This takes place sometime in the near future. Scott's back in the X-Men and the disastrous wedding of 425 took place. All X-Men belong to Marvel Comics and Stan Lee, the father of Modern Comics.
Monsters
By Maria Cline
It was a quiet night at the Xavier School of Gifted Students or as everyone like to call it, the X-Mansion. It was rare for a place that housed over a hundred mutants, many which could demolish the mansion if they so wanted, to be so quiet. Quiet moments in the night were rare.
"NO!!!" *boom*
And they were also fleeting.
Alarms rang as the X-Men jumped out of their beds and into the hallways, most of them in their uniforms but a few in their pajamas. Cyclops tapped on the security system. "The explosion happened in Alex's room!"
Emma yawned as she shifted to her diamond form while putting a robe around her lingerie. "I swear if this isn't a super-powerful enemy who wants to destroy us all, I will be very upset."
"Get ready for anything." Scott ordered as he opened the door and saw Alex sitting on his bed staring at a hole in the wall.
He smiled sheepishly and said, "I had a little accident."
Scott crossed his arms as the other X-Men walked off casually. "I thought you were in complete control of your powers."
"I am," Alex said as he rubbed the back of his head. "I had a... nightmare; a really disturbing nightmare." He looked down as he held his head. "I can't sleep. This dream was just too... real."
Scott smiled slightly as he sat down beside his brother and put his hand on his back. "It's okay. I have a few nightmares myself."
"Yeah, but this is different." Alex paused as he tried to figure out a way to say it. "It felt like a prophesy or something. It's so real! I can't sleep. That guy... that monster is in there."
Xavier frowned slightly as he came in. "You have shown a unique perspective on reality in the past, especially since we found out about you being the 'Nexus'. It could be a real threat. Can you show me?"
Alex hesitated as he looked away. "No offense, but I don't want you in my mind. I prefer it to show you physically. Can I use the Danger Room?"
"Of course." Xavier nodded as he sensed the fear within the mutant. Alex had been under a great deal of stress lately, thanks to his recent breakup with Lorna, but he coped well. Now he felt a great deal of fear and anxiety.
*****
"You didn't have to be here," Alex said as he glanced over at the still somewhat awake X-Men, Anne, Cain, Xavier, Scott, Logan, and Xorn. The others were fast asleep.
"I'm worried about you," Anne confessed. "Besides, I can't sleep. Those alarms made me nervous."
"I was going to get up anyway," Cain said as he scratched his head. "I wanna see this 'supervillian'."
"I was awake anyway." Logan said as he leaned back.
"I'm your brother and I have to be here," Scott insisted.
"I do not sleep." Xorn finally said.
Alex smiled at the group and tapped in the controls. "Okay, I got it." He took a deep breath and pressed the final button.
The room darkened around them and desert appeared on the ground. Shivers went up Scott's spine as he recognized the setting.
A tall dark man came out of nowhere, he was huge and bald with a giant red eye. Logan paled as his claws went out instantly. Anne gasped as she inched away. Cain's jaw dropped. Xorn stepped back. Xavier put his hand over his mouth in pure shock. Scott tensed up.
"That's the guy," Alex finally said as he held his stomach.
"What a monster!" Anne screamed as she fought the urge to faint.
"He... he scares me." Cain gasped out.
"Such evil, even as a hologram," Xorn observed.
"How is it possible?" Xavier wondered as he recognized the figure. Alex should not even seen such a figure. No picture was taken and he was positive no one had ever shown Alex that man.
Scott just tensed up and ordered in a low voice, "Turn it off."
Alex blinked at the odd tone. "Huh?"
Before anyone could react, Scott turned on his heel and smashed his fist onto Alex's nose. "TURN IT OFF! JUST MAKE HIM GO AWAY!" He screamed and ran off.
Alex rubbed his now broken nose and asked, "Wha nid I nay?" He was barely understandable thanks to the broken nose.
Xavier shook his head as he stared at the monster. "Oh... Alex, that monster was Scott."
*****
The stars shone over head as Scott sat in front of the smooth lake staring at his reflection. He rubbed his bloody fist and shook his head. "Of all the villains, why did he dream about me?"
"I don't know. I can't chose what I dream." Alex remarked as he came up from behind and sat beside him. "It's a lucky thing Xorn healed my nose. It would be very hard to explain to the others about how it got broken."
Scott just stared at the reflection. After the rush of anger passed, a deep sting of regret overcame him. Why did he do that? It wasn't like him to just explode like that but he had been reacting that way. The way he was chewing Kurt's head off about his lack of responsibility wasn't like him. It was made worse by the fact that Alex had to calm him down.
"Oh, don't bother to apologize, I mean, I was just showing the reason I couldn't sleep and of course anyone would punch me in the nose." Alex rambled on.
"I overreacted," Scott said. "I'm sorry, I... when I saw him, I just feel so..." He tensed as he gestured. "Forget it." He couldn't be seen like that. He had to keep up the appearance of composure for Alex's sake.
"No way." Alex refused as he sat next to his brother. "We haven't had a real talk since I came back from the coma."
"We talked all the time." Scott argued.
"No... we discussed cults that brainwashed mutants, my ex-fiancé who went to the dark side, secondary mutations, and even the current events but we never talked as brothers, only as teammates and it's getting annoying." Alex said as he looked up at the stars. "I want to talk to Scott Summers, not Cyclops."
"That was in the past. I'm fine." Scott said as he tried to convince himself.
"Oh sure... and that broken nose thing is just an accident?" Alex taunted, "Hey, you were mad when you saw that hologram. Admit it. If I saw some hideous monstrous version of myself, I would want to punch someone in the nose myself." Scott growled as he rammed his fist at Alex's face again. Alex dodged the fist. "See? Even if I just mention it you want to punch me."
Scott blinked as he stared at his fist. "It was horrible. I don't want to talk about it. You wouldn't understand."
"I've been controlled a few times in my life," Alex said as he looked at the reflection in the lake. "Try me."
"I don't want to bother you. I can deal with this." Scott tensed up and his hands shook.
Silence passed between the two and finally Alex said, "Scott, if I went through some horrible ordeal that involved an ancient enemy, would you want me to talk about it?"
"Of course," Scott answered without thinking.
"Then... it's okay for me to spill my guts out and you to take it and not the other way around? I'm insulted. You're not that much older than me. Let me help you. Let me understand the monster I saw in my nightmare." Alex pouted as he crossed his arms.
A stray gust of wind blew across the lake causing ripples and the reflections blurred. Scott said, "Apocalypse and I merged bodies in Akkaba, at the battle of the Twelve. Our minds were one as well but our consciousnesses somewhat separate. We wandered around for a while and then Jean and Nathan found us, and Jean separated me from Apocalypse and Nathan killed him."
Alex blinked. "Oh... that's so detailed. Charles was more exact and he wasn't even there!" He took a deep breath. "You think that I don't know what it was like to be manipulated from the inside out? I've been there. My brain and body was mucked with. I was in a coma for _two_ years while the world thought I was dead! I was floating around in darkness... with nothing to hold on to but my memories and some voice." Tears filled his eyes. "Open up to me."
Scott stared down and finally said, "It was horrible. I didn't know who I was. I had nightmares of people I killed before I was even born. He was clawing out of my brain, trying to get out. I had to fight my own son and wife." He took a deep breath and held his head. "I was corrupted inside out. I'm a monster."
"You're no monster." Alex clasped Scott's shoulder. "A little uptight, yeah, but you're no monster."
Scott became silent as he wrung his hands. "Are you sure? Are you sure that I am not a monster?"
"Yeah. You're my bro. You're the responsible X-Man." Alex smiled as he clasped harder. "Okay, maybe that thing with Emma was a mistake but we're only Human."
Scott pulled away and then yanked off his visor. He glared up at him and screamed, "DO I LOOK HUMAN TO YOU?!" Alex's jaw dropped as he stared at Scott's face. Instead of normal two eyes there was a big red glowing eye. Scott had become like the creature in his nightmares.
"Oh... Scott." Alex gasped out as tears came down his face. He never thought about why he never saw Scott without the visor. Ever since he came back, he always saw Scott in the visor instead of the ruby quartz glasses. It never occurred to him that he was hiding something like this.
"I... didn't know I could do this. Then Xorn healed my brain damage when he destroyed the Sentinel nanites. I took off the visor in the middle of nowhere, just in case and then..." He looked away from the reflection in the lake. "I became this. No one, not even Charles, Jean or even Hank knows about this." He turned his back away from Alex. "Now do you think I'm a monster?" A pair of arms wrapped around his waist. Scott looked behind him to see Alex hugging him tightly. "Huh?"
"You need a hug," Alex explained as he hold tighter. "Do you think that I would hate you just because you got one red eye now?"
Scott didn't say anything as Alex turned him around and held his face. "Okay, so you were altered by Apocalypse and you do... have a red eye. You're not the first one. Look at Warren, he was changed into the 'Angel of Death' with blue skin and metal wings that can kill. He changed into something... beautiful, he was a healer. Logan was 'Death' as well and he bounced back." Alex hugged his brother again. "I was a traitor who tried to kill you. You never stopped loving me." Tears ran down his face. "Anne told me the time you came for me while I was a vegetable. You held me in your arms and carried me away even though there was a wheelchair there. Would a 'monster' do that?"
Scott just looked down, feeling selfish. "No."
"You're not a monster. You just have one eye instead of two." Alex let go for a second and grinned. "Besides, you can control your powers! No more visor, no more glasses, no more supervillians grabbing your shades and your uncontrolled blasts destroying a train station-"
"I never destroyed a train station."
"You didn't?" Alex paused, "My fault. Don't you see? Haven't you dreamt of the day that you can look at your family without glasses? Okay, you do look different but... you are in control of your power." The man picked up the discarded visor and held it up. "You don't need this any more."
Scott looked at him stunned. "Why are you being so cheerful?"
"Because... you need me," Alex answered as he leaned back. "When I got out of that coma, I don't know why, but I felt better. It's like I had a major revelation while I was gone. I may not be like you but... we are two different guys. I may not be a super boy scout like you but I am good at what I do. I will be the best at what I do like Logan always say." He grinned as he spun around. "Besides, the Multiverse revolves around me literally! How many people can say that?"
"Don't make me break your nose again," Scott pointed out as he got up.
"See?" Alex smirked as he spun around and faced him. "You _need_ someone to talk to about this whole 'sharing bodies with the enemy deal. You are not a monster, you just have a hard time dealing with these changes. That's it."
Scott took the visor and slipped it on. The red eye vanished into the visor. "No one must know about this," Scott finally said. "You can't tell anyone about this, not Jean, Hank or even Charles. I... you still like me but I can't face this with the others yet. They will get worried about me."
"I think they're worried enough about you already. I won't tell anyone because it's not my place but you have to tell them sooner or later. You can't hide this forever."
Scott frowned as he stared at the reflection. The reflection blurred from the wind and vanished. "I know."
The End
Monsters
By Maria Cline
It was a quiet night at the Xavier School of Gifted Students or as everyone like to call it, the X-Mansion. It was rare for a place that housed over a hundred mutants, many which could demolish the mansion if they so wanted, to be so quiet. Quiet moments in the night were rare.
"NO!!!" *boom*
And they were also fleeting.
Alarms rang as the X-Men jumped out of their beds and into the hallways, most of them in their uniforms but a few in their pajamas. Cyclops tapped on the security system. "The explosion happened in Alex's room!"
Emma yawned as she shifted to her diamond form while putting a robe around her lingerie. "I swear if this isn't a super-powerful enemy who wants to destroy us all, I will be very upset."
"Get ready for anything." Scott ordered as he opened the door and saw Alex sitting on his bed staring at a hole in the wall.
He smiled sheepishly and said, "I had a little accident."
Scott crossed his arms as the other X-Men walked off casually. "I thought you were in complete control of your powers."
"I am," Alex said as he rubbed the back of his head. "I had a... nightmare; a really disturbing nightmare." He looked down as he held his head. "I can't sleep. This dream was just too... real."
Scott smiled slightly as he sat down beside his brother and put his hand on his back. "It's okay. I have a few nightmares myself."
"Yeah, but this is different." Alex paused as he tried to figure out a way to say it. "It felt like a prophesy or something. It's so real! I can't sleep. That guy... that monster is in there."
Xavier frowned slightly as he came in. "You have shown a unique perspective on reality in the past, especially since we found out about you being the 'Nexus'. It could be a real threat. Can you show me?"
Alex hesitated as he looked away. "No offense, but I don't want you in my mind. I prefer it to show you physically. Can I use the Danger Room?"
"Of course." Xavier nodded as he sensed the fear within the mutant. Alex had been under a great deal of stress lately, thanks to his recent breakup with Lorna, but he coped well. Now he felt a great deal of fear and anxiety.
*****
"You didn't have to be here," Alex said as he glanced over at the still somewhat awake X-Men, Anne, Cain, Xavier, Scott, Logan, and Xorn. The others were fast asleep.
"I'm worried about you," Anne confessed. "Besides, I can't sleep. Those alarms made me nervous."
"I was going to get up anyway," Cain said as he scratched his head. "I wanna see this 'supervillian'."
"I was awake anyway." Logan said as he leaned back.
"I'm your brother and I have to be here," Scott insisted.
"I do not sleep." Xorn finally said.
Alex smiled at the group and tapped in the controls. "Okay, I got it." He took a deep breath and pressed the final button.
The room darkened around them and desert appeared on the ground. Shivers went up Scott's spine as he recognized the setting.
A tall dark man came out of nowhere, he was huge and bald with a giant red eye. Logan paled as his claws went out instantly. Anne gasped as she inched away. Cain's jaw dropped. Xorn stepped back. Xavier put his hand over his mouth in pure shock. Scott tensed up.
"That's the guy," Alex finally said as he held his stomach.
"What a monster!" Anne screamed as she fought the urge to faint.
"He... he scares me." Cain gasped out.
"Such evil, even as a hologram," Xorn observed.
"How is it possible?" Xavier wondered as he recognized the figure. Alex should not even seen such a figure. No picture was taken and he was positive no one had ever shown Alex that man.
Scott just tensed up and ordered in a low voice, "Turn it off."
Alex blinked at the odd tone. "Huh?"
Before anyone could react, Scott turned on his heel and smashed his fist onto Alex's nose. "TURN IT OFF! JUST MAKE HIM GO AWAY!" He screamed and ran off.
Alex rubbed his now broken nose and asked, "Wha nid I nay?" He was barely understandable thanks to the broken nose.
Xavier shook his head as he stared at the monster. "Oh... Alex, that monster was Scott."
*****
The stars shone over head as Scott sat in front of the smooth lake staring at his reflection. He rubbed his bloody fist and shook his head. "Of all the villains, why did he dream about me?"
"I don't know. I can't chose what I dream." Alex remarked as he came up from behind and sat beside him. "It's a lucky thing Xorn healed my nose. It would be very hard to explain to the others about how it got broken."
Scott just stared at the reflection. After the rush of anger passed, a deep sting of regret overcame him. Why did he do that? It wasn't like him to just explode like that but he had been reacting that way. The way he was chewing Kurt's head off about his lack of responsibility wasn't like him. It was made worse by the fact that Alex had to calm him down.
"Oh, don't bother to apologize, I mean, I was just showing the reason I couldn't sleep and of course anyone would punch me in the nose." Alex rambled on.
"I overreacted," Scott said. "I'm sorry, I... when I saw him, I just feel so..." He tensed as he gestured. "Forget it." He couldn't be seen like that. He had to keep up the appearance of composure for Alex's sake.
"No way." Alex refused as he sat next to his brother. "We haven't had a real talk since I came back from the coma."
"We talked all the time." Scott argued.
"No... we discussed cults that brainwashed mutants, my ex-fiancé who went to the dark side, secondary mutations, and even the current events but we never talked as brothers, only as teammates and it's getting annoying." Alex said as he looked up at the stars. "I want to talk to Scott Summers, not Cyclops."
"That was in the past. I'm fine." Scott said as he tried to convince himself.
"Oh sure... and that broken nose thing is just an accident?" Alex taunted, "Hey, you were mad when you saw that hologram. Admit it. If I saw some hideous monstrous version of myself, I would want to punch someone in the nose myself." Scott growled as he rammed his fist at Alex's face again. Alex dodged the fist. "See? Even if I just mention it you want to punch me."
Scott blinked as he stared at his fist. "It was horrible. I don't want to talk about it. You wouldn't understand."
"I've been controlled a few times in my life," Alex said as he looked at the reflection in the lake. "Try me."
"I don't want to bother you. I can deal with this." Scott tensed up and his hands shook.
Silence passed between the two and finally Alex said, "Scott, if I went through some horrible ordeal that involved an ancient enemy, would you want me to talk about it?"
"Of course," Scott answered without thinking.
"Then... it's okay for me to spill my guts out and you to take it and not the other way around? I'm insulted. You're not that much older than me. Let me help you. Let me understand the monster I saw in my nightmare." Alex pouted as he crossed his arms.
A stray gust of wind blew across the lake causing ripples and the reflections blurred. Scott said, "Apocalypse and I merged bodies in Akkaba, at the battle of the Twelve. Our minds were one as well but our consciousnesses somewhat separate. We wandered around for a while and then Jean and Nathan found us, and Jean separated me from Apocalypse and Nathan killed him."
Alex blinked. "Oh... that's so detailed. Charles was more exact and he wasn't even there!" He took a deep breath. "You think that I don't know what it was like to be manipulated from the inside out? I've been there. My brain and body was mucked with. I was in a coma for _two_ years while the world thought I was dead! I was floating around in darkness... with nothing to hold on to but my memories and some voice." Tears filled his eyes. "Open up to me."
Scott stared down and finally said, "It was horrible. I didn't know who I was. I had nightmares of people I killed before I was even born. He was clawing out of my brain, trying to get out. I had to fight my own son and wife." He took a deep breath and held his head. "I was corrupted inside out. I'm a monster."
"You're no monster." Alex clasped Scott's shoulder. "A little uptight, yeah, but you're no monster."
Scott became silent as he wrung his hands. "Are you sure? Are you sure that I am not a monster?"
"Yeah. You're my bro. You're the responsible X-Man." Alex smiled as he clasped harder. "Okay, maybe that thing with Emma was a mistake but we're only Human."
Scott pulled away and then yanked off his visor. He glared up at him and screamed, "DO I LOOK HUMAN TO YOU?!" Alex's jaw dropped as he stared at Scott's face. Instead of normal two eyes there was a big red glowing eye. Scott had become like the creature in his nightmares.
"Oh... Scott." Alex gasped out as tears came down his face. He never thought about why he never saw Scott without the visor. Ever since he came back, he always saw Scott in the visor instead of the ruby quartz glasses. It never occurred to him that he was hiding something like this.
"I... didn't know I could do this. Then Xorn healed my brain damage when he destroyed the Sentinel nanites. I took off the visor in the middle of nowhere, just in case and then..." He looked away from the reflection in the lake. "I became this. No one, not even Charles, Jean or even Hank knows about this." He turned his back away from Alex. "Now do you think I'm a monster?" A pair of arms wrapped around his waist. Scott looked behind him to see Alex hugging him tightly. "Huh?"
"You need a hug," Alex explained as he hold tighter. "Do you think that I would hate you just because you got one red eye now?"
Scott didn't say anything as Alex turned him around and held his face. "Okay, so you were altered by Apocalypse and you do... have a red eye. You're not the first one. Look at Warren, he was changed into the 'Angel of Death' with blue skin and metal wings that can kill. He changed into something... beautiful, he was a healer. Logan was 'Death' as well and he bounced back." Alex hugged his brother again. "I was a traitor who tried to kill you. You never stopped loving me." Tears ran down his face. "Anne told me the time you came for me while I was a vegetable. You held me in your arms and carried me away even though there was a wheelchair there. Would a 'monster' do that?"
Scott just looked down, feeling selfish. "No."
"You're not a monster. You just have one eye instead of two." Alex let go for a second and grinned. "Besides, you can control your powers! No more visor, no more glasses, no more supervillians grabbing your shades and your uncontrolled blasts destroying a train station-"
"I never destroyed a train station."
"You didn't?" Alex paused, "My fault. Don't you see? Haven't you dreamt of the day that you can look at your family without glasses? Okay, you do look different but... you are in control of your power." The man picked up the discarded visor and held it up. "You don't need this any more."
Scott looked at him stunned. "Why are you being so cheerful?"
"Because... you need me," Alex answered as he leaned back. "When I got out of that coma, I don't know why, but I felt better. It's like I had a major revelation while I was gone. I may not be like you but... we are two different guys. I may not be a super boy scout like you but I am good at what I do. I will be the best at what I do like Logan always say." He grinned as he spun around. "Besides, the Multiverse revolves around me literally! How many people can say that?"
"Don't make me break your nose again," Scott pointed out as he got up.
"See?" Alex smirked as he spun around and faced him. "You _need_ someone to talk to about this whole 'sharing bodies with the enemy deal. You are not a monster, you just have a hard time dealing with these changes. That's it."
Scott took the visor and slipped it on. The red eye vanished into the visor. "No one must know about this," Scott finally said. "You can't tell anyone about this, not Jean, Hank or even Charles. I... you still like me but I can't face this with the others yet. They will get worried about me."
"I think they're worried enough about you already. I won't tell anyone because it's not my place but you have to tell them sooner or later. You can't hide this forever."
Scott frowned as he stared at the reflection. The reflection blurred from the wind and vanished. "I know."
The End