Last Rook
Chapter 3
With Bishop still encased in ice, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four waited in the Four Freedoms Plaza for Professor X. Cyclops and the Human Torch continued keeping their distance from Bishop.
"Is he still alive in there?" the Thing asked.
"Yes, but I'm not sure how," Jean answered.
"It's something with the ice," Iceman said. "I can sense something happening. It's like Bishop is absorbing something from it."
"A small amount, perhaps; enough to keep him alive but not enough to do anything else," Storm guessed.
"A plausible hypothesis, Storm. Given what you all have described about your encounter with this clone, it is possible that he is able to seek out and absorb many kinds of energy. There must be some limitations, however; there is energy everywhere around us."
"He could drain the Human Torch and Cyclops," Mr. Fantastic noted. "Their energy blasts come from them, but the Invisible Woman creates energy fields. Bishop could only absorb energy already in existence and created by her, not from her. I'm guessing the same would be true for Storm and her ability to generate lightning bolts from her fingers."
"We will be able to learn more once Jean and I combine our telepathic powers to enter Bishop's mind and learn all we need to know."
Nearly an hour later, Professor X and Jean emerged from a private office, with Bishop by their side.
"Professor?" Gambit asked.
"It's all right, everyone," Professor said. "Jean and I have successfully reversed the conditioning imposed by Sinister. We changed Bishop's mind, and he's on our side now."
Cyclops noticed Jean's discomfort.
"I'm sorry . . . if I hurt any of you," Bishop said.
"Hey, nothing we can't handle. Nothing we haven't handled before, as a matter of fact," the Human Torch answered.
"As the Phalanx was attacking a while back, Sinister mentioned that the Phalanx had destroyed all his labs. It seems that he was lying. Bishop here was the first of the clones to develop at his home lab, one of two remaining."
"Do you know where the other one is?" Storm asked.
"Yes, and I will lead you there," Bishop replied.
"X-Men, go to the other lab and see what you can find. Be careful, Sinister might be there. I am exhausted; I will stay in New York and head back to the mansion. Jean?"
"I'm fine, Professor. I'll go with them."
"We will, too," the Invisible Woman said.
Later, the heroes arrived in northern Montana.
"I don't see anything," the Thing commented.
"Sinister's lab is likely underground," Storm said. A strong wind fell on the group. "I feel what the winds feel, and I detect a thin, but long opening up ahead."
Cyclops fired a blast where Storm pointed, creating an opening that uncovered the lab. The heroes advanced and examined the site.
Cyclops later approached Jean and looked at her, beckoning her to enter his mind.
"What's wrong?" Cyclops asked in his mind.
"The Professor wasn't entirely truthful before. We didn't change Bishop's mind by convincing him that Sinister was wrong. We didn't reverse the conditioning because there was nothing to reverse. We changed his mind by altering his thoughts, almost controlling him. I questioned this tactic . . ."
"You two did what you needed to protect everyone."
"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself as much as me."
Iceman went to a refrigerator.
"This place is maintained," Iceman pointed out. "There are blood samples here."
"He must be preparing for more cloning projects," Mr. Fantastic said.
"A correct observation," Mr. Sinister said, suddenly appearing. "I'd suggest that you live up to your name, Mr. Fantastic, but that is a rather obvious conclusion to make."
Mr. Sinister quickly shot beams from his hands, hitting Cyclops and the Human Torch to render them unconscious.
The other heroes advanced.
"Do not be so preoccupied by me that you will disregard the other threat here!" Sinister warned. His eyes glowed. "Bishop, destroy them!"
Bishop refrained from action, causing Mr. Sinister to look at Jean.
"Ah, Mrs. Summers, you are as talented as ever."
The Invisible Woman looked at Bishop expectantly.
"My pleasure," Bishop said in response to the silent suggestion. Bishop began to absorb energy from Mr. Sinister, weakening him. In a last-ditch effort, Sinister grabbed a long knife and tossed it at Bishop, though futilely as Jean telekinetically caught it.
Soon, Mr. Sinister was nearly unconscious. However, Bishop then fell to the ground. Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman tried to tend to him.
"What's wrong?" the Invisible Woman asked.
"It's a failsafe," Jean answered. "Sinister's trying to stay conscious and I'm reading his weakened thoughts. His energy is poisonous to Bishop. He did this to protect himself."
"We have to do something," the Invisible Woman said. She generated a force field and pressed it against Bishop, hoping that he could absorb it to stay alive.
"That won't help for long," Jean said.
"Find out how to fix Bishop," the Thing responded. "After all that work, Sinister's going to just let him die?"
"Sinister sees Bishop as a failed experiment. Bishop can't help Sinister with time travel. On top of that, Bishop unexpectedly destroyed one of Sinister's remaining labs and now has turned directly against him."
Iceman then encased both Bishop and Sinister in ice. "Bishop used the ice before. If he can't now, he's at least in some sort of stasis."
The X-Men and the Fantastic Four took Bishop and Sinister to the X-Mansion.
"Regretfully, there is nothing anyone can do or could have done to save Bishop," said Professor X. "We can take comfort that his short life permitted a significant achievement in the fight against evil, and I made sure that Bishop knew that before he died."
"What are we going to do about Sinister?" Gambit asked.
"I like the idea of keeping him on ice," Cyclops said.
"We do have a cryogenics chamber at our headquarters," Mr. Fantastic offered. "We could keep Mr. Sinister imprisoned there indefinitely."
"I think that's a good suggestion," Jean offered.
"I agree," Professor X said. "Iceman, will you help the Fantastic Four move Sinister to their building?"
"Sure thing, Professor."
"Then it's time to go," Mr. Fantastic said. "X-Men, it's been nice working with you."
"Until next time," Professor X answered.
The end. Thank you for reading.