#18 - Endgame
"What If The Siege Perilous Was A Time Portal?, Part Six"
A massive citadel loomed before the weary group of travellers, it's spires piercing the heavens like knives jutting into flesh. A dim halo of light surrounded the castle, the only source of illumination in the intense darkness.
Havok couldn't help but feel apprehensive as they approached the citadel, led by Phoenix and protected by her cool flames. The X-Men were entering a battle in which they probably couldn't win, a battle that needed to be won no matter the cost. They had already lost Dazzler to the creeping, probing fingers of a white nothingness that was swallowing the timestream in their wake.
His thoughts turned to Alison Blair, the former songbird and mutant known as Dazzler. She had been consumed by the whiteness, her essence erased from the timestream forever. She had been a friend to all gathered inside Phoenix's bubble, and would be sorely missed.
"I miss her already," Psylocke said aloud, her powers running unchecked due to physical exhaustion and the fear of what was to come. She had accidentally read Havok's mind. "Despite everything, whatever we went through, she had a smile on her face."
Havok could only nod. If the rest of the X-Men heard their teammate they didn't respond, each lost in their own thoughts. Only four X-Men were assembled to face Immortus, including Havok, Psylocke, Rogue, and Colossus. Could they really succeed.
Suddenly, Havok realized that they had touched down in front of the citadel. The doors to the massive building were wide open, almost as an invitation to the new arrivals. Havok thought he could see shadows moving among the darkness that pervaded the area just beyond the door, but couldn't be sure.
"Be brave," Phoenix urged, taking strong steps towards the door. The instant she hit the threshold of the citadel she disappeared, a look of surprise on her face.
"Phoenix!" Colossus exclaimed, rushing to the spot where Rachel Summers had just recently occupied. He passed through the spot and into the citadel itself, remaining visible to his teammates. Colossus turned, a mask of confusion covering his face. "I do not like this."
A massive burst of light suddenly enveloped Colossus, nearly blinding the X-Men assembled outside. As their vision slowly returned, Colossus' first, the X-Men noted a quartet of people standing inside the citadel, with a very familiar face at the head. Behind her stood another friend.
"Alison!" said Psylocke, surprised yet pleased by the unexpected arrival of her friend and teammate. Just to the left of Dazzler stood Wolverine, his cowl gone, the remains of his costume hanging from his thick muscles like cobwebs. Two more people stood behind Dazzler, but Psylocke didn't recognize them.
Colossus, trembling with shock, did recognize them. One was John Proudstar, a mutant who perished during one of the second generation of X-Men's first battles. The other was the Changeling, a mutant who had died of cancer years before.
"Boize moi," Colossus muttered, taking a few involuntary steps away from the group. He realized that, perhaps, all of them were dead, including Wolverine. If that was the case, Immortus had the power to raise the dead. "Comrades, I fear that we face the dead."
"He's right," replied Psylocke, her initial joy eroding. "They don't have any brain activity whatsoever." She opened her bright eyes, staring with disbelief at Wolverine and Dazzler. "They're all dead."
Before the X-Men could react to this unexpected shock, the deceased quartet leaped into action. Thunderbird tackled Colossus to the ground, pinning the stunned mutant down with his immense strength. Wolverine charged at Havok, who would have been impaled had Rogue not shoved him out of the way.
"This is insane," Psylocke muttered, ducking a clumsy punch from the shape-shifting mutant. She lashed out timidly with her fist, but Changeling grabbed her wrist and spun her to the ground. Psylocke blasted her opponent with her powers, but nothing happened.
Rogue, snarling with rage, charged headlong at Dazzler. Shoving aside the fact that this woman used to be her teammate, Rogue slammed Dazzler to the ground. Losing herself in a sea of red, Rogue began pummeling Dazzler with every ounce of strength that she could muster.
"Abomination," Rogue roared, breaking Dazzler's nose. "Ah'm gonna wipe you off the face of the planet. You're dead, Ali," continued Rogue, slamming Dazzler's head violently against the ground. The dead X-Woman never had the chance to fight back. "Dead! And Ah'm gonna make sure you stay that way." With a sickening crunch, Rogue snapped Dazzler's neck. With the horrid task done, all of the energy flooded out of Rogue's body. She slumped to the ground, the frozen corpse of her former friend and teammate lying nearby.
Regaining his composure, Colossus tossed Thunderbird aside, forcing himself to remember that the Apache had died years before. With that in mind, Colossus had no trouble pummeling the mutant, tossing him off the side of the floating island that held the citadel. Thunderbird disappeared into the darkness, while Colossus looked on.
Wolverine hacked at Havok, who stupidly threw his arms up to block the blows. The adamantium-sheathed claws tore through Havok's arm almost to the bone, causing the X-Man to fall backwards.
"Stay away from me!" Havok cried, panic gripping his mind.
Grinning madly, Wolverine reared back for the killing blow, but found his arm held tightly by a single, green-gloved hand. Spinning around, Wolverine slashed at Rogue, but the southern belle stepped nimbly out of the way. Before Wolverine could react, Rogue took his head between her gloved hands and twisted with all of her strength. The adamantium bones couldn't break, but she could cause enough damage to the scrappy mutant that he would never fight anyone ever again.
Only Changeling remained. He knelt over Psylocke, who was trying her best to protect herself from his rapid blows. A fist crashed into her ear, another into her gut. Changeling continued to let punches fly until Colossus, recovering from watching his former teammate plunge into the darkness, rescued his current teammate.
"That is no way to treat a lady," Colossus growled, wrapping both of Changeling's wrists in one immense, steel-covered hand. While the dead mutant struggled and kicked, Colossus strode to the edge of the peripace. Without a word of doubt or remorse, Colossus dropped Changeling into the inky blackness. Turning to his shell-shocked comrades, Colossus said, "It is done."
"Not yet," said Rogue angrily, staring at the hallway just beyond the massive doors. "He's in there somewhere, and by all that's holy Ah aim ta stop him. He's gone too far."
Colossus stood next to Rogue. "Da. We will stop him."
Recovering from their shock and panic, Havok and Psylocke joined their teammates in staring into the citadel. A purplish bruise was already rising up on Psylocke's cheek. "You know we won't make it out alive," the purple-haired Brit stated matter-of-factly.
"We're the X-Men," Havok said, his courage quickly returning. He stared into the blackness, noting that nothing moved within. "We joined this outfit knowing that death was just around the corner. If we're going to die, we might as well go down fighting."
"And we will," continued Colossus, taking a few tentative steps beyond the group. He strode past the threshold, but didn't disappear as Phoenix had. "I want to let you all know that it has been a pleasure. If we do not make it out alive, dos vidanya."
"Amen to that," Rogue said. She walked into the darkness just behind Colossus, followed closely by Havok and Psylocke. The group of four disappeared into the depths of the citadel. The hunt was on.
Rachel Summers stumbled through the darkness, a small halo of light that surrounded her body the only illumination. She had been separated from the others, but she was unsure of where she was. In the citadel itself, more than likely.
"My dear Phoenix," came a quiet, scratchy voice. Rachel had never heard the voice before, but she new immediately that it belonged to Immortus. "Such a quandary you are. Born in an alternate reality, transported to this reality where you met the parents that have no idea you exist. Did it hurt, looking at Cyclops, knowing that he would likely never sire you? What did you think when you first met him? I wonder..."
"Where are you?" Phoenix boldly exclaimed, trying to ignite her formidable powers. They refused to respond to her commands, however, meaning that Immortus did indeed hold absolute sway over his citadel at the end of time. "Show yourself!"
Suddenly, Rachel's flames ignited, bathing the massive chamber in light. Immortus sat atop an ornate throne at the end of the room, his chestnut eyes fixed on Rachel. Behind him, immobile, stood a massive stone giant, a tremendous club held in one fist. To Immortus' left was a stasis chamber, holding the young girl Jubilation Lee. She looked unconscious, floating in the chamber's fluids.
"Here I am," said Immortus casually, cocking his head slightly to the side. He looked Rachel up and down, although he had seen her plenty of times before, in plenty of different timelines. "I don't suppose you've become the Mother Askani yet, have you?" Immortus inquired.
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing," replied Immortus, waving the question away with one gloved hand. He shook his head gently, slightly confused. "Your trevails through the timestream have confused even my senses, young Phoenix. I believe that you were lost to the timestream three years ago, correct?" Phoenix didn't reply. "Sacrificing yourself to save Captain Britain. How noble."
Phoenix exploded with fury, sending a wave of flames crashing into Immortus' throne. When the heat retreated at Rachel's command, Immortus still sat stoicly atop the seat, looking somewhat bored.
"You'll have to do better than that, my dear," sighed Immortus, flicking a bit of singed fabric away from his cloak. He glanced at the captive Jubilee, a slight smile on his face. "It will be paradise."
"What will?" Phoenix asked, taking a few tentative steps toward Immortus while she figured out what to do. Her power didn't affect him, so she would have to improvise.
Immortus continued as if Phoenix hadn't spoken. "Every wrong committed in the entire timestream will be rectified. Every evil will be replaced by good. Peace, tranquility, and a universal loathing of war will rule the timestream." He rose to his feet, striding over to get a closer look at the young mutant. Immortus placed a hand on the glass where Jubilee's face was, as if he were stroking it tenderly. "I regret the loss of her innocence. But in order for my plans to succeed, in order for peace to reign, it is necessary. If only there were more of her."
"More of her?" Phoenix inquired, thoroughly confused. She halted in the middle of the room, momentarily ending her search for anything that she could use against Immortus. "What do you mean?"
Immortus smiled. "There is only one of her in the entire timestream." Whirling around, Immortus' smile grew slightly at Phoenix's shocked look. "You didn't know that, did you? In the entire timestream, in every single multiverse, there is only one Jubilation Lee."
"How...how can that be?" stammered Phoenix, unaware that the wayward X-Men had burst into the chamber. Immortus barely glanced at them, his attention focused solely on Phoenix. "How can there be only one?"
"In every other reality," Immortus said, snapping his fingers. The stone giant moved fitfully at first, but began to loosen up after a few seconds. It growled at the X-Men and attacked, unbeknownst to the absorbed Phoenix. "Her parents died before she was born. In one, her parents are killed by a burglar. In another, they die in a car crash. In yet another, they decide to focus on their careers and not sire children." Immortus turned away from Phoenix while the battle raged between the X-Men and the giant. "This Jubilee is wholly unique."
A stray blast snapped Phoenix to attention. She turned to see the X-Men barely holding their own against the giant, who seemed nigh unstoppable. As Phoenix watched, Colossus was hammered into the ground, cracking the cobblestones of the floor.
"Enough," whispered Phoenix, focusing every ounce of her power against the giant. It melted beneath her onslaught, then exploded in a fiery shower. Immortus threw up an arm to protect himself from a flaming chunk of his servant, only to have the debris bounce off of his arm and hit the statis chamber. The X-Men recoiled from the onslaught, but found themselves protected by the flames.
"Bravo," cried Immortus, his patience obviously wearing thin. With a single wave of his hand the X-Men froze in place, unable to move or react to anything in their immediate surroundings. Reaching out with her own waning temporal power, Phoenix freed her teammates. Immortus growled. "Very well, young Phoenix, if you wish a duel. Let it begin."
Phoenix found herself thrown into the air, unable to stop her ascent despite her vast power. An invisible hand tightened around her throat, cutting off her air supply.
"Rachel," Havok muttered, watching the woman struggle in the air. His eyes narrowing, Havok pummeled Immortus with intense plasma bursts, but it didn't even phase the master of time. Rogue rocketed through the air at Immortus, but bounced off of an invisible force field and slammed into a nearby wall. "This isn't working!"
"I can't get inside his head," said Psylocke, her hands pressed to her temple. "He's shielded. The locks are pretty strong, too."
Peering beyond Immortus, Havok saw the stasis chamber and the captive Jubilee. A glint of light caught his eye, quickly making Havok realize that there was a small crack in the glass.
"There," Havok said, moving the focus of his power from Immortus to the chamber itself. The stasis chamber burst under the sudden onslaught, dumping the soaked Jubilee onto the ground. Immortus, his concentration broken, let Phoenix fall to the ground.
"What have you done?" roared Immortus, looking down to see Jubilee stirring on the floor, surrounded by shards of glass and a spreading puddle of fluid. His face a mask of rage, Immortus looked up at the impetuous X-Men. "You have earned yourself my eternal emnity. I will stop at nothing to destroy you and all of those closest to you."
A fist flew out of nowhere, taking Immortus completely by surprise. He tumbled to the ground, Phoenix towering above him. She looked at Immortus, who was laying next to Jubilee, then at the fallen girl. A pained look crept into her eyes.
"No," Immortus whispered, seeing what Phoenix was about to do.
"I'm sorry," said Phoenix to Jubilee, knowing that the girl could not hear her. A wall of flame shot out from Phoenix, enveloping the area around Immortus and Jubilee before the master of time could react. The young mutant was incinterated immediately, while Immortus was still protected by his power. "So sorry."
The X-Men stared in mute shock at Phoenix. Immortus crawled over to the pile of ash that had, until recently, been the young mutant Jubilee. His hopes and dreams shattered, his one chance at peace through the timestream destroyed, Immortus wept.
A single tear hit the cobblestones, even as the X-Men found themselves standing in the middle of the abandoned town in Australia that had been their base of operations. Phoenix was absent, leaving Havok, Rogue, Colossus, and Psylocke alone amidst the desert.
"Look," said Rogue, pointing to an x-shaped crucifix. Thin strips of flesh and muscle hung from metal-coated bones that twinkled in the harsh Australian sunlight. It was all that remained of Wolverine.
Silently, the X-Men left the street, heading into the nearest building. The street was empty once again, with the exception of Wolverine's adamantium-covered bones. Not a single animal called the ghost town home, but for the shattered remnants of the X-Men, it was all they had.
Rachel Summers looked out over the ruined remains of New York City interspersed with glittering, almost architecturally impossible towers that announced the dominion of Apocalypse. She was the Mother Askani, responsible for raising a young man that would travel to the past to stop Apocalypse before he could arise. Her hair was gray, her face and hands wrinkled by time.
A bright flicker of light from behind caught Rachel's attention, but only when a trio of poison-tipped spears pierced her body did she realize that the Clan Askani was under attack. Her attackers retreated silently into the temple, leaving the aged Rachel lying in a heap on the balcony.
"You are the last and the first," came a voice. Raising her head as much as she could, Rachel looked up to see Immortus hovering over her, looking much the same as he had when she killed Jubilee. "My vengeance is complete. You destroyed my chance at universal peace," Immortus growled, as Rachel's head fell back against the balcony's rough floor. "So now there will be war. Forever."
Rachel slipped into oblivion, Immortus' final word hanging in her brain. As she breathed her last, Immortus disappeared from view. Screams came from within the Askani temple as Apocalypse's forces, aided by Immortus, annihilated the Clan. Not a soul remained, not even the boy who was to challenge Apocalypse in the past.
Immortus, in the end, had indeed triumphed.
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