Chapter 24: Day of Judgment

Sabere strained in her little corner of her mind to reach Jean. Her hand was still clenched around Kurt's, but she couldn't say what she wanted to – not here.

She could feel in the older woman's mind that she was already having the conversation with Scott that Sabere wanted with Kurt. Immediately she felt her fiancé's presence in her mind.

And yet, she couldn't say anything.

/I love you, Sabere,/ she heard. /More than I ever thought I could love another./

/I love you t - / But the Phoenix wouldn't let her finish, and it a wash of fire it returned her mind to the task. She looked grimly up at Kurt, who kissed her forehead. Their goodbyes were said.

-----

Their one blessing was that an early-morning mist still hung over much of the city, and the jet landed silently in Central Park. The rest of the city was blacked out, except for the blue beacon, whose light diffracted through the mist and illuminated several blocks with its hell-glow. The X-Men stood arranged outside the jet, listening to the silence of the city, looking for a cue to attack while simultaneously praying for an excuse to get back on the jet and fly home.

"I shouldn't have come," Tabitha whispered, about to panic. "I'm not ready – I'll mess us all up – "

"Should have thought through that yesterday, Tabby," Scott interrupted. "If we're going to try to survive this, we can't have any doubts about our abilities. This is what all our training has come to, and this is where we can prove ourselves, or die. Sabere, I want you to stay close to Jean and if you see anything familiar that can get us a way out, tell her and maybe we'll make it out of this."

"That's optimistic," Logan muttered.

"That's dreaming," Scott corrected. "This is optimistic: Let's take that bastard down with us."

A tremor shook the streets, and the X-Men slowly spread into the city. Storm, Jean, and Angel led the way overhead, while Nightcrawler disappeared to scope further ahead. Sabere's heart twisted as she wondered if that was the last time she's see him.

"Testing, please copy," Scott's voice whispered in her earpiece. She tapped it response, keeping as quiet as possible. Around her, Colossus and Gambit followed suit.

"Why did we bother with these things? I seem to recall Magneto had a field day with them last time," Logan grumbled in her ear.

"We're not taking any chances this time," Scott replied. "Wait – silence – "

The earpieces crackled painfully and Sabere yanked hers out. "Not Magneto," Gambit said quietly. "They just not working."

"Why not?"

"Doesn't matter. Now shush – I don't like dis."

The city was completely silent. New York City was never quiet – never anything less than a dull roar. It didn't know the meaning of silence before now –

They stood silently in the mist, peering down the streets, squinting through the empty white that swirled around the tops of buildings. Something was whistling – like it was falling –

"Gambit!" she shouted, sensing what was coming. He threw a glowing card up into the air, and the shadow of what had been a wall falling towards them exploded in chunks of rubble. Colossus covered Gambit while Sabere shielded herself and Angel. They reformed immediately, braced for another attack, but nothing came. Sabere took a deep, shaky breath and looked towards downtown, wondering…waiting for the power…

"Let's go, cherie," Gambit said quietly. "No more time for worryin'."

She nodded and led the way towards the beacon.

-----

What had once been the Empire State Building was now a massive column of blue light. Sabere's group was still several blocks northwest of the Chrysler Building, but the mists were beginning to wear off and the glow from the huge beacon was probably visible from everywhere in the city. The cloudy dawn light mixed weakly with Apocalypse's beacon, lighting the whole city with a blue sunrise.

/There's a shield up here,/ Jean said in their minds. ­­/Looks different – woven. I think it's what killed the power around here. No communication anywhere, inside or through./

"That'll complicate things," Colossus murmured.

"'S not like we need an exit strategy," Gambit pointed out cryptically.

WHOOM. Somewhere to their left, an explosion filled the misty city with orange light and a male voice screamed.

"Kurt!" Sabere yelled without thinking – but it was his voice, he might be dead –

Gambit's hand clamped over her mouth and he half-dragged her down the next street. Another series of explosions followed them from several blocks behind – whoom whoom whoom – until suddenly the intersection in front of them was engulfed in flames. There was no sign of Pyro, nor the other Horsemen.

"Where is he?!" Sabere screamed through the smoke, knives in hand, waiting for an excuse to cause Pyro as much pain as she could manage. She had only felt this rage once before – with Stryker –

No – I like the fire – fire is life –

And suddenly her body was consumed in flame. This time, Nightcrawler did not come to her rescue, but she didn't need him – the fire was warm and protective, and almost white in its brightness. The power.

Over the crackling roar of the inferno, she heard the explosions and whistling wind that signaled the arrival of backup. Storm's rains were useless against the heat, and the air swirled with orange-tinted steam.

She finally saw Pyro aiming into the sky at Angel, and leaped forward, flying between them and projecting the massive Phoenix ahead of her, its flaming beak closing over his head. He screamed and the trails of fire leaping from his hands dwindled. The Phoenix drove them both back to the ground, and Sabere stood in the glowing humid battle, letting her fires rage around him. The Phoenix feasted – this boy had power, power over life itself – the fire grew through her, roaring to fill the intersection – but my friends are there –

/Sabere! Control it!/

What?

Arms wrapped around her waist – huge, cold arms – and flung her away. The Phoenix faded as she collided with concrete and fell to the sidewalk. She blinked, trying to clear her head, and saw Logan standing over her with Colossus, yelling over the roar of fires.

"This is not a good time for you to lose it! We may need the Phoenix, but we don't need it to go crazy and wipe out the city! If you have to destroy something, find Apocalypse!"

Apocalypse. Enslaver, destroyer of life. Mine.

The Phoenix launched herself into the air, fiery wings lifting her above the skyline, and flew towards the beacon.

-----

"She's moving!"

Logan watched helplessly as Sabere – the Phoenix, whatever it was – soared over the skyscrapers towards Apocalypse's beacon. Storm soared after her, intending to fulfill Scott's orders if necessary – orders Sabere wasn't supposed to know.

"Go easy on her, Windrider," Logan muttered. He peeked out from behind his shelter – a burned-up taxi – and looked for an opening. Pyro lay in the street, badly burned, and Logan didn't expect him to be getting up again. Almost a shame – Logan had never trusted the kid, but he was just lost, and wound up on the wrong side.

A faint groan down an alley drew his attention, and he slipped out of hiding to investigate. He found Nightcrawler curled against the wall, holding his side, white teeth visible in a pained grimace.

"What happened to you?"

"Burned – it's nothing – I'll be okay. Where is Sabere?"

"I think we both know Sabere's been gone for a while. The Phoenix is headed for the beacon."

"We have to stop her! She will be killed!"

"Yeah, if it comes to it." Logan gestured for silence as several cars, apparently flung by Magneto, bounced past the entrance to the alley. Hopefully that bastard was distracted and wouldn't sense Logan – that was the last thing they needed.

"What do you mean?" Nightcrawler hissed as Magneto floated silently past, attention focused on the battle.

"Scott's orders. Wait to see if Sabere can control it, maybe even take Apocalypse down herself, but if she loses it – " He let the elf figure out the rest. Kurt shook his head immediately.

"Nein…"

"We can't afford the risk. If she stops Apocalypse on her own, well, great, but if she's too power-happy by then and tries to flatten the whole city…"

One of Magneto's car landed with a crunch only five feet from them. Kurt lunged over Logan, and suddenly they were both on top of a building, two blocks from the beacon. Nightcrawler groaned and rolled back, exposing the burn on his side – the uniform over his entire right torso was blackened and torn, and holes were burned all the way through in places.

Logan shook his head. "One for one."

-----

Sabere circled the beacon, her senses straining for any sign of Apocalypse's whereabouts. The Phoenix was bored and angry – there was a perfectly good battle to fight, but Apocalypse was here hiding, and she needed to stop him – their lives depended on it –

A dark puff of smoke on a nearby tower caught her attention. Kurt! The Phoenix lost its hold and Sabere careened down to land on the roof in a flash of fire.

Kurt lay on his back, his side and chest badly burned. Logan stood over him, claws out, staring north and waiting for the enemy.

"Kurt? Can you hear me?" Sabere slid to her knees on the gravelly roof, the last wisps of the flaming wings fading. Kurt tried to answer but could only gasp in pain. Logan spared a glance backwards.

"I think he's going into shock…"

"No, no, no…" Sabere shook her head, the picture of denial, and stretched out her fingers and watched the familiar blue glow spread over Kurt's wounds. This was complicated – shreds of uniform had to be removed, and the burns were worse in some places than others. She vaguely heard an explosion close by, but kept working.

"We have incoming…may want to pick up the pace a litt –"

Logan's words were cut off as Magneto appeared and, with a twitch of his hand, knocked Logan off the building. Sabere whirled to face him, leaving Kurt mostly healed. Magneto stood calmly on the edge of the roof.

"By now I'm sure you've realized you are on the wrong side."

In answer, Sabere hurled one of her knives at him. Before she could even blink, without Magneto even moving, the knife reversed itself and plunged into her left shoulder. She screamed and fell back next to Kurt.

"I'm sorry I had to do that, but it isn't too late," Magneto continued, coming closer. "I know your doom, and in fact I'm helping orchestrate it as we speak. But with your new power, you can save yourself – Apocalypse will welcome your strength."

Sabere lifted an arm and wrenched the knife from her shoulder. A full two inches of the blade were covered in blood, and she lay gasping for a few moments, feeling muscle knit together as she worked her powers. Magneto's calm and confident voice continued to wash around her, so she was enveloped in only pain and his convincing voice.

"You have become more powerful than the X-Men and their petty goals. The safety and well-being of the entire planet is at stake. Apocalypse needs mutants of your strength and talent at his side – even at his right hand."

At first she was afraid the Phoenix would agree and Sabere would lose all control, but instead the Phoenix filled her with rage and the wings of fire spread across her arms.

"You serve Apocalypse, who is an agent of death. I am Phoenix, the agent of fire and life. I will not follow you!"

She pushed herself to her feet, and a blaze of fire left her outstretched hand and threw Magneto off the building. Alone on the roof with Kurt, she studied the burning New York skyline and felt the familiar cold, sick dread in her gut. This was in her vision…it was getting close…

And suddenly there was silence.

The flames dwindled and vanished from the skyline, and the city lay quiet, full of blue-lit smoke and steam. Sabere ran to the edge and peered off. Magneto was gone, and from the other side of the building, so was Wolverine. New York was silent again.

"Is it…over?" Kurt asked in a whisper, climbing gingerly to his feet.

She shook her head, watching the scenes of her vision over and over, seeing battles she hadn't fought, watching friends die who still lived… "No. This isn't it…"

"SABERE!" The cold voice, the voice that had been in her dreams so often, the voice that had torn apart her mind, bellowed from somewhere north of them.

"I suppose now would be a good time to remind you that I love you." Kurt broke the cold silence, but Sabere couldn't even smile.