X3: Fight For the Future
A Common Problem
Remy marveled at the mansion. "I take inventory," Logan growled at the thief. Remy smirked at him and kept walking. Rogue laughed at the both of them. Prof. Xavier showed up not long after leading Remy away.
Piotr and Rogue sat in the common room to relax. "Can you really make heads 'er tails a' that stuff?" she asked as Piotr continued to read the cryptic message.
"Some of it is hard to understand… English," he explained as he blushed.
"Well you got that part before at the bar… Professor wan'nt happy 'bout that." Rogue laughed as she thought of the look the Xavier had given Logan.
"Nyet, he wasn't," Piotr said.
"So whaddaya got?" she asked.
"Ve need a Phoenix," he said simply.
"A what?" Rogue asked confused.
"A phoenix is a mythical bird… one vich die by bursting into flame, but, from the ashe it is born anew," Piotr explained.
"oh," Rogue said, still without an idea what a phoenix was.
"It mentions a fire bird rising from death. This is a phoenix. The phoenix will sing a song of love, that will send the destroyer back to sleep… apparently it sleeps," Piotr mused on this.
"You're too deep for mah lahkin'" Rogue said with a smile.
Piotr knew she was only teasing but feigned hurt. They looked up to see the now familiar Kurt, leading in their new friend, Remy. Remy was rubbing his temple, obviously with a headache.
"Dat de las' time Remy let Baldy in," Kurt rolled his eyes as he guided Remy to a chair and then flipped onto the couch opposite the two younger children, and next to Remy.
"Yah," Rogue commented. "That wears off after 'bout an hour."
"He do dis to e'erybody?" Remy asked with an incredulous look on his face.
"Nah, just the ones that major baddies are after," Rogue said, actually managing to sound nonchalant.
Remy shook his head, and looked at Rogue, "How old you petit?" he asked.
"Sixteen," she said, confused as to why he wanted to know.
"merde," Remy said under his breath. "Dere be any chere's 'ere o'er eighteen?"
Piotr grimaced at him, Rogue rolled her eyes, and Kurt chuckled to himself. The professor rolled in and nodded to each in turn. "I can't think of anything that you let me find that would cause someone to persecute you so badly."
"Remy jus' a simple t'ief," Gambit said in a sickeningly sweet voice, holding his arms out in a crucifix pose. "Whah' someone wan' frame lil' ol' Gambit, beyon' mah comprehension"
Suddenly Piotr grabbed his head, and leaned forward. "You alrigh'?" Rogue asked.
"Da… I think… Only a headache," he grunted.
"I think it is far more than that," Xavier said, as he took his watch off and held it out to look at.
"Vhy Professor?" asked Kurt.
"Because, my watch has stopped," he explained.
"Wha' dat got to do wit' anythin'?" Remy demanded.
"Because it was magnetized," Xavier explained again, as he dropped it, it snapped to the arm of his wheel chair.
The window which lead out onto the grounds banged open loudly, and with a low hum, an old looking man in red, with a metal helmet on his head, and a folder under his arm floated in. "Charles," he said in a very annoyed voice. "We need to talk."
"how may I help you Eric?" asked Charles calmly.
Remy looked at the others. Piotr was holding his head in anguish, Rogue was split between comforting her pained friend and scowling daggers at Magneto, and Kurt just seemed to be getting out of the way.
"Why have you taken my followers Charles? I thought you respected free will?" Magneto demanded in the same oddly calm fashion as Xavier.
Remy leaned over to Kurt and asked, "Is 'dis normal?"
"Mein friend, I haff no idea," Kurt shrugged.
"I have not meddled with your followers Erik. What seems to be the problem?" Xavier asked.
"It seems then, that another great telepath is manipulating them," Erik explained. "Mystique was researching something I found on ancient mutants when she, Sabertooth, and Toad vanished."
"They're still alive?" Rogue asked sarcastically.
"Yes, they have more fortitude than a thirteen year old girl," Magneto replied returning her cruel glare.
"So do I bub," said Wolverine walking into the room, popping out his claws. Magneto held a hand out to Wolverine pinning him to a wall.
"Have you learned nothing?" Magneto said, almost laughing.
"We all need to calm down," Xavier said in a tone harsher than Rogue had ever heard him use. "Did you say ancient mutants Erik?" Xavier questioned.
"Yes, Mystique came to me regarding something an informant of hers told her." Magneto stepped onto the ground to explain. The watch on Xavier's wheel chair dropped and Piotr breathed a sigh of relief. "She left this file before she left, but I'm not sure what some of it means. She has a myth of an Egyptian pharaoh, and something scribbled here in the margin."
Magneto handed Charles the folder. The story was as follows;
There is a myth of ancient Egypt of a pharaoh that arrived in a chariot of light as a babe. He was adopted by a band of theifs, and as he grew rose to become their leader. When the pharaoh Rameses lost control of the Hebrews, he took it out upon the Egyptian people. The babe of destiny, En Sahab Nur, saw this and was enraged. He lashed his vengance upon the pharaoh, and in doing so, assumed the throne. It is said that he ruled for three hundred years, and that while he was on the throne he went mad. He had the gods send him down a sarcophagus that would rejuvenate the life inside of him, making him as a god. But the madness ate away at his heart and he became dissatisfied with his subjects. And so he set out to end all things. When the subjects heard of his plan, they had an uprising, while the pharaoh slept, and sealed him in his divine sarcophagus. Now he was not powerless. Seeing that the people had betrayed him and sensing he could no longer rule them as he was, he took his powers and left in a flash of blinding light. Most record of him was deemed an affront to the gods he betrayed, and destroyed. Strangely the name of this mad demi-god shows up in mythologies around the world, mostly among pyramid building civilizations, after his escape from the Egyptians. There are references to En Sahab Nur in Chinese, South American, and Indian mythologies.
Then in the margin was written in tight, but neat scrawl "Revelations 6: 2-8"
"What is this 'Revelations' business?" demanded Magnto.
"Mr. Wagner," Xavier said, turning to Kurt. "Could you please enlighten us to Revelations 6: 2-8?" Xavier asked.
"Just a moment," Kurt said. "I haff to remember, und den translate it." He paused for a moment looking deep in thought.
"Und I saw, und beheld a vite hourse: und he dat saton him had a bow; a crown vas giffen to him: und he vent fors conquering and to conquer.
"And there went out anther horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth and that they would kill one another: and there was given to him a great sword.
And when he had opened the third seal I heard a third beast say come and see. And I beheld and lo a black horse: and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
"And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
"And hen he had opened the fourth seal. I heard the voice of the forth beast say come and see.
"And I looked and I behold a pale horse and his name was death , and hell followed with him. And Power was given uto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."
Kurt looked up at them again. "Zat vould be ze four horse men of ze apocalypse," he explained, but did not need to. "Ze Anti-Christ, Var, Famine, und Deas"
Magneto leaned back, wondering why Mystique had put in this biblical reference. "What have we gotten ourselves into Charles?" he asked finally.
"More than you know Erik. My students earlier found a young man who is being framed by the DDV pharmaceuticals company. And recovered a prophesy in rather cryptic verse."
"I have never liked that company," Erik commented. "Their very name frightens me."
"I quite agree," Charles said.
"Whah?" Rogue and Remy asked at the same time.
Both men looked at them. "Their name 'Desino De Vicis' is Latin for End of Time." Magneto explained, as if it were the plainest thing in the world.
"Dat is it," Piotr said finally. "'He hides behind the end of time'. Who ever the destroyer is, is using the DDV Company to hide Demselves." Then he looked at Remy. "And are intending to use you to power whatever device they are preparing."
"that would make sense, especially with Mr. LeBeau's powers," mused Xavier.
"Wait, Dey wan' use Remy as a Bat'ry?" Remy asked, incredulously.
"That and much more… much that frightens me," Xavier said. "We must begin planning. Logan," he said, turning to the clawed mutant who was just regaining consciousness. "Contact Scott and Storm and have them return at once."
Okay I wanted to apologize for dropping Kurt's accent during the biblical quotation, but it was just too difficult to imagine how Kurt would phrase it and I was taking this out of a bible as I wrote it.