Mansion Rooftop

Exodus hovered overhead.

"Rejoice, my chosen ones. This is their last day…" Exodus scowled at the Earth below, "… Not yours."

Rain dropped like bombs around the floating Mansion and splashed onto the flooded Earth. A muggy mist wrapped around the rooftop like a spider web.

Exodus must be defeated at all cost! We must make our stand until Robert and Henry arrive! The Professor telepathically shouted to every X-Man.

"Then ah reckon we better show this ol' boy a good time!" Rogue said.

Rogue, Archangel, and Jean shot into the sky like missiles.

Colossus' skin transmuted into organic steel. Shadowcat unsheathed dual katanas.

"Fuzzy elf!" Kitty tossed one to Nightcrawler.

"Danke, Fraulein!" Nightcrawler caught the sword in his prehensile tail.

Wolverine hunched over in battle stance and growled through his teeth. Storm and Emma remained at the Professor's side. Emma encased in diamond.

Storm, doubt.

Gambit kinetically charged three Aces and glanced up at Jean.

"Dis be a good time for dat Phoenix t'ing you do, n'es pas?" Gambit said.

"Tell me about it," Jean said.

Cyclops' visor glowed red in the haze like a train out a tunnel. A steaming, smoldering train ready to plough through everything in its path.

"You going to come down and face us, god…?" Cyclops marched toward Exodus.

Bamf!

Nightcrawler teleported beside Cyclops and grabbed his arm.

"Careful, Scott! He is more zan he seems! Believe me!" Nightcrawler said.

Cyclops pulled away from Kurt and stepped forward until he was draped in Exodus' shadow.

"… Or do I have to come knock you off your cloud!" Cyclops pressed his visor.

Exodus cocked an eyebrow.

A delicate breeze brushed over him. His black hair weaved over his shoulders like silk.

"I am aware you will try. I have made my peace with that. It is your nature to reject any progress that is not your doing. Even if it is in your best interest," Exodus said.

"Mass murder, Tovarisch, is not progress!" Colossus seethed.

"Isn't it?" Exodus said.

He descended. Slowly. Like a floating, Autumn leaf.

"The X-Men have killed for the greater good. As must I," Exodus said.

"X-Men do not drown people in zeir sleep! X-Men do not flood schools and hospitals filled with infants and ze infirm! Yes, I confess… we have been forced to take lives in the past, but only, only when zere was no other alternative!" Nightcrawler said.

"As must I," Exodus said.

"You are beholden to nothing in this life, son. None of us are. I sense sincerity in your yearning for change. Perhaps more so a fear to not squander your gifts. You are lost. Confused," The Professor said.

Exodus snapped his head at Charles.

"I am everywhere. And everything. Child. I wander not." Exodus glared at Charles.

"Then surely you know this is not the way! You must see that! It is not too late!" The Professor said.

"I am the way. We all have our crosses to bear. You are farmers of civilization. Tillers of the seed. I am the sun. I am the rain," Exodus said.

Purple energy crackled from his eyes.

Storm cut in front of the Professor.

"Do not even consider harming this man or you shall answer to me!" Storm said.

"Ororo…!" The Professor said.

"I do no more harm, child, than the shepherd does corralling his flock. But I understand. You seek your dream on your terms, alone. I accept that. And you are forgiven," Exodus said.

"You forgive us?! The arrogance! Do you honestly think you know us at all?" Archangel flexed his metallic wings.

"Our dream isn't some arbitrary destination! How we get there is every bit as important!" Jean said.

Her heart raced.

"… How we get there IS our dream! If we have to be you to get it then… then to hell with it!" Jean said.

Emma stared at Jean. She didn't have a Phoenix raptor around her. But there was fire in Jean Grey's eyes that could melt diamond.

"That, child, is why I am here. So you do not have to be me…" Exodus touched down on the rooftop.

"… I will take the hard choice away from you. That is your real dream. To not have to choose. All the consternation and infighting among you… Among the human race… It is because you have a choice," Exodus said.

Gambit leaned over to Storm.

"It be Gambit's real dream to get outta dis one alive," Gambit whispered.

Storm rolled her eyes.

"This is not the time, Gambit," she whispered.

"The world will be what it will be in twenty-four hours…" Exodus said, "… Whether you want it or not. And you will hate me. You will curse my name and scour the Earth to destroy me.

But you will not find me.

And eventually, a sense of satisfaction will creep in. A relief that it's not your fault the world is the way it is.

It's just the way god made it.

And you will start to rebuild. Free of any culture and history but your own. Free of conflicting ideals and points of view. Let the sinners sink to the bottom of this flood, buried with their sins. This new world we create will be a utopia in your image. Your dream come to life…"

"You ever stop and listen to all the junk coming out your mouth?!" Shadowcat roared, "No one ever said anything about, utopia this or utopia that! Who? Who said that? Show me! Right now! Cuz we sure as heck didn't! That's not what we're about! Maybe, just maybe, not everyone is psycho enough to wanna create their own world! You ever think of that?! All we wanna do is just make the old one a little better, creep!"

Cyclops nodded.

"He's not psycho, Shadowcat. Just scared…" Cyclops turned to Exodus and stared into his burning, white eyes, "You say you're god? I see it in your eyes… you want so badly for us to believe it. But I hear it in your voice. Every time you reaffirm that you're above the rest of us.

YOU'RE the one looking for someone to follow! Something to believe in!" Cyclops fired an optic blast at Exodus.

"Here go!" Gambit reached for the deck of cards in his breast pocket.

The beam sizzled in the air.

Exodus teleported.

"Verdammt!" Nightcrawler clenched his sword.

"I do not fault you your nature…" Exodus instantly appeared behind Cyclops.

Scott turned.

Exodus grabbed his shoulder.

"Scott!" Jean screamed.

Purple energy surged through Exodus' arm and electrocuted Cyclops. Purple volts shot from Cyclops' smoked flesh.

"AARGH!" Cyclops shouted.

The impact launched Cyclops clear across the rooftop.

"… Do not fault me, mine," Exodus said.

Rogue chased after Cyclops like a flyball.

"Got ya, sugah!" Rogue snagged his hand before he sailed over the rooftop edge.

Rogue gazed into the horizon. And smiled.

"We'll ah'll be…" Rogue said.

The Blackbird approached. Weapons armed. Speeding toward the Mansion in the sky like a kamikaze.

"… Bout time tha cavalry showed up!" Rogue said.

Exodus faced the Blackbird.

Bamf!

Nightcrawler burst from a plume of brimstone and sulfur behind Exodus. He crisscrossed his legs around Exodus' throat and squeezed like piano wire.

"Turnabout is fair play, Mein Herr!" Nightcrawler said.

His quads trembled. His eyes bulged. It was like squishing a coconut with his thighs. But he would not allow Exodus a breath.

"Now! Aim for his base!" Archangel yelled.

He unloaded an armada of razor sharp wingtips at Exodus's legs.

"Right wit' you, homme," Gambit fired three kinetic cards at Exodus' lower body.

The bladed wingtips howled through the air and mixed with the trio of kinetic cards, rippling with energy.

Jean! Emma! Exodus is distracted, concentrate a psychic attack with me now! The Professor telepathically shouted.

Storm guarded the Professor. With or without the full range of her powers, she would defend that man to the death.

Jean and Emma shut their eyes. The Professor held his temples. The three telepaths psionically assaulted Exodus' mind.

A screeching, telepathic backlash frazzled Jean, Emma, and the Professor like a blown fuse.

"AAARGHHAAA!" The Professor cried.

"Professor!" Storm knelt beside his convulsing body.

Jean and Emma collapsed beside them.

Exodus summoned an energy shield of crescent purple energy. Archangel and Gambit's attack smashed into the energy shield like grenades against a mountain.

"Mein gott!" Nightcrawler gasped.

He drew his sword and aimed between Exodus' eyes.

Kurt inhaled.

"Forgive me, Father…" Kurt said under his breath.

He stabbed down with his sword.

Exodus reached over his shoulder and snatched Nightcrawler by the throat before the tip of the blade scratched Exodus' nose. His gangly fingers were like alligator teeth tearing through meat.

"… Ggguhll…" Nightcrawler gurgled.

"I take no pleasure in this, Man of Faith…" Exodus said.

"Let 'im go!" Shadowcat shouted.

Shadowcat, Wolverine, and Colossus charged at Exodus.

"The Ruskie and I'll flank 'im, you phase through his shield, pum'kin!" Wolverine barked.

"On it!" Kitty sprinted toward Exodus.

Wolverine and Colossus split to the right and left of Exodus.

"Let us go greet our guest, comrade!" Colossus pounded his fists together.

"I got the welcome wagon right here!" Wolverine said.

Exodus smiled.

"Your valor against insurmountable odds has been nothing short of extraordinary, X-Men. It validates everything I have done. I see now, in this fog and rain, with perfect clarity that I made the right choice… Thank you," Exodus said.

He waved his hand. His energy shield shot forward.

"Mon Dieu!" Gambit rolled out the way.

"Whoa!" Shadowcat phased through the energy field.

Archangel floated over.

"You're slower than they said you'd be, Exodus." Archangel grinned.

Exodus' chin tightened.

"… As are you." Exodus said.

The crescent energy swept toward Rogue.

"Can't a girl catch her dang breath anymore?" Rogue grabbed Cyclops and narrowly dashed out the way.

"Thank me latah, sugah…" she patted Cyclops' groggy head.

She whipped her head back around. The Blackbird jetted straight for the energy wave.

"Oh God!" Rogue's face went flush.

The energy wave struck the Blackbird like a bolt of lightning. The black jet flashed a searing shade of purple.

Exodus glared at Archangel in the sky.

"Of all my Chosen People, my only disappointments are you, Angel of Death, and, you, Man of Faith…" Exodus glanced at Nightcrawler suffocating in his grip.

"… You two should be my herald and prophet. You have shown the greatest capacity for faith and servitude. One, to my once master, Apocalypse. And the other, to the Hebrew Messiah. Yet it is I who transcends both," Exodus said.

"He may have been your master, but not mine!" Archangel seethed.

A dozen, metallic feather tips homed in on Exodus.

"You are slow to accept the world for what it is…" Exodus teleported through the feather tips, then rematerialized, "… But I am a patient god."

Wolverine lunged at Exodus' right side. Colossus, the left.

"GGGRAAAAGGHHH!" Wolverine snarled.

Exodus threw Nightcrawler at Wolverine like a javelin.

"Crawler…!" Wolverine retracted his claws as Nightcrawler smashed into him, face first.

"AAACK!" Nighcrawler screamed.

Colossus wound back his fist. One punch to the side of Exodus' face would knock his head clean off his shoulders.

"Dos Vedanya," Colossus threw a haymaker.

Exodus teleported forty-five degrees above Colossus before contact and bashed his knee into the back of Colossus' neck. The Russian X-Man dropped face first.

The Blackbird glowed purple and grey. Energy spiraled around the jet like DNA helixes. The right and left wing snapped off. The windshield cracked. The metal skeleton shattered around the Blackbird's inner tubing and crumbled like dead leaves in the wind.

Bishop, Psylocke, and Jubilee plunged like concrete out the sky.

"AAAAAAGGHHH!" Jubilee screeched.

"Warren!" Rogue yelled.

She bulleted after her falling friends with Archangel fast behind her.

Exodus blasted Archangel and Rogue in the back with twin energy blasts. Archangel crashed from the sky onto the roof.

"Ungh!" Archangel grunted.

The blast knocked Rogue unconscious. She tumbled out of the sky along with Bishop, Psylocke, and Jubilee.

Exodus glided over Archangel.

Take solace that you will all awaken to your dream," Exodus said.

Beast's Lab

"Hank!" Iceman pounded the steel door into Beast's Lab.

Still no answer.

The electronic sensor was dead. Mounds of debris and steel barricaded the door shut from the other side.

Bobby pressed his ear to the door. Hank's faint, wispy inhales and labored exhales hid among the tinny chatter of test tubes clanging and steel bending. Aching. Like the heart of a best friend listening for any sign of life.

"HAAAANK!" Iceman shouted.

He stepped back from the door.

"Get clear, Hank! I'm gonna shatter the door!" Iceman yelled.

"… I… *cough cough* I'm pinned…" Hank said from behind the door.

"What do I do…?" Iceman nervously ran his fingers over his icy head.

The walls cracked and constricted. Support beams protruded from the sinking ceiling. Struts bent and wheezed. The violent tremors crushed the subbasement like an empty coke can.

"Think, Bobby… think!" Iceman said.

He stared at the shut door. Waiting for it to magically open and tell him what to do.

"… Do it, Robert! You must get in… get the nanites… It is… *cough cough* imperative!" Beast said.

"I know… I know…" Iceman said.

His short, frozen breaths were like a fog around his lips.

Emma'd know what to do.

She was a better Iceman than Bobby Drake. She'd melt into a puddle. Slide under the door. Rescue Hank. And make Bobby look like a goof before she could say 'dear.'

After all this time, why hadn't he just asked Emma for help?

Because he knew she'd make him feel about as tall as her stiletto heel.

But who cared? Why did asking for help terrify him so much?

Iceman hardened his brow. He froze the door and the rest of the wall around it in a sheet of reflective ice.

His blue eyes stared back at him.

Iceman loved to make people laugh.

But Robert Drake?

His greatest fear was everyone laughing at him.

He knew he was a screw up. He knew he was the underachiever. Everyone did.

But it was his choice…

Iceman conjured a hammer from ice the size of a Smart Car.

… Always his choice.

The second he got serious. The second he asked Emma for help, then failure was no longer his decision.

It was a possibility.

A probability.

What if he tried his best and couldn't do it? How would that look? Poor Bobby, gave it his all and still, still couldn't use his powers as well as Emma. Poor thing. Awww. Poor Bobby. Little Iceman. He really was what the others all assumed him to be. He really wasn't as good as Scott, Jean, Warren, and Hank…

He'd lived his whole life under a thin veil of mystery. Maybe he could be as good as them.

If he tried.

But if he did. And failed. There'd be no uncertainty. No doubt. They'd know he was just weak.

Dad would be right.

"I'm coming in! Cover your head!" Iceman said.

He arched back and swung his ice hammer. The ice encased door shattered like a chandelier. Thousands of frozen shards shot like shrapnel across the lab. Piercing test tubes and flesh alike.

"AAAAARRRGHH!" Hank wailed.

Fragments of ice ricocheted from the walls and sliced Beast's shoulders and arms. One piece lodged in his left knee like a frozen dagger.

"Hank!" Iceman burrowed through the demolished door into the lab.

He dashed beside Hank lying on the cold, steel floor. Warmed only by his fresh blood.

"God, I'm such an idiot… Hank… Hank!" Iceman gently lifted Hank's head off the ground.

Beast's eyes fluttered.

"… On-…Only a flesh wound, Robert…" Hank smirked.

"Damn it, Hank…" Iceman shook his head, "… Leave the Python to me. What's say we get outta here?"

"… The nanites… there are five syringes on my desk…" Beast struggled to sit up.

Iceman scrambled over to Beast's desk. Ice fragments had smashed his laptop and tablet screens. Papers and folders were scattered over the floor.

"I don't see them!" Iceman said.

He dropped to his knees and scoured the floor. He tossed papers. Pushed the desk.

"I am not one to hurry, but making haste would be advisable!" Beast said.

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" Iceman said.

He didn't think it was possible to sweat under an inch of ice, but Bobby felt like he was melting.

He crawled to the corner of the room behind Beast's desk. A pile of syringes clinked together as the room compressed and shuddered.

"Got 'em!" Iceman scooped them off the floor and made a beeline for Hank.

Iceman handed him the syringes.

"Now let's roll!" Iceman fashioned an ice slide.

"Oh dear…" Beast sat up and inspected the syringes.

His jaw creaked open.

"What?" Iceman said, "… We can dust them off on the way."

"It's far worse than an OSHA concern…" Beast gulped.

Three of the five syringes were fractured with only two left intact.

Beast shut his eyes. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Ah… never easy, is it?" Beast chuckled.

He showed Iceman the three cracked syringes then discarded them to the floor.

Iceman shrugged his shoulders.

"Nope…" Iceman chuckled, "Can you walk?"

Beast gazed at the shard of ice stabbing the side of his knee then rolled his eyes at Bobby.

"I don't believe so, doctor," Beast said.

Iceman formed an ice cast around Beast's leg from the knee down.

"Voila! Thank God for insulated fur, right?" Iceman helped ease Beast onto the ice slide.

"This again?" Beast said.

"Yup," Iceman said.

"Good… for a moment I was afraid I wouldn't get to have ten heart attacks during our latest last stand…" Hank said.

"The universe wouldn't let you down, Beastie boy," Iceman said.

"Comforting to know," Beast said.

"Something tells me the best way out, is up!" Iceman said.

"Heaven help us," Beast said.

Iceman blanketed the crumbling remains of the ceiling in ice. He customized the front of his ice slide with an ice battering ram.

"'Member when we used to check out the Carnival after class on Fridays and do bumper cars?" Iceman said.

"Unfortunately. I remember you used to always love ramm-… Oh no…!" Beast said.

Iceman charged the ice slide at the ceiling and smashed through the thin partition of ice.

"WOOOHOOO!" Iceman yelled.

"ROBERT!" Beast screamed.

Iceman and Beast shot into the sky like a blue flare. Vicious rain swatted their faces.

"Hank…" Iceman pointed at the Mansion.

Their home. And it loomed about a hundred feet in the sky. And climbing.

"… Hurry, Robert," Beast said.

Iceman gritted his teeth and ascended faster. Westchester was buried underwater. New Yorkers sat on their rooftops with their toes dipped in water, gazing at the unforgiving, black sky. Helicopters circled.

And one jet loomed over head.

"The Blackbird!" Iceman smiled.

A wall of purple energy swept from the top of the Mansion toward the Blackbird. A brilliant flash of purple light exploded from the Blackbird and tore the jet to pieces.

"The Blackbird!" Beast grimaced.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Jubilee screamed.

"Jubilation!" Beast said.

"Not good!" Iceman said.

He cut under the falling wreckage.

Beast squinted.

He could make out four figures amid the falling remnants of the Blackbird. A yellow jacket flapped wildly.

A streak of white hair.

A purple psiblade.

And someone built like a tank.

"I hope this works!" Iceman said.

"From your lips to God's ear!" Beast said.

Iceman poured out four, downward spiraling ice slides. Jubilee, Bishop, Psylocke, and Rogue each streaked down a slide faster than their screams could keep up.

"DRRRAAAAAKE!" Bishop hollered.

Iceman curved the end of the four ice slides upward.

"UUUUNNNHGGGH!" Iceman grunted.

The four X-Men's momentum carried them up the slide toward the Mansion.

"…AAALMOOOOOST THERE…" Iceman clenched his teeth.

His frozen body trembled. He and the four slides approached the Mansion rooftop. He could almost see over the edge of the roof.

He hobbled to a knee.

"Robert!" Beast shouted.

Iceman shook his head. He closed his fists.

"AAAAARGGGHH!" Iceman growled.

He thrust out his arms toward the Mansion and rocketed the four ice slides over the edge of the rooftop. Bishop, Jubilee, Psylocke, and Rogue all tumbled onto the rooftop.

Iceman collapsed and reverted to human form. His ice slide stopped mid motion six feet away from the Mansion.

"Robert! ROBERT!" Beast shouted.