The Terran Rangers/X-Men by Heather Ray (ebook e reader .txt) 📕

can manage."

"Then, let's get going," said Nate.

The two groups of heroes stealthily and expertly snuck past Apocalypse's troops, and ducked into the large sewer opening, on their way to the lab of Apocalypse's head scientist Mister Sinister.
Chapter Twenty-Nine

"I cannot BELIEVE

you let them escape!!" roared the pale man with a red diamond upon his brow. "What kind of incompetent fool are you, McCoy?!"

"I apologize, Sinister," said the grey beast. "But I wasn't in the lab --"

"First of all, Hairball, its Mister

Sinister to you," snarled Sinister. "Second, don't ever use that excuse! If you weren't in the lab, where were you?!"

"Prelate Summers asked me to check on our adamantium supply, to make sure we have enough for your new project, to bond a human skeleton with adamantium. The process was successfully downloaded from the depot in Canada, and we need a certain amount of the rare metal to insure success."

"Wait," said Sinister, stroking his ebony beard thoughtfully, "Scott told you to check the adamantium?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Hmm. I had asked him to check the adamantium supply personally. Why would he send you? Unless..."

Mister Sinister turned and briskly walked towards the door to the lab. "McCoy, if you see Cyclops, tell him to come to me in my study. Immediately."

"Yes, Sir," said the Dark Beast Henry McCoy, as his master leaves the lab. Once Sinister was out of earshot, McCoy growled vindictively, and turned to the computers.

"I'm tired of listening to that arrogant pest throw orders at me! I'm the true genius behind Apocalypse's armies! I spend hours in this laboratory, insuring that the mutate process runs smoothly. And now, he had the gall to blame his son's betrayal on me?!"

"Whom are you talking to?" came a voice from just outside. McCoy turned swiftly, and saw Prelate Scott Summers enter the chamber.

"Just thinking out loud, Prelate," said McCoy with a fake smile. "So, where have you been?"

"Helping Holocaust with the disposal of that large crystal," he said, "Apocalypse wants it destroyed, but all the weapons at our disposal didn't even scratch it. Holocaust sent me here to retrieve a weapon that packs a bigger punch. Do you have anything?"

"Check in the weapons closet," said McCoy, pointing a sharp talon towards the other end of the laboratory, "I'm sure you'll find a nice energy rifle."

Cyclops nodded and headed into the closet. McCoy turned to return to his research, but his enhanced sense of hearing detected sounds nearby.

Strange,

he thought. That sounded like it came...from beneath the laboratory. In the sewer?

McCoy activated the internal sensors, and soon detected six persons in the sewers just beneath the lab. A chilling grin crossed his monstrous face, and he pulled out a small energy weapon from beneath the lab table. It was kept there just in case.

Chapter Thirty

"Here it is," whispered Shadow. "This is the laboratory."

"Well, let's go then!" said Zack, the Silver Ranger. "We don't have much time!"

"Wait," said Nate. "At least let me check, and make sure I can't detect anyone present in the lab. We may blow our cover."

"It won't work, Nate," said Shadow. "The lab is protected by psionic barriers. They were first installed to limit your powers when Sinister first created you. You won't be able to telepathically sense anything up there."

"Very well, William," said Magneto, "I shall go first."

Everyone stepped back as Magneto erected a tight force field around his body, and opened the grating. He quietly stepped through, into the laboratory. As soon as his entire body was through the opening, a tight blast of white energy struck him in the side, and flung the leader of the X-Men clear across the laboratory. He smashed into the wall right beside the weapons closet.

"Well," said McCoy, lowering the weapon and walking towards him. "What do we have here? What, pray tell, is the leader of the infamous X-Men doing crawling underneath the High Lord's stronghold like a worm?"

As McCoy passed the open grate, he was struck by a powerful kick to the face, and was thrown over a few lab tables, dropping his weapon. McCoy groaned and rose to stand, but a dark form drew two modified .50 AE Desert Eagle handguns and grinned at the Dark Beast. While he held McCoy with the weapons, Kimberly, Nate, Forge, and Zack hurried to where Magneto was lying.

"Hello McCoy," he said. "What's a slimy slob like you doing in a immaculate laboratory like this?"

"Taking care of a little pest problem," McCoy snarled. He raised his clawed hands to the air, and leaned against a computer console, then grinned.

"I got you just where I wanted you," he laughed, slamming his fist on a large green button. Green gas began pouring through the vents, quickly blanketing the room with the knock-out gas. Nate, Forge, and Billy were soon on their knees coughing, but Kimberly and Zack were protected by their helmets, and were impervious to the gas' affects.

"I got this one," said Zack, pointing a finger at the metal grating that had blocked the entrance they came through. He magnetically bent the grating into a pole, and launched it through the thick smoke. It wrapped itself around the surprised Dark Beast, who nearly managed to escape the laboratory via the emergency route.

"How do we turn off this gas?" asked Kimberly, waving her hand in front of her face, "I can barely see a thing!"

Suddenly, the fan came on, and dispersed the thick fog within seconds. Billy, Forge, and Nate all soon recovered from their coughing fits, while Magneto still lay unconscious. "How did that happen?" asked Zack in surprise.

"Simple," said Cyclops, stepping out of the weapons closet. "There's a control for the ventilation system inside the closet."

"Why would you help us?" asked Kimberly suspiciously.

Cyclops smiled. "Because I helped save your lives not too long ago."

"I knew it!" cried McCoy, struggling against the band imprisoning him, "I knew you were a traitor! The High Lord will have your HEAD

!!"

"Then, let him claim it," said Cyclops, holding up a large energy rifle. "But who will tell him of my betrayal? Dead men don't talk."

Dark Beast's eyes widened as they peered down the barrel of the large weapon. Kimberly gasped audibly.

"You're not going to kill him," she said. "Are

you?"

"Well, either we kill him now, or he alerts Apocalypse of our presence," said Billy, "McCoy here is a slippery one. He'll find a way to escape any prison, and sound the alarm. We can't afford to take that kind of chance!"

Kimberly turned around, so she didn't have to watch as the lab assistant was killed with a swift shot in the forehead. Kimberly shuddered when she heard Dark Beast's now lifeless body fall limp to the ground. Zack gently lay a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," he whispered. "You okay?"

"I...I'm fine," she breathed. "But I'm not comfortable with this cut-throat kind of fighting. I mean, I didn't like killing the Mutates, but they were pretty much already dead. Beast was evil, but he was a human being!"

"I know," Zack agreed, "I feel the same way. But the stakes are higher in the Age of Apocalypse."

Forge then walked over, supporting the weakened Magneto on his shoulder. "Now that we are inside the complex, where do we go now?"

"That's a good question," said Nate, turning to Cyclops. "Do you know where we can find the M'Kraan Crystal?"

Cyclops looked surprised. "Yes, it's in a containment chamber in the west wing. I just came from there to get a weapon."

"For what purpose?" asked Forge.

"Apocalypse commanded that the M'Kraan Crystal be destroyed," Cyclops explained. "We weren't able to do it with conventional weapons, so Holocaust, the son of the High Lord, sent me to get a more potent weapon from the laboratory."

"How many children does Apocalypse have?" asked Zack, "I mean, according to that computer file Forge showed us, Apocalypse's only son was called Nemesis, or something like that."

"Holocaust is Nemesis," said Billy grimly, "Nemesis was severely injured not long after he murdered my wife in battle against me and the other X-Men. But he survived, and his father conducted experiments on him to save his life. Those experiments have left Nemesis completely dependent on an exo armor, which serves as an inpenetrable protection against any weapon. He changed his name to Holocaust, because the power given to him by his father is enough to complete the work Adolf Hitler started earlier this century-- to destroy the genetically 'impure'

. Magneto refused to allow me to hunt down Holocaust, which is one reason why I subsequently left the X-Men."

"If Holocaust is truly that powerful, we'd better get to the M'Kraan Crystal before he succeeds in destroying it!" said Kimberly.

"Can you lead us to the containment chamber?" asked Forge.

"Yes," said Cyclops.

"Then let's go!" said Nate, starting towards the doorway.

"You had best leave me behind," said Magneto, who was still leaning on Forge. "The energy blast Dark Beast hit me with wasn't enough to fully penetrate my magnetic force field, but it was enough to weaken me. I will only slow you down."

"We can't just leave you here!" said Shadow.

"Once I am strong enough, I will follow you," said Magneto. "Now hurry!"

"He's right," said Cyclops, "we must leave. Magneto can take care of himself."

With that, Cyclops lead Nate, Kim, Zack, Forge, and Shadow through the mostly empty halls of the lower levels of the palace.