Disclaimer: I dont own the X-men
This follows events in my Struggle of the Apprentice series, see my profile for details on said series
Here's the next big X-men storyline the march to my rewrite of Second Coming. In this we'll switch between the future and the present as Hope grows up in an apocalyptic future while the X-men face threats to mutant kind such as the Gods hand, Bastion's alliance of Anti-mutants, Vampires and a New Hellfire Club. We first begin with a tie into the Hunt storyline, which also shows a bit of the Origin of my OC Albion.
Other Oc's will appear in future storylines along with the character of the main Struggle of the Apprentice series Sieg.
The March to Second Coming
Hunt Tie In: The X-men and the Gold Knight
He wasn't a mutant, but his was beyond super human as well. Many years ago he had been killed by a powerful superhuman known as Destruction. Some time afterwards his body was injected with a formula that would not only revive him, but also give him power beyond a super soldier. His eyes widened and he gasped for hair. He had batted his hands against the lid of the coffin, looking at his new surroundings in terror. The lid creaked but it didn't budge and the lack of air confirmed his fears. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his chest. His eyes glowed a bright gold colour, lighting up the grave. He began to claw at the coffin, shredding the beautifully made fabric that cushioned his body. Against his will, his breathing began to quicken as he dragged his nails against the wood. Splinters dug into his fingers and his nails fell off. But that didn't stop him; he desperately pounded against the wood, cracking the lid.
"AARGH! SVEEEN! FAIITH!" The young man yelled as dirt fell onto his face.
The boy's skin began to change as he pushed his hands through the dirt. His suit tore as armoured plates crept across his body. Gold plates covered his chest, ripping apart his shirt and jacket. Clawed gauntlets replaced his hands and a gold helmet covered his face. He growled as he dug his way through the dirt, his hand bursting out of the ground. The young man pulled himself up, breathing the fresh air in as raised his head. He crawled across the floor and stopped, pulling himself to his knees. For a moment he stared at his hands, before unleashing a scream and the light of his armour.
Several years later!
They are the X-men, a team once dedicated to creating a world where humans understood and accepted mutants. However some time ago the very ideal of the X-men changed. A very powerful mutant uttered three words that virtually destroyed billions of mutant genes. People simply stopped being mutants, and mutants stopped being born. Those whom hated mutants used this as their opportunity to get rid of the remaining mutants. The X-men did their duty, but lost some of their own. Now they fight to protect themselves, occasionally doing the super hero work they did in the past. Some time after M-Day the X-men met a young man named Sieg Wallace. He helped them not only uncover a conspiracy from the Skrulls but also helped Jean Grey return to the land of the living, rejoining her husband Scott Summers.
The X-men now have three homes, the original institute, the city of San Francisco and the mutant island Utopia. Scott Summers sat inside the war room of the institute, addressing former S.H.I.E.L.D. director Tony Stark on a secure channel. The topic of their discussion was Sieg and the students he had taken with him to act as Avengers. They had apparently done a lot of damage in the past few weeks. Jean waited outside, knowing through her link with Scott what he was thinking.
In San Francisco a blonde haired woman sat at a café, drinking her tea. Her clothes were pure white and exposed her shoulders and cleavage. She could tell what the men were thinking about her, she could read their thoughts even without telepathy. Emma Frost looked at the newspaper article, showing the recent damage Sieg's "Avengers" had caused. She scoffed at their actions, though she could appreciate their more hands on approach to super hero work. A moment passed before a blonde haired man sat in front of her, he was wearing a yellow shirt with beige slacks. Emma lowered her sunglasses, smirking at the man.
"Mr Collins, what brings you to San Fran?" Emma asked, masking her mild interest.
"Oh bridges, bikes and super heroes, the usual stuff. How are things with the X-men?" The man asked.
"Quite well actually, we have a very big prison to maintain, or at least I've heard that's what the people are calling it," Emma said.
"Listen Miss Frost…"
"Please darling call me Emma."
"No thanks; anyway I live in between both worlds, though in actuality they're the same worlds. Mutants are no different from humans; they aren't even the next step in evolution,"
"In your opinion," Emma interrupted.
"If that's what helps you sleep at night go ahead, what I'm getting at is that there are people who want mutants contained and controlled but there are also people who understand the situation of mutants and there are those whom aren't bothered entirely. Right now there are fanatics knocking at the White House demanding that some legislation be passed on mutants but they've been ignored. The government's priority is repairing the world they could care less about the state of mutants. So they're going to let mutants get on with it, pretty much," Lazlo explained.
"But they will always hate us."
"You could say the same thing about blacks, Muslims etc, but you think it's different don't you, you think of yourselves as a species instead of a culture. Plus you think that poor girl Hope is some all powerful Messiah who will restore the superior Homo's to their rightful place in the world!"
"Are we all that obvious?"
"Joke about it all you want but that girl will never have a normal life if you don't stop thinking of her as the saviour of all mutant kind. You've taken her across entire timelines, she's been under threat of death and you've made this worse by labelling her as the mutant messiah," Lazlo explained.
"We never gave her that label," Emma said.
"Yeah, well you sure as hell encourage it!"
"What are you doing here Lazlo; really why are you here I've respected your privacy enough not to read your mind, just answer my question!"
Lazlo sighed as he leant across the table, looking Emma in the eyes.
"I'm here to save as many lives as I can, because right now the X-men don't seem to be doing enough. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one," Lazlo said solemnly.
"You're saying we shouldn't be risking our lives for Hope," Emma said.
"You should be risking you life for her because she's a fellow human being, and no I'm not talking about Hope. You'll see when the time comes Miss Frost!"
"I thought I told you to call me Emma," She said as she inched closer.
"Tempting but my tastes are…" Lazlo stopped as he got off his chair.
Emma looked at the man in confusion before widening her eyes. He put a hand to his head as his eyes gave off a gold glow. For a moment he continued to rub his head before the glow in his eyes faded. Emma got off her chair and walked over to Lazlo.
"What is it?" She asked, her voice as low as a whisper.
"Something's happening in New York, look!" Lazlo said, motioning to the café's TV.
People were watching the scene in New York unfold with a mix of shock and fear. Emma herself widened her eyes; Norman Osborn was dead, pinned to the main sign of Times Square. Lazlo walked away from the Café, switching on his phone as he walked. He shook his head, Sven wasn't keeping his phone on and James would no doubt be riddled with work of his own. Emma ran to Lazlo's side, walking down the street with him.
"What are you going to do?" Emma asked.
"Looks like you're going to get your wish Emma, I'll be leaving the X-men to their own devices for now, just don't let Scott do anything to destroy what your team is supposed to stand for."
Emma put a hand on Lazlo's chest, stopping him from moving.
"I don't want you gone Lazlo, I think its time we stopped the charade!"
Lazlo sighed before Emma changed into her diamond form. She nodded her head to him as his eyes glowed. Suddenly, Lazlo grabbed Emma's hand and threw her upwards. She flipped in midair, landing on the rooftop of the nearby bus station. The people who had been following them looked at Emma in shock as she ran towards them. She swung her fist back, punching one of the men across the face and knocking him off the roof.
"Really, can't a woman ask anyone out in peace?" Emma wondered before she kicked the other man.
The two stalkers rubbed their soreheads as they got up off the floor. They both gasped as they were lifted off the ground. A man in gold armour held them both by their collars, looking at them with glowing gold eyes.
"All right boys, what were you two doing following us?" Lazlo asked.
"We're paparazzi, please don't hurt us!" One of the men begged.
"Do all paparazzi have level 10 mind blocks, I may not be able to read your minds but I can tell when you've got something in there that shouldn't be," Emma explained, smiling as the men looked at one another for help.
Lazlo threw the two men against the wall, creating a gold sword in his right hand. He pointed the blade at the two spies, waiting for them to answer.
"Okay, okay we'll talk just don't cut anything please," One of them said.
"Good, talk quickly or I sick the woman on you!" Lazlo smirked beneath his helmet as the men began spilling their guts.
Utopia was used not just as a safe haven for mutants, but also a headquarters for the San Francisco X-men branch. Emma and Lazlo travelled to Utopia and the building that the X-men had reserved. James Proudstar, AKA Warpath stood with Rachel Grey AKA Marvel Girl and long term X-man Bobby Drake/Iceman and recent addition Vendetta. Emma soon walked into the room, wearing her first X-men uniform. Rachel rolled her eyes, knowing it was most likely an attempt to catch a certain man's attention. Albion then walked into the room in full armour, just as Cyclops appeared on the main screen.
"Lazlo, I heard about the incident in New York, does this have any connection?" Scott asked.
'Business as usual dad' Rachel thought.
"None I can see, it seems to be the usual anti mutant plot, the men we interrogated were quick to provide us with answers but they didn't actually know much. They were hired through a recruitment agent; they never actually met the one that gave them their telepathic blocks!" Lazlo explained.
"But we have been able to pinpoint a location where they would have met their employers," Emma added.
"I know the place, I just came here to tell you that you don't need to bother sending your people in Summers!"
"Sorry Collins but this is a mutant concern, if anything you should be staying out of it," Scott said.
"Not everyone fights exclusively for their own "kind" as you like to put it. My priority is everyone, unlike you!"
Rachel fidgeted as James rubbed his head, both containing their amusement over the situation. The two men didn't glare, but their eye contact was enough to notify the group that they were two men bashing heads.
"Send your people if you want Summers, I could use the ride there anyway," Lazlo said dismissively.
"Try not to get in their way!"
"Right back at you!"
Emma shook her head as Scott cut the line. Back in Westchester, Scott turned to Jean. His wife looked at him with a look of disapproval, her hands on her hips. The Black Bird flew out of Utopia's hanger, carrying a team for the investigation. Lazlo sat in the co-pilot seat, while Emma switched the jet to autopilot. Behind them was the team they would be taking, Rachel, James, Gambit and the trainee X-men Surge, Anole and Pixie.
"So Lazlo, what is this warehouse and how do you know about it?" Emma asked.
"It was a base used by a man named Godu during the Angelic war!" Lazlo said.
"The Angelic war, what's that?" Pixie asked.
"When I was younger Sven's blood triggered the activation of a super soldier serum that gave him his current powers. A scientist named Godu later modified the serum and gave it to several people he recruited into his own private army. This was to fight his own private war with a Ninja lord called Muramasa. Anyway this base was one of Godu's labs." Lazlo finished his explanation by leaning back on his seat and closing his eyes.
The rest of the journey went quickly with Lazlo sleeping and the X-men thinking over what he had said. Emma knew that Lazlo dismissed any further questions because he had been part of that army Godu had created. Or perhaps he had been part of Muramasa's army. Alls Emma knew was that something had happened during that war that Lazlo didn't want to talk about. The group landed the jet near the warehouse and walked towards the front entrance. Albion pulled a sword out of his back as he kicked the door down. The warehouse was deserted, a few tables and broken glasses as well as crumbled pieces of paper, but there were no signs of anyone having been here. There were also old pieces of armour of some kind.
"Why didn't we bring a tracker for this?" Rachel asked.
"Wolverine's in the city dealing with some issues about Sieg," Emma said.
"Yeah what's up with him?" Surge asked.
"He just wants to make a difference, and he's doubting our methods of doing it," Lazlo said.
"You mean your methods? You do understand that sometimes people have to die?" Emma asked.
"When you take a life you become damaged, if we all end up taking lives in order to make the world a better place then we become tyrants over our fellow men. We all become damaged; damned if you will and where do we draw the line? At what point do we start killing because it's necessary or because it's convenient. Killing's never justified, but soldiers have some excuse. When a symbol kills its just a reflection of a lack of dedication," Lazlo explained.
The students lowered their heads while Emma turned her head away. She knew of Cyclops X-Force as well as the argument he and Lazlo had concerning the ideology of it. Lazlo himself crouched on the floor and looked over the pieces of paper. His concentration wasn't a hundred percent on the crime scene. He knew that Deathblade had returned to New York and that Sven would be right in the middle of any manhunt. Lazlo looked over one of the sheets; it had been from a notepad. Godu could only decipher whatever had been written, but Lazlo knew that the paper was old enough to be before Godu's disappearance.
"So this is how you make an army?" Anole asked, throwing one of the pieces of paper he had picked up.
"This has been deserted for too long, if your mutant hating band was here then they had no idea what this warehouse had been used for," Lazlo explained.
Pixie looked down at the floor, raising her eyebrows at the circle drawn into it. The circle seemed to consist of numerous patterns. She placed her hand on the circle, widening her eyes as it began to glow a red colour. Lazlo and the X-men turned to Pixie, who raised her soul dagger.
"PIXIE GET AWAY FROM THERE!" Lazlo yelled.
"MEGAN!" Emma yelled.
Lazlo ran forward, wrapping his arm around the smaller girl's waist. He pulled her to the side as a beam shot out of the Alchemy rune. Albion jumped to the X-men, placing Pixie on the floor and pointing his sword at the energy pillar.
"Emma go into diamond form now and whatever comes out of that pillar don't even think about reading its mind," Lazlo ordered.
Warpath drew his daggers while Surge charged her gauntlets. Something began to move inside the energy pillar. The pillar shrunk, revealing what it had been hiding. It was some kind of energy armour, an empty suit of see through energy armour, armed with a curved scythe. Albion narrowed his eyes at the armour as its eyes glowed a red colour. The energy from the pillar passed to the pieces of armour, assembling them into three soldiers.
"X-men, hit them hard and fast," Emma said.
"Wait!"
Anole, Surge and Pixie were already ahead, utilising the quick strike manoeuvres they had been taught. Noriko fired a stream of electricity into one of the armoured suits. The empty warrior drew its sword, running towards the blue haired girl. Surge ducked underneath its sword strike and swung her fist at where her opponent's head should have been. Her punch met air and Surge rolled out of the way, cursing as she remembered what she was fighting. They were just empty suits of Japanese armour. But the main suit was more demonic, as well as being made from pure energy.
"Rachel, break the armour apart," Emma ordered.
Marvel Girl nodded her head and spread her arms out, splitting one of the suits in half. But the pieces suddenly flew towards her, hitting her across the head. Warpath ran and jumped towards the main suit, throwing his knives. But the blades merely deflected off of the armour. The suit threw its arm forward, slamming its fist into Warpath's face. James was thrown back, crashing through the wall.
"What is it?" Pixie asked, dodging a strike from one of the samurai armours.
"A portion of the being known as Deathblade," Lazlo said.
"Whose Deathblade?" Anole asked.
Albion ran forward, intending to strike the main suit. But then he changed his plan, instead running for one of the samurai armours. He stopped, seeing that the armours merely kicked Anole to the ground. They then broke off into a run, straight towards the White Queen. Emma dropped into a fighting stance, but Lazlo suddenly slid in front of her. He grabbed her shoulder and forced her to her knees. The samurai armours had their swords raised, but didn't strike. Marvel Girl then struck, firing a telekinetic blast into the suits.
"Everyone stop moving now!" Lazlo said.
The X-men did as they were told and widened their eyes as the main suit of armour rushed towards Emma and Lazlo. Albion gripped the White Queen's waist and jumped into the air, away from the rampaging suit. But the energy suit altered its course, dragging its scythe across the floor as it ran after Emma and Albion. When Lazlo landed, the suit grabbed his head, pushing him away from Emma. Then the suit raised its scythe and Emma dived just in time. She dodged the blade and rolled across the floor, stopping near Warpath.
"He's after Emma," Realization hit Rachel as the suit pushed past James.
Marvel Girl aimed a telekinetic blast at the suit, pushing it backwards. Then the other suits rushed towards Rachel, kicking her in the sides. Rachel yelled, throwing the suits back with a telekinetic wave. Pixie brandished her soul dagger and flew to Emma's aid. Anole landed on one of the suits, crushing its helmet with his big arm. Surge tackled one of the empty suits and threw it towards Warpath. James grabbed the suit and began crushing it into a ball.
"So why is this thing after Emma?" Pixie asked as the energy suit ran towards her.
"I'll explain later," Lazlo growled, getting up off the floor.
The Energy suit grabbed Pixie by her arm and threw her to one side. Then it swung its scythe towards Emma. Albion suddenly dived into Emma, pushing her out of the way. They rolled across the floor together, coming to a halt with Emma straddling Lazlo's waist.
"Is this how you spend all your free time?" She asked, grinning as Lazlo uncomfortably shifted.
"Get your mind back into the fight Emma," Lazlo said before rolling on top of Emma.
The suit stopped, its blade inches from Lazlo's neck. Lazlo then realised that the suit was set on killing only Emma. It was Cade's usual Modus operandi. Albion got up off the floor and held his sword to the suit's neck.
"A part of you has been made from Cade Hunter's spirit, look at me Cade, you know me and you know that there's only one mistake I've made that could make you doubt me. But don't doubt me now, look at me, remember that I'm an old friend and that if you keep fighting you'll end up killing me. Is that what you want Cade?"
A moment passed that seemed to last forever. The X-men stood ready to fight as the suit lowered its scythe. Lazlo lowered his blade in return and the energy suit disappeared. Emma got up off the floor, shifting back into her normal form.
"What just happened?" Pixie asked.
"This whole place is a trap, he was recruiting anti mutant terrorists so he could lead them here," Lazlo said.
"I see, yeah there are some old blood stains here," James pointed out.
"But why attack us?" Rachel asked.
"I'm no expert but when Pixie walked onto that alchemic rune she triggered a pre determined reaction. That circle was made utilising the science of one of the warlord's Godu. Its called Soul science or magic, the person creating the spell put his own spiritual energy into that circle so that when it was triggered his soul silhouette would kill anyone nearby whom it deemed evil," Lazlo explained.
"I get it, basically someone put part of themselves into that monster so that it would kill any bad people that came here," Pixie said.
"Yes, Cade Hunter, your still up to your old tricks it seems!"
"Who is Cade Hunter?" Anole asked.
"He's the one who killed Norman Osborn and put his body on display in New York."
"Is he a threat?" James asked.
"No," Lazlo's response was so quick that it actually shocked the X-men.
"Well if that's all its best we get out of here, before your friend comes back," Emma said.
Lazlo nodded his head but didn't walk with the good. He looked at the warehouse a final time, lingering as he gripped his sword.
"Cade, I hope you know what you're doing," He whispered.
The trip back to Utopia was a quick one; it mainly consisted of a conversation between the X-men's leader and Lazlo. Cyclops sat in his office in Westchester, talking to the team through a videophone.
"So this person recruited people with Anti mutant backgrounds so that he could draw them into this meeting place and kill them?" Cyclops asked.
"Yes, the rune reacted to our presence and then went after the one that it considered the most evil, Miss Frost here," Lazlo explained.
"Please darling call me Emma."
"Not likely," Lazlo growled.
Noriko and Megan giggled while Rachel shook her head.
"So this Deathblade man is actually after people he views as evil then, I'll contact Logan and see how things are in New York, the rest of you should go back to Utopia and rest up," Scott explained.
"That sounds like a good idea Summers but…how did you know Cade's codename was Deathblade?" Lazlo asked.
"You said so."
"No I didn't," Lazlo narrowed his eyes at the X-men leader.
Scott waited for a moment before sighing.
"Come to the institute, I guess you deserve to know the truth," He said.
Lazlo squeezed his armrest so hard that it broke. Emma cut the channel and switched the jet's destination to Westchester. She got off her chair and tapped Lazlo's shoulder.
"We need to talk," She said.
The X-students watched as Emma and Lazlo walked down the walkway. They stepped into the uniform storage room and shut the door behind them. Emma crossed her arms and leant against the wall while Lazlo made his armour disappear.
"So Mr Collins, who is Cade Hunter?" Emma asked.
"I was one of the generals in Godu and Muramasa's private war, Deathblade also known as Cade Hunter was a man whom remained outside of that conflict, fighting his own battle. We were enemies, then allies and then back to enemies, a cycle that ended with us respecting one another. Hell, we even called each other friend," Lazlo explained.
"So he was trying to kill me because he thinks I'm evil?"
"Oh I know Cade Hunter Miss Frost, he would only do something if he was completely certain, he can see evil Frost. Plus if it really had been him none of us would have walked out of there alive."
Emma huffed before Rachel slid the door open.
"We're approaching the mansion now guys, you might want to buckle up," The red haired girl said.
The X-men stationed in Westchester watched in confusion as the jet landed in the front yard. Lazlo walked off of the jet with Emma and straight into the mansion. While Emma waited in the entrance hall, Lazlo made his way to Scott's office. Scott was still in his office, dressed in his X-men uniform, minus the hood. Neither men wasted any time in small talk and went straight to the reason why they were there.
"Why do you know about Deathblade?" Lazlo asked.
"A few weeks ago, Emma recorded signals on Cerebra, they were signals that were going out. This Deathblade person was killing them, mutants, some of the last remaining members of our species. We all need to survive, but this Deathblade man was someone who threatened the lives of mutant kind and his intentions weren't clear…so I sent in X-Force!"
They tracked his location to an old Sentinel factory. Wolverine saw him working on a terminal, going through data and deleting it. Whatever he was deleting didn't matter, the mission was clear. Logan popped out his claws and jumped towards the hooded man. Deathblade suddenly threw off his hood, revealing his armoured form. A blade popped out of his wrist and he slashed Wolverine across the chest. Wolverine landed beside Deathblade and thrust his claws towards his face. But Deathblade grabbed Wolverine's arm and slammed it against the floor. Then he punched Wolverine across the head and kicked him into the wall. He pulled the blade out of his wrist and stabbed it into Wolverine's hand, pinning him to the wall.
"I already sensed you coming a mile away, you all have blood on your hands, but I wasn't willing to kill you before!" Deathblade's voice echoed through the room.
Domino popped out of her cover, firing her assault rifle. The bullets harmlessly bounced off of Deathblade's armour. He ran towards Domino, but stopped as blades flew towards him. Archangel flew out of the darkness, swinging his metal wings at Deathblade. The armoured man slid underneath the wings, sliding past Warren and kicking Domino in the chest. He jumped to his feet and deflected Archangel's wing strike. Then he elbowed Warren in the face, knocking him to the floor.
"You idiots are so focused on protecting mutants you haven't asked whether they're worth protecting," Deathblade said.
"People are always worth protecting," A voice growled in the shadows.
Wolfsbane sprinted towards Deathblade, snapping at him with her jaws. But Deathblade punched her jaw and grabbed her by the neck. Red energy suddenly spark around Deathblade's arm, causing Rahne to whimper in pain. She returned to her human form and looked at the man in fear.
"That's rich coming from you people, you've killed people left and right. Your just as twisted as I am and…" Deathblade stopped and looked down at Rahne's chest.
The Scottish girl breathed heavily, her hands shaking in fear as she gripped Deathblade's arm. His hand moved towards her chest and Logan struggled to get free. The glow in Deathblade's eyes faded as he felt Rahne's belly. He let her go and ignored the freed Wolverine.
"Get away from X-Force Rahne Sinclair, for the sake of your child become someone better than this!"
He flew into the air, crashing through the roof and flying away from the old factory. In the present Lazlo sat, dumbstruck at Scott's story.
"Hank performed the test, Rahne is indeed pregnant, so I've pulled her off of X-Force for her own protection," Scott explained.
'Cade, there's still good in you,' Lazlo thought.
"But that wasn't the end of our meeting with him. He later infiltrated the mansion," Scott said.
It had been the dead of the night and every X-man was asleep. Jean and Scott cuddled up to one another in bed as the wind of the night seeped into their room. There was no reason to be on high alert. Or so Jean and Scott thought. A sudden tapping sound woke them both up. They looked towards the front of their bed. Sitting on a chair was Deathblade, his finger grinding against the armrest.
"Sorry to wake you Mr and Mrs Summers, but we've got business to discuss. Mrs Summers if your husband is a good one then you already know why I'm here. As for you Mr Summers its time you woke up and faced reality," Deathblade explained as he threw an envelope onto the bed. "And don't read my mind Mrs Summers, if you push through the barriers too hard then they'll crush you, this isn't a threat it's a warning. Those envelopes have photos of the mutants I've killed in the past week, their names are on the back of each individual photo."
Deathblade reached into his coat pocket and threw a bundle of envelopes onto the bed.
"Each of those envelopes is labelled with the mutants name and pictures of his or her victims. Count victims as plural, meaning more then one. The photos also have details on the back of accurate and detailed information about how the victim was killed. This didn't take me much effort Summers, I can see sin and evil, I could name the precise amount of people each person in this mansion has individually killed and the precise method they used and the order of the deaths. But it's a long night and I'm sure you want to get back to sleeping!"
Jean reached for the envelopes and began reading each photo. She gasped at the details, overcome by disgust and pity for the victims.
"I know you've declared yourself protector of all mutants but its time you realised the truth about yourselves. I didn't kill them because they were mutants, I killed them because they deserved it. Now go back to being the X-men your supposed to be, protectors of everyone. I don't want to kill any of you, but if you get in my way one more time then I will kill you."
Deathblade walked to the window, his eyes glowing at Scott one more time before he flew out. Jean read the information they had been given all night and Scott sat with her. This man could have killed them all, but instead he chose to educate them.
"He killed those people because they were murderers who had yet to be punished," Scott said.
"Not really any different from what you've been doing, or what you've been sending X-Force to do," Lazlo said.
"The difference is…"
"No, hell no, don't you dare try to make yourselves sound any better than him, because your not…I'm not in the mood for this anymore Scott, I'm going to New York, but when I get back I expect you to sort the X-men out and start getting your priorities straight. The X-men should exist to protect everyone, not just some species that was made up to mock real evolution!"
"Wait Lazlo what do you mean by that?" Scott asked.
But Lazlo had already slammed the door shut behind him. He walked out of the mansion and straight towards the gate. Much to his surprise he saw Emma Frost waiting at a car. She was in her uniform, sitting on the hood of the car.
"Need a lift?" she asked.
"I'd rather not," Lazlo growled.
"I see, Scot was stubborn again wasn't he? You realise when you two fight nobody wins?"
"That man's so damn stubborn, he's one of the people responsible for Hope's ruined life," Lazlo said.
"How so?"
"His expectations of her, he paints her out to be a messiah, when she's just an ordinary girl. A girl who could live any life she wants to, but would Scott let her have that life?" Lazlo asked.
"If there's one thing I know about Scott is that he will give his life for mutant kind, including that girl!"
"The needs of all outweigh the needs of one…your all willing to die for one person but it is for the right reasons? I will die in battle, that much I know, but it'll be a battle I've chosen for the right reasons. Not for "species" or for a messiah but just for someone. A human like me and like you Emma!" Lazlo explained as Emma walked towards him.
She looked up at him; he was slightly taller than her. Their eyes met and Emma saw the fierce determination of a man who didn't believe in labels. In fact he and all his other friends didn't believe that mutants were the next step in evolution. That much Emma knew when she interacted with them.
"That's the second time you've called me Emma today, how come you only call me Emma then?" Emma asked.
"There's no particular reason, I guess the situations just called for it," Lazlo said.
"What do I need to do to make you call me that again?"
"Nothing, trust me I wont be calling you that agai…"
Emma suddenly pulled Lazlo's face to hers. With their lips pressed together they fell onto the hood of the car. Emma ran her hands down Lazlo's hair as he rubbed her thighs. She smiled as he pulled away, his cheeks burning from embarrassment.
"Emma lets forget…"
"See, I told you I could make you call me Emma again," She chuckled.
Lazlo shook his head, hiding his cheeks as he walked away. Emma leant back against the car, smiling as she thought of the kiss.
"Oh and Mr Collins, if you survive New York we'll go to this restaurant in Paris, make sure you bring a suit with you," Emma said before Lazlo covered himself with his armour and took to the skies.
James and Anole both had their jaws on the ground. The whole team had born witness to the "first kiss".
"Its about time," Rachel muttered.
Albion took off at full speed, not only to get away from the White Queen. He had to get to New York; he had to stop his friend from crossing a line he couldn't uncross. His story wasn't over yet; it would continue in this hunt that Deathblade had started.
Years into the future, beyond this hunt stood a world half destroyed. America was a wasteland and the Xavier institute was in ruins. Outside of the ruins stood a hut inhabited by the last surviving mutant and his family. Logan, now an old man sat at a dinner table, facing a man from the past. A red haired baby was sleeping in a crib while Logan drank beer with his guest. Logan tilted the liquid down his throat, while the silver haired man simply tapped his bottle.
"All right Logan, give it to me straight, what happened that you haven't told me?" Cable asked.
Logan rubbed his forehead before throwing the empty bottle to the side.
"We all thought that Cade Hunter was just another villain we needed to fight. At the time the X-men had been completely focused on protecting themselves, we didn't even try to help Sieg," Logan explained.
"Logan what has Sieg got to do with this?"
"Deathblade's actions had a real effect on Sieg, when we were done with that manhunt Sieg started getting…darker, more violent and cold towards his friends. His roster of Avengers changed and we didn't even think for one moment of a way to help him. We didn't give him what he needed!" Logan rubbed his eyes as he got up off the chair.
"Logan wait, what happens in the past?"
"That's enough questions for today, come on honey you should go to bed," Logan's wife said.
The older man made his way to his room, stumbling as he walked. Rose sat in front of Cable, grabbing his beer and casually finishing the drink.
"Someone used not only Deathblade but dead students of the X-men, and even then Cyclops said "No, there are too few of us to get involved" those were the exact words he spoke. Even with the possibility of saving his own students your father abandoned them. But what is past is past, there's nothing you and "Hope" can do to prevent this from happening, despite what that know it all girl is planning." Rose explained.
"You mean Layla Miller? How can she be here in this timeline?"
"I'm no expert but what I do know is that she has a good idea of how she thinks the world should be and she's willing to kill to turn it back into what it was. Layla Miller's all grown up Mr Summers, she's built a time machine and has gone back to the past to kill the one responsible for this wasteland."
"Cade Hunter?"
"No, Siegfried Wallace!"
Next Chapter 1: Rise of Hellfire
Dum Dum Dum! The tale has begun, next chapter sees the formation of the new Hellfire club. Albion will return to the x-men after the Hunt and will possibly start a romance with Emma Frost. Despite it not being part of the main series, reading this may help to understand the rewrite of Second Coming. Hope everyone enjoyed the beginning