CHAPTER 76-THE CLASH OF GIANTS AND TEACHING STORM TO FIGHT BACK
Juggernaut thundered forward like a living avalanche. His steps cracked stone, his roar rattled teeth.
"MOVE!" Logan barked.
Nightcrawler BAMFed away in a puff of brimstone. Sunfire shot straight into the air, a comet of fire. Thunderbird dove to the side with a curse.
Colossus didn't move. He squared his shoulders, steel form gleaming in the torchlight. "I will stop him."
"Piotr-!" Storm managed to croak, but it was too late.
Juggernaut hit him head-on. The impact echoed like a cannon blast. Colossus was hurled across the cavern, his body smashing into the wall hard enough to crater the stone. He slumped, groaning, but alive.
Juggernaut laughed, turning on the others. "That all you got? I'm just warmin' up!"
Black Tom cracked his cane against the ground, grinning at the chaos. "Break 'em, Cain! Break every last one!"
Banshee lunged at him, fists raised. "I'll break you, cousin!"
Tom swung his cane like a club, and the two crashed together. Sean screamed point-blank, but Tom's mutant resonance absorbed it. Tom struck back, his blow shaking Banshee's jaw. Their powers canceled - so they fought with fists, dirty and desperate, rolling like brawlers in an alley.
Juggernaut swung for Thunderbird. Logan lunged in, taking the blow across his ribs. Bone snapped, blood spraying as he hit the floor. He staggered up, claws flashing.
Nightcrawler BAMFed onto Juggernaut's back, claws raking at armor. "You vill fall, giant!" Juggernaut shrugged, and the elf went flying.
Sunfire blasted fire at his face. The flames curled harmlessly off the crimson helmet. Juggernaut stomped forward, swatting him from the sky.
Logan was everywhere - his hearing sphere alive, heartbeats ringing in his skull, every movement slowed by his bullet-time reflexes. A fist aimed at Nightcrawler - Logan dove in its path, catching the hit with his chest. A backhand meant to pulp Thunderbird
Logan's claws blocked, bones breaking again. He bled freely, staggering, but never letting the others take the full brunt.
Juggernaut sneered down at him. "You can't stop me, runt. Nothing stops me."
Logan spat blood, grinning through split lips. "Ain't tryin' to stop ya. Just keepin' my family standin'."
The others regrouped, panting, desperate. Their attacks bounced off Juggernaut like pebbles on a tank.
"Nothing works!" Sunfire shouted, his flames guttering in the stale air.
Logan's one good eye locked on Storm, still curled in fear against the wall. He growled.
"Buy me a minute. All of ya. Just one damn minute."
The cavern shook with every step Juggernaut took. The others scrambled, harrying him, clawing seconds out of nothing. Sunfire circled, blasting his back. Nightcrawler BAMFed in and out, taunting with quick jabs. Thunderbird hurled rocks. Colossus, groaning from his crater, forced himself upright, steel hands clenched.
And Logan? Logan stalked toward the wall where Storm cowered.
Her hands clawed at her hair, her eyes wide, unseeing. She was still in Cairo, still buried beneath rubble, still a child gasping for air.
Logan knelt, seized her by the collar, dragged her face up to his. His eyes burned like coals.
"Listen, darlin'." His claws SNIKTed out, gleaming. He turned and drove them into the wall. Stone cracked, chunks fell away, the hole widening with every strike. He roared with the effort.
"You feel the walls closin' in on ya? Then TEAR 'EM DOWN."
Another slash the cavern shook.
"That fear - it ain't the boss, YOU ARE."
Storm's tears streaked her cheeks. She shook her head, trembling. "I... I can't-"
Logan slammed his claws again, widening the breach. "Look! These walls? They're NOTHING to us. They don't own you." He shook her, hard, his voice a snarl and a plea all at once.
"NOW, 'RO! SHOW ME! SHOW THEM WHAT YOU ARE!"
Her breath caught. Her eyes blazed. White light swallowed her pupils.
The air shifted. A breeze at first. Then a gale. Dust and stone whipped through the chamber. Lightning split the ceiling, thunder crashed in the dungeon's belly.
Juggernaut staggered back, shielding his face. "What the hell-?"
Storm rose to her feet, her dress snapping in the wind like a battle standard. Her hair lifted, her skin glowing in the torchlight.
"I... AM NOT... A PRISONER!"
The wall exploded outward as her storm burst free, rain and wind screaming into the night sky beyond.
The X-Men stared, shielding their eyes from the gale but they smiled. Their goddess was back.
And Logan, bloodied and grinning through it, whispered low so only she might hear:
"Atta girl."