The determined group of mutants quickly exited the monorail transport and stopped at a large metal door. Zeno punched a series of characters into the door's access panel, only to hear a buzzing sound.
"It's locked down," Zeno said. "I think Altman might be expectin' us."
"Well, let's not disappoint him, then." Matthew said as he stepped forward. He made a fist and began pounding on the huge security door. "This time we do it my way."
Eventually, the steel door and the concrete wall surrounding it gave way, and collapsed in a loud thud. Cement dust clouded the entire area, and as it cleared, Jack and his allies saw a few figures emerging from the next room.
"So nice of you and your friends to join me, Mister McGregor," Altman said as the dust settled. Beside him stood Avery, Paula, Ray, and April. "Come to witness the dawn of a new era?"
"I've come to stop that 'era' from coming about," Jack growled. "You can't do this, Elias."
"And why can't I? Over millennia, man has done much worse things than that which I am about to do."
"This is genocide," Jack stated as he stepped toward the older man.
Altman held up a hand, using his powers to stop Jack in his tracks. Zeno, Matthew, and Addy, too, were prevented from making any movements.
"What do you know of genocide?" Altman looked as crazed as Jack knew he was. "I witnessed genocide when I was a boy, and I tell you, this is not genocide."
Jack growled, "What is it, then?"
"Purification!" Altman paused for a moment to regain his composure. "The hate of the world must be irradicated.
"When I was a boy, I saw first-hand what hatred can do. I saw the death camps. The piles of bodies. I saw my mother murdered by Nazi thugs, and my father, an officer in Hitler's army, executed for loving her."
Jack was barely able to shake his head in disapproval. "If you do this, you're no better than Hitler, or even that self-righteous idiot, Magneto." He paused for a moment. "You can't change the past, Elias."
"But I can change the future!" Altman was now unable to control himself. "What I do, you insolent fool, is out of love for mankind, not hate. I will rid the world of intolerance and hatred. For years, my agents have been choosing who should live and who should die, all according to the people's worth. The chosen few have been exposed to the antibody, and the good will survive and the evil will perish. It will be a Utopia."
Ray, Paula, and April seemed to just become truly aware of what was happening. Their faces showed a mixture of disgust, fear, and astonishment. Avery, however, remained stone-faced, as if he had known all along. He must have known.
"You can't force the world to change," Jack stated. "It has to evolve at its own pace. More blood will be spilled before mankind finds true peace, but I won't let it be by your hands."
Altman smiled at the younger man. "And how do you plan on doing that, when you can't even move?"
"He may not be able to do anything," April said behind Altman, "but I certainly can." Without any hesitation, she unleashed a blinding bolt of energy toward Altman, striking him in the back.
The old man's body seized in pain as thousands of volts coursed through his body. His hold on Jack and the others was broken, and he collapsed in the floor, screaming in agony. His muscles all tensed involuntarily, and his flesh began to burn. When it seemed that he could take no more punishment, however, he reached out across the room and mentally grabbed a syringe from a lab table. The needle hovered in the air for a second before speeding across the room, where it struck the girl, piercing her heart.
Jack and Paula both cried out as they watched April fall to the floor, and they both rushed over to her, as Avery quickly picked up his mentor and hastily carried him into the next room, locking a security door behind them.
"April! April, no!" Tears streamed down Jack's face. He couldn't believe what had just happened. The girl he had sworn to protect was now dieing, injected with the toxin that would momentarily be unleashed upon the entire world. He could see the vitality fading from her eyes as her skin turned a light gray color.
"Jack," April whispered. "Jack, I'm sorry. I didn't know." Her body went limp, and it was obvious that she was not long for this world.
"No," Jack whispered as he held April's head against his chest. Tears flowed from his eyes. "No. No." A long, barely audible growl escaped his throat.
Suddenly, a terrible roar filled the room. It was a roar of pain, anger, and sadness that sounded so unnatural that it sickened everyone who heard it. The veins in Jack's neck and forehead bulged as he released this horrible howl, and a crazed look showed in his eyes. His body covered itself in a dense ghostly gray fur, which was only a tiny fraction of an inch in length, and a long coarse mane of quill-like blue-gray fur grew from the top of his head and down his back. His face stretched and distorted, as did his arms, neck, and torso. His teeth became fangs, and his fingernails became steel-gray claws. Every muscle in his body swelled to almost four times its original size, and a long muscular tail tipped with quills appeared from his elongating spine. He had become his true self. Primal was truly unleashed.
