ISSUE # 104

The clock was ticking down, Ian and the members of X-Factor hurried to return to New York to help their teammates in danger. The X-jet was fast, one of the fastest ships on earth, but even then, it would take some time to completely cross the Atlantic.

" Come on, come on, hurry!" Ian exclaimed.

" I'm trying. Plane only go so fast." Hepzibah growled at the man.

" Damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT!" Ian shouted loudly. He was frustrated. So frustrated in his failure.

The team raced as fast as they could, while at home base, Bastion was currently fighting the members of X-Factor.

" Siryn, get back!" Jamie shouted to the woman. " Your screech is only making things worse, fall back and help Rictor. Rahne, get out of here. It's you he's after. Guido, Monet, we need to give Rahne time to get away!" Jamie yelled. He began making multiple clones of himself, hoping to use them along with the others to slow Bastion at least a little.

" Pathetic, you can't stop me, Jamie Madrox. This is pointless." Bastion told the man.

But he didn't listen. Jamie and his clones all charged Bastion at once and jumped on top of the man. Burying him under a pile of Jamie's, while Monet and Guido prepared themselves. They knew the trick wouldn't work long. But for them, any amount of time they could buy would be worth all the time in the world.

" Uhhhhh, is it me, or is that pile shaking?" Guido asked Monet and the real Jamie.

Suddenly, Bastion exploded out from the pile, blowing away all the clones of Jamie with ease. He landed in front of Guido and slammed his fist into the man's chest.

Guido reeled, spitting up a little blood, before trying to deliver a counterattack, only for Bastion to avoid it and strike Guido in the side of his stomach. Bastion followed it up but delivering a devastating uppercut to Guido's chin that briefly stunned the man.

Monet tried to jump in and help Guido, but even with her strength, Bastion easily sent her crashing through the X-Factor office building with a devastating kick to her chest. If she hadn't been invulnerable, she would have suffered more than a sore gut.

Guido tried to take advantage of the brief moment of distraction to strike Bastion in the back of his head, but the man quickly turned around and used all of Guido's momentum to lift him up and over his head. He then dropped Guido straight down, using his knee to bash the man's face in, easily breaking his nose.

Guido stood there, groggy, bleeding from his nose and mouth. Defeated

Bastion, however, didn't relent. He struck Guido one more time, as hard as he could, in his stomach. Forcing the big man to topple over and land face first on the cold concrete.

Bastion then turned to Jamie and Rahne, who still had not run away, and sneered.

" This doesn't have to be bloody.... Well, any more than it already is. All I want is the girl Madrox. She comes with me, and you all get to live a little while longer." Bastion told the man. " But if I have to come get her, then you'll all die now." Bastion told the man.

" Like hell we'll give her up. RUN RAHNE!" Jamie yelled. He shoved Rahne away from the fight he then dashed towards Bastion and started creating clones. Switching places with each and every single one of them, to throw off Bastion. And to hide Rahne among the crowd.

Bastion sighed; he hadn't expected things to be so difficult. Or more specifically for X-Factor to fight so hard.

Rahne did as Jamie had asked her to do and had run away from the fight, using his clones as cover while she crawled on all fours, in her wolf form, away. However, as she got further away the sound of Jamie's screams grew louder. Rahne paused for just a moment and looked back and watched as Jamie fought against Bastion, although fruitlessly. She felt the pit of her stomach churn as Jamie's clones were slain with brutal ease. Eventually, Bastion was down to the last Jamie, most likely the real one. He grabbed the man by his throat and lifted him off the ground.

" Madrox, I told you it didn't have to be this way. Oh well, I guess I might as well take care of you now, you little pest." Bastion was preparing to snap Jamie's neck. He only needed one quick flick of his wrist and the man would be gone. However, before he could do that, Rahne ran up to the man and clawed him across the chest, forcing Bastion to let the man go and stumble backwards. " Gah, you stupid wolf, Bitch!" Bastion cursed Rahne for attacking him, even if it didn't injure him.

" Rahne.... You stupid fool. Why did you come back?" Jamie asked the girl.

" Because we never leave one of our own behind. Because I'm not leaving ma friends tae die." Rahne told the man.

" You stupid girl. You should have done as your friend asked. At least you would have gotten away. Now you're all alone." Bastion told the girl.

" She's not alone, ye bloody basterd." Siryn shouted. She flew above Bastion and screamed at him as loud as she could, blasting him with the full force of her Banshee shriek. The sound wave caught Bastion off-guard and slammed him into the ground.

Siryn continued to lay it on Bastion, pushing him further and further into the ground, while Rahne tried to help Jamie out of danger.

" Here you go, Jamie. Just sit here. We'll take care a' this. " Rahne told the man. She then turned back around and ran to help Siryn.

" Rahne... WAIT!" Jamie yelled after the woman, but it was too late. She was already out of sight.

Once she returned to the battle, Rahne jumped in and helped Siryn, who was struggling to avoid Bastion's attacks.

Rahne shifted back into her wolf form and lunged at the man, biting his shoulder.

Bastion grunted. He stopped attacking Siryn and instead grabbed Rahne by her neck and punched her as hard as he could in her stomach.

" We need tae hold on a little longer! Surely someone has noticed all of this is happening." Rahne exclaimed.

" I don't know Rahney, I think we're all alone on this one." Siryn told the woman.

The two women stared down at the approaching Bastion, trembling. He was beyond mad. His previous calm and collected exterior had dropped and now revealed an utterly seething man/machine.

" We'll take him together, okay. If we both coordinate our attacks, we have a chance of beating this monster.

" Right, together." Siryn replied.

The two ladies prepared to face Bastion together.....

Bastion then exploded forward and grabbed them both by their throat and slammed them down on the ground hard enough to form a crater. Then without warning he blasted them both in the face. The explosion sent Siryn flying. Leaving Rahne under Bastion's cold grasp, all alone.

Rahne laid there in the crater, blood trickling down her face from a wound on her head, and from her mouth. She had been hurt bad by the explosion and was on the verge of passing out.

However.

*SNAP!!!

Bastion suddenly slammed his foot down on Rahne's hand, breaking it.

" AHHHHHH!" Rahne let out a loud and wrenching shriek. The pain quickly brought her back to her senses.

" Oh no, don't go to sleep yet, little wolf. We're just beginning." Bastion told the girl as he loomed over her.

......

Meanwhile, across the globe at an undisclosed Location, Sarah and Noriko were still struggling to get free.

" Nughh! Damn it!" Sarah cursed. She continued to try and break free from the cell that she was trapped in. But nothing she did could free herself from the chains that held her captive. " Noriko, we need to get out of here." Sarah told the girl. But Noriko whatever Bastion had done, was still heavily influencing Noriko.

Noriko, looked up at the woman, sweating profusely, and red in the face.

" Can't.... Get free... My arms are stuck behind me. And.... I can't blast out." Noriko exasperated. Her breath was still ragged, and she was still injured from the earlier explosion. Needless to say, she didn't feel she was going to be of much use in breaking out. But then she had a thought. " Maybe.... Maybe if you.... Can undo the locks on my gauntlets. I might be able to free myself." Noriko told the woman.

" But then you wouldn't be able to control your powers, right? What'll happen to us if you can't?" Sarah asked.

" It's... Our only hope. You have to trust me. I... Ian would never forgive me..... If I let anything happen to you." Noriko told the woman.

Sarah looked at Noriko, and her panicked frown turned to laughter.

" I'm the adult here, I should be the one saying that to you." She exclaimed. " Okay. Just tell me what to do." Sarah told the girl.

" Okay...." Sarah replied.

........

Back in Manhattan, things were horrendous.

The total team of X-Factor had been completely decimated by Bastion. Scott and his X-men were already deployed elsewhere, dealing with the ramifications of Exodus' attack on the mansion, and the Avengers led by Captain America on one side, and the Avengers led by Iron man on the other were currently fighting each other across the country. Meaning right now, X-Factor was alone.

And that bode poorly for Bastion's target.

The man stood over the beaten body of Wolfsbane.

Her face was covered with blood, one of her arms had been broken from the hand to the elbow. The same with one of her legs.

Rahne was weeping, quietly.

" All of this could have been avoided, you know? All you had to do was come quietly. But no, you people just couldn't follow my plan. You couldn't play along. Well now!" Bastion suddenly slammed his foot down on Rahne's chest breaking a few of her ribs in the process. " It's time for this little game of tag to end."

" AHHHHHHHHH!" Rahne screamed as loud as her weak voice could allow. She began to cry from the pain, her tears visible even over the blood.

" NOW DIE!" Bastion shouted.

He raised his foot and prepared to crush Rahne's head.

" HAAAAAA!" Ian suddenly appeared behind Bastion and kicked him in the side of his head, sending the cyborg flying away from Rahne. Ian landed next Rahne and grabbed the woman up; a raging inferno began to boil in his body.

Bastion came to a rolling stop, bouncing back up to see who had attacked him. Bastion frowned when he saw it was Ian. He looked at the man and for a moment felt like death had come to grab him and bring him into the next world. All of this was escalated further when he looked into the man's eyes. Though he had stifled his powers, that spark was still there. The spark of RAGE!

Bastion watched as Ian stewarded Rahne away from the danger, while Kurt and the others helped move Siryn, Jamie, and Guido.

" Rahne...." Ian muttered. He looked down at the poor woman's mangled body and glared back at Bastion. Turning on his heel and leaping back towards the man.

" You'll Spill No More Mutant Blood today!" Ian declared.

Bastion's look of worry quickly changed into a wicked smile.

For the first time in his new life, Bastion felt fear wash through his body. For the first time since he was awakened, he hadn't been in control of a situation.... And that excited him.

" Time to play the game!" Bastion sneered. " But not yet.... We haven't reached the playground just yet." Bastion told the man. He took to the sky and waited for Ian to follow.

" Take care of them, then follow after me." Ian told the others. He looked back at Rahne and frowned. His eyes started glowing and he leaped into the air, following Bastion to the sight where they would have their fight.