Earth-717: X-Men Volume 2 Chapter 11: Revelations, a x-men fanfic

Earth-717: X-Men Vol 2

Chapter 11: Revelations

"I-I . . . . but I don't . . . . n-no, no, no, i-it can't . . . ."

Alex narrowed his eyes, staring at Scott, who shook his head side to side.

"Well, it looks like a family reunion is in order," said Sinister.

"No. This . . . . this isn't you," stammered Scott, pointing a finger directly at Alex. "You were . . . . you're dead. I watched you die!"

"Did you really?" asked Sinister. "Or did you just watch him fall . . . . and never saw him again?"

"W-well, I . . . . no, no. This, this isn't . . . ."

"Scott," interrupted Hank, "could it be true?"

Scott looked away and then back at Alex, who hadn't moved.

"I . . . . I don't know."

Jean breathed in and out, each breath heavily laboured. Scott put his hand on his forehead. Sinister basked as everyone was silent for a few moments. Scott finally gulped and looked back at him.

"You . . . . what have you done?"

Scott took a step forward.

"Who are you?!"

"You really don't remember, do you?" asked Sinister.

"Remember what?! What are you talking about? Give me a straight answer, now!"

"If you insist. Ask, and I shall answer."

"How is my brother alive?"

Sinister stood up from the chair and took a few steps forward.

"Alex never perished the day your family's flight crashed. In spite of what you might have believed, he actually did manage to activate his parachute in time. Still, he did land in the middle of a mountain range known for its hostile weather and tendency for avalanches. I found him . . . . and saved him. He's been in my care ever since . . . . and so had you."

"What?"

"Tell me, Scott . . . ."

"How do you know who I am?!" interrupted Scott. "Was it from spying on the X-Men? So you could get to Jean?!"

"Jean?" chortled Sinister. "No. I didn't even realize that Ms. Grey was going to be useful until fairly recently. My initial interest in the X-Men was because of you."

"Me?"

Hank put his hand on Scott's shoulder and stepped past him.

"You still haven't told us who you are," said Hank. "Although I theorize that the 'Essex Files' were named after you."

"Good eye, Doctor McCoy. Yes, my name is . . . . well, was . . . . Nathaniel Essex."

Hank narrowed his eyes.

"Nathaniel Essex? Wait . . . . I've heard that name."

"Given your interest in biology, I certainly hoped you would have."

"There was a Nathaniel Essex who . . . . who was a colleague of Charles Darwin. A contemporary. But that was back in the nineteenth century. A descendant?"

"The very same."

Hank shook his head.

"But that would . . . . you would have to be over a hundred and fifty years old! That can't be possible!"

Sinister laughed to himself.

"That seems to be recurring theme in this conversation."

Hank took a couple of slow steps back, his jaw dropped.

"You're . . . . you're serious."

"Of course I am. I am the same Nathaniel Essex who met the great Professor Darwin back in London, although I go by Mister Sinister now. I am also the very same man who realized that the . . . . practice of his theories was far too restrained. I sought to take them to the next level . . . . to advance human evolution in ways many thought either impossible, impractical . . . . or, at their most pitiful, unethical."

Sinister snorted. He turned around for a few steps, holding his hands out while speaking.

"But what do they have to say about it now? They're all long dead, but because of my work, I live on."

Sinister put down his arms and turned back towards Scott and Hank.

"What do you want with me?" asked Scott.

"Wanted. Past tense. I initially wanted to bring you back into the fold. The family. But as I was watching you and the Professor's precious X-Men, I realized that the true prize was your little girlfriend, Ms. Grey. The gifts that she possesses are nothing short of extraordinary. Telekinesis is rare enough, but telepathy as well? The chance of such a combination is so low, that I highly doubt any other mutant who will ever exist will be the same. The sheer scale of her powers . . . . necessitated her restraints, and the psionic blockers."

Scott fumed, clenching his fists. Jean tried to look up, but winced and let her head fall down again.

"Ugh . . . ."

"And of course, if I really wanted to perform experiments with you, I could just use the genetic material I already have."

"Already have?" asked Hank, his eyes widening.

"How could you . . . ." started Scott.

"Tell me, Scott, when did your powers first manifest?"

Scott looked down for a moment.

"The day I destroyed the orphanage."

Sinister put a hand on his chin, exhaling.

"Hmmm. It appears that the memory alteration is as in-depth as I suspected. Disappointing, but not unforeseen."

"What are you talking about?"

Sinister put his hands behind his back, and began pacing side to side in front of Scott.

"The event you mentioned . . . . the destruction of the orphanage. It was called the State Home for Foundlings. It was a facility in Nebraska. A facility I owned."

"What?"

"Your powers did not manifest that day, Scott Summers. That was simply the day that your mind could not take the conditioning any longer. You recall that your brother's codename was the Sapphire Weapon? Well . . . . he was not the only one. He is the second in the 'Weapon' line. The prototype went by a different name."

Scott inhaled.

"The Ruby Weapon."

"Ruby?" whispered Hank.

"Alex's energy projection and constructs are blue. A consistent and seemingly random colour is an inherent quality of any mutant with such powers. The name Sapphire was appropriate. Scott's colour meanwhile, was red. Thus, Ruby."

"I was . . . . a Weapon?"

"The first. Yes. Your powers manifested at the age of fourteen, back when you were under my care. At the time, you were the most powerful mutant child I had in my inventory. I was running low on options and test subjects for my experiments, so I opted for a new route. Complete mental conditioning and control; an indoctrinated agent, with a suit that both enhanced mutant abilities and ensured the subject's coercion. An agent who could deployed into the field, both to deal with my enemies and to abduct more subjects for my work. You were my knight."

Scott looked down at his hands. Jean tried again to look up.

"The problem is that the mental conditioning takes a toll on the sanity of the individual. As I exerted more and more control, the dominant personality tried harder and harder to overcome it. Eventually, it led to your mind becoming so fractured that it expelled the conditioning in a fit of rage. It's the same reason that Alex here was listed under the name Jean-Paul Beaubier."

Hank put his hand on his chin.

"Beaubier was a subject I had a while ago, whom I had mapped the consciousness of in a previous experiment. In my second attempt at the Weapon project, I realized that the best way to ensure the conditioning would not rupture the psyche of the subject was for it to not target the subject itself, but rather, an implanted personality. Alex completely believes that he is Jean-Paul Beaubier in every sense, down to only being able to speak in Beaubier's native French dialect. With the conditioning having taken hold of the Beaubier personality, and Alex Summers being a suppressed consciousness, I created a stable and controllable Weapon. No more outbursts, like the night you destroyed the orphanage."

"I . . . . I don't remember any of this."

"Of course you don't. Xavier made sure of that."

Scott looked up.

"The Professor?"

"There's quite a bit you don't know about Charles Xavier, Scott. After all, that's what he wanted when he met you. He wanted you not to know. To fumble about in ignorance, so that you wouldn't question. So that you would obey."

Hank took a step forward, pointing at Sinister.

"If you have something to say about the Professor . . . ."

"Don't you wonder why you are unable to remember any of the events that I've been referencing? Yet notice how you haven't been questioning them. Somehow, somewhere, buried in your psyche . . . . you know I'm speaking the truth."

"Why can't I remember?"

"Because when Xavier met you that day in that cell in the police station . . . . he didn't just recruit you. He entered your mind . . . . and wiped certain memories from it."

Scott felt all of the colour flush from his face.

"He used his powers to shape your memory so that you would be willing to join his cause, Scott. Your entire life after that night at the orphanage has been based on a lie."

Sinister walked away and returned to his seat as Scott looked down, visibly shaken by his newfound knowledge. Hank held onto his shoulders as Scott fell to his knees.

"Get away from him!"

Bobby jumped into the air, holding his left hand over his head. Enraged and livid with energy, a sharp ice sword formed around his left arm. Shouting and throwing his arm forward, he stabbed the Kraken mech with it, piercing the green and gold armour plating, forming multiple cracks. The pilot growled reached out with the clawed arm.

The claws clamped together, Bobby was punched in the chest by the arm, knocking him off.

"Ugh!"

Rolling backward with the force of the blow, Bobby landed back on his feet, crouched. The mech then unleashed a hail storm of bullets from its machine gun turrets. Acting as fast as he could, Bobby threw up an ice shield, deflecting hundreds of shots. He strained his muscles as he felt his shield start to buckle and crack under the weight of the barrage.

"Colossus! Could use some of your smackdown power right about now! Like, now now!"

Breaking free of the wall that he was wedged into, Piotr roared and charged towards the mech. The pilot tried to turn and intercept, but Piotr was too fast, ramming his shoulder against the mech's profile. The sound of crunching metal was heard as the mech staggered backwards from the attack. It then grabbed Piotr's arm with its claw and rammed him in return.

Letting his shield fall apart, Bobby threw both of his palms forward, unleashing a massive ice beam that began covering the entire mech in frost. As it slowed down and tried to attack again, it fired a salvo of missiles which Bobby dodged by skating around them. The mech's speed crippled, Piotr then landed a double overhead hammerfist on the front end, shattering the windshield.

The mech exploded, and Piotr was knocked back, but did not lose his footing. Bobby skated up to him, high-fiving him as he slid past.

In the distance, Laura fired another round from her sniper rifle, shooting a mutant through the skull. She watched as the mech was destroyed, and saw more and more of her officers being defeated by the freed mutants. Scowling, she opened her wrist module and typed in a string of numbers.

"Eight dash four oh seven," she said. "Command code authorize."

The module turned green in response. An alarm was then heard from the loudspeaker.

"The self-destruct sequence has been activated. Repeat. The self-destruct sequence has been activated. This sequence may not be aborted. All employees proceed to emergency evacuation areas immediately."

Laura turned and ran down the catwalk towards the nearest building of the complex.

Moira looked up and around as the alarm sounded. She then looked out the window to see dozens of people in the courtyard running for the exits. Xavier exhaled.

"Time to leave."

Moira nodded, and rushed for the door, with Xavier following behind.

Sinister darted his eyes around the room. In that instant, Scott's eyes flared as he fired a beam right at Jean's restraints. The beam was wide enough to rip at Sinister's side, gashing his flesh and melting a chunk of it off, leaving a thick, green residue.

"Gyaaaaaagh!"

Sinister reached for his side in pain, keeling over. The beam tore through the metal and wires holding Jean to the apparatus, and she fell out of it. Alex then jerked his head forward, and his mask fit back over his face. Charging both of his hands with blue energy, he aimed them at Scott.

Hank's eyes widened as he pushed Scott out of the way.

"Scott!"

Alex's charged beam struck Hank in the chest, burning him. The concussive force of the beam sent him flying through the air, and he crashed against the door, bursting through it. He landed back in the suspended hallway and passed out.

"Hank!"

Sinister limped back to his chair, wincing as he did so.

"That stupid bitch is going to pay for this," groaned Sinister.

Sitting back down, he jammed his fist against a button on the left hand armrest. A defensive bubble shield formed around the chair.

"Launch sequence initiated," said the loudspeaker voice.

Jean looked up as Scott yelled and fired an optical blast at Sinister, but it was deflected by the orb shield.

"Sapphire Weapon," said Sinister. "I have the materials I need. Dispose of them!"

Sinister's orb, attached to a metallic arm, then lifted into the air, through the ceiling and out of sight, towards the command deck. Alex nodded and looked back at Scott.

"Sa serait mon plaisir."

The entire room lurched as it began lifting into the air. Looking around, Scott realized that the building was actually a hangar for the ship he saw earlier; the massive grey one in the shape of a magnet. He then looked back at his brother.

"Alex . . . ."

Alex charged forward, propelled by the suit's implants. He landed a punch across Scott's jaw, knocking him down against the floor. Jean pushed herself off the floor, onto her elbows, breathing heavily as she did so.

"Vous avez faillis la dernière fois. Comment vous penser me battre?"

Alex kicked Scott in the stomach, flipping him over. Scott moaned as he grabbed at his bruised ribs. Alex stood over him, the blue line in his visor glowing, watching Scott struggle to breathe.

"I d-don't want to fight you, Alex . . . ."

Alex growled, reaching down and grasping Scott around the throat. Holding him up with one arm, he scowled under his mask as he watched Scott claw at his arm for breath.

"Mon nom est Jean-Paul Beaubier!"

"Aygh . . . . ugh . . . . n-no . . . . no . . . . A-Alex . . . ."

Alex squeezed harder on Scott's throat. As Jean watched this, small tufts of fire appeared over her pupils for a brief moment. She then stood up and screamed, firing a psionic blast at Alex. Striking him in the back, the blast stunned him enough to let go of Scott, who fired a quick optical beam at Alex's feet. The beam caused him to tumble onto his back.

Scott and Jean barely had time to get their bearings before Alex recovered and performed a spin kick on the ground, knocking them both off balance. Jean quickly performed an aerial recover and hovered over Alex, while Scott stumbled and tried to regain his footing. Alex leaped up and charged both of hands with blue energy, pointing one at each of them.

Jean put forth a barrier to absorb Alex's attack, while Scott dodged the other beam, which blew a hole in the side of the ship.

Laura grumbled under her breath as she held on to the side of the helicopter. Petransky and a female pilot were already sitting inside it. Laura narrowed her eyes, watching Sinister's ship fly off into the distance, before seeing an explosion rock the exterior. She exhaled before looking back at the pilot.

"Get us out of here."

"Yes, ma'am."

The helicopter lifted off the helipad.. Scowling and looking down at the forested area around the camp, she saw hundreds of people, officers and mutants alike, escaping from the complex's confines. She then watched as the X-Jet flew after Sinister's ship. Spitting into the air, she ripped the golden MRD pin off her uniform with her free hand, flipping it into the air with her thumb.

As her helicopter flew off, the pin landed back on the helipad. It had turned over, revealing the other side, which had a symbol composed of a skull and six tentacles protruding from it.

Piotr grabbed the back of Moira's chair as she piloted the jet. Bobby stood beside him, holding onto an overhead latch. Xavier sat in his chair, parked at Moira's side.

"Closing in on the ship," said Moira. "You sure they're in there?"

Hank, clutching his chest, walked up behind them. He had bandages wrapped around his torso, which had been soaked in alcohol to alleviate his burns.

"Positive," said Hank. "I-It . . . . ugh . . . . took off . . . . right in front of me."

Bobby turned to look at Hank. He then rushed to him and held him up, placing his hand on the bandaged area. His hand turned to ice as he pressed against Hank's wounds.

"Let me help you with that, brain trust," said Bobby. "Sit back down."

"It appears that you helping me with injury is a recurring event this evening."

"Yeah. It's what friends do, genius."

Moira's eyes widened upon seeing an explosion rip a hole in the hull of Sinister's ship. Smoke began emanating from it.

"That can't be good," said Piotr.

"User alert! Hull breach detected! Internal integrity compromised."

Alex heaved Scott over his shoulder, throwing him at Jean. This knocked her out of the air, and she had the air ripped from her lungs as they crashed into the floor.

"Eugh!"

Alex charged them again, trying to land a dropkick, but Scott dodged the attack and punched him twice across the face. Alex quickly regained control, grabbing Scott's arm and palm striking him in the gut. Scott recoiled as Jean flew overhead, trying to land an aerial dive kick. Alex quickly changed positions to catch her leg before effortlessly tossing her behind him.

Using the moment that he was looking away, Scott rushed for Alex, screaming as he did so. He shoved him with the full force of his body, pushing him against the wall. Alex coughed upon being slammed, and Scott then reached around his neck and put him in a choke hold. Lifting his legs in the air, Alex placed his feet against the wall and pushed back, sending the two into the open space, but Scott held on.

"Jean! I got an idea!"

Alex began charging both of his wrist gauntlets, but Jean opened both her palms. She used her telekinesis to crush the gloves, mangling Alex's hands as he shrieked.

"Sorry about this," said Scott.

"Mon tabarnac jva te décalisser la yeule, calice!"

Scott dug his fingers into the sockets of the helmet, pulling with both hands as Alex continued to yell. After a few moments, the helmet gave way, and Scott ripped it off Alex's head, exposing it completely. As he let go of the choke hold, Scott looked to Jean.

"Jean! Astral plane! Now!"

Jean nodded and used her astral form to assault Alex's mind, which was now defenseless. As he had no psychic ability, it took little effort for her to use her telepathy to overpower and shatter his form on the astral plane.

Alex's mortified scream filled the air as he grabbed at his temples with both hands. Jean returned to her body, and watched as Alex writhed back and forth in agony.

"Alex!" called Scott. "Alex! Can you hear me?"

Alex responded by shouting wildly and charging his palms with so much energy that they disintegrated the gloves completely. With his bare hands teeming with rippling energy fields, he fired them into the air, tearing apart several pieces of the ship and causing multiple fires. The ship lurched at the new damages.

"User alert! Catastrophic system failure! Reactor core critically damaged. Multiple hull breaches detected. Life support systems failing."

Scott reached out and grabbed Alex, locking his arms around both of his shoulders. Alex thrashed back and forth, emitting nothing but guttural sounds and screams. Another beam hit Jean, knocking her back against some flaming crates.

"No!" shouted Scott.

"Gyaaaaaaaaargh!"

"Alex, listen to me . . . ."

"No!"

"It's me, Scott. Do you hear me?"

"Egh . . . . mon nam est . . . ."

"No! Your name is Alex Summers!"

"Argh!"

"Alex, you know me. I'm your brother!"

"NO!"

Tears streaming down his face, Alex jerked his body forward, smashing his face against one of the metal columns attached to the wall. Tearing out of Scott's grapple hold, he turned around but did not retaliate, looking at him with fear and confusion in his eyes.

"You know me."

Alex shook his head.

"Yes, you do. I'm your brother. Scott."

"No . . . . no!"

"Alex . . . . I'm not fighting you. I won't. Because no matter what happens, we're family."

Alex's eyes widened as he stared into Scott's. After several seconds, he tilted his head to the side and the lines around his eyes softened.

"Sc . . . . S-Scott?"

The growing fire dislodged pieces of metal from the ceiling, sending them down on top of the two boys. Scott yelled in pain as a half-melted metal bar fell against his back, but then gasped as he saw Alex getting knocked back by the crashing debris. He stumbled backwards, falling out of the hull breach. Scott yelled and lunged forward, reaching out with his left arm.

Scott groaned as he grabbed Alex's wrist, all of his weight on one arm. Alex hyperventilated and struggled, desperately trying to reach out for something else to grab on to. Scott looked down at his brother, and saw the fear in his eyes.

"Listen to me, Alex . . . . I'm going to get you out of this! I'm not losing you this time. You hear me?!"

"Scott! H-Help me!"

Scott strained all of his muscles trying to pull Alex up.

"Just hold on! I've got you! Hold on . . . .!"

Alex's hand slipped out of Scott's grasp.

"NO!"

Alex fell down into the forest, his eyes wide and his mouth open. Within a second, he was gone, his body lost in the sea of trees.