Marvel: Tomorrow Initiative - Chapter 5
Title: Marvel: Tomorrow Initiative
Chapter 5: Ultimate Jailbreak
Fandom: Marvel Universe
Disclaimer: Marvel owns the general setting. I'm just extrapolating from what they've done what their world will look like in fifty years.
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Audrey Hopkins/Arachne (OC), Karin Kusanagi/Fearless (OC, Laura Kinney/X-23, Impetus (OC)
Summary: Taking their first stand against the brutality of superhuman registration, Arachne, Fearless, and the X-Men stage a jailbreak at a superhuman holding facility.
Audrey met Karin and X-23 in the Danger Grotto. Karin was garbed in her Fearless attire sans mask and X-23 was garbed in her X-Men uniform. Audrey simply wore a black sleeveless hoodie with a circle-X zipper and black sweatpants with gauze bindings wrapped around her hands and feet and extending to her forearms and calves. The wristwatch containing her suit rested over the bindings on her left wrist.
“Ready to begin?” X-23 asked.
“Not quite,” Audrey replied, pressing the button on her wristwatch that would activate her suit. Within seconds, her body was covered by a spreading coat of nanotechnology that wove itself together to form her costume. “Now I am.”
Karin removed her batons from the bracers on her wrists and put them together as a pair of nunchaku connected by a red energy string. X-23 unsheathed twin claws from each fist and lunged at Arachne, who flipped over her to avoid X-23’s claws. Arachne’s perception of time slowed and she became aware of Karin’s nunchaku flying toward her ankle, attempting to ensnare her. She twisted in midair, evading the nunchaku, and fired a web-line at Karin, who rolled out of the way and pulled back her nunchaku.
Karin split her nunchaku into two batons and extended the energy blades on both. She rushed Arachne, who was also being rushed by X-23. Arachne jumped into the air, only for X-23 to quickly flip into the air, rebound off Karin’s shoulders, and push herself into the air after Arachne. The web-slinger spotted X-23 soaring through the air after her.
Time to test these, she thought and clenched her fists hard, tensing her wrist muscles just right . . . and balls of webbing flew at X-23. The web-balls exploded into cocoons of webbing that trapped the clawed mutant. Arachne let gravity take hold and plummeted downward, slamming into X-23’s cocooned form to hasten her descent. She flipped off X-23 and dodged Karin’s energy chain blade, running toward Karin and sliding into a low kick meant to trip the older girl.
Karin simply flipped over it, her eyesight advanced enough to perceive fast-moving objects without blurring. She whirled to extend her chain blade toward Arachne again, only for Arachne to bend over backwards to evade it. The backward bending turned into a one-handed handstand, Arachne using her free hand to fire a restraining length of web at Karin, who sliced it and came at Arachne.
The web-slinger spun on her hand into a barrage of highly fast kicks, not all of which Karin could avoid. Arachne pushed off her hand and flipped into a kick that Karin caught with her hand, pushing the younger girl into the air. Arachne flipped onto the ceiling and dived off it, spraying webbing at Karin. The Girl Without Fear sliced through the web but by then Arachne had landed a hard kick on her shoulder. Karin was grateful that Arachne had learned to hold back her considerable strength; otherwise, her shoulder would have been dislocated.
“Not bad,” Karin commented.
“Thanks,” Arachne answered, even as she tripped a charging X-23 (who had freed herself from the web cocoon). The undeterred X-23 rolled her hips and swung her foot up, the claw projected from it headed for Arachne’s stomach. Arachne jumped back and fired twin web-strands at the ceiling, swinging on them and flipping off them into a kick to X-23, who caught her by the ankle and redirected the momentum of her kick into a throw that sent Arachne skidding on the floor of the Danger Grotto. Arachne slammed her elbow onto the floor to slow her skid. Fortunately, the nano-suit held together, protecting her body from would-have-been-painful friction.
Arachne flipped backward and onto her feet. She clenched her fists tightly, pointing them at Karin and X-23 and tensing her wrist muscles differently than she had before. Small black-and-red darts shot out of her web-shooters and at Karin and X-23, who dodged or deflected them.
“Gonna have to do better than that,” Karin jibed.
Arachne flipped into the air and twisted over Karin’s head into a fast kick that would have connected if Karin hadn’t blocked it. Undeterred, Arachne twisted again and swung her remaining foot into another kick. Karin blocked that, too, forcing Arachne to push her torso forward so that she could head-butt Karin. Arachne became aware of X-23 charging her exposed back and pushed Karin away while flipping backward to avoid X-23’s assault. She fired her web-shooters, trapping X-23’s arms against her torso with webbing.
Karin used her energy blade to cut X-23 out of Arachne’s webbing. X-23 picked up Karin by her sides and whirled, throwing her at Arachne. Karin extended her baton-blades, holding them ready for Arachne, who pulled back her fist in preparation to knock Karin down once she got close enough. Karin tucked her body in for a somersault, lashing her blades out once she opened up, only for Arachne to dodge, but barely.
Arachne fired a restraining line of webbing at Karin, who reacted fast enough to grab it and use it to yank Arachne toward her. Karin extended her blade toward Arachne along the web-line, but Arachne let go and flipped in midair, kicking Karin in the head. Again, Karin was grateful that Arachne had learned to control her strength, but the kick had strained her neck.
Just then, Arachne’s spider-sense went off and time slowed once more. She whirled to catch X-23’s kick, only to be forced to let go when X-23 shot her clawed fist at her. Arachne flipped backward and landed on her feet. X-23 lunged at Arachne in a speed burst that took Arachne aback enough for X-23 to score a successful hit on her, retracting the claws so Arachne was not seriously hurt. Nonetheless, it was forceful enough to cause Arachne to bend double.
“That’ll be enough for now,” X-23 said.
Arachne rose to her full height, willing the mask to recede into her neck so her face could be seen. “That was some workout.”
“I know,” Karin said, rolling her neck muscles. “You were good, Audrey. Really good. You held your own against both me and Laura.”
“Where do we go from here?” Audrey asked.
“We go to get some help,” Karin replied, walking out of the Danger Grotto with X-23.
“For?” Audrey asked, following the two.
“Exposing the CSA’s posthuman termination project,” Karin clarified. “You have to remember; that’s the whole reason for the superpower replication process. Making us unnecessary makes it easier for them to eliminate us. We’re going to stop them, but we’re going to need help.”
“And where are we going to get that?” Audrey inquired.
“We’re going to get it from the posthuman holding facility here in the city,” Karin answered. “I have some good friends in there.”
“Who’s the holding facility for?” Audrey questioned.
“Anybody found to have powers without registering,” Wireless replied. “They separate the vigilantes from those engaged in criminal activity other than fighting crime without a license. A good idea, considering how many times the vigilantes have bested the criminals.”
“Let’s see if I’ve got this straight,” Audrey said. “We’re going to stage a jailbreak?”
“Yes,” Karin answered, donning her faceplate.
“Impetus, Wireless, you’re coming with me,” X-23 said. She turned to Fearless. “And I’m going with you and Arachne.”
“What about the rest of us?” Fairbrook asked.
“You’ll bodyslide in if we need your help,” X-23 replied. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
The three X-Men, along with Arachne and Fearless, got on the Blackbird, which was a sleek jet with hypersonic and stealth capabilities. Wireless took the controls, while X-23 sat next to him and Impetus, Arachne, and Fearless sat behind them. Wireless started up the Blackbird, proceeding to open the base exit. He piloted the Blackbird toward the exit from the base and when he shot out, he shot out into open air.
“This thing has stealth equipment, right?” Arachne asked.
“If they have anything that can detect this plane, they deserve to catch us,” Wireless answered with a slight impish smile.
They made it to the holding facility within mere minutes, Wireless setting the Blackbird to “hover.” Arachne, Fearless, X-23, and Impetus exited the Blackbird, with Wireless not following. “Why isn’t Wireless following us?” Arachne asked.
“Combat’s not his specialty,” X-23 replied.
“Tech support is,” Impetus added. “He does us more good by using his mind to break into their networks and shut them down. That’s how we’re going to get inside and that’s how we’re going to get our vigilante friends out.”
“What about the crooks?” Arachne asked.
“Hate to break it to you, but the vigilantes committed no other crime than being heroes without the approval of the government,” Fearless replied. “The crooks, on the other hand, chose to use their abilities to hurt other people. They stay in holding, from which they’ll be transferred to the Raft or the N-Zone prison, where they can’t hurt anyone anymore.”
“It doesn’t seem right, that’s all,” Arachne mumbled.
“We’re caught between two bad choices,” Fearless said. “Either allow the super-criminals to be exploited just as much as the vigilantes, or set them loose to rob, rape, and murder again. We’re just picking the choice we can more easily stomach.”
“Then what makes us different from how those superheroes who were against registration viewed those who signed on with it?” Arachne asked.
“Simple: We’re not the ones cooperating with an attempt to rid the world of posthumans not answerable to the government,” Impetus replied.
The blue-haired speedster ran into the facility, X-23, Arachne, and Fearless following. Arachne crawled on the ceiling, following Fearless and the two X-Men through the facility. She was startled as to how nobody was detecting their approach. All they had to was keep silent, keep to the shadows, knock out the occasional guard . . . and they were in the clear. Somehow, it seemed all too easy for the rookie rebel.
She was proven right a second later when Impetus went flying down the hall . . . not of his own volition. She fired a web between the walls to catch him. Impetus bounced off the web and gave Arachne a “thumbs up” gesture. Arachne jumped off the ceiling and flipped to her feet, standing beside Impetus. “Who did that to you?” she asked.
“Ask him,” Impetus replied, pointing down the hall.
A man with crew-cut black hair and dressed in a black guard uniform walked down the hall. The guard uniform had little adornment save for silver shoulder guards and red trim along the zipper of the jacket. His blue eyes stared grimly at the two teens, along with Fearless and X-23. He walked closer to them, his sidearm holstered on his hip.
“Hello. My name is Warden Darien Locke,” the man stated. “I guard this place.”
Arachne shivered slightly. This guy reeks of danger. She could feel her perception of time fluctuating, slowing down and speeding up to normal, then slowing down again. That had to mean that this Warden Locke was particularly dangerous.
“Are you going to leave, or do I have to lock you up here, too?” Warden Locke asked threateningly.
X-23 unsheathed her claws. Fearless detached her batons from her bracers and extended the energy blades. Arachne tucked her middle fingers into her palms. Impetus just stood there and did his best to look badass.
“I see you’ve made your choice,” Warden Locke mused coldly.
There was no warning. One second, Warden Locke was standing there. The next second, he had punched Fearless in the stomach. Fearless took the hit and slashed at him with her baton blade, only for him to smack it aside and grab her by the throat. Arachne lunged to kick Warden Locke away from Fearless, but he seemed to anticipate her and kicked her. The kick came with superhuman force behind it, enough to knock the breath out of her and knock her to the ground.
Warden Locke dropped Fearless and was about to go for Arachne when X-23 slashed him with her claws. Unfortunately, his guard suit was made of light vibranium-mesh and it survived her attempt to slash him. He grabbed her by the wrist and threw her overhead, but she flipped in midair and kicked him in the head, taking the opportunity to slice his throat with her foot claw. X-23 landed on the floor, skidding.
To X-23’s surprise, Warden Locke’s throat stopped bleeding . . . and healed itself. She gritted her teeth; this would just make putting him down harder, especially since he had armor protecting his body. Resigning herself to that task, she unsheathed the twin claws on her hands and lunged at him, only for him to dodge her swipes. He grabbed her wrists and held them above her head. Her answer was to swing her feet up to kick him, popping the claws there into his stomach. Unfortunately, the adamantium of her foot claws and the vibranium of his body armor canceled each other out.
Warden Locke kneed her in the stomach, sending her flying down the hall. She flipped backward and landed on her feet, only for Warden Locke to speed behind her and whirl to kick her. This time, she ducked under his kick and rose with a clawed punch. She slashed him across his face, digging underneath the skin and into the muscle and bone. Warden Locke growled furiously as his face repaired itself and shot his fist at her, only for her to dodge and swipe her claws at him again.
Warden Locke dodged the swipe and struck her forcefully in the chest, knocking her back. Impetus rushed the Warden, battering him with a barrage of hyper-speed punches. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to be putting a dent in the man at all. “Why! Won’t! You! Fall! Dammit!” the speedster yelled.
“I’m made of sterner stuff, that’s why, kid,” the Warden replied. Impetus darted behind him and whirled into a roundhouse kick, only for the Warden to block it with ease. With one swift, brutal strike, Impetus was sent flying down the hall.
Suddenly, a strand of web wrapped around the Warden, binding his arms to his torso. More strands joined the first, forming a sort of cocoon around his torso. The Warden struggled fiercely in the web, but he couldn’t break free. “What is this crap, spider’s webbing?” he asked.
“Of a sort,” Arachne replied, having risen to her feet. “It won’t hold you forever, but then, it doesn’t need to. It just needs to hold you long enough for me to do this.” She drew back her fist and punched as hard as she felt she could get away with, considering his strength and resilience. Fortunately for her, he fell down . . . and didn’t immediately get back up.
“Wireless?” X-23 asked over her communicator.
“Finally gotten past the part of their security network that keeps the prisoners inside,” Wireless replied.
“Remember, the vigilantes, not the criminals,” X-23 instructed.
The first thing to shut off in the vigilantes’ cells was the power-dampeners that kept them from using their powers to break free. With those disabled, they found it easy to escape their cells, whether through strength, some form of instantaneous transport, energy projection, or some more exotic power. Those whose powers were not easily lent to busting out of holding cells were helped by those whose powers were easily lent to that sort of thing.
As the escaped vigilantes began to move through the prison toward freedom, Arachne’s sense of time began to shift, alternately slowing down and speeding up to normal. “Oh, crap . . .”
“What is it?” Fearless asked.
“We’re in trouble,” Arachne replied.
Indeed, they were. Humanoid figures clad in blue-and-fuchsia armor emerged from the hidden areas of the prison, their optical lenses glowing red. “Return to your cells now!” an all-too-human voice boomed out from beneath one of the armors.
A blue-furred girl, strongly resembling the historical X-Man Nightcrawler, teleported in front of the armored figure. “And what if we say, ‘Hell, no’? What’re you gonna do about it?”
“Wilhelmina Katherine Jacobs, you do not want to tempt me,” the armored figure spoke.
“What are those things?” Arachne asked.
“Sentinel armors,” Impetus replied. “Why waste time with clunky robots or mecha when you can equip humans with the same capabilities as those robots or mecha and let them wipe out our kind up close and personal?”
Wilhelmina simply stuck her tongue out at the Sentinel armor and teleported. The Sentinel armor merely whirled and fired right where she appeared, scoring a direct hit on her. Wilhelmina collapsed on the floor, prompting a young man dressed in a sleeveless black suit with red wire-like piping running through it to snarl in rage. This young man was the Winter Soldier, but not the Winter Soldier formerly known as the original (and, in most people’s minds, the true) Captain America’s sidekick Bucky.
It was his grandson, and he was every bit as formidable as his grandfather, and very pissed off at the moment.
The Sentinel-armored one blasted the Winter Soldier with laser turrets built into his wrist. The Winter Soldier dodged the laser beams with superhuman quickness and flipped over the Sentinel armor. He kicked the armor in the back of the neck, only to bounce right off. Undeterred, the Winter Soldier valiantly avoided the Sentinel armors’ attacks on him. After all, as long as they were concentrated on him, they wouldn’t pay too much attention to the others.
Suddenly, a satchel flew through the air. One of the Sentinel armors took aim at it, but Winter Soldier snatched it out of his reach. Opening the satchel, he found his weapons. He spotted a caramel-skinned young man, tall and muscular and clad in street clothes, grinning at him before punching another Sentinel armor in the chest.
“I suppose that was you,” Winter Soldier remarked. “Thanks.”
“No prob,” the street-clothed young man replied, dodging the Sentinel armors’ laser fire. After all, as durable as he was, high-intensity lasers could still hurt him.
Winter Soldier pulled a high-intensity laser rifle out of the satchel and fired it one-handed at a Sentinel armor. The laser burst put a crack in the armor, but didn’t shatter it. Taking the opportunity, the Winter Soldier leaped into the air and spun into a kick right to the damaged part of the armor, sending it and the man within flying backward. The Sentinel armor managed to stop himself and retaliated with a barrage of laser blasts.
Beside the street-dressed young man, a paler and somewhat smaller young man garbed in sleek dark green with a silver bandana wrapped around the upper half of his face was striking Sentinel armors with superhuman strength and speed. He dodged their weapons fire and punched one with a chi-reinforced fist, shattering the Sentinel armor and leaving the man underneath vulnerable. The paler man, one successor to the mantle of Iron Fist, contented himself with knocking the man that once inhabited the Sentinel armor unconscious.
Iron Fist found himself back to back with the street-garbed young man, one Iron Cage. “Let’s do this,” Iron Fist whispered.
“Yeah,” Iron Cage agreed.
The two suddenly switched positions and struck down the Sentinel armors directly opposing them. Iron Fist flipped off Iron Cage’s shoulders and sliced through another Sentinel armor with his chi-enhanced hand. Iron Cage sped at a Sentinel armor and battered it with a barrage of super-strong punches. The Sentinel armor retaliated with a barrage of laser blasts, which Iron Cage dodged to the best of his ability.
Elsewhere in the battle, a silver-clad, masked and cloaked young man reached into another satchel and pulled out his weapons belt. He wrapped the belt around his hips and fastened it. A dark smile came to his face beneath the mask. “Tsukuyomi no Ken,” he whispered.
“Hey, ‘Fist of Tsukuyomi,’ mind giving me back my weapons?” a voice asked.
The silver-clad young man, marked by a crescent moon on his chest as the Moon Knight (or Tsukikishi, as he called himself), turned to the source of the voice. It was a young woman, dark-haired and exotic, clad in a red bodice and red leather pants. She was dodging the Sentinel armors’ laser assault on her, almost as though she could predict where they would aim. Tsukikishi knew from experience that she was an impressive fighter, but she was sorely outclassed against these armored men.
Tsukikishi reached into the satchel again and pulled out twin sai, throwing them at the young woman, who flipped into the air and caught them. She flipped the sai and crossed them into an X. “Thanks,” she said, charging the Sentinel armors while dodging their blasts.
“You’re welcome, Artemis,” Tsukikishi answered, throwing crescent-shaped shuriken at the Sentinel armors. The shuriken sliced the Sentinel armors but did not do much to disable them. The Sentinel armors retaliated with laser fire that Tsukikishi dodged with inhuman reflexes, thankful that the moon was out tonight. He pulled out more crescent shuriken, launching himself into the air and throwing the crescents at their optical lenses. To his surprise, the Sentinel armors fired lasers out of their optical lenses, deflecting the crescents. Should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.
Wilhelmina arose from the corner where some helpful vigilante had placed her after she’d been hit by the Sentinel armor. She flexed the three fingers on each hand and twitched the twin toes on her feet. She stretched her pointed tail and her limbs, as though she’d been merely resting instead of unconscious.
“Glad you’re awake,” the latest Citizen V remarked.
“Thanks,” Wilhelmina replied, teleporting with Citizen V into the midst of the fight. She made herself a hard target, teleporting so quickly and instinctively that even the probability calculators in the Sentinel armors were confused. That served Wilhelmina well; as she popped in and out, the Sentinel armors ended up shooting each other instead of her. It also helped that when she wasn’t teleporting, she was flipping and somersaulting and generally bouncing around.
Impetus sped around the Sentinel armors, easily evading their laser fire. He slid around one and dragged his hand along its surface, building up so much friction that the chest piece of the armor was burned off. X-23 sliced through the Sentinel armors with her claws, cutting their wearers out of the metal suits. Fearless did the same thing, only using her baton blades instead of claws. Arachne trapped the Sentinel armors in impact webbing while dodging their fire.
Suddenly, Wilhelmina teleported into their midst. “Hey, Spider-Lady!” she greeted, bouncing off Arachne’s shoulders and striking down another Sentinel armor. Arachne threw herself into a cartwheel and flipped back, shooting more impact webbing at the Sentinel armors. Arachne landed beside Fearless and nodded to her before bouncing away to trash more Sentinel armors. She stuck her hand to one Sentinel armor’s chest and ripped away, taking the armor’s chest piece with her. The wearer of the Sentinel armor attempted to fire, but the armor was useless without the computer system in the chest piece . . . and the chest piece was gone.
“Take their chest pieces!” Arachne shouted.
X-23 and Fearless were brutal, slicing through the Sentinel armors’ chest pieces with their claws and baton blades. At some points, they impaled the Sentinel armors, something that shocked Arachne when she saw it. Despite that shock, she continued dodging Sentinel armors’ fire and tearing away their chest pieces. She just figured she’d have to talk to X-23 and Fearless about it later . . . and they would talk about it.
Impetus was using friction to tear apart the Sentinel armors, generating so much heat with his speed that the armors burned away. Winter Soldier dropped in front of him and shot through a Sentinel armor’s chest piece with his rifle. He dodged fire from several more Sentinel armors and blasted through their chest pieces as well. He didn’t honestly wish to kill the men inside, but if the fire from his rifle turned out fatal, he wouldn’t be too bothered. He was simply trying to survive and sometimes survival required the death of someone other than himself.
Finally, the Sentinel armors were all disabled, as were their wearers. Arachne looked out at the disarray the Sentinel armors were left in and the vigilantes that had gathered around her, Fearless, and the two X-Men. “Did we have to do all this?” she wondered.
“Yes,” Fearless replied simply.
“You were killing them,” Arachne said. “You and X-23.”
“We were disabling them,” Fearless answered. “If that required their deaths, so be it. This is a harsh, cruel world we live in. To survive, you have to be even harsher. That’s how it works.”
Arachne looked at her red-gloved hands. In this light, the red looked like blood. She hoped that grim thought wouldn’t be a predictor of her future. In the midst of her dark musings, she felt a hand on her shoulder and unconsciously leaned into it. She looked at the hand and followed it with her eyes to its owner, Fearless.
“Is this what it’s going to be from now on?” Arachne asked. “Endless fights for survival?”
“I won’t lie to you,” Fearless replied. “You deserve better than that. But this is what you’re going to get from life from now on. Until we find a way to stop this.” She looked deep into Arachne’s eyes, despite the fact that her own and Arachne’s were hidden behind one-way lenses. “But you’re not on your own. I’m here for you. I promised you that and I keep my promises.”
Arachne nodded, silently acknowledging Fearless’ words.
Chapter 5: Ultimate Jailbreak
Fandom: Marvel Universe
Disclaimer: Marvel owns the general setting. I'm just extrapolating from what they've done what their world will look like in fifty years.
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Audrey Hopkins/Arachne (OC), Karin Kusanagi/Fearless (OC, Laura Kinney/X-23, Impetus (OC)
Summary: Taking their first stand against the brutality of superhuman registration, Arachne, Fearless, and the X-Men stage a jailbreak at a superhuman holding facility.
Audrey met Karin and X-23 in the Danger Grotto. Karin was garbed in her Fearless attire sans mask and X-23 was garbed in her X-Men uniform. Audrey simply wore a black sleeveless hoodie with a circle-X zipper and black sweatpants with gauze bindings wrapped around her hands and feet and extending to her forearms and calves. The wristwatch containing her suit rested over the bindings on her left wrist.
“Ready to begin?” X-23 asked.
“Not quite,” Audrey replied, pressing the button on her wristwatch that would activate her suit. Within seconds, her body was covered by a spreading coat of nanotechnology that wove itself together to form her costume. “Now I am.”
Karin removed her batons from the bracers on her wrists and put them together as a pair of nunchaku connected by a red energy string. X-23 unsheathed twin claws from each fist and lunged at Arachne, who flipped over her to avoid X-23’s claws. Arachne’s perception of time slowed and she became aware of Karin’s nunchaku flying toward her ankle, attempting to ensnare her. She twisted in midair, evading the nunchaku, and fired a web-line at Karin, who rolled out of the way and pulled back her nunchaku.
Karin split her nunchaku into two batons and extended the energy blades on both. She rushed Arachne, who was also being rushed by X-23. Arachne jumped into the air, only for X-23 to quickly flip into the air, rebound off Karin’s shoulders, and push herself into the air after Arachne. The web-slinger spotted X-23 soaring through the air after her.
Time to test these, she thought and clenched her fists hard, tensing her wrist muscles just right . . . and balls of webbing flew at X-23. The web-balls exploded into cocoons of webbing that trapped the clawed mutant. Arachne let gravity take hold and plummeted downward, slamming into X-23’s cocooned form to hasten her descent. She flipped off X-23 and dodged Karin’s energy chain blade, running toward Karin and sliding into a low kick meant to trip the older girl.
Karin simply flipped over it, her eyesight advanced enough to perceive fast-moving objects without blurring. She whirled to extend her chain blade toward Arachne again, only for Arachne to bend over backwards to evade it. The backward bending turned into a one-handed handstand, Arachne using her free hand to fire a restraining length of web at Karin, who sliced it and came at Arachne.
The web-slinger spun on her hand into a barrage of highly fast kicks, not all of which Karin could avoid. Arachne pushed off her hand and flipped into a kick that Karin caught with her hand, pushing the younger girl into the air. Arachne flipped onto the ceiling and dived off it, spraying webbing at Karin. The Girl Without Fear sliced through the web but by then Arachne had landed a hard kick on her shoulder. Karin was grateful that Arachne had learned to hold back her considerable strength; otherwise, her shoulder would have been dislocated.
“Not bad,” Karin commented.
“Thanks,” Arachne answered, even as she tripped a charging X-23 (who had freed herself from the web cocoon). The undeterred X-23 rolled her hips and swung her foot up, the claw projected from it headed for Arachne’s stomach. Arachne jumped back and fired twin web-strands at the ceiling, swinging on them and flipping off them into a kick to X-23, who caught her by the ankle and redirected the momentum of her kick into a throw that sent Arachne skidding on the floor of the Danger Grotto. Arachne slammed her elbow onto the floor to slow her skid. Fortunately, the nano-suit held together, protecting her body from would-have-been-painful friction.
Arachne flipped backward and onto her feet. She clenched her fists tightly, pointing them at Karin and X-23 and tensing her wrist muscles differently than she had before. Small black-and-red darts shot out of her web-shooters and at Karin and X-23, who dodged or deflected them.
“Gonna have to do better than that,” Karin jibed.
Arachne flipped into the air and twisted over Karin’s head into a fast kick that would have connected if Karin hadn’t blocked it. Undeterred, Arachne twisted again and swung her remaining foot into another kick. Karin blocked that, too, forcing Arachne to push her torso forward so that she could head-butt Karin. Arachne became aware of X-23 charging her exposed back and pushed Karin away while flipping backward to avoid X-23’s assault. She fired her web-shooters, trapping X-23’s arms against her torso with webbing.
Karin used her energy blade to cut X-23 out of Arachne’s webbing. X-23 picked up Karin by her sides and whirled, throwing her at Arachne. Karin extended her baton-blades, holding them ready for Arachne, who pulled back her fist in preparation to knock Karin down once she got close enough. Karin tucked her body in for a somersault, lashing her blades out once she opened up, only for Arachne to dodge, but barely.
Arachne fired a restraining line of webbing at Karin, who reacted fast enough to grab it and use it to yank Arachne toward her. Karin extended her blade toward Arachne along the web-line, but Arachne let go and flipped in midair, kicking Karin in the head. Again, Karin was grateful that Arachne had learned to control her strength, but the kick had strained her neck.
Just then, Arachne’s spider-sense went off and time slowed once more. She whirled to catch X-23’s kick, only to be forced to let go when X-23 shot her clawed fist at her. Arachne flipped backward and landed on her feet. X-23 lunged at Arachne in a speed burst that took Arachne aback enough for X-23 to score a successful hit on her, retracting the claws so Arachne was not seriously hurt. Nonetheless, it was forceful enough to cause Arachne to bend double.
“That’ll be enough for now,” X-23 said.
Arachne rose to her full height, willing the mask to recede into her neck so her face could be seen. “That was some workout.”
“I know,” Karin said, rolling her neck muscles. “You were good, Audrey. Really good. You held your own against both me and Laura.”
“Where do we go from here?” Audrey asked.
“We go to get some help,” Karin replied, walking out of the Danger Grotto with X-23.
“For?” Audrey asked, following the two.
“Exposing the CSA’s posthuman termination project,” Karin clarified. “You have to remember; that’s the whole reason for the superpower replication process. Making us unnecessary makes it easier for them to eliminate us. We’re going to stop them, but we’re going to need help.”
“And where are we going to get that?” Audrey inquired.
“We’re going to get it from the posthuman holding facility here in the city,” Karin answered. “I have some good friends in there.”
“Who’s the holding facility for?” Audrey questioned.
“Anybody found to have powers without registering,” Wireless replied. “They separate the vigilantes from those engaged in criminal activity other than fighting crime without a license. A good idea, considering how many times the vigilantes have bested the criminals.”
“Let’s see if I’ve got this straight,” Audrey said. “We’re going to stage a jailbreak?”
“Yes,” Karin answered, donning her faceplate.
“Impetus, Wireless, you’re coming with me,” X-23 said. She turned to Fearless. “And I’m going with you and Arachne.”
“What about the rest of us?” Fairbrook asked.
“You’ll bodyslide in if we need your help,” X-23 replied. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
The three X-Men, along with Arachne and Fearless, got on the Blackbird, which was a sleek jet with hypersonic and stealth capabilities. Wireless took the controls, while X-23 sat next to him and Impetus, Arachne, and Fearless sat behind them. Wireless started up the Blackbird, proceeding to open the base exit. He piloted the Blackbird toward the exit from the base and when he shot out, he shot out into open air.
“This thing has stealth equipment, right?” Arachne asked.
“If they have anything that can detect this plane, they deserve to catch us,” Wireless answered with a slight impish smile.
They made it to the holding facility within mere minutes, Wireless setting the Blackbird to “hover.” Arachne, Fearless, X-23, and Impetus exited the Blackbird, with Wireless not following. “Why isn’t Wireless following us?” Arachne asked.
“Combat’s not his specialty,” X-23 replied.
“Tech support is,” Impetus added. “He does us more good by using his mind to break into their networks and shut them down. That’s how we’re going to get inside and that’s how we’re going to get our vigilante friends out.”
“What about the crooks?” Arachne asked.
“Hate to break it to you, but the vigilantes committed no other crime than being heroes without the approval of the government,” Fearless replied. “The crooks, on the other hand, chose to use their abilities to hurt other people. They stay in holding, from which they’ll be transferred to the Raft or the N-Zone prison, where they can’t hurt anyone anymore.”
“It doesn’t seem right, that’s all,” Arachne mumbled.
“We’re caught between two bad choices,” Fearless said. “Either allow the super-criminals to be exploited just as much as the vigilantes, or set them loose to rob, rape, and murder again. We’re just picking the choice we can more easily stomach.”
“Then what makes us different from how those superheroes who were against registration viewed those who signed on with it?” Arachne asked.
“Simple: We’re not the ones cooperating with an attempt to rid the world of posthumans not answerable to the government,” Impetus replied.
The blue-haired speedster ran into the facility, X-23, Arachne, and Fearless following. Arachne crawled on the ceiling, following Fearless and the two X-Men through the facility. She was startled as to how nobody was detecting their approach. All they had to was keep silent, keep to the shadows, knock out the occasional guard . . . and they were in the clear. Somehow, it seemed all too easy for the rookie rebel.
She was proven right a second later when Impetus went flying down the hall . . . not of his own volition. She fired a web between the walls to catch him. Impetus bounced off the web and gave Arachne a “thumbs up” gesture. Arachne jumped off the ceiling and flipped to her feet, standing beside Impetus. “Who did that to you?” she asked.
“Ask him,” Impetus replied, pointing down the hall.
A man with crew-cut black hair and dressed in a black guard uniform walked down the hall. The guard uniform had little adornment save for silver shoulder guards and red trim along the zipper of the jacket. His blue eyes stared grimly at the two teens, along with Fearless and X-23. He walked closer to them, his sidearm holstered on his hip.
“Hello. My name is Warden Darien Locke,” the man stated. “I guard this place.”
Arachne shivered slightly. This guy reeks of danger. She could feel her perception of time fluctuating, slowing down and speeding up to normal, then slowing down again. That had to mean that this Warden Locke was particularly dangerous.
“Are you going to leave, or do I have to lock you up here, too?” Warden Locke asked threateningly.
X-23 unsheathed her claws. Fearless detached her batons from her bracers and extended the energy blades. Arachne tucked her middle fingers into her palms. Impetus just stood there and did his best to look badass.
“I see you’ve made your choice,” Warden Locke mused coldly.
There was no warning. One second, Warden Locke was standing there. The next second, he had punched Fearless in the stomach. Fearless took the hit and slashed at him with her baton blade, only for him to smack it aside and grab her by the throat. Arachne lunged to kick Warden Locke away from Fearless, but he seemed to anticipate her and kicked her. The kick came with superhuman force behind it, enough to knock the breath out of her and knock her to the ground.
Warden Locke dropped Fearless and was about to go for Arachne when X-23 slashed him with her claws. Unfortunately, his guard suit was made of light vibranium-mesh and it survived her attempt to slash him. He grabbed her by the wrist and threw her overhead, but she flipped in midair and kicked him in the head, taking the opportunity to slice his throat with her foot claw. X-23 landed on the floor, skidding.
To X-23’s surprise, Warden Locke’s throat stopped bleeding . . . and healed itself. She gritted her teeth; this would just make putting him down harder, especially since he had armor protecting his body. Resigning herself to that task, she unsheathed the twin claws on her hands and lunged at him, only for him to dodge her swipes. He grabbed her wrists and held them above her head. Her answer was to swing her feet up to kick him, popping the claws there into his stomach. Unfortunately, the adamantium of her foot claws and the vibranium of his body armor canceled each other out.
Warden Locke kneed her in the stomach, sending her flying down the hall. She flipped backward and landed on her feet, only for Warden Locke to speed behind her and whirl to kick her. This time, she ducked under his kick and rose with a clawed punch. She slashed him across his face, digging underneath the skin and into the muscle and bone. Warden Locke growled furiously as his face repaired itself and shot his fist at her, only for her to dodge and swipe her claws at him again.
Warden Locke dodged the swipe and struck her forcefully in the chest, knocking her back. Impetus rushed the Warden, battering him with a barrage of hyper-speed punches. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to be putting a dent in the man at all. “Why! Won’t! You! Fall! Dammit!” the speedster yelled.
“I’m made of sterner stuff, that’s why, kid,” the Warden replied. Impetus darted behind him and whirled into a roundhouse kick, only for the Warden to block it with ease. With one swift, brutal strike, Impetus was sent flying down the hall.
Suddenly, a strand of web wrapped around the Warden, binding his arms to his torso. More strands joined the first, forming a sort of cocoon around his torso. The Warden struggled fiercely in the web, but he couldn’t break free. “What is this crap, spider’s webbing?” he asked.
“Of a sort,” Arachne replied, having risen to her feet. “It won’t hold you forever, but then, it doesn’t need to. It just needs to hold you long enough for me to do this.” She drew back her fist and punched as hard as she felt she could get away with, considering his strength and resilience. Fortunately for her, he fell down . . . and didn’t immediately get back up.
“Wireless?” X-23 asked over her communicator.
“Finally gotten past the part of their security network that keeps the prisoners inside,” Wireless replied.
“Remember, the vigilantes, not the criminals,” X-23 instructed.
The first thing to shut off in the vigilantes’ cells was the power-dampeners that kept them from using their powers to break free. With those disabled, they found it easy to escape their cells, whether through strength, some form of instantaneous transport, energy projection, or some more exotic power. Those whose powers were not easily lent to busting out of holding cells were helped by those whose powers were easily lent to that sort of thing.
As the escaped vigilantes began to move through the prison toward freedom, Arachne’s sense of time began to shift, alternately slowing down and speeding up to normal. “Oh, crap . . .”
“What is it?” Fearless asked.
“We’re in trouble,” Arachne replied.
Indeed, they were. Humanoid figures clad in blue-and-fuchsia armor emerged from the hidden areas of the prison, their optical lenses glowing red. “Return to your cells now!” an all-too-human voice boomed out from beneath one of the armors.
A blue-furred girl, strongly resembling the historical X-Man Nightcrawler, teleported in front of the armored figure. “And what if we say, ‘Hell, no’? What’re you gonna do about it?”
“Wilhelmina Katherine Jacobs, you do not want to tempt me,” the armored figure spoke.
“What are those things?” Arachne asked.
“Sentinel armors,” Impetus replied. “Why waste time with clunky robots or mecha when you can equip humans with the same capabilities as those robots or mecha and let them wipe out our kind up close and personal?”
Wilhelmina simply stuck her tongue out at the Sentinel armor and teleported. The Sentinel armor merely whirled and fired right where she appeared, scoring a direct hit on her. Wilhelmina collapsed on the floor, prompting a young man dressed in a sleeveless black suit with red wire-like piping running through it to snarl in rage. This young man was the Winter Soldier, but not the Winter Soldier formerly known as the original (and, in most people’s minds, the true) Captain America’s sidekick Bucky.
It was his grandson, and he was every bit as formidable as his grandfather, and very pissed off at the moment.
The Sentinel-armored one blasted the Winter Soldier with laser turrets built into his wrist. The Winter Soldier dodged the laser beams with superhuman quickness and flipped over the Sentinel armor. He kicked the armor in the back of the neck, only to bounce right off. Undeterred, the Winter Soldier valiantly avoided the Sentinel armors’ attacks on him. After all, as long as they were concentrated on him, they wouldn’t pay too much attention to the others.
Suddenly, a satchel flew through the air. One of the Sentinel armors took aim at it, but Winter Soldier snatched it out of his reach. Opening the satchel, he found his weapons. He spotted a caramel-skinned young man, tall and muscular and clad in street clothes, grinning at him before punching another Sentinel armor in the chest.
“I suppose that was you,” Winter Soldier remarked. “Thanks.”
“No prob,” the street-clothed young man replied, dodging the Sentinel armors’ laser fire. After all, as durable as he was, high-intensity lasers could still hurt him.
Winter Soldier pulled a high-intensity laser rifle out of the satchel and fired it one-handed at a Sentinel armor. The laser burst put a crack in the armor, but didn’t shatter it. Taking the opportunity, the Winter Soldier leaped into the air and spun into a kick right to the damaged part of the armor, sending it and the man within flying backward. The Sentinel armor managed to stop himself and retaliated with a barrage of laser blasts.
Beside the street-dressed young man, a paler and somewhat smaller young man garbed in sleek dark green with a silver bandana wrapped around the upper half of his face was striking Sentinel armors with superhuman strength and speed. He dodged their weapons fire and punched one with a chi-reinforced fist, shattering the Sentinel armor and leaving the man underneath vulnerable. The paler man, one successor to the mantle of Iron Fist, contented himself with knocking the man that once inhabited the Sentinel armor unconscious.
Iron Fist found himself back to back with the street-garbed young man, one Iron Cage. “Let’s do this,” Iron Fist whispered.
“Yeah,” Iron Cage agreed.
The two suddenly switched positions and struck down the Sentinel armors directly opposing them. Iron Fist flipped off Iron Cage’s shoulders and sliced through another Sentinel armor with his chi-enhanced hand. Iron Cage sped at a Sentinel armor and battered it with a barrage of super-strong punches. The Sentinel armor retaliated with a barrage of laser blasts, which Iron Cage dodged to the best of his ability.
Elsewhere in the battle, a silver-clad, masked and cloaked young man reached into another satchel and pulled out his weapons belt. He wrapped the belt around his hips and fastened it. A dark smile came to his face beneath the mask. “Tsukuyomi no Ken,” he whispered.
“Hey, ‘Fist of Tsukuyomi,’ mind giving me back my weapons?” a voice asked.
The silver-clad young man, marked by a crescent moon on his chest as the Moon Knight (or Tsukikishi, as he called himself), turned to the source of the voice. It was a young woman, dark-haired and exotic, clad in a red bodice and red leather pants. She was dodging the Sentinel armors’ laser assault on her, almost as though she could predict where they would aim. Tsukikishi knew from experience that she was an impressive fighter, but she was sorely outclassed against these armored men.
Tsukikishi reached into the satchel again and pulled out twin sai, throwing them at the young woman, who flipped into the air and caught them. She flipped the sai and crossed them into an X. “Thanks,” she said, charging the Sentinel armors while dodging their blasts.
“You’re welcome, Artemis,” Tsukikishi answered, throwing crescent-shaped shuriken at the Sentinel armors. The shuriken sliced the Sentinel armors but did not do much to disable them. The Sentinel armors retaliated with laser fire that Tsukikishi dodged with inhuman reflexes, thankful that the moon was out tonight. He pulled out more crescent shuriken, launching himself into the air and throwing the crescents at their optical lenses. To his surprise, the Sentinel armors fired lasers out of their optical lenses, deflecting the crescents. Should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.
Wilhelmina arose from the corner where some helpful vigilante had placed her after she’d been hit by the Sentinel armor. She flexed the three fingers on each hand and twitched the twin toes on her feet. She stretched her pointed tail and her limbs, as though she’d been merely resting instead of unconscious.
“Glad you’re awake,” the latest Citizen V remarked.
“Thanks,” Wilhelmina replied, teleporting with Citizen V into the midst of the fight. She made herself a hard target, teleporting so quickly and instinctively that even the probability calculators in the Sentinel armors were confused. That served Wilhelmina well; as she popped in and out, the Sentinel armors ended up shooting each other instead of her. It also helped that when she wasn’t teleporting, she was flipping and somersaulting and generally bouncing around.
Impetus sped around the Sentinel armors, easily evading their laser fire. He slid around one and dragged his hand along its surface, building up so much friction that the chest piece of the armor was burned off. X-23 sliced through the Sentinel armors with her claws, cutting their wearers out of the metal suits. Fearless did the same thing, only using her baton blades instead of claws. Arachne trapped the Sentinel armors in impact webbing while dodging their fire.
Suddenly, Wilhelmina teleported into their midst. “Hey, Spider-Lady!” she greeted, bouncing off Arachne’s shoulders and striking down another Sentinel armor. Arachne threw herself into a cartwheel and flipped back, shooting more impact webbing at the Sentinel armors. Arachne landed beside Fearless and nodded to her before bouncing away to trash more Sentinel armors. She stuck her hand to one Sentinel armor’s chest and ripped away, taking the armor’s chest piece with her. The wearer of the Sentinel armor attempted to fire, but the armor was useless without the computer system in the chest piece . . . and the chest piece was gone.
“Take their chest pieces!” Arachne shouted.
X-23 and Fearless were brutal, slicing through the Sentinel armors’ chest pieces with their claws and baton blades. At some points, they impaled the Sentinel armors, something that shocked Arachne when she saw it. Despite that shock, she continued dodging Sentinel armors’ fire and tearing away their chest pieces. She just figured she’d have to talk to X-23 and Fearless about it later . . . and they would talk about it.
Impetus was using friction to tear apart the Sentinel armors, generating so much heat with his speed that the armors burned away. Winter Soldier dropped in front of him and shot through a Sentinel armor’s chest piece with his rifle. He dodged fire from several more Sentinel armors and blasted through their chest pieces as well. He didn’t honestly wish to kill the men inside, but if the fire from his rifle turned out fatal, he wouldn’t be too bothered. He was simply trying to survive and sometimes survival required the death of someone other than himself.
Finally, the Sentinel armors were all disabled, as were their wearers. Arachne looked out at the disarray the Sentinel armors were left in and the vigilantes that had gathered around her, Fearless, and the two X-Men. “Did we have to do all this?” she wondered.
“Yes,” Fearless replied simply.
“You were killing them,” Arachne said. “You and X-23.”
“We were disabling them,” Fearless answered. “If that required their deaths, so be it. This is a harsh, cruel world we live in. To survive, you have to be even harsher. That’s how it works.”
Arachne looked at her red-gloved hands. In this light, the red looked like blood. She hoped that grim thought wouldn’t be a predictor of her future. In the midst of her dark musings, she felt a hand on her shoulder and unconsciously leaned into it. She looked at the hand and followed it with her eyes to its owner, Fearless.
“Is this what it’s going to be from now on?” Arachne asked. “Endless fights for survival?”
“I won’t lie to you,” Fearless replied. “You deserve better than that. But this is what you’re going to get from life from now on. Until we find a way to stop this.” She looked deep into Arachne’s eyes, despite the fact that her own and Arachne’s were hidden behind one-way lenses. “But you’re not on your own. I’m here for you. I promised you that and I keep my promises.”
Arachne nodded, silently acknowledging Fearless’ words.