NationStates Jolt Archive

Charli waited impatiently as the sighal was bounced through a multitude ofvarious buffers that were intended to hide the origin of the signal, and more importantly where it ended up.

"Yes, was just useing their terminology, what the heck do I know about this shit. They had to destroy a satellite on a time table. To keep some sort of information from getting out? I dunno, just guessing. But one of them is configured for transport. Or so I've been told - that one will hold about a dozen."

She said hurriedly as the line ws answered then she turned away and began talking low.

Pandora heard the crack of the window breaking, along with the thump of a body hitting the ground, so she guessed that her rounds had hit the target. But when she heard a number of gunshots coming from that direction, and felt a round slam into the thick tyre of the truck that she was crouching next to, followed by the sensation of another bullet whizzing close by her leg, she realised that at most she had injured the enemy, and it probably wasn’t a major injury. I’m being pinned in place so the other one can attack, she realised abruptly.

To counter this, she pivoted again, now facing towards the front of the vehicle. She leant forwards, getting closer to the end of the truck, then moved out of cover. With the gun already up, she rapidly adjusted the aim and snapped off two more shots in the general direction of the fallen soldier’s head. Eleven, a voice in her head announced. She then exploded out of the crouch, sprinting like lightning away from the pickup, heading for the next row of cars, aiming to end up slightly closer to the enemy.

The grenade flew from the other soldier’s hand as Pandora moved, bouncing off the side of the pickup and clattering to the ground, where it exploded. The blast crumpled the pickup and set off the fuel tank, adding to the explosion. The shock wave lifted Pandora off her feet and threw her on to the top of the car she had been making for, the windscreen of which had shattered due to the overpressure. Her impact caused the roof to buckle slightly, but then she slid down the intact rear window, bounced off the boot and, by means of her own dexterity, managed to land on her feet, winded and bruised, but otherwise unhurt, with the automatic still in her grip.

She shook her head slightly to clear the ringing in her ears, but it didn’t recede. That was when she realised that it wasn’t her ears, it was a dozen car alarms, all set off by the pressure wave from the grenade. She risked a momentary peek through the windows of the car to assess the results of her shots, exposing only as much as of herself as was necessary, and that for less than a second.

Between all the talking of the rest of the adult Night Life, or whatever they were (at least he was pretty sure he heard those words pop up more than one or twice somewhere), Scott was just rather lost among it all; not surprising, considering he was just a kid among adults, who didn't even know the full story yet. One thing did pique his interest though, and as he listened, he suddenly turned to Brutus.

"Oh, so you were one of those gorillas that came at us, huh?"

He thought to himself for a while, then added,

"That must've been a hell of a banana Miss Carrot Top threw at you to get you to follow her......."

It was just then, that Scott suddenly jumped up, as if he had heard something. He didn't know whether anyone else had as yet, but......what was that? Something's not right out there.

He walked over to the lady who had projected the mental screen showing them......whatever those guys were, for they were definitely different from the gorillas that were here earlier. Carrot Top was still tending to her, but Scott kneeled down beside her, and looked her in the eye.

"Oooh, boy, you need a clean-up and some water, lady. But hey, you think you could show us more of what's out there? I think the guys need to know how many of them there are, and what they're doing, y'know."

______________________________________________________________________________________________

In the meantime, Kristy was still nowhere to be found......

"Ah, so he want's his former minion back. You should have blown and butchered the entire group, then you wouldn't be getting chased around anymore." He commented, as that's what he'd done and the only people who'd ever tried to hunt him down had been irate criminals, assassins or mercenaries who'd wanted to gut him for messing with thier buisness.

"Explain what relation his life and your feeding have." He commented as she didn't look like a vampire but that's what it sounded like she was and he had a particular dislike of vampires, they annoyed him with thier sense of superiority.

Cambodia: 1972. Casca and his mercs were on what was to be a rather quick extraction mission. But the Khmer Rouge had showed up, and thrown everything to Hell. Casca's party suffered a number of casualties and wounds. The wounds had slowed them down, enough to allow the Khmer to catch up, forcing a final battle on the river.

"We get the wounded out of here. Red, if you can regenerate that leg wound in the next five minutes, fine, stay. Otherwise, go with the others. THAT GOES FOR EVERYBODY!! We need to know what has come knocking, since they're not ST's nor are they these agents you refer to. I plan to slow them down. I'm not looking to be a glory hound, but I can get out of this, if you give me the right directions of how to exit this place. It is probably a good idea to split up once you hit the tunnels. That will confuse, and hopefully weaken the guys after all of us. Those that can, help evacuate those that can't. This place might be a bomb shelter, but it could also end up a tomb. Those that are unhurt, and feel up to it, you can stay with me. I've done this before. It won't be pretty. But it is the best way to save as many lives as we can."

Vlastimil rolled and curled, taking the two shots in the back and neglected to see Gregorio throw the grenade. The car slewed sideways pinning him between it and the car who's window he shattered. Gregorio saw the sprinting form but didn't have a gun in hand. Rather than seek to pursue her he pulled out his rifle and moved away from her, toward the exit, taking cover behind another car on row over and several car widths down.

When Pandora peeked around to see how Vlastimil had fared she couldn't see him for the two cars, but what she could see were the two cars moving apart as the trooper braced his back against one and shoved against the other with his all his, not inconsiderable, strength.

Maxim's voice rang in thier ears. "What in the name of GOD is going on in there?!"

"Maxim", Gregorio replied, not relishing the idea of giving the update, "Vlastimil is down, but not out. I've moved back to cover him should the target seek to retire him."

Maxim was furious, but knew that yelling at the trooper wouldn't help things. "Good work Gregorio", he said tightly, "see to it that the target doesn't get it's opportunity. If it kills Vlastimil, kill it in the process. If you fail to ...."

Gregorio was well aware of what would happen if the target killed Vlastimil and escaped. A trooper could be completely flayed if done slowly and carefully and still be alive, since the under skin mess held thier organs in place. He estimated where the target should be and raised his rifle, waiting.

"That must've been a hell of a banana Miss Carrot Top threw at you to get you to follow her......."

Godolkin glared at Scott, the first actual look of rage he'd let out in his life. "I used to terminate monsters like you", he told Scott in level voice filled with barely controled fury. "So you had better shut your mouth before I do."

"Explain what relation his life and your feeding have."

Godolkin's glare shifted from Scott to Ryan and Red stepped forward, "Okay, okay, whoa. It ain't exactly somethin he likes to discuss alright? So lets just drop it, shall we?"

"We get the wounded out of here. Red, if you can regenerate that leg wound in the next five minutes, fine, stay. Otherwise, go with the others. THAT GOES FOR EVERYBODY!!

Red's head snapped around and Godolkin groaned. Either Casca was intentionally trying to anger her or he simply had a knack for it.

"Look, you mummified piece shit, I don't answah to you and do whatever I damn well please. I'd just soon toss your arse down theah and let them ave at you at this point. At least then we wouldn't have to put up with you any longah." Now that she was thoroughly pissed off .... all over again .... she rounded on Scott, "And you, you snivlin little twarp, A've ad enough of that Carrot Top crap outta you. Why don't you go get yer sistah in here with us before she gets erself into trouble. At least ye'd be doin something useful."

"Kid, she's right. Cut the crap, now isn't the time, and get you and your sister out of here. As for you Red, can your leg heal or not? I'm going to do my best to save lives. If you don't want to take orders, fine. Just remember that history repeats itself, especially when I'm around. I've been through parallel situations before, similar enough to know what to expect from everybody on my side. I don't want you, or anybody for that matter, getting hyped up about observations that I'm making to save their lives." Casca's voice was flat. Emotionless. He met Red's eyes. And he remained resolute. He wasn't going to dick around at this point. "You want blood on your hands, blood of the innocent, fine, stay here with a leg that will hamper you. Godolkin explained what I need to know about the Shock Troopers, and I know that any hindrance is a pitfall worth avoiding. I've been behind enemy lines enough to know that between fire-power and mobility, mobility wins. Now, without getting any more angry, can you heal your leg, and help me roll out another welcome mat, or can you not? And remember, their lives," he pointed at the group of Night Life gathering, many injured and needing assistance, "depend on your actions at this point." Casca let the issue go. He wasn't going to waste time with an angry Limey vamp that couldn't control her anger. Anger caused enough problems. Fighting the Nordic tribes in Germanica had proven that.

"Consider any questions about him dropped. If you are a vampire as comments about feeding suggest, would you please tell me know?" Ryan asked politely as he shared the former Iconoclast's preference for historical privacy. He also noticed that she got pissed at the term Carrot-Top, and the fact that she appearently shared his disgust for Casca, though perhaps for different reasons.

Red looked at Ryan. "In the purest sense, no. I'm a mutant. I have the vampires physical abilities. Strength, resilience, speed," and she pulled the bandage off her leg to show that the wound was completely healed, without even a scar to show for it, "healing rate. But I don't have they're supernatural abilities." At that Godolkin frowned, but Red didn't seem to notice, or chose not to, "But like them I'd starve to death in a supermahket without blood. It was my mutation that turned mutants and non-humans against me. Humans, of course, tend to fear us anyway. So I took Tamerlanes offer and hunted the night lifers. What did I care? They didn't like me anyway."

Jackie had listened silently to the whole schmeer, and craddled Sian to him, just barely reassured by the steadiness of her breathing. But anger was building within him, anger that he was inadvertently communicating to Sian. It was something she could tap into and use, and she did without consciously realizing it. Slowly she stirred in his arms, and drew a deeper breath.Jackson? What's wrong... Her mind voice was faint with exhaustion, but in a moment she had the current situation from him, and her eyes snapped open.

"Quiet, please!" Her voice was a rasp, little more than a whisper, but it carried the force of a command.

"Sorry to have dropped out like that. And I'm still not good for much. Casey's idea of a covering action while the civilians get out of here is the best thing. The various private elevators and cargo elevators can probably take all in one or two trips." She nodded slightly "No one stays who doesn't want to. Either go with others or stay and fight."

Red's head snapped around at Sian's voice and Godolkin took a cautious step closer, feeling chagrined. Even he had snapped, but then anger, in fact any emotion, was new to him. "Dr. Rhys", he said in a low voice and rather relieved. Red's only friend had been a doctor, so Sian's decision on the matter would hold weight with her. Now he only hoped that Casca wouldn't get smug and infuriate the huntress even more.

"Well I'm bloody well fightin", Red stated, as if anyone couldn't have figured that one out.

"I'll stay and fight or go to help others Dr. Rhys", Godolkin told her. After he said it he wasn't quite sure why. Normally instincts would have had him fight.

He listened with interest as it seemed they were much the same, though her gifts were natural and his were not. "It seems we're not altogether different." He commented as he heard raspy voice demand silence. "I'm willing to stay and slag the bastards provided I can get to my room first."

Thank God, some common sense that may actually cause Red to listen. "All right, now that leaves us. The civis can get out while we cover them, but how do we get out? Charli, you said you had transport. What kind is it, how soon can it get here, and how many can it take? Oh, and Jack, what can you bring us by way of ammo?" One minor crisis had been adverted, though Casca made sure that his relief didn't show. On to more important things, such as getting everybody out alive. "I also have to grab something before we go. And I will not leave without it."

"We all need to get things I think" Charli said as she finished her conversation and wrapped the flexible Tag back around her wrist. She looked over at Fortier's body then back at the group.

"Okay yes I can get us out of here, transport provided by the same people that I was being "eye's on the ground" for can get about a dozen of us out. What they have available just doesn't have that much space, but it can land on the roof."

"Right, jolly good, and I need to use the loo. So ... we're all set", Red replied.

"Now?" Godolkin asked.

"I was kidding", she told him, "we need to work on your sense of humor."

"Now isn't the time for humor", Godolkin replied.

"Now is more a time for brevity than ever, old man. You take things too seriously and you'll wind up", she shot a glance at Sian, thinking 'like Casca', but changed it at the last minute, "in a straightjacket."

Good, that takes care of another problem. Now for the kids. "Alright, we can get out of here. What are we doing with the kids?" He turned to Scott. "Okay, as for as you and your sister, say, where is your sister?"

Renatus reached the back where Androcles and Kallikrates were already settled.

"Maxim", he radioed, "there are no other doors."

"Confirmed", came Maxim's voice, "Alright, were going to launch an attack from the front, when we do, get that back door open and hit them from behind."

"Confirmed", each of the three replied and waited while Maxim direct the rest of men to move forward slowly and keep out of the line of any fire that may come down on them.

Loki remained silent for the majority of the conversation, not being much of a dominant character when it came to group discussions. It was evident Red and Godolkin had some history with these soldiers, they had the most knowledge about them and whoever had sent them.

Tensions were rising between Casca and Red, yet Loki wasn't about to get into the middle of all that. He didn't have any desire to see these people dead but he wasn't particularly attached to them and wouldn't lose a lot of sleep if they tore eachother apart. The main cocern of the young Aussie was surviving his stay in Houston.

With a lapse in the heated words, Loki took the oppurtunity to speak.

"I'm fine and happy to do what I can."

He certainly didn't like the look of the new enemies, reminding him of something you'd see in a video game. Either way, Loki realised his best chance for survival was with this group of 'talented' people and he wasn't about to throw that away.

"I used to terminate monsters like you. So you had better shut your mouth before I do."


It was the way of kids, especially kids like Scott who had not survived three months in the streets without gaining a rather cynical view of the world, that they are not that easily impressed. Especially not when one has gone through so many traumatic experiences as Scott did. It was no different this time, even though Godolkin easily towered several heads over the brash youngster.

"Oh yeah, who's the monster now, King Kong?", the boy snarled back, the Sign of Taurus suddenly leaping into existence on his forehead again as his right hand squeezed itself into a tight fist. Even so, even one like Scott wasn't the type to play with brinkmanship; it was clear that the trauma of the last five minutes had been getting to him as well, and being as yet of less than legal age, he had not yet the experience to handle it as well as the veterans in his company. "And you ain't the first one called me 'monster', but you say that to my face one more time, and I'm gonna knock the chocolate stuffin' outta ya butthole into the power lines like I did the last jackass turned a shotgun on me, y'hear?!"

"And you, you snivlin little twarp, A've ad enough of that Carrot Top crap outta you. Why don't you go get yer sistah in here with us before she gets erself into trouble. At least ye'd be doin something useful."


"Oh yeah? How'd 'bout I do somethin' useful now?", Scott snapped in turn, turning to Red with his fist raised. Ready to whack her clear across the club.

But just then, he stopped short.

"Kid, she's right. Cut the crap, now isn't the time, and get you and your sister out of here."


Kristy. Damned. They're right. How did I forget her?

Scott's fist was still raised, but he was shaking from a combination of a fast-dissipating anger, and a growing measure of self-control at the words of Red and Casca. Then, slowly, he lowered his fist, and the Sign of Taurus disappeared from his forehead as well.

"Yeah, you guys are right", he finally said in a chagrined tone. "Sorry. I'll get Kristy out of here now."

He turned to look for his sister, but then looked back at Red and Godolkin. "You want a better apology than that, I'll give it when we get out of here."

A pause.

"If.......we get out of here."

"No one stays who doesn't want to. Either go with others or stay and fight."


Those words, even barely whispered from Sian's lips, stopped Scott cold.

I......I don't know what to do. What do I do? First thing I wanna do is get Kristy the fuck out of this mess. But, I don't want them shot to pieces either, not if I can do anything about it. Especially not since Gunman got himself staked in the head. And besides, Kristy would have wanted me to help too. But......I don't know. What should I do? Get Kristy out? Stay with the rest?

"Okay, as for as you and your sister, say, where is your sister?"

What?

Oh.....

....no.

If there was ever anything that would send Scott over the edge, it was the prospect of his sister missing. Hurt, or worse, dead.

"KRISTY!!!!!", he yelled at the top of his voice, panicked beyond all reason or logic, unable to think clearly, as he spun round and round, trying to catch sight of his absent sister. "Where are you? Come out! Oh no, oh no, come out, please!"

In his panick, Taurus flared to life again; spinning around, the panicked Scott inadvertently backhanded a long table of the same type he had used to knock the last Iconoclast off the stairs, and the table flew off into the great beyond, disappearing into the darkness of the level below.

"Where are you, Sis?! Come out, don't scare me!......."

______________________________________________________________________________________________

A pair of eyes were closed, in meditative prayer. On the forehead above those eyes, a symbol of green light started to form, culminating into the Sign of the Virgin.

The eyes opened, brown pupils lined by a green, otherworldly glow.

That was one hell of a blast for a grenade. And he’s still alive? grouched Pandora, damn he's tough. But I should be able to take him out while he’s occupied. From her brief peek a few seconds ago, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to get a decent line on her target from her current position. She was also aware that the other soldier probably knew where she was and was waiting for her to reveal herself again. The buckled roof of the car she had landed on was a bit of a giveaway.

A quick glance around her showed that her best bet was probably to stay behind this row of vehicles, using them as cover and putting some open ground between them. The only disadvantage, she knew, was that they would be able to use their rifles again and, while she had never seen the design before, she had a bad feeling about them.

She moved in a rather awkward crouched run, staying as best she could below the line of the cars and their windows. She moved four cars up the line, which gave her a better angle on the soldier trapped between the two cars. She edged along between two cars, staying in a crouch, and found that she could just about get a clear shot on the trapped soldier while keeping the body of a car between her and where she thought the other soldier was.

She brought the powerful pistol up in a two-hand grip, and sighted carefully along the barrel, lining the sights up with the trapped soldier’s head. A measured breath out to steady her hands, then she pulled the trigger twice in her third double tap of the engagement. Nine, the voice told her calmly.

"Oh bloody hell", Red mumbled, "your telling me you didn't put her somewhere safe?" she asked Scott. Then she tapped Godolkin's arm and pointed toward the bar and the area that had conceiled Loki and Casca while she moved lithely to the stage to check behind the curtained area, hoping that the girl had just got spooked and was trying to hide. After all, where could she go? She couldn't have found or at least gotten to the secret tunnels could she?

Both Godolkin and Red could be heard to call out, 'Kristy', loud enough to be heard, but not so loud that those below would hear them, as they searched for the missing girl.

Vlastimil died as the bullets penetrated, but for an agonizing moment, at least to Pandora, they didn't seem to do anything as his heavily altered body continued to push the cars apart. Finally the body went limp and it was obvious he was dead.

Gregorio opened his com as the two shots rang out, "Vlastimil. Vlastimil report. Vlastimil." He left the com open in case, considered contacting Maxim and quickly decided against it. If he could take news of the targets demise, along with, Vlastimil's then maybe he'll get away with hard labor.

He looked around and moved over to a fancy looking pickup. Quietly, or as quietly as possible he climbed into the bed so the target couldn't see where he was by his boots. Then, laying in an uncomfortable position, but up off the floor he figured the best line for a shot in relation to where the target had been and waited.

****

Maxim, and those with him, moved into the lobby area, keep a close eye on the half wall. The bad thing about the high angle was it was impossible to get a shot off, the good thing was that unless someone stuck thier head up, those above were just as blind as he was.

"Azrael, stay here for now. If anyone put's their head up, remove it. Odovacar, Stoyan, your with me up the left stair. Jagdish, Dismas and Boutros, you have the right. When we reach the top. Grenades then cover fire while two jump the distance. Stoyan first then Boutros. They'll grenade and lay down surprising fire while the rest of us jump across, got it?"

Once all the confirms came in he headed for the stairs with the two squads while Azrael took up a position at the bottom, aiming up. He checked the fire, 3 shot. He only needed one, but it was better to be safe.

Sian had been busy trying to get Jackie to let her stand and by the time she gave up and realized what had been said about Kristy the others had moved off looking of her.

Where is she? Sian closed her eyes and sent out a light trace, useing as little of her barely regained stored of energy as she could.

Charlie gave the vast club one good visual sweep from where she stood and turned to Tanya. "Unlock the pass through door back there before you start taking people down stairs. Use Cains' private elevator too. The is key code is hexidexi616."

Tanya nodded and with Max and other staffers help began guiding the club goers towards the various elevators. There were actuall a surprizing number of stairs and elevators hidden away through out the club, and some of the least injured volunteered to take the stairs that were purely interior - that is no exterior exit or entrance - down. There were nearly two hundred survivors, and most of the uninjured, some ninety Night Lifers had come from the balcony level above where fighting had never reached.

"Hey, you...Sorry we weren't introduced " Charli looked at Ryan with a raised eyebrow. "I know this place better than you and I need to get stuff too, and I can't fire a gun near as well as you can. Let me have your hotel key card, and I'll go get your stuff while I'm getting his as well" Charlie nodded her hear towards Fortier's body. She would get him home if it killed her, but she had to figure out how to get him home first.

J

"No we haven't." He replied returning her look, while failing to introduce himself. "How about I go with you to serve as escort because with your hands full of him, you would be kind of a sitting duck for any hostiles you meet."

He had another reason for escorting her, his real reason, which was he didn't entirely like people playing with his toys.

The eyes looked out into the darkness of the Main Level beyond, registering little beyond five feet. The underside of a table was directly above, and the landing of a stairway was near by. The shattered stairs could be seen from her viewpoint, yet she said nothing as she sat calmly through the whole ordeal, her eyes blank and glowing eerie light.

And then, she spoke, though no one could hear her,

"They're coming."

Yes! Let’s see you get up now! part of Pandora exulted, after a horrible moment during which she thought her target was still alive. That was the part that wasn’t currently allowed to interfere with her actions. The other part produced a more useful thought; One down, one to go. Now where is he?

She was slightly surprised not to have been shot at by the surviving soldier when she gave her position away by firing, even though he probably couldn’t see her at the time. She carefully moved back along the gap between the two cars, stopping behind the boot of the car. She should move again, she knew, but it would help if she knew where her target was. She flattened herself on her stomach again, searching for any sign of the other soldier.

There was no question in her mind that the second had to die as well. He had thrown the grenade at her, and he had seen her face. The other important point was that he had to die quickly, so that she could get away before reinforcements arrived. There had to be some, otherwise why would they have radios?

She grumbled mentally as she could see no trace of the second soldier, but it didn’t overly surprise her. If he had half a brain about what he was doing, he would be using a wheel to conceal his location. However, if she couldn’t see him, he couldn’t see her, so she began crawling along the line of cars, every few seconds taking a glance underneath the cars around her to see if a set of boots had appeared.

though no one could hear her, "They're coming."

Sian searching for her with senses other than the usual could though.

They're coming up the front stairs I think." Sian advised every one with a mental communication.Scott, Kristy is by the landing She added, then spoke aloud. "Every one leaving get to the stairs or elevators NOW!" She strined to make sure her voice carried, not every one could hear mental communication, though if she had been a anywhere near her usual strength she could ahve forced it. Now she couldn't.

"We need to get to the upper level" Charli replied verbally, then looked at the stranger "and no time to get stuff now. You running or fighting?"

She didn't wait for an answer but moved away out of the way of those quietly but frantically headed towards the back stage and other areas as directed by the staff. They knew they couldn't get every one down in one trip, but maybe two.

"Jackie, can you manifest some weapons please." Sian asked softly trying to spare her voice. She looked longingly at the wounded moving past her. Her very nature called out to her to go and be the gifted physician that she was. But she know right now that saving lives by halting the incursion of new enemies was the better route.

He nodded and looked at the others. "I can make up Galil .308s, Barrett Light 50's, Barretta 92R in 9 mm, and Desert Eagles in 50AE. I can also make claymores, the trip cord type only. I've never studied a command detator, to be able to duplicate one." His armor writhed into being around him and he suddenly looked a lot less human. (http://www.atddm.com/dark01.jpg) "They will only last till sunrise but until then they will exist and function properly."

"I've already got a Desert Eagle, one from downstairs, but claymores would be nice. Enough rubble here to conceal anything." And I still need to get to my room for my f*&%ing spear shaft. "Think that they'll be able to jump the hole that Loki made for us? Seems like the spot to train our guns."

Red moved off of the stage and lowered herself into a crouched jog, moving over to the half wall and then sliding toward the stair opening. Godolkin took a position further back, in a direct line to the landing, covering the huntress. She glanced back, saw him there and then moved next to the landing, not moving outward. It only gave her a view of the one stairway and she hoped they didn't all move up the other, but her only other option was to move onto the landing itself, an idea that she didn't relish with rate of fire a mini-gun could attain.

****

"Alright", Maxim said, "we're halfway up, keep your eyes peeled. Androcles .."

"Maxim"

"Prepare to blast the door and move in."

"Confirmed."

****

Gregorio watched and listened. It was cunning, this target and that made it all the more dangerous. Precious seconds stretched into minutes that seemed like hours. Had it moved past him already? Did he dare to look behind him and possibly miss the target? It must have moved by now. He hadn't seen it, so it must still be on far side of the line of cars. Another minute, maybe two, then he would decide what to do, in the mean time he kept his vigilence.

"Like hell I'm leaving without my stuff, but otherwise it depends on the situation. Also there's no reason not to expect the runners get hit if these soliders have any tactical skill." He replied as he looked over at the man who'd mentioned being able to create stuff. "Can you create .40S&W rounds?"

After crawling about four cars further up the line, Pandora stopped. This is taking too long, she realised. With no exact idea as to where her target was, she had a few options. She could draw away, try to escape, leaving one of the pair alive and probably able to recognise her in the future. She could wait until the target showed himself, then take him out. Or, and this was the best option in her mind, she could keep moving around and try and find the target.

She brought herself up into a crouch, thinking about what to do. If the soldier was where she thought he was, there were three rows of vehicles between them: the one she was using for cover, the one the pickup had been in, and the one that the soldier was using for cover. Okay then; first thing to do is get closer, she decided.

She made her way between two cars, pausing at the end and taking a quick look up and down the drive lane. Seeing nothing, she ran across the open ground in the same awkward crouched run she had used earlier, trying to stay as low as possible. It was only few metres, and took less than three seconds for her to cross and duck down between two cars in the next row, but she felt terribly exposed.

Jackie nodded, those were another of the items he could create.
He sat her down in a chair, and concentrated for a moment, gathering in the Dark and molding it. Three claymores, and fifty rounds of .40 S&W shaped themselves out of the Dark.

Sian had closed her eyes while he created the weapons. While Sian had some profound reservations about how he needed to fuel his powers since the confrontation and resulting breaking away from his patron, they were in a situation that they had already discussed in general terms. And she had asked him.

Max fumbled at his belt and pulled off a bulging keyring, handing it to Charli. "Here's the building keys. The key to the roof is in there somewhere." He then scurried away to take a place among those leaving as fast as the elevators could take them down. There were four passenger elevators and the cargo elevator to take those too injured to walk down to the hoped for safety of the tunnels.

Charli grabbed up the weapons Fortier had carried and slung them over her shoulder, then used the table cloth that had covered the table she'd laid his body on to form an impromptu shroud. He ws a big man and heavy, in death harder to carry, but she once again got him up and turned to head against the flow of people.

The stairs up were at the far west end of the club. "Any one coming with me?"

Ryan took the rounds and began fitting them into the clip for his gun. With the number of rounds the man had created, he'd have enough for almost four reloads before he ran out.

"Thanks for the ammo." He commented as he saw her struggling with the body, "I'll provide cover for you, so you can show me a way to get back to my room."

Charli gave Ryan an exasperated look. "I am not heading into the hotel now. There isn't any time of they are moving. I'm heading..." She nodded west, towards the opposite side of the club from where they currently stood stood. "To the stairs up to the balcony level. It's where the only way out on to the roof. Plus there is better protection, right? Isn't shooting down on them better than being on the same level?"

She looked over at Casey. "Hey, mister done every war that was, isn't shooting down on them better?" She asked, as she frowned at the places were Red and Godolkin had chosen to put themselves. "Shouldn't we move now before the shooting starts?"

Gregorio caught the movement, the target had moved further than he thought, but he raised himself to a kneeling position quickly and opened fire on full auto. The explosive tipped rounds were shredding the metal of the vehicle Pandora was heading for, sending small bits of shrapnel in every direction.

****

Maxim called a halt just before the final bend in the stairway.

"Azreal?"

"Nothing. If they're still there they aren't daring to look over."

"Confirmed", Maxim replied and switched freqs, "Androcles, blow the door, find a way up. Call when you find the stairs and we'll begin our assault to try to mask your approach. It's one level up from ground", Maxim told him mistakenly, not aware that from his side there was hidden level between ground and the floor that the group was on.

Maxim switched back, "Azreal, as soon as we begin our assault I want you to move to a position on the stairs and take up a sniper position."

"Confirmed", Azreal replied.

"Then I help you to the roof and you tell me how to get to my room once we're there, deal?" He asked with a slight frown as he wasn't about to let her keep him from his gear. "Yes it's generally easier to shot down on someone.

"If you'll tell me, then let's get your corpse there up to the roof." He commented as he followed her look to where the Ex-Iconoclast and the SH where. She was taking a position that where she could be flanked out but she was less exposed than otherwise.

"The assassin's right, generally, you should shoot down. Generally. The catwalks have tube rails, open as a sieve to water on the sides. Unles you plan to lay down in the middle, you're not gonna get much cover. 'Course, having one or two guns up ther would help, but I'm staying on this level, and waiting for them to come up through the stair. I still have elevation on them, but I also have cover." Casca got his claymores, and went to setting them up. Loki's destruction of the stair well had caused stress to the floor, cracking it, adding to the unevenness caused by the rubble from the initial salvo of missiles. Hiding the mines, he set them p about ten feet from the stairwell, with the trip wires angling off. To increase their chances, he set up dummy wires between other piles of rubble. They were hard to see, but if one learned the hard way what the wires were connected to, then they wouldn't ignore the wires that weren't connected to anything.

Red looked over from her position behind the half wall near the stairwell entrance. "Hey", she said to Casca, "Ya wanna watch where your puttin those things? I would like to NOT get blown up while I'm runnin for my life, you know?"

****

Androcles used two of the energy grenades, blowing the door in and rushed forward with Kallikrates and Renatus. They made a quick survey, locating the stairs, and began heading up.

"On the stairs", he reported.

Maxim smiled grimly, "We have a green, go." They moved around the bend as Red turned back, "YANKS", Red yelled and opened fire.

She wasn't the best shot, but she was fast and the guns were powerful and she opened up with both.

Dismas had the grenade in hand for his side of the stairs and Odovacar had one for the other. Dismas felt the thud in chest and then a bullet pierce his side. He was off balance as another hit his leg, throwing him down and dropping the grenade. Odovocar arced his over the wall and about the same time both Jagdish and Red shouted, "GRENADE!" and she dove back along the wall, moving with her incredible speed.

Godolkin heard them both shout and had seen the grenade arcing over the half wall and made a diving roll backward, already some distance from Red.

The grenades had readied before they moved around into sight and exploded upon landing.

On the stairs Jagdish and Boutros had dove over the rail, willing to take the impact on the floor below rather than be on top of the high yield energy grenades. Dismas, however, wasn't so fortunate, having already fallen.

On the the other side, Odovacar, Maxim and Stoyan jumped off in the opposite direction avoiding as much of the blast as possible.

"Properly positioned, the claymore can be aimed. Besides, I thought we were running up and out, not down and in. Why, you planning on leaping amongst them?" he called, his back still to Red as he finished the last of the bogus wires.

Pandora let out a small cry as the soldier opened fire on her. The duck behind the car became more of a dive for safety when she reached it, and her left hand went to the right side of her face. It came away flecked slightly with blood, tiny fragments from the shell impacts having caused small cuts, from which minute beads of blood slowly oozed.

Explosive shells? she thought angrily, That’s not fair. Still, at least I know where he is now. Her dive had left her sprawled virtually flat on the concrete, so she scrambled along the length of the car in a crawl. Turning herself sideways, she began scuttling along the line of cars, keeping herself as close in to their bodies as possible, even so far as to be virtually underneath some of them, towards the pickup that she had seen the soldier lying in.

With the rifle having proved every bit and more of the threat she had suspected it was, it was more important than ever that she got close in to the enemy. At pistol range, they could compete equally, indeed she probably had the upper hand. However, her intention was to get close enough for hand-to-hand, preventing weapon use, and she was confident enough in her ability to deal with a knife should one appear.

He knew he hadn't gotten a good hit, the target was too fast. It would stay low now, but would it move away or toward him? Considering it could have moved further away already he bet on the latter and glanced behind him. He considered, for a second, jumping from rooftop to rooftop to give himself distance, but a glance at his dead companion changed his mind. He put the rifle on his back and drew the two wicked looking knived then lept to the nearest trunk. It compact and he almost lost his balance, but scanned the ground moved, more carefully to the next one. He didn't want to give it a chance to get shot off before he close with it.

Charli threw Casey a frown, she had no intention about going out on the catwalks, that wasn't safe even with out a firefight going on, as far as she was concerned, but the balconies had half walls that while certainly not armored were solid enough to hande heavy drunks falling hard against them, and they had to be high enough to keep said drunks from falling over as well.

The grenades had readied before they moved around into sight and exploded upon landing.

The pressure wave fron that accompanied the explosive detonations of the high tech grenades threw every one standing in the main area of the club off of their feet. Tables were swept up and tossed through the air like giant, lethal frisbeeies, chairs became projectiles nearly as deadly and they found themselves more than paritally deaf. Those already in the back room, or the back stage were spared the worst, but their screams told of their fright.

Red, Godolkin, Casca, and Kristy were the closest of the group - the grenade hadn't been aimed that deeply into the club.

Jackie had wrapped himself over Sian as the cry Grenade had gone up, and his armor absorbed the over pressure leaving him with little more than bruises from throwing both of them to the ground.

Charli let out a cry as the table that had just held Fortier's body was picked up and slammed into her, knocking her hard off her feet. Her ankle twisted as she went down and she knew that the injury wasn't a minor one. She had to struggle to get out from under the body.

Casca felt the blast the split second before getting knocked on his back. Unfortunately, the claymores detonated from being tripped under the blast force. Three consecutive explosions turned the area near the landing into an inferno, the energy somewhat directed down the stairs and away from the whole group. Great, now my barrier's gone. Looks like we have to do the gun battle all over again.

Loki had been watching Casca setup the claymores, carefully noting the position of all wires, fake and real. The thought of being blown apart by their own traps wasn't very appealing at all and Loki had no intention of letting it happen.

Unfortunately this was disrupted as Red alerted the group to the enemy approach.

"YANKS."

Cursing again in a traditional Aussie manner, Loki dived over the top of the bar in order to avoid any gunfire that may be directed at him. He'd worry about a counter attack once he was sure there weren't any bullets inside him. Landing with a thud, Loki sprung to his feet yet remained crouched just in time for the grenade to detonate, rocking the room with an intense explosion.

Ears ringing yet otherwise unharmed, Loki got to his feet and ran towards the end of the bar, summoning his powers as he arrived at the door where the grenade had come from.

Raising his hands, Loki unleashed masses of water as if his hands were fire hydrants, spraying the clear liquid at an extreme rate. Litres upon litres of water began to poor down the stairs, growing in volume every second. Soon enough those upon the stairs would find themselves being swept away by an unrelenting wall of water.

"Oh bloody hell. These bastards have brains." Ryan cursed as he saw the grenade come flying in. Diving to the side as they detonated, a stray chair smashed into his side while a table went sailing past where he'd been. Feeling almost like he'd been kicked in the family jewels, he knew that had he not been wearing armour his ribs would have been shattered and if he had not been what he was he'd have been killed.

Looking over at the woman he'd been talking with about getting back to his room, he saw her ankle was most definately not in a condition to go anywhere fast, or probably even anywhere at anything beyond a snail's pace. Quickly moving over to her. he heaved the body off while pulling the rest of his shirt off. "I'm going to splint you ankle and it'll probably hurt." He commented as he reached over and snapped off two chair legs with a grunt as he was using muscles that were already beginning to bruise.

Godolkin part leapt, part was thrown toward the back of the room and landed forcefully enough to knock the wind even out of him. He slid several yards after impacting the floor and then after several seconds regained his feet slowly, trying to catch his breath.

Red was faster but closer and was thrown against the wall and then shoved along with the tables and chairs, tumbling in and among them and finally coming to rest under a cluttered pile of them.

Scott, Kristy is by the landing

Eh, what.....?

Dammit, I hate it when that woman talks in my head. I'm going to need therapy after this.

"Okay, thanks", he said out loud, before dashing off. Good Lord, Kristy, what'd you run off for?!

But he didn't run off fast enough to miss Bad Boy doing......whatever it was that he was doing. As it was, he suddenly went from human to demon, and it was quite enough to make the boy's heart skip a beat.

"What the hell are you, Spawn?!", Scott blurted out, bringing up the infamous demonic anti-hero from the comic books. But he didn't stay to find out; he went rushing off to where Jean Grey had said Kristy would be, which was by the landing. Why she had ever run off there Scott didn't know, but he was going to drag it out of her afterwards, after he had dragged her out of here.

He went bashing through the mess that had been left after the last battle, knocking chairs and tables out of the way into the darkness beyond as he searched for his errant little sister. And sure enough, Kristy was right where Jean Grey had said she was; hiding under a table close to the landing, looking out towards the stairs.

"Kristy! I swear to God I'm gonna kill ya when this is over!", he snarled in exasperation, wondering just why she had suddenly decided to play punk on him. "C'mon now, get up!"

He tugged on his sister, but Kristy wouldn't budge.

"C'mon, Sis!"

Then she turned around to look at him. What Scott saw was enough to make him hop back in surprise, seeing his sister like that. For there was no trace of recognition in her gaze, and her eyes were glowing brightly. The Sign of Virgo was etched on her forehead, yet there was no indication that she was doing anything at all, apart from stoning out where she was.

"Kristy? What's wrong.....?"

Then, she finally seemed to take notice of him. Her face remained expressionless though, as she pointed to the front entrance. Scott looked in the direction , but couldn't see anything for nuts. Not knowing what she was trying to do, he looked back at her.

"Kristy, what are you trying to tell me?"

She still looked at him blankly, but a trace of a smile was forming on her lips. "Kaboom."

Kaboom?

Just then, all hell broke loose. Something caused a damned huge explosion in the club, and whatever it was, it was quite enough to knock the kids off their feet, and deafen them a little in the process. Scott yelled out as he was blown a distance away, but Kristy didn't even seem to notice, even while she was being blown along with her brother, who instinctively threw his arm around her to cover her from the flying splinters that peppered his back.

Kaboom, Scott thought sorely.

They landed on the ground with quite a few scrapes and bruises to show for it, but their ordeal was not over.

"What in the hell was- OW!!!!"

Apparently they were not the only things being blown off the ground, as a chair struck Scott's back dead on. With such force, the chair broken and splintered into pieces; it would have splintered the boy's bones as well. And in fact, that was what would have happened, had not the Spirit of Taurus leapt up just in time to possess Scott's body, giving him the endurance to shrug off the flying piece of furniture like it was nothing, and covering his sister from harm in the process.

"Gawd, that......oh, shit!"

Not a chance to breath, and Scott turned to see that there were still plenty more chairs - and heavy tables - flying towards them.

"Kristy, get down!!!"

As he yelled, Scott quickly scrambled up, just in time to parry away a table that was heading towards them; the table, smashed aside by Scott's incredible strength, hit a wall and splintered into pieces from the sheer force of the impact. Yet there were more, and the boy couldn't even catch his breath as he punched away more chairs and tables flying towards him, sending them back to where they came from.

And yet, even in the chaos of the new fracas, Kristy showed no emotion whatsoever; she just sat up, her face still as blank as ever, not seeming to notice anything.

Pandora managed to hold back a gasp as the car two up from her position buckled and bounced downwards on the suspension. She stopped moving instantly, guessing what the soldier was doing. She carefully put the pistol in her pocket, and pulled her legs as far forward as she could manage without raising her body, to give her something to push with.

You know what I’m doing, don’t you. But you don’t know exactly where I am, she thought to herself, and you probably think I’m going to try and shoot you. And if she wanted to, she probably could shoot the soldier; her armour-piercing rounds would most likely go through the boot of a car. But she had seen how tough they were from the other, so she wasn’t going to try it.

She saw what she had been looking for. The suspension of the car the soldier was on dipped as he made to step to the next vehicle. As soon as that happened, Pandora sprang up and forward from her prone position and launched into a spinning kick with her right foot, pivoting smoothly on her left, hoping to catch the soldier off balance as he made the move from one vehicle to the next.

The high spinning kick caught him in the leg, knocking it out from under him and he crashed down on the boot. But he let himself roll off and rolled a bit further before coming to his feet. He was surprised to find that the target was a woman, but it didn't matter. Orders were orders and she was most likely just one more monster to put down. He reached up, removing his helmet, less for show than because they tended to hinder the need for to see what was going on in hand to hand combat, since the attacker could at any point wind up in his periferal vision. He smiled at her, showing several rows of gleaming metal sharklike teeth to add to the two wicked looking, razor sharp serrated blades in his hands.

Ah, so you are vaguely human under there, Pandora thought as the soldier removed his helmet. And there’s two knives, she told herself, Doesn’t matter. And since you’ve lost the helmet, you don’t have any protection for your head. She dropped into a martial stance, not any one in particular, but then, she didn’t know any particular styles. What she knew was an amalgam of styles that used hands, feet, throws, locks, evasion, decoy, everything, so it wasn’t a recognisable style, but it was more lethal than any of them.

When he smiled at her, she was surprised to see pointed metal teeth. Okay, so don’t let him bite me. And what crazy dentist did you go to? She knew she was supposed to be intimidated, but she wasn’t. She responded by giving him the finger, then launched into a blur of movement.

She feinted out with her left hand, then flashed her right out in a jab at her opponent’s head. That was also a dummy, but would appear to be a real strike until it was too late, when she rammed her left foot into a high kick aimed for the soldier’s left hand and wrist, which, if it connected, should cause him to drop that knife. Her priority was to get rid of the weapons, preferably permanently so.

As she moved forward he flicked the left blade around and down along his arm as punishing block and left the right extended. The left feint had him draw his left arm in closer to him, to allow her to hit the protecting blade along his arm and he began counterstrike with his right, only to quickly turn it into a sweep away from his body to block that strike. The third attack, the kick, was a surprise and though the blade was dislodged from his hand it bit into her before flying free.

Trying to recover some and buy himself a chance to get set again he stepped forward, lunging down with his thicker skull and trying to connect with the soft cartiledge of her nose.

She was smaller than he was, but she was alot faster than he had anticipated and he was already beginning to think that this was a mistake. That he should have kept the rifle and kept distance between them, relying on firepower and armor. But the armor didn't seem to help Vlastimil and he suspected that they were armor piercing rounds.

Sian found herself giving a small scream of utter shock and surprized at the intensity of the grenades explosiveness. But Jackie's body wrapped around hers saved her from more than jaring, near deafness and bruises. They thudded to the ground awkwardly and she felt several large objects, picked up by the concussion wave of the explosion, hammer into Jackie's armored form. Jackie?!

All right Lainy, just going to be sore later He reassured her as he looked up and surveyed the situation. Several of the heavy table had plied up about them, creating a impromptu, and not too large barricade. It would give them a little protection.

"Jackie, I'll be alright, but what about the others, can you see them?" She whispered

"I heard what's her name...Charli yelp a moment ago, but the quiet guy is helping her, and the Aussi, Loki managed to get behind the bar. The flood is courtesy of him, and a good thing too. Lots of small fires have been doused. Ah..." He looked around again. " I can't see Casey, he was near the front, as were Durham Red and Godolkin, can't see either of them either but thats not saying mcuh given the mess that the club has become. I do see Scott, and I think he's found his little sis...."

He reached out with the Dark and it's tendrills wrapped gently about the two teens and then they seemes to wink out of existance. But before they could blink the two found themselves behind the small table created barricade with Jackie and Sian.

***************

Charli gave Ryan a perplexed look. "You are one strange dude. You make no bones about not wanting to help but here you are splinting my ankle. But..." She laughed slightly, and a small bubbly bit of blood appeared at the corner of her lips "I think the rib that pierced my lung is worse than my ankle.." She coughed lightly and sprayed a fine bit of blood with it. "Sorry, don't worry thought, no blood born diseases." She wiped her mouth on her sleeve and frowned as the material came away stained red. "Damn I hate being right."

"Good for me." He replied as he began getting ready to splint her leg with the rest of his shirt and the two chair legs. "This'll hurt." He added as he set to work on getting her ankle splinted so she couldn't further injure it till she could be gotten to a proper doctor.

"Alright sit up, and is one of the other people able to use wierdness to fix people?" He combined ordered and asked as he was well versed in first-aid proceedures. Once she was in the optimal position, he began looking for something soft to aid in stabilizing her ribs. "Also make sure you cough every ten to fifteen minutes."

If she was paying attention, she'd realize he was only paying partial attention to what she was saying, except where it concerned her injured areas.

After Godolkin finally got his vision to clear, he checked himself for injuries. Other than some splinters he began pulling out and some bruises and scrapes that would heal soon enough he deterimined himself to be fine. As he continued yanking out wooden debris he looked around and spotted one of Red's .44's near the wall. He glanced around quickly, not seeing her.

"RED?" he shouted and moved over to her gun quickly, as if it might somehow tell him where she was. He remembered to crouch low near the wall, being as tall as he was, and looked around again, "RED?"

"TRAITOR", came a booming voice from below as Maxim heard Godolkin shout for her, "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR BLASPHEMOUS HARLOT?"

Furious, Godolkin turned and moved toward the opening to the stairway.

As soon as possible Maxim got the others to move across to the safety of entrance, which was sooner than might have been expected because of the sudden rush of water across them that shocked them into wakefulness. The stairs were even more ruined and the distance, now, to far for even them to jump up. Dismas was dead, but the others managed to survive and Maxim cursed the Scarlett Huntress.

"Androcles, the huntress is definitely with them. We'll need to come around back as soon as we gain a bit more strength."

Androcles was surprised by this and by the anger and tension in Maxim's voice, "Confirmed, we're at the landing now, shall we proceed."

"YES, proceed ..."

It was then that he heard Godolkin shouting for Red and smiled then threw his taunt back. "Androcles, it seems the huntress has been retired. The traitor is still alive. Proceed with the assault, we should be able to move shortly."

"Confirmed", Androcles replied, sounding disappointed.

Androcles nodded to Renatus who threw open the door on the landing. Once opened Androcles moved in, backed up by Kallikrates and finally Renatus himself. It looked to be a storeroom of some kind and it was empty. But there was another door and again Androcles motioned to Renatus who threw it open. They rushed in, guns ready. There were figures in the club area but what surprised Androcles was there seemed to be no damage really, other than that caused by the flood of bodies seeking to escape. But the oddities could wait for another time, right now he had killing to do and he went at with gusto.

(*Please respond ONLY to the post with Godolkin. DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS POST*)

One moment he was battering flying tables away from his sister, the next thing he knew he and Kristy were consumed by tendrils of darkness. Only to end up besides Spawn and Jean Grey, who apparently had turned turtle behind a stack of tables.

"Gwah!", Scott yelped out at the sight of a metallic, demonic-looking thing right beside him, and almost raised his fist to bat away the abomination before remembering that he had seen the thing once already. And god, did it look as ugly as ever.

"Good Lord, what did you just do?", he said to Jackie, giving the demonic man a lookover, noting how much different he had looked from just a while ago. If he had known that the guy could do that, he certainly wouldn't have tried to go for his wallet earlier, but now was not the time to think back on his actions.

"Jeez, I'm wrong. Even Spawn has more fashion sense than you do", he added as a blurb, before turning back to his sister. "Kristy, are you all right?"

But she still wasn't responding , her eyes still blank as Virgo continued to burn in her forehead, not seeing any of the three people now hunkered together with her. But then suddenly, she lifted her head, and she seemed to see something

"Angel of Death", she whispered, her eyes still looking into a nonexistent distance, as if she was seeing something other than what was around her. Then once again, she actually looked at them out of nowhere; her eyes were fixed on Sian, Jackie and her brother, but if possible, she still looked as if she wasn't seeing them. And this time, there was a spasm of urgency in her expression, as well as in her voice.

"Angel of Death! Don't look over the wall! Bang!"

Casca heard the scream as he got dizzily to his feet. Shaking off the rubble, various wounds extruded sharp, pointy objects, obviously splinters and some needle-like rubble, until it began to fall off. The balst had managed to take out his entire barricade. Jackasses. Shaking the last vails of confusion from his face, he did a quick internal tally to see what had been hurt. heart, lungs, stomach, intestines, good. Liver, oww, that got hit. Ribs, Casca felt his ribcage, Yep, one. Great. These new guys were jerks.

Casca took a moment to scramble back to the over-look. Peering over the wall, he tried to see how many there were. God bless the shadows. There were at least five, but definitely not the whole twelve. He couldn't shoot at them, they were covere, but the lighting told him everything. They weren't all there. "Hey Red, Godolkin, these yuppies ever split up?"

Azreal smiled as the man looked over the wall. It wasn't the Blasphemy, she was dead alredy, nor the traitor, but it would do for a start. He pulled the trigger and the rifle didn't jump at all. The marksman watched through the scope as the explosive tipped round took Casca between the eyes and blew his head apart.

"Incidental target eliminated", he reported and without further thought about it continued to scan the wall.

As the shot rang out Godolkin ducked, even though he was already out of line of sight from below. He turned to answer Casca as the headless body fell to the ground.

"MAN DOWN!" he shouted and began crawling over toward him.

Red lay beneath the rubble, one gun still clutched tightly, not that she was aware of it. Her mind lay somewhere between dreaming and unconsciousness, thoughts and memory slipping in and out as her body struggled to repair the damage and was slowly winning the battle.

Thoughts came to her, memories. Tamerlane and she in his bedroom. His whispered words of love and promises of forever. Then the betrayal. The doc coming to her, "You've been retired. You have to leave." And only one person could order a retirement. The man who had saved her, the man who said he loved her and now the man who had betrayed her.

And just as Kristy finished screaming, a shot rang out.

"MAN DOWN!"

Damned, that's Brutus again. Who's hit?, Scott thought, as he turned towards the sound of the explosive round hitting Casca's head, although he didn't know it was him who was down as yet. This is getting worse and worse. That's one shot; sounds like some hotshot out there who'll as soon as look as me as blow my head open.

Just then, he had a thought. Kaboom.......Bang.......that's twice in a row Kristy's got it right. Could it be? He turned back to his sister again, who was still in her blank-eyed stated, and still looking at them. There was a settled air about her, as if she knew she had scored with a prediction yet again.

"Bang?", Scott said to Kristy, his head furrowing.

"Bang", she replied, still looking into the distance.

A moment's silence. Then......

"Argh!", Scott yelled in frustration, punching his fist into the ground. Shaking in fear and anger, he turned to Spawn and Jean Grey, who were still hunkered down with him.

"I think there's a sniper out there, from what Kristy says", he said in a barely controlled rage. "If we can't deal with him, we're sitting ducks. Now what?"

Pandora gritted her teeth as she felt the steel cut into her foot, but watched with relief as the blade went spinning away, out of the soldier’s grip. She knew instantly that kicks were now a last resort attack; her left foot would be weak in supporting her, and could cause injury to herself if she used it as the striking limb. The wound wasn’t bad, but it was enough to force the change.

She saw the head butt coming, and allowed the momentum left from the kick to carry her around further than she normally would have done, and tilted her head to the side. She took the strike on the shoulder, feeling like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it, but she had kept her head clear, which was far more important.

The move had brought the soldier in close though, and she knew that while head butts were very effective at stunning an opponent, they had a similar, but more limited effect on the initiator as well. With her opponent in so close, she could have thrown a punch into his stomach, but the armour would dull the impact. So she grabbed for his right wrist with her left hand, eyes open for the knife to avoid taking a wound again, and followed it with a hard open-palm strike with her right hand, which she hoped would break the wrist.

Gregorio howled in pain and fury. The strike hadn't shattered anything but the joint was a weak point even for Troopers. The knife dropped from his numbed hand and he did the only thing he could. She was close now and he grabbed her by the back of her clothing, heaving her away from him. He had been right, he shouldn't have risked the hand to hand combat and now if fumbled for his side arm she would be up and in hiding before he could get it from his right hip. Instead he reached into the bag, charging after her, and pulled out a grenade. He set it with one hand easily and dropped it back in the pouch. He would die, but he would avenge Vlastimil and he wouldn't have to face the terrible pain or indignity of punishment. Soon he would join his brother in the paradise beyond and he smiled at the thought of what was to come. All he had to do was grab her and hold her for a few precious seconds.

(*PLEASE SEE OOC THREAD BEFORE POSTING*)

Good, that’s gotten rid of the knives, Pandora thought, as the second clattered to the ground, Uh oh. She felt the grip on the back of her jacket, then breathed a sigh of relief as she was simply thrown away. She curled her legs up and rolled on landing, coming up in a crouch, wincing with the impact to her injured foot.

As she stood from the crouch, she saw the soldier running headlong towards her, as well as the movement from his hand. That’s not good, she thought, guessing what had been done. She began to run, but even with her speed he caught her and pulled her close, his arm wrapping around her slender frame. She didn’t struggle wildly, it wouldn’t help her get loose fast enough.

Instead, she brought her right foot up into the soldier’s groin, as hard as she could manage. Since she was being held off the ground by the soldier, her left foot wouldn’t trouble her. As she felt her foot connect, her right hand went into the pocket of her jacket, fastening around the pistol grip. As fast as she could, she brought the pistol out, placed the barrel against the arm holding her in place and pulled the trigger twice.

She felt the grip loosen instantly, so she kicked herself free and hit the ground running; sprinting as fast as she could, ignoring the pain that each step lanced through her left foot, trying to get as much distance between them in the few seconds she had available.

Loki's ears were still ringing from the recent explosion yet he was still able to hear the single gunshot as it roared through the air, alerting all to the presence of a high calibre weapon of some description. A single shot didn't bode well with Loki, either it was a sniper or one shot had simply been enough to get the job done.

"MAN DOWN!"

He'd hoped those words wouldn't have followed the gunshot, they'd already lost one man. Still standing near the stairs, Loki turned to see a body fall to the ground, very little remaining of what had once been it's head. He couldn't tell who it was from here but it appeared to be one of the guys.

Remaining silent, Loki began to move at a reasonable pace towards the corpse whilst he kept an eye out for any other threats. Judging upon the position it appeared the shot had come from below as the corpse was lying next to the half wall.

Finally closing the distance, Loki slowed even more as he recognised the corpse. Casca. He wasn't going to go near the wall in case he could be seen and so he dropped to a crouch, continuing to move forward.

He couldn't be sure if the immortal would have survived such damage, it didn't seem likely in his mind.

Gregorio exhaled sharply as her foot came up into his groin, then shrieked in pain as the gunshots shattered the bone in his arm. In a second he realized that she had escaped and stumbled after her. Realizing he had no chance of catching her he bellowed as he reached for the granade in his pouch, but it was too late as the grenade exploded with concussive force.

"Good Lord, what did you just do?",

"The Dark is your friend." Jackie smiled behind the biometalic mask that his most of his face, but transmitted his words clearly. "Here, with the shit going down you're going to need this." And he touched Scott lightly on the shoulder. From that spot a similar armor writhed it's way over the teenager's form. It was as comfortable as clothes he was long familiar with, and weightless. "Till morning you are now very near impervious."

He looked over at Sian who had sat down next to Kristy.

"Angel of Death! Don't look over the wall! Bang!"

Sian winced inside, foresight was the most uncontrollable of all Gifts, and most often a curse with little redeeming value.

Lightly she began to link into Kristy, but found a stronger projection over riding the girls momentarily. Red still lived even after being close to the heart of the explosion.

Paladin, Red still lives, though she is unconscious Sian sent then turned back to the young teen. Gently she slid into a link with her.

*************************

Charli looked at Ryan with a wry smile. "Good at ignoring things aren't you? And the ribs are already taped from earlier. Had to break up a small disagreement between drunk WereWolves." She lifted the edge of her tee to show him the wide wrappings with the bullet proof vest strapped over them. "Just wasn't good enough to resist that" She nodded to the heavy piece of table that had rammed into her torso.

"I'll be able to walk. I've done so on worse, as I'm pretty sure it's not broken. But thanks for saying you'll carry him." She glanced at Fortier's body, and considered the distance they needed to cover. "I think we need to move before my ability to breath gets any less." And it was going to she knew.

Godolkin glanced over at Loki as he approached then looked at Casca. He watched, astonished, as the very head of the cursed imortal began to regrow from the shattered remains of what little was left of his head.

"TRAITOR, YOUR HARLOT IS DEAD. A COMRADE AS WELL. SHOW YOURSELF AND I'LL LET ANY OTHER'S WITH YOU LEAVE UNHARMED", Maxim shouted.

Godolkin balled his fists, slamming them into the ground.

Paladin, Red still lives, though she is unconscious

Godolkin looked up toward Sian and then around. "RED", he bellowed, and stood up then shoved Red's gun in his belt and began grabbing wreckage and throwing it aside.

He returned her wry smile with a half-grin as well as a raised eyebrow at both the fact that she didn't really look like she could break up a fight between two werewolves and the revelation that werewolves could get drunk. Today was turning out to be chock full of surprises and new information.

"Alright then let's get going." He said as he prepared to hoist the body in a fireman's carry. He didn't recall offering to port the corpse but he did see how his offer to help her move to the roof could be interpreted as such. It didn't really matter to him but if it got her moving toward her goal, then it also got him further to his goal which was what he cared about.

I think there's a sniper out there, from what Kristy says. If we can't deal with him, we're sitting ducks. Now what?"

Jackie shook his head. "Shooter can't reach us back here, the angle won't let him hit any one deeper into the club than about five feet from the half wall. So we stay away from the edge and we're cool." Jackie knew what he was talking about here, he'd done many an assassination via long range rifle shot.

Get back from the edge, and the sniper can't hit you Sian broadcast to every one, useing a bit of energy pulled from the bottomless pool that Kristy was lost in. Move towards the rear of the club, back towards me

"Sian, we ned to get upstairs" Charli called anxiously. "If we're gonna get outta here we need to get to the roof." But she kept her voice low, just so that it would carry to where Sian sat on the floor beisides Kristy.

A dark abyss surrounded Casca. Ahh, death. For a while then, you shall have me. The pain centers in Casca's brain had flared instants before they were also destroyed. His conscious was now seperate, detached from the body which he would return to, a fact that he knew without knowing. For the moment, he was at peace. That thrice damned Jew would soon call him back, but he could rest now, for a little while. What did death hold for him? Nothing he had not seen already.

The lighting of the second level, the Shift Happens Club, as it was named, was all but completely blown, and those there didn't need much light anyway. All the Were's had shifted into their full half forms, and when the three intruders had opened fire on them, they did waht a Were did best...they descended upon the Troopers enmass, swamping them under a tide of bodies.

Bodies that were on the average eight foot tall and massing about two hundred and fifty pounds of pure muscle, fur, fang, and the intent to survive. They weren't neat or tidy about what they did. The blood burned but even a acid burn regenerates on a Were.

Get back from the edge, and the sniper can't hit you

Godolkin glanced at the wall and then back at the wreckage. "No", he said, "I HAVE to find Red." He grabbed a chair and threw it aside and then a heavy table. There, was bright red in the mix and he began tossing things aside with enthusiasm, finally uncovering her body. As he did her eyes fluttered open.

"TRAITOR I AWAIT YOU. WHAT ARE YOU WITHOUT YOUR BLASPHEMOUS HARLOT?"

"Harlot", Red muttered and then louder, "Who are you calling a bloody harlot you oversized eunich?!" she shouted as Godolkin helped her to her feet.

There was a moment of silence as below Maxim sat shocked at hearing his nemesis and then grew furious. "BLASPHEMOUS BITCH!!" he cried and then opened fire, hitting only the half wall but seeking to vent his anger.

Red ducked out of reflex and then glanced at Godolkin. "Well he's in a wee bit of a snit isn't he?"

"You have that affect on people", Godolkin told her, but was smiling for once. Then he turned to grab Casca's body and urged Loki to move toward the back of the room.

"Oh well, thank .. you .. very much", she replied and then looked back toward the half wall where the shells were exploding. "WOULD YOU KNOCK IT OFF, AH'VE GOT A BLEEDIN HEADACHE!"

Surprisingly the shooting stopped, though only because Maxim had come to his senses and realized that he was wasting precious amunition. "Let's get around back", he told the others and moved out of the building, heading toward the back door.

When it stopped, she smiled. "Ah bless, he's a right kindly one ain't he?"

Godolkin shook his head, "You're amazing, you know that", he asked.

Grinning Red replied, "Yeah, I know. I have that affect on people I do."

Androcles, Kallikrates and Renatus were shocked at the reaction. Instead of running, the beings were moving toward them and attacking. Androcles continued to shoot, trying to kill them with body and head shots while Kallikrates and Renatus began aiming for thier legs in an effort to slow them down.

Androcles clip went empty and he began reloading as Kallikrates and Renatus own clips died out. He was soon overwhelmed as the claws and teeth ripped into him and the smell of blood mixed with that of burning flesh and fur. Kallikrates back up to try to get some distance and saw Renatus go down as well. Realizing that he couldn't escape he reached into the satchel and without pulling one out, armed one of the energy grenades and then drew his daggers leaping at the nearest Lycan.

"The Dark is your friend. Here, with the shit going down you're going to need this."

With eyes wide from a sudden, biting wild panic, Scott initially tried to struggle as the strange metallic substance began to spread over his skin like a virus, but then he forced himself to calm down and think. They were in this shit together; it would just be absurd for Spawn to do anything to harm him at this point, would it? Especially when he was sure they had seen his worth by their side by now; he concluded that whatever Spawn was doing to him, it could only be beneficial. So he waited.

And then, when the transformation was complete, Scott happened to catch his new look in a piece of glass. And what he saw impressed him greatly.

"Way cool!", the boy exclaimed, as he examined his new metal skin in the mirror, then proceeded to flex his biceps in the mirror. The metal flowed around his lean teenage muscles smoothly, like an organic second skin, or perhaps even like the T-X that took the mickey out of Schwarzenegger back in the T-3 movie. Or even, perhaps, like an iconic character in one of the most famous of comic book franchises.

"I am Piotr Rasputin!", Scott proclaimed in his mock Soviet accent, preening his new look in the mirror. "I am Colussus! Yeah!"

Still giddy from his resemblance to his fictional counterpart, Scott turned to Jackie, a silly grin still plastered on his face. "You wanna grow some Wolverine claws on those paws of yours?", he said, only half-jokingly. "I always wanted to do that fastball special, y'know."

"TRAITOR, YOUR HARLOT IS DEAD. A COMRADE AS WELL. SHOW YOURSELF AND I'LL LET ANY OTHER'S WITH YOU LEAVE UNHARMED."

"TRAITOR I AWAIT YOU. WHAT ARE YOU WITHOUT YOUR BLASPHEMOUS HARLOT?"


"Who are you calling a bloody harlot you oversized eunich?!"

"BLASPHEMOUS BITCH!!"

"WOULD YOU KNOCK IT OFF, AH'VE GOT A BLEEDIN HEADACHE!"

The yells back and forth between their unseen enemy and the obviously unhappy Carrot Top made Scott turn his attention back on the half-wall again. "So you guys can hide the big secret of your uniqueness, and yet none of you can afford some anger management therapy?", the boy muttered, attempting to crack his knuckles. Only to find that his knuckles wouldn't crack; he looked down at his hands, and sure enough, Spawn's armor was all over his hands as well.

"Gee, just how 'tuff is this stuff?", he wondered aloud to himself.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

The good doctor Sian tried to establish a mental link with the lost consciousness with Kristy, but all she met was the same bottomless well of energy that she had tapped from the girl earlier. Except that this time, Kristy was lost in the bottomless well, and there was no amount of delving that could bring her out from it; she would have to bring herself out of her state by herself.

But even as Sian slid into a telepathic link with the bottomless well, its energies roiled again, sending tumultous waves of extradimensional energy spinning, buffeting the telepath like the psionic equivalent of an angry surf at the beach during typhoon season. And with the roiling waves, came the premonitions that had taken hold of Kristy not so long ago; with Sian linked into her lost mind, the older woman began seeing the premonitions as well. Premonitions that told of werewolves in their shifted form, piling on top of three of the second wave that had attacked them. Then a great explosion that wiped the entire vicinity of the vision out.

At the same time, Kristy raised her head again.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

"Boom."

Kristy's voice startled her brother to bring his attention back to her again, and Scott was gripping her shoulders tightly, looking into eyes that didn't look back at him. Twice her words, while cryptic, have proven to be correct; this newfound ability of his sister's disturbed the boy mightily, but he curbed his uneasiness as he focused on Kristy, for he knew that she might very well be right again.

"Boom?", he asked.

"Big badda boom", she replied, her gaze laid on her brother, although they were still not seeing him.

That's real nice, Scott thought sarcastically to himself. At least that's something new.

"Big badda boom?", he asked again, peering deeply into Kristy's absent gaze. But this time, the girl's gaze fixed onto Scott's, although it still held that vacantness in its pupils.

"BIIIIG Badda Boom!", he exclaimed, not loud enough for the enemy to hear, but sufficiently loud enough for the rest of the party. And this time, the tone of her voice seemed exultant, almost enthusiastic, in a vacant, absentminded kind of way.

That's disturbing, Scott thought to himself, as he shook Kristy's shoulders. "Where, Sis?"

She didn't reply immediately, but after a few moments, her vacant gaze fixed onto his again. "Doggy hamburger!"

"......"

Succinct.

"Couldn't have put it better myself", he muttered, not understanding what she was saying, but not liking it either. He turned to Jackie, his brows furrowed in lack of comprehension, as well as the urgency that came of knowing that so far, she had gotten her predictions right both times, which meant that the third time was likely to come true as well. Whatever it was.

"Anyone up for a translation?", he said, almost sighing in exasperation. Then he spoke to Jackie. "And judging from all the crazy stuff I've seen tonight, my sister probably didn't mean some stray mutts out in the back alley, does she?"

Gee, just how 'tuff is this stuff?",

Before Scott could say more along that line Jackie had leveled his Desert Eagle in 50AE and put a round into Scott at less them five feet. He was rocked on his heels some what by the impact, and he might guess he would have a bruise later, but the armor took the kenetic punch of the impact and spread it across the whole of his torso - discinctly uncomfortable and decidedly odd but something that in time could be well over lookable.

Anyone up for a translation?"

Sian tore herself loose just enough to reply. "Shift Happens, the private club on the mid level. Jackie they've must of found the delivery entrance and are coming up the back stairs."

Red, Paladin, exchange insults later they're comming up the back way. Paladin carry Casca's body.

Loki can you do a quick grab of some of the more flamable alcohols, to make molotovs if need be?

Jackie can you get Fortier's body upstairs? I know you are useing up energy prettly quickly.

Scott take Kristy. get her up stairs and toward the east end

Charli get that guy to help you walk, don't rupture your lungs any more than necesary.

Any one else who wants to join our fight, join us. She broadcast that to all those who were still waiting to descend to safety.

Tanya and the young WereCougaress joined them. Her glossy ebon hair still was splatted with her and her father's blood, and though her voice trembled with pain and rage she spoke clearly. "I don't know anything about guns, but I'll join and help as I can."


The faint crump of the grenade going off below made every one pause for a sceond then Jackie wasa doing s Sian asked and Fortiers body disappeared to reappear up in one of the half cure out balconies, at a table they'd sat at when he and Sian had been here last week.

Godolkin already had Casca's body and made his way to the stairway leading up. His heavy tread took the stairs two at a time as he moved upward to the next level, his tread made heavier by the burden he seemed to carry so easily.

Very little of what could be seen of Reds flesh wasn't bruised or scraped or cut. If one watched for several moments they could be seen to be slowly receding, though no one really had time. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and jerked her head upward as she looked at Godolkin, "Go on, get him up there. I'll be along, just makin sure that no one needs help and just in case we need fightin retreat." She pulled her guns, removed the partially spent clips and pushed them into her belt. Then she removed the last two full clips and slid them in place. Once done she stood her ground at the base of the stairs and watched as everyone made thier way up.

Charli watched tight jawed as Fortiers body vanished. "That is just beyond weird, and I'm not sure I'll ever get used to seeing it." She started ti sigh and stopped abruptly. "Oh damn that hurt." Gingerly she slowly got to her feet, trying with out much suscess to favor both her torso and her ankle.

"You all go on" Charli waved to Ryan, Tanya and the other woman. "I'll be along"

Sian didn't hear her and was occupied with getting Kristy stood up and dusted of. "Here Scott you can take her now." She turned the girl over to her brothers care as she directed them back the way they had come. She also intended to get her medical kit. She would be leaving a lot of people and possessions important to her behind, she could ony hope to get them back later.

The next thing he knew, Spawn had turned a gun on him.

"Hey, what-", Scott began, but he never managed to finish his sentence as the man shot him right through the chest. The boy's eyes widened in shock at this betrayal as he felt the thump in his chest, and he knew right there and then, that his time was at an end.

You-!

But strangely, it didn't hurt. Not too much anyway; it didn't feel like something was ripping through him. No, in fact it didn't feel like anything more than a good punch to his chest where the bullet had struck him, and there was a decidedly odd feeling rippling throughout his body. All in all, for what would have been a fatal event, it felt strangely painless. In fact, Scott didn't even feel like he was going to die at all.

Huh?

Then he looked down at where Spawn had shot him, and he saw why. Apparently, the armor that Spawn had given him was more than enough to deflect the shot, leaving him pretty much unscathed. It was not so much an attempted assassination, as a demonstration of the man's powers, and what it meant for himself, wearing the demonic armour. Knowing that, Scott scowled at Spawn.

"Fine, I get your drift", the boy muttered, rubbing his chest at the point of impact.

Scott take Kristy. get her up stairs and toward the east end.

At that, Scott tilted his head to the left, and hit his right ear a few times, as if trying to get water out of his other ear after a shower. I'll never get used to this, he thought, scowling further at Sian, the only person he knew who could do that to him.

"Here Scott you can take her now."

"All right, Miss", he said, taking Kristy by the hand from Sian, and scowling to see that his sister still looked out of it. How long was she going to carry on being like this? "Let's go, Sis."

Strangely enough, Kristy complied without complaint, even if she gave no indication that she heard; she merely let her brother lead her around by the hand, as he took her to the stairs which Jean Grey said would take them to the east end, whatever or wherever that was. But as he made his way to where he was told Kristy would be safe, he caught the fire lady out of the corner of his eye, struggling to even stand.

"Yo, Hot Stuff", Scott turned to Charli, offering a hand to her. "You want a lift? I can carry you on my back easy."

"Oh no." He replied as he helped her to her feet. "So far you're the only one I know knows how to get around this place and how to get me to my room. I'm not letting you go and get shot because you can't run away. At least not till after you tell me how to get to my room anyways."

He prefered her to live as he didn't have any reason for her to die, but he didn't really care either way. He noticed the teens walk over and the one asked if she wanted a ride. He wondered how the teen would react if it came down to his sister or 'Hot Stuff' and shrugged, "Can you keep both alive and moving?"

If she did take the teen up on his offer, then he figured running interference would work until he got the information he wanted.

"Can you keep both alive and moving?"

"Yeah, easy", the boy replied, shrugging. "They're not that heavy, and I'm stronger than I look. Trust me on that."

"They're not that heavy, and I'm stronger than I look. Trust me on that."

She was willing to let the men help her to her feet, it was far easier, and far less painfull than doing it herself. However her inate, and ingrained over her many solitary years, independance wouldn't allow her to take any more help.

"I am way too big to climb on to your back." Charli stood a good five ten and was atheletic in build, with curves in all the right places, but muscles backing her up from a very active life. "And I may deal in the hot stuff, but I scarecely am that. Take care of your sister, I'll be okay."

Determinedly she began gingerly limping towards the stairs at the far end of the club from where they were. The ankle hurt but she did what she had done all her life, just moved on past it as there was nothing to be done about it at the moment. She was used to doing for herself, she had been a lone wolf for too long.

Sian watched the others head of and turned to Jackie. Gently she ran a hand lightly through his hair. "I like you better without, so just be careful."

He nodded and caught her hand gently, pressing it to the bio armor covering his lips. "I will, Lainy."

He looked over at Ryan. "You're a shooter, and unencumbered now. You and I are going to play rear guard."

He jerked his head toward the sole door that led from the back room into the club. "That's the only way into here from the back. We will want to keep that door unuseable untill every one else is up the stairs. Then we can move back and go up ourselves."

The rest of the Night Life were just making their way in to the elevators to go down. In munites they would not be a factor in the coming fire fight.

With Scott and Kristy in front of her, Sian guided Tanya and Orel, as she found out the WereCougaresses name was, slowly though the debris strewn club, trying not to get too far ahead of Charli.

Ryan mentally cursed at the stubborness of women in general and the one the teen had called 'Hot Stuff' in particular as he walked up to, and past her before turning to face her. "If you're going to be detouring, would you either tell me how to get to where I want to go, or let me carry you. If you refuse to do either, then I'll be coming to keep you from getting shot." He commented with a faint scowl.

She was being lone wolfish and while he didn't mind that trait especially as he shared it, it was keeping him away from what he wanted and that's what he did mind. Until he got his information from either her, someone else or by the simple expediant of finding a route he knew led to where he wanted to go, it would take an act of god, or at least that teleportation trick to get him to leave as long as she was still alive.

The words of the 'demon' caused him to look over at him and replied, "I'm busy keeping HER," And he left no doubt who HER was, "From getting herself killed, at least till I get the information I want."

I'm busy keeping HER, from getting herself killed, at least till I get the information I want."

A low growl rumbled in Charli's chest, and she was utterly unaware of the pain she ws causeing herself. Fortier would have recognized the growl, he'd very intellegently backed away from it earlier. Too bad the new guy didn't know her, or women in general apparently.

"You want to keep me alive?" Her tone was lightly questioning, sweet even. Until it droped to a cold, dangerous whisper "Then do it by working with Dark man here and keep all of us alive. I'll make it there and up the stairs. You help him cover our backs! Then you'll get the information you want."

Her eyes had become lambent pools of flame in contrast to the chill in her voice. She gave him one last disgusted look, then proceeded to hobble the extra steps around him.

Loki can you do a quick grab of some of the more flamable alcohols, to make molotovs if need be?

Watching as Godolkin dragged Casca's body away from the half wall, the young Australian didn't know what to think. It appeared as if the head was somewhat regenerating, yet that could simply be a part of his genetic function and not necessarily mean Casca would be alive. Afterall, having one's brain destroyed usually ended with a particular result.

Snapping out of his ponderings, it took Loki a moment to register that Sian had communicated something to him. Not being a telepath, Loki merely muttered his acknowledgement and made his way back towards the bar.

Now standing at the bar, Loki noted that most of the spirits that would normally line the shelving behind the bar had been utterly destroyed, of course this was expected. Making his way over the bar top, Loki kneeled down to to see if there was anything undamaged. Fortunately he was in luck, finding three vodka and two rum bottles that had managed to evade all the bullets and explosions.

Taking hold of all the bottles, Loki made his way towards Jackie and Sian.

"I'm surprised this much survived, really."

Ryan gave her a look that spoke volumes as her rant and evil look rolled off him like water off a duck. "Fine I'll help Dark man but you stop growling." He replied as he stepped out of her way so she'd get to her destination quicker, and also with less steps. "It can't be good for you after all."

He then turned to DM, "So what's your plan for keeping these people alive?"

Pandora felt the searing heat of the blast through her clothes as the shock wave kicked her into the air as though she weighed as little as a feather. She watched the ground rush past beneath her, trying to maintain enough of her senses for a safe landing. As the concrete came up to meet her, she put her arms out and tried to roll into the impact. It partially worked; her right hand slipped and the pistol went skidding free of her grip, as her body slid around, and she rolled over on her side several times before coming to a halt, winded and sore.

Groaning, she sat up carefully and took stock of her position. Her left arm was slightly numb and her shoulder throbbed, from the combination of the head butt and her undignified landing, and her back and ribs ached from being thrown into things by the two grenades. And there was the dull pounding in her left foot, from where the knife had bitten into the skin.

She crawled over to where her pistol lay, safed it and released the magazine. Pulling a spare from her pocked, she slammed it home into the pistol and put the weapon in her pocket. The half empty magazine went into the other pocket for reloading later.

After dragging herself up against a car, Pandora set about looking at her wound. Carefully, she untied the black trainer and eased it gently off her foot. Laying the damaged shoe beside her, she slowly peeled back the blood-soaked sock and examined the cut. Fortunately, it was clean and not very deep, but it looked worse than it was. She shrugged the small rucksack from her back and rummaged inside it for a few moments, coming out with her least favourite t-shirt. She tore a strip off the bottom and wrapped it tightly around her wounded foot, tying it with a simple knot, then slipped the sock back on, followed by the shoe. It would do, she decided, until I can find a hospital.

Now she turned her thoughts to the contents of the rucksack, namely the small computer. She drew it out of the bag, hoping the impacts hadn’t damaged it. It had a rugged casing, designed to protect it from everyday jolts and bumps. While she doubted the events of the last few minutes qualified as everyday jolt and bumps, it should have helped a little. She opened it up, and the screens lit up, having been on standby. It started normally, and sat waiting instruction. She didn’t do anything, but her hands rested on either side of the lower touch screen, and she instinctively knew that nothing was wrong with the machine. She closed it again and put it back into the bag, guessing that her clothes must have softened the impacts.

Knowing that she should leave soon, in case reinforcements came looking for the two deceased soldiers, she picked herself up off the floor, returned the rucksack to her back and gingerly tested her foot. It hurt, but not so much as before. She limped over to the body of the first soldier she had killed, and began searching the body, looking for clues towards their identity, and why they had been there.

The first thing that Pandora noticed was that where the soldier's blood had leaked on the concrete it was causing a hissing sizzle as it burned holes in the floor. The body looked as though it was burning itself up as well, now that the natural defenses against the acidic blood had stopped functioning. There seemed to be no indication as to who they were or who might have sent them, but one thing was clear from the gear he carried, whoever it was had access to technology, or money to buy it.

****

Red watched Jackie and Ryan from her position at the bottom of the steps. They didn't seem to be moving toward her as Charli was doing and the others had done, "Hey", she yelled over to them, "are you comin or what?"

The room was now a mess. Body parts, blood and debris incircled the area where Kallikrates had been. After several minutes a pile of bodies began to heave and convulse, as though it had somehow begun to breath and come to life. Finally, however, Androcles forced himself up from the press of gory parts and stood, though still somewhat shakily, and surveyed the carnage. Elsewhere rubble began to move and he cast about quickly searching for his rifle. He found it and raised it, bringing it to his shoulder and aiming at the area. What emerged was not one of the Lycans, but rather Renatus, as battered and shaken as Androcles was himself. Both knew that Kallikrates was gone, there wasn't any questioning that. After all someone had to detonate the grenade and the pack was too closed in to allow him to escape.

"Maxim", Androcles opened the channel.

Maxim heard a shakiness in the Androcles voice that surprised him, "Androcles, report."

"Kallikrates is dead."

Maxim took a moment to absorb this information and it infuriated him even more. Kallikrates, like Azreal, had been with him from the beginning. "And the targets?"

"They aren't here", Androcles replied.

"That's ... not ... possible", Maxim told him, barely able to force each word out.

"I don't see any stairs either, other than the ones we came up."

"Await us on the stairs", Maxim snapped out and closed off the link.

"It can't be good for you after all."

Charli did stop growling as she suddenly realized that it did hurt. She blushed faintly but didn't drop her eyes.

"You are weirder than snake hips." She shook her head and moved on, manageing to catch up with Sian and the others who had stopped for a moment.

"I'm surprised this much survived, really."

"I think that every little bit is going to help. And thank you for helping. Are you sure you want to stay with us? You still have time to get to the elevator and get down with the others." Sian reminded Loki, as Tanya took some of the bottles from him so he wouldn't have too much to carry.

It didn't take the small group too long to cross the mamoth expanse of the club, and Jackie watched them intently plotting out the path they had made, remembering it for future use.

"Hey! Are you comin or what?"

Sian looked at Red and let her know that Jackie and Ryan were going to play rear guard. "But shouting like that just lets those new troopers know we're up so something...but why aren't they trying something? " Sian worried. It had been nearly fifteen minutes since the grenade exploded, and Casca had been shot.

"So what's your plan for keeping these people alive?"

Jackie looked at Ryan, and spoke simply "If they start coming though that door before all our people are up the stairs we shoot them, create a temporary blockage, then run like hell for the stairs. Those already up stairs cover us as we run. Once we get to the stairs we go up and join the others, shooting both over the half wall and down the stairs if these new guys get that far. Hoepfully they won't"

Ryan lifted an eyebrow at the strange saying, but then shrugged. Women were stranged afterall and this one more so than most. Watching her for a second as she managed to catch up, he turned back to face the 'Demon'.

"How good are you with a gun, and what happens if they don't charge, just snipe while sending a few others to hit them from the front or flank?" He asked as he was not use to rear-guarding, but did have some knowladge of how to do it as he'd run the road from the other side so to speak.

How good are you with a gun, and what happens if they don't charge, just snipe while sending a few others to hit them from the front or flank?"

"They can't snipe us - no where to snipe from. They have two ways to get to us. From the front" He indicated where the Troopers had tried to come up earlier. "But both Kristy and Lainy say they are coming up the back now. And there is ONLY this one way in from the back." He indicated the door that led into the back room from the Main Level of th club. "We shoot the first one, or ones, that come through that door. The bodies will make a barricade for a few sconds - they will have to move them or get past them and will most likely be a little slow in doing so. We shoot and then run like hell for the stairs up," He looked the nearly eight hundred feet to the stairs going up. "Thats about a two hundred yard dash. I think I can make it in less than thirty seconds with motivation. And while we run, those already up top lean over the half wall and provide covering fire."

"Actually they can if they're skilled enough and prepared enough." He replied as he had utilized mirrors to shot around blind corners before, and done it with a decent amount of accuracy and a shitload of concentration. "And you trust this Kristy and Lainy with your life, and thier own?" He asked the question with a voice that held a note of one who'd never fully trusted anyone.

"Otherwise I don't see much of a problem with that plan, thought aren't you the one with the voodoo that can teleport things and people?"

but why aren't they trying something?

Red had wondered the same thing. Whoever these guys were they weren't Iconoclast Shocktroopers. She glanced at the half-wall and then up the stairs. Godolkin was out of sight, assisting people as best he could. She looked at Jackie and Ryan and then back to the half-wall again. The image of Casca with his head blown off came into mind. 'Well', she thought, 'maybe the headless horseman can survive that but I can't. Still .... we have to know.'

She moved quickly toward the half-wall, staying low until she reached a position against the wall, then she moved along until she was at the opening to the stairs. Quickly she stuck her head out and pulled it back in. No shot. She stuck her head out again and looked around quickly then pulled her head back. She hadn't seen anything and there hadn't been any shot. Finally she stuck her head around and took a good look around. No sign of them anywhere. 'What the fuck?', she thought. She knew that some had gone around back, they had said as much, but all of them? She sat back and looked at the stairway again and then at the two men who would play rear guard.

"Otherwise I don't see much of a problem with that plan, thought aren't you the one with the voodoo that can teleport things and people?"

"I can use the Dark to move things and people, not in the way Lainy...Sian, can, but I'm trying not to drain myself out too much." He didn't feel like explaining to total stranger how he regained spent energy. He'd done it once tonight already, the first he'd 'fed' since he'd come to Houston to find Sian.

"Their options are pretty limited." He took a good look around, then gestured to a lump of debris near by. "That one looks to have a slightly better angle and is the heftiest looking pile, so it should stop any return fire better. Do we want to break up and shot from different angles, or both us from behind there?" He querried.

"Fine, then couldn't she do it?" He asked the man, "Or is she drained as well?"

"Split up as I can't see why they wouldn't utilize another of those grenades if they run in resistance and today is not the day I intent to get blown up by the likes of them, or with the likes of you." He commented as he looked around for other sources of cover.

"Be careful Red" Sian called softly as she and the others began climbing the stairs.

She turned from watching Red to helping Charli make it up the stairs. "You are too stubborn for your own good" She chided as she helped the firestarter up one riser at a time.

Other than Red by the half wall, and Jackie and the other man back near the door to the backroom, she and Charli were the only ones on the main level, the others having made it up already.

"Split up as I can't see why they wouldn't utilize another of those grenades if they run into resistance and today is not the day I intend to get blown up by the likes of them, or with the likes of you."

Jackie nodded and took up a wait behind the large pile of rubble. He could see the door clearly but was as such an angle that he eouldn't bee seen until any one coming through the door had cleared it completely. He let the Darkness make the area even dimmer as further protection.

After a moment Red made a flash, and rash, decision. Suddenly she launched herself from the broken landing, flipping neatly in the air and landing on her feet, coming down into a crouch. Immedietely she pushed off again, jumping sideways in a handless cartwheel to land behind some rubble and then threw herself against it, guns up and ready and behind cover in case of fire.

'In the immortal words of Shrek', she muttered, 'oowwww'. Though nothing was badly damaged she was still bruised and the jarring impacts told the tale. Yet STILL no incoming fire, nor grenades. 'What?', she asked, talking to herself, 'party around back and I wasn't invited?' She had gotten used to talking to herself as a lone huntress for Tamerlane and had a habit of doing it even around people. Anytime someone would ask about it she reply, "Well, I can't find anyone else, intelligent, to talk to."

"Fair enough", Scott shrugged as Hot Stuff rejected his offer. "C'mon Kristy, we're gonna go get you to safety."

He tugged on his sister's hand again, and she simply followed his lead blindly. In no time at all, they were at the bottom of the stairs, on the heels of those who were already making their way up. It was just then, that Scott felt resistance against his movement again.

"Kristy, what are you doing? Let's go!"

But she didn't want to budge. She just stood there, her eyes gazing off in the distance, as if she was seeing something else again. This time though, she didn't say anything, merely stood there. And Scott didn't dare to pull harder on her, for fear of hurting her delicate body.

"Geez, Sis, now what?! You've caused me plenty of trouble tonight!"

Still no response from her. It was as if she still had a purpose in sticking around, but for the life of me I don't know what that is!, he sighed to himself.

"I'm not gonna argue with you anymore."

And with that, Scott lifted Kristy unto his shoulder, carrying her much like a fireman would. She still didn't seem to react, but what Scott didn't see was that, for the first time, there was a definite sense of purpose in her still vacant eyes......

"You still have time to get to the elevator and get down with the others."

Loki merely shook his head. His life may be at risk but he figured he'd be safer with these people, they all appeared to be able to take care of themselves and there was no denying his talents were not a useful asset to the group.

"No, I'll stick it out with you guys. If I manage to survive this, I'm sure it could make a good science fiction novel..."

Despite the circumstances, Loki's stereotypical, easy going Australian attitude was evident within his humour and relatively calm demeanour. With his position clear, Loki followed Sian across the club floor, towards the others that were heading upstairs.

It didn't really matter if Loki was at the back or the front of the group, he knew methods of using his abilities that would be effective in both scenarios.

Ryan moved into the doorway in which the others had fled. He stretched and began to eject the clip before slamming it back in, doing it in a repetitive motion while he waited.

Watching Red, he mentally shrugged, if the Scarlet Huntress wanted to just become scarlet than he didn't mind. "Do you know what she's thinking?" He asked 'Demon'.

Pandora began to wonder exactly who her attackers were. Pointed metal teeth, acid for blood, stupidly strong, what are you people? she thought. Are you even people? she added as an afterthought. She carefully avoided anywhere where the blood had seeped out while searching the body. It didn’t take long to come to realise that they had nothing on them, but she could see they were well-funded.

Sitting down some distance from the corpse, she took the time to quickly reload the half-full magazine in her pocket from the box of ammunition in her bag, then limped away from the carnage, working out where to go next. She wanted to get her foot treated, so a hospital or doctor was her destination. But this city was strange to her, and she didn’t know where she might find one.

Pandora could still hear the storm raging outside, and didn’t relish the thought of going out into it. She also knew that virtually no-one else would be there, so she wouldn’t be able to obtain directions. As she trudged towards the exit, her sharp eyes spied a sign by the stairs that led to the building above the car park. The sign had an arrow pointing downwards too, and the word ‘Tunnels’ next to it.

As quickly as she could, she made her way over to the stairs and went down into the tunnels. Immediately she found herself surrounded by a crowd of people, all moving in one direction. She could sense the fear that they all felt, but didn’t know why. Disregarding this, she spoke up;

“Excuse me, I need a hospital. Can someone tell me where to find one?” she asked loudly, but the people ignored her, brushing past her in their hurry to get wherever they were going. After several more attempts to catch someone’s attention, her right arm flashed out and latched onto a young woman not much older than herself, her grip surprisingly strong for one so slender. “Where can I find a hospital?” she asked the woman bluntly.

“Where can I find a hospital?”

Beryl looked up blinking away her silent tears. She had just turned thwenty one the week before and this was to have been her birthday party.

"The Hospital? Can't reach it from down here. They can't even get to the ones back in the Arena, a tree fell on the ambulance they reported. If you can cover might be best to get to the Med Center, BenTaub."

She pulled free of the stranger, trying not think about the people they'd had to leave behind down in the Arena, too injured to move. She had to get to where she'd parked her dad's suburban, several blocks away and get back here to help transport them.

Red popped her head up, looking toward the front opening and then slid back down again. No incoming fire, no grenades. “SHIT”, she said, realizing they had all headed toward the back. She stood up and moved quickly along the rubble, moving with impossible grace across the uneven ground in the six inch metal spiked heels. Once at the front she threw herself against the wall, waiting for a moment for possible shots before she stepped out, scanning the walks and streets and peering at the rubble of the exploded helicopter.

****

Godolkin picked up Casca’s body again as everyone got up and prepared to follow them toward the roof. He didn’t bother to ask about Red, already assuming that she would stay behind to act as rear guard. She wasn’t one to flee from a fight so she would hold in as long as possible, though she did have a survival instinct that would drive her into the plane before it left her behind.

****

Maxim and the others from out front joined Androcles on the landing outside the door on the next level up.

“Report.”

“They weren’t there, and there’s no stairway to the lower floor in the front.”

Azreal saw the front of the club in his mind, remembering the angle to the half wall and then looked at the steps to the back door. “Hidden level from the front”, he muttered.

Maxim looked at him and then up the stairs to the next level. “UP”, he ordered, “I want that blasphemous bitch dead.”

"Do you know what she's thinking?"

Jackie watched with a frown as the woman disappeared over the half wall. 'Not the faintest. She does seem to act without thinking. And that's dangerous."

He shrugged, there was nothing he could do about her actions now, he just hoped that she was really as good working alone as she seemed to think she was. He also knew that Sian would probably be rather unhappy.

Sian hadn't noticed Red's actions. She was too busy helping Charli move from step to step. Making the younger woman take one step at a time then stop before going on to the next. "Stubborn!"

"I like to think of it as poster child for self suffeciency"

"No talking, gentle breaths!"

"They're coming."

"What?"

They were in the middle of the stairs by this time, and Scott put his dreaming sister on her feet again, looking into her vacant eyes.

"What did you just say, Kristy?"

"......"

"C'mon, dammit! Talk to me!"

"......"

"Argh, let's go-"

"They're coming."

"......"

"......"

"You're sure about that?"

For the first time, she nodded. As if she might still have a grasp, however tenacious, of reality after all.

The boy turned around to see who was nearby, and spied Jean Grey, helping Hot Stuff up the stairs not far below him. "You heard that, right? Pretty self-explanatory, I would think", he quipped, staring warily at where Jackie and Ryan was.

"You wanna tell Spawn and Psycho down there that them folks are going to appear any minute now?"

Sian just raised an eyebrow at Scotts impromptu nicknames but Charli glared at him.

"Okay Bull Boy."

"Charli, less talk!" Sian snapped as she sent the message to Jackie who relayed it verbally to the stranger doing rear guard duty with him.

"Alright, and you know this how?" Ryan asked the 'Demon'. He looked up the stairs for a second and called up to 'Hot Stuff', "Don't forget to cough."

He reminded her to do it, even if it might cause her pain as it would help keep her lungs clear of any blood which would be far worse than mere pain.

He then looked back for the soldiers that were suppose to be coming soon. He also wondered what the appearently somewhat crazy Huntress was doing.

You didn’t actually tell me how to get there? grumbled Pandora mentally as the woman disappeared back into the crowd. Still, at least I know these tunnels aren’t the right option. She sighed as she left the tunnels and climbed back up the stairs, realising as she did so that stairs were easier to go down than up, her foot hadn’t troubled her much as she descended, but it was flaring each time she set it down on the way up.

As quick as she could, she crossed the car park and stopped just inside the main vehicle exit. She zipped up the jacket and flicked the collar up to shield her from the wind as best she was able. Shoving her hands into the pockets, she limped out into the storm, and immediately wished she hadn’t. The strong winds buffeted her roughly and her ponytail streamed out behind her, and she had to reach out to the wall of the car park to avoid being blown over.

Having recovered from the initial shock, she put her hand back into her pocket and began walking, her small frame bent into the wind to reduce her cross-sectional area and give the winds less to get purchase on. Her plan was to walk in a direction, looking at the street signs for one to the hospital mentioned by the woman she had grabbed. She limped down the street, ignoring everything around her, concentrating on holding her path against the storm and getting to the junction ahead, where she had seen some form of sign during a brief glance up.

Red caught the movement as Pandora approached. The hurricane had allowed the woman to closer before being noticed than Red would have liked. She ducked down in the rubble and waited for the woman to get close, then a second more to get just past her position. Then she stood up, one magnum held out toward the woman, the other held lower and back at her hip. If the woman was a mundane there wasn't much to concern Red, but if she was an agent then Red had no idea what to expect.

"Who are you?" she shouted above the force of the hurricane, "And I ain't got all bloody day." She had to get around back, she knew she wouldn't be there before the fighting would start, but she could get there not long after if she hurried. The added diversion would help, especially hitting them from behind. But she had to be sure this woman wasn't with them.

"Alright, and you know this how?"

"Lainy told me. The young girl seems to be a precog, poor kid." Jackie sighd but never took his watch off the door. In fact he extended a tendril of Dark to subtly block the door so that it could not be just yanked open unexpectedly.

"Don't forget to cough."

Charli could barely hear Mr. Cold as Ice, and didn't have the energy or breath to reply. However Sian could see her ferocious frown as she made it to the top of the stairs.

Sian ranged out, tapping into Kristy's energy well, and noted the man's mental signature. I'll keep an eye on her - I am her doctor. She let him know with a not unkindly tone Though she is very stubborn

"Godolkin, Loki they may be coming through soon. The door to the roof is near the DJ's box. That is in the north east corner." She called out softly to the two.

The stairs came up to the balcony level on the southwest corner. The group needed to go north along the west walk and then go east along the north wall.

"Alright, and you know this how?"

"Lainy told me. The young girl seems to be a precog, poor kid." Jackie sighd but never took his watch off the door. In fact he extended a tendril of Dark to subtly block the door so that it could not be just yanked open unexpectedly.

"Don't forget to cough."

Charli could barely hear Mr. Cold as Ice, and didn't have the energy or breath to reply. However Sian could see her ferocious frown as she made it to the top of the stairs.

Sian ranged out, tapping into Kristy's energy well, and noted the man's mental signature. I'll keep an eye on her - I am her doctor. She let him know with a not unkindly tone Though she is very stubborn

"Godolkin, Loki they may be coming through soon. The door to the roof is near the DJ's box. That is in the north east corner." She called out softly to the two.

The stairs came up to the balcony level on the southwest corner. The group needed to go north along the west walk and then go east along the north wall.

Godolkin nodded and then as loud as he dared, "I'll get Casca up top, then I'll return." He moved along the walkways carefully making his way to the door up. Once in a position to look down upon the scene below he swept the room once and then again.

"Where's Red?" he asked in the same careful voice.

Ryan raised an eyebrow as he watched for the predicted soldiers while his mind processed the information.

Percognative, subclass of psychic/psionist. Ability to view portions of the most probable future. Threat rating of 3, 4. Handle with care.

As the summerized portion of the Precog ran through his mind, he heard someone talking in his mind and scowled. It seemed that HS was in competent hands which was good as he still needed info from her.

Pandora had seen the red-haired woman come out of the building, but hadn’t really registered her presence. She didn’t appear to be a threat, and her instincts hadn’t done anything, so she had ignored her. She looked up when she heard the voice behind her, her sharp ears easily catching the question over the wind. She turned around to face the woman, her hand tightening around the pistol in her pocket, just in case.

When she saw the gun pointed at her, she moved sideways, allowing her weaker leg to collapse into the roll and she came up in a crouch with her own weapon drawn and pointed back at the woman. She didn’t have cover, but there wasn’t any to be had other than what the redhead was using. She flicked the safety off with her thumb, but didn’t tighten up the trigger.

“Who’s asking?” she shot back, “And why do you want to know?” Despite the gun pointed at her, Pandora’s instincts told her that the woman wasn’t a real threat. She wanted to recognise the danger, but found that she couldn’t. So strong was the instruction from her instincts that the pistol in her hands wasn’t aimed for the redhead, but at a point just to the right of her head.

Red suddenly realized that the woman had been limping. Why hadn't it registered before? Because you were looking for an enemy. But the woman was fast, that was obvious, but would an agent be wounded like that? Could they? Red doubted it, of course a mistake now would cost her her life.

'Time', she thought, 'I'm running out of time.' She glanced behind her, chewing on her lower lip. She didn't have time to explain, but she couldn't afford to be wrong either.

The woman didn't seem to recognize her and an agent would. Could they hide that kind of hatred? Well she'd try one more quick test and then decide. If there was time of course.

"Durham Red", she said, watching the woman carefully even the slightest reaction.

****

Maxim and the others reached the next door and opened it. Androcles entered first, followed by the rest. He didn't need to be ordered, he knew he would be holding point as punishment.

"Gregorio, report", Maxim stated. After a moment, "Gregorio REPORT!" Still no answer. Maxim was already furious and this failure to reply only fueled the fire.

"If this is like the other level then they should be beyond the door from this room", Androcles reported.

"THEN MOVE!", Maxim shouted.

Androcles tried to open the door and but it seemed to be stuck. He put all the force he had into opening it, almost ripping it off the hinges and then stepped around it, the rifle leveled.

The name the redhead gave pretty much passed Pandora by. She would remember it, but it hadn’t really been the question she had wanted an answer to. Still, getting one out of two when she’s got a gun pointed at me isn’t bad, I suppose. And I might as well return the favour now. She chose her words very deliberately, as she always did when giving a name to others, though few noticed.

“People call me Pandora,” she told the redhead. “Why did you want to know?” she asked, repeating the question, hoping to get an answer this time. It wasn’t that she minded people asking her name, but for a stranger she had never seen before to suddenly put the question to her in the middle of the street, she wanted to know the reason why.

She relaxed her grip on the pistol slightly, although it didn’t move from it’s position of being not quite aimed at the redhead, and allowed her left foot to take some of her weight again, having been putting it all on her right foot and left hand since she came up into the crouch. The woman had proven herself slightly in Pandora’s mind, she hadn’t fired when Pandora had moved and pulled a gun, so she continued to trust the instincts telling her that this woman was no real threat to her.

"Okay Bull Boy."

"Charli, less talk!"

"Gee, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning", Scott quipped, rolling his eyes. Bull Boy. Honestly. Even I can think of better. Turning away and hoisting Kristy onto his shoulder again, he quickly made his way after Brutus, who was holding the headless body of one of the guys who was with them. Casca they called him, was it? Weird name, weird fellow too.

Then he saw something that almost made him barf; that of the headless body of Casca regrowing its head.

"Oh boy, what do we have here, Jack Jeebs?", he quipped to Brutus, referencing the alien arms dealer from the Men In Black movie, who regrew his head each time Tommy Lee Jones' character blows it off. He brushed past the musclebound gorilla-man, eager to get his sister to safety as soon as possible, and in no time at all - for he was strong, and Kristy wasn't exactly the heaviest load to lug around - he was at the door, and Scott set Kristy down on her feet again.

"Bang!"

"What?" Scott had learned by this time that nothing his sister said could be safely discounted by now.

"What is it, Kristy?"

She still looked as vacant as ever, but in that vacant expression, a seed of uneasiness passed over her sweet features. And as Scott watched, the uneasiness turned into fear. And then, an expression of pure terror.

"Kristy, what's wrong? Talk to me!"

"Bang! Bang bang bang!"

Kristy was shivering violently even as she started screaming; she dropped to a crouch, her hands covering her ears, and she continued to scream in what appeared to be real terror, and not just the vacant, dreamy expressions of her previous predictions.

"Kristy, talk to me! I'm here, it's okay, don't freak out.....!"

"Bang! Bangbangbangbangbangbangbang!"

"Orel come help Charli" Sian snapped as the pair reached the top of the stiars, then she was running to Kristy.

Where's Red?

Sian didn't pause, but nearly screamed in frustration as her sweep revealed that Red was down on ground level, out on the street just outside the shattered club. "She's outside Godolkin, don't go after her we need you here."

Then she was at Kristy's side and laying firm but gentle hands on her shoulders as she reached into her mind, seeing what Kristy did. It was indistinct to her, but the un sane mind projecting the images and hungers Kristy could not pull away from was strong, very strong as werew the weirdling currents of that which was yet to be.

Blocking everything but Kristy out she carefully seperated Kristy from what had trapped her. It was not easy work and occupied her full attention.

Red noticed the relaxation on the gun. So the woman didn't seem intent on killing her after all. "Sneck! I thought you might have been one of them." Then she holstered her guns and ran for the corner of the building in order to get around back as quickly as possible. She didn't know how much time she had, but if she could get behind them then she would be able to attack them from behind and buy the others time. How she would get past them to the others she would figure out once she needed to.

Pandora watched the redhead as she lowered her weapon and moved to the end of the building, thinking about the half-answer she had been given. Her curiosity aroused, she flicked the safety on with her thumb and returned the pistol to her pocket, and stood up again. She winced again as the action put excess pressure on her wounded foot.

“Who are ‘they’? What do you mean?” asked Pandora, as she swiftly followed after the redhead, limping as she went. She couldn’t shake the feeling that the ‘them’ to which the redhead had alluded had more than a little to do with the soldiers that had attacked her in the car park, and she wanted answers. Various thoughts were starting to come together in her head.

The redhead was obviously expecting trouble, that much was clear, else why would she pull a gun on a complete stranger, then walk away after finding out their name. And something had evidently been going on in that building, as evidenced by the rubble and damage visible. Then there was the soldiers Pandora had encountered, and their radios. Were the two connected? Pandora was determined to find out.

"I'm not sure", Red replied and then ran to the next corner and peeked around. Suddenly something hit her and she looked at Pandora.

"He called me a blasphemous hahlot", she told her. "That mean's they MUST be related to the Iconoclasts in some why. Only the Iconoclasts call me blasphemy." Her eyes dropped from Pandora's and she worried her lower lip again in contemplation, her fangs very prevalent as brought her upper teeth down to chew at her lower lip as she thought. "But they ruddy well ain't agents. They can't be."

Sian quickly determined, though time had no meaning for 'where' she was or what she was doing, that Kristy was currently not seperateable from what was manifesting through her, the energy well she was lost in was too deep, the currents were too strong and she was too thoroughly intertwined. However she could keep the girls physical self from harm. Sian untangled herself and came back to her normal senses. "Not going to be able to break her free at this time" She said softly, more to herslef than to Scott.

Useing a small portion of that unusual energy Sian teleported her medical kit from where Scott had set it on the floor below. It was easy on Sian for her to act simply as a focuse and manipulator of the energy, she did not need to dip into her own truncated reserves.

As the heavy case materialized beside her she looked up at Scott. "Go help Charli, Tanya and Orel get here. Give the molotovs that that Tanya is carrying to Loki, the gentleman from Australia." She requested. She didn't want him watching as she sedated Kristy.

The girls had a way to go to get to the door to the roof . From the top of the stirs to the north wall was a football field in length and nearly three to where the door to the stairs to the roof was just to the east of the DJ's box.

Once Scott had headed back Sian drew out a vial of strong tranquilizer and hurried drew up a dose that would render Kristy uncounscious. Swabbing down the young teens arm she gently but firmly slid the hypodermic in and depressed the plunger.

"She's outside Godolkin, don't go after her we need you here."

Godolkin hesitated a moment and then watched as the Doctor gave the young girl a shot. He moved over as the girl subsided and knelt down on one knee, wrapped an arm around the now quiet girl and lifted her easily on his other shoulder. He stood and looked at Sian.

"Alright Doctor, I'll help. But I won't leave without Red."

He wasn't sure why he said that or why he wouldn't leave her behind. She had been his enemy. But then he had no choice in that at the time. She had been cruel to him in the time they had traveled together, but then weren't his own words just as cutting to her? Was it respect? He sighed and pushed the questions away for now, he simply didn't have time for them.

"You can lean on me if you like, Doctor Rhys, I'm quite capable of supporting you. Your bag you can clip to one of my belt hooks if you like."

The resistance of the door alerted Jackie, and he was targeting where a man of slightly above average height's head would be instantly. When the armored figure stepped around the door, he adjusted his aim to take into account the difference in height. And Jackie's Desert Eagle fired, sending three rounds of .50AE directly into the figure's head at a distance of less than thirty feet.

Then he was going to one knee, making himself smaller, more hidden behind the large seemingly solid pile of rubble. Damaged tables, chairs, barstools and table linnens made the shadowy pile a confuseing to the eye mess, and the Darkness made him but one more shadow among many.

*********************************

"Goldolkin, they are here NOW." Sian gasped as she felt Jackie use his powers and she heard the thunderous echo of the Desert Eagle.

Charlie had had Tanya and Orell go ahead, and when the big gun fired she stopped and crouched down behing the nnearest pillar. It was just wide enough to cover her, but she could look around it and down onto the length of the Main Level below after standing back up.

"Go help Charli, Tanya and Orel get here. Give the molotovs that that Tanya is carrying to Loki, the gentleman from Australia."

"But my sister-", he stopped, seeing the look in Jean Grey's eyes. They meant business, and she didn't look like she was willing to take any more sass from him, either. In any case, Scott knew as well as she did that there was nothing more he could do for Kristy; he knew too that if anyone could help her now, it was Jean Grey and her mind powers, which, he suddenly realized, isn't so different from what Kristy's doing, isn't it?

Still, he hesitated at Jean's comment, still rather unwilling to leave his sister just like that. But logic prevailed in the end; he loved his sister so, enough to know that when it was best to leave her to someone else's care. Bending down, Scott took Kristy's head in his hands, and kissed her on her forehead, still glowing with the Virgo symbol.

"Be good, okay Kristy?", he whispered, although it didn't seem like his sister could hear him. "Listen to the Doc, do whatever she tells you. I'll be off for a bit, but I'll be back."

Then he was off, and neither Jean nor Brutus could see the tears welling up in the young boy's eyes, tears he would never willingly let anyone see.
______________________________________________________________________________________________

Only when the point where the needle pricked her skin, did Kristy finally display any recognition of the situation happening around her; she arched her back, and gasped as if she had received a huge shock, her hair flying wildly from the sudden movement. The tranquillizer did its work though; within seconds, she was silent, and teetering on the brink of consciousness and oblivion.

Eventually, she subsided completely; the Sign of Virgo faded from her forehead, and the trance-induced vacancy in her eyes was subtly, but visible replaced by that of its drug-induced counterpart. So it was that the young girl did not put up any resistance when Godolkin lifted her onto his back; for all that she weighed to the former Iconoclast Shock Troopers, she might as well have been a rag doll for her limpness. Yet, even drugged as she was, she still managed to utter one word.

"Bro......"

Then she passed out, her forehead coming into contact with a portion of Godolkin's exposed skin. Just enough for the Iconoclast to be able to tell that the poor girl was running a high fever, no doubt from the trance that the rampant Virgo had induced on her.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Unknowing of his sister's plight, Scott rushed back along the walkway, back to where Hot Stuff, Catwoman, and the girl they called Tanya were still staggering along towards the door. "I'll take that", he said to Tanya, and without so much as the courtesy of asking, he lifted the molotovs from her grasp; he was in that much of a hurry, so concerned he was with Kristy that all he could think of now was to complete Jean Grey's requests as soon as possible so that he could go back and see how his sister was doing.

With molotovs in hand, it was only short order before he reached the Wizard of Oz. "Doc says you want these", he gasped, pushing the molotovs into Loki's hands, and barely taking a breather before turning tail and rushing back to where the three women were, still staggering along the steps. He reached out a hand to Hot Stuff, once again.

"Alright, Hot Stuff, gimme your hand", he said, raising an eyebrow to show her that this time, he was not joking. "And I'd rather you not yell at me. It's doc's orders, and I wanna get back to my sis ASAP."

Then the Desert Eagle spoke, and all hell broke loose.

Scott crouched down with Charli as well, not any less anxious than her to get a slug in his head from being too conspicuous. At the same time, he knew too that neither of them could stay exposed on the walkway for long; they had to move. And fast. And since the woman wasn't likely to move fast enough on her own......

"Alright Hot Stuff, I say I pick you up and make a run for it. Or do you want to stay and get your head exploded like Jack Jeebs over there?", he quipped, his cool tone belying a hidden fear.

"No! Fasat movement catches the eyes. If we stay here we're protected by this column. Tap it, it's solid and wide enough to conceal us. If we have to we can crawl along and the half wall will hide us. It won't stop explosive bullets completely, but standing up and showing them the tops halves of our bodies would be worse...." Her voice trailed off as she looked along the balcony level and she grinned as her eyes lit on the over hanging DJ's booth.

"Scott you can move faster than I can. Look at the DJ's box. The part that hangs out over the lower level is glass and all the equipment in there is heavy. If you got there fast enough you could throw it down on the jackasses as they come below and past. It'll also put you closer to your sister and Sian, in case this ends up hand to hand."

She could take care of herself, and she'd be damned if she'd trap Scott along with her just because she'd been so stupid as to get herself injured. Besides Ryan would be along soon enough and he wanted the information she had badly enought to be motivated into helping her if she found she couldn't help her self.

As the door opened, Ryan fired as well, the report from his gun blending with and being partially drowned out by the Desert Eagle's rounds. Four rounds later, he slid a glance over to where he'd seen 'Demon' take cover and found him missing, As he wasn't going to stay longer than the other dude, especially considering he wasn't enthused of rear-guarding in the first place.

Rolling back so he was close to the stairs, he fired a few more rounds before got the heck out of dodge as they say, and headed up stairs at a dead run.

Sian moved the fifty feet or so to where she could look over the edge of the half wall. Due to the angle she could not see the door that had been forced open, or see the body of the trooper.

However she watched Ryan sprint the nearly one thousand feet to the base of the stairs, and appreciated his turn of speed. She didn't see Jackie, but knew that his powers might well be making him all but invisible to normal vision.

Pandora had followed the redhead along the wall to the next corner without thinking, still after an explanation. The short answer the redhead had given before she moved again didn’t make much sense; how could she not know what she meant? She had made the statement. But Pandora’s agile mind was still working, and she was beginning to come up with something.

The words that the redhead spoke when she turned back to Pandora made little sense to the young woman, but it wasn’t the words that caught her attention. Her eyes had locked onto the pointed teeth in the redhead’s upper jaw. Fangs? What the hell are you? Surely you can’t be a vampire, they don’t exist, she thought, bordering on fear. Is anyone in this city normal? Because of her less than orthodox education, her knowledge of the supernatural was limited to little more than dictionary definitions. But she still kept her thoughts straight, and decided to go out on a limb after listening to what the redhead said.

“I still don’t know what you mean, but does it have anything to do with armoured soldiers carrying heavy rifles?” she asked the redhead, hoping that the question would not suddenly turn the redhead against her. Her hand gripped the pistol in her pocket again as a precaution; though she had a feeling it was an unnecessary one.

"Scott you can move faster than I can. Look at the DJ's box. The part that hangs out over the lower level is glass and all the equipment in there is heavy. If you got there fast enough you could throw it down on the jackasses as they come below and past. It'll also put you closer to your sister and Sian, in case this ends up hand to hand."

Scott looked in the direction that Hot Stuff had just pointed out for him, and sure enough, what she said was there, was there. It certainly was true enough that he could use those equipment; whoever those guys were, even they would have a hard time dealing with flying stuff this heavy, he mused. But in that case......

"You want me to leave you here?", Scott asked, his tone betraying the thought that she must be suicidal. But now that the firing has started up again for real, he didn't feel like wasting time arguing; he'd much rather be helping to deal with the enemies at this point.

"Okay......", he added, frowning. "But then you can explain to the Doctor later if she asks me why I left you behind. Deal?"

And with that, he started crawling back to the DJ's box, making sure to keep his head under cover.

"Goldolkin, they are here NOW."

He moved quickly to the booth and gently placed both Casca and Kristy down and then returned to Sian.

"Please keep yourself safe Doctor, your skills will be needed." He then moved back toward the stairs and primed the mini gun, ready to cover the rear guard.

****

"Yes", Red replied, "they carry the heavy rif ..."

Suddenly her sharp hearing picked up the report of the gunshots and she took off. To a mundane she would have seemed simply to disappeared as she headed around the back and spotted the door they had entered.

****

Androcles was dead before he hit the ground and Maxim roared in fury. He pointed to Renatus and Jagdish and indicated grenades. They pulled a grenade each and tossed them in. They were not the energy grenades, they were standard grenades filled with the purifier fluid. When they exploded the fluid coated a large area roaring into flame and setting fires anywhere it touched.

Charli saw the grenades land explode and spew fire every which way as the liquid in them ignited. Closeing her eyes, and ignoring the growing shortness of breath her damaged lung was forcing upon her...She concentrated, glad that this was part of her Gift tht she had been able to practise almost openly.

It was fire and it bent to her will...and vanished, snuffed out, leaving nothing behind but some hot metal, and noxious, black smoke. Take that you asshats! Charli would have laughed, but even thinking about do such hurt.

She took the next few seconds to hobble down to the next pillar, and looked down to see what they'd try next. Tears semi blinded her until she dashed them fiercely away.

They took advantage of the black smoke and Stoyan, Boutros and Odovacar rushed in, followed quickly by Maxim while it would still give them some cover. They weren’t sure what happened to the purifying grenades but they were going to use them for cover and this would do just as well. As the came in they opened fire in all directions, as they didn’t know from which direction the enemy would come. Jagdish and Renatus remained behind while the removed thier rifles from thier backs.

****

Godolkin stood at the top of the steps, waiting for a target or until Jackie and Ryan had returned. Once that was accomplished he would have to decide what to do about Red. He wouldn’t leave without her, but he didn’t want to walk into the middle of these men.

****

Red hit the first landing as the grenades exploded and the storeroom as they burst into the main area. Renatus, the reborn, died his last time as Red reached around and jerked his head in a vicious twist. She followed the momentum of her twisting and her left arm lashed out, smashing into Jagdish’s head and throwing him forward out of the door and into Maxim, who stumbled and twisted to give him a look that could have melted steel. Red, meantime, turned to the last one in the room. Azreal was to take a sniper position if he could find one and thus was chosen to enter last by unspoken consent. He reached for the sidearm as she turned to attack him, knowing she was too close to bring his beloved rifle to bear.

“AAAHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR”, Maxim bellowed, unable to even form words as he saw the blasphemy and the still falling body of Renatus and began to untangle himself from Jagdish.

****

“Red”, Godolkin muttered. He couldn’t see the area they were in, but in his six years of life, she was the only one he had ever met that could manage to infuriate someone to that extent. He began moving down the stairs, searching the area ahead for a target.

Ah, so you do know something abou… What the? Pandora looked on in bewilderment as the redhead moved almost too fast to see, gone as quick as a flash. Okay, now I’m worried. That kind of speed isn’t human. But I still want to know what the hell is going on, so here goes nothing… Grumbling beneath her breath, Pandora limped off in pursuit of the redhead as fast as she could manage without serious pain.

Having moved around the corner and along the wall, Pandora couldn’t see the redhead, and was about to give up when she heard gunshots and what sounded suspiciously like an explosion. A moment’s investigation showed the sounds of battle to be coming from a door a little further along the wall, which appeared to be fire escape stairs or something similar.

Knowing that the redhead was involved in whatever was going on meant that the she had likely gone to join that battle, so Pandora decided to follow, drawing her pistol once more. She didn’t need to check the weapon, she knew there were sixteen rounds in it, one waiting in the barrel, and she had flicked the safety off as she pulled it out of her pocket.

She climbed the stairs carefully, but as quickly as possible, stopping when she was between the second and third floors. The battle was on the floor above, so she hoped up the last few steps and crouched behind the doorframe. A quick glance through it confirmed her speculation about the redhead, who was running at a soldier carrying a sniper rifle. Pandora raised her pistol and squeezed off two shots at the nearest target’s head, before ducking back behind the doorframe.

Ryan paused at the top of the stairs and frowned slightly as he was a wee bit winded. He couldn't remember when he'd last had to sprint that far outside of the hells that had made up the early portion of his life. He decided to start working out some more as he'd appearently been made soft by not having to face a challenge recently.

Looking around he spotted the extortionist, he made his way over to 'Hot Stuff', being sure to keep low and asked, "Are you satisfied yet or are you going to extort more services out of me?"

Loki hadn't been too far away from Charli and some of the others when the young boy came running towards him, his name unknown to the Aussie.

"Doc says you want these."

Looking down at the kid for a moment before it all registered with him. The moltolvs. Nodding to the kid, Loki took the bottles of potent substances.

"Right, I'll see what I can do with these."

Watching the kid run off, Loki looked down to the bottles in his hand and sighed. He didn't have his lighter on him and didn't want to ignite them himself. Looking back to where Scott was running, Loki noticed Charli, a pyrokinetic.

Now with a vague idea in mind, Loki made his way along the walkway towards north-west corner of the room, intent on declaring his proposition to Charli. Unfortunately before he got the chance to do such the explosion of firearms being used erupted into the air, causing Loki to drop down into a crouch in case any of those bullets were hunting his head.

After a moment he realised it was not being directed at him and so continued on his path, moving as fast as possible whilst still remaining low. Almost to the corner of the room, Loki was distracted once again as what he assumed to be grenades detonated. Taking a look for himself, Loki noted the spreading fire appear and disappear within seconds. Looking across to where he thought Charli would be, he noted her focus on the flames.

More gunshots followed and so Loki continued, winding around the corner and now able to see Charli. Holding up the potent cocktails, Loki called out to her.

"I've got the fuel, would you care to provide the fire?"

The rounds that Pandora fired hit and exploded, but not before Azreal managed to shoot Red twice with the pistol he'd just managed to pull before death claimed him. Both of them tore into her upper thigh, but missed the major ateries and the bone. Then his body slumped to the floor missing most of it's skull. Unlike Casca he would not becoming back to life. His body as it fell knocked the door closed. Jagdish saw Durham Red's body fall as Azrael's rounds struck and he smiled as he watched the Blasphemy fall. Maxim however didn't see that happen.

*****************

"Are you satisfied yet or are you going to extort more services out of me?"

Charli spit out a small clot of blood and ignored him for hald a second as she fumbled out Tanya's employeed key card. "Here you ass. Just go back down to the killing field you just crossed, find the dumb waiter, and look on the wall near by for a hard to seee card reader. Swipe the card and the door will appear. Now get the hell outta here." The last came out very strangled and Charli leaned heavily against the pillar as spangles danced before her eyes.

*****************

Below Jackie's eyes teared from the smoke and the burning liquid that had covered him, injuring his eyes. His whole head throbbed and he wavered as he stood from his crouch. Then his eyes cleared enough that he could see two entangled bodies stumble through the the door to the store room.

His eyes teared again momentairily and when they cleared the two were on their feet and moving after the other two he could hear as having passed him unknowing of his presence. His Darkness reached out hungrily, under the force of his pain and weakness, enveloped the last in line and fed.

Maxim died without ever knowing what happened to him.

Odovacar, Stoyan, and Boutros busy scanning the vast room with all available sensors never noticed that, other than Jagdish, they were the only ones left. They were being cautious, for Godolkin was somewhere close.

****************************
"I've got the fuel, would you care to provide the fire?"

Charli looked up from where she slumped and managed a faint smile at the Aussies charming accent. "Sure" She whispered. "Throw them out and I explode them as they fall."

She ignored Ryan . He'd gotten what he wanted. She would concentrate on more important things that mere possessions.

"Throw them out and I explode them as they fall."

Loki nodded, barely able to hear Charli over the random bursts of gunfire. So far he hadn't really used his own weapons much as he wasn't really used to running around shooting stuff, at least not like the Americans were.

Taking a quick look down upon the floor below, Loki noticed the black smoke obscuring the picture and decided to take care of such before he launched the bottles. Calling upon abilities that were as natural to him as breathing, Loki unleashed a reasonably strong gust of wind, easily clearing the smoke away and up towards the ceiling.

With the smoke gone, Loki easily spotted one of the remaining troopers and lobbed the bottle towards him, using slight nudges of air to correct any misdirection.

"Now!"

Uncharacteristically, for Red's normally verbose nature, she clamped her teeth down as the bullets hit. One rule of working alone, don't let your opponents know you've been hit. But the close range and forceful impact threw her leg out from under her and she lost her balance on the impossibly high heel of the other leg and fell along with Azreal. She had been reaching toward his gun hand but only grabbed it as the gun went off and pulled him down into the door which slammed shut as they both fell.

****

Godolkin watched Ryan move past him and with concern began to descend the stairs. The other man, Jackie, had been part of the rear guard and Godolkin had no intention of leaving anyone behind.

So much noise, indicating so much chaos had happened in the distance, before Scott managed to crawl back under the half wall to where everyone's final destination was. There was Tanya and Catwoman, not doing much of anything, and Jean Grey was there too, although in her case, it seemed as if she couldn't do much of anything even if she wanted. Besides, she had done enough already, Scott mused. Whatever she did, it must be real exhausting if she looked that pale, even in what dim light the place now gave him.

Jack Jeebs was there also, doing his disgusting head-growing act, and......Scott scowled. Whoever put his sister next to that dead piece of crap either had a sick sense of humor, or no sense of moral decency whatsoever.

"Okay, whose bright idea was this?", Scott growled, as he picked up his sister to move her away from the disgusting fellow. Only to realise, when she flopped all over his arms like a rag doll, that she was unconscious.

"Kristy? Kristy?", Scott shook her as he called, but she remained dreaming. That worried the boy a bit, but, at least she's at peace, right?, he thought to himself. She's sleeping quietly, not screaming or frightened like she was just now. All the more better for her.

He quietly picked his sister up, and set her further away from the headless Jack Jeebs, before entering the door that led into the DJ's box. The place where, not so long ago, Max was directing the party. Well, there sure wasn't anyone directing any party now, not with all the mess that had been wrought so far.

But indeed, there was quite a load of stuff in here. And while he wasn't looking at the fighting yet, Scott could hear that it was starting to get intense. He may have to need these pieces of equipment soon, if only to throw it on their heads.

Ryan just looked at her with a clinical eye and replied, "No, I don't think so. You're not in any condition to go anywhere, and as annoying as you are, I think I want you around, at least for a while." He replied, leaving out the fact that he wasn't suicidal and was fully certain her companions, and especially the psionic doctor, would want her alive or quite likely take it out of his hide if she wasn't.

Charli would have been clapping if she could. Loki and she had complimentary Gifts, and he was obviously very skilled in useing them. The bottle bobbed harmlessly along, and was hopefully small enough not to catch the attackers attention

"Now!"

Charli bit her lower lip as she reached out with her gift, touching the potential that she could sense laying dormant in the bottle. I never can remember that quote from Backdraft, but hey I got to love fire, I'm giving it a chance to live! I don't know who you turds are but here's one for my mother having to spend her entire life hiding!.

The potential rected to her activating of it, and bloomed into fire, searing hungry fire that consumed everything it touched.

Odovacar had time to draw in a breath of burning oxygen, but never exhale it in a torment filled scream. How ever his finger clenched tight in the unimaginable agony and his rifle spewed forth it's entire clip of bullets. Explosive bullets that ripped into the walls of the club and demolished more of the tables and decor. The muzzel of the weapon rode up without a conscious hand to hold it down and the last rounds blew the west hald wall into flinders, sending shards of wood, metal and mirrored glass flying at random.

Stoyan and Boutros, seeing him die, looked about in thermal mode hoping to find the signature trace of the one whode doused him with fire. They were to the side of him as they advanced through the shattered remains of the club and as long as they avoided looking at his burning form they had a good sweep available to them.

*There* they excalimed to one another almost in unison over the radio as they discovered Loki's position. Charli was blocked by the thicker pillar, but the half wall while very sturdy sitll was pervious to their enhanced sight. Both of them trained their weapons on the heat image that hid behind the half wall and they fired a short burst each, wahting the figure fall backwards from it's crouching position as the wall protecting it blew apart under the explosive rounds.

And in the distance, the blinding light of a sudden flare caught the eye of the boy who was situated in what was the DJ's box, surrounded by all sorts of heavy equipment for the purposes of making music for the parties that happened here every weekend.

Pity, then. But it can't be helped, thought Scott to himself, as he fixed his eyes on where the sudden burst of what appeared to be light from a flame was. That would be Hot Stuff. Probably, the boy realised, remembering that so far, she had been the only one he had seen with such an affinity to flame. In any case, whatever had been attacked with the fire was fighting back; he could now clearly see the flashes of light that accompanied the unmistakable rat-tat-tat-tat of heavy arms. Those guys were back, and they were coming in.

Ok, I've just about had enough of these guys!

With that thought screaming in his mind, Scott flexed his strength, and pulled at the first thing in the box that he got his hands on. He didn't know what it was, nor did he bother to take a closer look at what he had just ripped out; all he knew was that, it was plenty heavy, quite enough to knock the wind out of even one of those bastards, whatever they were.

"YAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

With a great yell, Scott swung the piece of heavy equipment round a few times, then let go; the great flying piece of metal crashed through the glass overlook, shattering it into a million tiny pieces and to the sound of windchimes, then continued on its trajectory, heading in the general direction of the machine guns.

The electronic switch box for the spot lights that Scott had grabbed weighted over a hundred pounds and he launched it to soar down upon Stoyan strkiing him from behind. The Troopers body was thrown forward to land hard and unmoving.

Jagdish spun about tracking the trajector of the heavy item that felled his comrad. Scott's thermal signature was no all that gave him away, in the dimness of the DJ's glass fronted booth, but his scream had been clearly heard as well. The trooper bellowed and ripped off a short burst at the clearly visable to him target, but as he fired his feet slipped in something unnoticed. Only two rounds exploded against Scotts chest, the rest demolished the booth and sent spalling debris ripping through the back area.

Sian managed to throw up a sheild in time to protect her self and the others with her but she knew she could not keep it up for long.

However those two rounds were enought to send Scott flying had agains th stacks of equipment that lined the back of the booth. The armor managed to defeat the explosives but not the kinecit impact. Ribs bowed inward and cracked, but none pierced lung tissue, and the coup counter coup of his head impacting gave scott a concussion and took him unconscious. Flying glass shards left numerous small wounds in his face as well.

Both of them trained their weapons on the heat image that hid behind the half wall and they fired a short burst each, watching the figure fall backwards from it's crouching position as the wall protecting it blew apart under the explosive rounds.

The exploding rounds, detonating against the half wall knocked Loki backwards, and he found himself impaled in several places by fragments of wood and metal. However none of the puncture wounds appeared to be fatal, just painful, bloody and somewhat physcially incapacatiating.

The explosive rounds that Odovacar had unleashed as he died ...
The muzzel of the weapon rode up without a conscious hand to hold it down and the last rounds blew the west hald wall into flinders, sending shards of wood, metal and mirrored glass flying at random.


...tore apart the area around where Charli and Ryan crouched. Charli took numerous moderate wounds from the flying sharp edged debris and could not manage to stand, even leaning against the pillar any longer. Dizzily she sank to the floor ignoring Ryan's comment

No, I don't think so. You're not in any condition to go anywhere, and as annoying as you are, I think I want you around, at least for a while."

She slipped into unconsciousness.

As the first round smashed into the half-wall, Ryan dropped and rolled away from the rapidly forming jagged ledge. The evasive roll saved him form more serious wounds, but he was still quite cut up by the shrapnel. One of the fragments sliced a broad cut across his forehead while another removed the lobe of his left ear. As blood began dripping down his face and onto his shoulder, he looked over at 'Hot Stuff' and mentally cursed, oblivious to the bloody injuries of his own as he saw hers.

Making his way over to her while keeping down to minimize his profile and avoid a repeat preformance, he began working on getting her further away from the edge and closer to a behind a pillar so she would be safer and he could first aid her in relative peace.

Loki cursed quite loudly as the wall providing him cover suddenly found itslef falling apart due to explosive rounds. Whilst the bullets thankfully didn't hit him, the now airborne pieces of the wall did, many of them being somewhat sharp and travelling at undesirable speeds.

Several splinters of wood crashed into Loki, piercing his skin yet not doing significant damage. As the young Australian was knocked back from the wall he covered his face with both arms, taking many splinters in the forearms.

Unfortunately that was the least of Loki's worries as he felt several sharp shards of metal plunge into his flesh, some only causing minor cuts or moderately deep wounds yet one in particular decided to lodge itself into his right thigh, spreading pain up and down the entire leg.

Grunting in pain, Loki immediately raised the first shield that came to mind, a wall of water so dense it would stop any projectile from long ranges. Any bullets or shrapnel that came towards him would simply be caught within the water, robbing it of velocity and therefore making them harmless.

Giving his major injury a quick examination, Loki figured it hadn't broken in major arteries as it didn't appear to be bleeding a lot, yet he wasn't exactly a qualified doctor.

Looking towards the others, it appeared Charli was down whilst the other guy had rolled back in order to avoid the worst of it. Obviously something needed to be done about the shooters. Watching as his shield absorbed the bullets, Loki maintained his concentration and dragged himself backwards, cringing as it renewed the pain within his leg. With the wall in tatters, Loki was able to gain a line of sight upon the two shooters.

Now he needed something to work quickly. They were a fair distance away and Loki wasn't able to make out much detail about them, save they they held rifles. Crawling back further, Loki's hand brushed against the remaining moltov. Frowning at the bottle, he noted that Charli was no longer able ignite it. Sighing to himself, Loki lifted the bottle into the air by manipulating the density of the air molecules, bunching them together in order to lift the light object.

With the soldiers in sight, Loki willed the bottle higher up into the air in order to force it towards the roof, avoiding the attention of the shooters. Once at an acceptable height, Loki directed forward as fast as he could, altering the course to land directly between both soldiers.

The second it hits the floor between them, Loki would call upon his ill favoured ability and ignite the bottle.

Once at the bottom he turned, heading toward the door indicated earlier. He had to admit, if only to himself, that the odd assortment of people had done quite a job in eliminated the strange men. He attracted thier attention quickly as the clothe ripping sound of the mini-gun added to the din of the formely happy gathering place. Boutros was chosen, since Jagdish seemed to be recovery from a slip and the occupied trooper died under the hail of bullets from spinning barrel.

Jagdish saw Boutros fall, his blood falling to the floor causing it to sizzle and pop and twisted to see his secondary target. He grinned wolfishly and opened fire even as Godolkin moved, but not quite quick enough. Two bullets impacted, one against a dense shoulder and the second slightly lower on his opposite side as he was thrown back by the first impact, the second knocking him backward and off his feet. 'Targets eliminated', he thought, but now, of course was the problem of getting out.

****

Red's head twisted around and she grinned, 'Godolkin', she muttered. She hadn't heard him during the conflict and had wondered if he had fallen. The sound of the gun gave her comfort, knowing that he had, at least to this point, survived. She was removing her holsters and belt, placing the belt above the wounds of her bleeding leg, which although already slowing, was still bleeding and each drop was making her more thirsty.

"Ooooooooh.........."

A moan of agony wafted forth from the pile of collapsed audio equipment that now made up what was left of the DJ's box. It seemed impossible that anyone could survive being subject to the hail of explosive rounds that had ripped into the booth, much less being crushed under hundreds of pounds of electronics like that, but the moaning voice was clearly coming up from under the pile, as impossible as it may have seemed. For so much equipment collapsing on top of one another would have been enough to kill a Mundane, and even Weres or Vampires would have had a hard time getting out of such a deathtrap.

But in one spot, the pile shifted......and then was shoved aside roughly, as Scott barely managed to dig his way out from what would have been his tomb. Somehow, against all odds, he had survived; doubtless Jackie's Dark Armor, as well as the tough constitution afforded to him by the Bull, were both instrumental in the fact that Scott still lived. It was apparent that he was in bad shape, though; as he tried to stand, Scott immediately stumbled, and fell hard on the pile again, scattering more electronics to the side. Then again, he tried to pick himself up, but could only get himself up to his knees, before doubling over, and spitting blood.

"Oooookaay.......nooow I......offeeeciaally......haaate theez......baaaasturds", the boy gasped, struggling to catch his breath amidst the pain in his chest from his broken ribs. He looked in the direction of Sian and the rest of the girls, but proceeded to put a hand to his head, seemingly unable to focus on his objective. Once again, he tried to stand, and managed to get to his feet this time. But just as quickly, he stumbled backward and landed on his butt, unable to keep his balance in his concussed state.

"Ooooow, maah 'eead 'urrrts......"

Pandora hadn’t stayed out in the open long enough to see the effect of her shots, though she was fairly certain the target was dead. What had stuck in her head as she withdrew was the complete chaos in the big room beyond the storeroom connecting to the stairs. Thick black smoke roiled everywhere, weapons were firing all over the place and, as she breathed in preparation for her next exposure, she heard the muted fwoom of an incendiary, probably a petrol bomb or something similar.

Just as she made to lean out and look through the doorway again, she heard a sounds of a body falling and a door slamming shut. A quick glance showed it to be the door on the far side of the storeroom, the body being that of the soldier she had shot at. Temporarily separated from the fighting, Pandora made her way through the door, noting as she did so that both the soldiers present were dead, and looked briefly at the redhead.

"Doesn't seem that bad," she said, "But you'll need medical attention pretty soon." The comment was made purely from a realistic point of view, she had no way to treat the injury. She knew that the redhead would probably live, seeing as someone else was firing out there, and they might be able to help her or get her to help, which was good in her mind, because it meant she could still get answers from the redhead.

Without any further comment, she behind attempting to drag the body of the fallen soldier away from the door so she could get through into the main room and keep fighting. She took care to avoid anywhere that blood might be leaking, since she had seen it's effects, but she struggled with the bulky corpse. As she was attempting to move the body, spikes of pain lancing through her foot, she heard several prolonged bursts of heavy weapons fire, which she assumed came from the rifles, and the sound of another incendiary detonating, followed by what sounded worryingly like a gatling gun.

Once Red had her belt around her leg to further slow the bleeding she began to get to her feet, until she saw the blood on the floor bubbling and eating away at it.

"Bloody hell", she said in surprise, "Well someone was an Alien fan aye?" She was careful to stay away from the blood then and braced her good leg, reaching out to help moved the body. She heaved with Pandora and the body moved away from the door. "These blokes need to lose a few." She looked at Pandora a second and then said, "Don't get to close to me, I've recoverahd from alot of injuries and need to feed."

Once the body was moved she grabbed her guns and sat back against the wall next to the door. "Right. Now. You open, I'll shoot. Only because I know who NOT to shoot at and the only ally I'd be tempted to shoot is recovahring from a head wound."

The scene as it is now

Odovacars corpse smouldered sending a thin plum of smoke that was joined by that from a damp pile of linnes torn from the tables that had held them by Loki's erlier winds. It provided just enough to irritate the sinuses and make one cough, with out providing any useable 'fog of war'. He ahd made it midway arcoss the expance before he died in the heart of fire that Charli had created before she went unconscious.

Just a few dozen feet behind Odovacar, and more to the south, Stoyan moved feebly, concussed and injured by the heavy electrical box that Scott had thrown down upon him. In many places his acid blood smoked and bubbled from the where the box's sharp edges had cut him. He was trying to rise but had not made any progress in doing so. He and Scott were in similar states - for Jadgish's bulledts had thrown the teen violently back into the wall of equipment up in the DJ's booth above.

Boutros was north of him, still standing as Loki's molotov landed between him and Stoyan. Loki's least used gift ignited it with a echoing whomp. Both of them were enwrapped with the fire, Stoyan going back down to the floor face first and Boutros fell under the additional assault by Godolkin, his minigun targeting the burning trooper. However Godolkin had the bare time to notice that it was only the miniguns sheer rate of fire over coming the armors resistance that truly took Boutros down..

Then Godolkin was falling as explosive bullets fired by Jagdish took him in the right shoulder and left mid torso. Blood sprayed every where for mt eh massive wounds. Despite his armor the explosive rounds had blown away most of his right upper arm - attached only by some muscle and the tough wall of the brachial artery- and most of his collar bone and upper right shoulder turned into so much pulp and mash. The torso hit ws worse however, for in the torso there is not the soldi bone shield of clavacle and scapula. Lower ribs, the lower third of his right lung, his spleen, his left kidney, and part of his liver were missing or severely damaged. There was no golden hour for him, but scant minutes

'Targets eliminated'

It was the last thought he had however. Dark coallesced behind him and fell over him like at tsunami. In less than a heart beat all that was left of Jagdish was his skeleton.

Jakie looked about though tearing eyes, that could ony see the vaguest of light and dark shapes. "Godolkin?" He called and stumbled towards where the ex Iconoclast had fallen. He had to all but fall over Godolkin to find him.

The Dark could do many things, at one time it had made Jackie Estacado a god of the night, the darkness, but that man had died, gone to Hell and fought his way out. Jackie lived but he was no longer who he had been. Jackie Santini dropped to his knees by Godolkin's still form but before he could reach out to do what was hardest for his inner nature to do - heal - he was lifted and set aside by a pair of feminine appearing hands stronger than any woman had a right to be. At their touch a peace filled him and a voice of etherial beauty could be heard clearly throughout the club. Golden light filled the shattered remains of the club, a light that threw no shadows but illuminated to the furthest corner equally.

"Calm, Dark Heart, this is mine to do, as I am charged with watching over him. He has barely begun his journey, tis not meet that it end now." The angel knelt in a fluid move by the barely breathing form, and laid glowing hands upon him. The blood and body fluids that puddled about Godolkin's body did not, could not, stain it's robes or wings. Then the torn, disentegrated flesh flesh didn't knit, didn't regrow, but simply reappeared whole, and unblimished. For a moment the angel knelt looking at the paladin in training, then nodded. And the angel vanished.

Simultaneously, above in the DJ's box Scott flailed around trying to deal with his concussion. Firm hands grabbed him, helped him stand.
"Ooooow, maah 'eead 'urrrts......"

"Calm down Scott" Sian said softly as she held him against her body so he could focus. Then she was turning him so that his back was to her. Her voice soft with wonder. 'Look Scott" The light won't blind you." Her hand stretched forth pointing to the miracle taking place below.

The etherial voice spoke again to be heard clearly through out the building "There is more danger coming, you dare not stay."

Ryan was in the process of preforming some first aid on HS, as he worked on making sure she was going to pull through so he could yell at her when the entire area was lit up. Looking around the pillar that sheltered them from the sight of the main floor and noticed a person who he couldn't rightly identify as the source of the light.

As he watched the person for a few seconds, he noticed Godolkin had taken a long walk off a short pier. The person bent down and touched him, and he was no longer taking that long walk. Calling down, "Hey glowy, we've got another injured up here for you to do that glowy-fixy trick.", He returned to his medicing of 'Hot Stuff' to get her in somewhat decent condition so he wouldn't have a intellectual problem getting his stuff.

Godolkin saw the bullets hit and wondered for a brief second if it would be enough, but the sheer rate of fire was enough, finally, to get through, though it almost exhausted his supply. Then fire erupted in his shoulder and his side and was falling.

Strangely he didn't hit the floor, he just seemed to keep falling. The darkness that enveloped him was primevil. Suddenly there was light and he felt himself stop falling. He looked up to see the face of the Angel and realized that he was being cradled in the Angel's arms.

"No, young one, tis not meet that your end comes so soon. Your task is not yet finished and your true life has but begun."

"What task?" Godolkin asked the Angel.

"The future is for but a few to know, for in knowing, it might be changed. Open your eyes now and be warned. This place is not safe and you must go."

Godolkin had thought his eyes were open until he actually opened them. The pain was gone, and so were the wounds. He looked into the face of the Angel again for a brief moment and then it was gone. After a few seconds of trying to understand what happened a thought entered his mind and he climbed to his feet, "Red", he muttered, scanning the debris.

Godolkin remembered her being down below and there was only one way back up that he knew of. He moved over to the door through which the troopers had come and opened it only to find himself staring down at twin automags.

"Wait!", Red said, "he's on our side."

His massive form was along the lines of the troopers, but his weapons and armor were completely different.

"Bloody hell, what happened to you?" she asked as she looked at the hole in the armor along his left side.

"I took a hit", he said, glancing at Pandora.

"A hit? Looks like a snecking meteor crater, how did you survive?"

"I didn't really. The Angel saved me and said that my task wasn't done yet."

"Right, yeah, okay. And did you see the pink elephant in the purple tu-tu? Right chahmin he was", she replied.

Godolkin sighed. "When I have ever lied to you Mistress?" he asked her.

"Neva. Gawd I'm glad I don't drink the water round here. It's potent."

He shook his head and knelt down, "How bad?" he asked looking at her leg.

"Well, comined with rest, bad enough."

He nodded and stood up, "Excuse me", he said, moving past Pandora to get one of the knives from Azreal. Then he came back and knelt down again, cutting his wrist, though not to deeply or too long of a gash. He placed it to Red's lips and she drank from it, barely controlling her bloodlust. When she stopped Godolkin took a piece that he cut from his shirt and wrapped it around his wrist, knowing that his body would stop the bleeding and heal the cut soon enough.

"Can you carry her?" Red asked, nodding to Pandora. "She's been gimpin round like a three legged dog since I met her." The blood did wonders as the blood stopped running from Red's wound and it began to close up.

Godolkin stood and turned to Pandora, "with your permission of course. There's more stairs to go up."

Jackie are you all right? Sian's mind voice was sharp with concern.

Not really, but keep talking to me Lainy and I'll be right there. Jackie stood, swaying slightly with the pain his eyes were giving him. Then he was by her side.

"Here Scott, I'm going to have Jackie carry you over to Kristy. I need to look at both you and him, but you aren't safe to walk right now. And from the sounds of it someone else is down as well, most likely Charli with her flailed chest."

Sian guided Jackie in picking up Scott, then led him to where Kristy lay. "Both of yuou stay here." She said firmly as she picked up her medical kit and heded to where Charli and Ryan were.

Jackie gave her back a frustrated but resigned look. "Yes Lainy"

“What does any of this have to do with extraterrestrials?” asked Pandora quizzically, as they moved the body between them. The redhead’s next comment silenced her, as she stared at her in confusion. You can’t be a vampire, she told herself, you just can’t. It isn’t possible. She followed the instruction though, knowing that the redhead’s observation was correct; though she assumed that the soldiers were on one side, and everybody else was on the other.

She was about to open the door as requested when it was pushed open from the outside. The huge figure loomed and she threw herself sideways, coming up with her pistol raised as the redhead spoke. Dubiously, Pandora lowered her weapon; the figure was almost identical in height and build to the soldiers they had just been fighting, and he had a minigun mounted on a harness, confirming her earlier suspicion.

Her eyes went wide with fear as she watched the huge man cut his wrist with the knife and the redhead drinking the blood that flowed forth, and she stood in horrified silence, as logic and her eyes battled over what she was witnessing. Her already pale skin had gone completely white, and she took several seconds to realise she was being spoken to.

“Er… I… I…” she stammered, “I’m fine,” she squeaked eventually, dashing past them and out of the store room as fast as her wounded leg would take her. When she put a couple of dozen metres between them, she stopped and attempted to recover her composure. She failed, but she did remember that, having seen what had just happened, she had something relevant to tell these people.

“There are two more of these soldiers down in the car park,” she told them, her voice wavering fearfully, “They’re dead.” Having said what she needed to, she lapsed into silence, her pistol hanging loosely in her right hand, down by her side. She was staring across the site of the battle, but her eyes saw nothing, as reason and fact battled helplessly against what she had just seen.

The warm softness of Sian's body was the one thing that registered in Scott's addled mind, and instinctively he cuddled close to it, drawing strength from the intimacy. Even if he was already 17 in years, which would have made such an action questionable, to say the least; yet in his state of mind, he was quite incapable of recognizing the dichotomy. In fact, as he lay against Sian's chest, it was as if he was only 7, a young boy seeking comfort from his mother. A mother he had not seen in a long, long time.

"Calm down Scott. Look Scott, the light won't blind you."

The unearthly light registered dimly to his bleary eyes, and so did the figure at the epicenter of that light. Thus, to the boy, it didn't register to him that what he was seeing was actually a miracle right before his eyes as the idea that it was a hallucination, brought about by the trauma done to his head.

"Nooow I know I'm seeing thingssh......", he drawled awkwardly, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes, trying to clear his head of the dizziness that was buzzing around in his head.

"Here Scott, I'm going to have Jackie carry you over to Kristy. I need to......"

The rest of what Sian said didn't quite register in Scott's concussed mind, and yet he had no strength to argue anything either, so there was nothing to it but to meekly let her and Jackie help him move. They put him besides Kristy, who looked as if she might have just slept through the whole fracas that everyone else was involved in.

"Aaah, that little sshleepyheadsh. Alwaayssh had da shhake heer up forrrr shhchhoolshhh.......", the dizzy Scott drawled some more, as they put him down besides his sister. He didn't catch much else of what was said, but what he did catch was the firm commanding tone of Sian's "Both of you stay here", as well as the resigned tone of Jackie's "Yes Lainy". It made him giggle somewhat, piecing together incomplete fragments of thoughts to come to an incorrect, though not wholly inapplicable, conclusion.

"Weeemeenssh", he quipped to Jackie in his drawling tone, not knowing if Sian could hear or not, and frankly not in the state of mind to care, as it was. "Aaalwaaysssh issh twwouble, 'sphesshially eeef sssshee's yaah sshisterssh. Orrrr wifessh........ssheee yaaah wifessh, hmmmm?"

With the bottle ignited, Loki focused on his aqua shield and hoped for the best. The distinct buzz of Godolkin's minigun rang through the air and so the Aussie assumed at least one more of those soldiers had been downed. Panting due to the pain and battering his shield had been taking, Loki shifted back even more and waited.

Eventually silence fell upon the room as the last enemies were disposed of. By the sounds of a few moans and groans, people were hurt yet still alive. Attempting to get up, Loki noticed a bright glow illuminating the main level before hearing a voice he didn't recognise.

"There is more danger coming, you dare not stay."

Whilst he would agree that hanging around probably wasn't a great idea, he couldn't help but think it odd that someone just appeared to state the obvious. Struggling to his feet, Loki released his shield and allowed the water and everything it caught to fall down to the main level.

Looking over the half wall, Loki didn't see anyone that he wasn't already somewhat familiar with as Godolkin got to his feet.

"What the hell was that?"

Pandora's several seconds of silence and the look on her face was enough to get a reaction from both Godolkin and Red. When the young woman pushed past them Godolkin began to say something to Red.

“There are two more of these soldiers down in the car park,” she told them, her voice wavering fearfully, “They’re dead.”

He stopped long enough to listen to her and then turned back to the huntress, but Red had shoved him back, almost comically pushing the big man back though she looked much smaller than he. Her face was filled with fury as she left the room, hesitating a second as she tried to decide where to go.

"RED. Where are you going?" Godolkin asked loudly.

"TO CHECK THE FUCKING ROOF!" She shouted and headed toward the stairway, then stopped and rounded on Godolkin again, "THIS is why I joined Tamerlane. And I wonder if I didn't make mistake in leaving my old profession!" Then she wheeled and headed toward the stairs again and Godolkin knew that it was pointless right now to try to talk to her.

The look on Pandora's face, the fear in hear voice had been like knives plunging into Red's heart. When she had to leave Tamerlane and his orginization she could have continued in her profession, taken the easy road. Instead she had been trying so hard to change and this was the result. The same old fears and prejudices that had driven her away from her own kind. Each step she took increased her anger until the poor steps took the punishing tread of her boots. Her anger was rising because she had to vent this somehow and if she didn't let it go to anger then she would probably cry and she wasn't about to let anyone see that, nor would she give in to the tears.

Godolkin sighed and leaned against the doorframe. After a moment he looked up at nothing in particular, 'Can we renegotiate this?' he asked of the angel in low voice and then approached Pandora.

"So can you fix her?" He asked as the woman with the medical type bag came over. "If you can, and don't me, I'll come back later to help carry her to the helicopters or however you guys intend to evacuate your friends."

He looked at the two females and wondered what the relation between the whole group, and the attackers was.

"What the hell was that?"

"That was an angel, Mr. Murphy." Sian looked at Loki as she moved past him. There was no arterial bleeding, and that was arelief, though the main puncture would in his thigh would need tending to and perhaps the use of crutches for a wekk. "And it might be best if you got off of that leg. I'll be back in a moment to take a look at it. The stairs up are down at the east end, where the others are if you wish to join them."

"If you can, and don't need me, I'll come back later to help carry her to the helicopters or however you guys intend to evacuate your friends."


Sian gave Ryan a flat stare, as with no explaination, and no apology she gave him a thorough scan, learning more about him than he would be happy with her knowing. "

I can fix her. I'll need help but there are others who can help. Go, use the card key to get to your room and get your possessions. Your armor means much to you and you should have enough time to repack and leave. This isn't your fight, mercinary, and while I can afford you, I need more than just someone fighting for hire." Her voice wasn't cruel or deriding, but plainly matter of fact.

She knelt by Charli's side and tore open her bag while calling out for Red whom she could her stomping up the stairs.

"Red, Take your pissed and leave it behind. I need your help." Trauma shears were pulled forth and Sian began cutting though the ballistic vest and wrappings about Charli's torso. Though she was avoiding the cerometalic plates the sheer thicknesss of the multiple layers was defeating her. "Damn it, Red I need your strength here!

"I don't just fight for hire." He replied as he gave her a look as if evaluating how she'd known what she appearently knew, before departing. Making his way down to to his room, he realized he was missing a portion of ear, and while it would regrow, he made the decision to return after he'd changed out of his lighter, partial armour into most of the full suit.

Arriving at his room he changed into the full suit which felt like putting on a worn, comfortable shirt fresh from the laundry. He stowed the helmet with the rest of his gear consisting of clothes, weapons, the 'civilian' armour and other miscellaneous stuff. It had taken him all of a few minutes to get to his room and only a few more to change, the results of practice, and headed back.

As he walked, he found a young woman partially pinned by debris. "I'd get out of her as it's going to get worse before it gets better." He commented as he shifted the rubble and returning to where the others had been.

Going up the the doctor, who seemed to be one of the ones 'in charge' he commented "You don't have to hire me, but if you want my help, just say so."

Red reached Sian and knelt down, seeing her struggling with the shears. She took them and cut easily through the vest and then cut the shoulder straps so as not to have to move her if it needed to be completely taken off. "So what's with her?" she asked, "she don't look badly wounded." Her voice still held hurt and anger but far less than she had used with Godolkin in deference to Sian's position in her own mind.

Pandora’s eyes were roving about the room, now seeing what lay before her, taking in her surroundings. Her eyes flicked between the various bodies lying about, her near-hysterical mind guessing at how they were different. What is this place? she thought agitatedly, Is no-one here normal? What have I gotten myself into? Her face told any who could see her that she was on the verge of panic.

She barely heard the redhead’s shout, such was the state of her mind. She saw the huge man move slowly towards her from the corner of her eye, and she unconsciously tightened her hold around the pistol, her knuckles white under the force of her grip. It was just as well that the man had approached slowly, otherwise the pistol would have snapped up and double-tapped him.

“What are you people?” she gasped frantically, whirling to face him. The pistol in her right hand came up and pointed at him, but her aim wobbled crazily, since she was too upset to hold it steady. Still, it remained roughly on target, more so than could be expected of anyone else in the same state. She took an unsteady step backwards, unwilling to allow this man, who appeared so similar to the soldiers who had tried to kill her, to get too close.

Godolkin stopped, though less from the gun pointed at him than the question. 'Who am I', he wondered. It was a question he had been struggling with since he was released from his programming. Now, however, was not the time for that consideration and he looked her in the eye.

"There are two answers to that question", he told her. "One", and he gestured to the dead troopers, "I don't know. I've never seen them before. Two, are those of us who were fighting them and that answer is varied. Doctor Rhys, Red, myself, others. Aside from Doctor Rhys and Red I don't even know them. They got caught in the cross fire.

"As for me. I was an Iconoclast shocktrooper. I was genetically engineered for combat and psychologically programmed. Doctor Rhys only recently set me free of the shackles of that programming. In actual time, I'm six years old. All but the last few months of that was spent hunting mutants and non-humans.

"Red. She's a mutant. Hated or feared by humans for being a mutant. Feared by other mutants because of her particular mutation and looked down on by non-humans, such as vampires because she isn't one of them. They call her a cheap imitation. She chose to join the Iconoclast program before those like me were made. She had a reached a point where she didn't care who gave her money, food or a bed, as long as she got one. And thiers was luxurious. That is until they decided to retire her, once the shocktrooper program was well established and tested. By retire, they mean kill. No one leaves the program.

"So that's who we are, meaning Red and myself. I cannot speak for the others, nor can I tell you who these men are. They aren't shocktroopers, that much I can say for certain."

He stopped then. He couldn't think of anything else to say and he didn't know how to lie. So he left Pandora with the truth. Once finished he simply moved toward the stairs. She would go or stay, it was her choice. He wouldn't force her either way.

Pandora’s eyes widened as the big man answered her question, and silence was her only response. The arm holding the pistol slowly became steady, then gradually dropped down to her side and hung limp as she processed what she had been told. While he had told her that the redhead wasn’t a vampire, he had confirmed they exist, along with the existence of mutants. This should have sent her over the edge and down the slope to a nervous breakdown, but it didn’t.

She had latched on to something that was more important to her personally, and it calmed her somewhat. She was still very afraid of the people around her, but she had inadvertently found something in this maze of fear. She had found something approaching a kindred spirit, someone who had suffered a similar past to her. A victim of those who thought they could play god.

“You… You’re like me…” she whispered, more to herself than anyone else. She knew that the program that had created him was different to the one she had come from, he had told her that it used growth acceleration, but the base fact was still there. She safed and pocketed the pistol, then wordlessly limped slowly after the man.

Godolkin stopped at the base of the stairs. He didn't look back or say anything but the waiting was clear and he simply wanted to see if she wanted help in getting up the steps. He didn't say anything simply because he didn't know what else to say to her.

He knew Red had already come up and wondered if she had already reached the roof. She was certainly in a furious mood and he didn't see anyone stoppping her before she reached her destination.

"Thank you Red, for getting all of that off.

she don't look badly wounded."

"Red you know the worst wounds are the ones that don't show much." Sian said compassionately as she pulled out a large 60cc syringe and appropriately sized needle. "She got ribs broken in the fight with the WereWolves earlier, and one of them punctured her lung in the first firefight. Thats what I have to deal with, the other injuries can wait."

"Hold her shoulders down hard. This is gonna hurt and most likely going to bring her out of her coma."

Sian waited until Red had moved and was pressing down firmly on Charli's shoulders. A quick swab with an antiseptic swab, and Sian punched the needle home pas the chest muscles and through the chest wall and into the collapsed lung. Charli spasmed, her back straining to arch upwards, but Red was stronger and held her down. Sian ignored Charli's cry of pain. She was doing what she had to do to keep the young mutant alive.

The Syringe quickly filled with blood hued fluids, and Sian discovered that she ould need to change out syringes. "I'm going to have to keave it in for now, and thats not good." She frowned as she considered the various options open to her.

"Godolkin, I need you to come up here now please. " Sian called, then explained to Red "If I had a gurney I'd get her on to a spinal board and packaged, then on to the gurney. I can't risk her torso getting twisted around." She knew she was tired and missing something, then her dull headache lifted for a moment..."Red, could we get a table top off it's legs, and slid her on that?"

Godolkin's head snapped up as Sian called out and bounded up the stair 3 and 4 at time. He thundered around and down the walkway to reach the doctor and eyed the young woman on the ground. He knew enough to know that what he was seeing was a bad sign.

"Red, could we get a table top off it's legs, and slid her on that?"

"Consider it done", she said, her anger had fled now and there was only concern in her voice, a concern that she wasn't even aware of, "Godolkin and I can carry her." She looked up at Godolkin and nodded toward Charlie, "Hold her, I'll get it."

Once he had a grip she leaped up from her kneeling position to the rail, balancing on it with surprised agility and then dropped to the floor below. She gave a slight squeek as she hit the floor below as her still healing leg protested the punishment.

'Bright one, dummy', she muttered and moved to the nearest pile. She grabbed a table, broke the legs off and then left it a moment as she went to the troopers. She quickly gathered all the belts and harnesses she could get to give them something to keep Charli steady and then grabbed the table and made her way back up to where Charli lay, eyeing Pandora as she went.

"I thought we could strahp her on to move her", she said, holding up the belts and harnesses.

"Orrrr wifessh........ssheee yaaah wifessh, hmmmm?"

"No Lainy's not my wife." Jackie replied, and looked the teen over carefully. He knew basic first aid, and recognized the symptoms of a fairly good sized concussion. "You just lay back Scott, and let your eyes rest. If you get nauseous let me know, okay." He asked concernedly. Scott had all the makings of much more of a hassel than he wsas worth younger brother.Though he's just young enought to be a son...I hope Lainy's alright, it's not like her to tire out so easily. He thought as he resisted rubbing his stinging eyes.

*********************************
"I thought we could strahp her on to move her",

Sian's smile was tired but broadly appreciative as she nodded at Red's quick thinking. "I was afraid I didn't have enough tape to hold her down. Thats an excellent idea Red."

Carefully they strapped the only partially conscious Charli down. "Did I see the blood of these new troopers acting like acid?" She asked as she watched Godolkin and Red lift the makeshift litter.

"It would seem so", Godolkin replied.

"Yes", Red followed with, "I damn near stuck my hand in it."

"Whoever they are", Godolkin went on, "they have a great deal of funding to manage genetic alteration like that."

"I had an idea about that", Red said as they follow Sian.

"Oh?"

"I think theahr Iconoclast."

"Impossible", Godolkin replied, "they aren't anything like them."

"Like nothing we've seen, no. But the one who shouting, he called me blasphemy. Not many even use that word anylongahr. Besides, he didn't seem very happy to see me."

"There are a great many who are not happy see you."

"Oh, well thank YOU very much", she replied.

"But your right. The one called you a blasphemy harlot and then asked me to come out. I hadn't thought about that until you mentioned it."

"You just lay back Scott, and let your eyes rest. If you get nauseous let me know, okay."

"Hmmmsh? Aaalriisshh.......", the concussed Scott murmured some more, and without protesting further, lay his head back against the wall, resting his eyes just like Jackie told him to. Thus, besides his sedated little sister he slept, the Halliwell children resting side by side from the toils of the chaos they had unwittingly brought themselves into. It was quite the special sight; brother and sister, barely out of childhood, resting together with a peaceful expression on their faces. Like they were simply sunbathing together under the sun on summer vacation, and they looked ever so young.

Underneath Scott's Armor-ed body though, the other specialty of the Spirit of Taurus awakened into action. As he rested, Scott's body, powered by the energy of the Bull, began to take stock of the internal injuries he had taken during the battle. And then, with the Bull's energy powering it, Scott's natural healing mechanism went into overdrive; his broken rib began to set itself right, and torn muscles under his skin began to knit of their own volition. His brain, jarred by the impact of the explosive rounds that had hurled him against the equipment, started setting itself right as well; in minutes, all that was left of Scott's concussion was a dull head that nevertheless still bothered him, and while his chest still hurt from remembered pain and the toils of accelerated healing, the rib was no longer broken; it was as it seemed to have always been.

His head still laying against the wall, Scott opened his eyes, and gazed on Jackie; there was no more trace of the dullness that marked his concussed state. Instead, it was clear and bright, and it was apparent that reality was coming back to the boy's consciousness; he was starting to take stock of what had just happened, and his thought processes were becoming clear again.

"It still bloody hurts like hell", he whispered to the man he called Spawn, his slurring a thing of the past as well. He shifted slightly from his position, making himself as comfortable as could be possible. "But if it goes like it has gone before, I should be alright in a few."

He closed his eyes again, coming to terms with the dulling aches of his healing injuries. Not yet noticing that his sister still lay unconscious besides him, he asked without opening his eyes, "So......now what? Anything I can do once I feel like I can stand?"

Using the half wall to prop himself up whilst standing on one foot, Loki looked down at his own injury. A portion of the shrapnel was still in his leg, just sticking out from the outer part of his thigh. Not willing to touch it in case he did further damage, Loki called upon his abilities again.

Within seconds the air thickened around him, the particles becoming so dense they could actually support heavier matter, such as himself. It took a reasonable amount of concentration but he was able to lift himself a few inches off the ground, taking all weight off both his legs as he took up a seated position in midair.

"I guess I'll just float my way over to the others..."

As a little girl in Germany had once told him, imagination is your only boundary. She also possessed powers very similar to his and could do things he'd never dreamed of. Ever since then he'd considered just what he could and couldn't do and discovered with a little factual knowledge and imagination, the open doors became plentiful.

Pandora walked as though in a daze, her eyes seeing everything but none of it registering in her conscious mind. She took the stairs slowly, leading with her right foot, then bringing her left up on to the same step and repeating the process. She even failed to react when the redhead passed close by her on the stairs, barely noticing her presence.

Once she reached the top of the stairs, she moved silently past some of the other people there, and found somewhere relatively out of the way. She slumped down, her back against the wall and took her weight of her feet. She shivered involuntarily, and drew her jacket tighter around her. She stared at the floor in front of her feet, deep in thought.

After a minute or so, her eyes began roving, taking in those around her. They appeared to be as the big man had said; a random collection of bystanders caught up in the crossfire. Though they had to be more than they appeared, as they had taken out a group of the soldiers. Are these people all mutants? she asked herself, looking at them in turn, studying them, trying to figure them out.

So......now what? Anything I can do once I feel like I can stand?"

"Sure Scott. Don't do anything too active, and if you start to get blurry stop and sit for a bit, But if you feel up to it you can act as my eyes and give the club a good look over. Be carefull but see if there seems to be any more of them, maybe covering the street side." Jackie replied and once Scott started to move off he turned to the other two there who were capable of helping. " Tanya, could you get some table linens from where every they're stored up here. Kristy might get chilled, and if others are injured they will be usefull as slings and bandages. Lainey's bag of medical supplies isn't endless. Orell, could you seee if there is any bottled water at any of the bars. That will help ease any blood loss effects people may be having."

About that time Red and Godolkin arrived with Charli's mostly unconscious self on board the make shift litter. And on their heels was Loki with the very air itself supporting him.

Quickly Jackie explained to the trio that his vision was severly impared. "I can deal with it later. Can some one check the roof out? I can hear the hurricane starting to kick up again and it would be good to know if we are going to come out into some place sheltered or full into the wind." He held up the keys that Sian had give him. "Also if you're hurt, sit down and rest as much as possible. If there are mosre coming even a few moments rest can be a pick me up."

************************************

Sian had watched Loki floating himself towards the back in the wake of Red and Godolkin. She'd get to his leg in just a minute and appreciated his not complaining. The leg had to hurt but Charli's had been the more serious wound.

Sian frowned slightly as she noted a youngster, clearly too young to have been in the club legally limp past her and huddle against the wall, her fave white and her eyes glassy.

Taking up her medical kit Sian approached and knelt beside the youngster. "Hi I'm Dr. Rhys. Are you hurt?" She asked softly. Carefully she insinuated herself into the girls mind, just enough to make sure that the girl was no mole. She noted the rudimentary shieldsand moved through them gently not letting the girld be aware of her scan.

Red nodded, "I'll check it out."

Godolkin, however, grabbed the keys. "You seem to have missed the part about the injured resting", he told her.

"PFF. I've had worse than this."

"Yes, but it doesn't mean that you can't take the time to rest while you have it", and he headed out the door going to check out the roof. Once there he would do a full sweep to make sure no one was lurking above before coming back to inform them what it was they would face once up top.

"Okay, I'll do that......", Scott murmured, as he slowly got to his feet as best as he could. It was a wonder that he could do so at all, even as shaky as his efforts were; the impact of the explosive slugs would have killed any normal teenage boy, and that was not counting the shrapnel. But then again, Scott was no normal teenager, and he had the benefit of Armor as well, so it was a mere matter of seconds before he had pretty much regained most of his bearings.

"Well, let's see if there's any more of these buggers about, like Spawn says there might be......"

His slightly drunken gait improving with each step he took, Scott traversed the rubble-littered area of the trashed club, looking in each direction, but especially the street side which Spawn had directed him to. Nothing, it seemed as if there was none of them left, which meant there is no danger now, for the time being. Of course, with the entire place as trashed as it was, the boy was sure that things wouldn't remain that way for long.

Throughout his round, thoughts popped up in Scott's mind as he walked past the rest of the people who had been on his side during the fracas:

Wow, what the hell ate Sergeant Brutus's armour........?

Ouch, Hot Stuff ain't looking so hot right now. Wonder if what Jean Grey is doing will help her......

Is that the Wizard floating?!

.......

We're off the see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz......

Wait a minute, who's that chick? Don't remember seeing her around in all this shit just now......


After a while, he had made his way back to where Jackie was, with nothing noteworthy having caught his interest.

"Don't seem like there's any more of those buggers, Mister Spawn", he quipped as he approached. "But this place here's a right mess, and there was quite a bit of noise just now, so I'm thinkin' the cops'll be blaring their way here any time now. And if I guess right, that ain't exactly what we're lookin' for, eh? Say, where's Kristy?"

He immediately saw his sister leaning against the wall, still out cold like nothing mattered.

"Gah, she's such a sleepyhead, always has been. Hey Sis, rise and shine!"

No response from her. Not knowing that she had been sedated, Scott frowned as he tried to figure out why she had fallen in such a deep sleep, and went over to her, kneeling down beside her. Then proceeding to shake her awake,

"Hey, Kristy! Wake up, you hear? Hey-"

In an instant, the boy's expression had turned from one of exasperation, to concern. And then, to an uneasy panic, as he put a hand to her forehead, wondering if what he had felt when he had tried to slap her lightly to awaken her was true.

Oh, crap.

"Hey, mister!", he turned to Jackie, his face a mixture of worry and panic. "What's wrong with my sister? She won't wake up, and she's burning up, too! What's happening?"

Pandora wasn’t getting far with trying to figure out those around her. She could see a man clad in dark armour, covering his whole body, and a younger male, about as old as she was, with similar armour covering his torso. Then there was a young man apparently floating in thin air. These oddities were stored away, her subconscious holding the real meanings at bay until after she had spoken with the genetic soldier about origins.

Her gaze shifted the moment she saw a woman carrying a bag approach her, following the woman’s progress towards her. She stayed silent, just watching until the woman made the first move. When the woman spoke, Pandora leant forward and began removing the trainer from her left foot, along with explaining what she thought necessary as she did so.

“Knife laceration. It’s a clean cut, looks worse than it is, just needs a wash and stitching up I think,” she told the woman, carefully easing the shoe off and wincing slightly. The lower part of the formerly white sock was now scarlet, completely soaked with blood. She peeled in back carefully, unsurprisingly revealing that the underside of her foot was also stained red, as was the makeshift bandage she had tied around the wound.

“Knife laceration. It’s a clean cut, looks worse than it is, just needs a wash and stitching up I think,”

"You're very calm about it." Sian remarked as she examined the wound carefully, having slipped on a fresh pair of gloves and removed the makshift bandage. "You did a good job with the bandage, but you lost a fair amount of blood to, by staying up and moving on it. It is going to need stitches." Sian placed a guaze compress on it and then a brought out a roll of guaze bandage. Winding it firmly about the compress untill it was well held in place she finished off with a layer of waterproff stretch bandage.

"Stay cool I'm going to get you moved." She said as she mentally reached out to Jackie Are you able to reach out and move me and this girls she shouldn't be walking. She let him look through her eyes.

Yes I can Lainy, and you too- just a second - Scotts getting hysteric over his sister. He replied as the Dark flowed for to race down to the opposite end of the club, envelope Pandora, Sian and her med kit. When the Darkness receeded the pair were all but at his feet

“Getting worked up about an injury never helped anyone. Besides I’ve seen worse,” Pandora replied, her voice cracking ever so slightly on the last word. “And what was I supposed to do? Sit there until help came to me?” She watched as the woman put the proper bandage in place, noting that it was only a temporary measure, just a little better than her initial one. “If you give me a needle and thread I can put the stitches in,” she told the woman.

She knew how to fix up most minor, and some major injuries, at least well enough to get to proper medical facilities, although the techniques she knew would likely have caused a trained surgeon to have a fit. They were messy and quick, designed to get her up and fighting again as quickly as possible, while being good enough to not compromise her in the long run. She knew where the knowledge had come from, and she didn’t like it, but she did realise it was useful to know.

Her eyes widened in terror as the darkness came out of nowhere and threatened to envelop her. She scrabbled wildly to get away, trying to cry out but finding herself struck dumb with fear. A scream died in her throat before it could begin as the darkness completely covered her. When it suddenly withdrew, she looked frantically around her, trying to work out what had happened. She had been moved, but she hadn’t been hurt or hindered in any way that she could tell. All previous thoughts had gone from her head as the near-hysterical terror took over once more.

“If you give me a needle and thread I can put the stitches in,”

Before Sian could reply to that the girl failed to register and heed her words as Jackie moved them. And then she was nearly hysterical with terror.

However before Pandora could do anything Sian reached out and took control of her body, just as she had done with Scott's just over an hour earlier. Once Pandora was stilled she reached into the medikit and brought out her supply of sedative once again. Sorry Pandora, I don't have the time or the energy to debate the ethics of this with you. She sent to Pandora as she filled the syringe and slid it home into the teen's left bicept. As the sedative took effect Sian let her control of Pandora's body ease.

She turned to where Scott knelt by his sister, fear and worry written over his face. "I gave her a sedative Scott, but here..." She went to Kristy's side and laid a hand on her forehead. "Yes she is feverish. Possibly due to the over load she was running. Scott why don't you go over to that bar over there and get some ice in a damp towel and keep it against her forehead."

Tanya and Orell returned with arm loads of tablecloths and bottles of cold water. "Scott, here why don't you use this cold water on a towel?" Orell offered him a bottle as Tanya unfolded several of the linens and laid the gently over Kristy.

Sina nodded "Yes that would work. Just keep an eye on her Scott. I have to start an IV on Charli."

Red looked at the hysterical woman and then watched as she slipped into her sedative induced slumber. No mundane could take out two troopers. Not unless they had a buttload of training or experience. If that were the case then her present reactions were way off base. A hardened soldier would have more control than this. Plus there was her apparent age. If she was really that young then it was doubtful that she was a soldier, hardened or otherwise. That meant that she would have to be programmed and only one orginization did that kind of work that she was aware of. And since the girl looked so mundane that would make this an agent. So why the strange reactions? Two reasons came to Red's mind. One - the agency was implementing some academy award winning acting lessons or two - the programming was incomplete or faulty. The prejudices and fears were in place, that was obvious, but the fear control was absent or screwy.

"You know", she said to no one in particular, "no mundane can take out two troopahrs on thier own, not without training and she looks real young. That makes her a mutant, a non-human or ... something else", she added crypticaly.

When she realised that she couldn’t move, Pandora tumbled over the edge into a full hysterical panic, and an animal yell of terror escaped her, or would have if she had been in control of her body. She tried frantically to move her limbs, getting ever more frantic as they still failed to respond. Then, she heard a voice in her head, and knew it didn’t come through her ears. It belonged to the woman in front of her.

Rage joined the panic in Pandora’s head, desperate to regain control of her limbs, for no other reason than so she could rip the woman limb from limb; an unrestrained psychotic rage that knew no bounds, born from a history of captivity, awoken at suddenly finding herself captive once again. She saw the hypodermic syringe appear, knew what it would do, and both panic and rage reached new highs, and dark memories of similar experiences began to surface.

The combination of fatigue, hunger, the emotions and the memories became too much for her fragile mind, and she folded. A different kind of darkness surrounded and overwhelmed her, taking her away. Before the sedative-filled syringe even pierced her skin, her body had become an abandoned vessel, and would have fallen limp if able. The fortress of her mind had fallen, and Pandora had taken refuge in the only safe place left.

Without giving an answer to his question, Spawn did his Dark-gliding thing away from him, leaving Scott hanging with his unconscious sister in his arms. Just as quickly though, the living shadows came gliding back his way, and seemed to somehow disgorge Jean Gray, as well as the teenage girl who seemed his age, whom he had seen on his patrol around the club.

Hmmm, so that was what Spawn did to me and Kristy just now-

But he had no time to complete his thoughts, for the girl apparently wasn't taking too well to being moved, judging from the hysterical look on her face, one that said she would be having a right fit about now if she could. Which apparently she could not, since Jean Grey seemed to have immobilized her with her mind, somewhat like how she had played him like a puppet at the beginning of all this mess tonight. At this, Scott raised an eyebrow, looking a little somewhat critically at the telepathic lady's actions.

"That wasn't very nice......", Scott murmured to no one in particular, even though he figured that whatever Jean Grey did, it was probably quite necessary. With the girl out cold, the good doctor finally turned her attention to him.

"I gave her a sedative Scott, but here..."

Okay, that explains why Kristy's out for the count......

"Yes she is feverish. Possibly due to the over load she was running."

.......and that sounds logical, too, what with Kristy having a screamin' fit just now and all.

"Scott, here why don't you use this cold water on a towel?"

"Okay, Doc. Thanks", he finally said, as he took one of the bottles of chilled water from Catwoman, and watched as Tanya laid the linen over his suffering little sister. Wordlessly, the boy laid his sister's head on his shoulder, allowing her limp body to rest against his as he sat down on the floor, cradling her in his arms. Out of an instinct from times gone by, Scott started rocking gently back and forth, humming a long-forgotten tune as he moved. As if, he was gently rocking his little sister to sleep, which in earlier times, he had actually done.

In earlier, innocent days, with less to worry about.

"You know, no mundane can take out two troopahrs on thier own, not without training and she looks real young. That makes her a mutant, a non-human or ... something else"

The remark from Carrot Top caught Scott's ear, and he glanced at the woman in question.

"Something like me, for example?", he quipped laconically, as he put the cold compress on Kristy's burning forehead. In his mind though, he began to think quickly.

Something like me.......and Kristy. What ARE we, exactly? These people......they can do things that neither of us can. But then again, I can do things none of them could, either. Kristy too; I ain't seen anyone yet who can see the future quite like she could, just now. What's going on? What is all this that's going on? I don't know. I don't know anymore. I'm confused, I'm not even sure who we are......WHAT we are. Me, and Sis. What are we? Are we even......human?

Then.......what about the girl with Jean Grey? She looks like my age. Is she also wondering the same thing? And......she doesn't look like she's taking it well, either. She must be freaked out, seeing all this; I sure know I was.

Hmmm. I don't know. But maybe......

"Yo, Doc", Scott blurted out, still cradling Kristy in his arms, but his eyes now on the unconscious teenage girl. "What's up with her?"

Whilst everyone else appeared to be occupied, Loki continued to float around, lowering himself back downstairs in order to search for anything/anyone that may be of use or had been caught up in the battle. There wasn't much else he could do currently so he figured he'd use his unique mobility to do something somewhat productive.

Several minutes went by and Loki found nothing. It appeared everyone had either gotten out, was with the group or had managed to get in front of a bullet. Evidently there was nothing remaining of interest and Loki soon found his attention back on the throbbing pain originating from his leg.

Floating back up towards Sian and the others, Loki remained silent as he watched her give the newcomer a sedative. Evidently she wasn't in the calmest of states.

"You know... so are we good to go?"

Evidently the injured Aussie didn't particularly want to hang around, a punctured leg was enough for one night.

That makes her a mutant, a non-human or ... something else",

What's up with her?"

"Escaped a defunct supersoldier program in a little country called Free Eagles, Red" Sian repled a she finished putting in an IV into Charli's left forearm.

She was looking about for some one to hold the D5W bag up when Ryan returned, appearing as if by magic.

"You don't have to hire me, but if you want my help, just say so."

Sian gave Ryan a long considering look. "Yes your help would be welcome. First thing, here hold this bag up."

Once he had take the IV bag off her hands Sian turned to the newly returning Loki. "I'm sorry to take so long to see to you Mister Murphy. Let me get that stub of wood out of you and a dressing on it. I'll clean it better when we get some place safer."

As she began examining Loki's impaled leg Sian called over her shoulder to Red "Red could you wrap Pandora -thats the only name she knows - in some linnens, keep her warm? Also could you check on Casey. I'm not sure how fast he regenerates, but it's been about an hour.... He might be coming to at any time, but is he going to be in a world of pain, and there might be some memory loss. Iv'e never treated him before and am not sure of his parameters."

Red nodded but stopped as Godolkin came back in and walked over to him pulling a canister from his belt pack. She tossed it to Sian, "Bio-knitter gel. Four major applications or eight minor ones. Thought it might be of some help."

"Nothing on the roof", he said. "There's a wide open area in the center, air units on the edges. We could wait inside or take refuge among the units until the plane arrives."

Red moved over to the linens and grabbed several, wrapping them tightly about Pandora. She assumed the sedative was the only thing at work and then moved over to check on Casca. "His heads regrown. Want me ta cut it off again?"

He took the IV bag from her and held it as he listened to the conversations around him. He was slightly annoyed about being turned into a glorified medical stand, but then shrugged as it wasn't ardous, needed doing and most of the others seemed to be already doing stuff.

Looking around, he noticed a young girl who appeared to be unconsious that wasn't there when he departed to gather his gear, and asked, "Who's she?"

Sian had shaken her head at the notion of going up and waiting on the roof. "Not in the midst of a hurricane. I don't know how much time we have to wait either. Godolkin you go get your's and Red's stuff from the van. Red could you get the card key off of Fortier's body and go collect his things., Charli would be doing it if she could. Mister Murphy, do you want Red to gather up your things as well? You shouldn't be walking on this leg" Sian commented as she cleanes and flushed the wound before packing with with the bio gel. She didn't normally carry the version of blue goop that she used at the Hospital, it would have been too hard to explain.

"Who's she?"

"Her names Pandora, Ryan,"

That had been nearly thirty minutes ago. Casey was sitting up looking more battered than he had been, and seemingly none to eager to be moving about. Charli was laying, still unconscious, under Ryan's watchful eye, but the internal bleeding had slowed. Kristy and Pandora slept on, heavily sedated. Sian, on the ragged edge of exhaustion herslef, had made numerous phone calls, making arrangements for various portions of her life, as had Jackie.

Now Charli's Tag was vibrating in Sians hand and she was answering it. A few moments later Jackie was helping her to her feet. "Okay every one. Our rides here."

SOLDIER, YOU ARE CONTENT WITH WHAT YOU ARE! THEN THAT YOU SHALL REMAIN UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!

No! NOOOO! The pain hit Casey like a bull-dozer on steroids. First thing to come back. Always was. Natural survival instinct, but god-damn did it hurt. the pain centers were firing. It wouldn't be long, a second or two, but in his mind, it stretched on for as long as his rest was short. he didn't know if he screamed. He probably did, but for now, the only thing he could feel was pain. It was like fire, like the explosions at Kirsk, the artillery shells a thousand times over that had bombarded Berlin during the fall of the Third Reich. He had time only for that one thought before it enveloped him. He was lost in a world of pain, pain that felt like it would last forever, but already, some part of him thought that it would soon end. Casey was coming back, and Casca was rising from the dead yet again.

It passed quickly, but not for Casca. He realized he was screaming for a brief second before it died down. He was exhausted. He needed food, drink, a piss, and rest, in that order. Already the endorphins had kicked in, and he knew he would soon be back in action. It was peaceful. The skirmish was done. Getting to his feat, he wobbled, but caught himself. His cerebellum was still fuzzy, but re-programming itself quickly. After a few tentative steps, he had regained basic motor function. "What hit me? And what happened after?"

Red took the card keys for Fortier and Murphey's room, mumbling about being a porter, though it didn't stop her from going. She gathered everything she could find and brought it back down, dumping it unceremoniously in a pile on the floor upon her return.

Godolkin went down to the van, gathered the ammunition for his mini-gun and the two canisters of purifier fluid and the rest of thier gear, including ammuntion for Red's guns and thier clothes and medical supplies. When he returned he removed four canisters from a bag he had.

"Doctor Rhys, you may want these. It's the last of the bio-gel that we had rationed. I think you can make better use of it."

"Okay every one. Our rides here."

30 minutes waiting around, being pretty much forgotten while everybody else was bustling around, had made Scott, even sore and battered as he was, somewhat impatient. For something, ANYTHING, to happen. Besides, babysitting two sleeping beauties, while easy (especially as the ladies in question were easy to look at, to put it simply), was getting to be somewhat monotonous. All they did was sleep; where was the fun in that? True, he was still worried about Kristy's fever, but when there's nothing one can do about it, there's only so much worrying one can do for the fever-stricken person in question.

"So, what? We getting out of this hellhole soon? Damned cops be here any minute now."

"What hit me? And what happened after?"

"You just got Terminated, T-X", the smart-talking boy immediately quipped in the direction of the stumbling Casca, twisting his voice so that it sounded as close as possible to the Austrian accent of the good ol' Governator of California. "You shoulda said 'I'll be back', though."

The boy stood up, preparing to pick up the still-sleeping Kristy from the floor.

"Anyway, while you're doing your Jack Jeebs thing, the rest of us just said 'hasta la vista!' to those buggers who got you on in the head. But from everything that's happened here, I'd say that they'll be back. So, you wanna wiggle around some more, or you want ta scoot with da rest of us?"

"I'm sorry to take so long to see to you Mister Murphy. Let me get that stub of wood out of you and a dressing on it. I'll clean it better when we get some place safer."

Lowering himself onto the ground so Sian could investigate his injury further, Loki flashed her a brief grin.

"No worries, I'm not bleeding to death so there's no hurry."

Ignoring the pain, Loki watched patiently as Sian removed the wooden shrapnel and applied the strange gel. He'd never come across such a substance before, although he usually didn't get injured that often. Supressing a shudder from the cold touch, Loki nodded in thanks.

"Thanks Doc. You can also call me Loki."

Checking the pockets of his jeans, Loki noted the presence of his phone and wallet, then shook his head.

"There's nothing back in my room besides a few clothes, nothing of particular value. If it's on the way sure, but don't trouble yourself."

Taking Sian's advice about not walking on his leg, the young man began floating upwards once again, intent on minimising any further damage.

"Must have taken something powerful," Casca managed to mumble. The pain was still disorienting, and he wasn't too intent on chastising the kid right now. "I have to grab my stuff. In my room. Shouldn't take long." He began to shuffle off, supporting himself by using one of the walls while the pain began to slowly die down.

"What a wonderful omen." He commented as he looked over at the girl while keeping the IV bag suspended for the other injured woman. He failed to notice her use of his name.

After hearing that the method of transportation had arrived, he asked, "Do you have a plan to get the wounded to the transportation, or are they going to get carried by main force?"

"Some will probably have to be carried", Red replied, "I'll hang back, just in case. I'm the least wounded and healing fast other than Godolkin and though I might have his strength, I don't have his size."

Godolkin was about to interject until she finished and he realised that she was right. Strength isn't necessarily required here, but the burdens would be cumbersome none the less and he was much better built for it. He nodded, "Once we're clear you'll get to the plane."

Red looked at him, "Not concerned are you? Don't worry, I don't want to have to explain to the authorities what happened here." And then she exited the booth and returned to the stairs, crouching at the head and watching them closely.

On the thin edge of the atmosphere two planes hovered, their advanced sensors looking down, guaging the strength of the hurricane sluggishly moving inland, passing over Houston.

*You are insane to go down in that*

*And you're just pissed that I wond the coin toss and get to do it. Go sink that damn ship and get back her to play high guard just incase the Icono's have something aloft. I'm going to be too busy flying to think about fighting.* Laughter teased the edges of the second voice.

The sigh was audible. *Just get yourself down, and I'll be off* the first voice replied with a hint of grump to it.

*Descending now, cross fingers that I don't get FOD'd. The winds are in excess of one hundred and thirty five miles an hour, and the amount of debris in the ais is enormous!*

Handling the SR-80 with practised ease the pilot began to descend into the turbulence below. She hoped those waiting had the smarts to be under solid shelter until she landed.

"Loki, I'm going to ask the most tiring activity of you. Can you be the first out to the plane - and no one goes out alone the winds are too bad ! Then Loki can you uses your abilites to mitigate the winds and rain?"

She turned to Godolkin to gibe the Aussie time to think, for it ws not an easy task she was asking of him.

"Godolkin help me sit Charli up. We can't take her out there on the table top, you're going to have to carry her, but I want her on a back board first. Ryan you'll be responsivle for carrying the IV and protecting her." Sian said crisply.

"Once she is on the plane, Ryan you'll stay with her. Jackie you'll carry Kristy, Scott you'll go with them then." She looked at Godolkin knowing her was the one going to have to make the most trips.

"Godolkin stay at the plane until Jackie has Kristy settled then you two come back together. Then you'll take Pandora with me accompanying you, and Jackie carrying Fortier's body. Then the two of you get the pile of luggage." Sian nodded to the small pile of stuff from Fortier's rooms and the van.

She closed her eyes triedly for a moment, and part of her wanted to cry. She was leaving her home, her life, and people she loved behind. And at that moment she hated the Iconoclasts and their puppet masters as never before.

Godolkin nodded and gently took her arm, "I'll do as you ask and then return to assist Red. Fear not, we are trained for even this sort of thing." He reached into his bag and pulled out a small earpiece, placing it on his ear and then touched it. "Mistress .... Mistress ...." He then reached into one of her bags and after a moment pulled out an identical earpiece. 'I wish just once she would listen to me', he rumbled as he left the booth to bring her the small com device.

"Fine, I'll make sure the IV drip doesn't break and nothing of any size smacks her upside the head." He commented as he looked at the comatose woman who was continuing to annoy him even though she was unspeaking or infact doing anything.

"Is there anything else you wish of me, beside serving as an elaborate medical stand and body shield of course?" He asked as he cricked his neck and reached down to take his helmet out of his bag as it would enable him keep mostly anything above a base, or maybe a golf, ball from hitting Charli as he now knew her by.

Loki lowered himself back onto the ground as Sian posed a request before him. She was asking a lot of him but he also realised he was the only one that could handle it. Whilst he wasn't strong enough to control the hurricane itself, he should be able to force back the air and water in order to create a zone of relatively low winds and minimal rain.

Obviously they couldn't hang around here for long as there was no telling how many more of those soldiers would turn up. For they knew there could be more waiting at the front door as they sat there. Looking down at his leg, Loki mumbled a curse as it began to itch, yet resisting the temptation to scratch it. He knew scratching a wound wouldn't do it any good.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. But, I will need someone to help me get out there. I'm not in the best state to walk and will need to completely focus on the storm outside."

Loki could only hope he had enough energy within to peform, being swallowed up by a massive storm wasn't high on his list of things to do.

"Thats a very understandable concern Loki." Sian replied thinking fast. "I can put a shield around you to get you to the plane. I won't be able to hold it much longer than that." She deal with the consequences later. She'd have to make sure that she had a wall to lean against and she didn't dare pass out.

"No Lainy, I'm not going to let you knock yourself out. Loki, There will be shield about you and you won't have to walk. I've got more energy than Lainy thinks I do and while it will be like looking out through really dark tinted glass you'll float out to the plane in safety and comfort." Jackie said firmly, as he wrapped his arms about Sian from behind. He had a good idea of why she was so upset.

Once Godolkin gave the device to Red and returned he moved over to Charlie and knelt down beside her. She didn't look good and he wasn't sure that moving her was a good idea, but they didn't have much of a choice either. He undid the straps on the table and looked over at Sian. "What would you like me to do?" he asked her.

Loki nodded at Jackie's statement, he wasn't too concerned about how it was done as long as he had support out there. Without protection he could very well be taken out by some random debris whilst his attention was focused upon the storm.

"Alright, whatever works. So are we almost ready to go."

It was obvious he didn't want to hang around for much longer, there was no telling what the future could bring.

Sian pulled out the bid backboard from the bottom compartment of her medical kit. "Okay you know how to 'package' some one for transport, right? "

At his nod she waited until he had Charli rolled properly and slid the board under her. Then it was just a moments work to stap her unconcsious form to the board, careful not to disrup the IV that Ryan was holding. "Okay she's safe to carry, and even sit up. Scott could you take some of the linens and wrap her up? Just be careful of the IV."

Sian hadn't paid any attention to Ryan griping. If he did understand how important that fluid drip was, well she was too tired to expalin it to him. And she had greater concerns than his lack of understanding or empathy. She didn't like the look of the burns across and around Jackie's eyes, and he had frimly told her to wait to treat him until later.

"And Godolkin do you think you could get one of those corpses and bring it with us. I'd like to study it when we get some place safe. Though only if you think its safe to bring one with us." She'd leave it up to him and his assessment of the situation.

Godolkin was ready to agree but stopped himself. "Doctor, if Red is right, and they are from the agency, then there'll be a tracking device at the base of the brain stem. Harrow disabled mine, but if they have them then they'll be able to track us whereever we go. I wouldn't recommend this action, but I'll do as you ask either way."

Godolkin's eyes never left Sian, though he was answering Red in the earpiece. "Yes, we could do that, but if this is a different type of trooper then how do we know that it's in the same place?"

Godolkin nodded to something else she said. "She's going to check and see if the tracking device is there. If not, then we'll leave him, going on the assumption that it's elsewhere in the body. If it's there we'll take him since she'll be removing it.

"I can forego studying one, I was also thinking of their equipment,posssibly good to have samples of it all, but I'm not going to put us at risk."

Then she blinked, cursing her forgetfulness.

"Wait, tell her no, the blood acts like an acid don't forget!"

"Mistress ..." he began, but Red had heard her through the earpiece already. After several moments Godolkin nodded. "Apparantly the body's resistance to it's own acid break down after death. There isn't much left of them but what Red refered to as a ... moldering pile of dog .. crap. She's returning to .."

"Yes, I know what you said. I was simply altering the metaphor slightly."

"Yes, I'm sure she has heard it and much worse in her profession."

He sighed and removed the earpiece, tucking it into his belt pouch for the moment. "Anyway, there isn't much left to research."

Casey got to his room, and keyed himself in. His bag was on his bed, and a quick feel told him all he needed to know. His clothes were still in there, some of his more preferrable weapons were untouched. Grabbing the long case next to it, he began to make his way back, the pain now a distinct yet fading memory, something that could be recalled, but no different than the pain he had felt before. He managed to actually stroll back to the group, apparently busy discussing something of importance, the only bit of which he managed to hear was the big guy, Godolkin if he remembered correctly, stating "Anyway, there isn't much left to research."

"Research what?" he asked.

Godolkin removed the earpiece again and then put it on as he heard nothing, meaning that Red had finished her rant. "The last set of soldiers we fought", he replied to Casca. "The doctor had wanted to check them to see what was done to them. What alterations that is."

The SR-80 descended through the turbulence guided by a deft touch and strong teleknesis.

"'Kade, ground lock us...Now!"

and a near unbreakable gravity lock tied the plane to the roof of the night club.

"Done" a dark, deep voice rumbled as the co- pilot stood, stretched quickly, and strode back to the hatch way. "I'm not going to put down the ramp till they get on to the roof."

"Letting them know that we're here now." The pilot replied as she activated communications.

Beneath them the Tag that Sian still held vibrated and she flicked it to life.

Moments later she looked at the others.

"Departure time. Jackie, Kritsy, and Scott. first with Jackie floating Loki. Then once the winds are under Loki's control Godolkin, Charli, Ryan as next group. Casey could you escort Tanya and Orell? Help get them out there safely."

"Then Godolkin will come back for Pandora and I'll accompany them."

"Aye, sure. Let's hope that nobody else decides to crash our little get-together. How're we getting out of here, and what's on the roof?" asked Casca, shouldering his bag and inserting the billiard's cue case into a couple of straps, sandwiching the thing between his back and his clothes. He offered his arms to the two that Sian had metioned, then gave his nod to show that he was ready.

"Open area in the center of the rooftop. Air conditioning and ventilations units to the outside. Door access is offset so we should be able to get to the plane in a straight shot", Godolkin replied. "Through that door is on open area, storage, then a door opening onto the stairs that lead up. The landing up the stairs is about 5 by 7 meters. The door opposite the stairs leads to the roof."

"I was asking more by way of 'What's getting us out of here?'. If it can't last in this storm, then I won't take it."

Sitting around with two comatose girls, resting for a straight half an hour with basically nothing to do, was somewhat of a test of patience for Scott, even sore and aching as he was. And yet, he also knew that with nothing better to do, it was far better to try and keep out of the way; goodness knows he would screw things up if he butted in where he was not wanted.

So, all the boy could do was wait. And worry over his sister some more, wondering if she would be alright, suffering under a fever that seemed to burn his very hand when he touched her forehead. And wondering about the strange girl who Jean Grey had also sedated, wondering what a girl his own age was doing here.

But then again, what am I doing here? And Kristy? We're just kids, this girl included, from the looks of it. At least, we're just kids compared to all these folks out here. And right now, I'm still not sure what's going on, who are these people, and what they are up to. And how similar they are to......to me and my sister. Me and Kristy, we're the same as them. Right?

So many questions. And not that many answers so far. And my head is really hurting.

"Departure time. Jackie, Kritsy, and Scott. first with Jackie floating Loki.

Sigh. Guess those will have to wait. Right now I'm starved, and yet I feel like I want to puke, if that makes any sense. Kristy.......will she be alright?

"Alright, Doc. What do I do then......?"

"I was asking more by way of 'What's getting us out of here?'. If it can't last in this storm, then I won't take it."

Scott could never resist a good jab, and this time was no different, as he turned towards T-X Man.

"I heard they leased the Blackbird from Professor X, T-X", he quipped to Casca again, in a tone of both amusement and annoyance. "And if you don't like that choice, then how about we ask the Wizard of Oz", the boy continued, nodding his head towards Loki, "to make use of this great big hurricane like he did in Kansas, and lift the whole bloody thing to his homeland, hmmm? That sound like a better choice to you?"

That sound like a better choice to you?

"Kid, I've been around the block for much longer than you care to know. There are only two types of people that will get into any type transport during a major storm without asking what it is: the unbelievably stupid, and the unfortunate privates of an army. I've held rank along the entire spectrum, but you'd be a fool to call me stupid." Casey let it out without the emotion of being offended, just the simple conviction of one that spoke only the truth. It was simple, and unequivical truth, neither boast, nor retort. THe kid had some manners to learn, but now was not the time.

Jacki lifted Kristy, holding her protectively against his chest. "Okay Scott, lead the way and sing out if there's anything I'm about to trip over." He wrapped Loki in a sphere of darkness the floated some inches off of the ground.

"Loki, you might be more comfortable sitting rather than standing" He mentioned as the bubble began to move.

Sian turned to Godolkin and Ryan as they began the maneuver that would end up with Charli in Godolkin's arms and the IV untangled. "Don't crowd Jackie too much, and let Loki attempt to control the winds before starting out." She suggested.

Godolkin nodded. "Fear not, Doctor, I'll let nothing happen to her." Then as he followed the others up to the landing he said, "Red, We're beginning to get the wounded out to the plane. The others will be escorted next, then any things that need to be carried. Once stored I'll return to assist you."

Red tapped her earpiece to activate it, "Confirmed. Let me know when you've stahrted to take the others out and I'll move to the DJ booth. I'll be wanted to remove these boots. They are becoming but hardly convinient in this storm."

"That would be a first, I hope you have your shoals in", Godolkin replied.

"GODOLKIN ... was that an honest to god joke I just heard escape your lips?" Red asked.

Godolkin made no reply, a bit confused by his strange reply himself.

Casey stood with Orell and Tanya, and heard Sian's suggestion to red and Godolkin. Even so, he acknowledged it with a slight nod, then looked at the Weres in front of him. "Stay as close to me as possible. Winds will be a problem, even with our elemantalist Aussie friend giving us some leeway. Keep one foot planted at all times. Rain is gonna make the roof real slick. I don't know much about what shape-shifters can do, but if possible, claw your feet so you have a better grip. Two major things to keep us on the roof: small profile and plenty of traction. We go once the wounded are up and out of here. Comprende?"

"Whenever you're ready." Ryan commented to Godolkin once they'd sorted out the mess of tubings and such not associated with ensuring Charli had the easiest ride possible. Holding the bag, he followed the man up the stairs and toward the storm.

Godolkin made his way carefully up the stairs, making sure that Ryan had enough play in the tubing as they went. Once he reached the landing he stopped and waited until Loki was safely aboard the plane and prepared to aid in getting them across the stretch of roof between the doorway and plane.

"Loki, you might be more comfortable sitting rather than standing."

"Right."

Sitting down, Loki positioned himself to make his leg as comfortable as possible whilst still being able to sit up. The world had plunged into dull shades, as if he were wearing sun glasses. Quickly adapting to such, Loki kept himself calm as he contemplated the task before him.

"Let's go."

With that said, Jackie floated Loki through roof exit and out into the battering storm. The young Aussie released another swear as he witnessed the winds and rain bombarding the city relentlessly. Whilst Loki had been in his fair share of intense tropical storms back home, he'd never seen anything like this before.

Now floating just above the slick rooftop in the centre of the building, Loki was able to spot the aircraft that would be getting them out of there. It wasn't familiar in the slightest, yet Loki wasn't exactly an expert on modern aircraft.

Allowing his natural abilities to flow free, Loki became aware of the elements around him in a sense that no one else could. He knew where every drop of rain was, the exact direction winds were flowing in and how they acted together to create the storm. Of course it was beyond his ability to calm a storm of this size, he could at least sap it's strength around the rooftop.

Kept reasonably stable thanks to Jackie, Loki grunted as his will met the force of the storm, immediately slowing the winds around him and gathering the water and air into a wall that was slowly expanding. The wall wasn't perfect as the storm still broke through but it did dampen the winds significantly, enough to allow other to get through.

The wall continued to expand, making the safe zone larger until it opened a path directly to the aircraft.

"Alright... go!"

"Kid, I've been around the block for much longer than you care to know. There are only two types of people that will get into any type transport during a major storm without asking what it is: the unbelievably stupid, and the unfortunate privates of an army. I've held rank along the entire spectrum, but you'd be a fool to call me stupid."

And of course, such a long-winded response from the Eternal Mercenary was good only in the boy's head for a......

Er.....huh? What was that all about?

But before Scott could ask for a clarification, T-X was off, conversing with Tanya and Catwoman about growing claws on their feet, as if he knew everything about what they could do. It was all the boy could do to just limit himself to just a shake of the head.

I know some people just don't get it sometimes, but Mr. Schwarzenegger just missed the point entirely......

"Some people just have no sense of humor", Scott sighed, although there was an amused grin forming on his lips. It would probably take quite a bit of effort to get that guy to laugh, but whatever. Now was not the best time to try and tickle the guy's sense of humor, if it exists; he had plenty of time to do that once they got their asses out of here. Again, all he could do was shrug. Somebody get that guy a Tiger*.

"Okay Scott, lead the way and sing out if there's anything I'm about to trip over."

For a while, Scott watched with an eyebrow raised as he watched Spawn cradle his sister against his chest. Not that it was a particularly difficult endeavour to pick Kristy up, she being as small and light as she is, but she didn't even so much as move. I hope Jean Grey didn't give her too much of......well, whatever she gave her. Kristy isn't the toughest little cookie around, as it is.

"Hold her tight, yeah?", the boy nodded to the older man, making sure his little sister was secure in his grip. "Okay then, let's go, sir!!!"

With that, he turned and traced the path that the Wizard of Oz, supported by one of Spawn's tricks, floated through. Even dimly lit, it was only about a minute before he reached the door that led out to the rooftop. And to quite a fantastic sight; the Wizard, supported by Spawn's little dark ball, making as if he was trying to part the storm like Moses did the Red Sea, so many thousands of years ago.

"Yo, Wizard, Moses taught you a few tricks?", Scott yelled out into the noise of the storm, not sure if the Wizard in question could hear him. Not like he was going to give up a good jab, in any case. He turned back to Jackie, who was still stumbling after him, Kristy still in his arms.

"All's clear, Mister Spawn! Though the wind's still a little strong, even with the good ol' Wizard doing a Moses out there! You want me to take Kristy? Don't want her getting blown away, y'know!"


(*Tiger Beer, that is.)

"I don't think we should be trying to pass her between us at this point. Don't worry Scott I've got her safe." Jackie frowned as through bleard vision he negotiated the stairs and up onto the landing at the top, just before the door.

"I can fee that the wind is much less. Damn but Loki is impresssive." Jackie turned half sidewise protecting Kristy further from the remaining wind and rain. Quickly he moved to the base of the ramp that the futuristic plane had extruded.

"Come on in" A deep voice rumbled as a massive figure strode down the ramp. "Is she injured? We have two medical bunks in the rear, or if she is just unconscious the seats can recline to a great degree, she'd just need to be strapped in"

Kade was seven foot if he was an inch and built as massively as he was tall, though his movements were as lithe and flowing as the seemingly liquid silver that made up his body.

Godolkin waited until Jackie had cleared the open area between the door and the plane and then started across. Even with the Australian's help the wind was still strong, but he could manage easily enough. His main concerned were the I.V. lines and he tried to keep both Ryan and himself between the wind and the lines as much as possible as he made his way across.

Once up the ramp and inside he made his way to one of the medical bunks, without even being told where they were, or that they were even there. Having secured Charlie to the bunk and taken the I.V.s from Ryan and hung them he went back to the ramp, stepping to the side to allow Casca and his survivors aboard and then moved back across the roof. Once he reached the D.J. booth he wiped his feet and then activated his link.

"Mistress, I'm taking the woman and the Doctor out now. I'll be back shortly for the gear."

"Right. I'll be there."

"Confirmed, out." He looked at Sian, "Shall I carry you both doctor? I can manage and you seem exhausted."

Ryan followed Godolkin as they carried Charli and cushioned her against the adverse winds. Once inside the craft, she was deposited on a bunk and the IV bags hung up. Stretching, he leaned against a solid part of the plane as he watched the injured woman as he'd been tasked to do.

As he did, his thoughts drifted to the conversation he'd had with the ladyI wonder how she knew my name. It would be so annoying if she was a bloody 'path."

Jackie took Kristy to one of the seats and set her down. "Scott I'm going to the ramp to help Loki if he needs it. You strap Kristy in and takethe seat next to her.

Besides the individual seats at various command station, there were three rows of four seats each, divided by the central walk way in to pairs of seats. Jackie had put Kristy in the ailse seat of the back row closest to the medical section in the rear. Scott could have the window seat.

He then began moving back to the ramp, where Kade stood seemingly imovable at the bottom. And watched, as best he could though his injured eyes Casey and the two women cross the roof.

He knew Loki had to be tiring but he hoped the powerful Aussie elementalist could hold on just a little longer.

"Shall I carry you both doctor? I can manage and you seem exhausted."

"Thank you but no she needs to be carried gently rather than slung over a shoulder, and yes I'm tired but I can make it. I need to carry this out with me." Sian thanked him and hefted her oversized medical kit. "Lets go, and we can't forget Fortiers body and effects" She reminded him as they started up the stairs and out into the wind.

Once they were on the rood Sian did make the most use of Godolkin's mass, stayingin his 'shadow' so to speak. Then they were up the ramp and Jackie taking her in his arms and carrying her back to a seat.

"Jackie, I'll be okay, I promise" Sian said softly, one hand going gently to his cheek.

"You are exhausting yourself" He replied "and Godolkin seems to have expereince in being an EMT. He'll get her strapped down, and then while we're getting the rest of the stuff you can look things over, but sit a minute first."

Tanya and Orell had chosen seats in the middle row on the left side of the plane and Kade had told Casey how to stow his luggage in a bin just behind the back row of the seats.

Godolkin didn't know if he would quilify as an EMT but he did have knowledge of tending to comrades in the field and it wasn't first time. That knowledge was programmed into all Iconoclast shocktroopers and it was carried out if they weren't too damaged and had to be retired. He placed Pandora on the other med bed and considered strapping her tightly, but he decided against it. He only hoped that if she awoke in flight she would realize that the straps could be undone easily if she chose and that she wasn't a prisoner.

Once finished he made his way back to the ramp and set himself against the storm again. The boots could hold onto ice in a hurricane but the strain against his body was beginning to wear even on him. 'Two more trips', he decided. One for the gear and Fortier and one for Red.

He reached D.J. booth where Red was looking down over the most recent battleground, still looking for potential enemies and glanced down at her feet. She had removed the boots and his eyebrows arched slightly in surprise at what he saw. The toenail of her small toe on her left foot was painted bright scarlet, the one next to it gleaming black and so on to the scarlett colored toenail of her left foot. The right big toe started with gleaming black and the toenails alternated ending in gleaming black on her small toe of her right foot.

"What?" she asked him.

"Nothing", he replied, "I'll get the luggage out and return for you."

"I'll be at the doorway then."

He nodded and put the gear on the table they had used for charlie, making a hole with this sword. The then laid a cover over the gear and tied it off underneath, then tied a cover to the hole in the table and to his waist. Once done he picked up Fortier and made his way out.

The stairs were difficult but he finally managed it, but the roof top crossing was worse since the entire ensemble seemed intent on catching as much of the wind as possible. Once inside the plane he supported Fortier with one arm and undid the cover that bound the table to his waist. Once Fortier was in one of the rearmost seats he began stowing the gear.

Once again, a sight appeared before Scott's eyes such that it made his right side eyebrow raise automatically, giving him somewhat of the critical Dwayne Johnson look as he appraised the great silver giant welcoming him aboard the Blackbird-like thingy that they said was going to fly them out of there.

"Whoa, whatcha momma feed ya?", Scott said, sweeping his gaze up and down all seven feet of the silver-skinned behemoth, who looked as if he could flatten Scott himself to a pulp with a mere thought. Kids do tend to be a foolhardy lot. "What are you, Silver Surfer on steroids? The inspiration for Colossus? So where's those seats you mentioned?"

Spawn had led him to the seats in the back though, and without waiting for a response, Scott followed the older man there.

"Scott I'm going to the ramp to help Loki if he needs it. You strap Kristy in and take the seat next to her."

"Awwwright", the boy said, watching as the Dark one left them. He would have offered to help, but......so tired. He hadn't felt so tired for a while, now. In fact, he was all too grateful for the chance to sit down, and just rest up for a while. The impromptu battle of Cain's had took quite a toll on him, a toll half an hour of rest wasn't quite enough to compensate for. Man, I feel so bushed......

"Mmmmf......"

For the first time since she was jabbed, Kristy started moving; in an instant, her brother had leapt up from his chair, and holding her by the shoulders.

"Kristy? Kristy? Can you hear me?"

"Mmmmf......."

She shifted a bit more, frowning a bit, but then stopped moving again. With a sigh, Scott closed his eyes for a few seconds, than began to strap her more securely into her chair.

"Sorry to get you into so much trouble, Sis......but it seems like we're stuck on this path, for now......"

Loki could feel his control slipping as the storm relentlessly pounded against his shield, intent on breaking it down and sweeping away those protected by it. Of course Loki couldn't let that happen, they were almost done and so he would have to hold out just a little longer.

Loki watched through Jackie's hazy shield as Godolkin moved off the aircraft and back towards the door leading inside. Once Red he got Red it would be done and they could get out of there.

Everything seemed to be going fine until Loki felt it shatter. A portion of his shield had been decimated. Turning towards the breach, Loki was speechless as he watched a reasonably sized billboard race through the air, heading directly for Godolkin as he neared the doorway.

It simply wasn't possible for Loki to shift the massive debris with wind or water unless he dropped the shield, and that could only make things worse. With mere seconds to go, Loki did the only thing he figured could work.

Digging deep down into a source that he rarely employed, Loki extended his right arm and grunted heavily as a blinding wave of golden/white energy surged forth from his hand and arced towards the billboard. Metres before it would have struck the ex-shock trooper, the blinding wave struck and in a brilliant flash of light incinerated the flying debris. All that remained was a few pieces of metal and ash.

Half smiling to himself, Loki noted that was the most powerful use of his 'light' ability he'd ever used. Unfortunately he had more pressing matters as exhaustion took over and he collapsed face first onto the ground. Whilst still conscious and attempting to hold the shield, it was severely weakened and only barely there.

The winds breaking through suddenly became a lot stronger.

Jackie caught the sudden flare of energy, and Loki's subsquent collapse. His Dark power stretched forth in a more substancial manner and enveloped the exhausted man, then carried him to the safety and shelter of the plane.

Kade had taken charge of Fortier's body, removing it from the seat Gogolkin had placed it in and laying the corpse in a storage module. Then he put the rest of the items that Godolkin had brought in to storage bins right behind the passender seats, as he had with Casey's luggage.

Loki was placed in one of the seats in the front row and Jackie, like he had with Kristie's seat (http://www.flatseats.com/images/jal_f_seat-a.jpg) into sleeper mode. (http://www.atddm.com/Skysleeper.jpg).

Sian had rested for barely a minute before she was up and checking on Pandora and Charli, releaved to notice that both were doing as well as could be expected. She turned to the taciturn young man determinedly standing guard.

"Ryan go sit down, you should'nt be standing as we lift off. Charli will be fine eventually...and yes I am a telepath" She grinned tiredly and reaching out gently turned Ryan so that he was facing the seats. "You are thinking loudy enough to wake the dead. I can help you learn to sheild later if you'd like."

Red moved to the doorway as Godolkin was stowing the things they had brought. She was waiting for him to return, the wind being so strong she knew that she would have a hard time making it on her own.

Godolkin headed down the ramp and across the rooftop for the last trip when there was sudden gust of wind and rain, a bright flash. Pain lanced through him as the metal debris cut into him. The wind caught him and he stumbled and came down hard on one leg, twisting it visciously and then rolling across the rooftop until he fetched up against the wall.

Red turned away from the spectacle as movement on the landing caught her attention. It was a woman. She was small and very young with jet black hair and brown eyes. Her smooth face was the color of dark sand and she wore simple clothing with a large crucifix around her neck and a look of horror on her face.

"YOU!" she said in a low tone of shock.

"Me?" Red asked her confused.

"God is with me", the woman told her and she reached up tugging the crucifix free of it's chain. She did something to it and a tube extended from one end and a blade from the other. A silver blade. Red had seen it's like before in the hands of Godolkin. Though his was almost 2 meters long and as wide as her thigh. This was less than half that length and only about two inches wide at it's base, but there was no mistaking the Iconoclast's holy sword. The woman crouched in a strange, but fluid, fighting stance, the sword held in both hands above her head.

Red eyed her. She seemed so young, no older than Kristy or Pandora. Compared to the other Iconoclasts she had known this woman was a child. She also didn't have the tattooing that made the Iconoclast shocktroopers distinct, nor the milky white eye like Godolkin that acted as the organic interface for data feeds that they could wear. Red would have passed her on the street without a second glance.

"Aren't you a little short for an Iconoclahst?", Red quipped.

"I'll be taller than you, BLASHPHEMY, when I've taken that chattering head from your shoulders and left it lying upon the ground."

"Cute", Red replied, "look kid, I don't know who you ahre or what you want, but I can tell you that I'm tired, hurt and generally in foul mood. So if you leave now so that my friends and I might leave in peace then I might be persuaded not to slap you around this place."

The woman's eyes flicked to the plane that she could see in the doorway and then back to Red, "Your .... what? You have .." and she shook her head, "NO. I'll not be trapped by your LIES blasphemy. The Lord has sent you unto me and this is where your foul journey ends. Make your peace with God, MONSTER", and she charged.

Red didn't even have time to back up, nor did she want to because she might get caught up in the winds. She snapped her upper body back, the razor sharp blade leaving a scarlet line across her throat, though a shallow one ... barely. She twisted and knocked the return stroke back and up, leaving a cut across the back of her hand and moved past the woman as she came around in spinning kick. But the agent's knee was there, slamming into her thigh as a fist rammed into her sternum, throwing her back toward the stairs to the open area between the DJ booth and the stairs to the door to the roof. She flew partway and slid partway across the floor before slamming into the wall, barely missing the stairwell.

She didn't even have time to think as the woman was coming down from a leaping attack and Red rolled sideways, slamming her fist across and into the side of the Iconoclast's head. But it didn't even seem to phase her as Red got to her feet and was forced to dodge back again as the blade snapped out at her face. She blocked the return again with her forearm, the Iconoclast scoring another long cut but this time Red snapped out with her other hand, chopping for the woman's neck and felt it connect, winning a scream of pain from her. Moving in to follow it up, however, Red was met with a flurry of kicks that connected to her knee, thigh and hip and her leg went out from under her, her previous wound not yet fully healed.

Red spun as she went down and came back up to her feet again faster than the woman anticipated and connected with an open heel of her hand into the woman's chin, following it with an elbow that smashed into the woman's jawbone with stunning force. But though the woman went down to one knee she wasn't stunned and moving the sword to her left hand she began, again, the blade's song of death, forcing Red to block with her left hand, then her right and then her left again before she could even move away, drawing three more bloody lines.

Red was panting with sweat beading her brow. She was still weak from her previous injuries and loss of blood, the small amount that Godolkin having given her not enough to fully restore her. Even in her present state she should have been stronger than an Iconoclast. She had taken Godolkin even after defeating the rest of his squad and yet this child like woman had come damn close to taking her head off.

Red wiped the blood from her mouth. "Not bad", she told the woman.

The Iconoclast was back on her feet and rolled her head around as though working out kinks. Her sword was still in her left hand, but Red watched as she flung it lazily back into the right and twirled it around and back upright. "Is that all you've got?", she smiled.

"Out of practice", Red told her, cracking her knuckles and shaking her hands loose, flecks of blood falling to the floor, "But it's coming back to me."

"Oh good", the woman brought the sword back up into a guard position, "By the way, I'm Special agent, Major Sherlinda Ketta. Just so you know the name of the one who KILLS you."

"Right. Pleased to meet you, I'm Durham RED!" and she leaped, flipping herself in the air in a perfect somersalt and landing a kick to Sherlinda's shoulder, slamming her down across the floor and into the same wall that she had just hit, the sword spinning away, barely stopping before it tumbled down the stairs. Red was on the woman in a heartbeat, her fist flashing down to crush the woman's skull, but she wasn't there and her fist smashed into the wall, breaking away a portion of it. The Iconoclast's own fist connected hard with Red's ribs and she felt them give way with a crack, knocking her backward. The agents follow up kick hit Red in the side of the face, spinning her in the air but, thankfully, away from the open door.

She came down hard and jumped to her feet, doing her best to ignore the pains she was feeling and moved fast to catch Sherlinda before she could reach her sword. What followed was a blistering exchange of punches and counters until finally the agent mistimed and Red caught her twice in the head, stunning her. Red then barrelled into her with her shoulder, carrying her back to the doorway and throwing her out into the storm where the wind caught her and carried her forcefully into one of the AC units.

Godolkin had managed to make his way to the door slowly on his injured leg and saw the woman fly past then looked to see Red at the door, blood running from a number of injuries and breathing hard. He saw her close her eyes a moment and bow her head before looking up again and figured he knew what was happening. As he turned around to look he saw he was right, the woman was getting up, bracing herself against the air conditioning unit.

Red stepped out, letting the wind carry her, as much as running, to the next air unit and bracing herself for the impact.

"YOU CAN SUBMIT NOW, IF YOU WISH, BLASPHEMY." The agent yelled over the storm.

"YOU CAN PISS RIGHT OFF IF YOU WISH", Red shot back. "I AIN'T, BLOODY WELL, PLAYING YOUR GAME."

"THAT MAY BE TRUE, MONSTER, BUT ICONOCLASTS LAY DEAD HERE AND YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT", and then the agent threw herself at an angle into the wind, turning as she came back toward Red in a blur, carried by the momentum of the storm.

Red moved fast, but the raging wind slowed her and the woman caught her ankle bringing her into range of a viscious kick to her already damaged ribs. Red's breath was driven from her as the tortured ribs broke and her left hand flashed out in reflex, catching nothing but air. She took two more blows to the face before she kicked high, catching Sherlinda under the nose and knocking her onto her back and then being thrown back into the AC unit. But she sprang to her feet, faster than Red would have thought possible and connected again to her skull. Red whirled completely, letting the storm windmill her and connected hard to the Iconoclast's kneecap. The agent went back and Red lashed out, another kick, this one landing on the woman's temple. Then she grabbed her and with all the force she could muster, slammed the woman's head into the unit. This time the tormented metal gave way and the agents head connected with the machinery within.

Stunned, Sherlinda could do nothing as Red raised her up and wrapped her arms round the agents head. "I'm sorry", she muttered as she twisted hard and the woman's head went completely around from front to back. The former assassin let the Iconoclast drop as she leaned up against the AC unit for a moment. Godolkin had reached them by then and together they made thier way back to the plane. Godolkin stored the luggage and limped to the seat in front of Red, after an "All clear", once the door was closed.

Red looked out the window and painfully, pressing an arm against her broken ribs, leaned toward it. "You've GOT to be fucking kidding me", she said to no one in particular. Godolkin looked out to see what she was looking at.

The agent had reached up and pulled herself upright and as the plane moved away from the roof Red watched in horrible fascination as the woman reached up and swivelled her head smoothly back around on her shoulders and watched the plane until it was out of sight before moving back toward the inside of the building.

Gah, telepaths are the worst sort of voyeurs. He mentally muttered as he didn't particularly like psionists. Helmet must be on the fritz, the system's non-functional or she's just powerful enough to overide it.

As he was turned around, he headed to a seat, "That'd be useful, if you wouldn't mind I'll take those lessons."

Casey's trip up with the two Weres had been difficult, but not impossible, thanks to Loki. The Aussie with the name of the trickster God had talent. When the Weres were in, he unshouldered his pack and cue case, setting it behind the seats in the storage bin. The cue case, however, he decided to remove and place on his seat. He had been impressed by Godolkin's size, but the metal man was something else entirely. Godolkin obviously knew him, and the plane. Casey glanced at Charli, then stepped out to see what else could be done. Loki was brought in, but additional help would have only hindered his progress, so he stepped aside to let Jackie bring the Aussie in. More than any other in the group, he enjoyed Loki's company, if it could be said as such. The wind had picked up considerably, and he could just make out Red snapping another woman's neck, then both Red and Godolkin coming in. He sat after some small assistance with the luggage, and once seated, took out his old spear head. It had rightlfully belonged to the Imitoran, and he felt it only right to send him a soldier's farewell, their lives only briefly connected, but important none-the-less. His voice trailed off into the old chant of the Germans "Ich Hat Eine Kameraden" as he gave a private salute to Rob Fortier.

Helmet must be on the fritz, the system's non-functional or she's just powerful enough to overide it.


Sorry, but unless the situation warrents it I never look below surface thoughts- they aren't that interesting. and you were broadcasting loudly- and I am tired and ...look you want your privacy, you really do have it more than you might think..and yes I AM that powerful, normally Sian's mental voice was wrily exhausted.

"Every one please take a seat and strap in!" Kades deep voice boomed through the planes as Godolkin and Red scarmbled aboard at last. Take off is not going to be pleasant or easy." The metalic giant headed for the copilot's seat, and once he was strapped in he nodded to the pilot.

Once the powerful engines had spooled up he released the gravity lock and the winds made the heavy plane shudder as it rose vertically into the night sky

Ryan just frowned at Sian as he strapped into the seat. Reaching up he broke the seal on his helmet, and removed it. Thinking at her, he asked Would you please just ignore or tune it out. I dislike being eavesdropped on, and also dislike 'paths and psionics in general.

He then slid on a headseat as he set a series of songs playing, which cleared his mind of thought while the music played.

Still barely conscious, the wall had dropped when Loki was brought on board, the strain too much to bare. Breathing heavily, Loki kept his eyes closed as he lay back, unable to do anything but recover as the toll of using so much energy was collected upon his mind and body.

Every muscle seemed numb whilst his head was swimming. Whilst there was no doubt Loki was competent with his abilities after fourteen years of practice, he'd never quite done something of that scale and the effects were not pleasant to say the least.

Only vaguely aware of those around him, Loki could no longer hold onto consciousness and fell into a somewhat more comfortable slumber.

Jackie had strapped Loki before they took off and had made Sian take hers as well.

Would you please just ignore or tune it out. I dislike being eavesdropped on, and also dislike 'paths and psionics in general.


"I am trying." Sian replied then tiredly shut herself down even further.

The take off was rocky and the plane was constantly buffeted by the winds.

Once Cantada was air born she contacted J'age in the Medusa. *We're up, heading for angels now*

*Roger that, and spalsh one ship. Nothing aloft that looks to be Iconic. Head for base directly?*

*Agreed with that spy sat splashed earlier they have no first line coverage now so it's sqfe and quickest. Kade tells me that we have injured so let them know we'll need to be met with medical available. He also says they are all exhausted.*

*Will do. Out*

Then Cantada concentrated on flying the SR -80 out of the hurricane, and to the current main base of the Shadows.

"So," said Casey, "Anybody care to start off more polite and curteous introductions than the ones improvisedat Cain's? As long as we're gonna be flying together, we at least have some time."

"Casey, not meaning to be rude, but I think most of us are more than half asleep, or unconscious." Sian replied wearily. 'We haven't been dead for nearly an hour. You have -and while thats got to be a shitty thing to go through, you are the most rested and uninjured of all of us, save for perhaps Scott. Why don't we hold the introductions till we get where were going ...where ever that is."

Jackie just nodded, never opening his eyes.

"Sorry," he said. "Old soldiers' habits. None of us ever liked hastey introductions." He sat back for a moment, sheathing the knife, then asked up to Kade "Is there a pisser on this plane? And how soon till we get to wherever we happen to be going?"

Indeed, Scott was just about the only one apart from Casey who appeared to be awake enough to ask questions. Even so, though, he wasn't quite in the mood; with his sister this sick, there was not much else he could do except worry. Even when Carrot Top and Sergeant Brutus finally came in, looking like they had taken quite a battering for whatever reason. Even when Spawn brought the Wizard of Oz in, very much unconscious as Hot Stuff, his own sister, and the girl besides him was. Even when everyone else looked like they were in worse condition, Scott could only think of Kristy's raging fever, wondering if she would be okay.

And I still don't know who the heck these people are......

Wearily, he swept his gaze around everyone in the plane. Each one of them.......something other than human. What they really were, he was barely even beginning to understand, and yet he had thrown in his lot with them barely an hour ago. Of course, that was at the behest of his little sister, who probably didn't know better; but still, he had to admit, these people, whoever they were, are probably the closest things he would ever find to people like himselves, and his sister. Which was really why, for the moment, he had opted to trust them somewhat; what with those great minigun-toting apes going loco on them, he didn't have very many other options at the time.

Still, right now he was on this newfangled jet, trapped going somewhere with them for the time being.

"Why don't we hold the introductions till we get where were going ...where ever that is."

And it didn't seem like even Jean Grey knew where, either. So many questions he had, and yet there wasn't really any way to ask them properly, not yet. And even as he dithered, he was being taken to God knows where, to God knows what. And he didn't like not knowing either, even spent as he was.

"So, I guess I can't even expect a 'Now what?' anytime soon, no?", his weary voice piped up from behind.

Godolkin leaned back in his seat. Though he was weary he was far from tired yet, since and Iconoclast could go a week under strenuous conditions and before needing rest. Now, with nothing else to consider for the moment other than where they might be heading, and no one, consious at least, seemed to know, his mind drifted. He glanced back at Red who had fallen into a fitful slumber, her sleep never seeming to be peaceful. His own mind turned to a time about a month ago and a rather revealing leather outfit she had worn that hugged her body deliciously. He forced the thought away, wondering why it would come to mind. It didn't seem to hold any significence to thier present situation. 'Perhaps', he thought, 'I'm just more tired than I had thought. Maybe my mind is wandering.'

Red dreamed fitfully. A village, burned out, decimated. She had wandered through it, Godolkin and Harrow close by. She had stopped at what had once been a school. Dead children lay everywhere and Red looked around in sickened wonder.

"Why?" she had asked of no one in particular.

"They knew that you had been here", Harrow had told her.

"They cleansed the place of your taint blasphemy", Godolkin continued, "as they will do with anything you touch."

She had knelt down, picking up the burnt skull of a child no more than about 6 years old or so .... and jerked awake with a gasp that brought hot daggers of pain to her injured side.

With the Medusa partolling protectively over head the SR-80 clawed its way out of the rough buffetting of the hurricane. Once the sleek hypersonic planes was on the thin edges of the atmosphere, they arrowed downward seeking their bolt hole, their safe hangers.

Twenty minutes later they were settling down on teleknesis alone in to what appeared to be a dusty crater, then there wasa an nearly audible pop and the planes descended past some sort of barrier and the crater was suddenly lushly green, nearly tropical in the richness of its foliage.

Kade stood from his co pilot seat and came back to the others. "We're here, They've been alerted that most of you need some medical treatment, and at the very least clean up and rest."