A/N: I'M SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING SOONER BUT MY MUSE DECIDED TO GO ON A
STRIKE AND I COULDN'T COME UP WITH ANY IDEAS UNTIL NOW. TO MAKE UP FOR
MAKING YOU GUYS WAIT FOR SO LONG, I MADE THIS CHAPTER EXTRA LONGER, I
THINK. ANYWAY, HOPE YOU LIKE IT. I APPREACIATE THE REVIEWS. THANKS.
ENJOY.
~*~
The two figures stood on top of the Empire State building, looking down at the whole of New York. The larger one, Apocalypse smiled as his four Horsemen wrecked havoc in various parts of the city.
He could see smoke rising in the air, followed by enormous fires, engulfing buildings, then blocks. From where they stood, Ellis Island appeared like hell, engulfed in flames that seemed to have a life of its own.
Below them, chaos ensued. Fire trucks ran from one direction to another, sirens shrilling over the noise and haste. Cop cars broke speed limits, chasing undefeatable enemies.
Apocalypse chuckled, amused by the humanity's careless effort to save itself. His laughter then stopped as he turned to look at the other figure next to him.
Sakhmet.
"This was your home once, until the people who claimed to care about you turned against you." He declared and Sakhmet looked at him with interest in her eyes but her face was devoid of any emotion.
The cold, biting wind whipped around her, making her shiver but she refused to complain. She had to prove herself to Apocalypse.
This was the greatest test so far. There was a great possibility that she would regain her memory and then she would have to decide whose side she really was on. Apocalypse had warned her that she would be torn between him and her old family. A part of her would care despite their betrayal.
She turned her gaze towards New York. There was something she disliked about the city, perhaps a bad feeling because of the fact that her old self lived and died here.
"I'll make them pay." She said. Her proclamation barely held any emotion in it. It was a statement, devoid of anger or resentment. It wasn't even a threat. It was as if she was stating a mere fact. Nothing to it.
Apocalypse nodded in approval. He was waiting for her to show him her great power, waiting for her to unleash her wrath on one of America's greatest city, waiting for her to destroy humanity for good.
He knew that she was capable of it. In fact she was capable of anything, even overpowering him but he wouldn't let her have that knowledge. That would be reckless.
Sakhmet took his nod as a go and she floated off the building, rising higher and higher into the clouds. She raised her arms around her summoning the elements of the sky. Wind surrounded her, chilling her to the bones, whirling around her until it formed a tornado. Then she called for rain and rain fell heavily on New York. The rain froze and snow followed turning into a blizzard.
The city of lights was covered by wet slippery snow, freezing almost half the city. When Sakhmet saw that Apocalypse was the least bit impressed, she turned to the Hudson River, dipped her hands into the water, turning it into hot, molten magma.
Apocalypse grinned.
Better.
Sakhmet moved to the streets, joining War as he turned a building into a pile of smoldering ashes.
Cop cars surrounded them, rifles aimed at their heads, ready to be fired. There were at least four dozen police vehicles, one HASMAT team, four ambulances, and two fire trucks waiting.
"Surrender now or we will fire!" The chief of police yelled through his megaphone.
"Fun time." War chuckled as he looked over at Sakhmet.
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The Brotherhood arrived in time to witness what appeared to be a showdown between the New York police and two of the Horsemen. One of them they recognized as the lion-headed figure.
"Not good." Mystique declared to the rest of her team. The police had the two figures cornered to a building but neither looked threatened. The X- men's Blackbird was looming overhead, unloading its members and the Acolytes.
"Great. They're just in time." Lance said sarcastically, also noticing their ever hated adversaries' arrival.
"Yo, is it me or does the river look like magma?" Todd asked as he craned his neck to get a better view of the Hudson River.
"It's magma." Wanda said flatly. She rolled her eyes at Todd. Sometimes his curiosity was so out place. Instead, he should be thinking of how powerful their enemies were considering that they were capable of turning the river into lava.
"So, who do we fight first? The X freaks or Apocalypse?" Wanda asked, turning to Mystique.
"I suggest you avoid the X-men and Acolytes. They are the least of your worries. We'll deal with them later, if we make it out of this." She said.
"Okay, boss." Lance said with a sigh.
They were waiting for the War and Sakhmet to strike. And as if on cue, Sakhmet rose just high above the crowd. With her magnetic powers, she took the rifles, and guns from the police, aimed it at the sky and fired.
Bullets rained over everyone and bystanders who were curiously watching started to panic. The crowd screamed, people ran from one direction to the other, creating more confusion. The police held their ground taking cover inside their vehicles.
Some people were hit, many fell to the ground. In their panic, the police called for more back up for the people and the officers that went down.
War charged at the police while Sakhmet dropped the guns on the ground. And in a heartbeat, she raised the cars high above the air and sent it plummeting to the ground. They landed in a haze of fire, exploding the moment they reached the asphalt.
Mystique and the Brotherhood gasped in sheer terror at what they had just witnessed. The creature called Sakhmet was ruthless, cruel at best; having no pity for the lives it so easily destroyed.
"We're going to have to kill that one first before we win this war and it won't be easy." Mystique declared as she pointed at Sakhmet.
Pietro looked at her hesitantly. He had to be sure if that was Rogue but by the way Sakhmet fought and destroyed those people, he was beginning to doubt himself. Rogue was never that merciless.
"I say we better help them now or we won't stand a chance after she destroys the whole police force." Lance suggested and Mystique nodded in approval. They ran quickly to where Sakhmet and War were.
They fought head to head with War while Sakhmet was in the air, destroying a marine Cobra helicopter with her bare hands. The helicopter went down in a second, along with its crew.
The Brotherhood watched as Scott took a shot at Sakhmet who didn't seem the least bit affected.
She turned around to face Scott and the rest of the X-men who had grouped together with the Acolytes. Each one of them took turns taking a shot at her.
"Well, I guess we should join them." Wanda declared.
"Join with the enemy?" Lance asked angrily.
"If we want to survive this, we have no choice!" Mystique yelled over the sounds of gunfire aimed at Sakhmet and War.
Lance groaned with frustration as he realized that Wanda and Mystique were right. If they wanted to win this, they would have to call a truce and fight their most common enemy. "Fine!" He yelled grudgingly.
************************************************************************
An hour later, the X-men, Acolytes and Brotherhood remained standing while they continue to fight. Many of them were bruised, wounded and barely standing but they all stood their ground.
The Horsemen and Sakhmet had regrouped, becoming stronger as they fought together.
"You don't stand a chance against us!" Sakhmet roared as she descended from the air and stood in front of all of them, her small but powerful army of four behind her.
Apocalypse was watching and waiting.
"Not here to talk!" Mystique yelled as she charged. Pyro and Gambit followed suit, shooting fire and explosive cards at their enemy.
The rest of the mutants charged at whatever Horsemen stood in their way. After what seemed like a lifetime of shooting, yelling, bruises, and wounds, the Horsemen were taken down and Sakhmet was left standing.
"We have her cornered!" Lance yelled triumphantly to everyone.
Sakhmet laughed at what looked like a feeble army of desperate mutants. "Is that all you've got?" She sneered, her voice hoarse and powerful.
"No, we have more!" Scott yelled as he ordered everyone to take their positions and attack.
What looked like an intricate plan of attack ensued. First Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Pyro, Colossus, and Multiplicity charged, circling around Sakhmet; leaving her little time to take them down.
Mystique, Gambit, Evan, Cyclops, Jean, Magneto, Quicksilver, Lance, Wanda and the rest followed as back up.
They circled around Sakhmet, fighting the best they could. She looked untouched as she countered their attacks. Suddenly, out of nowhere Logan pushed past them and charged at her, taking her by surprise and sending both of them sprawled on the pavement.
Sakhmet growled as she felt Wolverine's arms around her while her shoulder collided with the pavement, grazing it.
That was when she sensed it; a shiver down her spine, making the hair on the back of neck stand up. It was that moment that pure hatred filled her and she shrieked in pain as her small body started to morph into that of Sabertooth's.
Her now enlarge hands circled and grabbed Wolverine off of her, throwing him against the wall of a nearby building.
Primitive instincts filled her as she stood up in her new mutant male body. "Wolverine." She hissed. All she could think was ripping him into pieces.
************************************************************************
"Oh my God." Pietro gasped as he and everyone else watched Sakhmet morph into Sabertooth.
No one hear him heard or waited for him to speak. They moved on and continued with their fight.
Wolverine and Sakhmet, now in Sabertooth's form charged at each other, scratching, kicking and trying to weaken each other.
Suddenly Wolverine was on top of Sakhmet and without batting an eye; he sank his claws just below her ribs.
Sakhmet gasped as she started to change into every person that she had touched as Rogue and then lastly, with her lion mask lost when she became Sabertooth, her body started to decrease in size and she was Rogue again.
Everyone halted as the events from before replayed in their minds and they were brought back to their guilt, and shame and sadness again.
From the small and beaten crowd of mutants, Mystique screamed, "NO!" as she rushed towards her daughter who was laying, half conscience, with Logan's claws still embedded in her.
She shoved Logan from her, who was frozen in horror and picked up Rogue from the rubble that they were fighting on.
"I didn't know." Mystique said painfully as she planted a kiss on her daughter's forehead.
With tears in her eyes, she looked down at Sakhmet or to be more precise, Rogue. She still looked the same but her skin was darker than before and her face was bruised and cut from the battle.
With confused eyes, Sakhmet moved her head to look at Mystique. "You are my enemy." She choked as blood gushed from her mouth and she coughed.
Mystique shook her head. "I'm your mother." She whispered and Sakhmet coughed again.
Her head rolled back as her eyes turned white and memories of her long dead past flashed through her mind like a hurricane. She heard voices: Scott's, Pietro's, the Professor's, and Mystique's. She saw Xavier smile at her and promise her that she would be safe with them.
But what she saw the most was the fight with the X-men and Acolytes and moment when Wolverine first time stabbed her just before she died. It played like a broken fragment of a movie in her mind and more hatred filled her.
Sakhmet gasped as she scrambled from Mystique with all her strength. The wounds on her side were healing quickly, thanks to Apocalypse and his blood.
"Rogue." Mystique said warily as she wiped her daughter's blood from her hands.
"Don't call me that!" She hissed as she backed away from Mystique. Her eyes went to the crowd, searching their faces. Memories flashed as she took a quick look at all of them.
The Brotherhood quickly went to Mystique's side, Pietro stepping in front of all of them.
"Rogue. It's me." He said warily as his eyes looked at her lovingly.
Sakhmet watched him. Pietro, she thought. She remembered who he was but not what he meant to her. There was something different about him, something in his voice that made her afraid to find out, something in his eyes that told him more than she wanted to know.
She stepped back, her body shaking from the confusion that racked her. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what Apocalypse taught her.
"You will be torn between your past and your present." His voice rang in her head.
She was momentarily interrupted by Logan who was wailing nearby, Jean and Storm by his side.
"Not again! Not again!" He chanted frantically as he rocked back and forth, his tearful eyes empty, seeing only what he had repeatedly done to Rogue. "I killed her!" He screamed.
Apocalypse's words rang in her head. "They called themselves your family and friends but in the end they betrayed you. They betrayed you. Betrayed you. Betrayed you."
She turned her attention back at the Brotherhood, the familiar faces looking at her with concern and worry and surprise but they were afraid. She saw it.
"Rogue is dead." She said bitterly, her eyes staring each and every one of them down. "You lost her. Accept it. I am Sakhmet, Apocalypse's daughter. You have lived to see another day but count your blessings because your days are numbered." With that said, she spun around but Pietro quickly blurred to her and grabbed her wrist.
She saw a flash in her mind and she gasped. Taken by surprise, she growled and raised her arm, throwing him to his friends.
"Remember this, I may have the body of the person you knew as Rogue but I am still your enemy."
She quickly teleported in front of them, leaving the mutants to murmur, whisper and cry in disbelief.
"We have her back." Mystique said hopefully as she turned to face the Brotherhood.
"But how?" Wanda asked in shock.
"I don't know and I don't care. We're getting her back." She said fiercely.
Everyone nodded in unison. "Well, she was looking pretty hot for a corpse." Todd piped in and Wanda growled but did nothing else. She was far to exhausted to move her arm and happily smack him.
That would have to wait later.
They were suddenly interrupted by Magneto. "Did you know about this? That your precious Rogue is actually the bringer of destruction?" He demanded.
Mystique glared. "No." She replied with a sigh.
"Don't think that because she's your daughter that we're not going to kill her." He threatened.
"Over my dead and bleeding body!" Pietro declared angrily.
"Magneto's right. Just because Rogue just happened to be Sakhmet, does not mean that she isn't the enemy." Xavier declared as he wheeled his chair to join the conversation.
"We are not going to let you hurt her again!" Pietro argued.
Xavier shook his head at the younger boy, his eyes glinting with evident dislike. "That's not up to you to decide." He answered calmly.
"That *creature* will destroy this city and worse, this planet whether we like it or not." Magneto declared. "It doesn't matter who she is. She has to be stopped."
"Since when did you care about the well-being of the world, Magnus?" Mystique retorted. "As I clearly recall, you were hell bent on ruling the world and destroying humans."
"You're right Mystique but how would I rule a dead world? You have no say in this. That creature and Apocalypse must be stopped and that's what we are going to do." He declared. He then turned around, floating just a few feet of the ground, refusing to listen to their protests.
The Acolytes quickly followed him, saying nothing to the X-men and Brotherhood who stayed behind.
"I will kill all of you before I let you touch her again!" She yelled.
"The Professor and Magneto are right!" Scott stated firmly. "I care about Rogue but that's not her. Like she said, her name is Sakhmet and she will destroy us if we let her."
Suddenly Pietro lunged at Scott started pounding him in the face. Everyone rushed to pull them away from each other.
"You care about her?" Pietro echoed angrily. "Did you care when your precious X men planned on killing her, did you care when she died? Did you, you bastard!" He said as he tried to free himself from Blob's strong grip. "All you've cared about is pleasing you holier than thou Professor and Ms. Perfect over there!" He yelled accusingly.
Scott glared at Pietro through his visors, his lips bleeding from the punches. "You better watch what you say about my family and friends." Scott hissed.
"Family?" Wanda scoffed as she backed Pietro up. "Is that what you call each other now? You called Rogue your family and look what happened. You and your team tried to kill her and you succeeded!" She said as her anger rose.
"Stay out of this, Wanda!" Jean said.
"Or you'll what? Levitate me off the ground until I pass out? You're nothing compared to me, red, so watch your tongue or you'll be sorry." Wanda hissed.
"Bring it on!" Jean said as the two girls glared at each other.
"Enough!" Xavier yelled when everyone started to take sides and was getting ready for another fight. "We don't have time for petty arguments! There is an enemy out there so I suggest you put you differences aside and work together."
"Not likely." Lance muttered as he glared at Scott and the rest of the X- men.
"Fine! Then avoid each other because I guarantee you, when the real war comes, you're going to need each other, like it or not." He said firmly. "X-men, go back to the Blackbird." He said as his wheelchair turned around, leading them away from the Brotherhood.
Mystique sighed the minute they were gone. "They're right. She's still the enemy."
"You have to be kidding me! That's your daughter!" Pietro said defensively.
"And I haven't forgotten that!" She retorted. "But that was not Rogue that we fought earlier. That was Sakhmet and she's willing to destroy the world and us along it. We have to stop her."
"We're going to kill her?" Todd asked.
"No, you idiot, she said, we're going to stop her!" Wanda exclaimed. She, like all of them was physically and emotionally tired. They had just fought a battle all day and they were on the losing side whether they liked to admit it or not.
They were just lucky that Wolverine stepped in and interrupted the whole thing.
"How do we do that?" Pietro asked with determination.
Mystique shrugged her shoulders as she took a deep sighed, finally feeling the strain of everything that occurred. Even with her quick healing body, she was still tired and exhausted.
"Let's go home. We need some rest." She said, refusing to answer him.
"Mystique, how?" Pietro demanded.
"Pietro let it go. Let's go home and rest and then we'll talk about this. We don't have much time until we have to fight again." Wanda said quietly as he put her hand on her brother's shoulder.
Pietro opened his mouth to protest but shut it close again. He nodded with a sigh. There was no point in arguing. He'd have to wait. He followed the rest of the group as they trudged back home.
"We lost, didn't we?" Todd asked quietly but no one answered him as he looked back at the crumble that was once a great city. He sighed.
Yes, they did and that was just the beginning.
~*~
A/N: OKAY, IF YOU DIDN'T GET WHAT HAPPENED SINCE THAT WAS A LITTLE LONG EVEN FOR ME, THIS IS HOW IT WENT: APOCALYPSE AND THE FOUR HORSEMEN, ALONG WITH SAKHMET ARE DESTROYING NEW YORK CITY. THE BROTHERHOOD, ACOLYTES AND X MEN FIGHT HER AND WHEN WOLVERINE TACKLED SAKHMET, THE DORMANT SABERTOOTH IN HER WAS TRIGGERED AND SHE CHANGED INTO HIM. PRETTY MUCH LIKE BEFORE BUT THIS TIME SHE HEALS SINCE SHE'S IMMORTAL NOW. I JUST WANTED TO PROLONG THE SUFFERING AGAIN. SO, SHE GOT SOME OF HER MEMORY BACK BUT THEY STILL DON'T MAKE SENSE. THAT'S WHY SHE LEFT TO GO BACK TO APOCALYPSE.
SO NOTHING EXCITING THERE AND THAT WAS TOTALLY NOT ORIGINAL WHEN I DECIDED TO REDO HER DEATH SCENE. SORRY, IT WAS THAT OR NOTHING AT ALL AND I WANTED THE BROTHERHOOD TO FIND OUT WHO SAKHMET REALLY WAS. I ALSO WANTED HER TO HAVE SOME MEMORY OF WHO SHE WAS. ANYWAY, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK AND GIVE ME SOME IDEAS ON HOW TO FINISH THIS. I DON'T WANT TO KILL ROGUE AGAIN.
HOPEFULLY THAT MADE SENSE.
~*~
The two figures stood on top of the Empire State building, looking down at the whole of New York. The larger one, Apocalypse smiled as his four Horsemen wrecked havoc in various parts of the city.
He could see smoke rising in the air, followed by enormous fires, engulfing buildings, then blocks. From where they stood, Ellis Island appeared like hell, engulfed in flames that seemed to have a life of its own.
Below them, chaos ensued. Fire trucks ran from one direction to another, sirens shrilling over the noise and haste. Cop cars broke speed limits, chasing undefeatable enemies.
Apocalypse chuckled, amused by the humanity's careless effort to save itself. His laughter then stopped as he turned to look at the other figure next to him.
Sakhmet.
"This was your home once, until the people who claimed to care about you turned against you." He declared and Sakhmet looked at him with interest in her eyes but her face was devoid of any emotion.
The cold, biting wind whipped around her, making her shiver but she refused to complain. She had to prove herself to Apocalypse.
This was the greatest test so far. There was a great possibility that she would regain her memory and then she would have to decide whose side she really was on. Apocalypse had warned her that she would be torn between him and her old family. A part of her would care despite their betrayal.
She turned her gaze towards New York. There was something she disliked about the city, perhaps a bad feeling because of the fact that her old self lived and died here.
"I'll make them pay." She said. Her proclamation barely held any emotion in it. It was a statement, devoid of anger or resentment. It wasn't even a threat. It was as if she was stating a mere fact. Nothing to it.
Apocalypse nodded in approval. He was waiting for her to show him her great power, waiting for her to unleash her wrath on one of America's greatest city, waiting for her to destroy humanity for good.
He knew that she was capable of it. In fact she was capable of anything, even overpowering him but he wouldn't let her have that knowledge. That would be reckless.
Sakhmet took his nod as a go and she floated off the building, rising higher and higher into the clouds. She raised her arms around her summoning the elements of the sky. Wind surrounded her, chilling her to the bones, whirling around her until it formed a tornado. Then she called for rain and rain fell heavily on New York. The rain froze and snow followed turning into a blizzard.
The city of lights was covered by wet slippery snow, freezing almost half the city. When Sakhmet saw that Apocalypse was the least bit impressed, she turned to the Hudson River, dipped her hands into the water, turning it into hot, molten magma.
Apocalypse grinned.
Better.
Sakhmet moved to the streets, joining War as he turned a building into a pile of smoldering ashes.
Cop cars surrounded them, rifles aimed at their heads, ready to be fired. There were at least four dozen police vehicles, one HASMAT team, four ambulances, and two fire trucks waiting.
"Surrender now or we will fire!" The chief of police yelled through his megaphone.
"Fun time." War chuckled as he looked over at Sakhmet.
************************************************************************
The Brotherhood arrived in time to witness what appeared to be a showdown between the New York police and two of the Horsemen. One of them they recognized as the lion-headed figure.
"Not good." Mystique declared to the rest of her team. The police had the two figures cornered to a building but neither looked threatened. The X- men's Blackbird was looming overhead, unloading its members and the Acolytes.
"Great. They're just in time." Lance said sarcastically, also noticing their ever hated adversaries' arrival.
"Yo, is it me or does the river look like magma?" Todd asked as he craned his neck to get a better view of the Hudson River.
"It's magma." Wanda said flatly. She rolled her eyes at Todd. Sometimes his curiosity was so out place. Instead, he should be thinking of how powerful their enemies were considering that they were capable of turning the river into lava.
"So, who do we fight first? The X freaks or Apocalypse?" Wanda asked, turning to Mystique.
"I suggest you avoid the X-men and Acolytes. They are the least of your worries. We'll deal with them later, if we make it out of this." She said.
"Okay, boss." Lance said with a sigh.
They were waiting for the War and Sakhmet to strike. And as if on cue, Sakhmet rose just high above the crowd. With her magnetic powers, she took the rifles, and guns from the police, aimed it at the sky and fired.
Bullets rained over everyone and bystanders who were curiously watching started to panic. The crowd screamed, people ran from one direction to the other, creating more confusion. The police held their ground taking cover inside their vehicles.
Some people were hit, many fell to the ground. In their panic, the police called for more back up for the people and the officers that went down.
War charged at the police while Sakhmet dropped the guns on the ground. And in a heartbeat, she raised the cars high above the air and sent it plummeting to the ground. They landed in a haze of fire, exploding the moment they reached the asphalt.
Mystique and the Brotherhood gasped in sheer terror at what they had just witnessed. The creature called Sakhmet was ruthless, cruel at best; having no pity for the lives it so easily destroyed.
"We're going to have to kill that one first before we win this war and it won't be easy." Mystique declared as she pointed at Sakhmet.
Pietro looked at her hesitantly. He had to be sure if that was Rogue but by the way Sakhmet fought and destroyed those people, he was beginning to doubt himself. Rogue was never that merciless.
"I say we better help them now or we won't stand a chance after she destroys the whole police force." Lance suggested and Mystique nodded in approval. They ran quickly to where Sakhmet and War were.
They fought head to head with War while Sakhmet was in the air, destroying a marine Cobra helicopter with her bare hands. The helicopter went down in a second, along with its crew.
The Brotherhood watched as Scott took a shot at Sakhmet who didn't seem the least bit affected.
She turned around to face Scott and the rest of the X-men who had grouped together with the Acolytes. Each one of them took turns taking a shot at her.
"Well, I guess we should join them." Wanda declared.
"Join with the enemy?" Lance asked angrily.
"If we want to survive this, we have no choice!" Mystique yelled over the sounds of gunfire aimed at Sakhmet and War.
Lance groaned with frustration as he realized that Wanda and Mystique were right. If they wanted to win this, they would have to call a truce and fight their most common enemy. "Fine!" He yelled grudgingly.
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An hour later, the X-men, Acolytes and Brotherhood remained standing while they continue to fight. Many of them were bruised, wounded and barely standing but they all stood their ground.
The Horsemen and Sakhmet had regrouped, becoming stronger as they fought together.
"You don't stand a chance against us!" Sakhmet roared as she descended from the air and stood in front of all of them, her small but powerful army of four behind her.
Apocalypse was watching and waiting.
"Not here to talk!" Mystique yelled as she charged. Pyro and Gambit followed suit, shooting fire and explosive cards at their enemy.
The rest of the mutants charged at whatever Horsemen stood in their way. After what seemed like a lifetime of shooting, yelling, bruises, and wounds, the Horsemen were taken down and Sakhmet was left standing.
"We have her cornered!" Lance yelled triumphantly to everyone.
Sakhmet laughed at what looked like a feeble army of desperate mutants. "Is that all you've got?" She sneered, her voice hoarse and powerful.
"No, we have more!" Scott yelled as he ordered everyone to take their positions and attack.
What looked like an intricate plan of attack ensued. First Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Pyro, Colossus, and Multiplicity charged, circling around Sakhmet; leaving her little time to take them down.
Mystique, Gambit, Evan, Cyclops, Jean, Magneto, Quicksilver, Lance, Wanda and the rest followed as back up.
They circled around Sakhmet, fighting the best they could. She looked untouched as she countered their attacks. Suddenly, out of nowhere Logan pushed past them and charged at her, taking her by surprise and sending both of them sprawled on the pavement.
Sakhmet growled as she felt Wolverine's arms around her while her shoulder collided with the pavement, grazing it.
That was when she sensed it; a shiver down her spine, making the hair on the back of neck stand up. It was that moment that pure hatred filled her and she shrieked in pain as her small body started to morph into that of Sabertooth's.
Her now enlarge hands circled and grabbed Wolverine off of her, throwing him against the wall of a nearby building.
Primitive instincts filled her as she stood up in her new mutant male body. "Wolverine." She hissed. All she could think was ripping him into pieces.
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"Oh my God." Pietro gasped as he and everyone else watched Sakhmet morph into Sabertooth.
No one hear him heard or waited for him to speak. They moved on and continued with their fight.
Wolverine and Sakhmet, now in Sabertooth's form charged at each other, scratching, kicking and trying to weaken each other.
Suddenly Wolverine was on top of Sakhmet and without batting an eye; he sank his claws just below her ribs.
Sakhmet gasped as she started to change into every person that she had touched as Rogue and then lastly, with her lion mask lost when she became Sabertooth, her body started to decrease in size and she was Rogue again.
Everyone halted as the events from before replayed in their minds and they were brought back to their guilt, and shame and sadness again.
From the small and beaten crowd of mutants, Mystique screamed, "NO!" as she rushed towards her daughter who was laying, half conscience, with Logan's claws still embedded in her.
She shoved Logan from her, who was frozen in horror and picked up Rogue from the rubble that they were fighting on.
"I didn't know." Mystique said painfully as she planted a kiss on her daughter's forehead.
With tears in her eyes, she looked down at Sakhmet or to be more precise, Rogue. She still looked the same but her skin was darker than before and her face was bruised and cut from the battle.
With confused eyes, Sakhmet moved her head to look at Mystique. "You are my enemy." She choked as blood gushed from her mouth and she coughed.
Mystique shook her head. "I'm your mother." She whispered and Sakhmet coughed again.
Her head rolled back as her eyes turned white and memories of her long dead past flashed through her mind like a hurricane. She heard voices: Scott's, Pietro's, the Professor's, and Mystique's. She saw Xavier smile at her and promise her that she would be safe with them.
But what she saw the most was the fight with the X-men and Acolytes and moment when Wolverine first time stabbed her just before she died. It played like a broken fragment of a movie in her mind and more hatred filled her.
Sakhmet gasped as she scrambled from Mystique with all her strength. The wounds on her side were healing quickly, thanks to Apocalypse and his blood.
"Rogue." Mystique said warily as she wiped her daughter's blood from her hands.
"Don't call me that!" She hissed as she backed away from Mystique. Her eyes went to the crowd, searching their faces. Memories flashed as she took a quick look at all of them.
The Brotherhood quickly went to Mystique's side, Pietro stepping in front of all of them.
"Rogue. It's me." He said warily as his eyes looked at her lovingly.
Sakhmet watched him. Pietro, she thought. She remembered who he was but not what he meant to her. There was something different about him, something in his voice that made her afraid to find out, something in his eyes that told him more than she wanted to know.
She stepped back, her body shaking from the confusion that racked her. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what Apocalypse taught her.
"You will be torn between your past and your present." His voice rang in her head.
She was momentarily interrupted by Logan who was wailing nearby, Jean and Storm by his side.
"Not again! Not again!" He chanted frantically as he rocked back and forth, his tearful eyes empty, seeing only what he had repeatedly done to Rogue. "I killed her!" He screamed.
Apocalypse's words rang in her head. "They called themselves your family and friends but in the end they betrayed you. They betrayed you. Betrayed you. Betrayed you."
She turned her attention back at the Brotherhood, the familiar faces looking at her with concern and worry and surprise but they were afraid. She saw it.
"Rogue is dead." She said bitterly, her eyes staring each and every one of them down. "You lost her. Accept it. I am Sakhmet, Apocalypse's daughter. You have lived to see another day but count your blessings because your days are numbered." With that said, she spun around but Pietro quickly blurred to her and grabbed her wrist.
She saw a flash in her mind and she gasped. Taken by surprise, she growled and raised her arm, throwing him to his friends.
"Remember this, I may have the body of the person you knew as Rogue but I am still your enemy."
She quickly teleported in front of them, leaving the mutants to murmur, whisper and cry in disbelief.
"We have her back." Mystique said hopefully as she turned to face the Brotherhood.
"But how?" Wanda asked in shock.
"I don't know and I don't care. We're getting her back." She said fiercely.
Everyone nodded in unison. "Well, she was looking pretty hot for a corpse." Todd piped in and Wanda growled but did nothing else. She was far to exhausted to move her arm and happily smack him.
That would have to wait later.
They were suddenly interrupted by Magneto. "Did you know about this? That your precious Rogue is actually the bringer of destruction?" He demanded.
Mystique glared. "No." She replied with a sigh.
"Don't think that because she's your daughter that we're not going to kill her." He threatened.
"Over my dead and bleeding body!" Pietro declared angrily.
"Magneto's right. Just because Rogue just happened to be Sakhmet, does not mean that she isn't the enemy." Xavier declared as he wheeled his chair to join the conversation.
"We are not going to let you hurt her again!" Pietro argued.
Xavier shook his head at the younger boy, his eyes glinting with evident dislike. "That's not up to you to decide." He answered calmly.
"That *creature* will destroy this city and worse, this planet whether we like it or not." Magneto declared. "It doesn't matter who she is. She has to be stopped."
"Since when did you care about the well-being of the world, Magnus?" Mystique retorted. "As I clearly recall, you were hell bent on ruling the world and destroying humans."
"You're right Mystique but how would I rule a dead world? You have no say in this. That creature and Apocalypse must be stopped and that's what we are going to do." He declared. He then turned around, floating just a few feet of the ground, refusing to listen to their protests.
The Acolytes quickly followed him, saying nothing to the X-men and Brotherhood who stayed behind.
"I will kill all of you before I let you touch her again!" She yelled.
"The Professor and Magneto are right!" Scott stated firmly. "I care about Rogue but that's not her. Like she said, her name is Sakhmet and she will destroy us if we let her."
Suddenly Pietro lunged at Scott started pounding him in the face. Everyone rushed to pull them away from each other.
"You care about her?" Pietro echoed angrily. "Did you care when your precious X men planned on killing her, did you care when she died? Did you, you bastard!" He said as he tried to free himself from Blob's strong grip. "All you've cared about is pleasing you holier than thou Professor and Ms. Perfect over there!" He yelled accusingly.
Scott glared at Pietro through his visors, his lips bleeding from the punches. "You better watch what you say about my family and friends." Scott hissed.
"Family?" Wanda scoffed as she backed Pietro up. "Is that what you call each other now? You called Rogue your family and look what happened. You and your team tried to kill her and you succeeded!" She said as her anger rose.
"Stay out of this, Wanda!" Jean said.
"Or you'll what? Levitate me off the ground until I pass out? You're nothing compared to me, red, so watch your tongue or you'll be sorry." Wanda hissed.
"Bring it on!" Jean said as the two girls glared at each other.
"Enough!" Xavier yelled when everyone started to take sides and was getting ready for another fight. "We don't have time for petty arguments! There is an enemy out there so I suggest you put you differences aside and work together."
"Not likely." Lance muttered as he glared at Scott and the rest of the X- men.
"Fine! Then avoid each other because I guarantee you, when the real war comes, you're going to need each other, like it or not." He said firmly. "X-men, go back to the Blackbird." He said as his wheelchair turned around, leading them away from the Brotherhood.
Mystique sighed the minute they were gone. "They're right. She's still the enemy."
"You have to be kidding me! That's your daughter!" Pietro said defensively.
"And I haven't forgotten that!" She retorted. "But that was not Rogue that we fought earlier. That was Sakhmet and she's willing to destroy the world and us along it. We have to stop her."
"We're going to kill her?" Todd asked.
"No, you idiot, she said, we're going to stop her!" Wanda exclaimed. She, like all of them was physically and emotionally tired. They had just fought a battle all day and they were on the losing side whether they liked to admit it or not.
They were just lucky that Wolverine stepped in and interrupted the whole thing.
"How do we do that?" Pietro asked with determination.
Mystique shrugged her shoulders as she took a deep sighed, finally feeling the strain of everything that occurred. Even with her quick healing body, she was still tired and exhausted.
"Let's go home. We need some rest." She said, refusing to answer him.
"Mystique, how?" Pietro demanded.
"Pietro let it go. Let's go home and rest and then we'll talk about this. We don't have much time until we have to fight again." Wanda said quietly as he put her hand on her brother's shoulder.
Pietro opened his mouth to protest but shut it close again. He nodded with a sigh. There was no point in arguing. He'd have to wait. He followed the rest of the group as they trudged back home.
"We lost, didn't we?" Todd asked quietly but no one answered him as he looked back at the crumble that was once a great city. He sighed.
Yes, they did and that was just the beginning.
~*~
A/N: OKAY, IF YOU DIDN'T GET WHAT HAPPENED SINCE THAT WAS A LITTLE LONG EVEN FOR ME, THIS IS HOW IT WENT: APOCALYPSE AND THE FOUR HORSEMEN, ALONG WITH SAKHMET ARE DESTROYING NEW YORK CITY. THE BROTHERHOOD, ACOLYTES AND X MEN FIGHT HER AND WHEN WOLVERINE TACKLED SAKHMET, THE DORMANT SABERTOOTH IN HER WAS TRIGGERED AND SHE CHANGED INTO HIM. PRETTY MUCH LIKE BEFORE BUT THIS TIME SHE HEALS SINCE SHE'S IMMORTAL NOW. I JUST WANTED TO PROLONG THE SUFFERING AGAIN. SO, SHE GOT SOME OF HER MEMORY BACK BUT THEY STILL DON'T MAKE SENSE. THAT'S WHY SHE LEFT TO GO BACK TO APOCALYPSE.
SO NOTHING EXCITING THERE AND THAT WAS TOTALLY NOT ORIGINAL WHEN I DECIDED TO REDO HER DEATH SCENE. SORRY, IT WAS THAT OR NOTHING AT ALL AND I WANTED THE BROTHERHOOD TO FIND OUT WHO SAKHMET REALLY WAS. I ALSO WANTED HER TO HAVE SOME MEMORY OF WHO SHE WAS. ANYWAY, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK AND GIVE ME SOME IDEAS ON HOW TO FINISH THIS. I DON'T WANT TO KILL ROGUE AGAIN.
HOPEFULLY THAT MADE SENSE.
