The UNCANNY X-MEN vs. The AVENGERS in:
TAG, YOU'RE DEAD, Part 2
by Hades

Thunder rolls across the sky like an angry war cry.

"By the goddess!" Storm screams as she feels nature cry out against Thor's brutal manipulation. The mansion springs into alert. Sirens warble warning to all. An Avenger's Quinjet hovers almost silently over the mansion. The mansion's defenses fire at it, rocking it, scorch marks appearing on the hull. And then the Avengers emerge.

Warbird holds Captain America below her, their arms interlocking like acrobats. The Vision floats down slowly. Thor and Iron Man move to try to block most of the laser-fire from their more vulnerable teammates.

[Energy Field unable to compensate for attack. Physical Damage imminent.]

"The lasers are maxing out my suit's defenses." Iron Man thinks.

He fires a repulsor blast at a laser turret. It ducks into the ground as the blast hits and returns to firing position a few moments later.

"Should've known that with the brains the X-Men have in-house, their defenses would be solid," Iron Man thinks.

The lasers continue to blast away at the intruders. Thor is hit in the back by a blast.

"By Odin's beard, thou wilt surely feel my wrath for this!" Thor growls.

He lashes out with lightning bolts to fry the laser turrets. The turrets pop into the ground, but the bolts never land, fading into nothing in midair.

"ENOUGH!!!" the voice washes over the battlefield like a wall of water.

Her name is Storm. Her white hair is whipping about wildly in the tempest around her. Thor looks haughtily up at her.

"Thou surely art brave to face our wrath alone, Storm!!!" Thor shouts up at her.

Storm's face broadens into a smile. Captain America's shield flies in front of Thor and intercepts the playing card headed straight for his chin. The explosion still causes Thor to stagger backwards.

"Thou must pay for that indignity, thief!!!" Thor shouts at the X-Man who stands alone in front of the building.

"Heads up, Avengers. The lasers are off, that must mean the X-Men are outside, ready for us." Captain America shouts above the din.

Thor flies forward, enraged. He charges the Cajun mutant, fully meaning to take him down hard. He never sees the flying green streak coming up behind him. Rogue grabs the thunder-God by his face and runs him into the ground at Gambit's feet, his strength stolen by the woman's touch. Captain America watches the downfall of Thor with shocked disbelief.

"The X-Men have already taken down my heaviest hitter and the whole team has yet to surface." Captain America thinks with disdain. "I thought we were prepared. Now, even with our ace in the hole, will it be enough?"

He throws his shield at Gambit, who leaps nimbly over the top, skimming the edge with his hands. The shield returns to Captain America's hand. Gambit raises his hand, brandishing a hand-full of cards. He flings them toward Captain America. Cap ducks behind his shield and realizes, too late, that is exactly what Gambit had planned. The cards fly over the fallen soldier and strike Warbird as she flies toward Wolverine as he stalks up behind Cap. She turns and fires at Gambit, whose agility saves him once more. The time-delayed card Gambit had stuck to the inside of Cap's shield explodes, the amazing disc working in reverse, focusing the blast back into Cap's body instead of diverting it away. Cap flies backward, falling heavily to the ground. He lifts his head up groggily. He has just enough time to realize how the Cajun outsmarted him before Wolverine punches the back of his head, forcing his face into the ground like a piledriver.

Wolverine launches himself towards the Vision, who is blasting away at Rogue to no avail. Wolverine's claws slice through nothing as the Vision goes intangible. The Vision turns to face Wolverine. Warbird takes the opportunity to settle an old score with Rogue, flying at her with rage-induced fervor.

{You cannot defeat me in my intangible state, X-Man. Surrender and you will not be har-.}

The Vision goes down like a sack of potatoes, revealing Shadowcat standing behind him. Unlike the Vision, Shadowcat's phasing disrupts electrical currents -- like the ones that are the Vision's lifeblood.

"Never planned to harm you, metal-head. Rest assured, when I do, you won't be able to stop me." Wolverine says over the Vision's still form.

"Good job, Kit-Kat." Wolverine congratulates his teammate.

He looks around as Kitty, Storm, and Gambit gather over the three downed Avengers.

"Where are the other two?" he asks.

"What other two?" Kitty asks.

"The Avengers carry a roster of 6." Wolverine explains. "Warbird chased Rogue that way," he says and points beyond the mansion. "We have three here. Where are the other two?"

"Iron Man was here when the shooting started. Maybe he went after Rogue, too." Kitty offers.

"Ok, but where's the sixth?" Wolverine insists.

"I never saw a sixth." Kitty says.

"Indeed, Logan, it was just the five." Storm agrees.

"Impossible," Logan says, "Hawkeye's hiding around here, somewhere."

Logan hears a noise and looks heavenward. "Heads up! Here he comes." He shouts, "But it's not who we thought."

The X-Men scatter as they begin to hear the noise Logan had already identified. It is a sound most children imitate by whistling. The sound of a falling object.

The Hulk hits the earth like a comet, digging a crater into the soil beneath him.

"Hawkeye had some dry-cleaning to do, so he activated his reserve." The Hulk taunts and leaps from the bottom of the crater.

"Showdown time, Hulk." Logan says, popping his claws.

"Ok, short-stuff, give it your best shot."