Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except Krull, which belongs to Columbia-Tristar.
Summary: Sequel to the Essex Plan. Sinister releases Apocalypse, but the two have competing agendas. Meanwhile, Talia is growing up very fast. And a non-mutant joins the institute.
Quick notes: Talia is T. J. "Nocturne" Wagner, but this is an alternate version of her, not the Exiles version. "Wild-type" means non-mutant. This story contains a lot of Krull references, not for any real point but just so fans of the movie can catch them and say "hey, that's cool!"
Chapter 1: Mesmero
About a month after Talia's kidnapping and rescue (around early October), ~ 11:30 pm at night:
Slowly Mesmero made his way up to the X-Mansion. His instructions were clear and simple.
"Rogue... Rogue..."
Rogue slowly awakened, and walked over to the window. She nodded, and then walked through her room to the door and down the hallway to Jamie's room. Once there, she opened the door, walked in, and placed her hand upon Jamie's head. Then she walked back to her room. She got dressed, and then opened her window and leaned out.
Mesmero threw a baseball at her and hit her in the shoulder. A second Rogue appeared, and the first pulled back in and undressed, put her pajamas back on, and went to bed. The second Rogue jumped out the window and landed outside. She multiplied for a second, and then drew the duplicates back into one Rogue. Mesmero took out a syringe and injected her. Now this second Rogue would become totally separated from the original. She would also be better able to retain powers for long periods of time.
Mystique was waiting in the car. Mesmero got into the front seat, and Rogue into the backseat with her foster mother.
"Your usefulness is at an end, Mystique," said Mesmero, as Rogue grabbed her with an ungloved hand, knocking her out.
~ 1 am that night/the next morning:
The Acolytes were all drinking at a bar called The Iron Desert when four very attractive women came in. A blonde sat next to Victor, a brunette next to Remy, a raven-haired beauty next to St. John, and a redhead next to Piotr.
"My friends and I would like to get to know you guys better," said the blonde.
A few drinks later and they all were at a motel, although Piotr had expressed objections. Finally they had told him he could just watch TV with his date.
"Well, Cher, what you be wantin' t' do wit' Remy?"
"Let's kiss."
"Oh, sumpin' a lil' more int'restin' den dat, cher!" smirked Remy. "Remy be likin' a lil' challenge, like maybe strip poker?"
In response, the girl grabbed him roughly and forced him to kiss her.
He fainted dead away.
"So, moyt, watcha wantin' ta do?" asked St. John.
"Kiss."
"Okay!" And St. John fainted as well, as soon as his lips met hers.
Piotr's date skipped talking and just grabbed him and kissed him. He, too lost consciousness.
Victor, on the other hand, took the initiative and kissed his date, upon which he lost consciousness.
The four women walked out of the four adjacent motel rooms. They walked right into each other, merging into one - and that one was Rogue. She walked toward a nearby car, where Mesmero and a driver with non-descript features were waiting.
Back at Sinister's base, Mesmero and the driver got out. The driver flexed his muscles and stretched, and then morphed into Mr. Sinister. "Thank you, Mesmero. I will take it from here."
"But you need me to get the girl to Apocalypse."
"Au contraire. I have my own mind-controlling methods. And your loyalties have always lain with Apocalypse. I intend to make him my slave. Good day." Sinister lifted his hands, and yellow bolts more powerful than his previous ones flashed out, paralyzing Mesmero and finally vaporizing him.
"If I need your services again, I have a number of clonal embryos," he explained to the pile of ashes.