French Quarter

Logan had gone and laid down, kicking off his cowboy boots and laying back, the bed shifting some under his unassuming weight. He looked idly at the mark on his hand before dropping it at his side, curling his other arm underneath his head and losing his eyes. He could still smell Jean, and it made him think of the bear skin rug, the fire, Canada….

The dream he had was different. It was chaotic. Fiery. Violent.

A world of flame. Buildings of fire and lush expanses of green the likes had not been seen outside of the Savage Lands. Armies burned, while others rose from the ashes and leveled mountains with their power. Banners flew in the air, images of a regal bird, reminiscent to Ancient Rome. Heli-carriers with the SHIELD emblem changed to the same imagery.

A bed draped in crimson and gold, Jean’s fiery mane flinging backwards as she cried out, grinding her naked body down into Logan, a roar tearing itself from his throat, and flames teased at his flesh as their orgasms coalesced together.

"To me, Logan…."

He heard her voice as walked the bridge of a held-carrier. He wore a suit much like his own, but a dark red and black, with gold shoulder pieces resembling a bird of prey, matching a gold eye-patch. That remaining eye looked out across the sky, revealing an armada of ships swarming for aerial battle. The Shi’ar, Chitauri, and Kree, all rival empires. X-23, Armour, and Jubilee flanked him. Turning his head, he would nod, and Jubilee would call something over her shoulder. Looking upwards, they would see armaments fired, as well as the forms of Warpath and Cannonball speeding out towards the enemy. He felt Jean’s lips upon his own through their psychic connection.

*…My God of War.*

———————————

Logan came to in the bed, startled and snarling. Like a dog waking from a bad dream. Slowly he blinked the sleep from his eyes and examined his surroundings. It was safe. Calm. Peaceful. Soothing. Familiar….

But it was like an echo that rang hollow in some parts. It was a recollection of a memory, one of his fonder ones. But it wasn’t real. Well done, but a fabrication. But it did not cause him to worry. It was too well done to have the illusion broken yet. When his gaze got to Jean, his breath hitched a little. His hand reached out to the other side of the bed, feeling its emptiness, her remnant warmth still there. Her scent was everywhere. In the pillows, the sheets. On him. And where she stood, it was not picturesque. It was too real to be perfect. The strands of her hair so perfectly out of place, the clothes something she would truly wear. This was not his dream. Jean didn’t wear clothes in his dreams. The clothing made it real, like she’d stayed the night with him. He admired her in the leg warmers, wanting to tear them away all the same and help warm her in other ways.

“It’s close enough…”

He simply rolled over on his side, looking at her and that silhouette of snowy white, highlighting everything he adored about her. Her clothes made it feel real. Like she’d stayed the night with him. He made for the coffee once she pointed it out, but stopped and had to secure the sheets around his waste. Maybe it was his dream, since he was sleeping in the nude. He decided to forget the fake coffee, a look of concerning crossing his features as she continued talking more. He would reach over to grasp one of her hands, holding it in his gently as he tried to capture her eyes, to give her a reassuring look.

“You just caught me at a good time, darlin….”

If she looked deeper into that memory she crafted the cabin out of, she would see anything but. The end result of a lifetime of suffering. Kayla in that very bed, eviscerated. The cabin a crime scene. Her blood smeared on the wall, reading “Happy Birthday”. In the distance, the maniacal laughter of Victor Creed….

But that wasn’t there. That was decades past. And Jean was there, and felt real, her hand so warm, so soft in his. His mouth felt dry as he tried to answer her question, his mind flashing with the imagery that had just plagued him so vividly.

“Dreamin’ has always been a crapshoot for me, Jeanie.”

She could feel the concern in him swell, his body shifting closer to her, those dark brown orbs gazing deeply into her green ones to see what he could read from her, even trying to take in her scent, if possible, for any changes. The Phoenix did not have its own scent, but it did change Jean. And everything she was saying, while not reminiscent of her past traumas, brought concerns about new ones. But it also spoke to something else in him. That darker self. That part of him he only let out when it could not be contained. When hope and humanity were beaten out of him. When anger and bloodlust won out. That side of him that he would unleash when pushed to the brink.

That berserker, uncaged, directed at any who would harm those he loved. When they hurt Kayla. When they’d hurt Kitty, and Jubilee. And anyone that would harm one of those precious, red hairs on Jean’s head. His jaw set, thinking about Scott cheating on her. Betraying her with one of their enemies. Destroying the trust of one of the best things that could have ever happened to him. The utter fool. And still, she had compassion for the man.  His skin blazed at her touch, cupping her hand to that roughened cheek of his, the other reaching for her own and pulling her closer, until their foreheads touched.

“Jean, stop talking like this. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you. There’s no replacing’ cause you ain’t goin’ anywhere, woman….”

He looked towards the door as it rattled form the thunder. The sounds grew more destructive, more chaotic. His mind would flash, seeing explosions in the sky.

Airships were ripped apart by massive storms, Ororo sending lightening and hale through the sky. Thor would swing at her wide with his mystical hammer, only to have the blow deflected by the sudden appearance of MagiK and her DarkSword. A thunderous crash from below, and Logan was atop of the Hulk in a newly formed crater amidst the battlefield,  roaring as he aimed to skewer adamantium claws through the green bastard’s eye.

Logan shook his head, turning to look at Jean, “They can’t take you from me…”

*You know I will*

Scott quipped back, already shooting to keep her covered. Scott was also aware that Emma was not as worried about collateral damage as Scott was, not wanting to cause more harm than he did good. It was the only reason he brought it to her — and she knew that’s why he wanted her to take the risk. It was why she complied, as well. She liked a Boy Scout. When she agreed to clear the area, she would hear the words Thank you leave his mind, but he was focused on blasting dime store robots to smithereens. When the buildings were cleared, Scott took up a good vantage point. He eyed the buildings, calculating the areas before punching a hole with a concentrated blast, cutting the buildings down in a way that they collapsed upon themselves.

“Copy that, Sue!”

*Emma! We’re clear that way. Go!*

He tapped a device at his wrist gauntlet, pulling up the controls for the Blackbird and sending it 40 meter’s back. It was shifting around, sending controlled bursts of fire to tear down stray enemies. He was soon following behind Emma to meet with the others.



Johnny would show careful restraint as he lifted off with her, a practiced control as he raised her up, working with the weight distribution, making sure to not yank her arm out of its socket. His own plasmatic smile, that boyish, charming glint in his eyes was conveyed through his fiery visage.

“That’s hot.”

He would take her over the spot she asked, he would give her a count with his fingers before letting her go at a good height, staying in the air to watch her ascent and see how she handled the big machine. Then he was moving, taking on some of the smaller enemies that surrounded Paige’s target. At Sue’s discretion, he was moving, giving a thumb’s up to Paige before he flew in to help his sister, closing in on her as he rained his own fire from above.

Ben Grimm was using years of wrestling, boxing, and street fighting to use, keeping Sue clear as he clobbered the machines. It was “Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots” come to life, with The Thing as the blue champion. Stone fists swung with precision, crushing foes before they were picked up overhead to be thrown into their brethren. He was quick and agile for a big so large. He was not the reckless berserker the Hulk was, but it was just as effective. Three massive fingers and thumb squeezed through a generator, dropping its carrier into a clump of parts, holding up his oversized forearm to block a saw blade swinging widely at him. Sparks flew off as they scuffed his rocky hide. He reared back and kicked the machine in its legs, dropping it before he hefted his body up to knee it in the face.

“Hit the damn button, Suze!”

A machine press came out of nowhere and hit him in the jaw, spinning him around, just as Johnny came in with suppressing fire. Cyclops came up with a crimson blast from his visor, clearing one pathway towards them, moving with Emma to circle up with the others.

-Emma was straddling the broken robot arm, before she whipped her leg around and kicked the generator head clean off from the body. The machine started to sputter and falter. Emma jumped off before it crashed to the ground and looked at Scott as if he lost his mind. She shook her head in her diamond form.-

“You better cover me, Summers.” -she yelled over the noise towards him. Her diamond form reverted back to her normal form. Emma had that secondary mutation that gave her the diamond form. It wasn’t related to her original power, but still showed up.  She scanned the buildings looking for any signs of life. She shook her head towards Scott.-

“That one is empty, that one is not!” -she pointed and continued to yell over the machine carnage happening. She could hear Ben yelling but couldn’t make out what he was saying. Probably insulting the machines as he fought.- “I’ll clear the area.” -she said as she then reached into the minds of those in the building to get out and get anyone else they could. She knew that most were not in great shape to move, but hearing the voice of a woman enter their heads might be enough to scare them to safety. At least until they could figure out how to stop the machines of madness, because while they were equipped to deal with this. It was still hard to fight an enemy that would never tire and couldn’t feel pain. And it just felt like they were coming at them from all angles.-



-She couldn’t watch Johnny in action because she was to busy running and destroying things. She didn’t have his ariel view, which was what she wanted. The machines had to have a hub somewhere.  She just needed to get high enough to look for it. Paige grabbed Johnny’s hand and was just pulled into flight. Paige could still feel his heat through her own, but the lava form was absorbing it to ensure her safety. She glanced up to him, and her eyes were yellow like molten lava seeming to be pouring from the.  That was when she started to look around for anything.
She could see Sue getting attacked, but Sue wasn’t even batting an eye as she was typing on the small computer.  Nothing could seem to get it to the barrier. Every once in a while she’d Sue sway with the force of the hit, but nothing to really worry about. From here she could see Ben as well tearing through everything. She didn’t get the gift of flight like her most of her family, hitching a ride with Johnny would have to do.

Her eyes spotted a rather large machine, it looked to be two fork lifts merged with..well she didn’t know what it was. But it was spinning with sharp spikes and it was heading towards Scott and Emma.- “Mind dropping me right on that thing?” -she asked him as if she was asking him to drop of her off at the corner of her road.- “We’ll rain fire from above.” -she said with a wink of that golden lava swirling to make up her iris’s. She fully embodied whatever she turned into, but yet it still left her looking human.

-Sue felt a bump to the shield and she rocked with it for a moment, before she finally honed in on the coordinates she was looking for.- “Got you, you son of bitch.” -she said as she reached for her comm.-  “Cyclops, I need you to get the blackbird at least 30 more meters away or we lose our ride home. I’m going to hit them with an EMP. I just have to get close enough to them. And I only have energy for maybe 7 of them. Torch, Thing, I need more cover.” -meaning anything that was electric within her field of range of the watch Reed gave her would be rendered useless. While had to get close up, she didn’t want to take the chance of the EMP reaching out of her range.-

-She was not happy that she didn’t sense them. But they had no minds. Emma was only a telepath with a diamond form. A Since they would need brute force  and perhaps someone of an electronic mind, Emma was the woman for the job as well. Her telepathy would not be needed. When Scott touched her cheek, she’d revert back to her diamond form. That was the best case scenario here.

Emma could hear Scott giving orders even from far away. While she laid slightly in the debris she was looking up at him with her red lips curled up.- “Still hot.” -she said as she finally pushed herself up completely. Probably not the best time to compliment him, but to Emma any time was a good time. Now she knew what she was dealing with, she could act appropriately. It was easier to know who or what the enemy was. Emma had created electronic devices in her time,  one in particular was used on Scott’s very ex. Still she had no shame with it, and was still proud of the machine. It had worked as it was intended, in fact it superseded her expectations.-

“Aim for the generators or chips you see.” -she said to him but also into her com to let the other teams know what to aim for. They could hit and hack their way through them, but it wouldn’t do them any good unless they went for the power source. She wasn’t sure if the other team was facing the same things they were. Until she heard Sue chirp over the comm-

“Copy that.” -she said and she sounded a little strained indicating they were also fighting just through her voice. Emma gave a nod of her head receiving the confirmation. She was now pretty glad Ben came with them. Normally with enemies a telepath came in handy, but in this case, if she didn’t have her diamond form she might be slightly useless.

Emma then steadied herself for the next round. As she did, more cobbled  equipment started to pour out of the wall, and bursting out a few other buildings. My, my, someone had been busy. And apparently landed in a good spot for machines.  She would just let Scott handle what he could, and she took one of the machines head on, her diamond form climbing up the exposed wires and piping, she went to punch at the head, but was stopped. She was pulled off by another machine but she easily pivoted, throwing her legs up and wrapping them around the arm, and just bending it till she broke it with a grunt. Lucky enough she was also stronger in this form as well.-




-Paige reached out and took the watch with a quizzical look, because did they just have the tech to give away, she had slipped it in her pocket with a smile. However, she would have lost the moment she ripped off her skin. The little computer he had given her was sent off with her skin and clothes. This was why she didn’t carry anything. She would feel sorry about it later and apologize to him. Right now they were about to be in the middle of a fight. She planted her feet firmly into the ground and the wrecking ball swung her way, just a she knew it would. She used her shoulder and allowed the ball to push her on her feet, not tipping over. Her metal feet dug into the asphalt scrapping off the top of it but the wrecking ball was no longer swinging wildly. She was able to endure the impact of it.  She lifted her up and saw Johnny in the air. She still didn’t have eyes on Sue, but she was the Invisible Woman, so it made sense. Paige felt the earth shake under her feet from Ben. For some reason this felt right. It felt like the right team for this job.

She cracked her neck back and forth and noticed that the wrecking ball created a patchwork on her arm. Patchwork was never great for Paige. She glanced around at the fighters on the field, even the one she couldn’t see.  Even as she was thinking, she saw a machine get torn in half from something that she couldn’t see. It was one of Sue’s force fields. She had seen a small opening and created a force field inside of it and just enlarged it.  Causing it to practically explode. Paige allowed the pieces to rain down her with out worry of being injured.

She also heard Emma’s voice over someone’s comm instructing them on how to kill the things. Her eyes scanned the digger for anything that looked like a generator or a chip. Chances were, they were hidden somewhere in the engine. She stripped off the metal form because she needed to move fast, she didn’t change into anything else but was just naked running across the asphalt probably tearing up her feet, but her nakedness didn’t seem to bother her at the moment. After all they were all fighting no one should really be paying attention her streaking towards the digger. She got her idea from Johnny, as she got closer to the machine, once again her skin was ripped off but this time a fiery form was scene. Except instead of flames it seemed to be moving liquid, steam was rising up from her.  Little flares of fire was seen. She had created lava and touched the tires while running around it. She took out it’s legs essentially by causing them to pop and melt under her touch. She quickly and carefully climbed into the cab of it. But with this form she had to move quick because she was melting everything she touched.  It seemed to work because once she started to punch the controls in this form, the digger stopped.

Paige then jumped out with her lava hair flowing behind her. She couldn’t stay in one position to long but considering most of the machines seemed to be grounded, and she couldn’t fly…but someone here could.- “Johnny! Give me a hand!” -she yelled upwards, but she was running in a direction towards the bulldozer that seemed to be moving faster then it should be. If she stayed any longer on the asphalt she would burn through it, that much was seen when there was tar sticking to her feet as she was running, and the way her feet burned marks into the ground beneath her.


-Sue just seemed to appear next to Ben with an excited smile on her face, she didn’t seem to worried about what was going on, if anything she was a little bit like Johnny where she found certain things fun.- “Took you long enough.” -she chided him.- “Give me some cover?” -she asked him as she knelt down on the ground and there was an invisible barrier around her but she was hitting a few buttons on the watch. As if Reed would give her a defective device, which means she might be able to configure it to send out an EMP at least in close proximity. Would be so much easier then trying to battle the transformers.-

-Their banter has stopped with Emma, she had seemed to stiffen. Which was not uncommon for Emma, but most of the time she seemed to have a relaxed yet poised pose. Her shoulders tightening and the firm line of her lips indicated there was something else afoot here. Something she wasn’t yet saying. She had stopped walking, giving him that view of just her cape since she was ahead of him.

Slowly her heels dug into the dusty covered asphalt turning to look at him. Her eyes were questioning as if she wanted to tell him. One hand on was placed on her hip with her hip bone jutted out as if she had an attitude. Her eyes swept over him in contemplation. They had shared intimate moments in their minds together. Yet, now she seemed to have cut him off completely.-

“You won’t like it.” -she said with a voice full of confidence, it did not even waiver once. She then rolled her eyes in annoyance because he was right.- “It’s-“ -she started to say even while he was talking, but her words were cut off from the crash inside of the building. She turned her head slowly towards the building as if the building was an affront to her delicate senses. Her face looked more irritated then scared or worried. But then she titled her head some. She was silent as she was listening.-

“Odd.” -was what had left her lips. She didn’t say what was odd, sometimes working with Emma was working blind and deaf. She didn’t speak to much of what she was doing. She just did it. Just like she would now.- “Stay here. I’m taking point. You take out whatever I don’t get.” -her words were preparing him for a fight, she just didn’t know with who yet. She had gotten no readings, there didn’t seem to be anyone in there who’s thoughts she could read. Yet the noise was one in the same.- “Might be animal. I got this.”

-She said as she indicated once again for him to stay as if he was a puppy in training.- “Stay.” -she reiterated as she started to move towards the building in a saunter that only Emma could provide. Her outfit was of course revealing but it never seemed to bother her. As she walked though, he would see her skin start to change from the peachy color he was so admiring to one that seemed to really suit her. Her skin glimmered and sparkled in the light. She had put on her diamond form.

Her foot came up and she kicked in the door. Her diamond form made her stronger and tougher. The door was rather rusty so it wasn’t that impressive of a feat for her. She entered into the disappearing from the door way.

However, only after about a few seconds, the wall to the building exploded outward, and a shiny diamond form was the reason for it. Emma rolled on the ground in the debris. Her diamond form disappearing. She laid on her side but pushed herself up. Teeth gritting together. Anger. Absolute anger crossed her features. It suited her. Emma pushed herself up and stood in the debris. One leg was on a piece of rock like a step.- “Get ready, Scott.” -she called to him, but still looking pissed off.

Through the hole she had made came  what looked like a cobbled together machine monster. It had a generator box for a head, one arm was made up a factory grapple claw, the other was a peeling machine that did not have any safety barriers on it, it’s body was an abattoir and it was working. The abattoir had wires running out of it, in fact the hole machine had wires that connected to the things head. There also looked to be a computer chips decorating it’s face. It’s legs were made out of the same grapple claw that looked to be a few cobbled together to make it taller and stronger. Wires and metal pipes made up it’s bones and muscles the rest of it was all machine.

As it came out, the cubed generator head looked towards Scott, and it started to make a run towards him. This was why Emma couldn’t pick up a signal. She couldn’t pick up thoughts. It had no thoughts. It had no human brain, only the brain of what possibly looked like a computer.





-Paige had listend to his reasoning for throwing up, and in a way, she kind of felt bad. Not bad, but a little sorrowful. He never really got to experience what it truly was like to be a teenager. Paige was lucky she had the Mansion to go to when she developed her powers. But mutant girls were the same as high school girls. Never let anyone say otherwise. As Paige aged out of those years and entered into her 20’s she realized that none of that mattered. Now it was more collage gossip among the women in her age group. All of it was still the same but they could legally drink alcohol. After the last time she got drunk and Chamber blew up her dorm room; she didn’t really drink anymore.

As they walked and talked her eyes drifted down to his computer that he had. Her face seemed to light up as she watched it come out of the suit. She could never carry something like that. In fact she left her cell phone on the plane, her comp was tucked in her pocket, but Paige was the reason they had to keeping her coms. And just about everything else she wore. She had worn a pair of worn out dirty sneakers. She kept her old shoes for shedding. No sense in constantly losing the shoes she liked to a pocket dimension that held her skin and anything else she shed of.

Before he flamed on, she leaned over and reached for his wrist, taking it in her fingers so she could look at the little computer more carefully.- “Ah am so jealous.” -she said laughing but also shaking her head.- “Show off.” -she playfully pushed his arm away from as if she was mad at him. But moved so they could keep up with Sue who was walking ahead of them. She said nothing as he flamed on at a low simmer. Only brought her shoulders up a little bit like a shy happy girl might, before dropping them.

What amazed her the most was that he quickly picked up on the fact she was cold. He was paying attention. Didn’t Jubilee always say that men don’t pay attention? She felt warm and happy. But she said nothing about it and didn’t make it a big deal. Instead she  looked over as they were walking. A loud laugh escaped her.-

“Gable? You mean Cable? Oh boy, yer really asking for trouble if you ever call him that to his face. Actually it’s not him you gotta worry ‘bout.” -she said giving him a pointed look, because Cable was absolutely someone to worry about.- “It’s his woman. Domino. Think about if Emma Frost was a mercenary. Just with more clothes on. I’ve worked with X-Force a few times, and trust me. It’s Cable.” -she listened to the rest and grimaced at him when he mentioned ectoplasm. She joked with him because again the virus that affected Cable was the reason she has gotten drunk and her dorm room exploding.

She pulled her lips in and pressed them together because she was trying not to make a Cyclops joke with Johnny had just said. It was probably a good thing Paige wasn’t a telepath or else she might be highly embarrassed by his thoughts on what she may or may not be. Though the conversation took a dark turn when he mentioned Jean could just burn it out. It was the thought that could silence any X-men.  It would make them remember her destruction, her death, her resurrection. And have to live it over more then once. When the Phoenix took Jean, it took all of them.  She wasn’t supposed to have the Phoenix…did anyone ever even ask her?

Paige looked forward at Johnny’s words, they might not have noticed because they were talking. Sue had stopped walking. She was tapping the device on her wrist for a moment. She looked frustrated by it.-

“Fucking Reed. I told you I needed this fixed!” -she said as if Reed could hear her. At hearing Sue say ‘fucking Reed’ Paige snorted to keep from laughing, before she composed herself. She had just not expected it. –

“What’s going on, Sue?” -she asked glancing towards Johnny-

“This device is supposed to pick up anomalies. Reed and I’ve used it before but it broke and it doesn’t seem to working. According to this, we’re surrounded. It’s just big blurbs of anomalies. Yet there’s nothing here. It wouldn’t pick up people. There’s nothing here!” -she said as she raised her arms to show there was nothing surrounding the, nothing but factory equipment and left over bulldozers, cranes and diggers. Along with the warehouse and factories.
Paige saw it first the movement of a large black metal ball coming right towards Sue, and Sue wasn’t even paying attention.- “SUE” -Paige screamed, and went to run towards Sue. Lucky enough Sue heard the yell and before paige could even finishing yelling her very short name, the ball bounced off an invisible barrier around her and Sue was no longer in the middle. Or so it seemed.

The ball richotted off the force field and was now swinging wildly. This was when Johnny would see how Paige did it. She gripped at her collar bone and just started to pull. As her flesh was being torn off he could see a shiny metallic under the beautiful skin she once had.- “I’ll stop the ball.” -she said as she took off,  she looked like Paige, hair, lips, eyes nose all defined. So were her breasts and her abs. She was in impeccable shape. All of her could be seen but made out metal. She started to run towards the ball, just slower. What he had to realized was she took on the density of whatever she turned into. She was the weight of whatever she was.

The machines all then started up at that moment. All those industrial equipment started to converge on them. It was as if the machines had come to life.-