NOVEL NEXT Chapter 063 – Battle
[2009 – July]
"Scott!!", Rogue cried out in horror as she saw her team leader and friend laying on the ground unconscious while excessively bleeding from his head, before looking up and seeing Banshee sending a Sonic Scream at Elijah in retaliation.
Though the attack didn't seem to affect him at all, a blackish barrier isolating him from the soundwaves, before they were abruptly cut off and she heard Mr. Cassidy gurgling and choking besides her, the same blackish barrier now wrapped around his throat.
The other recruits and Ororo were confronting the Hellions and Emma Frost, a fierce battle having broken out while Rogue had taken hold of Scott and attempted to pull him to safety, knowing that she was only here to incapacitate Jean.
She didn't have any great offensive abilities when compared to her fellow recruits, though her touch was one of the only things that had ever been able to stop Jean when she was on the verge of losing control.
Rogue saw Logan and his daughter sprint towards Elijah undoubtedly intending to confront him, while Kurt had already teleported to his side, probably trying to force him to loosen his hold on Mr. Cassidy's throat.
What the young mutant girl did not expect however was the ruthlessness with which Elijah attacked, as he used his hold on the veteran X-Man to fling him against a nearby granite statue with full force, injuring the older mutant greatly and causing him to also pass out.
With a stone-cold look on his face, Rogue's heart lurched in terror as she saw Elijah turn his gaze to Kurt, the young teleporter using his limbs to attack the blackish barrier that protected Elijah, her profusely bleeding team leader still in her arms.
…
Letting go of the barrier I used to incapacitate Banshee, I turned to face Kurt just as he sent another kick against the skin-tight barrier I had surrounded myself with, feeling only the slightest pressure in my mind from his useless assault.
I knew that I could most likely keep this up for days, though the rapidly approaching father-daughter pair made me want to end this battle fast, and so I used an ethereal barrier on my surroundings with only one objective in mind – to shield the space inside from interference.
The panicked look suddenly appearing on Kurt's face as I transformed the blackish barrier around myself to cage him and he was unable to escape using his teleportation made me realize that I had succeeded, even though the mental pressure was steadily rising.
Suppressing an Alpha-level mutant's ability was no easy task while simultaneously keeping up several barriers, including the one I had formed around Jean in case someone infiltrated the medical ward to kidnap her while she was unable to defend herself.
My shields also moved at the speed of my thoughts, so I had no trouble capturing Jean's former teammate inside it.
And just as Logan and Laura were only a few feet away, I brought my palm down in a ruthless motion, smashing the young mutant in my grip into the ground, probably breaking several bones in the process and rupturing a few organs.
I could have killed him and the other two easily enough, but I abstained from doing so for now, as that would undoubtedly lead to an all-out war with the X-Men, which wasn't what I wanted. Not to mention that Jean would probably be horrified if she woke and realized I had killed her old teammates and teacher.
Still, the force I used each time would have killed any normal human, which had been necessary as mutants were generally a lot tougher.
Turning towards a very angry Logan and an impassive-looking Laura, I reformed the barrier around my body and activated my Adoptive Muscle Memory, shaping the shield around my hands into sharp claws with only minor effort.
The mental pressure I was under rose several levels instantly but I didn't care as I faced off against the duo, my mind taking in every tensing of their muscles and every twist of their joints as they made their attacks, Adamantium claws clashing with my blackish barrier.
The sharp pain erupting in my mind as I forced the part of the shield that clashed with the ultra-sharp claws to stay intact, was somewhat unexpected but I pushed it aside with gritted teeth.
To block Adamantium I had to strengthen my shields to a similar level of durability which certainly did not come easy while being under a barrage of attacks.
My physique thankfully wasn't any less impressive than theirs, even though I lacked the regenerative healing factor, and so I fought on, meeting them blow for blow. Shielding myself from the attacks that I could not block with the blackish-transparent claws extending from my knuckles, all the while absorbing both of their fighting techniques in real-time.
With every move I made, I could feel myself adjusting my posture, my muscles, tendons, and joints assimilating the techniques I observed from Logan and Laura. My brain went into overdrive trying to bear the burden of using Adopted Muscle Memory, while already my mind was strained by keeping my shields intact.
I forged on though, even though I could have just as easily incapacitated the both of them, as this was an opportunity as much as it was a challenge, and from the few glimpses I had caught of the fight between the others, I knew that Emma had everything under control.
Logan was widely acknowledged as one of the best close-quarters combatants there was, his decades of experience a treasure. And every second I endured under his barrage, I benefitted greatly.
Laura on the other hand was, while much less experienced, just as impressive in my opinion. She didn't attack with ferocity like her father did, but with sharp and efficient strikes, each of them aiming to kill or maim. She was purely a trained killer and her fighting style was something I felt much more drawn to than Logan's.
…
Blocking another swipe of Elijah's blackish claws with his own, Logan reacted a second too slow as a sharp kick hit his midsection and sent him a few steps back.
And while the hit didn't faze him and he recovered in the blink of an eye, Logan couldn't help but feel a chill crawl down his spine as he hesitated to continue the fight.
Never before had he met someone like the black-haired teen he and his daughter were facing this instant.
He had known that the boy had incredible potential and that his mutant power was rather impressive, but while Elijah had proven himself a 'good' fighter at the beginning of their exchange, Logan began to realize that he was simply a demon in human skin.
He only had a minor advantage in strength while the boy was a bit faster, which definitely should not have been the case as his own strength was at a superhuman level. Not to mention that with every moment that went by the boy seemed to adjust and adapt – learn.
At first, Logan did not want to believe it, but while Elijah seemed to have struggled to face him and Laura at first, he now stood on equal grounds and even began to push them back by taking full advantage of his physique and shields.
Less and less the boy relied on his impenetrable barrier, his every move was filled with ferocity and ruthless lethality, ripping into their flesh without hesitation.
Without their healing factor, he and Laura would have undoubtedly died already, every one of Elijah's calculated strikes more lethal than the last.
Shaking off his distracting thoughts, Logan was just about to rejoin the fight, claws unsheathed and animalistic violence in his heart, when he saw the barrier around Elijah expand in all directions and envelop Laura before also swallowing him.
The next moment he found himself immobilized, his limbs held in position by a blackish-transparent barrier while the same was true for his daughter.
Catching the dark, yet impassive look in the boy's eyes, Logan suddenly realized that this had not been a fight for Elijah. The boy had simply used this chance to hone himself and prove his superiority.
“Damn, you're a monster, kid.”, Logan breathed out raggedly, adrenaline still rushing through his system.
"No, but I will be.", Elijah replied, the look in the boy's eyes even harder than Logan's own Adamantium claws.