I rushed back into the thick of battle with my fangs bared. I leaped into the air with my wings spread and landed on a wolf, bringing him to the ground. His neck snapped open easily and I left him. I turned to another wolf and he breathed a breath full of strange smelling liquid. It made my eyes itch and I was blinded momentarily.
When I lowered down and pawed at my eyes Redscar suddenly exploded beside me and took the wolf down, slashing a claw against the wolf's eyes. The wolf wailed and then Redscar threw him against the ground, killing him from the impact.
"Thanks," I muttered as my eyes suddenly began to focus.
I then turned back into battle and realized I couldn't find Echo. I saw Logan fighting and darted to his side. I reared on my hind legs and sunk my front claws into a human mutant as he charged toward Logan. Blood oozed from the wound and I threw the mutant aside easily.
"Have you seen Echo," I asked as a small nick on my flank began to heal.
Logan took in a labored breath and went to stab his claws into another mutant as he darted forward. He then threw the mutant aside easily and I took down another one with excitement gleaming in my eyes.
"She went in to the lab with Kitty," replied Logan and my eyes widened.
"With that Juggernaut," I cried. Everyone had seen him darting into the building. I couldn't believe he had let them both go in. "Why did you let them go?!"
"I didn't," grunted Logan as he threw his claws into more mutants and with my help we took them down. "They went in by themselves."
"Great," I panted as I backed up a bit, panting.
I suddenly heard a cry and turned my head to see Asphalt. He was being suspended from the large building and his wings looked ripped and soaked in blood. He let out a shriek of pain as he continued to slip as a wolf grasped his claws into Asphalt's paws.
"Asphalt," I howled as I spread my wings and flew up on the building. I snarled and the wolf holding Asphalt turned to face me. He bared his teeth in a snarl and lashed his tail.
"Stay away from me Starlight," spat the wolf as the fur along his spine bristled.
My blood instantly went cold. "How do you know my name," I asked as I straightened my posture, horribly aware that Asphalt was probably in immense pain, hanging from the building the way he was with those wolf's infected claws sinking ever so deeply into his paws.
The wolf snickered and blood dripped from his teeth onto Asphalt's head. "I knew your mother and father very well, Starlight. Of course I should have. I knew all of you very well."
He then looked down to Asphalt who was grunting in effort at just raising his head over the top of the building. The wolf snarled down at him and Asphalt hunkered down even more, his eyes lit in agony.
"L-Let m-m-me go, Ripple," ordered Asphalt but he really was in no position to give commands. This wolf, Ripple, had the upperpaw and he was not about to let Asphalt have any ground.
Ripple snapped his jaws dangerously close to Asphalt's ear and Asphalt inclined his head backwards still. He yelped as Ripple lifted up on Asphalt's paw a bit and he nearly fell. However Ripple caught him and Asphalt closed his eyes, relief flooding through him for a brief moment.
"You heard him," I repeated in a more powerful tone that Asphalt was just not able to attain with his stutter. "Let him go."
"Why should I do that," asked Ripple as his tail lashed against the building and he used it to shower grit on Asphalt's head. Asphalt pushed his forehead against the side of the building and held his breath. "You don't know him like I do."
I twitched an ear again. "I don't," I asked, stalling. "I've known him for a few days, does that count?"
Ripple rolled his eyes, his dark brown fur beginning to flatten now that he realized I couldn't be a threat. I knew it I took one step toward Ripple to rescue Asphalt he'd drop him. There could be no way I could grab Asphalt in his decent while I was flying. Right now I just had to talk to Ripple until a better plan presented itself.
Ripple let out a sound that sounded about like a snicker and a snort. "I've known him my whole life," he grumbled as he cast a scorned glance at Asphalt. "This weak and mangy piece of regretful fur is my brother."
"Brother," I echoed and my ears twitched as I realized a wolf was behind me. "You're Asphalt's brother?"
Ripple licked his chomps and more saliva dribbled down his chin and on his brother's face. It fell between Asphalt's eyes and then to his muzzle. He bared his teeth in a snarl but Ripple just sunk his claws in deeper to Asphalt's paws and Asphalt quickly went into the most submissive position he could as he dangled from the roof.
Suddenly, before Ripple could answer, I felt a body press against mine. I turned my head and realized it was Redscar. Now that I was closer to him I saw the scar in a new light. It looked utterly painful and extremely deep. There was no way that a bear could have done that. A bear's claws would have gone straight through and probably sliced through Redscar's whole face. She knew that he had lied, at least about that.
She then noticed that Redscar's pelt was black, just like Tony's pelt. His paws were a smokey grey while his chest was a bright red and so was his underbelly as if blood had been doused on those areas. If you looked close you could see flecks of dark blue in Redscar's pelt but from a distance he just looked black. However when you were close the flecks seemed to gleam in the light but I still didn't know what his mutant power was.
"Let Asphalt go, Ripple," barked Redscar as he lowered his head into his shoulders and lashed his thick tail.
Ripple's eyes widened a bit. "Never thought I'd see you again Gorse," he mocked as he turned his attention away from Asphalt to Redscar.
Redscar narrowed his eyes. "That's not my name anymore," he corrected Ripple tersely.
Ripple just bared his teeth more at Gorse until I could see the brightness of his glinted teeth. "It was the name that mother gave us. Why change it?"
"Mother," I echoed as I looked to Redscar. So they were all littermates!
"If mother saw me now the first thing that would come to her mind would not be Gorse," pointed out Redscar as he plucked at the grit on the building tentatively. "It would probably something about my scar."
Ripple rolled his eyes, clearing getting board with this whole conversation. "Yes that's very nice, REDSCAR, but I have other things to do." He turned back to Asphalt who had probably hoped Ripple had forgotten about him being suspended a few hundred feet to his doom. "Starting with ending this invalid's life!"
Asphalt's eyes widened but before I could surge forward to stop Ripple from letting him go Redscar stepped forward, fuming at the mouth.
"He is not an invalid. Not to me, not to you," he spat each word as he stepped toward him and surprisingly enough Ripple didn't release Asphalt. "What happened to you?"
"What happened to me," repeated Ripple as he curled his lip. "What happened was that your so called 'Professor X' promised to take care of me and it's not even me I'm worried about, it was Moonsong! She died in that battle while everyone else stood and watched! That was his fault."
Redscar lowered his head into his shoulder. "I lost Frostcloud as well as Darkmoon. Don't think I don't know what loss is."
This was certainly a different battle I'd stumbled upon. This was a long ago battle that had never been sorted out. This dated back way back and I was sure that my mother and father would probably know what they were arguing about. However I don't think anyone wanted to explain the turbulence going on right now.
Ripple just swore under his breath and lashed his tail. "I didn't say you didn't but that doesn't mean that I'm about to forgive either of you for sticking with them."
"And you thought that leaving the group of mutants would accomplish so much for you," inquired Redscar as he titled his head.
"You went with Erik," shot back Ripple. "Was that so much better than leaving the group all together?"
Redscar gave a shrug. "We've made our choice and we could stay here arguing with each other or we could make immense," he pointed out as he lowered his head in his shoulder. "We've spend how many years fighting. We've wasted so much time. Must we waste more?"
For a second Ripple's eyes flickered and he grumbled. He looked down on Asphalt before he extended his head forward and sunk his teeth into Asphalt's shoulder. Asphalt let out a grunt before Ripple hauled him upward. Ripple set him gently on the roof of the building and Asphalt let out a sigh of relief.
Ripple looked at his brothers and sighed heavily. "You're right. I'm sorry," he apologized as he looked to Asphalt and Redscar.
Asphalt rose to his paws with the support of Redscar and Ripple padded forward. "I'm so sorry," apologized Ripple and I swear that I didn't see that coming.
Asphalt smiled at his brother before he twitched his ears. "D-Do you r-r-r-really think I'm an i-i-invalid?"
Redscar flinched as if he was worried for Ripple's answer. Ripple hung his head and shuffled his paws. "No," he confessed as he licked his chomps. "If anyone's an invalid it's me." He gave a snort. "Who ever heard of a wolf that can control water. What type of a mutation is that?"
Redscar gave a chuckle and pawed at his face. "Better than a mutation with bone manipulation or mediumship."
I chuckled a bit before I looked up into the air and saw cars flying through the air, alit with fire. "Watch out," I howled as one landed on the roof and glass fragments shattered everywhere.
We all took the to the air which wasn't any safer than the ground and flew down on the ground. Once I touched the ground I broke into a made dash as flames lapped at my pelt. Heat instantly flashed through me body and although it didn't cause me any harm I worried for my pups. I leaped behind a car that wasn't covered in flames and pressed against it, panting for breath.
I looked sideways and saw Thruster surging forward with the pups trailing. The worst one looked to be Reed. His one eye was swollen shut and tufts of dark brown fur seemed to hang from his body with bits of skin. Blood trickled from nasty scratches while his breathing turned heavy and labored in exhaustion. The rest of the pups looked similar with claw and teeth wounds and almost all of their energy completely drained from them.
Thruster leaped beside Beast, his eyes narrowed so slits. He coughed painfully as smoke invaded his lungs. Reed and Keen clustered close to Thruster and pushed themselves under the soft fur of his underbelly. Meanwhile Avery, Thyme, and Poultice darted to me.
Avery weaved under me, whimpering as he thrust his ears against his head. "I just want to go home," he begged as he shoved his head into my chest fur.
I sat down and ran a paw down Avery's back. "I know," I chided gently as I looked around at the dead bodied and blood all around us. A pup this young certainly shouldn't have to be exposed to this.
Poultice stretched his head a bit over the car and rushed back down as a flame nearly singed the top of his ears. He panted madly and slumped against the underside of the car. He looked to me. "There's no way we can keep this up," he pointed out and I saw the despair that lit in his eyes.
"Don't lose hope Poultice," argued Thyme as she padded briskly past him and looked around us. However the flaming cars were coming back toward us at a vengeance and it was just a matter of time before they made contact with our hiding position and set us aflame.
I took in a rattling breath deep in my chest. I then closed my eyes to half slits and turned over on my side. I tried to push out all of the noises but that was impossible. We were in a battle and it would keep reminding me of that. However when I opened my eyes I saw a sense of calmness spread through everyone.
Thruster sheathed his claws, Keen stopped scanning every area as if a threat was right around the corner, Reed stopped working his paws against the ground, Asphalt and his brothers had stopped standing so tensed and had laid down, pressing against each other for comfort. I then saw Poultice and Thyme press against each other while Avery suddenly stood with determination in his eyes. I had no idea what just came over them but I was proud.
I then looked to Logan. He was slightly smiling. He then stretched out a hand and scratched me between the ears. I couldn't resist a pleased rumble before he looked to Storm. "We work as a team," he told her and I felt pride surge in my chest.
I looked down at my pups and realized there wasn't another team I'd rather be with. I then looked where Logan was looking and I saw a side view of Tony, Pyro, and Erik. So they did have a weakness. They wouldn't be able to see if we did a side attack.
I then swiveled my head around and looked at a few of the 'mutant cures' I saw laying on the ground. They weren't damaged but I was sure that was a sign from Starbound. They wanted us to do this and I certainly wouldn't be the one to argue.
Storm saw all this too and smiled at Logan. "You know the best defense if a good offense."
I saw Thruster wag his tail at this while Logan turned to Bobby. "Do you think you can take care of your old friend?"
Bobby gave a nod and I looked to Poultice. Bobby was his companion by the way. "Go with him," I told Poultice in a whisper. "Watch his back."
Poultice gave an eager nod and bolted to Bobby's side. I then saw Beast grasp the needles in a firm hand. I knew this was where I would come in to take down Tony once and for all. However I'd need a little help.
"Hey Asphalt, Redscar, Ripple, could I have you assistance," I asked hopefully as I grasped two of the injection with my wing before tucking them against my pelt so they would be protected. I let them see the sharp point of it so they understood what I was doing.
I saw Ripple's eyes gleam while Redscar gave a short nod. Asphalt seemed uncertain but he eventually gave in. I knew that they had been friends with Tony since the very beginning but now they saw how his hungry for vengeance was destroying him from the inside out and making him horribly bitter. They just wanted to help him and I made a silent promise that I wouldn't kill him, no matter how much I wanted to. Like it or not he was my father and I loved him, a little I suppose.
"We won't kill him," I vowed, looking particularly at Redscar. He had been the closest to Erik and Tony so I understood his hesitation.
Ripple looked to his brothers. "Don't worry, we'll take em' down, our way." He swished his tail and looked to some water that dripped on the ground. It lifted up a bit and he couldn't resist a chuckle. "I can create it but I prefer to manipulate it."
"I don't care how you do it," I interrupted before I looked to Tony who was lifting other, smaller non magnetic objects, with his telekinesis and John was lighting them on fire. "But we need to do this quickly.
Asphalt nodded. "I-I'll take t-t-t-the lead," he told us as he puffed out his chest a bit in pride.
I smiled, knowing that this meant a lot to him. "Go ahead. We'll follow."
Asphalt dipped his head and assessed the situation before he snaked forward with his body lowered down to the ground. I followed right behind him and struggled to keep my body as low as Asphalt's as I kept the injections pressed against my flank. Redscar was next and he was a bit too close to my haunches for my liking but I didn't say anything. Ripple brought up the rear and his eyes darted around madly.
"You can do this Asphalt," I whispered as we stayed under the cover of a few cars with dwindling flames.
Asphalt took in a breath and looked over his shoulder a bit. "I-I know. J-J-Just f-follow my l-lead."
I wasn't about to argue with that. I just took in a shaky breath and prayed everything went well.