chance to gather himself for his next assault. Cable was freed by Alex's brief loss of focus and took his battle with Jean to a more physical plane. He hammered her with a telekinetic blast from his psimitar.
Polaris used Alex's distraction to grab him magneticly and slam him into the floor repeatedly.
*******
Wolverine was squaring off against Sabretooth. Remembered what he had learned when the Reavers had attacked him he tried to keep away from Sabretooth's claws. The larger mutant may have adamantium now, but he couldn't hurt Logan if he couldn't touch him. He had only gotten knicked a few times but he was sure he hadn't inflicted enough of an injury to even slow Creed down.
Marrow came charging down the hall just then. She leapt onto Sabretooth's back and extracting a pair of bone knives drove them into his eyes.
"I always heard about how great your other senses are. I wonder how you'll do without any sight to back you up."
He reached up to grab her and flung her off of him.
"C'mon old man. Let's finish him off."
With the bone knives still in his eyes Sabretooth was swinging his claws wildly in anger and pain. Whenever he reached up to pull them out he was visciously slashed and stabbed by Wolveine and Marrow. Marrow broke off her weapons in his body everytime, in hopes the wounds wouldn't be able to heal properly.
Sabretooth was blinded, his wounds weren't healing properly and Marrow and Wolverine were hitting him so often he couldn't get the bone chunks out
*********
Riptide spun sending spikes everywhere. Both his teammates and enemies dove for cover. Psylocke leapt for the shadows, removing her cloak as she did so. and taking a hit in the leg. When she leapt back out on the opposite wall she swung the cloak around his neck breaking his spin, and pulling him dowm. Before he had a chance to react she rammed her psychic knife into his head frying his brain. She stood up favoring her bad leg only to be knocked back down by Arclight.
********
Gambit was cursing his luck. Blockbuster was swinging at him repeatedly and while the Cajun's exceptional agility had kept him from getting hit he hadn't had a chance to charge any cards to throw at him. A shockwave ran through the floor just as he leapt one time. It staggered Blockbuster and gave him a chance to hit him with a card. Another shockwave hit just as he landed forcing him to the ground.
Arclight approached the two fallen men. "That's it, Arc. Finish off the Cajun traitor."
Instead Arclight generated a shockwave right into Blockbuster's chest destroying his heart. She collapsed a second later as Psylocke hobbled out of sight.
********
Shadowcat was fighting Scrambler. He had grabbed her just as she phased up next to Harpoon's body and solidified, leaving her powerless. A wave of nausea overcame her and she was forced to her knees. Vertigo was standing over her along with Scrambler. Not trusting her aim she felt around and grabbed one of the harpoons, and lunging forward she drove it through Vertigo. Scrambler was so startled by the turn of events he couldn't react as she blasted him point blank with the gun Scott had given her.
********
Scott was heading for Sinister's lab. With all the Marauders and Sinister's pet projects occupied he had encountered no resistance until he reached inside the lab. Sinister had several lasers aimed right at the entrance which he barely avoided. The next one hit him in the gut dropping him to his knees and nearly burning through his uniform. Another hit his shoulder forcing him to drop his gun. He rolled out of the way of one more before they stopped.
"Good, you survived all those. I was afraid I might not get a chance to deal with you personally because of the experiment I was finishing."
"I'm going to kill you."
"With that pathetic little gun you've been carrying? You have faced me enough times to know that such weaponry cannot hurt me. Your optic blasts were one of the few things that could and you do not have them anymore. I gave you fair warning about attacking me, now you pay the price."
He raised his hands preparing to fire an energy blast at Scott, who he hadn't noticed had been reaching behind his back. He whipped one of the extra lasers he had been carrying and shot Sinister right through that stupid looking diamond on his forehead. The blast penetrated to Sinister's brain killing him. Scott pushed himself up and turned to leave, the mission he had given himself complete. Behind him Sinister's body degenerated to the protoplasm it was made of. Seconds later the first of many explosions began.
Sinister had realized someday someone might kill him and he had no intention of leaving his research.
*******
X-man, Cable, Madelyne and Polaris were holding a path up with their powers whhile Betsy used her telepathy and shadow-walking ability to locate and retrieve the three who weren't with the group. They reached the Blackbird jet outside the ruins of the base and Madelyne and Nate teleported away. The rest of the tired and injured but victorious heroes boarded the jet and departed.
"Ya sure a finished him off?" Logan asked.
"I shot him through the brain, he collapsed and when I looked back he was a puddle of goo. So I'd say so."
"Good. I'd hate ta think the murderin' bastard got away. Wish I was so lucky with Creed. He got outta there real fast after Marrow got there."
"She's turning out fairly effective working with others on the team, then. That's one thing I had ben wondering about."
"Oh, yeah. She fights pretty smart, too. She left her bones in him. I gotta admit I never woulda thought of that. Ya decided what yer gonna do next?"
"Not really. I've just been focusing on getting Sinister recently so I haven't thought about it. I suppose the first thing I need to deal with my powers. According to Hank I'm still absorbing solar energy and I've got no way to release it. I guess I'm going to spend a while being checked out by Hank, first off."
********
Another smaller ship flew away from the remains of the base.
"So what do we do next?" Alex asked his cousins.
"I imagine the first thing would be to check out his other bases and see if there is anything we can use to create a functioning base," Rebecca stated.
"After that, we continue to do what he created us for. Train to battle Apocalypse when and if the time comes," Jean stated
********
The End