stories.htm
Playing Hero
"Chapter Four:
From Bad To Worse"
Title:
Playing Hero:
From Bad To Worse
(Chapter Four)
Rating: T (what
does this mean?)
Date Written: June 2009
Word Count: 2834
Summary: Part Four of
"Playing Hero". S.H.I.E.L.D catches up to
Laura and Logan, and the pair are forced to fight. But
Fury's men are more than ready for them, and things
take a turn for the worst.
Disclaimer: Marvel/X-Men
characters, established concepts and previous
storylines full credit goes to Marvel, Stan Lee, Craig
Kyle, Chris Yost, and Co. Original storylines credit
goes to me.
Author's Notes:
Please read the first arc to the series titled "Ties
that Bind" before reading this. |
Chapter
Four: From Bad To Worse
Logan eyed the gun wielding S.H.I.E.L.D soldiers
as they jumped from their vans and scattered like
ants, surrounding himself and Laura. He moved into
position so that he was standing back to back
with her, they both took in the scene before them. "We
are surrounded" Laura stated. "I know..." answered
Logan. "There are at least... thirty soldiers" she told
him. "I know" repeated Logan, who had also done a
rough body count. "We will have to fight" Laura continued.
"I know!" snapped Logan. He wished she'd stop stating
the obvious, he was trying to think of a way out of this,
but nothing except an all out bloody confrontation
was coming to mind. Which wasn't what he wanted.
As the solders inched closer, Laura popped her hand claws, ready for a
fight. Logan held his hand out to her "No!" he told
her, "Put 'em away". That confused Laura,
but she did as Logan asked. "We will
have to fight. It is the only way out" she said. "No. I fight.
You don't" replied Logan. "Why?" she asked. "Fury's
got enough on yer. This is just an excuse for him to
pin somthin' else" he growled. Just then, what appeared
to be the lead solider, took a step forwards, "Stand
down, Wolverine!". The solider trained his gun on the center of Logan's chest, "We're here for X-23. Orders
of Colonel Fury". Logan ignored him, he turned to
Laura, "Get outta here". Laura didn't move, "I will
not leave you to fight them alone" she told him.
"What? Yer think I can't handle it?" Logan answered.
Laura said nothing, she knew better. "Go. I'll handle
this" he insisted. "They will not just let me run".
Logan knew she had a point. "Then we need a
distraction" he replied. He popped his own claws.
"What are you going to do?" Laura asked. "Distract 'em"
replied Logan with a slight grin.
Without warning, Logan raised his claws, and with a
violent roar he charged at the nearest group of
soldiers, cutting down those he came into contact
with. For a few moments the entire squad's eyes were
on him, and Laura knew this was her cue to escape. She
darted from where she stood, and sprinted across the
wide open parkland, heading for the trees in the
distance. She hadn't made it very far when she heard
of one the soldiers shout, "Target is on the move!
Pursue! And the take hell down!". With those
orders given, the soldiers split into two groups: one
group continued to fight back from Logan's attacks,
using their guns where possible, while the other made
after Laura.
Laura saw them coming, but before she had time to
react fully, the group surrounded her. Eyeing the circle of soldiers, Laura popped her hand claws, ready
to fight back. The lead soldier spoke, "Stand down,
X-23! Or we'll put you down!". Ignoring him
Laura raised her claws, ready to strike.
Logan was pleased to see Laura had taken the
opportunity to run whilst he was carrying out his
"distraction". As long as she got out of the park, he
didn't care how many of Fury's men had to take out.
Cutting down those who came close to him, he moved
though the soldiers one after the other, gritting
his teeth, biting back the pain each time a bullet hit
him. As the second wave of Fury's men came towards
him, Logan wondered where Fury himself was. He wasn't
the kind of guy to let his men take the fall. Logan
was concerned that there was more to this assault than
met the eye.
"Stand down, X-23! Now!" shouted the
lead solider, his gun trained on her chest. From
Laura's expression, he knew she wasn't going to. Not
waiting for her attack, he barked orders to his men,
"Wave one!". Once again, before Laura had the
chance to react fully, the entire group seemed to
simultaneously remove a hand-gun from their belts, and
fire. Laura cried out as she was knocked backwards
from jolts of electricity. These were not regular
hand-guns, they were teasers. Extreme pain surged
though her as tried to right herself back into a
standing position. "Wave two!" came the lead soldiers
voice. And once again, the guns fired. This time,
Laura went down. She dropped to all fours, trying to
fight the pain from the electricity, willing her
healing factor to kick in faster. Normally, a single
blow from a one of S.H.I.E.L.D's specially designed
extra strength teasers would be enough to render a
normal person unconscious. Laura, however, had
received more than fifteen blows - twice, and was
still holing on, thanks to her enhanced healing
abilities.
From a few meters away, Logan heard Laura's cries.
Looking past those he was fighting, he saw the teen on
all fours struggling to move. "Kid! No!" he shouted,
trying not to panic, "Get up!" he yelled, as he
continued to cut though the soldiers closest to him.
Laura heard Logan's calls as she tried to get to her
feet. But it was no good, the hits from the teasers
had rendered her muscles useless. "Wave three!" came
another shout from the lead soldier. This time, as the
electricity from the teaser-guns hit her, Laura could
do nothing except fall flat to the ground. As she hit
the grass, her claws retracted, she was now barely
coconscious. With their target now on the ground, the
group of soldiers moved in closer. "Wave four" barked
the lead soldier, his men pointed their guns, and
fired. This was the final blow they had needed - Laura
lay unmoving, now fully unconscious.
The lead solider carefully took a few steps closer to
the unconscious teen, then looked around at his men,
"Where's the tranq?" he asked. From the back of the
group one of his men stepped forwards and held out a
small dart gun. The lead soldier took it, aimed it at
Laura's neck and fired. "That should do it" he informed
his men. "Sanders, Beckman, you know what to do with
her. The rest of you, we've still got work to do", he
pointed towards Logan, who was now taking out the last
two remaining soldiers. The rest of the group, who he
had been fighting now lay lifeless at his feet.
As S.H.I.E.L.D's men continued to come at him from all
directions, Logan's movements began to get a little
sloppy. He could see Laura was now on the ground,
unmoving, and his attempts to get to her were in vain.
As soon as he had dealt with one soldier, the next
came at him. He had to give credit where credit was
due: Fury had put together a good plan of attack.
Logan violently shoved his claws though the last
soldiers chest, and the young twenty-something guy
fell to the ground. Now he had taken out the first
group of soldiers, he turned to those who where
surrounding Laura. His plan was to keep them busy so
that she had time to recover from the teaser blasts.
But before he knew it, the group was upon him. Once
again Logan was forced to fight - and he didn't hold
back. Once again, delivering violent blows to each and
every S.H.I.E.L.D soldier who came at him.
While the other members of their group were keeping
Logan busy, S.H.I.E.L.D soldiers Richard Sanders and
Jason Beckman quickly grabbed Laura, and as fast as
they could, they both carried her over to the nearest
van. Sanders jumped into the back, and Beckman handed
him their unconscious Target. Then after slamming the
backdoors shut, he made for the drivers side of the
vehicle.
Logan heard an engine start as he fatally wounded yet
another of Fury's men. Glancing though the few
remaining soldiers, he searched for Laura. He couldn't
see her. He sniffed the air, tracking her scent - it
lead to the now moving van. "Noooo!" shouted Logan,
realising she was inside. With a swipe of his claws,
Logan cut down another soldier, then set off at top
speed across the darkened parkland. But after having
ran just a few meters, bullet after bullet struck him
in the back. Logan ignored the pain and carried on
running. He had to catch the van, he had to get Laura
out. As he ran, he glanced behind him, the last three
soldiers were giving chase, guns in hand, firing at
will.
As more bullets hit, and the pain became more intense,
Logan began to feel himself slowing. The van was
gaining speed, and the soldiers behind him were
catching up. "Come on, kid! Wake up!" muttered Logan
to himself, as he ran. Logan wasn't sure what was
going on. He'd seen her hit with S.H.I.E.L.D's tasers, and knew from experience that
they hurt like hell, but surely, he thought, her
healing factor should have kicked in by now. He was
hoping that any second, the van doors would burst
open, and she'd jump out. They didn't. Suddenly Logan
heard a loud 'woosh'. Then something hit the ground a
few feet in front of him. He came to a stop as a cloud
of green gas exploded from the ground, inches from
where he stood. Seconds later he was completely engulfed in it.
Logan coughed and sputtered. He eyes stung and he felt
dizzy. He squinted, trying to make out his
surroundings. But it was no good, the only thing he
could see was green gas. Moments ticked by, Logan
fought to remain in an upright position, trying to
regain his sight and sense of smell. Thoughts of Laura
trapped in the van ran though his mind. She was in
S.H.I.E.L.D hands, and although Fury was generally one
of the good guys, this was not a good thing for Laura.
Finally the gas seemed to clear, Logan frantically
searched his surroundings. Nothing. The van had long
gone.
Hearing footsteps behind him, Logan turned to face the
three remaining soldiers. The lead soldier and his men
stood their ground, roughly three meters away, their
guns trained on him. Logan eyed them with pure rage.
They had done this. They had made him loose track of
the van, of Laura. With a roar of anger, Logan popped
his claws and charged. The three men didn't stand a
chance.
Laura woke to the sound of an motor engine. As she
began to fully come-to, she realised she was moving
along in a vehicle. Just then a voice spoke to her
through the darkness, "Hello, X-23". Laura froze, her
blood ran could. She swallowed. It couldn't be him,
could it? An overhead light flicked on from the
ceiling of the van, lighting up the entire four by six
space, allowing Laura to fully see her surroundings.
She silently breathed a sight of relief, it wasn't
him. Three men sat opposite her, two soldiers with
guns, sat either side of an older looking man. From
his uniform, Laura could tell he ranked higher then
the other two. It was clear that he was in charge. He
spoke slowly and calmly to her, "My name is Colonel
Nick Fury" he said, "You are now in S.H.I.E.L.D
custody" he informed her.
As he spoke, Laura realised her wrists and forearms
had been chained to the metal bench on which she sat,
and her legs had been chained to the vans floor. "I
apologize for the extreme force", carried on Fury,
"But, I could see no other way in handling this".
Instinctively Laura began to pull at her chains. "I
assure you, you will not be able to break though those
chains", he remained calm as he spoke to her, "And, I
assume, you realise that your claws can not help you
either". Laura had already figured that out. The way
she had been chained meant that even if she did pop
her claws, they be no use to her, as she could not
move her hands or feet. These people were smart.
Laura looked directly at Fury, "Where is Logan?" she
asked. Fury didn't answer her right away, but after few
moments,
replied with, "S.H.I.E.L.D is dealing with him". "What
does that mean?" demanded Laura. "It means, X-23, that
he will not be mounting a rescue". This man did not know Logan,
thought Laura. Fury changed
the subject, "Do you understand why you are in S.H.I.E.L.D custody?" he asked her. "Yes" she replied.
"And why is that?", "Because you wish to use me as
your weapon" answered Laura. "No, X-23" said Fury,
"You are in S.H.I.E.L.D custody because you are a
danger to the American people. You kill without
reason. And this can not be allowed". "I don not" said
Laura. This shocked Fury. He wasn't expecting that.
"Oh? Then tell me why you murdered three young men
twenty four hours ago?". "Because it was my mission"
Laura answered, calmly.
"Your mission?" spat Fury. Laura sensed that
she had angered him. Although she didn't know why. He
had asked her a question and she had told him the
truth. "It was your mission to murder these
men?" asked Fury. "Yes" she answered. "Why? Who gave
the orders?" he asked her. "Nobody gave me orders. The
mission was my own. I watched them. Those men liked to
hurt woman for their own pleasure. It was not right"
Laura told him. "So, you took it upon yourself to...
stop it" said Fury, who was beginning to understand
the way this teen thought. "Yes" answered Laura, "They
needed to be punished" she told him. For a few moments,
Fury didn't speak. He was lost in thought. He watched
Laura, he was surprised by the way she spoke, it was
calm, truthful, and almost innocent. He was beginning
to realise that this case perhaps wasn't so black and
white as he'd first thought.
"Okay, so lets go back a few weeks. Xavier's School.
Are you telling me those kids 'needed to be punished'
also?" asked Fury. Laura didn't answer straight away.
"No... They were my friends. I did not mean to harm
them...". As she spoke, Fury heard the choke in her
voice, and saw the sorrow in her eyes. This shocked
him. So, she does know remorse, he thought.
"What happened?" he asked her. Once again, Laura
choked out the words, "Somebody came into the school
and planted Trigger Scent. When I smell that scent,
everything goes black, and when I wake up, those who
have been infected by it, are dead. I did not mean to
hurt anybody" she told him, "They were my friends" she
repeated sadly. Fury nodded. Laura's account tied into
what Scott Summers had told him.
Fury hated this. He hated being into two minds about a
suspect. He liked a clean cut case. Locate the Target,
arrest them, find out what happened, and put them
away. This case wasn't going to be as simple as that.
Yes, the girl was guilty, but could you really call
that guilt her own? Fury had read Steve Rogers' files
on X-23, at the time, he had not understood why
Steve, a man who fought for truth and justice would
just let this girl, this murderer, walk away - now he
was beginning to. From birth she had been moulded into
a killer. Her perception of right and wrong had been
wrongfully warped by her creators, Fury could see
that, but at the end of the day, did that really make
her any less guilty? He sighed quietly. No, he
thought, Three years on, she's still taking lives.
No matter the reason why, it's still happening. There
may be shades of grey in her guilt, but it has to end.
Now.
Fury let go of his thoughts and looked back towards
his teenage captive. She was watching him. He wondered what she was thinking.
He made
up his mind, he was going to end this, it was the
right thing to do, he was sure of it. "X-23" he began,
"You are currently on route to S.H.I.E.L.D facilities,
once there you will be assed and tried for the murders
of--" he was suddenly cut short. A loud thud came
from above them. Something or someone had landed on
top of the fast moving vehicle.
Simultaneously, Laura, Fury and his two men gazed up
at the roof. "What the hell was that?!" said the
solider sitting to Fury's left. Fury glanced at Laura,
she said nothing, they both knew what - or who this
was. "That would be Wolverine" said the colonel, in a
somewhat angry tone. "I thought you said he was being
kept busy?!" said the solider to Fury's right. The man
seemed panic-stricken. "Sir" he added, out of respect.
"It appears your colleagues have failed in their
attempt, solider" muttered Fury. He was desperately
trying to think of what course of action to take next.
Any moment now, he knew Wolverine would be inside the
vehicle. And then, all hell would brake lose. |
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