From: swpwarrior@aol.com (Swpwarrior) Subject: X-Men: Dawn of Ascension Chapter Five (B) by Swp. Date: 15 Feb 1998 13:03:16 GMT X-Men: Dawn of Ascension Chapter Five (B) 5. Narrative: Heinlen University. Hamilton, New York... {Panel opens with a viral strain close-up under magnifying {glass. Beast's voice is heard off-panel.} Beast: And thus concludes our tour of this grand paradigm of higher learning, My Dear Rogue. {Then panel pulls back to reveal Beast in a white lab coat {escorting a civilian clothes clad Rogue around his lab on {the classic east coast liberal arts college campus of {the mythical Heinlen University. The room is filled with {several student lab techs in their own white lab coats, {all performing a myriad of tests and experiments on the {Legacy Virus.} Rogue: All this for you, Hank? Ah'm impressed. Beast: Not quite for me, Rogue. "All this" is for the discovery of a means to combat the deadly Legacy Virus. Which I might add, threatens to turn epidemic if not discovered soon... {Rogue smiles at Beast, obviously brimming with pride, {after he confidently addresses one his lab students {seated at a computer terminal.} Daniel (Lab Student): Those test results from earlier you requested are ready, Professor McCoy. You want me to call them up now? Beast: Thank you, Daniel. I'll look them over in a moment. Rogue: All tha same, ah'm still impressed. {Beast turns back to her, relenting to her jabbing, {trying to appear modest.} Beast: Well I will admit to a modicum of pride...mixed, of course with a tinge of apprehension. I'm quite nervous over my impending debut as an instructor when classes begin again next term. Rogue: Ah'm sure you'll do fine, Hank... You got a knack for it. {Beast sits down at the terminal as his student makes {way for him.} Rogue: You don't miss it at all, do ya? Beast: If you are referring to my erstwhile days as an an X-Man, not in the slightest. I have had more than my fill of the usual assortment of crazed super-villains and techno-organic monstrosities. I have happily outgrown the adrenaline allures of my youth. {Beast smiles looking around his lab.} Beast: Here I may bask in the art of science and perhaps benefit man-kind on a scale I'd never previously hoped for. {Beast motions for Rogue to look through the magnifying {glass at the opening viral strain of the Legacy Virus which {seems to react to Rogue's proximity.} Beast: Observe for yourself... Rogue: The way they're movin', you'd almost think they knew what they were doin'. {Panel to Beast looking back to Rogue, deftly serious.} Beast: Oh, they do, Rogue, I assure you. Sinister's findings indicated they may even be sentient. Can you imagine the implications? The Legacy Virus, alive in every sense of the word...a new life-form...and most definitely hostile... {Rogue turns back to Beast, suddenly shy.} Rogue: Hank, ah don't mean t'rush ya, but I was hopin' to get back to New York before dark... {Beast reaches into his coat pocket and hands her a {non-descript envelope.} Beast: Of course, Rogue. You'll forgive my morbid enthusiasm. Rogue: W-Was it any trouble...? {Beast looks to her with sympathy.} Beast: None whatsoever. Although it should come as no surprise to you Forge was slightly off-put you didn't come to him directly. Rogue: Guess, ah understand... Just with everythin' goin' on with him an' Raven, ah felt kinda funny about askin' him, ya know? [8] {Rogue stammers as she holds the envelope.} Rogue: Hank... Do you think ah'm crazy for wantin' to do this? Beast: Hardly, Rogue. We all have our own ways of finding the inner peace that so often seems to elude us. For me it's this place. For you, it may well be confronting your past...wherever that may lead you... {Beast suddenly looks to her with admiration.} Beast: I wish I had your bravery, Child. {Suddenly Daniel runs up to Hank, excitedly.} Daniel (Lab Student): Professor? Sir? I think you'd better see this... {Beast and Rogue follow Daniel to a large screen TV {-- several students gathered -- where Trish Tilby gives {a live update from beside the hospital where Cannonball {is being treated.} Trish Tilby: --Although the media has not been allowed access, numerous eyewitness accounts seem to confirm the accuracy of reports that a critically injured member of the mutant super-hero team, The X-Men-- {Panel of file footage of the X-Men in combat against {Onslaught.} Trish Tilby: --seen previously fighting alongside the Avengers and the Fantastic Four against Onslaught almost two months ago, is being treated under quarantine circumstances within St. John's County-- {Back to the aftermath of today's battle at Washington {Square Park.} Trish Tilby: --of whom, according to inside sources may have contracted the Legacy Virus, which might explain the federal government presence-- {Rogue looks to Beast, white faced. Beast acknowledges {her, ashen faced, still staring at the TV, stunned.} Rogue: ...H-Hank...? Beast: ...Yes, yes... It would appear we'll both be returning to New York before dark... {The panel leaves them craning back to the unattended {computer terminal where Beast was sitting. Trish Tilby's {voice still heard as Beast and Rogue depart.} Trish Tilby: --This in light of new reports of twenty eight Cuban refugees detained off the coast of Florida all having tested positive with the Legacy Virus-- {The panel rests on the computer terminal screen. It {reads: "Test Results Conclusive: Medical Identification {Number XM1013 Alias: Rogue: Legacy Viral Strain: {Positive: Prognosis: Terminal"} Trish Tilby: --again giving rise to concern over the infection patterns of this fatal disease. I'm Trish Tilby reporting live from New York-- 6. Narrative: Later that night... The Strobe... {Panel opens in the heart of a downtown night club. {Revelers dance the night away, oblivious to the {outside world. Shoulder to shoulder crowded, near {claustrophobic conditions. Loud, booming techno {music drowns out the sound. The constantly {flashing lights create an alternating panel effect. {One panel lighted, the next shaded. One of the {MIB's -- Kaino -- from the attack on Gambit and {Jean Grey, screams into a telephone off-panel. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Kaino (Off-Panel): --put up a fight, but everything went well! {Then panel to Kaino screaming into a pay phone {over the booming techno music, one hand covering {his free ear. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Kaino: Both targets confirmed! {Panel switches to Gregor Buhkarov in a tuxedo, {fixing his bow tie, talking on a cell phone, staring at {himself in the mirror. [9]} Gregor Buhkarov: Then I take it you haven't heard? Kaino (Off-Panel): Heard?! Gregor Bukharov: Yes, it's all over the news... there were survivors. {Kanio strains into the phone as something catches {his eye. He looks back to a booth where his fellow {MIB's sit, partying as Psylocke approaches from {the middle of the dance floor. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Kaino: That's impossible! We watched them die! Gregor Buhkarov (Off-Panel): Apparently not long enough... {Kaino puts the phone on the receiver, pulling his {gun from his coat moving to the booth. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Kaino: I have to go... {Three consecutive panels of Psylocke standing in the {middle of the dance floor, completely surrounded by {dancers. We see only her upper torso, her progression {measured by the faceless dancers around her and the {lighted panels. She stares ahead, eyes smoldering at {her targets. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: It scared her at first, the darkness... But one always fears the unknown... {She approaches a curved booth, deep in the back {of the night club, facing the dance floor. Three of the {MIB's from Chapter Four sit -- Collins at the center, {drinking and celebrating, two more standing at its' {edges. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: She'd felt this way as a child... {Switch vantage to the table as they look at Psylocke {walking up a couple steps to the table. They smile, {thinking her another club girl. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: Giddy with anticipation... A sense of invincibility... {She stands before them, surveying her prey. They {still don't react. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: Embracing her desire-her need for new sensations... {Panel from behind as Psylocke reaches over her back {and draws her two swords from her sheathe as the light {flashes over her. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: A freedom somehow lost over the years in the expectations of others... {The men react slowly, reaching for their guns, their {smiles gone. She's stared them down. An MIB on {either side of her, they reach into their coats. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: Some lost belief in that purity of heart she so desperately sought... {Action. Psylocke turns lightning quick to her left and {plunges both swords into the chest of one man, his {gun firing wildly as the swords protrude through his {back. The other men still seated behind the booth, {take aim and fire. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: A way out from the chasm of violence she kept buried inside her... {In shadowed panel, with one sword out, she swings {around and hacks into the seated MIB at the far left {side, her first prey getting shot up as her shield, guns {and bullets flaring, panic in the club. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: But all this time she never knew... {Two down, she flips over on to the table, standing in {the middle, the panicked MIB's missing her at point {blank range, their guns firing wildly as shell casings {and discharge pile up. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: She'd never looked inside... {She slams her blade against the standing MIB on the {right, caught trying to reload his clip into the chamber. {She turns to face the last of the men with blown away {eyes, her heart racing. Dark panel. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: Never discovered the secrets only those who live in the shadows know... {She delivers a viscous roundhouse kick the MIB on {the far right, cracking his skull, as the last two try to {escape their seats, blocked off by bloody bodies. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: She never knew how the darkness felt, when set free... {The last man -- Collins -- points his gun at her, firing {away, but she anticipates every move. More than {her telepathy allows her to cheat death. His arm is {straight. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: So intense... {Holding her sword overhand, she stabs it straight {through Collins' arm from his gun hand, exiting {at his shoulder. His arm literally a kabob around {Betsy's sword. He screams in agony, begging her {not to twist the sword as her eyes hold. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: So brutal... {She does. With a simple flick of her wrist, Psylocke {twists her sword from his arm causing a two foot long {gash, spraying the wall with blood. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: So merciless... {Still standing on the table, she steps to the wall, {holding her fingertips to the blood. Five butchered {and beaten men and a condensed battlefield within {eight square feet of a booth surround her, oblivious {to the panicked and frantic people around her. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: So tender... {She leans in against the blood with her cheek, steam {almost seems to rise from it. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: So hot... {She turns around in full panel, standing on the table {facing out to the reader, blood streaking behind her. {The music and lights still pounding. Amid the frantic {and screaming patrons, Kaino quietly slips his gun {back in his coat and retreats, wary. Dark panel. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: And now she can't help but smile to herself.... {As she steps away, the panel cranes over her to the {bloody wall. "WE LIVE" streaked across against the {flash. {THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!} Narrative: She is no longer afraid of the dark. 7. Narrative: Eighteen hours later... Epilogue One... {Panel opens as Scott holds Jean's hand at her bed {side, stroking her forehead, gently. Jean stirs weakly, {yet restlessly, an oxygen tube in her nose, an I V {running from her arm. Scott asks tentatively.} Cyclops: ...Sweetheart? Hey? You awake? {She opens her eyes, slowly, looking to him, vulnerable. {She looks like hell. She whispers weakly.} Jean Grey: ...h-hi... {Scott raises her hand to his lips to kiss, relieved beyond {words.} Cyclops: ... J-Jean... I was so worried... The Doctors-- {Jean attempts to focus, beginning to cry slightly.} Jean Grey: ...t-the... baby...? Cyclops: All right. You're both... both all right. Jean Grey: ...r-remy...? Cyclops: ...He's going to be fine. He's already asking for his cigarettes. Jean Grey: ...he... he saved... {Scott stifles himself.} Cyclops: ...I know.... Jean, I'm sorry... I wasn't there... I should have-- {She raises her hand to his face, comforting him.} Jean Grey: ...h-hey... it's okay... you said... i'm "all right"... Cyclops: Jean... the team... there was another ambush... Someone's after us-- {Jean's mother, Elaine Grey, peers around the open door, {then calls to her husband, John Grey. [10]} Elaine Grey: Jean? Dear?... John, come quickly! Jean's awake! {Jean's parents move into the room filled with relief.} John Grey: Thank God! Elaine Grey: We were so worried! The doctors didn't know! You'd lost so much blood! {Jean's expression turns, her eyes trying desperately to {focus, to be strong, but her words still come out as raspy {whispers.} Jean Grey: ...i'm okay, mom... really, i'm okay... ...scott...? ...guys...?... if it's all right... i need to talk to dad alone for awhile, okay...? {Scott gets up slowly, reluctantly. His sight is well enough {that he does not need Jean's mom to guide him.} Cyclops: O-Of, course, Jean... Whatever you need... Elaine Grey: ...Are you sure? Is there anything-- Jean Grey: ...c-can you close the door...? {Scott stands at the door, confused.} Cyclops: Jean, are you sure everything's okay? Jean Grey: ...i'm fine, scott... i'm going to be fine... {The door closes. Jean and her father are alone. He pulls {up along side her, smiling in unbridled relief. She interrupts {him, quietly yet firm.} John Grey: Jean, you don't know how relieved we all are. The doctor said if the bullet was two inches to-- Jean Grey: ...i know, dad... i know... John Grey: You know? {She looks at him, loathing her own father.} Jean Grey: ...i know about that night... i know what happened... i... i know about Milbury... i know about Crius... {His world shatters. His expression blank.} John Grey: Wh-What...? {She tries to yell, but is too weak.} Jean Grey: ...dad... don't... don't lie to me, anymore... {His eyes plead to her.} John Grey: Jean, I-I don't-- {She looks at him calmly.} Jean Grey: ...dad... please... this... it's too important... {His face is white. He speaks slowly, from fear.} John Grey: ...Jeannie, what happened--it was a longtime ago... It doesn't matter--not anymore... Jean Grey: ...no... dad, it does... my friends... my child... everyone... we're all... all in danger... {He raises his hand to his forehead.} John Grey: Jean, don't make me-- Jean Grey: ...you have to tell me, dad... what... what were you involved in? {He looks away from her, shaking.} John Grey: Nightmares, Jean... Nightmares... Epilogue Two... {Panel switches blurred as a nurse attendant and Doctor {stand over Sam from his vantage. Their voices barely heard {and not understood.} Nurse: DoCtOr? YoU bEtTeR tAkE a LoOk... I tHiNk He'S cOmInG aRoUnD... Cannonball's Narrative: Everythin's movin' slow... like in'a dream... {The blurred panel repeats from Sam's vantage as the {Nurse walks away and the Doctor leans over and asks {Sam a question.} Doctor: Do YoU kNoW wHeRe YoU aRe? Do YoU rEmEmBeR yOuR nAmE? Cannonball's Narrative: Ah can see their lips movin'... but ah can't make out what they're sayin'... {The Doctor walks away instructing his nurse as the panel {from Sam's vantage begins to focus.} Doctor: TeLl HiS fRiEnDs He'S rEgAiNeD CoNsCiOuSnEsS. Cannonball's Narrative: Ah think for a second... ah'm just some farmboy from Kentucky...an' that ah'm lucky to be alive... {Panel moves forward focused, toward the wide look-in {window on the wall to the outside waiting area.} Cannonball's Narrative: But then ah remember who ah am. Ah remember who ah am now... {Panel holds on Sam laying exhausted in his hospital bed, {looking brutally beaten, lifeless, eyes opened bleary, {his head leaning to the side looking toward the window.} Cannonball's Narrative: My name's Sam Guthrie... Ah'm an immortal... {Panel pulls closer toward the window focusing on Tabitha {Smith's emotional face peering in through the window.} Cannonball's Narrative: Ah cannot be killed... {Tabatha strains to smile slightly at Sam for support, {her face pained. She raises her hand to the window.} Cannonball's Narrative: Ah can't ever die... {Tabatha pulls her hand from the window, slightly {gesturing good-bye, eyes tearing as she leaves.} Cannonball's Narrative: Nothin' can hurt me... {Panel closes on Sam turning his head away, closing {his eyes.} Cannonball's Narrative: Nothin'. End Chapter Five. To Be Continued.... Next Chapter: "I will teach you to walk through the night without fear", "As surely as man-kind rejects their savior, they will embrace their doom", "I am destined to walk the sands of time alone." He has walked this Earth for 5,000 years. A force of nature, relentless in his pursuit of survival. He has witnessed the great turning points in human history. He is the embodiment of evil. He is one man. Next chapter, peer into the epic life of Apocalypse in... "The Storm." BACK-UP STORY Narrative: The Veteran's Administration Mental Health Hospital. Arlington, Virginia. Two years ago... {Panel opens on Stephen Lang seated in the middle of {a padded cell, wearing a straight jacket. Wild eyed and {barely coherent. He talks to an unseen doctor seated {before him.} Doctor: It sounds like a terrifying vision, Stephen. Yet oddly beautiful. You say she believed you were her father? Stephen Lang: Y-Yes, Doctor... that's right... I can only guess she intended her father to discover the transmission... b-but he died before he... before he could... {Panel pulls around Stephen, bleeded by the image {of Madame Sanctity speaking over a demolished {Sentinel.} Doctor: It's all right, Stephen. It's all right. Calm yourself. Her message, Stephen... what did she say? What was her warning? Stephen Lang: ...It-It was so... so difficult to understand... "Twelve shall rise, Twelve shall fall"... she said there would be prophets... false prophets... {Bleeded image of a post-apocalyptic world.} Stephen Lang: that man-kind would die in its sleep... that we would all sleep... {From over the Doctors shoulder we face Lang.} Doctor: Twelve, Stephen... what does that mean to you? Stephen Lang: Mean? It means everything! Can't you see?! {Panel back to Lang, struggling in his jacket, insane.} Stephen Lang: I-I was wrong...! Trask... all of us...! we were all wrong....! They've been with us... all through history... Hiding among us... but so different... We'll look to them as Gods... But they're not! They'll be our death! The death of everything! Doctor: And this list you've compiled? You've found them haven't you? {Lang's eyes open wide.} Stephen Lang: Yes! The list! I found them, Doctor! You can use it! You can find them, too! You can stop them before it's all too late! Man-kind must know the truth! Doctor: Actually, Stephen... I've looked at your list and I believe I've found some inconsistencies with it... I'm not sure it's entirely accurate. {Lang looks down, exhausted, dejected.} Stephen Lang: I should have known... You think I'm crazy, too... You don't believe... {Panel to Doctor Milbury questioning him.} Doctor: On the contrary, Stephen. I've been to Trask's lab. I've seen the message, too. {Panel to the Doctor's cobalt eyes, he says with a {smile.} Doctor Milbury: I believe every word you've said. We're all going to die. {The Doctor turns his head from Lang and us.} Doctor Milbury: Oh and Stephen... {Then Sinister rears his head to Lang and says with {perverse pleasure, close-in.} Sinister: Boo. {Outside the cell, Doctor Moran turns his head at the {sound of howling -- AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!} {Panel to Doctor Moran and Doctor Milbury standing {over Stephen Lang, now a drooling, catatonic slab. [11]} Doctor Moran: It's a complete regression... He's so far removed from reality, he believes he no longer exists here... Doctor Milbury: Such an unfortunate soul... I actually thought we were making progress... {Doctor Moran escorts Doctor Milbury out to the {hallway.} Doctor Moran: Don't blame yourself, Doctor Milbury. A man that delusional was bound to snap completely sooner or later... Doctor Milbury: Still it was a fascinating story, you have to admit... It's all so biblical. {Doctor Moran raises his eyebrows to Milbury.} Doctor Moran: I'm not sure I follow you. Doctor Milbury: Oh, nothing, Doctor... I'm sure you'll figure it out in time... And by then, who knows? {Final panel on Milbury walking away like Mr. Chips.} Doctor Milbury: Maybe you'll be the one they call crazy. {Panel returns to Doctor Moran in the modern day, {late at night he sits at his desk, a bottle of whisky, {he loads bullets into a revolver.} Doctor Moran's Narrative: You were wrong about that, Milbury. Maybe Lang was a prophet... Maybe I am insane... Maybe I've finally gone mad... {He cocks the chamber, pointing the gun at his head.} Doctor Moran's Narrative: But I won't end up like Lang... I won't end up like any of my patients... Insane or not, I'm still a doctor... {Final panel pulls above to the window in the night as {off-panel Moran pulls the trigger -- BLAM!!!} Doctor Moran's Narrative: And I know the cure. END. CITATIONS [1] See "Onslaught: Redemption" for more details of Almagordo and Major Barrington and Brian Xavier's involvement in the creation of mutant-kind. [2] The speech and crowd reactions were excerpted from Nazi, Joseph Goebbles on February 27, 1943. [3] Magda's final words to Magneto were excerpted from the back-up story in Classic X-Men #19 as she left him in terror after his first major use of his powers as an adult to kill. Magda was Magneto's wife and the mother of his children in his early adult life. [4] Gabrielle Haller is a former love of Charles Xavier and the mother of his son, David. In her youth in Israel she befriended both Charles and Magneto while recovering from post traumatic stress syndrome before rising to her current lofty political status as depicted in Uncanny X-Men #161 and #320. [5] Charles Xavier, as Onslaught was destroyed at the conclusion of "Onslaught: Redemption", of which Magneto was instrumental. [6] The X-Men battled Apocalypse's Horseman, Mayhem at Washington Square Park in Chapter Four. [7] Gambit and Jean Grey were left for dead inside a Manhattan bar by a military op team, prior to its detonation in Chapter Four. [8] Raven Darkholme, a.k.a. Mystique raised Rogue as her own child after finding her as an adolescent. She has been romantically involved with her X-Factor teammate, Forge. [9] United Nations Secretary General Gregor Buhkarov was introduced last Chapter. His true agenda has not been revealed. [10] Jean Grey discovered her father's involvement with Almagordo and Sinister in a dream in Chapter Two. [11] And that's how Stephen Lang became catatonic prior to the next time you see him in Uncanny X-Men #291. ;-)