Issue 1 Downtime

"God, I can't believe this," Cassiel muttered as they drove to the facility. Officially, it was a marine research facility. He knew better now, and a very tiny, optimistic part of him hoped that he knew wrong.

"I can." Jubilee replied "No offense, but some of the old guard here are fucking nuts."

"There's a few bad eggs in every basket, but still- this?! Heads are going to roll, and when all's said and done I'm going to make sure it wasn't our heads rolling."

"Please, I don't even want to think about the political shitstorm." Jubilee replied "You tell the girls to pack their bags?"

"There were more important things to do. We don't leave until the job's done, and I'll make sure they have the time for it. They're busy consolidating things now, but... hell, we're here. Just trust me, they'll be fine as long as we all make it through this. And by 'we' I mean the country."

Cassiel's government-issue car rolled into the facility, the gates opening for him with nothing more than a look at the guards.

"Coolio." Jubilee said with a little sigh "At least we aren't on the 'shoot on sight' list."

"They're misguided, not stupid," Cassiel said as he parked the car.

Their first 'obstacle' was the guard at the door, who didn't seem eager to stop them. "L-Lord Cassiel. We weren't aware that you were coming by to visit the observatory."

"You will open the doors, and you will put all clearances within this building clear to my authority. Do I make myself clear."

"I... y-yes, sir. Right away, sir. Sir, ma'am," he said, with a nod that was almost a bow as he hurried off to do as Cassiel had asked, leaving the door free for them to stalk through.

"I get nervous when things get easy." Jubilee remarked, fireworks starting to dance nervously around her.

Cassiel gave her hand a little squeeze as they continued down the hall. "I'd say we're due for something to be easy, right?" Jubilee would know him well enough to recognize the telltale signs of nervousness in his voice.

A powerful psychic force dominates the hallway as a figure approaches them at a confident stride.

"I knew you to be a traitor, Cassiel," Exodus says, "It was just a matter of time until you took the rope into your own hands and wrapped it around your neck."

"Traitor?" Cassiel said, laughing derisively, his own psychic presence flaring to life, pressing against that of Exodus. "You're mad, Paris. You've lost your way. Zealotry walks the fine line between helping and hindering... and you're dooming all of us!"

"I am comfortable with the fate that's been set out for me," Exodus says, "Are you prepared to meet yours?"

The windows in the hall crack around Exodus as the pressure of his presence increases.

"I've trusted fate so far," he answered, meeting the psychic pressure, matching his will against Exodus's. "I suppose the real surprise is that we've made it this long without fate ever bringing us to this point, isn't it?"

Exodus fires out a wave of telekinetic force aimed at throwing Cassiel back.

Cassiel threw up his shields to block the blow, and managed to just skid ten yards down the hall instead of being thrown. He retaliated with a telekinetic wave of his own, taking to the air and flying in behind it.

Jubilee exploded a storm of fireworks around EXodus.

Exodus shields himself from both attacks, "Insolent woman!"

Exodus threw a column of telekinetic force at Jubilee.

"Hurt her and I'll rip your black heart from your chest!" Cassiel roared. With his rage, his power seemed to grow exponentially, made evident in the force of his next blow as he turned his telekinesis upon his rival again.

The blast threw Exodus through the wall, the man barely managing to wrap himself in a protective bubble of telekinetic energy in time to avoid being splattered against the concrete.

A moment later, the wall exploded outward. Bars of rebar throwing themselves at Cassiel and Jubilee, "It would take more then that to kill me, Cassiel."

Cassiel threw a protective bubble around them, collecting the debris instead of deflecting it. He made a slashing gesture, sending the concrete and rebar jetting at Exodus in a single, tight stream.

Jubilee was knocked off her feet by the blast, but not so much that she couldn't send another barrage of fireworks, trusting Cassiel to take care of the rebar.

In a flash of light, Exodus disappears.

A moment later, a column of telekinetic energy burst through the ceiling.

Cassiel sent Jubilee skidding away across the floor with a telekinetic shove, just before he was slammed to the ground beneath his own shields as he fought to push back against the blast, slowly pushing back Exodus's power with his own.

"Insolent peasant," Exodus says, "Learn your place!"

His power flares, crashing down onto Cassiel like a waterfall.

Deciding that there were few problems that couldn't be solved by a sufficient application of explosives, Jubilee exploded a bunch of fireworks around Exodus, with an earth-shattering kaboom!

"Fool," Cassiel growled back, gathering his own power in retaliation. "Nothing but a self-important little lordling that time forgot... while I... am passion... incarnate!" he bellowed, releasing the power in an overwhelming, rage-fueled torrent.

Exodus reeled back for a moment, distracted by the sudden large impact of the explosion. It was just enough for his shields to falter momentarily.

Taking advantage of Exodus's momentary disorientation, Cassiel sent another wave of power at him to slam him back into the building.

The hole Exodus leaves as he flies through the wall is quite large. It looks like Cassiel managed to send him through the larger area of the complex.

Cassiel flew after him, halting briefly when he saw the innards of the assembly facility, where giant robots obviously had been assembled and moved to an adjacent launch facility.

"My god," he murmured. "I'd hoped I was wrong. Sentinels... you're making Sentinels in Genosha, you bastard."

"These are weapons of our salvation," Exodus says, already standing, "Re purposed engines of terror aimed at our foes."

"What human will support programs like the Sentinel's when they go on a rampage killing thousands of their own?"

"Our people won't stand for it!" Cassiel bellowed, renewing his attack with an almost desperate rush. Spare parts, huge Sentinel limbs and engines, flew through the air at Exodus as easily as flicking pieces of paper.

"Our people will appreciate being put in their rightful place over the lowborn!" Exodus bellowed back, over the crash of the parts as he deflected the brunt of them off of his shields. A half-assembled Sentinel soared at Cassiel, though not with the power that had been displayed when this fight began... even as an alarm sounded in the facility.

Cassiel blasted the Sentinel apart, with considerable effort, even as workers scrambled through doors to control rooms in a confused panic. Both heads of state were, incredibly, tiring. "Paris, what are you doing... the Sentinels are launching! You have to stop them!" he shouted, driving telekinetic energy into him.

"They... aren't going to launch!" Exodus shouted back, returning the attack, even as he was finally knocked across the room.

Cassiel saw the blast coming, but couldn't do anything to keep from being blasted across the room in the other direction, having put all of his power into that last hit. As he landed, skidding into a wall, a worker came rushing out in a panic. "Lord Exodus, Lord Cassiel! The... the system's corrupted! Some kind of virus, we're locked out!"

"Paris," Cassiel coughed, "You fool, where did we get those Sentinels."

Exodus looked, his weary face filled with rage, at the hole in the roof where they could catch glimpses of the Sentinels launching. "We've been betrayed," he growled. "All of us."

Jubilee looked up, ceasing to use fireworks to explode everything that she could, looking at the sky in horror.