CHAPTER 67-LANG'S FALL
Alarms walled through the station, red lights flashing across shattered steel. The floor was littered with wreckage the broken shells of the false X-Men. The new team stood panting, bruised but unbroken.
And above, in the glass booth, Stephen Lang's face twisted with fury.
"Impossible..." he muttered, fists slamming the console. "My X-Sentinels... perfection Incarnate! DESTROYED by mongrels!"
The door behind him slid open. He bolted into the corridor, white coat flaring as he ran.
"HE'S RUNNING!" Thunderbird bellowed.
Scott's visor snapped toward the retreating figure. "Nightcrawler! CUT HIM OFF!"
BAME
The smell of brimstone filled the hall. In an Instant, Kurt appeared in front of Lang, crouched low, fangs bared. His yellow eyes glowed in the crimson alarms.
Lang skidded to a stop, slamming into the wall. "Y-you-"
Nightcrawler's fist shot out, cracking against Lang's jaw. The man reeled, his glasses snapping off his face. He stumbled, and before he could scream, Logan was on him.
SNIKT
Claws gleamed inches from Lang's throat.
Logan slammed him into the wall, one hand gripping his collar, the other cocked back to strike. His voice was a growl, pure animal fury.
"You think you can dress machines in our friends' skins and make us dance?!" His breath was hot against Lang's ear. "I should gut you right here."
Lang's face blanched. "You... you wouldn't-"
The claws sank just deep enough to pierce fabric, not flesh. Logan's eyes burned. "TRY ME."
"LOGAN!" Scott's voice cut sharp as a blade. He marched forward, visor glowing. "We need answers. Alive."
For a moment, Logan didn't move. His claws quivered. Then, with a snarl, he retracted them, slamming Lang to the ground.
Scott crouched over him, voice cold. "You built them. You built machines wearing our faces. Why?"
Lang spat blood, his lip split. His eyes burned with fanatic fire even through the swelling. "Because mutants are a disease. You're an infestation. And I am the cure."
Scott's fists clenched. "Answer the question."
Lang laughed, teeth red with blood. "X-
Sentinels. The next step in human defense. Stronger. Faster. Smarter than any mutant. They'll hunt your kind to extinction. That's my mission. That's my life's work. To END YOU ALL."
Storm's eyes narrowed, lightning flickering faint across her fingertips. "And you call yourself savior?"
Lang sneered, spitting at her feet. "I call myself HUMAN."
Before Scott could retort, the station shook violently. A new alarm blared, harsher, deeper. A mechanical voice thundered overhead:
"WARNING, SOLAR FLARE APPROACHING. MAXIMUM LEVEL."
Corbeau's voice cracked through comms. "It's the worst in years. You don't understand -this station won't survive it! You need to leave NOW!"
Scott spun to the team. "Move! Get us a ship ANYTHING that still flies!"
They dragged Lang unconscious across the floor, but left him slumped in the control booth, bound. The flare would finish what Logan hadn't.
The team sprinted through the halls, alarms painting the walls red, until they found it -one shuttle, intact, waiting in its dock.
They piled inside, hearts pounding. As the bay doors split open, the black void swallowed them. Behind, Starcore burned. Ahead, the sun flared.
Scott strapped in, his jaw tight. "Everyone secure. Corbeau tell me we've got a plan."
Corbeau's hands shook on the controls. "The autopilot's fried. Radiation shields too. No protective suits. The only chance is the life cell- but someone still needs to fly the ship."
The silence was heavy. The flare's light already glimmered in the distance.
And then Jean's voice broke it. Steady. Fierce.
"I'll do it."