X Men: The Fortunate IC

Hobgoblin

He stared at the monitors, all was in place, no sign of The Hand, there was no guards, the only obstacles the doors which was not locked, just closed. The only sign of habitance being that of the old man. He was in his room, seemingly meditating. His tongue flicked out like a snake's. He looked back to make sure that Gambit was still in place. His attention went back to the monitors,

"Well well, how interesting to see lovers quarrel. The professor sent his three strongest with another and so far all I have seen is discontent."

Of course his observation only started when the team had left the plane, but to him their actions was plain as day. He had seen it many times before and had in his alternate persona done the same to the webhed and his lover. A wicked grin ran over his face,

"Very soon you will be free of restraint Mr LeBeau, then you can go your merry way as well."

The woods around the warehouse was thick and dense, making the relatively short trip to the western side slow. Even with the brightness of the moon overhead, quick flash of light would slice through the darkness from Scott's flashlight as he looked for secure footing. He woud stop at intervals just to look and listen. The lack of guards posted around the perimeter made him uneasy and left his with a sense that the team was up against someone that felt strong enough not to need them. He started to second guess his decision to split from the group, but shrugged off the feel and kept moving forward.

He stopped at the edge of the forest and took a good long look at the structure. Still seeing no outside guards, he began to wonder if whoever was inside had been using other means to prtect the compound. Were there cameras, microphones, or even booby traps set up close to the entrances? Would there be state of the art security locks on the doors and windows? All of these unanswered questions caused his heart to thud in his chest as he stepped out of cover and into the clearing that surrounded the warehouse.

He crouched low and slowly made his way to the closest wall, stopping to once again look and listen. He needed to get into position soon, so keeping his back against the block exterior, he slid along its length to the corner. Crouching again, he peered around the corner, and grew even more uneasy at seeing no guards.

Jean shook her head in frustration as Scott started off on his own. Stubborn man.

She sighed softly and looked back at Logan and Rogue.

"Well I guess we better do this thing and get the hell out of here," she spoke quietly as she reached forward and scanned the area with her mind.

A frown crossed her pretty face and her lips pressed together firmly.

"No guards, something's not right," she whispered as she looked at Logan, "I don't like this."

Logan scented the air. "Aint been anyone out here for a long while. They didn't bring Gambit through this entrance Darlin and there's no defensive grids up either. I am definitely not liking this. You don't need my nose to smell trap on this one. Guarantee we are being watched even now and are expected so stealth is out. I say we go in hard and fast and try to get to him as fast as possible. Better warn Scott as well. He is going to be walking into it as well and he has no backup. Safest thing for him would be to get back here."

High alert, we may need backup

Jean hoped he paid attention. Scott could be so focused on a mission he didn't bother to think outside the box.

"If we go in and get in trouble, he's our back up. If he gets in trouble one of us can split off and be his backup," she looked between the two of them. Rogue seemed supremely irritated.

"Let's just go," she started towards the building quietly. She watched Logan move through the woods beside her, she always liked the way he looked out here, natural and more primal than usual. A shudder ran down her spine and she yanked herself out of the little daydream that had started. Now was not the time to let Phoenix out to play. She was going to stay locked up tight for a very long time if Jean had any say in the matter.

She unconsciously grit her teeth, feeling the power roiling beneath her conscious mind.

Must stay in control, she reminded herself.

Logan ran through the woods loving the feeling of freedom he had. He loved the Canadian woods, it was like coming home for him and he didn't care that he was here on a mission. He was still scenting the air as he went though and the closer he got to the building the worse his hackles rose up. He still couldn't get a single human scent but there was something faint in the air that was tickling his hind brain. He knew that smell but it was too faint to place but he knew it meant bad news.

"Jean," he thought, "Something is really wrong. I got something but it is too faint. It is stirring up a faint memory though and I know it means bad things."

"This ain't right y'all... Something real bad is going on here..."

Rouge's voice was low but there was a tightness to her tone that spoke of her agitation. Her sixth sense was kicking into overdrive, a supreme sense of paranoia sweeping over her. Usually her senses weren't wrong, and it was easy to smell this trap from a mile away. Normally this would have been a good time to back down but it seemed like they were going to walk into this thing one way or another. Retrieving this Gambit person must have been pretty high priority if they were walking into such and obvious trap. All she could hope for however was that they would be able to get in and out without anyone ending up worse for wear.

But things like this were pretty much like sticking your arm in a lobster trap and trying to yank it back out. It could be done but more likely then not someone was getting hurt. She couldn't shake that nagging feeling in the back of her mind and as she glanced at both Jean and Logan in turn she could sense their unease as well.

"Were in some deep shit..."

Jean's hackles rose as they entered the perimeter. She thought for a moment that maybe splitting up again would be more beneficial but dismissed it. They would probably need each other to pull this off successfully.

Let's just get Gambit and get the hell out of here

She took a deep breath as they approached a loading dock door. She sensed nothing, nothing was always a bad thing. She looked at Logan and Rogue meaningfully before pulling the door open.

It was dark, very dark. Ever fiber of her body was trying to read the situation, she mentally kept track of Logan and Rogue in her mind's eye. She reached out, feeling for an unknown presence, she found Gambit's train of thought and read for a moment before doing anything else.

We're here, I brought an old friend.

She sent him flashes of the team, trying to tell him they were on his side and were going to help him. If he was in a position to fight back, hopefully he realized this was the time to do it.

Basement, lock down. Follow me, she directed Logan and Rogue.

She could see the bunker like room where Gambit was being held. The door, heavy steel, the concrete walls, and then a short burst of interference. Something wasn't right. Gambit wasn't fighting at all, he had either given up or been immobilized.

Just keep holding on.

Logan followed Jean in then dashed into the shadows. First rule, don't outline yourself. Easy way to get picked off. He began to creep forward testing the air and listening for any movement but still there was nothing. Then a faint breeze from outside blew across the ceiling and back out again bringing that stench with it. This time he got a proper smell and he immediately remembered where he had smelled that before. The bloody undead Hand Ninjas. No wonder Jean hadn't sensed anyone, there was no one living to sense.

"Jean we're in deep. It's the Hand, of the undead kind. Can't give you an exact count but these guys always travel in big packs. Warn the kids and be prepared. They should be dropping in soon. Remember, lethal force is okay with these guys."

Logan popped his claws and moved forward, itching for the fight ahead where he could really cut loose.

"We're stepping in more shit than a blind cowboy at a cattle ranch..."

Rouge's voice was soft, though in theory there was probably no need. If they were indeed walking into a trap that consisted of Hand ninja then it was more than likely that they had already been spotted. The element of surprise was definitely off the table so this was just about to be a full out battle that came down to a good old fashioned stand-off. Still she stuck to the shadows, slinking forward just behind Jean and Logan. She wasn't to worried about having someone watching her back. Her sixth sense had that covered for her. It was a rare day when anyone got the drop on her and even if they did they would have hell to pay if their first shot wasn't the only one they needed to take her down.

Everything about this screamed that it was a trap. It had to be. The lack of guards patroling coupled with no discernable surveilance were all signs that whoever was holding this Gambit wanted them to make it inside. Once they were in there the trap would be sprung and the fight would commence.

Scott thought about heading back to regroup with the others, but he was sure that they were already either in position, or knowing Logan and Jean, on their way inside. He took a deep breath and started toward the door. He carefully reached for the handle and turned, finding it unlocked and opening easily. The inside was pitch black so he fished his flashlight from his pocket and turned it on quickly to have a look around. The door had opened into a corridor that seemed to lead downhill to a lower level. There were no doors off of its side, so he walked carefully forward, keeping al of his senses on high alert and made his way inside.

Jean slowed her breathing and just tried to feel with her body. She knew what kind of damage the undead ninjas were capable of. She was at a disadvantage, not being able to sense them and in the dark so she couldn't lock on to their physical form and manipulate them.

She would have to play bait to draw them out, someone had to. She looked at Logan, he was close by her left side. He wouldn't like this idea, but it was really all they had. Someone would have to break away and get Gambit out and there was no way they could carve through a pack of ninjas before who ever was holding him would kill him. He was alone currently, and they needed to use the opportunity.

Now or never.

cover me Logan


She stepped out into the open and waited. The flurry of activity around her started instantly. Her hands and body moved of their own accord; smashing, punching, kicking. She was practiced and swift. She knew she had back up and she also knew that she needed it. Her physical body was performing at peak but her mind was tired. She was throwing ninjas off of herself and off the others, giving them much needed space as they moved through the room.

Her fist connected with something and she felt the bite of a blade down the back of her shoulder blade.

"Ahhh fuck."

She slammed her knee into his gut and disarmed him by wrenching his sword wielding arm behind him. Now it was more even. She was practiced with a blade and cut down a few more before she found herself getting overwhelmed. A sweat was forming on her brow as she fought internally. The Phoenix was all but screaming forth into her conscious mind, and she was starting to feel the split in her own head. It was overwhelming.

Hobgoblin watched and waited, then the team of three stepped into the room and The Hand appeared. The general mass of their attack was directed at the metal clawed Wolverine, as fast and as strong as he was, they were starting to weigh him down.

He giggled in anticipation of the reward if they managed to subdue the Wolverine, the red headed leader did seem to be a bit of a problem, but so far she only managed to do some minimal damage, the other one was quite more adapt, her attacks seemed to do much more damage than anticipated. With a sick leer, he produced a pumpkin bomb, activated it and threw it, of course she dodged the projectile, that much he had anticipated, the sound concussion would hurt her ears though. It went off with a loud...hiss? What? Why was it...

"NO!"

It was a gasbomb, it was practically harmless against these lot, he danced from foot to foot, fists in the air, shaking them in futility.

Jean could sense Hobgoblin in the distance. And as much as she wanted to put him in his place she couldn't leave Logan to fight alone.

"Yah!" She flung a few ninjas against the far wall with a wave of her hand to get them out of the way.

She was panting from the exertion when she felt a small piece of Phoenix slip forward.

"No!" She audibly cried out as she pinned a ninja against the ground and drove her sword through his throat.

It was too late. She felt her body heating up and her conscious retreating.

As she turned around her hands lit up like fireballs.

"Logan..." her voice was panicked.

Her entire body levitated and the fire consumed her. The power flooded through her like a crashing wave. It almost felt good to let it take her. It radiated from her propelling the 12 or so ninjas that rushed her, away and burning them to ash.

There were a few left but they retreated from her, even ignoring Logan.

Jean surged forward with the last of her energy, falling lightly to her knees a few feet from her teammate.

Rouge slipped a bit away from the group, positioning herself so she could clearly see her target. He seemed to be rather oddly positioned, but then again he was the bait in one big trap. She allowed a small smile to show on her face for the first time. At least she was going to get to take her frustrations out. The only thing better that a bubble bath for relieving her stress was whooping some undead ninja ass. She watched quietly as Jean entered the room, immediately drawing heat. Grateful for the distraction she slipped forth, entering the room swiftly.

The moment she passed through the doorway her sixth sense kicked into overdrive. She had originally intended to make her way across the room as quickly as she could, free Gambit, and then lend a hand with the battle. But it looked like that wasn't how it was going to go. She had barely passed Jean when her instincts practically screamed for her to duck. Not bothering to slow she dipped into roll, barely escaping the sweep of a blade. Placing both palms on the ground she pushed of in a handspring turning her body nimbly in the air to snap a kick into the face of a descending assailant. Since there wasn't a big thing about non-lethal combat at the moment she put a good deal of her strength behind it, smiling as he felt the bones of the ninjas neck snap like twigs.

She fought her way towards the chair like a hellion, rarely pausing in her movements. She was a whirl of movement, spinning and flipping about. Through it all she never once used her hands for anything other than momentary support or to block a blade or two. The fact that she had no weapon didn't bother her much, nor did the fact that her opponents did. One of the many useful things that she had gained by absorbing Carol Danvers was the now nearly indestructible nature of her body. The blades simply bounced right off of her.

Breaking free of the ninjas she sprinted the last few feet. Tucking her hair behind her ears she tried to appear as comforting as possible to the male. Her eyes quickly scanned the chair studying the bindings. They seemed simple enough to undo and she was glad for the gloves he wore since they would shield more of his skin from her touch. She disappeared behind him working rapidly at the restraints and soon she had freed his arms. Standing she appraised the situation before speaking to him softly.

"Il est maintenant temps de se venger chérie..."

Rouge cracked her knuckles before brushing a few strands of hair out of her face. There was one other bonus. She could speak fluent French.

Logan was in his element. As soon as the hand had started dropping and popping out of their hiding spaces he had started to rip into them. For once he did not have to hold back and his claws did their lethal work. Body parts were sent flying and heads rolled. He blocked swords and cut down arrows, but blunt weapons he did not even bother with, letting his body absorb the blows and his adrenalin and healing factor deal with the consequences.

They seemed to concentrate on him and he was fine with that as it made destroying them easier. He was getting crowded and he saw they were trying to take him down by sheer numbers alone and he was being forced further away from Jean. Then he heard her voice in his head.

"Logan..."

He turned and saw her levitate up and burst into flames. Damn the Phoenix had taken over again. She flung a number of Hand surrounding her away and they turned to ash but she stumbled and went down collapsing in a heap.

"Jean", he yelled as the Hand backed off a little. he began to make his way towards her shredding everything in his way but he saw the Hobgoblin on his glider start to make his way towards her as well.
"Rogue stop that glider."

"On it...!"

Rouge nodded towards Logan her gaze drifting towards Jean and the glider. She wasn't going to be able to intercept that thing on foot. But maybe there was another way. A small smile curved her lips and she to a few steps forward before turning around. Taking of at a run she retraced her steps to the chair. Jumping she kicked stepped up onto Gambits leg before pivoting to kick off of the arm of the chair. Her body gave the familiar tingle as she nullified gravity for her body and took flight. Clenching her fists she flew towards the glider. But as she drew closer a cluster of Hand ninja dropped into her path.

"Y''all are gonna have to do better than that to stop little ole me..."

Gritting her teeth she began to feel the heat building up behind her eyes. As always she could sense when powers she had absorbed before were coming to the surface. But this was one she hadn't felt before. With a sudden flare a bright green light surrounded her hands and filled her eyes with a strange glow. Somewhere in her mind memories of the power came to the surface. It was another power she had drained from the former Ms. Marvel, her concussive blasts. Whether she could control it was a matter that she would soon put to the test. Clenching her fist she tried to focus the energy, tapping into Carol's memories for the key. Soon she was able to focus the energy and with leveling herself into a hover she fired a sweeping blast that flung the Ninja's into the wall. Reigning it in she focused aiming at the rear of the glider. Calling upon her seventh sense to track the gliders movements she aimed at where she knew it would be by the time the blase would clear the space and fired a single blast.

The hallway emptied into a large room tha had no lighting. Scott panned the beam of his light slowly around the walls, and started a bit as it fell on a dark figure, in the corner opposite him. He was just about to yell a command to freeze, when out of nowhere a blow from a foot smacked his wrist and sent the flashlight skidding across the floor. He turned toward where he thought the attack had came from when he felt a blow from a different direction impact the back of his head, sending him toppling to the floor. Out of instinct, his hand went to his goggles and he fired a blast at his attacker, the red glow of the optic blast illuminating the room momentarily. There were at least five or six ninja-looking guys steadily moving towards him. He was shocked and frightened by the fact that even as quickly as they moved, they made virtually no sound.

The room decended into darkeness again and he fired another blast at the last position he saw one of them moving and watched as his head burst into flames and his body fell backward where he stood. Scott had no time to celebrate as withing seconds there were three more closing in on him. The flames of the ninja's burning flash and clothing shed just enough light for Scott to see the foot from one of his attackers fly toward and impact his chest, sending him flying backward into he wall. Pain shot through his whole body and he almost swore that his skull had cracked from the impact. In an stant there were several more repeated strikes to his face and abdomen, and Scott flailed and punched wildly at the air finding nothing. He tried to rech his goggles again, but howled in pain as a blade from somewhere rang as it left its sheath and stabbed through the palm of his right hand. Another kick to the face, then to the chest. Scott was struggling to stay on his feet. He couldn't see, his head pounded and throbbed, his breaths were labored and his hand felt like it was on fire.

As his attackers beat and pummeled him, he could feel a darkness clouding his mind. He could feel his conciousness slipping as he now just fought to stay alive. He had started to resign himself to the fact that this was his last mission, his last fight, his last everything. The team would have to find a new leader, and Jean...

Jean would need him. She would be devastated, and it would be his fault. He had taken it upon himself to split from the team. He had let his anger and jealousy cloud his judgement, and now he and Jean would have to pay for that mistake. "Maybe she would be better off." he thought for a split second before screaming with all of the force he could muster "NOOO!"

With every ounce of strength he had left he grabbed his goggles with his left hand and ripped them from his face. The room instantly illuminated bright red and skin, and bone popped and sizzled as his attackers flew backward from the blast. Scott swept his head wildly from side to side basting concrete, steel, flesh and anything else in his close proximity.

His glider came to him on command, the one who had ducked his gas grenade slipped passed the ninjas and headed for the chair. The show of power though had caught him by surprise, but it seemed like it drained her, but that power! He swooped towards her,

"The woman! Get her!"

With reflexes that placed him on par with Spiderman, took the blast to the glider, flipping into a back sumersault, kicking the failing glider away from him, but directly towards Wolverine. The resulting explosion slamming into the mutant, by then the Hand ninjas was converging on Jean. Hobgoblin turned on the flying female and threw a brace of bombs towards her. He knew of the thick skin, he had noticed the blades breaking on her.

The bombs rocked the floor of the building, the same time that red light blasted through the walls. Hobgoblin chuckled and turned to see the ninjas swarming the red headed woman. The Wolverine already started to recover, he pressed the hidden button to call the back-up glider

As soon as gambit realized he was free to rip the power draining gloves off, he did that immediately. He smiled at the girl who freed him, before tipping his head, saying, "Trop à droite, vous êtes, amoureux." He dropped down to one knee, placing his fingertips on the floor, as he called upon his powers. He knew it would take him some time, but he thankfully had found a way to channel his powers faster than what most people thought he could do.

As soon as the bombs hit, Gambit released the energy flow that he had built up, targeting the nearest Hand ninjas, watching them suddenly disintegrate from the explosions he had created inside of their bodies. He stood up, pulling out the deck of cards he always kept handy, as he charged each one, before starting to move through the melee, throwing the charged cards with unerring accuracy. He knew they wouldn't kill any of the ninjas, as the cards could only hold so much power, but he also knew that the ones he distracted would end up being killed by Wolverine.

Jean could see the battle unfolding around her.but the split occurring in her mind made it impossible for her to do anything. She was fighting so hard her body couldn't take it. She tried to get up and get to Logan but she barely managed to stand before the ninjas surrounded her and Hob swept towards her on a glider.

The explosion threw her body farther away from her teammates and towards Hob. She couldn't let Phoenix take her. Her sheer will was the only thing keeping her from passing out. She threw a few feeble punches but she might as well have been mired in quicksand. The Hand deflected him easily and moved to grab her.

Logan could feel himself slipping into a berserker rage. He knew he had to get to Jean but the sheer volume of Ninjas was preventing him. With a primal howl he began to cut loose. When functioning at this level he focused on the one goal and blocked everything else out, however he was still highly functional in his fighting capabilities. All his senses drew together to make him a perfect killing machine. Beast had once monitored his brain waves while he was in this state and the results were the same as if he was a chess champion playing five opponents simultaneously while performing brain surgery.

Body parts flew and ash rained down as ninjas disintegrated around him. He was almost running towards Jean now and nothing was surviving in his way, but he saw he was not going to be in time. The hand had surrounded Jean and she was too weakened to put up a fight.
"Jeeeeaaaaannnnnn!!!!!" he yelled at the top of his lungs in anguish and redoubled his efforts even though he was sure they were in vain. Someone was going to die a very slow death and his eyes now focused on the Hobgoblin.

Rouge had found herself confronted with another set of Hand ninja and while preparing herself to deal with them her sixth sense kicked in again. She blasted through the ninja and turned just a fraction of a second before the bombs exploded. Normally they wouldn't have been more than a nuisance to her and she was prepared to blast them when the bright redd flare ripped through the wall. That moment of distraction cost her and she barely managed to get her arms up before the bombs exploded. The impact tossed her backwards and into a column with enough force to crack the stone structure and send it toppling down onto her.

She was trapped beneath the rubble, having lost consciousness when her head slammed against the column. A flare of green light erupted from her body filling the air with dust. A small cluster of Hand ninjas turned their attention to her once more but before they could advance several small blasts ripped through the room. The dust dispersed as Rouge stepped forward moving slowly. The green glow in her eyes had intensified and the energy surrounding her hands had taken on the shape of blades. Being knocked out had triggered her secondary personality, which while it was good for her, was going to end really badly for the ninjas. She floated slightly of the ground waiting patiently as more ninja swarmed towards her. Tilting her head to the side she flashed forward, forgoing the traditional blasts in favor of straight up slicing. She cut her way through body after body.

Hobgoblin

The ninjas withdrew and seemed to disappear back into the shadows, with them the red-headed woman who held power far beyond what was expected. Hobgoblin drew his last grenade and threw it at Wolverine, it did not explode, but erupted into harmless smoke once more,

"I really have to label that shit..."

His comment which was meant for himself was disrupted as he found himself hemmed in by Wolverine who was coming at him with muderous intent and the woman who didn't seem quite at ease with her powers. Even the Cajun was there, there wasn't much in a way to go for him now,

"Come now Remy, I didn't do much to you. Didn't een steal your winnings."

He giggled as he tried to back away from Wolverine, he knew that even with his hightened reflexes, strength and speed he was no match for him. The woman perhaps and the Cajun could be taken down in single combat. His giggle turned into a nervous laugh as he was surrounded with no place to go.

"C'mon guys, I didn't hurt anybody...much."

That seemed to be a joke as his face split into a wide grin, they had closed in on him by now, he threw back his head and an earsplitting laugh erupted from his lips, this was no normal laugh though, it slammed into the three, reaching into their minds and stunned their senses and reasoning. Hobgoblin knew that Wolverine with his heightened senses would be hurting from the sonic attack.

Then his glider slammed into Gambit's back, throwing him off-balance, Hobgoblin jumped on to the glider, blasted a hole in the roof with a rocket and streaked away, leaving the dazed mutants behind him. As he passed the roof, two ninjas appeared and tossed a limp form towards him, he grabbed hold with one hand and with a cackle of glee he flew off with Jean trussed up in chains and gripped in one hand.

Wolverine felt his head explode and his ear drums pop. Damn he hated sonics especially from close range. He was going to be deaf until his healing factor repaired his ear drums. Shaking his head he looked around. The ninja's had cleared out, their job done and as usual all wounded and dead had disintegrated to ash. Rogue and Gambit were still shaking off the effects of the Gob's attack and Cyke was nowhere to be seen. All in All a complete cluster fuck. Well they had rescued Gambit but he was pretty sure he had been a ruse to lure him up here. However old sour pus had found a better prize and taken that.

There only chance was to get back to the mansion and try to find Jean with cerebro, or if she woke up enough to get a telepathic message out. First though they needed to find Cyclops. He waited for the other two to recover all the while waiting for his hearing to come back.