Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men. Ilehana Xavier belongs to Corrinth. All other characters belong to me.
A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers out there; you really are all stars.
Scene 26To Nightcrawler's credit, the jet landed equally as smoothly as if Storm had been at the controls. Entry to the huge distillery building was easy enough, the numbers of staff reduced at the weekend, and two well-practiced thieves to find an unwatched fire exit. It was alarmed, but not so that it could withstand Iceman's chilling touch. They waited around the corner for the lone security guard to come to them, whistling on his way to the kitchens to make coffee. Nightcrawler poof!ed to besides the man, knocked him out with a sharp blow to the jaw before he had time to react to the whirling smoke around him. They locked him in a janitor's closet, hoped he wouldn't wake too soon.
And so they entered the security office with no fuss and no bother. Iceman's eyes lit up at the sight of the machines. He knew this system; it was the same one they had used at the university. This was going to be too easy! He sat leisurely, spinning the chair around to begin as Nightcrawler and Blaze took over examining the CCTV system on the opposite wall. Gambit found a spot to lean on, arms folded, red-on-black eyes watching everything but not getting involved. It didn't take long for him to get cynical.
"Dis borin'. I'se goin' take a look around." Gambit leant up off the desk, dusted down his trench coat and headed for the door.
"Be careful." Nightcrawler offered as Blaze and Iceman exchanged a brief glance, but Gambit had already left.
He strode down the long corridors like he owned them, his thief's confidence his biggest ally. Every closed door he came to, he took a few moments to peer through the small glass panels injected in them, being thoroughly nosy. A whirring security camera swung around to look at him, and he grinned at his friends at the other end. In the security room, Nightcrawler smiled back, seemingly unaware that Gambit couldn't actually see him. Blaze pouted, annoyed for some unknown reason at Gambit's over-confidence. When would he learn that his safety wasn't just important to him, storming off like he was invincible?
Remy didn't realise he wasn't alone until he felt a sharp pain in the muscle of his upper left arm. In the security office, Blaze and Nightcrawler jumped to their feet, cursing. Gambit tried to squirm, to see who it was, but a low growl of a voice just behind him rooted his feet to the spot.
"Move, mutant, and I will inject you with a five millimetre dose of virus X. A lethal dose...."
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New York City had done what cities do best. In a time of crisis, with no alcohol on sale and no bars open anywhere in the city, its populace had either rooted themselves in front of the TV, or had taken to ransacking the streets in sheer frustration. The sight of the pillaging made Logan smile. Brought back memories. Almost.
"Logan," Cyclops' voice had that arrogant know it all tone to it, which meant Logan was not going to like what the guy had to say. "No looting."
"Aww," Wolverine complained sarcastically, "And I was gonna loot you something nice..." But Cyclops only smirked in reply, then turned to Storm.
"Where do you wanna go? Up high?"
"No, I was thinking more along the lines of a fog. If they cannot see, they cannot hurt themselves."
"The harbour it is then." Scott agreed, looking at the masses of violent people between them and the water and hoping they could manage it without too many almost-innocents getting sliced up in the process. "Just remember people..."
"Apocalypse rises!" A familiar male voice screamed on the wing, the figure of an angel swooping low above them.
"That's just what we need," Wolverine growled, "A flying fruitcake."
"Somebody shut him up." Cyclops groused, not wasting the effort himself. Warren Worthington was insane. The Professor had tried to help him, but whoever Apocalypse was, if he even existed, he'd seriously messed up the man's head.
"No problem." Jubilee offered, unusually quiet up until now. She raised her hands, blue energy running over her fingers, before pulsing upwards towards the winged man. Archangel flew straight into the blast, screaming in shock and pain before dropping to the floor. He landed uncomfortably on a car bonnet, but he was still breathing when Cyclops checked, so they left him there. They had bigger fish to fry that some made-up baddie called Apocalypse...
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On a park bench, Mercury waited. She waited for her breath to give up. It hurt to breathe, every breath gargled in her chest, making her want to cough and splutter. Sores all over her body made her shake with the pain. She was cold, achy, and drowning slowly in the fluid that built up, seeping in her own lungs. She was waiting to die.
Suddenly she was aware of the light getting darker around her. Was this it? Was this death? At what point had she given up her chance to a light at the end of the tunnel? Was there even such a thing? But a low pulsing voice, very male and very real, made her realise she was still hanging on. What he said shocked her into a more conscious state than she had managed for hours.
"Get up, mutant."
For a moment, she didn't even acknowledge him, or his four companions. It took all of her energy to work out that there were five of them. They blocked the sunshine from reaching her skin, unconsciously she was already sending out the tendrils of her forbidden power to try and protect herself. He spoke again.
"Get up, mutant."
"I can't." She spluttered, the effort making her cough and splutter again, holding her painful stomach and wince as though stabbed. The figures around her blurred. Were there still only five, or fifteen? Where was she?
"Get up, mutant." His voice was cold, his words neither kind nor considerate. But with some unforeseen power, his words alone dragged her to her feet. Without knowing how, Mercury was on her feet, shaking and dizzy, but standing. How was this possible? She was dying, wasn't she? Mercury snapped back to reality as the strange man spoke in a voice deeper than the ages.
"Come mutant, and serve the mighty Apocalypse!" The man raised a hand, and purple energy raced towards her. The minute the light hit, Eloise's eyes clouded over. She shuddered, muscles going into spasm, but found her feet working anyway. Part of her mind strove against it, screaming that she didn't want to go, but she had no choice. It seemed her body had a will of its own, to go on living it would even forge a truce with this stranger, this evil stranger who called himself Apocalypse...