Cypher's Elegy

by Cypher

(COMPLETE) From beyond the grave, a mutant reflects upon his life, and the actions that brought about his untimely demise.

14. Exodus Unleashed

Cipher's Elegy

By Cypher

Chapter Thirteen: Exodus Unleashed

Who knew the X-Jet had a shower? Douglas closed his eyes and smiled as the water slid over his body. It had taken him nearly fifteen minutes to tear himself away from the Temple of Exodus and return to Logan. He was surprised when Kitty phased them through the rock face and he literally ran into Scott. It was only his quick ducking that saved him from being blasted by the team leader's mutant powers. Guess he was a bit paranoid some of the Acolytes were left.

Running his hands through his hair, he leaned against the wall, not a difficult feat since the show was about as big as small phone booth. And Kitty...I need to take her out to a special dinner after we get back. Not just for finding the Temple, but for nearly scaring her to death. Jean had practically pounced on him with the First Aid kit when he rejoined the group, and when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he could understand why. You never realize just how much blood you have in you until a small thing like a blood vessel explodes. The front of his uniform was completely ruined, and his face looked like a bad Halloween costume.

Logan's not going to be happy when he sees the blood on the keyboard. Running a hand over his chin, trying to make sure all the dried blood was washed away, he rotated one of his shoulders. Being tied up for a few hours was not a pleasant way to spend the afternoon, and he made a mental note to thank Logan for the few hostage situations he had been forced to practice. My muscles would be more sore, otherwise. Sometimes I envy Kurt's agility.

Kurt... Douglas lowered his eyes and his smile faded. He, like the others, were worried he was seriously hurt due to the blood. When Douglas had explained that it was just a side effect of Mastermind's attacks, the others seemed relieved, but Kurt, Kurt just turned and walked off. I've got to talk with him. I would've thought he'd be relieved I was okay like the rest of them, but his posture indicated--oh shut up. Listen to yourself. You're quoting that psychology book. This is a friend, well, a supposed friend. Rubbing his arms, he felt himself start to wrinkle. After we're through at the Temple, I'm gonna corner him and find out what the Hell is going on.

Shutting off the water, he briefly wondered how one cornered a teleporter. Well, if I can find this temple, I'm sure I can figure out how to keep Kurt in one place.

~*()*~

"This is fascinating." Hank McCoy scanned through the Egyptian texts Douglas had left behind, making his own notes on a pad of paper. "What Douglas translated and solved in a couple months would've taken archeologists years, maybe even decades to figure out."

Xavier folded his hands together and nodded. "For his literature report he turned in his translation of 'Finnegan's Wake.' While he may not be the most powerful mutant physically, his mental capacity is astounding." He looked up at the computer screen, displaying multiple notes from Douglas' translations. "However, for all his intelligence, he may not know the danger he's in."

"What do you mean?"

"These notes all mention the apocalypse." Xavier typed something on the keyboard, highlighting various symbols. "However, they don't all match each other."

Hank looked up at the screen and nodded. "Indeed. But having multiple symbols for the same meaning isn't unheard of."

"Nonetheless, it worries me. One could mean the end of the world, but the other..." Xavier let Hank make the connection.

"I see your point. But how can we know?" Hank set his notes aside and began searching the internet.

"I've sent these notes to a friend of mine who works in archeology and Egyptology. Hopefully he will be able to tell us if they're both simply the event."

Hank continued his search anyway. "Isn't there a chance he'll figure out what Douglas did and ruin the discovery?"

"It's a risk we must take. If this is some minion of Apocalypse, we may be dealing with more than just a Temple."

Hank sighed. "Then let us hope it is merely the end of the world."

~*()*~

"Man, this place is so cool!" Bobby grinned and put his hands behind his head, walking around the cavern filled with crystals.

"Just don't touch anything." Scott knew he'd have to keep an eye on the New Mutant more than the others. "And no powers in here."

Kurt snorted at Bobby's crestfallen look. He'll get used to it. Looking around, even he had to admit the place was fairly impressive. The crimson crystals were littered everywhere, from the edge of the tunnel walls all the way up to the ceiling. Each carved in a specific shape, and each emitting a slight vibration that seemed to prevent him from gripping surfaces the way he normally could. It wasn't the crystals alone, however. The temple itself was nothing to sneeze at, despite the fact Logan did.

Swishing his tail, Kurt crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, eyeing the temple. Its foundation raised directly from the cave floor. There was no clean break, or any indication that there ever had been. Columns, almost Romanesque, were along the first story, six total, and each nearly ten feet tall. Oddly, while there was an entrance in the center of the pillars, there appeared to be two more sealed doors off to either side. Each door frame had some sort of runic writing, which, Kurt observed, Douglas was reading carefully. How dust and erosion had failed to touch them was a mystery, but there was a large crimson crystal carved into each door.

"Cyttorak crystals. They give off a special radiation that affects only mutants."

Douglas glanced back at Scott's comment. "You've encountered them before?"
Jean grimaced. "Magneto used them on him once."

"That, like, explains why he sent his henchmen here. He probably knew that there were so many and didn't want us to get them." Kitty, not knowing how to read any of the inscriptions, settled for merely standing near Douglas.

"It matches what these hieroglyphs say, roughly. Something about how the power of the gems will give Gods power or protect the weak." Douglas scratched his head. "Or protect the weak? Something must've rubbed off."

Kurt rolled his eyes, frowning slightly as they caught sight of a large crystal placed in the center of the upper story. There weren't any other windows, or crystals for that matter, on the front of the domed building; but the blood red of the crystal far more than made up for it. At first glance, it appeared to be a form of stain glass window. However, Douglas had pointed out that the crystal itself was embedded into the stone wall, and there was rock within the circular design. Kurt had shuddered after taking a closer look. The circle merely connected the points of a pentagram, encompassing numerous symbols, some Christian, some astrological, and some he couldn't decipher.

Douglas had cleared that up. "It's Egyptian in base design."

"There were pentagrams in Ancient Egypt?" Kitty rubbed the back of her head.

"They were scarce, but they existed. It's thought that other cultures picked up that particular design from them, and altered it to suit their religions. Of course, without a time machine, or time-traveling mutant, there's no real way to confirm or deny any allegation. And since this temple is in France, it could be argued that it's not Egyptian at all."

Bobby crossed his arms. "So how do you know it's Egyptian? For all we know, you're just talking and making stuff up."

Douglas ignored the not so subtle insult. "Unlike the other crystals, some of the symbols, the Egyptian ones, seem a bit worn, and even appear to have lost their glow."

"That, like, could be due to the surrounding rock absorbing the radiation, if that's what makes them glow."

Douglas nodded at Kitty. "Exactly."

Kurt walked over to Bobby, glancing around the side of the temple. The crystals from the wall seemed to increase in number and in length, and yet none ever actually touched the temple. Strange.

"Man, I'm so bored. Why'd we have to wait so long to come out here? I wanted to kick some Acolyte butt."

Kurt simply lashed Bobby in the leg.

"Hey! That hurt-"

"Wolverine?"

Logan turned his attention from the two younger mutants and faced the blond that had brought them here. "Yeah?"

"I think I've figured out how to open the temple. However..." He glanced at Kitty.

Kitty stepped forward, having talked with Douglas about the translation. "There's a warning that to do so will break the seal."

"Seal?" Scott ran a hand through his hair as he eyed each of the doors. "What seal?"

Douglas stepped away from the temple and faced it. "That's what I've been trying to figure out. There's no seal on the doors. They look like impenetrable rock, but apparently all you have to do is touch the crystals and they open."

Jean, who had, until that point, been watching the entrance to the cave, turned her head and scanned the room with her green eyes. "You know..."

Douglas stepped back from Scott and crossed his arms. "Yeah?"

"This may sound crazy, but if you come back here and look at the whole," she took a step back, furrowing her brow, "the crystals kind of have a Feng Shui look to them."

"Feng Shui?" Douglas scratched his head at that. "You know, I've heard of that."

"It, like, has to do with the flow of negative and positive energy in a room." Kitty rubbed the back of her leg with one foot. "It would explain why the crystals are placed in such weird ways."

"But Fen Shui is an Asian art, right? How could an Asian art that was never heard of in the twelfth century find its way to an obscure Temple in the middle of Europe?"

"You're the genius. You figure it out."

Douglas' head snapped towards Kurt. While the words weren't hurtful, the tone Kurt had used almost seemed...taunting. "Alright, I will. Wolverine, can Kurt take me to the surface to do a quick bit of research on Feng Shui, and update Professor Xavier on our status?"

Logan glanced at Kurt, who had gone tense at the suggestion.

~Those two need to work out their problems. This is a good time. Kurt's about to explode and Douglas wants to confront him.~

Logan snarled briefly, not liking Jean in his mind. She did, however, have a good point. "Alright. Twenty minutes."

Douglas nodded, hugging Kitty briefly, before jogging over to his blue roommate.

Kurt heaved a sigh, rested a hand on the blond's shoulder, and the two of them disappeared in a puff of smoke.

~*()*~

"Okay, Professor Xavier knows how we're doing." Kurt looked over his shoulder at Douglas, who remained hunched over his own console. "Hello. Did you hear me?"
"What? Yeah, sure. Xavier knows. Great." Douglas frowned, his eyes moving back and forth as he read the information from the internet scrolled down his screen. "This is like religion."

Kurt tensed at that. "Excuse me?"

"Well, there are coincidences, and it seems to be a real thing, but all the supposed 'changes' by decorating a room could be achieved by altering one's perceptions on the world."

"It's faith."

"Faith-" Douglas blinked. Wait, you want him to like you again. Attacking his faith in Catholicism isn't going to help.

Kurt crossed his arms. "Yes?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." Going back to his search, he began downloading a Feng Shui program. Hope Xavier doesn't mind the bill he's gonna get. Looking at the clock, he bit his lip. What the hey. Turning his chair around, he crossed his arms, mimicking Kurt's position.

Kurt frowned. "It's not nothing. What were you going to say about faith?"

"That's not important. Really, it was nothing."

"What, you don't think I can take it? Throw your worst at me."

"Are you trying to pick a fight?"

"What if I am?"

"What the hell is with you? When I first came you wanted to be friends, but for the past couple months, you've been a complete jerk!"

Kurt snarled. "That's because you took something that was mine!"

Douglas blinked. "You mean...you're upset over that?!"

"Of course I'm upset!"

"It's a book! And I returned it intact. I just needed to look up some obscure reference in the Old Testament."

Kurt's tail stopped moving, and his eyes widened momentarily. "You...what?"

"If it'll make you feel better, I'm sorry for borrowing your Bible without asking."

Kurt stared at the blond, not sure how to respond. He...how can he not know?!

Douglas shifted his legs, trying to keep them from falling asleep. "I'm sorry, okay?"

Kurt stood and clenched his hands. "It wasn't that! How can you be a genius and still be such...such...such an idiot!"

"Then I'm sorry for whatever it was I did!" Douglas stood up, keeping eye contact with the teleporter. "And what the hell are you upset about me taking? I've never taken anything from you!"

Kurt stepped closer and bared his fangs. "You took my Kaetzchen!"

Douglas took a step back, not really intimidated by the angry look, but by the accusation. "Your...Kitty?" It took his mind a moment to register he meant his girlfriend, and not some fuzzy pet. "I...your Kitty?" He narrowed his eyes. "Wait, she wasn't your Kitty! She's nobody's Kitty! And how was I supposed to know, huh?! She hit on me!"

"That doesn't matter! Everyone knew how much I liked her, and you just went and took her!"

"I didn't know! What, was it supposed to be in the information packet? Was I supposed to read about it on the bathroom walls? I'm not telepathic! She asked me out, I said yes! There was no...no taking!"

Kurt's tail lashed against the chair behind him, damaging the armrest slightly. "But she was mine! And then you went and took Jamie from me too! He's my little brother!"

"Took Jamie? Stole Kitty? Are you listening to yourself? I was clueless about your feelings for Kitty, and your position in Jamie's life! Both of them approached me, both of them asked for a favor, and no one ever said ANYTHING about you!" Douglas noted some tears had gathered around Kurt's eyes, but refused to escape.

"It still felt like you stole them! You should've asked me!"

Douglas fell silent for a moment, before storming forward and standing chest-to-chest with Kurt. "I had no reason to think either person was involved with you, I had no knowledge of your feelings, and I have never sought to take anything from you! Instead of talking to me, you just shut it all up inside and alienated yourself from me! I am not to blame here!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not! Stop making excuses because you weren't mature enough to face me! Hell, you can't even face yourself! Grow up, Kurt! All I ever wanted to be was your friend!"

"Then why'd you...you..." Kurt heaved and backed away, glaring at the blue eyes that challenged him. "You took Kaetzchen."

"I took zilch. I was offered something, and I accepted. It was never about hurting you, it was never about ruining your life. I just wanted to fit in and get along, and I did. You're the one who turned it into this...perverted taking thing." Douglas stepped back, leaning against the hull of the Velocity. "I'm sorry you're upset, but you never said a thing."

Kurt collapsed into his chair, panting slightly. "If I had told you I liked Kitty, and asked you not to date her, would you have?"
Douglas stared at the floor a few minutes before rolling his shoulders. "I don't know. I want to say I'd respect your wishes, but I can't honestly say I would. She was the first girl to ever ask me out."

"So what would talking have accomplished?" He rubbed his eyes. He hadn't even been aware he had tears gathering there until he felt the fur on his fingers get moist.

"You wouldn't have kept the feelings bottled up, and maybe we'd still be friends." Douglas ran a hand through his hair. "I can't believe this is all because you were jealous of me."

"You were getting everything I ever wanted. Dating Kitty, immediate acceptance-"

Douglas scoffed. "Immediate acceptance? Please. Roberto and Sam still think I'm a nerd."

"The point is, most everybody accepted you immediately. And Jamie, he thinks more highly of you than he does of anyone."

"Are you kidding? He's always talking about you. I'm just helping him with his powers. You're like his brother." Douglas blinked as the computer beeped at him, but he ignored it for now. "Look, Kurt...I've just been trying to fit in, and to be your friend." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm...sorry I hurt you. I really had no intention, or knowledge, of any of it. So...you think maybe we could still be friends?"

Kurt eyed Douglas, looking him up and down. While his posture was still defensive, his blue eyes were pleading, open, and completely unhostile. He's still dating Kitty, though. "Maybe." His tail coiled around the base of the chair. "I...it's not like I can just forgive you on a whim. But...maybe, with some time. I really did like Kitty..."

Forgive me? Don't push it, Douglas. It's the best you're gonna get. "Alright. I understand." Taking his seat once again, he looked at the program he had just downloaded. "Now, let's see if Jean's Feng Shui idea was right..."

~*()*~

"Charles, I don't know who you had translate this, but I want him on my staff. Immediately."

Xavier smiled, though his friend couldn't see it over the phone. Beside him, McCoy was comparing Douglas' notes with his own, double-checking the teen's findings. "Yes, well, one day he just might. In the meantime, however, was his translation correct? Is it the end of the world?"

McCoy looked over at him. Both of them knew that the apocalypse translations were questionable, especially since Douglas hadn't focused on them so much as locating the temple.

"Well, most of the Arabic and Celtic writings speak of the apocalypse itself. It's mostly the Egyptian hieroglyphs that personify the world. For instance, in one set of glyphs your friend translated Exodus as being a servant for the end of the world. However, the order of the preceding glyphs indicates that the word 'Apocalypse' is capitalized and personified, with the same tone as used when writing about a God or pharaoh. It's a subtle difference, though, and only something an expert would catch. What he accomplished was still impressive, though."

"Are you saying," McCoy butt in, "that this Exodus being worshiped Apocalypse?"

"Er, yes. Though worshiped would be too strong a term. From these writings, and those of the Celtic and Arabic texts, it appears that Exodus was Apocalypse's right hand man, so to speak. Perhaps that's why in the other texts it seems more like he was the servant of the end of the world. The myth from Egypt spread, but since there was no Apocalypse God-"

"Thank you, my friend." Xavier cut him off, already preparing a message to send to the Velocity.

"Wait, before you go, could you send the rest of the text? While there may be some minor errors, what I've read is almost dead on-"

"We'll ask him when he returns. Thank you again." McCoy disconnected the phone line and frowned at the school's headmaster. "It would appear our young Mr. Ramsey has single-handedly stumbled upon a servant of Apocalypse."

"Yes. The question is, is anyone there, and if so, is he dead, or alive?" Xavier sent the communication, willing someone to answer on the other side.

~*()*~

"Man, what's keeping them so long? There's nothing to do down here." Bobby had worked his way and was leaning against the temple wall near the middle door. His hands were resting behind his head, and he watched as Kitty looked over the doors once more, avoiding the crystals that would open them.

Scott refused to take his eyes off the young mutant. A bored Bobby was a dangerous Bobby, and with the warning Douglas had read, the seal, he wanted to be extra sure nothing was opened before it should be. Bobby did have one good point, though. Logan had sent Kurt and Douglas with a time limit of twenty minutes. It was now bordering on thirty, and he was starting to get worried. What if the Acolytes returned? But then, wouldn't Kurt have teleported down? Unless he was hurt, then they could both be in trouble-

"They're fine, Scott, they're just working out their differences." Jean placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Trust me, there's nothing to worry about."

"It's still longer than I told them to take." Logan sniffed the air, frowning. There was something about this room that felt wrong, and his instinct told him the longer they stayed, the more likely something bad was going to happen. "The elf knows when I give a time limit, I mean it."

Jean glanced at the older mutant. "Let them be this time, Logan. Douglas and Kurt really need to work out their animosity before something explodes."

Namely, Kurt. Scott yawned and eyed the crystals around them. It's weird, really. I mean, I know that ancient civilizations put a lot of ornamental stuff in temples, but all of these are outside the temple. It could be decorative, but-

"Bobby, what'd you do?!"

Kitty's voice cut through Scott's thoughts and his head snapped towards the temple.

"Nothing, I swear! It was your phasing!"

"It was not!"

The other X-Men quickly rushed toward the entrance of the temple. Scott wasn't sure who to scold, and didn't have time to think about it as the three crystals on the doors rose into small alcoves above, covering spiraling texts that Douglas hadn't had time to look at. The doors themselves rose into some hidden place directly above, revealing the darkened interior of the stone building.

"Oh, like gross!" Kitty covered her nose and mouth with a hand and stepped a few paces back. "It's like something crawled in there and died!"

"It's been hundreds of years since it's been opened. The air's probably stale." Scott noticed Bobby and Jean stepping back as well while he covered his nose with his arm.

"That's not just stale air. That's the stench of death." Logan unsheathed his claws, eyeing all three doorways warily. "People died in here when it was sealed."

"On purpose?" Bobby iced himself up. "Or did they get sealed in accidentally?"

"Who knows." Jean eyed the two younger mutants. "So how'd this happen?"

"I like, wanted to see what was on the inside, and I tried phasing through the door, only I couldn't for some reason and-"

"Her head hit the crystal," Bobby finished. "So do you think there's any treasure in there?"

Scott rolled his eyes. Only you, Bobby, would be thinking of something like that at this time.

"So are we gonna go in or what?"

Wolverine braved one whiff of the air. "I don't smell anything dangerous, but be careful. It's old, and this time," he glared at both Kitty and Bobby, "don't touch anything, even if you think you can phase. Got it?"

"Yes sir," both mutants replied.

Grunting, Wolverine stepped into the shadowed building. Kitty and Bobby followed next, and Jean and Scott brought up the rear.

"So all three doors lead to one room," Kitty observed, glancing at the three sources of light for the room. The floor appeared to be white marble, as did the walls, but the rest of the room was covered in darkness.

"Alright, everyone get out your glow stick, and don't wander." Scott pulled his own glow stick out and cracked it. He jumped and let out a yelp when the first thing he saw was a human skull directly next to him.

"Scott, you okay?" Jean knelt by him and held her glow stick up, to try and see what had scared him.

Seeing that it wasn't a real skull, but an elaborate tapestry hanging from the wall--Perfectly intact, too. How'd that happen?--Scott patted his chest and stood up. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just..wasn't expecting to see that." His visor allowed him to see a bit more in the dark than a normal human. Holding up his glow stick, he tried to make out the picture on the hanging rug. Skulls, death, destruction...who the hell is this Exodus? He thought he saw pictures of pyramids, but he didn't have time to look more closely.

"Uh, guys? I think I found the dead thing." Bobby had followed the scent trail to where it was strongest, discovering mostly powder, but a few skeletons that had remained mostly intact. "Dead things, anyway."

"Like, icky." Kitty frowned. "Hey, how'd they survive? Over hundreds of years they should've disintegrated."

"Must've been because the place was sealed." Logan stopped walking as his glow stick revealed yet another wall. This can't be the entire chamber. The temple's bigger than that.

Jean was by his side shortly, staring at the wall with him. Her eyes seemed slightly glazed, and, Logan noticed, that she was floating off the ground, rather than walking. "Red? You okay?"

The other mutants moved towards their position at Logan's words.

"Jean?" Scott tugged at her arm. Could this be a side effect of the crystals? Or...is this something else?

"Exodus..." The word was hardly above a whisper, but the look of terror that crossed Jean's face was enough to alert Scott that they were in danger.

"Everyone out-ugh!" Scott collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

"It's a trap!" Logan held his claws up and looked around. Two bolts of yellow energy, streaming out from the darkness within the room, struck the base of his neck, and for an instant, he stood, paralyzed. Then he fell to the ground as well, unconscious.

Bobby and Kitty fell next, each hit with a similar streak of energy, leaving only Jean, who remained levitating. Turning around, she fixed her green eyes on the darkest region of the room. She knew she would be attacked next, and set up a physical shield as well as a mental one. I've got to warn Kurt and Douglas! We've unleashed, oh God we've unleashed- The energy punctured her shields as if they were a bullets tearing through paper. Collapsing in a heap, she stared out into the darkness, meeting two azure eyes, still glowing bright with energy. We've unleashed....Exodus.

~*()*~

~*()*~

~*()*~

Author's Prattle: Ahhh! Gomen nasai! I didn't mean for this chapter to take so long! But I took a brief vacation, and then some family crisis arose, and then school started and I can't write in ANY of my classes (well, maybe Myths, but that's still only an hour. And that's only IF I can get the good desk...but I digress). So, everything's kinda slow. I don't know when the next chapter will be out, as I've been ignoring my other fics, and it's time I got back to them as well. So I'm going to be alternating between fics, but I also have homework, not to mention a ton of reading, online exams....

Blah blah, enough about my problems. Disclaimers! I don't own X-Men: Evolution or Cipher or Exodus. They all belong to Marvel and whoever else. I also don't own Finnegan's Wake. I believe it belongs to James Joyce, but I'm not sure, however I know I mentioned it in a previous chapter, so look there. Umm...I don't think I had any original charas, the person on the phone was just any Egyptologist. So...basically, I don't own anything except the plot.

Some people have asked where in the Evo-verse does this fic take place. Well...it's somewhat AU. The Brotherhood is still attending school, most season two stuff and some season three has occurred, and Xavier knows who Apocalypse is (though I think all powerful mutants do, ne?). Is Apocalypse himself awake? No. I haven't seen those episodes, so I won't include that he's awake.

Well, that's it for now! With luck I'll get the next chapter out in a month or two...though I've got YaoiCon coming up...and that midterm paper...the latex project...well, I will get back to it, I promise. I have BIG plans...and the action's just getting warmed up! Reviews are always welcome, and laters!