The strong hand tightened, sharpened fingernails gleaming, the figure struggling frantically as the muscles in the arm tensed up. CRACK! Victor Creed tossed the body aside with a soft snarl. The man hit the wall and slid bonelessly to the ground, and he smiled slightly as he heard something. 'Someone finally hit the silent alarm,' he looked around the bank with a feral smile. At a police station across town Bishop and Cat ran to the switchboards. "What's going on?" the black man asked, leaning over the console. "Give her some room," Cat pulled him back gently. The brown haired woman at the switchboard gave Cat a grateful nod, "Bank alarm, I'll try to call up a video feed." A screen lit up, static crawling across it. The image cleared up, and Bishop barely choked back a gasp of surprise. And if he was honest, a bit of fear. The blonde haired man looked up, seeming to notice the camera, and grinned evilly. "Run a check with that new facial matching database the U.S. sent," Cat instructed her, "let's see if it can tell us who this is." "Not necessary," Bishop said grimly, "I recognize him." Both women looked at him, "Victor Creed, also known as the assassin Sabertooth." "An assassin?" the girl blinked, "So why would he be robbing a bank?" Cat looked over at Bishop, "To get someone's attention." Bishop nodded grimly. "Let's go," he said as he picked up his jacket and then he and Cat were out like a shot. Lights and siren blazing they moved out, "Get on the radio, have some officers surround the bank but don't go in." "Right," Cat got on the radio even as she asked, "You gonna call her?" "No choice," Bishop nodded, hitting the speed dial on his cellphone. "Yes?" Elizabeth picked it up. "There's serious trouble," Bishop said grimly, "tell Kitty that Sabertooth is in town." He quickly gave her the address, then he had to hang up. Elizabeth swore softly, running up the stairs and calling out, "Kitty!" She though she heard something from the bedroom and threw open the door. Only to stop there cold, "Eeep!" and slam the door shut once again. "Next time, we lock the door," a blushing Kitty scrambled for her clothes. Rogue nodded, hopping on one foot as she pulled her black bodysuit on the other leg, "Might just be a good idea." Once both of them were decent, Kitty pulled open the door to face a blushing Elizabeth. "Sorry, but next time, knock..." Kitty started. "Sorry, sensei, but it's an emergency," Elizabeth said, "Bishop just called to tell you that Sabertooth is in town." Rogue's eyes widened, and she swore softly as well. "My sentiments exactly," Elizabeth agreed. Kitty's expression was grin, "Who's here?" "Me, Neil and you two," Elizabeth said apologetically. "Get into costume and signal the rest of the team," Kitty said to her grimly, "we've got to move out quickly." Elizabeth bolted back downstairs, Kitty slammed the door shut behind her and then phased right out of her regular clothes before grabbing her blue and black costume from the closet and pulling it on. Rogue was in her black and reds in a few moments even as she asked Kitty, "I couldn't stop you from taking him on if I tried, could I?" Kitty carefully slid a handful of shuriken into a pouch at her waist, "Nope." "Then make sure you win," Rogue said seriously. With a flicker of concentration she popped Wolverine's claws, "Because I'll take him on next." Kitty pulled her close for a kiss on the cheek, "I'll win, I promise." They ran downstairs as Neal and Elizabeth came out in full costume. "What's the plan?" Neal asked nervously. 'He hasn't ran into Sabertooth before,' Kitty remembered, and smiled at him comfortingly. "The rest of the team should be coming in soon," she said, "but we'll have to handle things first. Neal, you carry Elizabeth, and Rogue, you can carry me." All four of them were quickly in the air, and Rogue brought her lips to Kitty's ear to whisper, "Are you making this up as you go along?" "Can't do much until we see the situation," Kitty murmured back. They reached the bank in a few minutes, easy to find considering the police cars that were surrounding it. Bishop waved to them from where he was standing by one of them, and the four of them settled down to the ground beside him. "Creed's in there with about ten hostages," Bishop reported, rolling out a printout of the bank's floor plan on the car's hood. He pointed to the main room, "The cameras confirm he's in there with his captives." As Kitty was studying the layout Neal said to Elizabeth quietly, "At least nobody's yelled 'Mutie!' at us or pulled a gun." Cat overheard that and the blonde haired woman said grimly, "That psycho's already killed two of the hostages just for kicks." She shrugged, "I think the other officers are glad anyone is taking this off our hands." "I wish I was still a telepath," Elizabeth said grimly, "at least we could reassure his captives that rescue is coming." The 'X' symbol on Kitty's costume glowed, and she pressed down on it firmly. Storm's voice came through clearly, "We're tangled up dealing with the smugglers off shore. We hope to be there as soon as possible, but for now..." "We're in position, and will try to handle the situation," Kitty reported. "Be careful, Kitten," Storm answered, then she signed off. "Looks like it's down to us," Bishop said simply. "I've got a plan," Kitty said simply. The four of them looked over at her expectantly, and she nodded to Neil first, "Thunderbird, when I give you all the cue I want you to use your plasma to destroy this outer wall." She pointed it out, then looked over at Elizabeth, "Psylocke, your telekinesis will need to keep the plasma from hurting anyone inside, and then I want you and Rogue need to get all of the hostages out." "And what will you be doing?" Cat asked. Kitty smiled grimly, "I'll go in there first with my communicator open. Once I fully distract Creed, I'll give you the signal." Bishop hefted his gun, "Let me..." "No," Kitty shook her head firmly, "he wants only me in there with him, of that I'm certain." A pause, "Besides, I need you and Cat out here controlling the cops. And if this goes really bad, you get to back-up Rogue." "I'm not thrilled with this plan," Rogue sighed as she flew Kitty towards the building. "It's the best we got," Kitty squeezed Rogue's hand as she murmured, "I love you." They hovered, and Kitty said, "Fastball special time." The 'fastball special' was a trick Wolverine had worked out years back with Colossus, where the super strong Russian had literally thrown Wolverine at an enemy. Rogue, carefully moderating her strength, threw Kitty at the top of the building. Ghostlike, Kitty phased through the building's roof, hitting the floor with a roll as she recovered to scan the situation. "Kitty-cat," Sabretooth snarled as he charged her, his claws extended from each finger. He was as big as Kitty remembered, a mass of coiled muscle and murderous intention. But he was a quick as he was strong, and Kitty knew she's have to outsmart as well as out fight him. Kitty quickly recovered her footing to sidestep his charge, moving like a dancer to grab his extended arm and slam him face first against the outer wall. It didn't hurt much, and he turned, snarling, to charge at her again. Kitty vaulted over him, watching as he skidded to a stop. Using a momentary opening in his guard she charged him, throwing a kick right into the flesh at the junction of his throat and jaw. He reeled back and spat blood, even as Kitty cried out, "Now!" The outer wall exploded in a burst of fire and flame, a pink glow swiftly appearing to contain the fire. As it faded away Rogue soared inside to grab four hostages and fly them right out. Psylocke grabbed four others with the power of her mind, and Thunderbird flew in on a burst of flame and grabbed the last two. "Nice," Sabertooth growled. He coughed, surprised to see some blood in his spittle, and looked down to see that sometime while they were sparring, Kitty had buried two of her shuriken between his ribs into his lung. With a bestial howl he charged her, but Kitty calmly met his attack, dodging and leaping each of his wild strikes. "Do you remember when the Hand took you, me and Wolverine captive?" she asked him calmly. "I don't care," Sabertooth howled, "fight!" He snarled in frustration as she easily kept one step ahead of each of his strikes. "They took a piece of each of out essences, and gave it to another," and Kitty grinned wildly as she said, "They gave me your savagery, Creed." "So what?" Sabertooth growled, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable. He remembered that time, bearing up under Logan's honor, and how small it had made him feel. "I know you better than you know yourself," Kitty answered. She kept striking into the soft flesh of Sabertooth's body, avoiding both the bones and any blows he tried to land. "Stop phasing," Sabertooth bit out angrily. Kitty surprised him with honest laughter, "I haven't had to phase yet!" She leapt high, her hands a blur as her shuriken flew. Sabertooth managed to block a few with his clawed fingers, but more got through. His arms streamed blood, along with his waist and legs. He staggered suddenly, his eyes widening as he slurred out, "What'd you do?" "Two things," Kitty answered him coldly. "First, the shuriken are coated with what would normally be a pretty lethal nerve toxin," she smiled, "your healing factor keeps it from actually killing you, but it'll sure slow you down." Kitty darted forward to strike the center of his chest, and he convulsed, falling to the floor stiffly. It was clear he was having difficulty breathing, his body itself seemingly rebelled against him. His mouth worked, but nothing came out. "Second, I've been striking at certain pressure points on the body," Kitty knelt down on his chest, "the proper combination of which can also kill." She jabbed once, and Sabertooth stiffened again, his eyes wide. "Remind me not to make you angry," Rogue said quietly. Kitty shrugged, "You do what you have to do." She looked down at Sabertooth, "But even that won't kill him." "The police have restraints to hold him," Bishop stepped up to say. Kitty shook her head, "Only temporarily." She reached down, and quite deliberately phased her hand right into Sabertooth's head, running it back and forth there a few times before pulling it back out again. "What was that for?" Cat asked her as the police dragged the restrained and drooling Sabertooth by them. "My power disrupts electrical systems when I pass through them," Kitty shrugged, "and what's the brain but a complicated electrical system? His healing factor will fix him eventually, but it should keep him under control for now." An hour later and a victory celebration was going full swing at the house when Storm and the others arrived home. The grim expressions on their faces stopped the party cold. "What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked. "Someone took advantage of our being occupied with the smugglers and Sabertooth to launch an attack against the Muir island research station," Sage said grimly. "Someone used Sabertooth as a distraction?" Neal burst out. "Looks like it," Ororo agreed, leaning tiredly on a very damp looking Raven Darkholme. "Who was it?" Kitty asked grimly. "We don't know what they call themselves," Sage said softly, "but both Feral and Polaris were with them."
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