The Cracks of Doom - Part 2
Posted on Fri Nov 8th, 2024 @ 3:13am by Connor Bruin & Hank McCoy & Kurt Wagner & Hayden Davis & Ethan Hale & Aurora Summers & Kennedy Kelly & Maeve MacKenna & Meja Vikström & Kayleigh Marshall & Bliss Hawkins
6,004 words; about a 30 minute read
Mission:
Episode 5: Days of Fortune Past
Location: Castle Doom | Latveria
Timeline: November 7/8th, 1990
The rough, uneven stone of the undercity abruptly gave way to sleek metal walls. A large, sealed door marked the entrance to the tunnel that connected to the castle proper. With a deft touch, Hank accessed the control panel near the door, his fingers moving with precision as he bypassed the lock. The door hissed open, revealing a dark, polished corridor leading deeper inside.
As they approached the end of the tunnel, the corridor opened into a vast panic room—an escape chamber designed for the castle’s inhabitants in times of siege. The walls were adorned with intricate metallic engravings, and reinforced doors led to different parts of the castle. It felt as though they were entering the very heart of the fortress.
"This is it," Hank whispered as he pressed a final sequence of commands into a hidden panel. The door ahead slid open silently, revealing a sight none of them had expected.
The sublevel residence of Castle Doom was a stark contrast to everything they had seen before. Lavish suites stretched before them—grand, opulent, and utterly deserted. Deep burgundy carpets lined the floors, golden accents and marble sculptures decorated the walls, and chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting a soft glow over the room and the grand hallways beyond. It felt like they had walked into a palace rather than a fortress.
Each step into the luxurious suite was like entering another world. The thick velvet curtains, drawn back from enormous windows, offered a breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains, despite being underground—clearly a high-tech illusion. It was all pristine, untouched, yet eerily empty. Not a trace of recent habitation could be found, as though the residents had vanished long ago.
Hank furrowed his brow, puzzled. "How strange… I expected this area to be heavily guarded or occupied. This suite was used by the royal family."
Connor signed quickly, "WHERE IS EVERYONE? IT’S LIKE A GHOST TOWN."
Hank’s eyes scanned the room, the unease spreading. "Let’s not get complacent. We move in two teams from here." He nodded to Kurt, Kennedy, and Connor. "You three will take the northern route toward the security control room. That will be key to unlocking the lower levels. Nightcrawler, use your teleportation sparingly—we don’t know what defenses may still be active."
"Ja, I understand," Kurt said with a nod. They had gone over this before and he did not need to hear it again. However, he chose patience, choosing to empathize rather than resent Hank's stress. As much as he wanted to ask for additional backup, he did not want to second-guess leadership in mid-mission.
"This place is so plush," said Hayden. Compared to where she had just come from, almost anything would be better. But this type of opulence... She shuddered as it reminded her of another opulent building she'd recently been in. "I'm not sure if I want to know where everyone is. Or why they left. I'm just glad they're gone."
"Yeah... the fact that this place is empty gives me a worse feeling than were we just where." Meja added, looking around the lush interior of the massive panic room and stopped in her tracks as she felt her heart rate begin to rise. She soon began to measure her own tension and started taking longer more measured breaths, she wouldn't be of use to the team if she wasn't able to breathe right.
“Stay alert,” Hank agreed, his voice barely above a whisper as he gestured for the two groups to split off. “Those of us heading to the labs will take the eastern corridor.”
Kurt gave a quick nod to Hank before casting a reassuring glance to Kennedy and Connor. “Ve Vill disable zhe hub and meet you at ze elevators.” With a flicker of a smile and a bamf, he teleported to the end of the corridor to scout briefly before gesturing for Kennedy and Connor to follow.
Connor loped forward after him, letting Kennedy bring up the rear.
Kennedy merely nodded her head in agreement as they moved forward and separated from the rest of the team. The uneasy feeling the environment created had an almost calming effect on her as adrenaline sharpened her senses and focused her mind. Artemis drew her bow and nocked a single sharp arrow as her steps became silent and calculated.
Once they’d gone, Hank turned to the rest of the team, signaling them to move. “We’re looking for any terminal or interface that can lead us to those lab elevators. We’re not out of the woods yet.” His tone held a note of encouragement, even as his eyes darted to every corner, every shadow.
They had barely gone twenty yards when a metallic click echoed from around the corner, followed by the cold gleam of armored patrol units—a small squad of robot sentries, faceless and devoid of other distinguishing features, save for a red star on the chests.
"I don't remember those," Hank whispered. "Let's do our best to sneak around them."
Hayden inhaled sharply, the breath catching in her throat before she expelled it. She put her back against the wall and hoped to slide her way along it. Or at least hide long enough for them to go by. That fact that the robots were new to Doctor McCoy didn't go unnoticed. It was rather unsettling and she wondered what else was new to him. She did, however, keep her eyes opened for any kind of a terminal as much as possible with the robots nearby.
After checking the area, Hank saw a large ventilation duct on the ceiling. He scampered up the wall and crawled along the ceiling in order to get a closer look. Upon examination, he saw the duct was just large enough for him, which meant nobody else would have an issue. Hanging from his feet, Hank curled his body upward to unfasten the vent cover and push it up into the vent.
"Hurry!" he whispered as loud as he dared while lowering his furry hand. "Everybody up!"
Maeve looked at the others present and nodded at the others to go first. If anything came around that corner she always had the bonus of moving anything around them that constructed the building as a shield to protect them.
Hayden scrambled up as fast as she could. She wanted to try to help the others, but she was a lightweight compared to Doctor McCoy. There was no way she'd be able to lift them up so she moved out of the way.
"There's nothing organic down here," Ethan inserted his voice barely above a whisper. "At least not that my senses can pick up, I think our best bet of sneaking past is not to exhibit any of our powers."
Aurora wasn’t exactly the easiest fit for crawling around in ventilation ducts, her growing baby bump was cumbersome in that respect, but she clambered on in as Hank had instructed.
Kayleigh scrambled in behind Aurora, she was new out in the field so she didn’t want to let the team down.
Even with his wings useless in such confined quarters, he was still pretty nimble and scrambled up.
From the northern corridor, the other team encountered their own squad of robots, the machines blocking the path to the security control room. Connor shot a quick, sharp look to Kennedy, then signed, “IF WE DISABLE THEM, WE GET ACCESS. BUT QUIETLY—OTHERWISE WE COULD TRIGGER A LOCKDOWN.”
Kurt was already sizing up the distance between them and the bots, gauging how he might use the element of surprise. “I’ll take zhe far right one. Artemis, ze left. Connor, take center.”
Connor gave Kurt a side-eye. He was about to suggest the same. "YES. BUT I SHOULD GO FIRST. TAKE DOWN YOUR TARGETS ON MY SIGNAL."
Bolting toward the center robot, Connor jumped into a spinning dropkick that turned his body into a living torpedo. "NOW," he signed.
A quick bamf placed Kurt behind the robot where he severed its head with ease using the sword he had kept from the Hellfire Mansion.
While Connor and Kurt had to advance in order to hit their targets, Kennedy merely had to raise her arrow to the level of her eye and take the shot. She aimed for the weak points of the robot, first its visual sensors, then the neck, followed by arm and leg joints. Each arrow was delivered in rapid fire and the robot sparked and slumped over as vital circuitry connections were severed.
Only lowering her bow once the robots were all disabled she waited and listened for a moment to see if they had remained quiet enough to avoid any additional complications.
Moving from corridor to corridor was easy enough. The presence of the robots meant no servants were present. After a few more easy take-downs, the three mutants made it to the security hub door.
"GIVE ME A MINUTE." Connor knelt down at the secure panel with a handprint scanner. He removed tools from the kit at his belt and had it pried loose in seconds. As he worked, his tongue stuck out the side of his mouth while his eyes bulged the more he concentrated.
The good news was that Connor got the door open to the security hub. The bad news was that over twenty robots stood between them and the control console. Their eyes flickered from green to red as they detected the three mutants who did not belong.
"Zhat cannot be good," Kurt muttered.
"EVADE!" Connor signed as he ducked for cover.
Kennedy swore under her breath as the room of robots began to light up with angry red lights. She heard Connor’s demand that they evade but she couldn’t help but want to take a single shot before all the robots moved and scattered. Raising and drawing her bow, Kennedy created an arrow out of kinetic energy. Taking on a dull golden color, the arrow was meant to explode and damage a cluster of robots rather than level the entire room. Kennedy let the arrow fly into the foreground of robots before she ducked and scrambled away from the chaos she helped create.
The room erupted in a series of small explosions as Kennedy’s kinetic arrow struck its target, scattering the nearest cluster of robots. Metal limbs flew as circuitry sparked and failed, sending a few of the automatons staggering backward. Taking advantage of the distraction, Connor turned to Kurt, signing quickly, “GET ME TO THE CONSOLE.”
Kurt gave a sharp nod and, in a split second, the two were surrounded by a puff of brimstone as he bamfed them across the room, directly to the control console. Connor immediately went to work, his fingers flying over the interface, bypassing security protocols and targeting commands as their lives depended on it.
But before he could finish, a figure in sleek, dark combat gear landed silently on the platform just behind him. The woman had platinum-blonde hair, cut short and fierce. She moved with a deadly precision that made even Kurt’s blood run cold. Without a word, her hand whipped forward, unleashing a crackling Widow’s Bite directly at Connor.
Connor saw the attack from the corner of his eye and barely managed to dodge, rolling out of the way as the electrical charge grazed him, enough to send a shudder through his nerves. He shot a glance at Kurt and Kennedy, who were equally on edge.
The Black Widow didn’t bother with warnings. Her face was a mask of cold professionalism, honed by years of Red Room training. She advanced on Connor with fluid agility, launching another Widow’s Bite in his direction. “Не так быстро, нарушитель,” she hissed, her accent thick.
Connor worked fast, ignoring the shock still reverberating in his arm, reprogramming the console to target her as the threat. The robots' eyes flickered again, this time redirecting their hostility toward the Black Widow. The first few lunged at her, but she evaded their attacks with a blur of swift, sure movements, each dodge calculated and effortless.
Despite the relentless robot attacks, she countered with a lethal display of mutant powers, creating small, flickering teleportation portals to dodge their blows and reappear behind them, striking with brutal precision. She used her agility to sweep through the wave of robots, each motion exacting as she twisted around their attacks, slicing through metal with combat knives and delivering well-placed Widow’s Bites that fried their circuitry.
As she destroyed the last of the robotic guards, the pile of scrap metal that lay around her was a stark warning to her lethality. She barely had a scratch, her breathing even and controlled as she turned her gaze to Connor, Kurt, and Kennedy with a glint of cold amusement in her eye. "Это всё, на что ты способен?"
"Do not be goaded," Kurt warned. "Did you unlock the elevators yet?"
Connor shook his head.
"Zhen Artemis and I vill buy you time." Kurt unsheathed his sword once more and pointed its tip at the Black Widow in a duel challenge. "Light her up!"
Kennedy raised her bow as she crafted an arrow of shimmering light, her keen eye locked onto her target and then she waited for her attack of opportunity. In the short amount of time they had watched the Black Widow, she had displayed teleportation skills that would make her an unpredictable target to hit. So Kennedy waited until the femme fatale's attention was focused on Kurt, only then would she release her arrow and with any luck the Black Widow would be less likely to dodge Kennedy’s attack. She only hoped that Kurt would be able to escape the explosion when it hit its intended target.
Kennedy’s arrow flew through the air, its energy glowing fiercely, aimed precisely at Black Widow’s chest. But with a deft flick of her wrist, the Black Widow threw a small, shimmering disc toward the arrow. In an instant, the arrow vanished, only to reappear mid-air, directly beside Kurt.
Kurt’s eyes widened just before he bamfed away in a puff of sulfuric smoke, narrowly escaping the explosive impact. He reappeared exactly where the Black Widow had been standing, catching her off guard—or so the plan was.
But Black Widow was no ordinary opponent. She had teleported herself in the blink of an eye, now standing just inches away from Kennedy, her combat knives glinting in the low light and moving to strike. Kennedy barely had time to raise her weapon before the blur of the knives came for her.
A sudden bamf filled the air as Kurt materialized between them, his rapier flashing as he parried Illyana’s knives, not only deflecting her attack but managing to disarm her. The Black Widow cartwheeled to the side and reclaimed her lost weapons. Rather than engaging her further, Kurt focused on Kennedy, bamfing her out of harm's way and back toward the entrance. They reappeared at a safe distance, and Kurt gave her a quick nod before disappearing once again in a swirl of smoke.
“I can’t get a clean shot when you two are moving around,” Kennedy said while lowering her bow from the defensive position she had taken in hopes of fending off the Black Widow’s attack. “If you can keep her still for just a moment I can hit her.”
Meanwhile, Connor’s fingers flew over the console as he continued hacking into the security system, his focus solely on unlocking the elevators to the secure labs below. Lights flashed and warning indicators blinked on the screen, but he stayed steady, determined to break through the system’s defenses. The clock was against them on at least three different levels. He wouldn't let his team down.
Across the room, Kurt began to bamf in rapid succession, appearing around the Black Widow in short bursts, his relentless teleportation far swifter and more imminent than her own. Each time, his rapier struck at her knives, his attacks forcing her to stay on the defensive, unable to teleport away.
The Black Widow's face contorted with frustration as she tried to keep up with his strikes. Her movements sharp and calculated but constantly interrupted by the flurry of attacks from the blue-furred mutant. Clearly she was unaccustomed to fighting another teleporter.
“Dang it, Nightcrawler,” Kennedy grumbled under her breath as she held a drawn arrow and aimed it at the Black Widow. He had managed to keep her still but Kurt was a whirlwind of teleportation around the Black Widow and it was impossible for Kennedy to predict where he was going to be next. But she knew she was running out of time and if she didn’t do something the Black Widow might regain the upper hand.
“Let’s say a prayer and hope I don’t hit you.” Artemis aimed for the cuff on the Russian’s wrist that fired the Widow’s Bites, her hope was to disable the device and inflict some damage to the Black Widow. With a faint charge of power she sucked in her breath and let the arrow fly before she closed her eyes out of fear the arrow might hit Kurt.
Kurt saw Kennedy take aim and ensured that he would be positioned between the two blondes when it took flight. After several recurring bamfs, he accomplished exactly that. A puff of smoke showed his appearance and his departure. The kinetically charged arrow pierced through the wisps of brimstone straight for the Black Widow.
Eyes wide, the Black Widow tossed a teleportation disc behind her and fell into it. The arrow crossed over the event horizon and vanished into thin air without a trace. A shrill, rage-filled scream filled the air before being cut off by the dimensional portal snapping shut.
"Pie Iesu Domine, dona eis reqiuem..." Kurt made the sign of the cross over his chest.
"I DID IT," Connor signed with glee. "THE ELEVATORS ARE OVERRIDDEN AND WILL ONLY RESPOND TO THE NEW COMMAND CODE. WE SHOULD HURRY."
"Zhen ve should hurry to ze east corridor," Kurt said. "God only knows vhat surprises ze osthers haf encountered."
Kennedy merely blinked in disbelief at the timing and execution of what had just happened, so many things could have gone wrong and yet they hadn’t. The sound of Connor and Kurt drew her attention back into the moment.
“Yeah.” Kennedy glanced over at her teammates, she couldn’t help but smile a little because of what they had accomplished. “Let’s go.”
One by one, the team moved swiftly, grasping Hank's hand as he helped them up into the oversized ventilation duct. The faint sound of the patrol robots' mechanical hum grew closer, echoing down the corridor, sending a wave of urgency through each of them. They held their collective breath as the faceless robots marched past below, their red star insignias reflecting coldly in the dim corridor lighting.
Hank motioned for the team to keep moving. They crawled along until they came to the large foyer leading to the lab elevators. Just as Hank began loosening the grate to drop down, a deep, commanding voice resonated from below.
"Stand down and face arrest, in the name of the Winter Guard!"
They froze as a massive figure stepped out of the shadows, blocking their path with a towering, armored presence. The figure’s dark, metallic armor bore the insignia of the Winter Guard, and his stance was one of practiced authority. His gaze locked onto the team as he waited, clearly unfazed by their attempts to remain hidden.
"Come down," he commanded, his tone cold and unyielding. "You have one chance to surrender."
Before anyone else could respond, Bliss punched the bottom out of her section of ventilation to come crashing down on the giant who stood a full 2 meters tall.
"Don't worry about me!" she called back to the team as she prepared herself for a tackle. "Go on! I got this!"
In an instant, the giant man grew even taller and broader. At least another half meter was added to his stature, and his skin turned from standard flesh to a chromatic metal sheen. He easily swatted Bliss out of the air like a flat and sent her flying into the cold metal wall that was no softer than his backhand.
"I lied..." Bliss groaned as she slid to the floor with the wind knocked out of her. "I don't got this."
"Oh my stars and garters," Hank whispered. "He must be a mutant."
The metal colossus held an earpiece against his head. "Индрик на Связи с Зимней Гвардией. Обнаружены нарушители у лифтов лаборатории. Запрашиваю помощь для их задержания."
"I didn't catch everything," Hank said. "Something about an Indrik contacting the Winter Guard, but suffice it to say he has called for reinforcements. We must dispatch him quickly before they arrive!"
Hank leapt down from the ventilation together, careful not to get caught in the iron fists of this Soviet guardian. Leaning forward, Hank rolled on his shoulders, planted his feet, and kicked at the side of the metal giant's right knee. It would have been enough to shatter the joint of a normal man, but this 'Indrik' didn't even flinch. Hank felt his heels bruise for the effort. He rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding a downward fist that left a dent in the metal floor.
Maeve exhaled a deep sigh as she descended from the high vent, just after Hank's futile attempt to distract the towering metal man. She landed safely on the ground, unharmed for the moment. Craning her neck to gaze up at his immense stature, she felt a twinge of discomfort. "You'd be wise to let us pass, metal man," she declared in a thick Irish brogue, probing the metal for any element she could manipulate. Though not as potent as Magneto, she knew metal bore the earth's properties. Confronting him, she concentrated intensely, lifting her left hand. Despite feeling an overwhelming resistance, she momentarily immobilized the man, simultaneously using her right hand to attempt encasing him with the building's materials.
As Maeve strained against Indrik, summoning every ounce of her power, the metallic and stone debris she manipulated rose up to form a shield around him, piling layer upon layer of dense material. Now transformed into his organic steel form, pushed forward with relentless, almost mechanical, determination. Each step shattered her constructed barriers with a deafening crunch. His indomitable force was unlike anything she had encountered, and despite her best efforts, he kept advancing.
The sound of slow, mocking applause echoed through the corridor.
"Ну что ж, не так быстро, X-Men," came a cocky voice laced with amusement. Maeve barely had time to process the words when a small, circular buckle-disc flew through the air and struck her in the chest, sending her stumbling backward.
Emerging from the shadows with a smirk was the Red Guardian, his muscular form clad in the red and white of the Soviet symbol he embodied, his presence radiating confidence and danger.
Beside him, a tall, imposing figure wrapped in coils of barbed, organic metal appeared—Omega Red, his pale skin and red eyes gleaming with a sinister intensity as he eyed the team, his tendrils extending and retracting with a life of their own.
"Comrades," Omega Red said, using stilted English. “It seems we have pests to squash." With a cruel smile, Omega Red let his tendrils extend toward the team, their sharp ends glinting ominously. “I’ll make this quick and painful,” he growled, his voice cold as ice.
Indrik used Maeve’s brief distraction to surge forward, tearing away the remaining pieces of metal and stone still encasing him. With one final step, he stood over her, towering and fully in his organic steel form, his eyes devoid of mercy as he prepared to attack.
"Not good, not good at all," said Hayden as she watched everything unfold. When the giant of a whatever stood over Maeve... "Oh I don't think so!" Hayden yelled. She jumped down from the vent and ran behind her friend. She pulled the elements in the room together to create python sized water tendrils that snaked around the legs, arms, and torso of the attacker. Hoping it was enough of a distraction, Hayden started forming a solid sphere of water around his head just as she had accidently done to Connor in the Danger Room.
While the water pressure from the tendrils slowed him down somewhat, the blob of water around his head did nothing. Evidently Indrik did not need to breathe, at least while in metal form.
Hank dove for Maeve and rolled her out of the way of the metal man's size 17 boot. "Hurry, little one!" he said, shooing her off.
The metal man threw a straight punch at Hank's head. Fortunately, the Beast saw it coming and slipped the strike with a duck. With the cold metal arm sliding over his shoulder, Hank rolled it into an arm lock, seized it with both hands and hurled the metal giant over his shoulder in an overhead slam. The impact shook the floor, leaving his opponent dazed.
"Try that with me, hairball!" Omega Red's tendrils seized Hank around the ribs. Hank began convulsing as if the tendrils were draining the life out of him. "Yeeees!" Omega Red seethed in euphoric anger. "Give me more!"
Bliss, having recovered from her hard slam against the wall, ran up behind Omega Red and set in a rear-naked chokehold. Simple but effective, even if her arms could barely reach around his neck. Her powers allowed for a near unbreakable grip. "He's our hairball, Nosferatu!"
"мелкая стерва!" he cursed. "There is a reason nobody touches Omega Red!"
The color in Bliss's face turned pale. "I don't feel so good..." Her grip loosened and she eventually slipped down to the floor.
Fortunately, he had released Hank from his tendrils who had begun crawling away.
The buckle-disc that had knocked Maeve down ricocheted off the walls and into the rest of the team, seeking whomever it could catch unawares.
Hayden ceased her water python attack and drew them back to herself. She ran to check on Maeve when the buckle disk smacked her in the side, sending her sideways. "Aw c'mon!" she said as she slowly pulled herself up to her knees from being knocked over. "Time to try something different." She wouldn't be able to do anything about the Michelin Man easily. But that Omega Red guy...she hoped that pale skin was actually flesh. She used the water pythons as a source, pressurizing them as much as she could into a small waterjet stream, and aimed at his face.
Aurora had thrown up a telekinetic shield to protect herself & anyone else nearby from flying objects whilst observing Omega Red. She looked towards Kayleigh. “You can create heat from around you right? Let’s see if we can heat things up a bit.”
Kayleigh nodded as she focussed on every source of heat in the room, the natural body heat of those in the team and other heat sources besides Aurora herself as Aurora lit herself up. “Lets do this!”
Combining her heat and flames with the heat and flames Kayleigh was generating Aurora focussed it all on Omega Red hoping it would be enough to slow him down, if not stop him altogether.
"You cannot harm me!" Omega Red cackled as he flung Hank's limp, hulking body at the two girls. "I am a true son of the Motherland!"
While Omega Red used Hank as a bowling ball, the Red Guardian reclaimed his magnetic buckle-disc and held it in one hand as a miniature shield. He launched himself at the rest of the team, jumping in the air to land not one or two but three successive spinning kicks, planting each one on their backs. He landed in a half crouch and a cocky smirk behind his cowl. "Всегда Готов!" he mocked.
"I don't know what that means, but I bet you can't say it twice..." Bliss had got back to her feet, still looking pale but with a fire in her eyes. "... not after a group hug with squid boy!"
Grabbing the Red Guardian by his ankles, Bliss yanked him flat on his face. He managed to catch himself, but she was already swinging him around, building momentum before she clobbered Omega Red with the spinning Red Guardian. Their collision sent both men to the floor.
Maeve had just caught her breath after being rolled out of the path of the towering metal man. Luckily, Hank had spotted the peril she faced and rescued her from being crushed under the massive heel of the formidable figure. Red Guardian and Omega Red were down, struggling to regain their footing after the stupor Bliss had induced, but she was aware they would not stay down for long. This left Indrik, who was decidedly displeased with Hank.
Some people, just have too high an opinion of themselvesEthan thought to himself, and they ought to know their limitations.
That of course also applied to him, so he was wise enough to know that a frontal assault on his part would be useless. That didn't mean there was nothing he could do, especially with his level of confidence (which he hoped was justified) He leaped on the back of Omega Red, released his claws and tried to stab the mutant enemy in the eyes.
Hayden launched dozens tiny balls of water like birdshot at both of them, pelting them in whatever vulnerable places were exposed. The petite girl dared not approach them to physically lay hands on them. Based on the previous battles, she didn't want to risk it and her side still hurt from where the buckle hit her earlier. She smiled suddenly as she thought of a book title, Burned and Bruised: Calypso's X-ceptional Life.
Having caught Hank telekinetically as he was tossed across at them, Aurora put him down gently. It seemed a gentle approach wasn’t going to work with Omega Red, she wasn’t sure even with all her training with Jean and Connor if she could do anything to stop their foe without putting herself, and her unborn child in danger.
Being pelted with water didn't do much to Omega Red, particularly after the attempted eye gouges from Ethan, but Omega Red backed up anyway, instead preferring to let his tendrils do his dirty work. His death factor began to take effect on Ethan as it had with Bliss, so Omega Red focused on him first, reaching out to him with his tendrils.
The Indrik rejoined the fray with another flying attack at the group, this time with his hands up and over his head. A metallic hammer fist would crush whomever it landed on.
From there, the battle roared to life around them, a storm of energy, force, and relentless movement as each X-Man fought with dire urgency against superior adversaries. Hank darted in close to the towering Indrik, dancing just out of range of his sledgehammer fists, while Omega Red’s tendrils lashed out wildly, leaving deep grooves in the ground. Aurora, hovering above, focused with narrowed eyes, straining to maintain her telekinetic shield around Hank, while instinctively protecting her child within. Beside her, Bliss unleashed a brilliant flash of energy, using her speed and agility to strike and then vanish before Omega Red’s tendrils could ensnare her again.
In the back, Meja was watching the chaos, biding her time and searching for the perfect opening. She gathered her breath, willing her fire into being, while her eyes locked onto a gap near Omega Red’s exposed shoulder. Hayden, slightly bruised from the earlier blow, pushed past her pain and conjured another barrage of water droplets, sending them like stinging projectiles toward their enemies, each droplet glistening in the low light. Her determination was clear—she wasn’t about to back down. Ethan, undeterred by the death factor creeping through his veins, clung to Omega Red’s back with stubborn grit, aiming his claws toward the mutant’s vulnerable eyes as the Russian flailed, blinded by rage.
When the Indrik colossus threw another combo at Hank, the agile Beast managed to slip, dodge, and evade the strikes. Seeking another opportunity to throw the giant metal man, Hank took it. But that was precisely what his adversary was expecting. Hank caught a savage knee strike to the chest, knocking him flat on his back.
"Fool one me once, shame on you," the metal man said. He jumped into the air and raised his fists over his head, preparing to come down on Hank in a double hammer fist. "Fool me twice..."
Hank barely had time to suck wind before he saw the shimmering glint of death come down on him.
"Good idea, mein fruend!" A burst of sulfurous vapor filled the air between Beast and his attacker. Kurt burst into view, latched onto the flying metal giant like a barnacle, and took him away in a bamf.
"GET TO THE ELEVATOR." The order from Connor's speech-generating device lacked the sense of urgency that was written all over his face as he ran beside Kennedy. "I HAVE THE ACCESS CODE."
Kurt reappeared beside them. "I could not take him far," he said, his voice ragged from the constant teleportation he'd been performing. "I don't zhink ve hef long."
Omega Red and the Red Guardian ran to meet them in battle, focusing on Connor and his claim to have the access code.
"Perhaps I haf one more in me..." Kurt took a deep breath and bamfed them across the open space to the secure elevators. He leaned against the wall to catch his breath.
Connor wasted no time and input the access code. The elevator door was industrially sized, large enough to fit multiple crates and pallets at a time. There was plenty of room for everyone.
"HURRY UP. EVERYBODY INTO THE ELEVATOR." Connor turned around and prepared to stand his ground until the team could get inside.
With swift feet and a sense of exigency, Kennedy moved with Connor to the elevator but rather than merely hop inside she stood at the open door and drew an arrow. With keen eyes she faced the hallway they had just run down and readied herself to fire. She would provide cover to anyone running down the hall just in case any of the Winter Guard reappeared.
Maeve saw their adversaries advancing on them. As her friends, her teammates, entered the elevator, she summoned all her strength to erect a dense wall between them and their enemies. A formidable barrier of rock and stone emerged, ensuring their safe exit from the battlefield they were ensnared in.
On the opposite side, she sensed their attempts to demolish it, to erode its sturdy and resilient structure. This demanded greater concentration, a more intense focus, and she felt her power diminishing. Dizziness swept over her; she quickly shook it off but then felt an odd sensation as she touched her nose. Blood. She hadn't experienced nosebleeds for a long time, not since her abilities first surfaced.
Hayden ran as fast as she could into the elevator and landed solidly against the back wall. She leaned against it and tried to catch her breath before speaking. "Those people were bad news."
Aurora flew for the lift, lifting Kayleigh to get them both there safely away from their opponents. “I couldn’t agree more, Hayden.”
Now that everybody was inside the descending elevator, they could take a moment to catch their breathe and prepare themselves for whatever awaited them in the depths. With as much security as the lab boasted, it felt as much to keep something in as it was to keep people out. Whatever they found down there was sure to smash expectations.
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