Chapter 58: Rescue Mission part 1.

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(General P.O.V)

Above the ruins of New York City, a group of sentinels flew through the air.

A red light scanning for anything alive washed out into the surrounding area.

Produced from the Sentinel's eyes, the light was focused and precise. Even a rat scurrying through collapsed concrete was highlighted in their display.

Yet, nothing seemed to be moving. The entire debris and smog filled street was deserted. It was essentially a dead town.

"Sector 14 clear."

An electronic voice escaped the lead Sentinel.

Then without another word, they turned back and flew off, their massive metallic forms leaving behind a hum in the air.

A few minutes passed.

"Shh, everybody be quiet. Let me check if the coast is clear."

Someone whispered.

A head peaked out of a man hole on the street. Dressed in a red mask with white eye holes, the owner swerved around, using not only his eyes but his enhanced senses to survey the area.

A few minutes later, the manhole cover was placed back and Spiderman jumped from the ceiling of the tunnel and onto the floor of the underground sewer system.

His feet landed on a small pool of stagnant water, splashing it around.

Straightening up, dozens of hopeful and expectant faces stared back at him.

"Mr.Spiderman sir, are the big bad wobots gone?"

Nova asked in a whining tone, hands crossed over his chest.

"Cut that out."

Spiderman was quick to chide, and then promptly ignore Nova, who bristled slightly.

The energy manipulator had been insufferable as of late. Something that was understandable given the situation.

"Listen up everyone."

Spiderman begun, addressing the 11 mutants they had rescued after being separated from their friends.

"The Sentinels are gone."

There was a collective release of sighs.

"We're not out of the woodworks yet, they usually do a few more rounds just in case."

Spiderman was quick to kill their budding hope.

And he hated it.

Hated this reality. Everything had gone to shit.

But mostly, he hated the looks of despair the mutants gave him. Most of them were teens who had just unlocked their abilities.

They hadn't had it easy before. And now instead of things changing for the better, they had it even worse.

These mutants were part of the Morlocks.

A group of mutants with various grotesque appearances caused by their abilities.

This led to them being shunned by normal people and hence, they lived in hiding.

Making the Underground Sewers and Tunnels their home, these Mutants had formed a society under a mutant called Calisto.

This particular group had been cut off from the main one after some of the main Subterranean Morlock Tunnels had collapsed during a particularly grueling battle.

None of them knew it at the moment but that battle had been the deciding factor on the eventual fate of the world.

Spiderman and his team had been sent by what remained of Shield, (the Helli-carrier had been destroyed but turns out Maria Hill had survived somehow) to extract and rescue the mutants trapped in the tunnels.

It had taken a lot of sneaking around and fighting just to get there.

In the process Peter had lost even more. The White Tig- No, Ava...she sacrificed herself to buy them time.

Peter had seen one of his closest friends get bombarded by hundreds of lasers, turning her into nothing but ash.

And all he could do was stand there, tears drenching his mask. Because he knew, one wrong move and they would have been discovered...and then the mission would have failed.

The rest of his team had also seen better days.

Their costumes were frayed, some, like Peters were torn and stitched up so many times that he had to wear a sleeveless hoodie over his torso.

Nova's mask had been replaced by a cracked visor, and both he and the Iron Fist wore bulletproof vests just incase things went awry. (A few people had survived the end of the world and violence was rampant as everyone tried to survive.)

The protection the vests offered against the Sentinels was minimal though, but anything was better than nothing.

"Spidey, we're back."

A voice reached his ears, the source behind him.

"Alicia, a light please."

Spiderman requested a wisp of light that turned out to be a small girl perched on his shoulders.

She had blonde hair, fly-like wings and bio-luminescent skin.

She was tiny enough to fit on his palm.

The mutant Willow o' wisp flew to the top of his head and then puffed out her checks in concentration.

A green light pulsed out of her.

Immediately the surroundings became more visible than before.

To that effect, the new arrivals were immediately highlighted.

The first was a huge black man dressed in a tight fitting yellow and black outfit, Luke Cage, otherwise known as Powerman.

The other was clearly a mutant. With white skin containing a purple tint, claws and fangs, completely yellow eyeballs and no hair at all on his body, they cut a very...strange image.

The Mutant was basically their guide. His power enabled him to track down other mutants. He was also part of the Morlock's top leaders, only answering to Calisto herself.

"Caliban!"

One of the kids, a green skinned boy dressed in a yellow hood with no nose on his face, called out in happiness.

"Leech."

Caliban smiled genially.

"It is good to see you are all well Children."

"Mmh mmh!"

Leech nodded enthusiastically as he and the other teen Morlocks surrounded Caliban.

Off to the side, Spiderman had called a small meeting with his team. Now that Luke had arrived, it was time to plan out the strategy.

"What's the situation up ahead?"

Spiderman immediately inquired.

"Not good."

Powerman shook his head.

"The tunnels lead to a dead end. We might have to think of a solution once we reach there. Maybe clear the path or take to the surface-"

"No, too risky my friend."

The Iron Fist interrupted.

"The second we are spotted, the children will die."

"Us too, remember? Those things took out Ava in a second."

Nova said, gritting his teeth in hate.

"None of us saw it coming."

The rest had varying expressions but it was clear...they were all haunted by her loss.

"Hey."

Spiderman called out.

"That's why we need to keep going. To make her sacrifice worth it."

"Spidey's right. We need to finish the mission."

Powerman agreed.

"These kids, they have no one else."

"Easier said than done."

Nova complained in a grouchy tone.

"I agree. We are cornered."

The Iron Fist told them.

"The environment outside is harsh. While we can figure something out to deal with that problem...we can't risk pulling the Sentinel's attention our way."

Peter nodded, hands moving across the wrist computer on his arm. He was tracking the Sentinels' patrol patterns and intervals.

"These new ones are also more powerful than we are used to. And the normal ones were strong enough to destroy the Helli-carrier."

Spiderman added, sending out another signal to Shield personnel.

"And I still can't get through to Hill for backup or evac."

He sighed.

Things had been suspiciously quiet on that front.

"Then I say we change the Rendezvous point. Or get someone with teleportation capabilities to help out."

Powerman proposed.

"These kids are mutants right? Chances are there might be one of them with a useful ability."

"Oh, I know someone like that."

Nova cut in.

The rest stared at him expectedly.

"Here we go again."

Powerman sighed, rolling his eyes. He knew what was coming.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. They're all dead. Just like 99% of all living things in the world."

Nova said with a wide fake smile.

Then he continued in a louder gloomier tone,

"Face it, Parker, we're fucked. This was a suicide mission from the get go! We've already lost Ava..."

The Morlocks turned towards the ranting superhero.

"...And we're next. They lied to us! We haven't seen Fury in weeks after everything went to shit. We've lost our friends! Our families and our homes! Why are we fighting to rescue a bunch of kids when we should be fighting to liberate the world? Why Should we hide in the sewers like a bunch of rats?!!"

His body begun glowing with a blue energy as he floated up.

"I am so sick and tired of losing. I say we take the fight straight to their metallic -"

Suddenly Spiderman's danger sense blared out.

"Quick Nova! Get out of-"

Boom!!

The whole ceiling caved in. An explosion rippled out that pushed everything away.

Spiderman flipped, his reaction speeds making everything appear to be moving in slow motion.

His feet landed on the ceiling above, sticking there by forming a molecular bond with the surface of the ceiling.

Webs shot out of his hands, attaching to the backs of Powerman and Iron Fist before pulling them away from the falling debris.

There was a clash! As they barely escaped.

Then was a sudden flash of light and heat flared. Peter looked away, shielding his gaze.

"Let. Go. Of. Me!"

Nova yelled from the center of the light where he was surrounded by two sentinels. Oh no.

"I'm coming Nova! Hold on!"

Spiderman shouted, hoping the Sentinels would turn their attention to him.

"No! Parker! Stay back!"

Nova replied in urgency.

But Spiderman was determined not to lose another teammate. All he had to do was attach a web to his body and then pull him-

Pop! Pop! BOOOOOOMM!!

Spiderman was hit by a massive heat wave that sent him flying back, disoriented.

"I got you!"

Powerman appeared in timely fashion, jumping up and grabbing him off the air.

They landed, with half of Spidey's suit burnt into the front of his body. The pain was unimaginable.

But that was nothing compared to the nightmare they were witnessing.

"Oh god...no."

Iron Fist said, losing the strength in his legs and falling to his knees.

Frightful screams filled the air from the Morlocks around Caliban.

"Close your eyes Children. You do not need to see this..."

The Albino mutant told them.

Red light washed out into the surroundings, scanning everything.

"Identified: Nova, Omega level Mutate. Status: Deceased."

One of the Sentinels called out.

And in its hands, crushed to a bloody pulp, bones peeking through flesh and blood dripping down it's metallic digits, was Nova's remains.