Title: Red Steel #3: Showdown! Part 4

Author: Rabbitearsblog

Universe: X-Men

Rating: T - For strong violence

Summary: Now that Colossus has discovered the true motives of his new friend Jerome, he will soon be in an epic battle that will determine the fate of Earth as Nigel's plans come to light and an alien invasion is threatening the world!

Notes: Please be gentle with the criticisms! :D

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Read the previous chapter.

Chapter 4: Showdown!

“What? “Red Steel” is really Colossus?” said Captain America surprised.

“Yes, he is,” said Ororo.

Captain America looked down for a moment and then said, “Look, I know how close you all were to Colossus, but we have our responsibilities to perform and we have to take him in since he was one of the Phoenix Five responsible for the near destruction of the entire world!”

Kitty then looked at Captain America and said angrily, “Responsibility?! Colossus was “possessed” by the Phoenix! How could he or the others actually control those powers? And besides, how would you feel if your good friend was possessed by a force that can barely be controlled?”

“Shadowcat is right! Many years ago, we had to see one of our dearest friends, Jean Grey, be possessed by the Phoenix Force. We tried to save her, but she ended up giving up her own life to save the world when the Phoenix became too unstable. We may had lost one friend to the Phoenix Force, but we are not going to lose another one this time!” said Ororo with determination in her voice.

“And you know that I will be there for my buddy, no matter what!” said Bobby.

“You want to get to Colossus, you have get through us,” said Logan, sheathing his claws.

The Avengers just looked at the X-Men and Iron Man said, “Well Cap, what it’s going to be? Either we take in Colossus or we have to deal with some really mad mutants who are ready to take us down (again) if we do take him in.”

“And what about the situation with Nigel? Why would he feel the need to gas us and take away Colossus and the other person?” said Black Widow.

Captain America then looked at Black Widow and said, “You’re right, Natasha. It’s strange that Nigel would kidnap those two. It’s like he has some sort of ulterior motive of some sorts.” He then looked at the X-Men and said, “Alright, since Colossus is somehow involved in this problem, we’ll drop the “Phoenix” situation with him for now. Right now, we got to get back to Nigel’s headquarters and see what he is planning. Will you work with us to stop him until then?”

“Sure, anything to protect our friend and all of humanity from whatever alien force hits us at the moment,” said Bobby.

“So where did this Nigel guy go with Colossus and that guy?” asked Logan.

“Nigel has a headquarters located somewhere in the center of New York. But it would be hard to get back to the center of New York City without a clear way to guide us through,” said Captain America.

“Leave that to me! I do have a tracking device in my armor, you know,” said Iron Man.

“As do I, except it’s a nifty gadget that I had lying around and decided to bring with us before we left the school,” said Hank.

“It figures you two would have a tracking device on you,” remarked Kitty.

“My thoughts exactly,” said Black Widow.

“Alright, now we can go to Nigel’s headquarters and get Colossus back!” said Ororo.

And so, the X-Men and the Avengers unite with each other to not only save a dear friend of the X-Men’s, but to save all of humanity from whatever Nigel has planned for Earth!

Meanwhile…

At Nigel’s headquarters, Nigel and Jerome were circling around each other as they were preparing to fight each other to the death. Nigel started cracking his knuckles, prepared to grab Jerome again and suck out his energy again, while Jerome started relaxing his muscles as he was prepared to throw his daggers at Nigel if he tries to take away his energy.

Jerome continued staring at Nigel as he said, “So Nigel, now that we are settling this matter once and for all, I just want to know one thing. Were you responsible for the disappearances of the mutants, years before M-Day got started up?”

“Well, I guess you could say that I had something to do with the disappearances of the mutants years ago. When I was discussing the plans about world domination with Commander Zoid, I was thinking to myself about how it would be nice to be the only mutant alive to control the world! Just think about it! For too long, mutants had been persecuted for just existing in this world! Once Commander Zoid is done with taking away most of the Earth’s natural resources and giving me the power to rule the world, I will withhold the remainder of the Earth’s natural resources and force all of humankind to bow down to me. Those petty humans will do absolutely anything to use the resources for their survival!” said Nigel with a dark tone in his voice.

“So you want to enslave humanity? What does that have to do with the mutants’ disappearance?” asked Jerome.

“My, aren’t we impatient today. Well, if you must know, not only did Commander Zoid’s soldiers kill some of the mutants before M-Day, but I managed to get my hands on some unfortunate mutants,” Nigel sneered.

“You mean…you monster! You sucked away at the other mutants’ energies to get more powerful,” said Jerome angrily.

“Yes, and it was a truly beautiful experience for me! Imagine the exhilaration I felt when the other mutants’ energies flowed through me, while I heard their screams of terror! Commander Zoid may destroy the rest of the mutants once he arrives, but I will take great joy in gaining more energy from the remaining mutants who are left on this planet!” Nigel said with pride.

“So you’re willing to kill your own kind just to be the ruler of this planet? What kind of psychopath are you?” asked Jerome distastefully.

“The best kind, my friend! Or should I say, my enemy?” said Nigel snidely.

“Enough talk! Let’s end this!” said Jerome.

Jerome then ran towards Nigel with his daggers gleaming. He then jumped up into the air and was prepared to stab Nigel in the head, but Nigel grabs Jerome’s arms and flings him across the office. Jerome hit the far side of the wall and falls to the ground, temporarily dizzied by the impact. Nigel then menacingly walks up to Jerome and stretched out his hand, prepared to suck out his energy. Suddenly, Jerome quickly jumps up and then slashes at Nigel’s hands causing some blood to flow from the wound. Nigel roars in pain and then came charging towards Jerome, but Jerome jumps into the air again and flips over Nigel, quickly slashing at Nigel’s back arms.

“Getting a little slow, aren’t you Nigel?” taunted Jerome.

“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet!” screamed Nigel.

Nigel then lifted the desk behind him with one hand and threw it towards Jerome. Jerome then quickly jumped to the side as the desk smashed to pieces when it hit the wall. Jerome looked at Nigel in surprise as Nigel started bragging, “Remember when I said that the more energy I take away from people, the more powerful I become? Well, your little energy boost earlier gave me the power I need to become stronger and now I can easily take you down with both hands tied behind my back!”

“Well then, what are you waiting for? Let me see your little power upgrade!” said Jerome.

Nigel smiled wickedly and then proceeded to grab a large brass vase behind him and he threw it at Jerome, almost hitting him.

“Man, I better stop taunting people to give me all they got,” said Jerome to himself as he avoided another heavy object being thrown at him.

Down in the sewers…

Red Steel was climbing towards the large manhole and finally reached the top. He then grabbed the large steel manhole with one hand and easily lifted it up and threw it aside the street. Then, he climbed out of the sewers and ended up on the streets of New York City. Red Steel looked around the street and said to himself, “I am in good luck! This street is near Nigel’s building! Now, I just have to get inside the building somehow and defeat Nigel before it is too late!”

Red Steel then began running down the street and finally ended up at Nigel’s building. Remembering how he got inside the last time, Red Steel started sneaking around the lower base of Nigel’s building and started climbing up the stairs that would lead him to Nigel’s office. Unfortunately, as soon as Red Steel came across an unknown hallway, he encountered Nigel’s guards who were waiting for him. It turns out that there were over seventy guards guarding the hallway and they all had their guns pointed at Red Steel.

“Remain where you are! Nigel gave us orders that we should shoot down Red Steel if he tries to approach this building!” shouted one of the guards.

Red Steel looked at the guards and said, “Hmm…let me see. I am made out of steel, which makes my body indestructible to any gunshot and I also have the strength of a dozen rampaging elephants. So, I would say that the odds are in my favor, tovarisch.”

“Oh yeah?” said the guard.

Suddenly, the guards started shooting out acid from their guns at Red Steel and Red Steel quickly jumped away from the acid.

“Luckily, the guns we have here are acid-poof, so the acid won’t burn through these guns that easily! Your time is up, Red Steel!” said the guard.

“Acid! I did not expect that!” said Red Steel to himself. “Alright, I will have to defeat these men the hard way.”

Red Steel then ran at the guards and as the guards started shooting acid from their guns, Red Steel jumped up and landed on two guards, crushing both of their arms. The two guards then yelled out in pain and Red Steel continued running on through the hallway, throwing every guard standing in the hallway to the side. Unfortunately, just as soon as Red Steel reached the end of the hallway, he found more guards standing there, pointing their guns at him.

Red Steel looked at the guards briefly and then he jumps high into the air and falls back to the ground, causing the ground to shake and the impact knocks the guards down to the ground. Red Steel then stood up and said to himself, “I really need to cut down on the borscht.”

Red Steel then continued running down the hallway, trying to reach Nigel’s office before it was too late.

In Nigel’s office…

Nigel and Jerome continued fighting each other as Nigel was still throwing heavy objects at Jerome, while Jerome avoided being hit. Unfortunately, one of the vases that Nigel was throwing hits Jerome in the head, knocking him down to the ground. Nigel then quickly jumps from the other side of the office and lands on Jerome, grabbing his throat with his hands. Nigel then slowly began draining Jerome’s energy from his body as he said wickedly, “Aha! Now I got you! Now, I will drain all the energy from your body until you become nothing but a lifeless piece of ash!”

“I DO NOT THINK SO, TOVARISCH!”

Red Steel then quickly ran into the room and rammed into Nigel, knocking him across the room and into the wall. Nigel was knocked out unconscious by the blow and slumped to the ground. Red Steel then ran towards Jerome and asked, “Are you alright, Jerome?”

“Yeah, I’m alright, although that’s the second time I got my energy zapped out of me. It’s a surprise that I’m still around to be talking like this! Nice move!” said Jerome.

“Thank you! I had managed to learn some new moves as an X-Man,” said Red Steel.

Suddenly, there was a sound of a dozen footsteps thumping across the hallway and Red Steel and Jerome stood up quickly and they were prepared to take down anymore guards, until they caught a glimpse of the figures in the hallway.

The X-Men and the Avengers arrived at Nigel’s office and as they ran inside, they suddenly stopped by the doorway, shocked to see Red Steel and Jerome standing there with Nigel’s body slumped over at the far side of the wall.

“Well I’ll be,” started Captain America.

“They really did a number on Nigel there,” said Iron Man.

“How…how did you all get here?” asked Red Steel.

“Well, aside from following the path of demolished guards around the headquarters, both Iron Man and Beast had tracking devices where they lead us right here at Nigel’s headquarters,” said Bobby.

“Wow,” said Jerome.

“Well, it seems that you had taken care of everything here, Colossus,” said Captain America.

Red Steel looked at Captain America in shock, but then said, “Uh, Captain, I know that I am a fugitive and everything, but there is an urgent matter at stake. Nigel had contacted the Gorkian Army and they are on their way to Earth to take away the Earth’s natural resources. We must stop them!”

“Nigel had contacted an alien race to Earth? So, that’s what Nigel was up to. Do you know where on Earth the alien army plans to land on?” asked Captain America.

“I think I have a good idea where,” said Jerome. Jerome then started walking towards Nigel’s overturned desk and looked through the desk drawer and he found some maps.

“According to these maps, it seems that Nigel told the alien army that the best place to land on Earth would be at New York Harbor,” said Jerome.

“So, we must get to New York Harbor before the aliens arrive,” declared Ororo.

“Let’s take the Blackbird. It’ll be much faster than traveling on ground,” said Kitty.

“What do we do with this jerk?” asked Logan.

The X-Men and the Avengers looked at the unconscious form of Nigel Faust and Red Steel went up to Nigel’s overturned desk and grabbed some ropes. Then, he started tying Nigel up to make sure that he would not escape, even after he woke up.

“There, he will not harm us now,” said Red Steel.

“That’s good. Alright, everyone! Let’s get to New York Harbor, on the double!” said Captain America.

As the X-Men and the Avengers ran out of Nigel’s office, no one noticed that Nigel was slowly waking up and that he was reaching for a knife that was lying on the floor beside him.

Next Chapter: Part 5

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