Chapter 9: Age of false innocence
Scott was slowly approaching the woman. She looked harmless enough but years of experience refused to let him take anyone at face value. For all he knew she could be death incarnate hidden behind her innocent appearance. Of course, he wasn't aware of where all that experience and knowledge came from but he knew somehow how to take advantage of it. Which only confused him more. How could he know what to take advantage of when he wasn't even sure what his own name was? One problem at a time. First, capture the woman and her unborn child for his master. Then...who knows?

It turned out that his instinct to not underestimate her had been a good one since she was able to counter every move he did with an uncanny sucessrate. Blasts to knock her out for a time, martial arts or something else didn't matter. She dodged them effortlessly as if there was nothing to it. Then...he suddenly remembered something. Or at least some image that could be a memory. Himself training the woman in some very high-tech gym together with the guy he just knocked out (by surprise more than anything else). No wonder she knew how to defend himself if it's really a memory.

But even more disturbing was that they all seemed to be such close friends, despite that the training was dead serious. So why was he doing his utmost to kill or kidnap his friends? To Scott's dismay he had no answer at all to that but his resistance to being controlling him was weakened. Weakened enough so that Marie could get close enough to him, using her gift on him. Only momentarily and with quite a lot of control so he wasn't knocked out completely. Only thoroughly drained and he fell to his knees, and Apocalypse withdrew for a time leaving Scott as the man he had always been - in complete control of himself.

"Rogue! Get out of here before it's too late!"
"What are you talking about, Scott? And why did you act so out of character!"
"No time to explain! Someone is controlling me will have to do! Now go!"

Marie thought that over before deciding it's no stranger than most things she's experienced since she started living at Xavier's all those years ago.

"No way! I know you better than to think you'd give up to him."
"I've tried. It's not working!"

Marie was on the verge of answering before Scott again spoke but his voice had changed and now it was a much deeper timbre to it and it was filled with malice, evil and hatred.

"You should have listened to your friend Rogue, while you still had the chance. Now you're mine and your baby will most certainly be a much valued asset. Or the potential inherent in his genes will at least."

Hidden deep within the mind of Scott Summers, Scott recoiled at the monstrousitiy that sprang from his mouth and he tried once again to fight the evil that was inhabiting him, like he was nothing more than a host used and discarded at will. He tried and tried to fight it and was succeeding slightly. Very slightly but for a while.

"Rogue, the flame of hope is gone. At least mine is. I'm a lost cause now and will only cause my friends misery so this is goodbye. We've deluded ourselves for so long, haven't we? That we as the X-men could make a difference? And I can't help but wondering if we did more harm than good. It kinda feels like I've betrayed Xavier's dream. And mine. I won't live in that state of false innocence anymore but I still hope I'm wrong and that this will help the rest of you."

At that, Scott turned on his optic blast for one last time but was directing it inwards effectively frying his own brain.

"Scott! No!" Marie screamed and ran over to him to stop him but she was way too late for that. All that remained was the shell of the fearless leader, fearless to the end.

Meanwhile in Westchester
The rest of the X-men had for quite a while now been practicing harder than ever at perfectioning the use of their gifts, together with more conventional means of fighting the good (and dirty when needed) fight. Jean and Xavier in particular had been able to increase their expertise, steadily increasing their range of influence of the mind.

Then, all of a sudden, Jean clutches her head and doubles over in agony screaming "Scott!" at the top of her voice. She slowly seems to regain her compusere when suddenly a big image of a firebird, a Phoenix, can be seen emerging from Jean.

"I'm fire and life incarnate. Now and forever; I am Phoenix! I am immortal!"