The Song of Eternity
Canto 8
The Mutant Underground
Verse 6
Confrontation
Darkness begins to sweep the land,
The ones they hate come to save them,
The future begins,
As the mighty fall.
Vincent woke up and stepped quietly over sleeping bodies until he got the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. He sipped on it as he stepped out the door. He noticed Creed leaning up against the wall watching something. His eyes followed Creed's gaze to the figure meditating in a small patch of grass. "How long's he been like that?"
"Since midnight or so, hasn't moved more than a few inches since then," Creed replied as they stared at Cole. "What do you think he's doing?"
"Probably contemplating the future," Vincent mused as he drank his coffee. "A good thing to do in times such as these. At least he isn't drinking," he joked.
"He doesn't need to, from what his brother said when they brought him back, he drank enough that he's still sloshed now," Creed commented. "His hair has been growing too, about five inches overnight. How is he doing it?"
"He's using a regeneration spell, it speeds up cell division," Vincent explained as Cole got up and walked over to Creed and Vincent. "Good morning Cole," Vincent greeted him.
"Really? Is it?" Cole asked as he squinted at the sun.
"What were you doing all night?" Vincent asked him.
"Trying to get a feel for the world," Cole replied. "Even as bad as things are now, I have a feeling they will get worse before the day is over," Cole explained as he rubbed his forehead.
"Awfully pessimistic there kid," Creed commented.
"We'll see," Cole replied before heading into the building.
Vincent sipped his coffee as he watched Creed's eyes follow Cole into the building. "That kid creeps me out," Creed commented to Vincent.
"He does have that effect on people," Vincent replied before staring up at the sun himself. "Wonder if he is right though," he whispered to himself.
Elena rolled over as the sun hit her eyes. "Too early," she groaned as her pillow started to shake by itself. She grabbed under her pillow and pulled out her phone. "Elena here," she answered as she sat up in the cot.
"Why isn't Vincent answering his phone?" came the voice.
"Ummm, he appears to have gone outside and left it in here," she answered as she poked her head out the door. "Who's this?"
"Captain America," he answered. "They're requesting his presence today, so get him on the satellite communication device," Captain America explained.
""Gimme a second," Elena replied as she walked outside and got Vincent's attention. "They want you on the sat-com," she explained as she covered the phone.
Vincent thought for a second then spoke. "Tell them I will arrive in ten minutes and for them not to shoot me when I show up," he ordered as he tossed out the rest of his coffee and went back inside.
Creed, Cole, and Elena stood alone in the kitchen talking in hushed tones. "This ain't a good idea," Creed protested as he moved the refrigerator so Elena could get to the control panel. "If he drops in there, they will not let him leave. They'll catch him or kill him," Creed grunted as he finished moving the refrigerator.
"Who? Who's going where?" Scott asked as he and Rogue emerged from the sleeping chambers rubbing the sleep from their eyes.
"Vincent, Washington, to meet with the President and Senate," Elena explained quickly.
"Is that smart? What if they take him prisoner?" Rogue asked.
"Not gonna happen," Vincent answered as he straightened his tie and blue Turk suit. "First problem is that Elena figured out how to use the transporter to grab me and bring me back here if trouble starts. Second problem is that I have this," he explained as he stuck the Agememnon in the back of his pants. "Besides, this is our best chance to get out of this situation peacefully," he finished as he stepped into the circle on the floor. "Now turn on the television and keep it down, we don't want to wake the others," he ordered as Elena finished putting in the coordinates.
Murphy opened his eyes from his spot on the couch when Cole turned on the television a few feet in front of him. He saw the familiar footage from the Senate, but blinked as a flash filled the screen as Vincent appeared between the President's podium and where Xavier, Magneto, and Mystique were sitting. "What in the blue blazes?" he muttered as he got into a sitting position and was joined by Scott and the others who were awake.
Vincent opened his eyes after he felt the transportation stop. His vision quickly cleared and he assessed his position. A guard rushed at him brandishing a tazer, but Vincent kicked it from his hand, then swept the man's legs out from under him. "I am here as an act of goodwill, but if you do not call off your people, I will leave," Vincent said loudly.
"Let him be," the President ordered. "Take a seat Mr. Valentine," he offered.
"I will stand," Vincent declined. "We've found out that none of the children were killed in your reckless attack, so I will give you the benefit of the doubt regarding the attack on myself just now," he added as he stared at the president.
"Very well Mr. Valentine. What we want to talk to you about is the effectiveness of your group, the Turks in dealing with dangerous mutants," the President began. "Under the circumstances and support given to the mutants, we are eager to hear your take on the situation."
"My take? You mean you want me to tell you whether or not we can deal with whatever threat they pose," Vincent said coldly. "We are fully able to deal with any threat, mutant or otherwise," he added. "My 'take' is that these are a bunch of scared kids who were learning to accept what they were until you people barged in and attacked them. They aren't any more dangerous than the rest of you. It is you that fear them when all they want to do is be normal."
"You say that they are no more dangerous than you or I, but some of them can create destructive beams from their eyes and control fire or ice," Colonel Stone broke in.
"And any normal person could pick up a gun and start blowing people away, but these kids have done nothing wrong, they have killed no one and have even stopped an escapee from one of your maximum security prisons," Vincent responded. "And for the record, I said they are no more dangerous than you. I am far more dangerous than they are," Vincent said as he glanced at Stone. "No one seemed to have a problem when we all helped the Avengers defeat Galactus," he finished.
"It is my recommendation then, that the children be freed and the Turks reinstated to control the situation in Bayville. After hearing all the information, I can find no just reason to keep them held against their will," the President said as a murmur rose in the crowd. "All that is left is for the Senate to vote on it here and now, so we can work on recovering from this situation," he concluded.
The murmuring continued in the crowd as Vincent pulled out his phone and called Elena. "What do you think?" he asked when she picked up.
"I do not know, whatever happens will be interesting though," she responded as she watched the television nervously with the others.
"Yes, it will…," Vincent muttered as he suddenly jerked around to face the large double door entrance to the chamber. "Elena, get down here now," he ordered as he hung up the phone. "Get down!" he shouted over the crowd of people a second before the door shook from an explosion and fell inward.
"Shit, get to the transport!" Elena shouted as Cole, Murphy and the others ran over to the kitchen. "Murph, stay here so you can get us out of there," she ordered as she grabbed her pistol from a nearby table. "Cole, Creed, get guns," she ordered as she and Murphy put the transport coordinates in.
"Here, this is Valentine's sniper rifle," Cole said as he tossed Creed the rifle Vincent had used when the house was attacked. At the same time he grabbed his pulse pistols and reached the circle with Scott, Rogue, Creed, and Elena.
"Go Murph, get us out of here," Elena shouted as the white light covered them.
Politicians dove for cover as the smoke around the door cleared and close to a dozen figures entered. "We are the Dark Riders, sent by Lord Apocalypse to judge if you are fit to survive or not. Failure is death!" one shouted as he shot beams of energy from his hands at Vincent and the President. The energy blasts disappeared as another flash of light appeared where Vincent arrived earlier.
"Not so fast," Elena said as she drew her gun. Rogue and Scott were busy helping Cole to his feet. "What are you going to do without your powers?"
"You are referring to the anomaly known as Void," the leader responded. "Let us see if his power can stop bullets," he taunted before four of them revealed machine guns and opened fire.
Things happened simultaneously as the Dark Riders fired at Vincent and the others. The President was rushed to the back of the building away from danger by his secret service agents. Magneto, Xavier, and Mystique were pulled to the ground by Creed and Elena. Cole pushed Rogue and Scott down as his white wings ripped through his back and expanded to cover everyone's movements so the Dark Riders could not get a clear shot. After a second of shooting Vincent got a barrier up just to his side of Cole's wings, giving the effect that the bullets were still getting through to those hiding after they initially ripped through his wings.
As soon as the firing stopped Vincent, Elena, and Creed instinctively fired back at the Dark Riders through the gaping bloody holes of Cole's wings as he stayed on his feet and slowly pulled his guns out, but dropped them as his fingers refused to hold on. "Blast them," he told Scott and Rogue as he fell to the ground and his wings moved, revealing their position.
By then Creed, Vincent, and Elena had taken out a few with expertly placed shots while Colonel Stone fired with his pistol from his relatively safe position. Vincent felt the void field retreat back to Cole a second before he heard, felt, and saw Scott and Rogue blast the Riders back through the doorway with a pair of matching optic blasts. In reality, it took no more than twenty seconds.
The room was silent afterwards until Cole whispered to himself. "Xavier," he muttered as he got to his feet and shuffled toward the door where the Riders were blasted out of.
"Professor?" Scott questioned as he looked for his teacher, only to spot him in Magneto's arms. "Professor!" he shouted as he scrambled over to where Magneto was frantically examining a wound to Xavier's heart area.
"Scott, Erik, I have something to ask of you," Xavier whispered as blood bubbled from his wound. "Do not let the dream die, for my sake," he finished before he went limp.
"Charles?" Magneto whispered.
"Professor…," Scott mumbled as Xavier passed away.
Cole and Creed heard none of it as they stormed out the door after the Dark Riders, but both knew what had happened. Creed smelled the blood and Cole felt Xavier's mutant signature fade away. Creed got there first as one of the living Riders was getting to his feet. His eyes opened wide as Creed began to rip him apart with his claws.
Cole reached into the pile and pulled out another who was alive and held him in front of him. "Why?" he asked harshly.
"Only the strong shall survive, it is lord Apocalypse's will," the mutant muttered.
"I guess that makes you weak," Cole said coldly as he grabbed the mutant's head and snapped his neck. He dropped the body and stared down at the pile of body as Creed pulled another live one out and ripped the head from the body in a fit of animalistic fury. "That was the last one," he commented as Creed sniffed the pile for a new target.
Vincent desperately tried to revive Xavier as Stone and Elena helped him. "Damn it!" he shouted as he punched the floor, unable to revive Xavier with his magic. "This is all your damn fault," he said as he struck Stone, sending him sprawling back. "I should kill you right now," he said as he pointed the Agememnon at the frightened colonel. "What the hell do you want!" he shouted into his phone as it rang.
"All hell is breaking loose up north where the others are, some other group is attacking the military base," Murphy explained. "Get your asses together, I'm gonna zap you there then the rest of us will join you," he said as Vincent's eyes narrowed.
"Time to go everyone!" he shouted as Creed and Cole reentered the room. "You are coming with us Stone," he said as he holstered his gun. "The base where the others are being kept is under attack, we are going there to defeat the attackers and retrieve our friends before something like this happens up there," he explained as he dragged Stone with him. "Gather around folks, there is nothing else we can do here," he ordered as Elena and Magneto pulled Scott away from Xavier's corpse.