A/N: Last episodic chapter. It's been a real journey, guys. I'm sad to see it end, but that's just how these things go. Epilogue will be up soon. Read and enjoy.
I was trying really, really hard not to freak out.
Everything I knew about Apocalypse and myself was drumming in my head. He was the most powerful mutant in existence, commanded technology from completely different times that we knew nothing about, had cut off my arm, and lived in a secret chamber underneath the Egyptian Sphinx.
Me? I was touched in the head, maimed, and now had the hairline trigger Reflex to add to my list of things to keep under control. And if I lost control here, where it was just the four of us, with Apocalypse breathing down our necks, we were so royally fucked I couldn't stop the breath from whistling in and out of my lungs as my panic rose.
"Calm down, Loki," Scott said quietly. Or he attempted to. It didn't matter how softly you talked in this awful place, it picked up noise and amplified it and we were giving our positions away just by existing-
A hand clamped down on my good shoulder and I could not stop myself as I whirled around with a fist aimed straight for the face of whoever had touched me. Unfortunately for me it was Wolverine, who grabbed my wrist and proceeded to flip me onto my back before I could blink.
The wind knocked out of me, I was sufficiently cockeyed enough to gape silently at Logan, who just glared.
"We don't have time for games," he snarled. "The teams only have so much firepower before one of the pyramid guardians knocks them flat." He sniffed, lip lifting enough for what dim light the chamber did have to reflect off his large canines. I wheezed out a 'yes, sir' and gingerly picked myself up, patting the dust off my uniform.
"Mystique is in here," Wolverine rumbled, not sparing a glance at Kurt, who looked the other way. "I can't smell her, but I know she's in here."
He had barely finished speaking before he was suddenly moving.
What was chasing him?
About a person's worth of snakes.
I lifted my hand and fired off a successive volley of wind, succeeding in nipping off a few tails, and also succeeding in diverting about half of them right towards me. Don't scream, I chanted as I backpedaled furiously, don't scream!
The hissing was like nails on a chalkboard. Having only one hand, I couldn't clutch at my ears like I desperately wanted to, so I continued firing at the beasts, but they were many bodies and only one mind. They dodged as effortlessly and as gracefully as water flowing around a protruding rock in a stream.
There were stairs somewhere behind me, how many steps I couldn't remember, and if I couldn't remember I was going to die. One of the frontrunners gathered itself into a coil and sprang-
Fuck!
-and I was across the room and the snakes were now a slavering wolf, but bigger than I'd ever seen, and Kurt was yelling in my ear about taking one of the hallways and trying to find Apocalypse. The canine advanced on us with ground-eating strides, its dusty black fur rippling with the muscles that lurked beneath its skin. Red eyes, I noted dully as I took off at a dead sprint. It had red eyes.
I sincerely hoped I had chosen a path that involved less Mystique and more anything else. When the hell did she get that freaking talent? I wondered. Far as I knew, she could only stay as one thing, and now she can turn into a whole bunch of snakes? And half of those snakes turned into a wolf?
I am screwed.
The branch I'd chosen was dark enough that I had to squint to see if I was going to face-plant into one of the pillars, or walls. I slowed my frantic run to a jog and then a walk, finally stopping to spin in a confused circle.
I touched my ear where the comm was hidden. "Guys?" I whispered. "I don't know where I am."
"Join the club," Scott muttered. "I went after Wolverine but I lost him halfway down the passage."
"Snakes," Wolverine pinged. "I hate snakes."
That left everyone but Kurt. Kurt, who I'd left in the opening chamber with a slavering wolf - who also was his mother, now that I think about it, and an apt description of her that was - charging down his sorry blue ass.
"Shit." I ran a hand through my hair, kicking a pile of sand. "He told me to go on and try for Apocalypse. Last I saw him a wolf was breathing down his neck."
"He'll be fine," Wolverine said, followed by a sharp burst of static. "I'm getting long-range communications from our other teams."
"Is Jean okay?" Scott asked instantly.
"She's surviving, and that goes for just about everyone." I swore angrily. "The guardians of the pyramids - Storm, Magneto, Chuck - they've all been super-powered by Apocalypse, just like Mystique. It's no wonder I couldn't smell her."
"Alright," I said, "alright. I'll keep heading my way. Buzz me if something big happens."
"Agreed. Cyclops out."
"Wolverine out."
"Tempest out. Good luck."
I sighed heavily, dropping into a squat for thinking purposes. Yes, I do take some time to plan every now and then.
So it seems pretty simple. Locate Apocalypse without him locating me. Set my comm to mark my location, which would then show up on the handy-dandy device that everyone had on them. (Looked like a cell phone, but could do so much more. Jealous, anyone?) Wait for the team to convene, and then take the bastard out.
Yeah. Simple.
I stood, reaching out blindly for the nearest wall, not bothering to conceal the flinch as my hands made contact with cool, engraved stone. Naturally, being the genius I am, I'd forgotten a damn flashlight. Typical. And the stupid locators didn't have enough battery to make them worth attempting to use.
Slowly, I reached out with my foot and toed the ground in front of me.
No traps. No falling rocks. No spike pit or javelins shooting from the walls or blades dropping from on high. So I put my foot down and did it again. And again. And again.
By the fifth step, I was feeling pretty confident. By the ninth, I wasn't bothering to check if my path held traps, I was just walking.
And of course, on my fourteenth step, I feel something heavy on my neck and next thing I know, I'm being dragged through a wall.
Kitty's intangibility - her ghosting - is not a comfortable sensation. I've had several of her possessions lodged in my person, all traumatic experiences, and only once has she ever snuck up on me: she pulled me through the floor and into the women's bathroom, resulting in a month's grounding and a nice, even coating of mayo on her sheets.
Well, this time I was going through a wall, and the sensation of going through ancient rock was unlike anything else. I didn't dare breathe, but I couldn't not thrash and claw at the thing with its iron grip on my neck.
The powerful force finally exited the wall - thank goodness for that - and shoved me roughly to the floor, where I lay for a moment, disoriented and feeling sick.
I swallowed the bile climbing up my throat and rolled onto my stomach, blinking back tears. That's when I caught a glimpse of blue.
Kurt!
Forcing myself to my wobbly as hell feet, I staggered over to him and knelt above the prone body, pressing two fingers to his throat. The steady pulse against my fingertips made me sag in relief.
I touched my ear and was rewarded with enough static to make a radio jealous and an electronic shriek that robbed me of my hearing in that ear for several precious seconds as I fumbled to get it out. Shit, I thought, looking at the flesh-colored piece. The phasing must've shorted the damn thing.
"You have found what you seek. What will you do now?"
I rocketed to my feet, blindly swinging around and releasing a momentum-powered blade that glimmered with its own, inexplicable, light. Apocalypse simply watched it approach before letting it slide through him, much as he had only moments before to get me through the wall, and carve a gash into the stone behind him.
"Ah, hell," I muttered. "Um. Please don't kill me for that."
He just stared at me. It wasn't the stare that had me feeling like I was falling down a bottomless pit, just one of... hell, I don't even know. His expression was too hard to read, too flat. He could be pissed, he could be happiest he's ever been, and I wouldn't know the difference.
"What will you do now?" he repeated. "Will you kill me?"
I gaped. "Kill you?" I sputtered. Finally having a chance to take in my surroundings, I couldn't help the bitter laughter that bubbled up from within. "Look around you," I said, gesturing to the gleaming command center-like bank of - computers? - he stood at, and the weird diamond ship that hovered in the center of the room, covered in glowing marks much like the mutant was himself. "Look at what you have, and look at what I have, and then ask me that again."
He said nothing, one hand on the terminal and the other held loose at his side. What was he going to do? Whose power would he use next?
My tension was stiffening my muscles, making my breath come fast and short. I wanted to leap at him, tear off one of his arms, make him hurt the way I hurt those long weeks of recovery. But I couldn't. I wasn't strong enough.
I dropped to my knees, head bowed.
I wasn't strong enough to fight him, and I didn't have any way of contacting anyone, a subtle glance back at Kurt revealing what I had feared; the destruction of his own comm along with the breaking of my own.
"Is what I am doing so wrong?"
Through my lashes, I peeked up at him. Apocalypse had tucked his hands behind his back, gaze sharpening on me, stripping me to the bone, judging me. I gritted my teeth.
"It's a death sentence for millions of people," I hissed, fangs bared. My eyes flashed in the dim light, silver gleaming like the metal of his skin, his ship. "And you are no judge, no jury."
"Yet here you bow before me."
"I stood against you once," I bit out. My shoulder - the bum one - burned as the memory brought back the pain. I reached up and gripped it tightly, kneading the sore muscle. "Look where that got me."
"You are waiting for your team to find you," Apocalypse corrected. "You have grown into your powers, as all of the children have." Children? Oh, that's just insulting. "And you are all children to me," he said, voice reprimanding. "I am older than you could ever comprehend."
I chomped down on my tongue to prevent from a cutting reply. He has the power here, I reminded myself. He is in control. He could kill me in seconds, and all I can do is fire blades of wind he'll just phase through, or bend with Wanda's stolen abilities.
"What will you do if no one finds you here, little one?" I glared up at him. Don't patronize me, I sent in his direction. Much as you think I am, I am not a child. Not since you did this to me.
"Then I'll fight you," I said. "Because someone has to, and it might as well be me."
Xavier once told me that you should never confuse justice and vengeance. I remember the lecture; I remember the night, how I was just adjusting to not needing to sleep, how he'd wheeled into a dining room to find me on a windowsill, staring at the stars, full of rage and hatred towards the man that sired me.
The lesson beat in my head as I shakily stood, holding my hand out in a ready position. Loose, the voice of Miss Ororo echoed, loose like a music conductor. Don't be so stiff.
"That will not be necessary," Apocalypse said, and it held the weight of a decree in its words. I was slammed into the ground, back into my bowing position, invisible iron bars wrapping around my wrist and torso and ankles, keeping me still and humble.
"You're not a god," I snarled. "You're not anything like that! You're a mutant, just like me, born in a time where differences like that made you powerful, and you're arrogant enough to believe what they said thousands of years later!" I was shouting at the end, tears burning behind my lids.
Now he was angry. He lifted one hand, an unnecessary show of strength, and my body unwillingly followed until I was floating, dangling helplessly six inches off the floor, unable to move a muscle to whip out a blast and distract him. He brought me closer until I was so close I could see the lines around his eyes, the way his lips pinched as he fought to keep his temper.
"God or no," he vowed, "I will accomplish this, my final goal." And as I still hovered there, unable to move, he placed his hands on the grey computer-like apparatus and held on for dear life.
BOOM!
"Don't move, Apocalypse!" Scott shouted. A cherry-red blast of optic energy exploded in front of Apocalypse's face, spitting sparks and pieces of machinery. A bit of shrapnel grazed my face, sending blood dripping down my cheek. "Put him down and step away!"
"Sorry we're late to the party," Wolverine said sarcastically, picking his way through the remains of an ancient stone wall, flicking dust off his shoulders. His blades popped out with a whisper of metal on cloth. "I'd listen to the kid, if I were you."
The only warning I received was seeing the corner of Apocalypse's mouth turn up. Next thing I know, I'm flying towards the mutant and his hand is pressing onto my face, the rough pads of his fingers scratching against my skin.
Weakness washed through me, barely noticeable at first but only growing stronger as he continued the contact. My eyelids drooped shut as breathing became a chore.
Of course. Rogue was the one to give him our powers, why not take Rogue's as well? And now he had mine. My powers, my abilities, the great offensive advantage that I had was now his.
The one thing that was mine and mine only was... not.
Movement. He was getting me out of the way, tossing me behind the diamond ship as he raised one hand and let fire three blades of deadly silver wind. Their size alone made me jealous; I had to work to produce something three quarters of that size and to do three at the same time?
Asshole.
I was struggling to keep my eyes open, searching vainly for the fight now vigorously taking place. My vision was blurry, but I could make out flashes of silver and red, and even clouds of purple smoke. Kurt must've finally decided to wake up.
I wanted to fight. I wanted to get up, to move, do something, but my traitorous body denied me the right. My fingers twitched as I lay on the ground, teeth clenched. Almost there. I'm almost there.
This was it. The final fight. The retribution I'd been seeking, the closure I desperately needed for this chapter of my life. And I couldn't do a damn thing.
It really wasn't fair, I thought hazily. As bitchy as it sounds, life here was hardest for me. No one else was ever hurt the way I was; no one else was faced with my choices. With my father. With Magneto. With Apocalypse.
Tears slipped down my face, stinging in the cut that still sluggishly leaked blood down my cheek. My life was never fair.
But no mutants life is fair.
I pulled on the determination that had gotten me through two rounds of physical therapy with Beast, the endless patience of working with the New Mutants, the rage that continued me through my stint of high school after we'd been exposed. I focused on those emotions, and I pushed myself shakily to my feet, knees threatening to give out any minute.
I reached out my hand, placing it on the diamond ship for balance that eluded me. It was warm, I thought dully. Warm and humming.
One step. Two steps. Every movement was a victory that kept me moving forward, towards the battle that was raging.
I don't believe in a god, but it was sure a miracle nothing hit me, because everyone's powers were flying all over the freaking place, and I could see that our side was beginning to bend under the sheer power of Apocalypse's strikes. With his plethora of abilities, between blasting my team out of formation and being able to avoid most of their return fire, there was no way they were going to win.
Scott spotted me. I'm sure I looked quite the sight; pale, dirt streaking my sweaty face, bleeding, and looking about ready to drop. But I was back out front again, ready to fight.
I lifted my hand off the ship and gathered what remained of my energy into my palm.
I wouldn't be able to make it sharp. But hopefully it would stun him long enough to let someone grab the advantage.
Eyes narrowed, I took aim and fired.
Apocalypse turned sharply, meeting my gaze, and I saw with horror how he lifted his hands, glowing red with Wanda's powers. I saw my blade bend, felt the telekinetic yank around my waist-
-Rogue was here, forehead furrowed, and a concussive wave of something was leaving her body, Scott's optic beam flickered and died, Kurt's fur was replaced with pale skin-
-and I was tumbling into the diamond ship and a much heavier body was on top of me, unmoving, crushing me. Spots danced in front of my eyes.
He pulled me out of the way!
A high-pitched whine. "No!" I shouted silently. "No!" There was no air in my lungs. Whatever Rogue had done, Apocalypse was down for the count.
But the door was closing. I could see the horrified faces of my friends, my family, the people I loved. They were running for me, but not fast enough, never fast enough, it was like they were trying to sprint through neck-deep mud.
"Loki!" Scott screamed. "Just hang on-"
Too late. The door shut with a hiss of pressurized air just as Apocalypse's body began to age and crumble to dust and dirt. Rogue took the kid's power, I think. Leech's. And since so much of Apocalypse's power was spent keeping him alive, with that gone, so was he. Back to the grave, as he should have stayed.
And here I am.
Trapped in the ship, and something is obviously going to happen. They wouldn't have been as terrified as they were if all the plan had been was to lock him inside. No, it's going somewhere. Or some-when. Or maybe it would just disappear into nothingness.
I wrapped my arm around my waist, pulling my legs in closer.
My name is Loki. When I was sixteen, I found out I was a mutant. I went through a lot of bad shit to get from there to where I was now. I made friends, lost friends, and made enemies. Oh, we all made enemies. But it was worth it, to grow up feeling loved and protected. I've changed.
I wish Jean was here, so she could relay my final thoughts to my family.
"I love you," I mouthed to the door. "All of you. Thank you."
I was crying. I was going to die, I was going to die before I'd turned nineteen, I was never going to marry Grace and babysit Scott and Jean's kids and maybe even have a brat of my own one day. Never would I go to another sports game or tease the New Mutants or enjoy the sun on my face. I'd never get to do any of that again.
I don't want to die. I don't deserve to die.
I-
