Vengeance Part 1 - Revenge

“Idiot – worthless mutant trash!” Professor Dean groaned to Lara and Hypnotiser, as they watched the television.  “I can’t believe the government are allowing that man to preach to everybody.” The Professor continued, referring to Professor Davids – who was at a government conference, been watched via television.

“I look forward to the day we can eliminate him and his mutant allies,” Hypnotiser replied.
”I am tired of waiting for that day – the day has come,” the Professor announced, “Tomorrow we shall destroy him.”
”Well then Professor – I think we had better get to work!” Hypnotiser smiled, met with a grin from the Professor and a weary smile from Lara.
”What is it girl? I thought you would jump at the chance to pay back Sub Zero for what he did to your father,” the Professor snapped, “And believe me, when we destroy those mutants, I will leave Sub Zero in your hands!” Lara smiled, this time, a genuine smile, she vowed to make him pay for her father’s death and now she has the perfect opportunity.

”Sir? Are you Ok?” Morpheus asked, after sitting in silence alongside Metalium, who had been staring into space for the past five minutes.
”Why? Why do they insist on angering me? One day… One day...” Metalium angrily replied.  Just as Metalium stopped, Max entered the room.
”I have had enough – enough of waiting, it is time, no more battles – this time… THIS is war.” Metalium replied, Max was about to speak, but Metalium continued, “One by one, they will fall.  I refuse to let them have their way; I want to start from his closest followers.  Lightnin, Futura, Blade, Athena….”
”Axle…” Max interrupted, referring to his brother, who he would not think twice about killing.
”Yes, then – we destroy their leader,” Metalium replied, before smiling.  “I want Axle brought here – today, he shall be the first to be destroyed!”  Metalium ordered.
”With pleasure,” Max replied – smiling.

The following day; Axle and Lightnin were sat in the dinning room at a small round table; they were sat closely next to each other.  Axle rested his elbow on the table and held Lightnin’s hand; they began looking into each others eyes. 
”You are so beautiful,” Axle told Lightnin as he kissed her hand. Lightnin smiled and continued to look into Axle’s eyes.
At the doorway stood Vixen, silently watching the couple show their affection, she felt a hand touch her shoulder, prompting her to turn around.
”Hey, you ok?” Sub-Zero whispered.
”Suppose so,” Vixen quietly replied.
”Come on; let’s go play some basketball,” Sub-Zero smiled.
”Ok, last one there stinks!” Vixen joked; they both began a race to get outside.  Vixen ran ahead of Sub-Zero, as she got closer to the court, Vixen picked up the ball, she ran towards the basketball net, and then jumped – throwing the ball straight into the net.
”Nice shot – won’t happen again!” Sub-Zero joked as he picked the ball up.  The pair began playing the game, tackling each other and aiming for the net.  Sub-Zero quickly ran towards the net and threw the ball, slightly too hard, the ball landed somewhere amongst the trees and hedges.
”Ohhh, nice shot Scotty!” Vixen joked, they both walked into the trees to try find the ball. As they searched for the ball, Vixen looked to her right, there she saw a young looking woman, with dark red hair, next to her stood a handsome looking man with shoulder length brown hair and a little behind the two, stood an older man, in his 50’s, with grey hair and a beard.  Vixen then looked closer at the young woman and noticed she was holding the ball;
”Looking for this?” Lara asked Vixen and Sub Zero, prompting Sub-Zero to look toward the trio.
”Don’t go near her Vix!” Sub-Zero told Vixen, before Vixen could react, Lara pulled a small gun from her pocket, and she immediately fired at Sub-Zero, emitting a bright bolt of energy at his chest.
”Oh my god – no – it’s so – hot...” Sub-Zero cried out – before collapsing to the floor.
”SCOTT – NO!” Vixen shouted, as she knelt down to try help him. 
”What about the girl, we taking her too?” Lara asked.
”No, how else will those idiots know where to find their beloved friend,” the Professor replied, making it clear Sub-Zero would be used to lure Professor Davids team into their lab.  Hypnotiser walked over to Vixen, followed by Lara and Professor Dean, Hypnotiser grabbed Vixen by her blouse and pulled her away from Sub-Zero, pushing her to the ground.  Hypnotiser then picked Sub-Zero up under his arms and dragged him towards their car.  Lara held the gun at Vixen’s head, making sure she wouldn’t get up to help Sub-Zero.
”What do you won’t with Scott?” Vixen cried, “Who are you?”
”I am Professor Dean, an old friend of Edward’s,” the Professor replied, he looked over his shoulder noticing Hypnotiser had got to the car, “Come Lara.” 
”If you try anything – you will regret it,” Lara told Vixen as she turned around and began to walk to the car.

Blade and Futura entered the dinning room; “Hey, Lightnin, the Professor wants us three to go to his office,” Futura told Lightnin.
”Ok Marcus,” Lightnin replied, Lightnin, Blade and Futura headed towards the Professors office.
”Wonderful,” Axle sarcastically commented to himself, “oh well, guess I’ll go watch some sport, could do with some excitement,” he continued, before leaving the room.

As Lightning, Futura and Blade were walking to the Professors offices, Misty walked towards them;
”Hey guys, Kaitlin, can I talk to y…..” Misty began to ask Lightnin a question.  Vixen ran up to them, breathing heavily, as if she had been running for miles.
”Lucia, what is it?” Lightnin asked Vixen.
”It’s Scott, they took him,” Vixen replied.
”Who took him?” Blade shouted.
”These three people – Professor Dean – and a man and a woman,” Vixen cried, “They’ve hurt him.”
”Dam, we gotta get there, straight away!” Futura shouted.

Sub-Zero woke to find he was layed inside a small room, he felt something tight around his neck he touched it, realising it was some sort of metal collar.
”You won’t get it off,” a female voice told him, “I wouldn’t bother trying to use your powers either, as long as you’ve got that round your neck, you don’t have any powers!”
”Lara? Please, stop this,” Sub-Zero pleaded looking up at her.  His chest felt painful and tight from where he had been shot, his limbs were weak, he slowly stood up.
”I didn’t tell you to stand up,” Lara told him, in a calm manner, walking towards him; she grabbed his hair, pulling his head forward, until he fell back to his knees.  Lara then kicked him in his chest with her knee, Sub-Zero screamed out in pain.
”Having fun?” Professor Dean asked Lara as he stood at the doorway, “Just remember do not kill him until I say so,” he walked away from the doorway. Lara looked back at Sub-zero.
”Why did you kill my father? What did he ever do to you?” Lara shouted.
”I didn’t – touch - your – father,” Sub-Zero struggled to speak.
”I am going to make you pay,” Lara told him as she held out her hand, a small spark flickered, followed by a small flame of fire, Lara threw the flame at Sub-Zero, the flame landed on his shoulder making him scream out with pain. “Well I must go now, I will be back,” Lara left the room; from the outside she pressed a switched, and then went into the Professors lab.  Sub-Zero held onto his shoulder tightly, trying to block out the pain, he then sat against the wall and tried to remove the collar, but it was too strong, he couldn’t feel a hinge or gap to open the collar, he realised there was no way he could remove it.  Sub-Zero sighed and gently hit his head against the wall and began to think of how he could possible escape from the situation.  He decided to try contact Futura telepathically; “Marcus, Please help me…” he began to feel warmer, he noticed a small air vent, coming from it he saw a faint red mist seeping into the room, a hot mist.  He began to choke, unable to cope with the heat; sweat began pouring from his forehead, before he finally fainted.

 

The plane jolted, Futura quickly opened his eyes, sweat pouring from his forehead, Blade, who was also piloting the plane, looked straight at Futura;
”Are you Ok?” he asked.
”No, so much pain, he couldn’t breathe, it was too warm…” Futura quietly replied.
”Scott...” Vixen interrupted.
”I’ll take over Marcus,” Lightnin told Futura, as she helped him up, she then replaced Futura – helping fly the plane.  Vixen and Misty both sat quietly, hoping Sub-Zero was okay; Futura closed his eyes, holding his head in his hands.

“Go on!!” Axle shouted, as his favourite football team scored.  He switched off the television after hearing a beeping sound, coming from the communications room, he quickly got up.  Axle walked into the room, one of the computers was making the beeping sound, the monitor read; Incoming Message – Press Enter to Accept.  Axle immediately pressed the enter button, he was shocked to find his brother, Max – on the monitor.

“Axle, you’ve got to help me…Meet me at this co-ordinat…” the monitor went black, then a message appeared telling Axle it was the end of the message.  Axle became worried, although he and his brother hated each other, he still didn’t want any harm brought to him.  Athena was stood in the doorway – unknown to Axle’s knowledge.  Axle became typing a search for the co-ordinates he saw on the message;

“Axle, no don…” Athena began, but before she knew it, he had gone; she figured he must have teleported to the location.  Athena ran to the monitor, she recognised the location, it was a large area owned by Metalium, full of fire, volcanoes, dragons, just to mention a few of the dangers.

“Oh no, I have to go there,” Athena didn’t like fighting, but she also didn’t want to go without her team mates, she decided to find Lightnin and Futura.  After searching the house, she couldn’t locate them, time was running out.  Athena decided to go alone – figuring this may also be an opportunity to talk with Metalium; she made her way to the plane. She was approached by Telek, she decided that maybe it would be better not to go alone, so she explained the situation to Telek – they then both made their way to the plane.

Sub-Zero woke to find he was still alone in the room, there was no longer a mist seeping through the vent, he sat up looking around the room – checking to see if he was alone.  He slowly walked up to the door, crouching down to ensure he wasn’t spotted through the window panel on the door, he heard the Professor and Lara talking outside.  He slowly slid down the wall back into a sitting position, there were no windows, hatches, no way of escaping, he closed his eyes, once again attempting to contact Futura; “Marcus, Please help me, I’m at Professor Dean’s labora…”  Sub-Zero stopped the connection; he heard a voice, the voice of a female;
”Scott! Are you Ok?” the voice whispered, he looked around, nobody could be seen.
”Oh great, now I’m hearing things…” Sub-Zero muttered to himself.
”No Scott, it’s me – Misty, I’m in the air vent…We’ve come to…” the voice stopped, the door opened.
”Awake I see,” Lara said to Sub-Zero, “Don’t worry, once your friends arrive I will finally be able to destroy you.”  Misty watched as Lara taunted him, by creating flames in the palms of her hands and then extinguishing them with her breath.  Not knowing what she should do; Misty immediately made her way back to the others.  Lara crouched down so their eyes were at the same level; she looked into his eyes, then at his face;

“How old are you?” she asked, now in a more friendly tone.
”20,” Sub-Zero replied, weary of what was coming next.

“20, just a bit older than I,” she smiled, “Shame you’re not going to see 21.”
”Please, just stop this, I did not kill your father,” Sub-Zero replied, holding his chest as he struggled to speak.

“I don’t believe you – LIAR!” Lara shouted as she pushed him against the wall by his shoulders.  Lara quickly let go as she heard the Professor call her.  She got up and ran out into the lab, “What’s wrong?” she asked the Professor.  The Professor pointed to the CCTV monitor; “They’ve arrived,” he replied – smiling, “Get him, out here!”  Lara went back into the room to get Sub-Zero, she couldn’t see him, she walked forward, suddenly, she felt an arm around her neck and a hand covered her mouth. 

“Lara, you don’t have to do this, my friends are much stronger than you,” He pleaded with her.  Lara discreetly created a ball of fire in her arm, she touched his arm, igniting the sleeve of his shirt, he immediately let go – he quickly distinguished the flame and tried to stop the pain.  Lara grabbed his hands and tied them behind his back with a strong metal wire; she pushed him into the laboratory.

“Can’t wait until this is over, this scum should not be allowed to breathe any longer!” Lara told the Professor.  The Professor pushed Sub-Zero into a seat; he wrapped a strap around the seat and Sub-Zero to stop him from getting up.  Sub-Zero watched the Professor as he took off his long coat and picked up some sort of a walking stick.  Sub-Zero suddenly remembered, the day Lara’s father was shot, he saw a man nearby wearing a long coat and carrying a walking stick, it all suddenly came clear, he had been set up.  At the time of the murder, Sub-Zero worked for a large Web-Development company, every night he would be out of work late – trying to meet deadlines.  He realised it would be hard for somebody to get used to the routine, come to think of it, Sub-Zero had seen this man on a number of occasions, but thought nothing of it.  Before Sub-Zero had chance to comment, the door burst open, Blade barged his way into the laboratory, followed by Futura, Lightnin and Vixen.  The Professor pressed a button on his computer, the door closed behind them; the group ignored the door closing.  The Professor then pressed another button, the group were surrounded by a green laser prison, Blade touched it with one of his sharp blades, it suddenly sent an electric current down his spine.  Blade screamed out in pain, refusing to look weak he remained standing.

“Scott!” Vixen shouted, she couldn’t believe the mess he was in, bruises on his faces, burn marks on his sleeves, he looked exhausted and weak.  “Oh my god Scott…”

 “You mutants – idiots!” The Professor laughed, you cannot use your powers in here, now all of you, kneel on the floor!”  Lightnin, Vixen and Futura immediately knelt on the ground; Blade looked at them, and then slowly knelt down. 

“Lara, it is time,” the Professor and Hypnotiser smiled.  Lara unfastened the strap which was stopping Sub-Zero from getting up, she then told him to kneel down. 

“Please – don’t hurt him!” Vixen shouted.

“You won’t get away with this!” Blade angrily shouted.  Lara laughed as she created a flame, she was just about to touch Sub-Zero when his arm reached forward and shot of a ball of ice, extinguishing the flame, he then saw Hypnotiser approaching him, he immediately threw out another ball of ice, hitting Hypnotiser in the face. 

“What happened to his metal collar?” Hypnotiser shouted.

“It – it was there a moment ago!” Lara replied, before been pushed to the ground by Sub-Zero, who immediately collapsed from the strain of using his powers whilst weak.  The Professor was just about to press more buttons on the computer when he was pushed to the ground, he looked up and saw a faint outline of a person, slowly it turned into a girl – Misty.  Misty immediately pushed a button, the green laser prison disappeared, Misty quickly joined her team-mates. 

“GET SCOTT AND GET OUT OF HERE” Lightnin shouted, not wanting anybody to get hurt, Blade gave her a cold look;

“Professor Davids orders!” Futura interrupted, after receiving telepathic instructions from Professor Davids.  Blade grunted, but decided to do as he was told.  Blade and Futura ran toward Sub-Zero, Lara began to get back up but was soon knocked back down by a bolt of lightning – courtesy of Lightnin.  Futura and Blade helped Sub-Zero stand up and carried him to the doorway.

“Get him in the plane, we will keep these animals inside,” Lightnin replied – showing obvious strain, in the back of her mind all she wanted to do was destroy them.  She couldn’t understand what she was feeling, she had never thought about killing another person before. 

“Let’s go,” Lightnin replied, noticing Professor Dean’s group had given up their fight.

“You can tell you friend I am still going to kill him,” Lara shouted as she struggled to get back up, Vixen stopped herself from making any of the comments that went through her head. 

Lightnin, Futura, Blade, Sub-Zero, Vixen and Misty all arrived back at the mansion.  Vixen helped Sub-Zero sit down, he still felt very weak and in great pain.

“Where is Athena?  Scott could do with some help recovering” Lightnin asked her team members.  At that moment, Professor Davids entered the room, “Athena and Telek are gone, and I cannot get through to them.”

“Where’s Axle?” Lightnin suddenly realised he wasn’t present.

“I thought he was with you,” The Professor replied, immediately trying to contact Axle, “It’s no use, I can’t get through to him either.”

Eventually, Telek and Athena found a safe place to land, well as safe as can be in this weird island.  Before they even thought about looking for Axle, they were approached by Metalium, Max and Quake.

“Athena – you have returned,” Metalium smiled, “How I have missed your presence.”

“I have come for my FRIEND,” Athena shouted obviously avoiding whatever it was Metalium was talking about.

“You’re too late,” Metalium announced to the pair, “Your friend lost the battle.” Metalium stepped aside; there lay there, unconscious body of Axle.

“No!” Athena shouted, she then ran towards the body, followed by Telek.  Athena was about to move closer to Axle’s lifeless body when she suddenly began to feel the earth shake beneath her, she realised Quake was causing the tremors. 

“Athena, quick, into the plane, we cannot win this fight, not against Metalium,” Telek called, they immediately got back into the plane.  Metalium laughed to himself;

“Athena will be back…no - they will all be back, hopefully they will bring their fellow team-mates,” Metalium told Max, as he watched the plane take off.

“He’s gone…” Telek quietly told herself – as tears began rolling down her cheek.

To Be Continued….