Live combat

Thanks to Brad's technology, the X-Men's Blackbird was blindingly fast.

But they merely trailed far behind and above the prison transport with their camouflage system activated, projecting an image of the sky beneath the aircraft. At a glance, the Blackbird was completely invisible.

Soon, the prison transport turned onto a straight, deserted highway.

With no residents or surveillance cameras around, Hellfire would probably make its move here.

Sure enough, on the surveillance panel Cyclops, Scott, had been watching intently, a seemingly ordinary SUV drove toward the prison transport.

The others aboard the Blackbird crowded around, their eyes fixed on the SUV.

Brad stayed where he was. He could see the feed without moving; the Blackbird's internal network was within his connection range.

As expected, the SUV cut off the prison transport and forced it to stop. Several armed men carrying heavy weapons jumped out and opened fire on it.

They wore red combat uniforms and segmented yellow masks-the standard gear of the armed personnel maintained by the Hellfire Club.

Naturally, the prison transport had armed police officers aboard, too, but the two sides' firepower was clearly in different leagues. Before long, the police suffered casualties.

Logan and Scott continued watching calmly. Moonstar was Native American; whether United States police officers lived or died was no concern of hers.

But Rahne could no longer sit still. The girl urgently begged Brad to let them down so they could drive off the Hellfire attackers.

The Black Bishop had yet to show himself, though. Entering the fray now would not quite serve their purposes.

Cyclops wanted to explain the tactical reasons for holding back to Rahne, but remembering that he was not the squad leader for this mission, he could only look helplessly at Brad.

Brad calmly opened his eyes and waved his mechanical hand. The Blackbird's lower hatch opened.

Wolverine elbowed Cyclops in the ribs with a wicked grin, then caught up with the girl, who had already transformed into a wolf. Together, they leaped from the Blackbird hovering in midair.

Utterly resigned, Cyclops gave Moonstar several tactical hand signals. She waved her small hand, enveloping them both in pale golden energy bubbles, and they floated down through the open hatch.

An enormous female wolf with reddish-brown fur descended from the sky, instantly crushing the Hellfire SUV. Then she swatted away a Hellfire mercenary holding a machine gun.

Wolverine, Logan, leaped off the giant wolf's back, extended his bone claws, and charged at the others.

But Hellfire's armed men were no pushovers. The fact that Hellfire maintained them despite their lack of any mutant ability was, in itself, proof of their formidable combat skills.

They all immediately switched targets. In an instant, a storm of metal pinned Logan in place as he tried to advance, shredding his flesh as fast as it regenerated.

Brad scratched his chin. By derailing Wolverine's fate of being injected with adamanium alloy, he seemed to have weakened the old wolf considerably.

But Logan was no longer the lone wolf he had once been. He had teammates now!

Drifting down from above, Cyclops raised a hand to his specially made visor and pressed a button. An immensely thick laser beam descended from the sky, melting two or three of the men's machine guns. Then he reduced its power and swept them off their feet.

Moonstar also formed a golden energy bow in her hands. A few precise shots blasted apart all the guns the men were holding.

They kept Professor X's teachings firmly in mind, injuring rather than killing.

Finally freed from the suppressing fire, Logan let out an excited, wild cry. His six bone claws plunged into the fray, punching hole after hole in the Hellfire fighters.

Clearly, Logan had no idea what it meant to hold back. He fought with savage ferocity.

The four mutants quickly turned the battle around. Hellfire's armed men could only fight as they retreated, their defeat looking increasingly inevitable.

Meanwhile, the giant wolf turned back into a girl and ran over to check the police officers' injuries.

Just then, the ground beneath her suddenly split open. The girl nimbly dodged the fissure, tucked a police officer under each arm, and backflipped clear of the battlefield.

A fat man in a black tailcoat slowly ascended a staircase formed within the fissure.

If his build and horseshoe baldness had not ruined the impression so thoroughly, Brad would almost have called him elegant.

Unfortunately, no matter how lavishly this balding fat man dressed, he still looked ridiculous.

"I knew it wouldn't go that smoothly."

A cold, sinister smile hung on the Black Bishop's face as he glanced toward the spot where the Blackbird's hatch had briefly appeared.

"Just as I thought. The X-Men are here. That plane of yours looks pretty good. Once I've dealt with you, it'll be mine."

Still aboard the aircraft, Brad raised an eyebrow. An ear pick popped out of his right little finger. He caught it in his left hand and began cleaning his left ear.

Logan raised his bone claws and charged at the fat man without a word. He disliked enemies who would not stop talking.

The Black Bishop raised a hand and pointed one finger at Logan.

Logan's expression tightened. His entire body sank lower, and he seemed barely able to walk.

"Ha... Down you go!"

The Black Bishop shouted and swept his finger downward, making the fat on his face jiggle.

As though an immense weight had suddenly landed on his back, Logan slammed into the ground with a thud. Even his blood could not splash upward.

Of course, that was not enough to kill the old wolf.

Cyclops fired several laser beams at the Black Bishop, but the man merely lifted a hand. Broken stones floated off the ground, positioning themselves perfectly to block the beams.

The stones exploded, but the Black Bishop had already applied his gravity to Cyclops.

Fortunately, Moonstar promptly formed a close-fitting energy shield around Cyclops, keeping him from collapsing.

Wolfsbane set down the injured police officers and shouted to draw the Black Bishop's attention. Then she transformed into an enormous reddish-brown wolf and lunged at him.

But she soon met the same fate as Logan, pressed into the ground by gravity and unable even to lift her paws.

Cold sweat broke out on Moonstar's skin. She could either maintain a shield or form an energy bow and arrows, not both at once. And the gravity the Black Bishop was exerting on Cyclops was still increasing.

Moonstar could only focus entirely on protecting Cyclops, while he kept moving nimbly, doing his best to prevent the Black Bishop from locking onto him as he fired laser beams to disrupt the man.

Logan finished regenerating and sprang out of his crater. The Black Bishop turned and pointed, and Logan fell back down in midair.

Wolfsbane finished regenerating and leaped out of her crater, only to suffer the same fate as Logan.

Meanwhile, Cyclops kept darting between several rocks. The gravity weakened wherever the Black Bishop could not see him, giving Moonstar a little breathing room.

Brad had initially watched with great interest for quite some time, but now he was rather puzzled.

This Black Bishop is pretty weak.

When exerting gravity on people, he generally targeted only one at a time, rarely more than two. On the occasional occasions when he had no choice, his face visibly paled, probably because it consumed a large amount of stamina all at once.

With lifeless, motionless objects, such as rocks weighing a little over two hundred pounds, he could affect only a dozen or so at a time.

And yet the four X-Men below had been fighting this guy for ages, with the situation still looking perilous.

Logan was the worst of all. Every time he regenerated, he immediately sprang out. The Black Bishop watched him most closely, so practically the instant he jumped up, he was pressed back down.

By now, the Black Bishop had almost worked out how long his regeneration took and had begun anticipating him. Sometimes, before Logan could even jump out, the man pointed at him again.

"They all look like gods of war in the training room. Is it because the room doesn't have equipment that applies gravity like this? I'll add some when we get back."