AN: Welcome to my pet project, my baby. Finally I am emotionally ready to except whatever criticism you deem to throw my way. If you read the summary then you know this is a rewrite of AOA. If you don't know what AOA is, read first paragraph. I tried to keep it from getting too dark, but it was tough. If you read the "graphic novels" (I'm sorry but I get such a kick out of that term) then you'll recognize some scenes. I tried to stick pretty close to the original while making it my own at the same time. Keep in mind I've been sitting on this for over six years now, so some of this was actually written when I was thirteen. Marvel, don't sue me, their all yours and I admit that, just wish you'd take better care of them. Please don't flame me, it took a lot of coaxing from a lot of people for me to post this to begin with.
The time: does it really matter? The day: who knows. Who really cares anymore? At another time today would be known as Thanksgiving Day, but now today is just another day, another horror that the humans have to face. Today the people of America find it nearly impossible to find anything to be thankful for. Today is just another day in the terrible time known as: The Age of Apocalypse. A time in which the beginning of a new day is marked with the screaming of Apocalypse's slaves from his slave pit, and ends with the screaming of the humans outside his gates.
However, his slaves really have nothing to scream about. They don't have to live out on the streets. They don't live like the other humans, in constant fear. In fear of the powerful mutants that have taken over their country, the human mutates who have given all they have to become equal to the mutants, and worst of all they fear each other. But mostly they fear His Highest Lord, En Sabah Nuir, also known as Apocalypse. They envy the slaves that live in the pits because the slaves truly have nothing to fear. They will at least live long enough to be able to say; "I have lived". They will at least be able to say that they were able to spend some small part of their life in comfort. They have the privilege of having clean clothes to wear, fresh food to eat, a blanket to sleep on, and a shower at least once a week. Something that those on the streets dream of.
There are mutants living in these pits also. These mutants have proven themselves to be genetically inferior to the all the mutants who are privileged enough to be under Apocalypse's command. These mutants are worse off than the humans out on the streets. These mutants are tortured worse than any human ever could be. The humans can at least look forward to a quick painless death. However, the unfortunate mutants are given to the Beast to do with, or away with, as he pleases.
Although his physical appearance does resemble that of a beast, it is not the reason for his name. Dr. Henry McCoy is, however, called the Beast because he finds pleasure in taking Apocalypse's genetically inferior mutants, and turning them into his genetically altered works of art. He takes them and, as he likes to say, "I find out what makes them a mutant in the first place, what makes them tick, and then I crank it up to its maximum capacity. Sometimes my results are small, and even I must admit that my bedside manner leaves much to be desired, but its so much fun to watch them scream."
One such mutant is the doctor's best "patient". His name was Jamie Madrox. He was a straight A student and an all pro athlete. He was born a mutant, but his powers left much to be desired, and so he was handed over to the Beast. His unique gift was the ability to split his body into a dozen exact replicas of himself, along with the gift of being an external. An external is a mutant that, unless he wills to take his own life, will live forever. So Dr. McCoy made it possible for him to split his body into two hundred replicas. This was not done without taking a great toll on Madrox's body and his mind. It also created one of Apocalypse's greatest weapons, the Madri Priests. Priests who are totally bent on purging the planet of it's "inferior" human inhabitants.
* * * * * * *
There are many that dare to oppose Apocalypse. One of those groups is the Human Resistance Force. It is located in the heart of the city once known as London, England. The leader of the HRF is Dr. Moira McTaggert, assisted by Dr. Bolivar Trask. Moira is also aided by a former mutant, Miss Emma Frost, known to her former mutant associates as the White Queen. She was once one of the most powerful telepaths on the planet, however, a full frontal lobotomy soon changed that. Dr. McTaggert is one of the leading geneticists on this planet. There is only one above her, the mysterious man known only by his code name, Sinister. Dr. Bolivar Trask is a robotics and animatronics expert. He has constructed one of the greatest weapons the HRF has against Apocalypse.
He calls them the Sentinels. They are twenty-five foot tall robots who are able to scramble Apocalypse's sensors, fly into an area populated by humans, and transport them to the human held continent of Eurasia. Altogether the HRF is a great foe of Apocalypse, but not the greatest foe.
* * * * * * *
It is called Heaven, and it is situated in the middle of Apocalypse's capital city, Manhattan. It is run by a man named Warren Worthington III, code named Angel. In this war he has remained like Switzerland, totally neutral in every way. Not quite. By working both sides of the fence he has kept himself alive all this time. He has all the contacts, from Apocalypse to Sinister to Bolivar Trask. Whether you need to contact someone, or you want the latest news from Apocalypse, Warren is the man to talk to. However, he is also a mutant, and he will not be able to stay neutral forever. Sooner or later he will have to choose whether or not he wants to leave Heaven behind for the hell the world has become.
* * * * * * *
Heaven may be all right, but there is a place that is truly considered to be heaven on earth. It is called Avalon, and it is situated in a remote area of Antarctica. The blind seer known to most only as Destiny established this oasis. None but a few know her by sight, and only one knows her by name.
Avalon is for those pure of heart and spirit. People and mutants are ferried to its shores by the shape-shifting mutant woman known to some as Mystique and to others as Raven Darkholme. Mystique has done much evil in her lifetime, and finds she cannot bring herself to enter Avalon's gates. She is also the mother of two of Apocalypse's most powerful enemies. In this way she takes a stab at Apocalypse's dark heart for all the evil he has done to her in her lifetime. However, Avalon is a large thorn in Apocalypse's side, because it is a place where humans and mutants can live together in peace, a thorn that must eventually be removed.
* * * * * * *
Finally we reach Apocalypse's greatest foes of all. They call themselves the X-Men. They are the most powerful mutants on the planet, with the exception of the mutants that choose to follow the way of Apocalypse. They are class A, the highest genetic class a mutant can be. These are their names listed in order of rank:
Magneto Leader
(Erik Lensherr)
Rogue Second in Command
(Real name unknown)
Gambit Leader of Blue Team
(Remy Lebeau)
Quicksilver Leader of Gold Team
(Pietro Lensherr)
Sabretooth Blue Tracker
(Victor Creed)
Weapon X Gold Tracker
(Logan)
Jean Grey Lead Telepath
Exodus Second Telepath
(Paris Benoit)
Morph Shape-shifter
(Sydney)
Storm Weather Mistress
(Ororo Munroe)
Nightcrawler Lead Teleporter
(Kurt Darkholme)
Blink Second Teleporter
(Clarice Ferguson)
Dazzler Light Conjurer Blue
(Allison Blare)
Jubilee Light Conjurer Gold
(Jubilation Lee)
Sunfire Fire Conjurer
(Shiro Yoshida)
Sunspot Heat Conjurer
(Roberto DaCosta)
Iceman Ice Conjurer
(Robert Drake)
Banshee Sonic Screamer
(Sean Cassidy)
Strong Guy Super Strength Blue
(Guido Carosella)
Colossus Super Strength Gold
(Pioter Niklieovitch)
Shadowcat Phaser
(Kitty Pryde)
Together they make up one of the strongest teams fighting for one of the noblest causes. They fight for a world free of prejudice and hatred. They fight for a world where humans and mutants can live together in peace. A long dead man named Charles Xavier started this dream long ago. Holding him in his arms, Magneto promised him before he died that he would carry out this dream. This dream for which people have given their lives and taken other's lives as well. Sometimes his followers question why they fight for someone else's dream, someone else's idea. Then they look within themselves and find that its not just one man's dream, its theirs' as well. It has become their goal to strive for peaceful coexistence. Some of them, however, still struggle to find the answer. Yet they figure fighting for the dream is better than fighting for the nightmare.
* * * * * * *
We join the X-Men on this, the morning of their largest evacuation procedure. Everyone is tense. Everyone is nervous. Everyone is moody. They are trying to get the flatscans, humans if you will, across the Atlantic to Eurasia. The task is, at least in one word, complicated. They can hardly hear Magneto's voice yelling over the crashing of the surf, and the whistling of the wind. One slip up is all it will take to send them on their way to Hades; one mistake and they're goners. Okay maybe more than one.
"Gambit!" Magneto yells over the surf, "Are the Sentinels coming yet?" He is just a little bit nervous. The Sentinels were supposed to be there over an hour ago, and still there has been no sign of them. It was getting to be pretty difficult hiding 3,000 humans off the coast of formerly Eastham, MA from Apocalypse's scanners.
Gambit runs back to him up the shoreline at a pace that even Quicksilver would be proud of. "Not a sign. 'Dem robots was sposed ta be here over an hour ago! You tink maybe dat Bolvar Trask set us up? You never know who be workin' for Apocalypse today." Gambit is an uneducated Cajun. That's the worst kind according to Magneto. However, even Erik must admit that Gambit has proven himself to be an asset to the team. Gambit is a born leader. He doesn't take any nonsense from anybody, and is respected for it. Not only that, but he has a way of keeping everybody's hope up, and befriending anybody. There's just something about him that makes you want to trust him. That is if you don't know him very well.
As a child Remy Lebeau was adopted into the Thieves Guild. He's killed men for belonging to another association, and tortured innocents just to steal their valuables away. That is the Thieves code of honor, and that is all Remy has ever known. Thank goodness thieves can change, although maybe not because they want to fight the good fight, sometimes it is for quite another reason.
"No Gambit, Bol-I-var Trask would not help Apocalypse, I have known him for much too long. He would not betray us." Magneto has always been a quiet man, not exactly leader material. Why then do they follow him, he wonders? Maybe it is because of the promise he made long ago to a dying friend. He can still remember the words that were spoken on that day.
"Magnus, I need you to promise me something. Promise me that you will carry on my dream for peaceful coexistence. Promise not to let a mutant as powerful as that one control the earth." Charles had said this to him, after that attack by the crazed mutant child was over. Charles was seriously wounded during the fight, and they both knew that there was no way he was going to survive.
"But Charles, I'm only one man. I can't change the world. I will promise you that I will try, but like I said I'm just one person." He had answered him foolishly, and what Charles Francis Xavier said to him at that moment would stick in his mind forever.
"Erik you can't imagine the difference one man can make. Remember, any dream worth having is a dream worth stri..." Charles Xavier never finished that sentence, but Magnus knew what he had wanted to say. He had said it to him many times before. Now those words are engraved on Xavier's tombstone and in Magneto's head. "Any dream worth having is a dream worth striving for, because you can't imagine the difference one dream can make." And Magneto has never stopped wondering if the world would be different if Charles Francis Xavier had not died that day. "Don't worry Gambit." Magneto answered him. "I know Bolivar. He would not betray me."
"Yeah, dat's what you said bout Abyss!" Gambit mutters under his breath. At one point in this war Magneto had a student who was, unbeknownst to them, working for Apocalypse at the same time, Abyss. Unfortunately Apocalypse paid him to defect. Abyss almost caused them to lose the whole war. If they had been captured, every human on the planet would be dead. However, they received word of his plan just in time and were able to escape, and secure a new location of operations.
All of a sudden a loud roar comes over the crashing of the waves, the roar of.... "Sentinels! Magnus they're here! Morph git those humans ready ta go, we got to git them out o' here 'fore the Big 'A' finds 'em." Banshee yells, trying to prove he is just as capable of leading the Blue team as Remy. Gambit has other ideas on that matter.
"I call de shots Banshee, don' you foget dat. Rogue, go meet up wit dem an make sure dat Bolvar got dat cloakin' device workin'. Dazz we could use some light ta make sure dat dey is who we tink dey are." Gambit takes charge of everything as usual, leaving Magneto some time to think, before the explosion that is, and the scream of Gambit as he sees the woman he loves plummet to the ocean floor. "Rogue! No!"
"It is all right Remy," yells Storm as she flies in with Rogue in her arms. "I caught her, she is safe. We must transport her out of here now. Those were definitely the Sentinels, but Apocalypse's forces are trying to drive them out of our reach. Nightcrawler, take Rogue and teleport her out of here, NOW!"
Gambit watches Rogue's brother carry her away to safety, and then he loses it. "Damn you Apocalypse! I'll kill you one way or nother! You gonna pay! Big time." Rogue means everything to Gambit; she is his whole life. If he were to lose her, he would lose everything that was ever dear to him. She taught him how to love, and he can never repay her for that.
"Clarice start teleporting those humans over to the Sentinels, they can't get any closer without being severely damaged." Quicksilver yells, running the screaming humans back and forth from behind the defenses to the portal Blink is getting ready to set up.
Adrenaline is running high. They haven't slept in over two days. They're relying on their nerves and reflexes. Then it's over. Most of the humans made it, but not all. They would like to mourn for the humans, but they find no tears, only an emptiness engulfing their souls. Not a sadness really, just a lack of emotion. However, even if they found themselves able to cry there would be no tears left, they would have already been shed so many times over. So with a heavy heart they return to the place that under different circumstances they might find themselves calling home.
* * * * * * *
Rogue hears the soft knock on the door before her would be nurse does, and knows who it is before he can even open the door. "Hi Remy. How was the evac?" He enters the room, trying to avoid noticing the glare he receives from her slightly overprotective brother.
"Eveyting went jus' fine, but not all da norms made it fore Apocalypse drove us outta dere. We had ta leave em behind." He knows better than to try and hide their semi-failure from her, she can read him like a book. "We almost lost Jubes. She's fine though. Jubilee gon be jus' fine." Jubilee is their adopted daughter. They hadn't known that she was a mutant when they adopted her. They took her in after her parents and other siblings had been slaughtered under Apocalypse's hand. They've always been grateful that they were there to rescue her, otherwise she would have been lost in the cullings long ago, and their lives would be totally different
"How many'd we lose?" She asks, and seeing the reluctance in his face knows it was more than she wanted to hear. "Nevah mind, by that look on yoah face ah don't think ah wanna know. Kurt was tellin' me that yah lost control again. Didja?"
Gambit doesn't answer her; he just nods his head in shame. Rogue always tells him to watch his temper, but when she's involved he finds it impossible. He just can't seem to control his emotions when it comes to her, Jubilee, and the little boy just entering the room in the arms of his uncle.
"Mien sister, somebody has been waiting for you to come home. Haven't you mien freund." Kurt is carrying something that is worth more than gold. He is carrying their son, Charles.
"Hey buddy, Momma missed you." At the sight of him all Rogue can do is smile. He is hers, her son, and she isn't going to let Apocalypse get ahold of him. Never, no matter what it takes to keep him safe.
"Momma! Dadda! Unkie Kurt want down!" He yells as he tries to run across the room, almost falling before Gambit can catch him.
"Watch out." He says as he picks Charles up. "You'll hurt yourself. Chere, I'm gon' go check on Jubes again, be right back." He kisses them both on the head, hands Charles over to his mother, and walks out of the room and down the hall to see his daughter.
* * * * * * *
"Father may I speak with you?" Pietro asks this with a bit of uneasiness. Though Magneto is his father, the two have never been close. What closeness they had died with his sister Wanda. Wanda was Quicksilver's mother, father, sister, friend, and better half since the day they were born. She was his twin after all. Never, could he be that close to anyone ever again. However, that feeling didn't apply to Storm.
"Of course son. Come in. I wasn't expecting you. If it is the evacuation you would like to talk about, I'm sorry I told you to retreat. I am aware that we could have gotten the last four hundred out if we had surrounded Apocalypse's forces."
"It is nice to hear you admit that." He is shocked that his father is so open about his mistake. Usually the rule is Magneto is never wrong, everybody else is. That isn't the reason he wanted to talk tonight, but at least it was a topic of conversation, something to break the ice. Nothing bothers Quicksilver, he has always known how to get what he wants, the way he wants, or find some other way to get it. However, his father is the only thing that really, truly scares him. "Father, it's about Storm. I don't think you should send her on this scouting mission…"
* * * * * * *
Jean is exhausted. From staying in mental contact with Moira for two days, and carrying screaming kids to Blinks portal, she has learned that even the most energetic person has limitations. She feels like she could just drop. So of course there has to be somebody knocking at her door. "Yeah, what do you want?" She yells from her bed, not wanting to move.
"Jean, its Logan. Can we talk for a little bit?"
Talk? Yeah right. More like screw around for awhile, and right before she gets to sleep he'll start snoring and keep her up half the night, until he decides that he should really go back to his own room. Of course by then she has to be up in an hour anyway, so there's no point in trying to sleep at all. Why couldn't he just let her sleep, just for one night at least? Couldn't he see on the Blackbird how absolutely exhausted she had been? Did he even care? "Not now Logan. I'm so tired right now I think I'm going to pass out. Tomorrow, all right?" Please just let me sleep, she says to herself, as she goes to look through her keyhole to see if he shows any signs of leaving.
"Jean, all I want to do is talk. I promise."
"About what?" She asks him, as she readies to open the door, since it is obvious that he's not going anywhere until he at least talks to her, face to face.
"It's about the evac. Look, Erik screwed up royally, an' I know it. I think he mighta done it purposefully, ya know."
"Oh all right, come in and tell me what you think he did this time." By now Jean and the others were used to Logan inventing his own unfounded evidence, constantly trying to prove that Magneto works for Apocalypse. Nobody ever believes him, but the stories can be at worst stupidly moronic, and at best absolutely hysterical, leaving all of them laughing about it for days. At least they kept life around the house interesting.
* * * * * * *
Ever since this whole thing started Banshee has been almost a manic depressant. He loved Moira McTaggert with all his heart, but he is a mutant, and when she found out she left him. Being abandoned left Sean more than just slightly depressed. So he got into the habit of spending most of his free time in the presence of the ever high spirited Bobby Drake, especially after having to see Moira the day before.
"Hey Sean you look like Magneto on a good day! What put you so down in the dumps?" Although Bobby says this sarcastically, he really is concerned for his friend. He has seen this look on Banshee's face before, and knows that it's the true depression shining through. This usually happens every time they get in contact with Moira. "Hey I know what you need Banshee ol' buddy how's about a nice ice-slide, hum. Okay no ice-slide." Bobby says, as Sean gives him a dirty look. "Then how about some ice-cream? Everyone loves ice cream. No ice-cream, then how about a slush?" Sean just continues to shake his head no. "Come on Cassidy help me out here, I'm drownin'!" Banshee catches the joke just in time, and as Bobby had hoped, it cheers him up a little.
"Ye aren't meltin' yet Drake, so ah donna see how ya could bae." Banshee answers, with the shadow of a smile showing on his face. "Ah know ye like ta joke an' all man, but that one was pretty lame!"
"Well fine, don't appreciate my sense of humor." Bobby, seeing that he's starting to have an effect, decides to keep the joke up, and keep the humor neutral. "I guess I'll just have to leave then. No, don't try to stop me. I've made up my mind. You won't have Iceman to laugh at anymore, no siree. I'm gonna walk right out that door all by myself, and you'll never hear from me again. I'll leave right now and I . . . ". Suddenly, someone who has never had any patience for Bobby's sudden flairs of drama cuts him off.
"If you're going to go, then go! And be quick about it too!" yells Sunfire, very impatient to get back to his reading. "This is a library after all! If you want to fool around you should go see Morph."
"That's it! Come on Banshee ol' buddy. If Morph can't make you laugh, nobody can! Then you'll be in danger of turning into poor Shiro here. With no friends, no sense of humor, and the best head to roast marshmallows on this side of the Mississippi!" Iceman says, as he dashes out of the room, while avoiding the sparks that are literally flying from Sunfire's overheating epidermis.
* * * * * * *
"Hey Exo, buddy. What's up?" Dazzler asks her best friend Exodus. Dazzler and Exodus met while working in a lab for Magneto himself back in the 80s, before most people knew there were such things as mutants. They thought that they were the only two mutants in existence, and the bond they formed withstood even the introduction of thirty other mutates.
"Nothing much," he answers, "except for that shape-shifting boyfriend of yours!"
"What do you mean?" she asks him, wondering if she truly wants to hear the answer. "What's he planning?" Dazzler's boyfriend, Morph, was a shape shifter. It made the relationship interesting, not everybody could say they were dating a helicopter. However, Morph liked to take advantage of his abilities. Some looked upon it as a training exercise to be ready for everything, others as an annoyance. Exodus saw it as funny, but out of everybody, Dazzler alone saw it as an adventure.
"He's not planning anything." Paris answers her. "I mean look up!"
Suddenly, she hears a voice drift down from the ceiling, and needs no further explanation. "You stinking, rotten, over-grown kid, you spoil everything." He says as his voice descends, with him nowhere in sight. "Hang on, can you see me? Guess what, I'm a dust particle! Or at least one of them anyway. Have you ever seen a hundred different clones of yourself, and wondered exactly who you are? It's a very soul searching experience. Exo, if you ever find out you have a soul, I'd suggest you try it! Hiyah schweetheart. I tink maybe you miss me, no?" Like she thought. It was always an adventure. It took him some time to change back from a piece of dust, with a lot of sneezing on the side. But, eventually he was the white faced Morph that everybody loved to hate again.
"Morph, honey, stop showing off please," she says, knowing full well that Morph must be Morph, and Morph must show off.
"Yes darling. I promise on my honor to behave to the best of my ability." He says, deciding that boyscout attire might make him look more convincing.
Just as he finishes returning to his normal self again, Iceman comes galloping, if you've ever seen ice gallop, into the room, with Banshee in tow. "Morph, we got a major problem here! I can't make Banshee laugh!"
"Really? Well the pupil is never as skilled as the master. Let me take a look at him." Morph says, he tries tickling, and the result is Banshee letting out a small laugh, one barely audible to those not right in his face, as Morph was at the moment. However, the small chuckle was enough to satisfy Morph and calm Bobby's spirits. "What we have here is a perfectly healthy Rogue level patient, doesn't laugh often, but if there's a reason to might. He just isn't in the mood to laugh is all. Speaking of Rogue, anybody know how our fearless leadress is doing?"
* * * * * * *
While Colossus's room was in the process of being repaired/rebuilt, he was stuck rooming with Sabretooth. It wouldn't be so bad if Victor was somebody the Russian could stand, but Sabretooth was far from being Pioter's best friend any time soon. What made the arrangement especially impossible though, was the fact that there were really three people in Creed's room.
There was always Victor's friend/pet, Wildchild. Victor found Kylie, half frozen in the Canadian wild. Victor saved his life, learned his language, and took him in. It wasn't something that either of them would likely soon forget.
"Sabretooth, would you kindly remove this animal of yours. He is chewing on my shoes, and I need them tonight." The metallic Russian complains to his would be roommate.
"You want him moved Ruskie, you move him. They ain't my shoes, so they ain't my problem. Sides Kylie ain't an animal; he understands more than you probably do."
Just then came the unmistakable sound of Blink teleporting in. Since Clarice is Victor's adopted daughter, he is always the first person to greet her at the end of a mission, and so at the noise he heads down the hallway to welcome her home. But instead of seeing her smiling back at him, he is greeted by a large crowd of people, trying to dodge lightening, while being soaked through with rain, and knocked down by gale force winds, all within four walls. It doesn't take a genius like Magneto to know that something ain't kosher.
* * * * * * *
"Storm, you must regain control of your powers!" Magneto yells, trying to see if he can solve this dilemma without seriously injuring Storm, or letting her seriously injure someone else. "Peitro, create a wind wall around Storm. All right, Gambit knock down those walls. I hope this works."
"Gambit wait! She's got it under control." Peitro yells rushing to his loved one's side. "Kurt, I need you, now!"
As Magneto watches Storm being brought to the infirmary, he knows that whatever caused Storm to lose control had to be big. For he knows that Ororo never loses control, ever. Which makes him doubt he wants to know what it was.