CHAPTER 51: AMBUSH IN THE SKIES
The blast ripped across the airport terminal
like a miniature sun set loose. Cyclops shoved
Jean aside and dropped into a crouch, visor flaring as he fired back. Havok rolled clear, plasma humming in his chest, eyes burning with something darker than brotherhood.
"Alex! What the hell are you doing?!" Scott's voice cracked like a whip.
But Alex didn't answer. He only raised his hands and fired again, the beam cutting through steel like paper.
Logan snarled, claws flashing out with that familiar SNIKT. He dove sideways, the world slowing into bullet-time as the Equalizer kicked in. His ears mapped the chaos like a sonar dome-every heartbeat, every step. He could feel Jean's pulse quickening, hear the tension in Storm's breath
Polaris lifted her arms and the air screamed.
Melal buckled, luggage carls twisted, seats ripped free and hurled at the X-Men. Colossus turned steel just in time, blocking Storm with his body as a row of chairs exploded against his chest.
Starm's voice cul through the noise. "Lomal This is madness! Whatever controls you-resist It!"
Polaris's eyes glowed cold. 'I don't take orders from you. My target is Xavier"
The team froze for a heartbeat, The professor's plane was still taxiing, engines warming.
Scott's visor flared brighter. 'No. You want me? Fine. But stay the hell away from that plane!"
Alex's laugh was hollow, brittle, 'I don't want YOU, Scott. I want HIM. He pointed straight at the aircraft, plasma gathering like a star collapsing.
"Like hell you do, Thunderbird barked, charging. He closed the gap fast, fists swinging for Alex's jaw-only to be blasted back by a concussive wave that sent him
tumbling into a terminal wall.
"Thunderbird!" Storm shouted, lightning sparking around her.
Sunfire swooped in next, jets of fire roaring from his hands. The flames licked around Polaris, but she bent them aside with a twist of magnetic force, the inferno spiraling harmlessly upward until sprinklers hissed overhead.
Logan was already moving, weaving through
flying metal shards. Sparks lit his claws as he slashed them aside, every strike a metallic scream. 'She's not holding back. Good
Neither am I.
Nightcrawler blinked in and out of existence, teleporting past stray beams, trying to reach Alex. Scott was shouting at his brother again, voice cracking through the din.
"Alex, stop! This isn't you! It's control, it's-
Alex cut him off with another beam, angrier this time. "I don't need excuses. Maybe you're the one who's been CONTROLLED your whole dann lifel
The words hit Scott harder than the blast. He staggered back, jaw clenched, visor trembling with a light that wanted to burn the world
down.
Then the sky tore open.
Erik the Red descended like a scarlet comet, cloak snapping in the wind, helmet gleaming with alien light. His voice boomed across the
tarmac
"Enough of this play. Xavier must fall
The moment of distraction gave Alex his opening. Plasma roared, aimed straight at the professor's plane as it began to roll forward.
Scott screamed, "NO!"
But before the beam could strike, there was a BAMF and a swirl of smoke. Nightcrawler
reappeared clinging to Alex's arm, wrenching
it upward. The plasma tore across the sky and
detonated harmlessly against an empty parked jet. The shockwave rattled windows but spared Xavier's plane, which seized the chance to lift off, wheels tearing from the
ground.
"YES!" Jean cried, tears in her eyes. "Go, Charles, gol"
But the fight wasn't done. Erik landed with a crash, sending Sunfire sprawling. Polaris hurled a car into Colossus, pinning him. Scott blasted it off but Polaris countered with a
shriek of metal.
After some time of fighting,and just as Eric blasted Thunderbird back, Eric saw that they were in a disadvantage,so he planned to flee.
Logan ducked under the wave, the world slowing to syrup. He could hear every rivet strain, every heartbeat around him. Then he
was in front of her. Claws sheared sparks as
he cut through the twisted debris, slipped past her magnetic field, and slammed his fist into
her gut.
Polaris gasped, eyes wide, body folding like paper before she hit the concrete unconscious. Logan didn't hesitate, didn't
apologize. "Don't matter if you're a lady. You come for mine, you get the same steel"
Havok roared. 'LORNA!" He broke free from Nightcrawler's hold, plasma burning out of
control.
Logan smirked, voice low and taunting. 'She's down, Summers. Your woman's in my hands now. Come take her back if you've got the
guts
Alex snapped, shoving Erik the Red aside. The alien snarled, "You FOOL!' and with a blaze of crimson light, Erik shot into the sky, abandoning him.
That left Havok alone, facing a circle of
wolves, Cyclops, visor buming. Colossus, fists
clenched. Storm, lightning wreathing her frame. Sunfire's eyes like fire knives. Thunderbird shaking off rubble. And Logan,
claws ready.
Havok fired wildly, screaming, but the team moved as one. Storm's wind knocked him off balance. Colossus slammed him down. Scott
held his fire until the very end, his voice breaking as he shouted, "STAND DOWN,
ALEX!" before Logan struck the final blow, ramming Havok's head into the pavement with
a brutal thud.
Silence fell. Both captives lay unconscious, bound by Colossus's steel grip
Scott stared down at his brothet, chest heaving, visor dim. "... You didn't give me a
choice.
Logan leaned back, smirk curling across his
face. "Nothin' to thank me for, hoss-eye.! He
reached over, plucked a cigar from Scott's jacket pocket, and bit it clean between his teeth.
SNIKT. The claws lit it with sparks. Smoke curled as Logan exhaled slow.
The fight was over. But the war was just beginning.