~~ Quebec ~~
"Good to see you again, brother." Wanda said as a formality. "Let's hurry up with this."
Jean-Paul was apparently braver than he seemed at first glance. He had the nerve to babble aimlessly even when Wanda fixed her steely gaze on him. Finally a green-haired girl who had been busy blending in with the wall decided that he had talked enough. With startling accuracy, she threw a misshapen pot at Jean-Paul and added another neat dent to it's equally impressive collection of dents.
"Nice shot." Logan complimented.
"Practice makes perfect." She shrugged modestly as half of the mutants fell into a fit of giggles. She held up her hand and the pot zoomed back to her. "My name is Lorna Dane. You've met Jean-Paul. He," she pointed at a blonde kid who was sitting at a small table and leaning on the two back legs of the chair. "well, that's Alex." She fixed an obviously observant eye on them. "Summers."
Jean gasped. "Scott's brother?"
"The same. I see that he's not here though." Alex said, more than a little disappointed.
"He's… well. He's not here right now." She finished lamely, trying not to think about it, but failing utterly. Wanda ran a hand through her hair impatiently as Storm, Kitty and Remy broke down too. At least Remy stood off to the side and didn't make deal of bawling his eyes out.
"We can see all that. Crying is useless and you're wasting my time. You took long enough getting here."
"Sorry, but the Blackbird is a bit out of reach right now. We had to drive in the van." Logan said wanly.
"While you were taking your little road trip, your friend made his first attack."
"Yeah…" Logan perched on the table. So far the fight had been personal, Valzinameku hadn't shown the power they all knew he had.
"Yes. As a result, half of New York city is gone."
"What?" all tears forgotten, the X-Men looked up, completely surprised by the turn of events.
"What, you thought he'd kill only one or two people to warm up first?" Pietro asked them. He, Lance and Mystique seemed to be expecting the news. In fact they looked relieved.
"How?" Jean stuttered.
"He tunneled underneath the island and then flooded the tunnels, sewers, pipes. The lot of it. Half of the underground pipes aren't used, so they couldn't hold the water in. Do you know what a ton's worth of water pressure does to a cracked pipe, never mind the manhole or street above it? So when the water finally made it to the manholes, it practically blew the street up and showered the buildings with hunks of concrete and asphalt the size of anything from pebbles to full sized buses. Times about a thousand since there are manholes everywhere. The debris brought most of the city down."
"Oh dear God…" Jean whispered as she pictured that.
"Yes. He is, isn't he." Wanda said with a distant look in her eyes. Suddenly she snapped back into focus. "That's why we're going to raise another god."
"What are you talking about?" Storm asked, feeling distinctly uncomfortable at the mention of making gods.
"Fine, not gods, but close enough. The difference between the angels Gabriel and Lucifer is all a matter of perspective. If Gabriel can return, so can Lucifer."
"Well, he's dead too." Lance said, rolling his eyes at what Wanda was saying.
"Is he? I believe that Lucifer wasn't given a chance. What kind of God would ignore his angels to the point that they rose against him?"
"I'm not sure that's how it happened, Wanda." Pietro said carefully.
"So what are you sure of? The victors write the history books, do you believe the world will end soon?"
"It ends for all of us eventually, Wand."
"No, our lives end, but our world doesn't. This is the Apocalypse battle."
"Don't remind me of him." Logan muttered.
Wanda glared at them. "This is the battle where Earth's fate is decided. The fallen angel will have his chance to redeem himself."
Kitty gasped. "That's exactly what I was saying on the hill before we went to Mason. It's like, history is trying to change itself now."
"Why?" Lance asked, flustered that his girlfriend would agree with Wanda Maximoff of all people.
"I don't know." Wanda shrugged.
"So, let's think about this." Kitty said as she began pacing. With a variety of smirks and grins, the rest of the mutants situated themselves in the small living room of the also small house that Wanda and her 'friends' were staying in.
"This all started with Haiden, when someone tried to change a human into a mutant. From there, he split into two people. Two people," she waggled a finger at the wall as she noted the number, "discovered half of their identity. There was an argument, two people left, that would be Scott and Evan. Then two more left, Kurt and Pietro."
"You forgot one that came. Magneto."
"Right, right, he was with us. So that makes, 1,2,2,2,1,2."
"Uh-huh." Logan said, just to humor her. He was thinking along different lines entirely.
"So, like, then we got captured, but we left two X-Men behind to watch the kids. Then Haiden shows up, that makes a one."
"Okay, one one, three twos, one one, two twos…" Lance prompted.
"And then-"
"What do numbers have to do with this?" Lorna asked.
"I'm looking for a pattern."
"Okay… found one yet?"
Kitty didn't answer. She was staring at a book that Jean-Paul had picked up. It was a book about Greek Mythology.
"Lucifer the light-bearer... of course. Why didn't I see that earlier? The Fates..."
"Well? Speak up." Lorna snapped at Kitty.
"Lucifer was a Vulgate, their gods were called the Fates. But Lucifer didn't agree with the Fates, so he left. I remember one of my teachers mentioned that Lucifer actually a godling in some mythology or other. He was the light-bearer until he messed up and Zeus gave him the boot. And the same thing happens in the Bible, too."
"After Lucifer's betrayal, there's usual a hard battle..."
"Yeah, but look. This time, things have been set off balance. By Haiden and Phoenix. Look, if not for them, where would we be? Back at the Institute until we were called upon to fight Valzinameku. If you think our losses are bad now, imagine what they would have been if we hadn't combined forces with the Brotherhood... Guys, some scientist out there tampered with nature, they played God and created a pair of people who turned the tables upside down. Instead of us being dead, unable to help turn the tide, Lucifer will lose the battle again."
"Hang on. Let's make a few things very, very clear. I don't believe in God any more than it takes to swear at something," Lance said, earning several snorts from the people in the room. "But if what you're saying is right, then you want us to join a guy who loses all the battles, all the time and fight against God? First of all, how do you beat a god, much less THE God? Secondly, what happens if we don't. Thirdly, how does Valzinameku fit in?"
"We're practically gods ourselves. Nothing can hurt me unless I want it to, but I have faults. And you, you can control the ground we walk on. Think about it. Look at the war that the Professor and Magneto had going on. They were gentlemen about it, and still managed to cause all kinds of mayhem. If enough of us work together, then we can be Lucifer's backup. We have to help him, though. He helped us."
"And the demon..."
"He's Gabriel. Angels can take whatever form they want. And I mean, hello, Valzinameku and Lucifer were locked in that cave for like, forever."
"Gabriel's kinda bloodthirsty."
"To us he is, but if he's a God-sent angel, then he's got cause to kill all those people."
"We have to raise Lucifer." Wanda added. "Or we have to fight as though we are him."
"I don't like this. To much religion." Lance shook his head. "Don't look to me for any decisions. You guys fight over it and I'll just play along."
Kitty and Wanda surveyed the remaining mutants. Things didn't look good for them.
"Pietro. You will assist." Wanda declared.
"I dunno. I'm with Lance on this. That guy suffered a lot. It's kinda mean to just rip him from death and drag him back here."
"What? What are you talking about? We'll send him back later."
"I don't think it's that simple." Ororo said slowly. "You're talking about overthrowing an entire religion. If Lucifer beats Valzinameku, then since he is God's representative, then God would put as much power in Valzinameku as possible to ensure victory." She looked around the room pausing to gaze into everyone's eyes. "If Lucifer wins, then Lucifer will become the new God. As much as we owe him, and as nice as he seems, I don't think we should force that on him."
"What's wrong with being a god?" Jean-Paul asked. "I kinda like the thought actually."
"Do you have any idea what it entails? How long til someone rises up against you?"
"Well..."
"He didn't seem like the type of person who could handle watching people die for an eternity."
"He did it for eons..."
"He only said he was down there for eons. He never said that Valzinameku was feasting on them for that long."
"Huh? He was eating them, ewwww. Gross."
"Shut up, Jean-Paul." Wanda snapped at him.
"I rather like the idea of no gods. That way we can decide our own fates." Mystique finally spoke up.
"Hey, you guys have got me thinking... If Lucifer doesn't want to be the ultimate ruler, then he wasn't really the one who started the battle of the angels. So what if he didn't like what he saw happening and approached God about it. And then God didn't like that Lucifer was implying that he wasn't doing his godly duty. So he threw Lucifer out. But Lucifer kept making trouble, trying to get the rest of the angels to help him convince God that things needed to change. So God sent his most loyal angels to end things." Storm's scowl was slowly deepening, and she wasn't the only one, but Kitty was so wrapped up that she didn't notice. "I think that the whole point is that Lucifer lost because he didn't want to win. If he won, he'd have to deal with the changeover and build loyalty among the people he had fought against. So he pulled back with as many of his angels as he could. I mean, everyone knows that the devil is God's nemesis. Why have a nemesis who's weaker than you? I bet Lucifer could do it on his own, but he doesn't want to. That's where we come in... we have to show him that humans are responsible enough to control their own-"
"You're making it sound like God's some crook." Bobby said, cold mist rising from his arms.
"No, I'm just saying-"
"What would you know about it?"
"This is what I'm talking about!!" Kitty yelled. "We're operating on speculation. There's no proof at all, yet you're convinced that you have to protect your beliefs. That's why, if all that stuff applies, Lucifer won't fight back. People like you would tear him to bits. If we'd help, then maybe he wouldn't just give up."
"So you want this to happen?"
"Dammit, Bobby, don't let religion cloud your mind." Lance growled at him. "To hell with all that. The fact of the matter is that we've got a psycho running around, who's already killed half of one of the US's biggest cities and who's gonna kill some more. If some damn figment of your imagination is drowning that fact out, say so now so I can set you up on a permanent vacation." Lance rolled his sleeves up and glared at the mutants. "I'm not into all the explanations, but you're making me sick. Just fight, kill the damn thing and then worry about crap. He'll play on your wanting to know what's going on and anyone who'll get in the way isn't coming."
"Well spoken." Logan agreed. "What'll it be?" he addressed the other mutants.
"We're ready to resurrect him." Wanda said, indicating Alex, Lorna, Jean-Paul and herself.
"I'm in." Lance said, unnecessarily.
Remy nodded from his dark corner. "Though I ain't one for de da'k arts."
Mystique shrugged, saying she didn't care either way.
Jean, Bobby and Pietro steadfastly refused. Ororo refused to believe it had to come to killing her nephew.
Logan sighed and bade Lance hold his rage for a little longer. "Let's get some sleep first. This isn't getting us anywhere."
"That's exactly the point." Kitty muttered to herself as everyone turned away.
"That's exactly it."
"Good to see you again, brother." Wanda said as a formality. "Let's hurry up with this."
Jean-Paul was apparently braver than he seemed at first glance. He had the nerve to babble aimlessly even when Wanda fixed her steely gaze on him. Finally a green-haired girl who had been busy blending in with the wall decided that he had talked enough. With startling accuracy, she threw a misshapen pot at Jean-Paul and added another neat dent to it's equally impressive collection of dents.
"Nice shot." Logan complimented.
"Practice makes perfect." She shrugged modestly as half of the mutants fell into a fit of giggles. She held up her hand and the pot zoomed back to her. "My name is Lorna Dane. You've met Jean-Paul. He," she pointed at a blonde kid who was sitting at a small table and leaning on the two back legs of the chair. "well, that's Alex." She fixed an obviously observant eye on them. "Summers."
Jean gasped. "Scott's brother?"
"The same. I see that he's not here though." Alex said, more than a little disappointed.
"He's… well. He's not here right now." She finished lamely, trying not to think about it, but failing utterly. Wanda ran a hand through her hair impatiently as Storm, Kitty and Remy broke down too. At least Remy stood off to the side and didn't make deal of bawling his eyes out.
"We can see all that. Crying is useless and you're wasting my time. You took long enough getting here."
"Sorry, but the Blackbird is a bit out of reach right now. We had to drive in the van." Logan said wanly.
"While you were taking your little road trip, your friend made his first attack."
"Yeah…" Logan perched on the table. So far the fight had been personal, Valzinameku hadn't shown the power they all knew he had.
"Yes. As a result, half of New York city is gone."
"What?" all tears forgotten, the X-Men looked up, completely surprised by the turn of events.
"What, you thought he'd kill only one or two people to warm up first?" Pietro asked them. He, Lance and Mystique seemed to be expecting the news. In fact they looked relieved.
"How?" Jean stuttered.
"He tunneled underneath the island and then flooded the tunnels, sewers, pipes. The lot of it. Half of the underground pipes aren't used, so they couldn't hold the water in. Do you know what a ton's worth of water pressure does to a cracked pipe, never mind the manhole or street above it? So when the water finally made it to the manholes, it practically blew the street up and showered the buildings with hunks of concrete and asphalt the size of anything from pebbles to full sized buses. Times about a thousand since there are manholes everywhere. The debris brought most of the city down."
"Oh dear God…" Jean whispered as she pictured that.
"Yes. He is, isn't he." Wanda said with a distant look in her eyes. Suddenly she snapped back into focus. "That's why we're going to raise another god."
"What are you talking about?" Storm asked, feeling distinctly uncomfortable at the mention of making gods.
"Fine, not gods, but close enough. The difference between the angels Gabriel and Lucifer is all a matter of perspective. If Gabriel can return, so can Lucifer."
"Well, he's dead too." Lance said, rolling his eyes at what Wanda was saying.
"Is he? I believe that Lucifer wasn't given a chance. What kind of God would ignore his angels to the point that they rose against him?"
"I'm not sure that's how it happened, Wanda." Pietro said carefully.
"So what are you sure of? The victors write the history books, do you believe the world will end soon?"
"It ends for all of us eventually, Wand."
"No, our lives end, but our world doesn't. This is the Apocalypse battle."
"Don't remind me of him." Logan muttered.
Wanda glared at them. "This is the battle where Earth's fate is decided. The fallen angel will have his chance to redeem himself."
Kitty gasped. "That's exactly what I was saying on the hill before we went to Mason. It's like, history is trying to change itself now."
"Why?" Lance asked, flustered that his girlfriend would agree with Wanda Maximoff of all people.
"I don't know." Wanda shrugged.
"So, let's think about this." Kitty said as she began pacing. With a variety of smirks and grins, the rest of the mutants situated themselves in the small living room of the also small house that Wanda and her 'friends' were staying in.
"This all started with Haiden, when someone tried to change a human into a mutant. From there, he split into two people. Two people," she waggled a finger at the wall as she noted the number, "discovered half of their identity. There was an argument, two people left, that would be Scott and Evan. Then two more left, Kurt and Pietro."
"You forgot one that came. Magneto."
"Right, right, he was with us. So that makes, 1,2,2,2,1,2."
"Uh-huh." Logan said, just to humor her. He was thinking along different lines entirely.
"So, like, then we got captured, but we left two X-Men behind to watch the kids. Then Haiden shows up, that makes a one."
"Okay, one one, three twos, one one, two twos…" Lance prompted.
"And then-"
"What do numbers have to do with this?" Lorna asked.
"I'm looking for a pattern."
"Okay… found one yet?"
Kitty didn't answer. She was staring at a book that Jean-Paul had picked up. It was a book about Greek Mythology.
"Lucifer the light-bearer... of course. Why didn't I see that earlier? The Fates..."
"Well? Speak up." Lorna snapped at Kitty.
"Lucifer was a Vulgate, their gods were called the Fates. But Lucifer didn't agree with the Fates, so he left. I remember one of my teachers mentioned that Lucifer actually a godling in some mythology or other. He was the light-bearer until he messed up and Zeus gave him the boot. And the same thing happens in the Bible, too."
"After Lucifer's betrayal, there's usual a hard battle..."
"Yeah, but look. This time, things have been set off balance. By Haiden and Phoenix. Look, if not for them, where would we be? Back at the Institute until we were called upon to fight Valzinameku. If you think our losses are bad now, imagine what they would have been if we hadn't combined forces with the Brotherhood... Guys, some scientist out there tampered with nature, they played God and created a pair of people who turned the tables upside down. Instead of us being dead, unable to help turn the tide, Lucifer will lose the battle again."
"Hang on. Let's make a few things very, very clear. I don't believe in God any more than it takes to swear at something," Lance said, earning several snorts from the people in the room. "But if what you're saying is right, then you want us to join a guy who loses all the battles, all the time and fight against God? First of all, how do you beat a god, much less THE God? Secondly, what happens if we don't. Thirdly, how does Valzinameku fit in?"
"We're practically gods ourselves. Nothing can hurt me unless I want it to, but I have faults. And you, you can control the ground we walk on. Think about it. Look at the war that the Professor and Magneto had going on. They were gentlemen about it, and still managed to cause all kinds of mayhem. If enough of us work together, then we can be Lucifer's backup. We have to help him, though. He helped us."
"And the demon..."
"He's Gabriel. Angels can take whatever form they want. And I mean, hello, Valzinameku and Lucifer were locked in that cave for like, forever."
"Gabriel's kinda bloodthirsty."
"To us he is, but if he's a God-sent angel, then he's got cause to kill all those people."
"We have to raise Lucifer." Wanda added. "Or we have to fight as though we are him."
"I don't like this. To much religion." Lance shook his head. "Don't look to me for any decisions. You guys fight over it and I'll just play along."
Kitty and Wanda surveyed the remaining mutants. Things didn't look good for them.
"Pietro. You will assist." Wanda declared.
"I dunno. I'm with Lance on this. That guy suffered a lot. It's kinda mean to just rip him from death and drag him back here."
"What? What are you talking about? We'll send him back later."
"I don't think it's that simple." Ororo said slowly. "You're talking about overthrowing an entire religion. If Lucifer beats Valzinameku, then since he is God's representative, then God would put as much power in Valzinameku as possible to ensure victory." She looked around the room pausing to gaze into everyone's eyes. "If Lucifer wins, then Lucifer will become the new God. As much as we owe him, and as nice as he seems, I don't think we should force that on him."
"What's wrong with being a god?" Jean-Paul asked. "I kinda like the thought actually."
"Do you have any idea what it entails? How long til someone rises up against you?"
"Well..."
"He didn't seem like the type of person who could handle watching people die for an eternity."
"He did it for eons..."
"He only said he was down there for eons. He never said that Valzinameku was feasting on them for that long."
"Huh? He was eating them, ewwww. Gross."
"Shut up, Jean-Paul." Wanda snapped at him.
"I rather like the idea of no gods. That way we can decide our own fates." Mystique finally spoke up.
"Hey, you guys have got me thinking... If Lucifer doesn't want to be the ultimate ruler, then he wasn't really the one who started the battle of the angels. So what if he didn't like what he saw happening and approached God about it. And then God didn't like that Lucifer was implying that he wasn't doing his godly duty. So he threw Lucifer out. But Lucifer kept making trouble, trying to get the rest of the angels to help him convince God that things needed to change. So God sent his most loyal angels to end things." Storm's scowl was slowly deepening, and she wasn't the only one, but Kitty was so wrapped up that she didn't notice. "I think that the whole point is that Lucifer lost because he didn't want to win. If he won, he'd have to deal with the changeover and build loyalty among the people he had fought against. So he pulled back with as many of his angels as he could. I mean, everyone knows that the devil is God's nemesis. Why have a nemesis who's weaker than you? I bet Lucifer could do it on his own, but he doesn't want to. That's where we come in... we have to show him that humans are responsible enough to control their own-"
"You're making it sound like God's some crook." Bobby said, cold mist rising from his arms.
"No, I'm just saying-"
"What would you know about it?"
"This is what I'm talking about!!" Kitty yelled. "We're operating on speculation. There's no proof at all, yet you're convinced that you have to protect your beliefs. That's why, if all that stuff applies, Lucifer won't fight back. People like you would tear him to bits. If we'd help, then maybe he wouldn't just give up."
"So you want this to happen?"
"Dammit, Bobby, don't let religion cloud your mind." Lance growled at him. "To hell with all that. The fact of the matter is that we've got a psycho running around, who's already killed half of one of the US's biggest cities and who's gonna kill some more. If some damn figment of your imagination is drowning that fact out, say so now so I can set you up on a permanent vacation." Lance rolled his sleeves up and glared at the mutants. "I'm not into all the explanations, but you're making me sick. Just fight, kill the damn thing and then worry about crap. He'll play on your wanting to know what's going on and anyone who'll get in the way isn't coming."
"Well spoken." Logan agreed. "What'll it be?" he addressed the other mutants.
"We're ready to resurrect him." Wanda said, indicating Alex, Lorna, Jean-Paul and herself.
"I'm in." Lance said, unnecessarily.
Remy nodded from his dark corner. "Though I ain't one for de da'k arts."
Mystique shrugged, saying she didn't care either way.
Jean, Bobby and Pietro steadfastly refused. Ororo refused to believe it had to come to killing her nephew.
Logan sighed and bade Lance hold his rage for a little longer. "Let's get some sleep first. This isn't getting us anywhere."
"That's exactly the point." Kitty muttered to herself as everyone turned away.
"That's exactly it."