X-Men Evo: Father of Mine
Chapter 5: ..The Storm
Sorry for the wait, had tons of work to do. Oh, just a word of warning; I take my first stab at a songfic in this chapter, so be kind. Thanks for the reviews, Betts. BTW I loved your music videos that you posted on x-men.animationinsider.net/, they were great! That was you right?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Life had come to a stand still at the Xavier Institute for gifted youngsters.
The halls were quiet without the loudness of adolescence crashing about. All
but a few of the students were on route to the hospital with minor injuries.
The few that remained were all huddled in the Medical ward as Dr. McCoy worked
tirelessly and feverishly to save the life of one that was very close to
everyone's heart. Night crawler had been impaled by a sharp root through his
lower abdomen and was bleeding profusely. Dr. McCoy had already begun stitching
the puncture wound to Kurt's stomach as Kitty assisted him in trying to stop
the bleeding.
"I need some more blood!!!"
yelled Hank at Tessa who had awoken just after Rogue's kidnapping. Tessa rushed
off and returned a short while later with three packages of blood. Kitty
quickly grabbed one of the packages and attached it to Kurt. "Don't you
dare die on me!!!!" Hank ordered when he heard the flat line.
"Damn it, Wake up Kurt!!
Don't die, don't die!" Kitty screamed
"Kitty calm down. I need
you to massage his heart while I get the paddles, stay calm!" Hank quieted
the nearly hysterical girl as he rushed off around the corner. Kitty did as she
was told and phased her hand through Kurt's chest. She the elf's heart in her
hand began the smooth massaging motion. Scott, Jean and Nathan had just
finished helping the paramedics get the New recruits in the ambulances and
walked in only to hear Kurt's flat line start beeping again slowly. Nathan,
hearing this, pushed his way through the medical doors.
"What happened,
Tessa?" He asked
"Kurt was impaled just
like Forge said, Nathan!!" Tessa sobbed as she tried keeping herself calm.
Pushing her aside Nathan quickly stepped over Kurt where Kitty was still
massaging his heart for fear that it would stop again if she let go. Nathan put
his hands over the open wound and closed his eyes. Within minutes the space in
and around Kurt's wound distorted and slowly the injury began to heal itself.
Just then Dr. McCoy came around the corner wheeling the paddles with him only
to find that they were not needed. Ten minutes had passed and Kurt's injury was
fully closed. Nathan gasped as he felt his knees go weak and fell to the
ground. Kurt's eyes slowly opened.
"You scared me! You fuzzy
elf!!" Kitty yelled half seriously "Don't you ever leave me
again!" She whispered under her breath.
"Did anyone get the number
of that branch?" Kurt responded weakly as Kitty latched on to him with a
vengeance "OWW" he gasped as the group turned away from the newly
resurrected Night crawler to the gasping mutant on the floor.
"H..How?" Scott
stuttered as Tessa helped her brother off the floor.
"Because he's such a
powerful psychokinetic he can repair things on the molecular level but it
really saps him when he does it on others." Tessa responded
"Are you OK?" asked
Hank as he continued to make sure that all of Kurt's vitals had stabilized.
When he was satisfied he turned his attention towards Nate, ordered him into
bed and began running some tests on him. Scott turned his thoughts to Cerberus
and his fallen teammates.
"Jean, get on Cerebro and
pin-point Rogue's brainwave pattern. We need to find out where they are.
Nathan, stay here for the time being and regain strength. Tess, Hank, Kitty
stay here and do what you can for them. Come on, Jean" Scott ordered as he
just about drug Jean to Cerebro leaving a bewildered mass of people in his
wake.
They arrived a few minutes
later at the center of the underground portion of the mansion, at Cerebro. Jean
and Scott walked into the vast silver room as the door closed behind them. Jean
put the helmet on, as the walls of the room seemed to fade into the distance.
The map that appeared cycled through all the continents until Jean had located
Rogue's brain pattern. "There they are!!!" Jean exclaimed
"They're in Egypt!!"
"How is that possible? It
was just an hour ago!" wondered Scott
"That's where they are.
What do you want to do?"
"Lets get back to the
others." He responded
Meanwhile, Rogue was just
waking up from a forced slumber. She rubbed her head and brushed the dirt from
her body. Her tattered clothing had been replaced by long shear white Egyptian
robes. She gasped as she realized just how shear they where and tried to cover
herself.
"Relax," came a voice
from the darkness "Just us girls here." it said. From the darkness
walked the woman Rogue knew as Cerberus wearing the exact same robes that Rogue
was. "I'm not going to hurt you." She was surprisingly calm.
"You could try!! But you'd
fail, Bitch!!!" Rogue sneered as she tried to conjure Jean's powers but
failed. "Wh..What happened?" She questioned.
"The powers you've
absorbed from the others have been sealed, just as mine have. You see, do to
the dampening field at the top of this pyramid any mutant that sets foot on the
inside looses their power, for humans it is quite a bit more drastic." She
explained as stepped closer to Rogue "It was a fail-safe installed to keep
the first mutant at bay. He is close to awakening and you are going to help
move it along faster."
"Why would Ah help
you?" Rogue snapped
"Because you don't have a
choice." Cerberus responded coldly as she pushed a button hidden in the
wall. A high voltage jolt surged through Rogue's body sending her into
unconsciousness. "We're not ready for him to awaken yet. So just sleep
tight until then." She hissed as she walked away.
Elsewhere, the only conscience
members of the team were having a meeting. Logan, Hank, Tessa, Kitty, and Jean
where standing strewn around the medical waiting room while Scott stood at the
door. "Jean has found Rogue, apparently she has been taken to the city of
Cairo in Egypt. I've already got the Black bird ready to go." Scott
explained
"Scott, what makes you
think we can do anything at the moment?" wondered Logan
"I agree," said Hank
"we have to attend to our own..."
"Rogue is one of our
own!!!" Scott yelled,
"Scott, you know what he
means." Jean queued in "He just wants to make sure that we are at
full strength before we go up against her again."
"I..I know." Scott
paused "Fine, anyone who wants to stay, can. I, however, am going after
them with or without help." They all stared at Scott; no one had expected
that to come out of his mouth. After all, what is a leader with out his team?
"You can't do this
alone." Kitty sighed out loud as she walked to the door that lead to the
hanger.
"Kitty is right Scott,
I'll go too." said Logan in agreement
"I copied my brother's
powers a long time ago so I might be able to help." Tessa spoke up in her
usual voice.
"I'm sorry guys, I can't
go anywhere. I have to make sure Kurt and Nathan come through alright."
Dr. McCoy responded respectfully
Just then Nathan came dragging
himself into the waiting room, obviously having recovered quite a bit.
"You're not leaving me out of this!" He crowed, "I owe
her!" He straightened himself trying to ignore the general fatigue his
body felt.
You can't come in that
condition!" Jean protested
"And what about your
condition? Should you be going?" Nathan snapped as Scott, Hank and Logan
tried to ignore the situation that was unfolding. They all knew what Nathan
meant by 'condition' but everyone else had still been in the dark.
"Yeah Jean, What about
you? Are you coming?" inquired Scott hoping to change the subject.
"I can't very well let you
do this without me, can I?" She responded in an 'as a matter of fact' tone
of voice.
"If she's going I'm
going!" Nathan exclaimed pointing at his future mother
"Alright then, X-men, move
out." ordered Scott as the X-men that could be spared for this mission
boarded the S.R. 71 Black bird. Scott sat at the helm and took the
stealth-shielded plane out of the waterfall that hid it from attention. However
they were not the only one's that had found out that there was a mutant
plotting in Cairo. The local Egyptian army had moved in on the pyramid. Not
knowing what to do about the mutants that had taken up residence in the pyramid,
they just planted themselves in front of the pyramid in question. Hours passed
and finally what could be gathered of the X-men arrived at the location of the
entire ruckus. They made use of the newly installed stealth camouflage and set
down quietly out of the way of the army.
Meanwhile, inside the pyramid
in question, Rogue had just awoken to find herself bound to a crypt door
dangerously close to a closed sarcophagus. She scanned the room for her
kidnapper whom she found standing opposite her. Cerberus smiled "So all
the actors have arrived."
"Actors? What are you
talking about?" Rogue inquired hastily
"Oh, nothing just that
your friends have come for you."
"Wh..What?"
"Shhhhhh, It starts!"
Cerberus stated as she pointed to the opening sarcophagus. The rusted hinges
squealed as the seemingly ancient sarcophagus reveled a very technologically
advanced inner sanctum and a shriveled man that looked as if he was at least
hundreds of years old if not thousands. Rogue stared at the man hoping that he
would lie there anti- climactically, but that was not to be. The Egyptian's
eyes snapped open and focused before turning swiftly in Rogue's direction.
"AHHHH!" She screamed
as the shriveled man touched her pale exposed thigh. She drew back in pain as
she felt all of the personalities she'd absorbed in the past yanked out of her
mind forcefully with a touch. Is this what her power felt like? Soon the
shriveled man was no longer shriveled but a healthy muscular post adolescent.
Rogue fell limp against her chains; sweat dripping from her nearly dead body.
Still she managed to scan the room only to find that mummy boy was the only
other person in the crypt besides her. She turned to the creature that stood in
front of with the little strength she had regained. He was massive, he must
have stood at least seven feet tall and looked to be about three hundred fifty
pounds; glowing as if he were a lantern.
"You, are the host? I
thank you." He said with a wave of his hand. Rogue's chains fell to the
ground but she did not. She was pulled close to the mans body.
"Wh...Who are you?"
She stuttered weakly.
"My name is En Saba Nur,
but to this world I shall be known as Apocalypse. You child will be at my side
as I reign over this world." He whispered menacingly as he blew a hole in
the wall and levitated them both out of it. Both the Egyptian army and the
X-men saw the explosion. Hastily firing on the unknowns in the air, the army
shot off hundreds upon hundred rounds of bullets and several cannon shells.
Creating a large cloud of dust.
"NOOOO!!!!!" The
X-men yelled as they had noticed that Rogue was with the strange mutant. The
world seemed to go silent as the cloud expanded with every shot. With no sign
of life or of death the army ceased firing on the strange floating objects.
Silently, something broke the cloud; it was Rogue! Scott took off, he ran as
fast as he could and somehow got under the falling mutant. Scott managed to
catch Rogue. He noticed that there was not a single scratch on her except for
some slight bruising around the wrists.
"Sc..Scott?" Rogue
whispered weakly as she reached to touch his covered cheek. Suddenly tanks
exploded and soldiers where incinerated by a blue beam of light that shot out
of the cloud of smoke quickly scattering it. With the army dispatched the
mutant that had been attacked, glared at Scott.
"I think he's in
love." joked Nathan
"The Host is mine,
mutant." Apocalypse called from the air above the X-men.
"I hate to tell you this,
night light, but stripes here ain't goin no where without a fight!!!!"
decreed Wolverine as he popped his claws.
"Stupid mutant, I am as
far beyond you as you are beyond humans!" Apocalypse crowed as he made the
ground ignite underneath Wolverine's feet. Jean's Telekinetics hastily pulled
Logan away from the blast.
"X-men, bring him
down!!" ordered Scott as he shot off a small optic blast hoping to stun
Apocalypse. However the only damage that was done was to the pyramid that
Cyclops' beam hit after being swatted away. Jean, not wanting to give
Apocalypse a chance retaliate catapulted Wolverine to his height. Wolverine
released his claws in an effort to spear Apocalypse, but was sent crashing into
the pyramid near by. Nathan and Jean concentrated on sending static into
Apocalypse's mind while Scott took his visor off and unleashed everything he
could. Wolverine leapt from the rubble again trying to pierce Apocalypse's
hide. Apocalypse, in an amazing display of power, cast the telepaths out of his
mind and Wolverine back towards the ground. With a roar, Apocalypse surrounded
Logan with an explosive energy field and sent a shockwave toward the others
sending them all flying backwards. They were fighting a losing battle and Rogue
knew it. As Apocalypse drew back to finish them off Rogue gathered what
strength she could and summoned the last of what she had taken from Storm and
sent the most powerful bolt of lightning she could muster. The attack
succeeded, Apocalypse was sent plummeting to the ground leaving a crater where
he landed. The X-men slowly rose to their feet.
"You think we got
him?" asked Kitty
"Where's Rogue?"
worried Scott as ran over to the girl laying on the ground
"Did I get him?" She
asked, "Is he gone?"
"Yeah, you got him,
Rogue." Scott answered as he hoisted her into his arms being as careful as
he could. All the X-men began walking toward the black bird favoring their
wounds except Nathan and Jean.
How the hell did we wind up
like this?
Why weren't we able?
To see the signs that we missed
try to turn the tables.
"GET OUT OF THE
WAY!!!!" They yelled in unison as they jumped in the way of a giant blast
of energy that came whaling from the crater. Jean and Nathan did what they
could to hold the energy off but it was to little to late. The blast ignited
and knocked both mutants back. Blood splattered across Scott and Rogue's faces
stunning them both.
I wish you
would unclench your fists,
And unpack your suitcase
lately there's been to much of
this
but don't think its too late
All they could do was gasp in
horror as Scott set Rogue gently on her own feet and ran to his family's side.
He picked them both up, one in each arm. Scott couldn't believe it, this
couldn't be happening.
Nothings wrong
just as long
as you know that someday I will
He could feel the life quickly
ebbing from their broken bodies. The blood smeared across his uniform as he
clutched them closer with with every passing second. He was trying to make
himself wake up but to no avail. It had to be dream.
someday
"Come on," He sobbed,
"Stay with me!"
some how
gonna make it alright, but not
right now
I know you're wondering when
you're the only one that knows
that
Jean saw her man holding her
tight with her fading eyes. She was scared, not for herself but for the life
that was growing inside her. She could not let herself die, she couldn't. The
darkness was reaching her slowly but she fought it with everything she had. She
was tired, so tired, but still she fought the darkness. She had been a kind,
out going person in life and what did it get her? Not only death for herself
but for the child she carried. She tried to curse whatever power might be
watching but she couldn't she had lived a good life and had no regrets.
Suddenly the darkness was engulfed in flames. Not the nightmarish hell fire
that most associate with hell, but flames that more kindly warm and caring.
Softly came Nathan's voice from a bird that seemed to be connected to the
flames. "Jean, there is choice you have to make. Until now I have been
residing in you, but now you must decide I can only save one of you." It
said. Without hesitation Jean made the only choice a mother could. She closed
her eyes and let the end come.
someday
some how
gonna make it alright, but not
right now
I know you're wondering when
Scott felt both Jean and Nathan
go completely limp in his arms. "Don't give up on me! Don't you dare give
up on me!!" He sobbed. He continued clutch the bodies of his family close,
smearing more blood into his already tattered and stained uniform. He silently
cried until the tears just stopped. By this time the news choppers had gathered
around the battle site, reporting everything that had happened so far. Scott
gently laid the bodies of his family on the sand and stood up "Get to the
jet." he stated coldly with his chin tucked closely to his chest.
you're
the only one that knows that
nothings wrong
just as long
"B..But,"
stuttered Kitty
"Go now!!" Scott
ordered as everyone quietly obeyed for reasons unknown to them, at least
consciously anyway.
as you know that someday I will
Apocalypse, after he had
stepped up from the crater, turned his attention to the retreating band of
would be mutant heroes. He had been reveling in Cyclops' anguish but now it was
time to put an end to this play. They would all die including the traitor he
knew as the Host. The X- men had all finished boarding the Blackbird when
Apocalypse launched the same blast that killed Nathan and Jean at the Jet; only
this time ot curved back around completely ignoring the Blackbird.
"What!?!" yelled
Apocalypse as his own energy blast slammed into him.
someday
some how
"You make the
energy!" Scott raged as he pulled off his visor and opened his eyes only
to reveal blood shot brown eyes without the slightest hint of the optic blast
he was famous for." I control it!!!" he began to run toward the dazed
Apocalypse, reaching speeds he never thought himself capable of.
"FRICTION!!!" he spat as he punched the first mutant with all his
might sending crashing deep into the pyramid he had been closed in for
thousands of years. "KENETIC ENERGY!!!!" He yelled as he chased the
once powerful mutant that was now hitting brick walls as if he where a wreaking
ball. Scott cupped his hands in front of him and made swift lifting
motion." GRAVITY!!!!!" He screamed as Apocalypse went crashing from
inside the pyramid out the top being slammed on the ground outside the now
destroyed pyramid as it crumbled. Scott jumped twenty stories into the air
above Apocalypse. "SUNLIGHT!!!!!!" He roared as his eyes began to
glow bright pink. Scott then unleashed the most powerful optic blast he had
ever, quickly grounding Apocalypse into a bloody corpse along with the
surrounding land.
gonna make it alright, and right now!!!
Scott landed over the disfigured
body of the murderer who had taken the lives of his family. He spat on the
corpse and wished that Apocalypse were still alive; he needed someway to relive
the anger that still boiled with in him. "It is good to see you've finally
awakened, Master." came a voice from the rubble of the once prominent
pyramid now pile of rubble. Scott quickly turned around to see that the voice
had originated from none other Cerberus herself. She quickly lowered herself to
a submissive stance.
"What do you want?"
He snarled looking for a reason to do the same thing to her as he did to
Apocalypse.
"To revel to you the real
culprits of your families murder." she hissed only to be held off the
ground by her throught.
"What do you mean?"
He seethed
"The Humans, Master."
She choked out "If they hadn't awoken Apocalypse, your family would still
be alive."
"You woke him!!" He
squeezed her neck tighter
"Th..they began
desecrating his tomb a long time ago. I just brought Rogue to him." She
choked as Scott dropped her and she gasped for life giving air.
"Humans." He sneered
The X-men had already started
the engine of the Blackbird ready to take off at a moments notice. Scott turned
his powered down eyes toward his friends. "Humans will pay, but you do not
have to. Stand with me, you have two weeks to make a decision!!" he called
as his voice boomed across the desert apparently he also controlled sound. With
that both he and Cerberus disappeared in a whirlwind of dust. Before they
completely disappeared Rogue and Scott locked eyes. She pleaded with him not to
do this, but he just closed his eyes and sorrowfully bowed his head. Then he
was gone. "We have to get out of here, before army reinforcements
arrive!" yelled Logan as began preparations to take off.
Before the plane could take off
came a scorching heat from behind of the group of people. Rogue was the first
to turn around and notice a medium sized tongue of fire that did not burn its
surroundings. Then came a tiny cry, it was a baby's cry! Slowly the fire gave
way to what looked like a nine month old baby. As it cried, Rogue walked to it and
picked it from the flames. "You're alright, little one." She cooed as
the baby immediately calmed. Everyone was stunned especially Logan, but he was
not one to distract easily. So he took the plane into the air and fired off
towards Bayville.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End Chapter 5
So what did you think? I had to cut short Nickleback's song and modify it to fit the story. Please don't sue me Nickleback! For all of the Jean and Nathan lovers out there, I'm so sorry!!!
