Episode VII : Fantastic Feud
Humanity had received a most devastating blow. Their leaders, the Human High Council, had been killed by Apocalypse's agents, and London, humanity's most populated city, had been obliterated. But from the ashes of their losses, humanity had slowly began the cicle of healing. Gathered in the city of Berlin, in what used to be the old Parliament building, a new Human High Council had been established. The Council consisted of three men and two women, people dedicated to the human cause and fervient supporters of human supremacy. They all sat in high chairs, one next to the other, and before them stood a young woman, a pilot of the human air force.
"Please state your name before the council" said the man sitting in the middle chair
"Susan Storm, sir, former USAF pilot" said the young woman, her tone clear and strong.
"Do tell us vat occurred..." said another man's voice, his deep German accent
"Rasputin's words of unity were all lies. We knew it from the start." explained Susan Storm, reminescing about what happened a week ago in London. "We gathered as many humans as possible, packed our fleet to the max and got out of England as fast as we could. A couple of ships didn't make it, but the rest of us crossed Europe and arrived safely on Africa. Colonel Bridge is working there, sorting out relocation and helping these people adjust to their new lives in the human camps there."
"This ve already know Ms Storm." said the german once more, his tone bordering on impatience
"What Councilman Zemo wants to say..." said the calm voice of the council's leader "... is we would like to know what happened to Rasputin's ship. We were told there were at least ten thousand humans within, not to mention several former members of this council."
Susan Storm lowered her head slowly for a second, then lifted it back up and talked. "The Rasputin ship was leading our fleet. But, suddenly, as we all hit our top speed, the ship moved too fast. It... sort of when upwards... towards space... we could not communicate with it... we are uncertain what truly happened with it. All we know is it might be somewhere on orbit... or flying in space by now..."
Silence filled the Great Hall of the Parliament building. At last a dark haired councilwoman spoke "Very well Ms Storm. You can leave now..."
Susan Storm bowed her hand slightly and then she left. The Human High Council began debating the news.
"What do you think happened to them, Senator Kelly?" asked the dark haired woman.
"I do not know Ms Haller. We can only hope they are all right out there..." responded the leader of the council.
"Ve are vasting time with this. If zey are gone, zey are gone. Ve have plenty of affairs to take care of." said the german on the far left.
"Please Heinrich, we are all aware of our duties, but wee're talking about ten thousand of our people." said a blond woman next to him.
"Ms Ross is right. We cannot treat this lightly." spoke the last man, sitting on the right. "Robert... this is your call"
Former US Senator, Robert Kelly closed his eyes. He had once decided not to be a part of the Council because of this sort of thing, this sort of choice. He had forged himself a new life, away from London, away from the dealings of the world. But with the death of the Human Council he had to get out of retirement, he had to take a stand. He was instantly named leader of the Council, given his experience with politics and his leadership abilities, in spite of Zemo's wants. After heavy though, Kelly spoke "I think Zemo is right Judge Chalmers. We can't waste time when there are millions out there who depend on our decisions. We do not possess the technology to retrieve Rasputin' ship and those within, nor to contact them. We need to move forward."
Silence followe, and then the door opened and a young blonde woman appeared, closely followed by a young man. "Ms Sofen, Helmut my son... what news you bring from Africa?" said Zemo with a smile.
One week later, high above Earth's atmosphere, Mikhail Rasputin's ship floated peacefully, as war erupted inside. A conflict almost as old as humankind itself... mutants fighting humans.
"Hulk will smash!" cried the orange-skinned creature as it lunged forward.
Storm's eyes turned white and a wind erupted from out of nowhere. However the wind was not enough to stop the berserker beast. "Paris!" she shouted, and the man known as Exodus created a telekinetic bubble, stopping the mad giant.
Sunfire's body bursted to flames once more, and soon found himself fighting the human girl with the same powers.
"Surrender mutants" cried Victor Von Doom, the Invisible Man, his eyes lighting with fury. But, as suddenly as the fight erupted, it stopped, and the fantastic quartet of humans did not move anymore.
"What the f--?" asked DAzzler surprised, her hands lit with photonic energy
"What happened?" asked Sunfire in mid-air, examining his foe.
"I happened." said Elisabeth Braddock, standing behind her brother's wheelchair.
"What did you do?"asked Storm, her tone half in shock, half in rage.
"I stopped them telepathically." she said simply, her hands next to her temples. "Now decide what to do... cause I can't keep this up forever... especially him... he's too strong willed..." she said, looking at Doom
"Tell me what do you see in their minds. Whoe are them and why they are on this ship." commanded Quicksilver, moving his wheelchair forwards.
"Fine, let me see..." the young mutant telepath concentrated, entering her foe's minds. "The girl's name is Gwen Stacy... the orange monster is Dr Bruce Banner... the stretching guy's name is ... Stark, Anthony Stark... and well, you know Doom already... they work for the High Human Council. They were evacuating London... And this ship... its power was too great. They accelerated, but the ship rose to the skies as they did. Soon they crossed Earth's atmosphere, and they were hit by a cosmic sotrm. Cosmic rays permeated through the hull, changing these four humans... But wait... there... there is more people down below... asleep, in stasis tubes... about ten thousand humans!"
"What about the ship? I find this place eerily familiar..." said Sunfire, watching through the window
"It's ... oh..." Betsy stopped, opening her eyes and looking at Illyana, who was also watching out the window, looking down at Earth. "It belongs to Apocalypse." she lied, not wanting to reveal the truth to young Illyana.
"Why are humans in a ship that belongs to Apocalypse?" asked Exodus confused.
"They... commandeered it... and I... I can't..." the eyes of Elisabeth Braddock closed once more, and she tried her best to remain within the huamns'minds, but she found Doom's will to be too much. Her powers lacked training. She couldn't keep up. Controlling four minds as she read them was far more difficult than she had expected. "Aaaah!" she shouted, and as she did she released the four humans.
Lila Cheney hurried to grab her as she collapsed and almost fell.
"Filthy mutants... think you can enter our minds and force us to do as you please? NEVER! The will of Doom is enough to--"
"Shut up Doom." said Gwen Stacy powering down and returning to the floor. She moved towards Quicksilver. "When she entered our minds... I go a glimpse of hers... is it true? Are you Magneto's son?"
"Yes I am. We are all that's left of my father's dream." he said proudly.
Exodus began to sweat, as he kept his telekinetic bubble around the Hulk, who didn't stop pounding on it.
"If they are Magneto's X-Men, then they mean no harm to us." said Gwen Stacy.
"Foolish woman! They are mutants. We cannot trust them." replied Doom
"Put a sock in it Doom." Tony Stark stretched his hand and held it in front of Pietro, who shook it. "Let's make a truce."
"Truce" repeated Quicksilver without smiling.
Storm cleared her throat, and everyone turned to see her. "Perhaps now it would be wise to tell your orange skinned friend to stop?" she pointed at the Hulk and Exodus, who was trying very hard to contain him.
Gwen Stacy moved towards the Hulk. "Let him go..."she said to Exodus, who lifted his tk bubble.
"Hulk free! Hulk out of stupid bubble! Now Hulk will smash puny mutants!" he said with a big smile on his face.
"No Hulk. These mutants are not evil. We won't smash them." said Gwen Stacy in a soothing voice, caressing Hulk's arm.
Hulk scratched his head, opening his mouth to speak and then closing it, clearly confused. In the end he agreed.
"The cosmic rays made his mind a bit ... unbalanced..." explained Tony Stark "He is like a child..."
"If you're going to play nice with the mutants, I'm leaving." said Doom walking away. "But when they turn on you and kill you don't come asking for my help."
"What a creep." said Dazzler crossing her arms.
"We don't like him much either." said Gwen Stacy still patting the Hulk's forearm.
"What about this powers? Is this the Human Council's new way of hunting down mutants?." said Quicksilver
"Not at all" explained Stark. "Two weeks ago we ended up here, as the ship rose forward a cosmic storm hit us. Several of our fellow councilmen died. They were the lucky ones. The four of us... we changed. Our body's forever changed. We... we didn't like it at first. Especially Doom. Thought we were'nt better than mutants now... but we had to control these powers... ten thousand humans depend on us."
"Why are them in stasis?" asked Dazzler
"It wasn't our idea. The agents of Apocalypse put them there, said it would facilitate transport. Luckily for them the tubes are shielded, so they are most likely unchanged." explained Tony Stark
"Besides, while they're on stasis they don't need food or oxygen. There's very little of both." added Gwen Stacy
"Hulk is hungry." said the orange skinned monster pityfully, rubbing his stomach.
"We can't return to Earth because the ship is out of energy. I don't know how they did it, but the ship needs psionic energy to function. Mutant Psionc energy." continued Stark
"So that's why we're here!" shouted Dazzler suddenly. "Don't you see? We were sent here for a reason... these people need us... they need psionic energy... and we have two psychics on our team!"
An eerie silence followed, until Storm spoke again. "Not entirely unplausible. If we can help we will. We also require to return to our planet. We need to work together to do so. Braddock, Paris, do follow Mr Strak to the ship's energy chambers or wherever it is they store energy. Ms Stacy, can you pilot the ship?"
"Sure... but I'll need some help"
"Pietro, Alison, Shiro, and I will help you."
As Storm continued to command her people, Elisabeth Braddock's hands strengthened their grip on her brother's wheelchair. She was reluctant to use her powers in a way that might threaten her health, for fear of leaving Jamie alone and unprotected. But if she didn't help there would be no way they'd be able to return home, and they would die whitout food on this ship. "Elisabeth?" asked Exodus. What wpuld she do? Ten thousand humans required theit help. As she struggled to make a choice, her brother suddenly touched her hand, and her mind calmed. Nodding slightly, she left the chair and followed the others, turning at the last second to look at her brother, and Pietro.
Alone in his chambers, Victor Von Doom turned off the surveillance system. He paced through his room, thinking about the best course of action. Slowly he moved towards his bed and removed a small device from beloow his pillow. As he turned it on, the face of a man wearing a purple mask with a golden headband appeared.
"Councilman Zemo. Von Doom here."
"Speak Doom. I have not much time to spend." replied Baron Heinrich Zemo
"We are going back to Earth"
"How... how is zat possible? You said you couldn't create a portal big enough for everyone with your sorcerous ways."
"I know what I said Councilman. But a team of mutants have appeared out of nowhere. They claim they can power the ship."
"Mutants?" asked Zemo confused
"Magneto's mutants... the so called X-Men. Councilman Zemo... I need you to prepare everything for our return. Give this muties the appropiate greeting."
Zemo remained silent for a moment and then smiled. "Ve will Doom... ve will..."
"Glad to be of service, Councilman. Doom out." And the chief of security of Europe smiled as he hid his device once more.
"This is weird." said Exouds looking at the energy siphoning machine that powered the entire ship. It was a chair, in the middle of a vast, empty room.
"From what info I've been able to gather, a mutant with strong psionic powers sat here. Rasputin most likely given this was his ship. The degree of control had to be astounding. With his thoughts he moved the entire ship, perhaps even telekinetically. I look at this and thank the gods we were able to defeat him. It would take great power to move a ship this size." said Stark
"I remember going up against Rasputin once... he was freakingly strong... you were lucky indeed to defeat him. Hope he stays dead like his master." said Exodus moving towards the chair
"Apocalypse is dead?" asked Stark surprised
"Yes. Lord Magneto killed him, cut him in half. Sacrificed his life and the life of his family to defeat the scum." said Exodus. He felt a sudden rage build within him, but he controlled those thoughts
"We don't have all day to share war stories." said Elisabeth Braddock. "I lack the power, but have the control, you Exodus have the power but lack control. We have to do this together. Sit on the chair, I will guide your mind." added the young mutant. "But first, I need to see all the information you have on how this works, I don't want to overcharge this or undercharge it."
"Certainly. This terminal should show us everything." said Stark moving towards the only computer in the room
A few hours passed, to some they passed rather fast, as they familiarized with the workings of Rasputin's ship. To others the waiting was almost unbearable. Among the latter, Pietro Lensherr tried not to think as he looked down the window, attempting to concentrate on the beauty of Earth.
"I miss Earth..." said young Illyana Rasputin standing next to Pietro's wheelchair, gently petting her dragon
"Me too little one." said Pietro, looking at Ororo's reflection on the window as she talked with Ms Stacy. Behind them he could see Dazzler creating a light show to amuse the Hulk, who clapped and smiled.
"You think he's fine now? You think he's with momma and poppa?" asked Illyana suddenly
"Who?" asked Pietro not thinking, realizing his mistake as soon as he spoke his words.
"Piotr. You think he is in heaven?" said the youngster, her eyes watery as she looked towards the once speedster mutant
"Of course." replied Pietro at once. He lunged forward and hugged the small child, doing his best to prevent his own tears. "Right there with my dad..." he added
"We're ready." said Tony Stark entering the room
Gwen Stacy sat behind the main control board, and the X-Men took the positions she had instructed them to.
"You ready for this?" asked Elisabeth, standing behind the chair, her hands next to Exodus' temples
"No. But it doesn't matter, does it?"
The young mutant once known as Psylocke didn't reply. She moved her hands down a couple of inches. "We have to remove this dampeners. I know they help you maintain control over your powers, but we need all of your--"
"Just do it. I want to get home." he said stopping her.
Psylocke hesitated for a second, but then she removed Exodus power dampeners, which were attached to his head. She placed her slender fingers on his temples and closed her eyes. "Contact" she whispered. And the psionic energy began to flow, from him to her, who canalized it and directed it to the machine.
And slowly, very slowly, Mikhail Rasputin's ship came to life.
"All right! We got power!" said Gwen Stacy with clear happiness on her voice. "Let's go home." and as she placed her hands on the controls, the ship began to move, slowly towards Earth.
To be Continued...