Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men. Ilehana Xavier belongs to Corrinth and is used with permission. Blaze, Shockwave, Gaia and Iona belong to Lamby and should not be used without my permission.
A/N: Apologies for references to my previous stories in this chap, please bear with me if you've no idea what I'm talking about, its all just to fill you in before we get going again.
Scene 14The X-Men gathered in a briefing room, called together by Xavier in order to bring the team up to date on everything Apocalypse could mean to them. So far this meeting had been put off and put off, every small hiccough Apocalypse cause dealt with and dispatched quickly. The Professor hadn't realised until he'd got them all sat down together now, with the exception of his daughter who was still with Wolfsbane, how many different aspects of the whole different team members were unaware of. He was left with the uncomfortable idea that this briefing should have happened a lot sooner than this.
"To be honest," Scott Summers addressed the gathered X-Men with an even voice, not put off from reporting by his friends' eyes on him and him alone. "Even after what, a year now, we don't know much about this Apocalypse or what he's trying to do. There doesn't seem to be any grand scheme to set mutants in power, and he doesn't discriminate between mutants and normal humans at all in his attacks. Yet he has to be a mutant, what he's capable of just couldn't arise any other way."
Scott flicked a button on the remote he held, ad the digital slide behind him changed. Now, instead of a blank screen, a map of North and Central America appeared. Four dots, four coloured lines, criss-crossed the United States, all heading to one converging point. There were looks of recognition on the faces of some of those gathered there, the lines marked the paths of the Four Horsemen, tracked by some of the X-Men a year ago. The lines never actually converged, and it seemed that a year ago at least, the four members of Apocalypse's guard had never even met. One, named Archangel, Gambit and Blaze had brought back to the mansion, so brainwashed and disturbed not even Xavier could help him, other than breaking the most rudimentary hold that Apocalypse had over the man. The other Horsemen had simply disappeared. With a breath, Cyclops continued to bring the team up to date.
"We know from what we've seen recently that Apocalypse has his four chosen elite, his mutant bodyguard. What we didn't know was how or why he was using them. But Ilehana thinks we're thinking about it in to human terms. He chose four mutants, from four different parts of the US, with four greatly different powers and apparently called them to a set place. We know that on their way they tried to cause as much havoc as they could. Ilehana thinks they were trying to impress Apocalypse, like male animals competing for a mate. The Horsemen aren't in this together, his brainwashing wont let them think like that, we saw that in Warren Worthington."
"And the place they were being called to?" Nightcrawler asked, "Is that where they went? Why do you think they stopped their attacks on the way?"
"It makes sense that the site is the point where the tangents cross." Cyclops turned to face the map himself, putting a finger on the spot where the four lines would have crossed eventually. "Here, on the western edge of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. As for why the Horsemen suddenly stopped their attacks, maybe what we did with taking out Archangel disrupted things, and Apocalypse decided he'd had enough of games." Scott shrugged, and sat down. Blaze and Gambit both scowled at Cyclops for daring to suggest the hard work they'd put in to bring a halt to Archangel had been anything in the slightest to do with him, but they didn't say anything.
"Maybe he just thought he was gettin' too predictable." Logan suggested with a raised eyebrow, nodding in the direction of the map. "He's not there anymore though, am I right?"
"No, if he was ever there at all." Storm filled in. "Our Mexican agent Gaia has been keeping an eye on the place, a large jungle temple complex built by the ancient Mayans called Xitakulkan, since she, Nightcrawler and I went to check it out when the Horsemen disappeared. She's not had anything to report."
Blaze smiled briefly at the repeated mention of Gaia, a Mexican Archaeologist with the mutant power to control plant life. But glad as she was to know that Gaia was still in touch with Storm and the Professor, the smile Blaze risked was a shallow one. The fire elemental needed little reminding of the time she herself had spent, with Storm, Gaia and one other mutant as brainwashed and violent drones. The sympathy Blaze felt towards those who had, before Apocalypse, just been normal mutants, but now were his agents of destruction was pure and unsullied. If the Horsemen could be returned to themselves, they would still have to live with the knowledge of what they had been forced to do, what they had failed to prevent, for the rest of their lives.
"Has Archangel been replaced?" Jubilee asked. "When we saw him in New York…"
"You saw him?" Blaze suddenly asked, coming out of her thoughts and leaning forward in her seat. The X-Men had seen Warren and not told her? Why would they hide something like that from her? Next to her, Gambit put a supportive hand on the back of Blaze's chair, wishing once more she'd stop keeping so many secrets to herself. Blaze barely noticed the gesture.
"He was spotted Blaze, nothing more." Xavier calmed the situation easily. Jubilee rubbed the palms of her hands on her trousers, hoping Blaze wouldn't take offence to her toasting her ex, if the Firefly ever did find out.
"An' he's been replaced." Logan filled in. "The bunch of nutters Gumbo and I busted up in Maine were still talkin' 'bout four messengers."
"I don't understand." Kitty was a little quiet in her first briefing back as an X-Man. "These people are, like, making cults to Apocalypse? Why?"
"Why do people ever do anything, Shadowcat?" Storm observed wryly. "Power, success, security. They want something in return."
"And the chances are that these so-called cults are not new collectives." Xavier mused aloud. "Legends of the Apocalypse, end of the world cults, Armageddon, they are all symbolic fears that have been with humankind as long as humans have existed. A mutant calling himself Apocalypse and with powers to brainwash individuals could draw the attention of a lot of very sorry groups of individuals."
"But why now? Why are these cults sprouting up all over the place and causing trouble suddenly? If Apocalypse has been about for a year, maybe longer, what is he waiting for?" Bobby asked, and for a moment no one answered.
"He ain't ready." Gambit spoke, slowly, slightly unnerved himself at how well he understood this strategy of Apocalypse's. He met each of the X-Men's eyes in turn as he tried to put it into words, hands palm down on the table in front of him. No aces up his sleeve, this time it was a straight-up game… "He waitin', buildin' his forces, trainin' an' armin' them, getting' his hand ready like a poker game. But it not bin easy for him, he come from nothin'. Bin easier since he got his Horsemen doin' the legwork, but still he ain't ready. Now it all hinge on one t'ing. Where he gonna get his actual power from. If dis was me," He met Xavier's piercing blue eyes before looking to Blaze for support. "If dis me it be the cash to pay the other folks, an advance from the buyer of whatever I'se stealin'. Don't make no move before you know it worth it, non?"
"I don't get it." Cyclops clearly didn't, leaning back in his seat and rubbing the back of his neck.
"The cults are the guild." Blaze spoke clearly, only looking at Gambit as if for his approval. Still for his approval, apprentice to the master thief, no matter how far removed from that they now were, Xavier noted without comment. "They'll watch Apocalypse's back, help him find and ready the people he needs for the project. When it's all over, they will then help them all to disappear again. The Horsemen and whatever other mutants he's recruited are the ones who will actually do the dirty work. Apocalypse won't risk himself if he doesn't have to; it's not worth it. But they all need something to keep them sweet, keep them interested, though I don't know what that might be."
Gambit nodded, more in approval than agreement. She did occasionally listen to him after all. Blaze smiled at him, and turned back to her friends as Xavier spoke.
"And so the questions remain, who is backing Apocalypse, what is he planning, and how much time do we have left to stop him?"
