Invasion:MSV Chapter 27
Jan. 25th, 2009 08:31 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
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Okay, it's official. I'm out of my fucking mind. *headdesk*
Title: Invasion:MSV
Fandom: Marvel Universe
Rating: 18+
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters here. They and the world this is set in are the property of Marvel Entertainment. The Purple Team is the property of ginevrasm (Morgan/Faye), ladydeathfaerie (Dare), sessys_fangirl (Jehnna), nanaeanaven (Roxxy) and dazzledfirestar (Haley). They are not to be used without permission. I make no money from this, and it is simply a form of entertainment.
Warnings: graphic M/F sex, preg, language and as always... ANGST
Logan grunted as he passed the growing crowd outside Xavier’s office. “So, what’s the plan?” He lifted his gaze to the man in front of him.
“No plan.” He almost shrugged. “Just gotta trust that the girls can handle it.”
“No plan?” Remy stepped between Warren and Logan. “Dat it? We just…”
“We’re just gonna trust the girls. Findin’ that a little tough, are ya, boys?” Logan leveled each of them with a stare. There were more bodies out in the hallway than he’d thought there would be. Remy, Warren and Hank, he’d expected, though Beast was unusually quiet about all this. Bobby, Kurt, and Pete though… that had been a surprise. “They’re as ready for this as any of us would be.”
“That’s not saying much.” Bobby frowned. “We should…”
“What? Fly in there in the mini jets and add a few more people to the list of folks needin’ a rescue?” Logan glared. “Ain’t nothin’ we can do about it.”
“Perhaps if we can reach them, speak to them, convince them to turn around and come back…” Colossus kept his voice low, as if he didn’t quite know how to feel about all of this. Had to be hard on the guy, Logan thought. After four years, you don’t just stop caring for someone, and you sure as hell don’t stop worrying about them either.
“Pete, you know better than anyone that there ain’t a snowball’s chance in hell of gettin’ those girls to come back if they don’t want to come back. Besides, I think…” Logan looked at the door to the office. He could still hear Scott ranting and raving in there. “I think the girls are right.”
“Mein freund…” Kurt frowned a little. “I have no doubt that Haley believes that her lover is alive,” he threw a nervous glace at Piotr, “and the other girls’ loyalties to her are something to be commended, but…”
“No, Kurt.” Piotr lowered himself into a nearby chair. “If Haley is sure, then he is alive. She would not risk her team on a whim. And…” He looked first at Nightcrawler, then Logan. “I have felt something of what they have… she would know if something had happened.” He sighed heavily. “I agree with Logan. The professor is mistaken.”
“That really is neither here nor there, gentlemen.” Hank pushed himself off the wall he’d been leaning on. “What is really up for debate now is whether or not we need to formulate a plan and go after them.”
Logan glanced at his watch. “Whether we go or not ain’t really gonna matter, Beast. They’re half way there by now. Even if we leave right now, ain’t gonna get there in time to do much good.”
“Unless they get caught.” Warren’s wings twitched a little.
“If they get caught…” Logan nearly grinned. “God help Doom if he gets his hands on that bunch.”
~*~*~*~
Roxxy had practically pushed her out of the pilot seat when they were safely above a seemingly never ending expanse of water. “You need some rest” was the only explanation she got. Jehnna had squeezed her shoulder gently when she finally relented. She went back to the med bay, laying down and trying to fight back the feeling that the girls might decide she’d totally lost it and turn the plane around on her. No, no that was pointless now. Roxxy was even on board for the plan she’d hatched… assuming they made it that far. The shit storm back at the mansion would be no less if they went back now then it would be whenever they finished this. In fact, giving a few people some time to take some deep cleansing breaths might even help.
She rolled over, staring at the dull grey of the bulkhead. She couldn’t sleep; she knew that much, but just lying there was going to drive her insane. She tentatively poked at the connection. Were they getting closer? They obviously were, but would the link get stronger as they got closer? Something seemed… clearer, for lack of a better word. It still wasn’t as clear as it should have been, or how she assumes it was supposed to be but…
Dare shuffled her feet, her eyes glancing back toward the tail of the plane. “Morgan? Should… should we check on her?”
“Might not be such a bad idea.” Morgan sighed and followed Dare’s gaze. “I doubt she’s getting any sleep.”
“Rock, paper, scissors?”
“No, I’ll go.” Morgan unbuckled herself and made her way back to the med bay. Haley was curled up in a ball at the end of one of the stretcher like beds. “Haley?” She just shook her head. Morgan was struck instantly by the similarities between this and the scared woman she’d seen her friend turn into while the alien threatened the planet. “Haley, what is it?”
She shook her head again, a tear sneaking past her defenses. “God, Morgan…” Her voice shook. “The link... He’s…” she put one hand on her forehead for a moment, as if she could block whatever she was picking up, or trying to find the right words for whatever it was.
“You can feel him?” Morgan sat down near Haley.
The redhead nodded. “I… it’s nothing really clear… nothing specific…” she sniffled and closed her eyes, a look of complete concentration on her face. “Pain, panic, hopelessness… god, what the hell are they doing to him?”
“It might be better that you don’t know.” Morgan rested a hand on Haley’s knee. “Haley, maybe you should just shut it down.”
“No,” she shook her head again, looking a little more like herself. “No, I’m not leaving him alone through this.” Morgan felt her tense. “Just… would you mind…?”
“I’ll stay right here.” She let a sad smile cross her face. She wondered vaguely if Logan had felt this helpless during their time tracking Dare and Remy when Creed had them. She’d felt so torn apart, so alone during all that. She said the only words that she thought might help. “I know what it’s like.”
“I know you do.”
“Trust me; you don’t want to be able to know.”
Haley sighed, another tear slipping down her cheek. “My imagination might be worse.”
“You think so?”
“No. I don’t.”
~*~*~*~
He was going to die. He was almost completely sure of it this time. This time, that few inches of air at the top of the cell would disappear and he’d drown. He tried to ignore the link to Haley. She didn’t need to feel him die. Would it kill her? He took one more gulp of air into his lungs before the water filled the cell completely. He’d never see his child, hell; he might take Haley and the baby with him if the link was strong enough. That scared him more than dying on his own in this horrible place.
Then, a moment before his body would force him to take in a lungful of water, the room drained, again, dropping him onto the hard stone of the floor. The gash in his leg was bleeding again. Part of him wondered if they’d just let him bleed out this time. He doubted it. Not only was the gash not nearly deep enough, but what fun would it be to let him die when Doom had such fun toys to play with? He coughed a few times, expelling the water that had found its way into his lungs. He was exhausted. The room filled slowly with water every two hours, roughly. Of course he was guessing, but he hadn’t been able to sleep since they left New York. This last time it had been only sheer determination that kept him treading water as long as he had. It was getting harder to believe that he’d be able to do it again.
He let his eyes drift closed. Rest while you can. Deal with the next flood when you have to. Just don’t die. Don’t take her down with you. He felt his heart rate slow a little. She was with him. She loved him, and something told him she was coming. No, god, Haley… no. Please don’t risk it…
~*~*~*~
The crash site wasn’t nearly as hard to get to as they feared it might be. Sure, it was surrounded by soldiers and sure, they’d had to hike in for half a mile to keep the Blackbird off the military radar, but once that was all over, not a problem.
Haley turned her attention to Roxxy who was frowning as she scented the air. “Blood… something clean… metallic… robots maybe?” She wandered closer to some scorch marks near the trees. “They were here, but… the only other human scents I’m getting are… well, dead… and have been for some time. Who the hell was the medical examiner on this? They must be completely…”
“Rox, could you focus please?”
The shape shifter cleared her throat. “Right, sorry.” She circled the area again. “I think you’re right, Haley. From what I can get here, they were still alive. But…”
“Yeah, somehow I knew there’d be a but.”
“There’s a lot of blood. From three of them.”
“So we can assume everyone but Ben.”
“That’d be a safe bet.”
“Well,” Dare sighed heavily as she moved in behind Haley. “We know the Thing’s alive at the very least.” The others stared at her for a moment. “What? I don’t see a giant pile of orange rock lying around here, do you?”
“She’s got a point.” Haley actually cracked a bit of a smile. “So, robots, huh?”
“Yeah. And it was one hell of a fight by the smell of it. Scorched metal is overriding a lot of the other stuff I might have been able to pick up.” Roxxy sighed. “Want me to head back to the Blackbird.”
“Yeah.” Haley took a deep breath, trying to absorb, though not ignore the sudden rush of panic that threatened to cloud her judgment. Hang on, Johnny… please, just hang on… “Keep the comm link open for as long as we can manage, but maintain silence once we’re in range of Doomstadt.”
“Actually, the cloak on the Blackbird should cover us, at least some of the way into Latveria.” Roxxy sighed. “But I’d still have to drop you a fair way from Doomstadt.”
“So we walk from wherever you drop us.” Morgan shrugged, pulling her coat a little closer around her. “It can’t be that far.”
“It won’t be.” Roxxy grinned.
They got back to the Blackbird quickly and strapped back in. Haley turned back to the team as Roxxy went through the take off prep work. “Okay, guys. Snatch and grab. If we can pull this off without having to deal with Doom, all the better. We get in, we get them out and we go home.”
“So, what? We follow Roxxy’s nose when we get in there?” Jehnna’s voice was quiet.
“No. Roxxy’s staying in the Blackbird… she’s our way out.”
“So then, assuming we can get into Doom’s dungeons, how do we find them?”
“The old fashioned way.” Haley shrugged as she strapped herself into the co pilot seat. “We look.”
“Oh well, I’m sure there will be a sign. Nemesis torture chambers this way, right?” Dare rolled her eyes.
“We can always hope.” Morgan sighed as the jet took off.
Moments later, they were out, standing in the woods surrounding Doomstadt, watching Roxxy fly away. “Do you honestly think he doesn’t know we’re here?”
“I honestly think he doesn’t have a fucking clue who we are, or why we’re here. That’s gotta count for something.” Haley shrugged.
“And if he does have a clue?”
“Then we’d be arrested already.” Haley began walking toward the town in the distance, bringing her hood up over her head. “Hoods up, coats closed. Let’s try to blend in as long as we can.”
“Great.” Dare actually snorted a little this time. “Does anyone speak Latverian?”
“Dare…” Haley turned. “Look, if you don’t want to be here, I’ll call Roxxy and you can wait with her.”
“Do I get detention too?”
“You keep acting like a fucking child, and yes, you will.”
“Sorry I’m not all gung ho to save your boyfriend.”
“Well how about we settle for focused enough not to get us fucking killed? How about that?” Haley’s eyes narrowed. “This isn’t a game. If we fuck up here, there’s no reset button. We fuck up here and people die. So if you want to go, just fucking go because I’m not fucking playing anymore. This is the big time and to be honest, I’m not sure we can handle this.”
“Was that supposed to be your Braveheart speech, cuz it sucked.”
“Are you done?”
“I said I’d watch your back.”
“So then do it!” Haley stared at the pyrokinetic for another moment. “Are you with me? Really with me?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” She looked at the others. “Then let’s go.”
The trek through the woods and through the town wasn’t bad. The wind was biting but, once they were surrounded by buildings, it didn’t seem to be such a hardship. The streets were not empty but no one seemed ready to stop and lend assistance to the new comers. Morgan sighed, frustrated. “Wandering the streets isn’t going to get us anywhere. We need directions.” She stopped a youngish looking man and began speaking to him in German. She even managed to flirt a little. When she came back she was smiling. “Von Doom is having a dinner tonight with some dignitaries, cabinet ministers, that kind of thing… nothing strange there. But they are looking for people to help serve, cook… whatever. Could be an in to the castle.”
“Morgan, never in my life did I think I would thank your former need to bang teachers.” Haley smiled, knowing that Morgan’s linguistic talent could probably be traced back to a certain German teacher. “Did he say where to go?”
She pointed toward the manor house near the center of town. “Probably around back. God knows the help doesn’t get to use the front doors.”
A sturdy looking old man was standing at the kitchen doors. “You are here to work?”
“Yes.”
“Good, we need servers.” He shoved four uniforms at them. “You change down the stairs there. Ignore the robot. It will not bother you.”
“Robot?” Jehnna asked, looking nervous.
“Yes, it is there to keep the staff out of the Master’s private stock.” The man tried to level the girls with a gaze. They pretended it worked. “Now, go.”
They made it half way down the stairs before any of them dared to speak. “Wanna take a wild shot in the dark as to what the doom-bot is really guarding?” Morgan held the serving uniform in front of her and huffed.
“Just one though? Seems kinda cocky.” Jehnna glanced behind her, just to make sure no one was within earshot.
“The whole world thinks they’re dead. And I’m sure there are more further down.” Haley took a deep breath. The spikes of panic and pain were getting worse. She took that as a good sign that they were getting closer. Just a little longer, Johnny… As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they realized why there was only one robot. The thing was huge, and heavily armored. “Shit…” Haley kept her voice low. She armored up with her back turned to the thing, and her hood still up. All she had to do was find the weak spot. There was always a weak spot. This had to be fast and quiet. They were still too close to the main level for Jehnna or Dare to cut loose without someone noticing. “This one’s mine.”
The good thing about robots in the humanish form, the weak spots tend to be the same on them as they would be in humans. Haley snapped the thing’s neck and the low hum of a computer shutting down told her she’d guessed right. “Okay, we don’t have much time. No doubt the guy up there will come down and check to see how we’re doing soon and when he sees this,” she kicked the lump of metal, “the shit will hit the fan. So, we have to move fast.” She kicked in the door that obviously lead down and the girls hurried down the stairs behind her. They found themselves in a wine cellar, the heavy scent of old wood hanging in the air. “Damn it…”
“Where now?” Morgan split, sending Faye behind a full rack of wine. Faye came back a moment later, motioning the girls to follow. Down the long aisle they caught the flash of robotic eyes glowing in the gloom, several pairs at that. “I guess there. What’s the plan?”
“Take ‘em fast any way you can. I don’t think we’re going to be a secret much longer anyway.” The girls sprang into action a moment later. Dare and Jehnna worked together, simultaneously beating and burning several of the doom-bots. Morgan and Faye, assisted by Faye’s ever trusty baseball bat took down a couple more, and Haley wailed on the remaining few. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t fancy, but they got it done.
Another long, dank spiraling staircase led them to what could only be described as a cave. Or it had once been a cave long ago. It had been shaped into a room that nearly rivaled the main ballroom of the manor house in size. “Holy shit…It’s the fucking batcave.” Dare’s hand held a small flame, giving them just enough light to see the room. “What now fearless leader?” The others stared at Haley for a moment.
“Damned if I know…” her voice was quiet. She heaved a sigh and closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on Johnny. She turned and faced left. “That way.”
“You sure?”
“Will a one in four shot be good enough?”
“Guess it’ll have to do.” Dare frowned, the flame in her hand throwing shadows across her face. When they reached the far wall, they stopped again. An ominous feeling crept over all of them. Why hadn’t they run into more guards? Why hadn’t anyone sounded an alarm on them yet? None of them were naïve enough to believe that the first doom-bot hadn’t been discovered yet. So why the quiet, emptiness all around them?
Four doorways were carved into the expanse of rock in front of them leading to hallways with similarly rough rocky walls. Nothing about any of the doorways or hallways that followed held any clue as to where they might lead. “Well…” Jehnna sighed, taking a few steps forward. “Four doors, four of us…”
“Five.” Faye leaned on Morgan.
“Right, well… do split up?”
“Might be faster.” Morgan shrugged. “Don’t have to go from cell to cell.”
“That’s assuming that there’s someone at the end of each of these hallways.” Haley frowned. “But you’re right. It will be faster. Keep the comm links open, if you run into any trouble, don’t hesitate to call.” They each nodded. “Okay.” She moved toward the doorway on the far left. “Good luck.” The light from Dare’s flame faded as they each went through the doorway. Haley felt her heart rate jump suddenly. “Oh no…” She broke into a run, suddenly sure that if she didn’t find Johnny soon, it would be too late.
Title: Invasion:MSV
Fandom: Marvel Universe
Rating: 18+
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters here. They and the world this is set in are the property of Marvel Entertainment. The Purple Team is the property of ginevrasm (Morgan/Faye), ladydeathfaerie (Dare), sessys_fangirl (Jehnna), nanaeanaven (Roxxy) and dazzledfirestar (Haley). They are not to be used without permission. I make no money from this, and it is simply a form of entertainment.
Warnings: graphic M/F sex, preg, language and as always... ANGST
Logan grunted as he passed the growing crowd outside Xavier’s office. “So, what’s the plan?” He lifted his gaze to the man in front of him.
“No plan.” He almost shrugged. “Just gotta trust that the girls can handle it.”
“No plan?” Remy stepped between Warren and Logan. “Dat it? We just…”
“We’re just gonna trust the girls. Findin’ that a little tough, are ya, boys?” Logan leveled each of them with a stare. There were more bodies out in the hallway than he’d thought there would be. Remy, Warren and Hank, he’d expected, though Beast was unusually quiet about all this. Bobby, Kurt, and Pete though… that had been a surprise. “They’re as ready for this as any of us would be.”
“That’s not saying much.” Bobby frowned. “We should…”
“What? Fly in there in the mini jets and add a few more people to the list of folks needin’ a rescue?” Logan glared. “Ain’t nothin’ we can do about it.”
“Perhaps if we can reach them, speak to them, convince them to turn around and come back…” Colossus kept his voice low, as if he didn’t quite know how to feel about all of this. Had to be hard on the guy, Logan thought. After four years, you don’t just stop caring for someone, and you sure as hell don’t stop worrying about them either.
“Pete, you know better than anyone that there ain’t a snowball’s chance in hell of gettin’ those girls to come back if they don’t want to come back. Besides, I think…” Logan looked at the door to the office. He could still hear Scott ranting and raving in there. “I think the girls are right.”
“Mein freund…” Kurt frowned a little. “I have no doubt that Haley believes that her lover is alive,” he threw a nervous glace at Piotr, “and the other girls’ loyalties to her are something to be commended, but…”
“No, Kurt.” Piotr lowered himself into a nearby chair. “If Haley is sure, then he is alive. She would not risk her team on a whim. And…” He looked first at Nightcrawler, then Logan. “I have felt something of what they have… she would know if something had happened.” He sighed heavily. “I agree with Logan. The professor is mistaken.”
“That really is neither here nor there, gentlemen.” Hank pushed himself off the wall he’d been leaning on. “What is really up for debate now is whether or not we need to formulate a plan and go after them.”
Logan glanced at his watch. “Whether we go or not ain’t really gonna matter, Beast. They’re half way there by now. Even if we leave right now, ain’t gonna get there in time to do much good.”
“Unless they get caught.” Warren’s wings twitched a little.
“If they get caught…” Logan nearly grinned. “God help Doom if he gets his hands on that bunch.”
Roxxy had practically pushed her out of the pilot seat when they were safely above a seemingly never ending expanse of water. “You need some rest” was the only explanation she got. Jehnna had squeezed her shoulder gently when she finally relented. She went back to the med bay, laying down and trying to fight back the feeling that the girls might decide she’d totally lost it and turn the plane around on her. No, no that was pointless now. Roxxy was even on board for the plan she’d hatched… assuming they made it that far. The shit storm back at the mansion would be no less if they went back now then it would be whenever they finished this. In fact, giving a few people some time to take some deep cleansing breaths might even help.
She rolled over, staring at the dull grey of the bulkhead. She couldn’t sleep; she knew that much, but just lying there was going to drive her insane. She tentatively poked at the connection. Were they getting closer? They obviously were, but would the link get stronger as they got closer? Something seemed… clearer, for lack of a better word. It still wasn’t as clear as it should have been, or how she assumes it was supposed to be but…
Dare shuffled her feet, her eyes glancing back toward the tail of the plane. “Morgan? Should… should we check on her?”
“Might not be such a bad idea.” Morgan sighed and followed Dare’s gaze. “I doubt she’s getting any sleep.”
“Rock, paper, scissors?”
“No, I’ll go.” Morgan unbuckled herself and made her way back to the med bay. Haley was curled up in a ball at the end of one of the stretcher like beds. “Haley?” She just shook her head. Morgan was struck instantly by the similarities between this and the scared woman she’d seen her friend turn into while the alien threatened the planet. “Haley, what is it?”
She shook her head again, a tear sneaking past her defenses. “God, Morgan…” Her voice shook. “The link... He’s…” she put one hand on her forehead for a moment, as if she could block whatever she was picking up, or trying to find the right words for whatever it was.
“You can feel him?” Morgan sat down near Haley.
The redhead nodded. “I… it’s nothing really clear… nothing specific…” she sniffled and closed her eyes, a look of complete concentration on her face. “Pain, panic, hopelessness… god, what the hell are they doing to him?”
“It might be better that you don’t know.” Morgan rested a hand on Haley’s knee. “Haley, maybe you should just shut it down.”
“No,” she shook her head again, looking a little more like herself. “No, I’m not leaving him alone through this.” Morgan felt her tense. “Just… would you mind…?”
“I’ll stay right here.” She let a sad smile cross her face. She wondered vaguely if Logan had felt this helpless during their time tracking Dare and Remy when Creed had them. She’d felt so torn apart, so alone during all that. She said the only words that she thought might help. “I know what it’s like.”
“I know you do.”
“Trust me; you don’t want to be able to know.”
Haley sighed, another tear slipping down her cheek. “My imagination might be worse.”
“You think so?”
“No. I don’t.”
He was going to die. He was almost completely sure of it this time. This time, that few inches of air at the top of the cell would disappear and he’d drown. He tried to ignore the link to Haley. She didn’t need to feel him die. Would it kill her? He took one more gulp of air into his lungs before the water filled the cell completely. He’d never see his child, hell; he might take Haley and the baby with him if the link was strong enough. That scared him more than dying on his own in this horrible place.
Then, a moment before his body would force him to take in a lungful of water, the room drained, again, dropping him onto the hard stone of the floor. The gash in his leg was bleeding again. Part of him wondered if they’d just let him bleed out this time. He doubted it. Not only was the gash not nearly deep enough, but what fun would it be to let him die when Doom had such fun toys to play with? He coughed a few times, expelling the water that had found its way into his lungs. He was exhausted. The room filled slowly with water every two hours, roughly. Of course he was guessing, but he hadn’t been able to sleep since they left New York. This last time it had been only sheer determination that kept him treading water as long as he had. It was getting harder to believe that he’d be able to do it again.
He let his eyes drift closed. Rest while you can. Deal with the next flood when you have to. Just don’t die. Don’t take her down with you. He felt his heart rate slow a little. She was with him. She loved him, and something told him she was coming. No, god, Haley… no. Please don’t risk it…
The crash site wasn’t nearly as hard to get to as they feared it might be. Sure, it was surrounded by soldiers and sure, they’d had to hike in for half a mile to keep the Blackbird off the military radar, but once that was all over, not a problem.
Haley turned her attention to Roxxy who was frowning as she scented the air. “Blood… something clean… metallic… robots maybe?” She wandered closer to some scorch marks near the trees. “They were here, but… the only other human scents I’m getting are… well, dead… and have been for some time. Who the hell was the medical examiner on this? They must be completely…”
“Rox, could you focus please?”
The shape shifter cleared her throat. “Right, sorry.” She circled the area again. “I think you’re right, Haley. From what I can get here, they were still alive. But…”
“Yeah, somehow I knew there’d be a but.”
“There’s a lot of blood. From three of them.”
“So we can assume everyone but Ben.”
“That’d be a safe bet.”
“Well,” Dare sighed heavily as she moved in behind Haley. “We know the Thing’s alive at the very least.” The others stared at her for a moment. “What? I don’t see a giant pile of orange rock lying around here, do you?”
“She’s got a point.” Haley actually cracked a bit of a smile. “So, robots, huh?”
“Yeah. And it was one hell of a fight by the smell of it. Scorched metal is overriding a lot of the other stuff I might have been able to pick up.” Roxxy sighed. “Want me to head back to the Blackbird.”
“Yeah.” Haley took a deep breath, trying to absorb, though not ignore the sudden rush of panic that threatened to cloud her judgment. Hang on, Johnny… please, just hang on… “Keep the comm link open for as long as we can manage, but maintain silence once we’re in range of Doomstadt.”
“Actually, the cloak on the Blackbird should cover us, at least some of the way into Latveria.” Roxxy sighed. “But I’d still have to drop you a fair way from Doomstadt.”
“So we walk from wherever you drop us.” Morgan shrugged, pulling her coat a little closer around her. “It can’t be that far.”
“It won’t be.” Roxxy grinned.
They got back to the Blackbird quickly and strapped back in. Haley turned back to the team as Roxxy went through the take off prep work. “Okay, guys. Snatch and grab. If we can pull this off without having to deal with Doom, all the better. We get in, we get them out and we go home.”
“So, what? We follow Roxxy’s nose when we get in there?” Jehnna’s voice was quiet.
“No. Roxxy’s staying in the Blackbird… she’s our way out.”
“So then, assuming we can get into Doom’s dungeons, how do we find them?”
“The old fashioned way.” Haley shrugged as she strapped herself into the co pilot seat. “We look.”
“Oh well, I’m sure there will be a sign. Nemesis torture chambers this way, right?” Dare rolled her eyes.
“We can always hope.” Morgan sighed as the jet took off.
Moments later, they were out, standing in the woods surrounding Doomstadt, watching Roxxy fly away. “Do you honestly think he doesn’t know we’re here?”
“I honestly think he doesn’t have a fucking clue who we are, or why we’re here. That’s gotta count for something.” Haley shrugged.
“And if he does have a clue?”
“Then we’d be arrested already.” Haley began walking toward the town in the distance, bringing her hood up over her head. “Hoods up, coats closed. Let’s try to blend in as long as we can.”
“Great.” Dare actually snorted a little this time. “Does anyone speak Latverian?”
“Dare…” Haley turned. “Look, if you don’t want to be here, I’ll call Roxxy and you can wait with her.”
“Do I get detention too?”
“You keep acting like a fucking child, and yes, you will.”
“Sorry I’m not all gung ho to save your boyfriend.”
“Well how about we settle for focused enough not to get us fucking killed? How about that?” Haley’s eyes narrowed. “This isn’t a game. If we fuck up here, there’s no reset button. We fuck up here and people die. So if you want to go, just fucking go because I’m not fucking playing anymore. This is the big time and to be honest, I’m not sure we can handle this.”
“Was that supposed to be your Braveheart speech, cuz it sucked.”
“Are you done?”
“I said I’d watch your back.”
“So then do it!” Haley stared at the pyrokinetic for another moment. “Are you with me? Really with me?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” She looked at the others. “Then let’s go.”
The trek through the woods and through the town wasn’t bad. The wind was biting but, once they were surrounded by buildings, it didn’t seem to be such a hardship. The streets were not empty but no one seemed ready to stop and lend assistance to the new comers. Morgan sighed, frustrated. “Wandering the streets isn’t going to get us anywhere. We need directions.” She stopped a youngish looking man and began speaking to him in German. She even managed to flirt a little. When she came back she was smiling. “Von Doom is having a dinner tonight with some dignitaries, cabinet ministers, that kind of thing… nothing strange there. But they are looking for people to help serve, cook… whatever. Could be an in to the castle.”
“Morgan, never in my life did I think I would thank your former need to bang teachers.” Haley smiled, knowing that Morgan’s linguistic talent could probably be traced back to a certain German teacher. “Did he say where to go?”
She pointed toward the manor house near the center of town. “Probably around back. God knows the help doesn’t get to use the front doors.”
A sturdy looking old man was standing at the kitchen doors. “You are here to work?”
“Yes.”
“Good, we need servers.” He shoved four uniforms at them. “You change down the stairs there. Ignore the robot. It will not bother you.”
“Robot?” Jehnna asked, looking nervous.
“Yes, it is there to keep the staff out of the Master’s private stock.” The man tried to level the girls with a gaze. They pretended it worked. “Now, go.”
They made it half way down the stairs before any of them dared to speak. “Wanna take a wild shot in the dark as to what the doom-bot is really guarding?” Morgan held the serving uniform in front of her and huffed.
“Just one though? Seems kinda cocky.” Jehnna glanced behind her, just to make sure no one was within earshot.
“The whole world thinks they’re dead. And I’m sure there are more further down.” Haley took a deep breath. The spikes of panic and pain were getting worse. She took that as a good sign that they were getting closer. Just a little longer, Johnny… As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they realized why there was only one robot. The thing was huge, and heavily armored. “Shit…” Haley kept her voice low. She armored up with her back turned to the thing, and her hood still up. All she had to do was find the weak spot. There was always a weak spot. This had to be fast and quiet. They were still too close to the main level for Jehnna or Dare to cut loose without someone noticing. “This one’s mine.”
The good thing about robots in the humanish form, the weak spots tend to be the same on them as they would be in humans. Haley snapped the thing’s neck and the low hum of a computer shutting down told her she’d guessed right. “Okay, we don’t have much time. No doubt the guy up there will come down and check to see how we’re doing soon and when he sees this,” she kicked the lump of metal, “the shit will hit the fan. So, we have to move fast.” She kicked in the door that obviously lead down and the girls hurried down the stairs behind her. They found themselves in a wine cellar, the heavy scent of old wood hanging in the air. “Damn it…”
“Where now?” Morgan split, sending Faye behind a full rack of wine. Faye came back a moment later, motioning the girls to follow. Down the long aisle they caught the flash of robotic eyes glowing in the gloom, several pairs at that. “I guess there. What’s the plan?”
“Take ‘em fast any way you can. I don’t think we’re going to be a secret much longer anyway.” The girls sprang into action a moment later. Dare and Jehnna worked together, simultaneously beating and burning several of the doom-bots. Morgan and Faye, assisted by Faye’s ever trusty baseball bat took down a couple more, and Haley wailed on the remaining few. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t fancy, but they got it done.
Another long, dank spiraling staircase led them to what could only be described as a cave. Or it had once been a cave long ago. It had been shaped into a room that nearly rivaled the main ballroom of the manor house in size. “Holy shit…It’s the fucking batcave.” Dare’s hand held a small flame, giving them just enough light to see the room. “What now fearless leader?” The others stared at Haley for a moment.
“Damned if I know…” her voice was quiet. She heaved a sigh and closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on Johnny. She turned and faced left. “That way.”
“You sure?”
“Will a one in four shot be good enough?”
“Guess it’ll have to do.” Dare frowned, the flame in her hand throwing shadows across her face. When they reached the far wall, they stopped again. An ominous feeling crept over all of them. Why hadn’t they run into more guards? Why hadn’t anyone sounded an alarm on them yet? None of them were naïve enough to believe that the first doom-bot hadn’t been discovered yet. So why the quiet, emptiness all around them?
Four doorways were carved into the expanse of rock in front of them leading to hallways with similarly rough rocky walls. Nothing about any of the doorways or hallways that followed held any clue as to where they might lead. “Well…” Jehnna sighed, taking a few steps forward. “Four doors, four of us…”
“Five.” Faye leaned on Morgan.
“Right, well… do split up?”
“Might be faster.” Morgan shrugged. “Don’t have to go from cell to cell.”
“That’s assuming that there’s someone at the end of each of these hallways.” Haley frowned. “But you’re right. It will be faster. Keep the comm links open, if you run into any trouble, don’t hesitate to call.” They each nodded. “Okay.” She moved toward the doorway on the far left. “Good luck.” The light from Dare’s flame faded as they each went through the doorway. Haley felt her heart rate jump suddenly. “Oh no…” She broke into a run, suddenly sure that if she didn’t find Johnny soon, it would be too late.