GENETIC ECLIPSE

Part XII: Your Little World Falling Apart

By David Wheatley

Author’s Note: This story is continued from Wolverine #14.

The computer bleeped at him and Xavier was startled from his thoughts. He had just seen his X-Men divided once more and it had come closer to ending their temporary truce as anything might. It was something that disturbed Charles on several levels, not least because the current threats reminded him of his own mortality in a way the others would never really know.

“Charles?” asked Moira MacTaggert as she entered the room. She had come across from the U.K. with Nightcrawler as soon as they had heard he had the Legacy Virus. Kurt had returned out of a sense of loyalty to the Professor, the dream and the fact that Xavier had saved his life many years ago. Moira had returned with him as one of the foremost experts on the virus, and as one of his oldest friends. Once they’d been so much more and he wistfully wondered what it would be like to go back. They had so much in common, the main thing at the moment the reason he needed her help more than that of Henry McCoy.

Moira was the only known case of the Legacy Virus infecting a human. She had spent longer looking for a cure for the disease in her own terms, so this human Legacy Virus that Apocalypse had created would be more in her league than anyone else’s.

“Gambit’s sent the data,” said Charles as he turned to look at her. “We have the details we need to start work on the cure.”

“How did ye get him there so quick?” asked Moira. It hadn’t been long since the Horsemen had attacked the mansion.

“Logan informed me of which of the warp chambers to use, courtesy of Landau, Luckman, and Lake and as soon as I spoke with Hank I sent Gambit on his mission. The warp chamber system wasn’t enough to get Logan back in time to help us, but he was already in Egypt. Apparently as soon as she was kidnapped, Jean called him for help and Gateway used his time warping powers to ensure Logan got it before Kitty was kidnapped and gave him time to get to Egypt so he could start a rescue mission.”

“Logan seems to have called in a few markers,” said Hank, standing in the doorway, behind Moira.

“Actually,” said Xavier, “this was done of their own bat. Logan’s allies are also looking out for us as well. Gateway I can understand.” He referred to the aborigine’s part in the Onslaught affair, which only he and Gateway knew what that was. “Landau, Luckman and Lake are a different matter. However, if Logan says they are on the level, I will accept his word. He has no reason to lie.”

“I hope he’ll be okay,” said Cecilia who had also arrived with Hank, yet had been hidden behind his bulky frame. “All three of them.”

“Cecilia, have you not yet ascertained that even though we may have an ‘X’ emblazoned across our chests in some symbolic target, X-Men are most defiantly and definitely troublesome when it comes to our demises?”

“So you’re hard to kill,” said Cecilia. “Doesn’t make you immortal.”

“We are all aware of our limitations,” said Xavier, softly.

“Charles!” said Moira as she reviewed the data. “There’s more than Legacy information here. There’s details on the Horsemen – and Jean’s infection.” Xavier closed his eyes and smiled at this unexpected blessing.

“Thanks to Remy, we have a starting point,” he said. “Hank, you and Doctor Reyes, work on Jean’s condition. Moira and myself will go to work on the Legacy Virus. We have work to do.”

Iceman looked at his team of X-Men. Marrow was not up to her full fighting strength yet, but the others were as good as they were going to get.

“Kurt,” he said, coming closer to the blue furred X-Men. Nightcrawler turned his head towards him from the controls of the Blackbird.

“Yes?” he answered.

“Can we do this?”

“You mean can we confront whoever is delivering the Legacy Virus to Washington and stop them from ending life on Earth as we know it? I hope so, but there but for the grace of God go we.”

“Can I do this?” Bobby asked. He had given Kurt a pretty rough time when the Horsemen had attacked, and he felt a little guilty about it. Seeing how Scott had been behaving had made it more so.

“Mein freund,” said Kurt, placing a hand on Bobby’s shoulder. “You have the capability to be one of the best leaders the X-Men have ever had. You have more experience in the field than the rest of us, but not as much confidence in yourself. You can do it, because there is no other choice.”

“Thanks, Kurt,” said Iceman. Kurt nodded and went back to looking at the instruments. They’d be in Washington soon, and he wondered how Wolverine and Gambit were doing in Egypt. The team was a little underhanded without the two of them.

The hounds were advancing on them, as Logan, Kitty, and Remy stood with their backs to the wall. The Dark Riders had done a fade out and the X-Men were alone.

“Dis ain’t good, mes amis,” said Gambit.

“Never is where the X-Men are concerned, Cajun,” growled Wolverine, his claws extended and ready for the fight.

“I’m not sure how my powers will affect these Phalanx things,” said Shadowcat, brandishing the Honor Sword of the Clan Yashida that Logan had brought with him.

“There’s another problem,” said Logan, as he tasted the air.

“What else?” asked Kitty.

“I can smell Creed. It’s distant, but he’s here, as well as some other old friends.”

“Sabretooth?” asked Kitty. “Why’s he here?”

“He goes by the name War,” said Gambit, hurling a few cards at the hounds, keeping them at bay for the moment. “Apocalypse altered him so he’s one of de Horsemen.”

“Figures,” said Logan. “Guess he just took the easy way out of getting himself back together.” It was nearly eight months since the last time he had faced Sabretooth.

Creed had lost his adamantium and his healing factor wasn’t up to much because of it, something Logan was only too aware of. At the same time, Creed had been infected with a death virus from the latest version of Weapon X as well as going to claw city with Logan which had ended as Logan drove his claws into Sabretooth’s heart. Then the Juggernaut had brought the Project X complex down on Creed’s head and everyone involved had just left him there.

“You always were the better man,” said Kitty. “You’d never become a Horseman.”

“Depends on the circumstances, darlin’,” said Logan. “If there were no other choice…”

“I don’ like the tone of dis,” said Gambit. “What say we replay the Alamo?”

“We can’t hold out forever,” said Kitty. “But we can give them one hell of a repair bill.”

“Wanna bet?” said Logan and he leapt in to the fray. He wasn’t going to die here, he was needed elsewhere, and if he wasn’t going to die, neither were the others.

The X-Men arrived in Washington, where Bobby gave his instructions. Marrow and Nightcrawler were to play it ‘sly and sneaky’ as Marrow had stayed hidden for years as a Morlock and Nightcrawler’s ability to become invisible in darkness made it ideal for him.

Storm and Rogue were to cover the skies and look for any signs of what they were looking for. That left Spark and Iceman to cover the city. Storm said nothing about the plan and followed the instructions of the team leader, however she glanced at Kurt and nodded. As the former leader of Excalibur, the two of them knew what they were feeling now that they were just part of the ranks.

As they split up, Spark looked at Iceman.

“Is splitting up wise?” she asked.

“I hope so,” said Bobby. “Without the others, we don’t have as many options as I’d like. Apocalypse can wait, we’ve taken him down before, and we’ll do it again. The problem is Scott doesn’t have the subjectivity he did. If Jean hadn’t been infected, I guess he’d have gone along with it. I’ve known him a long time and I can’t even begin to fathom what his problem is.”

He thought back to when he’d confronted Xavier before becoming the field leader and how he’d accused him of being like Scott had said. After seeing the way Scott had reacted back at the mansion, he knew he’d been out of line with Xavier. He agreed with Scott’s sentiments, but not the way he was going about it.

“So, what would you do if it came down to it? X-Man versus X-Man?”

“It won’t.”

“But what if?”

“It won’t.” Bobby repeated his answer with a tone that matched both his name and appearance. “Okay, Angela, that’s enough talking. You head that way, I’ll go this way. Anything suspicious, call it in. We can’t afford to take any chances.”

She nodded, thinking how wrong Iceman was, and that it was the chances that they should be taking, not playing it safe.

As the various X-Men scattered across the area, searching and waiting for what they were after, they suddenly received a telepathic call from Xavier.

{Hear me, my X-Men,} he called out, his powers boosted by the Legacy Virus that rushed through his body, making it sound as though he were right next to them. {Using the data Gambit provided, we can detect the traces of Apocalypse’s technology in the virus. It is in minute amounts, however if you recalibrate the mini-Cerebro units you will be able to track it via the otherworldly technology and our other encounters with it. Have faith; we are working on finding a cure.}

Bobby smiled, knowing that the Professor is as active as he could be, and that his caution is only used at appropriate times. If only Scott could see that, he mused. Was it that he was seeing Scott like this because he was on the ‘other side’ or was it because he was now a leader in his own right? For too long the Iceman had been the class clown, the man most likely to go nowhere. Now he was showing his potential, while Scott was wasting his.

It shocked him to think that way of one his oldest and best friends, but it was what he felt. As he altered the mini-Cerebro unit to track the Celestial based technology, he saw where they had to go and he activated his commlink.

“I’ve got it!” he said to the others as they listened in. “Follow my signal and come on!”

The X-Men had a world to save.

Danielle Moonstar looked at Trial and Tusk. Their mission was simple, get the human Legacy Virus and expose it to committee who were debating the proper virus. The irony was delicious, for if these so called experts couldn’t find a cure for mutants, how would they ever cure themselves? Half of their inaction was due to the fact it was mutants who had the disease, the other because they were as lost as the rest.

“Trial?” she asked as the technological genius finished work on the weapons. Thanks to Tusk they had plenty of the Virus to use and Trial had created a special weapon to fire a small, yet perfectly suited dose of the Virus. They could strike from a distance and the chaos would ensue.

“Ready, boss,” said Trial with a grin. It was up to the two of them to fire the weapons as it was up to Tusk to run interference for the inevitable arrival of…

“The X-Men!” called Tusk as he saw Iceman hurtling down the street towards them on an ice-slide, Rogue and Storm flying in. The others were nowhere to be seen as yet, but Dani remembered from her many years with them that they would be close.

“Damn, they’re early,” she said. “Trial, any chance you fitted some kind of cloaking devices to these things?”

“How good of you to recognize,” said Trial and flipped a switch, making the weapons invisible and obscuring the precious virus from the oncoming X-Men. He then passed the device to Dani so she could take care of it.

Tusk was already establishing his Tuskettes in position so it was if there was an army waiting for the oncoming X-Men and Dani herself stood in front of them.

“Goddess, no,” said Storm as she saw her. When Storm had taught the New Mutants, she and Dani had been friends.

“Oh yes, Wind Rider,” she said. “The past is dead to me.”

“You don’t sound as certain of that as I’d have expected from a loyal follower of Apocalypse,” said Bobby.

“You don’t have to be a fanatic to believe,” said Dani, however there was something in her eyes, something that told both Iceman and Storm that the seeds of doubt were in there. Bobby had seen it with Warren when he was the Horseman Death and Storm knew the girl.

“We don’t have to do this,” said Bobby.

“Wanna bet, X-Man?” said Tusk, and the Tuskettes began to swarm towards him, and Storm summoned up a hurricane to knock them back, while Iceman began to create a wall of ice around Trial. Taking out the unknown was the first order of business, but then there was a shift and Iceman could tell via the absence of a body temperature that Trial had teleported out. He turned around trying to find him but saw someone else running up instead.

“Spark!” he called. “There’s a techo-smith around here. He’s all yours!” She smiled, knowing that with he powers over electricity that any machines created had the chance of going very badly wrong.

Kurt and Marrow had started to take on the Tuskettes, while Rogue went after Tusk himself, which left Moonstar for himself and Storm.

“Storm,” he said. “I want to try and bring her around.”

“Shake her free of the conditioning? It’s worth a try.” Iceman smiled at the vote of confidence in her voice and her acceptance of the plan. It would have worked better if they had a telepath, but they had to use what they had at hand – an old tutor and someone who’d seen this kind of thing before.

It wasn’t going to be easy, but these things never were.

Tusk wasn’t enjoying himself. He’d taken quite a beating at the hand of Wolverine, who was fast becoming the Dark Rider’s number one foe. He had killed most of them and was the main reason for their depleted ranks.

Even without the adamantium that had been bonded to his bones, few could deny that Logan was indeed the best there was at what he did. If Logan hadn’t have been distracted by the scream of Kitty Pryde, he’d have been the latest of the Dark Riders to fall at his hand.

Now he was facing three X-Men – Nightcrawler, who was teleporting about the place taking out Tuskettes with precision shots; Marrow, who seemed to be a smaller version of Wolverine, except not as experienced as the other; and Rogue, who seemed intent on trying to batter him with her fists.

Of all of them, she was the greater threat. Marrow looked as if she’d gone a few rounds with Wolverine, and Tusk knew that she had to have faced off against War, and Nightcrawler couldn’t keep up his teleporting forever, for even he had limits. That left Rogue, and all he had to do was hold out against her until the other two were exhausted, then she’d have to defend instead of attack.

It wasn’t much of a plan, he decided, but it would do for now. He directed his Tuskettes to swap Marrow, keeping those deadly bone shards away from him, so he could go one on one with Rogue. She was fast, strong, and could fly, as well as having a limited invulnerability. However Tusk could match her strength and his hide was tough enough to withstand her blows, at least where it hadn’t been cut through by those damned claws in Egypt.

As she came flying in, he met her with a fist, taking care not to touch her bare skin. Apocalypse’s files were vast and the Dark Rider’s had been briefed on what the X-Men were capable of. It was then Tusk had an idea and he smiled as Rogue flew back at him.

“Now that wasn’t nice, sugah,” she said, avoiding his fists as he tried to swat her again.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” answered Tusk as he began to put his plan in to operation. It was time to let the X-Men’s teamwork work for him.

Trial wasn’t getting very far with his own opponent. This neophyte X-Man hadn’t been covered in Apocalypse’s file on them, but he was certain he knew her from somewhere. However, where was another matter and he didn’t have a chance to access the database while she kept rerouting the flow of the electricity of his gadgets. She’d even used the power cells to determine where he was teleporting to and that was how she managed to keep one step ahead of him, however he was working on it.

“The trouble with your kind,” she said, “is you’re too damned dependent on your technology to be a proper fighter.”

“Yeah?” he said, as he tried to sort out some back up systems that were powered on cold fusion, generated by a device on his belt buckle. Kitty Pryde had disrupted his systems from before and it had taken a while to get back on line, but with this young brat messing with things it was near impossible. “Without me, you’ll never find the virus.”

Spark stopped for a second at the mention of the virus, and it gave Trial the chance he needed to finish his task. Cold fusion and not electricity powered the systems as the cold fusion generator came online. It wasn’t the safest thing in the world to do, but it was a lot easier to take on this young girl who was suddenly wondering what to do now.

“Not so liberal with the taunts now, are you hon?” he asked.

“I have other things to do my talking,” she said and unleashed a power blast of pure electricity at him, which he absorbed.

“If only things were that easy,” he said as he primed his weapons. “That was nowhere near my limits. I can take whatever you throw at me.”

“Let’s find out,” said Spark, her confident tone hiding what she felt inside.

Iceman and Storm were taking on Dani, but her new powers combined with her old made her a formidable opponent. If it wasn’t for the fact she was rebelling against Apocalypse’s conditioning they’d have been in trouble. However her energy blasts weren’t as accurate, and Iceman was creating ice shields to deflect what energy he could.

Storm was keeping her off guard with various elemental assaults, but Dani had been a Valkyrie and was used to turbulent conditions. It was the words they were using against her that were having the most effect.

As they tried to get through to her, Iceman noticed that Angela was in trouble as Trial shrugged off her energy blasts as though they were jets of water.

“Storm! Help Angela!” Storm nodded and turned on Trial, hurling bolts of lightening at him. Being attacked on two fronts was more than his systems could take and he lit up like a firecracker before collapsing on the floor. The first of the Rider’s had been taken out, and as they turned they saw Rogue being thrown towards Marrow.

Kurt was closest to Sarah and he teleported her out of the way, knowing her injuries from before meant she couldn’t fight and avoid her oncoming teammate well enough. However it was what Tusk had planned, as Rogue landed in the midst of the Tuskettes, who all began to touch her exposed skin, overloading her mind with the same thoughts multiplied several times over. Rogue screamed which distracted Bobby who was then nailed by an energy burst from Moonstar, as Kurt reappeared next to Storm, Marrow fell in to unconsciousness at the strain of the jaunt and the wounds she had already taken.

Three X-Men were down in less than a minute, and that left only four of them against what appeared to be two Dark Riders, except that Tusk had outsmarted himself. Rogue’s absorption of so many Tuskettes had left them all drained, and it had an adverse effect on him as well, as they were ultimately extensions of himself and he dropped to his knees.

“Sorry, Dani,” he said before he collapsed.

“It’s over, Dani,” said Kurt. “You can’t take all of us.”

“I don’t have to,” said Dani. “I can release the virus by remote in to the air. It’s not exactly what Apocalypse wanted but it’s close enough.”

“You don’t have to do this,” said Ororo. She could see the device in Dani’s hand, and knew that Kurt wouldn’t be able to ‘port in time.

“It isn’t powered by electricity,” said Spark, knowing she couldn’t stop it either. With Bobby down it was up to Storm to make a choice.

“You were right, fuzzy elf,” said Dani. “It’s over.”

{I think not,} came the voice of Xavier in to their respective minds. {I cannot allow this, Dani.}

“Stay out of my head, Xavier. At this distance from me and with my new powers, I’m more than a match for you.”

{We shall see.} With that said, Xavier marshalled his thoughts against her conditioning. He saw Kitty Pryde had started the job earlier but Apocalypse’s hold on her was strong and as he attacked her mind, he gave instructions to Spark, who closed her eyes to focus her own powers.

Then Dani collapsed with a scream, the device untriggered and the virus secure.

“What happened?” asked Bobby, recovering from the blast of earlier. He’d heard Charles voice in his the center of his skull and it had brought him round, though his head was pounding.

{I asked Angela to use her powers to realign the electrical charges in Danielle’s brain,} said the astral form of Xavier standing before them. {With my psionic attack keeping her off guard, Spark got in and managed to short her out, so to speak. The device she dropped will reveal the location of the weapons they created to disperse the virus. Well done, my X-Men, well done indeed.}

“What about Dani?” asked Storm. “How is she?”

{I do not know,} replied Xavier. {Until she awakens, I cannot tell where her loyalties now lie. However the threat of the human version of the Legacy Virus has been thwarted. We have developed an anti-virus thanks to the information supplied by Gambit.}

“Will it work for Moira?” asked Kurt.

{We are trying,} answered Xavier. {Right now we are more concerned with Jean. She has taken a turn for the worse and Henry believes that we have started to lose her. She hasn’t more than an hour or so left.}

And the silence that followed said more than words ever could…

The end is near – Genetic Eclipse concludes in Uncanny X-Men #16 & Apocalypse #10!

Then, in the Genetic Eclipse Epilogue: The X-Men feel the aftershocks of war with Apocalypse – especially the Summers, who have lost one of their own! What will become of the X-Men? Will they reunite or remain split? And will the mystery of the Twelve finally be uncovered?