God Loves, Man Kills - Pt. 2c
Posted on Wed Feb 14th, 2024 @ 5:52pm by Bobby Drake & Shinobi Shaw & Ethan Hale & Pietro Maximoff
3,243 words; about a 16 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.”
Back at the intersection where the channels split the diversion tunnel into two, Bobby looked at Ethan and Jace. "All right, I guess we hold this point until something happens. Flux, can you get Gryphon there up through the ceiling and into the sky? We need his eyes to call out whatever comes next, hopefully before it happens."
"Yeah, I can do that," said Jace. He looked to Ethan and held out his arm. "Hang on. When I say jump, do it. I'll phase us out and the momentum should be an extra push as our lighter density carries us upward. You can let go when we're above ground."
"Okay," he said
After taking to the sky, it wasn't long before Ethan heard a familiar voice. Sleepless hours of tossing and turning, trying to forget the baritone timbre that now taunted him from above.
"Surprise, LOSER, I'm still alive. You should have killed me when you had the chance. I won't make that same mistake."
Ethan wasn't sure whether he should be relieved or terrified that his former teammate was alive. He compromised by being both, though he did his best not to show either.
"Remember, I tried to save you at first, you're the one that attacked me."
Apex was done talking he flew at Gryphon like Lawrance Taylor sacking Troy Aikman.
Troy Aikman though, didn't have claws and Gryphon managed to rake Apex's face before they both went tumbling toward the ground.
Both of them landed in a hard thud. Apex nearly had Ethan in a pin, but Ethan had pivoted at the last second so they landed side by side. Both winged warriors wrapped their wings about themselves to soak the blunt force of impact and were at each other again in a heartbeat.
"You're weak, Predator," spat Apex as he went for a grapple with both arms and wings combined. "Been sleeping with the enemy?"
Ethan was beginning to feel that Apex was right about one thing, he was getting weak. He'd have to remedy that. Apex was stronger than he was, Ethan knew that, but hopefully, he wasn't smarter or quicker.
"I AM NOT PREDATOR!" He shouted. "My name is Gryphon now." He was about to attempt a surprise attack against the other hunter, but decided to at least try a different approach. "I'm tempted to tell you who I sleep with is not your concern. The old Predator would. But that's not me anymore. I don't have time to be a smart ass."
Apex took a swipe at Ethan's throat, missing by inches. 'Your time is up, traitor!"
"Listen, Apex, mutants are not our enemies. That woman who shot you, she thought you were a mutant that we both were. Her hate blinded her. Don't let yours do the same. How long do you think it will be before Stryker or someone like him decides you and Phoenix are a loose end that needs to be dealt with? They'll send hunters to round you up."
"Shut up!" Apex howled as he pressed the attack.
"Join me, turn away from the dark side," Ethan said, "or at least just do nothing and let me do my job."
"Die, you fucking piece of shit!" Apex lunged hard at Ethan, giving up his chance to change course.
Ethan wasn't at all surprised that Apex had rejected his attempts at diplomacy. In the back of his mind, he'd known his attempt was a futile one, but the Professor was rubbing off on him and he'd had to try.
While the rejection hadn't caught him off guard, Apex's charge had. He managed to twist away enough to avoid the full brunt of Apex's attack, but not all of it. He was hit on the right side cracking, maybe even breaking a rib or two. Pain shot up his body directly to his brain.
He kept his head about him however and did what he'd planned to do earlier. He folded his wings about him and just stopped flying and started falling. At the same time, he extended his claws to their fullest length and released his neurotoxin into them.
"Son of a bitch!" Apex shouted in pain. "You're not getting me that easy!"
A sharp cry like an eagle came out of Apex's mouth. It was answered by one in a similar pitch. And then there was the sharp sting of claws penetrating Ethan by the shoulders, just above the wings.
"Harrier reporting," said another voice from behind Ethan. "Target engaged."
Ethan cursed to himself. He should have anticipated that Apex would have backup. It was Phoenix 101 and X-Men 101, yet his focus had only been on Apex. He looked up to see a face even more bird-like than his own He bit his lip to keep from crying out. "Engage this, you bastard he shouted. He twisted around, not trying to break the hold of the other flying creature, that was the last thing he wanted. He was able to loosen it. He then dove toward the ground, flying as hard and as fast as he could.
"Kill him!" Apex shouted from his hands and knees, his advanced immune system doing its damnedest to fight off Ethan's neurotoxin.
Harrier flung loose but dove hard in pursuit, zigging when Ethan zagged, determined to pin the traitor down and disembowel him.
Down at the intersection, Bobby waited for Jace to return when the lights cut out. Faint daylight from far up the tunnel did nothing but keep his eyes from adjusting.
"Flux!" Bobby called out. "You here?" Something in the darkness swiped at Bobby's side, cutting him open. "Fuck!"
"Specter reporting," said a voice in the dark. "Engaging target."
Bobby turned to iceform for defense and to close his bleeding wound. "Oh, boy, you don't know who the fuck you're messing with!"
The whole intersection of the tunnel dropped to freezing temperatures.
As Jace exited the ceiling, he saw the darkened room and felt the freezing temperatures. He expected it to be the Purifiers as they'd been briefed about that possibility. Hopefully creating a distraction, he said, "I'm the ghost of Krampus Past and I'm here to kick your ass!" He lowered himself to the floor and took slightly heavier than normal density so he could catch his breath and energy from the ascent and descent. "Iceman!" he called out in the hopes of getting an audible location.
"It's dark!" Bobby shouted. "I think the other guy has night vision. Get back or phase out if you can stand the cold!"
Jace phase out for a little while longer. It was for sure cold as a witch's something or other. The ground behind the wall was warmer so he took a brief stint inside before poking his head back out.
In a few seconds, the lights began flickering on again. There was one feline mutate near Bobby with another near the wall who had extra limbs along her torso. She had been holding onto the wiring that ran the lights, but two of her extra limbs had broken off with the cold snap. Both of them were frozen nearly solid, almost too much to shiver.
Bobby released the cold snap but the air was still frigid.
Jace slipped through the wall back into the tunnel. He saw the one near the wall and wiring and increased his density. He brought his fist into the face and skull of whatever mutated thing that was. "That one won't be bugging the lights anymore."
"I think this one—"
The feline Specter had been hobbling away best he could, but then suddenly turned and lunged at Bobby in a suicide charge. Out of reflex, Bobby hit him with a cold snap so frigid and swift that Specter was frozen solid. His momentum slammed him forward onto the hard ground where he shattered like glass.
"Uh... this one's down too." He shook off the grisly sight and shoved it down where he kept all his other trauma. "We need to get Ethan and regroup with the others. This splitting up bullshit was a terrible idea."
"Yeah, same page, dude," said Jace. "But hey, what do we know, right? We're just the piss-ant rear guard." He sighed. "So, getting to Ethan, grab my arm. Elevator going up. Ground floor; fresh air, clouds, sunlight, and Ethan."
"Dude, just get on with it!" Bobby shouted, concern for Ethan clear in his voice.
"We have you surrounded, Predator. There's no nowhere to go. Your mutie friends are dead." Harrier kept taunting Ethan during their game of cat and mouse.
"And now you're mine!" Apex jumped out of nowhere and seized Ethan by the throat. "Traitors don't get last words. Just death rattles."
Ethan was faster, if only by a fraction, but he was not stronger. He struggled mightily but to no avail. He was starting to turn blue from lack of oxygen and it didn't matter how much he slashed at Apex, it wasn't doing any good.
Apex's hand was suddenly encased in ice from wrist to elbow. An edged block of ice came down, shattering the limb in its frozen weak spot and severing the hand.
"FUCKING HELL!" Apex stared in savage horror at his frozen, bloodied stump of an arm.
Ethan smiled at Apex. It was a cold, calculating smile that didn't reach his eyes. It was a Predator smile, not a Gryphon smile.
"Keep your other goddamned filthy hand off him!" Bobby shouted. "Or I swear to Christ you'll lose that one too!"
Harrier didn't hesitate. He descended straight toward Bobby's back with claws outstretched, just as he had done with Ethan.
Jace had taken a knee on the grass after having brought Bobby up through the earth. Three damn trips of phasing through all of that took its toll. He'd listened as the events transpired but looked up when Bobby let the threats fly. Jace believed them. One hundred percent. "Son of a...Iceman! Look out!" One more time. He hoped he had it in him. Jace ran over and grabbed Bobby's arm, phasing him again.
Ethan caught Harrier's dive out of his peripheral vision. The asshole was attacking his friend, his teammate, the only guy he'd kissed in months. There was no way that he was going to let Harrier succeed in his attack. He dove after the other winged man.
He saw Jace touch Bobby and they both phased out. He didn't stop his dive, however. Instead, he went even faster At the last second, he tried a trick he'd been working to perfect in the danger room. He just hoped it would work when it counted. Without losing much velocity he pulled out of the dive. His legs and feet were extended below him and he was aiming for the small of Harrier's back.
A sudden dropkick knocked Ethan out of the sky and sent him rolling onto his side.
"Hello, Ethan..." The voice was inhuman but filled with conflicted emotions.
"Kill him, Catamount!" Apex screamed. "What are you waiting for!"
It took a few seconds for Gryphon to catch his breath. His claws extended, toxin dripping from them, then they retracted. "Aaron, don't do this. I don't care what you've been told, I wasn't the one that betrayed you or turned you in. You're the first, the only guy I ever loved."
Catamount—Ryan—grimaced at Ethan's words.
"You're better than this, you're better than them."
"I didn't want to believe it," said the other. "But you've joined the enemy."
"KILL THEM!" Apex roared.
At his order, Harrier and Catamount jumped into action, the first going high and the second going low. Apex, bloodied frozen stump and all, shot himself forward right up the middle.
They were met by a cold blast from Iceman, though it didn't slow them down much. Bobby jumped backward and let his momentum carry him away on an ice sled.
Gryphon was disappointed, but not surprised that his second attempt at diplomacy had failed just as spectacularly as his first. Perhaps more so since he thought he had a legitimate shot at winning his ex over. But he wasn't surprised.
So, if he wasn't going to win anyone over, he just had to stop him.
As Catamount went low, charging toward him, the claws came out again. He struck out at his former teammate going for his his chest even as he was being knocked to the ground.
Jace, whether fortunate or unfortunate, was grounded for the main aerial event. The least he could do was provide a distraction for either Bobby or Ethan. And maybe make himself too heavy to carry if he could hold on to whoever tried to scoop him up. He ran towards the danger, waving his arms and yelling, "Yo! Dipshit! What're you gonna do for a face when the baboon wants its ass back?"
Death from above came courtesy of Harrier. The winged destroyer dove at the unarmed and defenseless challenger with a wolfish grin. He would kill Jace and reduce even the odds back in their favor.
Jace didn't flinch. "That's right! Bring it!" He stopped, dug in his heels, and put up his fists like he was going to hit the creature square on the jaw. In all likelihood, he looked more comical than defiant. It would only be seconds before he'd take the brunt of the death dive.
"Survival of the fittest!" Harrier shouted as he reached for Jace's throat to tear it out. But he moved through the young man as if Jace wasn't even there.
Jace put his hands on his knees and laughed. Very loudly. Then he turned around and walked toward Harrier. "Boo!" he yelled. "Booooooo...I'm here to haunt you for the rest of your life!" He laughed even harder and then straightened up, seriousness on his face as he reached into Harrier's chest. "There it is. The heart of the issue." He wiped the sweat from his brow. And then started to squeeze. "How's that feel?"
The human bird of prey found words to be fleeting. His entire cardiovascular system seized up while his eyes turned bloodshot and splotchy from sudden asphyxia. Try as he might, his diaphragm wouldn't work, or at least that's how it felt. No amount of air exchange in his lungs could stave off the long goodnight that claimed him. Harrier fell limp in Jace's grasp and twitched no more.
A vengeful Apex was hot on Bobby's trail, gaining on him no matter how fast or hard Bobby turned his ice sled. Apex flew at him with his remaining clawed hand outstretched. The dead limb amputated near the elbow dragged lifelessly at his side.
Bobby raced high and away, leading Apex farther and farther from the street fight taking place below.
"Your ass is mine, mutie!" Apex pumped his wings hard for an added burst of speed.
"Only ass you should be worried about..." Bobby turned around, put his hands together, and released a frigid blast that encased Apex in solid ice. "... is yours!"
Apex plummeted from the sky like a falling brick and disappeared into the turgid rapids of Niagara Falls.
Looking back below, Bobby saw Ethan in a vicious grapple with the feline man Apex had called Catamount. He darted back to the fray.
"You betrayed us," Catamount hissed in Ethan's ear. He had slinked around Ethan and snaked his arm around under his ex-boyfriend's chin. "You betrayed me! Now you die!"
Reasoning hadn't worked, Ethan knew begging wouldn't either. No words would convince Ryan that he was innocent. The only thing that would save him was his reflexes. Both hands shot up, grabbing Catamount's wrist. He pulled the arm far enough away for him to slip from the other's grasp, then twisted it violently till he heard it snap.
"No one has to die today, Ry... Catamount. Don't make me hurt you."
Catamount cried out in pain. "Little late for that, don't you think?"
Once more his claws descended. "Longer than you remember?" he asked, blood dripping from his nose from an earlier punch that Catamount had delivered.
Kicking his foot back, Catamount snaked it around Ethan's ankle and gave his former love a hard shove from behind. The motion tripped Ethan flat onto his back, left for a killing stroke.
Catamount pirouetted in the air, swinging his clawed fist around in a position for a devastating palm strike to Ethan's face. While he was still airborne, a silver streak blurred the air over Ethan's head. It came to a standstill, revealing none other than Quicksilver. The mutant had put his fist through Catamount's chest so hard that it made the hunter's thoracic cavity crumble apart. Shaking the corpse off his arm, Quicksilver extended the clean one to help Ethan up.
Ethan took the offered hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. He stood there for several seconds trying to process what had just happened He tried to hold back his tears, but he was only partially successful. "He was going to kill me. He was really going to kill me. I can't believe it." He said half to himself.
"Th... Thanks for saving my life. You're on our side now?"
“Again. Thanks for saving my life, again. That’s two now.” Quicksilver corrected, his thoughts already racing as he surveyed the diverging tunnel entrances, but the end of Ethan’s comment snapped his attention back toward him.
“Our side?” Pietro scoffed at the words “Not exactly. Let’s just say we can find some common ground from time to time.”
Quicksilver’s body tensed at the sound of gunfire from down the tunnels. That was enough to return his attention back towards the matter at hand. Just as quickly as he had intervened, he was gone again. A streak of silver that vanished in the blink of an eye.
Ethan's eyes shifted from the dead body of his ex to where the source of the gunshots. He knew he'd have stuff to deal with later. But for now, he had to get back in the action. He flew into the air.
"Come on!" Bobby said to Jace. He offered the other mutant a hand so that he could follow on his ice sled. "Bend your knees and keep your weight centered no matter which way you lean, and I'll try not to get fancy. We gotta catch up!"
The aerial stunt was a little awkward at first but similar to a skateboard. Jace clutched Bobby by the shoulders and held on tight. Those gunshots meant there wasn't a moment to lose.
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