The jet flew low across the swirling shadowy sea as it swiftly made it’s way towards the distant rocky island. Heavily clouded skies blocked the moonlight from shining through, and instead cast the scene in a foreboding darkness. Storm navigated the jet towards the shoreline, the aircraft landing quietly. Logan was the first to stand, carefully leaving Rogue’s kitbag in his metal seat. He ventured towards the back of Scott’s chair to stare out of the windscreen at the mountainous terrain that welcomed them.
“This is Magneto’s place?”
“Yes,” answered Storm as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “He likes to put as much distance between himself and the humans as possible.”
Logan made a soft grunt at this, stepping back to allow Scott to move out of his seat. “Unfortunately we haven’t been able to plan for this mission,” Scott told the jet at large as he stood looking at them all in turn. He was about to continue when Logan interrupted.
“It’s simple. We go in, you fight off Magneto and his goons whilst I find Rogue.”
But Jean shook her head gently, “Logan, it won’t be as simple as that.”
“Make it simple,” he growled softly, then striding out of the formed circle to make his way down the lowered ramp. Behind him, the X-Men shared glances before they followed after him. A low fog hung densely over the earth as Logan’s feet met the rocky terrain. Besides him, he heard the X-Men fall into a defensive formation, with Storm a short distance from his left hand side. Glancing over to her, he saw the white of her eyes glow eerily through the thick mist, which began fading around them. As it cleared, the entrance to Magneto’s base became more prominent, but it wasn’t welcoming. It was a tall creation of rock and metal, crafted into the mountain itself, with nature continuing to live around it.
They continued to advance cautiously, Logan’s eyes sharply taking in their surroundings. His nose kept in tune with the passing wind, then catching a scent that caused him to abruptly stop and raise a hand for silence. Above them, on a rocky ledge, lay Sabretooth in the shadows of the mountainside. Logan could hear his snarling breaths, his eyes quickly flying upwards to locate the gleam of feline eyes in the darkness. As soon as their gazes met, Sabretooth leapt off the rock edge with a roar, his clawed hands out ready.
Scott quickly looked up, his hand flying to his visor to unleash a swift beam of red laser towards the feral mutant. It struck Sabretooth heavily in the chest, throwing him out of his flight with a jerked spin. He hit the hard earth a few feet away from them. Logan released a low growl, his claws abruptly shooting out of his knuckles. “Go inside and find Rogue. I’ll deal with him.”
“Logan, he’s down, leave him.”
“I have something to finish,” growled Logan in response, glaring towards Scott. “Get inside.”
Scott watched him before he shook his head in disapproval, but turned to lead his X-Men towards the entrance. The large metal doors were blasted out with a stream of laser, before the X-Men entered. Logan strode towards Sabretooth’s fallen form, kicking him roughly in the side to turn him heavily round onto his back. Sabretooth let out a pained snarl at the movement, his eyes opening and glaring fiercely at Logan.
“You took Marie,” Logan uttered in a low snarl, his fists clenching tighter.
Sabretooth’s face took on a small smirk at the words, quickly causing Logan to lash out with his booted foot once more, this time getting Sabretooth in the face. Sabretooth let out an angry roar, quickly rolling round and onto his feet, ready to fight. Logan sneered at the proposed opposition, his baiting causing Sabretooth to leap at him with a fresh roar. Logan thrust his knuckles upward as Sabretooth came upon him, all six adamantium claws sinking through his chest with ease. Injecting his claws back into his forearms, he threw Sabretooth off him, the mutant now considerably handicapped as he stood there panting.
But Sabretooth wasn’t done yet. Surprising Logan, he ran towards him, one clawed hand swiping across his face whilst the other grabbed him about the neck. Off guard, Logan’s head was hit aside with the force of the strike, the black claws delving deep into his flesh and leaving bloody slices down across his cheek and nose. He felt his breath be caught by the sudden pressure at his throat, claws pricking into his neck. With a growl, Sabretooth threw him up against a nearby rock wall, pinning him high off his feet to be eye to eye with Sabretooth.
Logan struggled for breath as he hung there with eyes burning in their hatred. His glare was locked on Sabretooth’s unflinchingly, his anger only growing. The deep wounds in his face slowly healed, but Sabretooth merely returned them with a harsh swipe of his claws this time. Logan let out a strangled yell as the claws drove down across his brow and upper cheek. As the bloodied claws pulled away, Logan realised with a sickeningly hot jolt that he was suddenly blinded in his left eye. His need for breath becoming greater, Logan raised his arms, his claws shooting out of his knuckles, attempting to drive them back into the mutant’s torso. But Sabretooth heard the soft ‘snikt’ and before Logan could attempt his attack, he was tossed aside easily.
Grit and stones burned into his face as he slid along the rough floor, only as the momentum stopped could he pick his bloodied face up from the earth. Still blinded in one eye, his senses were kicked onto high alert as he heard the threatening crunching footsteps coming up behind him. He lay still on his front, waiting, ready. Just as he heard the last footstep besides him, he spun round off the floor with a growl, thrusting a fist upward to meet Sabretooth’s throat.
His claws sank deep, blood quickly running forth at the attack. Logan swiped his claws back out without care, staring through his only seeing eye as Sabretooth gasp and gurgled before he collapsed onto his front on the stony shore. Panting, Logan turned towards the distant entrance, quickly bringing his claws back into his knuckles and running onward to find the X-Men.
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Every corridor was lined with the mix of rock and metal, easy to get lost in, but Logan followed the scent of the X-Men, and more importantly of Rogue. Her distant calls for help urged him along. He passed the fallen body of Toad as he continued; looking battered and electrocuted. Pursuing onwards, it didn’t take long for him to come across a hall of sorts, a large metal machine stood on a platform at one end. A metal bridge led towards it, flanked by murky water. The X-Men were running towards the beginning of the bridge where a slumped figure was bound by chains to the metal wall. Logan came up behind them, panting softly. Storm quickly looked round, gasping as she saw the bloodied mess that made up Logan’s cadaverous face.
“Logan, your eye – “
“I’ll be fine,” he dismissed hurriedly, his attention on Rogue as the X-Men gathered around her.
Rogue stared blearily over the group, her eyes quickly locating Logan. “Logan,” she said weakly as she stared up him.
“Let’s get her out of here,” Logan muttered, quickly releasing his claws in a bid to cut her free. He started towards her, only taking one step before he froze.
The X-Men stared at him in question. “What is it?” asked Jean as she frowned at him.
But Logan slowly moved his eyes towards her. “Everybody get outta here.”
“Why?”
“I can’t move.” Then without warning he was flung up against the metal wall of the cavernous room, pinned there with an invisible force. Gasping, he peered down through his good eye at the X-Men who were staring at him in confusion. Behind them, over the bridge arrived Magneto, hovering up behind the odd metal contraption and lowering himself down to land in front of it. He watched them with stern eyes through his metal helmet, a hand tightening his gloves around his fingers calmly. Mystique deftly slipped out of the shadows to stand besides Magneto, a hand on her cocked hip.
“This is not necessary!” Storm called across to him warningly, her voice echoing across the room.
Scott turned his back on Magneto, readying his visor to a small amount to blast away the metal cuffs. But before he could, Rogue had been abruptly snapped free with no visible force, her form hovering up above the X-Men. Her arms were held out stiffly either side of her, with the broken chains on her metal cuffs stood upright. Scott spun round, glaring at Magneto. Rogue emitted distressed cries as she was held above them, struggling in vain as she hovered high in the air. Magneto beckoned her towards her with his outstretched palm, using the metal cuffs to pull her body to him. Jean lifted a hand, glaring as she fought to use her powers to bring Rogue’s form back towards them, but Magneto’s powers were too strong, and Rogue continued to carried his way.
Angered, Scott readied his visor for Magneto, but Storm stopped him with a grab of his arm. “No, he’ll drop Rogue.” She slowly looked back round to Rogue’s form, which was now lowering down in front of Magneto.
“Why don’t none of you understand what I’m trying to do?” he asked them with narrowed eyes. “This machine can turn humans into mutants, making our causes be theirs!”
“And usin’ an innocent kid to do it?” growled Logan from his unmoving position on the wall. “It should be you in that thing.”
Magneto slowly slid his eyes upon Logan. “Her sacrifice will mean our survival.” He tightened his magnetic hold on Rogue, causing her form to be held stiff once more. She cried out in pain at the abuse, causing Logan to growl louder as he struggled against the wall. He rose her upwards once more, ignoring her pained sounds at the positioning of her limbs. “Either way, she’s going to die. So what will it be, X-Men? For a purpose or not?”
The machine behind him and Mystique abruptly lit up, beginning to spin its metal circles in increasing speed. Rogue turned her head round to stare at it, gasping in fright as the swift motions caused her hair to fly about her head angrily.
“Make a choice, X-Men!”
The lack of an answer caused Magneto to bring her closer to the machine which began emitting a strange light that seemed to engulf Rogue and begin pulling her in of it’s own accord, feeding on her energy. The X-Men needed a plan, and quickly. Logan stared through his single eye as he watched the light swarm over her, undoubtedly causing her pain as her screams echoed across the rocky cavern. The whirling winds about her threw her hair and clothing into a frenzy, her screams becoming louder and more desperate. At the front of her hair, white streaks could be seen forming in sleek lines, travelling down towards the tips as it began to weaken her.
Scott’s hand flew to his visor again, but Jean quickly looked at him. “No! The fall will kill her!”
“Then be ready to catch her,” Scott muttered with gritted teeth before his visor opened and his red laser shot forth towards Magneto, striking him heavily in the torso. Magneto fell backwards, his hold on Rogue disappearing and the machine behind him slowing down. As the light receded from Rogue she plummeted down with a shriek. Scott turned his laser upon Mystique; meanwhile, Jean threw out a hand, Rogue being caught inches from the floor with a soft gasp.
At the disruption to Magneto’s powers, Logan dropped from the wall with a grunt, landing heavily on the metal floor. He came up besides the X-Men, glaring across at Magneto. Rogue was being brought back towards them with the careful handling of Jean’s telekinesis, but Magneto stumbled to his feet, looking incensed.
The X-Men advanced across the bridge in attack, Storm’s eyes clouding over with ivory as her hands extended, Scott returned to his visor and Jean kept her hands lifted to bring Rogue closer. But Magneto quickly raised his hand, jarring Rogue to a halt, without a word of warning, he slapped his hand aside, and Rogue was suddenly thrown across the water, flying towards the cave wall, which she hit with a scream before collapsing down upon the metal flooring. The X-Men instantly burst into attack, lightning filling the room, blast of red dazzling the water. But Logan had turned away from the X-Men, and was running back across to the bridge to where Rogue had fallen.
She was awkwardly sprawled on her front, the visible features of her face relaxed and proving her to be unconscious. Logan slowed as he came upon her, gently lowering himself besides her with concern. A gloved hand extended, taking one of the white streaks in inspection. Frowning, he let it drop, gently turning her body round to her back. “Marie?” he whispered softly as he watched her pale face. “Marie, can you hear me?”
Her eyelids flickered weakly before falling still once more, the effort too great. The impact to the wall had severely damaged her. “Logan?” she questioned softly.
“Marie, look at me,” he said softly, taking her nearest gloved hand in his. “You’re gonna be all right. I’ll get you back to the mansion. I promise.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she whispered softly, her eyes eventually opening to watch him with a distant glaze.
Logan shook his head, leaning forward to lightly hold his free gloved hand upon her cheek, “I can keep it,” he assured her softly.
Blinking slowly, Rogue answered. “No. You can’t heal me. It doesn’t work on you.”
But Logan frowned, pulling his hands free from her, wrenching his gloves off and throwing them aside. “I’ll make it work. Kid, I ain’t gonna let you die,” he lifted her body off the floor gently, pulling her in towards him in a warm embrace. His bare hands rested against her head, his cheek nestling against her forehead as he cradled her. Refusing to allow his mutation to fight against the luring sensation of her powers, it wasn’t long before Logan could feel the energy leaving him. His recent wounds reopened, bloodied slices appearing across his face. As blackness swirled into Logan’s singular vision, he could only pray it had worked like it had months before.
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