* DISCLAIMER * This is a non-profit work of fan-fiction involving characters created and owned by Marvel Comics Group. * WRITTEN BY * Samy Merchi * ARCHIVED AT * http://mash.yok.utu.fi/corona.html * STARRING * Manuel Alfonso Rodrigo "EMPATH" de la Rocha Illyana Nikolovna "MAGIK" Rasputina in *************************** * FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE * * CHAPTER SEVEN * * S.K.Y. Fighter 2 Turbo * *************************** *** A lean snow-white equine form flew high in the sky, seemingly oblivious to the raging storm building up several miles in every direction. Indeed, the weather seemed to almost be calmer around the pegasus as he cut thru the skies, his powerful wings propelling him northwards quickly and gracefully like the most gorgeous specimens of his landbound kin. But while there might have been less storm concentrated around the flying horse, there was definitely another kind of Storm astride him. Ororo Munroe was not in the best of moods. She did not seem to notice the bitter cold of the high altitude despite a lot of skin not being covered by her leather clothes. Her hands rested on the pegasus' neck as she leaned forward a bit, impatiently, her eyes narrowed, focused, as they scanned the scenery underneath and ahead. *** "There he is", Logan said as he walked into the stable with Ororo. "Brightwind", Ororo said calmly, approaching the winged mount and stopping before him, gently placing a hand onto his muzzle and stroking lightly. "You communicated with Ka-Zar's sabertooth tiger once, Logan. Can you communicate with Brightwind?" "I can try", Wolverine answered and moved over to the pegasus as well. He remained silent for a moment, his eyes searching out the animal's, making contact. "Look", he spoke to Brightwind with a surprisingly soft voice. "Moonstar's about to screw things up, bad. We need ya to take 'Ro up north, after Moonstar, so she can stop her from doin' anything stupid. Will ya help us?" Brightwind watched Logan's eyes for long moments, silently, as if evaluating the Canadian mutant. For an eyeblink, Ororo almost thought she saw amusement in the pegasus' eyes. Then, the proud animal took a step or two towards Logan, and snorted hot air in his face. "GRRRRR!" Wolverine growled, three razor-sharp metal claws extending from the back of his hand with a SNIKT! sound, as his expression turned into one of anger. Brightwind just stood there for a moment, as if taunting Logan. Then, he just tossed his neck a bit as if saying "hmph", and turned his attention away from the Canadian. He took a few steps, turning sideways and positioning himself before Ororo. The black woman restrained a smile at the almost-visible storm cloud above the seething Logan. Then, she leaped onto Brightwind's back, and glanced to Wolverine. "Perhaps he regards you as a rival", she said amusedly, and then turned her attention to her mount, caressing his neck. "Let's go, Brightwind. May the Bright Lady be with everyone here, Logan." SNAKT! "Yeah, whatever", the Canadian mumbled as he retracted his adamantium claws, and watched the black woman and the snow-white steed move out of the stable, and take to the skies. *** It had been about a quarter of an hour ago now, and while the pegasus certainly couldn't match the speeds of the Blackbird's futuristic technology, the speeds the animal could reach were nothing short of amazing. Ororo wondered if his Asgardian nature might not contain some kind of travel-assisting magics -- certainly they were somewhere over Connecticut already. And to top it all off, the strong winds just happened to be going in the same direction as the two travelers, the nature itself seeming to aid the urgent journey. *** Elsewhere, the weather was being much less helpful, as Roberto Da Costa and James Proudstar did their best not to be blown off the Blackbird they were standing on, as it cut thru the skies at supersonic speeds, causing the air itself to push against them at far past hurricane speeds. "You have signed your death warrant, Proudstar", Sunspot growled as his fist, blazing black with solar energies, streaked thru the air towards the Apache's jaw. "I'm stronger than you! Always have been, always will be!" "Stronger, maybe", Thunderbird answered, eyes narrowed as he dodged to the side and his hand shot towards Sunspot's wrist, grabbing it in mid-streak and yanking on it to get the Brazilian off-balance, stumbling towards Proudstar. "Angrier, too. Sloppier", he said as his fist smashed into Sunspot's gut. "UNGH!" Sunspot wheezed as the blow found its mark, causing him to topple slightly forwards towards Proudstar, and almost making both combatants lose their balance and be blown off the plane. Roberto, ever the impulsive bastard, seized the moment and swung his left arm outwards, trying to hit Thunderbird who had dodged to his flank. Thunderbird started ducking underneath the wildly swinging arm, but a fraction of a second too slow. "AGH!" he gasped as the coal-black arm clipped the side of his head. Even with such a glancing blow, the solar-charged limb felt like a mule's kick. "NO!" he shouted as his concentration broke, his feet slipped, and the wind smashed against him, catapulting him backwards. "HNGH!" Sunspot hissed as the winds kept blasting at him, driving him backwards as well. His feet stumbled, and were blown out from underneath him. "GHAHH!" he shouted, barely managing to strike his hands down onto the fuselage, his super-strong fingers sinking into the metal as if it were Play-Doh, grabbing it firmly. His head snapped around, glancing over his shoulder, and his lips pulled back in a snarl. "Proudstar..." *** "I'm losing maneuverability!" Katherine Anne Pryde shouted and gritted her teeth as she pulled the control stick a bit stronger to the left. "The right rudder isn't responding!" She quickly pulled a lever downwards slightly with her free hand. "Reducing thrust, going subsonic. Massachusetts Academy, fourteen miles away. ETA -- one minute, thirty seconds!" "Switch to autopilot!" Danielle Moonstar commanded, before hopping onto one of the seats in the passenger compartment and peeking out the still-open roof access hatch. Her eyes locked momentarily onto James Proudstar, hanging onto the rudder jutting upwards from the Blackbird's starboard wing. "James..." she murmured, freezing in place for a moment. *** "I'm going to *kill* you..." Roberto Da Costa mumbled under his breath as he stumbled back up, eyes locked on James Proudstar and a bit easier off now that the Blackbird was reducing speed and the winds were lessening in intensity. Starting to overcome the winds that were growing weaker than his solar-powered leg muscles, he started slowly stalking across the Blackbird's roof towards the Apache. "'Berto, no! Leave him alone!" Danielle Moonstar shouted, eyes wide, standing half-exposed at the hatch, still inside the plane from waist-down. "I'll leave him alone after I've crushed him", Sunspot hissed, fingers flexing as if craving to crush a windpipe. "How does it feel to be on the helpless side, Proudstar?" he growled as he stood only a few feet from the Hellion. "Should I be like your teammate, or should I be merciful and give you a chance to beg for your life --?" THWOK! "Need a hand?" Haroun ibn Sallah al-Rashid asked as he streaked thru the air, his fist impacting onto Sunspot's jaw. "UNGH!" Roberto groaned as he was knocked backwards by the force of the blow, greatly enhanced by Jetstream's blinding speed and momentum. Losing his balance, the Brazilian was knocked off his feet and onto his knees. "Perfect timing, Jetstream!" Thunderbird shouted. Previously, his body had hung limp behind him, whipping around like a flag as he had used all his strength to hold onto the rudder with his fingers. Now, the airspeed had lessened to a much more manageable amount, and he didn't have to exert all his strength to hanging on anymore. His body flexed, doubling him over and shooting his legs forward. "WHUNFF!" Sunspot gasped as the Apache's feet slammed to his jaw, sending stars flying past his eyes momentarily as he was knocked down to the metal, stunned for a moment. "No! James, stop!" Danielle cried out with a pained expression, not daring to use her powers against either combatant for fear of distracting them so much they'd fall off the plane. Amara Juliana Olivians Aquilla pushed her way to the hatch as well, to see what was going on, and her expression contorted in rage. "Roberto, fight!" she snarled, her right hand clenching into a fist in frustration over her own earth-controlling powers being useless up in the sky. Thunderbird let go of the rudder a fraction of a second after his feet impacted onto Sunspot's jaw, and used the forward momentum of his strike to get his entire body well over the Blackbird's wing, twisting around in the air with graceful, fluid motions to land on his feet onto the wing. Then, his head snapped towards Dani's voice, hearing her words, and his guard dropped for a moment. A crucial moment. "FALL, PROUDSTAR!" Sunspot shouted as he sprang up from his stunned state, maybe having heard Amara's words over the rush of the wind, maybe not. Nonetheless, his fist whistled upwards like a piledriver. "UNGH!" Thunderbird wheezed as she solar-charged fist impacted squarely onto his jaw, and snapped his head backwards viciously. Everything went black for him, and he collapsed limply onto the wing. "JAMES!" Jetstream cried out as he saw his teammate fall, and start to be gradually dragged towards the edge of the wing by the winds. The Moor pulled a quick loop in the sky, before zooming down, again aiming his fist for Sunspot's jaw. THWOK! "Not this time, Jetstream!" Sunspot snarled as he took a few steps back towards the edge of the wing, ducked underneath Haroun's blow, and smashed his right fist upwards in ferocious retaliation. Jetstream didn't even have time to let out a sound as everything went black for him, his power shut down as he went unconscious, and his body kept rocketing upwards from the combined force of Sunspot's blow, and his own redirected momentum. "YES!" Amara Aquilla shouted like a spectator at a gladiatorial game craving for blood. Danielle Moonstar standing beside her at the roof access hatch, was far less thrilled as she watched with wide eyes. "Jetstream --!" Thunderbird moaned weakly, his eyes fluttering open as he forced himself back to consciousness, his thoughts feeling like swimming in molasses. He gritted his teeth, and sweeped his right leg low over the wing towards Sunspot's ankles. "AGH!" Sunspot winced as Proudstar's leg smashed into his ankles, sweeping his legs out from underneath him. THUD! The Brazilian fell onto the hard metal of the wing, momentarily stunned. It only took one moment of confusion for the harsh winds to claim their first victim. "ROBERTO!" two girls screamed simultaneously as they saw him fall off the wing and start falling towards the ground some two thousand feet below. Only one of them acted. Amara Aquilla leaped out the hatch onto the roof of the Blackbird. Then, without a moment of hesitation, she leaped off the plane, diving into emptiness. "AMARA!" Dani shouted, eyes widening even further in disbelief. For several furious heartbeats, she watched the two New Mutants plummet downwards until they were only small dots. Then, her eyes snapped to James Proudstar, a red rage building inside her. "No -- I didn't mean to --" Thunderbird gasped hoarsely as he also watched the New Mutants fall towards the ground. "Dear god, what have I done --??" Suddenly, an image appeared right in front of the Apache, of a man looking very much like him, dressed in a colorful red and blue 'Thunderbird' costume. The man stood atop the cockpit of a Blackbird as the airplane hurtled towards the ground, and then crashed in a massive explosion. "NOOO!" Thunderbird screamed, mentally reeling, recoiling backwards from the image, taking rapid steps backwards. Until there was nothing more to step on. "NO!" Danielle Moonstar gasped, her throat constricting, as she saw James Proudstar fall off the wing. Her breathing quickened, and the edges of her vision started going black. She slumped down from the hatch onto one of the seats in the passenger compartment of the Blackbird, curled up in a little ball, and started sobbing. Kitty Pryde silently walked out of the cockpit after having switched on the autopilot, and looked at Dani in confusion. "Massachusetts Academy, fifteen seconds away..." she murmured, pressing the button for the side exit which swished open, strong winds starting to blow in the doorway. "Where are the others --?" "Don't ask", Dani said with a strangled voice as she pushed herself up to her feet, and walked over to the doorway, ignoring the harsh winds as tears streamed down her rage-constricted face. "Just promise me we'll make Empath *hurt*!" "Let's go", Kitty said, consciously pushing the question out of her mind for the moment, forcing herself not to think about the two mutants as she counted down the seconds in her head, and then leaped out the exit. Danielle Moonstar followed a fraction of a second later, and the two girls dove into the storm-darkened skies, tossing themselves to the mercies of gravity. The Blackbird streaked off, within seconds a dot on the horizon, leaving the two girls behind in free fall. *** She didn't bother to knock. Just placed her hand on the doorknob and opened the door, walking into the room. "They're on their way", she smiled and closed the door behind her. "They're here", Manuel Alfonso Rodrigo de la Rocha smiled in return, turning his eyes onto Jennifer Stavros. *** KRA-KOOM! The thunderstorm grew quickly worse over the Massachusetts Academy, lightning striking again and lighting up Emma Frost's office. She ignored the furious winds starting to whip outside, just staring in front of her calmly, with a broad smile on her lips.