Chapter 87: To Battle

Chapter 87: To Battle

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1st September 2005, Bayville

(Jean Grey POV)

Scott just released his glasses, making his eyes released a concussive blast towards them, to Dr. McCoy's protest, who yelled out, "No!!"

The purple ball closed up and disappeared before the beam could reach them. Instead, it hit Cerebro, causing an explosion that engulfed the whole floor.

The last thing she saw was the fire going towards her, and then darkness. It seems like she won't be getting her answers today.

When Jean woke up, she had one of the biggest headaches she ever had. She hadn't even opened her eyes yet and her head was killing. When she actually did open her eyes, her vision was extremely blurry and she blinked in an attempt to clear it. Slowly, the previously blurry picture started to sharpen into a familiar ceiling. She was in the infirmary.

It was something that was quite normal for her, especially after a training session with Logan. The feral mutant worked her until she could barely stand anymore, and sometimes she would collapse from the fatigue. Although that might be because of her mild case of malnutrition. What the hell was she thinking when she decided to start dieting? Oh yeah, she got the idea telepathically from her cheerleader friends that were obsessed with their figure. Dear lord, she was participating in most of the school's sport teams and her X-men training especially Logan's torture sessions that he calls physical training the fact that she wasn't a skeleton with skin is a miracle.

Every realization she makes about the effect of the Professor's bindings on her life causes her sick in her stomach. Suddenly, voices assaulted her. Damn it, she though she had her telepathy under control. She closed her eyes, imagining the giant speaker in her mind and connected the voices to it like Ms. Sayre taught her to do. She then slowly decreased the volume until there was nothing but a blissful silence in her mind. Whether Ms. Sayre was trustworthy or not, Jean would always be grateful for her tutelage of that little trick. It's been only one day and it had already changed her life.

She still needed to speak to the professor. Oh yeah, he was taken. Slowly, the events before she fell unconscious, played out in her head. This was bad, whoever the two people that kidnapped the professor were very powerful. She could feel it in her gut. The inevitable mission to rescue the Professor wasn't going to be an easy one. And she wasn't sure that her teammates would be ready for something of this caliber.

This was so going to suck.

She sat up, holding her head; her headache still wasn't gone. Looking around, she determined that she wasn't alone. The moment she was up, Scott ran up to her, "Jean are you alright? Does anything hurt?"

What the hell? What's wrong with him? The guy turns psychotic whenever something happens concerning her. Does he not understand the concept of personal space?

"I'm fine," she replied, "what happened?" Jean wanted to change the subject.

Logan was the one that answered her question, "Chuck's been taken. We need to get him back."

"Who were these people?" Jean asked.

Doctor McCoy answered, "Maybe, but there are a lot of sources about this. This isn't any normal myth; it was an entire religion. There are historians that based their entire lives' work on this. There are still cults in Egypt worshiping him, praying for his return. As much as I hate this, it is entirely possible that he's the one we're up against."

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Logan asked.

"Yes, he tended to gather the four strongest people in his kingdoms, mostly mutants as well, and had them as his enforcers."

Jean spoke up, "What was his name again?"

Doctor McCoy looked her in the eye and said, "Apocalypse."

The name sent a chill through all their backs. It was like the world itself was warning them against this mutant.

"What a cheery name." Pietro commented and Jean couldn't help but agree.

Logan stood up, "This isn't getting us anywhere. We need to understand why they took Chuck."

"Maybe he's recruiting," Jean thought out loud, "Maybe he wants to find the strongest mutants around. Maybe he wants to recreate his Horsemen. Magneto could be the first one."

Mystique interrupted her reasoning, "Magneto would never serve under anyone. I can't see him agreeing on following orders."

"Maybe he doesn't have to agree," Storm interjected for the first time, "It's entirely possible that he could be under Apocalypse's control. If he has so many powers, mind control could easily be one of them."

"It's not possible to mind control him," Mystique replied, "His helmet stops any mental attacks from reaching him."

Logan summarized the situation, "So, we have a three thousand year old mutant who is so powerful he could be a god who kidnapped the world's strongest telepath and one of the strongest mutants who may or may not be under mind control. Alright, Hank, I want a full list of Apocalypse's abilities so we could strategize a way to kill him. Do a satellite search in Egypt for anyone with blue skin and for any anomalies in the weather."

"Why Egypt? He could be anywhere in the world. And why weather pattern?" questioned Beast.

"He just woke up from thousands of years of imprisonment. The world is strange for him; he should try to stay somewhere familiar. You said that the entire desert was his to control, which means he could manipulate sand. Chances are, he would use it which would cause weather anomalies on a large scale. It is a shot in the dark, but it's the only thing we have. We need to find the bastard as soon as we can."

Suddenly, Jean's mind was assaulted by a powerful presence. It was some sort of psychic attack and it went through Jean's meager shields. It was the Professor. {Jean, I don't have much time. You need to stop him! Stop Apocalypse! I don't know how long I could keep fighting him. He already has Eric. He's so strong! So powerful! You're our only hope, Jean. I'm sorry!}

After the message was over, some coordinates appeared in her mind, probably from the Professor. She knew where he was.

When the message had ended, Jean found everyone at each other's throats. "EVERYONE STOP!" she bellowed. They all quieted down, looking at her in surprise.

"Just stop," she continued, "The Professor just contacted me. We're in trouble. He said something about him having Eric," Jean noticed that Mystique paled when she said this, "he said he was fighting him somehow and that he was losing. Doctor McCoy is right, it's Apocalypse and I know where the Professor is."