"Move it! Move it! Move it!" Spider-Man screamed frantically, hoping to scatter the various combatants on the field.
There was no need to really. No one missed the large, green figure stubbornly chasing the red and blue hysterical man. Everyone gave the two a wide berth.
Spider-Man wondered how this happened. The Hulk was chasing him in the name of Apocalypse. Did he get infected by something? Mind controlled? Bribed with a large building full of fine China he could wreck?
A call came through the special communication add-ons he made to his suit, "Spider-Man?" Sounded like Beast.
"Kind of busy Blue Man Group", Spider-Sense twinged, and he back flipped over his pursuer at the last second and started running the other way. Where were skyscrapers when you needed them?
"I heard", McCoy sounded like he was moving. "Late information has notified me of our colleague's own past dealings with Apocalypse."
Oh yeah, Hulk subbed for one of the Horsemen for a time. Even the green rage machine was vulnerable to this Apocalypse Strain.
"More problem solving please!" Spider-Man asked, feeling the powerful strides close in on him.
His attention was grabbed suddenly by what sounded like a super sonic rocket.
"INCOMING!"
He heard the call before feeling the impact. Captain Marvel came down from the sky like a guided missile straight into the Hulk's stomach, knocking him back a dozen yards and scattering surrounding fighters.
"Car-" Spider-Man was interrupted calling her name by the massive roar of the Hulk and the sudden blonde projectile that was launched in his direction with a green fist.
Ignoring his Spider-Sense and anchoring his feet, Spider-Man caught the stunned Captain Marvel. He was knocked back the same distance the Hulk had been, clumps of earth on his feet from his sticking.
He rolled her off of him and tried to catch the breath that was knocked out of him. A quick look at his friend told him she was still alive, but out to lunch for the moment.
Then he looked at her stomach.
Red filled his gaze. She should not be here in her condition. There was no telling what could happen to her or the-
The sound of a stampede cut off his thoughts. A furious Hulk was charging in his direction. In THEIR direction.
Spider-Man stepped in front of his downed, whatever she was to him. He crouched, ready to meet this unstoppable force, feeling ticked enough to play immovable object. Luckily, he never got the chance.
A large shadow overhead covered him and the Hulk. It, and the hand slamming down on the gamma berserker belonged to Giant-Man. As soon as the big guy removed his hand from the swimming pool sized impression, the blue blur of the Beast lept onto the back of the Hulk and jammed two large needles into his neck. Leaping from his position, the mutant scientist landed next to him, with a normal sized Hank Pym joining.
"I came as soon as I- my word! What happened?" McCoy's sudden double take at him spooked him a bit.
"What?" Spiderman checked himself out. Two legs, red and blue suit, slightly glowing spider symbol, six arms...
"Not again!" He screamed. His four new arms protruding from his sides swung a bit as he turned rapidly trying to get better views.
Pym grabbed his shoulder to calm him down. Once he took a few breaths he felt a strange sensation at his sides. To his shock, what little feeling he realized he had in his new limbs ceased, and they simply fell off of him. The arms hit the ground and broke apart like egg shells, revealing an intricate web pattern from the insides.
He looked up at Pym's open mouthed expression. "That was new", he heard from his gal pal who was slowly standing up.
Spider-Man quickly jumped to her side to help. She brushed off his hands and started brushing herself off. He reflexively reached a hand to her belly in concern. This time, she forced his hand away roughly. "I'm fine!" She told him, a little anger seeping into her voice.
Peter was glad his mask could hide the hurt look he knew he was wearing. A groan thankfully caught their attention and they turned to see Banner being supported by Pym and McCoy.
"It was the Strain alright", Pym informed them. McCoy hit him with the cure and Hulk barfed up the bad junk before de-powering".
The group of five made it back to the relative safety of the ice wall. Banner recovered enough to function and immediately got to work. The McCoys and Pym were watching him work, helping when able. Spider-Man and Captain Marvel assisted the Ice-Men and young Cyclops in defending the area until it was showtime.
Giant-Man, 100 feet tall, was seen by everyone kicking the ice wall down and taking a knee. On his shoulder was the cannon. Taking quick aim, green energy fired out and striking the pyramid. Green and red flashed in the sky like the world's biggest Christmas lights and suddenly went out. The next few shots by the people on the ground struck home. The Strained individuals began fighting even harder at some inaudible command while the team to deal with Apocalypse, consisting of Cable, Rachel, and young Cyclops, gathered together to make their move.
Spider-Man cheered with Johnny when the Thing came bursting out of the front of the pyramid. He must have survived his crash thanks to the behind him jumped the missing Alex Summers, using his powers to slow his fall. Alex was rushed to the Geek Squad, as Grimm called them, and was handed a large hypodermic. Older McCoy explained the cure for the Strain, and the fact Cyclops' powers couldn't affect him and his experience fighting him made him the best person to get close. As tired as he looked, Alex agreed and joined with the other team.
There was shouting when the bottom two thirds of the pyramid suddenly detached and fell to earth. Everyone close tried to outrun the destruction. Thing and Colossus charged forward, with some of the stronger or more foolish students, and tried to hold back it's momentum. Banner charged forward, pale skin bulging and taking on his familiar green coloring, and the Hulk joined the line. Dozens of energy blasts added to the brute force and the large object finally halted.
Four figures flew on winged horses from the smaller, market sized pyramid. Emma Frost looked paler than usual and bee lined for Spider-Man. She screamed about how she remembered "her" and how it was his fault "she" was gone. Some Way of the Spider and appropriate applications of Spider-Strength and she was knocked down on her bedazzled butt. The other Horsemen, Magneto, Magick, and who he vaguely remembered as Chamber from Generation-X were likewise taken care of by others.
Cable and his group shot through the air at the floating pyramid with the widening eye. Young Cyclops and Havok absorbed the blasts from the eye, informing those around that the eye was somehow using Cyclops' energy. Peter would later be informed that Apocalypse had found a way to rip holes into the same demension the optic blasts came from. The overall scheme was to ride his pyramid with his chosen few, waiting a few days for the eye to fully open and scour the earth with it. It would leave only the hardiest of people to populate the earth and preach his philosophy: Survival of the Fittest.
The group reached the eye and fought the evil mutant. Unlike his last takeover of Scott's body, he kept most of the looks. He wore the blue skin and facial markings and sported dark ornamental robes. His gloved hands opened and it looked like large palm shaped eyes of solid red opened, blasting at the telekinetic shield. He could do more than create large apertures in midair now apparently. Beams of red flew from his hands and eyes attempting to take down the psychics, while automated defenses near the large eye fired at the other two.
Things on the ground began turning around. Quicksilver was finally caught and cured of an unexpected and unknown Strain exposure. McCoy and Pym had enough of the cure left for Pietro to speed and cure the rest of the people around the field. More barfing was seen that day than at an elementary school during flu season.
It looked like things were coming to a close. It was later recounted that Rachel and Cable held him down with their mind with the kid being their shield. Havok closed the distance against the blasts and stuck the needle right in the neck. Apocalypse would spasm and scream before his blue skin flaked off and the same silver junk in the rest of the Strained leaked out of his mouth.
The day looked finished, until the vomitus began pooling together, forming bodies in the likeness of the old Apocalypse. Spider-Man jumped into the fray and mutants and allies joined to fight this new enemy. They were tough, each possessing the energy abilities the possessed Scott showed. They were almost beaten until they flew to the pyramid, where the group at the top were fighting their own copy. The various copies formed together to form a large silver Apocalypse. Any attempt to approach the pyramid was met with an energy blast the size of a sedan.
Peter would hear from McCoy that the Summers family united to fight the monstrosity. Pouring the pressure on the telekinetics, Apocalypse chose to simply smash the other two. The big bad would taunt them and ridiculed their entire bloodline. It was all Cable and Rachel could do to shield themselves from the energy onslaught, and Havok and the kid's powers affected the villain as much as they affected each other. It seemed their end was near...
Until a modified cannon, altered by the McCoys with some help from Spider-Man was fired once again by Giant-Man. It struck the evil creature, knocking him off balance. The Summers capitalized on the moment and began shoving him toward the eye. Another blast from Giant-Man knocked him into the eye, but Apocalypse gripped the edges of reality like a lifeline. Cable and Rachel tried to shove him in, but he fought against their mental powers. Havok and young Cyclops each attempted to push close the aperture, surprisingly finding solid handholds to work with. It was a stalemate, neither party backing down.
There was a moment of panic when inch by inch, Apocalypse began emerging from the red eye. The psychics couldn't get close enough to help with the energy still pouring out. Havok and young Cyclops were stuck trying to force the eye closed on him. Giant-Man couldn't fire another shot from the stresses put on the cannon from the previous shots. It came to a head when young Cyclops was pushed from his position by his older counterpart. The formerly possessed Scott took up the duty trying to force the eye closed.
McCoy said his brown eyes met the time lost teen's visor and he gave an inspiring speech, even if McCoy could not recall what was said. Whatever it was, the young man charged to the face the monster attempting to pull himself back into their demension. Letting loose a primal scream, the hero ripped off his visor and gave Apocalypse the full force of his power. It did not hurt the creature, but the sheer power forced him back into the breach. After a massive shout, the five did their part to close and seal the eye.
When the aperture was sealed, the pyramid lost the power to continue and began falling. Rachel and Cable gathered the others and whisked them to safety. The mutants and others watching cheered when they descended, until the older Scott was seen with them. He looked ragged and tired, and many were worried that he didn't have his visor, but Cable and Rachel assured everyone that he was fine, purged of the entity that influenced him subtly, and not so subtly, for years. They were all free now.
Free from Apocalypse and the horrible future Cable called home.
But some were not free from Iron-Man's wrath.
(The baby is fine. I think Carol's tough enough to take a hit like that and still be ok.)
(So there's my explanation of why Cyclops seemed to go off the deep end in recent years. Manipulation by Apocalypse. Hopefully he's redeemed himself a bit in this.)