As Scott Summers was being pulled through the telekinetic whirlwind, he felt himself losing control of his mind, his physical self. Being still somewhat connected to the outside world, he figured that Apocalypse was fighting the X-men at that very moment. His friends. He wasn't alone. That made all the difference.
With renewed vigour, the leader of the X-men fought against the telekinetic hold he was encased in, and his right hand slowly made its way to his visor. He was only several feet away from Apocalypse now. ~Faster~ he thought. His opponent gripped his sword. ~Even faster!~ he urged his hand on, starting to panic. Apocalypse smirked and, with two hands on his scimitar, prepared to swing.
~Even FASTER!~
His hand finally made it to his visor, and with what remaining strength he had left, he ripped it from his face. Instantly, a huge beam of red, raw, untamed power ripped through the air and struck Apocalypse in the chest, caught off guard, sending him soaring backwards. At full power, his optic blast has the concussive force equal to the detonation of ten tons of dynamite. Buildings, stone walls, statues and bits of debris were blown away in a cloud of dust as Cyclops continued to pour on the power, feeling himself gain control for the first time.
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The scimitar cut through the air, straight for Jean's neck, who unable to watch, closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. After a few seconds, Jean noticed that she was still alive. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw Apocalypse standing right in front of her, face plastered in concentration. His shining scimitar had stopped less than half an inch from her neck. Studying the face of her opponent, she immediately noticed a few physical changes. His muscle mass was considerably reduced, to a more human level. He looked younger, and his face slimmer. His hair was brown, as opposed to black. Upon further inspection, she realized Apocalypse's physical form started to resemble Scott's. His eyes intrigued her the most. They were green – a deep forest green, much darker than her own. ~Scott told me his eyes were green once~ she thought. Then they began to glow red...
Instinctively, she stretched out her hand and slammed him into a wall, which fractured on impact. Suddenly, the tingling in her head hit the roof. It took a moment before Jean Grey finally figured out what it was.
~It's our bond. Our psychic bond! Scott's s-still alive!~
The fight was on again, though the X-men were stunned at what they saw. Jean Grey should've been dead, but Apocalypse spared her. Why? All further thoughts were dispelled as the combined forces of the X-men, Brotherhood and Acolytes attacked. Instead of the swift dodging, blasting and slashing that they were used to seeing, their enemy just stood there, absorbing every single blow. Just as Wolverine was about to disembowel him, the Canadian was stopped in mid-air. However, this time, it was not from Apocalypse. It was Jean.
"Stop! That is not Apocalypse that we are fighting! You're going to kill Scott!" The others looked at her as if she grown a second head.
"Jean, vhat are you talking avhout?"
"Jean, like, how do you know?"
"Jeannie, release me now so I can rip this guy to shreds!"
"No! I sensed him! Through our bond!"
Then, for the first time, 'Cyclopalypse' spoke. His voice was double echoed - it sounded like both him and Apocalypse talking at once. His eyes started to glow crimson, but the optic blast was held fast. "Guys, kill me now while you still have the chance. I can't fight him any longer!" With a turn of his head, an optic blast erupted from his eyes like a fire hose, taking out the last robot. Everyone stared at him in utter shock. After a moment of silence, Scott began to lose his patience, "That's an order!" He looked around him; nobody moved. Suddenly, a telepathic thought was relayed to the young mutant-
//No Scott. We are not leaving you behind this time. X-men, do not attack.\\ By this time, Xavier had caught on with what was going on, and after the initial shock, he seemed determined not to make the same perceived mistake again that he did last time. Everyone else was still dumbfounded.
"Yah, we didn't even know that yah were alive this whole time, and we sure as hell ain't gonna ditch ya," Rogue put bluntly, the first to speak up. She slowly staggered to her feet with Gambit's support. The others slowly rose up as well.
"Ja, ve X-men have to stick together," Kurt agreed.
"No matter what," Kitty added.
"I'm with half-pint on this one," Logan slowly elaborated.
"Should've know you can't keep a good X-men down," remarked Bobby, all iced-up.
Firmly planting the scimitar on the ground, Scott looked at his friends in utter disbelief. Slowly backing up, one hand to his head, he turned to his old enemies. "Alvers! Dukes!" he shouted exasperatedly.
"Forget it, Summers. You might be a jerk, but you're not even worth our time"
Anxiously, he turned to stare at each Acolyte with glowing, red eyes. They did nothing.
"No Scott, we are not leaving you. Not again. Not ever," Jean's voice left no room for argument.
"Jean, please....Ugggghhhhh!" Scott fell to his knees, clutching his head.
The others watched as Cyclops began to morph back into Apocalypse. The supermutant rose to his feet, and with a sinister smirk, charged at Logan, who didn't even have time to move before he was knocked backwards 30 feet. Turning on the others, his eyes glowed red and he fired an optic blast at Colossus, sending him sliding backwards on his back, rubbing his head. "You fools!" his voice boomed, "You should've killed me when you had the chance. Now I have him completely under my control!" As he lunged forward, the others assumed a battle stance, preparing to dodge his next attack.
//Scott, we know you're still there. Fight it! Come on, we know you can. We have faith in you.\\ Jean Grey, supported by the mental presence of the Professor, reached out to Cyclops via their telepathic link.
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The battle for his mind continued at a murderous pace. Cyclops continued to pour on the power, but Apocalypse had since put up a telekinetic shield, absorbing the brunt of the blast. Both of them knew that Scott wouldn't be able to last long – his beams were just too powerful and feral to control. Slowly, but surely, Scott felt his body growing weak. He fell on one knee, and his optic blast began to lose power, growing smaller in diameter. Apocalypse began to close the distance between them, his palm outstretched.
~No, I can't lose~
Just as his hand was about to wrap itself around Scott's head, En Saba Nur felt himself being pulled back. "What is the meaning of this!" he exclaimed. Looking around, he spotted the telepathic presence of Jean Grey and Professor Xavier standing side-by-side. Scott was too weak to even notice. Concentrating with every ounce of their mental strength, the two telepaths begin to psychically remove En Saba Nur from Scott's mind. Apocalypse's shape began to deform radically. "Noooooo! Meddling fools!"
Unable to sustain the strain of Cyclops' optic blast and the combined telepathic assault of Charles Xavier and Jean Grey, Apocalypse felt his shield shatter as the beam of red finally broke through. With one final, desperate effort, the three X-men pushed Apocalypse out of Scott's mind at last.
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In a blinding flash of light, the body of Cyclopalypse fell to the ground. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, the X-men caught sight of Apocalypse, knees and hands to the ground, shaking his head, with Scott Summers lying unconscious nearby. Seeing their chance, everyone with projectile powers (i.e. Bobby, Pyro, Gambit, Storm, Jean, Magneto, Avalanche) struck the supermutant at full power. Apocalypse was pushed backwards until he was forced into The Eye of Ages, which resided in the Sphinx, and was the source of Rama-Tut's, the Egyptian Pharaoh, power. Paralyzed in a barrier of electricity, Apocalypse only managed to shout out, "Foolish mortals," before Magneto encased him completely in the Eye, trapping him there once more until someone decides to release the awesome power of Apocalypse once again.
Running to the motionless body of their leader, Jean Grey ran to Scott and cradled his head in her arms. Brushing his hair from his face, she noticed that, physically, he was seemingly unaffected. Angel looked on with an annoyed expression. Warren Worthington III was not going to be second best to Scott Summers. Or anyone else. Furthermore, he always got whatever he wanted.
Unknown to the X-men, a dark presence lurked among the shadows. Witnessing the defeat of his master, Dr. Nathaniel Essex quietly observed to himself, "He may have survived, but Apocalypse...." he chuckled to himself, "whatever he touches, he changes. The toughest part has yet to come, my young pawn." The crystal in his head glowed briefly before he disappeared.
