God Loves, Man Kills - Pt. 3
Posted on Sun Feb 18th, 2024 @ 2:09pm by Charles Xavier & Connor Bruin & Iris Walker & Cameron Hood & Jade Farwynd & Elias Buckley & Tammy Thompson & Bliss Hawkins & Aurora Summers & Kennedy Kelly & Hank McCoy
3,261 words; about a 16 minute read
Mission:
Episode 3: X-Tra Ecclesiam
Location: Niagara Falls, NY
Timeline: August 24th, 1990 - Afternoon
"I want full power!"
Reverend Stryker's imperious voice demanded satisfaction with the full conviction of someone compelled by a divine mandate or at least the wrath of one.
"The connection isn't stable yet, Reverend." The technician monitoring the power intake from the humongous generators looked beyond frustrated. "We have to step it up through between cycles or we risk—"
Shouts and gunfire echoed from up the tunnel. A handful of Purifiers fell back to fortify the command post position.
"Do you hear that?!" Stryker shouted. "I want us operational!"
Another shout came from the other technicians who were running the high-gauge power cables to a large device whose appearance resembled the lunar landing module and an automotive crash test machine. Seated at the center was a collared Charles Xavier who faced forward with an unblinking facial expression.
"And how is our harbinger of destruction?" Stryker asked the supervising specialist.
Hank McCoy, enthralled by the collar around his neck, didn't look away from the readout of Xavier's vitals as monitored by the collar and other electrodes taped to his body.
"I asked you a question, you devil!" Stryker pulled back his fist and punched Hank across the jaw.
Hank grunted slightly. Stryker could not punch hard enough to actually hurt him, but at least it caught his attention. “His blood pressure is too high,” he answered blankly. “But otherwise, he is fine.”
"Then I command you to defend the barricade!" Stryker shouted. "Do not let your demonic ilk pass until all is fulfilled!"
And so, without a word, Hank moved blankly to the barricade.
Enigma approached the Command Post. She didn’t need to be inside to pick up on the familiar presence of Charles Xavier emanating from inside. She may not have picked it up from far away but from here she couldn’t mistake it. “He’s in there! The Professor is definitely inside!”
Armoury looked at the assembled X-Men. From his belt he pulled off two stun grenades. He looked at Escapade, "You grab Hank. He's faster than he looks." His eyes switched to Tammy, "Scramble the collars if you can." Then to Fable, "Teleport Xavier out and into the Danger Room back home, then come back.", to Sanguis and Engima, "Scramble their minds." He then handed a few more ziptie-cuffs to Hoodwink, "Lock any exits, then hit Stryker over the head with something hard." Then to Artemis. "Shoot anyone who isn't us. Legs and arms if you can, otherwise center mass as we trained." Finally, Caveman. "You're rearguard mate. Anyone try and run away, you toss them right back in."
With the pins now pulled free, Cameron sent both stun grenades flying into the Command Post. The grenade spoons would have made for a pleasant tinkling sound if it wasn't overpowered by heavy Purifier boots hitting the concrete. Armoury pushed into the post first, rifle up and hitting two Purifiers each center mass.
Fable nodded his receipt of Cameron's request and vanished.
Sanguis reached out with her glowing hands, the blood-spatter would serve as flak to slow down any would-be assailants while Enigma reached out to play with their minds. Sanguis' method of play wouldn't be as finely tuned as Engima's. Blood was less than subtle when it came up to attack. So dozens of thin tentacles of blood coalesced out of the blood-spatter and grabbed at their assailants any way they could.
Jade held control of the tentacles in one hand, while with the other, she reached out into the mind of the attacker closest to her and forced a coagulation in his mind. Her mental scramble was not an area of effect either.
Kennedy merely nodded her head in agreement with Cameron’s directions as she surveyed their team and the Purifiers entering the area. They had arrived at around the same time as the first squad but she also noticed that the third squad was missing. Now she was even more grateful they hadn’t stayed behind, the first squad would have been alone if they had.
Kennedy went to work firing arrow after arrow into the Purifiers that charged into the Hydroelectric Power Station. She had been told to disable hands that fired guns over head shots, so Kennedy wounded palms and forearms instead. When they kept moving, that’s when she went for a thigh or knee.
Enigma was reaching out scrambling thoughts of all those assailants unfortunate enough to get in her way, between herself and Sanguis they were taking down as many as they could.
Iris hurried into the command center, running toes first to keep from making contact too much noise. She quickly headed in the direction of the three other doors to make sure they were locked. They didn’t need to be interrupted by more Purifiers before they’d rescued everyone.
Escapade entered the room dragging two struggling purifiers by their ankles. She threw one and then the other into the approaching supporters to scatter them like tenpins at a bowling alley. She began to bounce from wall to ceiling and floor and back again. She was a whirling dervish, with no love in her heart for the militant racists.
Escapade reached Dr McCoy, her assigned focus.
"Dr McCoy, I'm Escapade. I'm here to get you to safety."
Hank, for his part, gave a strangled roar and swung at the girl, albeit rather slowly, as if he were being held back by something.
Escapade frowned as she easily stepped out of the slow sweep of the good Doctor's arm. She had plenty of time to recognize she wouldn't want to be on the wrong end of those talons. She didn't want to hurt the guy at but she needed to evacuate him asap.
She grabbed the fighting hostage around the waist and began to skedaddle down the pathway of freedom.
Hank was stunned. In fact, he was so stunned that this slip of a girl had just picked him up and carried him away that he didn’t know what to do at first. “Put me down, whelp!” he demanded, thrashing about to try to make her drop him.
Escapade frowned as she bounced down the hallway. She had to grab him as best she could, he was too broad to get her arms around him completely.
"What did you call me? I'm trying to rescue you, you big blue furball. Now cooperate or I have to get more assertive!"
Hank soon found himself unable to move. She must be using some sort of mutant ability on him. “You’re assuming I want or need to be rescued,” he growled angrily.
Escapade was making a bee line for the exit.
"Five minutes ago you were staring into space. I don't know you, Big bubba, but that doesn't sound like your bio profile. Normally you're not growling, you're using highfalutin words like whelp and jocularity. Once we've saved everybody, you can chew me out as much as you'd like. My job is to get you safely away. That means I can't protect my friends because the team lead says you're more important. Prove that you're worth it."
Hank’s only reply was an agitated growl.
Escapade shook her head with disappointment.
"Watch the language! There are children present!"
She dodged and weaved as she continued.
"Like me! I'm a children too!"
"At last!" Stryker threw his fists in the air as the final power cycle was complete. The psionic transmitter was keyed to the X-Gene. From here, it would go out to the mobile network in New England, broadcasting the kill-switch code to the brain inside every mutant within hundreds of miles. All it needed was for the final switch.
Lifting up his voice, Stryker's words were carried out over the airwaves:
"'And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever!'"
Despite the hail of defensive gunfire against the mutants who were overrunning his position, Stryker made the sign of the cross in the air with one hand and solemnly laid his hand on the activator switch with the other. "In hoc signo vinces!"
In the blink of an eye, a portal appeared near Charles Xavier. The same blink of an eye contained the form of a young man who took the Professor by the arm despite his restraints. As that blink of an eye drew to a close, the apparition vanished along with Charles Xavier himself.
"What..." William Stryker, the reverend leader of the Purifiers, stood with his mouth agape. "What is the meaning of this?! WHERE IS XAVIER?!!"
Still unseen, Iris had found a pair of gloves and was busily ripping wires out of the machine one by one through an open panel. So far, nothing seemed to change, but she simply kept pulling. Maybe she was pulling wires from the wrong machine? No, this was definitely the right one. It might help if she knew what the wires did. With a shrug, she wiggled another wire free.
A large snapping sound preceded a wild electrical arc. Iris was spared the third degree burn thanks to the glove that was burned halfway from her hand, but she was still sent sailing several feet away against the wall.
She hit hard and had the wind knocked out of her. After a few seconds, she was able to take a deep breath and when she looked up, she realized she had become visible. “Shit!” she said and immediately made a dash for cover. She had to get rehidden.
A flash of light drew Kennedy’s attention towards the Command Post and the reeling form of Stryker. Her aim instinctively left the Purifiers and focused on Stryker’s head. She could have done it in that moment, ended Stryker with a well placed shot. But the consequences of that action were vast, not just for Kennedy but for every mutant, it was enough to stop her from letting the arrow fly.
Instead, Kennedy lowered her aim and fixed her sights on Stryker’s forearm. His hand was still elevated and placed on the activator switch, it was a perfect shot. With a calming breath she released the bow and let the arrow fly. It soared through the air and cleanly cut through Stryker’s wrist, creating a stigmata-like wound on the zealot.
Jade refocused her efforts at holding down as many as she could with her blood tentacles while the others took care of them as she took heard Stryker's waffling. As the mooks got polished, she turned and focused her attention on Stryker. She reached out with her free hand towards their nemesis and was about to cut off the flow of air to his brain when a Purifier shot her through the arm.
Sanguis' tentacles dropped as she stared at the hole in her arm for a moment in wonder. It hurt, a little...due to adrenaline, but it was more fascinating than anything else. Another bullet or two shot past her head. Jade turned her attention to the Purifier.
"You just signed your death warrant!" She growled at him, one hand twisting in into a choking grapple. Blood from surrounding pools shot out in numerous tentacles which enveloped the Purifier instantly, rendering him immobile.
Jade formed a spear out of her own blood and shoved it into his chest. She then reached out with her hand and made a motion as if to pull back, slowly. Pull back she did, drops of his own blood flowed through the air and into her injury healing it as it made contact with her skin and flesh.
"I will bleed you dry..." her tone was low and gravelly as her eyes and hands shone red.
By the time Stryker pulled Kennedy's arrow from his forearm, Jade had exsanguinated one of his men before his eyes. "Hell is empty," he gasped in horror, "and all the devils are here."
He turned to flee. As he did so, he hit a different actuator. It armed a 500 kiloton bomb set against the primary turbine which had propped up the machine that held Xavier's chair. Spurred on by pain and adrenaline, he fled down the opposite tunnel. Several remaining Purifiers flanked him to make good his escape.
"Burn in the fires of hell from whence you came!" Stryker's voice echoed behind him.
“We have to get out of here!” Aurora was relieved to be able to let her focus go as what was left of Stryker’s men fled with him. Wiping away a small nosebleed from the prolonged exertion she looked towards Jade. “We have to go!”
Iris spotted Stryker as he was about to run passed her. He held something in his hand- the collar controller? Possibly. Without really thinking about it, she stepped out of her hiding spot and snatched it as he ran passed her, quickly ducking back into hiding to reactivate her powers.
Jade snapped to as she heard Aurora's voice and she looked between the woman and the bomb. "We have to try and stop that thing from going off, or at least contain the blast. There's many innocent people around the area." She said, her face pale white, dark circles under her eyes. Everyone who sucks at tech shit, come with me, we need to get Stryker, the rest of you, stop that bomb from going off." Without waiting she took off after Stryker and co.
“I’m with you.” Aurora followed on after Jade, she didn’t know a thing about bombs so she was going to do what she did best.
"I got the bomb!" Armoury shouted, gesturing for the rest of the team to go after Stryker. "We need him alive! Don't kill him!" Were further orders shouted. Armoury stared at the explosive device. Stacks and stacks of plastic explosive were tied together with det-cord. Part of them were wrapped around the massive power turbine, but stacked between the turbines were silver canisters with yellow and black hazard labels. Radiation hazard labels.
As Armoury took another moment to study the lay out of the bomb, he also noticed the second layer of detonators and det-cord plugged into bricks of plastic explosive. As he traced them back, he identified them as a crude but effective failsafe. Any initial attempt to just pull detonators would just trigger an immediate second trigger. "Well... fuck." Armoury whispered to himself. His rifle, hanging from its sling tapped against the pile. It set off Armoury's nerves, making him do a half-jump back. He decided it might be wise to unclip it for now.
"I can't pull the detonators, I can't cut the det-cord." Armoury whispered to himself. The clock on the timer beeped ominously, showing he only had moments. "I also can't wait it out." He said with a half chuckle. "What if I just turn the triggering mechanism inert?" Armoury asked out loud, reaching up to the controlling bit of kit on the pile. He wrapped his fingers around it. With a picture of the entire mechanism in his mind, and a clear force of will all triggers shifted at the same time. No more electronics, just plastic shells that sound like rainmakers.
"THE ODDS OF YOU SUCCESSFULLY DISARMING THE TRIGGER WITHOUT DETONATING THE DEVICE ARE NOT WORTH ME SIGNING," Connor said through his device. "WE ARE FORTUNATE THEY DID NOT INSTALL A FAIL SAFE WITHIN THE TRIGGER. CLEARLY THEY DID NOT ANTICIPATE US GETTING THIS FAR. PERHAPS IT WAS ONLY EVER INTENDED TO COVER THEIR ESCAPE."
"If it hadn't worked, it wouldn't have been our problem." Armoury answered, still staring in disbelief at the dusted triggers. He put down the equipment and picked up his rifle, putting the strap back on. "Let's try and catch up to the rest."
“Wait… for me,” said Iris, stepping out of her hiding place. Her skin was laced with what looked like fine sunburn lines, just a single shade of red brighter than her skin, from the webbing she had run into, and her hair- already typically frizzy and thick, now stood up straight in a huge Afro. The hairdo would actually have been pretty cool if it hadn’t been for how she got it. “I’m a bit shaky, but… I’m coming.”
As they made their way through the tunnels, Iris moving more quickly than she would have thought possible, she caught sight of Bliss up ahead, still carrying an immobile Hank. “Hang on,” she said, studying the controller as they went. One button was clearly marked release. “Cross your fingers,” she said, and she jammed her finger onto the button.
Hank’s growl stopped suddenly as the collar disengaged. “Wha…” he said, confused. “What is happening? Who… who are you?”
Bliss pulled up at the change of Beast in tone and approach.
"I'm Escapade, I'm here with the rest of the X Men. What's happening is we're trying to get you away from Reverend stryker and the rest of the Hitler youth. Oh and just for your information there's a thermonuclear device back there. The closest thing we have to somebody who knows how to turn it off is working on it right now."
“Stryker,” repeated Hank, completely confused by the name. “What is a Stryker?” but the question was more to himself than anybody else.
"Think Jerry Caldwell, Pat Robertson, and Rush Limbaugh put into a blender and made into one big Anti Mutant religious bigot."
Escapade glanced back to McCoy.
"C'mon man, you're supposed to be this big brain we need help!"
In pursuit of Stryker down the opposite the tunnel, Jade pulled her dagger out again and cut her hand, forming a spear, and hurling it at the closest Purifier, then using his spilled blood to form a thick tentacle which slammed into the Purifier next to him and then slammed that Purifier hard into the ground.
Aurora reached out using her telekinesis to grab another purifier, giving him a yank then tossing him into the nearest wall. She was amazed at just what Jade could do with a drop, let alone a lot, of blood. The prolonged use of her own abilities was starting to give Aurora a headache, but she couldn’t give up now.
Surge saw Stryker trying to get away and wasn't about to allow that! She changed to radio form to give him a jolt to knock him out. But he was out of range, so her charged radio pulse fell short of the mark.
The Purifier herd was thinning out with more and more of them turning to fight in order to cover Stryker's retreat. Each barricade they had put up was now being blown apart to make good their escape and fight another day. Stryker himself led the pack, leaving his faithful followers behind to lay down their lives if necessary in order to save his.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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