Chapter 76 - Baldur and the X-men Part 2
City of the Sun God, Capital of Genosha.
Evacuated Building of Genosha, Apartment Corridor.
2012.
Cyclops was the one who initiated the X-Men's counterattack. He fired a red optic blast forward, hitting one of the hooded men and sending him crashing through an apartment door.
The other man standing nearby witnessed his friend getting hit but seemed unfazed. With a flick of his hands, a rope made of light lashed out at Scott like a whip. Scott, being an experienced fighter, managed to duck in time to avoid the attack. In response, he fired another blast aiming at his second opponent, but the energy rope returned to the mage's body, transforming into a golden shield to defend against the attack.
On the other side, two other mages attacked Clarice. The first one wielded an energy axe, but Clarice managed to block his attack with her two purple daggers. Behind her, another mage appeared and fired an energy arrow at her. Quick on her feet, Clarice created a small portal in the path of the arrow, and the second portal appeared behind the archer, causing the arrow to change direction towards him, narrowly missing.
Logan's enemies were also wielding energy weapons. While Wolverine roared and attacked them head-on, the mages fighting Logan danced around him, attempting to strike at his legs and spine. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they were trying to incapacitate him.
Among all her friends, Jean remained still, just like her adversaries in front of her. She was engaged in a mental duel against the two telepathic mages.
Meanwhile, Storm unleashed lightning bolts from her hands, all of which struck the two mages who, prior to the fight, had covered their bodies with wooden armor, protecting them from electricity.
"Winds, obey my command!" Storm commanded.
Seeing their enemies approach, Storm unleashed a powerful wind that gradually pushed them back. Unfortunately, she had to maintain this defense, as the mages showed no signs of giving up their attempts to approach her.
Scott continued firing blasts at the mage who was defending himself with a shield. Then he noticed the first mage he hit earlier rejoining the fight. He was using his shots at the lowest power level possible to avoid fatalities, yet they were still enough to incapacitate a human for a while. He fired at the first mage again, as the defense of the second one was proving to be quite challenging. This time, the first mage didn't get sent flying. Somehow, he absorbed the power of the blast and then redirected it back at Scott, hitting him in the shoulder.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the second mage wrapped the energy whip around Scott's leg, causing him to fall to the ground. The mage then began to drag him towards them. Scott fired, cutting through the energy whip, but the distance had been greatly reduced, forcing him into a physical fight against two enemies.
Clarice was using her portals to dodge the arrow attacks. She was having great difficulty in close combat, something she had never been very skilled at. The battle was taking a turn for the worse for her, and it was only a matter of time before her defenses faltered.
"They know about our abilities! We need to do something now, Scott!" Storm shouted while continuing to push back the two men in wooden armor with her winds.
"Blink! Swap us when I give the signal," Cyclops shouted without looking back.
Everyone understood what he meant, so they did their best to distance themselves from their attackers. Luckily, they all managed to do so at the same time.
"NOW!" Scott yelled.
Five purple portals appeared in front of the five X-Men, and when they crossed through them, they switched places, facing their new enemies.
"Roar!"
Logan roared like an animal, attacking those who had been fighting against Blink. The man with the energy axe had his hand severed and then received a blow to the head, knocking him unconscious. The woman behind him fired an energy arrow at him, hitting him in the shoulder. Logan seemed not to even feel it. He approached her, driving one of his blades into her shoulder, and with his other hand, he punched her in the face, securing victory.
Jean, who had been engaged in a mental battle moments before, also managed to pass through the portal and appeared in front of Scott's adversaries. An energy rope came flying towards her, but before it could hit Jean's body, it seemed to collide with an invisible barrier. Jean extended her hand and used her telekinesis to make the enemies in front of her slam into the ceiling. As she lowered her hand, she made them crash to the ground with even greater force, ending the fight.
Two energy blasts hit the two men wearing wooden armor, destroying them. Scott knew that these men could withstand more than that, so before they could rebuild their armor, he increased the power of his blast and sent the two men flying through the window, out of the building.
The two wizards engaged in a telepathic battle with Jean lost their mental connection the moment she entered the portal. They were disoriented for a few seconds, which was enough time for Storm to strike them with her lightning, leaving them on the ground with smoke rising from their bodies.
Clarice struck the first of her enemies by hurling one of her energy daggers, piercing one of his legs. Logan's adversaries were using their agility to wear down the mutant, but their speed couldn't match Blink's teleportation through portals. The second enemy attempted to attack from behind, but she threw another dagger in front of her, which entered a small purple portal and reappeared behind the attacker, hitting his shoulder. Clarice then spun around and delivered a kick to his face, finishing off their enemies.
"That was close," she said to her friends.
"It was clearly a trap set for each of us. We need to retreat immediately," Cyclops said as he joined them.
"Is it the mission, Scott?" Storm asked.
"Neither Jean nor Logan can detect any signs of life around us. Everyone has been evacuated. We've lost the chance to complete the mission the moment we arrived here. Blink, open the portal."
Blink stepped back from them and clasped her hands together, ready to open a portal large enough for all of them to return to the Blackbird. But just as she was about to succeed, she felt a wave of drowsiness wash over her, and she immediately collapsed to the ground, fast asleep, startling her friends.
"Kid!" Logan knelt beside her and checked her pulse.
"She's alive," he said, relieving everyone.
"She's sleeping so deeply that even my telepathy doesn't work on her," Jean told her friends.
"That was quite a surprise!"
A sixth voice, that of a woman, startled them, and the four of them assumed defensive positions around Blink's body on the ground.
"Sorry for the sudden attack, but it's not our custom to let intruders leave when they please," the voice echoed through the corridor, making it impossible to pinpoint its source. Then, in a green glow, a woman appeared before them. The men in the group could only describe her with two words: beautiful and seductive. She was wearing a green leather outfit and holding a staff. After scrutinizing their new enemy, they had the impression they had seen her before, but they couldn't remember where.
Amora struck the ground with her staff, and a green wave swept through the entire corridor. The X-Men became nervous as they failed to dodge it, but shortly afterward, they realized it wasn't an attack. When they looked around trying to figure out what the woman had done, they noticed that the unconscious bodies of their defeated enemies had simply disappeared.
"My name is Amora. Now we can begin."
The first to make a move was Jean. She used her telekinetic power to attack Amora head-on. When the attack hit her, Amora's image shattered as if she were made of glass. Jean attempted to locate the woman telepathically, but unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough. Amora appeared in front of her and with a hand gesture, the space around Jean shattered like a mirror, and Jean disappeared.
"JEANNNNNNNNN!"
"JEANNNNNNNNN!"
Logan and Scott screamed together in fear and anger for their beloved. Logan, enraged, leaped with his claws ready to tear Amora apart. Still in mid-air, Amora pointed her staff at Logan, freezing him in place for a few moments before he fell to the ground as if being pulled. He crashed through the floor of the current level, plummeting to the next, until his fall could no longer be heard. Amora had used magic to increase the weight of his adamantium bones.
Seeing their friends falling one by one, Scott and Storm became furious and unleashed their powers.
"I invoke the light of Baldur!"
A magical shield of light appeared in front, deflecting Cyclops's optic blast and Storm's lightning bolts. The attacks were reflected by the shield, destroying almost the entire floor. Amora struck the ground with her staff, and several golden walls in the shape of squares appeared around Storm. The walls began to close in, threatening to crush her.
"NO! NO! NO!"
She screamed in despair. The WarDogs files not only contained information about their powers but also revealed their fears. In Storm's case, it was claustrophobia.
Due to her fear, she couldn't think logically, thus unable to use her powers to destroy the fragile walls of light. Scott was about to blast the walls with full force to save his friend, but he was stopped by Amora, who altered his visor, preventing the shot.
With Storm's emotions nearly destroyed, increasing the chance of success with her spells, Amora cast a spell on her, causing her to fall asleep, and then made the walls disappear, leaving Storm lying on the ground, asleep with tears in her eyes.
Scott realized his visor had been altered, and as he tried to remove it to unleash a full-force attack, he felt a pain in his head, causing him to faint as well.
"Minus four, one to go."
She distorted reality and went to the mirror dimension where she had locked away the most powerful and greatest threat to her. When she entered the mirror dimension, she saw the woman with long red hair also unconscious.
"I didn't expect it to actually work."
Before this fight, Baldur suggested a plan to deal with the psychic woman: to drag her into the mirror dimension. But before that, they filled the place with various drugs to incapacitate the mutant.
"Good. I've done my part. I want to see how he's going to enjoy himself now."
She stood facing the five unconscious and tied-up X-Men with a golden rope. Jean wore a silver helmet that prevented her from using her psychic powers.
"Take them to the Omega-level security cells."
"Yes, ma'am," replied a group of mages who hurried to carry out her orders.
POV: Third Person.
X-Men's Secret Jet, Blackbird.
Near the Island of Genosha.
2012.
"They're late," Professor Xavier expressed his concern for his students who had infiltrated the island of an enemy he never wished to encounter again, for the second time.
"Patience is the strength of the weak, and impatience the weakness of the strong. - Immanuel Kant."
Seated in the co-pilot's chair on the jet was a man covered in blue fur with fangs. Despite his monstrous appearance, wisdom shone in his eyes.
"Jean should have made contact ten minutes ago, Hank."
"I know, my friend. But you shouldn't dwell only on what could have gone wrong."
For this mission, they divided into two teams: one for the attack to enter the island using the powers of their student Clarisse, and the second team in case a rescue was necessary. To allow the first team to enter the island, they had to get closer for Clarisse's portals to work. After the first team established contact with Xavier using the Blackbird's link with Cerebro to enhance their powers enough to penetrate Genosha's defenses, they circled the island several times in the Blackbird without getting too close to avoid detection.
After two hours of waiting and without any response from their students, the Professor's fears were confirmed, and not even Beast could advocate for more patience now.
"Should I call Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Gambit, Professor?"
"Yes, Hank. Let's initiate the rescue plan and pray to God for success."
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