As the elevator doors opened, the Acolytes who guarded their leader opened fire with both mutant abilities and automatic weapons
They where unable to see
Junior's head as he phased in, camouflaged himself and took assessment of who they'd be up against. Suddenly he didn;t feel quite as confident as he did about five minuets ago
Phinagin brought his shield up and leveled it to block anything that may pop up through the elevator top and hit them. He waited patiently for Junior to come back and tell him when to bust some heads.
"Cease fire!" Cortez demanded from atop the throne. "Clearly they wouldn't take the elevator! Besides if they did, you've certainly killed them. Check the stairs you fools! NOW!"
Without question, the Acolytes abandoned the elevator and moved to the stairwell entrance, taking defensive positions around it. They had known that the renegade mutants had rescued the young one they had imprisoned, so opening the door was no longer a necessary action for them.
Rhydian held up his hand to Phinagin. He didn't dare say a word in case one of the Acolytes heard. This was his plan though, he wasn't about to let Junior tell them when to move out. His plan, his command, that was final. He would give the Acolytes just a few moments longer before he gave the signal to attack
Junior pulled back from the elevator and reconstituted his head. He held up his fingers and gave the proper hand signs, indicating that the acolytes had gone and in what directions.
Confident that they were distracted enough over by the stairwell,
Rhydian nodded to his comrades. It was go-time. He fell through the maintenance opening at the top of the elevator and tore panels from the walls with his abilities as he rushed from the enclosed space. The others were really the combat-ready fighters, right now, this was the most he could do; already his head was swimming.
Phinagin burst through the hole next and immediately fell upon the closest adversary pummeling them with his bone encased fists.
Junior swung down from the elevator and drove his feet into the nearest advisory. Phasing, he took the hulking man with him, pulling him into the floor and leaving only his head and shoulders visible. Junior stepped up from inside the floor and scanned the room for his next target.
Once
Phinagin was convinced that the individual wasnt getting back up he moved on. Throwing a bone ball at the furthest mutant he set upon the next one the stepped infront of him with his newly formed bone shield and spiked mace.
The mutant that Phinagin launched the bone ball at, whirled around just in time to have it smash ineffectively on her rather nicely endowed chest. A grin crossed her stony face and she stretched out her wings. With what
must have been a great heave, though it looked nothing like one, she was lifted from the ground and flew towards the bone manipulator-bo
y.
The being known simply as Rakkus turned around slowly to look at the little red boy that they had recently placed in the cells below. A blood curdling growl escaped from his intricately deformed mouth and he surged forward, intent to pulverize this pip squeak simply because he could.
Rhydian blocked multiple shots with the metal panels that he had taken. He used his ability to alter them just enough that they could slip onto his arms, then used his own strength to move them. He was thankful that the panels were thin, but strong, as they were not very heavy at all. But he could tell that if they took too many hits, they'd break and he'd be done in by the shards.
All the while, Cortez simply sat upon the throne, watching as his minions fought against the three younger mutants. There was no need for him to get involved, not to mention he had stacked the deck in his favor quite nicely
Junior had sort of forgotten about everyone else when he saw Cortez sitting oh so smug on his... Magneto's thrown. An entire asteroid of mutants thought Junior was responsible for Magg's death and he didn't like the way it felt.
Phinagin steeled himself against the stone woman as she flew towards him. He decided to not just wait for her to arrive he began throwing bone spikes at her as he formed a much larger, spiked bone ball in his other hand. The second it was finished he lobbed it at her.
The stout young woman laughed as she batted the bone spikes away easily. "You're pathetic! How did you fools ever slay Lord Magneto?" She bellowed as she surged downward at Phinagin, her claws glistened in the light as they extended outward from her fingertips.
Rakkus fell upon Junior like a starving dog upon a succulent steak. His claws sought to render flesh from bone, his teeth craved to rip blood from the boy's neck. There was no mistaking a beast when one saw it, Rakkus was as far from humanity as an insect was from architecture. He was a being driven to destroy. He infected his hosts and destroyed them from the inside out, until they became as he was presently, a raving, psychotic beast driven by pure instinct.
Rhydian kept his eyes on Cortez as he defended himself from the weaker of the Acolytes' attacks. They knew who the threats in the room were. They all for the most part seemed to be ignoring him altogether; all the more better for his plan to succeed. He needed to get closer to Cortez, before it was too late.
It was a good thing Junior's phasing ability basically worked on auto response. As Rakkus came for him Junior phased and realized there was some big giant monster trying to eat him.... or something. His anger for Cortez would have to be dealt another time and Junior began focusing on drawing as much energy from Rakkus as he could. Light fixtures don' do much when you've been tortured till your intangible.
Rakkus let out another blood-curdling roar as his prey escaped him. His enormous claws tore into the flooring, tearing it asunder as he desperately searched for Junior. The young mutant's scent filled his senses, he could literally taste the young man simply by the way he smelled. Junior was his prey and there was no escaping this unholy hunter.
A wicked grin crossed Cortez's face as he watched his minions attack the young mutants. It was so hard to find good entertainment these days!
Intangible, Rakkus couldn't touch Junior. He focused on drawing off the beast's exerted kinetic energy, absorbing it and storing it for when he was ready to give it back.
An oddly yellow clad Acolyte stepped forward in front of Rhydian. "Sorry kid, can't letcha get any closer to Lord Cortez." She said in one of the sweetest voices Rhydian had ever heard. She raised her hands and in an instant, slid across the floor and slammed into the young mutant, hard.
With an "OoF!" Rhydian fell over backwards, immediately glad that he had wrapped those metal panels onto his arms, he probably would have broken one if it hadn't been for them. He got to his feet quickly and smirked at her, "Funny, I didn't think he'd let you anywhere near him, Skids. On account of your powers being so weak and all."
"Always the one for banter, aren't you?" The now revealed Skids replied with a smile. She wasn't like the other Acolytes, where her smiles were made through the pain of others. She was actually enjoying the battle simply for that. She enjoyed a challenge and wasn't really about to go and pick a fight with someone she couldn't win against.
Rhydian ran up and slammed his metal-panel covered arm into her. He wasn't at all surprised when the hit didn't even come in contact with her body. "Why are you even hear Skids? Why join these murderers?" He asked her pleadingly. It was evident that the boy had a history with this girl
"From what I hear, you guys are the murderers. You killed Magneto!" Skids replied as her forcefields surged, tossing Rhydian away from her. Her powers may have been deamed 'weak' by Cortez, but she knew how to wield them, unlike most younger mutants. Forcefield generation had it's limits, but it also had it's advantages and she knew them all. She enveloped her feet in a protective forcefield and once more slid across the floor, uneffected by friction, to slam into Rhydian again
Her powers may not be very powerful in the eyes of the Acolytes, but to Rhydian they were dangerous. He was already weakened by the overuse of his own abilities, he couldn't afford to use them again and now the metal panels were actually slowing him down. After being knocked down by Skids yet again, he chose to shake his arms free of the panels. He didn't need to use his powers to fight someone like her. He knew from experience that her forcefields, like everybody else's had their limits. He'd just have to hammer her with enough blows, quickly enough, that he makes it through them.
"That's a good point, especially since we were in our beds when he died." Phinagin said as she dove. He waited till the last second before he executed a quick spin a brought his mace hand up and straight into her face.
The mace smashed into the woman's face, knocking her backwards. Her wings sprang out, grabbing air and hoisting her upwards yet again. When she craned her head back down from the hit, Phinagin could see the damage that he had inflicted to her. There were large chunks missing from her face, where his mace had smashed.
Despite the fact that his prey was now intangible, Rakkus continued to assault the place where Junior had been. His claws tore deep gashes into the metal flooring, desperately seeking his target
Junior couldn't believe how dumb this thing was, he was now above the monster, using his phasing abilities to cling to the ceiling of the room. As it continued to tear and rip at Junior's former location he lashed out with what energy he'd already drained from Rakkus and became tangible so he could shoot a solid beam. He held his palms together, outward at the beast and fired a searing white arc that illuminated the entire room.
Phinagin smiled when he saw the damage he had done. "You know, I could recommend a few good sculptors that could redo that face of yours. Maybe even put something attractive on."
As the white arc scorched through his body, Rakkus let out an ungodly screech of pain. He arched his monstrous head upwards, searching for the cause of such agony. There was a huge smoldering chunk missing from the center of his body, but it did not seem to hinder him at all. Saliva surged from his mouth as he searched for his prey. Damage to his body concerned him not when he was on the hunt. He would repair.
Gargouille roared and lashed out at Phinagin with renewed ferocity. Her claws extended and she flew straight into him, aiming to tear the eyes from his skull.
"Not much in this one's repertoire is there?" Phinagin asked himself as she dove towards him. He readied himself for when she reached him so he could hopefully smack her to the ground and then he would be able to take her out of the fight.
Bringing her legs down as she got close enough to strike Phinagin, she was preparing herself for the strike she knew was coming. He'd smash her into the floor, but she'd be ready
As she brought her legs down to attack, Phinagin quickly reached up with his usable hand and grabbed her around the ankle. Once he had a hold of her he started to spin her around like a centrifuge.
The spin move caught Gargouille off guard. She was expecting him to attack her face as he had done previously. These children indeed were worthy opponents. Her tail whipped out faster than most could see and snapped him in the face, despite being spun like a centrifuge.
The tail strike caught Phinagin off guard and destroyed the bone armor on his face and cut through the skin. He let out an angry growl and quickly slammed her into the floor. Upon hitting the floor he swung her back over his head, still holding onto her ankle, and whipped her into the floor on the other side of him. He repeated this process continuously.
Junior concentrated on staying out of Rakkus line of sight, but being effectively invisible and intangible he didn't have much of a problem doing it. He saw that his bolt had damaged him but it was also obvious he was going to have to hit him with something a lot bigger. He began siphoning more and more of Rakkus' energy, trying again to drain off as much as he could, turning up his absorption ability even more.
Cortez could no longer just sit and watch as his most Elite Acolytes were being beaten as if they were weaklings! He had gathered together the strongest and most fearsome of the soldiers to serve as his personal guard. A crazed look crossed his face as he got to his feet. Stretching his arms outward, his body began to glow in a strange sort of energy; he aimed an arm at Gargouille, and the other at the rampaging Rakkus. The same energy that covered his body enveloped the two mutants and seemed as though to strength them.
The hole in Rakkus' body sealed shut in only a heartbeat. He craned his massive neck upward and looked at the ceiling, drool dripping from his mouth as though he could actually sense his prey's presence there now, despite the fact the boy was invisible and intangible.
Grabbing a hold of the ground as she was smashed into it, Gargouille rent massive tears into the metallic flooring, pulling it up effortlessly as Phinagin swung her towards the opposite side of himself. This time however would end differently as she brought the massive metal paneling along with her, slamming it into the boy's back as he went to slam her to the floor again.
Rhydian was having enough difficulties staying on his feet from whatever was happening with his powers, let alone what Skids kept doing to him. As the other Acolytes grew stronger from Cortez's influence, he knew what he had to do to stay alive. But first he had to get past Skids, and her forcefields weren't going to make that any easier.
"Ready to give up?" Skids asked him as she skated towards him again. Nothing could touch her inside of her forcefield, it was odd to see a forcefield not be effected by even friction, but that was her specialty; and that was what gave her the right to be on Master Cortez's elite squad.
"Shut up!" Rhydian demanded as he reached deep into himself and somehow pulled out the strength to bring the flooring up and smash her between it. He knew with her shields, she wouldn't be squished like the others he had done it to. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her, the other Acolytes he'd felt no remorse for, but Skids...Skids was a friend who had chosen the wrong side.
Now that Rakkus had an idea of where he was Junior went on the move. Keeping as far away from Rakkus' head as he could he continued to drain as much energy as he could and really hoped he didn't start glowing.
Phinagin saw the metal sheet coming but didn't have enough time to react. All he got out was "Crap." before it smashed into him and put him to the ground. This sudden hit caused him to let go of her to recover.
Gargouille cartwheeled from Phinagin's grasp as if she had been doing so her entire life. She tossed the metal panel away when she landed and gracefully turned back towards him. Leaping through the air, she pounced on him like a hungry lion upon a fleeting gazelle.
Rakkus crouched slightly and then leaped into the air, digging his massive talons into the panels of the ceiling. It mattered not which direction they were during the hunt, he was capable of transcending any surface in his present state. Besides, if his current form did not suit his purposes, he was quite capable of reconfiguring anyway.
Phinagin's first instinct was to produce bone spikes all over his body to fend off the attacker, but her being stone kept him from enacting that plan. Instead he quickly fixed any holes in his armor and began blocking her hits with the shield on his arm and bashing at her with the mace.
Gargouille smacked his pathetic excuse for a weapon away, now that she had an energy boost and the upper hand, his abilities were no longer cause for much concern. A wicked smile crossed her face as she scratched at his faceplate. "I bet you're an attractive one, beneath all that armor." Her tongue slipped out and licked her dry cracked lips. It had been ages since she had been with someone worthy enough of her
Phinagin continued to reinforce his faceplate under her scratching as he thought up a plan. He stopped fighting for a few seconds as a smile formed hidden under this mask. Suddenly bone burst forth from his chest piece and began to wrap itself around Gargouille. Around and around it went attempting to wrap her up from neck to toe.
Junior's eyes widened at seeing Rakkus begin to reconfigure himself. He was defiantly not going to phase threw the ceiling any time soon. He could fell his cup running over with energy he was draining from Rakkus but he continued to absorb, he had to take this thing out in one shot if he could.
Jeremy could hear noise, pounding sounding above his head as he drifted aimlessly through the ship. He'd come across more strangeness while doing this than he'd ever thought he could find in one place. He looked upwards, then flew up through the floor, finding himself in the middle of the throne room... and a fight.
The encasing bone wrap took Gargouille by surprise. When it constricted her arms to her body, she leapt backwards, away and off of him. She struggled against the ever growing bones, willing them to snap beneath her strength, but to no avail.
In a state of cold, heartless instinct and fury, Rakkus began tearing great chunks from the ceiling. He dug his talons deep into the rock and tore massive chunks free. Years of work on this spectacular throne room was destroyed in seconds by this raving monster in search of his prey. If he couldn’t sense the man-child, he was going to make it impossible for him to hide
Seeing his friends holding their own, Rhydian turned his attention onto the biggest threat in the room. This fight would never end as long as Cortez could continually empower his Acolytes. Skids was down for the moment, he knew it wouldn’t hold her for long though. If she got out, then he’d be occupied again. He had to put an end to this and he had to do it now. Summoning the last bit of his strength, he surged himself forward to Cortez on a wave of animated flooring. He fell at the tyrant’s feet and did what no one expected from an X-man. “Please, Lord Cortez, call them off. You want the other X-men, I’ll give them to you on a silver platter.” He was desperate, his friends had no idea what was going on in him, nobody even seemed to care as of late. Cortez was the answer he had been searching for. Whatever the man asked for as payment, he’d give it to him.
Phinagin leapt up off the ground and was prepared to lay waste to Gargouille when he heard Rhydian. He froze and turned to stare in amazement towards the spectacle before his face contorted in rage.
Jeremy turned around, dashing towards his friends, trying to get himself seen by Rhydian, Phinagin or Junior; he couldn't hear them all very well, specially over the racket the large creature was making by ripping stuff out of the room.
Junior was doing his best to remain out of sight but his energy began spilling over. He felt as if his body was going to burst. He needed to manifest it somehow before the unthinkable happened and he couldn't aim his attack. He could hurt Rhydian and Phinagin if he lost control. So he did the simplest thing he knew how to do, instead of string the energy in his body he transferred it into a ball, using his body as a converter instead. The down side was that he now had a basketball sized orb following him around and he couldn't make it invisible or intangible.
Cortez looked at the boy curiously. "You'd really betray them? What's the catch?" He asked, surely there had to be a price for such a service. Nothing so incredible comes cheap
"I...I don't have much choice now do I?" Rhydian replied rather weakly. "If we keep fighting, you'll just keep recharging your Acolytes until we collapse from exhaustion. I'll give you the whole team, if you do something small for me."
Jeremy was flailing like mad at his friends, trying to somehow attract their attention... but giving up soon. He couldn't do anything like this, so he quickly turned and made his way out of the throne room, trying to find the labs so he could get the others.
"Ah. There's always a price, isn't there? But why should I waste my time with you, when my Acolytes can take them apart piece by traitorous piece?" Cortez demanded of the small X-man.
"Because they trust me. I can get closer to them without raising questions and defenses, can your men do that?" Rhydian shot back. He didn't bother to look at his two friends in the room. He knew what must be going through their heads right now...but it was necessary. "You do one thing for me, and I'll bring you all the X-men."
Cortez's face contorted into a sly grin. "Very well, boy. Name your price."
"You fucking bastard!" Junior roared and almost wasted his growing energy orb on Rhydian. Instead he continued saving it for Rakkus, he could kick Rhydian's ass without it but Rakkus was a more immediate threat to him at the moment.
Rhydian looked over his shoulder at his friends. He didn't want to discuss this where they could hear what was wrong. He didn't want them to know..."Is there somewhere else we can discuss this, Lord Cortez? I don't wish for them to hear.."
Phinagin made a decision. Seeing Gargouile fairly occupied he turned and began making his way towards Rhydian and Cortez. First time out and someone tries to sell him out. The hell he was going to let it happen.
Cortez looked at the little X-man curiously. The smirk formed on his face eagerly. "Certainly, as long as you're capable of paying my price, I'll listen to your proposal." He gestured to the other doorway in the chamber. The door led to Magneto's Annex, though Cortez preferred to call it his own.
Rhydian followed the new Lord of Avalon quickly, wanting to get distance between himself and the others as quickly as possible. He knew what it must look like, but he didn't have any other choice
Junior had had it. Seeing Rhydian run after Cortez like that something happened that had never happened before. The orb he had been working so hard on to manifest began to swell unimaginably, fueled by his rage. He was done playing with Rakkus and the energy became more and more unstable as it grew. Finally he threw the thing at Rakkus and hurried for Phinagin. If it exploded he wanted to be no where near it.
Phinagin broke into a run as he saw them walking into the other room. He started creating a bone wedge in hopes of being able to keep the door from closing, but the way it was going he didnt believe that he would make it in time.
With a loud defiant roar, Rakkus's body was incinerated by Junior's blast. A small piece of his tail fell towards the floor of the throne room, aiming for the man who was wedged in the floor by his opponent's phasing abilities. Somehow the man was still alive despite that fact. Rakkus's body was dead, he needed a new host, and any living body would do
The doors to the annex sealed shut with a loud PSSHT. The bone wedge crumbled in between the doors as though it were nothing.
Gargouille hissed and slammed herself into a wall, hoping the sturdiness of metal along with her super strength would be enough to break free of the bindings
"Damn!" Phinagin yelled as the bone wedge was destroyed. He heard the bone wrap he had on Gargouille begin to crack and splinter as she hit the wall, this brought him back to the first at hand. He spun around and charged towards her with his bone mace fist ready to pound her. He was dedicated to finishing this quickly and getting off this asteroid before Rhydian had a chance to sell them out.
A blood chilling scream could be heard coming from Magneto's Annex, to those who knew the boy, it was obviously Rhydian's
Junior was loping on all fours towards the doors to Magneto's annex and of course he tried to phase threw, not breaking stride. That was ultimately a bad idea because the door resisted his phasing ability and Junior slammed right into the doors. For a guy who was used to traveling without resistance it came as quite a shock, but only for a second before the pain exploded in his skull. He'd taken out Rakkus all by himself and now the thing that done him in was a set of doors. Leave it up to Magneto to find a metal Junior couldn't phase threw.
Phinagin stopped as he heard Rhydian's scream. He didn't know if he was glad that he was being punished for betraying them or if he was angered that someone was hurting his classmate, but either way he was getting inside. That is when he got a great idea as he finally made his way over to Gargouille. He quickly reinforced his bone bindings around her taking great care to bind her wings and legs. He then put himself straight in front of the doors, took three quick spins and flung her at the door as hard as he could. He threw hard enough that he ended up in the floor, looking up to see if he had hit his mark.
Gargouille landed with a sound thump against the doors, crumpling down on top of Junior. There was a sizable dent in the doors, though it showed no sign of giving.
Seeing the dent gave Phinagin hope. He ran up to the doors and began beating on them with his bone mace which he had enlarged a bit.
The large metal doors parted smoothly, despite the massive dent. With a wave of his hand, Rhydian sent a wall panel smacking into Phinagin's face before the bone mace could hit him.
If Junior had been conscious before Gargoyle collided with him he wasn't now. He was smack in the middle, defenseless and unaware of what was going on around him.
Phinagin was knocked back hard. He stumbled several feet before falling onto his back. The blow was hard enough to shatter his mask and do some damage to his face. He started to pull himself back onto his feet as he spit out some blood onto the floor. He looked at Rhydian with a look of pure hatred, "You traitorous little bastard. What do you think is going to happen once you hand us over?"
Rhydian's hands reached outwards, the walls forming into massive replications of his own hands and arms. He was manipulating the metal in the room, trying to keep from using other materials at the moment. He knew Phinagin's bones were strong enough to break rocks, but it was clear from the doors that they didn't do too well against metal. "I get what I want." He told Phinagin with a smirk. Everything he has done since coming to this asteroid was to ensure he obtains what he was seeking.
Phinagin knew that if Rhydian got a hold of him he wouldn't have a chance. Making a sudden move he dashed forward and made to grab Junior. His plan was to make a break for the elevator shaft and get away, let Rhydian stay and kiss Cortez's feet.
The walls around the elevator closed in around it, sealing it shut. "You're not getting away that easily, Phinagin. There's something I need to do." Rhydian told him as the metal hands reached out to ensnare the bone manipulator
Cursing as his escape route closed and the hands came at him. He tried to dodge out of the way but was still caught. He let go of Junior before he got caught up to reduce the chance of being crushed. "How are you going to get the others? And if you do get them here you know Waya will tear you in half."
"None of you have any idea what I'm capable of. Waya doesn't scare me anymore." Rhydian told him rather coldly. Truth be told, he stopped caring about what Waya thought after that mind flash she sent to everyone.
With a snarl Phinagin lobbed his bone mace at him in a futile attempt to distract him. Once the mace had left his hand he began putting all his strength into opening the giant hand.
Junior felt as if he'd gone on a three day bender with Tony Stark. His head was pounding a nail somewhere deep inside his skull and the moment he tried to lift himself or open his eyes that nail drove even deeper. He was only aware that something was terribly wrong but he couldn't call his muscles into action.
Rhydian wasn't about to let Junior get out of the metal hand. He gathered the metal from the Annex doors and reinforced the hand that was holding Junior's unconscious body. A wave of flooring and ceiling material surged forward to deflect Phinagin's flying bone mace. The hand gripping Phinagin suddenly fluctuated and became a bubble of seemingly liquid metal, enveloping the boy entirely, just as the vibranium one had done with Junior. He had wasted enough time testing out his strengths. He had the first two pieces, now he must collect the others.
The sounds of twisting metal reached Junior's ears and he finally managed to open his eyes. This wasn't good. Not one bit. He admitted that things between he and Rhydian hadn't been great lately but this was crazy. "What happened Rhydian?" Junior groaned "When did Cortez put you in his pocket?"
"None of you understand." Rhydian said quietly as he sealed the air from the metal trappings. Not even Junior could survive without oxygen. He'd wait just long enough for them to fall unconscious before letting air go back. But he certainly wasn't about to hand them over to Cortez in fighting condition. He'd just sick his Acolytes on them again, and in their weakened state, they wouldn't stand a chance against whoever he has left.
As though hearing someone think of him, Cortez chose this moment to exit the Annex. "Ah. I see you already have two of them. Will you be this efficient in capturing the others?"
Rhydian looked over his shoulder at the ruler. "More so. These two knew I was coming for them. The others won't expect it." With that said, he lowered the metal traps to the floor and cracked his neck. "Do you know where they are currently? Or must I search the asteroid?"
"You'll find them on their way here from the laboratories, more than likely. They were last seen there at least." Cortez informed him smugly. "Bring them to me, and you shall have your reward."
Rhydian turned on him quickly, gesturing to how his friends were ensnared. "I thought I already had that? What have you done?!"
"A little insurance. You wanted it to be permanent, did you really think I'd give you such a gift without having something of my own?!" Cortez laughed at him. "Fool! When you bring me the rest of the genetraitors, then and only then will I make my gift permanent on you. Betray me and I shall take it back."
Rhydian growled and clenched his fists. He hadn't planned on a double cross from Cortez. Now he really had no choice but to do as the maniac demanded of him. He needed this to be permanent. He didn't have a choice..."Fine. I'll bring them here. They won't know what hit them." He explained as he moved for the elevator that had brought them to this room in the first place. He took it quickly down to asteroid-m
Stumble!