God Loves, Man Kills - Pt. 2a
Posted on Fri Feb 9th, 2024 @ 11:20am by Cameron Hood & Charles Xavier & Iris Walker & Tammy Thompson & Bliss Hawkins
1,254 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Episode 3: X-Tra Ecclesiam
Location: Niagara Falls, NY
Timeline: August 24th, 1990 - Afternoon
“Reverend, something’s tripped the motion sensors in the diversion tunnel.”
The wizened face of William Stryker folded into a scowl. “Show me.”
His technician nodded and brought up the remote camera feed. “It’s the mutants from the school.”
Stryker could spit. “God damn those devils! Damn them to hell!”
“How did they find us?”
“Does it matter?” Stryker shot back. The mercenary Juggernaut had failed and cost a lot of Purifier lives in the process. “They’re here. Stop them before they reach our command post.”
“Notifying the men at our end of the tunnel to engage,” the technician reported.
“Negative,” Stryker said, all religious overtones disappearing from his speech in favor of militant ones. “Have our men hold their positions. Send in the hunters. Time for them to prove their worth.”
Team 1 advanced down their channel with Bliss in the point position, prepared to take one for the team should the encounter an ambush. Cameron followed behind her, his weapon raised and at the ready in search of hostiles. Tammy and Iris brought up the rear, each as vigilant as could be.
Progress was slow but steady. Time was of the essence and they couldn't waste a moment. Yet this was too easy.
The first warning that something was wrong came from a bioluminescent glimmer from further up the tunnel. It flickered like a firefly and before they knew it, a spotted creature that was more cat than man dashed straight for the group. A prehensile tail flicked overhead and let off a disorienting flash of blue.
"Scorch reporting," he hissed. "Targets engaged!"
Escapade had moved to intercept the attacker. She was confident she could handle whatever this was better than the rest of her team. At least buy them time to react appropriately. She braced for kitty's charge with arms held wide.
A pipe drain popped off the floor, giving way to a human crocodile. His scaled hide flung the bricks aside like Styrofoam bocks. His elongated jaws took a chomp at the group as he said, "Stalker reporting! Targets engaged!"
Iris’s first inclination was to run off and go it alone like she was used to. But no. These were her friends. She had to do something to help them. And so, without a real plan, she darted passed the two mutants, passing within inches of them. Surely they would notice the movement of air, but that would not be enough to draw their attention. She hoped they would not guess that someone invisible had slipped passed them and chalk it up to a draft.
Tammy would see if they had collars on. If so she would use her powers to deactivate them. If not then shed would just shock them into unconsciousness via electric current.
Neither one was collared. The one who had identified himself as Scorch collided with Bliss and let out another bright, blue flash. The giant croc called Stalker tried to take Tammy's head off with another bite.
As for Iris, she ran straight into an invisible web that wrapped itself around her and began to burn like acid.
"Widow reporting," said a sultry voice with a cocky air of confidence from farther up the tunnel. "Target acquired."
Tammy smiled as she turned into electricity. When he bit down, boy was he going to be surprised! This was going to be fun.
Iris had a choice to make. Either endure the pain and remain hidden or call out to her teammates for help. She had no idea what the stuff was that had coiled itself around her. Could it kill her? She had no idea. Quickly, she made her choice. “Help!” she called. “Something’s got me!”
Stalker bit down into empty air filled with the sonic burst that was Tammy. The giant, lumbering reptilian stumbled backward, his bell clearly rung.
"Widow requesting additional assistance," said the distant woman's voice. "Stalker is in peril."
Whatever answer she received made her groan. She turned her bioelectric webbing onto Tammy's sonic form. "Get back, Stalker!"
Bliss was still dealing with the cat creature and the weird blue flashes it kept sending her way. The strobing light made Bliss feel momentarily disoriented. She kept swinging wildly at the cat with a staggering amount of failure. But finally she got a good lick on the cat who went flying from a glancing blow back down the tunnel.
Escapade shook her head to try to clear it.
"Hoodwink?! Where are you?!"
“Over here!” called Iris from her place immobilized in the middle of the hallway. “It’s burning me!”
Tammy heard Iris's calls for help. Never one to ignore a teammate in need. She charged through crockagator man as electricity. The webbing was all well and good but it was too slow as she easily dodged it. She hit the cat woman with electricity and landed by Iris and tried to take the net off. "Hang on! I'll get this off you!
“Be careful!” she warned. “We don’t need you getting trapped, too.”
Bliss pulled up short when she saw Tammy was helping iris by electrifying the acid net. She wasn't sure how it was helping.
Bliss went and grabbed gator man and started shaking him like a dog with a rat.
Armoury hadn't closed with their aggressors like Escapade had. Taking the initiative was not a bad move, but it had also taken away any more time to analyse the threat they would have had. Ten rounds in rapid succession left Armoury's rifle. Each found its way deep into the chest and abdomen of the cat-like creature.
With Escapade man-handling their Gator-like opponent, Armory ran towards Hoodwink as well. His eyes were casting about, waiting for the web-weaver to show their head. His rifle would be ready to adjust said head into a less dangerous position.
Scorch crawled toward the fight on his hands and knees, but not even battle-hardened adrenaline could overpower the loss of blood pressure. He fell face down, his chest a perforated mess held together by shreds of flesh that finally gave out in twitching death throes.
While everyone was distracted with saving Iris and Bliss was wrestling Stalker, the arachnid woman called Widow snuck up on Bliss and attempted a backstab.
Bliss had been beating on poor Gator Man as she tried to keep track of all the players, and one was missing, the one that had webbed Hoodwink. She had to use one hand to keep Gator's jaws clasped closed while she wrestled with him. She lost her grip on the squirmy reptile man and he made a lunge for her. Unfortunately the Widow made her attack at the same time. Escapade dodged Gator boy so the two animal people struck one another.
Whether by luck or fate, the alligator jaws met Widow's torso while her Bouie knife plunged into Stalker's eye. Stalker toppled almost immediately, leaving Widow to wrestle in vain against his septic jaws until succumbing to her crushed ribcage in a gurgling swan song.
Bliss turned around to see the two animal people dying in one another's grasp.
"Eww, that's just nasty."
She glanced to the team lead, and used her plastic handcuffs to bind the two dead killers.
"I'm just going to go on the record to say I didn't do that."
"No, but that won't prevent Stryker from blaming us when they find the corpses." Armoury said while cutting the last strands off of Hoodwink. "Now shake it off and lets keep moving."
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