Okay. It's been a long ride (much longer than it should have been), but this is the end, and whether you liked the story or not, thanks for sticking around to see how it ends, and thanks for all the reviews, positive and negative. Just so you know (yes, you), Takla Sharwa is pronounced basically the same way it's spelled. The world needs more phonetic names. Heh, I thought you people would hate me at the end of the last chapter... wait til you finish this one. Oh, and excuse the grammar.
Chapter Twelve - The Egyptian Dawn
The great pyramid that had been Apocalypse's base had crumbled under the strength of its master. Now Apocalypse stood on a platform raised high above the rubble and made entirely of unmetal, a strange material that Apocalypse had created that lacked magnetic properties. Apocalypse had used the life energy of his time-traveling minion, Shifter, to power the advanced mutant child he took as his own and named Proteus. Prior to this, Rogue Darkholme who had herself absorbed the sparks of Alex Summers, Lance Alvers and Wanda Lehnsherr. In essence, a spark was a mental hold placed by Mesmero, but ultimately powered by Apocalypse himself. The spark brought its host increased power and when advanced by Beast's science, they became immensely powerful. With three of this sparks in her, Rogue held such great energy that she was pulled in by Proteus, along with Alex, who had tried to save her but was absorbed as well.
Scott Darkholme had lost everything to Apocalypse. His younger brother Kurt had been transformed into a vicious monster. His mother had been violently killed by the monster that her son had become. His youngest brother Todd plummeted to his death from the top of one of the twelve towers that stood alongside the pyramid, and now his sister and biological brother had been killed by Apocalypse's son.
Enraged by Apocalypse's actions, Scott threw off his ruby-quartz shutter-eye glasses and let the red energy beams flow from his eyes. Apocalypse nodded, and the floating baby Proteus absorbed the intense energy being thrown at him.
"You fool!" Archangel yelled. "Close your eyes, now!"
"Fuck you, he's gonna pay!"
"Scott, close your eyes!" Wanda repeated. With no other option, Wanda waved her hands and forced his eyes shut. She slipped his glasses back onto his face. Strangely enough, Scott didn't protest. He collapsed to the ground, muttering to himself in frustration and slamming his fist into the sand, knowing that they were right.
"All you would be doing is feeding him energy," Archangel explained. "The boy is still weak considering his potential, and Apocalypse is going to wait until he's gathered enough energy."
"Where is he getting it from?" Wanda asked.
"Apocalypse. If he only gives him a small amount at a time, then Apocalypse can keep regenerating it. We'll have to go about this carefully."
"Uh... guys?" Pietro called to them. "We've got a problem..." An XT Sentinel stood behind them, analyzing the field and formulating an attack strategy. A wounded mutant soldier beneath him tried to crawl away, but the XT Sentinel stomped him before turning its attention back to his field analysis.
"It seems we have missed one," Colossus said. The XT Sentinel had been taken down by Wanda, as Pestilence, but she had only shut it down. When she did so, she had scrambled part of its internal receiver, and any commands issued would be ignored. It had rebooted on its default setting and knew only to find mutants and destroy them.
Magneto, supported by Colossus, held his hand out to destroy the XT Sentinel, but it didn't work. Once it had identified a mutant, the XT system would generate the anti-mutant field. Magneto quickly realized that his powers had no effect.
"It's an upgraded version," Callisto explained to him. "It generates an energy field that cancels out mutant powers."
"I've... encountered one of these before..." Magneto remembered that day, years ago, when he had been on a trip with his family. The first wave of Sentinels had been unleashed on the crowd. Pietro and Wanda had escaped the assault in time, but Magneto and his wife Magda remained.
"Erik, what is that?" Magda said to him. Erik Lehnsherr raised his hands and threw two Sentinels into each other. The lead Sentinel scanned the area, and found several mutants among the crowd. The crowd had gathered in a grassy meadow to watch a fireworks display that came at the end of the summer in that region, and it seemed someone in the area had a problem in with mutants. The fireworks had stopped, replaced by the weaponfire of the Sentinels.
"Magda, get out of here!" Erik yelled to his wife.
"Where are the twins? I can't find them!"
"I don't know... I don't see them..."
"Erik, we have to find them!" Her search ended quickly when she saw them several yards away, hiding behind a tree. "They're over there," she said to her husband.
"Go to them, Magda, I'll take care of these machines." Magda gave him a Erik a quick hug and ran to her children, but a Sentinel landed between them and raised its right arm. "Get away from her!" Erik angrily yelled at it. He waved his hands, but was startled when nothing happened. He waved the again. He realized, with no small shock, that his powers had no effect on this Sentinel.
"Erik, what's going on? Why aren't you stopping it?"
"I can't! My powers aren't working... run!" The Sentinel's forearm extended a flame emitter and fired at its intended target, the mutant directly in front of it. It didn't notice or care about the human being standing between it and its target.
"Magda, no!" He tried to reach her, but another firespray kept him away. "I... I'm sorry, Magda." He couldn't bear to see his wife burn, but Erik Lehnsherr was a realist. He knew that there was nothing he could do, and now he had other things to think about. The Sentinel had detected two other mutant signatures behind it, and by its programming, a set of two mutants was more important than just one. Erik knew that his wife would have done the same thing in his place. The Sentinel slowly turned around to face his children, both mutants, threats in the eyes of the Sentinel.
"Pietro, Wanda, run!" Pietro hesitated. Erik saw that there were more than tears in their eyes. Pietro's eyes were bitter and cold.
"What about mom?" Pietro asked with an insecure tone.
"There's nothing more we can do. You have to get away from here!" Reluctantly, Wanda climbed onto Pietro's back and they ran ahead at the speed of sound. Erik would have to catch up to them later, but first, he had to figure out how to destroy the Sentinel.
"Magneto, wake up!" Colossus yelled. Magneto realized he was back in Egypt, on Colossus's shoulder, being carried away from the XT Sentinel.
"Now it makes sense," Magneto muttered to himself.
Scott and Pyro were busy holding off the XT Sentinel as the others got away from it. Colossus set Magneto down before running back to help. "The Sentinel at the park that day was a prototype."
"So that's what it was." Pietro had been sitting next to him. With his limited abilities, he could only damage the XT Sentinel at close-range, and with its anti-mutant field up, he was no good. Caliban and Callisto, likewise, were on their way towards them.
"Pietro-"
"No, I know. I get it now. You couldn't do anything." Pietro watched the others run around the XT Sentinel, unable to use their powers against it, but still keeping it busy. "So you did what you had to." Pietro paused. "I'm sorry for everything, dad. Your eye..."
"Wounds... heal, Pietro." Pietro understood his meaning and smiled, and Magneto smiled back.
Archangel was the only fighter whose powers could not be nullified by the XT Sentinel. His metal wings were not actually his own; they had been grafted onto his back through the stumps of mutant appendages, his original mutation, through science. Though Beast's technology would have been able to nullify the movement of his wings, Trask's anti-mutant technology was several years old and could not stop the use of inhuman physical mutations, such as wings and claws. The XT Sentinel recognized that only Archangel was still able to use his abilities, and ignored the other targets. Archangel flew as quickly as his wings could carry him to avoid the XT Sentinel's gunfire. When it stopped, Archangel flapped his metal wings with enough force to launch several metal feathers at his robot attacker.
Warren Worthington had been strapped to a table in Beast's lab, only a few years after Apocalypse's release from his tomb. Warren didn't protest; he was under Mesmero's trance. His natural, angel-like wings had been amputated hours earlier by Beast.
"I still don't understand why you chose this one," Beast said. "There are more powerful mutants out there."
"It's not his mutation, it's his personality," Apocalypse clarified. "He is a natural leader. I need a commander, not a soldier."
"...And the symbolism of a winged Angel of Death is almost poetic."
"If you want to believe that, yes." Beast inserted a needle into Warren's arm, and a blue fluid was administered. In a few hours time, the metal wings had been grafted onto his back, and Warren's skin had developed a blue complexion. His hair had even started to darken to a light brown, from his natural blonde. Apocalypse stood before him with his hand held out, and on his command, Mesmero released Warren.
"Hm? What... who?"
"I am your master," Apocalypse commanded. Through his hand, Apocalypse took hold of Warren's mind. His command resonated through every chamber of his being until Warren had no choice but to obey. Within a matter of minutes, Warren had become a servant of Apocalypse. With increased strength, he broke from the restraints and stretched his silver wings that cracked like the sound of broken ice. His skin was now completely blue and his hair jet black. A line across his eye had mysteriously appeared. He stepped forward, regarding the powerful mutant that had taken control of his mind, and bowed, folding his metal wings behind him.
"I live to carry out your will, master," Warren spoke in monotone. Apocalypse smiled.
"Continue." Apocalypse had delivered the most crucial part, but the rest of the work was left for Mesmero. Mesmero locked eyes with Warren and begun to warp his mind even further, to ensure that all traces of his true identity were sealed away. He had specific instructions not to destroy his personality, as it was the reason he had been chosen. Mesmero had argued that it leaving any part of his mind intact was a great risk, but Apocalypse had... insisted.
Archangel's metal feathers flew into the XT Sentinel's metal armor and stuck there, but a few had hit critical points on the robot's body, and its legs began to malfunction. Below, the others cheered, and then the legs fell to the ground.
The XT Sentinel stayed up with the aid of thrusters that appeared from compartments where its legs had been. The XT Sentinel dropped several gas canisters onto the sand, looking to end the battle quickly. They ran in different directions, away from the gas spray, and the XT Sentinel stayed in place, trying to swat Archangel out of the air. He flew in and swiped the XT Sentinel with his wing, and the metal head was split in half. The top half fell into the sand as the rest of the XT Sentinel's body struggled to stay airborne. With no commands coming from the damaged head, the body lost all sense of direction and dropped to the ground, and the still-ignited thrusters sparked the gas and created a massive explosion that Pyro managed to subdue with his mental control. Once the smoke had cleared, the approached the burning wreckage.
"That takes care of that," Scott said. "What do we do now?"
"We bring Apocalypse down to our level," Archangel said. "Pyro, heat the column he's standing on."
"Wha?! Isn't that made of that queer metal? That stuff's only stronger when it's on fire!"
"Yes, but it gains a crucial weakness. Do it!" Reluctantly, Pyro aimed his flamethrower, and blasted the fire at the unmetal column that held Apocalypse's platform. Apocalypse took noticed of his and waved his hand behind Proteus's head. "I... oh no..."
"What is it?" Caliban asked.
"I'm being pulled in," Archangel said as he resisted. "He wants Proteus to absorb the last spark, mine."
"We will not let him!" Colossus yelled and held Archangel back, but he found that his strength was no match for Proteus's power.
"We can't!" Magneto yelled. Though still laying on the ground, he raised his hand and pulled on Colossus's skin and Archangel's metal wings, holding them back with power equal to Proteus's. "That boy has absorbed enough power!"
"Let me go!" Archangel ordered. "You're just wasting your strength, there's nothing you can do! Apocalypse is still feeding him, and his pull will only intensify as his strength builds!"
"But we need you, you are our leader!" Colossus responded.
"You'll have to make due without me, just make sure you don't give Proteus any more energy! Apocalypse is focused on the boy, attack him physically! You can do this, now let go!" Colossus obeyed, and Archangel was drawn to Proteus and disappeared into the green void. Colossus lowered his head and muttered a prayer.
Pyro had heated the column until it burned red. Colossus took one of the XT Sentinel's legs and swung it at the column with all his strength, but the leg broke in half.
"Well fuck, some advice!" Scott grumbled.
"No, wait," Magneto said. He sensed something from the heated column, and finally understood why Archangel had given such a strange command. Though heating unmetal made it much stronger, it also gave it a greater weakness: while heated, unmetal was susceptible to magnetic fields. Magneto waved both hands and pulled on it. The column bent, and the heated section pulled out. The platform fell over and Apocalypse steadied himself in midair before landing with an earth-cracking stomp, raising a cloud of sand from the crushed debris he had landed on. Proteus remained hovering in the same place he had been.
"We got his attention!" Scott yelled. He fired an optic blast, which Apocalypse deflected with a blink of his eyes. Wanda cast a hex bolt, which held Apocalypse in place long enough for Scott to land a well-aimed optic blast right on Apocalypse's face. He freed himself from Wanda's hex and began to walk forward.
"You are only prolonging your fate," he said to them. Wanda held him once more and Colossus slammed him with a headbutt before Apocalypse broke free. He started walking toward Wanda, growing annoyed by her powers. "You have betrayed me, Pestilence."
"I'm not Pestilence," Wanda replied with a confident smile, "I'm Wanda Lehnsherr." Apocalypse was held in place once more and, to everyone's surprise, Cannonball slammed into him at full speed.
"Sam, Rahne!" Pietro called. Cannonball and Rahne had escaped from the base, in time to join the others in their battle.
"We're going to do everything we can to help," Rahne said to him. "It's the least we could do, after all we did before."
"I thought Mesmero had you..."
"No, we did it voluntarily. We were only thinking about ourselves when we made that deal with him. I'm so sorry, Pietro."
"Wounds heal," Pietro said with a smile. Apocalypse had broken free from the hex as Cannonball backed away. Apocalypse waved his hands and the earth shook. Nobody was seriously injured, but they all had to scramble to get back on their feet before he could try it again.
"Alright, everyone together next time!" Scott ordered. Wanda cast another hex bolt and froze Apocalypse in place. Scott fired his eye-beams as Cannonball launched himself into Apocalypse's back and once he was clear, Colossus charged into him. They all spread away quickly. Above, Proteus's strength grew, and his pull grew stronger as well. Wanda was starting to feel herself drawn towards Proteus, but she couldn't worry about that. She cast another hex bolt, and this time Pyro heated the unmetal armor that Apocalypse wore. Magneto used his own power to tighten the armor around him. Apocalypse clenched his teeth when the burning metal pressed against him, but as soon as he broke from the hex, he instantly cooled it, and continued to walk forward.
"He's stalling," Callisto realized. "He can kill her easily, but he's letting us win."
"But what is he waiting for?" Caliban asked.
"I don't know." When the next hex bolt disappeared, Apocalypse seized Callisto with his telekinetic power and prepared to throw her into the void. Wanda hexed him again, and he dropped her.
"Get away!" Caliban yelled. Callisto quickly heeded, but the moment Apocalypse was free of the hex, he raised his hand and Callisto dropped to the ground. Before Caliban could tend to her, he dropped as well. Apocalypse knew that they were the only ones who knew anything about his plans, thanks to the traitor, Death. He had planned to force Proteus to absorb them, but decided instead to finish them quickly by stopping their hearts.
"We're getting butchered out here!" Pietro yelled. Wanda raised her hex and Pietro ran around Apocalypse, kicking up sand that beat at him like tiny needles. He was quick to run out of Apocalypse's range when the hex was dropped.
"Try that pattern again!" Scott yelled. Wanda, Pyro and Magneto repeated their pattern and tightened the heated armor around the frozen Apocalypse. Having allowed this to happen to him twice, Apocalypse was upset. Wanda focused on her hex and Apocalypse remained in place and unable to move. Scott took off his glasses and let his optic blasts fly full-force. Most of it hit Apocalypse, but some of it flew into Proteus. Cannonball and Colossus continued their attacks.
"Egh... agh!" Apocalypse was beginning to regret letting them do this. As soon as the hex bolt was deflected, Apocalypse waved his hand at Wanda and raised her into the air. Scott fired at him, but the beam dissolved inches from his skin. Wanda's hex caused Apocalypse to slip slightly, but his grip on Wanda was steadily growing. Then, something happened that Apocalypse hadn't expected, and even more surprisingly, it worked.
Scott tackled him.
"Argh!" Apocalypse had let his guard down. He pushed Scott away and floated to his feet. Wanda cast another hex, and Cannonball flew right at his chest, but Apocalypse broke free of the hex before he could make a hit. Apocalypse caught Cannonball by the head, pushing with enough strength to cancel out the jet-like speed of his flight, and threw him towards Proteus.
"No more energy attacks, then," Scott said. When the green flash subsided, Apocalypse broke free from Wanda's hex and he tried once more to attack her, but something was pulling him from behind. Magneto wasn't pulling Apocalypse so much as he was pulling back his mutant energy with his magnetic powers. Apocalypse turned back and threw Magneto upward, then allowed himself a wicked grin.
"Father!" Wanda yelled. Pietro ran to catch him and grabbed onto Magneto's hand as Proteus pulled him in.
"Let go of me, Pietro. You heard Archangel. There is nothing you can do."
"Father, I can't!"
"Pietro, you will be pulled in with me. I would be betraying your mother if I let you die with me." Pietro closed his eyes and sighed.
"I won't forget you, father."
"Nor will I." Pietro released him and watched as he was drawn into Proteus's energy cloud. Pietro wasn't sure what Magneto had meant, but now wasn't the time to think about it.
"Get away from her!" Scott yelled as Apocalypse took hold of Wanda. Her hex powers were beginning to weaken, and she felt an intense pressure inside her that started to move outwards. She wanted to scream, but she had become paralyzed by his power. Pietro ran around him, but Apocalypse quickly knocked him away. In desperation Scott ignored his own command and threw off his glasses and let his eyes fire at their maximum strength. Apocalypse blocked the surge of red energy with his arm, and then waved it towards Proteus. All of Scott's optic energy was directed towards the green light.
Then, Apocalypse dropped Wanda. He sensed something behind him, ignoring everyone else. A wide, proud grin grew on his face.
"At last... you are ready!" Apocalypse spoke to his adopted son, Proteus, who had now shed the infant body that could no longer contain his power. Now, he was a being of pure green energy, changing his basic shape every few seconds into a rough outline of those he had merged with. The only constant to his form was the outline of wings, which remained even as the rest of his body changed.
"Father," an eerie, shapeless voice spoke with a deep and menacing echo.
"I have saved them for you. Have fun, Proteus. Make your father proud."
"Father!" Proteus screamed.
"Proteus... what is wrong?" Proteus ignored the other mutants and the green shape floated towards Apocalypse. Proteus had not only absorbed the energy of his victims; he had merged with them. Magneto had realized this. Proteus was filled with years of knowledge and experienced, culled from the minds of the five mutants he had merged with. Proteus was now intelligent enough to understand much more than he had as a mere infant. From Alex and Rogue, he learned that Apocalypse was manipulative and cruel. From Cannonball, he learned that Apocalypse had no servants, only slaves, kept loyal through force. From Magneto, he learned that Apocalypse had engineered the death of Mystique, who he had come to know as his foster mother. From Archangel he learned that Apocalypse had ordered the destruction of his village and the death of his family, including his real mother. And now, Apocalypse wanted him to accept him as his father? "Proteus... what are you doing?!"
"You are not my father!" Proteus screamed. His luminous hand reached into Apocalypse's chest. Apocalypse then realized what Magneto had learned. In an other time, Apocalypse had killed the boy's mentor. In this time he had done far worse, he had killed his mother. How could he have been so stupid? He should have seen the possible consequences when he ordered his Horsemen to destroy that village.
Whatever the circumstances, Apocalypse was not afraid of Proteus.
"And what do you hope to accomplish?" Apocalypse asked, as he pulled Proteus's energy-bound arm out and pushed him back with his own power. "Do you want to absorb me, and kill me? I'll live on in you. Then you'll know everything I did. Can you live with such knowledge, Proteus? It is more than you could ever handle! Even with your great power and your absorbed minds, you're just a child! It would destroy you!"
"Just... like... Shifter..." Proteus plunged his intangible hands into Apocalypse's chest and focused all his strength into him. Apocalypse screamed in pain and terror as he was engulfed by Proteus's green light. Apocalypse then felt only pain, a sensation he had not felt in centuries, and never in such an intense amount. Apocalypse could feel his strength leaving him, replaced by the sensation of his own blood boiling him alive, and there was nothing he could do about it. Even then, Apocalypse refused to accept this. He focused all of his power on Proteus and began to force him out, but it was all in vain, as the more energy Apocalypse exerted on Proteus, the more he absorbed, and the stronger he became.
"C'mon, we have to get out of here!" Scott yelled to the others. He helped Wanda to her feet, then took her hand and ran. Pietro carried Rahne with him at high speed, and Colossus and Pyro were left to fend for themselves. The green light grew brighter, and by contrast, everything outside of its range grew darker.
Then, it faded. The light withdrew, and Proteus vanished. He left behind the dried and decaying corpse of En Sabah Nur, whose entire life-energy had been absorbed. Proteus had not merged with him; he had only absorbed his life-energy, as he had done with Shifter. At long last, Apocalypse was dead.
"It's all over," Wanda whispered. Her hair returned to its original black color, and the line across her eye faded. She dropped to the sand, exhausted. Her life would never be the same again. Apocalypse had taken her friends, her family. All she had left now was Pietro... and Scott. He sat next to her, holding her hand. Though she couldn't see his eyes, she knew that he was tired and sad, but at the same time, he was happy. Another light shined on them from the east, hiding behind one of the remaining towers, a beacon of hope that came with each new day.
It was the Egyptian dawn.
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Paul McGregor appeared near the last remaining aircraft a short distance from the base. Two of them had already left, carrying as many soldiers as they could, and the third was about ready for takeoff.
"I'm quite a skilled pilot, I assure you," Lucid told General Trask. He had been kicked out of Callisto and Caliban's private plane.
"We have our own pilots." Trask signaled to Amanda Sefton, who took to the controls. "Colonel Matthews, are there any more mutants in there?"
"Just this kid," Colonel Matthews replied as he pushed Jamie Madrox out of the plane. "That's the last of them... sir, Private McGregor is here." Trask turned to face the young mutant, rather surprised, but quickly hiding it.
"Private McGregor, you're looking... well. Your mutation helped you?"
"...Yes, sir."
"You're admitting it, at least. You're past the first step. If you'll excuse me, we must be going now." Trask stepped into the plane, and a few minutes later, it lifted off and left the stranded mutants behind.
"We can still rely on your teleportation skills," Lucid said to McGregor.
"How-"
"We have been briefed, you know. Your older self, how is he?"
"Dead," McGregor said with a grin.
"Oh. I see. Ah... listen, you two stay put. I'm going over to the base to see what's happened. If you're going to be teleporting us all, you'll need to rest up and save your energy." Lucid climbed down the rocks and trudged through the sand towards the ruined base. McGregor and Jamie sat in silence for a few moments.
"Sad, huh?" Jamie Madrox said. "All those people died because of you."
"I..." McGregor hadn't thought of it that way. Even if it was a future version of himself that changed everything to fit Apocalypse's vision, it was still him. "I know that."
"So what do you plan to do about it?"
"I can't do anything."
"I think I might have a solution for you."
"I can't do it, Jamie," McGregor said, knowing exactly what Jamie was thinking about. "Shifter told me that if I went back in time, I'd just create a new timeline. Everyone would still be dead."
"You think making another timeline is dangerous? It's bullshit, Paul." McGregor did a double-take at seeing such a young boy talk in such a manner. "That little son of a bitch lied to you. Look, Callisto explained the whole time-physics thing to me. Turns out, you don't make new timelines, you make direct changes to one."
"Why? That doesn't make any sense."
"Did anything Shifter told you make sense? Come on. He lied to you. Just accept it. He was ready to let you die just to save his own sorry ass. And you see what happened? He got his. He's already been punished for being a damn liar, so why are you letting his lie outlive him?" Paul had to think about what Jamie said. It all made sense... but at the same time, it didn't. How did Jamie know how Shifter had died? Maybe someone told him? Callisto? Of course, it had to be her.
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"Now what happens?" Pietro asked. He sat on the wreckage of a Sentinel with Rahne, Colossus and Pyro. "I mean, Apocalypse is dead, and that's great and all, but now we got the kid to worry about."
"We don't have to worry," Colussus assured him. "Archangel explained it once. He said that even with all the knowledge in his mind, he is still a child. He remains innocent. What he did to Apocalypse was revenge. I do not believe he is aware of what he has done, and may not understand until he is older."
"Wait, wait, I'm confused... how can he know all this stuff, but not know it?"
"I am not sure myself. It was explained to me, but I still do not fully understand." Colossus held the lifeless body of baby Kevin in his arms. "He shed his body and became living energy. With the energy he drained from Apocalypse, he may have grown so strong that we may never understand what has truly happened to him."
"Maybe he's living energy field," Pietro said added. "I mean... I'm no physicist or whatever, but maybe he's spread across the planet, like he's everywhere at once."
"You read too many comic books," Pyro said.
Scott and Wanda were startled by the sudden appearance of McGregor and Jamie. McGregor wasted no time in explaining himself.
"I'm going back."
"Back where?" Wanda asked.
"...In time. I'm going back. I'm going to fix everything."
"What? Kid, wait!" Scott called. When McGregor's white light disappeared, Scott quickly realized what would happen. With history changed, everything that resulted from it would change as well. What was he going to fix? Was he going to stop Apocalypse himself? Was he going to stop them from battling Apocalypse? Was he going to prevent Apocalypse's release? Was he going to stop Professor...
...Yes, that was it. He was going to prevent Xavier's death. Changing that event would have significant, profound effects from the moment in time onward... including the formation of the X-Men and the Darkholme Brotherhood. One last thing flashed in Scott's mind, the one thing that was more important to him than the possibilities of altered time.
Jamie Madrox had always been fascinated by forcing others to feel pain, but now, his sadistic nature had elevated beyond physical pain. He wanted others to suffer. Jamie hadn't lied when he told Paul that Shifter wasn't telling him the whole truth... but Jamie didn't reveal that it was only because Shifter didn't understand it himself. When Shifter had died, their timeline became the true timeline, since all links to the original timeline had disappeared. Now, the timeline that was at once considered the original had become the alternate, now that this timeline existed on its own, without any links.
Even if Jamie would never get to see his handiwork, he smiled.
"Wanda, I lo-"
Jamie Madrox had the last laugh.
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Jamie Madrox, known as Multiple, ran after his fellow recruits on their way to a Danger Room session at the Xavier Institute in Bayville, New York. Like all other recruits, he wore a form-fitting black suit with yellow boots, gloves and belt, and with red shoulderpads with black X's on them.
"Wait up!" Jamie called.
"I'm sick of waiting for you," Berzerker said.
"Yeah, you just drag us down," Iceman added. "Hey Boom Boom, you better hurry, too."
"Right, I'll be there in a second," Tabitha Smith replied, filing her nails. "Rahne, how do my nails look?"
"Just fine," Rahne Sinclair told her. Inside the Danger Room, Cannonball and Magma used their powers to destroy laser-firing robots as Jubilee and Sunspot dealt with mechanical tentacles. Professor Charles Xavier stood on the observation balcony of the Danger Room, watching his young recruits battle against the mechanical weapons. His mind was considered among the greatest of his time, not just for his intelligence, but for his great telepathic abilities. It was ironic that the most powerful telepath on the planet was confined to a motorized wheelchair, but still carried himself with dignity. .
Scott Summers, better known as Cyclops, walked into the control room. Professor Xavier had rescued Scott from an orphanage at a later age, and Scott regarded him as something of a father. Scott's hair was kept short and neat, and he was clean-shaven. His optic beams were hard to control, and so he was forced to wear a ruby-quartz visor.
"They work so well together," Professor Xavier told his young associate. They were soon joined by Jean Grey, who had not taken a codename. Jean was a beautiful red-haired girl, which was partially why it seemed the other girls on the team resented her. She had fairly strong telekinetic abilities, and she was drew confidence in the development of her telepathic powers from her boyfriend, Scott.
"The Brotherhood is at it again," Jean said.
"You don't need to defeat them," Magneto told his son and right-hand man, Quicksilver. "You only need to distract them long enough to allow my team to accomplish their mission." Magneto and Professor Xavier had once been allies, but those days were long over. Whereas Xavier believed that humans and mutants could live together, Magneto believed that humans would never accept mutants, and that mutants should look out for themselves.
"We won't fail you," Pietro said. He dashed away from the shadowy alcove and into the school courtyard, where his allies waited. Lance Alvers, Fred Dukes, and Todd Tolensky, better known as Avalanche, Blob and Toad, were getting impatient.
"Can we do this now?" Lance asked.
"Not while we're here!" Cyclops yelled. Avalanched grinned.
"Now we're talking!" The ground shook under Cyclops's feet, but he steadied himself with a stop sign. Blob charged at Spyke, but Shadowcat phased him through and Blob hit a wall instead. Toad jumped around like a maniac without actually attempting anything, until he was finally caught by Rogue.
"Good night, Toad!" she yelled. After absorbing his power, she went for Blob, who pushed her aside and charged at Jean. She managed to hold him in a telekinetic sphere.
"What's wrong, Jean?" he called. "Am I too much for you to handle?"
"You're too much of something, that's for sure."
"Hah!" Blob slowly pushed against the sphere and made his way towards her. "Come on, how about a kiss?"
"I'd rather eat mud."
"Suit yourself!" Avalanche yelled. A wave of mud splashed onto her and Blob was released.
"You stay away from her!" Cyclops yelled.
"Everyone, stop!" Storm yelled. She landed between the two sides. "We have other problems to deal with."
"Like what?" Cyclops asked, expecting a damned good answer. His answer came in the form of a growl from the lion-like Sabretooth, who pounced on Cyclops before roaring. The X-Men turned to see the school's front doors burst apart at Gambit's hands. He stepped aside as Colossus carried an unconscious Dr. Trask out of the school.
"Is that... Dr. Trask?" Cyclops asked. "What are you clowns doing?!"
"Relax, slim," Gambit told him, casually. "We're helping you out this time."
"By kidnapping him? How is that helpful?"
"Yes, I would like an explanation as well," Professor Xavier said. He surprised his team with his appearance. Normally, he stayed out of battle zones. With his presence, Magneto revealed himself, hovering down to Professor Xavier from the roof of the school.
"Dr. Trask is a common enemy, Charles," Magneto explained. "He had broken into the school to obtain background information on your students, as well as any leftover data on my recruits." Magneto nodded at his team, who quickly ran.
"Though your methods are crude, had I known about this, I wouldn't have sent my students here to fight."
"Yes, I know. You would, however, disagree with the other reason I am here. Dr. Trask will be... an example."
"Do you expect the world to fear you, Magnus?" Xavier asked. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because I have waited long enough. I have wasted too much time allowing humankind to build its defense. This man created the Sentinel that attacked you months ago. I will show the world that those who strike us will be the first to face us."
"Not if we have something to say about it!" Cyclops commanded. The rest of the X-Men- Jean Grey, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Spyke, Wolverine and Storm prepared themselves for battle. Cyclops held a finger on the trigger of his visor. Magneto regarded the team facing him. Below him, Avalanche, Blob, Toad, Quicksilver and Sabretooth were ready to fight the battle for him. Colossus and Gambit had already left the scene. "Give it up. You're outnumbered."
"Wait, two of them are missing..." Storm said. The roof of the school exploded as Pyro ran out, cackling.
"You maniac, what have you done?!"
"Relax, mate! You guys need some sunshine every now and again anyway!"
"Well, there's Pyro. Now where's-" Cyclops was thrown forward by a blast behind them, but when he got up to see what had happened, he saw no damage. Everyone was thrown down, but nothing else had been touched. What he did see was Magneto's crimson-clad daughter, the Scarlet Witch. "...Wanda."
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"Your work was less than satisfactory, Pietro," Magneto said to his son as both of his teams gathered inside his metal base. "You are slowing down. You require more training. All of you."
"Come on, we don't have any fancy training equipment like the X-Men," Pietro reasoned.
"No, but you must improvise," Magneto told him. "Train against your teammates if you must."
"Are you kidding me?! All I've got is super-speed, these guys have exploding cards and earthquakes and flamethrowers! How am I supposed to get any better when they could all gang up and beat me to death?"
"That is none of my concern, Pietro. I don't care how you do it, but I want you to hone your skills."
"Why are you so mad, anyway?" Blob asked. "We beat 'em, didn't we?"
"No. Wanda did. The rest of you are failing me. I have other matters to attend, concerning Trask. I expect you all to use your free time to improve your skills." Magneto opened a metal door and left the central chamber. Pietro slammed his fist into Blob's stomach in anger.
"Hey, hey, what's this?!"
"I need to punch something that wouldn't break my hand, alright?!" Pietro snapped. "He's never happy! He wants us all to be supermen or something, why can't he be more realistic?!"
"Stop your whining!" Pyro yelled. "We get bitched at because you younger punks're dragging us all down!"
"This wasn't our fault!" Avalanche yelled back. "The X-Men outnumber us!"
"Numbers don't mean anything," Gambit told them. "If we all went up against Magneto right now, we'd be toast. The man has a point, we need to be more well-prepared."
"You can stop kissing his ass when he leaves the room, you know!"
"Aw, that's it!" Gambit took three cards out of his coat and charged them. "You kids want to wrestle with the big boys, do you?!"
"This is ridiculous," Wanda muttered to herself. As Colossus tried to mediate, Wanda took advantage of the distraction and sneaked out.
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The X-Men had obviously lost that battle. It seemed that whenever Wanda appeared, there was no way to win. That was it, her very presence marked the end of the battle. Magneto had kidnapped Dr. Trask, and the school had been significantly damaged, both by Pyro's antics and the battle that followed. As the other X-Men tended to their wounds, Scott Summers grabbed his keys and headed down the stairs.
"Scott?" Professor Xavier called.
"I'm gonna go out for a drive, Professor. I just need to get my mind off of things."
"Very well. Hank and I will get to work trying to figure out where Magneto has taken Trask. I'll have Jean call you if we find anything."
"Yeah... yeah, I won't be long." Scott drove up to his usual thinking spot, the one place where he knew he would be alone, overlooking the rest of the city. Sometimes, Scott had trouble accepting his position as team leader. He felt he was good enough- no, he knew he was good enough- but that didn't make his job any easier. There was so much responsibility on his shoulders. If the team won, he was to thank. If they lost, he was to blame. With Magneto's increased activity, he had less time to himself, and more importantly in his mind, less time for Jean. It was always battle, battle, research, battle. Sometimes he wondered if it was all worth it. Sometimes, he justed wished he could turn back time, and never join the X-Men. His life would have been so much easier. But then... if he had never joined...
"Jean," Scott whispered to herself.
"No, sorry," a female voice replied. Scott then noticed Wanda sitting in Lance's jeep. He reached for his shades. "Hey, relax. I'm not here to fight."
"It's about all you ever do."
"You guys start as much trouble as those jerks do, so don't start."
"What do you mean, 'those jerks?' You're with them, too."
"Yeah, but I'm doing this for my father. He's not such a bad guy."
"I'm sure," Scott snapped.
"Look, I'm not going to lie to you, I agree with him about humans. I just don't always agree with his methods... but whatever it takes."
"And then we have to do whatever it takes to stop him. The next day, he's stirring trouble someplace else. I don't know which option I like better, beating Magneto, or just giving up."
"I feel that way sometimes, too," Wanda whispered.
"What are you talking about? You've never lost."
"That's not what I meant!" Wanda sighed. "Sometimes, it's just like nothing I do makes him happy. He never has time for me anymore. It's always about his own plans. The only way I can spend any time with him is to go along and do what he wants."
"Hmm. I didn't think you disagreed with him."
"There's a lot of things you X-Men don't understand. You're not always right, you know. Even if you think we're bad guys, we're still people. Pietro, Fred, Toad, Lance... I live with them, you know. They're immature losers, but they're really not bad people. It all comes down to how you see things."
"It's hard to see things the way they are when you're wearing goggles. You know, I don't even know what color shirt I'm wearing. They all look the same to me."
"It's blue," Wanda told him. "And your pants are green."
"Huh? Aw, man..."
"Don't worry about it. It doesn't look that bad."
"Oh, easy for you to say, you don't share a house with Jean Grey..." Wanda giggled. It was a rather alien sound to Scott. He wasn't sure he had ever seen her so much as smile. "You know... you should laugh more often." Scott felt somewhat awkawrd telling her that, but somehow, it also felt natural. "You.. look good when you smile."
"...Thanks," Wanda hesitantly said. "I don't get that often. You-" Wanda was interrupted by an obnoxious beeping noise, coming from Scott's red sports car. Scott checked the glove compartment and answered his cell phone. Wanda looked away as he talked to whoever it was who had bothered them.
"Jean... right. You found Trask? What about Magneto? Alright. I'm on my way." Scott threw the cell phone onto the passenger's seat. "Listen, I've gotta go..." Wanda was silent, preferring to look at the city than at Scott. "You know we're going to have to fight you, right?"
"I know," Wanda calmly replied, still looking away.
"Well... I'll talk to you... some other time, then." Scott smiled politely. When Wanda didn't return the gesture, his smile faded and he drove away. She was well aware that she would have to fight him again, and even more aware of the fact that she would have to beat him. During the brief conversation they had, Wanda had felt something towards him, but she wasn't sure what it was, exactly. It certainly wasn't love... but she didn't hate him. It was almost as if there had been something between them at one time.
But how could that be? That was the first time they had even really spoken.
Wanda exhaled, and that strange feeling was gone.
So that's it. This fic is finally over, almost a year after I started it... damn, I'm slow. Again, thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed this story. Now, there's a few things I seem to have left unanswered. Where's Tabby? What happened to Beast? And exactly what is Proteus's fate? Well, draw your own conclusions, because I'm leaving those open.
But...
I am considering revisiting this alternate universe again. I'd have to shift a few things around just so it doesn't become about Apocalypse again, and different characters will probably have different levels of importance, just so Scott's not the main character again, but the characters will be the same (with the exception of Apocalypse's servants). So what do you think? You want to see these versions again? Let me know.