Note: ~ means thoughts, while // means a telepathic message.
Chapter 3
Angel (aka Warren) decided to become a temporary member of the X-men when news of the emergence of Apocalypse began to spread. Being one of the older members of the team, he quickly ascended the amount of influence and authority he exerted over the team, especially after the strange disappearance of their leader, Scott Summers. ~It was so strange,~ he thought ~ he just disappeared.~ To make up for the loss, Storm and Wolverine have since taken up the position as the field commanders of the X-men.
Although he always knew that Jean Grey and Summers had a thing for each other, he couldn't help but be attracted to the red-headed telepath. He knew Scott better than he knew Jean, having fought alongside him against the likes of Magneto and Mesmero. Cyclops, like his codename, saw the world in a single vision – good guys win, evil loses. The kid was a born leader, and Angel was sure that every one of the X-men, and probably most of the Brotherhood and Acolytes, would follow him into the fiery pits of hell if he said that he needed them.
Subconsciously, Warren looked down at Jean. There was no doubt that she was beautiful, with her face lit up by the setting sun and her hair swaying lightly in the evening breeze. No, he thought, I want Jean. Being raised in a rich family, Warren Worthington III was used to getting what he wanted. And he wasn't going to let her feelings for a dead guy (or his friendship to him) stop him from getting her.
Feeling his gaze upon her, Jean backed up and found herself lost in the glare of deep blue eyes. She knew that he was somewhat attracted to her, although her feelings toward him at the moment were confused. Part of her was still devastated by the loss of Scott, while the other was pushing herself to move on. "Warren," she stammered, as their faces drifted closer together, lips inches apart and closing.
They were suddenly interrupted by a telepathic broadcast by Prof. Xavier //X-men, I need you to all report to the Planning Room immediately.\\ Jean realized where she was and abruptly pulled back and walked briskly into the mansion. Inwardly cursing the bad timing, Angel too rose up to leave.
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Jean Grey found herself navigating in the maze of students, corridors and elevators as she made her way to the sub-basement floors of the mansion to the Planning Room. Along the way, she met up with Kitty Pryde, whose codename was Shadowcat. After a minute of awkward silence, Kitty spoke up, "So, like, how are things between you and Warren? You two seem to spend a lot of time together."
Sighing deeply, Jean replied, "Nothing's really going on. We're just friends."
"You do know that he's been, like, totally gushing over you ever since he joined the X-men."
Jean didn't reply, instead opting to change the subject. "What do you think of Magneto's team. Think we can trust 'em?"
"Personally, I don't think they're that bad. I've been talking to Piotr, he actually seems kind of nice."
As they entered the Planning Room, everyone else was already there except for Angel, awaiting the mission briefing. As she took a seat, she caught sight of Warren finally arriving in the room and joining the rest of the team.
As Xavier wheeled to the front of the room, flanked by Magneto and Storm, he cleared his throat. "Using Cerebro, we have finally tracked a very powerful mutant signature residing in the Pyramids of Gaza," he paused for effect, but then seemed unable to continue. Cutting to the chase, Storm declared, "We may have very well found Apocalypse."
A chorus of gasps and whispers broke out among the respective members of the X-men, Brotherhood, and Acolytes. They haven't seen or heard of Apocalypse since that battle several months ago, which took.... Scott. Despite her surprise, Jean felt herself studying the reaction of her teammates as their emotions flooded her mind telepathically. Prof. Xavier took the loss of Scott the hardest. Scott was the surrogate son he never had, and has watched and raised the kid ever since he picked up a terrified child in the hospital seven years ago when his powers manifested. Logan's expression remained neutral, although Jean felt something...perhaps a sense of failure and helplessness. The little red-eyed kid was as close to a little brother he ever had had, albeit a very stubborn brother. Kurt lost his best friend, Rogue lost the first and only person who truly understood her uncontrollable power, Kitty and Bobby lost an older brother. Perhaps even more devastating was the fact that the 'good' guys, the team of X-men, Brotherhood and Acolytes, lost their leader.
"We will be leaving immediately," Magneto continued," Our goal is to destroy Apocalypse. During this mission, we will be taking a few members of the Brotherhood with us, as we could use some heavy-hitters. We've agreed to take only the most experienced members of the team." There was an echo of groans and protests from the New Recruits.
"But we deserve to go. The guy killed Scott!" Amara objected.
"Man, Bobby always get the action" Ray complained.
Ignoring the whining students, the chosen mutants made their way to the Blackbird (or metal orbs). En-route to Africa, the teams were divided into two groups: Alpha (Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Jean Grey, Iceman, Angel, and Avalanche) and Bravo (Magneto, Sabertooth, Gambit, Pyro, Colossus, Quicksilver, Blob and Shadowcat), with Beast and Prof. X supporting from the X-jet. Touching down on the desert sand Team Alpha and Bravo made their way to their destination. Phasing through the sand and activating a lever, Shadowcat opened the entrance to the large structure of the Sphinx. Traveling down a narrow corridor as it lead our heroes deeper into the darkness, the path split in two, causing them to split up to cover more ground. The search was on.
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They've been searching for two hours now, and not a trace of Apocalypse could be found. ~Maybe Cerebro was mistaken. There doesn't seem to be anything here~ Jean thought. She was sure that with Logan's heightened senses and her telepathy, they should've found (or at least sense) him by now. She looked around. The others seem to be growing wary of their search as well.
//Jean!\\ The Professor alerted her. //Team Bravo is under attack! You've got to make your way to them\\
//We're on our way\\
Searching through the maze of walls, Jean managed to locate the psychic patterns of a few of the others as they desperately fought off their attackers. "Logan, the others are about 40 metres that way!" she pointed.
"I've got it covered Red! Time to rock this place!"
Lance's eyes rolled upwards and his hands balled up into fists as he sent a wave of seismic energy through the ground. As the floor arched upwards into a wave, the walls between them and the battle crumbled, giving them a clear path. Running at top speed, they reached the other side and jumped into combat. Jean didn't move a muscle; she was almost petrified.
The others were holding their own! In fact, if it weren't for the two or three robots of Egyptian gods helping out Apocalypse, they could be considered winning. Apocalypse himself seemed different. His actions were slower and his face contorted, as if he was having a headache. However, the strangest thing to Jean Grey as she stood there was the fact that something, in the back of her mind, began to stir.
~No, it can't be ...~
"Jean, vatch out!"
Jean turned around and saw the wall crumbling, threatening to bury her in debris. With a wave of her hand, she pushed the falling rocks backward, away from her. As she turned back to the battle, she saw Apocalypse only a few feet away. Covering the distance in one stride, he swung his scimitar at her neck. The telepath knew she was done for. There was nothing to stop him from decapitating her head. Frozen solid in fear, she watched as the shining silver blade swung towards her for the final blow.
~There's no turning back now. This is it~
The blow never came.
