[AoS] Hold the Line (Solo)

It was madness. That was really the only way to describe the mess that was going on inside of what was left of Xavier’s Sister School. Walls were broken in, doors had been smashed open, furniture was strewn about with impunity. The screams that echoed through the halls and the smell of blood and death in the air were sickening, but it was not something that Akshay Malik was going to shy away from. Not right now, not ever again. He was a part of the line; the line that had to hold back the invaders and keep those hidden inside the recesses of the school safe.

It was his job. And, even as he stared out across the masses and the realization that this was not something he was going to walk away from, Akshay intended to do his job.

A glance and he saw Mirror fighting hard to maintain the staircase. Arrows flew like a rain of barbs from the sky. Though the two of them never saw eye to eye, especially concerning one wolf-like mutant, at this time they were comrades. Differences were put aside for the greater good; the school would be defended at the cost of their own lives if need be.

More fought with them, but Akshay had little time to keep track of them. The hordes flooded in and Akshay had to focus on holding the line.

A particularly brutish looking individual charged; muscles gleaming, veins pulsating, mouth frothing over with foam. He was a mad dog, a mad dog that needed to be put down.

In one hand, Akshay Malik, dressed as The Wordsmith, carried the word “SWORD,” while in the other, he carried “SHIELD”. The man ran forward and Akshay met him face to face. A swipe of one word and then the crash of another, the man screeched and clawed at his own eyes. Shards of words were embedded but quickly disappeared, leaving bleeding wounds. As he was distracted, Akshay kicked, hard, into the man’s stomach and sent him reeling into the ground.

One down…and only dozens to go.

Akshay fought hard. He dodged around arrows and other explosions of powers while he smashed word after word into his attackers. People fell to his feet but not without getting in a few blows of their own. Akshay cried out but he never once stopped fighting. By the time he began to wind down with exhaustion, the young comic fan was covered in burns, cuts, and he was sure that he could see a splinter of bone sticking somewhere out of his arm. His left eye had also stopped working but that was only because he didn’t guard his flank. That goodness that Mirror was there with another notched arrow or it would have been worse. But, despite all his wounds, he fought on.

By the time the last and fatal wound was dealt, his attacker unknown, Akshay fell to his knees. The world shimmered in bright and darkness before he finally fell forward, barely holding himself up on the word “EMERALD” he had propped against the ground. He shook as the cold crept over his body and the muscle shaking began to rip throughout his body.

His world dimmed and he looked up just in time to see a flash of red hair and, what sounded like the muffled voice of someone calling his name. He was drifting but the young Wordsmith had to grin. He did it, they all did it…they held the line…