CHAPTER 55- FIRE AND STEEL
The restaurant was chaos. Screams filled the air as flames licked the shattered walls. Scott ripped off his visor cap, ruby light cutting across the room.
"JEAN, DOWN!"
An optic blast slammed into the chest of the first Sentinel, the giant's body rocking back. The metal titan steadied itself, eyes burning with cold light.
Jean's hands flared with telekinetic power, the room trembling. "You won't take us!"
Silverware, chairs, even tables ripped free and hurled into the machines with bone-crushing force. One Sentinel staggered, Jean's power twisting steel until its head buckled.
Scott roared, visor wide open. A searing beam punched through the second Sentinel's neck. Sparks erupted. Its massive head toppled, crashing into the marble floor.
For a breath, silence. Then the surviving Sentinel's fist slammed down. Jean barely shielded herself before a blast struck. She cried out, collapsing to her knees.
"JEAN!" Scott blasted again, carving deep gouges into the monster's armor. The Sentinel reached with clawed metal fingers, clamping around Jean's body. She gasped once-then blacked out as the grip tightened.
The Sentinel's engines roared, wings unfolding. It smashed through the roof, carrying Jean's limp form into the sky.
'NO!" Scott's blast lanced upward, but the machine soared higher, vanishing into the night.
The ground shook as another hit from the wounded Sentinel caught Scott full in the chest. He flew back through the wreckage, glass and fire swallowing him.
On the bridge, Logan's cigar froze between his lips. His eyes caught the faintest motion above the city. A silhouette. Mechanical wings. Jean's hair trailing in the wind.
Eagle eyes don't lie. They've got her.
He crushed the cigar under his boot and ran. His legs blurred across snow and pavement, claws itching to tear. He leapt rooftops, following the machine, but it was too fast.
Damn it. I can't catch up.'
Elsewhere in the city, Banshee strolled with Moira when a thunderous BOOM ripped the night. He looked up, his face draining of color.
'Moira-back to the mansion. NOW."
His voice shifted, power rising in his throat.
He launched into the air on sonic wings,
streaking toward the fire and chaos.
He reached the restaurant only to be met by TWO MORE SENTINELS crashing down from the sky. Their shadows engulfed the burning
street.
'Mutant detected. Neutralization protocol engaged."
Banshee's scream tore the air apart, the sonic
wave slamming into metal hides, shaking windows for blocks. One Sentinel staggered back. The other swung its arm like a hammer. The blow caught him mid-air, sent him
spinning. His scream faltered.
He tried to rise again, power surging, but the second Sentinel's beam struck him point-blank. His vision blurred, the world tilting.
'Moira..." he whispered before darkness swallowed him.
The Sentinels clamped metal hands around his limp body, hauling him up as if he were weightless.
From the rooftops, Logan froze. One Sentinel carried Jean into the sky, already vanishing. Two more held Banshee below.
Jean too far. These two close. Play it smart, old man.
He growled low, claws unsheathing with a SNIKT. He charged, leaping at the machines. The Sentinels scanned him, light sweeping
across his body.
'Mutant detected. Capture sequence engaged."
Logan bared his teeth. Then he stopped struggling. His arms went slack.
Alright. Take me. Take me where you took her. Then I'll tear you apart from the inside.
The Sentinels seized him, binding him in unbreakable alloy clamps. He sagged in their grip, eyes burning with silent promise.
At the restaurant ruins, the rest of the team arrived one by one. Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Thunderbird, Sunfire. Their faces paled at the sight.
Cyclops lay amid rubble, uniform scorched, visor cracked. He struggled to rise, blood on his lips.
'They... took her,' he rasped. His fists pounded the ground. "Jean-They TOOK HER!"
He collapsed forward, broken, his voice echoing through the ruins.
The team stood in stunned silence as the night sky glowed with fire, the shadows of Sentinels disappearing into the stars.