Deathless 
By 

Jeremy Harper 

Note –  The Astonishing X-Men are the property of Marvel Comics and 
are used without  permission. 

Chapter 2 – Clash  

Nikolai Black Sun  watched the X-Men closely, noting their shock 
and consternation, but not  understanding it. He could not shake the 
sense of recognition holding his  thought, the feeling that he knew these 
heroes, met them somewhere,  someplace before, despite objectively 
knowing he had just only laid eyes on  them scant minutes ago, while 
peering out through the eyes of a doomed  _zalohzniy_. With a wrench of 
will he banished his déjà vu to a dim corner  of his mind, considering it 
an irrelevancy to the task at hand. His mouth  formed a cruel smile as he 
dropped his mask. Like his skullcap, it vanished  in a burst of flame 
before touching the ground.  

"You must forgive me,  heroes. I have forgotten my manners. I 
must introduce you to my  comrades-at-arms. This," he gestured to his 
right, " is Myedvyed Tsar. And  here is Solovey. Solovey, say hello." 
His grin growing wider, the  crimson-clad man took a step forward and 
screamed. A sonic assault crashed  over the X-Men. They clapped their 
hands over their ears and nearly doubled  over from the pain. Solovey 
ceased screaming and Myedvyed Tsar bellowed,  dropping to all fours 
and charging across the museum lobby. The Beast was  the first X-Man 
to recover. Through pain-bleared eyes he saw the giant bear  loping 
forward, jaws open and frothing. With a pained grimace he intercepted  
Myedvyed Tsar with a prodigious jump, planting his heels into Tsar's  
head and neck. Beast tumbled back nimbly, landing lightly on his feet,  
dodged Tsar's attempted bite and struck him again in the neck with a  
powerful right hook. Myedvyed Tsar staggered slightly, then rose up on  
his hind legs with a roar that rivaled Solovey's scream and rained down  
a barrage of swipes and slashes at the Beast. The Beast evaded the  
attacks, though some by only the thickness of his fur. As he dodged and  
rolled he debated the wisdom of taking on single-handedly a large,  
angry, super- ursine, and quickly came to the conclusion that if he were  
truly wise he would never have become a super-hero in the first place.  
Having resolved the issue to his satisfaction, he grinned, sidestepped  
and launched a flurry of punches and kicks into Myedvyed Tsar's side.  
Tsar roared again, pivoted and tried to grapple his opponent, his  dagger-
long fangs gnashing and spraying.  

Solovey ran forward  with leaping strides, drawing his saber as he 
rushed Cyclops and Frost,  grinning as he thought of cutting down the 
leader of his foes, eager for the  pleasure of dimming the man's eyes, 
slicing open his chest and pulling out  his heart, raw and beating, to 
devour it with relish. Cyclops was down on  one knee, shaking his head, 
still stunned from the sonic attack, but Frost  had recovered, her well-
disciplined mind rising over the after-wash of pain  reverberating 
through her body. Her lips contorted in an angry sneer, she  shifted 
forms, her flesh becoming living diamond, and moved to block the  
bandit-troubadour. Solovey snorted and lashed his saber out  
contemptuously. The blade rang as it bounced harmlessly off of Frost;  
Solovey's face twisted as pain shot through his hand and arm. Frost took  
advantage of his surprise and struck him across the jaw with a solid  
punch. He rolled with the blow, somersaulting with cat's grace but  
staggering back slightly when he regained his feet. Frost pressed her  
advantage, throwing a sequence of punches at his head and chest. 
Solovey  evaded desperately, counterstriking with slashes to her belly, 
arms and  legs. Frost winced slightly with each hit; they stung, but were 
not injuring  her. Suddenly Solovey leapt back from the fray, his chest 
heaving and his  eyes wild. Frost pressed forward and Solovey 
screamed, projecting a  concentrated sonic blast. Frost lurched back, 
reeling and tripping over her  feet, her hands covering her ears. In her 
agony her concentration slipped  and she changed back to her human 
form. Solovey stalked towards her, saber  raised, his face flushed with 
rage, but was forced back by Cyclops' optic  blast. The bandit-
troubadour glared wrathfully at the X-Men's leader, now  fully recovered 
and on his feet.  

Wolverine straightened  up groggily, the ringing in his ears quickly 
fading as his healing factor  purged the pain from his body. His 
enhanced hearing had made him more  vulnerable to Solovey's scream 
than the other X-Men. He shook his head again  and growled, 
determined to deliver payback ten-fold, when his eyes settled  on a better 
target...  

Peter.  

With a savage roar  Wolverine closed the distance between himself 
and Nikolai and swung his  claws. With surprising speed Nikolai 
sidestepped the attack and countered  with a swift right jab that snapped 
the air. Wolverine ducked the shot and  back-flipped over the low, 
sweeping kick that followed. He landed in a  crouch several feet away, 
arms held wide and his teeth bared.  

"You've gotten faster, Petey,  I'll give ya that much," he snarled. 
"But it won't save ya from the ass  kicking I'm going to give you. You 
deserve a good thrashin' for the hell you  put us through." 

Familiarity stirred again in the back of Nikolai's mind, but he 
quelled it  with ease and disregarded everything save the threat. 
Sneering, he made  come-hither gestures with his gauntleted hands. 
"Come and try, little man."  

"With flamin'  pleasure!" Wolverine threw himself at Nikolai. They 
clashed, their arms  liquid blurs. To Wolverine's surprise his opponent 
evaded everything he  threw, either dodging by scant inches or stepping 
in and checking the  strikes by blocking his inner forearms, while 
executing well-placed  counterattacks. Wolverine's mind rushed at a 
furious rate as he defended  himself, weaving and bobbing while 
gauging Niklolai's abilities. He smelled  like Peter and moved like Peter, 
but he was faster and fought with more  skill than Peter ever did. With 
his great strength and endurance Colossus  had never needed much 
finesse, while this Nikolai was perhaps on par with  Shadowcat in 
fighting ability. Wolverine wondered briefly on how strong  Nikolai 
was. His question was answered when a howling straight punch blew  
through his defense and caught him square below his mouth. His vision  
darkened and stars burst behind his eyelids. He felt himself hurl through  
the air as his body instinctively tumbled with the momentum of the hit.  
He landed on his feet and fell over, sliding on his ass across the floor,  
scattering shattered bones left and right, and crashed into the far wall. If  
he hadn't managed to roll with the punch, he would have gone through 
the  wall and perhaps the building across the street. He forced himself 
up,  leaning against the wall for support. He had not been punch this 
hard since  the last time he tussled with the Hulk. He looked at Nikolai, 
who stood in a  ready stance, waiting, his golden eyes narrowed slightly 
as he reassessed  his foe. Wolverine cricked his neck and grinned. This 
was going to be fun.  "Glad ta see you're still eatin' yer Wheaties, Pete." 
He charged back to the  fight. 

Shadowcat  hovered at the outskirts of the melee, biting her lower 
lip. She had not  felt this indecisive and useless in a fight since her first 
days as an  X-Man. She scanned each combat quickly. Cyclops kept up a 
constant barrage  of blasts trained on Solovey, denying him the slightest 
chance to pull in  his breath and scream. Frost was coming around 
quickly. Shadowcat looked  over towards Wolverine and quickly averted 
her eyes. She couldn't deal with  that yet. She would have to, eventually, 
but not now. She then spotted Beast  flipping and rolling in a circle 
around Myedvyed Tsar, trying to wear the  massive ursine out. Taking a 
breath, Shadowcat ran towards them, shifting  into her intangible state. 
On the run she snagged a heavy piece of stone  debris and started to 
walk on air until she hovered ten feet over the great  bear's head. 
Grinning mischievously, she dropped the stone, beaning Tsar on  the 
skull, just behind his crown of horns. He winced and looked up, his eyes  
widening at the sight of the young girl floating on air, waving down at  
him. 

"Hey there  big, tall and gruesome! Shouldn't you be lying on the 
floor of a hunter's  lodge up in the Catskills?" Myedvyed Tsar bellowed, 
reaching up to claw at  Shadowcat. Beast jumped, landing on the bear's 
chest, grabbing hold of his  fur with fingers and toes and punched him 
square in the throat. Tsar choked  and staggered. Beast punched him 
again and he fell over, Beast kicking off  the moment the bear hit the 
floor, adding more force to the impact.  Grinning, he gave Shadowcat a 
jaunty salute. She waved back. Myedvyed Tsar  roared furiously, rolling 
onto his legs with amazing speed and charging to  bite the Beast. The 
Beast dodged while Shadowcat phased down and started  kicking Tsar in 
the hindquarters, with little effect.  

Solovey twisted out of  the way of an optic blast, deflected a second 
with his saber and finally  managed a short, sharp shout. It struck 
Cyclops like a fist, rocking him  back, forcing the breath out of his 
lungs. Solovey rushed to finish off the  X-Men, then with a startled oath 
checked himself, turned to the right and  slashed out with his saber. He 
stood there for a second, blinking, then was  knocked across the lobby 
by Cyclops, his blast catching the swordsman square  in the mid-section. 
Solovey hit the floor hard, rolled several feet and laid  still, his saber 
still 
clutched in his hand. Emma Frost, in her human form,  smiled wickedly. 

Wolverine feinted a right-handed slash at Nikolai's head, then 
lashed out  with his left. The adamantium claws bit deep into Nikolai's 
right forearm.  Golden blood sprayed the air. Grimacing violently, 
Nikolai struck with  blinding speed, grabbing Wolverine by the throat 
with his right hand and  lifting him off his feet. "Burn," Nikolai hissed. 
His eyes flared and his  spilled blood ignited. A blast of flame ran down 
his arm and Wolverine  screamed as it enveloped him. Nikolai lifted him 
over his head and dashed  him to the floor, the impact causing it to 
crater. Still conscious,  Wolverine rolled in a desperate attempt to put 
himself out.  

"WOLVERINE!" shouted  the Beast, and he moved to go aid his 
fallen friend. Myedvyed Tsar exploited  his distraction and struck him 
hard in the head with the flat of his paw.  The Beast slammed down into 
the floor, bounced once and landed on his back,  unconscious. Bellowing 
in triumph, Myedvyed Tsar dropped down on the Beast  to finish him 
off. His claws and teeth passed harmlessly through the X-Man.  Tsar's 
piggish eyes widened in surprise, then realized someone was clutching  
at his back. He turned his head and saw Shadowcat clinging to him. 
Tsar  roared in outrage, rose back on his hind legs and started to reach 
around,  attempting to claw her off, but not quite able to reach her. 
Suddenly she  let go and dropped down towards the Beast, just as 
Cyclops cut loose with a  full-intensity optic blast. Myedvyed Tsar was 
sent crashing through the wall  and tumbling into the street, where he lay 
in a stunned, smoldering heap.  

Nikolai scowled, noting  with irritation his two henchmen were 
down, and started stalking towards the  man who put them out of the 
fight. Cyclops pivoted, aimed and fired, rocking  Nikolai back a step. 
Cyclops fired again, but Nikolai braced himself for the  second blast. It 
splashed and flared against his chest ineffectually, not  even swaying 
him. "Not enough gun," he sneered.  

"Try this, then,"  answered Cyclops, lowering his line of sight and 
firing. The optic blast  struck Nikolai just above the ankles, toppling him 
down face-first with a  thunderous crash. As he attempted to regain his 
feet Cyclops fired again,  this time indirectly, ricocheting his blast off a 
nearby pillar and blasting  Nikolai in the side of the ribs. The impact 
rolled him across the floor  several feet. Laying flat on his stomach, 
Nikolai hissed in aggravation and  struck the ground with his clenched 
fist. The entire lobby trembled and  Cyclops was knocked off his feet by 
the shockwave directed at him. In a  single push Nikolai regained his 
footing and jumped, arcing through the air,  determined to crush his 
opponent beneath his heels. But then Frost  interposed herself, shifted to 
diamond form, and as Nikolai descended she  punched him out of the air 
with a thunderous haymaker that sent him flying  across the lobby and 
through the swinging doors, destroying them. He skidded  on his back 
down the hall a ways, sliding to a stop, his eyes flaring as his  anger 
grew. Frost charged the doors and was running down the hall to follow  
up her attack. Nikolai tore a chunk of stone out of the floor and hurled it  
at her. She halted and braced herself; the stone shattered on her crossed  
arms. Nikolai kipped up, yanked the gauntlet off of his right hand, drew  
his dagger and ran it across his palm. Golden blood welled from the cut.  
Nikolai stretched out his arm, squeezed his palm and the blood sprayed  
down the hall, splashing Frost. She started back in surprise, looking  
down at herself, then at Nikolai in disgust. He grinned at her, drawing  
his hand to his chest, the cut all ready closed. "My blood is venom," he  
said to her. "My bile, darkness." He clenched his fist. The blood on  
Frost turned black and evaporated into tendrils of smoke. She blinked,  
then coughed, then started to choke. She dropped to her knees gagging,  
involuntarily changing forms, trying desperately to vomit up the  
strangling vapors she inhaled. Nikolai advanced on her, dagger held at  
the ready. Cyclops stepped into the hallway and fired, forcing him back.  
Growling, Nikolai licked his blood off the sides of the dagger. "Seek,"  
he whispered to it before throwing. Cyclops jerked his head to one side,  
the blade missing him by a scant inch. He fired another blast that  
splashed against Nikolai with little effect, then heard Shadowcat shout  
out a warning. Thinking Solovey or Myedvyed Tsar had rejoined the 
fight,  Cyclops spun around, ready to fire, and saw to his shock Nikolai's 
dagger  flying at him, aimed directly at his heart. He fired at it, missed 
and was  about to try to twist out of its path when Shadowcat laid hands 
on him and  phased. The dagger passed through him, causing no harm 
but leaving him  feeling strangely cold. 

Nikolai caught the dagger and cocked his arm back for a second 
throw. As he  aimed Wolverine burst past Cyclops and Shadowcat, 
howling on the top of his  lungs. His wounds were healed, his costume 
badly burnt, and he was firmly in  the grip of a berserker rage. Nikolai 
threw the dagger at him; he swatted it  out of the air with a flick of his 
claws and hurled himself at Nikolai. He  raked twice across the big 
man's chest, once across his face. Nikolai fell  back, screaming in pain. 
Wolverine impaled him with a thrust to the stomach,  and he answered 
with a double-fisted sledgehammer blow that pounded  Wolverine deep 
into the floor. The Canadian mutant attempted to get up, but  Nikolai 
stomped on the back of his head, driving him down even deeper and  
knocking him out. Nikolai's blood ignited, his wounds knitting shut in  
bursts of flame. His breath rushing harshly through grit teeth, he  
fumbled at the hilt of his broadsword. A small form threw itself at him,  
striking him in the face with a jump kick. The blow did not hurt, but it  
startled him. He withdrew a step and glared at his new opponent.  

Shadowcat stood in her  ready stance, screening Wolverine, ready 
to fight or flee in an instant. She  knew she could not injure Nikolai 
without resorting to drastic measures, but  hoped to distract him until 
Wolverine and Frost recovered. In the lobby the  former White Queen 
was slowly recovering from her fit, having been pulled  out of the 
hallway by Cyclops during Wolverine's attack, but Wolverine  himself 
wasn't moving, and considering the physical trauma inflicted on him  
today, Shadowcat wasn't sure when he would be able to get up. She 
braced  herself as Nikolai took a step towards her... and stopped.  

Time froze for Nikolai.  He could not move, and he did not know 
why. This was the first time he got a  close look at this particular hero, 
and the sight of her paralyzed him. The  sense of familiarity screamed in 
the back of his mind, overwhelming his  senses. Unknown images of her 
erupted onto the stage of his memory – this  young woman laughing, 
crying, enraged, upset, afraid, joyful, happy, loving.  A strange, alien 
pain throbbed in Nikolai's chest, as if a void had opened  within it. More 
visions manifested in his thought – other memories of the  young 
woman, this time with another girl, a slight athletic blond whose face  
and mannerisms were also damnably familiar. The two girls had deep  
affection for each other, were as close as sisters. The void within him  
yawned wider. He shut his eyes, the emotional pain whelming his  
resistance. 

Shadowcat watched Nikolai in dumbfounded amazement. His 
expression was one  of absolute shock, almost fright. His all ready pale 
face had turned stark  white and his clenched fists were shaking. He 
closed his eyes tight, fell  back another step and opened them. 
Shadowcat gasped and nearly fell to her  knees. His eyes were no longer 
solid metallic gold; they were deep blue.  

"I know you," Nikolai  whispered. His right fist uncurled. 
Hesitantly he reached out towards her.  Shadowcat watched him, her 
heart thumping faster. She knew now beyond a  doubt that this was 
Peter. In order to function in this fight she had told  herself that this 
Nikolai was an imposter, some being or construct created  by a past foe 
of the X-Men in order to hurt them emotionally. But now,  looking into 
his eyes, hearing his wondering voice, this rationalization  crumbled to 
dust. She knew in her heart, in the very depths of her soul,  that this was 
Peter, her dear, dear friend. Changed, yes – and under the  grasp of some 
terrible compulsion, but Peter all the same, arisen anew from  ashes and 
dust. 

"Piotr," she murmured, waiting to see what he would do. At the 
sound of his  name he flinched, drawing back his hand. His eyes snapped 
closed and he  reeled back, venting out an ear-splitting scream - a 
booming cry of raging,  uncomprehending sorrow. He opened his eyes 
and they were gold again. He ran  past her, moving so fast that he was 
almost a blur, fleeing towards the  lobby. Shadowcat hesitated for a 
second before chasing after him.  

In the lobby Cyclops  fired a short blast at Nikolai, who dived and 
rolled underneath it. Solovey  was reviving, gingerly getting to his feet 
and glaring murderously at  Cyclops. Myedvyed Tsar re-entered the Met 
with a roar, clambering through  the hole in the wall he had made. Both 
were angry and eager to kill, but  were checked by a command from 
Nikolai. "Time to go." He gestured at the  smashed front doors and a 
pillar of golden fire erupted before them,  spiraling to the ceiling. 
Myedvyed Tsar lumbered to it, vanishing instantly  the moment he 
stepped within it. Solovey let loose a scream to keep the  X-Men at bay, 
then retreated into the pillar. Nikolai blocked an optic blast  with his 
arms and paused for a moment, looking back at the X-Men, focusing  on 
Shadowcat. Her face was pale and she was trembling. For a moment  
Nikolai's eyes flashed blue, and then with a hiss he strode imperiously  
into the fire. He and the pillar vanished.  

Cyclops dropped his  hand from his visor and let out his breath in a 
big gust. Shadowcat stood  next to him, visibly shaken, her hands 
clenched tight and her lips pursed in  a tight line. The Beast had sat up 
and was holding his head between his  hands, taking in deep, rhythmic 
breaths. Frost was leaning against the  lobby's back wall with both 
hands, taking in deep, gulping breaths of air.  Cyclops walked to her, 
laying a hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right,  Emma?" 

Frost nodded.  She turned to face Cyclops, wrapping her arms 
around his neck and brushing  her lips against his. "Why did he retreat? 
He had us all but defeated."  

"I don't know. Kitty  confronted him after he knocked out 
Wolverine and while I was getting you  out of harm's way." 

"Interesting... It's disconcerting that his mind was so completely 
closed to  me. Do you think that it is really Colossus?"  

Cyclops sighed. "It's  possible." 

"More than  possible, Cyke. It's a fact." Cyclops turned at the sound 
of Wolverine's  voice. The Canadian mutant's costume was badly 
damaged, his mask and shirt  burnt, his trouser and boots charred. Half-
healed burns marred his exposed  flesh, smoking in the air, but they were 
shrinking and fading quickly. "That  was Peter." He scanned the 
destroyed lobby and grinned a feral smile. "Damn,  this is one for the 
record books. What a hellacious fight."  

"I can't believe you  enjoyed this," said Frost. Wolverine shrugged.  

"No sin in enjoying a  good brawl. Coulda done without my ass 
being kicked, though." His smiled  faltered when he looked at 
Shadowcat. "How you feelin', Pun'kin?"  

"I'm fine," she lied,  deceiving no one. "How about yourself?"  

"I feel like I was lit  on fire and used as a handball by someone who 
could give the Hulk a run for  his money. Nothin' a few dozen six-packs 
of brew and a weeklong nap won't  fix. How about you, Hank?" The 
Beast by then had joined them, still shaking  his head. 

"I want the  number of the truck that ran me over," he grumbled. 
"I've been a super-hero  most of my life. I've been an X-Man, an 
Avenger and a Defender and I've  fought every sort of villain you can 
imagine, but this is the first time  I've been cold-cocked by an over-sized 
refugee from Jellystone." He fingered  the side of his head and winced. 
"At least he didn't tear my face off."  

"Small favors are the  best," commented Wolverine.  

Cyclops frowned. "I'm  afraid we haven't covered ourselves in glory 
this time. This place is in  shambles and the people responsible for this 
fiasco escaped with whatever it  was they were after." 

"We saved the hostages, Scott," said Frost. "We got them out 
unharmed. That  counts for something." 

"I know, but I'm getting tired of the bad guys managing to get 
away from  us." He sighed. "Or maybe I'm just tired in general. Let's 
clear out."  

Fifth Avenue was  swarming with activity. The police had cordoned 
off the area and held back  the public, who invariably, with an instinct 
for self-preservation similar  to lemmings, were attracted to super-
powered clashes. EMTs were examining  the hostages and shuttling 
those who wanted more thorough medical attention  to the nearest 
hospital. Off in the distance a unit of Damage Control repair  crews was 
making their way down the street to begin initial assessments of  the 
destruction inflicted on the Metropolitan Museum. Local news crews  
had set up their cameras. The moment the X-Men stepped outside 
reporters  started shouting questions. After Cyclops gave the officer-in-
charge a brief  synopsis of what happened in the museum, the X-Men 
left the cordon and the  reporters swarmed them, demanding Cyclops 
and Shadowcat's attention.  

Cyclops felt a tug on  his arm and looked over at Shadowcat. Her 
mouth was trembling and her large  golden-brown eyes were bright with 
un-shed tears. "I can't do this, Scott.  Not now. Not-" She ran, phasing 
through the crush of the press, disrupting  cameras, microphones and 
tape recorders, crossing Fifth Avenue and into  Central Park. Cyclops 
watched her go, his express hard and stoic. Frost and  Wolverine's words 
echoed in his mind. He felt ill, and he could not begin to  imagine what 
Kitty was feeling. _Peter, what happened to you_?  

"No questions today!"  he shouted at the press. He continued to do 
so as he and the X-Men made  their way through the reporters, following 
Shadowcat to the refuge of the  Blackbird.


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