Disclaimer: Damn, I lost my allowance for hacking classes; anyone have any cash?
A/N: Okay, so it's only been something like two months. Nonetheless, much better than six months of a respite, so thanks for being patient and enjoy!
"…"- conversation
'…'- thoughts
(…)- extra facts/actions
'blah…' -telepathy/what people say mentally
Chapter 63: Rescuing Professor Xavier
Hallway #29, Asteroid Evolution, Orbit of the Moon, Milky Way Galaxy- May 17, 4:35 AM
Once everyone was inside Hallway #29, they were shocked that the pathway to Xavier's cell appeared clear. Granted, those who had been playing the roles of rescuer were wary. There had to be something there that they were missing... but what?
"This is excellent!" Bobby declared eyes glinting. "Rescuing the Professor'll be a piece of cake." He snapped his fingers to emphasize his point. Ray cocked an eyebrow, absolutely astounded that his team leader was this naïve… then again, he realized, Bobby was always like this.
"In case you're forgetting, Sir, the Professor is only like the most powerful telepath in the world!" Ray said countering Bobby's statement. X-Factor sighed, used by now to the seemingly endless arguments between the two young men. "Why in the hell would he be undefended?"
Bobby's mind blanked but he soon had an answer for his friend. "Because we're the best and no one can beat us?" Jubilee slapped her forehead in exasperation while the Brotherhood and Acolytes snickered. Blushing, Bobby snapped, "Well, then, prove me wrong!"
"Gladly," Jason replied and, closing his eyes he moved his hands in front of him, muttering some kind of chant. Upon receiving an odd look from the X-Sword Team, Leon and Opal sighed simultaneously.
"He likes to freak people out," Leon explained embarrassed that one of his team members was currently acting like a weirdo.
"We just ignore him," Opal added buffing her fingernails on her shirt absently.
After a few moments, Jason's eyes glowed bright blue and with a snap of his fingers a small array of obstacles appeared, causing a myriad of groans and curses to erupt from the mutants.
"Great, this is so what we need, an obstacle course," Bobby muttered sarcastically, glaring out of the corner of his eye at Erik. In Bobby's mind, it was obvious that Magneto had constructed it; otherwise, how in the hell would Mastermind have known it was there? He cursed as Jubilee hit him and asked, "What was that for, Jubes?"
Jubilee glared at him and replied, "For not remembering that we've encountered worse; this is going to be easy!" She then turned to Erik and asked, "Did you build this obstacle course yourself?"
Erik looked at the co-commander of the X-Factor and replied, "Unfortunately, Jubilation, I did not create this course. Apocalypse and his Horsemen must have done so while I was imprisoned and the rescues were taking place." Upon receiving odd looks from X-Sword, he further explained, "Apocalypse has the capability of manipulating time and space to his liking. It is entirely plausible that he could have created this obstacle course in a matter of hours; minutes, even, if determined enough."
Logan cursed and, turning to Remy asked, "Now what, Cajun?"
Remy turned to look at his fellow divine beings, eyes narrowed. After telepathically consulting with the others – Rogue in particular – he turned to Logan and, grinning lopsidedly replied, "We will go through it, bien sur."
Rogue nudged him hard, to which she got a wounded look that she pointedly ignored, despite the added puppy eyes he gave her. Deciding that she'd rather have her boyfriend in one piece, she took Remy's place as messenger and clarified, "We'll go through this like we do in tha Danger Room, 'cept in teams so tha' we can learn how ta get through with tha least amount of injury. Tha' fine with yah'll?" Upon getting nods of approval, she smiled and, turning to Lance, motioned him forward.
Lance stepped forward and volunteered Kitty and himself as the official guinea pigs. He added, "You guys'll watch us and study what we do carefully so that when you go there shouldn't be any nasty surprises. You ready, Kit-Kat?" Seeing his girlfriend's rather predatory smirk, he returned the favor and at his signal they unfurled their wings, ignoring the gasps and curses from everyone on seeing them reach their full wingspan of twelve feet from left to right.
Lance and Kitty stretched their wings a bit, getting used to how they moved and at a hidden signal took to the air. Circling the large group of mutants to get used to the sensation of flight, they moved quickly, maneuvering through the course as if it was merely water. The course consisted of metal arrows that flew out of the wall at any sign of movement, the tips coated in both a sleeping agent and a deadly poison; the two flyers dodged the arrows neatly. Next, two large metal fists came out of the wall, meeting in the middle; their quick movement almost ended up with Kitty's wings getting crushed but Lance pulled her out in time. Thirdly, a shield barrier manifested itself, causing the two mutants to halt in midair to examine the situation. Upon brainstorming an idea, they lengthened their claws and tore through the shield only to end up facing a wall that had a small opening at the top for people climbing over it. As Kitty slipped through, deadly metal spikes suddenly appeared, catching Lance's trench coat but not the male mutant himself who was phased through by his girlfriend.
The last obstacle was a magnetic field that somehow disabled Lance and Kitty's ability to fly, but rather than panic the two landed neatly and smirked at each other. They soon became a blur as the accessed their super-speed and sped past all of the metal disks and laser beams that attempted to target and kill them to reach the other side, where they stopped and caught their breath. Rather stupid grins covered their face as the adrenaline rush took over.
"Did you all see that?" Lance called back, and on hearing a rather loud and vehement curse from Logan grinned at Kitty. "They got it."
"Obviously," she grinned back glad that Lance had come up with the plan for them to go through first so that the others could see how the course operated.
Kitty closed her eyes and contacted Wanda telepathically. 'Do you guys have a game plan for getting through the course?'
'Well, Kitty, let's see… only a few of us can fly; Pietro, Remy, and Rogue are the only ones with super-speed; and we don't have all of your amazing abilities… so no, I don't have a plan.' Sarcasm dripped from each word.
Kitty relayed Wanda's answer to Lance who frowned, trying to think of a solution to the problem. He snapped his fingers, and, jumping into the telepathic conversation said, 'Here's what you do: two large groups, with Lorna and Erik split up. Pietro and Remy go into one group, Rogue in the other. Toss Ororo, Tyne, and Brittany with Rogue's group and you, Sean, and Warren in the other. Move quickly and tell the group leaders – Ororo for one and Bobby for the other – to listen for directions on how to get through the course with minimal injuries and loss of time. That way, we'll get it done quickly. Sound good?'
Wanda relayed the message to John, Remy and Rogue who, after a brief discussion nodded in agreement. Wanda took command off the large group of mutants – despite some mild protests that were quickly dealt with – and spilt them into groups. The end results were: Ororo's group contained the elder X-Men, Amanda, Erik, Rogue, Tyne, Brittany, the Brotherhood, Acolytes, and the Morlocks while Bobby's contained Remy, Forge, Warren, Betsy, Wanda, John, Sean, Moira, the X-Factor and X-Sword teams.
She ignored the mumbling of rebellion from some of the X-Factor members and sent a glare at Jean, who had opened her mouth to complain about the team arrangements, particularly the fact that she wasn't helping to lead. Deciding to prove how serious she was that her orders be followed, her hand lit up with a flare of blue magic, at which Jean gulped and decided it was better to perform a tactical retreat on this issue.
At Lance's command, Ororo's group took off, with the Weather Witch and Tyne in eagle form providing aerial reconnaissance. Britt translated her team leader's squawks into understandable words.
As they came upon the darts, Erik threw out his arms, eyes narrowed in concentration. A rather large and powerful magnetic shield emerged to block all of the arrows from hitting their marks. It was a different kind of feeling, many thought, to be protected by Magneto's magnetic shield rather than fight against it. Piotr, who'd once more donned his armor and Fred ran on the outside of the group to ensure that no darts made it past the shield or them to harm the others.
The second obstacle had Ororo asking Jean to hold the metal fists back long enough for the others to get through, and as the redhead did this she was surprised to see Piotr and Fred helping her out, to ensure that she wasn't harmed.
'Maybe I was wrong about them,' the powerful telepath thought to herself some of the seemingly endless anger she'd been harboring evaporating.
As they came upon the shield barrier, Opal shot bullets of adamantium out of her fingers as Logan cut through with his claws, enabling the group to move through it and onto the next obstacle without a problem.
When they reached the giant wall, Lance told Ororo that unless they wanted to risk puncture wounds by metal spikes, another method had to be found, plus there was no way in hell that Fred and Piotr would be able to fit through the opening. Kitty jumped into the conversation and told the two large mutants to rush the wall, which they did and created a large opening that the rest of the group ran through in no time at all. What shocked the team was that once they were all through, the wall rebuilt itself, closing the hole so that it seemed as if it had never existed.
'Devious,' Lance thought admiringly, hating to admit that Apocalypse's genius was shining. 'Brilliant, even.'
The final obstacle reared up and even though Erik tried for minutes to shut down the magnetic field, nothing worked, not even when sweat poured down his face. Erik finally gave up, muttering a few curses in Yiddish, causing raised eyebrows all around. Thinking quickly, Kitty suggested that Ororo and Rogue combine their powers to create a wind barrier that would allow the group to pass through the barrier unscathed. As the barrier was formed, Amanda chanted a few small incantations and sent her powers into the barrier, strengthening it even more. Kitty's plan worked as the mutant group ran through the magnetic field, breathing a sigh of relief as they reached the other side, exchanging high-fives in the process. Now, group two had to make their move.
Bobby's team ran into the course, and as her father had done, Lorna used her powers to stop the metal arrows from hitting the mutants on the ground. Warren provided air support, his own metal feathers knocking any stray arrows away from Lorna's face so as to protect her and the rest of the mutants.
The metal fists were easily destroyed by a combination attack from Tabby and Sam, both of whom smirked as metal parts flew away from them thanks to Lorna. However, once the group was past this obstacle, they were shocked as the metal fists rebuilt themselves as the wall had done previously, shocking the two blonds.
The shield appeared in front of them without warning, with Lexie taking to the front line. Her adamantium claws glistened as they attacked the shield, with Jubilee, Amara, and Ray providing support. After a few minutes the shield flickered and died, allowing the group to head through it.
They then encountered the wall and, realizing that it would rebuild itself after any attack that struck it, the group paused to think of a strategy. John snapped his fingers and, stepping up to the plate called on flames that flickered into existence from out of nowhere. Of course, to those who knew that he needed fuel cells and lighters to create fire felt their jaws hitting the ground at John's actions.
Smirking wildly, John threw massive fireballs at the wall, aiming for the same spot where Fred and Piotr had rammed the wall previously. After a few minutes, a ragged hole opened up, to which Bobby whooped in excitement. Running past John, he donned his ice armor and sent large streams of frozen liquid at the hole, creating an ice arch. This way, something was holding the arch up, preventing the wall from reforming and also serving double duty to ensure that hot metal wouldn't drip onto the mutants. He then ushered the team through, waiting until everyone was accounted for previous to his running underneath his creation. Not minutes after he successfully emerged onto the other side of the wall, the ice arch cracked and the wall reformed.
The magnetic field, like it had done with Erik prevented Lorna's powers from being of use. However, Betsy discovered a simple solution to getting through the field without a massive amount of wasted time. Seeing how big of a shadow the group cast together she closed her eyes and, concentrating, moved them all through the shadows until they ended up in front of Lance, Kitty, and the first group. As she opened her eyes she ended up leaning against Warren, her energy spent at the large task that she'd just completed. Aaron, figuring that it was the least he could do gave her a bit of his own energy, to which he got a large smile of thanks from the British telepath.
Lance and Kitty, smirking, gave each other high-fives on a job well done, to which the rest of the mutants smiled in return. Turning, the large group of mutants headed towards Xavier's cell, which was much larger than the others. However, it contained more things than just the Professor; a large machine was placed against the steel wall, wires and buttons flashing everywhere. A headband of some sort was fashioned onto his head. Xavier's eyes were closed and he appeared to be concentrating on something.
"Professor!" Jean yelled, moving to run to her mentor. Scott's grip on her wrist, however, had her stopping suddenly. Turning around, she had some nasty words on the tip of her tongue before she saw her husband shake his head and point towards Erik, who was striding towards the cell eyes expressionless.
Erik stopped in front of the cell and without turning around stated, "There is a shield in place around Charles that keeps anyone without the capability to manipulate magnetic fields out. I made sure of this myself." Raising his hands, he placed them on the bars of the cell, which glowed pale purple, showing the location of the shield of which he had just spoken. Closing his eyes, he concentrated and slowly dismantled the shield. Once done, he tore a hole in the metal bars and moved so that he was standing next to Xavier, sorrow on his features.
"I'm sorry, Charles, for having done this to you," Erik said manipulating the metal headset off of the Professor while destroying the machine as well. The black flames that erupted were quickly snuffed out by John.
Rogue stepped forward and, kneeling in front of Xavier reached out with both hands to touch his temples. Closing her eyes, she transferred her energy to the man who had made such a difference in not only her life, but others as well. Once done, she stepped back to give him some breathing room, only to retreat into Remy's open arms after a moment of thought, drawing comfort from him as she did so.
After a few moments of baited silence, Xavier groaned and, lifting a hand to his head, opened his eyes only to see his former friend Erik, minus the helmet – which he had personally always thought a bit ridiculous – kneeling in front of him, sapphire eyes haunted with guilt.
"Magnus?" Xavier asked not sure if what he was seeing was actually true... and hoping that it wasn't a dream.
"Charles, it has been a long time since we were in a position like this, am I correct?" Erik spoke, and upon seeing Xavier nod in response continued, "I am here to say that we need to combine forces to defeat the ultimate evil. The Ancient One has returned and is planning to continue that which he began a decade ago. The difference this time is that we are at full strength and can battle him as one large team." He paused then plowed on, "I must also confess that I was originally part of his plan, with my task being that I was to somehow give him the necessary keys to turn humans into mutants as the Eye of Ages is not present in this timeline. Therefore, I stole the plans to Cerebro in an effort to please, but no more. I vow to attempt to see possibilities for human-mutant co-existence... or, at the very least, not attempt to rule the world once more. We must defeat Apocalypse now, no matter the cost." Erik looked at Xavier, willing him to believe him, and when Xavier, with tears in his eyes, reached for Erik's hand and shook it firmly Erik smiled the lines and worries from previous years vanishing.
"It is good to have you back, old friend," Xavier said, ecstatic that he had his best friend back. He then watched as Erik got to his feet and stepped out of the way only to reveal yet another surprise: Legion. His son looked like he'd rather be anywhere else than in front of him, something which Xavier was, in all honesty, not that surprised at believing.
"Legion?" Xavier questioned, head tilted to the side out of curiosity.
Lucas looked up at hearing his name and responded, "Aye, it's me. Ay'm, well, Ay'm sorry for all tha' Ay did to ye and mum… just wanted to say tha' Ay'm not angry with ye anymore. Ay'm angrier at meself for lettin' tha' Egyptian reject influence me for the good part of ten years. Ay, Ay hope tha' ye can forgive me." Lucas then bowed his head, allowing Xavier the opportunity to see that he was bowing down not only to his wisdom and power, but the Professor's status as his father, something which Xavier had been positive he'd never see in this lifetime.
Xavier slowly moved his wheelchair over to Lucas and, placing his hands in their customary "steeple" position declared, "Of course I forgive you, Legion. I am just glad to know that you have seen the error of your ways and decided to live the life I knew you could always live." Lucas' head shot up at these words and when he saw his father smiling warmly at him grinned back and it was in this way that father and son made up, with the request that he be called "Lucas" instead of "Legion" readily agreed upon.
Xavier then turned around and as he wheeled outside of the cell was shocked to see the large coalition of mutants waiting to welcome him back. They were even all awaiting his orders; even Callisto and her Morlocks, with Evan at the head, were waiting for the words they knew he would say.
"I am glad to see that everyone, no matter their team affiliation, is safe and sound. We must move quickly; Apocalypse is going to strike soon and we need to soundly defeat him before his plans succeed." Xavier's smile faltered when he saw that the X-Factor team wasn't complete. Rolling over to Bobby, concern shining in his eyes he asked, "Bobby, I don't sense Roberto among your ranks. Where is he?"
X-Factor looked at each other and at some type of silent signal parted to let Rahne walk through, the Scottish mutant's accent thick. Tears still shone in her eyes. She looked the Professor before turning away, fists clenched at her sides so tightly that the iron tang of blood could be smelt.
"The thing is, Professor, that we do nae have any idea where Roberto is." Rahne's tightly clenched fists were beginning to shake from the amount of pressure that she was putting onto them.
Xavier frowned, eyebrows furrowing at this news. Concerned, he opened his mouth to make a statement about not giving up hope when Bobby stepped forward. Laying a reassuring hand on his teammate's shoulder he turned and stated, "Professor, we think that Magneto knows who the Horsemen are, so maybe he knows where Roberto is." Xavier looked over at Erik, who merely nodded in agreement with Bobby's statement. The older man walked over to Xavier, standing at his side to show that he was willing to submit himself to telepathic inquiry if necessary, a sign of sincerity in Jean's book.
"Robert is right," Erik said, gathering the attention of every mutant present. "My memory banks, though fuzzy earlier are now clear and from them I have knowledge concerning the identities of the Four Horsemen." Every mutant gathered, even the Morlocks were leaning forward in interest.
Erik took a deep breath before continuing, "The Horseman of Famine was Legion." At this, every head except four swiveled over to look at Lucas, who was ashamedly looking at his shoes. "He has broken free of Apocalypse's control," Erik persisted, ignoring the looks that swept from him to Lucas, "and is now a valuable partner in our battle. He helped rescue over half of you and defended you from danger in the hallways, leading you around this byzantine maze as if it was the back of his hand. For that, you should be more than grateful."
Lucas, deciding that it was about time he spoke out in his own defense stated, "It's true, Ay was the Horseman of Famine; however, Gambit and Rogue helped free me from Apocalypse's control. They deserve all the credit." Lucas then moved to Xavier's other side, supporting his father and all the wheelchair-bound man stood for with the simple action.
After that little spat was resolved (for the most part), Erik continued his speech. "The second Horseman, War, is Sabretooth. I have learned that Apocalypse resurrected him after Lance managed to kill him days, even weeks ago." At this information, Lance got incredulous looks, attesting to the fact that they now all held new respect for the ground-manipulator.
Erik's voice hardened as he named the next Horseman. "The third Horseman, Pestilence, is Mystique, turned only days ago."
Kurt and Rogue groaned, slapping hands to their foreheads simultaneously.
"Again?" Kurt mumbled, not at all surprised by this fact. Rogue sighed blowing a strand of hair out of her face in annoyance. Irony was such a big part of their lives nowadays that it wasn't surprising that Mystique was a Horseman once more.
Erik ignored the outbursts and continued, "The final Horseman, Death, is –"
The metal manipulator was interrupted by a sharp laugh, followed by the 'twang' of a metal arrow tipped in poison. Lorna, acting quickly managed to stop the arrow inches from her father's face. Following the arrow's supposed trajectory, the mutants turned away and faces turned to disbelief, shock, fear and anger.
"I do hope that you're talking about me, traitor," growled the Horseman of Death as he stood in front of the large crowd of mutants. Two black balls with flecks of orange and red revolving around them were positioned in his hands, both of them pulsing with energy. His face held both white eyes and mouth, the latter of which was currently twisted into a confident smirk.
Out of all the various teams, X-Factor was the most shocked at whom they were seeing, many of them rubbing their eyes in disbelief, hoping that it was merely an illusion. However, Rahne conveyed their feelings best when she pushed her way through the group of shocked mutants and stood at the front of them, tears rolling down her face.
"Roberto?" she asked, voice wavering with fear and shock at seeing her boyfriend in front of her, yet hearing her instincts screaming that the figure in front of her was notRoberto da Costa.
The Horseman spat on the ground, a small hole appearing where the refuse had landed, the action surprising those who saw it. Looking up, his eyes flashed bright orange and he snarled, "There is no Roberto here. There is merely the Horseman of Death."