...
Alright guys. I'm back, this story is back, here's a new chapter, here we go. I'm not sure this is as good as what I had originally written (not that it makes a difference), but it's something, right? Oh, and excuse the grammar.
Chapter Ten - Four Armies and Callisto's Plan
"What do you mean she's gone?!" Scott yelled at Pietro, who shrunk in his seat while the older mutant was ready to blow his head off his shoulders.
"She's gone! Apocalypse fed her to... your brother."
"WHAT?! Why didn't you stop him?!"
"What was I supposed to do?!"
"Settle down!" Forge yelled. "There was nothing he could've done. None of us could've saved her. Now we have to get out of here before they come looking for us."
"I'm not going," Scott said. He opened the hatched and started on his way out, until Jean used her telekinesis to restrain him. "Let go of me! That son of a bitch is going to pay! I'm going to make him-"
"Scott, no!" Rogue yelled. Scott stopped struggling against Jean and turned to face his younger sister. He hadn't thought about how this had affected her. Toad had his hand around her shoulders, fighting back the tears while his sister let them flow as they came. "Scott, we've lost mom and Kurt. We don't want to lose you, too."
"But-"
"Scott, do you really think there's anything you can do?" Scott reluctantly closed the hatch and Forge guided the Blackbird off the ground. Nobody said a word as Scott walked past his siblings into the cargo hold and closed the door behind him. Kate started after him, but Rogue stopped him. "We'd better just give him some time alone." The others heard the sound of a fist pounding against metal and screaming coming from the cargo hold. Rogue and Toad exchanged worried looks and took their seats.
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A silver aircraft approached the enormous pyramid that served as Apocalypse's Egyptian base just minutes before dawn. Around the main pyramid were twelve stone towers, were armed mutant sentries saluted the aircraft carrying their master. At the base of the pyramid, a ramp in the sand-covered ground lowered, allowing the aircraft to land in the hangar under the pyramid. The ramp raised itself and a red-skinned mutant blew the sand back over the concealed ramp with a mighty blow of his breath.
"He's here..." Callisto told her associates. Their private jet sat on a rocky mountain several miles from the pyramid and tower perimeter. Callisto had discarded her casual dress and now wore a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt while her pale husband wore black pants and a brown overcoat. Callisto handed her binoculars to Caliban to prove her point. "No sign of Trask, though."
"We'll have to wait until he gets here," Cain said. He sat on a rock, eating some potato chips. When Sabretooth tried to take some, Cain swatted at him, leading Sabretooth to growl at Cain's greed and then pounce on him.
"Both of you, settle down!" Callisto yelled. "Save it for Apocalypse's goons."
"Tell him to share."
"Tell him to get his own bag."
"At this point, none of that matters," Caliban muttered.
"I don't need your useless chips! I'll go catch me a jackal or something," Sabretooth growled.
"You do that." Callisto strapped on a pair of shinguards and put on a pair of spiked boots. "So you and Caliban are actually gonna fight now, huh? What a world."
"We are always ready to fight for what we believe in," Caliban told him.
"And what you believe in now is keeping your wealth."
"When we believe in something," Callisto said to him, "We see it through to the end." Cain had to chuckle at his companions.
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Two days had passed since the battle at the Spanish base and Mystique's passing. They had gone back for Freddy and Evan, but decided that rather than stay at the Xavier Institute in New Zealand where their enemies could find them, the team had settled at a recently abandoned human base somewhere in Greece. It was apparently a United States Air Force base at one time, but by the amount of dust and vermin found all over, Forge estimated that it had been a few years since anyone had used it.
"This medical ward's kinda junky," Evan said as Freddy was wheeled in. "I can't believe we have to sit here while everyone else gets to have some real fun."
"Won't be too bad," Freddy told him as Scott, Pyro and Forge left them alone. "We just have to get used to being lazy is all."
"That's what got me into this mess. What am I saying? I wasn't lazy, I was a coward."
"This have something to do with your aunt, kid?"
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me 'kid,'" Evan snapped. Freddy nodded, and Evan explained. "She took me in, man. She was like a mother to me. Then one day Apocalypse's goons showed up at our door. She told me to run and hide, and I did. I shouldn't have ran."
"Kid, quit feeling sorry for yourself." Evan was surprised, both by being referred to as 'kid' despite asking not to be, and at Freddy's sudden change in attitude. "There wasn't anything you could've done. They tell me Scott acted the same way. Apocalypse killed his mom back there, did they tell you?"
"No... I figured she had been captured."
"You know what's worse? They used her own son to kill her. How do you think Scott felt? He was mad."
"You weren't even there!" Evan yelled.
"No, but I know him well enough to know that he would've wanted to go back and take on En Sabah Nur himself. He didn't care about anything anymore. I don't know if he still does."
"So what are you trying to tell me, that he has more of a right to complain than I do? My aunt is still alive! I can still do something!"
"No you can't, kid."
"Stop calling me kid!"
"Stop acting like one! You said it yourself, she's still alive. Lance woke up, so there's still hope for your aunt. You have to look on the bright side of things, kid. You gotta have some faith. A little hope can do wonders." Evan nodded, but said nothing. Freddy knew he had made his point and sighed. "Hey, I'll arm-wrestle you."
"No way, I'm not stupid." Fred laughed. He thought Evan would benefit from a little humor. Outside, Forge, Toad and Pyro sat in the waiting room with a glass of water and a broken link from a chain.
"So this is unmetal," Forge said. It was indeed made of unmetal, the strange metal created by Apocalypse himself, the metal that Magneto had absolutely no control over. Forge looked over it, rubbing his chin as he thought about the strange substance. Toad had saved a piece of it after being set free in Apocalypse's German base. "I'm assuming it's not as strong as say, adamantium, but it has other qualities that make it unique."
"Pietro told us that Magneto can't affect the stuff," Toad explained. "That's some pretty evil stuff right there."
"Indeed... but I'd like to try something. Pyro, do you have a lighter?" Pyro pointed to the flamethrower attached to his arm. "No, we don't need you to burn this room down, just a tiny flame will do." Pyro took a lighter from his pocket and flipped it on. Carefully, Forge held the link over the lighter. "Alright, can you intensify it a little?"
"No problem, mate." The flame grew brighter, turning a light blue hue. The link itself was beginning to glow a different shade of blue, almost white. Forge took a small hammer from his belt and pounded at the link, but it didn't budge. Quickly, Forge dropped it into the glass of water.
"Aww, that's my water!" Toad protested. Forge ignored him as the water evaporated, and the link returned to its normal grayish-black color.
"It looks to be much more resilient when heated."
"So we won't set fire to the stuff," Toad said.
"Of course... but we can probably find a way to use that to our advantage..."
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Private Paul McGregor, a member of General Bolivar Trask's Pure Blood movement, woke up in the middle of nowhere... quite literally. All he could see was a ubiquitous white light with no true source. He felt no ground beneath him, and was moving in one direction, but he couldn't tell if he was moving up, down, right, left, forwards or backwards. As far as he was concerned, gravity did not exist in this place. He could hear nothing except his own breathing. He felt a burning pain on his forehead.
"Is anyone there?" McGregor called, hoping for some answers. He waited.
There was no reply.
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Apocalypse stood at his throne in the center of the great pyramid, a vast chamber with now windows, lit by unnatural torches. The Horseman of Death, Archangel, bowed before him. Behind him, kneeling in a perfect row were War, Famine and Pestilence: Storm, Havok, and Wanda.
"We are prepared to die for your honor, master," Archangel spoke.
"I know. Each of you will lead a separate faction of my army. You will issue commands to the generals, who will carry out those commands."
"We're not going to be real generals then?" Wolverine asked from the side.
"Of course not. None of you has the mind of a general. You will only be seen as such by the men in your faction. If, for some reason, the Horsemen are unable to issue commands, then you will be given complete control of your armies. There are four factions: blue, red, white and black. Famine will be in charge of the blue army with Colossus under him. War will lead the white army, with Magma under her. Pestilence will lead the red army, and you will followe her every command, Wolverine." Wolverine nodded, but snarled under his breath. "The black army will be led by Sunspot, who will take orders from Death himself."
"I will not disappoint you, master," Archangel said.
"No, you will not. The human army will be here by dusk. Prepare your men, and be prepared to show them your superiority." Archangel bowed and left the throne room with the other Horsemen. Wolverine snarled as he followed them with his fellow "generals." Outside the throne room, Wolverine pushed Archangel against the stone wall and growled at him.
"Are you upset?"
"You're damn right I am! I'm not gonna be bossed around by some mechanical dove, so you better stay out of my way and leave the commanding to me!" Wolverine emphasized his point by drawing his claws and holding them to Archangel's throat. The other Horsemen were prepared to pull him away, but Archangel shook his head. He looked at Wolverine with a stare that showed absolutely no fear. Wolverine blinked and in that moment of distraction he was on the floor, several feet away from Archangel. Archangel grabbed him by the throat and forced him to sit up.
"There's a reason why our master has chosen me to lead his men, Logan. When you forget that reason, you become his victim. I hope you are a good listener, because I'm not going to tell you this again." Archangel stretched his wings for a moment before motioning for the other Horsemen to follow him. Wolverine stood up, rubbing his throat and realizing his mistake, but feeling no different towards the Horseman of Death.
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With only a few hours left in the day, Forge called a meeting of the X-Men's remaining forces in the medical ward. Freddy Dukes remained in bed, while the others sat in chairs taken from other rooms. Assembled were Jean Grey, Converse; Katherine Pryde, Ariel; Johnny Allderdyce, Pyro; Pietro Lehnsherr, Quicksilver; Lance Alvers, Evan Daniels, Scott Darkholme, Todd "Toad" Darkholme, and Marie "Rogue" Darkholme, none of which had formal codenames, were also there.
"I'm not going to lie to you," Forge began. "This is a suicide mission. Any of us volunteering to go will not come back. Before I brief you on what this mission entails, I'm going to ask that anyone not willing to die attempting to stop this war raise their hands." And so they did. "Jean, Pietro, Pyro, Toad, Rogue... Evan, you're disqualified, so you don't have to worry." Forge quietly noticed that Freddy had not raised his hand. When Jean noticed this, she lowered hers. "Alright. You can all stay here. The rest of us will go to Egypt, and should we fail, you will have to hide here. If we do fail, Apocalypse will begin the next stage of his plan."
"Next stage?" Freddy asked.
"Yes. Once all human beings are eliminated, Apocalypse will pit all mutants against each other, further raping the philosophies of Darwin. Those who survive that stage will join Apocalypse in his vision of living paradise... heaven on Earth, so to speak."
"So if we don't die now," Pyro wondered, "We die later?"
"Yes, exactly."
"Fuck this, I'm going."
"Glad you could join us, Pyro. Now," Forge activated a projector on his left arm, which cast an image of Egypt against the white wall. The image zoomed in several times towards the northern part of the region until it showed a large pyramid with twelve stone towers around it. "We have very little real information about Apocalypse's base, but we know that it's housed in that pyramid. As far as I can tell, the towers are used for sentry duty and have no actual entrance, so my guess is that any mutants standing on those towers can fly, so we'd better be careful. Analyzing past human assaults, my guess is that Trask's army will enter the tower perimeter from the south and make its way north to storm the pyramid. We have no way of telling how Apocalypse will counter Trask's assault, so we will concentrate on Trask himself. Are we settled on who's going then?"
"I'm going," Scott said.
"If he's going, I'm going," Rogue said.
"I'm with them, family gotta stick together," Toad added.
Forge smiled. "I knew the Darkholmes wouldn't let me down. Jean, Scott and Pyro will surrender to Trask's army and try to talk to Trask. Jean, I want you to concentrate on making Trask a little more open-minded, if you know what I mean."
"I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything."
"It's our only hope. The rest of you will distract both sides long enough for Trask to agree to withdraw his army."
"We won't last very long," Rogue said.
"I told you this was a suicide mission. Freddy and Evan will stay here with anyone who doesn't want to come... namely, Pietro. I'll be joining you in Egypt." The room grew silent. It had been several years since Forge had taken active duty with the X-Men. They weren't sure he would last even half as long as the rest of them.
"Forge, you'll be dead before you can touch anyone," Freddy told him. "You're as good to fight as I am at this point."
"Maybe, but unlike Apocalypse and Trask, I don't send my troops out to die if I'm not willing to die with them. Are there any questions?" There were no questions. "Alright. We leave in two hours. You have until then to settle your affairs."
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Shifter stared right at the beast. Yes, this was the monster that was once known as Kurt Darkholme... the one that devoured his own mother. The cage that kept Shifter safe from Nightcrawler had been carried with Apocalypse and his entourage from the Spanish base. Shifter wasn't sure why, but this beast intrigued him. It had the eyes of an animal, but he could see a sort of humanity behind them. He wondered if there was a way to change him back to his human form...
Shifter recieved an order from his master, in his head. He hated that. He felt as if a rake was being dragged across his head every time his master called him.
"NOW, SHIFTER."
He had thought about it too long. Shifter closed his eyes and disappeared. Within moments, he was in Apocalypse's throne room, bowing quickly before asking, "What is it, master?"
"Mastermind has finished his work on the child's mind. Now, you will do your part."
"Yes, of course," Shifter replied in a raspy hiss. "But the second one must be found first, master."
"Yes, and it is your job to find him.
"I know where he is... I always do... if we bring him out too soon, it may ruin the plan."
"You make a good point." Some of Apocalypse's servants wondered about Shifter sometimes. He was clearly not one of Apocalypse's strongest servants, nor was he particularly intelligent, yet Apocalypse listened to him. Shifter was obviously important to Apocalypse, but nobody was quite sure why such a fragile, insignificant mutant gained such respect from their master.
"Master," Beast said through an intercom on Apocalypse's throne. "They're forty miles from this base."
"Ahead of schedule. Shifter, how much longer until he is ready?"
"Two hours, and then we can proceed."
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Freddy walked outside... yes, Freddy indeed walked. Though he was still weak, he had regained enough strength to walk with the help of a rather sturdy pipe he was using as a cane. Jean sat outside on the dead grass outside the main building, facing the west. There was little to see that way, beyond the base fance, just a few mountains, and every so often, a bird taking flight, but that wasn't what Jean was looking at. The team's first hour was almost up, and it coincided with the setting of the sun.
"It's beautiful," Freddy said to her.
"Freddy, what are you doing out of bed? C'mon, we have to get you-"
"No, no, it's alright. I'm feeling better now." Freddy sat down next to her. They looked out at the setting sun without saying a word to each other. They didn't need to say anything. They had each other, and that was all that really mattered to them.
"Freddy," Jean said, remembering something relevant, "Do you remember what you told me that night, two years ago?"
"Of course I remember," Freddy told her, knowing exactly what she was talking about. Freddy quoted himself, "'Our lives are like the sun, Jean. You start life dim and tired, but as the day goes on, life gets brighter, until you're at that point when you're above everything else, and nothing can touch you. But life goes on. You begin a bittersweet fall towards the horizon, and it gets darker, but you don't care. Even if life is coming to end, it was a beautiful life, and you have no regrets. When you watch the sun set with someone, you look back at the day behind you, and you're glad that you spent that day with them. Jean, I want to watch the sun set with you by my side, until the day that it finally sets.'"
Jean giggled. "You remembered it word for word?"
"I had been practicing a bit before I said it to you. It's a little corny, but you know what, Jean? The sun's going to set tonight. I can't think of anyone else I'd want to see it with."
"Oh, Freddy," Jean sighed, wrapping her arms around the large man, "What would it have been like? What if none of this had happened and we could just be happy, without having to worry about the rest of the world's problems?"
"You know how it would've been. We'd have a nice house in the suburbs, have a few children... two cars in the garage, a few more when the kids turned sixteen... a barbecue in the backyard every Sunday... then the kids would go to college and get married, then when we turned old and gray, we'd sit on the porch and watch the sunset together."
"We'd get the same ending either way," Jean said, but her tone was relaxed. She wouldn't want it any other way. "You know something Freddy? I don't regret anything. If I could go back to the top of the sky, I wouldn't change a thing."
"Neither would I." Jean leaned forward and kissed Freddy, and for one long moment, the world around them disappeared. All of their fears and worries were gone.
They had each other, and that was all that really mattered to them.
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Pyro sat in the waiting room with his old pal Evan, tossing a paper football back and forth across the table. They hadn't exchanged a single word since the beginning of their match. Evan found that he tolerated Pyro less when he was sober. When he was sober, he had other things to worry about.
"So Boner, did you have anything you wanted to do before you died?" A flat, pointed question. Pyro knew he wouldn't make it back, but he didn't care.
"Yeah, Flamer," came Evan's counter, "I would've liked to have gone to Miami."
"Nah you wouldn't. It's bloody overrated."
"Aw, really?"
"Yeah. Ain't worth the sand covering it, mate." Pyro didn't mean that, but he figured he'd be nice to Evan for a change. "Say, what do you think Tabby's doing?" Pyro's slip darkened Evan's mood considerably.
"I dunno, maybe she's killing some poor humans in the name of the mighty En Sabah Nur. You think it matters, Pyro? She's as good as gone anyway."
"You're right. Fuck her. Didn't like her much anyway."
"So that's it, she meant nothing to you?" Pyro raised an eyebrow at Evan. He had set him up. He wanted a reason to fight with Pyro.
"Look, Evan, very few things have ever mattered to me. You lived day-to-day just like I did, just like Tabby. She didn't care about me anymore than I cared about her. Fuck, there was nobody else around, we might as well have had ourselves a little fun, right?"
"So that's all me and her were to you, just two little shits following you around."
"Aw, grow the fuck up, Evan. You think the world's about you or something? No! Nobody gives a shit about you, not me, not Tabby, not your fucking Auntie O! Now you've got a broken arm and you get to sit around and watch the world fall apart around you, well that's bloody dandy, you want your blankie too?!"
"Man, why do you have to be such an assho-"
"'Cuz that's what you deserve! I can't believe that fatfuck Freddy's so nice to you! You're still a damn spoiled brat!" Pyro kicked the table away and stormed off, growling in frustration. Evan began to think about Pyro's words, and what Freddy had said to him earlier. Maybe he was being too idealistic. Maybe he would just have to accept that he never had any real friends and that his aunt was gone forever...
"Don't listen to him," Scott told him. "You'll get your aunt back."
"What makes you so sure?" Evan snapped, still not sure what to think.
"Lance woke up, didn't he? If you can get your aunt back, then we can get Wanda back." Evan nodded. He wanted to mention to Scott that his own brother had also been taken, but knowing that he wasn't on good terms with Alex for whatever reason, he decided it was best to just accept Scott's support. After all, it was Scott. The situation must have really gotten to him if he was being nice so suddenly, Evan thought. He knew why, of course. Scott had just told him.
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Wanda Lehnsherr did not stand in the armory to have enslaved mutants fit her with her battle armor. No, Wanda Lehnsherr was not standing there as a lance with Apocalypse's emblem on its tip was handed to her. Wanda Lehnsherr was not present as Wolverine's armor was being modified with added red coloring to denote his affiliation. The silver-haired woman with a lifeless glow in her eyes was Pestilence, and she was one-fourth of the elite team known as the Horsemen of Apocalypse.
Wanda had been fitted with unmetal armor plates over her form-fitting black outfit as a real horse was fitted with red-marked armor behind her. In front of her Wolverine stood at attention, awaiting his... commander's orders.
"We will attack from the right," Wanda said in a dry, monotone voice. Wanda did not look at him as she spoke, but looked straight ahead into space. With the exception of Death, the Horsemen were forbidden to speak, except to underlings outside of Apocalypse's presence, or if Death was not present to speak for them. Why they were forced to remain silent around their master was a mystery, even to them. "You are to keep me in your field of vision at all times. I will issue visual commands, and you will relay them to the troops. Is this understood?"
"Yes," Wolverine snarled. Wanda knew that Wolverine was not happy to take orders from her, though to say that she actually knew this was incorrect. Wanda herself didn't know this; Pestilence knew it. She didn't mind Wolverine's obvious discomfort with the situation. She knew that he was truly loyal to Apocalypse, and felt that he could only trust himself to carry out his master's orders and see them through.
Wanda knew her enemies. Humans, born only with the ability to pass judgment on others who weren't like them. The human population was dwindling, and they knew it. They were getting desperate. In their desperation, Wanda realized, they wouldn't put too much thought into their attack. All they knew was that they had to defeat their mutant enemies at all costs. Wanda reasoned that using their fear against them was their most effective strategy.
"They will be poorly organized. Fear will keep them from carrying out any logical attack pattern. The faster you kill them, the more frightened the remaining humans will be."
"So you want me to slaughter them. Good. At least I can have some fun with this."
"This is not about your own amusement. This is about carrying out the will of our master. Do not forget that," Wanda coldly reminded him. Wolverine growled under his breath and slipped on his helmet. Two mutant servants helped Wanda onto her horse, and a torch was fastened to the top of her lance, then lit. Behind Wanda and Wolverine, several armed and armored mutants, bearing the red markings, stood ready to follow their leaders.
"We'll wait for his orders," Wolverine told them. "Don't waste any time with the humans. Kill them quickly."
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"So that's it, then. You're just gonna stay here."
"Yeah, exactly."
The X-Men's two hours were up. Those who were going to Egypt to stop the war were boarding the Blackbird while Forge refueled it, and those who weren't were there in the base's hangar to see them off. Fred managed to stand with help from his makeshift cane-pipe, with Evan standing next to him. Pietro was there as well, and it seemed that Scott wouldn't get on board without having a few words with him.
"Good, then."
"Yeah. I agree."
"So it's settled."
"Yeah. Have fun."
"We will."
"Good." Scott stared at Pietro for a few more seconds before climbing into the Blackbird. Rogue and Toad sat in the front seats, and across from them, Jean sat alone. Behind her, Pyro took an extra seat to put his feet him, and across from him, Kate rested her head on Lance's shoulder. Scott took a set across from them and sighed.
"I've made the final checks, and we're ready to go," Forge announced as he entered the Blackbird and sat down in the pilot's seat.
"I should be in there with them," Freddy lamented as the Blackbird started moving out of the hangar. "Pietro, why didn't you go?"
"What kind of stupid question is that?! What am I going to do there, die for nothing?"
"Apocalypse has Magneto."
"Fuck Magneto!" Pietro yelled. "We never needed him anyway!"
"He's got Wanda, too." Pietro paused for a brief moment. The look on Evan's face told Pietro that he knew something.
"Well Scott can take care of her. She doesn't need her brother to watch after her! I'm gonna find myself a snack before you take it all," Pietro added with a forked tongue. Though Freddy wasn't insulted, he was annoyed at Pietro's selfish attitude. The Blackbird had long cleared the hangar and taken off.
"What now?" Evan asked.
"We wait and see how everything turns out."
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The sun had long since set over the Egyptian Base. There was no activity outside of the base, and nobody, human or mutant, was visible under the bright moon.
They could not be seen, but the humans could be heard.
From the south, the Carrier Sentinels quickly approached the base. Ninety Sentinels in all, thirty of which were silver in color and equipped with the deadly XT system, landed just outside the tower perimeter. The towers themselves stood nearly five times the height of the Sentinels, but General Trask didn't care. The Carriers unloaded their cargo gently onto the ground. General Trask himself sat at the controls of the command station, which was itself just a modified carrier module. Arcade was seated next to him, looking at a screen displaying the technical readouts of the Sentinels.
"All systems are working at maximum efficiency, General."
"Good." Trask put in a headset through which he would issue commands to his troops. "This is General Trask. All troops onto the field." Arcade entered the command to open the carriers. The troops ran out of their carriers, stopping a short distance from them and aiming their flashlight-equipped rifles at the pyramid, though their combined light was not strong enough to make much of a difference outside their immediate area. "Hold your positions. We'll wait for them to make the first move."
Near the peak of the pyramid, on a small extended platform leading out from the core of the pyramid, Apocalypse himself watched over the battleground. Magneto knelt on the floor next to him, bound by chains, with Mesmero standing behind him. Magneto had been tortured by Apocalypse's servants once more, and now his skin was covered with scars, gashes, burn marks and needle wounds. He only had one eye left to see, and Apocalypse had made sure that his servants left that eye intact. Under normal circumstances, so much abuse would have long ago killed Magneto, but Apocalypse wanted Magneto to live. Magneto was forced to endure the physical pain, but also the emotional pain. His own son had taken his right eye and left him for dead, and now his only daughter was one of Apocalypse's loyal minions. Magneto wished that he could die, but Apocalypse kept control of Magneto's body functions.
"Look at them, Magnus," Apocalypse bellowed. "These are the people your dear friend Charles Xavier wanted to save. He believed that they could share the world with us, and yet, they are prepared to die trying to exterminate us. Is this what you fought for? Watch this, Magnus, I want you to see it. I want to see the look on your face when you see that your friend was mistaken and you've spent your life pursuing a lie."
Magneto said nothing in response.
"Did you know what General Trask said? Of course not. But I do. He told his soldiers to let me make the first move." Apocalypse motioned to Mesmero, who grabbed the back of Magneto's head and seized control. Magneto remained completely aware of his surroundings, but no longer controlled his actions; he could only watch.
The Sentinel at the front of the lines turned its head backwards and looked down at the human soldiers. They took a few steps back, not sure what was happening. "General Trask, sir," one of the frontline commanders said, "The Sentinel is looking down at us... what's going on?"
"Arcade, check the system," Trask ordered.
"It's not responding... none of them are!"
"It's walking towar-" The commander was cut off as the Sentinel stepped over him. The troops immediately scattered as every other Sentinel began to march around the area, though none fired their weapons.
"Now," Apocalypse commanded. The first Sentinel raised both arms and fired on the other with a barrage of bullets, missiles, laser fire, and because all of its weapons were being deployed, gas cans and short-range bombs rained down on the human troops. They ran clear of the bombs and slipped on gas masks from their backpacks to avoid the gas, though a few slower soldiers were caught and choked.
"Damn it, Arcade, what is going on?!" Trask shouted.
"Sir, something else controlling them... there might be some signal interference or something..."
"Shut them down, we can't afford to lose our men!" Arcade sent out a complete shut-down signal for the Sentinels. The first Sentinel's lights powered down along with the others, whose limbs fell limp, but the weapons continued firing. The Sentinel's ammunition ran out and it fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of sand that obscured the surviving soldiers' visions. "Of course," Trask muttered as the command center's cameras zoomed in on the top of the pyramid. "Magneto. And here I almost thought he was a good man, for a mutant, and it turns out he's on Apocalypse's side."
Apocalypse waved his right hand. The four armies began to rise from ramp-entrances located at the bases of the four towers closest to the pyramid. The Horsemen marched at the front of their armies on horseback, each fitted with armor marked with their respective color and carrying a lance with Apocalypse's emblem, and attached to it, a regular torch. Wanda, Pesilence, approached with her Red Army from the west-most tower. Havok, Famine, came from the east with the Blue Army. In the middle, coming from the north, the White and Black armies marched side-by-side as War, Storm, rode at the front of both armies. The only Horseman not on horseback was Death, now appearing as his namesake high above the sky. He wore armor like the others and likewise carried the symbolic lance with its torch, but his face was covered by a golden mask in the likeness of a human skull with black markings on it that resembled those on Apocalypse's own face. Archangel was the symbol of En Sabah Nur's power, and now he personified it.
Apocalypse waved his left hand. Mastermind, standing on the tower that the Blue Army had emerged from, began to twitch his fingers and his eyes produced a pale white light. The torches all changed color to those who were susceptible to Mastermind's power, and each Horseman carried a torch bearing the color of their army.
Just a few miles away, Caliban looked up.
"We have guests..." Looking up, Callisto waved to the Blackbird.
"Wait, land here," Scott told Forge. "I know them. It looks like they have something to say." Trusting him, Forge landed the Blackbird a short distance from the private Jet.
"You're too late," Callisto told them. "The fight's already begun."
"Change of plans, then," Forge said. "We ignore Trask and try to find Kevin."
"I agree," Callisto said. She clearly knew something about Kevin that they didn't. "A few of us can go in and save him while the rest of us try to stop Apocalypse's armies."
"Well how do we do THAT?!"
"A good friend of ours happens to be a high-ranking member of Apocalypse's organization." Callisto rolled out a map on a large stone, but with no light, she couldn't read it. "I don't suppose one of you has a li-"
"Right here, luv!" Pyro kept a steady flame near the map. Forge, Scott, Jean, Toad, Rogue and Lance crowded around Callisto and the map.
"Alright. We have the main pyramid here, and twelve towers. It goes without saying that most of the base is actually underground, with a few chambers in the pyramid and entrances at the base of each tower and the pyramid itself. The four Horsemen are leading the armies with torches to help the troops see their commanders, and Mastermind is at the top of this tower projecting different colors onto the torches for reference. Going through the tower itself would be suicide, but if we could climb up on the outside, we would be able to take Mastermind by surprise, and once the torches are back to being orange, the troops will have a hard time following commands."
"I'll do it," Jean volunteered.
"You won't be alone," Toad said.
"Then you two will be in charge of that. The rest of us will go after the Horseman and their generals and at least keep them busy long enough to get inside and get the baby out."
"Who's going after which Horseman?" Cain asked. "I can't see any of these kids taking them on."
"Lance, Rogue and Scott will go after Alex," Forge said. Immediately, Kate protested.
"I'm going with Lance," Kate insisted.
"Alright, Lance, Kate and Scott. Rogue, Pyro and I will go after Wanda. Divide the other two among your team."
"Very well," Callisto agreed. "Dr. Marko and Sabretooth, you two will battle War."
"I'm not working with this mongrel."
"Who are you calling a mongrel, you-"
"Shut up, both of you!" Callisto yelled. "Our options are limited and you're the strongest ones here. Caliban and I will worry about Death."
"But that's everyone," Forge said. "We'll need someone to try to get into the base."
"I'll go," Pietro said. Forge did a double-take; Pietro had actually been standing next to him for most of the meeting, but nobody had noticed. A small Air Force jet stood behind the Blackbird, and Freddy and Evan were making their way towards them. Jean rushed to Freddy and Evan exchanged a high-five with Pyro.
"Freddy, Evan, what are you-"
"We decided it was better to end it now than just wait for it," Freddy explained. Forge reluctantly nodded. "Squeeze me in with one of the teams, you know I'm good for a fight."
"Freddy, you'll go with Lance and Kate. Evan, you come with Rogue and I. Scott and Pyro will go with Pietro."
"Once we're done with the Horsemen..." Callisto explained.
"If we get that far," Jean mumbled. Callisto ignored her.
"...We'll all find a way inside the base to better our chances of finding Kevin. Are we all ready then?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Let's get out there and show them what we're good for!"
Archangel landed facing Trask's army, with Storm behind him. The mutant soldiers stopped and took a good look at the equally-sized human army, with its fifteen remaining Sentinels, three of which were XT Sentinels.
"Hold your ground men, remember to let them make the first move."
"For the glory of our lord, our master, our teacher and father, you will all become dust under the feet of the mighty Apocalypse!" Archangel yelled. With a gesture of his hand, all four armies charged forward. Not to be taken so easily, the humans aimed their rifles and opened fire.
EH-WHAT?! Ending the chapter right before the big battle? MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... okay, be patient. Next chapter will be a little more interesting. Will people fight? Yes! Will people die? It's possible. Will your favorite characters still be standing by the end of the chapter? WAIT AND SEE! Also in the next chapter, you will finally learn what Kevin's deal is! I guarantee you'll love the next chapter!
And by love I mean like.
And by guarantee I mean hope.
And by chapter I mean fish cannon... wait, no. Nevermind. Forget I said that.