Earth-717: X-Men Vol 2

Chapter 12: Devolution

"User alert! Catastrophic system failure! Internal damage beyond repair. Evacuate immediately."

His mouth agape and his knees on the floor, Scott stared down at the forest below him. Everything seemed to slow to a crawl as the noise of the loudspeaker voice and explosions faded into his subconscious. Smoke floated past him and into the sky, but he barely noticed. All that he could think about was losing his grip on Alex's hand, and the image of him falling out of view played over and over in his mind.

"Scott!"

He didn't even respond to Jean calling his name. Closing his eyes and turning his head away, he did all he could to block out everything and return to that image; the last moment he would ever see his brother.

"SCOTT!"

Scott's eyes jerked open upon feeling Jean's hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her. She had multiple bruises on her forehead and neck.

"We're getting outta here."

"Jean . . . . I . . . ."

"No time!"

Jean reached down with both arms, wrapping her elbows under Scott's shoulders. Blinking twice, she then lifted off the ground and flew out of the large laceration in the hull. Soaring away from the falling ship, she headed for the X-Jet, which was not far behind.

In the moments that followed, Sinister's vessel, with fire and smoke pouring out of several points, continued to descend. In less than a minute, it struck the ground, instantly igniting hundreds of trees, before effectively vanishing in a gargantuan explosion that vaporized most of the matter in its area of effect. As the X-Jet activated its booster jets and flew out of sight, the Genesis Camp also exploded, incinerating everything within a hundred metre radius.

With green slime dripping from the fingers of his right hand, Sinister trudged along the river bank, his hand firmly entrenched in his innards from the gash in his left side. Violently coughing, he fell to his knees, with more green, glowing fluid spewing from his mouth and onto the rocks. He looked behind him to see the forest fire raging in the distance.

Groaning, he reached into one of his pockets with his free hand, pulling out a small, silver disc. Tapping the button on it, it beeped for a few seconds before opening and emitting a quarter-metre tall blue hologram. The hologram was of Madame Hydra. She was scowling, and had her arms folded.

"Madame . . . ."

"Don't even start, Sinister."

"Please . . . . listen," begged Sinister. "Everything's gone to hell. I need . . . . evacuation. I need protection."

Madame Hydra scoffed.

"I've already received a full report from Captain Laura Brown. She told me about the destruction of the Genesis Camp."

Sinister growled.

"She activated the self-destruct sequence!"

"Because of your incompetence! You promised me a puppet President, and instead, you got nearly an entire contingent killed, and possibly exposed Hydra's operations . . . . my operations, in the States. Kelly is dead. The MRD is dead. This is over."

"Wait, that's not . . . ."

"Pray we never meet again, Herr Doctor. Because if we do, it will not end well for you."

The hologram dissipated. Sinister winced before coughing again. Breathing laboriously, he stuffed the disc back in his pocket before continuing to limp onwards.

His arms folded over his chest, Scott looked away from Xavier. He was in the foyer of the mansion, facing the door. Xavier was looking at Scott's back, with Moira, Hank, Bobby, Jean and Piotr all standing with him.

"Scott, please . . . ." started Jean.

"So . . . . Professor . . . ."

Scott turned his head slightly, but did not face Xavier.

"Why don't you tell everyone what I learned from Sinister?"

Xavier swallowed and closed his eyes, his muscles tensing.

"Scott . . . ."

"Tell them! Or I will."

Xavier looked down, a frown growing on his face. Scott scoffed before turning around.

"Fine."

"What are you talking about, Scott?" asked Moira. "What did you learn?"

"And what's it have to do with the Prof?" asked Bobby, cracking a feigned smile.

Scott sneered before speaking.

"I had a discussion with Mister Sinister aboard his ship. Aside from learning that all this time, the Sapphire Weapon was my brother Alex, who I thought was dead . . . . I heard that he was not the first person whom Sinister had turned into a Weapon. I was."

"What?"

"Hank was there. So was Jean. They heard it all. I was under Sinister's control, and that's what caused me to have the outburst at the orphanage. The reason I didn't remember . . . . is because the Professor wiped it from my memory."

Moira, Bobby and Piotr all looked at Xavier. Moira's facial muscles quivered.

"Charles . . . . is, is it true? T-Tell me it's not true."

Xavier sighed. Bobby and Piotr looked at each other in shock.

"I was there," said Hank. "I heard everything. Sinister may be our enemy, but I could sense he was speaking the truth."

"No, no, no, it can't be," stammered Bobby. "He wouldn't do that. Professor . . . . you wouldn't do that. Right?"

His eyes closed, Xavier shook his head. Scott scowled at him.

"Tell them, Professor. Tell them all how you managed to recruit me. How you lied to everyone here. Tell them!"

Xavier looked up at Scott, his eyes wide and soaked in anguish.

"I did it."

For two minutes, everyone in the room was silent. Xavier looked back down at the floor. Bobby paced back and forth, looking around in confusion. Jean looked away from everyone. Scott stared directly at Xavier, never letting go of his gaze for a second.

"Why, Charles?"

Xavier looked up at Moira, before turning back to Scott.

"Because I was afraid that Sinister's conditioning would have permanent and damaging effects," answered Xavier. "I had no idea what I was encountering when I met you. When I entered your mind to try and relax you back in the cell, I saw all of these images imprinted . . . . burned . . . . onto your subconscious."

Scott's nostrils flared and his teeth gritted as Xavier continued to explain.

"I . . . . I didn't know how far Sinister's reach went. I didn't know if he potentially still had some remnants of control. I didn't know if you were going to collapse into a psychological coma from which you couldn't be salvaged. Scott, you have to understand, this was one of the hardest decisions of my life, but I was worried for your safety. I thought that if . . . ."

"YOU THOUGHT WRONG!" shouted Scott, stepping forward, his visor flaring up with red energy. Jean felt tears well in her eyelids.

"For twelve years of my life, I thought my brother dead. I knew he was dead. Last night, for half an hour, he was alive again. Then I watched him die a second time. BECAUSE OF YOU! You stole my memories . . . . memories that could have saved his life! That is what you took from me!"

Scott stood back, shaking his head.

"You couldn't even trust me with my own past."

"I feared you wouldn't be able to cope with it, Scott," said Xavier, solemnly. "It appears I was correct."

The visor lit up again, with multiple streams of crimson energy flowing around it, as Scott stepped forward and reached for the button.

"NO!"

Jean placed herself in front of Xavier, holding her arms out to the side. She fired a psionic blast, just enough to knock Scott back a few steps. Once he recovered, he jerked his head forward. Jean stared at Scott as her vision became murky with her own tears.

"You . . . . you're going to protect him?! After this?!"

"The Professor saved my life," stated Jean. "He saved yours. He's saved everyone here. He's loyal to everyone here. And I'm not gonna let you hurt him."

"So you're choosing him over me? Huh? That's it? That's all I get from you? After everything we've been through? Everything we shared?!"

Jean shook her head, her face steeling as her frown turned into a stern, unwavering glare.

"Just because I love you, doesn't mean I'll betray my friends for you."

Scott took a step back, before closing his hands into fists.

"Don't make me fight you," said Jean.

For a long time, Scott was silent. He looked back from Jean, who continued to shield Xavier, to everyone else standing there. They were all watching him, and all he could think about is how he could not look any of them in the eye. Eventually, Scott let his fists go.

"Fine."

Scott turned around and walked for the door. Jean lowered her arms.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from here."

"Scott, don't be ridiculous!" shouted Moira.

"Scott!" called Piotr.

"This is your home! Our home!" yelled Jean.

Scott looked over his shoulder at her.

"Not anymore."

Moira rubbed the back of her neck. Xavier continued to look at the floor. Hank frowned, keeping his eyes on Scott. Jean took a step towards her boyfriend.

"Scott, what about us? Where we were? You're just going to throw all that away? Throw me away?"

Scott shook his head.

"I can't stay here," he said. "I'm going after Sinister on my own. I want you all to know . . . . I don't blame any of you for staying. But this . . . . this you couldn't understand. Not really. You want to come with me, that's fine. You want to stay? That's fine."

Scott stared directly at Xavier.

"But as long as he's here . . . . I won't be."

Scott exhaled as everyone was silent again. Piotr looked at everyone, his eyes wide but sad. Jean tried to open her mouth and speak, but found no words and closed it. Moira put her hands in her pocket. Xavier continued to look down. Hank put his hand on the back of Xavier's wheelchair.

Bobby's smile faded. Narrowing his eyes, he then looked at Scott before stepping out of line and walking towards him.

Jean's eyes perked up.

"Bobby!"

Bobby didn't respond, walking intently towards Scott. Standing before him, he silently nodded. Scott nodded in return.

"Okay."

Scott pushed the double doors open and walked out of sight, with Bobby following behind him. For a while after that, the remaining people in the lobby looked at each other, but did not speak.

Scott walked out the main gate of the mansion grounds, the ends of his coat drifting with the wind. Bobby stepped up beside him, and the two stood on the sidewalk.

"So what do we do now?" asked Bobby.

Scott looked over at him.

"I saw what Sinister did," said Bobby, gesturing with his hands. "I know what he did to you. He has to be stopped . . . . but what's our plan? Where do we start?"

Scott inhaled before pulling a small item out of his pocket. He held it in front of his face. It was Moira's USB key.

"We start with this."

"Sinister's data."

"We find out as much as we can. We track leads. We get clues. And then we hunt him. We stay right on his heels, we run him down, and we don't ever stop until we back him into a corner . . . . and end him."

Xavier pressed a string of keys on his computer, opening up a video screen. On the other end, he saw the face of Storm, whose eyes lit up upon seeing him.

"Professor! How good to hear from you!"

"Hello again, Ororo."

"Please Professor, I prefer Storm."

Xavier nodded.

"How are the repairs going?"

"Quite well. We have made many improvements since you helped us. Professor, is something the matter? You seem . . . . perturbed."

Xavier sighed.

"We've lost the leader of the X-Men."

Storm raised an eyebrow.

"We need a new one."

THE END

The X-Men Will Return

Epilogue

Trask grinned as he watched a woman in a heavily posh outfit walk into the room. She had a long, slender black dress, with a heavily patterned golden and silver necklace. Her red hair was in a fancy updo, and her hands were covered in leather gloves matching the rest of her garb. The most striking thing about her were her bright, emerald eyes.

"Ms. Pryor," said Trask. "Welcome."

Madelyne nodded, with a slight smile.

"I certainly hope you have something good for me, Bolivar. I have a heavier schedule as of late."

"Trust me, my lady, it is most worthy of your time."

Trask turned around, facing the main section of his lab. Pulling a switch down on his control panel, lights filled up the room, revealing a massive, purple, synthetic humanoid sitting on a chair. It was twenty metres tall, and had feminine features. Two red eyes adorned its face.

Madelyne's eyes lit up upon seeing it.

"Exquisite."

Trask pressed a button on his console and spoke.

"Master Mold. Activate."

Master Mold's eyes lit up. It spoke with a monotone, female voice.

"I am Master Mold. I am online. I am humanity's saviour."

Madelyne smiled ear to ear.

"I am the end of mutantkind."