DISCLAIMER: All characters in this story are property of Marvel Inc., and
I'm not making a profit from this, so don't sue me. Except from Helios and
Glow, who are my own exclusive property. They may not be used without my
expressed permission.

X-Men: Yin Yang Part 7/?- Desicration

Just a warning. I've not checked this for spelling, or for continuity
errors. Can't be bothered.

Morpheus, oneill@cambus.u-net.com  Feedback appreciated, as is criticism,
if constructive

{{blahblahbla}} is thoughts
^^blahblahbla^^ is telepathy

==============
	
	In the area of the Rebellion's complex known as the war room, the main
leaders were gathered, discussing strategy. Juggernaut, Gambit and Wisdom
had just returned from fighting thirty-odd Marauders, and were recounting
their tale.

	Gambit continued where Pete had left off, saying, "They're ruthless.
Killed all de patients wit'out tinkin'. We need to be as harsh to them. An
eye for an eye, non?"

	"What I'm worried about," Daredevil said, "Is how they found us. And what
happens if we survive this? Where do we go?"

	Storm, one of Essex's closest advisors, replied, "We'll deal with that
when we come to it. Right now, we need to evacuate all the innocent people
here. I've spoken with Logan, thanks to Jean's telepathy, and all of them
are down in the communal area. He has a plan. Jean, will you project him
now please?"

	A psionic projection of Logan appeared in the centre of the room, and
started talking, "I think I can get all the people here out, but I'll need
a few more people. Maggot, Abyss, Chamber, Speed Demon, and Boost. Jeannie,
will ya send them down? Tell 'em to watch out for Marauders."

	The projection of Logan dissipated, and Storm resumed talking. "Now, we
need to plan our strategy against the Marauders. And Jean has some other
news." 

	Jean opened her eyes, having sent telepathic calls to everyone Logan
requested. "Yes Ororo. I've detected an area of psionic static at the top
of the complex. Only two people can jam my scans. Essex, or. . .Mutant X."

	"Chuck's here?" Juggernaut asked, surprised.

	"Yes Cain," Jean replied, "Since I cannot contact Essex, it must be
Xavier. Only he has sufficient telepathic might to jam my powers. We must
also assume that the Inner Circle, if not the Hellfire Club, are here. They
will be our main opponents. The Marauders are here to prepare us, weaken
our ranks."

	Deadpool spoke for the first time, "What do we do about Essex?"

	Storm answered this question, assuming the role of temporary leader.
"Nothing for now. Jean will keep trying to contact him, but we cannot do
anything until this situation is over. Right. Everyone who can be spared
will fight any Marauders, or if necessary, any members of the Hellfire
Club, that they find. No-one, under any circumstances, will confront the
Inner Circle directly. We will engage the Marauders in battle only until
everyone else is evacuated. Then, we will take our leave. Now, once Jean
has relayed these orders to everyone, we will take the battle to them!"

===

	In the caves at the top of the complex, the Inner Circle watched a
telepathic replay of the events which had just occurred, thanks to Charles
Xavier. He stopped it once they had scattered throughout the complex, and
turned to his cohorts in this unholy alliance.

	"Well gentlemen, what do you suggest we do now?" he asked, looking at his
allies. Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, Magneto, wore a majestic outfit, with rich
red and purple cloths, and a flowing cape trailing behind him. On his head,
he wore a menacing helmet, in the same colours as his uniform. Ennur Sabah,
the living Apocalypse, was in his alien battle form, with his mutated body
being partly cybernetic, linked to a living suit of armour. Sebastian Shaw
wore almost royal regalia, topped with a long, dark overcoat, with no signs
of armour anywhere about his person. After all, someone who absorbs all
forms of kinetic energy has no real need for protection. Charles himself
wore an outfit similar to Magnus', but plain black. There were sparse
indications of armoured spots, but if need be, he would re-inforce them
telekinetically.

	"Charles," Magnus replied, "You saw how they fear us. Why not enhance that
fear? Let us go to their human masses, and massacre them."

	"I agree," Apocalypse said, "Now that I have recaptured Essex, they are
leaderless. Surely, they will crumble before our might. This moment shall
go down in history, as the day I-- the Inner Circle conquered the world."

	At the back of the group, Sebastian Shaw merely smiled. After all, all
that need be said, was.

======

	Below, in the communal area, Logan, Maverick, Chrome and Iceman stood
waiting for re-inforcements to arrive. In one corner of the cavern,
Sabretooth was pinned underneath a mesh of metal, and in the other cowered
the civilians of the Rebellion, atop Iceman's platform. 

	Then, Maggot, Abyss, Chamber Speed Demon and Boost ran into the cavern,
searching the room for Logan. When they saw him, Logan called to him, "What
took ya?"

	"We ran into that Random boykie on the way down," Maggot said, "But Eeny
took care of that big jerk. Didncha girl?" Eeny coiled up, its eyes glowing
a fiercer red. 

	Logan took charge immediately, giving out orders. "Maggot, I want you to
get yer slugs and eat a hole in the rock to the outside. We need an exit
point. Abyss, when Maggot's done, I want you to carry as many people as you
can outside."

	Abyss' tendrils retracted at this, as if they were confused. He asked "But
what about my terror effect? I can't turn it off."

	"That's what Chamber's here for. Jeannie told me that he's got enough
skill to give them a psychic anaesthetic. They'll recover later. Can ya do
that kid?"

	"Sure." Chamber had always been very quiet, growing up in a boarding
school in rural England. He moved from the UK to America on request of
Essex, to join a new training program for young mutants. When his psionic
powers manifested, he found he could generate a blast of energy from his
eyes. The effect of this was that they were permanently blank yellow ovals,
something which alienated him from his fellow mutants. They could never
tell what was on his mind, or if he was looking at them or not.

	Then, Logan addressed the remaining he had called for. "Boost, I want you
to jump into Demon here, and give him all ya've got. Demon, anyone that
Abyss can't get out, you take. With Boost in ya, yer gonna be much faster,
so watch yer step."

	Logan looked around at the men who hung on his every word. He realised
that he was a leader to them. This stunned him. He had never considered
himself to be worthy of being a leader. With everything he'd done in his
past, he didn't think anyone would follow him. But now, he was in charge,
and if Jean was right, and with Essex gone, would he be elected leader?
That was something he'd deal with later. Right now, he had a job to do.

	"Let's move kids! Chrome, Drake, David: follow me. We'll watch until they
start the operation, then we go join the rest of the team. Come on."

	As the men ran towards the nearest wall, Logan held Chrome back by the
arm. "Ya did fine back there kid. I'm proud o' ya."

	"Th-thanks Mr Wolverine sir." Chrome stammered, obviously surprised that
Wolverine would take an interest in him.

	"Call me Logan, kid."

========

	Nearby, a battle raged, with human and mutant Rebellion members fighting
as one, against the threat of the Marauders. The Marauders, being ruthless
killers, had concentrated on fighting the younger members, thinking they
would be the least threatening. 

	As Meltdown, Scratch and Multiple Man attacked Legion, Jean Grey kept an
eye on the battle, to see if Legion would need assistance. She didn't think
he would. Legion had gained more and more control over his powers recently,
and she wanted to see him put his awesome powers to use in battle. 

	Legion, in his usual arrogant way, rose above the ground, and erected a
telekinetic bubble around his body, which deflected any attacks directed at
him. Scratch was discharging massive amounts of energy directly at Legion,
but David's shield absorbed them. When he saw Scratch trying to recharge
his powers, he took his opportunity. With a gesture, he made him pass out,
and encased him in a TK bubble, to prevent his powers leaking out. He
glanced at Multiple Man, and in an instant, obliterated his duplicates, by
switching off his power mentally.

	Meltdown saw all this, and gave her powers free rein. Time bombs flew
through the air, exploding around David's shields, and collapsing some of
the wall behind him. David turned, startled, and tried to collect the
rockfall with his telekinesis. Black Tom, scanning the battlefield, saw
David unprotected by his usual field, and seized the moment. He fired a
lancing beam of energy into his spine, and David collapsed in pain. 

	Jean saw this, and got rid of her opponent, Deflector, with a psi-blast
which knocked her into a wall such was the force of it. Jean then put a
force bubble around Legion, and flew over to him. "David! Are you okay?"

	He shook his head a few times, and said, ". .ugh. . .I'm fine Jean." As
they were talking, David waved a hand and Jean's field dissolved around
him. 

	{{What the?}} Jean thought, {{How did he do that? He must be more powerful
than he's letting on.}} Jean's thought was interrupted by the eruption of
several volcanic streams, drawn from the centre of the earth by Magma,
piercing the rocky ground. The molten lava would surely have rained down
upon all the combatants, had Legion not cast wide his telekinetic field,
shielding everyone.

	Nightcrawler, stunned by this, turned to face Magma. "What the hell do you
think yer doing, girl? You could have killed us!" By now, everyone had
turned to watch Magma, and the Marauders were gathered around her.

	She looked with disdain at Nightcrawler, and said. "I am one who has no
care for your petty rivalries. What I do, I do for the greater good."
Suddenly, Magma's head shot back, and she collapsed in a heap on the floor.

	Jean, who was helping Legion to his feet, whispered, "David, she was under
mind control. But whose?"

	"That is not important now," Legion replied, "What matters is winning this
battle." With a gesture, Legion let a telekinetic burst loose at the
Marauders, felling many of them with one move. When the psionic lightning
subsided, only a few Marauders were left standing. They glanced around at
their comrades, and Random took charge, yelling out orders to those
remaining. 

	"Everyone retreat! Get out of these caves. The psionic static prevens the
masters reaching us."

	One of the Marauders shouted "What about everyone else?"
	
	"If our masters decide to, they'll save them. If not, then they die." Just
as Random finished, Shang Chi leapt through the air with amazing ease,
aiming a kick at Random's head. The hulking mutant fell with one blow, as
Shang Chi prepared for a follow up. Random whirled his arm round, forming a
huge turret. Then he whispered, "shouldn'ta done that, punk." In an
instant, a searing blast of white hot energy erupted from his arm, landing
square in Shang Chi's chest.

	The noble warrior fell to the floor, clutching his stomach. In the time it
took for the Rebellion to react to this attack, the Marauders left standing
had vanished, exiting the caves like worms, finding the tiniest crack to
escape.

	 As the Rebellion started to gather around Shang Chi, one Marauder glanced
back, and saw an opportunity to get revenge for his fallen allies. Rictor
clapped his hands together, emitting a small vibratory wave at the last
second. It was a trick taught him by Magneto, and had a devastating effect.
The very air around him ripppled, and a wall of compressed air flew towards
the group. In an instant, four were felled. 

	As the wave reached Callisto, her spine snapped. 

	Hawkeye heard it coming, and turned his neck towards the source of the
sound. It struck him square in the face, knocking him out cold.

	Glow, who was about to help Shang Chi, had his legs broken for his
trouble.

	Iron Man, one of the first to reach Shang Chi, thanks to his booster
rockets, was the last to fall to Rictor's power. His armour was crushed in
a microsecond. His ribs had been shattered as the metal imploded, and the
explosion of circuitry within his armour caused him to black out. Tony
Stark, for only the second time in his life, was paralysed.

	As the dust settled back into the sandy earth, Julio Esteban Rhictor
looked at the damage he had wrought, and smiled. His masters would be proud
of him.

=========

	Above, the Inner Circle were descending through the caves, picking off any
stray humans that they came across. They could have teleported, but they
were so vicious and cruel that they took any opportunity to take a life.
One old, blind man, was cowering in a tiny cave, which was barely bigger
than himself.

	Xavier sensed the man, and stopped the tyranical group. "Hold. I sense
someone here. Anyone wish to flex their powers?"

	Magnus stepped towards the cave, and cast forth his magnetic field,
illuminating it. He sensed the man trying to scamper deeper into his hiding
spot. Magnus drew him out by the iron in his blood, and held him aloft in
front of the party.

	"Well gentleman. What shall we do with this weak human?" The other members
smiled, used to Magneto's displays of bravado by now. "I would like to try
something new. Any objections?"

	"Please." replied Apocalypse, "We're watching."

	On cue, Magnus hovered the frail man's body against the rocky wall, then
in a flash of blue light, he was screaming in agony. 

	Charles was puzzled, and asked, "Erik, what exactly did you just do to
him? Remove the iron in his blood? Constrict his blood flow? Shut his brain
down?"

	"Actually, none of the above." Magneto replied, "I magnetically bonded the
iron content of his blood to the metal ore within these walls, then tried
to fuse them together. Quite painful, and death will only set in a few
hours from now."

	"Impressive." said Apocalypse. Leaving the man to die on the wall, as a
symbol of their power, the Inner Circle made their way further down the
caverns. The majority of rooms and tunnels in here had been carved by Essex
when he arrived, using enery blasts to remove large portions of rock. Then,
when more members arrived, like Jean Grey, Havok and Iron Man, their
combined powers were able to carve out a labirynth of tunnels. 

	As they descended, Xavier spoke up once more. "Hmm. The Marauders have
been. . .defeated. . .no, wait. Some of them have fallen, but a dozen or so
remained, and Random ordered them to retreat. The rest were felled by. .
.Legion." He spat the mantle of his son out, disgusted partly at himself
for his past mistakes, and at Legion for ruining his plans. 

	"Ah," Apocalypse said, then he was silent for several seconds, deep in
thought. "Xavier. Send a telepathic message to Ship, and instruct it to
teleport the Marauders out of here. Teleport the Inner Circle and the
Externals in. They shall carry on the fight, if there is any fight left.
Then, we shall attend to our task, and take our leave. We need not
slaughter the Rebellion. Let them see their precious free world crumble, as
they stand by helpless to stop our conquest."

	"One thing Ennur," Xavier asked, "What is the codeword to access Ship? I
will need it to gain access to its systems."

	"Of course Charles," Ennur Sabah replied, a look of concern briefly
flashing across his face, "The password is Zamaralle."

=============

	Below, in the communal area, Wolverine's team was nearly finished its
operation. Maggot's slugs had eaten a tunnel through the rockface, and
Abyss had taken most of the people outside. Iceman was overseeing the task,
while Logan talked telepathically with Jean Grey. When he finished the
psionic exchange, he looked annoyed.

	"Drake, c'm'here. The Marauders have 'ported out again, but her powers are
still bein' blocked. That means someone is still here. Like the Inner
Circle. So I want you to keep on the lookout for anything. Ya see anything,
call me. By the way, once the others find the people that'r missin', we're
leavin' this joint."

	"Who's missing?"

	"Forge, and Spidey. And there's a lotta people hurt. Bad. So we need ta
work fast, and get these people outta here."

	"Right. How long until the guys finish up."

	"Not long. Abyss needs to make a few more trips, but otherwise, we're home
free."

	Suddenly, a voice boomed through the caverns, deafening to all who heard
it, chilling each to the bone. "I beg to differ. . .Logan."

	"What the--" Logan asked, turning to the point of origin, "Oh." He saw the
bloated, monstrous form of Apocalypse loom over the cavern, casting a
shadow of death into the darkest corners. He stood outside the tunnel, high
above the cavern floor, just made recently by Havok, for the Rebellion
members to watch over the innocents. It had been designed to allow anyone
to keep guard, and to check they were safe. Today, it was a route for a
madman to slaughter the innocent.

	"I've brought some acquaintances with me, Logan. Perhaps you recognise
them?" From the shadows, three men stepped forward. Surrounded by a blue
magnetic aura was Magneto, and on the opposite side of Apocalypse was
Charles Xavier, a psionic helmet sitting atop his head. Sebastian Shaw
strolled out from behind Apocalypse, gazing at the people below like a
spider to a fly.

	Any normal man would probably be paralysed with terror at this point, but
Logan was no normal man. He was a mutant, who had years of experience in
warfare. He had a brilliant tactical mind, and right now, was putting it to
good use. He knew that Mutant X would be jamming psionic communication, so
didn't try to contact Jean. He glanced at the humans left, and formulated a
plan to best save them. Abyss and Chamber were best suited to get them out,
so the other Rebellion members could be spared. He barked orders out to
them, ordering them to regroup behind him. He told Speed Demon to tell
Boost to jump out of him, as he needed him for something else. 

	Apocalypse glanced at his colleagues, and smiled. All knew what it meant.
The ancient mutant was amused at this man's attempts to quash his plans,
and he would make him pay for it. Apocalypse leapt off the ledge, falling
hundreds of feet. He landed like an earthquake, the rocky ground cracking
beneath his tremendous bulk. Magneto floated down, holding his cape back
regally. Xavier used a trick gifted to only the greatest telepaths. He
slipped into the astral plane, and reappeared next to Apocalypse. This was
a flamboyant waste of energy, as he could have floated down with
telekinesis.

	Logan unsheathed his adamantium claws, a "gift" from the Canadian
government, and walked forward, signalling the others to follow him. Then,
as he saw Apocalypse's fist glow with unnatural energy, he made another
signal, scraping his claws off one another. Suddenly, there was a flash of
blue, as Speed Demon vanished into the caves. Logan had sent him off to get
reinforcements, because he knew this team he had was not capable of
defeating the Inner Circle alone. 

	As the battle was about to start, Magneto waved a hand, and dissolved
Sabretooth's bonds. Logan had been expecting this, and signalled to
Maverick to deal with him. Barring Logan, he had the most experience in
fighting Creed. Maverick broke away from the group, and drew his guns,
setting them to kill. 

	Apocalypse's thick lips spread once again into an unnerving smile, and he
cast his hands forward, unleashing a wave of raw energy at the small
Rebellion group.

===========

Fin. Next issue, read the battle of the Inner Circle versus the Rebellion.
And learn the fate of Essex after issue 3.

Roll Call
*********

Rebellion: Essex, Wolverine, Storm, Forge, Maverick, Jean Grey, Havok,
Deadpool, Daredevil, Iceman, Hawkeye, Banshee, Clear-Cut, Chrome, Doom,
Blink, M, Iron Man, Shang-Chi, Morph, Sunfire, Callisto, Glow (original),
Boost, Speed Demon, Legion, Maggot, Chamber, Gambit, Marrow, Abyss,
Juggernaut, Wisdom, Sabra, Landscape, Helios (original).

Hellfire Club: Angel, Hank McCoy, Shinobi Shaw, Quicksilver, Scarlett
Witch, Reed Richards, Emma Frost, Roberto daCosta, Mikhail Rasputin. Paige
Guthrie as slave

Inner Circle: Ennur Sabah (Apocalypse), Erik Magnus Lehnsherr (Magneto),
Charles Francis Xavier (Mutant X), Sebastian Shaw.

Marauders: Warpath, Thunderbird, Moonstar, Colossus, Jubilee, Polaris,
Wildchild, Omega Red, Scratch, Deflector (Reyes), Fenris, Sack, Vessel,
Skin, Nightcrawler, Unuscionne, Caliban, Aurora,  Pyro, Avalanche, Spoor,
Rictor, Dazzler, Meltdown, Siryn, Black Tom, Shadowcat, Multiple Man,
Random, Strong Guy, Firestar, Tusk, Wolfsbane, Feral, Magma. There's loads
more, but far too many to go into here. Sabretooth as prisoner

Externals: Gideon, Mimic, Cannonball, Nemesis, Exodus, Candra, Selene,
Crule, Absalom.

==========