X-Men: The Gifted Ones

63. MY LAI, VIETNAM

It was mayhem in the village of My Lai. Gunfire, explosions, people screaming. It was a scene out of Logan's worst nightmares. None of it was necessary. This wasn't war, it was a massacre.

He watched in horror as Azazel picked up people and herded them up into the center of the village where they were then surrounded by soldiers including Quicksilver, Calley, Medina, and Victor. They couldn't escape without being shot and killed, as several had already learned. He watched as Angel flew overhead, setting every structure on fire and burning people as they ran.

Enough was enough!

Logan ran up to Calley. "What in the hell are you doing!" he raged. "These people are all too young or too old to fight!"

"Damnit, Logan," Calley bellowed crossly, "it's an enemy position. Keep fighting!"

Logan made a fist at his side and three narrow claws emerged from his knuckles and retracted. Keep fighting? This isn't fighting! He looked around with the pretense of looking for enemies, gradually leaving the village in the process. He had a plan. He hoped it would work. He wasn't trying to be heroic for the sake of the people in the village, he was trying to find a way out so he wouldn't spend the rest of his life in a military prison.

He didn't see the five dozen women, children, and elderly being herded into an irrigation ditch, trembling and screaming with fear. If he had, Victor, Quicksilver, and three other soldiers would not have had the chance to dispatch them quickly. Victor's bloodlust was insatiable. He used his gun on some, and his claws on others by tearing their throats. The blood sprayed him and soaked through his uniform, covering his flesh in a sticky layer of gore. The more blood he shed, the more vicious he became.

Even Quicksilver relished in the slaughter. Never before had he been allowed such unrestrained access to death and destruction.

Azazel had rounded up about 75 women, children, and elderly in the village center. They were screaming and crying in fear, too terrified, too young, or too infirm to move. Victor and Quicksilver looked at one another, eyes gleaming. They stalked toward the new batch of victims.

Calley was standing about ten feet away from the terrified villagers with five soldiers. He let the anticipation build up in the men, allowed their chests to heave with anticipation.

"KILL THE ENEMY!" Calley ordered.

The soldiers rushed in and slaughtered the people in an orgy of blood and gore.

No villager survived.