Chapter 76 - Impact

UNIVERSE 11052

After Apocalypse has awoken, and vanished with the vessel leaving everyone in a perilous situation. The X-Men returned back home.

In the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico Apocalypse's transport appears atop an old Mayan pyramid. The stone structure crumbles away to reveal a high-tech one underneath. The transport opens and Apocalypse appears. He uses his powers to activate the pyramid and erects an energy dome around the entire area.

In Egypt, beneath the sphinx, Magneto and The Acolytes continue to search for information about Apocalypse. But after questioning locals and tearing apart the rooms they still haven't found a clue.

"Same old story, prophecy about an ancient warrior who is gonna return one day to rule the land," Gambit said after looking at the scripture.

Magneto caught the Gambit with his collar, "Apocalypse is not gonna rule this land, not still I am alive," He shouted and left his collar.

At The Institute, Xavier searches with Cerebro. But no one can find any trace of Apocalypse anywhere. Charles Xavier and Beast discuss Apocalypse's plans and realize that they need to find out more about the Eye of Ages.

"Yes, it is, until we find it, we can't even guess his purpose, what is the extent of his powers. I am afraid there is nothing more we can do," Xavier said to Beast, and Beast nodded.

"How are the students faring from the pressure?" Xavier asked. Beast replied they all were good.

The New Mutants goof off outside playing basketball, football or many games. Logan finds Rogue outside sitting alone and tries to talk to her about everything that's happened, "It was not your fault."

"No, it was all my fault, because of me, Sharky again needs to use his powers, and you all even brought the stone Mystique to the Institute." Rogue shrugs him off.

Logan tells her, "Xavier has tried everything possible, but that there's nothing he can do for Mystique, she's nothing but solid stone now. And knowing how much it bothered you, we have given it back to The Brotherhood." Rogue is momentarily shocked but then says good riddance and stalks off.

Kurt tracks down Rogue to talk to her about Mystique, "It was really unacceptable that the Professor had given their mother to the Brotherhood."

"I don't care," Rogue tries to get away. He ports in front of her again, "Mystique belongs at the Institute with them."

Rogue gets mad, "And because of her, my Sharky is again in coma," She starts to walk away.

Kurt tells her, "I will do it by myself," and ports away to the Brotherhood house. He noticed Mystique alone, he sneaked up to grab her. Lance catches him, but before he can use his Power on Kurt. "She is my mother," Kurt said to him, Lance turns and walks away. Kurt ports Mystique out of the house.

Back in Egypt, Colossus is late reporting in and Magneto jumps all over him about it. He tells Pete, "I want the reports every 30 minutes. Time is running out, and you are failing me. If you ever want to see his family again, you'll find answers."

Pete turns on him and shoves him up against a column. He tells, "Magneto, you have been wounded by your pride, it is driving you to madness."

Magneto is furious and slams Pete up against the wall, threatening him, "I will crush you like a can."

Pete changes back to human and drops to the floor. "Now try without the power of magnetism," He shouted and tossed Magneto across the room and started to go after him.

But Gambit steps in to break up the fight, "Magneto is their only best chance at stopping Apocalypse." Pete reluctantly walks away.

At Xavier's; Rogue catches Kurt with the stone Mystique in his room. "You dare bring that thing back into this house?" She shouted at Kate.

Nightcrawler tries to calm her, "Rogue, she can't hurt us anymore."

"Speak for yourself! I have already been harmed by her, Sharky is still in bed," Rogue is getting mad.

Nightcrawler pleas, "I know you have every reason to hate her. So do I, I mean, look at what she's done to us. But still, she's our mother."

"If you don't get rid of her I will," She shouted furiously.

"Rogue, anger and hate have already destroyed her. If you don't get rid of yours, it will destroy you too," Kate told her.

"It already destroyed me," Rogue storms out of the room saying. Kurt turns around to find the stone Mystique crying.

Xavier and Beast do more tests, "Kurt, what you saw wasn't really tears, it was probably just condensation," Beast explained to him.

"No it's more than that, I knew about it," Kurt argued.

"Nothing has changed Kurt, I am still unable to find any spark of life," Xavier again tries to understand him.

Kurt refuses to give up even after Xavier tells him that there's no hope for Mystique. He ports away just as Jean shows up, "We've found Apocalypse." The X-Men take off on a "fact finding" mission to Mexico, by telling them they were not able to match the Apocalypse.

In Egypt, Magneto uses a bunch of the scrap metal to form one of his transport spheres. He tells the Acolytes, "I am going without all of you. That the fight is between the 'higher evolutionary' and that I can guarantee that only one of them is going to survive." He takes off in the sphere at super speed leaving the Acolytes behind in the Sphinx.

At Apocalypse's pyramid, the X-Men try to run tests on the energy dome, but everything they try literally blows up in their faces. Xavier and Jean Grey are blocked from scanning it telepathically as well.

At Wanda's home, Kurt finds Wanda and asks her to set up a meeting with Agatha Harkness.

Back at the pyramid, Kitty tried with the drill machine, but it backfired on them, and it blasted. "We must avoid any act of aggression," Xavier found from the research and warned them.

"You mean like that," Jean points to Magneto's sphere, which comes hurtling towards the pyramid. It flies above the dome and as it slows a door opens upward, and Magneto emerges from it. He forms the sphere into a bullet shape and hurls it at the dome.

When the sphere shatters he starts to pull tanks, jeeps, anything that he can reach to throw at it. When none of that works either, he starts to drag satellites out of orbit. They begin to break up on reentry and catch on fire. What's left of them plunge past him as massive fireballs, but even they fail to damage the dome in any way.

Apocalypse emerges from the top of the dome just in time to divert the final satellite back towards Magneto. Magneto is able to dodge it just in time, but Apocalypse uses his powers to jerk Magneto about. Magneto screams as he's flung about powerless. Apocalypse caught Magneto into bands of colors and static form, then he closed in on him until he seemingly imploded. Then there's nothing.

The X-Men are shocked and watch speechless as Apocalypse slowly descends back into the dome, sparing Xavier one disdained look on the way.

At a gazebo on a cliff, overlooking the ocean, Kurt waits with Mystique, Agatha appears out of the darkness.

"Can you help my mother," Kurt asked her.

Agatha examines Mystique briefly, "I can't do anything, but that Rogue can."

"How can she help?" Kurt asked the solution.

"Only Rogue can help Mystique. Mystique's own morphing power has been turned against her and trapped her in the stone mutation. By touching Mystique, Rogue can absorb the mutation and release her long enough to free her own powers," Agatha explained, with both parting, Kurt decided to ask Rogue.

Kurt ports back to the mansion, he goes towards the Rogue, who was sitting beside Sharky's bed. "Rogue, I need your help?" He asked again.

"If it is about Mystique, then forget it. I am still so angry at Mystique for lying to me," Rogue gives her answer.

"It is the right thing Rogue. And if you don't help our mother now. It will haunt you for the rest of your life." Kurt pleads to her.

Rogue approaches Mystique hesitantly. She looks at her hands, but suddenly she becomes furious and shoves the stone Mystique as hard as she can, sending her flying out of the mansion through the window.

Kurt jumps after her and teleports, but he misses. Mystique was going to slam on the ground, but it paused before touching the ground.

Rogue and Kurt didn't know what happened, but then they realize only Sharky can do this. Sharky has woken up, as he uses Time Power to stop the stone of Mystique from falling to the ground. "Raven absorbs her power, and makes her fine," Sharky commanded Rogue.

"But Sharky, she is the reason everything happened to us," Rogue was against the idea of helping Mystique.

"I know, but since we have some unspoken feelings, and I don't want you to always hurt, so do it." Sharky explained the situation, he doesn't want Rogue to carry any guilt.

Rogue agreed, as she touched the Stone of Mystique, which started turning Mystique back into a human from the stone.

Although Mystique was stone, she knows what has happened with her all the time, she looks back at Rogue with some guilt and gratitude.

"Mystique, this is the last time, we want to see you, now disappeared from our life, I don't want you near Rogue," Sharky shouted at Mystique, and then he collapsed, because he was still not recovered.

Kurt wants to talk about it, but before he speaks. Mystique, seeing the situation, turned into a raven and flew away from there.

Rogue hugged Sharky as she started sobbing, while she released all her pain. Kurt also teleports from there.

Back at The Brotherhood, they are riding on a subway train. Pierro is upset about Magneto's death and he's furious that the X-Men stood by and did nothing to help him. Lance tries to talk to him and tell him that Magneto wasn't the loving father he remembered, that he really hated him. Peitro freaks out and his powers go haywire and derail the train.

At Bayville High, Scott and Kitty see the flames, "What's that, a fire?" He thought.

"It's a subway accident, people are trapped there," Kitty said. "Let's go if we can help," Lance said, and both head over to help.

Meanwhile, the Brotherhood are trapped in the subway car with no exit. Pietro tells Fred to make them a door and Fred takes off running, knocking holes through the train as he goes. The rest of the Brotherhood follow him.

Lance hesitates as they pass some of the other passengers, "Come on, we are going to get out of here," He tells the passengers.

The firemen and rescue workers arrive and the subway starts to explode. Lance and the lady he's carrying barely escape ahead of the explosion.

The media jump all over the story, calling the Brotherhood heroes. The X-Kids stand by speechless.

On television, Principal Kelly has a campaign commercial airing where he's running for mayor, "Hello, I am Kelly. Do you feel safe everyday mutant moves freely through our city, our street, and here through our school. And they are powerful. I am going to register for every single one of them. These creatures must be marked, because trust me mutants are animals."

Kelly is running on a strict anti-mutant platform, calling for registration of all mutants. The commercial is interrupted with breaking news of the Brotherhood heroics. Kelly is not happy with this.

At the Xavier Institute, put a newspaper in front of Scott, and she asked him, "Can you believe this?"

Scott denies it, because they know the Brotherhood only saves themselves, not the others, but Xavier tells them they need to give them a little chance.

Back at the Brotherhood house, when they found out saving someone can give them money, they started doing it many times, and they themselves created the situation before saving them.

Pietro talks them into doing one more rescue, something big so they can go out with a bang. He sabotages a train and it loses all control.

When the Brotherhood show up to save the day they find out that the train is now on a collision course with another train, one that is pulling eight tankers of gasoline.

Pietro says he'll see them outside of the blast zone and speeds away. Toad and Blob pile into Lance's jeep and take off. Lance stays behind.

Xavier shows up to get the X-Men. He tells them, "The Brotherhood is going too far and that they've created a crisis situation. The authorities can't do anything and have asked for their help."

Kurt, Scott, and Kitty phase onto the train, they lead the conductor to the second car and Scott blasts the connector and frees the rest of the cars from the engine.

Jean is able to stop the first train and races to the second train engine to try to stop it, Kitty is seated on the top of the engine.

Kurt teleports on the train where Kitty is seated, "What are you doing?" He asked her.

"I am going to phase the engine through the train," Kitty replied.

"What? No, you can't do it. It's too much," Kurt warned her.

"There is no other choice, Jean can't stop the train in time," Kitty answered.

Jean pulls back as the engine nears the train. Kitty phases the engine, but about halfway through the strain is too much and she loses it. Kurt teleports them away as the engine solidifies and the two trains collide. A massive explosion occurs and Jean encloses it with a telekinesis bubble.

"I can't hold it," Jean shouted, when she was about to lose control of the fire. Lance arrives at the scene. He collapses the ground beneath the trains, burying them in the ground just in time. The fire is extinguished.

As the X-Men gather around Lance he tells them, "It was the last of the heroic action." And he walks away.

Later on in the news, the X-Men have been cleared of all charges, but the Brotherhood are now under investigation. Men show up at the Brotherhood house to take back all of their new stuff. Everyone is pretty dejected. Pietro asks if they want to go into town on the new subway train and they all turn on him and start beating him.

In a cafe in Bayville, Ray, Bobby, and Jamie whine at Logan about having to take Scott and Jean's new class. They beg Logan to take over the class, but he refuses, "Scott and Jean have something to teach them they'd better listen."

Logan leaves, then he picks up a scent and follows it into an alley. Tentacles break out of a wall and hit Logan with a neutralizer.

Logan wakes in a cell. He breaks free and slices a hole in the wall. It turns out he's actually in a transport plane. Guards enter the room and blast him out of the plane, and he drops in a snowy forest then in the water.

From the other plane two people came out, they were Omega Red and Gauntlet.

Logan crawls out of the water where he came to rest and struggles onto land. He gets blasted again and knocked down a hill. Omega Red finds him and drags him out. "I have been waiting for this from a long time, Weapon X," He said to him.

"You can't do anything to me," Logan said while struggling against him.

"Yurike saves you one time, but this I am going to leave you broken and suffering," Omega mocked him and started torturing him.

X-23 shows up and frees Logan and as she leads him away, Gauntlet reports to someone on the phone, "The target has arrived, the X-23 in play."

X-23 gets Logan to a safe distance, and warns him, "You need to leave Logan. I left the Institute to protect you and the others from H.Y.D.R.A. Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. will continue to hunt her as long as I am alive."

She tries to get him to leave again, but he follows her, "The only reason you are here is as a setup to catch me, because they know I will save you."

Omega Red and Gauntlet continue to track Logan and X-23. While this is going on, Gauntlet continues, leaving Omega Red behind to catch up later. Logan and X-23 continue to move, aware that they are still being pursued.

"We are led into their trap, kid," Logan tries to tell X-23.

"You don't know what you are talking about," X23 dismissed him by saying.

"It's all experience, kid," Logan replied, but she again didn't listen to him. "You have to trust me kid, let me help you," He tried to stop her again.

"No one can help me, not you, not anyone. The only way I will get freed. The only way Hydra and Shield stopped hunting me, is if I am no longer alive," X23 said.

"Kid, you and I being into the same kind of thing. And even though they took my memories away. I proved it can get beyond this," Logan also explained his painful life.

"I wish they took memories away," X23 said in a sad tone, then she turned towards Logan, "If you want to help me, stop following me." But soon they realize they're cornered. Gauntlet uses a sonic weapon to incapacitate them.

They're taken to H.Y.D.R.A. HQ, where Madame Hydra conveniently meets with Logan, "Welcome to Hydra, Weapon X."

"Where is the girl?" Logan asked her.

"Back where she should be, within Hydra the people who own her," Madame Hydra replied.

"Why can't you just leave her alone," Logan asked back.

"Leave her alone, she is the one who is hunting us," Madame Hydra laughed at Logan.

"Oh yeah, you are just the victim here," Logan taunts her.

"She has been on a crusade, to find and destroy everyone of our bases," Madame Hydra shouted in anger.

"Good girl, and you couldn't do anything about it," Logan praised the X23 while mocking Madame Hydra.

"We set traps for her, but she always manages to evade us, until now. Now we've recaptured her, we can finish what we started, we're going to wipe her rebellious mind clean and when we are done with her, X23 will turn into the perfect weapon, which she designed to be, one without a emotion or free will," Madame Hydra revealed her plan.

"Madame Hydra, what about Logan," Omega Red asks her.

"He is no longer useful, like others, kill him," She orders and goes away.

"Logan, you know, you are the first of the Weapon X group including Sabretooth, Wade, and Maverick. But you will first have to pay," Omega Red taunts him, as he attacks Logan, but he misses and ends up freeing him instead. Logan knocked him out, and ran towards X23.

Meanwhile the scientist working on X-23 calls up Gauntlet to complain about him using one of the neutralizers on her, that it will interfere with the mind wipe. As he finds out that Gauntlet didn't use a neutralizer on her, X-23's eyes open. Alarms blair and soon X-23 and Logan meet up in the hall.

"Come on, we are getting out of here," Logan tells X23. But she declined it by saying, "This is exactly the place I want to get it, the supreme Hydra is here. They did this to me." She shows her Adamantium claws.

"You wanted to get captured," Wolverine asked her. "Yes, you should not be here," She revealed and started placing the explosives all over the base. But suddenly Omega Red comes and catches up with Logan and starts fighting with him.

Logan was able to knock out the Omega Red by putting his tentacle into an electric component.

Madame Hydra makes her way to the hovercraft to escape. X-23 climbs up the outside of the craft. Logan tries to follow and stop her, but she kicks him off.

On board, X-23 confronts Madame Hydra. Hydra offers her anything she wants but X-23 says, "You can't give me what I want."

Gauntlet shows up to say that it's over and X-23 agrees as she flings more explosives around the control room. She smiles wickedly at Madame Hydra just before the ship explodes and crashes to the ground.

S.H.I.E.L.D. shows up to arrest the remaining Hydra members, including Omega Red. Fury asks Logan about X-23 and he tells him that she didn't make it. As they take off, Logan catches a scent and smiles. In the distance X-23 watches them leave and then takes off into the forest.

Back at the institute Jean and Scott finally get the New Mutants to calm down and pay attention. Wolverine walks by and smiles.