" Nobody move. Do you hear me." Logan stated.
The team stood silently still as they looked at Warren in his new Archangel transformation. It was quiet an ordeal, the man was breathing heavy, and blood was leaking from his mouth.
" What the fuck is going on here, Logan? What the hell happened to his wings?" James asked, he raised one of his knives up to his chest, readying himself for a fight.
" I can make him sleep." Josh spoke.
" He can make you die from far away." Laura told the boy.
" Just shut up, all of you." Logan exclaimed. He then looked to Warren and held his hand out. " Easy, Warren. Easy. We're you're friends. Alright."
" My wings... I can feel them... THEY TOOK MY WINGS!" Warren screamed. James and Logan lunged at Warren, while Ian shoved Laura and Josh out of the way.
Warren easily cut through Logan's arm and chest, knocking the veteran to the side with ease.
James jumped onto Warren's back and Warren slammed him into the top of the ceiling. James crashed to the ground with a thud.
" Make it stop!" Warren begged. " Make it stop!"
" Whatever you say bub." Logan replied. He got back up to his feet and popped his claws. But Warren wasn't having it. He swatted Logan to the side and jumped out of the window in a rage. " WARREN!" Logan yelled for the man, but his cry fell on deaf ears. Warren only had one thing on his mind. Revenge. " IAN FOLLOW HIM!" Logan yelled.
Ian jumped out of the window and followed after Warren while Logan and the others quickly boarded the X-Jet to follow the men.
....
" Are you on him?" Logan radioed to Ian. Logan was in the X-Jet with Warpath, Laura, and Elixir, and they were currently chasing after Warren. They were currently over-Mid America. Flying faster than the speed of sound
" Yeah, but damn he's fast. Where the hell is he going in such a rush?" Ian asked the man.
" The Purifiers made Rahne take his wings. Even money says he's going after them." Logan explained.
" Then I gotta feeling we're gonna be in for a very busy night." Ian told the man.
" Yeah." Logan replied.
Ian continued chasing Warren all the way to Chicago. It seemed like Warren was getting close to his objective, because he began moving down towards the buildings. And eventually he made a divebomb straight for a skyscraper.
" Logan, Purifiers." Ian told the man.
" We're right behind you. Take those bastards out you hear me? No one leaves this place alive. Give'em one hell of a show kid." Logan belayed his orders and Ian was more than happy to carry them out. So was Warren.
Warren and Ian, whether Warren cared or not, both swooped down on the tower and in an instant Warren decapitated the four purifier guards standing guard on the towers terrace.
Ian followed after Warren, slamming headfirst into the building. Ian used his powers while flying through the building to set off an explosion.
When Ian crashed into the main foyer, he saw the bodies of Purifiers already long dead. And then he froze. Not because of the bodies, not because of all the blood. But because of who Risman was standing with.
" No... No way. I killed you." Ian muttered.
There standing with the Purifier leader was none other than Bastion himself. But something was different. This one looked much older than the one Ian had fought.
" RYYYAAAAAH! Give them back!" Warren suddenly landed behind Ian and started screaming.
" Eli, Move!" Risman yelled.
" LOGAN! I NEED YOU! NOW!" Ian yelled into his radio.
The roof above shattered, and Logan and the others came crashing down.
" Right here, kid. Holy fuck is that Bastion?" Logan exclaimed.
" Forty-eight targets, including airborne." Laura stated.
" Great so, what's the plan?" James asked.
" Sixteen a piece. Kill them all." Logan exclaimed.
Ian couldn't believe, even now seeing him in front of him. He thought it was just a bad dream. But it was real. It was all too real.
" Do you see, what you have done, Risman?" Bastion asked the man.
" I have reclaimed what is mine. And if I am to die tonight, then you are coming with me, Bastion." Risman told the machine. He pulled out two pistols and pointed them right at Bastion's face. But the machine didn't seem to care much.
Bastion raised his hand, all this time Risman has fought back against his plans, and now they were in ruins because of him.
" No Risman. I won't be joining you." Bastion told the man.
" Bastion!" Ian slammed Bastion with a strong blast of energy, sending him flying. Ian then chased after him.
Risman, saw the opportunity with Bastion being distracted, to escape. He would live to see another day. At least he thought he would.
" Risman." Laura muttered. She killed the Purifiers and the winged soldiers attacking her, and then chased after the man.
" We lost, X and Onslaught." James told Logan.
" Fine. Just means more for us." Logan replied.
Laura chased after Risman; this was her target. This was everything she had been working towards, for the past few months. ever since She went to Scott for something, anything. This had been the mission he had given her. And now it was time to complete it. Laura picked up a gun from a dead Purifier and slowly walked towards the door at the end of the hall. And when she arrived, she saw Risman and some man, no, some kind of creature holding him it's clutches.
" God forgive me." Risman muttered.
Without question, Laura pulled her gun and fired one round into Risman's skull, killing him instantly. She then turned the gun to the creature holding him and fired three rounds into his body. One in his right shoulder, two in his chest.
The bullets made the creature drop Risman, but it didn't stop him. The creature changed its focus onto Laura.
Laura tried to defend herself but her claws, despite piercing through the creature's chest, seemed to ineffective.
" I should just kill you for denying me Matthew's soul. But I can't resist the meal your healing factor is giving off. So much to offer... And now with Magus bonded o me, I have two mouths to feed."
" Nyaaaaaah" Laura shouted. She struggled in the creature's claws but couldn't free herself.
" I'll bring you back to the brink of death and then you'll come to me. Again, and again and agai-"
* Crash!
Ian and Bastion came barreling through the wall, crashing into Laura and the creature on the way through.
" Laura?" Ian saw Laura and the creature. He planted his foot on the ground. " Sorry Bastion. Another time." Ian used the momentum form the screeching halt and threw bastion through the wall and out of the building.
" X, are you okay?" Ian asked the girl.
" Kill him." Laura groaned.
" I've killed more of your kind than sentinels, Sinclair. And you just made this personal." The creature exclaimed.
" Bite me!" Ian blasted the man, consuming his body in a blaze of heat and energy. Ian didn't know whether or not his blast had killed the creature, as when the dust settled there was nothing or no one there. But whether or not he did, he still had to make sure Laura was fine. He crouched down next to the girl and picked her up into his arms. " Are you okay, Laura?"
" Did I complete my mission?" Laura asked.
" Yeah. You did good, Laura. You did good." Ian told the girl. He helped her to her feet, and she hugged him.
Ian could feel the tensions releasing from Laura's muscles. Hearing that she succeeded must have really made her happy.
" Heh, alright. Come on Laura. We need to go help the others." Ian spoke.
Laura looked up at him and nodded. He was right, the mission wasn't finished just yet. They still had to get the hell out of there.
Ian and Laura went running back to the main hall. And for a minute they believed that everything was over. But as they approached Logan and James, who were both standing there in complete shock and silence. The sense of victory they had was suddenly ripped away from the violently.
Logan, Laura, James, and Ian all looked up into the sky, at the Helicopter floating above them.
" No fucking way." Ian muttered.
Standing in front of the group of mutants was a lineup of the most Notorious Anti-Mutant terrorists to ever exist. All of whom were deceased.
Graydon Creed, Son of Victor Creed aka Sabertooth and Raven Darkholme aka Mystique, - Founder of the friends of Humanity. Mutants Killed-147.
Donald Pierce- Leader of the Reavers. Mutants Killed 348.
Stephen Lang- Head of project Armageddon. Mutants killed 29.
Reverend William Stryker- Archbishop of the Purifiers. Mutants killed 474.
The Leper Queen- Leader of the Sapien League. Mutants Killed 221.
Cameron Hodge- Founder of the Right. Mutants Kiled 178.
And finally, the worst of the worst, and the man responsible for the greatest threats the X-men have ever faced.
Bolivar Trask- Founder and Creator of the Sentinels. Mutants Killed 16,521,610.
Standing in the middle of it all was Bastion.
" This isn't real. Logan, please tell me this isn't real." Ian begged the man. He couldn't believe his eyes. Cameron Hodge, Trask, Stryker, Lang, and Creed were all dead, killed by the either members of Xavier's X-men or Magneto's Original Brotherhood.
And yet here they were all assembled together.
They were all so shocked by what they were seeing that they completely dropped their guards.
Bastion raised his hand and blasted Logan in his face, with a wave of energy so strong that it completely burnt the flesh off of his skeleton.
Ian caught Logan in his arms and watched as the helicopter disappeared.
" This... This is bad." He muttered.
" Yeah. Very bad." Logan cursed. " You three take a look around. This is your life now. And the blood never comes off."
James, Logan, Laura, and Ian looked around at the bodies littered around the room, and all the blood staining the floors.
" We have to find Rahne." Ian told the man.
" Go. Get her. And hurry. Stark and his avengers are going to be here soon." Logan told the man.
" You mean Osborn's Avengers?" Ian asked the man.
" Doesn't matter. Just go!" Logan yelled.
Ian nodded and ran and surprisingly, Laura came with him.
" What are?"
" Follow me. I can smell her. And blood." Laura told the man.
" Lead on. Let's just end this nightmare already." He told Laura.
Ian followed Laura through the tower, and eventually they came to a small white room, and lying in the middle of it, in a puddle of blood was Rahne.
Though when Ian went to check on her, he noticed it was not her blood that was spilled. All it took was one look at her mouth full of blood to tell what happened.
" There is no sin so terrible that God's love cannot forgive... There is no sin so terrible that God's love cannot forgive. There is no sin so terrible that God's love cannot forgive. There is no sin..." Ian looked down at Rahne, bawled up on the floor, and felt his heart shatter. He could see it in her eyes, that the innocence and hope and even to a degree the faith in God that she believed so much in was crumbling away.
Ian Knelt down next to Rahne and held her in his arms.
" God forgive ye, Rahne. He loves you and forgives you. For ye are no monster or demon of God nor man. But ye are a child of faith, who was lost. But now yuir safe. Know that God loves you. I love you."
....
In the present.
" And that's all that happened. Oh, and As for Warren, he didn't have a scratch on him. Almost like it never happened." Logan finished briefing Scott on all the events that transpired in the last night. " But he said those wings are still inside of him... And that they want to come out again. Elixir confirmed. He's changed for good. Rahnes healed up now. Physically, she's fine. But mentally. I don't think she's ever gonna be the same. Ian went home last night. Poor kid. He stayed by Rahne's bedside the entire time until he left. The dumb kid still loves her."
" Of course, he does. No man is going to do what he's done this week for a woman he doesn't love. Let him rest for a while. I have a plan I'm working on Logan, and with Warren's help it should go smoothly with our friends in San Francisco." Scott told the man.
" You sure about that Slim? The last time, we did something like that over a million mutants died." Logan told the man.
" Yes, I know. But for now. It's our best option to move forward. Not just as X-men. But as a species entirely. But there's something else I need to ask you. What about the thing that killed Technarch? The one Ian and X-23 saw?" Scott asked the man.
" X-23 said she heard a name, Eli, before everything went sideways. That's all we got to go on." Logan told the man.
" Then I've only got one more question for you." Scott walked over to a computer and pulled up a picture of the next targets on his hit list. The list showed Bastion, Gradyon Creed, The Leper Queen, Donald Pierce, Stephen Lang, Bolivar Trask, William Stryker, and Cameron Hodge. " Who's next?"