Aura had asked for his best and she received it as the bolt came down, much faster then Aura could have dodged. SHe felt the bolt of lightning strike her shield, and the force was enough to press her into the ground. The flash from the bolt however turned the world white. Blinking a few times she had trouble making out things through her watery eyes. The force of the bolt had made her couch from the force and she picked now to rise. For the first time she considered that they might not be able to wipe the city from the map. She would have to watch to many repeats of that bolt, it was strong and could wear her out in time, closing her eyes she tried to recall just what was around her.

Forming a long sword with her with her hand her eyes cleared enough for her to make out the form of her opponent. Recalling a fire hydrent near her, she swung with the flat of the blade, the hydrant flew in roughly the direction strike was in, though her aim was off, and the projectile instead shattered the glass wall of a car dealer ship, not to mention causing a fountain of water to shoot into the air, covering her Aura with water, which rolled down her solid shield, as she moved forward, she still could only make out his outline, but that was fine, she rushed it, feeling the rubble underneath her foot, forming a blade on her foot, she kicked a larger peice of wall at striker. She knew her Aim might be off, and as she backed up a bit, she felt something solid behind her, she wondered if it was the building that had been next to them before.

His tail may never be the same, but neither would Volcana's legs. Her glorious, long and lean legs were striped with red blisters and blackened flesh. It didn't matter that the tail had released her and now his hands (that were also being heated) were jabbing and tearing at her flesh. He hurt. She burned. She screamed and cried and still focused on turning up the heat.

Thick wet snapping sounds came from her chest and it was enough to send her seismic. The ground beneath the building they were fighting on rumbled with sudden movement. Cracks jolted up the side, exploding windows and compromising the stability of the building.

It was all she could do. It didn't matter that it was as destructive as the clones had been or worse... she was hurting, dying possibly. If she was going to die here... she was going to take someone with her. The rooftop jolted suddenly as their weight became too much for the crumbling building to support and Jupiter and V went crashing through to the next floor... and possibly the next...

~~~~~~~~~~

'You were foolish to have come here. You will stay as long as I like and then you will die.'

It was surprising how many enemies threatened him like that before tasting his power. Emulator began the process of synchronization. He tried to get a handle on his location. This... wasn't Russia. And Emulator's pants were no longer on fire. In fact, nothing was on fire. Nothing was bad. Nothing was everything and everything was nothing. He sighed and it was nothing too.

The fight, the desperation were all a distant thoughts in this place. Where had he gone? He lazily continued to synch. Did he have to leave?

~~~~~~~~~~

“...has anyone accused you of being typical? They certainly have never called me any such thing. I do think that if you let yourself do what you wanted you might find yourself liberated.” Liberated? What was he some tree hugging naked hippy? Dryad tried to scramble backwards from the heat of passion in his eyes and found herself overbalancing and falling backward off of Venus' knee.

But Venus' hand had been on her elbow and what started as an accident was fast becoming a romantic dip one might make at the end of a good ball room dance. “Fleur, you are delicate and I would not treat you other wise.”[/color] She squeezed her eyes shut as if the intensity of his stare was not waiting for her behind her lids. Her small chest fluttered with panic. She would not look at him. She would not fall into this Romeo's tragic trap! Because that is was happened when good girls fell in love with bad boys... tragedy!

"What do you want from me?" She was helpless and it said so in her every anxious breath. She was in no way touching the ground, in no way able to defend herself or escape.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ghost let the gunman drop to the ground and helped Jude with the door. The girl inside looked familiar the more and more Ghost looked at her. She couldn't quite place her, but it didn't matter. She was being held hostage in this place.

Jude had the brilliant idea to get the keys from the groaning guard and eventually they pulled open the heavy door.

"Are you alright? Do you speak English?" Jude rattled off more questions as he offered her a hand. "We're here to help. Why were you here? What is this place?"

"Jude." Ghost's voice held a hint of warning as the sound what Ghost thought might be marching was heard echoing through the shell of the building they were in. Ghost grabbed Jude's arm and Jude grabbed Kasumi's hand before she pulled them all toward the doorway. "We gotta go. Now." The building shuddered and the ground shook in earnest now. An earthquake? What was going on out there?

~~~~~~~~~~

Max wasn't sure what was going on, but he was being passed from sort-of English speaker to sort-of English speaker as he made his way with a group of civilians into the next building. They were making good progress now. Most every building in the area had been cleared with the help of his Russian acquaintances and a few PA systems. They didn't have time to check every floor, but once they heard the warning they would get out, right?

~~~~~~~~~~

She took it... her aura seemed to dissipate most of the shock... or all of it from what he could see and Strike was left slack jawed. She took it and now she was throwing things at him!

He jumped back out of the way of some flying glass from the dealership and felt something clip his shoulder. Concrete. She was chucking bits of building at him now, but she seemed a bit off from before -- well at least his bolt of glory had done something!

Strike summoned some wind to deflect the next chunk of debris and took a step back. Aura did too and just as Strike raised his arm to summon another bolt of lightning something curious happened. The ground beneath his feet shifted. And rumbled. And started almost rolling like an earthquake. Strike had only seen this once before... and in that instance Volcana had been in a pretty bad position.

Strike waved to his opponent and then turned and ran. The ground beneath the building Aura was pressed up against was pulling open to expose a newly formed crack in the earth's crust. It was very possible that not only the building would come crashing down completely, but that it would fall into a mess of hot lava that would start pouring out of the ground.

It was hard to run over shaking ground and debris and Strike fell down a lot on his way back toward the X-Force jet, but he sure as heck wasn't going to stick around to see the results. He was going to help V and get his teammates out of there.

Leuco soon lands on her feet softly with out a sound as she stands "I am Leuco a meber of the X-men. I have no idea why I am here." she shakes her head as she looks around "I was knocked out and took that was all that I know." She just smiles being happy out of this place. Soon she is took out by the hand with Ghost but she does grab her x-men Uniform:she will put it on when time.

Leuco's eyes looks around as she feels everything shaking "I am sure that is world war 3 out there... I am not sure what is going on. Also how long I have been here." Even in the middle of the fight. She stops for a second to get her boots on she did not want to walk outside with bear feet. As Leuco moves she gets her hair into a bun as she puts the Jade green frog bun cover on "Whatever is going on out there does not sound like a good thing."

Leuco soon shakes her head as her eyes looks around "I wanted to see this palce some day but not link this." she takes in a deep breath getting ready to see anything that might be going on she has alot of mixed feelings going on. She does not want to see this but she is an X-men and she has to do this.

Jupiter’s vice grip on her ribs didn’t relent even as his skin began to puff up, in that nasty burning flesh style. As the floor opened and they began to fall he resolved himself to quit toying around with her bones and end this fray. The world was literally falling with them as the building began to collapse. He had once knocked over a building from inside it and it was much like this. Sweat rolled down his flesh and he wanted to loosen the top button on his shirt. But his hands weren’t free and would be more then tender after this.

His fingers went from trying to collapse her bones to trying to fully close. Human flesh was hardly resistant to his kind of strength and brutality.

A wicked grin lifted his cheeks. And he let a slight laugh escape as they passed through another level of the building. “Are you still smug enough to mock me?” He would let her have one last quip before he broke her in half. He was thoroughly surprised at the fight in her, she might not know it was an option with her level of power. Most begged for their life once he applied pressure.


~~~~~~~~~~
Mars watched the pair tumble down into the crack in the earth, the world began to rumble and he wondered how hard they had hit the ground, had they fractured a fault line that was already moving or had they finally inflicted too much damage on the ground beneath them.

He stared steadily into the earth and the maw of the earth opening to his brethren. He couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. Abyss fell into an abyss. Would it be his end? Poetic. Mercury dead. Saturn judging by Pluto’s moxy and surprise attack very well might be on his way. That left the fighter and the lover…they would be easily manipulated. That was of course if the pair below and tumbling managed to kill each other. Mars liked the odds. More than anything if one of them had to win he hoped for Pluto. Jupiter would be easily persuaded into killing Pluto as revenge.
---------
Abyss and Pluto tumbled through the ravine and kept mercilessly batting at each other. Pluto was growing weary and Abyss was slightly distracted by the interloper. But the pair didn’t have time for distraction as their scrap sent them falling.

The hit on of the dank earthen walls and abyss sacrificed a hand to grab the wall digging his fingers in and ultimately only slowing them.

It did give Pluto enough time to get a grip on the wall. He considered momentarily letting Abyss fall, but if he fell would he not pull him into the void and make him go down with him? He gripped abyss’s wrist and threw him upward. He then managed to start climbing haphazardly upward. He pointed his fingers and pressed them into the stone or lime or whatever it was that he couldn’t see. He worked his way up and then realized death only waited for him there so he pressed his hand into the stone and began to clear enough space for him to lick his wounds with out having to support his weight while he did so. One of his eyes was bruised shut. After he had enough space for himself to rest h laid their and began to weep. For his brothers, it was possible that Saturn was saved at the last minute Abyss was good at that sort of thing…but he heard the explosion. His head tilted back and he let the pair and sorrow seep from him.

Abyss sailed upward saved by someone who obviously wanted him dead. He cleared the opening gap and kept on going. Pluto had thrown him hard. Too hard. Gravity had finally taken a hold on him about fifty feet to high. His legs, arms and tail all frantically flapped, reaching for anything at all to grab. There was nothing and so back to the earth he went. He landed and rolled not ten feet from his brother Mars who couldn’t be bothered to catch him, God, how things had changed since the good ole days.

Abyss lay there on his side and moaned. He finally brought himself to his knees and then his feet. He tensed and realized that their seven was down to five. Four if you counted the trader. He would give him a void to go in to but that would reset his wounds right back to Abyss status and after scraping with mercury and on the fall down. Pluto had to have been in pretty bad shape. He dusted himself off and shook his head. Not knowing what to feel, everything was simply wrong. He should have know not to invite Pluto after all that time he spent down in the arctic.
----------
~~"What do you want from me?"

She tilted back as if she were fainting, like one of those damsels in distress. He pictured her momentarily as a southern bell and wanted to fan her or offer her some lemonade. But she was out of her depth with him and unfortunately she knew it.
“I want…nothing that you wouldn’t offer freely.” His other hand replaced his knee as support for her back and his hand on her elbow moved to the side of her midsection. He stood and then returned her to her feet. She was a sweet little thing but perhaps she needed a bit more time.

“As promised you have already given me what I asked for in exchange for stopping this nonsense.”

The world lurched under his feet and his grip on her firmed slightly. “Perhaps, you should stick with me until we find some of your friends; my brothers aren’t as easily swayed as me.”

He bowed his arm as an offer to let her hang on to him as they searched.

Her eyes were clearing though slowly and as she wondered where the next attack would come from she felt the earth shake below her feet and if that were not bad enough, she felt the building next to her begin to collapse on top of her. Her Aura deflected the impact and she managed to hold her ground, still she could smell the scent of something burning as the building fell. Soon her blurry eyes failed to matter as concrete and dust filled the area, but what really surprised her was that the boy did not pursue what she perceived to be his attack. She managed to free herself from the building and looked around trying to find her opponent despite the dust and her eyes, but she could not make out his outline any more and he was not speaking to offer her a method of tracking him. Aura moved forward barely avoiding the lava only a few feet from her, she could smell something burning but little else, she figured their was prolbely a fire nearby.

Rubbing her eyes they cleared enough whare she could make out the Lava next to her, it explained the burning smell but if the boy could do that she wondered why he had not done so before hand. Not sure which way her opponent went she wondered a bit a way from the lava making her way into a residential area, lights were still on in some of the building but it looked like no one was home, a shame really she was in the mood to hear their cries. She approached the first house, and lazily ran a blade through the side, of the building drawing a long straight cut in it's material, it failed to fall but it would if the shaking continued.

Seeing people in the distance she began to move forward quickly, cutting down a few mailboxes lazily no longer believing they would level the city as a hole, now she was just doing whatever damage she could, weather it was a building or a ten dollar mailbox. The shaking kept up and she heard the house she had cut into only minutes before give way callapseing on it's weakened structure. Their were three of them including a red head from what she could make out. Two of them she could not recognize at the distence though both females looked famillyer to her. Aura decided to wait untill the earth stopped shaking to make to quickly a move, the wind boy could be watching her.

((OOC: this is my 600th post! :3))

Lava bubbled up, oozing out at a slow pace as lava. It was easily outrunable... but it melted whatever it touched leaving strings of fire and destruction. The air shimmered with the heat that rose up from the oozing lava.

Volcana's skin was slick with sweat and thicker fluids. If Jupiter wanted to close his hands there was nothing she could do to stop him. Somehow... she thought dying would be better than this... less... painful. Less hot for sure. She never thought she'd die in part by her own power. She had no fight left. No tricks. Nothing.

They crashed through another floor and the heat raised without Volcana doing a thing. The lava was close now, and she'd only started it... it was oozing up on its own now that there was a fissure to leak from. “Are you still smug enough to mock me?”[/color]

Volcana swallowed and closed her eyes as the ground creaked dangerously. Her head turned to the side, she didn't want to quip anymore or even look at anything. Something dark and thick was leaking from her lips. She just wanted the hurting to end and this all to resolve with dignity. If she was swallowed up by the lava she brought forth with the quake or even ripped in two... so be it.

---------

Emulator fully synched with Abyss, but was unsure of how to proceed. Considering that he wasn't even sure where he was nor did he mind much of anything at the moment, he didn't do much of anything for quite some time. Everything would work itself out in the end. It would be okay right?

he lazily explored his power. He was not sure what he had even synchronized with... he expected brute strength... not... this. Not something active. He wasn't sure what it was... but he could feel the lazy urge to explore this power. To flex that strange inner ability.

Not too far from Mars, a portal to the void opened. Small and possibly unstable, but it was there.

----------

“I want…nothing that you wouldn’t offer freely.”[/color] He cradled her momentarily and then she was on her feet again.

"You would talk it out of me with your silver tongue." And she knew that she'd believe it. Every word. Yes, it was simply time to walk away. "Well, thank you for being a gentleman and holding up your end of the deal." She nodded and took two full steps away before the world started shaking. Venus was there and she was all too happy holding onto his arm. The mistletoe in both their hair rustled with her unease.

“Perhaps, you should stick with me until we find some of your friends; my brothers aren’t as easily swayed as me.”

She turned worried hazel eyes up to the red man's. "I'm not sure this is your brother's doing."[/i] If it really was Volcana, maybe they shouldn't be walking toward the epicenter, and yet... she needed to know.

Miss Hatter pulled Venus toward the location of the X-Force jet. Home base. They should have an update at home base, right? She tapped her communicator. "Gwenny here. Anyone home?"

----------

Strike settled into the Voyager and started up the controls. Was it against protocol to take off without his teammates even if it was hypothetically to save one of them?

"Gewnny here. Anyone home?"

Strike shook his head and continued the pre-flight checks and warm up before grabbing the jet communiqué. "Strike here, Dryad. Don't forget to use your code, silly. There could be hostiles nearby." He put the fobbed transponder down and started to close up the hatch, but hesitated.

"What's your position, Dryad? V's gone seismic."

----------

"I am Leuco a meber of the X-men. I have no idea why I am here... I was knocked out and took that was all that I know."

Leuco? Ghost blinked. She'd been out of the X's loop for too long if she no longer knew the team members. "I used to be a member of that team. We're from the X-Force, the Euro-branch essentially."

"I am sure that is world war 3 out there... I am not sure what is going on.... Whatever is going on out there does not sound like a good thing."

"Not quite world war 3... not yet anyway. Just some Order members tearing themselves and Moscow to shreds."

"I wanted to see this palce some day but not link this."
Ghost made a muddled smile pulling Jude and Leuco away from a building that was collapsing presumably from the earthquake. "We've got 7- no, 6 big, red baddies and one... pink..." Ghost tensed as she noticed that someone pink was on their way toward them.

Leuco sees the girl in pink in a heart beat she will know who she is Aura. Leuco does not say anything as she takes off running "Aura are you ok!?" Soon she is at Auras side as she seen that she can not stand well "It is ok lean on me.." Leucos mins races what will Aura be doing here!? She does not know what to say or do.

Soon she shakes her head as her eyes looks over the land. It seems that they are attacking this place but why? She shakes her head as she runs her hand though the strains of hair that is down as she shakes her head. It seems that there is alot is going on. Leuco is in a state of shell shock right now. She has no idea what to do right now she is alone with out her team she will not attack anyone right now.

Leuco keeps her eyes on Aura hopeing that she will be ok she does not know what happen but Aura does not seem to happy right now. Her eyes looks over the land as she lets out a soft sigh and shakes her head even what she does she can not stop this. Leuco deeply wishes that she can.

“No fight left then.” The last thing that Volcano would see was Jupiter’s delighted soot covered face. “Good.” Jupiter’s right thumb pressed forward caving in the rest of the her left rib cage. His tail circled her right leg and applied pressure snapping all of her leg bones. He then lost interest in her as if he were a cat that had finally broken a mouse to the point where it was no longer fun. He flung her down toward the heat and the hellish hungry lava and glanced around for the nearest exit. He struck out with his left hand as they fell and caught a piece of rebar pulling him self with ease. He winced as his burnt flesh stuck and got left behind as he ran toward the far side of a hallway he had recently fallen through.

He dived through the side through the wall and was not pleased by the sight below. Bright orange and glowing the building was being devoured. He Began to climb up ward at the very least he would leap from the top and try to make it over to the next building and run further from there.
---------

Abyss stared at Mars as if he should have an answer and shook his head again.

“It is all wrong Mars. It is going to hell.” Abyss moaned.

“How did you expect Mercury to end? Your little pet destroyer, your own flesh and blood prostituted to the orders benefit.” Mars spat.

“Not like this and you damn well know Mercury choose his own path, I tried just the same as the rest of you to stop him. The destruction was all he craved all he ranted about up here!” Abyss lashed back. “You haven’t housed him in your mind for the last seven Years Mars! Don’t even think you can come at me like that.”

Abyss, eyes widened as a miniature void opened near Mars. Was he losing it and his powers were acting on their own?

--what ever you are doing in there, you will not live long to regret it, I promise you that. I am going to take out all life’s little stresses out on you.—Abyss spoke internally but his attention was snatched up by something else entirely.

Screaming.

Pluto was screaming for his life with a renewed sense of vigor moments ago he was settling for starvation in the little nook he had dug out for himself but lava? Hell no was he going to settle for death by Lava. He dug his fingers into the wall and was moving as fast as his battered body would allow escaping the orange glow of death below.

Abyss stared at the silhouette and weighed his options. Do nothing? Let him save himself. Take him into the void and keep him there. Wait until Pluto got there and kick him back into the ravine and the lava…why was there lava?
He opened the void and snatched up Pluto, with Mercury and Saturn gone he would decide if he was going to kill Pluto later.

----------



"You would talk it out of me with your silver tongue."


“Oh?” Well if he knew it would simply take some more talking. He gave her a come hither stare. “I assure you my tongue isn’t silver, in fact it is purple.” He stuck his tongue out to prove it.


"Well, thank you for being a gentleman and holding up your end of the deal."
“of course, but about this talking you into things.” He let his mouth crook and he showed his hands in surrender. “ I relent” for now.


"I'm not sure this is your brother's doing”

“Perhaps, perhaps not, they are bent on tearing this place down.”


"Gwenny here. Anyone home?"

"Strike here, Dryad. Don't forget to use your code, silly. There could be hostiles nearby."

Venus felt the next tremor and scooped up Dryad. “ They could be seductively close.” Point the direction and I will get us there. For now he settled on away from the tremors.


"What's your position, Dryad? V's gone seismic."

Venus thought as he ran that he had most certainly not gone seismic.”

Aura heard footsteps and stopped taking on a defensive stance, a split secound before her blade came down at the sound of the feet, she heard a voice she knew well, her arm stopped an inch from Leuco's face "I am fine" Aura said blinking a few more times trying to clear her eyes even as the ground shook below them. "That wind bag ran a way, after that bolt of of lightning, clever running a way so i would not carve him up, but no matter, my love. I volenteers for this mission becuse i knew they had taken you, and their is one price for hurting mutants, and that is death. Moscow will burn and the humans will tremble" She said going on she focussed trying to hear things around her, she could still only make out shapes with her eyes, why would her eyes not clear.

Taking a few steps a way from where she knew leuco was and felt the side of a car , a tendril of her aura creeped down to the ground by the car curling around the front axle. "I Must warn you my love, things may get very brutal soon, it seems he heavens sent us snacks to play with while we level the city" She said as she whipped out her hand mostly out of habit sending the car flying into the air, Aura was unsure what the car hit but she heard shattering glass and crunching metal all the same, her eyes were finnaly clearing up a bit more, she could make out another being nearby, no their were two of them, Aura shifted to their direction, forming a second tendril from her aura, they were two small to be her teammates, and so she advanced slowly stopping only to look over her shoulder. Her orders were clear, and this city would fall or she would be defeated, battle was always simple at it's heart. At least her eyes were starting to get better, that much would help if these two had any real power, just incase her aura stayed solid around her body.

He broke her legs, but she'd stopped feeling anything below the waist for a while now. It did however make her sneeze. Funny. He squeezed the last bit of air crushed from her lungs, her flesh ripping, and it made her wheeze out another sneeze. Mucus. Her last defense against the big red man that dropped her into the lava.

Poor Moscow. One of her last thoughts went out to the city she was inadvertently helping to raze. The earthquake shuddered more violently, fed by the roiling lava that was oozing steadily from the fissure she had created as well as the fissure the Abyss' had created. Poor Moscow.

---------

Buildings successfully evacuated, Max returned to the Jet, which he wasn't too surprised to see was already warmed up and ready to go. He was, however, surprised to see that Strike, one of his least favorite team members, was the only person aboard.

"Where is everyone?"

---------

The threatening voice sounded in the nothingness that housed Emulator. Oooh? So his attempt to flex his newly synched power had done something interesting after all. He saw a window into hell. Had he done that? Did he want to go out there? Emulator opened the portal wider, made the edges more defined and looked out.

He saw a red man. Ah. The fight. It must continue.

A big, red Emulator stepped out of the portal and rolled his shoulders cracking his neck.

It felt good to be strong and big and look that other big red guy in the eye before smiling a flash of white teeth and launching his fist at his face.

He did not know how to close the entrances to the Abyss and where he stepped out remained open.

----------

Dryad squeaked and danced away from Venus' reach. Or at least she tried. Seductively close indeed! Venus scooped her up and carried her as if she weighed as much as a tissue. He said to point the way, but then started jogging in the wrong direction. Of course Dryad pointed toward the epicenter of the rolling earthquake. And it only seemed to be getting worse.

"One of my teammie's is in trouble!" And she'd kiss a worser man that this to see them all come out on top of this issue. She folded her arms crossly at herself. Look! One kiss and she was ready to whore her lips out!

She depressed the communicator button again. "Strike, we're headed to your locay. ETA 1 minute, I uah... I have a friend, please don't kill him." She smiled nervously to Venus who was so up close and personal. "He's usually real nice, so... not to worry, duckie."

---------

"Leoco be careful!" A gust of wind powerful enough to move cars blasted toward Aura. Marqus wasn't the only windbag in town. It was a blunt blast, however, powerful but only meant to put distance between the pink girl and the frogger. Why had pink girl hesitated inches away from splitting the red head, she would never know.

"Gotta go, Leuco. Jet is this way!" He beckoned to the group of women, all of them. "Fight later, this town is crumbling to pieces!"

---------

Strike looked up at Max after another communcation came in from Dryad. "On their way hopefully, I'm taking this bird up in 5 whether we're all here or not." He flipped a few more switches and finished the pre-flight. "Gotta take off while there is still aground to push off of."

Leuco closes her eyes as the blade comes close to her face yet Aura stops. She lets herself breath again as she nods "Thank you my love." She wraps her arms around Aura neck as she blinks a few times. Soon Leuco shakes her head "No I am staying with Aura I have to make sure she will come back safe and I have to find out why I was took! Go with out me Aura will keep me safe!"

Leuco knew that Aura would not let any arm come to her. Also Leuco wanted to keep Aura safe also. That is what love does Leuco will stay with the woman that she loves and fight with her like she did with the past. Yet Leuco still wonders why she was took it was unnerving why she put in a cell and poisons pumped into her like that. She was not sure how long she was there.

Yet it made her happy that someone knew that she was missing. Leuco knew that Aura would find her. Leuco narrows her eyes as she sees one of the men. Anger fills in her soon she flicks her arm as her poison fly's hitting the man soon he is down. Leuco does a leap as she grabs the man "This is the one that was pumping the poisons into me!"

Jupiter launched himself onto another building and stayed moving. Why would she wait to do that after he had broken her? Heroes were so tragically stupid, Always sacrificing themselves for the greater good. Ha! Who would save the mortals now that firefly was dead? No one was the answer so long as they were facing him. He scaled another building as it began to tip from the lack solid of foundation. And slammed into the next building. He Laughed and howled as the destruction only increased. He headed toward an area that looked still mostly intact.
---------

Mars laughed as he thought that Pluto was out and back at it with a new vigor. But started when Abyss looked puzzled at the void and then got punched in the face Abyss took the punch in the face with out bracing at all. His Tail whipped reflexively and wrapped around the intruders Calf instinctively avoiding the pit of lava behind him.

The earth groaned as if it was hungry for blood.

Abyss swung at the imposter and went for a low blow. He was going to channel all of the pent up rage of his murdered brothers and unleash it on this pretender. He moved his wreckless fist into a practiced flat palm, about four years ago he realized that the day might come when he had to face his own blood so he decided to take Jupiter’s advace and pick up an actual fighting technique. He chose tiger claw, This punk was going to be the first to feel its wraith.

Pluto barreled out of the void seizing on the opportunity to not be stuck for ever and was puzzled at seeing a foreign clone attacking Abyss….did they get replaced when they died by Abyss’s out of control brain?

Well, the new guy had Abyss handled so he turned on Mars.


Mars Glared harshly at Pluto. “ What you want to murder me too little brother? Like yu did Saturn and Mercury? Will you kill yourself after you are done with us?”

Pluto charged into Mars and met no resistance. He slammed a fist into him as hard as he could, he had to stop Mars from talking if this was going to get done.

Mars left cheek puffed up and blood began flowing from his nose. “ Do it Cain, Kill me, muderer! Heartless monster! Kill your brothers til you are the last left.” Mars grinned up mocking him. “ Do you think this makes you better than us? We were after mutant enslaving Russians. And you kill your own blood, what are they teaching you down in your little frozen cult?”

Pluto punched him again and then stopped and stared at Mars.

Mars then spat the blood his spilled on Pluto and followed it up with a grab for his throat. Pluto attempted to dodge but didn’t move fast enough. Mars hammered him across the face.
----------


"One of my teammie's is in trouble.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He said sincerely and was more than sure that he was with the reason that they were in trouble.” He ran faster with that in min, perhaps they could get there in time to settle the differences with out, killing any of their team. He had no idea how much he had to mourn on his side.

"Strike, we're headed to your locay. ETA 1 minute, I uah... I have a friend, please don't kill him."
He tried not to laugh at that and succeeded, barely. One he was a friend and two he was asking people not to kill him. Who could?

"He's usually real nice, so... not to worry, duckie."

“were you saying that to them or me?” He gave a half smile at that and spotted the jet and closed on the jet. When he arrived He met their looks with a statement. “Whoever is in trouble doesn’t have time to have us arguing about my presence here, if we are going to save them, we need to move.” He belatedly set Dryad down. Reluctantly taking his hands off of her.

Aura let leuco hold onto her, even as the wind came, aura harded her aura formed a mild slopw in the aura, trying to redirect the wind to either side of her. Pumping poisens into her, well it made sense why she was took now, Leoco was the perfect mutant to design a very deadly poison. The idea that they might have been using her to make a weapon against mutants was almost to much for her to bear. She looked back to the pair who had found Leoco, they wanted to leave, it sounded like they thought the town might be finished and from the sever earthquake they just might be right. Her eyes followed her friend as she ran off to the human who had been imprisoning her, Aura smiled when the man fell easily, though it meant she would likely have no chance to carve him up. The Whips in her aura struck the ground around her like lazy tails, denting the already weakened ground and avoiding the lava the best it could.

"I am staying, their maybe more Mutants that need help in the city, and this quake, im not sure it will lay the rest of the city to waste, The Order is Life!" She said proudly considering advancing on her opponent but the man Leuco had taken made her hesitate, yes she had him under control, but still their could be others, to that effect one of aura's aura tendrils wrapped around a street post and yanked it up out of the ground. Even if not for the city she would have to check on abyss before she could even think about leaving the city, one could never leave a teammate behind. "My orders are to flatten this city and untill their is not a single building standing i will continue my attack" She went one, though she felt strange inside
and moving the tendrill had taken more concentration then usual, maybe it had just been to long since she had a snack. She pushed the idea from her mind as she took a few more steps toward Marqus, she had decided to bury him. "Leuco you may wish to get on their plane" she said offering her love a way out, she did not really wnat to have to protect her in the heat of battile, then aagin what battile was really here any more if these fools were pulling out.

"Leuco, stay or go, at least you're out of your cage."

"It's not safe here, Leuco. Come with us." But one last invitation was all they had time for. Hopefully the girl would see logic and follow them to the jet. The pink one could not guarantee her safety.

Another mission failure. Jude and Ghost sighed in time as they began the jog back to the jet. The ground wobbled strangely and that made for funny running and lots of falling down. If ever Ghost or Jude had felt the world was coming to an end, it was now.

Scrambling over a precariously balanced chunk of concrete, Ghost hesitated at the sight before her. Four. She counted to make sure, but yes... There were four red men and they were fighting each other.

"Emulator." Jude's soft tenor was a dream against the sound of chaos and scraping rocks.

"We have to help him."

~~~

A tail wrapped around Emulator's calf and the moment of surprise gave Abyss, the void mutant, an opening no man should have to protect from another.

An unfamiliarly large and red pigmented face contorted with the repercussions of the Tiger Fist. Sure, Emulator had gotten in a punch to the face in, but this! This was crippling.

All air ejected from his lungs and a thrill went up his spine. He felt actual squish-age and that is just not cool. "Low... blow..." He breathed and grabbed for the only thing within reach. The thin, red tail that had snaked around his calf made for an excellent target. Emulator grabbed hold of it with one mighty, meaty hand and yanked. If he could yank it off, all the better. One personal insult deserved another.

~~~

Dryad shrugged tiny shoulders at Venus. Did it matter who she was warning? They all apparently needed it. Venus didn't hesitate in the slightest, in fact, he ran straight up the ramp to the plane's belly like a train set on tracks. She would have hesitated, earthquake or not. And then she was deposited gently on the ground in front of two of her teammates. Two? She'd thought there'd be more.

"Emulator?" Strike asked pointing to Venus. Dryad shook her head and Strike and Max were instantly on their feet.

“Whoever is in trouble doesn’t have time to have us arguing about my presence here, if we are going to save them, we need to move.”[/color]

Dryad nodded and patted the air in a placating motion toward Strike. He was already half out of his seat and poised for something nasty no doubt. "Strike, he's right. Even if he's not good," She turned to Venus, "sorry love," and then turned back to Strike, "he's not all bad. I insist we put the preservation of life first and the smashing of faces later."

Max eyed the red man suspiciously. One of them had already killed one of him already, but Dryad insisted. She didn't insist much so he shut his gaping mouth and buckled in.

Luckily, whatever Strike was about to say was cut off by a particularly nasty shake. He plopped back into the pilot's seat and grumbled, closing up the plane's hatch. "Buckle up." And without further warning the jet was airbound. They'd have to do an aerial pick up of the rest of the team.

~~~

With Jude's direction, a focused air blast went straight for the side of Emulator's opponent. While it wouldn't be enough for a snipe knock out, hopefully it would be enough to dislodge his footing and give Emulator the advantage needed for a knock out. The clones were indiscernible to Jude so beyond picking out which one was Emulator, he could not help.

~~"Low... blow..."


“those are my boys I’m punching. Get your own.” It was an odd view on it but the offense of copying him and giving him the split second hope that Saturn or Mercury was ok…unacceptable.

An attack followed that was gut wrenching the sound that followed was disgustingly similar to the sound of tearing paper, but the sound was connected to his tail. The pretender had pulled on it and he pulled the other way. At about four feet he ripped in half with a pop.

If there was fury in his eyes a moment ago there was a beserk terror that lived there now. His mouth frothed and he howled lividly as he pouned on Emulator, He fought like his fallen brother, a madden beast out for absolute death. He grabbed for Both of this man’s arms. And then did something he hadn’t ever really tested. His sharp shark like teeth plus his strength should technically equal something that could rip into just about anything, Mouth wide open, he went in to bite the base of emulators neck from there he would gore him in brutal glory. Wind Rammed into his side and while it made his last step toward him stumble slightly He was only temporarily derailed and not off couse for long.

Jupiter would be proud.

The half of his tail that was detached twitched on the ground.

~~~
Pluto was disgusted with himself and almost quit but something about the rage in Abyss voice aged on Pluto he had already lost two, he wouldn’t let Mars dissuade him because he was smarter. He wouldn’t be manipulated, he was corrupt if not more so. He Gathered his hands together and brought them up to bring down on Mars in a finishing blow.

But Mars sen in a blow to Pluto’s throat that was crippling. Pluto rolled off of him and then more so as he gasped for breathe. Mars stood again. Surveying Moscow and to see who stood left of the enemy, He beganto charge at the pait that was still facing Abyss and firing at his back..

~~~



Love, he liked that. Venus shrugged “call it how you see it, sweetheart.”

~~ "he's not all bad. I insist we put the preservation of life first and the smashing of faces later."


~~"Buckle up."

Venus Gapped. “ my god, you listen to reason on this side of the moral line? There is about one or two of me out there worth saving, and I am leaning closer to one to be honest. Then the face smashing can commence if need be.” He nodded amiably toward Dryad.

Venus Road happily along in the plane buckled up as close to Dryad as he could get.

It was about that time, that the Jet ran into a projectile, a Psychotic red Building hopping projectile.

The initial thump was followed by a succession of thumps from a single fist. The other hand was busy trying to dig into the frame enough to hold on.

“That would definitely be one of them that the world could do with out.” Venus spoke calmly of Jupiter and thought that if he was on the offensive then it was a bit late for their saving of whomever. He didn’t say it though and wouldn’t say that Jupiter only moved on after a foe was dead these days.