Mutants. They are the next step in humanity’s evolution; the inheritors of the earth. For this reason, they are feared and hated by their human brethren, a species that has known dominance for too long. The transition of power is inevitable, yet thus far the road has been paved with blood. One man dreams of peace, and has gathered mutant champions to stop the bloodshed. They are the children of the atom, mutants sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them. To humans, they are outlaws. To mutants, they are traitors. In their hearts, they are heroes. They are....
The water came at them in a mammoth tidal wave, so massive that the shadow it cast covered over the entire width of Long Island. Unyeilding, the tidal wave rushed forward, all the while increasing in size and power. Until finally, devastatingly, it reached the gathering of mutants who were, both past and present, X-Men.
It was then that the tidal wave halted.
Rachel Summers, bathed in psionic flames, hovered over the wooden stage that had, earlier that day, been the site of a debate between two independant candidates for the United States Senate. Professor Xavier was one of those candidates, and so Rachel had accompanied the X-Men in support of their founder and mentor. But Rachel had refused to reveal herself to the public, and had been out of sight during much of the debate.
Rachel had been right to remain hidden. Xavier’s opposition had taken the debate as an opportunity to unviel his own team of mutants, which was largely made up of former X-Men members Colossus, Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Havok, as well as a mysterious new Magik. The two mutant teams had immediately engaged one another in battle, until Rachel’s arrival brought an end to it.
It was then that a meteor crashed into the Long Island Sound, creating the afore-mentioned tidal wave. The newest member of the X-Men, Blockade, had previously been thrown into the Long Island Sound, and was most likely killed by the meteor’s impact.
However, as the tidal wave bore down on the assembled mutants, Rachel Summers held her ground. Hovering majestically in the tidal wave’s path, surrounded by her fiery psionic energy, Rachel Summers raised her arms and spoke.
All she said was, “Halt.”
At her command, bright red flames shot out from the plams of Rachel’s hands. The psionic fire enveloped the mammoth tidal wave, pushing against it’s unyielding force with the power of Rachel Summers behind it. Slowly, the crashing wall of water froze in place, held by the sheer willpower of Rachel Summers.
Nodding in satisfaction, Rachel Summers then swung her arms wide apart. The psionic fire that surrounded the tidal wave flared violently, blinding all who gazed upon it, save for the mistress of the flames.
When the flames dissipated, the towering wave of water was gone, vanished. The Long Island Sound could clearly be seen off in the distant; peaceful, though a bit lower than it had been earlier. The top of a great sphere of rock stuck out from the water, the meteor that had very nearly been the cause of so much devastation.
Rachel Summers lowered herself down onto the wooden stage, into the midst of the men and women who had so recently been at each other’s throats. “I did what I could, but no doubt that meteor created tidal waves all along the coast, on both shores.” Rachel turned to the now-unmanned cameras, still on. “Rescue teams should be sent out immediately to deal with the aftermath of such a disaster.” Rachel’s eyes flashed, and the cameras went dim. She turned to the mutants around here. “There, now we have our privacy.”
“It doesn’t matter. The cameras already captured the worst of it.” Cyclops, the leader of the X-Men, had wiped blood from his lip, and replaced his ruined visor with his emergency glasses. “A clever move, Alex, using my weakness against me.”
“I never could beat you in a fair fight, brother,” Alex Summers, codenamed Havok, replied. “What just happened wasn’t my team’s fault, Scott. Sure, I expected things to be strained, but I wasn’t planning on a brawl. You guys attacked us!” He turned angrily at Wolfsbane. “Dammit, Rahne, I thought we’d settled things long ago!”
Rahne Sinclair, the lupine mutant known as Wolfsbane, shook her head, as though clearing it. “I dinnae ken what happened tae me. When I saw ye, Alex, it all just came floodin’ back tae me. All a’the pain an’ anger I once felt towards ye.”
“You all felt it,” Rachel Summers said. “All the negative feelings you had towards one-another came flooding out ten-fold, the result of some malevolent force. I’d felt something before the press conferance, but only when you all began fighting did I realize what it was. A powerful psionic presence was manipulating all of you.”
Rachel turned towards the water. “My telepathic powers are...difficult right now, but I sensed something in that meteor, right before I crashed down.”
“Right on top of poor Blockade,” Longshot said.
Wolfsbane gasped. “Ach, Moira will be so saddened tae hear the news!”
“As long as somebody is around to give the news,” Cyclops said. “Rachel, I’d never seen you exhibit such power before. How did you get rid of the water?”
Rachel shrugged, as though it’d been nothing. “I simply excited the molecules of the watter, effectively boiling it down to nothingness within a few seconds. I did the same thing when Apocalypse had tried to crush the former Manhatten with a tsumani. That had been on a much larger scale, but of course I had the power of Phoenix behind me then. If Iceman had been able, he could have frozen it just as easily.”
As though something had just entered her mind, Rachel Summers turned her head to look at the unconscious Iceman. “Oh, that reminds me.” Rachel flicked her wrist towards Iceman and the other unconscious mutants. A moment later, Iceman, Dazzler, Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat had all regained awakened.
“Uhhhh,” Iceman muttered grogily. “Oooo, man, what happened? Owww!” Iceman and the other newly-awakened mutants all clutched their heads in pained surprised as Rachel Summers fed the events of the last few minutes directly into their minds.
“Sorry,” said Rachel in a voice that said anything but. “But there’s no time to waste. I can feel the presence within that meteorite. It feels very powerful, and very angry. If it bursts through the layer of rock, we’ll be in trouble.”
“What could be possibly do until then?” Cyclops asked. “Our only option is to rest and wait for that thing to come out, then-”
Rachel cut her father off. “Or you could use Magik to teleported you all into the hollow meteorite.” She turned to the X-Men past and present, her eyes flashing psionic fire. In fact, that’s what you’re all going to do.”
As though a switch had gone off in all of them, the assembled X-Men all took on this relaxed, almost euphoric expression. Except for Magik, who just stared curiously at Rachel. Rachel was momentarily surprised, but then gave Magik a slight smile.
“Take them there, Mistress of Limbo,” Rachel told her. Surely you can feel it? It is nature perverted, powerful, and very hungry. Take the X-Men into the heart of the monster.”
Psionic flames flared around Rachel. It was clear to Magik that she wouldn’t take no for an answer. Raising her Soulsword, Magik swung it in a wide arc. It wasn’t necessary to work the magic, but it helped her to focus the power of Limbo. A large Stepping Disc appeared beneath her feet, encompasing her and the other X-Men. The Stepping Disc rose up swiftly, empty air beneath it. Bit-by-bit, the X-Men vanished, until the Stepping Disc passed over the tallest head and itself blinked out of existence.
Rachel Summers nodded to herself, pleased. Though she had no doubt sent the X-Men into an extremely dangerous situation, they would at least be safe from what she would face. Only their bodies were in danger. Their minds would remain free.
“They were so close to being mine,” the Professor said behind Rachel. Steeling herself, she turned to face the bald little man in the wheelchair. His eyes were black, and his smile sent chills down her spine. “You cannot protect them. My hold over them is too strong. I am too strong.”
Rachel straightened herself upright, stood her ground before the Professor’s mad gaze. “Now they are out of the way. It should be for long enough.”
Professor Xavier laughed. It was cruel, malevolent, so unlike his usual laughter. “You honestly believe yourself to be a match for me, girl? I have razed the most powerful minds on this planet! Only Xavier has ever been able to challenge me, and you see what I have made of him! You are nothing to me!”
But rather than despair, Rachel Summers smiled. “One thousand years from now, you will know different. You will fear me, Shadow Thief, for today I am going to teach you a very harsh lesson!”
The Shadow King, within the body of Professor Xavier, snarled. The light dimmed around him, as living shadows rose from his body. “I will not be bested by some slip of a girl!”
Rachel Summers spread her arms apart. Psionic flames flared from her body, creating the fiery impression of a bird around her body.
“I am a child of cosmic forces,” Rachel informed the Shadow King. “I have traveled the whole breadth of time itself, was baptized in the fires of war. I am forever an outsider, but I will see that this world has the chance that mine never did. I am Askani, Shadow Thief, and today you will fear me!”
A split-second after vanishing from Askani’s sight, the assembled X-Men reappeared elsewhere. The Stepping Disc lowered down to the ground, revealing to the X-Men where it was that they had been taken.
Iceman looked around, confused. “Ummm, are we where I thought we were going? Because this doesn’t look like it.”
The X-Men had been teleported into a thriving jungle, surrounded by large trees and thick foliage. It certainly didn’t look like the inside of a meteor.
Rogue shot a look at Magik. “Ah think ya took a wrong turn over at Limbo.”
“No,” Cyclops said. “We’re definately in an enclosed space.”
Havok looked up, squinted, and finally shook his head. “How can you tell? I can’t see past the tree line.”
“I can,” said Iceman. “Seeing things in terms of temperature, you can see a whole lot of stuff. Not far past the coverage, there’s a solid mass. I must be the shell of the meteor. It looks a bit warm, but that’s no surprise..”
“There’s no sun,” Cyclops added. “It’s bright; there’s something illuminating this place. But I can’t feel the sun.”
Dazzler took several steps forward, looking about uneasily. “Can you hear that?”
“I hear nothing,” answered Colossus.
“Exactly,” said Dazzler. “This is supposed to be a jungle, so where are all the insects and animals? There isn’t even any wind.”
Wolfsbane crept forward tentatively, sniffing the air. “The air be stale, empty. Tis nae sign of any animals. Nae insects either. Even the plants...feel empty. Ach, tis as though this place be dead.”
“Can we plase not use the word ‘dead’?” Shadowcat pleaded. “This place is creepy enough. We’re in the middle of a meteroite that just shot out of space. For some reason, there’s a jungle in here. Obviously, there’s plenty of oxygen. But without animals, where is the carbon dioxide coming from?”
“That’s easy,” Longshot said. “The plants are producing both.”
Shadowcat responded with, “That’s impossible. Basic law of nature. Plants breathe carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. Animals breathe oxygen and produce carbon dioxide.”
“This whole place is unnatural,” Magic said.
Nightcrawler agreed. “Da. And yet, it feels so familiar.”
“I can’t shake that feeling myself,” said Cyclops. “But we’re not here to experience deja vu. Rachel felt something alive in her, and I have a feeling she wasn’t talking about plants.”
“Speaking of Rachel, why isn’t she here?” Iceman wondered aloud. “You’d think a telepath would come in handy when you’re trying to find a malevolent presence. And why’d she force us here the way she did?”
Shadowcat nodded, concern on her face. “She’s been acting strange ever sense she came back to us. Might have to do with her journey through the time stream.”
Nightcrawer was silent. He had questions about the return of his old teammate, but now was not the time.
Havok looked at Rogue. “Rogue, could you absorb from the plants? At this point, I’m thinking that they might know more than we do.”
Rogue looked unsure. “Ah’ve never absorbed a plant before.”
Longshot spoke up. “But I have. Or at least, I’ve been able to read memories from plants. Like I did with Timmy at the Nanny’s Orphanage.”
“You’ve gone up against Nanny?” Colossus asked.
“It was shortly after the three of you deserted us,” Cyclops answered. “Which begs the question, what are you doing with Havok, and why were you working with the Professor’s opponent?”
“Don’t start, Scott,” Havok warned. “Truth is, I don’t remember much of what I’ve been up to since leaving my last assignment.”
“Maybe it’s all her doing.” Shadowcat pointed at Magik accusingly. “I don’t know who you are lady, but it sure as hell isn’t Illyana Rasputin. My friend died in my arms.”
“In this time, maybe,” Magik replied. “But Limbo crosses over all timelines, all realities. Even if I am Illyana Rasputin, I would not be the one you know. Who I am is unimportant. I am here only because the Pheonix Force has awakened again!”
“Okay, so she orchastrated out little fight to draw out Rachel, who cares,” Iceman cut in. “That has nothing to do with this, does it?”
Magik shook her head. “No. And I had nothing to do with what happened earlier-”
“Doesn’t matter right now,” Iceman cut in. “As long as you’re ready to get us out when things get hot, I’ve got no beef with you.”
“Iceman’s right,” Cyclops said. “Longshot, find out what you can.”
Softly, Longshot stepped through the jungle foliage, careful not to disturb anything, and reached out his hand for a nearby tree. Longshot’s four fingers brushed up against the tree bark....
Longshot screamed as the images flashed through his mind. The brilliant burst of an early atomic test. The feeling of radiation sweeping over with island test site, permeating every living organism. The island becoming changed, altered by the radiation until it grew into a sentient thing, a colony intelligence.
And Longshot saw the island’s hunger, and it’s appeasement at feeding off the energies of a handful of mutants. He saw the island battling more mutants, thirteen in total. The battle ended with the island being hurtled into space.
Hurling himself away from the tree, Longshot fell upon the ground, semi-conscious. Fearful, the X-Men moved around him.
“Get back everybody!” Cyclops ordered. “Give him some air!”
Everybody moved back except for Dazzler. She wouldn’t leave his side.
“Longshot, what happened?” There was concern in Dazzler’s voice.
“Ermm...must feed...return home...,” Longshot mumbled. “Destroy...white hair....green hair. Destroy....and feed.... Regain humanoid form...”
At hearing those words; and the deep, almost inhuman voice they were uttered in; Cyclops’ face went white. The jaws of Colossus and Nightcrawler were hung open, their eyes darting about with a sudden sense of dreaded expectation.
But it were Iceman and Havok who reacted the worst to Longshot’s maddened babbling. Though he was in ice form, Iceman was sweating with fear. Havok’s jaw was set, his fists clenched so hard that the fingernails were digging into the palms, but the shaking of his knees betrayed a fear that gripped him madly.
“We must flee,” Nightcrawler spoke out urgently. “Cyclops, we do not have the power to fight him.”
“We didn’t then, either,” Cyclops replied. “And if we run, what then? This isn’t the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but the Long Island Sound. Millions live in the area. Hundreds of lives have already been threatened.”
“Threatened by who?” Shadowcat asked, puzzled.
“Yeah. What are ya’ll so scared about?” Rogue was mystified by her teammates’ reactions. But their fear was starting to wear off on her.
“The last opponent that the old X-Men ever fought, and the first opponent the new X-Men faced.” There was fear, but a touch of iron, in Cyclops’ voice. “It was also our most powerful opponent. Fourteen mutants fought it with everything they had, and it almost wasn’t enough. We had to go all out, used the very laws of nature itself, and we thought we’d killed it.”
As if answering the veracity of Cyclops’ statement, the ground rumbled. The leaves of the trees rustled overhead, despite the absence of a breeze. The jungle quickly darkened, save for two faint glows overhead. They resembled eyes.
Magik looked up at the eyes. Despite herself, she shivered.
“What the hell is this thing?” Dazzler asked harshly.
Cyclops whispered the name.
“Krakoa, the Living Island.”
For long minutes, Rachel Summers and Professor Charles Xavier faced one another. Rachel hovered cross-legged in the air, while Xavier sat calmly in his chair. To any oberver without psychic potential, they appeared to simply stare at each other. One those with the talent could have see the true battle.
Dark shadows and illuminating fires clashed and writhed against one another. Attacks of a billion billion daggers would strike towards a mind, threatening to rip it asunder. Shields endured thunderous blows from psionic hammers that, if physically manifasted, could have shattered mountains. Souls were singed by roaring flames the instants before cold shadow extinguished them. It was an invisible battle to the death, fought on a battlefield that was limited only by the imagination of the combatents.
Occasionally, Rachel or Xavier would twitch suddenly, a sign that an attack had managed to strike a blow, though a minor one. For it was the nervous system itself that was under attack time and time again, the one thing that gave a living thing true sentience. Without it, one would be left a vegetable, good for nothing but the production of carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
If one looked closely, (s)he would have noticed that Professor Xavier was twitching more noticeably than Rachel Summers was. After several seconds, sweat began to form at a rapid rate upon Xavier’s brow. This event caused the sun to reflect greatly against the Professor’s bald cranium, creating a bright glare.
If Rachel was at all distracted by the brilliant glare, she did not show it. Her eyes were blank, turned inward. Her entire demeanor was that of a calm, experienced woman who may as well have been resting her eyes rather than battling for her very mind and soul. She was in her element, a form of combat that she had fought thousands of times over a period of centuries.
Of all those battles, the greatest foe Rachel ever faced had been herself. Compared to those, her battle with the Shadow King was nothing.
If Rachel desired, she could have ended the conflict physically and swiftly. One telekinetic slap, and Professor Xavier would have been sufficiently dazed that Rachel could have ravaged the Shadow King’s mind beyond all repair. Truth be told, Rachel did consider such an action, but found that she could not bring herself to actually harm Professor Xavier. He was, after all, an innocent victim of the Shadow King’s. A hostage to be saved, not shot in the crossfire.
Yet it could be argued that, in striking at the Shadow King through purely telepathic means, she was placing Professor Xavier in greater danger. She had no way of knowing how deeply the Shadow King had imbedded himself into Xavier’s mind, and the greater Rachel struck at his defenses, the greater the risk that she would strike too forcefully and damage the Professor’s mind in the process.
Rachel knew those risks, and she accepted them. After all, she’d been involved in psionic battles for over a century. Furthermore, she was well skilled in the art of repairing mind that had been telepathically ravaged. Rachel honestly believed that, in the unlikely circumstance that Professor Xavier was harmed in the struggle, that she would be capable of healing those psionic wounds.
Physical scars are not so easily mended, as Rachel had learned so harshly early in her life. She still bore the scars of Wolverine’s claws, both on the outside and the inside. Throughout her life, with every breath she took, every beat of her heart, the scars would throb painfully. She was determined not to physically injure Professor Xavier.
A smile formed on the face of Professor Xavier. “You’re holding back. I can feel it. I knew you would.”
“That’s why you took Xavier,” Rachel said in a tense voice.
“Partially,” the Shadow King replied tersely. “I have taken possession of my greatest foe, and at the same time gain protection against his naive little students. Come, little girl, strike at me with all your strength!”
Rachel gave a thin smile. “Okay. Just as soon as I’ve found the best...” She let her voice trail off, and cocked her head to the side. Her eyes narrowed, as though she were peering off at something in the distance.
She nodded in satisfaction. “There.” Psionic fire flared between Rachel and Professor Xavier. Snippets of the fire crept between the Professor’s head and the shadows, then billowed outwards in a spetacular burst of red-tinged smoke.
“Aarrrrrrgggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!” Professor Xavier screamed long and loud, his bald head clasped between his hands. It was the scream of a man whose soul had been wrenched from it’s body. To Rachel, it seemed as though the screaming would go on forever. It was then that the screaming stopped, and Professor Xavier slumped down in his wheelchair, unconscious.
The psionic fires flickered away from the Professor, and shrank back around Rachel. She did not let down her guard, however. Rachel had performed that rite many times, tearing the essence of the Shadow King from his host body. Despite her many victories, Rachel had almost never succeeded in actually trapping the Shadow King. The wily villain had been, or will be, well prepared in all of their encounters. He’d often struck through proxy bodies, while his true psionic essence rested safe with another host body.
It had taken Rachel over twenty years to finally trap the Shadow King, and that had been a costly battle. She’d struck at all the minds in the vicinity, tore all their minds asunder in her attempt to completely defeat her long-time foe. Rachel had succeeded in killing the Shadow King, but even with her help few of the innocent victims fully recovered from the psionic attack.
Rachel looked down at the still form of Professor Xavier. She softly scanned his mind, and was pleased to see that the damage was minimal. Even if Rachel did nothing to assist, she was confident that Professor Xavier would, in time, recover fully on his own.
Relieved that she could abandon the Professor’s plight for the time being, Rachel turned from him and softly began to feel out for traces of the Shadow King. Despite her experience, he’d managed to slip away from Rachel’s grasp.
That wasn’t surprising to Rachel. In their previous battles, Shadow King had often struck through proxy bodies while the true hose remained safe nearby. Apparently, he’d begun using the tactic in Muir Island several years ago where, in his inexperience, the Shadow King had overextended himself.
The Shadow King had learned much in a thousand years, however. At first, when Rachel defeated a proxy, the Shadow King would lie in waiting for her to drop her guard. Later, however, the Shadow King had simply attempted to escape undetected, and he had usually been successful.
However, those battles had always been in crowded areas. At that moment, on the stage overlooking an evacuated area, Rachel knew exactly where the Shadow King was.
“As a child, I was very good with anagrams,” Rachel said loudly, half to herself. “You know, rearranging the letters of a word to create another word. Boggle was one of my favorite games.”
Rachel Summers stepped over the unconscious Professor Xavier, and walked towards one end of the stage. Lying prone of the ground was a middle-aged man who had most likely gone faint. The man that Professor Xavier had gone to debate on that day.
Rachel Summers gazed down the man. Psionic flames were flickering from her eyes. “Uhaka Molfa. That’s a little obvious, isn’t it, Amahl Farouk?”
Uhaka Molfa opened his eyes -- they were a deep, pure black -- and snarled. “Now you will face my full power! Die!”
Shadows rushed all around Rachel, and they recoiled back against the psionic fires that burned around her.
“You speak of power?” Rachel asked. “For all that you have done, you do not know the meaning of the word! I have torn your mind asunder time and again! I have wrenched the life force from Selene herself, and smiled as I burned the witch’s body to ash! Before he died, Cain Marko thanked me with tears in his eyes for having torn Cytorrak from his soul seconds earlier! For over a century, I stood alone against monsters who believed themselves to be the most powerful in existance, and I held against them all! You say that I will face you’re full power? Shadow Thief, prepare to face mine!”
The host body of the Shadow King screamed in agony. His heart was held in a vice grip. His lungs were filled to bursting, refused the chance to expel the carbon dioxide within them. The marrow in his bones literally froze, the molecules halted completely by the power of Rachel Summers, the Askani.
The shadows that assaulted her expelled entirely, Askani floated before the Shadow King, a vision of raging fire. Slowly, agonizingly, Askani raised her hand, and snapped her fingers.
Every bone in the Shadow King’s host body exploded, much like trees filled with frozen sap. The body convulsed on the ground for a moment, then went still. It was dead.
Floating before Askani, held within her psionic flames, was the sphere of blackness that represented the psionic essense of the Shadow King. He was silently screaming as Askani’s fires licked away at him.
Askani smiled. “I am going to tear through what remains of your mind, scatter you throughout the astral plane. Oh, you’ll pull yourself together eventually, in about a thousand years. Perhaps then, you’ll learn not to underestimate a ‘slip of a girl’.”
The psionic essense of the Shadow King, his soul, vanished beneath the smoldering flames of psionic power that was Askani’s to command. When the flames dissipated, nothing remained of the Shadow King.
For the second time since his return to Earth, Longshot was fighting plants.
First, he’d defended himself against Timmy, the grotesque mutant whose body had been a mass of plant-like tentacles. Now, if Longshot was to believe the flashes of memory he went through the moment he touched that tree, he was fighting for his life against a collective intelligence of every living organism that had made up the island of Krakoa.
According to Cyclops, the island had gained sentience through an early testing of atomic bombs. When the original X-Men arrived at the island, believing that they were searching for a mutant, the island of Krakoa captured them and fed off their mutant enemies. Only Cyclops managed to escape, in actuality sent away by Krakoa in order to seek out more ‘food’.
And Cyclops did. Using his mutant locator Cerebro, Professor Xavier gathered a new team of X-Men to rescue the original team. Once the new X-Men reached the island and rescued the imprisoned X-Men, the true nature of the island became known to them.
Leaping and twisting in between several thrashing vines, Longshot threw several of his throwing blades. Though he succeeded in severing those vines, Longshot watched without surprise when they fell to the ground and were absorbed into it. Within seconds, those vines were grow back and renew their assault.
The subsequent battle between Krakoa and the assembled teams of X-Men had been brutal, Longshot knew. The X-Men had fought an opponent who quite literally had the home-field advantage, and all the power had proved to be useless against it.
Much like the battle that was being fought before Longshot’s eyes. The power blasts of Cyclops, Havok, and Dazzler were having no effect on Krakoa. Indeed, Longshot knew that the island was only absorbing the power, feeding off it. The best that Nightcrawler and Shadowcat could do was avoid the island’s attack, by using their respective powers of teleportation and intangibility. That was about all Longshot could do as well; use his natural agility and ability to alter probability in his favor to avoid getting killed. Rogue was both useless and defenseless, as her sole power was the ability to absorb another’s physical and mental traits through touch.
No, the only X-Men that proving effective against Krakoa, were Iceman, Magik, Colossus, and Wolfsbane. Wolfsbane was in full wolf-mode, slashing and tearing at the living foliage with a savage frenzy. Colossus, with his body of strong organic steel, was making some headway by tearing up trees and using these makeshift bats to knock down other trees.
But by far, Iceman and Magik were doing the most damage as far as Longshot could see. Magik’s Soulsword, which as Longshot understood was capable of damaging a victim’s psyche, seemed to cause Krakoa great pain with every slash. While Iceman, with his versatile power to decrease temperatures and create ice, was shattering great portions of Krakoa with every swipe.
Yes, the X-Men were holding their own. But Longshot knew that it couldn’t last. Like in their first battle, the X-Men had no way of soundly defeating the living island. The best they could hope for would be to drive Krakoa off somehow.
Back then, this daunting task had been accomplished by the joint efforts of Storm and Polaris. Charged by Storm’s lightning bolts, Polaris manipulated the Earth’s magnetic field on such a grand scale that it ceased to exist around Krakoa. Without the basic forces of Earth holding it down, Krakoa rocketed up into space, where it had no doubt been floating for these many years.
But now, the collective organisms protected within a thick outer shell, the meteor that Krakoa had become crashed into Long Island Sound. The X-Men were once against fighting for their lives, this time without the power of Storm and Polaris.
Yeah, Longshot figured they were screwed.
Spinning around, Cyclops let loose a brief optic blast that smashed the rocks hurtling towards him into harmless dust. “We can’t keep this up forever, X-Men. We need a plan to end this thing, and soon!”
“No duh,” retorted Havok. He was letting loose streams of plasma from both hands, frying plants to a crisp wherever he pointed. It was clear that both brothers, whose powers depended on outside energy sources, were beginning to fatigue. “Iceman, any chance you could just flash freeze this entire thing?”
“Something this big, I’m not sure,” Iceman shouted in response. “I wouldn’t be able to control it. I could just as easily freeze all of you guys in the process. Besides, Krakoa seems to be generating its own heat and it’s even starting to draw out the humidity. Soon, I won’t even be able to do what I’m doing now.”
“We must retreat!” Magik cried out as she hacked through a swarm of insects with her Soulsword. “I can teleport us out of here easily. We can get help-”
“While Krakoa gets to shore and tears into the local population,” finished Cyclops. “I don’t think so.”
“Come off it, Slim!” shouted Shadowcat. “For all we know, this thing may have rolled onto shore already. It could be rampaging on the outside while we’re wasting time fighting it on the inside.”
Longshot knew that this wasn’t the case. Krakoa was dedicating all of it’s energy to the battle at hand. But Shadowcat’s words did strike a chord with Cyclops.
Face set, the leader of the X-Men lifted his head towards the rocky shell above, and unleashed a devastating optic blast. It crashed against the ceiling, and was actually beginning to bore through it. That was about the time when a whipping vine struck Cyclops from behind and wrapped around his neck.
Luckily, one of Longshot’s throws was off, and the knife ending up cutting through that particular vine. The severed end fell from Cyclops’ neck.
Weakened, Cyclops would have collapsed had no Nightcrawler grabbed him. In a puff of smoke, Nightcrawler and Cyclops teleported from the spot an instant before a large chunk of rock slammed into it.
All around the X-Men, the ground was swelling, and the cieling was shuddering. It seemed to Longshot that the ground was rising, and the cieling was getting a lot closer by the second.
And he could have sworn that the rumbling seemed to be saying, “Crush....you......”
Phasing through another chunk of falling rock, Shadowcat looked frightened. “Oh shit. I think Krakoa just figured out that by closing in on itself, it can crush us.”
Wolfsbane shot Shadowcat an annoyed look. “That tis a remarkable observation, Kitty. I wouldnae’ve thought o’that in a million years!”
By creating mammoth ice columns, Iceman was attempting to slow down the inevitable. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are now in the world’s largest crushing machine.” Even when fighting for his life, Iceman could always be counted on for a joke.
Longshot lunged forward and picked up Dazzler, who’d just slipped on the shifting ground. Frightened, Dazzler looked up at her long-time lover. “I don’t think you’re luck is gonna be enough to save us this time.”
Looking around Longshot shook his head. One of the pouches slung across his chest felt heavy. That, Longshot was certain, was the one thing that just might save the day.
Tearing through the mass of plants and rock with his plasma blasts, Havok managed to reach Magik. “We need you to get us out of here. Now!”
Magik nodded and, with a wave of her Soulsword, Stepping Discs appeared at the feet of every one of the X-Men. However, as the Discs began to rise, Longshot let go of Dazzler and leapt out of the way. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a small device. Dazzler saw it, and gasped.
“Longshot...what...” she began, but couldn’t finish. She knew the answer.
“I’m going home,” Longshot said. “And I’m taking this thing with me.
Dazzler couldn’t move from the Stepping Disc, couldn’t stop Longshot from using the dimensional transporter to send him back into the Mojo-verse. All she could do was look at him with tears in her eyes.
Moving quickly, using his knowledge of the device and more than a little luck, Longshot calibrated the transporter to encompass the whole of the living island around him. As it hummed with energy, and as Dazzler was about to vanish completely within the Stepping Disc, Longshot said three last words.
“I love you.”
Ten Stepping Discs flashed into being over the abandoned field. The Stepping Discs lowered down and vanished, revealing the teleported X-Men.
Minus one.
Cyclops looked around at his teammates and frowned. “Where’s Longshot?”
Dazzler was on her knees weeping. Unsteadily, she raised her arm and pointed out towards the ocean. Many of the X-Men turned to look.
The large meteorite was glowing with a strange energy. The water around it churned and foamed. Parts of the meteor were sticking out, shifting and crumbling. Krakoa was trying to escape.
“He’d never told me that he brought a dimensional transporter device with him,” Dazzler said softly. “Probably didn’t think it was important - Mojo World was gone, after all.”
The light became blinding, and all the X-Men, save for Cyclops and Iceman averted their eyes. When the light dimmed, the meteorite was gone.
And so was Longshot.
For what seemed like a long while, the X-Men just stood there. Cyclops had dropped to his knees in shock. Dazzler was still crying.
Havok was the first to speak.
“That was....” he seemed to choke on the words at first, and swallowed. “That was a very....brave thing to do.”
“Ah had never really considered Longshot an X-Man,” Rogue spoke softly. “He was just a guy that would hang around an’ help us out. But now...”
“He was one of us,” Nightcrawler said. “Maybe better. What he did...I do not know if I could...find the courage.”
Colossus turned from the sea. Turned towards Dazzler, meaning to comfort her. But when he saw the pavilian where the debate had taken place, Colossus was later ashamed to say that all thoughts of Alison’s loss had left his mind.
“By the White Wolf!” Colossus exclaimed in Russian.
The X-Men turned from the sea, and were equally surprised and appalled at what they saw.
Professor Xavier sat slumped over on his wheelchair, unconscious. Nearby, the body of Uhaka Molfa, the Professor’s opponent in the debate, lay dead. At least, the X-Men assumed it was his body by his clothes. His features were horribly distorted, as though his entire skeleton had been shifted about.
Floating over the two candidates was Rachel Summers.
“My god, Rachel.” Cyclops could barely get the words out, so horrified was he at the sight before him. “Rachel, what....my god, what have you done!”
Rachel lifted her eyes to look at the X-Men. There was no sign of remorse within her. “I don’t have time to explain.”
Shadowcat stepped forward. She was obviously very upset. “No time! You attack the Professor while we’re gone, and you don’t have time!”
“He’ll be awake soon,” Rachel replied. “I must go.”
“Not until we get some answers,” Nightcrawler snarled. He’d picked up one of his swords, previously left in the field.
“All you need to know what that I saved you all from a very grim fate,” said Rachel. “I don’t want to do this, but your thoughts leave me no choice.”
Askani raised her hand. Her eyes flashed. As one, the X-Men screamed, save for Magik. Their minds were assaulted by the power of Askani. When it passed, they all fell to the ground, unconscious.
Except for Magik. She remained standing, unstruck, and faced Askani.
“You spared me,” Magik said.
“Only because you know what I did, and bear me no thoughts of ill-will,” Askani answered She looked down at the X-Men, her family, with regret. “I had no choice. They will now fear and hate me as much as the world fears and hates them.”
“As it was written.”
Askani nodded. “Yes, as it was. Your business here is done. Leave...Illyana.”
“Until we meet again,” Magik said. A Stepping Disc appeared at her feet. A moment later, Magik was gone.
Leaving Askani, Rachel Summers, alone amongst her victims. Only her, and the cameras.
Rachel Summers looked at the cameras. All this time, they had been running. She’d turned the audio off telekinetically, of course. What had been said were not meant for human ears. Only the video had gone through.
Rachel attacking Professor Xavier, then killing Uhaka Molfa. The X-Men returning an instant before Krakoa vanished, and Rachel attacking them as well.
For this day, it would not be the X-Men that the world blames. It would be Askani.
With a thought, Askani turned of the audio of all the cameras and addressed the world. “I am Askani, the guardian of mutantkind. These humans thought that they could corral mutants, force us into serving humanity for it’s own purposes. The lives of mutants are their own. We shall not tolerate attacks upon us, nor will we blindly serve as living weapons. Accept mutants. Allow us to live our own lives. Or I shall make you all answer for your crimes.”
All at once, every camera there went dead. Every television set tuned in reverted to static.
In the living room of the Xavier Institute, Dr. Nathanial Essex turned off the television. “Ah, what genetic perfection. It’s possible that I actually fear that woman. No matter. I’ll soon have a more than ample failsafe in place.”
Slipping on a pair of surgical gloves, Dr. Essex began to make his way upstairs. “Oh children! It’s time for your final checkups!”
Next Issue: Mr. Sinister welcomes the X-Men home.
Author’s Note
Well, that’s that. Will Short’s run is now over. I’ve finished all his plots, and now it’s time to go all out. I’ve added a few things of my own to this run, and I’ll be wrapping all those up next issue. Along with a few things that Will started but didn’t give me to wrap up.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little colaboration Will Short and I had going. I’ve enjoyed scripting his plots, telling these stories of the X-Men. These stories have been darker than most X-Men stories, with the team a multitude of threats that were horrific and malicious.
But next issue, that all ends. Crosby style. So be sure to watch for it, and gasp in amazement as an era of the X-Men ends.
Yeah, it’s a shame, but at least this era lasted a full twelve issues. That’s more than all the other stories put together. In fact, with seven issues (and an annual!) I’ve written more than any single X-Men writer at MV1.
That is a shame, and hopefully it won’t continue after I’ve gone. Don’t worry, I won’t be leaving for a while. And when I do leave, I’m sure that a great new writer will show up and pick up the slack.
So get ready. Because the Short era has ended, and the Crosby era is about to get underway!
Stephen Crosby