And it's done! Before the next movie is out! I'm throwing up an unedited version before work, and will go back later today for revisions & chatty author's notes.

Thanks for reading!

So, things aren't quite going the way Psylocke expected them to.

If anything, things are going better.

En Sabah Nur has been neutralized; Psylocke has some very promising new powers (her psychic lance is much more forceful, her telepathy is more sensitive, and she suspects she's got teleportation coming in too) and a sharp new outfit; and last but not least, Charles Xavier somehow thinks she's a responsible member of the mutant community (ha!)

She's had to deal with rather excessive amounts of family drama, which she might have preferred to avoid — but on the other hand, seeing Magneto of all people put in this sort of situation? Priceless.

Now, there are just a few loose ends to wrap up. En Sabah Nur was pretty vague about his "power to move his consciousness from one body to another", but Psylocke was getting telepathic images of a pyramid in Egypt being crucial to the process. Since from the sound of it he was interrupted the last time he was body-hopping, it stands to reason that the site of the pyramid is where he was buried for his millennia-long beauty nap.

Storm was the first Horseman that Apocalypse gathered, and is therefore Psylocke's first stop. From what she's gathered, Storm found him wandering around the streets of Cairo — a broad target, but something to start with.

"So, what are your plans now that our glorious master has had a change of heart?" says Psylocke, casually. "Going to stay here?"

Storm shrugs. "I think I will. It looks nice here."

"Would you be willing to do something with me first?"

"What?" says Storm, frowning.

Psylocke is a little surprised by her invitation, but the more she thinks about it, the more she likes the idea. Storm is obviously very new to this line of business, but she's got a good head on her shoulders — En Sabah Nur clearly wasn't the one who had enough street smarts to find Caliban. And furthermore, unlike some people, she's demonstrated a basic historic and political awareness in knowing who Mystique is. There are worse traveling companions.

"You were the one who first found En Sabah Nur in Cairo, right? Could you lead me back? We need to go destroy the pyramid he uses to transfer bodies."

"Right. Right." Storm hadn't exactly been keen on the brave new world that the blue guy had outlined, either, particularly the bit about cooking. She shudders. "Are you going to bring Angel or Quicksilver along?" [cut line where Psylocke offers to bring Storm's crew in for brownie points]

"I'm going to be honest with you. Angel is pretty, but dumb. I'm not sure how much use he'd be. And Quicksilver is … busy."

Currently, Angel seems to be showing off his new metal wings to both of Peter's younger sisters — typical, really. And Peter is having a heart-to-heart with Magneto (again — better him than her!) She'll leave them to it.

"Wait, you're just leaving?" That's the redhead telepath student of Xavier's. Her power really is enormously strong — no wonder Xavier relied on her so much.

"Pretty much," says Psylocke. "I've got things to do, pyramids to visit, and I don't see much of a reason to hang around here any more."

"But you are a telepath?"

Psylocke looks the girl up and down carefully. Now that she's looking carefully, there's a faint sense of wings and all-consuming fire. "You're Jean, right?"

Jean nods.

"Well, since I assume you're not going to try taking over my body to gain my powers, which are very well-rounded, but of limited magnitude in comparison to yours, it's safe to say — yeah. I'm a telepath."

"Do you think you could give me some … tips? There's so much I want to learn —"

Psylocke never expected to be anybody's mutant role model, and especially not this soon after becoming Responsible. "What do you need me for when you've got Charles Xavier right there?"

"Well, he's kind of a fuddy-duddy, if you know what I mean."

Xavier has a certain reputation in telepath circles. "I'm not going to disagree with you there."

"And you're so … cool," says Jean rapturously.

"… I'm not going to disagree there either."

"I heard you're planning on going to Egypt to make sure the Apocalypse doesn't happen. Could I possibly go with you? I think I could be useful, too, and I — I wish I were as comfortable and confident in my powers as you are."

Psylocke was not planning on running an extension of Xavier's School in Egypt, but … "Why not? The more the merrier."

"Great!" Jean is beaming. "And actually, since I heard you're trying to find the pyramid where —" she looks around nervously "— he was in stasis, you might want to talk to Agent MacTaggert over there. I think she actually saw the pyramid herself."

Well then, that would be incredibly convenient. So of course they all have to traipse over to talk to MacTaggert — Psylocke recognizes her as Moira MacTaggert, the CIA's lead agent on mutant affairs — who's standing off to the side watching everything with an air of faintly spiteful amusement. Psylocke can relate.

"Agent MacTaggert? I understand you saw the Egyptian pyramid where En Sabah Nur was in stasis."

"The pyramid? Yes, I suppose it might have been a pyramid, though it was in ruins when I got there."

"Could you lead us back there?"

"Why?"

"He uses it to transfer bodies and absorb mutant powers. We need to destroy it to prevent him from doing that again."

"How do you even know this?" says MacTaggert suspiciously.

"I saw it in his head. I don't know how much Xavier told you, but you weren't there for En Sabah Nur's grand speech about how he just needed telepathy, via a body-transfer, to achieve absolute power."

MacTaggert's eye is twitching. "How is this different from you and your history?"

Psylocke is impressed MacTaggert is familiar with her background. Here's someone who's done her homework. "First off, at this point, I'm already a telepath. And if you've read my file, you should know that I take body transfers very seriously."

MacTaggert looks unconvinced. Psylocke decides to take a different approach.

"I"ll admit it. Yes, taking over the world is on my list of things to do. But think about it like this — En Sabah Nur can't take over the world if I've already done it. Or never mind him — Magneto can't take over the world if I'm in power."

Telepathic feedback indicates this is a productive argument. The mention of Magneto seems to have done the trick. So Psylocke continues: "Look at the hash that Magneto's made of things. Look at what men have done! Isn't it time a woman gave it a try?"

MacTaggert throws her hands up in the air. "You know what? Sure. I'm in. Sign me up."

So that makes four of them. Four is a solid number — the same as the number of Horsemen of the Apocalypse — but if Psylocke finds one more person, they can be Apocalypse and the Horsemen, with Psylocke as Apocalypse. No more sidekick duty for her! Jean could probably give her a run for her money in terms of pure power, but she isn't yet at the point where she can lead a team by [sheer force of personality]. In the meantime, the winged motif she has going on psychically is very appropriate for Death, replacing Angel in the role. Storm's powers over the weather make her an excellent Famine. Considering her position at the CIA, MacTaggert is obviously War. Which just leaves the position of Pestilence open.

By process of elimination, Psylocke herself was probably supposed to be Pestilence on En Sabah Nur's old team, since he was really angling for Magneto to join up as War. His metallokinetic powers would have been very useful for causing all-purpose mayhem and general destruction. Hmmm, now there's a thought …

Magneto is very clearly out of the business, but from what Psylocke is picking up from Peter, his older younger sister Lorna (Peter's mother's younger daughter, she should say) is also a metallokinetic. (No one's brought this up with Magneto yet, not that Psylocke can blame them). That's promising.

Lorna is standing with Magneto's daughter (Magneto's youngest daughter, rather — that distinction will probably fuel the sequels to all of today's dramatics, not that Psylocke intends to be there to see it), examining Angel's wings. She sees them coming first, and asks: "Did that guy really turn those wings into metal? That seems counterintuitive for something intended for flight."

"Tell me about it," she says.

Lorna continues staring at the dubiously unaerodynamic wings. (Angel, of course, is taking her and her half-sister's inspection as admiration, and is flexing his wings accordingly. Typical.)

"So you are a —?" says Psylocke, wiggling her fingers.

"What? Oh, right. Yeah, I am. I mean, you do know that Magneto's right there?"

"He's retired," says Psylocke dismissively. "Out of the business. You see, I'm putting together a team now to handle a very sensitive matter, and I was hoping you would join us."

Lorna frowns. "Would I have to wear what you're wearing? I mean, I could go for the unitard — it's very sleek — but the straps are a bit much. And I think the color scheme would clash with my hair."

"I'm sure we can work something out," says Psylocke. (At least there's one person related to Peter who has a decent sense of style.) "Do you have a mutant name?"

"My siblings suggested Polaris."

"Makes sense, considering your power. And it's much classier than 'Magneto.'"

The compliment seems to win Lorna over. "When are you leaving? I'll think about it."

"As soon as possible. And we'd love to have you along. Where we're going, it would be enormously useful to have a metallokinetic."

And that does the trick. Magneto's head whips around. "You're a metallokinetic?"

"Whoops," says Psylocke insincerely. She can practically see the cogs turning in Magneto's head: two and two make four, and Lorna's approximate age and the date of a particular conjugal visit make for paternity.

Lorna's thought processes are just as apparent. Either she can stay here and deal with Magneto in particularly fine Dad form (and there's something about being grounded?), or she can leave and have some adventure. It's barely a question.

"You know what, I think I will join you," she says, backing away from her newly informed father. "Bye, everyone! Don't wait up! Mom, Peter, I'll send you a postcard. It was nice to meet all of you! I'll see you later. Much later." And, for good measure: "Bye!"

Psylocke looks over her new team. She's got a pretty good feeling: this is a solid and well-rounded team, who will have no difficulties causing carefully organized property damage in Egypt. And after that… Psylocke isn't deluded enough to think that she could go up against Charles Xavier, she's not nearly strong enough, but Jean — now there's a student with potential. Give her another few years, no more than ten, and Psylocke can definitely whip Jean into shape.

"Jean, here's your first lesson," says Psylocke, reaching out with her powers to open a passage. "How to make a dramatic exit." They step through the portal. For a moment, they're framed in its swirling purple light, before it collapses behind them, leaving only a trace of ozone. Apocalypse and her Four Horsewomen ride forth.

After a very uncomfortable half hour trying to explain modern bureaucracy to the self-proclaimed personification of the apocalypse, Hank comes back to an almost unrecognizable scene in the courtyard in the front of the house. No one appears to be injured, all of the shrubbery is still in place, and — miracle of miracles — nobody is yelling. Of the usual suspects, Erik and Peter and his mother are all talking together quietly, and Peter's two sisters (Lorna and Nina, that is — Wendy has disappeared) are inspecting the metal wings of En Sabah Nur's associate (that's Angel, says Charles telepathically).

Hank still isn't sure what happened. Setting the scene]

"Is everything all right on your end?" asks Charles.

"Yeah, I left the blue guy talking to Raven about political theories. I'm hoping she's a more reasonable political model than Magneto. Not that that's difficult."

"Excellent," says Charles brightly.

"But that's it? It's over?" says Hank, plaintively. He still isn't sure what happened. [Something about inflation, something about being old and crises not being like this before]

Charles, typically, is unhelpful. "That does seem to be the case!"

"But that was too easy," says Hank. "We didn't even have to fight him, or blow anything up, or get changed into ugly yellow tactical uniforms, or fly anywhere in extremely dangerous experimental technology, —"

Charles cuts him off with a wave of his hand. "Yes, yes. Well, as you know, this all started with Jean's dreams."

"Which prompted you to send Peter to Poland in time to save Erik's wife and daughter, yes, I know. I was there. After that, please."

"Well, when I used Cerebro to find Peter a few hours ago, Ms. Braddock over there — or she goes by Psylocke now, sorry — made telepathic contact with me, and together we hatched a plan. What you saw was the successful execution of that plan."

"What plan could have required you to keep Jean and Nina here, in a potential crisis? They're underage!"

"Jean and Nina were actually vital to the success of the plan," sniffs Charles. "I'm not sure if you're aware of the specifics of Nina's gift — friendship with animals is how she thinks of it. As a scientist, I should hope you know that the line between so-called 'animals' and 'humans' is hard to define. And Jean, of course, is an enormously powerful telepath, so she was here to put mental pressure on Mr. Nur."

Hank is starting to get an idea of where this is going, and it isn't pretty. He's almost afraid to ask: "Then why on Earth did you need to have Kurt teleport Peter's sister in on such short notice?"

Charles is humming, the smug bastard. "Her gift is a truly rare one. It's hard to explain… it includes elements of luck and probability manipulation, though I hypothesize there are elements of—"

Hank is completely and utterly flabbergasted. He has to cut him off. "So you abused Nina and Jean's powers, not to mention causality and reality themselves, to — to mind-whammy the Apocalypse into reforming himself and giving up his cause?!"

"Well, when you put it like that …" Charles shrugs. "I did make sure this all happened outside, you know. Property damage is so difficult to deal with after the first few go-arounds with the insurance company."

It's at moments like these that Hank really wonders what he's doing with his life. It's been twenty years. Why is he still here at this school putting up with Charles? He could have gotten tenure at a reputable university by now. He should have taken the headmastership at the Frost School in Massachusetts when they offered it to him. But, no, it's too late now and he's stuck here. At least he has his hypersonic stealth jet.

Hank takes a few deep breaths and looks around. The small clumps of conversation have redistributed themselves a little. Most concerningly, Jean has also drifted into Psylocke's purple-tinted orbit, standing there with Storm and, for some reason, Moira.

"Shouldn't we do something about that?" says Hank. "I'm not sure Psylocke is really a good influence."

"Oh, let Jean have some fun," Charles says, the picture of smug I-know-more-than-you benevolence. He runs his hand through his unfairly luxurious hair. (Hank is going bald, which just goes to show.)

Hank bites his tongue — there's no dealing with Charles when he gets into a state like this. They watch as Psylocke, trailing Storm and Jean and Moira like ducklings, now approaches Peter's younger sisters where they're standing near the metal-winged mutant (Angel, comes the telepathic name tag). She starts speaking with the older one, the one with green hair (and that's Lorna).

"It'll be nice to get back to some peace and quiet around here. Well, once our new students settle in, anyway," says Charles.

Erik rounds on Angel and starts giving him what must be the shovel talk, with twice the expected amount of hand gestures.

"You really think that will last?" says Hank dubiously. They don't really have a very good track record with peace and quiet (or workplace safety in general, for that matter).

Psylocke, Storm, Jean, Moira, and Lorna all teleport off in a sudden swirl of purple light. Hank doesn't want to know.

"What could possibly go wrong?" says Charles.

[movie titles for DARK PHOENIX come on screen]

I'm not saying that Psylocke is the reason Jean goes all Dark Phoenix (Jessica Chastain who?!) but until we get it proven otherwise... :D More rambly notes coming later.

Thanks for reading! If you got here, I'd love to hear what you thought!