Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men or any other Marvel characters.
A/N: This story takes place during the Age of Apocalypse storyline, about 5 years before the final conflict. Now, I know that the Age of Apocalypse took place back in '95-'96, but I've been working on this story, on and off, for almost ten years now; I had actually thought it lost for about five years until discovering it in on old note book recently. I decided to finish it off, and post it here. I hope you enjoy it, and that it brings back memories of one of the most interesting times in X-Men comic book history (at least, I think it was), or that it inspires those of you who have never read the original Age of Apocalypse comics to go out and do so. I apologize, in advance, that some of the chapters will be relatively short; they are used for character introduction, and/or plot fillers.
Part.1. (The Breeding Pens)
His name is Scott Summers, but most people know him as Prelate Summers, or Cyclops; commander of the Elite Mutant Force, Sinister's Lieutenant, and master of Apocalypse's Breeding Pens. His enemies and peers both respect and fear him. He is the only person on the planet, other than the Four Horsemen, to have Apocalypse's ear. He is a mutant that possesses the power to create powerful beams of concussive force from his eyes; and he is a deeply conflicted man.
He was raised by Sinister to believe that he was superior to humans and mutants alike. He was given every benefit of being someone of the upper caste. Yet, he has never felt superior to any of them, and has chafed at his life of luxury. Two years ago, after having been given command of the Breeding Pens, he encountered a prisoner, a young human woman, named Val Cooper. After a lengthy discussion with her, he made a decision that would change his life forever; he freed her. Since then, he has freed dozens, if not hundreds, of prisoners, and handed them over to Val or her people from the Human High Council.
Tonight, he plans to free a couple of prisoners that are scheduled for execution tomorrow, and deliver them to Val. Ten minutes ago, he had called Prelate Raymond Crisp into his office, and told him to patrol the West Wing because Prelate Samuel Guthrie, who was supposed to be patrolling it, would be patrolling the East Wing to cover for his brother Prelate Alex Summers; what he didn't do, however, was tell Sam that he was supposed to be covering for Alex. This left the East Wing, completely free of any guards, and he knew of ways to bypass the cameras. He sneaks into the Breeding Pens through a false wall that he knows of, built by Sinister as an escape route, and activates his holo-emitter, something of his own design, which makes him look like Magneto. He makes his way down the hall and to the cell that he had put both prisoners in earlier today. The two prisoners gasp at the sight of him, and one says, "Magneto?"
Scott activates a button to open the door, and, for dramatic effect, reaches out with his hand. "Come, my children, we must get you to safety." he says in a passable Magneto impersonation. The two prisoners, walk forward, and follow him back down the hall to the secret passage. From there he leads them out to the river, where Val Cooper is waiting with a boat, to take the prisoners to a waiting submarine. Once the prisoners are on the boat, he turns off the holo-emitter and says to Val, "I'm sorry I couldn't get more this time, but I've had to step up safety procedures in the Pens, and I can't afford to get caught."
"I understand." She says.
Before anyone can say anything else, Scott hears a voice in his headset. He listens closely and hears Sam say, "…calling Prelate Summers."
He looks up at Val and says, "I've got to go, it seems like they may have found out about the escape already."
He turns away from her and starts walking back to the Pens, "What do you want, Guthrie? I said that I'm not to be disturbed tonight!" he demands, trying to put as much spite as he can into his voice.