A/N - Welcome back, if you're returning ... if you're new, sorry, but you're gonna want to go back and read the entirety of 'What Billy Saw' before attempting this one. THIS, my dear, is the continuation of that story and won't make a damn bit of sense without that whole monster for context. But ... it's free entertainment. We (robbiepoo2341 and myself) simply ask that you review should you find entertainment in it. A word to the wise, however: combative, purely negative or childish attempts to belittle or berate the authors or to generally just act like an anonymous fuckwit will end with you being blocked entirely. Other than that - please, enjoy.
Chapter 1 - Out of Time
In the 714 Marvel universe, where the Demiurge currently lives and has been keeping an eye on several different realities where he and his friends have interfered…
"You've been worryingly distracted all day, and I'm starting to wonder if I need to call someone or… something."
Billy looked up, and the galaxies that had, until that point, been swirling in his eyes finally came to a stop. He winced into a smile and held his hands out to his sides. "Sorry."
Teddy smiled and came to sit down beside his husband, reaching out to hold his hand and then to pull him into a long kiss. "Seriously," he said when the kiss broke, "anything we should be worrying about? You looking at our future or someone else's? Are we adopting another lost little girl? Not that I'm opposed, obviously…"
Billy chuckled and squeezed Teddy's hand. "Nothing like that," he said.
"Shame."
Billy laughed out loud and pulled Teddy into another kiss and then rested his head on Teddy's shoulder. "I'm just keeping an eye on a few dimensions," he admitted.
"Yeah, I know," Teddy said, smirking. "That's my husband: trying to save the multiverse all by himself."
"Not all by myself," Billy said, knowing that was a point of contention. "I ask for help… you know… sometimes."
"When you remember," Teddy said, and though his tone was teasing, there was real exasperation in it, considering the extremely close calls that Billy was prone to having when he went to another dimension without telling anyone where he was going.
"I brought backup the last time I went to the one I'm looking at right now," Billy defended himself.
But that actually had Teddy's attention, and he turned so that Billy wasn't on his shoulder anymore; he wanted to look Billy in the face. "Which time?"
Billy sighed. "Remember when I grabbed Logan and then had to snag K to deal with that rotten dimension where Graydon Creed had gotten a lot of X-Men killed?"
Teddy frowned. "The one where you had to bring in Logan so Scott didn't get himself killed? Yeah, I can see why you'd be keeping an eye out."
"Exactly."
"And your eyes are swirling again, so I'm assuming you're taking another trip," Teddy said in a tired sigh.
"Actually…" Billy blew out his breath through his cheeks. "I'm trying to decide if I should step in." He looked down at his hands, one of which was twisted in Teddy's. "You know I try not to step in too much…"
"Yeah, but you're staring at nothing more often than not, and I miss you, gorgeous."
Billy smirked and then leaned over to kiss Teddy. "You make a good point," he said. "Maybe I should stay here… and if things go too far astray…"
"I think they can handle it," Teddy said and kissed him again.
"Yeah, probably," Billy said, letting Teddy "convince" him with kisses… while using one hand to weave a quick spell to do a little interference anyway without having to go to that dimension himself.
Back in the universe we know and love…
Scott only had to make it through a few more hours before he could go home, and he was counting each minute, especially with Annie gone. He'd already had his hearing before the judge. He'd already packed up. He just needed to wait until the morning, when Wanda would come by to officially release him.
It was always harder when the end was in sight, wasn't it?
He was having a hard time sleeping, of course, though he had tried - if for no other reason than that he wanted to give Annie the attention she deserved when he went home. So of course - of course - when he had long ago given up on the idea of sleep and was pacing and waiting for sunrise, he turned in his pacing and saw Sinister standing there, looking genuinely harried.
"We're out of time."
"That tracks." Scott pinched the bridge of his nose and looked toward the window, which hadn't shown any sign of morning light yet. "I need another hour. Wanda will be here at sunrise. I can't go anywhere else without forfeiting years of my life and my chance to be there with my family going forward."
"Fine," Sinister said without any argument at all before he started pacing, trying to decide what to do with himself. "I'll be back."
Scott raised both eyebrows but didn't comment, not when he was getting what he needed. "Fine," he said. He paused. "Where's Nate?" he had to ask, knowing his youngest figured heavily in Sinister's plans.
"I don't know," Sinister replied. "Likely with his family."
"I'll call him and let him know what's happening," Scott said.
"He doesn't know all of what's happening - and he shouldn't until we can come to an agreement," Sinister said. "You have a part to play that isn't simply support."
Scott frowned and crossed his arms. "I already told you I don't want or need you to change anything about me. And you said yourself we're out of time."
"We're out of time, but we have time to adjust that," Sinister said before he double-checked his pocketwatch. "Everything should be ready soon. But we have a limited window."
"Then let's not waste our time," Scott said. "I haven't had my powers in years."
"And we need you to have them now," Sinister said. "We cannot hope to win without all those involved giving everything."
"You're not listening," Scott said. "I haven't used them in years; this is not a fight to be stumbling into with new powers."
"This is not a fight to attempt half-way," Sinister countered.
"And you're expecting me to trust you, knowing your track record with this guy in particular, right before he's about to come back?"
"I'm not the one who's been doing the preparations for this surgery, Scott."
Scott paused. "...what."
Sinister smirked, but only slightly. He knew he'd cornered Scott, bringing in James like that. And that was only part of why he'd done it."There is a certain … distance granted by not actively being the one preparing," he said.
"That's why you've been pushing James so hard the past few weeks," Scott said in a breath. He ran his hand through his hair. "You can't possibly - this isn't - god, I can't trust you."
"He'll be there the whole time," Sinister said.
Scott was quiet for a long time and went back to pacing, his hair sticking up in places where he had run his hands through it too many times. He almost wanted to agree, because he knew Apocalypse would take everything they had, every person they had. But it was an impossible choice, gaining the ability to be part of the end of Apocalypse but trading his ability to see his and Annie's child in living color, trading the sight he'd had for so long.
Sinister let out a huff of breath when he could see Scott still deliberating. "If you truly can't stand the idea of what I am proposing, then I'll have to do as I always do and start working on the next options."
"I'm just weighing what I'm giving up," Scott told him, irritated.
Sinister took a moment to watch him, but instead of pushing, he looked resigned to it as he took a step back. "Then I'll see you at dawn to hear what you've decided."
"What, no demands or threats?" Scott asked. He wasn't concerned, but it was so out of character that he knew Sinister wasn't holding up like usual - and that alone was enough to have him considering agreeing, because it meant Apocalypse was likely coming soon.
"I don't have time to argue."
Scott frowned, watching him carefully. "What's the next plan?" he asked - purely because he couldn't resist getting all the information he needed.
"One that you do not factor into at all."
"I figured. What's the next plan? If this procedure fails, you'll need it. So tell me."
"The procedure won't fail."
"And if it does?"
"If it does, your son is dead," Sinister said frankly. "He's too powerful for Apocalypse to allow to live with any thought of resistance."
Scott stopped pacing, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He knew what Annie had pulled from Kate's mind, the terror that Kate and Nate were dealing with because Sinister had told Nate that their son was his next focus if Nate failed. And as he thought of that, he felt the same odd peace settle over him that had come over him when he'd told Logan that they couldn't stop Graydon Creed. There was one good path, and once again, it was the one where he let someone take his sight.
"Okay," Scott said - incredibly soft.
"Are you sure?"
"No. But I'll do it anyway."
"Dawn, then."
"Dawn." Scott watched as Sinister disappeared, and as soon as he was gone, Scott sank down to sit on the couch, putting his head in his hands.
He genuinely didn't even note the passage of time until he heard the whooshing sound of magic as Wanda arrived, and, belatedly, he tried to arrange his expression into one that indicated this was a good morning. He was about to be done with his house arrest. That was a good thing.
"If you've decided to stay in Genosha, at least let me find you somewhere better to stay," Wanda said as she watched Scott try to shore himself up.
"No, no," he said quickly. "Sorry, Wanda; this place is beautiful outside these walls, but I miss home."
"Of course you do," she agreed. "So why are you so low?"
"Sorry. Didn't sleep," Scott said - which was true. He pressed his mouth into a smile and, to cover, got up and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you for everything this last year."
"My pleasure," she said as she held on tightly. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm always fine," Scott said. He cleared his throat and stepped back from her. "So, what's the procedure here? What do you need me to do?"
"Well, I'll take the device off. From there, it's up to you. I can send you directly to Annie or one of the kids - whatever you think you would like most, or you can take all the time you like to consider your packing skills and let me know when you're ready to go."
"I think I've got a ride; I just need to get in touch with them," Scott said. "But I'll give you a call if my son is too busy with his family, I'm sure."
"Alright, if that's what you'd like to do …"
"Yeah." Scott took a deep breath and let it out, pausing. She deserved to know as much as possible, but he couldn't tell her much. "I know you know some of what Nate's been working on right now, right?" he said pointedly.
"Precious little," she said. "But … yes."
He gave her a tight smile. "Time to suit up, Wanda," he said simply.
"Just tell me where you'd like me to be," Wanda said. "What can I do?"
Scott nodded, standing taller without realizing it simply with the chance to do something, even if it was only direction. "The school's going to be a target. We both know it. I need you to get everyone there who doesn't need to be in this kind of fight and take them here, to safety."
"... and reinforce our defenses," Wanda finished.
"Exactly. I know you're an alluring target too, but I trust you and your family to keep this island secure," Scott told her frankly.
"I'll get started," she promised.
"Thank you." He paused. "They'll hate it, but if you could get Annie, Kate, and David… I know Kate's back on the team, but David needs her. And Annie's a noncombatant."
"I'll have it taken care of," Wanda said.
"Thank you." Scott let his shoulders drop and reached out to put his hand on her arm. "When this fight is over, remind me that I owe you an explanation."
"I'll probably figure it out by then," she said with a wink. "Give 'em hell, Scott."
Mia had just finished her second week of classes in Genosha, and she had gone back home to Westchester for the weekend. She had adjusted to Genosha time by then, so she was awake well before anyone else was, but Noh didn't seem to mind when she woke him up with kisses and suggested that they go out for breakfast.
"There is a place a few miles away with the fluffiest pancakes," Noh told her, still half asleep and with his eyes closed as she kissed him.
"Sounds great," Mia said, smirking when Noh didn't move and even reached out to pull her into the bed with him, snuggling into her back with his nose until she giggled.
"Of course," he said, slowly, smiling into her back, "we don't have to leave immediately."
"You make a good argument," Mia said, wrapping her tail around his ankle and snuggling into him deeper. "But you did tell me about some fluffy pancakes…"
"I did. I promised you something wonderful and then got lost in selfish desire," Noh said - still without moving.
Mia laughed. "I love when you get like this."
He smirked and snuggled in a bit deeper. "And I love you, Mia Wagner. And I am also very tired."
"We can get coffee with our pancakes," Mia suggested, and Noh smirked and finally shifted to get out of bed.
It took them a bit to get ready to go, if only because they were both in flirty moods, and it seemed like half the time, if one of them was pulling clothes on, the other was there to pull them off again. But eventually, they were dressed - shoes and all - and stealing kisses before Noh picked Mia up and ran her out to the cafe he had mentioned.
It was a lovely way to wake up, honestly. Mia told Noh everything about her classes and about how much she was looking forward to her first semester of college, and he wanted to hear everything about it. Even though his specialty was in a different universe of science, literally, he knew enough to know what to ask. And she was more than happy to gush.
And Noh, for his part, couldn't stop smiling at her, listening to her speak with such passion that she got lost in it. When their food arrived and she paused in her gushing to eat, he reached out and grabbed her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles as she looked up to meet his gaze.
"What's that look for?" she asked, and he smiled wider.
"Nothing," he said. "I just like to see you smile."
"Flirt."
"Always."
Mia laughed and went back to her pancakes, still riding the high of a great morning after a good week at school. And every time she looked up at saw him smiling, she grinned even more.
She had a really good feeling about this semester.
By the time they got out of the cafe, they were both obviously thinking the same thing - that they wanted to find somewhere private and act on the good mood that had surrounded both of them. Which made it all the more surprising, then, when Mia stood on her toes to kiss Noh and he stopped her with a hand between them, frowning and with his head tipped to the side.
"What's wrong?" Mia asked, matching his frown, her tail still behind him because she recognized that look - it meant trouble.
"I thought I heard…" Noh trailed off, his focus still elsewhere. And then, he simply picked her up and zipped off with her, setting her down only once they'd stopped at the shores of a lake.
"What was that all about?" Mia asked, dusting herself off. Then, she narrowed her eyes. "Are you on an errand?"
"No, nothing like that," Noh said, though his frown was deeper than ever. "...maybe," he amended, because he didn't recognize the shores of the lake where they were standing. And he hated not knowing if he had simply run them to a beautiful spot or if this place had been picked for him.
He closed his eyes to meditate and to check his mental defenses, but almost as soon as his eyes were closed, he knew this wasn't Sinister. Even if he wasn't very good at keeping Sinister out of his mind, the one thing he and Rachel had done was ensure that he knew when Sinister had been there. And in the absence of a glowing red trail, Noh knew this was something new.
When he opened his eyes, Mia was standing there, her tail switching behind her, an open expression parting her lips before she asked: "Well?"
"I don't see any new tampering," he said, and she let out her breath in relief. "But," he said, and she frowned, "I am deeply unaccustomed to running from a fight, especially one that I have not at least tried my hand at."
"You think maybe you're not supposed to be around whatever you just heard?" Mia guessed.
"Maybe," Noh said, though he frowned as he thought of the comparisons Sinister had run between him and James. He hadn't known everything, but he had gathered that Sinister believed he was a good choice for… something. And yet neither he nor James seemed anything but reluctant to be part of that something. And so, Noh couldn't help but wonder if this wasn't a case of protecting his own safety but of, possibly, slowing down whoever was coming.
"Well," Mia said, looking around and seeing no immediate danger, "that was kind of a rotten way to kill the mood."
Noh smirked at that and pulled her into a long kiss. "I would like very much if this man had absolutely no sway over our moods," he said.
Mia grinned at that and let him pull her into an even longer kiss, grinning with her arms around his neck and some water swirling around their ankles as they tried to get back to where they'd left off. This time, they weren't sharing in each other's good moods as much as they were trying to forget about all the drama of the moment, but the end result was the same, and they were laughing as Mia toppled Noh backward into the lake and he caught her and kept her there.
They stayed at the lake for the rest of the morning, and it wasn't until they were ready to get lunch that they even thought about heading back. They'd both needed the reset, and they were both enjoying themselves again as they pulled their now-sopping-wet clothes back on.
So, of course, that was when someone stepped out of the nearby trees. Tall and broad and depressingly familiar, Noh instantly recognized some of the Marauders he'd seen working with Sinister. And seeing as Noh absolutely wasn't in the mood to deal with anything related to Sinister at the moment, he rushed the two Marauders and grabbed one to slam him into the other with a resounding crack, moving faster than either could respond and breaking bones with the collision.
And Mia could feel the wind picking up around her as she realized what was happening. She couldn't move as fast as Noh did, but she doubted that those two Marauders were the only ones around; Sinister knew Noh could deal with them easily. So, she pulled her shoes on and looked around, watching for the rest of their attackers as the waves of the lake got bigger with her wind.
She saw several more Marauders coming toward Noh, but she couldn't see Sinister. And Noh wasn't holding his head or slowing down; if anything, he seemed to be taking his time, plowing into the Marauders and taking them apart as they tried to surround him.
She didn't begrudge him his chance to let out a little frustration, but she didn't trust it, either. Sinister knew what he was capable of, so why send Marauders after him who weren't attacking with sound or telepathy?
Mia narrowed her eyes as clouds rolled in overhead, and she teleported around the forest, looking for the rest of the trap that she knew was about to be sprung on Noh.
She found what she was looking for - but it wasn't who she expected. Instead of the tall, vampire-like man that had been haunting Mia and her friends, she teleported almost directly into a huge man, gray and terrifying and with eyes that seemed to see right through her into her mind as soon as they locked gazes.
Mia's tail went straight up behind her, and she reacted without thinking, letting the wind swirl around her to yank her back and away from this newcomer - at least until she could learn more about him and why he was there with Sinister's lackeys.
But as soon as this man saw her riding on the wind, he smiled - or close enough to it - and then met her gaze again. She could feel her breath caught in her chest, and every instinct in her body screamed at her that she was in danger.
But she couldn't move.
She let out a little sound of fear from the back of her throat - not anything that anyone with normal hearing would have picked up on, but then, her boyfriend didn't have normal hearing. And he was currently hyper-aware of everything, because, like Mia, he didn't trust the fact that this fight seemed different to the usual ones.
But while Mia could see out of the corner of her gaze that Noh had switched from punishing the Marauders to trying to finish his fight fast, she found that she couldn't look away from the man in front of her. She was frozen as he walked toward her and couldn't do anything but wince away as he took her face in one hand.
Her chest was already heaving with nerves purely because of how close he was to her, but then, she could feel something sharp as her mental defenses were breached, and it was like everything about her was pulled to the forefront of her mind for this man to peruse.
This man saw everything, from the way she had felt so deeply isolated as a kid to the fear she still carried with her when she was out and about with an inducer to the desperate need for the X-Men to work so that she didn't end up living as she had seen Warren live growing up: hiding because there was no place for him.
The longer this man lingered on those memories, the more that desperation filled her throat, until she felt like she was choking on it. And now, the sharp sensation that had filled her mind during the assault was sending tingles down her spine; she could feel daggers in her blood and knew that something was happening - she just didn't know what.
And then, the physical connection between Mia and the newcomer was severed - because Noh had thrown the unconscious, badly bleeding body of a Marauder at the man and had rushed toward them, yanking the big man away from Mia, who was still reeling and panting, utterly lost in her own mind and struggling to blink back into the present.
She watched, almost through a haze, as Noh drew back a hand full of nails lengthened into claws and slashed at the large man, though from their positions on the ground, Mia couldn't see how much damage Noh had done. It must not have been much, because the man hit Noh in return hard enough to send him practically flying backward until he hit a tree hard enough to snap the tree in half.
"Noh!" Mia tried to shout his name, but it came out as more of a croak. She shook her head, trying to dispel the fuzziness in her mind as she watched the top of the tree come down on Noh and saw him tuck into himself to avoid getting too badly hurt. That hit had knocked the wind out of him - and that alone spoke to the caliber of villain facing the two of them.
The big man got to his feet, his eyes narrowed as he headed toward Noh, but that was enough for Mia to break free of the fuzz and to teleport to her boyfriend, reaching out to give him a hand up while he was still reeling.
"Watch out!" Noh gasped as soon as he was upright - and he tossed her out of the way of another blow.
She went flying backward but teleported before she would have hit a tree; he'd thrown her hard enough that it would have hurt if she'd hit anything, but also hard enough that she was completely clear of the big man's fury.
Noh took another solid hit, but he had seen it coming. Even as he was doubled over, the breath completely out of him, he grabbed onto their attacker's arm and embedded several fingernails in his arm and detonated them. The explosion blew them away from each other, but while Noh was still gasping in a breath, this man seemed to shake it off. He stuttered a step, but he just kept going.
The man drew back for another hit, but Noh threw up both of his arms, crossed above him, to block that hit. The smack of the hit rang out through the trees, and Noh let out a hiss as he grinned up at his opponent, blue blood on his teeth.
And then, they locked eyes, and Noh felt the same sharp sensation traveling through his mind and down his spine that Mia had felt before. It stopped him in his tracks and left him shuddering, his chest heaving as, like Mia, he found his mind torn open - particularly the places where Midas had found footing as well as the command centers that his people had put into his mind.
Noh fell to one knee even as this huge man put his hand to his forehead and send a wave of pain through Noh, his voice rumbling through the forest as well as through Noh's mind: "Impatient. You will serve at my side, but this will happen in the proper order."
Noh let out a sound of sheer pain, holding onto the man's arm out of an instinct to to relieve his pain. And seeing Noh so badly hurt, Mia teleported to him, meaning to grab him and get out of there when they were so obviously losing the fight.
But as soon as she was within the man's grasp, he snagged her by the arm, letting Noh sink the rest of the way to the ground still shuddering. When the wind kicked up around them both, he smiled grimly and put his hands on either side of her head, filling her mind with all the desperation he had unlocked before as well as the buried-but-not-nonexistent hatred she had battled with her entire life that she felt toward everyone who had forced her into a life of hiding and fear.
And underneath it all, she could feel herself changing. She could feel electricity crackling under her skin. It was as if this man had suddenly unlocked everything she would have learned from years of practice with her weather powers - and more.
And all she could think about i that moment was how good it would feel to use those powers. She almost didn't even notice Noh cry out as Apocalypse grabbed him before a portal opened up, and he ordered her through it.
Tommy had been ignoring the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach for a while now, but as he sat across from David at dinner, he was pretty sure there was no getting around it: as much as he liked David, and as much as he wanted to see where this relationship could go, David hadn't been looking at him the same way since they had gone to help Mia move into her apartment in Genosha.
But Tommy wasn't actually ready to let this drop, and he'd been stepping up his game, really. Going all out for dates. Really trying to be present.
Well, that last part would probably have been more believable if he hadn't been checking his phone at the moment. In his defense, it was from his Aunt Lorna. He'd been helping her deal with the acolytes since he was spending more time on Genosha while he was in school, and one of the guys he had helped bring in had just been found dead in his cell.
Tommy frowned at the text and then looked back up at David, who was also frowning. He cleared his throat and put his phone back in his back pocket. "Sorry. Work. You know how it is," he said carelessly.
"I don't, actually, but I get it." David was resting his chin on his hand, which was partially obscuring his mouth as he looked away. "Look," he said in a heavy tone that had Tommy bracing himself already, "this has been great. But you need to figure out how long you're gonna wait for Mia to come back to you."
Tommy grimaced and shook his head. "That's not fair."
"It's not," David agreed immediately. "But I'm not stupid, Tommy. And I'm not blind. And even if I were either of those things, I'd still know you're hung up on her."
Tommy fidgeted a bit and then swallowed. "Okay," he said, his tone tired and resigned.
"Okay?" David repeated.
"I mean, if I try to argue with you, I'm just gonna end up sounding stupid, right?"
"Probably."
"So… okay." Tommy looked down at his dinner plate and then cleared his throat. "I like you too, you know. For the record."
"Yeah." David also looked down at his food, leaving the two of them in incredibly awkward silence waiting for the waiter to get to their private booth.
They were on the roof of the restaurant with a gorgeous view, but that also meant that, when the storm clouds rolled in out of nowhere and lightning flashed overhead, both of them immediately knew the storm hadn't come naturally.
And when Tommy jumped to his feet, David let out a tired sigh and gestured to him with one hand, wordlessly.
"Look, it's not - it's just-" Tommy gestured a few times, as if that would help him find the right words, but that absolutely fell apart.
Thankfully, he did see something he could solve - he saw the outline of a person flying in the storm and waved to get Mia's attention. "Hey, who're we fighting?" he called out, more than ready to hit something. And whatever the problem was, it must have been big, seeing as Mia really only accessed her powers like that when she was upset.
Mia didn't even answer him as she flew toward him, which, again, spoke to how upset she was. Or, at least, that was what he thought until he saw that she wasn't dark blue anymore. She was jet black, and her eyes were glowing the same shade of white as his hair.
"...Mia?" Tommy was so caught up in staring at the dramatic changes in Mia that he almost missed it when someone approached him and David.
But he was only too aware of the fact that he was focused on Mia, and so, when someone was close to David, Tommy spun around fast and rushed the guy with a hard uppercut that should have knocked him out immediately. He didn't even get a good look at the guy before he swung on him - but then, when he was still standing and had only stumbled back a step from Tommy's hit, barely fazed otherwise, Tommy looked up to see a stern gray face and a glare that immediately had him on edge.
"Let's get out of here," David said, his eyes wide, reaching out to grab Tommy's arm, though no sooner had he touched Tommy than their attacker reached out and slammed his arm across the back of David's head, sending him sprawling and already badly bleeding from his forehead.
"David!" Tommy zipped over to check on him, and when the huge man nearby tried to stop him, Tommy swore at him and threw out a wave of vibrations that knocked the guy off his feet, giving them enough space that Tommy could check on David. Make sure he wasn't hurt badly.
As Tommy crouched down to do exactly that, their attacker regathered himself and snatched Tommy up by the back of his shirt, lifting him off the ground entirely before he made contact with Tommy's bare skin by grabbing his arm first. Once he'd made sure Tommy couldn't run off, he took a hold of his head as he searched through Tommy's mind, measuring out his potential - and finding ways to twist it.
The poor little prince. The one always in second place no matter how fast he runs. The spare. Even in his own estimations of himself.
Tommy knew he was in trouble, so he tried to call for help, but he only managed to get out a quiet "mom-" before he interrupted himself with a scream instead as something sharp invaded his mind. And then, he was too consumed by it to call for help, trapped as his mind was filled with jealousy and anger and spite. And a need, above all else, to prove he was the one history would remember.
He could feel himself shifting; he felt like everything inside of him was vibrating. And he was so lost in it that he barely registered anything, even as a portal opened at the strike of a lightning bolt, and Mia followed him and their master through.
Apocalypse dropped Tommy as soon as the portal had closed, and he fell to his hands and knees, heaving in gasps and whimpers as whatever was happening to him truly took hold. Like Mia, he was changing physically, his eyes glowing a sickly green as his cheeks sank in.
Mia touched down and spared a glance toward Tommy, a frown playing at the edges of her mouth as she watched him shaking, gasping in pain. But her attention was stolen by another sound - a heavy thud as Noh threw himself against a sparkling bubble, falling back hissing when the bubble sparked at him.
"What have you done to them?" Noh demanded, even as he cradled his hand and waited for feeling to return to it.
"You'll see," Apocalypse replied as he started toward Noh. "I said you had to wait your turn."
Noh narrowed his eyes and settled into a fighting stance. "You have no idea the destruction you are calling down upon yourself."
"You've been so lost for so long."
Noh blinked, not at all expecting that response. "...what?"
"You've been without a purpose all the time you've been in this world - with no anchor to keep your feet on the ground. Nothing real to hold on to."
Noh opened his mouth and then closed it again, staring at Apocalypse. "I… I have a purpose," he said, though not even he sounded like he believed it.
Apocalypse took advantage of Noh's confusion, reaching through the stasis bubble to lay a hand on Noh's shoulder - then increased his grip as he took advantage of the gaps in Noh's mind that Rachel could never fill for him. The places where his crew had been. Where he had connected to his people. And with a few quick redirections, Apocalypse took all of that loyalty, all of that blind obedience, and pointed it in a new direction.
The last thing that James had expected of Sinister when he kicked him through that portal was to get up in an entirely empty lab. No one was there. No one was guarding. He was entirely alone with nothing but the box of equipment, chemicals, and samples to contend with. He spun around to see where he was and what was happening before he started to pick up all he had brought - then let out a tired sigh when he saw the note tucked into something Sinister had shoved at him before sending him through.
He shook his head, sure it was some kind of marching orders. And sure that it wasn't anything he wanted any part of. But when he saw what it was - and what it was going to make, he paused as he considered the note, then he washed up and got to work.
Sinister had left him a tall and cryptic order, and James could only see so many uses for the things Sinister was asking for. The headaches that plagued Sinister had only gotten far worse and far more frequent in the last several weeks. The past few days, Sinister had barely been able to get even the smallest tasks done. But this? Obviously a higher cause considering the samples in play.
But … some of the figures didn't look quite right, so as he distilled one solution and precipitated another, he took the time to check the math and adjust accordingly. He wished it hadn't been a shock to find that the instructions required a few more raw materials from the only donor James had access to. But, he got to work on that, too. Only one source for that regardless of where he was - it was just going to be harder when he had to collect it himself.
It was hard to manage, and incredibly painful, but also vital to the success of this procedure, so James got to work while biting down on a leather strap. He couldn't continue without a clean fresh sample of marrow anyhow. And when he was done, he took a moment to catch his breath while he healed - thankful that he was alone so that nothing further could be acquired as had happened in the past.
He'd just finished the clean up after starting to process his own samples when the portal opened and James looked up hoping that it was someone at least partially friendly.
But when all that happened was that more materials were thrown through, James's shoulders dropped. He started looking for his cell phone, which he quickly realized was missing entirely. Frustrated, he balled his hands into fists and mentally shouted for both of his siblings - only to find that projection simply wasn't working. Or if it was, they just couldn't hear him. Which meant he was stuck who knows where. Alone, in one of Sinster's private labs with literally nothing to do but to continue to work.
And still, the worst part was that he had no choice. He had to get to work. The formulas he had been told to create would take time to get perfect. They had to be flawless. So, instead of trying to find a way out of it, James let out a shaky breath, washed up, and went right back to work.