What Has Happened and What Must - Post 7
Once inside the compound, Kitty Pryde was able to phase through wall after wall, searching, screaming for her friend Rachel. And Gambit, she supposed, only what was he doing here? Just keep going, room to room, each one filled with more bizarre instruments, test tubes, computers, so many computers, some rooms ruined, some in pristine condition. She didn’t check, but she assumed that the rooms that still functioned had doors that were locked.
In one of them, she found, of all things, an armory. Guns lined the walls, floor to ceiling, every one of them organized by type and size. Handguns to rocket launchers. And not one of them could do a damn thing against Nimrod, if that was in fact who Rachel was fighting. She didn’t doubt it - only Nimrod could inspire that much fear. She didn’t have time. She grabbed the biggest gun she could carry - there were some she expected two or three people would hold - and kept going, room to room, until suddenly, as she emerged from one room into another, she was blasted backwards, phasing through wall after wall behind her, flying through the air at incredible speed. Time to stop this roller coaster. She became tangible, and hit a wall. Hard. Her hand jolted and pulled the trigger on the machine gun, firing it at half-filled jars, liquid spilling out but so congealed that it refused to move. She didn’t have time for clean-up, she ran right back in the same direction.
She braced herself as she passed through that last wall, and opened her eyes to an encouraging surprise. Encouragement was in short supply these days. Nimrod lay on the floor, in pieces, Gambit hovering over the circuits and wires, with Rachel lying prone on the floor, conscious. They were all right.
“C’mon, peti’,” Gambit shouted. No time for ‘welcome backs’, she supposed. “’Dis ting gonna be movin’ an’ shakin’ real soon. Grab somma’ dos jars and vials an’ lets seal dis homme de métal up tight!”
Kitty ran and to a table and grabbed some jars. They all had something in them, but it didn’t matter. She scooped up four and dropped them at Gambit’s feet. One of them broke.
“Nice goin’, peti. Be a lil’ more careful wit de nex ones, no?”
She ran over to the table again and began scooping up more jars, choosing to ignore Gambit’s comments. He had already begun sealing the pieces in jars as they struggled to fuse together.
“Rachel!” Kitty shouted, “keep the pieces apart! Do whatever you have to!”
Rachel bent her head and suddenly the pieces were barred, wires searching invisible walls, trying to get around and connect, make something, form back into the Hunter.
And so the process went, putting individual wires, chips, pieces of armor into jars and scattering them across the room. And then the facility, as the three soon noticed that the jars began to shake, wires tried to break through, and sometimes succeed in drilling through glass. This would not keep him. This would only slow him, and that only for a few hours.
Kitty began to panic. “Gambit, we have to get out of here.”
“You girls go. Gambit got business here.”
“What? Are you mad?”
“Gambit just make a big mistake, peti’. They gon’ find out. Gambit don’t have no one no more…”
“What are you talking about, Gambit?” Kitty started tugging at his coat sleeve. He flung her back onto the ground.
“The X-Men are gon’, peti’. All of them. Colossus, Wolverine, everyone dat ever madda to you. Dere only one solution. And Gambit godda do it alone.”
“Kitty,” Rachel had slid up beside Kitty, “we should leave. Let him do what he has to do.”
Kitty could just stare. Wolverine, her mentor, for all intents and purposes, her father, was dead? Colossus? What had happened to Colossus?! She had heard he was in New York!
“He’s supposed to be in New York!!!” She started breathing faster, grabbing Rachel hard.
”I know, I know Kitty. Kitty, it’s going to be ok.”
”No, Rach, it’s not going to be ok! What happened to PETER?! GAMBIT!!”
”New York’s a mess now, mon chaton. Gambit not proud of what he did, eider. But Colossus just one man.”
”He’s not just one man, he’s MY MAN!” Kitty had to fight to hold back tears. She was losing. A jar on a far table fell over and shattered. Rachel held its contents - a robotic finger - where it was, keeping it from seeking out its hand. From around the facility, they could hear glass shattering. This conversation could not continue for much longer.
“Hodge, we’re ready for you.”
”I am not to be simply summoned, Creed, whenever you desire. Believe it or not, I have my own work to conduct…”
”Hodge, we’re ready for you. I will not repeat myself again.” Click.
Hodge hung up the phone. He hated being the second one to hang up the phone, he always felt like it denied him some kind of power. Like now - what choice did he have but to answer these summons.
He had moved his lab out of the main complex into the town of Genosha proper, perpetually running tests on parts of his body. He still did not fully understand this Phalanx, this techno-organic virus that had consumed most of his body. The key was that X-Man that had been taken over by it as well. What was his name? Douglas? Douglin? Thoughts for another time.
He got in his car and drove out of town, into the jungle towards the compound. It was time to figure out what Cameron Hodge had that Graydon Creed needed so badly.
Destiny stood in O’Hare airport, looking at flights leaving for New York. Which ones were safe? Which ones would be searched? Which one would she inevitably fly on? Mystique had once asked her, “if you simply tell the future and can’t affect it, why not just do what you do, and see what happens? Why play these games?” Destiny didn’t have an answer then. She did now. It was the thrill of the game, the ability to play it out, the ability to connect the pieces of future images, future memories. It certainly made picking a flight more interesting.
Destiny found one and decided for it. She suddenly had a vision. She would fly on that flight. It would land safely in New York. The sentinels were…distracted? Excellent. Time to fly.
“You called for me, Master?”
- Cortez, in my eternal existence I have always observed with some interest and amusement the humans battle across their Holy Land to worship it. I have realized why its protection is so urgent.
“And why is that, Master?”
- Because I am to destroy it. I came to this revelation only months ago. Since then I have poured over Scripture, searching for clues to how I must bring about their destruction. There are five mutants in this world that have strong attachments to religion. They must be brought to this Holy Land…and killed, releasing their energies. This will bring forth the power of their so called Anti-Christ. And the bearer of those energies will receive its power, the world his for the remolding. I must remain in my Lazarus chamber for a little while longer. When my horsemen arrive, tell them they must seek out these mutants and bring them to me.
“But who are the mutants, Master?”
- The one who calls himself Multiple Man has always sought refuge in Buddhism and its false offering of reincarnation. The empath Gwynne worships daily to herself, her words falling on deaf ears. The former X-Man Nightcrawler prays to a deity who has forsaken him. The Israeli spy Zoe holds out hope that some heavenly being will come and rescue her and her people. And the weather witch Storm rose to power on the faith of the ignorant in Africa. Find these mutants and wake me once they have been brought. Then, we move to the center of the Holy Land itself.
“It will be as you say, Master Apocalypse
In one of them, she found, of all things, an armory. Guns lined the walls, floor to ceiling, every one of them organized by type and size. Handguns to rocket launchers. And not one of them could do a damn thing against Nimrod, if that was in fact who Rachel was fighting. She didn’t doubt it - only Nimrod could inspire that much fear. She didn’t have time. She grabbed the biggest gun she could carry - there were some she expected two or three people would hold - and kept going, room to room, until suddenly, as she emerged from one room into another, she was blasted backwards, phasing through wall after wall behind her, flying through the air at incredible speed. Time to stop this roller coaster. She became tangible, and hit a wall. Hard. Her hand jolted and pulled the trigger on the machine gun, firing it at half-filled jars, liquid spilling out but so congealed that it refused to move. She didn’t have time for clean-up, she ran right back in the same direction.
She braced herself as she passed through that last wall, and opened her eyes to an encouraging surprise. Encouragement was in short supply these days. Nimrod lay on the floor, in pieces, Gambit hovering over the circuits and wires, with Rachel lying prone on the floor, conscious. They were all right.
“C’mon, peti’,” Gambit shouted. No time for ‘welcome backs’, she supposed. “’Dis ting gonna be movin’ an’ shakin’ real soon. Grab somma’ dos jars and vials an’ lets seal dis homme de métal up tight!”
Kitty ran and to a table and grabbed some jars. They all had something in them, but it didn’t matter. She scooped up four and dropped them at Gambit’s feet. One of them broke.
“Nice goin’, peti. Be a lil’ more careful wit de nex ones, no?”
She ran over to the table again and began scooping up more jars, choosing to ignore Gambit’s comments. He had already begun sealing the pieces in jars as they struggled to fuse together.
“Rachel!” Kitty shouted, “keep the pieces apart! Do whatever you have to!”
Rachel bent her head and suddenly the pieces were barred, wires searching invisible walls, trying to get around and connect, make something, form back into the Hunter.
And so the process went, putting individual wires, chips, pieces of armor into jars and scattering them across the room. And then the facility, as the three soon noticed that the jars began to shake, wires tried to break through, and sometimes succeed in drilling through glass. This would not keep him. This would only slow him, and that only for a few hours.
Kitty began to panic. “Gambit, we have to get out of here.”
“You girls go. Gambit got business here.”
“What? Are you mad?”
“Gambit just make a big mistake, peti’. They gon’ find out. Gambit don’t have no one no more…”
“What are you talking about, Gambit?” Kitty started tugging at his coat sleeve. He flung her back onto the ground.
“The X-Men are gon’, peti’. All of them. Colossus, Wolverine, everyone dat ever madda to you. Dere only one solution. And Gambit godda do it alone.”
“Kitty,” Rachel had slid up beside Kitty, “we should leave. Let him do what he has to do.”
Kitty could just stare. Wolverine, her mentor, for all intents and purposes, her father, was dead? Colossus? What had happened to Colossus?! She had heard he was in New York!
“He’s supposed to be in New York!!!” She started breathing faster, grabbing Rachel hard.
”I know, I know Kitty. Kitty, it’s going to be ok.”
”No, Rach, it’s not going to be ok! What happened to PETER?! GAMBIT!!”
”New York’s a mess now, mon chaton. Gambit not proud of what he did, eider. But Colossus just one man.”
”He’s not just one man, he’s MY MAN!” Kitty had to fight to hold back tears. She was losing. A jar on a far table fell over and shattered. Rachel held its contents - a robotic finger - where it was, keeping it from seeking out its hand. From around the facility, they could hear glass shattering. This conversation could not continue for much longer.
“Hodge, we’re ready for you.”
”I am not to be simply summoned, Creed, whenever you desire. Believe it or not, I have my own work to conduct…”
”Hodge, we’re ready for you. I will not repeat myself again.” Click.
Hodge hung up the phone. He hated being the second one to hang up the phone, he always felt like it denied him some kind of power. Like now - what choice did he have but to answer these summons.
He had moved his lab out of the main complex into the town of Genosha proper, perpetually running tests on parts of his body. He still did not fully understand this Phalanx, this techno-organic virus that had consumed most of his body. The key was that X-Man that had been taken over by it as well. What was his name? Douglas? Douglin? Thoughts for another time.
He got in his car and drove out of town, into the jungle towards the compound. It was time to figure out what Cameron Hodge had that Graydon Creed needed so badly.
Destiny stood in O’Hare airport, looking at flights leaving for New York. Which ones were safe? Which ones would be searched? Which one would she inevitably fly on? Mystique had once asked her, “if you simply tell the future and can’t affect it, why not just do what you do, and see what happens? Why play these games?” Destiny didn’t have an answer then. She did now. It was the thrill of the game, the ability to play it out, the ability to connect the pieces of future images, future memories. It certainly made picking a flight more interesting.
Destiny found one and decided for it. She suddenly had a vision. She would fly on that flight. It would land safely in New York. The sentinels were…distracted? Excellent. Time to fly.
“You called for me, Master?”
- Cortez, in my eternal existence I have always observed with some interest and amusement the humans battle across their Holy Land to worship it. I have realized why its protection is so urgent.
“And why is that, Master?”
- Because I am to destroy it. I came to this revelation only months ago. Since then I have poured over Scripture, searching for clues to how I must bring about their destruction. There are five mutants in this world that have strong attachments to religion. They must be brought to this Holy Land…and killed, releasing their energies. This will bring forth the power of their so called Anti-Christ. And the bearer of those energies will receive its power, the world his for the remolding. I must remain in my Lazarus chamber for a little while longer. When my horsemen arrive, tell them they must seek out these mutants and bring them to me.
“But who are the mutants, Master?”
- The one who calls himself Multiple Man has always sought refuge in Buddhism and its false offering of reincarnation. The empath Gwynne worships daily to herself, her words falling on deaf ears. The former X-Man Nightcrawler prays to a deity who has forsaken him. The Israeli spy Zoe holds out hope that some heavenly being will come and rescue her and her people. And the weather witch Storm rose to power on the faith of the ignorant in Africa. Find these mutants and wake me once they have been brought. Then, we move to the center of the Holy Land itself.
“It will be as you say, Master Apocalypse