Disclaimer: I DO NOT own X-Men. Marvel Comics does. So no lawsuits,
please.
Author's Note: Don't ask how I've brought back Apocalypse. I don't really have any good ideas of how to "resurrect" him, if you will, especially since I don't know the exact details of what happened when he was last seen. Telepathic contact is in ''. I will only work with characters I am familiar with, so if I leave out any new characters you like, I apologize. Also, Juggernaut is evil again. Don't ask why or how. Any continuity errors I apologize for. Just review or e-mail me and I'll correct them. Anyhoo, on with the story!
X-Men: The New Four Horsemen
"It is done," said the voice of an entity. "Using even the tiniest remains of these four deceased mutants, I have been able to recreate them in my own image. While they may have the same powers and traits as before, they shall be loyal to me! And once more, the universe will tremble before the might of . . . Apocalypse!"
He then held out his arms and cried, "Arise, Famine!" He sent plasma blasts from his hands onto one of the bodies. After a short wait, the newly resurrected mutant arose from his slumber. The man once known as Pyro was now the Horseman known as Famine.
"Arise, Pestilence!" More plasma blasts brought another mutant from her slumber. Illyana Rasputin, aka Magik, lived again, as Pestilence.
"Arise, Death!" More plasma blasts, and Psylocke was reborn, as Death.
"Arise, War!" One more shot of plasma resurrected a muscular man. Gradually, his body changed into metal. Colossus, now War, returned to the living.
"Welcome, my Four Horsemen," said Apocalypse to his new subjects. "I have chosen you because of your power as well as your . . . past histories. And when we're done, the World, the Universe, will be ours!"
"Hail, Apocalypse!" declared the new Four Horsemen. "Hail, Apocalypse! Hail Apocalypse!"
At the X-Mansion, Professor Charles Xavier walked through his home. He looked around at all the students that were there. He smiled as he thought about the events over the past couple of years. Ever since Cassandra Nova exposed him as a mutant, more and more people had come to accept him and his X-Men, the exact opposite of what Nova had planned. He remembered what he thought in the aftermath of that incident: "They're finally listening. And all we had to do was take off our masks." Many of the X-Men's identities were now publicly known, while others, such as Wolverine, had wanted their identities to stay secret. Xavier couldn't really blame Logan for that. After all, he always was one who wasn't comfortable with other people. Imagine the hassle his life would be if he had exposed himself.
Professor X leaned on his cane and looked outside his window at the sunset. Even though he was happy that his dream was more or less becoming a reality, he knew there were still mutants out there who didn't believe in his dream of a peaceful coexistence between mutants and the rest of humanity. He had learned recently that Magneto was still alive even though he hadn't attacked. It didn't surprise him that his old friend was still alive. After all, there were countless instances in which he should have died, yet he survived. He also thought about the countless number of X-Men who had died either in battle or other circumstances. He thought of Illyana, Peter, Betsy, the list went on and on. Finally he decided to turn in.
The next day, Scott Summers (Cyclops) and his wife Jean Grey-Summers were grocery-shopping. They had loaded the last of their groceries into their car when they heard someone scream. People started running through the parking lot. From the looks of things, it was only a matter of time before a riot would be started. Scott and Jean exchanged glances and ran towards whomever the attackers were.
When they reached their destination, the halted dead in their tracks and gasped. Before them stood Apocalypse. What surprised the two even more were the mutants accompanying him. "Scott, look!" said Jean pointing. There stood four deceased mutants, three of them former teammates. The ones who had once been Pyro, Magik, Psylocke, and Colossus were now shells of their formers selves. "If that's Apocalypse, then they must be . . . "
"The Four Horsemen!" finished Apocalypse before laughing. "You didn't think you'd seen the last of me, did you? And I'm certain that you never expected three former teammates and one old foe to be fighting against you. Too long, X-Men have you defied me. And now, it is time for a new age: The Age of Apocalypse!" He laughed before commanding, "Horsemen, attack!"
Scott quickly slipped on his visor and started fighting the four resurrected mutants. He made sure that he didn't kill any of them as he fired his optic blasts at them. "Peter," he pleaded, "don't do this!"
"That's War!" screamed the metal-bodied Horseman as he and Pyro (Famine) tried to double-team him.
While Psylocke (Death) and Majik (Pestilence) attempted to ambush Jean, she shielded herself in a force field and tried to send out her thoughts. 'Professor,' she said telepathically, 'if you can hear me, send the whole team to downtown New York.' With that, she broke her telepathic contact and continued to defend herself. She lowered her force field, knowing she wouldn't be able to hold it much longer. Using her Phoenix powers, she put a barrier of fire between herself and the two female Horsemen. But Death simply jumped over the barrier and tried to attack with her psychic knife, which Jean cleverly dodged. Pestilence then used her magic to dissolve the barrier and attempted to attack from behind.
Having taken Famine down for the moment and temporarily dazing War, Cyclops quickly hit Pestilence in the back with a shot. This distracted Jean and she looked behind her to see what was happening. This gave Death the opportunity to attack with her psychic knife, rendering Jean unconscious as she screamed.
Apocalypse felt something in his head. He smiled, knowing that Jean had sent her thoughts to the Professor. He thought to himself, "Let them come."
Back at the Mansion, the Professor was at his desk working when he felt something in his head. He closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened them, he said, "Jean." He then focused his mind and sent out telepathically, 'All X-Men, prepare the X-Jet and head for downtown New York. Scott and Jean need us.' He headed for the underground hangar as fast as he could. A short time later, they were headed for the city.
Back at the scene of battle, Cyclops screamed, "No!" He fired at blast at Death, taking her down. He quickly approached his wife and checked for a pulse, relieved when he found one. War attempted to jump them from behind as Scott picked up his wife. But he saw his former teammates shadow and instinctively leaped to the side, War's fists slamming into the concrete.
Cyclops fired a shot at War, but it only pushed him back. Cyclops slowly backed away, carrying his wife as all four Horsemen, now recovered, slowly approached them.
Heading towards the city at full speed, all the X-Men, now suited up except the Professor, who was still in his suit and tie attire, sat there wondering what could be so important that all of them were needed. As they approached, Storm said, "We're approaching fast."
"Rogue, Archangel, take Wolverine and Bishop and try to help them," ordered the Professor. "The others will join you shortly." Rogue and Archangel nodded.
The cockpit was opened and Rogue and Archangel flew towards the scene of battle, Rogue carrying Wolverine, Archangel carrying Bishop. They dropped them off when they were close enough to the ground. Wolverine popped his claws and Bishop held his guns at the ready. They charged toward the battle on foot while the others remained in the air. When they got to the scene, they all stopped and gasped. Wolverine and Bishop stood behind Cyclops, while Rogue and Archangel stayed in the air.
"Peter?" asked Rogue in disbelief.
"Betsy?" asked Archangel, just as shocked as Rogue.
Soon after, the rest of the X-Men joined their teammates. Xavier stood on the roof of the building where the jet was landed. They all gasped in shock. Apocalypse approached the X-Men, standing behind his new Four Horsemen. He smiled and asked, "What do you think of my new Horsemen, X- Men?" He laughed and then looked up at Xavier. He smiled again and said, "Xavier, you and your . . . children have been a thorn in my side for far too long. Which is why I'm challenging all of you. We will meet in the Sahara desert. All of the X-Men versus my new Four Horsemen. And don't even think of trying to set them free from my control, Xavier. I have implanted special chips into their brains, which prevent you from reaching out to them telepathically. They also keep them loyal to me, and only me and are a far more advanced form of science than you can comprehend. So, you either accept my challenge, or the world as you know it shall cease to exist! So, what is your choice?"
The X-Men looked up at Xavier. He didn't need to probe their minds to know what their choice was. Finally, he said, "We accept."
"Wise choice, Xavier. Meet us in 24 Earth hours. Horsemen, we go. Pestilence?"
Pestilence nodded, knowing what her master was asking of her. She held up her hands and they all teleported away.
When they were gone, Xavier called out to his students, "Come, X-Men." Seeing him head back to the jet, the X-Men soon followed suit. All the X- Men who could fly did so, while Storm created a tornado that brought the ones who couldn't to the roof. They boarded the X-Jet and took off.
As they headed home, Scott stayed by Jean's side the whole time. Beast was doing everything he could to help her, which there was really nothing he could do except examine and check up on her. Jean's eyes slowly fluttered open. Scott and Hank looked on intently. Once she got her bearings, she asked, "What happened?"
After a long pause, Cyclops closed his eyes, bowed his head, and said, "Apocalypse happened."
When they got home, the X-Men were in the briefing room. Rogue asked, "How can we fight against three former teammates? Is there any way we can free them from Apocalypse's control?"
"While we may not be able to reach out to them telepathically," stated the Professor, "we still may be able to save them. As to how, I'm open to suggestions."
The rest of the X-Men looked at each other. It was odd to see Charles Xavier at a loss as to how to save their three friends and former foe from the grip of Apocalypse. But no one could really blame him on this occasion.
"Wait a second," said Bishop. "Apocalypse said that the mind control chips are an advanced technology, right?"
"Yes," said Professor X. "Go on."
"I still have some stuff that I brought here from the future I come from. I have a lot of circuits and electrical wiring that perhaps Beast could use to maybe create something to counteract Apocalypse's work."
"Let's try it, Bishop," said Beast. "You get what you need. I'll be in my lab."
"I'll help," said Jean.
*Twelve Hours Later*
Beast was holding a box-shaped device. The X-Men had just been called into the briefing room. "This is the best that we could come up with," said Hank.
Wolverine looked at it and asked, "How is this dinky thing supposed to help us save our friends?"
"We've been testing it on lab animals, using the most advanced mind-control devices that we've collected here from past battles," explained Jean. "The problem is that it only works if one remembers someone or something from before the mind-control was put to use. If we're going to make this work, each one of them must remember something or someone from who they were before."
"Well, we could help Colossus by showing him some of his paintings," said Iceman. "You know how much he loved art."
"That's a sound theory, Bobby," said Hank, "but with Apocalypse's mind- control, we may need something else. Specifically, someone or something that they care about more than anything. And I know for a fact that Peter lived for more than just art."
Hearing this, Rogue tried hard not to think of doing what she was thinking. But thinking that there may be no other alternative, she spoke up and said, "Maybe I could help Peter. I know I never told any of you this, but I've always had a crush on him. I think I secretly felt more strongly for him than I ever did for Remy." She then turned to Gambit and said, "No offense." The Cajun nodded in understanding. "A short time before he died, we actually touched and kissed," she said while blushing. Some of them smirked, even Gambit, though she pretended not to notice. "I'd like to try and help him." No one seemed to object.
Gambit then approached his on-again, off-again (now ex-) girlfriend, put a hand on her shoulder, and said, "Chere, I want ya to do what ya have to. I never say dis to anyone til now, but Gambit always know dat he and petite no mix. As great of friends we be, petite, it never work out 'tween us. We both know dis. So, just so you know what you do be right, I say go for it."
Rogue smiled, shed a tear and said, "Thank, Remy. That means a lot to me." She then embraced and he returned the hug.
Once they broke up, Archangel said, "I know that Betsy and I were never a great couple, even when we dated. I've always loved her, though. Throughout much of her life, she never really had anyone but her brother and us. And since Brian is dead, I'll try and save Psylocke.*"
(*I don't know if Psylocke's brother is really dead or not, {nor do I really care} so here, I say he is.)
"Well, Peter could probably help Illyana if we get him free, but who's gonna save Pyro?" asked Nightcrawler.
"The only ones I can think of who could help him would be Mystique or Avalanche," said Rogue, "though I favor Avalanche to have the best chance, being that they became such great friends. But the question is, where is he?"
"I'll get on Cerebro and see if I can find him," said Professor X. "Jean, come with me. I want to get this done quickly."
They waited in the briefing room impatiently before the Professor and Jean came back in. Xavier said, "He's in Greece. He's living in a cabin outside of Athens."
Rogue nodded and said, "I'm gonna go see if I can get him to help."
"Should I accompany you?" asked Storm.
"No, I have to do this alone. After all, I once worked for the Brotherhood, remember?" Before any more could be said, she left the mansion and took off.
Dominic Petros, the villain once called Avalanche, was sitting in his cabin drinking Scotch. Once one of the most feared mutants on the planet, ever since the death of Pyro, his best friend, so many years ago from the Legacy Virus, his career as a villain and terrorist had slowed considerably. He was seen in action every now and then, but his heart just wasn't into it anymore. He got a surprise when he heard a knock on his door. "Who could that be?" he asked himself curiously. He rarely, if ever, had visitors!
He opened the door, and to his surprise, there stood Rogue! She said, "Hi."
Dominic growled and said, "Go away!" He tried to slam the door, but she stopped it with her gloved hand.
"Please," she said. "Just hear me out."
He sighed and said, "Very well," before reluctantly letting her in.
They sat down in chairs across from each other. Avalanche asked, "So, what do you want?"
Rogue shook her head and said, "I don't really have a whole lot of time, so I'm gonna get right to the point. Dominic, the X-Men need your help."
This completely caught him by surprise. Trying not to show it, he said sarcastically, "Aw, the poor X-Men actually need help from the big, bad, Avalanche?" Turning serious, he then asked, still sounding rude, "What could you possibly want me for?" He then took another sip of his drink.
Rogue said softly, "It's about Pyro."
This caused Dominic to spit his drink back out. "Pyro? Did somebody steal his body or something?"
"Apocalypse did. He somehow managed to resurrect him and is using him as one of his Horsemen. We have an idea that will hopefully free him from Apocalypse's control, but we need your help to make it work."
Avalanche pondered this for a moment. Finally, he said, "Normally, it's against my better judgment to work with the X-Men. But if it means getting my best friend back, count me in!"
The X-Jet landed in the Sahara Desert. Professor X was the first to step out, suited up along with the other X-Men. Avalanche wore some kind of gray- or silver-colored suit that he had worn in the past.
"We're here," said Nightcrawler. "So where's Apocalypse?"
To answer his question, a floating silver orb approached them. A robotic voice said, "Follow." It took off and the X-Men followed it.
About fifteen minutes later, the orb stopped. Not knowing what else to do, the X-Men just stood there and waited. Suddenly, they saw a shadow on the ground. All of the X-Men looked up and saw Apocalypse and the Four Horsemen approaching them on a flying silver disk. It stopped about a foot off the ground and the five of them stepped off, Apocalypse last. He said, "Ah, glad to see you made it." Noticing the device in Beast's hands, he laughed and said, "You think you're going to break my hold on them? I told you, that will be impossible! I grow tired of this. Horsemen, attack!"
Death, Pestilence, and Famine charged into the fray. War transformed to steel before joining in himself. Death fought off Wolverine, Iceman, and Nightcrawler with ease, being that she was a trained ninja while they were only moderate martial artists. As far as martial arts went, the only one who could probably challenge her was Wolverine. Archangel swooped in and picked her up. He landed by Beast and Jean, holding her arms to keep her from using her psychic knife. He said, "Betsy, look at me! Try to remember! Do you remember all the good times we had together? Do you remember our adventures, our . . ." he blushed at what he was about to say next, " . . . dates?"
Death looked at him confused. Realization was slowly beginning to dawn on her. Still under Apocalypse's control, she weakly whispered in her Betsy Braddock voice, "Warren, . . . help me."
Knowing that was his cue, Beast activated the device. Within a matter of seconds, Jean could mentally feel Apocalypse's mind control chip deactivating. She psychically peered into Betsy's head and smiled in satisfaction as the chip harmlessly dissolved into dust. When it was done, Betsy smiled and said, "Thank you, Jean." Warren then set her on her feet. "What happened?" asked the resurrected Psylocke.
"There will be time for explanations later," said Beast. "Right now, we've got three others to free from Apocalypse."
"I'll try and keep Apocalypse busy," said Jean. "You go help the others!"
Apocalypse watched the whole thing. He always was one to sit on the sidelines while his pawns fought for him. He watched Death take down several X-Men all by herself. But then he witnessed her being freed from his control. "No!" he screamed. "It's not possible!" Then, he felt Jean attack him telepathically. She knew that she wasn't strong enough to fight him, but she had to hold him off. Though she had told them to help the others, Psylocke and Archangel arrived to lend her a hand.
Cyclops, Bishop, and Gambit did what they could to keep War at bay. They let up and allowed Rogue to catch him. Knowing that he was stronger, Rogue spoke quickly. "Listen to me, Peter. We're not your enemies! Apocalypse is doing this to you. Don't let him win!"
"Apocalypse is my master!"
"But does he care about you? Does care for you like a son? Or like a slave?" This seemed to cause him to think. She kept going. "Listen, sugah, I know that nobody ever said anything like this to you before, but . . ." she silenced trying to find the words to say. Finally, she decided to speak from her heart. It seemed to be telling her to say it. " . . .I love you." She then locked her lips with his in a kiss. With him in armored form, she wasn't absorbing anything from him. When she pulled back, he seemed to be misty-eyed. Beast quickly approached and activated the machine.
As the machine was doing its magic, Beast quickly explained, "The chips will disintegrate within a matter of seconds. Jean confirmed this telepathically when we freed Betsy."
Soon, it was done. Colossus shook his head and asked, "Where am I?" He then saw Rogue and said, "I remember. Thank you, Rogue. I love you too." They then hugged.
Rogue's eyes then widened and she quickly said, "Save the romance til later. Right now, we need to help Pyro and your sister."
"My sister?" Colossus asked in surprise.
"We'll explain later. Come on."
Wolverine, Iceman, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Bishop, and Gambit went to attack Apocalypse while Emma Frost and Avalanche tried to keep Famine occupied. Emma had assured them telepathically that they would be fine. Famine was attacking with all kinds of fire constructs. Emma protected herself and Avalanche telepathically. Knowing she wouldn't be able to hold it long, Avalanche created an earthquake that knocked Famine off his feet. Emma let down her protective shield and Avalanche quickly approached his old friend. "John," he said, "it's me, Dominic. Avalanche. You know, we became buds. We were always running from the law, battling the X-Men, stealing, looting. Please, remember!"
Famine seemed to be surprised, unwilling to fight. Then Beast came by and activated the machine. Within seconds, Pyro was free. He looked around and asked angrily, "Avalanche, what are you doing here? And with the X- Men?"
"I'm helping them set you free from a mutual enemy," answered Avalanche matter-of-factly. "I'll give you the details later."
Only Pestilence remained. The Professor and Storm tried to attack her without harming her. Storm surrounded her with a storm cloud, allowing Xavier to attack with a psychic bolt. She clutched her head and screamed in pain at first, but used her magic to literally will it out of her and back at the Professor as well as Storm, taking them down. Storm tried to pick her up in a tornado, but she used her magic to keep it from touching her. Colossus then got into her face and said, "Illyana, look at me! You are not Pestilence! Apocalypse only wants you to think he is!"
In an evil voice, Pestilence said, "YOU DARE DEFY APOCALYPSE?"
She was about to attack when he said, "Yes, and so do you!" This seemed to temporarily confuse her. Colossus turned to human form and said gently, "Listen to me. I'm your brother. Please don't leave me. Please."
Illyana shed a tear as her Pestilence persona began to lose its grip on her. She said, "Help me, . . . Peter."
He pulled his sister into a hug and said, "I will. Beast will make it all better." Beast then activated the machine, freeing her.
Apocalypse was trying to fight off the X-Men, who were ambushing him. No matter what he did, weather he used his plasma rays, grew to giant size, or changed his arms to weapons, they were not letting up. "You took away my Horsemen again! You will pay for this!"
"How can you make us pay for anything when you can't even defend yourself?" Iceman cleverly retorted.
"You cannot harm me! I am indestructible!"
Soon Colossus, Magik, Rogue, Storm, Avalanche, Pyro, Emma, and the Professor joined the fray. Seeing Peter, Wolverine smiled and asked, "Hey, Petey, I know you've been dead a while, but ya think you're still up for it."
Turning to armored form, Colossus smiled and said, "What, you didn't think I could forget our famous 'Fastball Special,' did you?"
Smiling, Logan said, "Let's do it!"
With that, Colossus picked up Wolverine and threw him as hard as he could toward the giant Apocalypse. Being that he was too busy trying to fight off the other X-Men, as well as Avalanche and Pyro, Apocalypse had no time to react. With his claws extended, Wolverine slammed into Apocalypse. It didn't phase him, but it did cause him to stumble.
As he was trying to recover, Psylocke said, "Kurt, could you teleport me onto his shoulders?"
"You got it!" said Nightcrawler. The two of them then teleported to Apocalypse's shoulders. Psylocke activated her psychic knife and stabbed Apocalypse in the head, causing him to scream in pain. As he began shrinking back to normal size, Psylocke pulled her knife out and she and Nightcrawler teleported to where their teammates were.
Professor X, Jean, and Emma then telepathically attacked him together. Apocalypse dropped to his knees, clutching his head. Soon, Jean and Emma passed out from the strain. Xavier was straining as well, but he was determined to keep going. He was NOT going to let Apocalypse hurt anyone ever again. But the strain was starting to catch up to him as he fell to the ground clutching his head and screaming.
With the telepathic attack over, Apocalypse weakly got to his feet. He said, "Alright, X-Men, you win this round. But I'll be back!" He then flew off.
Cyclops got to his wife's side, trying to wake her up. Beast was tending to Emma, while the rest looked over the fallen Professor. Wolverine checked for a pulse and said, "He's alive, but we'd better get back to the Mansion." Everyone agreed and boarded the X-Jet.
At the X-Mansion, the Professor was lying on a medical bed, being watched over by a few of the X-Men. He slowly woke up. Jean smiled and said, "Welcome back, Professor."
"What happened?" asked Xavier.
"Apocalypse ran off. Typical," said Logan.
"Where are Pyro and Avalanche," asked Xavier.
"We dropped them off at Dominic's cabin in Greece," answered Cyclops.
"But there's one thing I still don't understand," said Colossus. "How did he bring the four of us back to life? How did he bring ME back to life? I was cremated!"
"I think I know," said the Professor. "While I was inside his head, I discovered that he had taken whatever remained of the corpses of Betsy, Illyana, and Pyro. I also saw him teleport into Kitty's college dorm room and stole leftover residue from your ashes, Peter. Apparently, she had never cleaned your urn. He used advanced alien technology to remold the bodies and his plasma rays to resurrect all of you."
"That's interesting information, Professor," said Beast, "but I'm afraid Jean and I have bad news. You've lost the use of your legs-again."
The Professor looked dejected at first. Then he smiled and asked, "Henry, could get me a wheelchair and take me to my room?" Beast complied, but everyone else in the room looked confused. Xavier almost seemed . . . glad to be crippled. Before they left the room, Xavier had Beast stop. He turned to the others and said, "Could you summon the rest of the X-Men? I wish to brief them."
A short time later, the X-Men were in the briefing room. The Professor was then wheeled in, dressed in a suit and tie outfit. Beast walked by his side. He then told them that because of their success and devotion to the X-Men, they were allowed to pick individual uniforms again. He had always liked dressing in formal wear anyway. Colossus was glad for this, since he didn't really like the outfits the team currently wore anyway.
Cyclops and Jean decided upon form-fitting black leather outfits (basically, the outfits they wear in the Movies). Wolverine went back to his brown and orange costume and Storm went back to the black outfit with a cape and lightening bolt going down her chest. Rogue went back to her yellow and green outfit with a yellow "X," while Iceman decided to go with the blue and white outfit he wore after rejoining the X-Men from X-Factor and decided he would completely ice up during battle again. Archangel and Emma kept their current looks. Psylocke went back to the long-time ninja outfit that she felt most comfortable wearing. She also no longer had the Crimson Dawn tattoo over her left eye. Magik, whose powers could now manifest naturally instead of through the Soulsword she once used, decided upon a form-fitting silver and white outfit. Beast decided to return to the tights he wore when he first became an actual beast (in other words, he looks the way he looked in the cartoon, except his beast-like appearance is the way it is currently in the comics). Finally, Colossus, Bishop, Nightcrawler, and Gambit all went back to the outfits that they wore when they joined the X-Men. And the relationships between Archangel and Psylocke and Colossus and Rogue, respectively, began to blossom.
But that's another story.
The End
Author's Note: Don't ask how I've brought back Apocalypse. I don't really have any good ideas of how to "resurrect" him, if you will, especially since I don't know the exact details of what happened when he was last seen. Telepathic contact is in ''. I will only work with characters I am familiar with, so if I leave out any new characters you like, I apologize. Also, Juggernaut is evil again. Don't ask why or how. Any continuity errors I apologize for. Just review or e-mail me and I'll correct them. Anyhoo, on with the story!
X-Men: The New Four Horsemen
"It is done," said the voice of an entity. "Using even the tiniest remains of these four deceased mutants, I have been able to recreate them in my own image. While they may have the same powers and traits as before, they shall be loyal to me! And once more, the universe will tremble before the might of . . . Apocalypse!"
He then held out his arms and cried, "Arise, Famine!" He sent plasma blasts from his hands onto one of the bodies. After a short wait, the newly resurrected mutant arose from his slumber. The man once known as Pyro was now the Horseman known as Famine.
"Arise, Pestilence!" More plasma blasts brought another mutant from her slumber. Illyana Rasputin, aka Magik, lived again, as Pestilence.
"Arise, Death!" More plasma blasts, and Psylocke was reborn, as Death.
"Arise, War!" One more shot of plasma resurrected a muscular man. Gradually, his body changed into metal. Colossus, now War, returned to the living.
"Welcome, my Four Horsemen," said Apocalypse to his new subjects. "I have chosen you because of your power as well as your . . . past histories. And when we're done, the World, the Universe, will be ours!"
"Hail, Apocalypse!" declared the new Four Horsemen. "Hail, Apocalypse! Hail Apocalypse!"
At the X-Mansion, Professor Charles Xavier walked through his home. He looked around at all the students that were there. He smiled as he thought about the events over the past couple of years. Ever since Cassandra Nova exposed him as a mutant, more and more people had come to accept him and his X-Men, the exact opposite of what Nova had planned. He remembered what he thought in the aftermath of that incident: "They're finally listening. And all we had to do was take off our masks." Many of the X-Men's identities were now publicly known, while others, such as Wolverine, had wanted their identities to stay secret. Xavier couldn't really blame Logan for that. After all, he always was one who wasn't comfortable with other people. Imagine the hassle his life would be if he had exposed himself.
Professor X leaned on his cane and looked outside his window at the sunset. Even though he was happy that his dream was more or less becoming a reality, he knew there were still mutants out there who didn't believe in his dream of a peaceful coexistence between mutants and the rest of humanity. He had learned recently that Magneto was still alive even though he hadn't attacked. It didn't surprise him that his old friend was still alive. After all, there were countless instances in which he should have died, yet he survived. He also thought about the countless number of X-Men who had died either in battle or other circumstances. He thought of Illyana, Peter, Betsy, the list went on and on. Finally he decided to turn in.
The next day, Scott Summers (Cyclops) and his wife Jean Grey-Summers were grocery-shopping. They had loaded the last of their groceries into their car when they heard someone scream. People started running through the parking lot. From the looks of things, it was only a matter of time before a riot would be started. Scott and Jean exchanged glances and ran towards whomever the attackers were.
When they reached their destination, the halted dead in their tracks and gasped. Before them stood Apocalypse. What surprised the two even more were the mutants accompanying him. "Scott, look!" said Jean pointing. There stood four deceased mutants, three of them former teammates. The ones who had once been Pyro, Magik, Psylocke, and Colossus were now shells of their formers selves. "If that's Apocalypse, then they must be . . . "
"The Four Horsemen!" finished Apocalypse before laughing. "You didn't think you'd seen the last of me, did you? And I'm certain that you never expected three former teammates and one old foe to be fighting against you. Too long, X-Men have you defied me. And now, it is time for a new age: The Age of Apocalypse!" He laughed before commanding, "Horsemen, attack!"
Scott quickly slipped on his visor and started fighting the four resurrected mutants. He made sure that he didn't kill any of them as he fired his optic blasts at them. "Peter," he pleaded, "don't do this!"
"That's War!" screamed the metal-bodied Horseman as he and Pyro (Famine) tried to double-team him.
While Psylocke (Death) and Majik (Pestilence) attempted to ambush Jean, she shielded herself in a force field and tried to send out her thoughts. 'Professor,' she said telepathically, 'if you can hear me, send the whole team to downtown New York.' With that, she broke her telepathic contact and continued to defend herself. She lowered her force field, knowing she wouldn't be able to hold it much longer. Using her Phoenix powers, she put a barrier of fire between herself and the two female Horsemen. But Death simply jumped over the barrier and tried to attack with her psychic knife, which Jean cleverly dodged. Pestilence then used her magic to dissolve the barrier and attempted to attack from behind.
Having taken Famine down for the moment and temporarily dazing War, Cyclops quickly hit Pestilence in the back with a shot. This distracted Jean and she looked behind her to see what was happening. This gave Death the opportunity to attack with her psychic knife, rendering Jean unconscious as she screamed.
Apocalypse felt something in his head. He smiled, knowing that Jean had sent her thoughts to the Professor. He thought to himself, "Let them come."
Back at the Mansion, the Professor was at his desk working when he felt something in his head. He closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened them, he said, "Jean." He then focused his mind and sent out telepathically, 'All X-Men, prepare the X-Jet and head for downtown New York. Scott and Jean need us.' He headed for the underground hangar as fast as he could. A short time later, they were headed for the city.
Back at the scene of battle, Cyclops screamed, "No!" He fired at blast at Death, taking her down. He quickly approached his wife and checked for a pulse, relieved when he found one. War attempted to jump them from behind as Scott picked up his wife. But he saw his former teammates shadow and instinctively leaped to the side, War's fists slamming into the concrete.
Cyclops fired a shot at War, but it only pushed him back. Cyclops slowly backed away, carrying his wife as all four Horsemen, now recovered, slowly approached them.
Heading towards the city at full speed, all the X-Men, now suited up except the Professor, who was still in his suit and tie attire, sat there wondering what could be so important that all of them were needed. As they approached, Storm said, "We're approaching fast."
"Rogue, Archangel, take Wolverine and Bishop and try to help them," ordered the Professor. "The others will join you shortly." Rogue and Archangel nodded.
The cockpit was opened and Rogue and Archangel flew towards the scene of battle, Rogue carrying Wolverine, Archangel carrying Bishop. They dropped them off when they were close enough to the ground. Wolverine popped his claws and Bishop held his guns at the ready. They charged toward the battle on foot while the others remained in the air. When they got to the scene, they all stopped and gasped. Wolverine and Bishop stood behind Cyclops, while Rogue and Archangel stayed in the air.
"Peter?" asked Rogue in disbelief.
"Betsy?" asked Archangel, just as shocked as Rogue.
Soon after, the rest of the X-Men joined their teammates. Xavier stood on the roof of the building where the jet was landed. They all gasped in shock. Apocalypse approached the X-Men, standing behind his new Four Horsemen. He smiled and asked, "What do you think of my new Horsemen, X- Men?" He laughed and then looked up at Xavier. He smiled again and said, "Xavier, you and your . . . children have been a thorn in my side for far too long. Which is why I'm challenging all of you. We will meet in the Sahara desert. All of the X-Men versus my new Four Horsemen. And don't even think of trying to set them free from my control, Xavier. I have implanted special chips into their brains, which prevent you from reaching out to them telepathically. They also keep them loyal to me, and only me and are a far more advanced form of science than you can comprehend. So, you either accept my challenge, or the world as you know it shall cease to exist! So, what is your choice?"
The X-Men looked up at Xavier. He didn't need to probe their minds to know what their choice was. Finally, he said, "We accept."
"Wise choice, Xavier. Meet us in 24 Earth hours. Horsemen, we go. Pestilence?"
Pestilence nodded, knowing what her master was asking of her. She held up her hands and they all teleported away.
When they were gone, Xavier called out to his students, "Come, X-Men." Seeing him head back to the jet, the X-Men soon followed suit. All the X- Men who could fly did so, while Storm created a tornado that brought the ones who couldn't to the roof. They boarded the X-Jet and took off.
As they headed home, Scott stayed by Jean's side the whole time. Beast was doing everything he could to help her, which there was really nothing he could do except examine and check up on her. Jean's eyes slowly fluttered open. Scott and Hank looked on intently. Once she got her bearings, she asked, "What happened?"
After a long pause, Cyclops closed his eyes, bowed his head, and said, "Apocalypse happened."
When they got home, the X-Men were in the briefing room. Rogue asked, "How can we fight against three former teammates? Is there any way we can free them from Apocalypse's control?"
"While we may not be able to reach out to them telepathically," stated the Professor, "we still may be able to save them. As to how, I'm open to suggestions."
The rest of the X-Men looked at each other. It was odd to see Charles Xavier at a loss as to how to save their three friends and former foe from the grip of Apocalypse. But no one could really blame him on this occasion.
"Wait a second," said Bishop. "Apocalypse said that the mind control chips are an advanced technology, right?"
"Yes," said Professor X. "Go on."
"I still have some stuff that I brought here from the future I come from. I have a lot of circuits and electrical wiring that perhaps Beast could use to maybe create something to counteract Apocalypse's work."
"Let's try it, Bishop," said Beast. "You get what you need. I'll be in my lab."
"I'll help," said Jean.
*Twelve Hours Later*
Beast was holding a box-shaped device. The X-Men had just been called into the briefing room. "This is the best that we could come up with," said Hank.
Wolverine looked at it and asked, "How is this dinky thing supposed to help us save our friends?"
"We've been testing it on lab animals, using the most advanced mind-control devices that we've collected here from past battles," explained Jean. "The problem is that it only works if one remembers someone or something from before the mind-control was put to use. If we're going to make this work, each one of them must remember something or someone from who they were before."
"Well, we could help Colossus by showing him some of his paintings," said Iceman. "You know how much he loved art."
"That's a sound theory, Bobby," said Hank, "but with Apocalypse's mind- control, we may need something else. Specifically, someone or something that they care about more than anything. And I know for a fact that Peter lived for more than just art."
Hearing this, Rogue tried hard not to think of doing what she was thinking. But thinking that there may be no other alternative, she spoke up and said, "Maybe I could help Peter. I know I never told any of you this, but I've always had a crush on him. I think I secretly felt more strongly for him than I ever did for Remy." She then turned to Gambit and said, "No offense." The Cajun nodded in understanding. "A short time before he died, we actually touched and kissed," she said while blushing. Some of them smirked, even Gambit, though she pretended not to notice. "I'd like to try and help him." No one seemed to object.
Gambit then approached his on-again, off-again (now ex-) girlfriend, put a hand on her shoulder, and said, "Chere, I want ya to do what ya have to. I never say dis to anyone til now, but Gambit always know dat he and petite no mix. As great of friends we be, petite, it never work out 'tween us. We both know dis. So, just so you know what you do be right, I say go for it."
Rogue smiled, shed a tear and said, "Thank, Remy. That means a lot to me." She then embraced and he returned the hug.
Once they broke up, Archangel said, "I know that Betsy and I were never a great couple, even when we dated. I've always loved her, though. Throughout much of her life, she never really had anyone but her brother and us. And since Brian is dead, I'll try and save Psylocke.*"
(*I don't know if Psylocke's brother is really dead or not, {nor do I really care} so here, I say he is.)
"Well, Peter could probably help Illyana if we get him free, but who's gonna save Pyro?" asked Nightcrawler.
"The only ones I can think of who could help him would be Mystique or Avalanche," said Rogue, "though I favor Avalanche to have the best chance, being that they became such great friends. But the question is, where is he?"
"I'll get on Cerebro and see if I can find him," said Professor X. "Jean, come with me. I want to get this done quickly."
They waited in the briefing room impatiently before the Professor and Jean came back in. Xavier said, "He's in Greece. He's living in a cabin outside of Athens."
Rogue nodded and said, "I'm gonna go see if I can get him to help."
"Should I accompany you?" asked Storm.
"No, I have to do this alone. After all, I once worked for the Brotherhood, remember?" Before any more could be said, she left the mansion and took off.
Dominic Petros, the villain once called Avalanche, was sitting in his cabin drinking Scotch. Once one of the most feared mutants on the planet, ever since the death of Pyro, his best friend, so many years ago from the Legacy Virus, his career as a villain and terrorist had slowed considerably. He was seen in action every now and then, but his heart just wasn't into it anymore. He got a surprise when he heard a knock on his door. "Who could that be?" he asked himself curiously. He rarely, if ever, had visitors!
He opened the door, and to his surprise, there stood Rogue! She said, "Hi."
Dominic growled and said, "Go away!" He tried to slam the door, but she stopped it with her gloved hand.
"Please," she said. "Just hear me out."
He sighed and said, "Very well," before reluctantly letting her in.
They sat down in chairs across from each other. Avalanche asked, "So, what do you want?"
Rogue shook her head and said, "I don't really have a whole lot of time, so I'm gonna get right to the point. Dominic, the X-Men need your help."
This completely caught him by surprise. Trying not to show it, he said sarcastically, "Aw, the poor X-Men actually need help from the big, bad, Avalanche?" Turning serious, he then asked, still sounding rude, "What could you possibly want me for?" He then took another sip of his drink.
Rogue said softly, "It's about Pyro."
This caused Dominic to spit his drink back out. "Pyro? Did somebody steal his body or something?"
"Apocalypse did. He somehow managed to resurrect him and is using him as one of his Horsemen. We have an idea that will hopefully free him from Apocalypse's control, but we need your help to make it work."
Avalanche pondered this for a moment. Finally, he said, "Normally, it's against my better judgment to work with the X-Men. But if it means getting my best friend back, count me in!"
The X-Jet landed in the Sahara Desert. Professor X was the first to step out, suited up along with the other X-Men. Avalanche wore some kind of gray- or silver-colored suit that he had worn in the past.
"We're here," said Nightcrawler. "So where's Apocalypse?"
To answer his question, a floating silver orb approached them. A robotic voice said, "Follow." It took off and the X-Men followed it.
About fifteen minutes later, the orb stopped. Not knowing what else to do, the X-Men just stood there and waited. Suddenly, they saw a shadow on the ground. All of the X-Men looked up and saw Apocalypse and the Four Horsemen approaching them on a flying silver disk. It stopped about a foot off the ground and the five of them stepped off, Apocalypse last. He said, "Ah, glad to see you made it." Noticing the device in Beast's hands, he laughed and said, "You think you're going to break my hold on them? I told you, that will be impossible! I grow tired of this. Horsemen, attack!"
Death, Pestilence, and Famine charged into the fray. War transformed to steel before joining in himself. Death fought off Wolverine, Iceman, and Nightcrawler with ease, being that she was a trained ninja while they were only moderate martial artists. As far as martial arts went, the only one who could probably challenge her was Wolverine. Archangel swooped in and picked her up. He landed by Beast and Jean, holding her arms to keep her from using her psychic knife. He said, "Betsy, look at me! Try to remember! Do you remember all the good times we had together? Do you remember our adventures, our . . ." he blushed at what he was about to say next, " . . . dates?"
Death looked at him confused. Realization was slowly beginning to dawn on her. Still under Apocalypse's control, she weakly whispered in her Betsy Braddock voice, "Warren, . . . help me."
Knowing that was his cue, Beast activated the device. Within a matter of seconds, Jean could mentally feel Apocalypse's mind control chip deactivating. She psychically peered into Betsy's head and smiled in satisfaction as the chip harmlessly dissolved into dust. When it was done, Betsy smiled and said, "Thank you, Jean." Warren then set her on her feet. "What happened?" asked the resurrected Psylocke.
"There will be time for explanations later," said Beast. "Right now, we've got three others to free from Apocalypse."
"I'll try and keep Apocalypse busy," said Jean. "You go help the others!"
Apocalypse watched the whole thing. He always was one to sit on the sidelines while his pawns fought for him. He watched Death take down several X-Men all by herself. But then he witnessed her being freed from his control. "No!" he screamed. "It's not possible!" Then, he felt Jean attack him telepathically. She knew that she wasn't strong enough to fight him, but she had to hold him off. Though she had told them to help the others, Psylocke and Archangel arrived to lend her a hand.
Cyclops, Bishop, and Gambit did what they could to keep War at bay. They let up and allowed Rogue to catch him. Knowing that he was stronger, Rogue spoke quickly. "Listen to me, Peter. We're not your enemies! Apocalypse is doing this to you. Don't let him win!"
"Apocalypse is my master!"
"But does he care about you? Does care for you like a son? Or like a slave?" This seemed to cause him to think. She kept going. "Listen, sugah, I know that nobody ever said anything like this to you before, but . . ." she silenced trying to find the words to say. Finally, she decided to speak from her heart. It seemed to be telling her to say it. " . . .I love you." She then locked her lips with his in a kiss. With him in armored form, she wasn't absorbing anything from him. When she pulled back, he seemed to be misty-eyed. Beast quickly approached and activated the machine.
As the machine was doing its magic, Beast quickly explained, "The chips will disintegrate within a matter of seconds. Jean confirmed this telepathically when we freed Betsy."
Soon, it was done. Colossus shook his head and asked, "Where am I?" He then saw Rogue and said, "I remember. Thank you, Rogue. I love you too." They then hugged.
Rogue's eyes then widened and she quickly said, "Save the romance til later. Right now, we need to help Pyro and your sister."
"My sister?" Colossus asked in surprise.
"We'll explain later. Come on."
Wolverine, Iceman, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Bishop, and Gambit went to attack Apocalypse while Emma Frost and Avalanche tried to keep Famine occupied. Emma had assured them telepathically that they would be fine. Famine was attacking with all kinds of fire constructs. Emma protected herself and Avalanche telepathically. Knowing she wouldn't be able to hold it long, Avalanche created an earthquake that knocked Famine off his feet. Emma let down her protective shield and Avalanche quickly approached his old friend. "John," he said, "it's me, Dominic. Avalanche. You know, we became buds. We were always running from the law, battling the X-Men, stealing, looting. Please, remember!"
Famine seemed to be surprised, unwilling to fight. Then Beast came by and activated the machine. Within seconds, Pyro was free. He looked around and asked angrily, "Avalanche, what are you doing here? And with the X- Men?"
"I'm helping them set you free from a mutual enemy," answered Avalanche matter-of-factly. "I'll give you the details later."
Only Pestilence remained. The Professor and Storm tried to attack her without harming her. Storm surrounded her with a storm cloud, allowing Xavier to attack with a psychic bolt. She clutched her head and screamed in pain at first, but used her magic to literally will it out of her and back at the Professor as well as Storm, taking them down. Storm tried to pick her up in a tornado, but she used her magic to keep it from touching her. Colossus then got into her face and said, "Illyana, look at me! You are not Pestilence! Apocalypse only wants you to think he is!"
In an evil voice, Pestilence said, "YOU DARE DEFY APOCALYPSE?"
She was about to attack when he said, "Yes, and so do you!" This seemed to temporarily confuse her. Colossus turned to human form and said gently, "Listen to me. I'm your brother. Please don't leave me. Please."
Illyana shed a tear as her Pestilence persona began to lose its grip on her. She said, "Help me, . . . Peter."
He pulled his sister into a hug and said, "I will. Beast will make it all better." Beast then activated the machine, freeing her.
Apocalypse was trying to fight off the X-Men, who were ambushing him. No matter what he did, weather he used his plasma rays, grew to giant size, or changed his arms to weapons, they were not letting up. "You took away my Horsemen again! You will pay for this!"
"How can you make us pay for anything when you can't even defend yourself?" Iceman cleverly retorted.
"You cannot harm me! I am indestructible!"
Soon Colossus, Magik, Rogue, Storm, Avalanche, Pyro, Emma, and the Professor joined the fray. Seeing Peter, Wolverine smiled and asked, "Hey, Petey, I know you've been dead a while, but ya think you're still up for it."
Turning to armored form, Colossus smiled and said, "What, you didn't think I could forget our famous 'Fastball Special,' did you?"
Smiling, Logan said, "Let's do it!"
With that, Colossus picked up Wolverine and threw him as hard as he could toward the giant Apocalypse. Being that he was too busy trying to fight off the other X-Men, as well as Avalanche and Pyro, Apocalypse had no time to react. With his claws extended, Wolverine slammed into Apocalypse. It didn't phase him, but it did cause him to stumble.
As he was trying to recover, Psylocke said, "Kurt, could you teleport me onto his shoulders?"
"You got it!" said Nightcrawler. The two of them then teleported to Apocalypse's shoulders. Psylocke activated her psychic knife and stabbed Apocalypse in the head, causing him to scream in pain. As he began shrinking back to normal size, Psylocke pulled her knife out and she and Nightcrawler teleported to where their teammates were.
Professor X, Jean, and Emma then telepathically attacked him together. Apocalypse dropped to his knees, clutching his head. Soon, Jean and Emma passed out from the strain. Xavier was straining as well, but he was determined to keep going. He was NOT going to let Apocalypse hurt anyone ever again. But the strain was starting to catch up to him as he fell to the ground clutching his head and screaming.
With the telepathic attack over, Apocalypse weakly got to his feet. He said, "Alright, X-Men, you win this round. But I'll be back!" He then flew off.
Cyclops got to his wife's side, trying to wake her up. Beast was tending to Emma, while the rest looked over the fallen Professor. Wolverine checked for a pulse and said, "He's alive, but we'd better get back to the Mansion." Everyone agreed and boarded the X-Jet.
At the X-Mansion, the Professor was lying on a medical bed, being watched over by a few of the X-Men. He slowly woke up. Jean smiled and said, "Welcome back, Professor."
"What happened?" asked Xavier.
"Apocalypse ran off. Typical," said Logan.
"Where are Pyro and Avalanche," asked Xavier.
"We dropped them off at Dominic's cabin in Greece," answered Cyclops.
"But there's one thing I still don't understand," said Colossus. "How did he bring the four of us back to life? How did he bring ME back to life? I was cremated!"
"I think I know," said the Professor. "While I was inside his head, I discovered that he had taken whatever remained of the corpses of Betsy, Illyana, and Pyro. I also saw him teleport into Kitty's college dorm room and stole leftover residue from your ashes, Peter. Apparently, she had never cleaned your urn. He used advanced alien technology to remold the bodies and his plasma rays to resurrect all of you."
"That's interesting information, Professor," said Beast, "but I'm afraid Jean and I have bad news. You've lost the use of your legs-again."
The Professor looked dejected at first. Then he smiled and asked, "Henry, could get me a wheelchair and take me to my room?" Beast complied, but everyone else in the room looked confused. Xavier almost seemed . . . glad to be crippled. Before they left the room, Xavier had Beast stop. He turned to the others and said, "Could you summon the rest of the X-Men? I wish to brief them."
A short time later, the X-Men were in the briefing room. The Professor was then wheeled in, dressed in a suit and tie outfit. Beast walked by his side. He then told them that because of their success and devotion to the X-Men, they were allowed to pick individual uniforms again. He had always liked dressing in formal wear anyway. Colossus was glad for this, since he didn't really like the outfits the team currently wore anyway.
Cyclops and Jean decided upon form-fitting black leather outfits (basically, the outfits they wear in the Movies). Wolverine went back to his brown and orange costume and Storm went back to the black outfit with a cape and lightening bolt going down her chest. Rogue went back to her yellow and green outfit with a yellow "X," while Iceman decided to go with the blue and white outfit he wore after rejoining the X-Men from X-Factor and decided he would completely ice up during battle again. Archangel and Emma kept their current looks. Psylocke went back to the long-time ninja outfit that she felt most comfortable wearing. She also no longer had the Crimson Dawn tattoo over her left eye. Magik, whose powers could now manifest naturally instead of through the Soulsword she once used, decided upon a form-fitting silver and white outfit. Beast decided to return to the tights he wore when he first became an actual beast (in other words, he looks the way he looked in the cartoon, except his beast-like appearance is the way it is currently in the comics). Finally, Colossus, Bishop, Nightcrawler, and Gambit all went back to the outfits that they wore when they joined the X-Men. And the relationships between Archangel and Psylocke and Colossus and Rogue, respectively, began to blossom.
But that's another story.
The End