X-Men: Alpha

Episode IV

Weapon X

Part Four

Snow swirled as the X-Men and their temporary ally approached a large snowbank. Cyclops peered over the bank and located several lights shining through the snow.

"There's a building over there, but I can make out any details."

"I could calm the snow."

"No, Storm. We have to operate under the assumption that they are the soldiers we fought last night. If so, they are aware of at least some of the powers we possess. We don't want to tip them off."

Wolverine stood several feet away from the rest of the group. He sniffed the air and listened through the wind.

Just then, he got something. A scent. He continued to sniff the air trying to identify it.

Jean took notice of his discovery. "Logan? What is it?"

The rest of the team turned to face the mutant.

Wolverine unsheathed his claws. "We're not alone."

Before anyone could react, fire spread around them at unnatural speed. In seconds, they were surrounded by flame.

Cyclops shouted to his teammates. "Storm, Iceman; put out that fire."

"With pleasure, S-Man." Bobby extended his arm and an icy blast projected toward the flames.

To his shock, however, the fire seemed to dodge his stream. It parted long enough for his ice to pass harmlessly by and then came together again.

"What the hell?"

Rogue watched with trepidation. She had seen fire do things like that before.

She ran to Cyclops and grabbed his arm. "Scott!! We've gotta get outta here!! Now!!"

"Stand your ground, Rogue. We're not going anywhere."

"A decision you will regret in the end."

A booming voice emerged from the darkness. Cyclops had heard the voice before but couldn't quite place it.

Rogue had no such trouble.

Cyclops felt her hands tremble as she clutched his arm. It then occurred to him to whom the voice belonged.

Surely enough, Eric Lehnsherr emerged from the trees. He had apparently traded his suit and trench coat for a helmet and a cape.

"Welcome to Alkali Lake, children. I hope you like the scenery."

Scott shook off Rogue's grip and stepped forward. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"My name is Magneto and I want you to open your eyes."

Iceman scoffed. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I am talking about Xavier's ideological fantasy. His delusional goal of human/mutant coexistence."

"We're delusional?" Storm interrupted. "You're the one wearing a cape."

"I have no interest in engaging in petty squabbles. I have already determined that talking to you would be useless. Xavier's power over you is too strong. You must be shown your folly."

Iceman covered his skin in a layer of ice. "Bring it on, buckethead!"

Magneto sneered as he surveyed his adversaries. "Very well. Brotherhood!"

Several individuals stepped out from the shadows behind Magneto.

"X-Men, I would like you to meet the Brotherhood of Mutants."

"Toad."

A short, green mutant stood on the shoulder of a much larger one.

"Blob."

A disgustingly obese man eyed the team with anticipation.

"Pyro."

Flames danced around a skinny blonde mutant.

"Sabertooth."

An animalistic mutant stood close to Magneto. Claws extended from his fingers and a long mane flowed down his back.

"And Mystique."

A shapely, blue-skinned woman stood right next to Magneto, watching the team through yellow eyes. A gun was at one hip and a knife at the other.

"Brotherhood, show them the error of their ways!"

Magneto's mutants charged forward.

However, before contact could be made, two helicopters appeared overhead.

Magneto looked up to the aircraft and then over to Mystique. "I will deal with these vermin and that facility as well. You take command here. You know what I want."

The mutant rose into the air to face the choppers. He extended one hand to each of them.

Suddenly, the helicopters began to be crushed by invisible forces. Magneto spread his arms apart, then slammed them together.

The choppers mimicked his movements. Flying away from each other and then slammed into each other.

The aircrafts exploded, but did not fall to the ground. The flaming wreckage was plied and twisted together until they formed a giant, metal fireball.

With the object in tow, Magneto drifted toward the Alkali Lake facility.

-X-

With the copters removed the two groups of mutants focused on one another once more.

Cyclops stood in front of his teammates. "X-Men watch each other's backs. Don't let them separate us."

Jean glanced around and realized that someone was missing.

She looked to Scott. "Logan's gone."

"Forget him. Let's go!"

As the X-Men charged their adversaries, Rogue stood still; only looking upon her foes in terror.

Kitty realized her teammate wasn't moving. "Rogue? Rogue we're supposed to be attacking. Rogue?"

Suddenly, Kitty was struck hard as Toad planted both feet in her back, driving her into the ground. She was out before she knew what happened.

The green mutant bounced high in the air. "'ello there, Rogue. 'ow you been, luv?"

Toad landed in front of Rogue and licked his lips. "Wow. Look at you! If I were a few years younger...oh boy, I'd..."

Rogue balled her fist and drove it into Toad's face.

"Bad move, Toad. Yer the only one I ain't afraid of."

Toad picked himself off the ground and wiped blood away from his nose. "Maybe not, luv, but I know someone you're really, really afraid of, and she's right behind you."

Rogue's eyes widened. She slowly looked over her shoulder.

Mystique stood behind her with a smug expression.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Rogue."

The young mutant could only stare at the blue-skinned woman.

"Why so shy, child. Come on over here..."

"...and give your mother a hug."

-X-

Pyro's fire swirled around Iceman, but the young mutant was unaffected.

"You call that fire? I've seen worse."

"Oh, it will get worse, much, much worse."

Pyro projected fire from a small device on his wrist. The flames formed into a large dragon.

Bobby cocked an eyebrow. "I gotta admit, that's impressive."

The fire dragon swipped at Iceman with its flame claws, but the X-Man rolled out of the way.

As the inferno moved for another attack, Bobby summoned forth a massive stream of frost. The dragon began to fade as the ice extinguished the flames.

Pyro laughed as his creation grew smaller. "Do you really think it's going to be so easy?"

More flames projected from his wrist and the dragon split into two. Each quickly grew to the size of the first.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Iceman began to back away as he prepared to defend against the twin behemoths.

"Oh, I assure you this is no..."

Pyro was cut off by a loud thunder crack.

Dark clouds began to form as Storm stepped up beside Iceman. Rain began to pour on the dragons.

They were gone in a matter of moments.

"You think that's all I have? Well, I have bad news for you because..."

A lightning bolt struck the ground directly in front of Pyro sending him tumbling to the ground.

As the mutant picked himself up, an ice-encased fist was the last thing he saw.

-X-

Colossus ran toward Blob at full speed. Though he was covered in metal, the Russian moved with speed and grace.

He charged forward and put every ounce of might into a single blow. His fist connected with the jaw of Blob with a thunderous impact.

The obese mutant didn't move an inch.

Colossus was shocked as he stared at him. "How...?"

"Lemme guess, you've always been the strongest guy around, haven't ya? Welcome to the real world, kid."

Blob reached back and delivered a strike of his own that sent Colossus reeling backward.

Before he could even right himself, Blob picked him up and slammed him back to the ground.

Peter started to rise, but Blob drove his foot down into his chest, pinning him to the ground.

"I got news for ya, tin man," Blob mocked as Colossus struggled to get free, "this ain't even all my weight!"

-X-

Sabertooth dodged two streaks of red energy before leaping into the air and attempting to pounce on his attacker.

Cyclops rolled out of the way and immediately fired another shot.

The animalistic mutant sidestepped the blast. Cyclops fired two more, but with similar results.

Finally, Sabertooth attempted to leap at him once more. This time Scott was ready.

He fired a beam that drove into the animal's chest, sending him through the air. He landed hard and didn't move.

Cyclops surveyed the battlefield for allies in trouble. A few seconds too late, he heard footsteps behind him.

He turned just in time to be tackled by Sabertooth. After driving the X-Man into the ground as hard as he could, Sabertooth rose a clawed hand for a killing blow.

Before it could fall, Sabertooth was yanked away from his prey. He leapt to his feet to face Marvel Girl.

Jean called forth a force field and set her feet, prepare to fend off an attack. Sure enough, Sabertooth charged and slammed into the force field.

Marvel Girl stumbled back from the force of the attack. He was a lot stronger than she thought. Her force field was not likely to be able to withstand another.

"Jean!!"

She turned around to see Colossus flying toward her. Marvel Girl threw her hands forward and called upon her telekinesis.

She was able to catch Peter just before they collided.

Suddenly, Jean felt something hard strike the back of her head and then all was black.

The redhead fell to the ground as Sabertooth stepped up behind her.

Colossus rose to his feet. "Get away from her!"

Before he could take a single step forward, Blob rammed him in the back with incredible force.

The metallic mutant was thrown forward where he was caught by Sabertooth.

"Finish him off!" Sabertooth shouted as he tossed Colossus back to Blob.

The enormous mutant clinched his enormous fist and batted Colossus out of the air. The Russian skidded across the snow before coming to a halt.

After a moment, his metallic skin returned to normal.

"Hehe. What a lightweight." Blob chuckled just before an optic blast struck him in the back. "Ow! What the hell?"

Cyclops rose to his feet as Iceman and Storm came to his aid.

"We can take these guys, right S-Man?"

"Well, Bobby, we're sure as hell going to try."

-X-

Magneto hovered over the Alkali Lake facility. He scanned the area to find the best place for his flaming projectile.

"Ah. A fuel depot. That will do nicely."

Magneto raised his arms and flung the remains of the helicopters toward his target.

The wreckage crashed down on the fuel depot and triggered a massive explosion.

In a matter of seconds, most of the building was in rubble and the rest was on fire.

"Enjoy, humans." The mutant drifted away.

-X-

The explosion knocked both soldiers to the ground.

As the two made their way to their feet, they took notice of someone running directly toward them.

They started to raise their weapons, but with two quick flashes of adamantium, Wolverine dropped them both without even breaking stride.

The mutant kept his claws at the ready as he approached the facility.

"I know you're in there Wraith, and I'm comin' for you!"

Another guard stood in his way. This time, however, the guard opened fire and struck Wolverine multiple times.

Logan cringed in pain but didn't stop. He charged the guard and drove both sets of claws into his chest.

By the time he pulled the claws out, his bullet wounds were healed.

Wolverine slowed to a walk as he entered the building. The roof had caved in and there was fire everywhere thanks to Magneto.

Logan sniffed the air and caught a familiar scent. He darted through a hole in the wall and cut through the building.

He emerged on the other side of the facility. Several soldiers were climbing into the back of the only working truck remaining.

Wolverine ran toward them. The soldiers all raised their weapons.

"Hold your fire!"

Logan halted at the sound of the familiar voice.

The passenger side door of the truck opened and Jonathan Wraith stepped out. A cigar hung from his lips and three scars ran across his face.

"Finally decided to come home, eh Wolverine?"

"What the hell did you do to me, Wraith?"

"I improved you. Before you were unkillable, now you're unstoppable."

"I'm not your damn puppet anymore! You're not gonna make it away from here alive!"

"Is that so?"

Suddenly, a soldier popped out from behind a pile of rubble and pointed a rocket launcher directly at Wolverine.

Before he could react, the rocket shot toward him and struck him in the stomach.

The rocket took Wolverine with it as it slammed into the building and detonated.

Wraith smirked as a soldier stepped up beside him. "Do you think he survived, sir?"

"Oh, I know he did."

"Should we retrieve him?"

"No, we wouldn't have anywhere to put him if we did. Let's just get out of here before that mutant comes back."

-X-

Rogue stood cautiously as Mystique circled her.

"It's been almost a year, Rogue. Don't you have anything to say to me?"

Rogue didn't answer. She only kept herself ready for an attack.

"Oh, I know. I need to take a more familiar form."

Mystique appearance shifted into that of a middle-aged women with brown hair. "That better, Sugah?"

The new appearance made Rogue reflect upon a childhood that ended up being a tangled mess of lies and manipulations.

Her fear was temporarily replaced by intense anger. "You bitch!!"

Rogue charged her and threw punches and kicks at a ferocious rate. Nonetheless, Mystique parried and dodged them with expert prowess.

"You've gotten better, Sugah. I guess, that Xavier ain't lettin' you kids sit on yer hands."

"Shut up!! I hate you!!"

Mystique finally grabbed Rogue's fist as she attempted a strike.

In one fluid motion, she twisted Rogue's arm behind her back, removed her knife from it's sheath, reverted back to her original form, and placed the knife against Rogue's throat.

The young mutant struggled for a moment, but Mystique pressing the knife a little harder and twisting her arm a little more convinced her to stop.

"That's enough, young lady. You need to be on your best behavior. Magneto wants to speak with you."

At just the mention of his name, Rogue became perfectly still.

"That's my girl."

Mystique looked across the battlefield to see Cyclops standing alone against Sabertooth and Blob. All of the other X-Men lay strewn across the snow.

"He's doing quite well. Call his name."

"No!"

Mystique twisted her arm even more. "Do it!"

"Ahh! Scott!"

Cyclops looked their direction. "Rogue!"

Blob clubbed Cyclops across the back with his fist sending the X-Men's leader face down in the snow.

Toad hopped over. "'ey, 'ey. Look at what Mystique caught 'erself. She got a little runaway!"

The Brotherhood gathered around as Mystique released her daughter.

Rogue looked around in a panic. All of her friends were down and she was in the hands of the enemy.

"Why look so frightened, child?" Magneto drifted down to the ground.

"A-are you gonna kill me?"

Magneto seemed genuinely surprised. "Kill you? Why would I do that?"

Rogue only stared at him.

"I asked you a question, Rogue." His expression became very stern. "Why would I want to do that?"

"B-because..."

Magneto's eyes were as cold as ice. "Say it."

"Because I almost killed you."

-X-

Sacramento, California...

1 year ago...

Magneto stood before the courthouse. Days before, a jury had found a young mutant guilty of the murders of three humans.

The Brotherhood of Mutants was outraged that humans would dare imprison a mutant.

They had come to teach them some respect.

The other members were battling police and even National Guard units. Magneto and Rogue stood nearby, protected by his force field.

"Look at them, Rogue. Look at them scurry around like ants." He looked down to his youngest follower. "They are nothing."

Rogue saw the same thing, but didn't get the same enjoyment from it. It seemed like most of these people were innocent bystanders.

There was even a school bus full of kids even younger than her that had been stuck in the area when the fighting broke out.

"Sir, what about the school bus?"

Magneto looked toward the disabled vehicle. "Excellent idea, my child. It will be the perfect way to show the humans that we are without pity."

"That ain't really what I..."

The leader of the Brotherhood raised his hand and the bus rose with it.

"Here me now, humans! Your lives are no longer of any significance!"

Magneto began to close his fist. As he did, the bus began to slowly crush.

Rogue couldn't believe her eyes. The kids in the bus were crying and screaming and Magneto didn't seem to care at all.

"Wait, sir, you can't! You can't do this!"

"Silence, Rogue. I will not tolerate you questioning me."

Rogue grabbed his arm and tried to pull it down. "Stop it! They're just kids!"

The school bus lowered to the ground. Rogue let out a sigh of relief. She looked up at Magneto...

...and was struck hard across the face.

She fell to the concrete as blood dripped from her lip. She turned to look up at him.

"You will remember your place, you ungrateful little ingrate!"

Magneto returned to the bus and raised it off the ground once again.

Rogue watched the children beating on the windows, trying to escape.

She had to do something.

She removed her gloves and pulled Magneto's helmet off.

"What are you...?!"

Rogue touched his face with both hands. Magneto tried to grab her hands but didn't have the strength.

Magneto's incredible power was almost more than Rogue could bear. To stop him, she had to hold on longer than she every had before.

Just when it felt like she was about to explode, she pulled away.

Magneto fell to the ground and laid motionless.

Rogue stumbled backward and leaned against a nearby car. As she did, she caught a look at herself in the mirror.

Her bangs had turned white.

"Magneto?!"

Rogue turned to see Mystique fall to her knees beside her fallen leader.

"Magneto?! Eric?!"

The Brotherhood gathered around as Mystique tried to resuscitate Magneto.

"Mama. I-I had to, he was..."

"Kill her."

Rogue nearly stumbled backward at her mother's sudden call for her death.

"But...but Mama...I..."

Mystique looked up at her with piercing eyes. "I said kill her now!!"

The Brotherhood closed in around Rogue.

The young mutant panicked and called upon Magneto's powers.

She lifted into the air and flew across the sky.

-X-

"You betrayed my trust and turned your back on me after all I had given you. For that there is no forgiveness."

Rogue wanted to do something, anything, but her body just wouldn't react.

"Brotherhood; the others will live for now, but she dies."

Sabertooth grabbed Rogue by the hair and prepared to slash her throat with his claws.

"Hey, bub!"

Wolverine emerged from behind a nearby snowbank. His clothes were tattered and torn, but he didn't have a scratch on him.

"Why don't you back off before you lose something? Like a hand."

Magneto narrowed his eyes. "Careful, brother. As of now you have done nothing to incur my wrath, but side with these traitors and you will be one yourself."

"Well, I'm not one of them, but I got my eye on that redhead over there. She'd probably be pretty bummed if I just let you kill one of her people."

Wolverine unsheathed his claws and walked toward them.

"Metal claws. Interesting." Magneto extended his hand and Wolverine froze in place. "It's all through your body, isn't it."

Magneto slammed Logan into a tree and then another and another, before finally tossing him into the woods.

"Well, that was amusing. You may precede, Sabertooth."

Sabertooth didn't seem to hear what was said to him. He looked up into the trees.

"Sabertooth?"

"We're not alone."

The Brotherhood looked around but saw no one.

"Enough. Finish this." Magneto commanded.

Suddenly, Dr. McCoy dropped from the trees and landed directly behind Magneto.

Before he could react, McCoy removed his helmet.

"Give me that you..." Magneto looked around and saw that the world around him appeared to be frozen solid.

"Eric."

Magneto spun around to find Xavier standing before him. "Charles? What the devil are you doing here?"

"I'm not there. I'm at home, but thanks to Cerebro, you are well within my reach. You see I promised Rogue that I would not allow you to harm her."

"You promised more than you could deliver. Have you ever considered running for office?"

"They will all go free, even Rogue."

"Never."

Xavier raised an eyebrow and Magneto clutched his head in pain. "They will all go free, Eric."

"Alright! They go free!" The pain in Magneto's head subsided.

"Excellent. Dr. McCoy will be keeping a hold of your helmet, just to be sure."

As quickly as it froze, the world jumped back into motion.

The Brotherhood advanced on McCoy.

"Stop!" Magneto's command halted his followers. "Release her, Sabertooth. We go, now."

"But..."

"I said now!"

The Brotherhood obeyed his command. Sabertooth threw Rogue down. Mystique gave her a cold glare. "I'll be seeing you again, darling daughter."

Rogue watched them disappear into the shadows.

"Rogue. Are you alright?" McCoy knelt down beside her.

"I think so."

"Good, I'm going to need your help getting everyone else onto the Blackbird."

-X-

Rogue sat outside the infirmary while the others were checked out by Dr. McCoy.

She hadn't thought about her past that much since coming to the Institute, but now it was all she could think about.

She would see them again. Magneto, the Brotherhood, her mother, they would all return.

Her fists clinched as she thought about their next encounter.

Next time, she would not be so afraid.

Next time, she would not be so weak.

Next time, they would pay.

-X-

"I'm sorry that Wraith eluded you." Professor Xavier sat behind his desk as Wolverine paced in front of it.

"He was so damn close! Bastard!"

"What will you do now, Logan? You are more than welcome to stay with us, should you choose."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I've gotta try and find out a few things. Maybe, get myself another shot at Wraith."

"Very well." Xavier wheeled around to the front of the desk and extended his hand. "It has been a pleasure, Logan. I do hope we meet again."

Wolverine shook his hand. "Count on it. I've got a reason to come back."

-X-

Kitty rotated her wrist as she left the infirmary.

It hurt when she did it, but for some reason she kept doing it.

She stepped into the hallway to find Bobby leaning against the wall. "Hey."

He looked up and Kitty saw that his expression was as serious as she had ever seen it. "I know this may not be the best time, but we need to talk."

"Ok."

The couple left the hallway and stepped into the study. Kitty sat down and prepared herself for what was sure to be a colorful tirade.

Bobby paced around for a moment. He seemed to still be working out what he wanted to say.

"Why don't you sit down?"

"I'd rather stand."

"Then I'm standing to."

"Fine." Bobby stopped pacing and took a deep breath. "Ok, Kitty. I've been thinking about things and I've determined the problem."

"I'm all ears."

"When we were doing all of our training, our schooling and our socializing in this building, we all had very limited options. We had no choice but to hang out together and become friends."

Kitty nodded absently as he continued.

"I didn't like S-Man at first, or Storm, or even Pete, but I had no choice but to get to know them and like them, because they were the only people I knew."

"I didn't like you at first."

"Nobody did. As time past we all just kind of fell into place together. If we wanted a friend, we had only a few people to choose from. If we wanted...more than a friend, we had even fewer to choose from."

Kitty's eyes narrowed. She didn't know where this was going, but she suddenly had a sick feeling in her stomach.

"I guess what I'm getting at here, is that..." Bobby hesitated for a moment as he grappled with his words. "...I don't really think you chose me, so much as...settled for me."

Kitty was taken back by his statement. "Bobby! How could you think that?!"

"Let's look at the evidence, Kitty. You knew me for two years before we got together. Two years. You know this Wagner guy for a few hours..."

"Twenty-seven of the longest hours of my life!"

"Fair enough. Twenty-seven hours and he's already about as high, if not higher, on your list than me."

"No, he's not!"

"Fine! Look me in the eye, Kitty. Look me in the eye and tell me that if he were here right now that you would still be with me."

She looked him in the eye. As they gazed at each other, Kitty remembered Kurt's smile, his laugh, and the way he did everything he could to protect her from the harsh realties of their situation.

She thought of her dream and how badly she had hoped to have another like it.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she arrived at her inevitable answer.

"I...I can't."

Bobby hung his head. It was the answer he had expected, but that did nothing to lessen the blow.

"I'm obviously not the guy you want. According to how you described Wagner, I'm not even the kind of guy you want. I can't wait around until you find someone better."

Tears were now streaming down Kitty's face. "W-What are you saying?"

Bobby tried to keep his eyes from watering, but failed. "I saying...I'm breaking up with you."

"What?! No! Bobby, we can work this out!"

He simply shook his head

Kitty broke into a full sob and ran from the room, not even stopping to open the door.

Iceman stood frozen for a moment before sitting down and staring at nothing.

-X-

The next morning, the X-Men were summoned to the Danger Room.

After the team gathered, Scott stood before them.

"Alright, everyone. Today, we're going to be going through several different scenarios including..."

"S-Man," Bobby interrupted, "I'm really not in the mood for this crap today."

"Me neither." Kitty added while intentionally not looking at Bobby.

"Scott, it does seem like now would not be the best time."

Storm agreed. "Peter's right, Scott. Even without the...social awkwardness, we're all pretty banged up."

"Yeah, and I have plans with Duncan in two hours and I need to..."

"Enough!!" The volume and tone of Cyclops' voice caused the others to fall silent. "Enough excuses! In case you people didn't know it, we faced the enemy last night! The real enemy! The very enemy that we were assembled to face! If your bumps and bruises don't tell the story, allow me. We got our asses handed to us! We confirmed every fear that Professor Xavier had. We were not ready."

The X-Men silently watched their leader.

"I'm going in here, anyone who has anything better to do, can go do it."

Cyclops turned and entered the Danger Room.

Rogue quickly followed.

The others began to slowly filter in.

Storm turned and noticed Jean walking away. "Jean? Aren't you coming?"

"Yeah. I just need to call Duncan and cancel."

Jean walked to her room and found Wolverine waiting outside it.

He carried a duffle bag and wore a fresh change of clothes.

"Hey, Red. I was afraid I was gonna have to leave without saying goodbye."

"You're leaving? Where are you going?"

Logan smirked. "Now, why would you care about that?"

"I didn't say I cared. I was just curious."

"So maybe we can go out for dinner when I get back."

"Logan, I have a boyfriend."

"You won't when I get back."

"Is that so?"

"Yep. Call it a hunch."

"I know another name for it."

Wolverine started down the hall. "Well, I'll see you around, Jean."

"Logan."

He turned to face her.

"Be careful out there."

"You to, Jean." He turned to leave again.

"Logan."

Again, he stopped and turned around. "Yeah."

"You can call me Red if you want."

A smirk edged his face. "Thanks, Red."

Jean watched him walk down the hall and out of sight.

-X-

Miles away, Wolverine's departure was closely observed.

"Data log: This is Department H lookout point Alpha. Target: Xavier Institute. Mission: gather strategic information on inhabitants. I will ensure that the next time these mutants engage Department H...

...we will be ready for them."

Coming Up:

Episode V: A Woman Scorned