X-Men: Come the Apocalypse (pt. 14) Author: Nathan Summers Date: 1997/12/04 Forum: alt.comics.fan-fiction Deep within one of the great pyramids of Egypt, Apocalypse's current stronghold... {Apocalypse}: I trust they defeated the Hounds? {Ozymandias}: Yes. {Apocalypse}: Are the Dark Riders ready? {Ozymandias}: Yes. {Apocalypse}: Good. Then-- There is someone else here! {Ozymandias}: You're right! A psionic mind bolt will have him out in a moment. What's this? Uhhhhhhh {Apocalypse}: Step out of the shadows! What have you done to my servant? {Man}: I simply reversed his psi blast. He took himself out. {Apocalypse}: What do you want with me here? {Man}: I've been keeping a close watch on you ever since my defeat. It was a simple matter to follow you around for a while, masking my presence from you. Where there were cameras, I destroyed them. And now, I wish to join you. {Apocalypse}: Hmmm? Most intriguing. I must confess, I havn't had many voluntarily join me. I sense great power within you, though. And great devotion. But still, I am no telepath. Please, enlighten me as to your identity. {Man}: My original name no longer has meaning. Now, I am called... Jacknife! Elsewhere... {Bishop}: Uhhhhh... Man, it feels like someone's been using my neck as a pincushion. Why's it so dark? Wait, I remember now! We were escaping from Mainframe and... no! Don't tell me it was all just a dream! We _had_ to have made it. We must have escaped! {Deathbird}: We did. {Bishop}: Deathbird? Is that you? {Deathbird}: Of course it is! {Bishop}: Then-- then we made it? {Deathbird}: Indeed. {Bishop}: Then why is it so dark? {Deathbird}: Because the lights are off. {Bishop}: Why? {Deathbird}: Because no one is here! {Bishop}: Oh. Where are they? Come to think of it, where are we? {Deathbird}: We are at your institute. The code you gave me apparently went through. I've only been awake for a few minutes myself, so I can't answer your first question. The sunroof above them explodes into shards of glass and a man in glistening red armor and a helmet floats down, legs straightened, side-by-side, and arms crossed with the palm of each hand on the opposite shoulder. All of the lights in the huge sub-basement flash on, one at a time. The lights weren't necessary to see the man in the vibrant attire. By the time he reaches the ground, the lights are all activated. We waits for Bishop's response. {Bishop}: I havn't seen that much light in a long time. It's taking my eyes some time to adjust. There now... umm, sorry if I'm a little dismayed. You were the absolute last person I expected to see here... Eric the Red! {Eric the Red}: Greetings! It seems class is out. {Bishop}: Indeed. I take it you're not Cyclops? {Eric}: Afraid not. {Bishop}: Afraid, are you? Well that means that you're Shakari, sent to kill us. {Eric}: Not quite. {Bishop}: Shakari sent here by Lilandra to help us? {Eric}: No. {Bishop}: I'm lost. Eric the Red takes off his helmet to reveal... none other than Magneto! To add to the suspense, he kept his arm over his face for a moment before looking up at them. {Bishop}: Magneto! {Magneto}: You did get one thing right. My name is Eric. {Bishop}: I should wipe that smirk off your face. But I'll at least let you explain yourself. What happened, Joseph? {Magneto}: I am not Joseph. Rather, Joseph is part of me. {Bishop}: Right. {Magneto}: While I was catatonic aboard that escape pod with Colossus, fleeing from the ruins of Avalon, something happened to me there. The radiation shields on the pod were damaged when Avalon was destroyed and did not protect us properly. Colossus managed to transform into steel before passing out, but I wasn't so lucky. The radiation reacted with my powers and body chemistry quite strangely. I was split into two separate beings. I awoke in Antarctica and managed to make my way to my former base there to recover. There, I constructed some robots and even repaired "Nanny." It was one of my originals. In fact, your teammates encountered Nanny while they were stranded in the Arctic. I-- {Bishop}: Cyclops, Cannonball, Phoenix, Wolverine, and Storm were stranded in the Arctic? {Magneto}: No. I meant the group that you were with. {Bishop}: But they died while trying to get through the stargate! {Magneto}: No they didn't. I, too, encountered them. {Bishop}: You lied to me! You told me that they had all perished! {Deathbird}: No, you don't understand! I thought they had died, you see. It was impossible for anyone else to survive that explosion. {Bishop}: Yet they did. {Deathbird}: I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to hurt you. {Bishop}: You are forgiven. At least you weren't withholding that information. Please be more optimistic next time. {Magneto}: Yes, well, now that that's settled-- {Deathbird}: You may continue. {Magneto}: (thinking) did I ask for your permission? Anyway, I exposed Gambit's dark secret because the others had a right to know and it was a quandary for the team. They all had a right to know. He has since been "kicked out" of the team. {Bishop}: Gambit's secret? {Magneto}: That can be discussed later. Anyway, I'm trying to earn their trust. Perhaps you can help me? {Bishop}: I still have a dew questions first. {Magneto}: I have no secrets. {Bishop}: Right. First, how did you get that armor? {Magneto}: It was a good disguise, so I constructed it myself. {Bishop}: Disguise? {Magneto}: It was necessary to hide my true identity so that everything would go well. The X-Men don't take to kindly to the likes of Magneto. So far, you are the only ones that know who I really am. {Bishop}: And why is that? {Magneto}: Because I want your trust. This facade was only necessary once. I will explain in more detail after your questions. {Bishop}: I see. Secondly, how come you're even up walking around? You said it yourself, that you were catatonic while escaping Avalon. {Magneto}: It was probably because of the shock of the separation. {Bishop}: Then thirdly, how did Joseph turn up in South America? Wearing clothes, for that matter? {Magneto}: That knowledge is still beyond me. Some outside force may have interfered. {Bishop}: Finally, Joseph is about twenty, right? Does that make you twenty years younger? {Magneto}: Yes. {Bishop}: Alright, then. Tell me why you're here. {Magneto}: During your absence, Apocalypse has once again risen to power. {Bishop}: _The_ Apocalypse. {Magneto}: THE Apocalypse. Your friends attempted to stop him before his master plan went into effect. I've secretly been trailing them. {Bishop}: Secretly, huh? {Magneto}: I know what you're thinking. I am only waiting for the right moment to make my presence apparent. {Bishop}: Go on. {Magneto}: To make a very long story short, all they managed to do was get themselves captured. Currently, Cyclops, Phoenix, Storm, Cannonball, Wolverine, Rogue, Psylocke, Gambit, Angel, Caliban, Nate Grey, Domino, Cable, Maggott, Cecilia Reyes, Havok, Iceman, Beast, and Joseph are in Apocalypse's hands now. {Bishop}: Hold it! You said Gambit was gone. {Magneto}: An... individual informed him of what was happening. Sort of. He went to warn the others. But it was already too late. {Bishop}: Maggott, Cecilia Reyes? I'm drawing a blank here. Tell me I'm not loosing my mind. {Magneto}: Cecilia Reyes recently joined the team during one of those... many things that happened during your absence. Oddly enough, Maggott joined after I exposed Gambit's secret. He has a past connection with me. But I don't remember it. You see, I don't remember any of the first twenty years of my life. Joseph does. He has those memories. And none of mine. Unfortunately, I may never know because Joseph is suffering from amnesia. I do know that those memories are there! He just can't access them. Maggott has total trust in me for something I did in the past for him. He also knows that we are really supposed to be only one entity. That is all I am certain of. {Bishop}: I guess that makes sense. Let me guess-- you want us to help you rescue the X-Men and defeat Apocalypse? {Magneto}: That is correct. {Deathbird}: Then I propose we strategize Back at Apocalypse's pyramid... {Rogue}: Cyclops, move your butt! {Cyclops}: Hold it, Rogue. {Rogue}: What are you starin' at? {Cyclops}: That gate... it lifted up when the Dark Riders came out. The Hounds too. {Rogue}: So? {Cyclops}: So what's behind it? {Rogue}: Ah see what you're gettin' at. {Cyclops}: A full power blast should take care of it. {Random}: Not so fast! Random morphs his right hand into a triple barreled firearm and blasts at Cyclops. Wolverine jumps in front of him and takes the painful blast. {Cyclops}: Logan! You'll pay for that! Whoa! The ground shifted. It made me miss him. What was that? {Moses Magnum}: That would be me! Magnum begins to vibrate and the ground does the same. Small cracks trickle across the concrete from all sides of him. The vibrations become more violent and soon develop into a small earthquake. {Angel}: What's that psycho doing?!? The ground begins splitting open as the cracks get wider. Angel flies at Magnum, foolishly trying to take him out. Magnum casually raises one hand and blasts Angel out of the sky. {Phoenix}: My God, can he take that kind of blast? {Storm}: Cyclops, check on him! Cyclops runs over there, but is thrown back when the ground shifts again. A slope appears beneath him as a trench appears in front of him. {Cyclops}: Uhhh. Now we've got plateaus popping up! {Magnum}: I am absolute power! You can't even get near me if I don't allow you to. Here is another demonstration of my power. Magnum uses both hands and blasts a deep chasm into the earth which moves rapidly forward. Concrete is thrown all about and there is virtually nothing left to stand on. Elevated land clusters are everywhere as well as slopes. {Cyclops}: This is madness! We've got to stop him. Due to the great destruction and sudden shifts in elevation, a large portion of earth literally crumbles away and collapses into the center of the planet. What is left is nothing more than a great abyss leading down to molten magma. {Beast}: Oh... crap. {Storm}: The noxious gases will kill us before the heat does. There are fumes escaping through all of the cracks in the ground as I speak! Iceman, you must seal up all openings to the lava. We can only hope to delay the inevitable, it seems. Unless this battle is ended, and quickly, we will all perish! {Cyclops}: Jean, mind-link everyone. {Phoenix}: Done. {Storm}: {Psylocke}: {Cyclops}: {Psylocke}: {Cyclops}: Move out! {Wolverine}: Need a sparring partner, Fatale? {Fatale}: Rending you limb from limb will be very pleasing. {Wolverine}: Whoa! We've both got some good fighting skills. But mine are better. Still, you've got some dirty tricks. {Fatale}: You're refering to these energy blasts. {Wolverine}: Yup. But I've got skills of my own. Wolverine slashes, but Fatale flips over his head. While turning back around, she sweeps, but he jumps and delivers a swift kick to her face. Fatale falls flat on her ass, as Wolverine moves in for the kill. She pulls out a mini-blaster and shoots him in the chest. {Wolverine}: Uhhh... grrrr. C'mon, bitch. We're not done yet. {Fatale}: I have a few other tricks up my sleeve... She morphs... {Fatale}: ...Like this, Lagan-San. ...Into Mariko. {Wolverine}: You can't mess with my head by changin' into my dead love. It just don't work. {Fatale}: {Wolverine}: Uhhhh {Fatale}: Then why did you not dodge that one, single blast when you avoided all of my previous ones? Perhaps you did not expect to be threatened by her. {Wolverine}: Ragghhhh!!! That's enough out of you! He tackles her to the ground and drags her up again. He then presses his left hand into her neck and slams her into the wall. With his other hand, Wolverine prepares to stab Fatale through her face. {Fatale}: Got you that time. {Wolverine}: I'd be thinking over my life if I were you. You are about to die, you know. With her free hand, Fatale presses a button on her other wrist. A ten inch long, poison tipped spike is extended from the bottom of this wrist. She pulls it out and impales Wolverine in the heart. {Fatale}: But you are not me. By the way, that spike has enough poison to kill anyone. Regarless of whether they have a "healing factor" or not. So consider yourself dead. Meanwhile, Cyclops dives out of the path of a plasma blast. He fires back, only to have Hazard construct a shield of plasma in front of him. The blast disentigrates it, but it saved Hazard. {Cyclops}: Where to hell did you learn that little trick. {Hazard}: You thought Moses Magnum was powerful, I am power! {Cyclops}: Funny, he said the same thing. {Hazard}: Your blasts are totally useless against me. Cyclops barrel-rolls out of the path of an enormous pulsed plasma blast. Hazard was completely high on power. Cyclops blasts again, but it truly is useless. {Cyclops}: Damn you, Hazard! I'll find a way to stop you, I swear. {Hazard}: That's ridiculous! I beat your entire team. You're only one man. {Cyclops}: (thinking) bet he won't expect this... Cyclops picks up a large rock from all of the rubble from Moses Magnum's attack. He chucks it and nails Hazard in the side of the head. Disoriented, Hazard collapses to his knees. {Cyclops}: Never underestimate the power of a good strategist. Cyclops nearly focuses all of his power into a standard blast and blows Hazard into the air like a leaf on a windy day. He didn't use full power because he didn't want to kill the man, just put him out for a week. {Cyclops}: That about wraps this fight up. Oh, and by the way, you didn't beat my team. {Beast}: McCoy, let's see if you've lost your touch. {McCoy}: Gladly, doppelganger. McCoy ferociously charges at his double, flashing teeth and claws. Beast easily trips him up, knocking him flat on his face. McCoy gathers himself and gets up. {McCoy}: Ha ha ha ha, what a riot! Just trip me up. Let's see if I can be a little more civilized when I try to rip your throat out this time. In fact-- {Beast}: Shut up. I hit you lightly that time. Next I'll-- ARRRGGHH!! Beast falls to his over and grabs his knee. McCoy had kicked it. Not hard enough to crack it, but it sure felt like he did. Beast sweeps McCoy with his free leg, bringing him to his level. {McCoy}: This makes us even, huh? {Beast}: Not hardly. {McCoy}: If you must insist. McCoy grabs Beast by the neck and begins choking him. {McCoy}: Horrible way to die, isn't it? No air, terrible suffering. And you're powerless to do anything about it. Beast doesn't even give a huffed response, rather, he grabs McCoy's arms and throws him into the nearby wall. {Beast}: I'm ending this now, you freak. Hank gives him a swift left to the jaw... {Beast}: That was for Mindy... a right hook... {Beast}: That was for my old principal... and a sock to the abdomin. {Beast}: That was for the poor priest you slaughtered... and this is for every other living soul that's fallen victim to you! Beast picks McCoy up over his head and body slams him into the wall, cracking it. {Beast}: Rather crude, but it gets the job done. {Storm}: It will be simple to take you out of this fight, Post. {Post}: Fuck you, weather witch! A mini-cannon resting on a rotation base appears from behind one of Post's shoulders. It blasts a ball of energy which moves very slow toward Storm. Airborne, she easily lurches out of the way. Another, thin, narrow tube-like weapon pops out of Post's other shoulder. It fires a long, thin beam which moves very fast and skims Storm in the ribs. {Storm}: Ahhh... Lightning is more than enough to take care of you. {Post}: You'll have to catch me with it first. Post then shoot a laser at her from the palm of his hand. This one nails her in the stomach. {Storm}: Uhhh Cowering on her knees, Storm gathers the last of her strength and summons a gale force wind from seemingly nowhere. It manages to put some distance between her and Post. She then summons hail and destroys his weapons. Post then attacks her with only his fists. {Storm}: Foolish man. The powerful lightning blast connects with Post and knocks him out cold. Storm then gives in to exhaustion herself. {Havok}: Hey, Random. It's your old buddy, Alex! {Random}: Havok, go away. I don't want to fight you. {Havok}: Sorry, but that's what comes with being a Dark Rider. You fight who Apocalypse wants you to fight. {Random}: Get away! {Havok}: Don't wuss out on me now. {Random}: Don't call me names! {Havok}: My super-heated plasma melts your explosives before they can hit me. And I think I'm far enough away to do... This! {Random}: Uhhhhh**** {Havok}: Come on, get up. You can't be beaten yet. {Random}: ******* {Havok}: Well... guess he is. {Iceman}: Oh, man. Of all the lameo b-villains, I get stuck with you. {Blob}: You can't stop me! Nothing moves the Blob! {Iceman}: I don't need to move you to beat you. {Blob}: I'll crush you! Blob comes charging at Iceman, about to stampede right over him. Iceman creates a patch of ice on the ground which Blob slips on. He falls over and nearly causes another quake. {Iceman}: People like you really need to think sometimes since you don't have much of a brain to think with! Furious, Blob grabs Iceman's arm and breaks it off. He then crushes it in frustration when he sees that it didn't really bother Iceman at all. {Iceman}: A deep freeze should take care of you. A real deep freeze 'cause you've got a lot of insulation from that fat. The wave of ice washes over him and he immediately went numb. Psylocke approaches from behind and drives her psychic knife through his head, knocking him unconscious. {Rogue}: Ah must admit, ah've never faced you before, Mimic. {Mimic}: You won't forget the experience. {Rogue}: Uhhh-- That smarts a little, but you'll have to blast me harder to get past mah invulnerability. Why's it so chilly? {Mimic}: Because I'm freezing the air. I don't see your invulnerability protecting you from that. {Rogue}: Simple solution. Take out the culprit. {Mimic}: Nice punch, but not quite enough. {Rogue}: Ah was hopin' Ah wouldn't have tah do this. She pulls off one of her gloves and flies closer to Mimic. She then did the one thing that she was hoping that she'd never willingly have to do again. Use her natural power on another living being. She grabs his head and waits for her powers to kick in. {Rogue}: Here it comes... Rogue feels Mimic's memories, his thoughts, his emotions, his powers, and his lifeforce being sucked out of him. {Rogue}: Can't let your attitude take over. Gotta focus. And return all of it back to you! She releases an optic blast, ice wave, and telekinetic blast all at Mimic at the same time. It is easily enough to stop him. {Gambit}: Great... I get skrewed over wit you. Moses Magnum back-hands Gambit and knocks him back six feet. He then fires a laser blast at him, but misses. {Gambit}: Lucky me. {Magnum}: Your luck has run out. {Gambit}: Get a girlfriend. Gambit cracks his staff over Magnums's head. Magnum grabs him by the neck and hurls him back. {Magnum}: You are pathetic. I will fry you into ashes! {Gambit}: All you did was give me an opening. Gambit gathers a handfull of peebles and charges them up. He throws them high over Magnum's head and lets them rain down as explosive debris. {Magnum}: What the--? {Gambit}: See ya! The debris rains down and sets off several mini-explosions around Moses Magnum. When the smoke clears, he id no longer standing. {Phoenix}: I don't believe we've met, Mr.? {Jack}: Call me Jacknife. {Phoenix}: I see. {Jack}: Here's what I do! A psionic halo appears around Jack's head and he fires telekinetic blasts in all directions from it. Jean managed to get a shield up in time. She counter-attacks with her own psycho-kinetics which have little affect on Jack. {Jack}: You really aren't much. I expected more. {Phoenix}: Oh, you'll get more. (thinking) Cyclops said to end this quick, so I'll do just that. Phoenix attempts to bring him down with a psi bolt but Jack reverses it. {Phoenix}: ARRGGHH!! All I managed to do was give myself a headache! Jack once more fires the telekinetic shards from his "halo" at Phoenix. Jean decides to use Jack's methods and throws some of the shards back at him. They tear him up pretty bad and nearly defeat him. {Phoenix}: Eat this! Phoenix releases massive psychokinetic blast at Jack, knocking him unconscious. She then wipes his mind with a mental jolt to keep him that way. Meanwhile, Angel provided Wolverine with some assistance. {Angel}: Excuse me, Fatale is it? {Fatale}: huh? The second Fatale turns around, Angel punches her square in the face, knocking her out cold. {Wolverine}: Thanks. This toxin is messing me up pretty bad but I think I'll make it. Let's get ready for the next "challenge." {Ozymandias}: Ahh, I see you're all still alive. Very impressive. But now you face the Horsemen! They are all very well skilled. You probably won't survive. Prepare yourselves for annihilation! See you here next Wednesday on A.C.F.F.!