The tower
High Prelate Cyclops stood looking out the window. He couldn't see much, just sky and clouds, that too through a red tint. He was dressed in grey, dark grey. A dark grey Kevlar top and dark grey tights. With black and dark purple armor. A cape shimmered behind him, seeming to melt from blue to purple. It had a disconcerting effect, which was the point of it. Scott sighed, and brushed back his overlong hair. It would have been nice to have a day, when he was left on his own, but as it was he had to deal with more things than he had when he was a Prelate. He had expected a shift in responsibilities when promoted, but not such a great increase. As it was he was now the one to whom all the sorting of prisoners went to. He had to plan battles ahead of time and also had to deal with problems the Externals were too busy to deal with. Most of which were ridiculous. Cyclops was really irritated at some of the things he had to deal with. Nevertheless he tried to be a fair and impartial man. He too had to abide by Apocalypses laws though and at times he found himself disliking what he was doing. Still he dealt with all he did as best he could. He disliked the hard and almost cruel streak that had developed in him, over the years. Due to what he had needed to do, he was feared by almost all the world. Not many saw him of course. Most were dealt with by the other Prelates. It was the serious cases that came to him.
The thing he liked most about his position was that now he set up the battle plans. Tactics were his lifeblood, and he led the assault, though almost always indirectly. That was one thing Sinister insisted on, not to fight unless absolutely necessary. As it was the other Prelates were the ones who took part in the battles with the armies. All the Prelates were mutants, and with the exception of himself, Havok and Polaris, all had been prisoners converted by Dark Beast. Cyclops suppressed an involuntary shudder. Even the Externals flinched in Dark Beasts presence. The mutant was crazy, absolutely cruel, yet a genius nonetheless. He put these thoughts out of his mind; he had to concentrate on the matters at hand, namely what to do with the X-men. Led by Xavier and Magneto, they were a thorn in his side that refused to go away. He had them trapped now though. This time he was going to personally take part in the attack, whatever Sinister said. He went over the plans one last time. Tomorrow the X-men were going down, for good.
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Jean Grey woke up, and looked around the dismal room. For a minute she was disoriented. They had moved so much in the last week, that almost every morning they had to wake up in a new place. It wasn't Xaviers fault. It was that insane High Prelate, Cyclops. He had gotten after them like a dog after a cat, and showed no signs of letting up. She had never seen him though, neither had any of the others. Not all of their team was here. Only Xavier, Magneto and his wife Rogue, Logan, Piotr, Angel and Iceman. And her of course. Phoenix, the second telepath in the X-men. She walked into the bathroom, and began to wash her face. As she walked out into the main room, she saw Xavier, Magneto and Weapon X already up. They were discussing something. As she came in they all paused to greet her.
"Jean, you're just in time for breakfast. We were discussing what we must do today."
She sat down next to Logan who handed her a cup of tea. She smiled at him, he knew she couldn't wake up properly without having her morning cup of tea, and kissed him. He smiled against her lips, and then moved away. Xavier and Magneto had begun talking again and quickly ran her abreast of what they were discussing. As they talked, more and more of the X-men came out of their rooms. The last to enter was Rogue, who had absorbed a mutants powers yesterday, though partially and was still having a tough time. Magneto kissed her good morning, she seemed to cheer up a bit at that, but still seemed to be dazed. Colossus, was surprisingly irritable, he was usually the most the most easygoing X-man. After they were done making their plans they began to get ready, Xavier already ready sat in the main room, attempting to communicate with the other X-men at Moira Mctaggerts Island, Muir isle. Jean came and sat next to him. She didn't help though. Xavier and she both knew she would not be able to. She needed to be better trained. Xavier and Dr. Mctaggert were the two who helped her with her telepathic and telekinetic abilities. Moira had helped Xavier years ago, and now helped Jean to control her powers and use them more easily. Jean also had the cosmic power of the phoenix, which allowed her to fly. She hadn't had need to use the power which could be used once, that of resurrection, yet. She hoped she would never have to. She could resurrect herself, or rather would be resurrected if she died, but only once.
As Jean waited for the others to get ready, she thought back to why she joined the X-men. The desire to help had been one reason, but the young boy she had met had been another. Scott Summers. Sinister had killed others as well, but that had hurt unbearably. It had taken Xavier to help her keep her grief inside, and Logan to dissipate it, until it only became a reason for her to continue, to stop Sinister from killing any other helpless child. She still had no idea why he had done it. She shook herself out of her reverie. She had other things to think about, not wallow in the past.
Suddenly Xavier's eyes opened wide. He came out of his trance. He turned to her slowly.
"Jean, I fear that other mutants are coming this way. Many mutants, I fear. It seems we shall have to move quicker. We may even have to fight."
Magneto came hurrying down at that point. Jean still didn't know how they knew other mutants were around. She wished she knew how they did it. The others came at Xavier's mental summons. They were all equipped for battle, anyway, so they were ready for the attack.
"Many mutants are coming; I believe the Prelates are among them, and that this is going to have to be a battle. Be ready X-men, this time we must fight them, there is nowhere to run."
He turned and attempted to send another message, undoubtedly to Muir isle, and the other X-men there.
Before he was done, a beam of light smashed through the door. 20 mutants ran through the door attacking already. Jean knew this was no time for holding back. Too many lives were at stake. They had tried to capture and take the mutants with them, but all efforts had proved inconclusive. Whatever Dark Beast had done was permanent. The mutants were killing machines nothing more. She saw Weapon X hacking and clawing two of the mutants. She herself lifted two and smashed them together repeatedly, until they lay twitching, smashed out of shape. Xavier hung at the back of the battle, controlling mutants, to fight each other; he couldn't hold it for long, Dark Beast had strengthened their mental shields. They fought back sooner or later. Those he could, he switched their minds off.
Iceman was freezing two together, but a third was throwing flame at his ice. Iceman, quickly shifted his beam to the fire throwing one, but he simply thawed it off, by lighting up himself. Colossus was punching one, two bodies at his feet already. Magneto had stripped all of their armor and was now throwing random metal objects at them. Jean erected a shield around her and flew around the room. She knocked down most of the mutants left. One female broke through her shield somehow, but was grabbed by Rogue, who literally sucked the life out of her. Rogue stumbled back, then cried out and flew towards another, who was creating telepathic shields, far less strong as compared to Jeans but near impregnable ones nonetheless. Rogue smashed into the shield and broke it. Magneto rose and came down in a smash on the telepath mutant and another. With a burst of magnetic force, they lay dead. Only seven were left of the twenty who had come in. Angel had hung two by the ceiling.
Suddenly all the mutants, regrouped and went and stood by the hole. Then Jean felt dread. Prelates, or maybe even worse. In front of her she saw Havok, Lumina, Polaris and Rumik come through the hole. Four Prelates. Alpha class mutants, with amazingly honed powers. They were well matched. Four Prelates, seven mutants and seven of them. Havok was a strong mutant capable of shooting high-energy beams from his hands. Energy he absorbed from the sun. He wore a dark blue top and tights, with black armor. Lumina was able to convert molecules around her to bright light, which could explode. Hence the name Lumina. She wore white tights and top with yellow armor. Rumik could control the Earth, that is she could cause Earthquakes and cause the ground to shake. She wore green tights and top with darker green armor. Polaris was dressed in yellow top and tights, with silver armor. She could control magnetic fields. Some said she was nearly as strong as Magneto, who was considered one of the world's strongest mutants. Her green hair was one thing that pointed out her mutant abilities.
They began to smile, and instantly Jean felt momentary dread. In the silence they heard the sound of footfalls. Somebody important was coming. A figure stepped out of the light, in dark grey tights and top and black and dark purple armor. A dark blue or was it purple? Cape hung from his shoulders, appearing to shimmer. A black headpiece was over his eyes, with a red visor. The headpiece circled his head, covering his ears too, though Jean doubted that he had any problem hearing. It was the High Prelate Cyclops. He was an impressive man. He seemed to dwarf the Prelates, though was slightly shorter than Havok. He towered over the other two any way, and seemed taller than Havok. He was well built, to complement his height. He seemed to take in the room in a glance. Then without warning, he slashed his hand.
At once all the Prelates leapt to attack. Havok's first blast took Iceman flush in the chest. Iceman fell back, struggling to get up. Lumina just stood in the middle of the room. Around her the air began to shimmer, then glow, as she charged it up with her powers. Polaris took to the air. She began to fly around waiting for an opening. She never got it. Magneto rose up before her, eyes flashing. He sent a blast of magnetic energy towards her. Polaris countered with one of her own. The two beams met in the air, creating a magnetic field. As one the metallic objects began to rise, to meet the magnet. Rumik began shaking the battleground, to her own sides advantage. Colossus stumbled as he caught two mutants in his hands. He managed to crush them before two others lifted him and threw him. He smashed into a wall. He got up quickly though. Weapon X skirted the energy build up of Lumina, heading for Cyclops. Cyclops simply stood there. All of a sudden Weapon X began to rise. He growled in his throat. Jean nearly blanched as a thought belatedly struck her. Weapon X's adamantium was a metal alloy, which made him susceptible to the magnet in the air. Jean's telekinetic blast knocked both Polaris and Magneto back. Polaris fell with a grunt, but Rogue grabbed Magneto and brought him down gently. She then turned towards Lumina, who had begun powering up the air for an explosion. Rogue's temporary shield breaking ability got her in the middle of the energy, to Lumina. The next second the energy dissipated, and Lumina came flying out. She fell on the ground, only to have Rogue jump on her and attempt to grab her face. Lumina's eyes opened wide in terror. She knew what Rogue could do. Suddenly Rogue was flying back, her suit smoking. Rumik picked up Lumina and glared at Rogue. Meanwhile Weapon X had reached Cyclops.
"So bub, it's just you an' me now."
Cyclops looked at Weapon X. Before Weapon X could react his visor was down. It was only Jeans shout and Weapon Xs animal like reflexes that saved him. The optic blast seared another hole through the opposite wall. Then Weapon X was on him. Weapon X slashed at Cyclops, but Cyclops moved quickly, blocking Weapon Xs arm with his forearm, and punched him squarely in the gut. Weapon X fell back, and received an optic blast. He fell to the ground, his front smoking. Jean cried out in anger and hurled a telekinetic blast at Cyclops. He shot an optic blast towards it and the two blasts dissipated. He then jumped in the air, higher than Jean would have thought possible and kicked her in the face. She fell to the ground, next to Weapon X. Cyclops landed neatly on his feet. He then turned his attention towards Xavier. Then Jean looked again, Xavier was standing, or actually, his wheelchair had become a sort of robotic Exo-skeleton. Xavier came forward with speed, but Jean saw Cyclops react almost sluggishly. Xavier hit Cyclops squarely in the face with a massive fist. Jean then saw Xavier was frowning in deep concentration. He was doing something to Cyclops mind, something that took up a lot of his energies. He looked towards her for an instant, and a telepathic message flashed in her head. I'm making him think I'm faster than I really am, that's why he probably seems sluggish. This is a very difficult mind trick, but it is very difficult to block. The High Prelate has a very formidable block; nevertheless, you would not be able to do anything, with your limited control of your powers.
Suddenly Xavier grimaced, as Cyclops seemed to shrug off his mental assault and move as fast again. Cyclops fist smashed into Xavier's side. Xavier fell and Cyclops jumped in the air. His knee was coming down on Xaviers face. Jean grabbed him in midair, but only managed to deflect him a bit, so that his knee came down on Xavier's chest. She heard ribs crack and Xavier's shout of pain. Jean bit her lip in frustration. Suddenly a massive hand smashed into Cyclops. He smashed into a wall, the force of Colossus's punch taking him through it. Jean smiled at the huge metal man as he lifted Xavier to a standing position. Then her smile faded away as Cyclops came out of the hole, stumbling a bit and blood leaking from his mouth, but otherwise looking not too bad. His optic blast followed a split second later, Smashing Colossus into another wall, and through. His second optic blast hit Xavier who flew back into the hole Colossus went into.
Things were looking bad, with the four Prelates back up, and only Jean, Magneto, Rogue, Angel and Iceman left standing. Havok sent another beam of energy, this time at Angel. This time though Jean stopped it by erecting a telekinetic shield around Angel and Iceman began freezing the energy ray. Of course as its heat met the ice, it dissipated. Angel swooped down and knocked back Havok, then flew up and smashed into him again. Havok was slammed left and right by Angel whose face was clenched in a mask of anger. Lumina was creating chain reactions, that is charging the air around her and spreading it out. The effect was explosions everywhere, and Iceman falling back grabbing his shoulder. He seemed to alternate between Ice and human form then, fell unconscious in human from.
Weapon X was slowly getting up, his wounds partly healed. Jean felt a pang of distress looking at him, but she also noticed his eyes glazed over. That meant he was a berserker at the moment. He unsheathed his claws. The movement drew Polaris's eye, who immediately began controlling the field, causing Weapon Xs claws to bend. His eyes widened and he clenched his jaw. "No!" Magneto leapt up and aimed his hands at Weapon X. Weapon Xs jaw unclenched, but he couldn't seem to move. Jean realized Magneto was able to hold Weapon Xs adamantium in place, by also holding him in place. Xavier came out of the hole then, dragging a human Colossus. That was when Jean realized that they would not win this fight. Cyclops was already on his way over to Xavier. Suddenly a green blur hit him. He fell to the side. He looked up Rogue standing there, readying another punch. He suddenly roared in anger, Rogue was shocked into stopping her attack, only for an instant, but it was long enough. Cyclops optic blast came out, stronger than before, the heat enough to make Jean feel it. Magneto, who was in the peripheral of Cyclops's vision, fell to the ground under the blast. Weapon X went flying into Polaris as the beam hit him. Xavier fell on his knees as the blast knocked him back. Rogue was sent flying, but her near invulnerable body state, due to the absorption of a mutant, allowed her to escape the blast winded and hurt but her body was all right.
As if in slow motion Cyclops walked towards Xavier. Jean rushed towards him, knowing that Cyclops meant to kill Xavier. She shot a telekinetic blow but that barely knocked him down. He stood again and as she neared shot a blast to break her shield and backhanded in the face. She fell on the ground sprawled next to Rumik. She could not tell what had happened to Rumik. She had a scorch mark on her arm, so it looked as though Cyclops blast had caught her. Havok and Lumina were staring at Cyclops in shock. Even they never expected him to lose control, if only for a second. Weapon X punched Polaris away and leapt at Cyclops, but Havoks energy beam hit him in the back and he fell at Cyclops's feet. Cyclops stepped over him and walked up to Xavier. He put his hand on Xavier's head. Then said, "For your crimes, rebel, you are sentenced to death, the execution is to take place immediately."
Xavier looked at Jean as Cyclops spoke. I'll get you a way out. I've told the others, move! Suddenly the Prelates grabbed their heads. Lumina began wailing in agony. Cyclops even seemed to stumble, that was the cue. As abruptly as it begun it stopped. Jean knew what Xavier had done; he had sent messages of pain into every cell in the brains of the enemy. If not for the blocks they would have gone insane or their heads may have exploded because of the immense pain. Jean gathered everyone inside her shield, then lifted them high. Xavier was pouring mental energy into her; he would sacrifice himself for their sake. They burst out through the roof. Xavier had bought them enough time.
Cyclops looked down at Xavier. He was the first to recover from the assault.
"A very noble thing to do. At least you die bravely. For this I salute you Charles Xavier. Farewell."
His hand smashed into Xavier's neck, breaking it cleanly. Xavier swayed a bit, then fell back, dead. Cyclops looked at the body for a second. Then he turned and strode to the hole they had come in from. "Come, our work here is done. Xavier is dead. The X-men are leaderless, for a while. We will finish them later."
Havok rose to his feet. "Sir, if I may speak, the X-men could not have gone far. We could chase them down fairly easily."
Cyclops looked at Havok, almost consideringly.
Then, "No. Xavier sealed their fate for now. I will respect what he did. We will find them again." He turned and strode out. The four Prelates looked at each other then followed their leader out.
In the truck they had acquired Jean sat, tears sliding down her cheeks. Xavier was dead; he had died quickly and painlessly. He had opened her up to the final words of Cyclops. Xaviers last message to her was, 'He is an honorable man. The X-men could use him. He will not stay with Apocalypse. Jean, you must convince him-'. That's when he had died. Jean had felt him die. Logan said nothing; he just put his arm around her and hugged her close. She put her face in his shoulder and continued to cry.
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High Prelate Cyclops stood looking out the window. He couldn't see much, just sky and clouds, that too through a red tint. He was dressed in grey, dark grey. A dark grey Kevlar top and dark grey tights. With black and dark purple armor. A cape shimmered behind him, seeming to melt from blue to purple. It had a disconcerting effect, which was the point of it. Scott sighed, and brushed back his overlong hair. It would have been nice to have a day, when he was left on his own, but as it was he had to deal with more things than he had when he was a Prelate. He had expected a shift in responsibilities when promoted, but not such a great increase. As it was he was now the one to whom all the sorting of prisoners went to. He had to plan battles ahead of time and also had to deal with problems the Externals were too busy to deal with. Most of which were ridiculous. Cyclops was really irritated at some of the things he had to deal with. Nevertheless he tried to be a fair and impartial man. He too had to abide by Apocalypses laws though and at times he found himself disliking what he was doing. Still he dealt with all he did as best he could. He disliked the hard and almost cruel streak that had developed in him, over the years. Due to what he had needed to do, he was feared by almost all the world. Not many saw him of course. Most were dealt with by the other Prelates. It was the serious cases that came to him.
The thing he liked most about his position was that now he set up the battle plans. Tactics were his lifeblood, and he led the assault, though almost always indirectly. That was one thing Sinister insisted on, not to fight unless absolutely necessary. As it was the other Prelates were the ones who took part in the battles with the armies. All the Prelates were mutants, and with the exception of himself, Havok and Polaris, all had been prisoners converted by Dark Beast. Cyclops suppressed an involuntary shudder. Even the Externals flinched in Dark Beasts presence. The mutant was crazy, absolutely cruel, yet a genius nonetheless. He put these thoughts out of his mind; he had to concentrate on the matters at hand, namely what to do with the X-men. Led by Xavier and Magneto, they were a thorn in his side that refused to go away. He had them trapped now though. This time he was going to personally take part in the attack, whatever Sinister said. He went over the plans one last time. Tomorrow the X-men were going down, for good.
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Jean Grey woke up, and looked around the dismal room. For a minute she was disoriented. They had moved so much in the last week, that almost every morning they had to wake up in a new place. It wasn't Xaviers fault. It was that insane High Prelate, Cyclops. He had gotten after them like a dog after a cat, and showed no signs of letting up. She had never seen him though, neither had any of the others. Not all of their team was here. Only Xavier, Magneto and his wife Rogue, Logan, Piotr, Angel and Iceman. And her of course. Phoenix, the second telepath in the X-men. She walked into the bathroom, and began to wash her face. As she walked out into the main room, she saw Xavier, Magneto and Weapon X already up. They were discussing something. As she came in they all paused to greet her.
"Jean, you're just in time for breakfast. We were discussing what we must do today."
She sat down next to Logan who handed her a cup of tea. She smiled at him, he knew she couldn't wake up properly without having her morning cup of tea, and kissed him. He smiled against her lips, and then moved away. Xavier and Magneto had begun talking again and quickly ran her abreast of what they were discussing. As they talked, more and more of the X-men came out of their rooms. The last to enter was Rogue, who had absorbed a mutants powers yesterday, though partially and was still having a tough time. Magneto kissed her good morning, she seemed to cheer up a bit at that, but still seemed to be dazed. Colossus, was surprisingly irritable, he was usually the most the most easygoing X-man. After they were done making their plans they began to get ready, Xavier already ready sat in the main room, attempting to communicate with the other X-men at Moira Mctaggerts Island, Muir isle. Jean came and sat next to him. She didn't help though. Xavier and she both knew she would not be able to. She needed to be better trained. Xavier and Dr. Mctaggert were the two who helped her with her telepathic and telekinetic abilities. Moira had helped Xavier years ago, and now helped Jean to control her powers and use them more easily. Jean also had the cosmic power of the phoenix, which allowed her to fly. She hadn't had need to use the power which could be used once, that of resurrection, yet. She hoped she would never have to. She could resurrect herself, or rather would be resurrected if she died, but only once.
As Jean waited for the others to get ready, she thought back to why she joined the X-men. The desire to help had been one reason, but the young boy she had met had been another. Scott Summers. Sinister had killed others as well, but that had hurt unbearably. It had taken Xavier to help her keep her grief inside, and Logan to dissipate it, until it only became a reason for her to continue, to stop Sinister from killing any other helpless child. She still had no idea why he had done it. She shook herself out of her reverie. She had other things to think about, not wallow in the past.
Suddenly Xavier's eyes opened wide. He came out of his trance. He turned to her slowly.
"Jean, I fear that other mutants are coming this way. Many mutants, I fear. It seems we shall have to move quicker. We may even have to fight."
Magneto came hurrying down at that point. Jean still didn't know how they knew other mutants were around. She wished she knew how they did it. The others came at Xavier's mental summons. They were all equipped for battle, anyway, so they were ready for the attack.
"Many mutants are coming; I believe the Prelates are among them, and that this is going to have to be a battle. Be ready X-men, this time we must fight them, there is nowhere to run."
He turned and attempted to send another message, undoubtedly to Muir isle, and the other X-men there.
Before he was done, a beam of light smashed through the door. 20 mutants ran through the door attacking already. Jean knew this was no time for holding back. Too many lives were at stake. They had tried to capture and take the mutants with them, but all efforts had proved inconclusive. Whatever Dark Beast had done was permanent. The mutants were killing machines nothing more. She saw Weapon X hacking and clawing two of the mutants. She herself lifted two and smashed them together repeatedly, until they lay twitching, smashed out of shape. Xavier hung at the back of the battle, controlling mutants, to fight each other; he couldn't hold it for long, Dark Beast had strengthened their mental shields. They fought back sooner or later. Those he could, he switched their minds off.
Iceman was freezing two together, but a third was throwing flame at his ice. Iceman, quickly shifted his beam to the fire throwing one, but he simply thawed it off, by lighting up himself. Colossus was punching one, two bodies at his feet already. Magneto had stripped all of their armor and was now throwing random metal objects at them. Jean erected a shield around her and flew around the room. She knocked down most of the mutants left. One female broke through her shield somehow, but was grabbed by Rogue, who literally sucked the life out of her. Rogue stumbled back, then cried out and flew towards another, who was creating telepathic shields, far less strong as compared to Jeans but near impregnable ones nonetheless. Rogue smashed into the shield and broke it. Magneto rose and came down in a smash on the telepath mutant and another. With a burst of magnetic force, they lay dead. Only seven were left of the twenty who had come in. Angel had hung two by the ceiling.
Suddenly all the mutants, regrouped and went and stood by the hole. Then Jean felt dread. Prelates, or maybe even worse. In front of her she saw Havok, Lumina, Polaris and Rumik come through the hole. Four Prelates. Alpha class mutants, with amazingly honed powers. They were well matched. Four Prelates, seven mutants and seven of them. Havok was a strong mutant capable of shooting high-energy beams from his hands. Energy he absorbed from the sun. He wore a dark blue top and tights, with black armor. Lumina was able to convert molecules around her to bright light, which could explode. Hence the name Lumina. She wore white tights and top with yellow armor. Rumik could control the Earth, that is she could cause Earthquakes and cause the ground to shake. She wore green tights and top with darker green armor. Polaris was dressed in yellow top and tights, with silver armor. She could control magnetic fields. Some said she was nearly as strong as Magneto, who was considered one of the world's strongest mutants. Her green hair was one thing that pointed out her mutant abilities.
They began to smile, and instantly Jean felt momentary dread. In the silence they heard the sound of footfalls. Somebody important was coming. A figure stepped out of the light, in dark grey tights and top and black and dark purple armor. A dark blue or was it purple? Cape hung from his shoulders, appearing to shimmer. A black headpiece was over his eyes, with a red visor. The headpiece circled his head, covering his ears too, though Jean doubted that he had any problem hearing. It was the High Prelate Cyclops. He was an impressive man. He seemed to dwarf the Prelates, though was slightly shorter than Havok. He towered over the other two any way, and seemed taller than Havok. He was well built, to complement his height. He seemed to take in the room in a glance. Then without warning, he slashed his hand.
At once all the Prelates leapt to attack. Havok's first blast took Iceman flush in the chest. Iceman fell back, struggling to get up. Lumina just stood in the middle of the room. Around her the air began to shimmer, then glow, as she charged it up with her powers. Polaris took to the air. She began to fly around waiting for an opening. She never got it. Magneto rose up before her, eyes flashing. He sent a blast of magnetic energy towards her. Polaris countered with one of her own. The two beams met in the air, creating a magnetic field. As one the metallic objects began to rise, to meet the magnet. Rumik began shaking the battleground, to her own sides advantage. Colossus stumbled as he caught two mutants in his hands. He managed to crush them before two others lifted him and threw him. He smashed into a wall. He got up quickly though. Weapon X skirted the energy build up of Lumina, heading for Cyclops. Cyclops simply stood there. All of a sudden Weapon X began to rise. He growled in his throat. Jean nearly blanched as a thought belatedly struck her. Weapon X's adamantium was a metal alloy, which made him susceptible to the magnet in the air. Jean's telekinetic blast knocked both Polaris and Magneto back. Polaris fell with a grunt, but Rogue grabbed Magneto and brought him down gently. She then turned towards Lumina, who had begun powering up the air for an explosion. Rogue's temporary shield breaking ability got her in the middle of the energy, to Lumina. The next second the energy dissipated, and Lumina came flying out. She fell on the ground, only to have Rogue jump on her and attempt to grab her face. Lumina's eyes opened wide in terror. She knew what Rogue could do. Suddenly Rogue was flying back, her suit smoking. Rumik picked up Lumina and glared at Rogue. Meanwhile Weapon X had reached Cyclops.
"So bub, it's just you an' me now."
Cyclops looked at Weapon X. Before Weapon X could react his visor was down. It was only Jeans shout and Weapon Xs animal like reflexes that saved him. The optic blast seared another hole through the opposite wall. Then Weapon X was on him. Weapon X slashed at Cyclops, but Cyclops moved quickly, blocking Weapon Xs arm with his forearm, and punched him squarely in the gut. Weapon X fell back, and received an optic blast. He fell to the ground, his front smoking. Jean cried out in anger and hurled a telekinetic blast at Cyclops. He shot an optic blast towards it and the two blasts dissipated. He then jumped in the air, higher than Jean would have thought possible and kicked her in the face. She fell to the ground, next to Weapon X. Cyclops landed neatly on his feet. He then turned his attention towards Xavier. Then Jean looked again, Xavier was standing, or actually, his wheelchair had become a sort of robotic Exo-skeleton. Xavier came forward with speed, but Jean saw Cyclops react almost sluggishly. Xavier hit Cyclops squarely in the face with a massive fist. Jean then saw Xavier was frowning in deep concentration. He was doing something to Cyclops mind, something that took up a lot of his energies. He looked towards her for an instant, and a telepathic message flashed in her head. I'm making him think I'm faster than I really am, that's why he probably seems sluggish. This is a very difficult mind trick, but it is very difficult to block. The High Prelate has a very formidable block; nevertheless, you would not be able to do anything, with your limited control of your powers.
Suddenly Xavier grimaced, as Cyclops seemed to shrug off his mental assault and move as fast again. Cyclops fist smashed into Xavier's side. Xavier fell and Cyclops jumped in the air. His knee was coming down on Xaviers face. Jean grabbed him in midair, but only managed to deflect him a bit, so that his knee came down on Xavier's chest. She heard ribs crack and Xavier's shout of pain. Jean bit her lip in frustration. Suddenly a massive hand smashed into Cyclops. He smashed into a wall, the force of Colossus's punch taking him through it. Jean smiled at the huge metal man as he lifted Xavier to a standing position. Then her smile faded away as Cyclops came out of the hole, stumbling a bit and blood leaking from his mouth, but otherwise looking not too bad. His optic blast followed a split second later, Smashing Colossus into another wall, and through. His second optic blast hit Xavier who flew back into the hole Colossus went into.
Things were looking bad, with the four Prelates back up, and only Jean, Magneto, Rogue, Angel and Iceman left standing. Havok sent another beam of energy, this time at Angel. This time though Jean stopped it by erecting a telekinetic shield around Angel and Iceman began freezing the energy ray. Of course as its heat met the ice, it dissipated. Angel swooped down and knocked back Havok, then flew up and smashed into him again. Havok was slammed left and right by Angel whose face was clenched in a mask of anger. Lumina was creating chain reactions, that is charging the air around her and spreading it out. The effect was explosions everywhere, and Iceman falling back grabbing his shoulder. He seemed to alternate between Ice and human form then, fell unconscious in human from.
Weapon X was slowly getting up, his wounds partly healed. Jean felt a pang of distress looking at him, but she also noticed his eyes glazed over. That meant he was a berserker at the moment. He unsheathed his claws. The movement drew Polaris's eye, who immediately began controlling the field, causing Weapon Xs claws to bend. His eyes widened and he clenched his jaw. "No!" Magneto leapt up and aimed his hands at Weapon X. Weapon Xs jaw unclenched, but he couldn't seem to move. Jean realized Magneto was able to hold Weapon Xs adamantium in place, by also holding him in place. Xavier came out of the hole then, dragging a human Colossus. That was when Jean realized that they would not win this fight. Cyclops was already on his way over to Xavier. Suddenly a green blur hit him. He fell to the side. He looked up Rogue standing there, readying another punch. He suddenly roared in anger, Rogue was shocked into stopping her attack, only for an instant, but it was long enough. Cyclops optic blast came out, stronger than before, the heat enough to make Jean feel it. Magneto, who was in the peripheral of Cyclops's vision, fell to the ground under the blast. Weapon X went flying into Polaris as the beam hit him. Xavier fell on his knees as the blast knocked him back. Rogue was sent flying, but her near invulnerable body state, due to the absorption of a mutant, allowed her to escape the blast winded and hurt but her body was all right.
As if in slow motion Cyclops walked towards Xavier. Jean rushed towards him, knowing that Cyclops meant to kill Xavier. She shot a telekinetic blow but that barely knocked him down. He stood again and as she neared shot a blast to break her shield and backhanded in the face. She fell on the ground sprawled next to Rumik. She could not tell what had happened to Rumik. She had a scorch mark on her arm, so it looked as though Cyclops blast had caught her. Havok and Lumina were staring at Cyclops in shock. Even they never expected him to lose control, if only for a second. Weapon X punched Polaris away and leapt at Cyclops, but Havoks energy beam hit him in the back and he fell at Cyclops's feet. Cyclops stepped over him and walked up to Xavier. He put his hand on Xavier's head. Then said, "For your crimes, rebel, you are sentenced to death, the execution is to take place immediately."
Xavier looked at Jean as Cyclops spoke. I'll get you a way out. I've told the others, move! Suddenly the Prelates grabbed their heads. Lumina began wailing in agony. Cyclops even seemed to stumble, that was the cue. As abruptly as it begun it stopped. Jean knew what Xavier had done; he had sent messages of pain into every cell in the brains of the enemy. If not for the blocks they would have gone insane or their heads may have exploded because of the immense pain. Jean gathered everyone inside her shield, then lifted them high. Xavier was pouring mental energy into her; he would sacrifice himself for their sake. They burst out through the roof. Xavier had bought them enough time.
Cyclops looked down at Xavier. He was the first to recover from the assault.
"A very noble thing to do. At least you die bravely. For this I salute you Charles Xavier. Farewell."
His hand smashed into Xavier's neck, breaking it cleanly. Xavier swayed a bit, then fell back, dead. Cyclops looked at the body for a second. Then he turned and strode to the hole they had come in from. "Come, our work here is done. Xavier is dead. The X-men are leaderless, for a while. We will finish them later."
Havok rose to his feet. "Sir, if I may speak, the X-men could not have gone far. We could chase them down fairly easily."
Cyclops looked at Havok, almost consideringly.
Then, "No. Xavier sealed their fate for now. I will respect what he did. We will find them again." He turned and strode out. The four Prelates looked at each other then followed their leader out.
In the truck they had acquired Jean sat, tears sliding down her cheeks. Xavier was dead; he had died quickly and painlessly. He had opened her up to the final words of Cyclops. Xaviers last message to her was, 'He is an honorable man. The X-men could use him. He will not stay with Apocalypse. Jean, you must convince him-'. That's when he had died. Jean had felt him die. Logan said nothing; he just put his arm around her and hugged her close. She put her face in his shoulder and continued to cry.
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