(Stones! Give me more of your Power Stones!)"Mutation-non-existent, energy signature unfamiliar. Switching to auxiliary combat subroutine."
With a substantial dent on its head and demonic fire still burning it, the Sentinel's left hand started to morph, producing what I would've estimated was some variation of a rifle.
I didn't sit idly by and let them happen. However, I switched to Aquila and dug deep, filling weapons with energy and creating a mental block around every part of my body so that energy could only flow down my hand. With a shove and a swing, I sent a glowing, teal Shuriken flying and watched in awe as it snapped onto the chest of the Sentinel, cutting it over and over with each rotation.
The attack seemed to do nothing to the bewildered Sentinel as it still continued to transform. I stood there frozen for a comment that I'd just pulled off a Round trip.
When the gun was finally levelled at me, I fired Ophion at the rifle hand and yanked it to the side, causing it to miss its shot. By now, Round Trip was already producing deep groves in the Sentinel's chest, so I decided to turn up the heat.
The Sentinel's eyes glowed orange, readying itself for another beam just as I fired and used Angel Pull, positioning me at the giant's leg. I missed the laser by a hair, and I activated Demon Evade as I came up with a Charged Arbiter and swung.
The results were explosive, tossing the Sentinel's leg backwards so that it stumbled forward. Demon Pull latched on the monster's face, guaranteeing his fall. With a quick use of Burst, I positioned myself in the air and charged Round Trip with Aquila again, this time sinking 50AE into it. The first had only taken 25. It produced a shuriken the size of my body.
It hit the Sentinel's head with a resounding ring and revved like a beast possessed, shaving off metal strips and damaging laser lenses and multiple sensors. Not one to leave a thing to chance. I double-jumped again and gathered three Bursts worth of DE into Arbiter before unleashing another Flush.
The energy crashed , flickering between red and blue erratically before suddenly exploding in a startling flash of purple light and heat. Standing so close, the light almost fried my retinas.
Evasion activated while I was still winking away the light, and I turned intangible just as a spray of rifle bullets reached me.
I activated Angel regeneration, healing the light damage to my eyes as I stepped forward. I materialized in front of what was left of the Sentinel's face. It was a melted, shredded mess. Its solitary eye was flickering and glowed with malice.
Fuck you, too, you giant metal penis.
I brought Arbiter down the eye and chained it into another heavy strike. I rolled to the left as the returning hand tried to grab me before I burst forward and slammed into the head for a third time with a packet of Burst. A second image superimposed on mine, effectively doubling the already disgusting damage of Arbiter.
Slowly, the giant went inert, seizing up entirely. I got no kill notification for the kill or the combination attack I pulled off, but I decided not to work myself into a frenzy over it.
"Jesus," Rin said from behind. "You're crazy."
"What gave it away," Clint chimed in.
---
Natasha
Working alongside Jean Grey was a chilling experience. She'd changed seemingly overnight. Going from a paranoid, power-drunk, mercurial monster to a mostly mild-mannered young adult.
Her new attitude, however, didn't seem to extend to the soldiers we came across when we portaled in front of Nadia's Cell. They opened fire immediately when they saw us. They'd been so fast I hadn't been able to react.
Jean simply froze the bullet in the air and closed her fist. All five men froze and slowly turned their guns on each other and fired.
My heart fluttered as the bullets tumbled to the ground, though my face remained steely. Aaron did not hide his displeasure well.
"It had to be done," she said as she shut her eyes, stretching her hands out. "And so does this."
A moment later, we hear a series of screams and shots sound throughout the underground holding facility.
Did she just--
A chill ran up my spine.
"Yes," she said, looking at me with her deep green eyes. "Every last one. Dante and I talked it over. We cannot risk anyone identifying us. Also, I've heard their thoughts; they were far from innocent."
I did not dispute that. People who ended up doing mercenary work often weren't, but the manner in which she executed them was chilling and impressive.
"I've been practising," she simply said as she walked up to the door to Nadia's cell. She shut her eyes to concentrate and, with a one-handed pull, yanked a door made from pure metal that must've been over 3000 pounds off its hinges.
Gas started pouring in from the vents above us, and I quickly pulled a mask from my bag to prevent breathing it in. Aaron started weaving some kind of complicated spell behind me.
When I looked up at Jean, she had her eyes closed and suddenly snapped open, and the gas stopped.
How did she--
"The ventilation system," she explained. "I broke it."
Aaron looked at me with a defeated shrug and stopped his spell, which seemed even less magical compared to what I'd just seen Jean manage.
I held back a frown that was worming itself to the surface. Oddly, I found her mind-reading abilities even more unsettling than the telekinesis.
Jean frowned a bit at my thought, but before she could respond, a call came in for Aaron. Clint wanted him to extract Bolivar, so he answered the call after getting the go-ahead from both of us.
Jean was about to enter the room when she suddenly stumbled. I pulled my gun, afraid that the girl, Nadia, might've been the culprit, but when I heard her whisper, "Dante," I realized it was something else.
She regained herself after a long moment and remained still for a while longer before she strode into the room with the tenderest smile on her face.
"Your powers," she said in a tiny, almost mousy voice, "you still have all of it."
"I'm a little different than most mutants," she answered with a bright smile.
The girl scrutinized her for a moment before she blinked, smiling back. "You are."
"We're here to get you out of here," she said. "My friend is taking care of the bad man upstairs."
The news seemed to alarm the young girl. "The bad man," she started. "He's been taking more blood and bone marrow. He's building something."
"I know," she said. "And Dante can take care of it. He's not a mutant, but he's the strongest person I know."
I knew she didn't mean that literarily, but her words still gave me pause. Clint had noticed it as well. Dante was considerably faster and stronger than he was at the mansion, and her words made me think we hadn't seen the depth of that power just yet.
I put my suspicions aside for now and spoke to Jean, who had Nadia sitting on her waist like a toddler. The girl looked about 12, but she was emaciated, so I couldn't really say.
"I need to take a look at the computers," I said, venturing deeper into the bowels of the facility.
---
Mystique
I walked into a New York Penthouse with John beside me and Wanda behind him, frankly petrified by the news I'd just received.
We walked past Toad, who was playing cards with Pietro, and Sabertooth, who seemed to be in deep meditation with Night Kat, our most recent addition.
Pietro whistled.
"Something is not quite right," Toad pitched in, while the others said nothing. They knew better.
Erik was in a separate office. The metal doors eased open as I approached, and he turned around to face me. His features, which were indifferent and cold, suddenly softened.
"What's wrong?"
"He's dead," I said. I didn't realize I was crying until the tears started flowing.
"Jesus," John said listlessly, "are you crying?"
Magneto's eyes locked on John, and he found himself on his knees and screaming before he could blink. Erik hadn't even moved. He hadn't needed to. Wanda had acted.
"What is he doing here?" he asked.
"He saw it all," I said, "and it's worse than you could've ever imagined."
"Speak," he commanded, and John began to, without much need for arm twisting or repetition.
"It all started with this kid Dante…He came back with the team after they went on a mission to shut down Toad's Las Vegas Fight Club, which was awesome, by the way. I caught a few fights…
(Read ahead on Patreon.com/ArtandCreativeWriting. We're at Chapter 98)