Fic excerpt: Still untitle ex-femgen
This is the fic that ate my brain this year. It's not as long and complicated as Elemental or the Bloodline series but the tightness of the plot is what's killing me. I'm stuffing a whole lot of plot into less than 20 40 60 thousand words. Part of teh reason I want to do this well is because I had to flake out on femgenficathon for the first time in I think 3 years for this fic. Let me know if it's worth it so far.
Marie slapped her radio off. More SWAT had come out of the woodworks and were waving them over. She kept her eyes and hand gun trained back at Pyro. A few feet from SWAT van barricade, a shout cut short. Seconds later, Iceman flew, limp-limbed, out of the inferno. A pink girl-- Marie thought her callsign was Blink--threw a pink blob up in the air which swallowed Iceman up. The blob reappeared near the ground, bringing Iceman with it. He crumpled on the street, breathing hard, his fleshform showing in bits and water dripping off his shoulders.
"D'Ancanto, come on!" shouted Charlotte.
Marie looked over her shoulder. There was her partner, looking worried as always, like moms always tended to be. There was Iceman, his woefully young-looking pink sidekick, and Storm doing not much of anything. And there were the adamantium jackets in her pocket along with her one hundred forty-six hours clocked on the range.
Marie shrugged reholstered her piece and ran for Bobby to the sound of Charlotte hollering her lungs out. She was so going to get suspended for this and right on the month when her bike needed some good loving.
"You know what Wolvie would do to you if he found you sleeping on the job, Popsicle?"
Iceman moaned. Water pooled at his knees and elbows. "Don't even joke about that. I get him?"
"Well, you might've given him the flu."
"Fuck. I was hoping to kill the temp around him. Drain the heat."
"Like his fireballs back in school."
He almost smiled. "Gimme a minute to catch my breath."
"Let's see if me and my baby can buy you more." Marie patted the Remington.
"He's turned half of Midtown into ash, Marie. You can't go there."
"I didn't say I could stop him; just stall him a bit. I'm gonna need one of these." She pulled the commelink out of his ear.
"Marie!"
But she was already up and running. She didn't want or need to get up high; by her estimates, there'd be too much wind to get a good shot in. A second or third floor window would do just as well as anywhere higher. There was one to her right that didn't look too scorched and most of the windows had tiny balconies where she could get a good shot in. Marie took a running start and leapt for the fire escape, easily catching hold of the rungs. With a good swing, she was up and over, climbing up the rest of the way. She wrenched a half-open window nearly out of its sash and made her way around the apartment until she found one of those half-balconies.
"This is D'Ancanto, MacTac-2, speaking to the X-Men, over."
"Rogue?" Storm said, "What on Earth are you doing?"
"Helping out a bit. You think you can herd Pyro closer to [street] and [street]?"
Wolverine's voice came over the waves next. "What's going on in your head, Marie?"
"I'm a sniper," she lied.
"I most *certainly** will not--" Storm began but Wolverine interrupted.
"Are you any good?"
"Come on, Wolvie. Like you'd associate with sucky snipers."
"Wolverine." That was all Storm had to say. She could put whole wikis into one word.
With a sigh, Wolverine said, "Storm, do you even want to *estimate** the casualties and the property damage Johnny's done? He's not your student any more. I'm sorry."
Silence held the commelink for the longest five seconds Marie had experienced since she waited for that Novomane shot ten years ago. "Very well. But I cannot be complicit to this."
"Fine. You head the safety crew. Blink?"
"Sir?" came the girl's voice.
"Grab my commelink and give it to Iceman. He's going to need it. Then report to Storm."
"Yessir."
Marie popped the standard cartridges out of the rifle, replacing them with the adamantium ones. She MacGyvered a mount using an up-ended flowerpot then trained the muzzle towards the tallest of the flames. Then she lay flat on the grilled floor for an experimental look down the barrel through the iron sights. It wasn't ideal but it would have to do. "I'm in position."
"What position? MacTac, is that you?" her police radio crackled out. Whoops. Captain Chu was still on.
"Sorry, sir. Didn't know my key was open." She locked the radio and pulled it off her collar. "As we were, X-Men?"
"We're driving him your way," said Iceman. "Gonna try to cool down the periphery, too. Hope you've got a coat."
"I'll handle it." Marie peered down the sights. She immediately teared up. The centre was white hot, almost like looking at the sun. Multicoloured spots danced in her vision when she glanced away. Fuck. That was unexpected. "I'm going to be a bother again and ask if anyone there has a good pair of shades I can borrow."
"I'm on it, ma'am." Cannonball appeared quickly after his drawl snapped through the commelinks. He pulled his goggles off and gave them to her. "These'll do?"
"They're great, thanks. I'll give them back when this is over, 'kay, sugar?"
He blushed, nodded and zoomed away.
She still teared up looking straight at Pyro but at least she could keep him in sight longer. Marie shut her eyes. She had to save it for go-time and trust the X-Men to do their job. "Let me know when he's within two hundred feet, repeat, two hundred feet."
"I heard you the first time," Wolverine grunted. "Give us a couple more minutes."
The air chilled. To the north, the buildings took on a lighter shade. Frost, Marie realised. Bobby was doing his job. Further back, more to the east, Storm's clouds poured rain over the city, quenching the fires best she could. She smelled sulphur; that was either Nightcrawler 'porting people away or just plain old industrial waste. She preferred to believe the former. The column of flame loped closer.
"Fuck you!" she heard Pyro yell. "I'll get you. I'll fucking get you! You left us, you fucking-- you left! I believed you!"
"Close enough?" Bobby asked, audibly panting.
Marie checked. "Another seventy-five feet if we're going to make it count."
A pained, bellowed "No!" erupted out of the column at the same time a cone of fire did. Marie rolled back, gasping as the iron grates of the balcony went red with heat.
"What the heck was that?!" she yelled.
"We're losing control," said Bobby. "Take your shot!"
"I can't yet! He's too far!"
"We can't--" Bobby seemed to choke then Wolverine dove out of the conflagration, more skeleton than human. "Marie, take the shot!"
"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." She reassembled her mount, hands shaking. This was a bad idea. This was one the worse ideas she'd ever had, and Lord help her, the list went a mile long. She took a moment to wipe the sweat out from her goggles then shifted into position.
There, between her sights, the glowing white centre of Pyro's main fire. And then there, in the middle, shifting through the heat waves, was Pyro's silhouette.
"Marie!"
"Just a second."
"Marie, we don't have--" Bobby's swallowed groan of pain was more chilling than any scream.
He was getting closer. His silhouette wavered in the heat waves. Marie didn't dare blink.
"Take the damn shot, Marie," Kitty shouted, sobbed.
"Hold on."
"Marie!"
The waves parted. Marie pulled the trigger.
Marie slapped her radio off. More SWAT had come out of the woodworks and were waving them over. She kept her eyes and hand gun trained back at Pyro. A few feet from SWAT van barricade, a shout cut short. Seconds later, Iceman flew, limp-limbed, out of the inferno. A pink girl-- Marie thought her callsign was Blink--threw a pink blob up in the air which swallowed Iceman up. The blob reappeared near the ground, bringing Iceman with it. He crumpled on the street, breathing hard, his fleshform showing in bits and water dripping off his shoulders.
"D'Ancanto, come on!" shouted Charlotte.
Marie looked over her shoulder. There was her partner, looking worried as always, like moms always tended to be. There was Iceman, his woefully young-looking pink sidekick, and Storm doing not much of anything. And there were the adamantium jackets in her pocket along with her one hundred forty-six hours clocked on the range.
Marie shrugged reholstered her piece and ran for Bobby to the sound of Charlotte hollering her lungs out. She was so going to get suspended for this and right on the month when her bike needed some good loving.
"You know what Wolvie would do to you if he found you sleeping on the job, Popsicle?"
Iceman moaned. Water pooled at his knees and elbows. "Don't even joke about that. I get him?"
"Well, you might've given him the flu."
"Fuck. I was hoping to kill the temp around him. Drain the heat."
"Like his fireballs back in school."
He almost smiled. "Gimme a minute to catch my breath."
"Let's see if me and my baby can buy you more." Marie patted the Remington.
"He's turned half of Midtown into ash, Marie. You can't go there."
"I didn't say I could stop him; just stall him a bit. I'm gonna need one of these." She pulled the commelink out of his ear.
"Marie!"
But she was already up and running. She didn't want or need to get up high; by her estimates, there'd be too much wind to get a good shot in. A second or third floor window would do just as well as anywhere higher. There was one to her right that didn't look too scorched and most of the windows had tiny balconies where she could get a good shot in. Marie took a running start and leapt for the fire escape, easily catching hold of the rungs. With a good swing, she was up and over, climbing up the rest of the way. She wrenched a half-open window nearly out of its sash and made her way around the apartment until she found one of those half-balconies.
"This is D'Ancanto, MacTac-2, speaking to the X-Men, over."
"Rogue?" Storm said, "What on Earth are you doing?"
"Helping out a bit. You think you can herd Pyro closer to [street] and [street]?"
Wolverine's voice came over the waves next. "What's going on in your head, Marie?"
"I'm a sniper," she lied.
"I most *certainly** will not--" Storm began but Wolverine interrupted.
"Are you any good?"
"Come on, Wolvie. Like you'd associate with sucky snipers."
"Wolverine." That was all Storm had to say. She could put whole wikis into one word.
With a sigh, Wolverine said, "Storm, do you even want to *estimate** the casualties and the property damage Johnny's done? He's not your student any more. I'm sorry."
Silence held the commelink for the longest five seconds Marie had experienced since she waited for that Novomane shot ten years ago. "Very well. But I cannot be complicit to this."
"Fine. You head the safety crew. Blink?"
"Sir?" came the girl's voice.
"Grab my commelink and give it to Iceman. He's going to need it. Then report to Storm."
"Yessir."
Marie popped the standard cartridges out of the rifle, replacing them with the adamantium ones. She MacGyvered a mount using an up-ended flowerpot then trained the muzzle towards the tallest of the flames. Then she lay flat on the grilled floor for an experimental look down the barrel through the iron sights. It wasn't ideal but it would have to do. "I'm in position."
"What position? MacTac, is that you?" her police radio crackled out. Whoops. Captain Chu was still on.
"Sorry, sir. Didn't know my key was open." She locked the radio and pulled it off her collar. "As we were, X-Men?"
"We're driving him your way," said Iceman. "Gonna try to cool down the periphery, too. Hope you've got a coat."
"I'll handle it." Marie peered down the sights. She immediately teared up. The centre was white hot, almost like looking at the sun. Multicoloured spots danced in her vision when she glanced away. Fuck. That was unexpected. "I'm going to be a bother again and ask if anyone there has a good pair of shades I can borrow."
"I'm on it, ma'am." Cannonball appeared quickly after his drawl snapped through the commelinks. He pulled his goggles off and gave them to her. "These'll do?"
"They're great, thanks. I'll give them back when this is over, 'kay, sugar?"
He blushed, nodded and zoomed away.
She still teared up looking straight at Pyro but at least she could keep him in sight longer. Marie shut her eyes. She had to save it for go-time and trust the X-Men to do their job. "Let me know when he's within two hundred feet, repeat, two hundred feet."
"I heard you the first time," Wolverine grunted. "Give us a couple more minutes."
The air chilled. To the north, the buildings took on a lighter shade. Frost, Marie realised. Bobby was doing his job. Further back, more to the east, Storm's clouds poured rain over the city, quenching the fires best she could. She smelled sulphur; that was either Nightcrawler 'porting people away or just plain old industrial waste. She preferred to believe the former. The column of flame loped closer.
"Fuck you!" she heard Pyro yell. "I'll get you. I'll fucking get you! You left us, you fucking-- you left! I believed you!"
"Close enough?" Bobby asked, audibly panting.
Marie checked. "Another seventy-five feet if we're going to make it count."
A pained, bellowed "No!" erupted out of the column at the same time a cone of fire did. Marie rolled back, gasping as the iron grates of the balcony went red with heat.
"What the heck was that?!" she yelled.
"We're losing control," said Bobby. "Take your shot!"
"I can't yet! He's too far!"
"We can't--" Bobby seemed to choke then Wolverine dove out of the conflagration, more skeleton than human. "Marie, take the shot!"
"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." She reassembled her mount, hands shaking. This was a bad idea. This was one the worse ideas she'd ever had, and Lord help her, the list went a mile long. She took a moment to wipe the sweat out from her goggles then shifted into position.
There, between her sights, the glowing white centre of Pyro's main fire. And then there, in the middle, shifting through the heat waves, was Pyro's silhouette.
"Marie!"
"Just a second."
"Marie, we don't have--" Bobby's swallowed groan of pain was more chilling than any scream.
He was getting closer. His silhouette wavered in the heat waves. Marie didn't dare blink.
"Take the damn shot, Marie," Kitty shouted, sobbed.
"Hold on."
"Marie!"
The waves parted. Marie pulled the trigger.