FIC: Hostile Takeover 14/18 -- Part 1/2
They had landed the chopper a few kilometres away from their destination; they had been right in thinking that HYDRA would instantly be tipped off to them. Many troops and vehicles had been patrolling Ontario grounds beneath their aircraft, and their warehouses were in a complete state of disarray. Alarms blared and echoed throughout the land, but luckily for X-Force, they had not been ambushed. HYDRA had no way of tracking their aircraft due to the removal of the black box system, but the team still had to work fast.
One simple mistake would surely have them killed.
So the exact second their chopper had touched the ground, Cannonball held Sunspot as close to his chest as possible before blasting off toward the building. The two men were to make a quick and damaging entrance. There was no doubt that their target, Baron von Strucker, would be a well protected man. If they were correct in assuming that he was the mastermind behind the entire invasion operation, it was very likely that his safety would be of the utmost importance to the HYDRA agents. A quick and effective entrance on their part would be best; to destroy the agents’ shelter and insinuate an all out attack strategy would not only catch them off guard, but would probably even unintentionally take a lot of their men out of the fight almost immediately.
Theresa and James left next. Siryn’s body cut through the air like a rocket as Warpath put his superhuman speed to use, and the two of them used Sam and Roberto’s entrance to hide behind. Cannonball’s body impacting the building sounded off another security breach, and the second squad used that as a distraction tactic to move to the back part of the building. They were off to seek out prisoners in the vicinity, and it was highly unlikely they were being kept in the front lobby. So they took their exit in the blink of an eye and immediately got to work.
The third squad jumped out of the chopper and camouflaged themselves amongst the foliage on the property. Domino and Shatterstar kept their weapons readied in their hands, while Ric kept green fists clenched in front of him. Ambush could happen at any given moment, and they had to be prepared.
“Rictor, I hope you have a lot of energy to kill,” Domino shouted as she took off in a run when the coast was deemed clear. “I have a big job for you - which is why I needed you on my squad.”
The Mexican snorted. “Oh now you need me.”
“I need you to make a really big…hole,” she replied, ignoring his remarks. “I hope you can handle that because we need to blow down into the basement, and I’m not risking using Shatterstar’s powers.”
“I can do it,” Ric snapped arrogantly and allowed a brighter contrast to envelope his hands. The ground rolled and trembled beneath them as he powered up, and an immense gust of wind struck at them when Rictor slammed his hands together and unleashed a massive tremor in the Earth. The frozen ground cracked instantly, and the plates shifted as the Mexican clenched his jaw and focused his powers. Such untapped potential that he had just recently been starting to practice and Domino had to thank the stars that he was able to pull it off. Unlike other mutants, Ric’s powers did not tire him out; his power came straight from the Earth - a strange bond that she did not quite understand but had only heard him speak of a few times.
Whatever it was, she was thankful for it.
Just as he began separating the ground into a tunnel of sorts, the squad was met with a barrage of weapon wielding HYDRA agents. Immediately, Shatterstar and Domino went to work protecting their team mate as he continued to work on his task, and the two leapt through the air slicing and shooting. The agents were heavily armed, yes, but Dom had been equipped with both normal firearms and ammunition as well as Cable’s future based technology of plasma guns. And while armour could take HYDRA a long way, they had no way of equipping themselves to deal with year 3999 arsenal.
Unless, of course, they were time travellers.
The merc snorted at the idea and flipped through a shower of bullets shooting; bright coloured beams instantly struck and incinerated the armour protecting the enemies. The men let out a series of agonized screams at the injuries, but Domino forced herself to ignore them and carry on. Shatty had also kept himself busy by leaping around with acrobatics and using his flexibility to twist and hack off whatever limbs were in reach. He did end up taking a few hits, however, but only had done so to cover Ric as he was provided them their entrance. Shatterstar could heal, and he would be fine, so they had to focus on clearing out their area as soon as possible.
But as the body count rose, so did the amount of agents that swarmed in. They were like wasps protecting their hive, and if they did not get a good shot in soon, they would quickly become outnumbered - luck on their side, or not.
They got the break they were looking for when Rictor finally finished his delegation and spun around to jump in on the fight. He called out to his team mates in warning before blasting a massive shockwave at an oncoming wave of enemies. Trees fell and barricaded a large number of them, and it gave the Mexican ample time to drop the ground beneath their fallen bodies. With a loud, scary rumble, the Earth opened and practically swallowed them up.
“You’re getting good at that,” Dom commented as she flipped over the arm of her opponent. “Guess we can’t say Cable didn’t teach you a thing or two, huh?”
“I did it all by myself,” he smirked happily. “‘Star! Watch out!”
The alien flipped up into the air, and the two men that were running to attack him struck each other. Once landed, he swung both arms out to the side and slashed three more in the chests. “I saw them.”
“Sure you did,” the Mexican smirked. One more giant group of HYDRA men crawled around the southwest wall of the base, but Ric saw them as well. Pointed his finger in the shape of a gun and he took out the entire side of the structure, effectively crushing them. “Dios, it feels nice to finally fight these cabrons! You don’t even know how many times Bobby and Shatty made me sit back and watch, Dom! It wasn’t fair!”
“Cry about it later,” she chuckled and jumped down into the large crater he had made earlier. The two men swiftly followed suit, and Dom held up a hand. “Think I can grenade that wall down there?”
“I can take it out,” Ric offered.
The merc grinned and pulled the pin of the bomb she had in her belt. “Fire in the hole!”
“Fekt…” Shatterstar muttered.
The woman tossed the device down to the bottom of the tunnel, and the wall was immediately blasted through to the basement and everything was ruptured inside of it. Water lines exploded, and the electricity within the building failed completely. Back-up generators immediately came to life, and the lighting in the halls below was dim at best.
“Perfect!” she announced.
“This is much better for hiding,” Shatterstar agreed.
“Howzabout we get in there before more assholes come running from outside, si?” Ric suggested.
“Why are we entering the basement?” the Mojoworlder questioned. “Should we not be taking our fight to the core area?”
Domino made her way down to the bottom and fired off a round of blasts when she saw three security guards approaching. “The top part of that building isn’t big, ‘Star. And I can guarantee that if these guys are holding Cable here, it’s gonna be in the most secure part of the building. And…” she trailed off and shot Ric a playful grin. “What, Mr. Earthquake, is the most structurally sound area of any household?”
“Basement…” he muttered.
“Bingo, boys!” she grinned and stepped down into the hallways. Loud alarms and flashing sirens were going off along the shallowly lit corridors. There were not many doors lining the walls, but there were a few and they would be checked first.
“Look at that sign,” Shatterstar pointed up to a small placard hanging off the ceiling. “Zone A; I remember at the other location everything had been arranged into zones. Zone D was where they sent the disposable prisoners and Zone 2 was where they had prepped us. Perhaps there is a specific location for prisoners as well?”
“I wonder why they even have prisoners!?” Rictor scoffed irritably, and jumped back when a group of five gun wielding men ran around the corner. Shatterstar instantly leapt forward and engaged in combat, and Domino began firing off rounds. “What’s the point in keeping them if they just killed everyone else!?”
“Prolly need them for something,” Dom grunted and did a back handspring to avoid a close shot to her head.
Shatty impaled one stomach on his single blade, and beheaded two other men with his double bladed sword. He twisted his arm and dumped the impaled body to the ground behind him, and landed a kick to the fourth man’s temple. “I am under the assumption that certain individuals are being sought out - namely Cable and Cannonball. Others - males - seem to be kept for experiments and labour.”
“You heard that?” Domino questioned, and shot the last man in the head. Two more guards came around the bend, and she quickly took them out too.
“No, I did not hear that word for word,” he explained, and wiped a blood spatter off his face with his glove. “That is just what I gather based on hints and references that they made.”
“Well that probably makes sense,” the merc rubbed her chin, and gestured for the boys to get a move on. The group began to jog, and she stopped in front of the first door on their right. “I mean, what other reason do terrorists and evil villains keep people around for?”
“Evil plans to take over the world,” Rictor replied flatly. “Next thing you know we’ll be on some lowering platform that drops up into hot, boiling water being habituated by mutated sharks with laser beams on their heads.”
“Not now, Rictor,” Domino chuckled and lifted her gun as she readied herself to kick the door in.
“It happened on Austin Powers!” he insisted. “There were also trap doors that led down to human incinerators!”
“Ric, if you don’t shut up, I’m going to shove my gun up your ass,” Domino warned with a smirk before lifting her boot and kicking the door in. The wood folded easily and splinters flew as it fell off the hinges and landed flat on the floor in front of them. “I’ll wait until it’s nice and hot for you too.”
“And you consider that a threat?” Shatty smirked. “He’d probably li--”
“‘Star!” Rictor punched him in the back and glared. “Shut it!”
“What!? It’s not my fault you--”
“‘STAR!”
Domino face palmed before stepping into the room. “Fuck, I knew I should’ve just brought Ter and Jim with me.”
“Madre de Dios…” Ric muttered as he looked around. “Are they all…dead?”
Shatterstar approached the bodies first. Most were all being held in strange plexiglass containers, bodies completely at ease and seemingly in stasis. They were all men, had their eyes shut, and had strange tubes shoved down their throats. There were wires and suction cups stuck all over their bodies, and they wore nothing. The alien tilted his head to the side and looked down at one of the computers that was attached to the first tube.
“Vital signs, readings, strange codes…” he narrowed his eyes and pressed a button. “Nothing.”
“Dead?” Domino asked as she stepped up behind him.
“Not yet,” he looked down at her. “Comatose. That wavelength there appears to be reading brain activity. There’s nothing.”
“Fuck,” Rictor glanced around, looking absolutely horrified.
Domino realized that he probably could not stand looking at such things for much longer, so she walked over to him and grabbed him by the shoulder, turned him, and pushed him toward the door. “Go.”
“What about them?” Shatterstar gestured to the bodies as he followed. “Do we just leave them?”
“They have no brain activity,” the merc pointed out. “They may as well be vegetables. And we aren’t doctors, so there’s nothing we can do. We’re better off looking for someone we can help.”
“Dios,” Ric repeated with a shiver. “Shit like that…”
“I know,” Domino nodded. “Duck!”
All three bodies hit the floor as they were met with another group of agents. One had a flame thrower and had shot off a stream of fire at them, and luckily they had been able to hit the dirt. Years and years worth of training paid off; their reflexes had just saved their faces from looking like Deadpool for the rest of their lives.
Domino lifted her plasma guns and fired a couple of blind shots at the agent using the flame thrower. Not being able to see him was a disadvantage, but drawbacks had never been an issue for a mutant like Dom. Each shot hit their designated target easily, and soon the fire was out. The boys peeked up from their spots, and as soon as they noticed the coast was clear, attacked. Rictor slammed his fists against the concrete floor and sent a violent wave of ripples to the agents’ feet. They were all knocked back easily, and it gave Shatterstar the opening to strike.
It was getting tedious. The fighting was not difficult as Ric was their only energy based attack and HYDRA did not appear to be expecting hand to hand combat and weaponry fights. The entire team had been equipped with guns, knives, grenades, and an assortment of weapons before they left the hotel. Some HYDRA agents had technology to deflect and protect against mutant signatures, so they had to be careful.
But even so, it was just death after death after death in their wake. And even for someone like Domino - who had seen more than her fair share of corpses - killing was not necessarily a fun task. To have someone’s very last breath of air die out because of her was not something to be proud of, and it always took its toll.
Even if those bastard agents deserved it more than anyone else, it still placed the mutants on the same playing field as them. They had killed hundreds since fleeing to Canada, and all the therapy in the world would not be able to fix the kids after this.
“We need to move faster,” Shatterstar insisted, as the last man was taken out. “They are coming in endless numbers, and though I would love to fight them all, it is senseless to become outnumbered.” He paused and looked down at his shoulder. “Ow. I got shot again.”
Rictor rolled his eyes. “What? That makes it like…twelve times or something in the last two weeks?”
“Ten, I think,” the warrior frowned. “I think I’m getting slow.”
“Shut up and move,” Domino pushed past them and ran at the next door in the hall. She did not waste any time grabbing a C4 explosive device from her belt. She placed it on top of the numbered lock pad on the door and quickly began to wire it. Once it was ready, she stepped back and set it. “Cover your ears, kiddos! You know whenever a door is big and metal and locked up there’s usually something fun behind it.”
“Madre de Dios,” the Mexican shook his head and stepped back.
The explosion rocked the entranceway and completely obliterated the walls around it. Black smoke began to fill the hall, but it did not stop the squad. They ran through, waving their hands in front of their faces. But the sight inside even stopped Domino in her tracks, and her mouth fell open.
“Hijos de puta” Rictor exclaimed. “Mierda!”
Domino’s eyes remained glued on the man across the room. Despite the pluming smoke and the dozens of bodies in stasis around the area, violet eyes remained fixated on Cable. Strapped down to a ridiculous amount of machines and computers, he was completely rendered immobile, but he looked to be conscious. Why the hell could she not feel him in her head? What had they done to him?
He did not at all look as though he was there voluntarily either.
Forgetting the shock, Shatterstar was the first to move his feet and ran at Cable. The older man looked up at the warrior with an exhausted smile. “You’re alive?”
“Fekt, I cannot die,” he joked half heartedly and started to unbuckle the restraints. “Am I able to remove these devices from your body without hurting you?”
“It’ll hurt,” Cable told him, and Dom finally willed herself to approach when even Rictor had decided to jog over. “It’ll hurt, but it won’t kill me, ‘Star, so just do it.”
The boys began cutting through and destroying the restraints, and Domino just lifted her hand to the device on his head. “What’s all this shit?”
He moved his eyes to her, and the tired smile grew to something even happier if it was at all possible. “You need to get it off. They’ve been tracking you and accessing my entire psychic--”
“Fuck,” Domino cursed and smashed the butt end of her gun against it. A spider web of cracks rippled throughout the device. Another piercing alarm shot off throughout the building as Cable was released, but Domino did not have time to acknowledge it. The second the head piece was taken off of Nate, a massive influx of psychic energy invaded Domino’s head through their rapport, and she grabbed at her temples as she fell to her knees.
“Fekt!” Shatterstar yelled. He and Rictor ran away from their leaders to meet another emergence of HYDRA agents to fight them off. But Domino could not get to her feet. A barrage of emotions, memories, and information poured through their psychic link and she was overwhelmed. Her head throbbed, and she looked up at Nathan.
“Shut it off!”
“I can’t!” he yelled, from his place on the ground next to her. “They messed around with my powers, and I have no control over them!” And sure enough, Cable’s telekinesis was out of control as well. Various objects and tools around them were floating up in the air and the yellow glow of his eye was bright as ever. Both his hands clawed at his forehead and he groaned. “Stop thinking!”
“Yeah, I’ll get right on that!” she yelled back, and struggled to get to her feet. The boys were fighting without them, and she could not allow it. They could get outnumbered. They could get shot. They could…
“Dom, leave them,” Nate moaned from the floor below. The merc glared down at him.
“Fuck you!”
“They’re fine,” he insisted. “It’s the others. We need to get to them. Now.”
Violet eyes moved toward Ric and ‘Star and, sure enough, they had managed to take most of the troops out. She knew better than to doubt their abilities, but it was just riskier being right in enemy headquarters. The Mexican finished the last of them by rumbling the floor, and about a dozen tubes filled with bodies fell onto them. Immediately the younger man yelped and scrambled out of the way. “Ew! Those bodies are gooey!”
“Stop whining,” Shatterstar hissed, and helped him to his feet. Two more men came running through the door, but the warrior swiftly threw his sword at them. The blade ripped right through their chests and pinned them both together to the wall.
“Rictor! Shatterstar! Get out of here now!” Cable ordered.
“Huh?” the Mexican muttered.
“What?!” ‘Star perked his eyebrow and scratched his head. Both men looked absolutely confused, and glanced at each other before scrunching their faces up at Nate. “You will not tell me to flee battle, Cable!”
“I need you to go down the main hallway. Take a right and two lefts after that until you get to the corridor marked ‘Zone 6’.”
“Why!?” Rictor demanded, as they approached and helped the older man to his feet. “We’re not just gonna fucking leave you guys!”
“We’ll be fine,” Nate brushed at his tattered pants, and pointed toward the door. “Both of you go now! That’s an order!”
“But what is--” Shatty began.
“Just trust me,” Nate swore. “I know you guys don’t, but please. Dom and I have to get to Sam right now. Just keep your eyes open and be ready for attack. Engage in the enemy if need be, and do not hold back.”
“Are you going to be all right?” Rictor questioned, that time looking at Domino.
“We’ll be fine,” she muttered.
Cable grabbed at his head again. “My telepathy is out of control; I’m mind linked with every person on the premise…I can read their thoughts and locations, and….” he groaned. If you go now you should manage to slip by undetected. But you have to hurry.”
“Okay,” Rictor nodded, looking more scared than he would ever admit to. Shatterstar grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him back, and both boys reluctantly took off out of the room without another word of protest. Domino watched them go, and finally looked back at Nate when she felt the cold of his techno-organic hand against the side of her face.
“I’m sorry,” he told her.
She clenched her jaw. “Apparently you aren’t the one who has to be sorry. For once.”
“Dom…you didn’t…”
“Let’s just go find Sam,” she muttered, and wrapped an arm around his waist as she helped him walk out of the room.
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Theresa and Jimmy had made it to the back entrance of the headquarters fairly easily. Sam and Bobby had made a massive impact on the building, and it was easy to see that most of the security had gone after them immediately. In fact, if Jimmy did not know any better, it was almost as though he and Theresa had gotten inside a little too easily. They did not run into any HYDRA agents on the outside premises, nor did they run into any right away when Terry had used her powers to take out the back wall. However, when they had even reached that area of the building, the duo had already felt the after affects of Rictor’s powers from the other side of the property.
“Where should we look first?” Terry questioned, cutting the Native from his thoughts.
“It just looks like offices up here,” he murmured and took a quick glance around until a red, lit up sign caught his attention. “Staircase; doesn’t look like there’s a second floor here, but I’ll bet this place probably has a ton of shit downstairs.”
“Makes sense,” she conceded, and spun on her heel to run to the darkened corridor. Jimmy followed in close pursuit, trying to keeping his keen sense of hearing sharp amongst the seemingly endless sound of explosions. “I have a real bad feelin’ about this, Jim.”
“Just stay close,” he murmured, and held the door open for her to enter the staircase. And as soon as they did, they were met face to face with a group of eight armed HYDRA agents making their way up.
“AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIYYYYYEEEEEEEEEE!!!” Terry belted out a murdering scream, sending all of the men flying back and into the crumbling stone wall behind them. All of their weapons shattered at the pitch, so Jimmy went in swinging his fists. All were completely dazed by the sonic screech and probably deafened too. Using strength he did not use often, Warpath’s limbs worked like battering rams against the men’s faces and sternums, and most died upon impact. The sickening sound of bones crunching and blood spattering filled the small staircase, but the pair tried their best to ignore it.
They had to keep reminding themselves that if they did not defend themselves, they would only die and allow the invasion to keep growing.
“Let’s go,” Theresa urged, and began running down the stairs. Jimmy quickly followed suit, and when they got approximately four flights down, they found a large metal door. A numbered padlock secured the entry, and the big man looked down at the redhead.
“Shall I? Or shall you?”
“Go nuts,” she smirked.
Jimmy cracked his knuckles and slammed his fist into the door. It bent and twisted awkwardly on the first hit, but did not fall off completely. So he wound back and struck again, sending the metal flying off of the hinges and to the floor in the hall. The placard on the wall read ‘Zone D’.
“Sound familiar?” Terry questioned with a frown. “Aye, this is where they were gonna send Dom and me at the other base.”
Jimmy frowned at the lack of doors in the hall. Even in the dimly lit atmosphere it was easy to see. One large silver door stood at either end of the corridor, and only five generated lights illuminated the area. A few very large stains stretched across the dull concrete floor, and it was not very difficult to figure out what they were. Zone D looked even scarier than it had sounded. Like something out of a horror movie.
Terry swallowed loudly and grabbed Jimmy’s arm. “C’mon, let’s go look inside. There might be people…”
Jimmy nodded, and ran full speed toward the door closest to them. He leapt into the air and lifted his leg, kicking the metal right next to the lock pad. The door crumbled on the first hit that time, and when he landed inside the room, the smell immediately made him gag.
“Oh god!”
Terry’s eyes widened in terror as she looked around. “Oh my…”
Jimmy swallowed and held his hand over his mouth; already he could taste the bile in his throat. Inside the room contained piles of bodies. Women, children, elderly, and thin and sickened men were nude and just stacked on top of each other. All were completely bludgeoned before death; coloured with bruises and stained with blood. They were lined before a massive steel compartment. Exhaust hoods were placed on the ceilings above it, and a large, vented door enclosed the front. Jimmy had an idea what it was, but he did not want to go find out for sure.
“Let’s go,” he told Terry.
But she did not move. Her body was stiffened and still as her eyes roamed the room. She was panic stricken.
“Terry!” Jimmy yelled, and grabbed her by the elbow. She jolted at the contact, but managed to look up at him.
“Are they…?”
“Yes,” he urged gently, and pulled her out of the room. Back out in the hall, she instantly doubled over and threw up on the ground. Jimmy winced at the sight, but placed a hand on her back gently.
“We don’t have to look in the other one…”
“Yes, we do,” she snapped, and wiped at her mouth with the black sleeve of her make shift uniform. “I’m fine, just…disgusted.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
She shook her head, and walked slowly to the other side of the hallway. One sonic scream was easily able to destroy the door, and that time Terry did not walk inside. Instead, she poked her head in the doorway, and gestured back to Jimmy.
“No bodies, but it looks like this may be a prep room of sorts. There are all sorts of clothes and tools and what not…”
And sure enough, there were. A large pile of laundry bags were stacked at the back corner of the grey room, and a table stood on the opposite side. A couple of boxes were piled on it, as well as a few writing supplies and mounds of paper. The room would probably be brightly lit if it were not for the power being out; three massive lights hung from the ceiling, one specifically over a strange medical bed of some sort, equipped with restraint belts.
“What the hell is going on here?” Jimmy mumbled.
“I dinnae know," Terry swallowed, and took one step inside the room. “Ye think we should look through the boxes?”
“Probably not,” Jimmy replied. “We have to look for prisoners. We don’t have much time; it’s a wonder we haven’t been cornered by a bunch of agents yet.”
“Yuir right,” she sighed, and took a step back and out into the hall. “We have tah find the others.”
Jimmy did not respond. A very faint ‘click’ noise caught his attention from behind them, and he spun around. A lone figure stood at the end of the hall, eyes focused solely on the two of them. He lifted his gun into the air and pointed it at Theresa wordlessly.
"NO!" Jimmy screamed just as the shot rang out.
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Go to part two.
One simple mistake would surely have them killed.
So the exact second their chopper had touched the ground, Cannonball held Sunspot as close to his chest as possible before blasting off toward the building. The two men were to make a quick and damaging entrance. There was no doubt that their target, Baron von Strucker, would be a well protected man. If they were correct in assuming that he was the mastermind behind the entire invasion operation, it was very likely that his safety would be of the utmost importance to the HYDRA agents. A quick and effective entrance on their part would be best; to destroy the agents’ shelter and insinuate an all out attack strategy would not only catch them off guard, but would probably even unintentionally take a lot of their men out of the fight almost immediately.
Theresa and James left next. Siryn’s body cut through the air like a rocket as Warpath put his superhuman speed to use, and the two of them used Sam and Roberto’s entrance to hide behind. Cannonball’s body impacting the building sounded off another security breach, and the second squad used that as a distraction tactic to move to the back part of the building. They were off to seek out prisoners in the vicinity, and it was highly unlikely they were being kept in the front lobby. So they took their exit in the blink of an eye and immediately got to work.
The third squad jumped out of the chopper and camouflaged themselves amongst the foliage on the property. Domino and Shatterstar kept their weapons readied in their hands, while Ric kept green fists clenched in front of him. Ambush could happen at any given moment, and they had to be prepared.
“Rictor, I hope you have a lot of energy to kill,” Domino shouted as she took off in a run when the coast was deemed clear. “I have a big job for you - which is why I needed you on my squad.”
The Mexican snorted. “Oh now you need me.”
“I need you to make a really big…hole,” she replied, ignoring his remarks. “I hope you can handle that because we need to blow down into the basement, and I’m not risking using Shatterstar’s powers.”
“I can do it,” Ric snapped arrogantly and allowed a brighter contrast to envelope his hands. The ground rolled and trembled beneath them as he powered up, and an immense gust of wind struck at them when Rictor slammed his hands together and unleashed a massive tremor in the Earth. The frozen ground cracked instantly, and the plates shifted as the Mexican clenched his jaw and focused his powers. Such untapped potential that he had just recently been starting to practice and Domino had to thank the stars that he was able to pull it off. Unlike other mutants, Ric’s powers did not tire him out; his power came straight from the Earth - a strange bond that she did not quite understand but had only heard him speak of a few times.
Whatever it was, she was thankful for it.
Just as he began separating the ground into a tunnel of sorts, the squad was met with a barrage of weapon wielding HYDRA agents. Immediately, Shatterstar and Domino went to work protecting their team mate as he continued to work on his task, and the two leapt through the air slicing and shooting. The agents were heavily armed, yes, but Dom had been equipped with both normal firearms and ammunition as well as Cable’s future based technology of plasma guns. And while armour could take HYDRA a long way, they had no way of equipping themselves to deal with year 3999 arsenal.
Unless, of course, they were time travellers.
The merc snorted at the idea and flipped through a shower of bullets shooting; bright coloured beams instantly struck and incinerated the armour protecting the enemies. The men let out a series of agonized screams at the injuries, but Domino forced herself to ignore them and carry on. Shatty had also kept himself busy by leaping around with acrobatics and using his flexibility to twist and hack off whatever limbs were in reach. He did end up taking a few hits, however, but only had done so to cover Ric as he was provided them their entrance. Shatterstar could heal, and he would be fine, so they had to focus on clearing out their area as soon as possible.
But as the body count rose, so did the amount of agents that swarmed in. They were like wasps protecting their hive, and if they did not get a good shot in soon, they would quickly become outnumbered - luck on their side, or not.
They got the break they were looking for when Rictor finally finished his delegation and spun around to jump in on the fight. He called out to his team mates in warning before blasting a massive shockwave at an oncoming wave of enemies. Trees fell and barricaded a large number of them, and it gave the Mexican ample time to drop the ground beneath their fallen bodies. With a loud, scary rumble, the Earth opened and practically swallowed them up.
“You’re getting good at that,” Dom commented as she flipped over the arm of her opponent. “Guess we can’t say Cable didn’t teach you a thing or two, huh?”
“I did it all by myself,” he smirked happily. “‘Star! Watch out!”
The alien flipped up into the air, and the two men that were running to attack him struck each other. Once landed, he swung both arms out to the side and slashed three more in the chests. “I saw them.”
“Sure you did,” the Mexican smirked. One more giant group of HYDRA men crawled around the southwest wall of the base, but Ric saw them as well. Pointed his finger in the shape of a gun and he took out the entire side of the structure, effectively crushing them. “Dios, it feels nice to finally fight these cabrons! You don’t even know how many times Bobby and Shatty made me sit back and watch, Dom! It wasn’t fair!”
“Cry about it later,” she chuckled and jumped down into the large crater he had made earlier. The two men swiftly followed suit, and Dom held up a hand. “Think I can grenade that wall down there?”
“I can take it out,” Ric offered.
The merc grinned and pulled the pin of the bomb she had in her belt. “Fire in the hole!”
“Fekt…” Shatterstar muttered.
The woman tossed the device down to the bottom of the tunnel, and the wall was immediately blasted through to the basement and everything was ruptured inside of it. Water lines exploded, and the electricity within the building failed completely. Back-up generators immediately came to life, and the lighting in the halls below was dim at best.
“Perfect!” she announced.
“This is much better for hiding,” Shatterstar agreed.
“Howzabout we get in there before more assholes come running from outside, si?” Ric suggested.
“Why are we entering the basement?” the Mojoworlder questioned. “Should we not be taking our fight to the core area?”
Domino made her way down to the bottom and fired off a round of blasts when she saw three security guards approaching. “The top part of that building isn’t big, ‘Star. And I can guarantee that if these guys are holding Cable here, it’s gonna be in the most secure part of the building. And…” she trailed off and shot Ric a playful grin. “What, Mr. Earthquake, is the most structurally sound area of any household?”
“Basement…” he muttered.
“Bingo, boys!” she grinned and stepped down into the hallways. Loud alarms and flashing sirens were going off along the shallowly lit corridors. There were not many doors lining the walls, but there were a few and they would be checked first.
“Look at that sign,” Shatterstar pointed up to a small placard hanging off the ceiling. “Zone A; I remember at the other location everything had been arranged into zones. Zone D was where they sent the disposable prisoners and Zone 2 was where they had prepped us. Perhaps there is a specific location for prisoners as well?”
“I wonder why they even have prisoners!?” Rictor scoffed irritably, and jumped back when a group of five gun wielding men ran around the corner. Shatterstar instantly leapt forward and engaged in combat, and Domino began firing off rounds. “What’s the point in keeping them if they just killed everyone else!?”
“Prolly need them for something,” Dom grunted and did a back handspring to avoid a close shot to her head.
Shatty impaled one stomach on his single blade, and beheaded two other men with his double bladed sword. He twisted his arm and dumped the impaled body to the ground behind him, and landed a kick to the fourth man’s temple. “I am under the assumption that certain individuals are being sought out - namely Cable and Cannonball. Others - males - seem to be kept for experiments and labour.”
“You heard that?” Domino questioned, and shot the last man in the head. Two more guards came around the bend, and she quickly took them out too.
“No, I did not hear that word for word,” he explained, and wiped a blood spatter off his face with his glove. “That is just what I gather based on hints and references that they made.”
“Well that probably makes sense,” the merc rubbed her chin, and gestured for the boys to get a move on. The group began to jog, and she stopped in front of the first door on their right. “I mean, what other reason do terrorists and evil villains keep people around for?”
“Evil plans to take over the world,” Rictor replied flatly. “Next thing you know we’ll be on some lowering platform that drops up into hot, boiling water being habituated by mutated sharks with laser beams on their heads.”
“Not now, Rictor,” Domino chuckled and lifted her gun as she readied herself to kick the door in.
“It happened on Austin Powers!” he insisted. “There were also trap doors that led down to human incinerators!”
“Ric, if you don’t shut up, I’m going to shove my gun up your ass,” Domino warned with a smirk before lifting her boot and kicking the door in. The wood folded easily and splinters flew as it fell off the hinges and landed flat on the floor in front of them. “I’ll wait until it’s nice and hot for you too.”
“And you consider that a threat?” Shatty smirked. “He’d probably li--”
“‘Star!” Rictor punched him in the back and glared. “Shut it!”
“What!? It’s not my fault you--”
“‘STAR!”
Domino face palmed before stepping into the room. “Fuck, I knew I should’ve just brought Ter and Jim with me.”
“Madre de Dios…” Ric muttered as he looked around. “Are they all…dead?”
Shatterstar approached the bodies first. Most were all being held in strange plexiglass containers, bodies completely at ease and seemingly in stasis. They were all men, had their eyes shut, and had strange tubes shoved down their throats. There were wires and suction cups stuck all over their bodies, and they wore nothing. The alien tilted his head to the side and looked down at one of the computers that was attached to the first tube.
“Vital signs, readings, strange codes…” he narrowed his eyes and pressed a button. “Nothing.”
“Dead?” Domino asked as she stepped up behind him.
“Not yet,” he looked down at her. “Comatose. That wavelength there appears to be reading brain activity. There’s nothing.”
“Fuck,” Rictor glanced around, looking absolutely horrified.
Domino realized that he probably could not stand looking at such things for much longer, so she walked over to him and grabbed him by the shoulder, turned him, and pushed him toward the door. “Go.”
“What about them?” Shatterstar gestured to the bodies as he followed. “Do we just leave them?”
“They have no brain activity,” the merc pointed out. “They may as well be vegetables. And we aren’t doctors, so there’s nothing we can do. We’re better off looking for someone we can help.”
“Dios,” Ric repeated with a shiver. “Shit like that…”
“I know,” Domino nodded. “Duck!”
All three bodies hit the floor as they were met with another group of agents. One had a flame thrower and had shot off a stream of fire at them, and luckily they had been able to hit the dirt. Years and years worth of training paid off; their reflexes had just saved their faces from looking like Deadpool for the rest of their lives.
Domino lifted her plasma guns and fired a couple of blind shots at the agent using the flame thrower. Not being able to see him was a disadvantage, but drawbacks had never been an issue for a mutant like Dom. Each shot hit their designated target easily, and soon the fire was out. The boys peeked up from their spots, and as soon as they noticed the coast was clear, attacked. Rictor slammed his fists against the concrete floor and sent a violent wave of ripples to the agents’ feet. They were all knocked back easily, and it gave Shatterstar the opening to strike.
It was getting tedious. The fighting was not difficult as Ric was their only energy based attack and HYDRA did not appear to be expecting hand to hand combat and weaponry fights. The entire team had been equipped with guns, knives, grenades, and an assortment of weapons before they left the hotel. Some HYDRA agents had technology to deflect and protect against mutant signatures, so they had to be careful.
But even so, it was just death after death after death in their wake. And even for someone like Domino - who had seen more than her fair share of corpses - killing was not necessarily a fun task. To have someone’s very last breath of air die out because of her was not something to be proud of, and it always took its toll.
Even if those bastard agents deserved it more than anyone else, it still placed the mutants on the same playing field as them. They had killed hundreds since fleeing to Canada, and all the therapy in the world would not be able to fix the kids after this.
“We need to move faster,” Shatterstar insisted, as the last man was taken out. “They are coming in endless numbers, and though I would love to fight them all, it is senseless to become outnumbered.” He paused and looked down at his shoulder. “Ow. I got shot again.”
Rictor rolled his eyes. “What? That makes it like…twelve times or something in the last two weeks?”
“Ten, I think,” the warrior frowned. “I think I’m getting slow.”
“Shut up and move,” Domino pushed past them and ran at the next door in the hall. She did not waste any time grabbing a C4 explosive device from her belt. She placed it on top of the numbered lock pad on the door and quickly began to wire it. Once it was ready, she stepped back and set it. “Cover your ears, kiddos! You know whenever a door is big and metal and locked up there’s usually something fun behind it.”
“Madre de Dios,” the Mexican shook his head and stepped back.
The explosion rocked the entranceway and completely obliterated the walls around it. Black smoke began to fill the hall, but it did not stop the squad. They ran through, waving their hands in front of their faces. But the sight inside even stopped Domino in her tracks, and her mouth fell open.
“Hijos de puta” Rictor exclaimed. “Mierda!”
Domino’s eyes remained glued on the man across the room. Despite the pluming smoke and the dozens of bodies in stasis around the area, violet eyes remained fixated on Cable. Strapped down to a ridiculous amount of machines and computers, he was completely rendered immobile, but he looked to be conscious. Why the hell could she not feel him in her head? What had they done to him?
He did not at all look as though he was there voluntarily either.
Forgetting the shock, Shatterstar was the first to move his feet and ran at Cable. The older man looked up at the warrior with an exhausted smile. “You’re alive?”
“Fekt, I cannot die,” he joked half heartedly and started to unbuckle the restraints. “Am I able to remove these devices from your body without hurting you?”
“It’ll hurt,” Cable told him, and Dom finally willed herself to approach when even Rictor had decided to jog over. “It’ll hurt, but it won’t kill me, ‘Star, so just do it.”
The boys began cutting through and destroying the restraints, and Domino just lifted her hand to the device on his head. “What’s all this shit?”
He moved his eyes to her, and the tired smile grew to something even happier if it was at all possible. “You need to get it off. They’ve been tracking you and accessing my entire psychic--”
“Fuck,” Domino cursed and smashed the butt end of her gun against it. A spider web of cracks rippled throughout the device. Another piercing alarm shot off throughout the building as Cable was released, but Domino did not have time to acknowledge it. The second the head piece was taken off of Nate, a massive influx of psychic energy invaded Domino’s head through their rapport, and she grabbed at her temples as she fell to her knees.
“Fekt!” Shatterstar yelled. He and Rictor ran away from their leaders to meet another emergence of HYDRA agents to fight them off. But Domino could not get to her feet. A barrage of emotions, memories, and information poured through their psychic link and she was overwhelmed. Her head throbbed, and she looked up at Nathan.
“Shut it off!”
“I can’t!” he yelled, from his place on the ground next to her. “They messed around with my powers, and I have no control over them!” And sure enough, Cable’s telekinesis was out of control as well. Various objects and tools around them were floating up in the air and the yellow glow of his eye was bright as ever. Both his hands clawed at his forehead and he groaned. “Stop thinking!”
“Yeah, I’ll get right on that!” she yelled back, and struggled to get to her feet. The boys were fighting without them, and she could not allow it. They could get outnumbered. They could get shot. They could…
“Dom, leave them,” Nate moaned from the floor below. The merc glared down at him.
“Fuck you!”
“They’re fine,” he insisted. “It’s the others. We need to get to them. Now.”
Violet eyes moved toward Ric and ‘Star and, sure enough, they had managed to take most of the troops out. She knew better than to doubt their abilities, but it was just riskier being right in enemy headquarters. The Mexican finished the last of them by rumbling the floor, and about a dozen tubes filled with bodies fell onto them. Immediately the younger man yelped and scrambled out of the way. “Ew! Those bodies are gooey!”
“Stop whining,” Shatterstar hissed, and helped him to his feet. Two more men came running through the door, but the warrior swiftly threw his sword at them. The blade ripped right through their chests and pinned them both together to the wall.
“Rictor! Shatterstar! Get out of here now!” Cable ordered.
“Huh?” the Mexican muttered.
“What?!” ‘Star perked his eyebrow and scratched his head. Both men looked absolutely confused, and glanced at each other before scrunching their faces up at Nate. “You will not tell me to flee battle, Cable!”
“I need you to go down the main hallway. Take a right and two lefts after that until you get to the corridor marked ‘Zone 6’.”
“Why!?” Rictor demanded, as they approached and helped the older man to his feet. “We’re not just gonna fucking leave you guys!”
“We’ll be fine,” Nate brushed at his tattered pants, and pointed toward the door. “Both of you go now! That’s an order!”
“But what is--” Shatty began.
“Just trust me,” Nate swore. “I know you guys don’t, but please. Dom and I have to get to Sam right now. Just keep your eyes open and be ready for attack. Engage in the enemy if need be, and do not hold back.”
“Are you going to be all right?” Rictor questioned, that time looking at Domino.
“We’ll be fine,” she muttered.
Cable grabbed at his head again. “My telepathy is out of control; I’m mind linked with every person on the premise…I can read their thoughts and locations, and….” he groaned. If you go now you should manage to slip by undetected. But you have to hurry.”
“Okay,” Rictor nodded, looking more scared than he would ever admit to. Shatterstar grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him back, and both boys reluctantly took off out of the room without another word of protest. Domino watched them go, and finally looked back at Nate when she felt the cold of his techno-organic hand against the side of her face.
“I’m sorry,” he told her.
She clenched her jaw. “Apparently you aren’t the one who has to be sorry. For once.”
“Dom…you didn’t…”
“Let’s just go find Sam,” she muttered, and wrapped an arm around his waist as she helped him walk out of the room.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Theresa and Jimmy had made it to the back entrance of the headquarters fairly easily. Sam and Bobby had made a massive impact on the building, and it was easy to see that most of the security had gone after them immediately. In fact, if Jimmy did not know any better, it was almost as though he and Theresa had gotten inside a little too easily. They did not run into any HYDRA agents on the outside premises, nor did they run into any right away when Terry had used her powers to take out the back wall. However, when they had even reached that area of the building, the duo had already felt the after affects of Rictor’s powers from the other side of the property.
“Where should we look first?” Terry questioned, cutting the Native from his thoughts.
“It just looks like offices up here,” he murmured and took a quick glance around until a red, lit up sign caught his attention. “Staircase; doesn’t look like there’s a second floor here, but I’ll bet this place probably has a ton of shit downstairs.”
“Makes sense,” she conceded, and spun on her heel to run to the darkened corridor. Jimmy followed in close pursuit, trying to keeping his keen sense of hearing sharp amongst the seemingly endless sound of explosions. “I have a real bad feelin’ about this, Jim.”
“Just stay close,” he murmured, and held the door open for her to enter the staircase. And as soon as they did, they were met face to face with a group of eight armed HYDRA agents making their way up.
“AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIYYYYYEEEEEEEEEE!!!” Terry belted out a murdering scream, sending all of the men flying back and into the crumbling stone wall behind them. All of their weapons shattered at the pitch, so Jimmy went in swinging his fists. All were completely dazed by the sonic screech and probably deafened too. Using strength he did not use often, Warpath’s limbs worked like battering rams against the men’s faces and sternums, and most died upon impact. The sickening sound of bones crunching and blood spattering filled the small staircase, but the pair tried their best to ignore it.
They had to keep reminding themselves that if they did not defend themselves, they would only die and allow the invasion to keep growing.
“Let’s go,” Theresa urged, and began running down the stairs. Jimmy quickly followed suit, and when they got approximately four flights down, they found a large metal door. A numbered padlock secured the entry, and the big man looked down at the redhead.
“Shall I? Or shall you?”
“Go nuts,” she smirked.
Jimmy cracked his knuckles and slammed his fist into the door. It bent and twisted awkwardly on the first hit, but did not fall off completely. So he wound back and struck again, sending the metal flying off of the hinges and to the floor in the hall. The placard on the wall read ‘Zone D’.
“Sound familiar?” Terry questioned with a frown. “Aye, this is where they were gonna send Dom and me at the other base.”
Jimmy frowned at the lack of doors in the hall. Even in the dimly lit atmosphere it was easy to see. One large silver door stood at either end of the corridor, and only five generated lights illuminated the area. A few very large stains stretched across the dull concrete floor, and it was not very difficult to figure out what they were. Zone D looked even scarier than it had sounded. Like something out of a horror movie.
Terry swallowed loudly and grabbed Jimmy’s arm. “C’mon, let’s go look inside. There might be people…”
Jimmy nodded, and ran full speed toward the door closest to them. He leapt into the air and lifted his leg, kicking the metal right next to the lock pad. The door crumbled on the first hit that time, and when he landed inside the room, the smell immediately made him gag.
“Oh god!”
Terry’s eyes widened in terror as she looked around. “Oh my…”
Jimmy swallowed and held his hand over his mouth; already he could taste the bile in his throat. Inside the room contained piles of bodies. Women, children, elderly, and thin and sickened men were nude and just stacked on top of each other. All were completely bludgeoned before death; coloured with bruises and stained with blood. They were lined before a massive steel compartment. Exhaust hoods were placed on the ceilings above it, and a large, vented door enclosed the front. Jimmy had an idea what it was, but he did not want to go find out for sure.
“Let’s go,” he told Terry.
But she did not move. Her body was stiffened and still as her eyes roamed the room. She was panic stricken.
“Terry!” Jimmy yelled, and grabbed her by the elbow. She jolted at the contact, but managed to look up at him.
“Are they…?”
“Yes,” he urged gently, and pulled her out of the room. Back out in the hall, she instantly doubled over and threw up on the ground. Jimmy winced at the sight, but placed a hand on her back gently.
“We don’t have to look in the other one…”
“Yes, we do,” she snapped, and wiped at her mouth with the black sleeve of her make shift uniform. “I’m fine, just…disgusted.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
She shook her head, and walked slowly to the other side of the hallway. One sonic scream was easily able to destroy the door, and that time Terry did not walk inside. Instead, she poked her head in the doorway, and gestured back to Jimmy.
“No bodies, but it looks like this may be a prep room of sorts. There are all sorts of clothes and tools and what not…”
And sure enough, there were. A large pile of laundry bags were stacked at the back corner of the grey room, and a table stood on the opposite side. A couple of boxes were piled on it, as well as a few writing supplies and mounds of paper. The room would probably be brightly lit if it were not for the power being out; three massive lights hung from the ceiling, one specifically over a strange medical bed of some sort, equipped with restraint belts.
“What the hell is going on here?” Jimmy mumbled.
“I dinnae know," Terry swallowed, and took one step inside the room. “Ye think we should look through the boxes?”
“Probably not,” Jimmy replied. “We have to look for prisoners. We don’t have much time; it’s a wonder we haven’t been cornered by a bunch of agents yet.”
“Yuir right,” she sighed, and took a step back and out into the hall. “We have tah find the others.”
Jimmy did not respond. A very faint ‘click’ noise caught his attention from behind them, and he spun around. A lone figure stood at the end of the hall, eyes focused solely on the two of them. He lifted his gun into the air and pointed it at Theresa wordlessly.
"NO!" Jimmy screamed just as the shot rang out.
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Go to part two.