~~ Scott, Evan, Kurt, Haiden, Todd ~~
"Finally." Scott whispered as he stared up at the dark night sky. It was a different kind of dark, though. Even though clouds covered the moon and stars, it was the kind of darkness that promises not to last forever, they type of darkness that doesn't hint the absence of light, but rather, the absence of direct light.
The Vulgates folded their wings and a moment later they disappeared entirely. Scott was about to ask why they were putting their wings away, but decided that it was only natural that they would want to see the world they had heard so much about.
So they climbed out of the hole and sank into the soft grass and stared up at the blank sky.
"Hmm." Hiva said softly. His face was an unreadable mask.
Finally Scott sighed. "We should get going. There's no telling what happens next and I at least want to be in uniform for it."
"Uh, the Institute was gutted, Scott."
"Not all of it. Trust me, there are so many hidden rooms and passages that not even the Professor himself knows all of them. Besides. I'm sure they didn't rip out the showers."
Scott turned around in a circle, trying to find the Institute.
"Hmmm. Never been here before." Scott said carefully.
"What?" Haiden said.
"I'm cold." Todd complained.
The Vulgates were quietly prowling around the area.
"Why are we on a mountain? There aren't any mountains in Bayville." Kurt said.
"Well, there are now." Scott said as he ran his hand over a broken sign.
Fort Braddock
Bayville, New York
WARNING: This is a secure military compound,
Invaders will be prosecuted
~~ Valzinameku ~~
Valzinameku was having fun rearranging the world, his world, to his liking. A river here, canyon there, oh, and a mountain range would be nice here, no... it just doesn't look right. A little to the left, no, that's too much...
He laughed. Valzinameku liked the noise. It wasn't as loud as his true laugh, but it was pleasant in its own unique way. As he strolled across a newly leveled city, he called a forest of blackened, burnt looking trees up from the ground. They waved their branches and tried to grab him, but after one of them burst into flames and fell into cinders screeching, the rest stopped. Valzinameku tenderly stroked the base of one of the demon trees. His first true creations... Valzinameku turned away with a tear in his eye. Only one, because the first thing he saw was a human.
Time to exercise his will on his newest subjects, Valzinameku decided.
The human's eyes widened and it turned and ran. He followed at a more sedate pace and found himself looking at a veritable field of humans. They were all dressed in white and kneeling. As Valzinameku crested the slight rise to stand before them, they all sank even lower, stretching their arms out on the ground as if to worship him.
And they were, though not for the reasons he thought they were. As Valzinameku, tucked away in Evan's body, crowed inwardly, he only smiled benignly.
A second later, the screams began.
Valzinameku seized hold of the thousand plus humans and began changing them to better serve him in this new world.
Half of them doubled over, knees bending backwards and kneecaps actually sliding to the opposite side of the leg. Thier heels elongated, growing into a long bone that was attached to feet that slowly and excruciatingly turned backwards. One could literally hear the bones breaking, and one did.
Through the screams, Valzinameku laughed again.
The said humans howled even louder as enormous spikes ripped straight from their bones to pierce skin that was slowly becoming as hard as stone. One spike about three inches long protruded from the hard bone in the wrist and curved forward slightly. Two inches behind that one, and on top of the arm, rather than on the side, was another spike. This one was long enough to poke over the knuckles. A third spike, only two inches long, emerged from the elbows of each of the unlucky humans. Valzinameku scanned the minds of each briefly and picked his commanders from them. Marking them was simple. A large spike, two inches in diameter at the base and more than a foot in length sprouted from their shoulder blades. For those with higher rank, a plate of bone grew under the skin of their back and from this plate, more spikes grew. The higher the rank, the more spikes. The more spikes, the thicker the bases became.
As the last of them fell to the ground twitching as their minds fought to catch up with the radical changes their bodies had gone through, Valzinameku turned his attention to the rest of the humans.
He had no need for any more soldiers, now he needed minions.
And that is what they became.
Right before their eyes, mothers watched their children become shrunken and misshapen. Husbands watched their wives' skins become darker and darker until they matched the infinite darkness of the Underworld itself. Teeth sharpened to fangs, hands became twisted, bloody claws as bones shattered and rearranged themselves into something new. Voices that were one rich and deep became shrill and piercing, as sharp as everything else about them.
It was painful, but nothing compared to the pain that the soldiers had gone through.
Until Valzinameku decided that minions didn't need hearts.
Responding to his silent command, the minions began removing each others hearts.
The first soldiers to recover were the highest ranking officers, those with three to five spikes. They watched, impassive as the people they had once been friends with, lived by, loved, tore each other open. Some of the little ones, children at one point, began throwing the hearts at each other as though they were having a bloody snowball fight.
Valzinameku ignored the minions for the moment, instead staring appraisingly at his army. There was one officer with six spikes. This one made its way to Valzinameku's side, stepping over the bodies of those who hadn't survived the transformation. It's step was springy, as though, because of it's newly configured bone structure, it was basically walking on springs. It walked with a measured pace, as though it knew it was being watched, and still had no intention of going any faster than it took to get where it was going. It scowled at one of its subordinates who didn't scramble out of the way fast enough. By the time he reached his master, all the soldiers who had survived were standing. It wasn't many compared to the number of minions, or the number who had been chosen as soldiers, but it was enough.
With the leader of his army at his side, Valzinameku turned back to his minions. There was so much blood, and many were still bleeding. Valzinameku's magic wouldn't let them die from something he ordered them to do, so they just stood around and made life difficult for each other. Valzinameku looked at the intestines and other assorted organs that were hanging from one creature's torn stomach and decided that minions didn't need any of that stuff either.
There was a flurry of movement as his subjects rushed to obey him.
Once every minion was emptied of all its organs, except the brain, and had effectively bled itself dry, Valzinameku ordered them to heal themselves.
There was much screaming and agony as the tortured souls tried to force the very cells of their bodies to respond to his call, to heal as quickly as possible, because even though the vast majority of their nerves were gone, enough remained, held intact by their evil Lord's magic, to make them fully aware of their suffering. Pitifully few remained, less than one hundred of what may have been six hundred people. There were still more minions than soldiers, it was perhaps three minions for every one soldier. Valzinameku extended his mind and once again skimmed the crowd for a leader.
One near the front hissed and a black, forked tongue darted out of its mouth before it dropped something and started toward Valzinameku and his soldier. It was rectangular, rather thick and lined with gold. Valzinameku waved a hand towards it and the minion scurried to retrieve it. He knelt down at his master's feet with the item held reverently over its head.
Valzinameku didn't touch it, but bent slightly to gaze at it curiously. A strong wind swept the field and the top of the thing moved a little. The next gust opened it and sent a flurry of black and white... things waving in the wind. They couldn't escape though, and fell silent as soon as the wind died. Valzinameku lost interest immediately and turned away. He was far more interested in admiring his work, though a whisper of what was left of Evan's mind said this man was halfway changed even before Valzinameku got to him.
"What shall I call you?" He wondered aloud.
"Creed." The soldier said in a deep voice that rumbled like thunder and shook the minion to it's poor, hollow core.
"Creed." Valzinameku tested it out.
"Victor Creed. Formerly Sabertooth." His eyes were two black orbs that glinted in the beautiful daylight, making him seem even more out of place.
"Victor Creed. I like that. You shall be Victor Creed." Valzinameku looked down to where his minion was chasing a grasshopper. "And you shall be..." Valzinameku searched his and Evan's shared mind for a name and was disgusted to find that Evan's consciousness was fading more quickly than he had anticipated, worn away by the wear and tear of Valzinameku's renovations. Finally, he found what he was looking for. The name of the one person who meant the most to Evan. "Ororo Munroe." He concluded. "Munroe for short." Valzinameku smiled at the waiting soldier and minions. "Let's get going, you two. We have work to do."
Valzinameku continued walking as Victor Creed and Munroe gathered their subordinates and followed. He was blissfully unaware of Creed pausing to relieve himself on a tree nearby and make three conspicuous marks on it, and other than the commanders of the soldiers, none of the transformed humans did anything other than what they were told, so none of them thought, or dared, to question Victor.
Which was a good thing, because Victor was in a foul mood indeed, and was waiting for someone to take it out on.
"Finally." Scott whispered as he stared up at the dark night sky. It was a different kind of dark, though. Even though clouds covered the moon and stars, it was the kind of darkness that promises not to last forever, they type of darkness that doesn't hint the absence of light, but rather, the absence of direct light.
The Vulgates folded their wings and a moment later they disappeared entirely. Scott was about to ask why they were putting their wings away, but decided that it was only natural that they would want to see the world they had heard so much about.
So they climbed out of the hole and sank into the soft grass and stared up at the blank sky.
"Hmm." Hiva said softly. His face was an unreadable mask.
Finally Scott sighed. "We should get going. There's no telling what happens next and I at least want to be in uniform for it."
"Uh, the Institute was gutted, Scott."
"Not all of it. Trust me, there are so many hidden rooms and passages that not even the Professor himself knows all of them. Besides. I'm sure they didn't rip out the showers."
Scott turned around in a circle, trying to find the Institute.
"Hmmm. Never been here before." Scott said carefully.
"What?" Haiden said.
"I'm cold." Todd complained.
The Vulgates were quietly prowling around the area.
"Why are we on a mountain? There aren't any mountains in Bayville." Kurt said.
"Well, there are now." Scott said as he ran his hand over a broken sign.
Fort Braddock
Bayville, New York
WARNING: This is a secure military compound,
Invaders will be prosecuted
~~ Valzinameku ~~
Valzinameku was having fun rearranging the world, his world, to his liking. A river here, canyon there, oh, and a mountain range would be nice here, no... it just doesn't look right. A little to the left, no, that's too much...
He laughed. Valzinameku liked the noise. It wasn't as loud as his true laugh, but it was pleasant in its own unique way. As he strolled across a newly leveled city, he called a forest of blackened, burnt looking trees up from the ground. They waved their branches and tried to grab him, but after one of them burst into flames and fell into cinders screeching, the rest stopped. Valzinameku tenderly stroked the base of one of the demon trees. His first true creations... Valzinameku turned away with a tear in his eye. Only one, because the first thing he saw was a human.
Time to exercise his will on his newest subjects, Valzinameku decided.
The human's eyes widened and it turned and ran. He followed at a more sedate pace and found himself looking at a veritable field of humans. They were all dressed in white and kneeling. As Valzinameku crested the slight rise to stand before them, they all sank even lower, stretching their arms out on the ground as if to worship him.
And they were, though not for the reasons he thought they were. As Valzinameku, tucked away in Evan's body, crowed inwardly, he only smiled benignly.
A second later, the screams began.
Valzinameku seized hold of the thousand plus humans and began changing them to better serve him in this new world.
Half of them doubled over, knees bending backwards and kneecaps actually sliding to the opposite side of the leg. Thier heels elongated, growing into a long bone that was attached to feet that slowly and excruciatingly turned backwards. One could literally hear the bones breaking, and one did.
Through the screams, Valzinameku laughed again.
The said humans howled even louder as enormous spikes ripped straight from their bones to pierce skin that was slowly becoming as hard as stone. One spike about three inches long protruded from the hard bone in the wrist and curved forward slightly. Two inches behind that one, and on top of the arm, rather than on the side, was another spike. This one was long enough to poke over the knuckles. A third spike, only two inches long, emerged from the elbows of each of the unlucky humans. Valzinameku scanned the minds of each briefly and picked his commanders from them. Marking them was simple. A large spike, two inches in diameter at the base and more than a foot in length sprouted from their shoulder blades. For those with higher rank, a plate of bone grew under the skin of their back and from this plate, more spikes grew. The higher the rank, the more spikes. The more spikes, the thicker the bases became.
As the last of them fell to the ground twitching as their minds fought to catch up with the radical changes their bodies had gone through, Valzinameku turned his attention to the rest of the humans.
He had no need for any more soldiers, now he needed minions.
And that is what they became.
Right before their eyes, mothers watched their children become shrunken and misshapen. Husbands watched their wives' skins become darker and darker until they matched the infinite darkness of the Underworld itself. Teeth sharpened to fangs, hands became twisted, bloody claws as bones shattered and rearranged themselves into something new. Voices that were one rich and deep became shrill and piercing, as sharp as everything else about them.
It was painful, but nothing compared to the pain that the soldiers had gone through.
Until Valzinameku decided that minions didn't need hearts.
Responding to his silent command, the minions began removing each others hearts.
The first soldiers to recover were the highest ranking officers, those with three to five spikes. They watched, impassive as the people they had once been friends with, lived by, loved, tore each other open. Some of the little ones, children at one point, began throwing the hearts at each other as though they were having a bloody snowball fight.
Valzinameku ignored the minions for the moment, instead staring appraisingly at his army. There was one officer with six spikes. This one made its way to Valzinameku's side, stepping over the bodies of those who hadn't survived the transformation. It's step was springy, as though, because of it's newly configured bone structure, it was basically walking on springs. It walked with a measured pace, as though it knew it was being watched, and still had no intention of going any faster than it took to get where it was going. It scowled at one of its subordinates who didn't scramble out of the way fast enough. By the time he reached his master, all the soldiers who had survived were standing. It wasn't many compared to the number of minions, or the number who had been chosen as soldiers, but it was enough.
With the leader of his army at his side, Valzinameku turned back to his minions. There was so much blood, and many were still bleeding. Valzinameku's magic wouldn't let them die from something he ordered them to do, so they just stood around and made life difficult for each other. Valzinameku looked at the intestines and other assorted organs that were hanging from one creature's torn stomach and decided that minions didn't need any of that stuff either.
There was a flurry of movement as his subjects rushed to obey him.
Once every minion was emptied of all its organs, except the brain, and had effectively bled itself dry, Valzinameku ordered them to heal themselves.
There was much screaming and agony as the tortured souls tried to force the very cells of their bodies to respond to his call, to heal as quickly as possible, because even though the vast majority of their nerves were gone, enough remained, held intact by their evil Lord's magic, to make them fully aware of their suffering. Pitifully few remained, less than one hundred of what may have been six hundred people. There were still more minions than soldiers, it was perhaps three minions for every one soldier. Valzinameku extended his mind and once again skimmed the crowd for a leader.
One near the front hissed and a black, forked tongue darted out of its mouth before it dropped something and started toward Valzinameku and his soldier. It was rectangular, rather thick and lined with gold. Valzinameku waved a hand towards it and the minion scurried to retrieve it. He knelt down at his master's feet with the item held reverently over its head.
Valzinameku didn't touch it, but bent slightly to gaze at it curiously. A strong wind swept the field and the top of the thing moved a little. The next gust opened it and sent a flurry of black and white... things waving in the wind. They couldn't escape though, and fell silent as soon as the wind died. Valzinameku lost interest immediately and turned away. He was far more interested in admiring his work, though a whisper of what was left of Evan's mind said this man was halfway changed even before Valzinameku got to him.
"What shall I call you?" He wondered aloud.
"Creed." The soldier said in a deep voice that rumbled like thunder and shook the minion to it's poor, hollow core.
"Creed." Valzinameku tested it out.
"Victor Creed. Formerly Sabertooth." His eyes were two black orbs that glinted in the beautiful daylight, making him seem even more out of place.
"Victor Creed. I like that. You shall be Victor Creed." Valzinameku looked down to where his minion was chasing a grasshopper. "And you shall be..." Valzinameku searched his and Evan's shared mind for a name and was disgusted to find that Evan's consciousness was fading more quickly than he had anticipated, worn away by the wear and tear of Valzinameku's renovations. Finally, he found what he was looking for. The name of the one person who meant the most to Evan. "Ororo Munroe." He concluded. "Munroe for short." Valzinameku smiled at the waiting soldier and minions. "Let's get going, you two. We have work to do."
Valzinameku continued walking as Victor Creed and Munroe gathered their subordinates and followed. He was blissfully unaware of Creed pausing to relieve himself on a tree nearby and make three conspicuous marks on it, and other than the commanders of the soldiers, none of the transformed humans did anything other than what they were told, so none of them thought, or dared, to question Victor.
Which was a good thing, because Victor was in a foul mood indeed, and was waiting for someone to take it out on.