What's the future like...

The fight had been going on for a while. Although some of the attacks were hurting the self-proclaimed god, he was mostly unharmed. On the other hand, Scott and Sherlock were battered and bruised all over.

"We can't hold on much longer. We need Jean to take him down. We should've brought her instead of you." Scott was frustrated and was venting at Sherlock.

"Don't fret laser boy. Help is on the way. Also, just for the record, most of the damage on him was done by me, not your sparkly eyes." Sherlock retorted as he was aware of whatever the projection had gone through.

Just as he spoke. Essex walked towards Apocalypse steadily. The fight paused as all the combatants looked on at the new entrant.

"Ah! Sinister. You have finally arrived. Did you complete the task?" Apocalypse spoke to his first horseman of this era as he was approaching. His face however looked a little annoyed for some reason.

Essex could feel Apocalypse subtly trying to get inside his mind and read his thoughts. Maybe he was suspicious because he saw the entry Essex made using the sorcerer's portal.

"Yes my lord. The task is done." Sinister brought out the vial of greenish-blue liquid. "It is self-replicating and continues to eat at the energy of the designated species until they die."

The mutant god had picked up on the tone and the word choice of his horseman. So as Essex approached closer, he ramped up the mental probe he had been trying.

Although he had just become a telepath, he was new to it, and compared to Apocalypse, Sinister couldn't even hold a candle against his telepathy.

"Ahggh!" Sinister held his head in pain but didn't stop walking forward until he reached right in front of Apocalypse. And then he smiled as he crushed the vial.

Sherlock who was aware of what was going on and observing till now had already bound Apocalypse with the eldritch energy ropes. Cyclops who was unaware of what was taking place just kept on watching as suddenly a green and blue gas spread around Essex and Apocalypse.

"You dare! You dare to betray me? This little trick of yours won't be able to kill me. I shall return soon enough and the first one to die by my hands will be you Sinister!" Apocalypse had managed to read the memories that Essex had hidden with much effort, but by the time he did, it was too late.

With his last vestiges of strength as he was going into a coma, Apocalypse blasted away Essex and teleported himself out of there.

Sherlock then walked towards Essex and asked, "How long till he gets back? It'd be a pain to deal with him again."

Essex looked back at Sherlock, "I'd say about a century and a half give or take? For more accurate prediction, I'd have to find his body and do some tests but that's clearly not happening."

Sherlock nodded and was about to speak when Essex continued, "I know what is on your mind and no that plague won't work on his body again. He is known as the mutant god for a reason, by the time he wakes up he will have adapted to it."

"So are you going back to meet your family now?" Sherlock was still concerned about what Essex would do.

"No, let them live believing I am dead. Essex died fighting Apocalypse. What remains is just Sinister." Mr. Sinister replied. "But I hope you and your monks can help settle my family. I will owe a favor for that."

Sherlock looked at Sinister and saw the determination in his eyes so he just sighed and gave a nod. Sinister gave him a sad smile as he walked away while speaking, "I won't promise to be good but I'll try to keep my damage to the minimum. And I won't stop until I get my baby boy back."

Cyclops who had been watching all that transpired from the back in his battered state hobbled over to Sherlock and yelled. "WTF was that?? What just happened?"

Sherlock turned to look at Scott and sighed again, he really didn't like the kid's personality. "Come, I'll explain it all to you on the way to your partner." He waved his hand to create a portal.

*********************

"I don't understand. Mister Sinister is a huge villain in the future. He is supposed to bother the X-men and especially Jean and myself a lot. How did this all change?" Scott was confused about the whole thing.

Jean who was sitting next to him and drinking the Ancient One's tea spoke, "Professor said that things like this might happen when you time travel. We changed the past where his family dies so the future is bound to change. Although something just doesn't feel right about all this to me."

Ancient One smiled and said, "The Phoenix Force is indeed perceptive about the changes in the timeline and fates." But in her usual fashion, she didn't elaborate further.

Sherlock on the other hand was interested in something else however, "You guys ever been to Paradiso?" As soon as he asked the question, he could see the shine in the two mutant kids' eyes. Sherlock's mouth however was twitching a bit.

"Of course! It's the mutant heaven run by Master Moriarty. We have a whole course dedicated to Paradiso back at school." Scott excitedly chirped.

"That should be enough, you two should head back to your own time." Ancient One cut the conversation short. "Despite this unique situation, it is prudent that the future does not interact with the past too much, lest we disturb the balance and break the timeline entirely."

After a few more pleasantries, the duo of the young mutants used their devices to hop back into the time stream to get to their own time.

As they watched the couple disappear, Sherlock spoke, "Master, I'd like to borrow the Eye of Agomotto for a short while. You can supervise on the side while I use it."

"I know what you are trying to do Sherlock and let me tell you from experience, knowing too much is a curse. But as someone who is wise and already burdened with knowledge, I hope you can rise above the small things and see the bigger picture." The Ancient One replied while looking down at the locket hanging on her neck.

Sherlock looked serious for a second and then grinned, "Don't worry, I won't meddle with the timeline for petty stuff. Even if I can skirt the consequences I know that my meddling will affect other lives. I just want to organize all that I already know."

The Ancient One smiled as she looked at Sherlock for a while and then took off the Eye of Agomotto to hand it over to Sherlock.

"Here you go, but be aware of the rules and don't get lost in looking at the future. As you know, it is ever-changing and especially so with your involvement."