Deep in the mountains of Tibet, a solitary figure made his way up a narrow,
winding path. He struggled as the fierce winds blew in his face, picking up
his cape and swirling it capriciously around his body. He clutched his hood
tighter and forced his way onward. Soon, the winds died down and he arrived
at the entrance to a small cave. He pushed the hood back, revealing a
yellowed, tattooed face, and made his way inside.
The inside of the cave was set up like a shrine to some mystic god. Tall statues were carved into the walls and two rows of torches stood as a pathway leading up to a massive door set into the far wall. The man walked up to the door and stared at the ornate inscriptions etched into it, and waited.
A tiny sound, like a small gust of wind, began to fill up his ears. It slowly grew louder and louder, until it sounded like a roaring waterfall. The man flinched slightly but did not move. He had experienced this before.
The noise continued to roar, and the resolved itself into a voice, loud and powerful. "Mesmero!" it echoed.
"Master," Mesmero replied. "The guardian has been destroyed,"
"Of course," said the voice. "You have done very well, convincing our most dangerous enemy to destroy it for us. How ironic that the mutant who poses the greatest threat to me has now aided in my return!"
"Soon, you shall hold this earth in the palm of your hand, my master," Mesmero said.
"Yes," said the voice. "But there is still uncertainty ahead of us. Already our enemy has renewed his plots. I see that he is planning to increase his own powers to match mine. If he succeeds he may be able to destroy the last key before we can acquire it. He must be stopped!"
"How shall I proceed, master?" Mesmero asked.
"It is too late to stop the first step of his plan. Soon he will have a new ally. We must counteract this. Go to Berlin. When you arrive, you will find a most unusual and most dangerous mutant. You will recognize the signs when you see them. If I am correct, our enemy will be most eager to protect his new creation. We can use this weakness against him,"
"Of course, my master. I shall go at once!" said Mesmero.
"One more thing. This new mutant holds the key to my release. Take care that no harm befalls her,"
"Yes, master," said Mesmero. The voice receded, and Mesmero turned and left the cave, his purpose served.
On the other side of the door, a massive figure was held suspended between dimensions. He had been in this state for a thousand years, and eagerly yearned for his release. The figure cackled, and the entire mountain shook. "Soon," he cried, "The whole world will know the name of Apocalypse!"
X
Storm clouds were gathering above Magneto's castle. From the roof, Magneto gazed up at the darkened sky. Tonight would be the night.
He sensed Mindbender approaching him from behind, and he spoke, without turning. 'The storm will be here soon. Are we on schedule?"
"Our preparations are nearly complete, Magneto," said Mindbender. "But there may be a slight, complication,"
Mindbender saw Magneto whip around to face him, the air filling with a menacing hum as the mutant approached him. "What sort of complication?" asked Magneto.
Mindbender could feel the roof beginning to shake with Magneto's anger. "It is nothing serious, Magneto. Her X-gene may not be as recessive as we initially believed. It seems that she has partially broken through the memories I implanted in her mind,"
"What has she remembered so far?"
"Very little. But we should begin the procedure as soon as possible. If she recovers her memory, she will be very difficult to deal with,"
Magneto floated off the ground and hovered above Mindbender. "See to it that we are ready to proceed before she has recovered," he growled, and floated away through the entrance to the keep. There was a loud hum and the door slammed shut with a heavy thud, leaving Mindbender alone on the roof.
X
Inside her small cell, Electra was trying to sort out all of the memories jumbled in her head. On one hand, she had a great number of memories about her grandfather and her wealthy uncle who lived in Germany. But there was also a niggling feeling in the back of her head, insisting that her grandfather had been dead for years and that she didn't have any uncles living anywhere in Europe.
As she struggled to make sense of things, the door to her cell opened and Colossus walked in. "Come with me," he ordered in a thick Russian accent.
Electra hesitated, trying to decide if she should obey the mutant. Somehow, he didn't seem like the type who said please. She stood up and slowly followed him out the door.
"Where are we going?" she asked him nervously.
"Your uncle wants to see you," he said gruffly, and led her into a large open chamber.
Electra looked around at the room. Several large machines were set up around a tilted table in the center of the room. A massive apparatus hung above the table, the top part of it extending through a small hole in the roof. From its base dangled numerous wires and electrodes.
Electra shuddered at seeing the machine. A voice in her mind told her that there was something very wrong about this.
She next took in the two men standing in the room, the men who the memories in her head were telling her were her uncle and her grandfather. The taller man walked towards her.
"Hello, Electra," Magneto said. "I'm glad you could join us before dinner,"
"Of course," said Electra hesitantly. She took another look at all the equipment in the room. "What does all this do?"
"I'm glad you asked," said Magneto. "I've been conducting some very interesting experiments in bioelectric research. Specifically, I've been studying the effect the Earth's electromagnetic currents have on people's biorhythms,"
Something lit up in Electra's mind as she recalled something from one of her physics classes. Her professors had told her that a person's biorhythms were completely unaffected by electromagnetic energy. So why would her uncle be spending time researching such a theory?
She listened to Magneto talk a bit more about his work, trying to put the pieces together. As she did, one of the machines emitted a puff of steam. Electra jumped a bit at the hiss and then gazed at the steam. Something about that cloud looked very familiar to her, as if she had encountered something similar recently.
Looking back at Magneto, she saw him holding a large vial in his hand. Inside the glass cylinder was a blue liquid that was growing brightly. "What is that?" she asked.
"This is a special serum I've developed. It alters a person's bloodstream so that they will be more attractive to electrical energy. If my theories are correct, this serum could help boost people's stamina by astounding levels!" he said. "Would you like to see exactly what it does?" he asked, taking a step towards her.
Electra stepped backwards. "I'm not really sure about this, uncle," she said. "Everything I studied in college told me that what you're researching is impossible,"
Her eyes shifted around the room again, settling on several thin poles hanging off the central machine. They were narrow and their ends tapered to sharp points. She eyed them suspiciously, the image triggering another memory. Needles, she thought.
She continued to back up, and then felt Mindbender grab her wrist. "What's the matter, Electra, dear? Don't you want to see your uncle's research?" he asked, applying more pressure. As he did, one of his sharp fingernails punctured the skin on her wrist.
Electra felt the slight stab as Mindbender's nail cut her wrist. She happened to be looking directly at the needle-like poles on the machine. As she felt the sting, her mind suddenly made the connection it had been desperately searching for, and she felt a mental dam burst as the repressed memories of the last few days came rushing back into her head.
"No!" she screamed, and pulled her arm away from Mindbender. Instinctively she ran for the door. Magneto waved his arm, and the door crashed shut with a loud electric hum. Electra turned in search of another way out, but found herself grabbed by Colossus, lifted off her feet and forcefully carried over to the table.
"Let me go!" she protested, but to no avail. The mutant set her down on the table. With another wave of Magneto's hand, Electra found herself bound to the table by thick metal restraints.
Colossus walked up to her holding a pair of sharp scissors. He deftly sliced through her clothing, leaving her naked on the table. With the restraints in place, Electra was unable to move and had to suffer the indignity of being helplessly stripped bare. Her screams of protests continued to be ignored.
Next, Colossus attached several of the electrodes hanging off of the machine to various places on her body. When he was done, no fewer than 15 electrodes were attached to Electra's arms, legs, stomach, chest, and face.
"Who are you people?! What are you doing?!" she screamed.
Magneto approached the table and leaned over. "I'm sorry it has to be this way for you, but I'm afraid I have no other choice. Mindbender, begin the procedure!" he called.
Mindbender took the cylinder that Magneto had been holding and loaded it into a large tube attached to the central machine. A large needle on the machine twisted itself around until it was lined up directly with Electra's neck. It shot forward and pierced the skin, injecting its contents directly into her carotid artery.
Electra winced as she felt the needle enter her neck, and suddenly felt a wave of coldness shoot through her entire body as the serum raced through her bloodstream. She began to convulse as her body temperature dropped 15 degrees in a matter of seconds. She could see the veins on her arms beginning to turn blue from the serum running through them.
"P-p-please, st-stop this!" she begged, stammering as her teeth began to chatter. She was beginning to lose the feeling in her hands and feet.
Magneto ignored her and turned to Mindbender. "The storm is here. Open the roof!" he ordered.
Electra looked up as the hole in the roof expanded to reveal sinister- looking storm clouds. She felt a few drops of rain pour down onto her body. Oh my God!, she thought. He's going to electrocute me! She began to struggle as best she could against her restraints, but was unable to break free.
Colossus stood at one of the consoles, manipulating the equipment. The great machine began to hum and throb as it came to life. He looked up at Magneto. "Power levels at 75 percent and rising. We will be able to attract a lightning bolt in 30 seconds," he said.
Magneto nodded, his gaze locked intently on Electra.
Electra looked up again as a bolt of lightning shot through the sky, narrowly missing the apparatus on top of the machine. She uttered a silent prayer that death would come quickly for her, and closed her eyes as the machine's hum grew louder.
Colossus looked up again. "We have full power!" he shouted.
"Activate!" cried Magneto.
Colossus threw a switch, and the machine lit up with a surge of power. Overhead, several lightning bolts struck the top of the machine, charging up a large capacitor.
Mindbender stood at another console, monitoring the capacitor charge. "50 percent, 60, 65," he counted off.
Electra could feel her hair beginning to lift slightly as the static charge built up. She braced herself against what she knew was coming as more lightning struck the top of the machine.
"92 percent, 96, 100 percent charge!" Mindbender called out.
Electra knew she had just seconds left to live. She looked directly at Magneto, her eyes making one last desperate appeal.
Magneto caught the girl's frantic gaze and felt a slight pang of his emotion. There is no other choice, he told himself. "Do it!" he said remorselessly.
Mindbender activated the final sequence on the machine. There was a loud rush of energy as the machine directed all of its stored up current down the electrodes and into Electra's body. A second later, the noise was drowned out by Electra's blood-curdling shrieks of agony.
X
Electra screamed in horrible pain as she felt the energy from the machine course through her body. She shook her head against the restraints as her body was wracked with spasms. Somehow, she managed to get a clear view of her arm for a few moments, and she saw that it was beginning to glow with an eerie blue tinge. She saw that the rest of her body had taken on a similar glow. The glow grew brighter and she began to feel herself growing light-headed. The glow grew to a blinding glare, and finally, she mercifully passed out.
X
"Discharge complete," Mindbender called as the machine began to shut down. "Vital signs very low but still stable. She has survived,"
"Magnificent!" Magneto said, in awe of the glowing blue form lying unconscious on the table. He turned to Mindbender. "Contact Gambit in America. Tell him to bring Wanda and Pietro here immediately. It is time for them to meet their new sister," he said.
X
On the other side of the world, Professor Xavier sat up like a rocket, awakened by the psychic screams of a soul in great torment. He gazed around the dark room, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. He flipped on the light and began to concentrate, trying to find where the mental burst had come from. His forehead narrowed as he strained his mind in concentration, but he was unable to pick up anything else. He sat in worried silence for a moment, then turned the light back off and settled back down on the bed, and soon drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
X
The inside of the cave was set up like a shrine to some mystic god. Tall statues were carved into the walls and two rows of torches stood as a pathway leading up to a massive door set into the far wall. The man walked up to the door and stared at the ornate inscriptions etched into it, and waited.
A tiny sound, like a small gust of wind, began to fill up his ears. It slowly grew louder and louder, until it sounded like a roaring waterfall. The man flinched slightly but did not move. He had experienced this before.
The noise continued to roar, and the resolved itself into a voice, loud and powerful. "Mesmero!" it echoed.
"Master," Mesmero replied. "The guardian has been destroyed,"
"Of course," said the voice. "You have done very well, convincing our most dangerous enemy to destroy it for us. How ironic that the mutant who poses the greatest threat to me has now aided in my return!"
"Soon, you shall hold this earth in the palm of your hand, my master," Mesmero said.
"Yes," said the voice. "But there is still uncertainty ahead of us. Already our enemy has renewed his plots. I see that he is planning to increase his own powers to match mine. If he succeeds he may be able to destroy the last key before we can acquire it. He must be stopped!"
"How shall I proceed, master?" Mesmero asked.
"It is too late to stop the first step of his plan. Soon he will have a new ally. We must counteract this. Go to Berlin. When you arrive, you will find a most unusual and most dangerous mutant. You will recognize the signs when you see them. If I am correct, our enemy will be most eager to protect his new creation. We can use this weakness against him,"
"Of course, my master. I shall go at once!" said Mesmero.
"One more thing. This new mutant holds the key to my release. Take care that no harm befalls her,"
"Yes, master," said Mesmero. The voice receded, and Mesmero turned and left the cave, his purpose served.
On the other side of the door, a massive figure was held suspended between dimensions. He had been in this state for a thousand years, and eagerly yearned for his release. The figure cackled, and the entire mountain shook. "Soon," he cried, "The whole world will know the name of Apocalypse!"
X
Storm clouds were gathering above Magneto's castle. From the roof, Magneto gazed up at the darkened sky. Tonight would be the night.
He sensed Mindbender approaching him from behind, and he spoke, without turning. 'The storm will be here soon. Are we on schedule?"
"Our preparations are nearly complete, Magneto," said Mindbender. "But there may be a slight, complication,"
Mindbender saw Magneto whip around to face him, the air filling with a menacing hum as the mutant approached him. "What sort of complication?" asked Magneto.
Mindbender could feel the roof beginning to shake with Magneto's anger. "It is nothing serious, Magneto. Her X-gene may not be as recessive as we initially believed. It seems that she has partially broken through the memories I implanted in her mind,"
"What has she remembered so far?"
"Very little. But we should begin the procedure as soon as possible. If she recovers her memory, she will be very difficult to deal with,"
Magneto floated off the ground and hovered above Mindbender. "See to it that we are ready to proceed before she has recovered," he growled, and floated away through the entrance to the keep. There was a loud hum and the door slammed shut with a heavy thud, leaving Mindbender alone on the roof.
X
Inside her small cell, Electra was trying to sort out all of the memories jumbled in her head. On one hand, she had a great number of memories about her grandfather and her wealthy uncle who lived in Germany. But there was also a niggling feeling in the back of her head, insisting that her grandfather had been dead for years and that she didn't have any uncles living anywhere in Europe.
As she struggled to make sense of things, the door to her cell opened and Colossus walked in. "Come with me," he ordered in a thick Russian accent.
Electra hesitated, trying to decide if she should obey the mutant. Somehow, he didn't seem like the type who said please. She stood up and slowly followed him out the door.
"Where are we going?" she asked him nervously.
"Your uncle wants to see you," he said gruffly, and led her into a large open chamber.
Electra looked around at the room. Several large machines were set up around a tilted table in the center of the room. A massive apparatus hung above the table, the top part of it extending through a small hole in the roof. From its base dangled numerous wires and electrodes.
Electra shuddered at seeing the machine. A voice in her mind told her that there was something very wrong about this.
She next took in the two men standing in the room, the men who the memories in her head were telling her were her uncle and her grandfather. The taller man walked towards her.
"Hello, Electra," Magneto said. "I'm glad you could join us before dinner,"
"Of course," said Electra hesitantly. She took another look at all the equipment in the room. "What does all this do?"
"I'm glad you asked," said Magneto. "I've been conducting some very interesting experiments in bioelectric research. Specifically, I've been studying the effect the Earth's electromagnetic currents have on people's biorhythms,"
Something lit up in Electra's mind as she recalled something from one of her physics classes. Her professors had told her that a person's biorhythms were completely unaffected by electromagnetic energy. So why would her uncle be spending time researching such a theory?
She listened to Magneto talk a bit more about his work, trying to put the pieces together. As she did, one of the machines emitted a puff of steam. Electra jumped a bit at the hiss and then gazed at the steam. Something about that cloud looked very familiar to her, as if she had encountered something similar recently.
Looking back at Magneto, she saw him holding a large vial in his hand. Inside the glass cylinder was a blue liquid that was growing brightly. "What is that?" she asked.
"This is a special serum I've developed. It alters a person's bloodstream so that they will be more attractive to electrical energy. If my theories are correct, this serum could help boost people's stamina by astounding levels!" he said. "Would you like to see exactly what it does?" he asked, taking a step towards her.
Electra stepped backwards. "I'm not really sure about this, uncle," she said. "Everything I studied in college told me that what you're researching is impossible,"
Her eyes shifted around the room again, settling on several thin poles hanging off the central machine. They were narrow and their ends tapered to sharp points. She eyed them suspiciously, the image triggering another memory. Needles, she thought.
She continued to back up, and then felt Mindbender grab her wrist. "What's the matter, Electra, dear? Don't you want to see your uncle's research?" he asked, applying more pressure. As he did, one of his sharp fingernails punctured the skin on her wrist.
Electra felt the slight stab as Mindbender's nail cut her wrist. She happened to be looking directly at the needle-like poles on the machine. As she felt the sting, her mind suddenly made the connection it had been desperately searching for, and she felt a mental dam burst as the repressed memories of the last few days came rushing back into her head.
"No!" she screamed, and pulled her arm away from Mindbender. Instinctively she ran for the door. Magneto waved his arm, and the door crashed shut with a loud electric hum. Electra turned in search of another way out, but found herself grabbed by Colossus, lifted off her feet and forcefully carried over to the table.
"Let me go!" she protested, but to no avail. The mutant set her down on the table. With another wave of Magneto's hand, Electra found herself bound to the table by thick metal restraints.
Colossus walked up to her holding a pair of sharp scissors. He deftly sliced through her clothing, leaving her naked on the table. With the restraints in place, Electra was unable to move and had to suffer the indignity of being helplessly stripped bare. Her screams of protests continued to be ignored.
Next, Colossus attached several of the electrodes hanging off of the machine to various places on her body. When he was done, no fewer than 15 electrodes were attached to Electra's arms, legs, stomach, chest, and face.
"Who are you people?! What are you doing?!" she screamed.
Magneto approached the table and leaned over. "I'm sorry it has to be this way for you, but I'm afraid I have no other choice. Mindbender, begin the procedure!" he called.
Mindbender took the cylinder that Magneto had been holding and loaded it into a large tube attached to the central machine. A large needle on the machine twisted itself around until it was lined up directly with Electra's neck. It shot forward and pierced the skin, injecting its contents directly into her carotid artery.
Electra winced as she felt the needle enter her neck, and suddenly felt a wave of coldness shoot through her entire body as the serum raced through her bloodstream. She began to convulse as her body temperature dropped 15 degrees in a matter of seconds. She could see the veins on her arms beginning to turn blue from the serum running through them.
"P-p-please, st-stop this!" she begged, stammering as her teeth began to chatter. She was beginning to lose the feeling in her hands and feet.
Magneto ignored her and turned to Mindbender. "The storm is here. Open the roof!" he ordered.
Electra looked up as the hole in the roof expanded to reveal sinister- looking storm clouds. She felt a few drops of rain pour down onto her body. Oh my God!, she thought. He's going to electrocute me! She began to struggle as best she could against her restraints, but was unable to break free.
Colossus stood at one of the consoles, manipulating the equipment. The great machine began to hum and throb as it came to life. He looked up at Magneto. "Power levels at 75 percent and rising. We will be able to attract a lightning bolt in 30 seconds," he said.
Magneto nodded, his gaze locked intently on Electra.
Electra looked up again as a bolt of lightning shot through the sky, narrowly missing the apparatus on top of the machine. She uttered a silent prayer that death would come quickly for her, and closed her eyes as the machine's hum grew louder.
Colossus looked up again. "We have full power!" he shouted.
"Activate!" cried Magneto.
Colossus threw a switch, and the machine lit up with a surge of power. Overhead, several lightning bolts struck the top of the machine, charging up a large capacitor.
Mindbender stood at another console, monitoring the capacitor charge. "50 percent, 60, 65," he counted off.
Electra could feel her hair beginning to lift slightly as the static charge built up. She braced herself against what she knew was coming as more lightning struck the top of the machine.
"92 percent, 96, 100 percent charge!" Mindbender called out.
Electra knew she had just seconds left to live. She looked directly at Magneto, her eyes making one last desperate appeal.
Magneto caught the girl's frantic gaze and felt a slight pang of his emotion. There is no other choice, he told himself. "Do it!" he said remorselessly.
Mindbender activated the final sequence on the machine. There was a loud rush of energy as the machine directed all of its stored up current down the electrodes and into Electra's body. A second later, the noise was drowned out by Electra's blood-curdling shrieks of agony.
X
Electra screamed in horrible pain as she felt the energy from the machine course through her body. She shook her head against the restraints as her body was wracked with spasms. Somehow, she managed to get a clear view of her arm for a few moments, and she saw that it was beginning to glow with an eerie blue tinge. She saw that the rest of her body had taken on a similar glow. The glow grew brighter and she began to feel herself growing light-headed. The glow grew to a blinding glare, and finally, she mercifully passed out.
X
"Discharge complete," Mindbender called as the machine began to shut down. "Vital signs very low but still stable. She has survived,"
"Magnificent!" Magneto said, in awe of the glowing blue form lying unconscious on the table. He turned to Mindbender. "Contact Gambit in America. Tell him to bring Wanda and Pietro here immediately. It is time for them to meet their new sister," he said.
X
On the other side of the world, Professor Xavier sat up like a rocket, awakened by the psychic screams of a soul in great torment. He gazed around the dark room, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. He flipped on the light and began to concentrate, trying to find where the mental burst had come from. His forehead narrowed as he strained his mind in concentration, but he was unable to pick up anything else. He sat in worried silence for a moment, then turned the light back off and settled back down on the bed, and soon drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
X