Yay!! Over 100 reviews!! You guys are awesome!! I love each and every one of you!! Okay, chill out, Rogue is coming back in two chapters. Stick around… big stuff happening, lots of action. Very impending doom-ish. Once again, I love you all with all my heart!! So long as you keep reviewing!!
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– CHINA –
After 20 to 30 minutes of waiting, the team was growing restless; the stress of what was lying in wait for them was building. Toad, Scarlet Witch, Psylocke, Iceman, and Quicksilver all sat in a circle on the dusty ground, contemplating anything and everything, but saying nothing. Occasionally, one of them would glance up to see Magneto in the helijet, but no one dared go inquire as to what he was doing.
"Man, when is something gonna happen?" Toad said, breaking an uneasy silence as he plucked a fly out of the air.
"Ugghhh… Cut that out." Scarlet Witch grumbled.
"We can't make the first move…" Psylocke reminded them as she massaged her temples. She was trying her hardest to push out the images and visions of the end of the world as she knew it while trying not to let anyone know what she was feeling.
"This is taking forever. I could've gone to Egypt and Mexico, defeated Apocalypse myself, and been back here twenty times over by now." Quicksilver whined.
"I think the stress is going to kill me." Psylocke added under her breath.
"Not me, no way. I'm as cool as a cucumber." Iceman said. Everyone just rolled their eyes at his stupid pun.
"I'm growing tired of waiting as well…" Magneto said as she stormed past the students toward the energy dome. No one noticed he'd left the plane. "Perhaps we should make the first move." Just as Psylocke and The Scarlet Witch were about to jump up to try and hold him back, a sudden rumbling burst forth from the dome. Everyone else jumped to their feet while the three stopped dead in their tracks.
– MEXICO –
Storm spun a small, light tornado on the ground with her finger and watched as the leaves danced about while she sat in wait on her rock. Magma and Sunspot drew pictures in the sand with a stick as they sat on their rocks.
"Am I the only one gettin' hungry?" The Blob interrupted the somber silence.
"I don't understand how you can even think about food at a time like this." Magma spat, aghast. Blob just shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe it would help us all focus if we took our minds off everything for a few minutes." Beast suggested. Everyone just grumbled, quietly vetoing his idea.
"What's going on with everyone else?" Sunspot asked Storm.
"Last time I checked, thirty seconds ago, the same." She said simply. Everyone collectively sighed. Storm looked at Beast for comfort as she thought 'no news is good news.' Suddenly, he perked up as he heard a slight rumbling. Soon, everyone could hear it too as it grew louder. They jumped up to see the energy dome shaking. They watched in frightened awe as the bottom on the dome began to rise up.
– SPHINX –
"I'm sorry." Mystique forced out as she rubbed her arms to warm them up in the barren Egyptian night. She sat down in the dust next to Wolverine who was poking at the bon fire in the middle of a circle of X-Men, with a stick.
"Good." He sneered. Pyro, Berzerker, Jubilee and Nightcrawler all rolled their eyes.
"What do you mean, 'good'? Do you have any idea how hard that is for me to say? I realize the severity of this situation and the importance of our cooperation and all you say is, 'good'? You know what; I take back my apology and regret ever having said it or ever having enough respect for your leadership skills to ignore my pride. So bite me, badger boy." Mystique barked as she got up and walked away. Wolverine barely glanced up at her, but did see Jubilee yawn while Pyro made curly-cues in the fire with his fingers.
"You're a pig head, you know that?" Jubilee scolded Wolverine.
"Congratulations, Logan, you're winning the pissing contest." Berzerker said. Jubilee just giggled at him.
"It's okay, mother. I forgive you." Nightcrawler comforted her as walked back to the jet. She stopped and glanced over her shoulder at him, then looked at the ground and continued on her path.
"Alright." Wolverine huffed after her. "I appreciate the gesture. And it is important we work together. And you are the bigger person… I guess." Berzerker, Jubilee, Pyro and Nightcrawler all smiled at each other. The Kodak moment was interrupted, however, by a bright light coming from the now opening energy dome.
"Man! What is it?" Nightcrawler shouted over the thunderous rumbling as the team poised for attack.
"People." Wolverine grumbled.
– EGYPTIAN PYRAMID –
Cyclops, Gambit, Colossus, Avalanche, and Shadowcat all stared deeply into the burning embers of their bon fire. Professor Xavier remained on the plane, keeping in contact with the other teams and Dr. Reyes who stayed at the mansion with a sick Jamie Madrox. The team waited silently, thinking about what was waiting for them inside the purple energy dome, and all the various things they had to live for. Finally, Avalanche managed to break his drone like state.
"I'm gonna go talk to the professor." He announced, though he was speaking mostly to Shadowcat who had to let go of him. She nodded at him with tears in her eyes. She pulled her arms away from Avalanche and sat up, clinging her knees to her chest. "You okay?" He asked her as he stood up. She nodded again.
"Yeah, I'm just tired and cold, and the suspense is killing me." She muttered. Gambit took off his coat and put it around her shoulders. Colossus stood up to take Avalanche's place at her side.
"Everything will be okay, Katya, I promise." Colossus said. Avalanche glanced over his shoulder at them as he walked to the jet.
"You have nothing to worry about, their relationship is more brother-sister than anything else." Xavier said without looking up as Avalanche boarded the plane.
"Huh? Oh." He said, having been in a daze of his own thoughts. "I'm more worried for her than about her." Avalanche answered. Xavier looked up at smiled at him as he sat down in the co-pilot's chair. "How's everyone else?"
"The same." The professor responded. Avalanche just sighed as he stared out the window at the energy dome in front of him. "The Army, however, is waiting for us to fail." He added. Avalanche just nodded and there was a moment of awkward silence. "What's on your mind?" He finally asked. Avalanche just sighed as he tried to formulate his thoughts into words.
"When you were originally recruiting the X-Men, Toad told me you tried to get him to join… and Blob…"
"Yes, Lance." The professor confirmed.
"Did you try to recruit Pietro?" He asked. Xavier smiled and chuckled to himself.
"Pietro was a… a special case."
"Oh. Yeah." Avalanche responded before another pause. He took one last chance to think over his most important question when he decided he had to know. "Did you try at all with me?" Xavier looked up at him, surprised by the question.
"Of course I did." He said without hesitation. Avalanche looked up at the professor, taken aback by the answer. "It's just… I brought Jean with me to recruit Kitty, and I didn't have the resources to…" Xavier trailed off as he sighed. "I fear I just didn't have the resources to try hard enough. You were in foster care, and the only way to get you out was through legal means, and I didn't have a lawyer at my disposal or a rapport with you at all. I suppose I could've brought Logan to appeal to you the way Jean did to Kitty, but someone needed to stay back with the others. Even then, I couldn't just 'kidnap' you the way Mystique did. I just… I couldn't."
"Oh." Avalanche said as he looked down at his feet.
"I hope the fact that I regret my lack of initiative more than perhaps any other mistake in my life is of some comfort… It's all I have to offer." Avalanche just glanced up at him, nodded, then pondered for a bit.
"What about the others you can't get to… like Pyro or Gambit… or Colossus?" Xavier had to think what he meant on this question.
"What about them?" The professor finally answered.
"They would just slip through the cracks too, wouldn't they?" The professor had no response, giving Avalanche the answer he feared.
"Not if there were more of us… more X-Men… in more places." Xavier finally said after yet another moment of silence.
"You mean like branches… of the Xavier institute?" Avalanche said, formulating an idea in his head.
"Yes." Xavier nodded, coming to the same conclusion. "Perhaps transcontinental branches or even… international ones…"
"Yeah…" Avalanche said, thinking this could be the beginning of his mark on the world. Suddenly, their conversation was stopped short by a rumbling coming from the dome outside.
"Charles?"
"Charles?"
"We got action." Magneto, Storm and Wolverine all came in on the com system simultaneously. Gambit, Colossus, Cyclops and Shadowcat were all standing at attention outside.
"Go." Xavier said to Avalanche, sending him back out to join his team. Then he turned to the communicator. "So do we." Xavier said to the other teams. "Stand at alert. This could be it."
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"What is it?" Avalanche shouted as he ran back to join the others.
"We don't know yet." Cyclops answered.
"Whatever it is, it's happening everywhere else, too." Avalanche said.
"Mon dieu." Gambit said as he looked off into the distance toward the Sphinx where a blinding white light could be seen. Soon, the energy dome from the pyramid in front of them began lifting from the ground, releasing the same white light at them. The dome retracted into the top of the pyramid and the light flashed, then disappeared.
"Nasty Boys?" Cyclops said as the spots the light had left before his eyes began to dissipate and he could identify a few familiar faces.
"And Marauders…" Shadowcat added.
"Infinites, you fools! Infinites!" The leader shouted.
"Vertigo…" Gambit grumbled. "Been a long time…" When she heard his voice she smiled fiendishly and walked toward him from her post at the base of the pyramid.
"Well, not that long." She said with a deep, throaty voice, reminding Gambit of the last time they'd met.
"So Sinister's got y'all doin' his dirty work for Apocalypse... huh?" Gambit said, hoping for answers.
"Please, I work for no one but the high lord himself. Sinister's just another one of his lap dogs now."
"What about Rogue?" Vertigo rolled her eyes at his silly list of priorities.
"Let's just say, she's in a better place." She said cryptically, wanting to change the subject.
"Didn't you die?" Cyclops asked, changing the topic back to her, making her smile again.
"Yes… but noe I'm alive. I was reborn… and reborn, and reborn, and reborn again. As were we all." She said, referring to the team behind her, consisting of Gorgeous George, Riptide, Harpoon, Slab, Scrambler and Ruckus.
"What does that mean?" Colossus demanded, growing very angry.
"It's like the Shadowcat's pet rock said, 'Whatever's goin' on here is happening everywhere else.'"
"Vertigo! Christ! Hurry it up!" One from her team shouted at her.
"Shut up, Riptide!" She yelled back without with out turning her head.
"So there's more of you?"
"Gold star for the Cyclops." Vertigo answered. "And thanks to Sinister's cloning methods, soon there will be more of us than regular mutants on the planet. We will become an infinite army of mutant soldiers, overseeing the execution of the will of the high lord; ensuring that the weak is never a burden to the strong. And when we die, we will simply be reborn yet again… I will be immortal." With her last phrase, she activated her powers, making everyone drop to their knees clutching their head or their stomach. Riptide took off in a whirlwind throwing off his spiked bone shurikens. Avalanche managed to throw his fists into the ground, sending out a subterranean seismic shockwave that knocked both Riptide and Vertigo back. Vertigo was struck unconscious as she hit her head. Riptide quickly got back up and started spinning again. Colossus stood in his way, catching all the shurikens in his metal form. He reached out and shut his arms, trapping Riptide and throwing him against the wall of the pyramid.
George extended his slimy purple arms and wrapped himself around Cyclops's head. He tried firing optic blasts, but they were little harm as they ripped right through George's gelatinous body. Harpoon poised some distance away to throw out one of his bio-electrically charged spears at them both, caring only about his target. Shadowcat emerged with Gambit out of the ground behind Harpoon's feet. Once she saw what was going on, she left Gambit and quickly dove back underground. Harpoon sent the weapon flying and Gambit reached his hand inside Harpoon's quiver that held his spears. He pulled two out then charged them amd threw them at the ground by Harpoon's feet. They exploded and he fell to the ground. Gambit took the rest of the spears, charged them up as well, and threw them away so Harpoon couldn't hurt anyone else.
Meanwhile, George and Cyclops caught sight of the harpoon headed straight for them. George quickly melted away around Cyclops's ankles, but Cyclops couldn't get away quick enough. Just in time, Shadowcat phased up from the ground and grabbed Cyclops's ankles. The harpoon passed right through his chest and kept going. It hit Scrambler, who was busy attacking Avalanche from behind, in the back. Scrambler fell on top of Avalanche, but Colossus was there and picked him by the collar and threw him aside. Suddenly, an earthquake began as Avalanche's powers were out of control.
"I'm sorry. I can't stop it!" Avalanche shouted. "I'm sorry." Then, in front of him, the ground was attempting to release some of the unnatural pressure it was struck with, and an underwater spring that lay dormant for perhaps more a millennia, burst forth from the ground, shooting water up 15 feet in the air. "I can't stop it!" As Cyclops helped Shadowcat out of the desert floor, George wrapped himself around her.
"Somebody help me!" She gurgled as George forced his way down her throat. Cyclops and Colossus were both there, but they didn't know what to do. Every time she phased through him for air, George would slip himself back around her. "Grab my ankles and throw me into the water!" She finally yelled over the rushing sound of the geyser and the rumbling of the Earth. Colossus did as she said and threw both Shadowcat and George into the fountain. The force of the water breaking through the ground kept them in the spout. Shadowcat phased George until his molecules had separated too much in the water and could no longer hold themselves together. Then Cyclops jumped in and pulled Shadowcat out.
"You okay?" He asked as he regained his bearings.
"Yeah… I think so…" She said as she tried to gasp for air after inhaling so much water.
"That was amazing." Cyclops commended her, his wet hair dripping down his face. She just looked at him as if he were crazy, having just come off an adrenaline rush.
As Gambit and Colossus went back to Avalanche to make sure he was okay, the earthquake still raging, Colossus felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Slab waiting to fight him.
"Slab, you don' wanna do this, mon ami." Gambit tried to persuade him. "You remember me, don' chya?"
"Yes… no…?" Slab responded, confused.
"You don' wanna hurt us." Gambit clarified. Slab blinked his eyes, confused as to whether or not he actually wanted to hurt anyone.
"Shut up, Gambit." Vertigo said in his ear. He fell to the ground, too dizzy to stand. "Do it, you moron!" She shouted at Slab. He turned around and threw Colossus through the air. Shadowcat and Cyclops both screamed as they saw the 500 pound metal monolith falling straight toward them. Once again thinking quickly, she grabbed Cyclops and phased them both just in time.
"Wow, you're on top of things, aren't you?" Cyclops said to Shadowcat, their heads poking our of Colossus's giant chest. Colossus didn't even acknowledge them as he stood back up.
Gambit was lying on the ground as Vertigo kicked him in the stomach, over and over. "You slimy, ungrateful do-gooder!" She said. Each time her foot made contact, Gambit threw up. He couldn't find the air to try and talk her down. "You were his favorite. I served him loyally and graciously, and he preferred you… and then Psylocke. And you both ditched him for these people? None of them trust you, you know. Why should they? Well guess what, Gambit. I'm his favorite, and I'm gonna live forever. But now, you're gonna die!" Just as she hit him once again in the stomach, she was hit in the back by an optic blast.
"Why should we trust him?" Cyclops said. "'Cause he's an X-Man, that's why!" He shot at her again and knocked her unconscious.
Shadowcat rushed to Avalanche's side. The professor was already there, trying to talk him into controlling his powers and subdue the earthquake.
"Lance! Lance! Are you okay?" Shadowcat called to him.
"Lance, you must calm down." Xavier calmly yelled to him over the rumbling of the ground. "Concentrate…" Avalanche tried his best as he clutched his head.
"C'mon, Lance. You can do it." Shadowcat continued to encourage him as she threw her arms around him.
"Oh will you all please just shut up?" Ruckus said as he appeared from behind them. He opened his mouth and echoed the sounds of the earthquake. Avalanche, the professor and Shadowcat tried to cover their ears, but to no avail. Finally Ruckus was quieted when he was struck with Slab. Colossus had thrown him at Ruckus. As Avalanche regained his bearings, the effects of Scrambler's assault began to wear off, and the ground calmed itself. The water spout dropped back into the ground, the arid desert floor drank up the excess flooding. Finally, they had a moment to catch their breath as the battle between the Infinites and this group of X-Men was over. This brief resting period however, was only short lived.
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Rogue151 – Hey, laziness is not a problem… just don't ever get too lazy to review at all. Rogue being a horseman… hmmmmmm… I dunno. Well I do. But I won't say. Two more chapters and she's back. Sort of… stay tuned!!
Caliente – Where ya been?? Been a while since you reviewed last… oh well, just keep 'em comin'. If you hadn't heard before, I'll say it again, I divulge nothing!!! You'll just have to keep reading and see.
X-Fan – Yay!! You rock!! I hope this was enough action for ya. Lots more to come!! Rogue will be back soon, I promise, just keep your pants on!! Seesh!! When I took her out, I didn't expect it to take so long to bring her back her in. She'll be back in two more chapters. Keep reviewin' and makin' my day!!
Ishandahalf – Some people are just oblivious, but I really tried to lead you on about Phoenix (mission accomplished! ;-P) I hope that little bit of Romy holds you over for a while, only a few brief moments like that for a couple of chapters, but then there will be a Romy explosion. Stay tuned and keep those reviews comin' supafast!!
X-Men Fanitic – Yay!! A new reader!! I like that you like my style. That makes me so happy! Sorry you're not all that into Phoenix… it's one of my favorite storylines of all time (different strokes for different folks.) I just hope that there's so much other stuff going on that you can stay interested, but Phoenix is coming up. Sorry. But stick around and keep reviewing, Lots of Romy at the end!!
