2012-08-04 No Parking

It had been a normal day for Betsy, early morning training and a lite breakfast. The restlessness that had been plaguing her as of late was worse than normal today. So, she decided to ride to town rather than go nuts sitting around the mansion waiting. Always waiting. So she filled her day with visiting the local mall. Normally she wasn't the type to go out by herself but she needed to sort herself out a bit.

She had spent some time in a bookstore looking over the recent tween-age fluff and even thought about chopping all her hair off. The smell of the salon she went into had changed her mind. Eventually she heard the intercom announcement that the mall would be closing soon and she beamed at herself. She had effectively wasted the entire day just hanging out in the mall.. SWEET!

In the parking garage downstairs she was walking to her car(no-doubt borrowed from the mansion), keys in hand. The day had been good and she was excited to get back to the mansion. Maybe Sam would be out and about itching for some sparring. She was in store for much more than that.

Sabretooth waited between two cars, crouching low when the smell of his prey hit his nostrils. He had been waiting hours for this. He wasn't about to make the mistake of giving himself away until it couldn't be helped. He listened for approaching footsteps and prepared to strike when he saw Psylocke cross his path.

When she passed by his hiding spot it happened. The large mutant sprang forward and wrapped his arms around Psylocke, rolling forward from the force of his jump. He kicked her in the stomach sending her towards other parked cars. Laughing at his enemy.

Psylocke never knew what hit her. One second she was jingling her keys thinking about the drive home. The next second the wind was knocked out of her and she was flying through the air. There was laughing. That voice. She recognized that voice. CRASH! She hit a car on the passenger door back first. The window shattering and showering her with glass. It took a few seconds to focus, her head was spinning from the force of the blow. Then she saw him..

Without thought, relying purely on reflex, she exploded into action, jumping to her feet, and charging right at Sabretooth. Launching a series of straight punches straight down the pipe as soon as she was in range. His strength was understandable in a frame that large but his speed had surprised her, she had every intention of taking that advantage from him. The punches up top were all just a set-up, her true intent a brutal stomp to his knee cap. She threw the kick with everything she had meaning to hyper extend and hopefully slow down the beast of a man.

Sabretooth didn't waste the time to stand or stop laughing. He surged forward, hands and feet in perfect timing, closing in. His claws grinding into the concrete as he rushed towards Psylocke. He taunted her, "That Bath and Body spray you tried smells worse than shit, little girl." What surprised him was that she was moving towards him and swinging for the fences. There was no time to dodge, so he dove into them. Her stomp thrown off by the force of the impact. In the ensuing tumble he meant to spite her face with an elbow aimed for her jaw.

The stomp that would normally have shattered anyone's knee cap seemed to have done little damage to the monster in front of her, not to mention, the connection had hurt her foot pretty bad. What was this guy made of? Either way she knew now closing distance with him had been a mistake. He was far to tough for that type of approach. And now they were tumbling interlocked in a deadly grappling match that could end in death for her if she made any mistakes.

At least this time she was some what ready for his attacks. They rolled and ended on top of her but she was quick enough to get her legs around his midsection. He was raising his posture and an elbow was coming straight for her face. She slipped her head out to the left and intercepted that elbow with her left hand, pushing it right, and just avoiding what would have been a bone shattering blow as the impact cracked the concrete.

She was in a better position to act now with her head on the outside of his shoulder, her hips came out from underneath him on that left side, reaching hard across his back with her left arm. She got a hold of his right shoulder and slipped right out from underneath him. She was tight to his body, her heels dug into the insides of his thighs, and her right arm shooting underneath his chin in an attempt to choke him all in one smooth fluid motion. She hoped that lack of blood to the brain would stop him seeing how her punches and that stomp hadn't done anything.

Sabretooth didn't have the time to wonder how or what just happened, he had underestimated her was all he knew for sure. That and she had one hell of a grip. He tried rolling from side to side but this only made the arm around his neck sink into a better position. He reached up with his left arm, bringing his hand down sharply and digging into her back with his claws. His breathing grew easier as she loosened up on her choke hold. He drew a large gasp feeling her legs loosen giving him space to reach his knees. Now kneeling with Psylocke on his back he used both of his arms to pull her forward and fling her towards the ground.

Psylocke wasn't ready for a cat-fight, but that's what she got. The claws digging into her back hurt bad enough for her to let the choke go and that was all he had needed to get her off his back. She hit the concrete with a thud. She wasn't sure this was going so well for her now, but once again she was on the ground and he was above her. Her eyes fluttering from the impact, Sabretooth came into view upside down. Fear of those claws burying her face or worse lent her a sense of urgency. She rolled up on her shoulders and fired a knee at his face. The pressure on her shoulder sending waves of pain through her where he had dug his claws in her back.

Pain would not stop her. Only death would stop her at this point, his or hers. Well, maybe an easy escape would work for her but that was far from her thoughts at the moment. Right now she just wanted to get to her feet and beat his ass.

Sabretooth took longer than he should have and caught a knee to the nose for his trouble. As he felt it shatter he leaned in close to make sure Psylocke watched as the dent above his upper lip reformed into a nose. He opened his mouth and snarled, inches from her as his right hand clutched her hair and his left grasped her shoulder. Finding his feet he pulled her backwards along the pavement.

There are no words to describe the fear rising inside of her as she is drug across the pavement. Having just witnessed the futility of her fighting Sabretooth by conventional means she reacted out of pure instinct. Psylocke never had the control over her telekinesis like Jean or the Professor, so when she reached out with it to grab the nearest car it crushed the Camry up into a rough ball. Not enough to kill the electronics in it because the alarm immediately started blaring and was still doing as much when she threw it at him. She needed to get away from him and she needed to do it fast.

Not expecting this sudden rush of noise, Sabretooth dropped his prey to cover his ears. Unluckily for him, the balled up Camry caught him square in the chest. He watched at the roof closed in for a moment until he felt another impact as he totaled the windshield of an auto and rolled forward in pain, hitting the concrete and gathering his senses. Huffing, he turned, the Scion that broke his fall now the object of his anger as he hoisted it overhead with both hands. The Scion flew, spinning towards Psylocke.

Psylocke isn't wasting time, coming to her feet just as he releases her hair. She heard the impact of the car hitting him and the crash as he hit the next car. She couldn't help but smile to herself at the thought of it all. That smile was short lived though, as she watches him roll off the hood of the car that just caught him and hoist it over his head. Her eyes go wide and whispers, "Really?" More to herself than anything as he heaves the small economy car at her.

The car hit the wall of kinetic energy she threw up to stop it and the resulting racket of it falling to the ground masked her charge and the "BRRRZZ" of her Kinetic Katana manifesting. Planting on a foot on the hood of the car she just stopped and jumping straight at her foe, her katana raised above her head with both hands on the hilt. She is sailing straight at him, her intent clear enough on her face.

He charged forward, yet again, dropping low and sliding along the ground with his hands raised, claws glinting in the light of the garage. He felt the blade slice into his shoulder as he swiped at the woman, now passing him, sailing in the opposite direction. The momentum died a few feet beyond and he brought his hands up to cover his shoulder. He was losing.

In a fit of rage Sabretooth kept his back to Psylocke and instead headed straight for another car. Slamming his claws home just above the gas cap and pulling down, shredding the Mustang open. He smelled the leaking gas and it drove him further into the rage. The next car caught a similar treatment. Pitching a fit now, Sabretooth turned to face Psylocke once more.

He charged forward, yet again, dropping low and sliding along the ground with his hands raised, claws glinting in the light of the garage. He felt the blade slice into his shoulder as he swiped at the woman, now passing him, sailing in the opposite direction. The momentum died a few feet beyond and he brought his hands up to cover his shoulder. He was losing.

In a fit of rage Sabretooth kept his back to Psylocke and instead headed straight for another car. Slamming his claws home just above the gas cap and pulling down, shredding the Mustang open. He smelled the leaking gas and it drove him further into the rage. The next car caught a similar treatment. Pitching a fit now, Sabretooth turned to face Psylocke once more.

Psylocke lands lightly on her feet and immediately swung around trying to catch Sabretooth with another cut but he had kept moving instead of stopping to face her. She had him on the run, or so she thought. She didn't give chase immediately, instead she paced after him slowly. Her arms hanging limp at her side, the tip of her katana dragging in the concrete behind her. "Don't RUN FROM ME!" She screams as she runs at him, the blade coming up above her head poised to come down on her foe. There is a small voice inside her mind yelling for her to disengage but she is caught in the moment.

Sabretooth turns back around and hops onto the roof of the closest automobile which dents in. Not turning around to look he continues forward on all fours bounding from roof top to roof top putting distance between himself and Psylocke. When a gap appears between cars Sabretooth takes the chance to get back onto solid footing. The cars offering cover and obscuring him from the angry lady. He does his best to circle back around unseen.

Psylocke brings her katana down a split second too late to catch her opponent, the mirror on the side of the car hitting the concrete. She reverses her swing and comes across in an attempt to take out his legs, but once again he is on the move away from and seemingly one step ahead.

"Do not prolong the inevitable, Victor. Is this not what you wanted?" Her emotions are fully in control she doesn't hop up onto the cars to follow in his tracks, rather she uses her telekinesis to move them from her path. Once again she is slow walking in his direction hatred clear in her eyes.

Sabretooth weaves in between the parked cars, listening to the sound of autos being shoved aside as Psylocke continues after him. Thinking to himself as he goes, "This way, little one. Follow the leader." When he reaches one end of the garage he slinks into the background, as best he can, and starts his way back towards his target. Doing his best to stalk and remain unseen as he creeps back towards the smell. Moving as quick as his cover allows. Keeping a mental note of his prey's position.

Psylocke slides the car she last saw Sabretooth crouched behind and when it slides away, he is not there. "WHERE ARE YOU?!" Her scream echoes across the stone walls of the parking garage. She reaches out with her consciousness to find him through his thoughts and when she locates him he is behind her.

The split second she is in his mind is almost a split second too long. Images of the countless men and women he has killed flash across in a line, quite possibly in chronological order, until the line ends. There he is putting her burnt corpse on a pile with the rest of them. His own body charred from the explosion he is about to cause.

"Victor, NO" is all she manages to get out. She lets the katana unmanifest with a "BRRRZZCH" and starts walking back in the direction of the spilled gas, "Too many will be hurt by this. There are people upstairs, CHILDREN! Don't do this." She is trying to reason with him but she is almost certain it won't work. There is a sadness welling up inside her that she let this go on as long as it already has.

He appears exactly where expected, gloating with a sadistic grin on his face. He lets out a rumbling laugh as he stares at Psylocke. "Poor kiddies won't know what hit 'em, will they." He raised his claws in front of himself and flashed her a wide smile, teeth and all. "Are you ready for that? All the screaming, the sirens. The tortured faces of the grieving relatives, identifying bodies."

The blast of kinetic energy would have split a normal man in half, Psylocke was sure of that. She wouldn't normally throw this type of energy at a person, but the situation was dire enough that she just acted without thinking. As the wave of energy surged out of her she managed to scream out. It wasn't words. It was a cry of despair. Of anger and hatred. Hatred for the wasting of life. She had seen enough careless wasting of life in the past weeks. The sight of the mass grave in the Ukraine was all she saw. These wouldn't be mutants dying but human life could not.. No, it would not be wasted. Not today. Not if she could help it.

She felt the wash of emotions hit her as the energy released. The anguish of what could have been hitting her like a ton of bricks. She blinked hard and tears immediately began streaming forth like the waters of a damn after the walls crack. "I can't let you do /this/." Was all she could manage before she crumpled in a sobbing heap, she felt exhausted and she no longer cared if he killed her. She would gladly take that to prevent uncounted deaths from the explosion he hoped to cause.

Sabretooth regretted wasting his breath as he flew back and into something. It must have been another car because he felt it give way as he crashed into the interior. While dazed he saw the world flip several times as the vehicle flew backwards and into more autos. The force of in all knocked him cold under the massive pile of rubble that was the parking garage. He would worry about getting out later. When he came to.

Her tears were cut short when the scared shit-less Rent-a-Cop yelled, "FREEZE! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE," from behind her. Psylocke hated what she was about to do but it was necessary for her to leave right then and she was pretty sure by his tone that he meant for her to stay put. She reached into his mind and replaced the image of her with one of a homeless woman and a shopping buggy. The destruction caused by the battle with Sabretooth also erased from his memory, at least for now.

She turned and hobbled away from the scene of the rumble. As she made it out into the open air the sounds of sirens in the distance made her shudder. This was going to be hard to explain. Not to mention the car she drove here in was totaled and that was going to look bad. She was certain that this wasn't going to go over well, but at least she had saved everyone in the mall from a fiery death. She couldn't worry about these things right now though. She was enough trouble putting one foot in front of the other and it was a long walk home.